If a manager, particularly a DH-league manager, has significant influence on his team, it's in the tone he sets for the players. That's good news for the Rays following their Game 5 meltdown against the Red Sox.
Joe Maddon has said all the right things to put his young team in the right frame of mind for Game 6 and a potential Game 7. Most notably, he's demonstrated that he recognizes the whole notion of "momentum" in sports is vastly overblown if not completely fraudulent. He has said that teams sometimes blow big leads and his team would just have to shake it off and win a game at home.
The great benefit of going up three games to one in a seven game series is that you can lose a couple of games and still win the series. That's why Maddon is telling his guys to keep their heads up. They only need to win a game at home to make Game 5 disappear like a Mets' ninth-inning lead.
If you're dubious, ask Carlton Fisk about his dramatic 1975 World Series home run. The flag still flies in Cincinnati.
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