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Costner Going To Bat For Rays

BOB HANSEN / News Channel 8

Actor Kevin Costner joined in batting practice at Progress Energy Park on Wednesday. His band, Modern West, is slated to play in St. Pete today, when the Rays unveil new uniforms.

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By KEVIN WALKER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 8, 2007

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ST. PETERSBURG - When you're Kevin Costner, you get a lot of people asking you to show up at events. But a recent request from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays immediately grabbed the actor's attention.

"You get a lot of silly requests, but this one I took pretty seriously," Costner said Wednesday during an appearance at Progress Energy Park. The request he accepted involves his band, Modern West, playing at an event in downtown St. Pete tonight, when the Rays will unveil new uniforms.

"The owners here are serious about changing things," Costner said. "Change is not the worst thing in the world."

That's especially true for the Devil Rays. They were the worst team in baseball this year, and they have not finished with a winning record in 10 seasons.

Wearing jeans and boots and sporting a soul patch, Costner, 52, took batting practice Wednesday afternoon. The star of three well-known baseball movies - "Bull Durham," "Field of Dreams" and "For Love of the Game" - used an aluminum bat and took some balls into the outfield (from both sides of the plate).

"I wanted to be a baseball player. I was not good enough to be one."

Tonight's show begins at 6:30 in Straub Park. Admission is free.

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