In a lot of ways, this baseball season has been about faith for the Tampa Bay Rays. Faith in their teammates. Faith that the ownership would find better arms for the bullpen. Faith that the fans would flock once the team started winning.

Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Chicago White Sox in game four of their American League Divisional Series in Chicago. Perhaps the victory may be directly attributable to manager Joe Maddon‘s faith in his hometown pizzaria before the White Sox series began.

Compared to the White Sox, the Rays were sitting around for three days since playing their last game. Joe Maddon’s pre-Game 1 meal pretty much was, too.

Before managing the Rays in their first-ever playoff game, Maddon munched on a slice of Senape’s Original Pitza, his favorite Italian bakery as a kid back home in Hazleton, Pa. It was hand-delivered as a surprise during batting practice­ from none other than the former N.B.A. referee Ed Rush, a fellow eastern Pennsylvania native and friend of Maddon who forked it over about two hours before game time.

“This is today’s secret weapon,” Maddon said delightedly.

Clearly purchased at least 24 and perhaps as many as 72 hours ago, the small box arrived rather rumpled and closed only with twine - hermetically sealed, it was not. But Maddon confidently downed a slice before the game, in part because Senape’s is apparently known for how its slices ­ perhaps like the Rays, who opened up a 1-0 lead in the second inning ­ can be even better cold.

According to Mary Lou Marchetti, the owner of Senape’s, the store (primarily a bakery and not a restaurant) uses a special type of cheese that keeps far longer than typical mozzarella. What type? “I’m not telling,” she said in a telephone interview during the game.

Somewhat unimpressed by Maddon’s loyal palate, she said that Senape’s has traveled far further than Tampa: “It’s been to Desert Storm,” she said.

“I don’t know him very well,” Marchetti said of Maddon. “I only know he likes my pizza.”

Maddon might currently be the toast of Tampa Bay, but he felt even better with a little bit of home inside him.

“As a kid, I would ride my bike there to buy bread after school,” he said. “It was like 15 cents a loaf. My aunt would have a bottle of hot peppers that I would take and destroy from that loaf of bread. It’s a part of me.”

It would be borderline gluttonous to wish for better fortune than the Rays have experienced this year, but perhaps Maddon’s pizza consumption could have pushed his team to the World Series had he chosen to dab the corners of his mouth with a new product called the Jersey Nap. In case the name isn’t literal enough, it’s a napkin that folds into the shape of a sports uniform.

I might be way off-base here, but I don’t think these are selling well in Chicago this morning.

As the company explains:

For consumers

• Unfold them to see more cool stuff inside
• Stand them up for a great table decoration
• Collectible and perfect for autographs & framing
• Clever hamburger holder
• Awesome coaster

Just the thing for tailgating, parties and everyday use.

JerseyNaps products are created in the U.S.A. at our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility located in northern Wisconsin.

Utilizing proprietary technology to combine and emboss 2-ply tissue, JerseyNaps are produced on custom designed machinery engineered and built by C.G. Bretting Manufacturing, recognized globally as the leader in the manufacture of paper converting equipment.

From quality tissue paper sourced from the shores of Lake Superior to the latest in flexographic, food grade printing inks formulated in Illinois, each component required to produce JerseyNaps is proudly made in the U.S.A.

And, to beat the dead horse into sawdust, is a visual aid to explain the process: