DRG here again to get you through the weekend. I can be reached here..

The Good: The call by the White Sox announcers on Cliff Floyd's walk-off home run to lead off the 9th inning. "That ball hit way back...DeWayne Wise at the fence...jumps...AND MAKES THE CATCH...no...that ball is outta here and this ball game is over." For the record, Wise missed that ball by about 8 feet. I mean he was in the neighborhood, but anybody with a pulse knew he didn't catch it. Hawk Harrelson is such a homer, that he wishes the ball into White Sox gloves.

The Bad: Rays got the first 2 batters on in the 1st inning. What are the chances of BJ Upton grounding into a double-play with Carl Crawford on first? If they play together for the next 10 years, I would be surprised if it happens 5 more times...Hawk Harrelson's grandson proposed to his girlfriend at the game. Hawk knew it was going to happen and made sure the camera's were focused on his grandson so all the friends and family could watch back home. Why do guys think this is OK? For those of you that are yet to propose...TRUST ME...they want a private moment. Just the two of you. She doesn't want to share this with your grandfather or thousands of people on the big screen or the little screen at home.

The Telling: How fast is Carl Crawford? In the 9th inning somebody hit a line drive down the left field line that was 15 feet foul and with CC playing pulled over to left-center. There shoudn't have even been a play, but Crawford actually dove for the ball. He missed it. But he and NOBODY else would have even been close to the ball.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• Tyler Hissey from Rays Digest will be on 1220 AM talk radio today at 3:40 to discuss the Rays. [Rays Digest]
• Marc Lancaster takes a none too subtle shot at Rays fans and their lack of support for the Rays. Tonight's game is a near-sellout and Lancaster attributes it all to the post-game concert, and the the apparent eager anticipation of people that will go to the game just to get their free trucker hat. According to Lancaster, 10,000 people will be there for baseball and 20,000 people will be there for a few country songs and a free trucker hat. [Rays Report]
• I wasn't the only one that thought Hawk Harrelson's call on Cliff Floyd's home run was atrocious. UmpBump has a link to the video with the call. [UmpBump]
• UmpBump also has a post comparing Dioner Navarro to Tony Gwynn and shows why this season might not be a fluke. [UmpBump]
  
• Could David Price still be in the plans for the Rays this season? As a Joba Chamberlain-type?...Interesting idea, but I have to think that there is a better chance of Wade Davis or Jake McGee being called up as a dominant 8th inning guy. [Outs Per Swing]
  
• Mayor Rick Baker and the city of St. Pete have recommended to the city council that they vote for the new stadium on June 5. This is just the first step in the process to put the new stadium on the ballot in November. [Ballpark Frankness]
  

St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker wrote an Op-Ed piece for the St. Pete Times, concerning his decision to withhold endorsement of the Tampa Bay Rays' proposed waterfront stadium. Baker urges the public to be patient as he and the city council evaluate all issues concerning the proposal before they decide to recommend the issue for a referendum.

...I believe the best approach is to gather and evaluate as much information as we can before making a recommendation to our community. This information is equally important to our citizens in their deliberations. Among the important items which we do not yet have are the financial details of the proposal and the specifics of the uses proposed for the Tropicana Field site. Will the mix at the Trop site provide such things as new and unique retail, parks, hotels, work force-level housing and an expanded job base? In a time of state revenue reductions, the present city budget has no room for increased funding of the baseball enterprise.

It also is important to review the impact the new stadium would have on our beautiful and vibrant downtown waterfront. The city is conducting a traffic and parking study to determine the potential impact of the traffic from 81 home games on places such as BayWalk, the Progress Energy Center for the Arts' Mahaffey Theater, the new Salvador Dali Museum and the waterfront residential towers. We also must consider the importance of our many downtown events, the largest being the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. We certainly do not want to jeopardize the success we have achieved in St. Petersburg's historic renaissance.

After receiving a final proposal from the Rays, completing an evaluation and considering community input, I will recommend to the City Council whether to schedule a referendum.

While Baker praises Stuart Sternberg and the Rays for their commitment to the St. Pete area and the investments they have already made, he makes one not-so-subtle request to the Rays, that if met, could go a long ways towards earning the support of the city...

I also hope the ownership will take steps to more closely identify the team with the city, which has also invested time, land, heart and money into the franchise. It is true that the Rays are the team for most of Florida, but certainly St. Petersburg has played a special role in its evolution.

It seems pretty clear that Baker is suggesting that if the Rays were to change their name to the 'St. Pete Rays', their path to a new stadium would become much easier.

What is yet to be seen is if this will ultimately be a sticking point in the Rays' efforts to garner the support of the mayor and/or the St. Pete City Council, or if this is just "wishful thinking" on their part. If changing the name is a crucial ingredient for their support, then the hopes of the Rays to land a new stadium could meet strong resistance as a change from 'Tampa Bay' to 'St. Pete' seems highly unlikely.

Changing the name would go against what Sternberg and the Rays have been trying to accomplish with the Rays. The Rays have taken several steps to expand their reach outside of the Bay Area. Next year, the Rays will move their spring training headquarters to Charlotte County in southwest Florida and for the second year in a row, the team will play a 'home' series at Disney World's Wild World of Sports complex just outside of Orlando. The team has also sent representatives to various meetings in surrounding counties in an effort to promote the team in those areas. Changing the name to 'St. Pete Rays' would actually contract the perceived coverage of the Rays and make their goal of becoming 'Florida's Team' more difficult.

Let's hope this is just a veiled threat with little substance.

Opinion: It's still early innings [St. Pete Times]

Tampa Bay Devil Dogs (11 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Marc Lancaster believes the Rays are using the Royal's Alex Gordon and Milwaukee's Ryan Braun as case studies for their decision about where Evan Longoria will start the 2008 season. Gordon was the opening day third baseman for Kansas City while Braun began the season in AAA.

Gordon struggled early for the Royals hitting .173 in April and .195 in May. However, he rebounded in June hitting .327. Braun on the other hand started off hot in AAA, where he hit .342 with 10 home runs in the first month. He was then called up to the Brewers and continued his torrid pace hitting .349 in his first month.

If the Rays are indeed using Gordon and Braun as a barometer to help them decide where Longoria starts the 2008 season, then there is a very good chance we will not see the Dirtbag in a Rays uniform until June.

Longoria spoke publicly for the first time about the possibility of the Rays front office deciding prior to Spring Training where he will start the 2008 season. Longoria stated he would be disappointed if the Rays decided to keep him in Durham to start the season without at least giving him a chance to show what he can do in Spring Training.

"I heard they might tell me beforehand but not for sure, so I assume it will be based on how I do," Longoria said from California. "It's only fair. I feel I'm coming into spring a lot more ready than I was last year. I'd kind of be a little disappointed if they told me beforehand I didn't have a chance to make the team."

"If they are going to make the decision beforehand, I'd rather not know," he said. "I'd rather go in, play my best and throw it all on the table. It's only my second year, so it's not like it's a make-or-break year or anything, but a chance is always nice."

I sure hope the Rays are not going to base their decision only on how Ryan Braun and Alex Gordon performed. There is nothing to suggest that Braun would not have hit well if he started the season in the majors and there is nothing to suggest that Gordon would not have struggled for two months even if he had started in the minors. In fact, one could argue that Gordon benefited from being given the opportunity to work out the kinks in the big leagues, knowing that his job was not in jeopardy, as opposed to struggling in the minors with a job on the line.

The biggest reason the Rays should not base this decision on Gordon and Braun is that they represent a sample size of 2. For every Alex Gordon that struggles in his first two months in the big leagues, I can give you a Dan Uggla who started the season in the majors and hit well all season long.

There may be reasons to keep Longoria in the minors for another month or two *cough, cough* arbitration *cough, cough*, but Alex Gordon and Ryan Braun should only be a minor reason if a reason at all.

Path to greatness [Tampa Tribune]
Prospect hopes to control fate [St. Pete Times]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Marc Topkin also noted that Rocco Baldelli is already working out at the Rays Spring Training complex and says that Baldelli is running "almost all out". [St. Pete Times]
  
• Matt Silverman received honorable mention in a recent St. Pete Times survey of local businesses when asked "Who do you see emerging as the area's top business leaders?" Making the top 9 was St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker who the Times. The Times sees Bakers biggest business related task in 2008 being how he represents the citizens in the Rays quest for a new stadium. [St. Pete Times]
• 43% of local businesses support the Rays proposed stadium. 37% do not. [St. Pete Times]
• The Tampa Bay Rays are taking their fight for a new stadium door-to-door...literally. In the last two months the Rays have made presentations about the new stadium to more than 30 local neighborhood associations, rotary groups and chamber of commerce meetings. They have 26 more meetings scheduled between now and the beginning of the season. [St. Pete Times]
  
• A profile of Carlos Pena and his emergence as a top hitter in the American League. [MetroWest Daily News]