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Rays Fans Rejoice

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By STEVEN GIRARDI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - It was all so new.

Down on the field, rookie Evan Longoria swung his bat and talked about it afterward with the confidence of a veteran, but he grinned like a kid when he was rounding third base, twice, on home runs.

Up in the stands, Lou Venere ushered fans to their seats as he has for six years, but at one point he had to turn and stare around him at the cowbell-crazy crowd of 36,000 people.

"This is a playoff atmosphere," said Venere, 73, a Bronx native. "I feel like I'm at Yankee Stadium."

But Yankee Stadium is falling to the wrecking ball. The new home of victory in the American League East, for one historic day at least, is Tropicana Field.

The Rays, worst in their division last year and nearly every year since they first took the field in 1998, beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 Tuesday in the team's first post-season game ever.

Their fans showed how much they like watching baseball in October. The din was continuous, from the first-pitch strike by James Shields at 2:38 p.m., through the three runs batted in by Longoria, to the pop-fly caught by B.J. Upton for the final out.

You could trace much of the noise to Section 300 and the permanent seat of 10-year season ticket holder Kathy Plank, the "Cow Bell Queen."

Plank has two seats in the section high above home plate, but she said her husband quit coming "because I make too much noise." Thursday, the 62-year-old Rays devotee brought along a friend, Pieter Wiemken, 16.

Dressed in Rays gear, with Rays tattoo stickers on each cheek, Plank attracted the attention of White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen with the "left-right, left-right" cheer she leads as his batters walked back to the dugout.

After a first-inning strike out Thursday, the mischievous Guillen looked Plank's way and motioned for her to zip her lips. She laughed. The two share a gesture of some kind whenever he comes to the Trop.

Fans long hungry for victory weren't going to lose a moment of the celebration, some showing up four hours before the sold-out game for a late-morning party in the parking lot.

Grills were smoking, beers were chilling and fans were revved up.

The crowd formed lines and circled the dome as game time approached. TV stations set up for telecasts. Gov. Charlie Crist greeted people outside the main entrance.

"This is great for Tampa Bay and for all of Florida," he pronounced.

The governor said he predicted the Rays would make the playoffs.

Ken Betz, 45, of St. Petersburg, expected a great season, too. He missed one of the highlights, though - Longoria's first home run.

"I bring a high school friend to the ballgame. You gotta get a cold beer between innings, and I miss the home run," Betz said. "Just my luck."

Out in the far corner of the stadium, in the left field upper deck, best friends Sarah Martinez and Amy Lounsbury of St. Petersburg peered through a row of people and the bars of a railing to see the game. They couldn't even spot the pitcher.

Martinez got the tickets from a friend of her husband. So where was her husband?

"Oh, he's sitting down there," she said, pointing. "Right behind the Rays' dugout."

Not to worry, she said. "It's still fun. We're happy here."

The game had special meaning for Christopher and Madison Griffin of Brooksville. "I didn't have to go to school," said Christopher, 9.

He and Madison, 7, got the good news Wednesday night after their father, Bryan, scored tickets online.

"I like for the kids to see the way these guys get treated," said Bryan Griffin, a Little League coach.

Their mother, Bonnie, didn't object. "Why not?" she said. "It's not like they're going to fail."

Rolo Rosado, working the taps at the Guinness, Harp and Smithwick's Ale concession, said the demand for his $9 beers was three times normal. Proceeds from the beer stand benefit the Seminole High marching band.

"It's going to be an excellent day," Rosado said.

Recent Eckerd College graduates Seth Hagler and Ben Victor fired up a new $17 grill in the parking lot, each sporting a faux Rayhawk - a scruffy strip of blue fur down the middle of their heads that looked like a spray-painted squirrel.

"I'll probably wear it home on the plane Sunday morning," said Hagler, 23, who works with the Presbyterian campus ministry at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. He planned to be home in time for church, and to leave the faux hair behind.

Fans around them stared at the strange headgear in appreciation.

Everyone knew they were carrying out a tradition sweeping the Tampa Bay area after Rays players carved their hair into mohawks as a sign of solidarity a few weeks ago.

It is still all so new.

Reporter Steven Girardi can be reached at sgirardi@tampatrib.com or (727) 451-2333.

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