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A Special Moment For Rocco

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Rocco Baldelli jogs to home plate after hitting a three run home run in the eighth inning.

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 14, 2008

BOSTON - Like so many other kids growing up in New England, Rocco Baldelli grew up dreaming of playing a starring role at Fenway Park in October.

Everything came to fruition Monday as Baldelli's loved ones watched him trot around the bases after his mammoth three-run homer over the Green Monster gave the Rays an 8-1 lead over the Red Sox in the eighth inning.

"To be able to do it in front of my friends and all my family and stuff was very special for me," Baldelli said. "I would check out postseason games every year in the offseason when we obviously weren't playing in the postseason, and it was a situation where I was sitting there and I was like, 'I want to play in those games.' I think that's what every player is waiting for, to be able to play in October when everyone's watching. It makes it all the more special."

Baldelli provided about 10 tickets for those closest to him, including his parents and brothers and an aunt and uncle, but there were plenty more cheering him on. He only wished he could find them in the stands as he made the circuit, and he said that was on his mind as he headed for the plate.

"I still have no idea where they were sitting," he said. "I looked the entire game and all I saw was Red Sox fans."

As a New Englander, Baldelli still enjoys grudging support from the locals. Following his homer, the Red Sox media relations staff announced that he had become the fourth Rhode Island native to homer in the postseason, joining Paul Konerko, Davey Lopes and Gabby Hartnett.

SAME AS EVER?

Andy Sonnanstine will make the biggest start of his life tonight, but he feels a lot better about his chances if he doesn't think of it that way.

"The big thing for me is to not build the game up in my mind," Sonnanstine said Monday. "I feel like if I downplay it just like it's a regular start, I do better in that environment. I don't want to get myself too amped, because that'll take away from me going ahead and working towards my strengths."

Sonnanstine employed that approach in his only two starts this season against the Red Sox, both at crucial points in September. He didn't allow an earned run in either game, limiting the Red Sox to seven hits over 13 innings.

FASHION FORWARD

Mike Aguis made a good choice about what to wear to Fenway Park on Monday. A Rays season-ticket holder who lives in New York, the 36-year-old donned an Evan Longoria jersey and wore it proudly in his seats atop the Green Monster.

"I see enough Ortiz jerseys in the Trop," Aguis said. "It's nice to have a Longoria jersey up here."

Nicer still was the play Aguis made when Longoria's third-inning homer bounced off his buddy's hand. Aguis corralled it and waited outside the Rays' clubhouse long after the game until the rookie finally emerged to sign the ball for him.

"It's pretty exciting," Aguis said.

THIS & THAT

Facing knuckleballer Tim Wakefield tonight, the Rays likely will go with the switch-hitting Willy Aybar at DH and Fernando Perez in right field, with both of them hitting right-handed. Both homered against Wakefield on Sept. 17 at Tropicana Field. ... Only 11 players in major-league history have hit more than five homers - B.J. Upton's current total - in any one postseason. Barry Bonds (2002) and Carlos Beltran (2004) hold the record with eight. ... Upton and Longoria have combined for nine homers, five short of the record for a pair of teammates (Bonds and Rich Aurilia in 2002). ... Akinori Iwamura has least one hit in every playoff game.

Marc Lancaster

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