8th inning: Jays at Rays

Someone just pointed out to me that there's a white spot marked on the grass in right field where home plate is supposed to be for the new ballpark. Optimistic or presumptuous, take your pick. I can think of worse ideas than an outdoor waterfront park for this franchise. I think it would be a great addition to what is already a pretty cool waterfront scene in downtown St. Pete, and I can't imagine it would hurt attendance, given the potential atmosphere (as long as that atmosphere doesn't include stifflingly muggy August nights), but I can only imagine what voters will say when the proposal hits the ballot in November. Is it the best use of public dollars? That I can't say. Given the current market, I can't imagine the Rays have a realistic chance of raising capital by selling Tropicana Field, but what do I know? If was a financial genius, I certainly wouldn't be sitting in a press box.

I do know I'll be sad to see Al Lang go. It's not the nicest minor league park around, but the old girl has her share of memories. I even have a personal one: I played here once. It was the summer of 1980, and I was in St. Pete for Little League camp. We ate, drank and slept baseball for two solid weeks, playing three of four games a day when we weren't drilling or watching old black-and-white film highlights of old World Series. If you made the camp's all-star game at the end of the two weeks, your reward was playing a game on the big field at Al Lang. The place looked a lot different back then — St. Pete looked a lot different back then — but it was a big deal, being on that field, being in real dugouts (look, they're really dug in the ground!). I was a catcher, and I had sprained my hand about a week into camp, catching some ridiculous kid from Texas who was throwing in the high 80s, who must have been a 20-year-old in disguise or really ahead of his time and on the juice, but I managed to keep my head up, my hand wrapped, and I made the game. I still remember playing in that game, and, I've got to be honest here, two decades into a sports writing career, it was still a treat this morning, standing in that dugout again, watching batting practice from the top rail. Just like it was a treat a few minutes ago, watching the Blue Jays' pitcher from the tunnel at field level, waiting to talk to Edwin Jackson about his start.

I really, really, don't want to see this place razed to become more condos.

About that visit with Edwin Jackson. While I was in the clubhouse talking to Mr. 5-15, I heard a roar from the crowd. What was I just saying about Evan Longoria? Sure enough, he came back up and, sure enough, he hit a home run. Personally, I still haven't seen the kid do jack squat. But it was a five-run inning for the Rays and, much as I'd like to tell you how it happened, I'm going to have to look up the play-by-play later. All while I'm talking to Mr. 5-15. Figures.

They just brought the attendance in: 3,736. Hope that just won someone a bar bet.

It's 8-4 Rays and, against all odds, looks like we're about to wrap this one up in nine innings.