Figures: I leave town, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays go nuts and punch a ticket to the World Series.

Of course, it took them a couple of years between my departure and their ascendancy. But who’s counting? The new ownership had a low-cost, salary-optimizing plan, and it’s paid off this year (pending a championship over Philly).

Last night’s development does give some real teeth to that somewhat strained “9 = 8″ mantra:

Manager Joe Maddon came up with the formula when riding his bicycle. Maddon takes long spins to clear his mind and, apparently, dream of equations that those in the math world refer to as “ill-formed problems.” In this case, it was a catchier way of conveying to the previously moribund Rays what Maddon really meant: nine players going hard for nine innings equals one of eight playoff spots. So it’s really more like 9*9 = 1/8.

Feh. Definitely not one of the timeless classic rallying cries. But winning puts a shine on even the weakest of motivational tools.

This sudden winning spasm by the Rays brings to mind my own time living and working in St. Petersburg, and witnessing other major-pro sports winning arcs while there. Not that I care a whit for baseball, MLB or otherwise; but for nostalgia’s sake, should the Trop team win it all, I’ll be following up with some more pointed reflection on the subject, from my personal perspective…