Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett, a Lodi native, fields a throw during a practice on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Rays will take on the Chicago White Sox in the American League Division Series, with Game 1 scheduled for today. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Perfect timing

Trade to Tampa lands Lodi's Jason Bartlett in MLB playoffs

Coming into Major League Baseball and joining a perennial playoff contender is a rookie's dream come true. Such was the case when Lodi's Jason Bartlett entered the big leagues with the Minnesota Twins in 2004.

The 1997 St. Mary's graduate was getting playing time at shortstop and even got into the postseason in 2006.

But after the 2007 season, Bartlett was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays — a 1998 expansion team nearly always at the bottom of the American League East. The Rays had never even won more than 70 games in a season through last year.

Serendipity struck Bartlett this year however, as the 28-year-old is heading to the postseason with the story-book Rays and the Twins are headed home after losing a one-game playoff against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

Attempts to reach Bartlett this week were unsuccessful.

Bartlett and the young Rays have turned the franchise around and now the AL East Champions will begin their quest to reach the World Series today in Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the White Sox.

Bartlett is slated to start at shortstop and bat ninth for the Rays. Bartlett is batting .286 on the season with 37 RBIs, 20 stolen bases and one homer. However, Bartlett's big contribution this year has come on defense.

After leading all MLB shortstops with 26 errors in 2007, Bartlett has cleaned it up this year, recording only 16. The change in his play was so significant, that he was voted Tampa Bay's Most Valuable Player by the local chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, according to MLB.com.

Bartlett is one of eight Rays who brings postseason experience to the Rays, as he played in three playoff games in 2006 when the Twins were swept by the A's in the ALDS. In that series, Bartlett had three hits, including a double, in 11 at-bats. Going into today's game, his postseason batting average is .273.

When the players take the diamond today for the first game in the best-of-five series, Bartlett and the Rays will be looking for the same thing: Their first playoff victory.