ST. PETERSBURG -- Rays manager Kevin Cash was praising the performance of Tampa Bay’s high-leverage relievers after the club’s 4-3 win over the A’s on Wednesday night when he and the assembled media standing outside the home clubhouse were distracted by an audible commotion in the distance.
There, standing outside the entrance to Tampa Bay's clubhouse at Tropicana Field, was about half the team, led by shirtless outfielder Jonny DeLuca. The American League-leading Rays’ typical postgame celebration included a new wrinkle, and DeLuca was the first to experience it.
He had to give his manager a hug.
So, with some encouragement from his teammates, specifically veteran starter Nick Martinez, DeLuca crashed Cash’s postgame scrum and embraced his amused, but perhaps slightly confused, manager.
“It went great,” DeLuca said. “I’d tried to hug him before, and that's the first time he actually brought me in. It went good.”
Anything to celebrate another win, right?
“Whatever they need,” Cash said.
DeLuca earned that opportunity -- if that’s what we’re calling it -- by spinning a wheel that’s become part of the Rays’ post-victory revelry. That day’s player of the game, selected by the previous win’s player of the game, gets one spin. Another goes to the pitcher of the game each night.
There are a variety of tasks on the wheel, and DeLuca happened to land on a relatively recent addition.
“I don't know how many options are on that wheel, but we haven't had that spin yet, where it says, 'Give Cash a hug.' And if you don't know Cash, he doesn't hug people,” DeLuca said. “So … even if it was alone, I would have kind of been a little scared. But mid-interview, I didn't think I was supposed to be there, and Nick kind of just dragged me in there.”
“We threw that in there not too long ago, and it’s part of the postgame celebration,” Martinez added, noting that DeLuca might have been more clothed than the wheel intended. “First one to give Cashy a hug, so it worked out perfect.”
What else is on the wheel, you might ask?
“We can’t tell you,” Martinez answered, smiling. “You guys are lucky you got to see that one.”