Bombers vs Champs

I've been covering spring training baseball since 1993 and I don't ever remember seeing a raccoon running through a stadium, let alone a stadium that is filled.

But Charlotte Sports Park here in Port Charlotte is built near a wildlife preserve, so there are all kinds of critters living just beyond the parking lot.

A raccoon made it into the park after batting practice, and animial control need more than a few miniutes to trap the furry guest, which darted through the seats between the two dugouts.

That's the fourth raccoon to find its way inside the park this season. Three have entered while the gates were open. A fourth entered just before the gates opened and caused fans to wait outside until he or she was trapped.

Anyway ...

The game.

The Yankees make their only trip to Charlotte Sports Park this spring. At least they are the Yankees in spirit. Not too many of the varsity caught the bus south for this tilt.

Here are the lineups:

Yankees
Bret Gardner CF
Melky Cabrera LF
Xavier Nady RF
Nick Swisher 1B
Robinson Cano DH
Cody Ransom 2B
Angel Berroa 3B
Ramiro Pena SS
Kevin Cash C
Alfredo Aceves P

Rays
Jason Bartlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Willy Aybar 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
Pat Burrell DH
Dioner Navarro C
Ben Zobrist CF
Gabe Gross RF
Adam Kennedy 2B
David Price P