Mike Celizic

Experience is supposed to count for something in the playoffs. That’s that what the experts always tell us when they’re analyzing a series.

And we all believe it. When the Yankees were winning, we always talked about their veteran leaders. We talk about the incalculable value of Jason Varitek’s veteran leadership on the Red Sox. It’s about guys who know how to win, guys who’ve been there before, guys who won’t be overwhelmed by their first appearance in the spotlight.

Somebody forgot to tell the Tampa Bay Rays about that. Or if they did, the Rays weren’t listening.

There may have been a team that has gone into the postseason with less experience than the Rays have at the fine art of winning in October, but I can’t think of one. This is a team that doesn’t have a starting pitcher older than 26 or a starter who had ever pitched in a major league playoff game before this year. It has exactly one player — 35-year-old DH Cliff Floyd — who’s over 30 and only one other, 30-year-old first baseman Carlos Pena, who’s not still in his 20s. Their two most talented offensive players, third baseman Evan Longoria and center fielder B.J. Upton are 22 and 23 respectively. And the catcher charged with managing the Rays’ kid pitchers is a kid himself — 24-year-old Dioner Navarro.

And what these guys lack in age they make up for in inexperience. Only two position players — Floyd and shortstop Jason Bartlett — had ever played in a postseason game before this year. Bartlett had 11 at-bats for Minnesota against Oakland in the 2006 ALDS, and Floyd had 14 at-bats in four series, including the 1997, when he was 0-for-2 for the Marlins in their World Series win over Cleveland. That’s a total of 25 at-bats in the postseason for the entire Rays’ lineup, or as many as one starting player would get in one six-game series.

The 11-man pitching staff, by comparison, has a ton of experience — 36.1 innings pitched by four relievers. That adds up to just four games plus an inning.

Dan Wheeler leads them all with 17 innings pitched for Houston in the 2005 playoffs. In the Astros’ World Series loss to the White Sox, he contributed a 13.50 ERA to the cause. Next is Chad Bradford, who logged 15.1 innings spread out over eight playoff series, none of which advanced farther than the LCS. Grant Balfour had 2.2 innings for the Yankees in 2004 — the year they blew that 3-0 lead in the ALCS to the Red Sox. Finally, there’s Trevor Miller with 1.1 innings of postseason work.

The lack of experience may yet show up. One of the kid pitchers may totally lose it in a big situation against Boston. Or some of those fuzzy-cheeked hitters may tighten when the pressure gets ratcheted up.

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But it hasn’t happened so far. During the regular season, the Rays excelled in pressure games. They led all four of the teams still playing with a 29-18 record and .617 winning percentage in one-run games. The Phillies were next at 27-23 (.540). The Red Sox were just 22-23 (.489), while the Dodgers were 19-24 (.442). The Red Sox had the best winning percentage in extra-inning games, going 8-3 (.727), followed by the Rays at 10-6 (.625). The Phillies were 6-7 and the Dodgers 6-12 in overtime.

The Rays took the season series from the Red Sox, 10-8, and they won the toughest division in baseball. They may not have a lot of experience in the playoffs, but you don’t beat the Red Sox and Yankees without being able to perform in the clutch.

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There’s only one person to blame for all this: manager Joe Maddon. He convinced this team early on that it wasn’t the same Tampa team that had the worst record in the league last year, and it wasn’t the team that had played 10 years in the American League without ever winning more than 70 games.

This is no knock on anyone, but Joe Torre could not have managed this team. Torre, who regained his genius status in Ls Angeles when Manny Ramirez came over in a deadline trade, has always been best with veterans. In his ideal world, kids learn to play somewhere other than on his team.

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But Maddon is a man who never played major league ball himself, which means he’s a guy that none of the premier teams in baseball would ever have hired him. Before taking over the Rays n 2006, he managed a total of 51 games in 1996 and 1999 for the Angels.

That makes him a perfect match for his team. Like his players, he had to prove he belonged in the league. Like them, he came in with a minimal resume.

The Rays were in danger of giving in to their history early in the season. Maddon wouldn’t let them. He somehow made them believe in themselves and their own considerable talent.

They may yet wake up and realize what they’re trying to do and how little they know about how to do it. But I doubt it. They’ve gotten awfully far with nothing to fall back on but their belief in themselves.

Experience? They don’t need no stinkin’ experience.

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