The real miracle in Tampa Bay isn't the Rays' stunning record. It's not that they're ahead of the Red Sox and the Yankees with August in sight, or that after all those years of 90- and 100-loss seasons, they're still on pace for 96 wins.
No, the real miracle is that closer Troy Percival is able to pitch -- at all.
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| Troy Percival can't explain how he's doing it. (Getty Images) |
He'll tell you all that. What he won't tell you is how he's doing it.
Because he can't.
His forearm muscle is still torn away from his right elbow, just as it was when he was forced out of the game three years ago. He never had the surgery that was prescribed, in part because he was told that even with surgery he'd never throw more than 85-87 mph again.
His own doctor told him he was crazy to try to return to the big leagues last year.
He shouldn't be able to pitch. But he can, and the fact that he returned this week healthy is one of the bigger reasons to believe that the Rays might just be able to hold onto their lead.
That's fine. A great story, almost as great as the Josh Hamilton story.
But how in the world is it possible?
"I can't answer that," Percival said the other day. "How am I doing it? I don't know."
Maybe it shouldn't shock us, because Percival came back last year, pitching in 34 games for St. Louis and doing well enough that he had plenty of offers over the winter, well enough that the Rays felt more than comfortable signing him to a two-year, $8 million contract.
But remember, this guy's forearm muscle isn't attached to his elbow. He's not supposed to be able to pitch. His own doctor said he was nuts.
"He said, 'Percy, it's not going to hold up,'" Percival said, remembering the conversation with Dr. Lewis Yocum. "But I kid you not. My arm has not hurt one time since I've come back."
Percival doesn't blame Yocum. In fact, he thanks him.
"He helped me out, because there was no way I was going to pass a physical," Percival said. "No way. You're going to look at the MRI and say, 'No.' He called over here (to Tampa Bay) and said, 'If this man says he can play, then he can play.'"
Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman says that Tampa Bay actually did give Percival a physical.
"But we knew it wasn't going to be a clean physical," he said. "Our team doctors did talk to Dr. Yocum, just to fully assess the risk. We thought it was a risk worth taking, especially with how he finished the '07 season. We had scouted him quite a bit.
"We went into it with our eyes wide open."
Rays manager Joe Maddon had some history with Percival, from their time together with the Angels. He knew Percival would be a great influence on a young club, which he has been.
Percival helped groom Francisco Rodriguez for the closer's role before he left the Angels. With the Rays, he has spent extra time with Grant Balfour, the Australian right-hander who closed games while Percival was on the DL.
"He's got the stuff, and he's got the makeup," Percival said. "I told him the other day, 'If you have any questions about this job, that's why I'm here.'"
Still, the Rays aren't paying Percival $8 million to be a coach and mentor. They need him to pitch. Even now that they have him back, there are those who believe the Rays are still short in the bullpen.
"If they want to be the wild-card team, they'd better make a deal," one scout who watches Tampa Bay regularly said Tuesday. "If they stay with the same bullpen, then the Yankees will pass them. Right now, they're forcing their starters to throw almost 110 pitches a night, just to get through the sixth inning and avoid going to the bullpen.
"They need someone else to help in the sixth and seventh."
So long as Percival can stay healthy, they don't need to worry about the ninth. And while he's already been on the DL twice this year, Percival reminds you that neither DL trip was because of his arm.
"I haven't had one arm issue at all," he said. "All I'm dealing with is using body parts that haven't been used in almost two years. The way I'm feeling, I'll be able to go five more years if I want to."
That sounds crazy. Percival will turn 39 in September. Five more years?
Remember, he isn't supposed to be able to pitch this year. Somehow, he's doing it, and for a team with sights on October.
He also knows that if the Rays make it, there's every chance that they'll find themselves playing the Angels, the team he won a World Series with, where he has so many memories and so many friends (and the team that employs Yocum as its medical director).
Percival has already thought about what that would be like.
"They'd just better hope it doesn't come down the ninth inning," he said with a smile.
Wouldn't that be the story of the year?