FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jim Hickey doubts he will ever forget the conversation.
It was the eighth inning of the seventh game of the 2008 American League Championship Series, and the Tampa Bay Rays were using up relief pitchers like cocktail napkins in an effort to hold a 3-1 lead over the Boston Red Sox. Dan Wheeler got the first out and left-hander J.P. Howell erased David Ortiz for the second before side-arming Chad Bradford walked Kevin Youkilis to load the bases.
That was when Rays manager Joe Maddon turned to Hickey, his trusted pitching coach.