Wake-Up Call: Staats with Rays from the beginning

The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.

Good morning!

Dewayne Staats, the only television play-by-play man in Rays' history, has seen a lot of baseball in his 32-season career and he's closing in on 5,000 major-league broadcasts.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Staats talks about his craft, his compulsion, his first baseball championship ring and his son-in-law (yes, his son-in-law, read on):

Wake-Up Call: For the first season since joining the Rays, you are not sharing a booth with Joe Magrane. What has that been like?
Staats: It has been an adjustment, no question, but life is a constant adjustment, isn't it? Joe's personality, on or off the air, could fill the booth. I'm a little more methodical in my preparation, so I just had him do whatever he was doing and I think it worked pretty well.

The real adjustment for me has been alternating between two different analysts, Kevin Kennedy and Brian Anderson, instead of having just one. Kevin, of course, gives you the managerial and catcher's perspective and his track record speaks for itself. Brian [also the Rays' assistant pitching coach] gives you a younger voice, a left-handed pitcher's perspective and he's very enthusiastic. He's still evolving, but he can be as good as he cares to be, if he wants to continue doing this.

I wondered what it would be like, working with two rotating analysts instead of just one. But I think it has worked well and they are both really good guys.

Wake-Up Call: The Rays made it to the World Series last season, but for the first 10 years, you called games for mostly a last-place team. As a broadcaster, how do you charge yourself up in the late season when so many games are meaningless in the standings?
Staats: Nothing beats winning because when that happens, everybody is the best. The broadcasters are the best, the manager is a genius, everybody is happy. But in a perverse way, it's a fun challenge when you have a team that isn't very good. You must find ways to make the telecast interesting, to hold an audience.

Winning is something the team pursues every night, but it's not going to be delivered every night. So what do you do? You have to sell the game, the experience, the personalities.

There are times, if you really don't love the game and like what you're doing, it's going to be very apparent. If you walk away thinking we've done the best job we could with the game, no matter how the game went, that makes it interesting and rewarding.

Wake-Up Call: You're a guy who has fun with the broadcast and it comes across to the viewers. How do you balance the serious and light-hearted moments?
Staats: I do think there has to be a little frivolity, but never at the expense of the game. The game is the reason we're here. We're going to give you the game and we'll try to dissect it to the best of our ability. But there should also be some light moments. You have the whole range of emotions. There are going to be quiet times in the game and quiet times in the telecast. There are going to be exciting times when you build the moment and the drama.

But you really do need the human touch. You can't just recite numbers and what's going on and expect that to carry the day.

Wake-Up Call: How did you get here with the Rays anyway?
Staats: Well, the first big break was getting on with the Astros full-time in 1977. Then I got to Chicago with one of the storied franchises [Cubs], a great market and I was very fortunate to do that. I was never someone who ever dreamed or attempted to go to New York, but the opportunity came and doing games at Yankee Stadium, working with a guy like Tony Kubek, what a treat that was. And I got to do the national stuff on ESPN.

But the one thing I had never done was an expansion club, the establishment of a team. It appealed to me and I jumped at the chance. I knew there was going to be a lot of losing here. It was a little longer than many of us anticipated. To be here when the club turned the corner, when the plan started working, that was really, really special.

Wake-Up Call: When you come to the ballpark, are you wondering what's ahead that day, whether this game will be a no-hitter or an all-time classic?
Staats: That's the anticipation of each day. Every game, actually, is kind of a mathematical miracle. Gene Elston [former Astros broadcaster] always said no game is ever the same. Every game is as unique as every human being. And he was right.

In a sense, you do see something completely new every time you come to the park. That's part of the thrill of live programming. Nothing is better than live, when you have to roll with the punches. What we're doing is reporting, commenting and, hopefully, entertaining. It's not the worst thing to say you haven't seen something before. Maybe you haven't. We're not all-knowing in the booth.

Wake-Up Call: What memorabilia have you saved from your career?
Staats: Would you believe every scorebook, right from the beginning, back to the minor leagues? I have them all at home and keep them in order. If you're around this game, I think you have to be a little bit compulsive and I certainly have some of that in my personality. Look, I used to keep all the issues of The Sporting News, back when it was really the bible. I kept them stashed in my parents' attic and it was probably a fire hazard. I eventually purged through them, painful as it was, but kept some of the special ones and still have them at home, too.

Wake-Up Call: Some people might not realize that Dan Wheeler, the Rays' relief pitcher, is your son-in-law. How has that broadcaster/player relationship worked in your family?
Staats: It might be kind of a new frontier, uncharted territory. When Dan came back here in the deal with Houston [on July 28, 2007], I picked him up at the airport. We were driving back over the Courtney Campbell and we basically agreed. Hey, you do your job, I'll do mine and it will all be good. And that's great in theory.

Now I'm not a guy who will be overly critical of people, but I will point out things. I think I have to have the credibility every now and again to say something wasn't so good or it was really good. In the case of Dan, if he gives up a home run, I might say that pitch was a very hittable pitch and the batter hit it. Well, that's not a criticism. It's just true. You're pointing out something that's your interpretation of the game.

If anybody gets the short end of the deal, I think it's Dan because I think I'm a little reserved in praise for him for obvious reasons. He had a great year in his role last season and those guys don't get a lot of positive reinforcement. They hear it when things are bad. The great part is he's a guy I would want on my team or in any organization.

I did the initial scouting reports on him before he married my daughter [Stephanie] and determined he's a really special guy. To have them here and the two little guys [grandsons] is so great. It doesn't always happen that way in baseball, and I'm grateful for it.

Wake-Up Call: So if the Rays are tied with the Red Sox in the ninth inning, Boston has the bases loaded and Dan Wheeler is pitching, how are you feeling inside?
Staats: I like to think I have a high degree of discipline and concentration in my work. You try to compartmentalize things. Truthfully, you're never completely successful in doing it. Look, I want any of those guys to do well, including when Dan is out there. But there's a little bit more of a vested interest when you've got a family member there. You do have the butterflies.

If your mental health is good, you're concerned about things you have control over and not so concerned over things you don't have control over. But baseball fans sometimes suspend that healthy premise of living. That's why they're fanatics. They root for things over which they have no control

Well, I'm often in that position when Dan pitches. It doesn't stop me from having butterflies or emotions if he succeeds or struggles. In this part of my life, I'm just going to accept the fact that I'm going to be a little bit unhealthy and indulge in a situation over which I have no control. Then I'll try to come back and worry about the things I can control.

Wake-Up Call: The World Series had to be a special thrill. How disappointing was it for the Rays to fall short?
Staats: There's a frustration because all young players feel as if they're going to get back there, but you never know. It never happened at all for Ernie Banks or Billy Williams. I was thrilled to see it happen and I'm very grateful to have a ring [American League championship]. All the years in baseball, and I never had a ring except one I got when Texas A&M won the Southwest Conference in basketball.

I'm part of it, sure, but let's be honest. I'm never going to strike anybody out or get a base hit. For their sakes, I really hope they get a chance to go to the World Series again and win it. When you're young, you think you'll play for 20 years, you'll live forever. In the end, the reality gets you most of the time.

Wake-Up Call: Was last season your most rewarding experience?
Staats: You know what might be more rewarding? I've had some fathers come up with their sons and it really gives you a sense of perspective. They say the kids were 8 or 10 years old when we started with the Rays and they watched the games together. Now those kids are 20 years old.

That's the special part of baseball and it was something I experienced as a kid. You have the day-in, day-out of a season. You grow up with a franchise. You feel like you know the players and the broadcasters because they are with you every day. When someone relates that to me, it gives me satisfaction. It reminds me that I have a really special job.

Sanders back with Mountaineers

West Virginia University junior wide receiver/running back Jock Sanders (St. Petersburg Catholic), the team's top returning receiver, has been reinstated to the team, six months after his arrest on drunken driving charges. Sanders had 53 receptions for 462 yards and seven touchdowns.

Under his plea agreement, Sanders must complete a six-week alcohol education program. Also, he must use a device on his car that won't allow it to be started if he has been drinking. In return, charges of underage drunken driving, speeding and driving left of the centerline will be dismissed.

Coghlan still rolling

Heading into July 21, Florida Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan (East Lake) was batting .241. Since then, he has hit safely in 15 of 18 games, raising his batting average to .286. Monday night, in an 8-6 victory against the Houston Astros, he was 1-for-3 and extended his hitting streak to nine games. He had multi-hit performances in his previous eight games, a club record.

Dopirak batting .333

First baseman Brian Dopirak (Dunedin), playing for Triple-A Las Vegas in the Toronto Blue Jays' organization, was 3-for-6 in Monday night's 16-8 victory against Iowa. He's batting .333 with 20 RBIs in 25 games with Las Vegas, since being called up from Double-A New Hampshire.

Four saves for Bullock

Former University of Florida closer Billy Bullock (Riverview), now with the Class A Beloit Snappers in the Minnesota Twins' organization, earned his fourth save (in 15 appearances) in Monday night's 7-5 victory against Cedar Rapids. In 15 1/3 innings pitched, Bullock (2-0, 1.76 ERA) has 18 strikeouts and just four walks.

Lockwood on a hot streak

Second baseman Nick Lockwood (Jesuit), who disdained a scholarship with the University of South Florida and signed after becoming a ninth-round pick of the Minnesota Twins, is batting .533 (8-for-15) in his last four games with the Gulf Coast League Twins. Overall in 23 games, Lockwood is batting .281.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to Sickles High School boys basketball coach Renaldo Garcia, the former Tampa Catholic scoring machine who was the starting point guard on the University of Florida's first regular-season SEC champion in men's basketball (1988-89 season). Today, Garcia turns 40.

The Answer Man

The 2005 Texas Rangers were the last American League team (other than the Rays) to have three batters finish in the final top 10 for league strikeouts - Hank Blalock (132, tied for third); Alfonso Soriano (125, seventh) and Mark Teixeira (124, tied for eighth).

Tuesday trivia

Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.

Which eight NFL franchises have never faced the Bucs in an exhibition game?

Check for the answer in Wednesday's Wake-Up Call.