Maybe you've known since March 8, the day a minor league Rays infielder named Elliot Johnson barreled into a minor league Yankees catcher named Francisco Cervelli at Legends Field, an act of aggression that seemed to define everything about the Rays -- and the Yankees -- five days before Shelley Duncan's ballyhooed reprisal.

On the one side of that picture was Maddon, endorsing the kind of dirty-uniform play that would embody his team's season. And on the other was Joe Girardi, who would soon be exposed as a phony and a blowhard, who five days later would express shock and dismay that anyone would think Duncan was seeking revenge when he plowed into Aki Iwamura.

On the one hand, you had a team that talked tough. On the other, a team that played tough. A team that lapped the Yankees during the regular season and now threatens to bully the BoSox out of the playoffs.

The Red Sox? They know how to win with feet scraping up against the abyss. But they've never had to do it against a team like this. Give them their five percent chance. And then clear out of the way. The Amazin' Rays are playing through.

Washington Nationals News News » Rays have turned the tables on the bullies
Rays have turned the tables on the bullies
BOSTON - Well, there's certainly no need to tell you what happened the last time the Red Sox were nudged to the brink of ALCS elimination with a sledgehammer; 2004 sometimes seems like it only happened last week, after all, when Yankees 19, Red Sox 8, turned into something else so very quickly. And there's surely no need to round up a focus group of Cleveland Indians fans, ask them if they remember what happened the last time the Sox fell behind 3-1 in an ALCS; 2007 only happened 52 weeks ago. The memory -- and the sting -- persists all along the Cuyahoga. 2008 MLB playoffs --> Eli OK after monster hit Randolph coming back to Yanks? Jets need to give Jones the ball More from The New York Post