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Hank Steinbrenner compliments Rays, wants Yanks to play more like them

By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
In print: Thursday, May 15, 2008

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ST. PETERSBURG — First place is one thing. But the most stunning measure of the Rays' progress might have been this:

Hank Steinbrenner saying his struggling Yankees have "got to start playing the way the Rays are playing" and that he wished the Rays were in a different league.

The Rays took it as a compliment, and with a chuckle.

"I don't know what to say about that," Carl Crawford said. "It's nice to be noticed that we're playing hard."

Said Jonny Gomes: "I just think it's a pat on the back from the Boss."

Trever Miller said he was glad the Rays' hard-playing style was being noticed, though he saw it as much as a compliment as an attempt to motivate the team.

"That's the way his father did it for years and years," Miller said. "Maybe he took a page out of his playbook. Or maybe his father told him, 'Hey, try this; it worked for me over the years.' "

On the other side of Tropicana Field, the Yankees, struggling at 20-21, didn't seem to know what to think of their boss' comments, published in the New York Post on Wednesday morning. Steinbrenner also accused his high-priced team of not playing hard and threatened severe changes.

Manager Joe Girardi held a 30-minute closed door meeting prior to batting practice, though he said it wasn't related to Steinbrenner's comments.

"He's not happy and I don't blame him," Girardi said. "I'm not happy. (GM Brian) Cashman is not happy. Nobody's happy. Players aren't happy."

But he also said the Yankees really can't play like the Rays.

"We play a little bit different style," he said. "I don't think we're gonna have anyone run as fast as Carl Crawford. … But I understand what he meant. We're doing everything we can."

Steinbrenner, a Tampa resident who attended Wednesday's game, also said the Rays deserve more support.

As for his preference for the Rays to be in the NL?

Said Crawford: "For the last six years I've been wishing they were in another league."

Staff writer Joe Smith contributed to this report.