ST. PETERSBURG -- As a Brooklyn native who grew up loving basketball, Rays second baseman Richie Palacios has taken a lot of inspiration from his beloved New York Knicks this season.
The Knicks, of course, ended a 53-year championship drought by beating the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals this year. They hadn’t won it all since 1973 and hadn’t even played for a championship since 1999, when Palacios was 2 years old and Tampa Bay was in its second season as a Major League team.
So, sure, maybe there’s something there for Palacios and the Rays to draw on as they face the similarly championship-starved Brewers in the World Series, which begins with Game 1 on Friday night at American Family Field.
Whenever the Rays win a game in their first Fall Classic appearance since 2020, you’ll see Palacios and shortstop Taylor Walls aspire to a little hardwood greatness of their own. Their celebration on the field has become part of the ritual for the Rays this season, dating back to their early-season rise to the top of the American League standings.
It started with a very simple premise.
“We both wish we could dunk,” Palacios said earlier this year.
For all their incredible athleticism in the infield, which is a huge part of Tampa Bay’s defensive success, dunking is a bit of a stretch for the 5-foot-8 Palacios and the 5-foot-9 Walls. You just might not know it based on the air they get as they line up, gloves still in hand, run toward each other, then leap and channel their inner Vince Carter with a between-the-legs slam before high-fiving on their way down.
“We love to have fun out there. That's my guy. The celebration is pretty cool,” Palacios said. “We try to do that every time we win.”
Walls is hyper-competitive in everything he does, including their postgame celebration.
“I feel every time I'm out there trying to get higher than he is,” Walls said with a smile earlier this season. “[One time] I had to let him win, so he wouldn't get mad at me.”
Walls and Palacios have been fixtures in the middle of the field for the Rays all season, and they’ve played key roles in implementing the contact-oriented, small-ball style that’s sustained the bottom of Tampa Bay’s lineup.
The postseason has finally afforded Walls the opportunity to show what Tampa Bay has long believed: He’s arguably the best defensive shortstop in baseball. Palacios has been similarly impressive on defense at second base this month, and his two-run double in the Rays’ ALCS Game 6 clincher was representative of the knack he’s shown for coming up with clutch, two-out hits all season.
Palacios is also one of the Rays’ most energetic presences -- a “tone-setter,” according to veteran starter Nick Martinez, an elite tone-setter himself who has played an integral role in bringing the Rays’ clubhouse together. It’s an aura that people gravitate toward, Martinez said, but Palacios’ creativity in the way he speaks and brings teammates to life sets him apart.
“He might have the most nicknames in baseball,” Martinez said. “He brings the energy man, and it shows.”
As important as chemistry is between middle infielders, charged with turning double plays and knowing where the other one is on the field at all times, Palacios understands his relationship with Walls is critical.
“Just being able to communicate with each other on the field, just being able to talk to each other, whatever each other needs that day,” Palacios said. “When maybe I'm having a bad game, he picks me up. When he's maybe not having his best game, I try to pick him up. So I love the relationship we have.”
So, naturally, as his Knicks were on their way to a stunning title run, it was Palacios who proposed the celebration in the first place.
“He's like, 'Dude, we need to do this,’” as Walls once put it. “I'm like, 'All right, I'm down for it.’”