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My first strong memory of Olympic competition was as an 8-year-old in 1972, watching an 800-meter runner named Dave Wottle who was gaunt, sickly pale and wore an unsightly white golf cap.
The American hardly appeared a world-class athlete, which was reinforced when he lagged way behind a pack of seven in an eight-man final. Even with just 200 meters left, his chances looked bleak. But in an awe-inspiring kick, Wottle blew by one competitor after another until overtaking the prohibitive favorite, Russian Yevgeniy Arzhanov, at the finish line to win by three-hundredths of a second — less than the brim of that ragged golf cap.
The Tampa Bay Rays remind me of Dave Wottle.
They don’t look like much. Their tiny payroll means days of Jeff Keppinger hitting cleanup and a stretch run when Ben Zobrist is manning shortstop regularly after not playing the position for three years. They play in an ugly stadium before the fewest spectators in the majors.
Yet for the second straight year, Tampa Bay is showing an ability to shake, Wottle and roll in the second half. The Rays have a kick because of their arms.
Last year on July 27, the Rays were in third place at 53-50, 11 1/2 games behind the first-place Red Sox. But when they rallied from 7-0 down to beat the Yankees on the final day of the season, they finally eclipsed Boston to win the wild card. The Red Sox have never been the same.
This year on July 18, the Rays were in third at 47-45, 10 1/2 games behind the Yankees. But after the Rays beat the A’s 5-0 last night, the Yankees’ lead is down to 2 1/2 as Tampa Bay tries to unhinge yet another AL East beast.
Many key elements that underscored Tampa Bay passing Boston are ominously surfacing now within the Rays-Yankees dynamic. Notably, the Rays once again have the healthiest, most effective pitching while also enjoying the fuel that comes from bonding and believing in being baseball Davids vs. Goliath.
The Rays’ team ERA is 3.24, which would be the lowest in the AL since the 1990 A’s (3.18). But that mark is trending lower. Tampa Bay’s second-half ERA is a major league-best 2.19 (Seattle at 3.00 is next best). Thus, to beat the Rays these days you have to be just about perfect — which Felix Hernandez was in a 1-0 win last week.
In fact, aside from Seattle’s incomparable King Felix, Rays lefties David Price and Matt Moore have been the AL’s two best starters since the All-Star break. Jeremy Hellickson (who lost the 1-0 game to Hernandez) has been very good, and James Shields is 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA in his last five starts since being liberated from daily trade rumors.
And the bullpen is outrageous. Closer Fernando Rodney (0.79 ERA) has been brilliant all season, and in the second half has combined with J.P. Howell, Joel Peralta and Wade Davis to allow three earned runs in 66 2/3 innings.
Manager Joe Maddon’s mad-scientist leadership style cultivates confidence and fraternity in part by relying on many interchangeable parts. That infuses a can-do spirit up and down the roster. The Rays operate with sound arms and a chip on the shoulder, finding a never-back-down feistiness, especially against the Yankees and Red Sox.
Plus, the Rays’ one unquestioned everyday star, third baseman Evan Longoria, returned earlier in August after missing three months because of a hamstring injury and his mere presence upgraded the tenor of the lineup and team.
Meanwhile, like the Red Sox last year, the Yankees’ pitching is showing signs of attrition as the season progresses. They hope for a boost of success and adrenaline when CC Sabathia returns tonight and Andy Pettitte follows in a few weeks. But they were hoping Joba Chamberlain might provide something similar, but he has been a huge problem. It was not too long ago the Red Sox thought they would be energized when Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford returned, but they have played worse.
After strong first-half work by his pen, Joe Girardi is enduring difficulty finding a trustworthy relief arm aside from former Rays closer Rafael Soriano. Girardi hardly was offering the steady leadership vibe of Maddon on Wednesday. Instead, he seemed strained by a big AL East lead dwindling when he verbally jousted with a White Sox fan heckling him following Chicago’s three-game sweep. And will the return of their third baseman, Alex Rodriguez, in September uplift the Yankees as Longoria did the Rays?
The Yankees get Sabathia back from the DL tonight in Cleveland to begin six games against reeling last-place teams (the Indians and Blue Jays). What follows are 10 games against the Rays and upstart Orioles. The three against the Rays begin Labor Day in St. Petersburg, where the Yankees seem unnerved and are 1-5 this season.
By the time we reach that unofficial end of summer, who knows what the AL East will look like? At the moment, the Yankees are teetering while the Rays are again Wottle-ing.
joel.sherman@nypost.com