Rocco Baldelli return plays important role for the Rays

Rocco Baldelli prepared for a quick escape, advising a couple of writers that he had "about one minute" for interviews because he was being summoned to a restricted area of the clubhouse.

Fifteen minutes, and maybe a dozen questions later (not counting duplicates) from a steadily growing group of reporters, he finally got away.

After all, the Tampa Bay outfielder's story is almost too good to be true, right down to the part about growing up a huge baseball fan in New England but never really considering himself a follower of the Boston Red Sox.

And, he's not just saying that because that's the team the Rays are playing in the AL championship series.

"I don't like getting into this. The Red Sox were always on TV, but it's not like I was a Red Sox fan or anything like that," the native of Woonsocket, R.I., said.

"I went to some games because my parents brought me when I wanted to go see a baseball game, but I would watch probably the Braves just as much because they were on TBS every single day."

But that's not what makes Baldelli a compelling chapter of baseball's feel-good story of the season.

Seven months ago, the 27-year-old announced during an emotional press conference in spring training that his career had been derailed by mitochondrial disorder, a condition that slows muscle recovery and causes extreme fatigue.

He had already missed most of the 2007 season with lingering hamstring problems. Now there was a question of whether he'd ever play again.

Yet Baldelli never lost hope and, with help from Rays trainer Ron Porterfield and numerous medical specialists, he not only is back, but playing an important -- albeit limited -- role for the AL East champions.

When the ALCS shifts to Fenway Park for Game 3, he likely will be in the lineup as the designated hitter or right fielder against tough left-hander Jon Lester, something that seemed unlikely, even when he was reinstated to the roster Aug. 10 after missing the first 116 games of the season.

Baldelli appeared in 28 of Tampa Bay's last 46 games, including 16 starts. He earned a spot on the postseason roster by showing he could hold up physically while hitting .263 with four homers and 13 RBI and displaying flashes of his old self.

"I think it says a lot for his inner resolve to get well. It says a lot about our medical people," manager Joe Maddon said of the earlier-than-expected return. "Ronnie Porterfield and the doctors have stayed with him through this whole time."

Maddon, however, is not surprised.

"Obviously it was unlikely. But honestly, in the back of my mind, I always thought he'd come back," Maddon said. "I didn't know to what level or when, I just thought that he would.

"I watched him take (batting practice) even when he wasn't feeling good. It's massive. He is so gifted. I always thought if there's a way for them to figure out whatever it's going to take to minimize whatever it is he's feeling that he would be able to play again."

Baldelli doesn't speculate about his future. After playing in 156 games as a rookie in 2003 and 136 the following season, injuries kept him off the field for 359 of 486 games over the next three seasons.

He's just happy to be back contributing any way he can.

Maddon calls him a "consummate team player" who's shown he can still play defense at a high level and run "very well when he has the appropriate level of rest."

"I know you got a chance to see him a couple of years ago, but physically gift-wise he's one of the tops in the American League," he said. "Getting him to play on a regular basis again would be beautiful.

"Just being able to utilize him as we have ... is all great. But also his influence, and his stability within the clubhouse, matters."

Baldelli stops short of calling it a dream come true to face Boston in the playoffs after growing up in that region.

He concedes it is special, though.

"Just the culture of the people up there. Red Sox baseball is like one of the biggest things in life," Baldelli said before Tampa Bay's 2-0 loss in Game 1 of the ALCS on Friday night. "It's probably a little excessive, if you ask me or a lot of people. But they love their team. They support their team unlike any fans in sports."

And, how about his friends back home in Rhode Island. Do they have mixed emotions with the Rays facing their beloved team? "A lot of my friends are in that group that I just described," Baldelli said. "But I think either way they'd be happy. They root for me, yet they still want their team to win. I don't care. It doesn't really matter to me. It's going to be a fun series."

No call yet for replay

Cliff Floyd has gotten a close look at instant replay and likes what he's seen. He's fine with umpires getting a better view, and he's OK if it takes a few extra minutes.

With replay now a part of the postseason for the first time, the Tampa Bay designated hitter offers one other suggestion: Use it even more.

"I wish it would work on other plays, too," Floyd said. "But if it's going to help get a call right, definitely."

"From what I've seen, I do believe it can work. I hope they look into it in terms of maybe doing it like the NFL system a little bit," he said.

But that's a challenge for later. For these playoffs and World Series, replay will review only contested home run calls.

It's been a real quiet October for replay despite a few ballparks -- Tropicana Field and its catwalks, Fenway Park and the grabby fans around the Pesky Pole, Citizens Bank Park and its yellow lines -- that can cause real problems for umpires.