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Burrell Is Here To Help Rays Get A Parade

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Last year with the Phillies, Burrell batted .250 with 33 homeruns and 86 RBIs.

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 28, 2009

Updated: 03/28/2009 11:23 pm

PORT CHARLOTTE - In October in Philadelphia, he was at the head of a parade before he was on the way out of town.

The Phillies owner asked Pat Burrell to lead the charge in the crazed World Series celebration.

"It was a gesture, because I'd been there the longest," Burrell said.

Atop a wagon pulled by Clydesdales, Burrell rode with his wife Michelle, and Elvis, their 125-pound English Bulldog.

"We took that turn onto Broad Street and we were leading it," Burrell said. "There were 21/2 million people. I kept looking at my wife and saying, 'Do you believe this?' ... There were people on the sidewalks, hanging from buildings. I don't know how many miles we went, but we never saw the concrete. Everybody should experience that."

He smiled.

"Starting with these guys."

These guys, his new guys, the Rays, the very guys the Phillies beat.

Burrell, 32, has brought his big bat to Tampa Bay. The Phillies didn't try to keep him, but he's all smiles. He went straight from a World Series winner to the Series loser. And this loser is a winner, with future everywhere you look.

"It's unusual," Burrell said. "I thought about that. Is it going to be strange? But these guys have been unbelievable. They've really welcomed me into the circle.

"... There's real talent here. We had amazing talent in Philadelphia. There were MVPs over there. This is maybe a younger rendition. These guys here, Longoria, Upton, Carl Crawford, they can be real special."

The man is here to help. The man is here to hit. He'll bat fifth as designated hitter. He'll play some in the field, but mostly he'll hit. The hulking Burrell has done more than his share of that in nine big-league seasons. Burrell averaged 28 homers and 92 RBIs in Philly.

He is digging his new clubhouse, fitting in, making friends. Burrell's Phillies teammate were crazy about him, too, his attitude, his work ethic, everything. Last season, they wore "Man or Machine?" T-shirts featuring Burrell's shirtless image. Ah, the heartthrob days.

Now back to the bat.

"He loves people on base," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "He actually improves with runners in scoring position. He bears down even more. You can see it. To this point in this camp, his at-bats with runners in scoring position have been almost all good. He just has a nose for the RBI."

"When you're in the middle of the order, it's not about home runs," Burrell said. "It's about driving the ball and producing runs."

The bonus will be any quiet veteran leadership.

"As far as somebody standing up in the clubhouse and airing everybody out, that's just not my personality," Burrell said. "I don't like to talk about myself very much, be out front. ... But I've been through some things that maybe I can pass along to these guys."

Some things? How about all things? He was the top pick in the draft. He has lived the life, baseball and otherwise. He has been cheered and jeered. Philly will do that. After he left the Phillies, Burrell bought a newspaper advertisement to thank the fans.

"If you can go up there and survive, you know, you can play just about anywhere," he said with a grin. "I'm a huge fan of Northeast baseball. It's a little more intense atmosphere. It was a different kind of relationship. I certainly enjoyed it, but I'm not saying I didn't struggle with it at times."

After he signed a six-year $50 million contract, Burrell flopped in 2003, hitting only .209 with 21 homers and 64 RBIs.

"The timing probably could have been better," he said with another grin. "I was in the middle of it. I lived downtown. It wasn't like I was hidden in a subdivision somewhere."

He lived it all. He heard it all.

"It makes you stronger. Fortunately for me, in the end it worked out."

Next week, on their way to opening the season in Boston, the Rays play the Phillies in two exhibition games at Citizens Bank Park.

"It's going to be an experience," Burrell said.

In his last at-bat for the Phillies, in Game 5 of the Series, Pat Burrell and his bat hit a long double.

"It was really something, the parade thing," Burrell said. "We kind of thought it was overrated. We heard the '80 guys who won the Series saying it was amazing, that it was the highlight of the whole thing. We were like, hey, winning the game was the highlight. Then we got to the parade. We were blown out of the water, just blown out.

"It was a special deal. At the same time, it's over. Now it's time to get back there, because everybody needs to experience it."

He can think of 25 off the top of his head.

These guys. His guys.

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