Joe Maddon And Terry Francona On The Rays

Ian Browne has these comments from Joe Maddon and Terry Francona on the Rays:

"You can't just live with the status quo," said Rays manager Joe Maddon. "And it's not the same road. Things aren't going to break the same way. We are a target now, we're targeted. Maybe by the middle of last season or toward the end, we had that target, but at the beginning, we didn't. So now we're carrying this with us all the time. I'd like to think it's going to bring out the best in us."
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"They did a very good job of holding us off," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "We kept pushing and pushing, and they found ways to push back."
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"I think that if we think that, 'Oh, they had a magical year and they're not going to be around,' we're all crazy," Francona said. "They're not old, they're not going to forget how to play. It certainly makes our life a lot more difficult in the American League East."
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"That's why I love playing in this division, and that's why I felt like this was the right division for us to play in, because it committed us, or allowed us, to get better faster by our guys having to play in Fenway, to play in Yankee Stadium, etc., against very adverse conditions," Maddon said. "It allowed our guys to grow up a little more quickly, so I really like playing in this division."