Bottom 4th: Jays at Rays

I'm sold. Eric Hinske is going to be the comeback player of the year. He's going to be this year's Carlos Pena. He's going to be a great story. Heck, he already is.

OK, it's early. And there are no guarantees that Hinske is going to make the roster. But I want to believe he's got something left, and so do the Rays, obviously. They've played him at first, third, left field, right field and used him as a DH this spring. He's playing first today with no difficulties, and he just sent a ball screaming toward the left-center gap, clearing the wall on one hop for a ground-rule double.

And, by the way, I may have spoke too soon about John Rodriguez, because he just drove in his second run of the game, scoring Hinske. It's now 4-3 Blue Jays. Rally caps, everyone...

Here's the quick and easy, down and dirty on Hinske for those of you who are slow to keep up: the guy was the American League rookie of the year for the Blue Jays ... yes, these very same Blue Jays ... in 2002, hitting .279 with 24 home runs and 84 RBI. He's never been as good since, hitting .243, .246, .262 and .264 in parts of four seasons that followed, getting traded (for cash) to the Red Sox in 2006. He hit .204 for Boston last year in 84 games, but got an at-bat in the World Series (a classy move by Terry Francona.) Now he's here with the Rays as a non-roster invitee, trying to prove he still belongs at this level.

The guy looks like a big-leaguer: thick as a tree trunk, Jonny Gomes tough-looking in the clubhouse. And if he can play a variety of positions and get enough at-bats to find his rhythm early in the season...well, stranger things have happened. Right, Carlos Pena?