Wake-Up Call: Joyce Begins Homecoming On The Road

Welcome to the Wake-Up Call, a new feature on TBO.com that will greet 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 (hint-hint).

Good morning!

Seven years ago, Matt Joyce was roaming the outfield at Armwood High School.

Now he's at Fenway Park, probably appearing today in his first big-league Opening Day game with his home-area Rays.

Joyce is the 15th Tampa Bay area native to play for the Rays' major-league team. Here are the others (in alphabetical order):

3B Wade Boggs (Plant) - Hit the first home run in franchise history and his 3,000th career hit also was a homer (in 1999). He was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 2005.
Rays Totals (1998-99): .289, nine homers, 81 RBIs in 213 games.

RHP Lance Carter (Manatee) - He made the All-Star Game in 2003.
Rays Totals (2002-05): 13-10, 3.92 ERA, 29 saves in 165 relief appearances.

C Kevin Cash (Gaither) - Had a brief stay at Tampa Bay's big-league level. Better known for his work with the Red Sox (2007 world champions) and Blue Jays (when he was the favored catcher of Roy Halladay).
Rays Totals (2005): .161, two homers, two RBIs in 13 games.

OF Elijah Dukes (Hillsborough) - Homered in his first big-league at-bat. That was somewhat, um, overshadowed by his significant off-field troubles. Now playing for the Washington Nationals.
Rays Totals (2007): .190, 10 homers, 21 RBIs in 52 games.

RHP Dave Eiland (Zephyrhills) - Now he's pitching coach for the Yankees.
Rays Totals (1998-2000): 6-12, 6.54 ERA in 26 starts, 13 relief appearances.

RHP Dwight Gooden (Hillsborough) - He came home - briefly - at the tail-end of his career.
Rays Totals (2000): 2-3, 6.63 ERA in eight starts.

LHP Mark Guthrie (Venice) - Played for the 1991 world champion Twins, but he never provided the expected boost in Tampa Bay's bullpen.
Rays Totals (2000): 1-1, 4.50 ERA in 34 relief appearances.

OF Kenny Kelly (Tampa Catholic) - A celebrated draft selection who chose baseball over the University of Miami, where he played quarterback for one season. Many of his former teammates comprised the 2001 Hurricanes (12-0, national champions), considered perhaps the best team in the state's college football history.
Rays Totals (2000): 0-for-1 in two games.

1B Tino Martinez (Jefferson) - Fairly productive in his one season with the Rays, but he finished up with the Yankees and most people equate him with pinstripes anyway.
Rays Totals (2004): .262, 23 homers, 76 RBIs in 138 games.

1B Fred McGriff (Jefferson) - His 99 home runs are second on the Rays' all-time home-run chart (to Aubrey Huff with 128). McGriff, who has a Hall of Fame resume, also hit 394 home runs for other teams.
Rays Totals (1998-2001, 2004): .291, 99 homers, 359 RBIs in 577 games.

INF Jason Romano (Hillsborough) - Former first-round pick of the Rangers who was waived after a brief Tampa Bay stint.
Rays Totals (2004): .125, one RBI in four games.

LHP Bobby Seay (Sarasota) - Seay and Matt White were the bonus babies who never quite worked out in Tampa Bay. Seay is still active with the Tigers.
Rays Totals (2001, 2003-04): 1-1, 3.63 ERA in 45 relief appearances.

OF Ozzie Timmons (Brandon) - One of the top players in University of Tampa history is now coaching with the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits in the Rays' organization.
Rays Totals (2000): .341, four homers, 13 RBIs in 12 games.

RHP Doug Waechter (Northeast) - Waechter's shining moment was his first home appearance - a two-hit, complete-game shutout of the Mariners in 2003.
Rays Totals (2003-06): 14-25, 5.62 ERA in 54 starts, six relief appearances.

Big-League Locals

After Joyce, here are the other 14 Tampa Bay area players on major-league Opening Day rosters:

Reds RHP Bronson Arroyo (Hernando), Nationals OF Elijah Dukes (Hillsborough), Angels INF Chone Figgins (Brandon), Astros LHP Mike Hampton (Crystal River), Braves 1B Casey Kotchman (Seminole), Blue Jays RHP Jesse Litsch (Dixie Hollins), Reds RHP Nick Masset (Pinellas Park), Astros OF Jason Michaels (Jesuit), Nationals OF Lastings Milledge (Lakewood Ranch), Orioles RHP Chris Ray (Hillsborough), Tigers LHP Bobby Seay (Sarasota), Mets OF Gary Sheffield (Hillsborough), Twins OF Denard Span (Tampa Catholic) and Royals RHP Doug Waechter (Northeast).

That number could swell in the early season. Twins RHP Boof Bonser (Gibbs) begins the season on the disabled list.
More notables - such as Athletics INF Jeff Baisley (Land O'Lakes), Nationals LHP Tyler Clippard (Mitchell) and Marlins C Mike Rabelo (Ridgewood) - are in Triple-A.

Bully For The Bulls

I've always been mystified at the abuse heaped upon the NIT, as if it's worth nothing. It's good basketball, featuring many teams that were just a razor's edge away from the NCAA Tournament.

If you're looking for a real fraud, you might consider NFL exhibition games, which are essentially full-priced scrimmages and a way to extort more money from loyal season-ticket holders.

But we digress.

There is a Women's NIT - and the USF Bulls (27-10) are the champions after Saturday's 75-71 win at Kansas.

What does it mean? Plenty. The Bulls were devastated after being excluded from the NCAA field. They promptly went on a five-game winning streak to capture the WNIT title.

Remember, the USF women's program once went 14 consecutive seasons without winning a game - not one - in conference tournament play. Now it has earned one of the best trophies ever for a USF athletic team.

In terms of overall impact, I'm putting USF's WNIT title on the school's select accomplishment list - such as the men's basketball team capturing the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title in 1990, men's basketball's NCAA Tournament at-large bid in 1992, men's basketball winning the old Florida Four Tournament in the early 1980s, the largest football victories (Pittsburgh in 2001, Louisville in 2005, West Virginia in 2006, Auburn in 2007, West Virginia in 2007), men's soccer making the Elite Eight in 2008, softball making the NCAA Super Regional in 2006 and baseball coming within reach of the College World Series in 1996 (the Bulls lost in 13 innings against Florida in a chance to earn the regional final).

Star-Studded Weekend

It had to be one of the most significant weekends ever for Tampa Bay area women's athletes.

USF's Shantia Grace (Sarasota Riverview), making her final collegiate appearance, was named Most Valuable Player of the Women's NIT.

Brittany Lincicome (Seminole) won her first LPGA major in stunning fashion, sinking a 6-foot eagle putt on No. 18 - after a brilliant approach shot - to capture the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Freshman Tiffany Hayes (Winter Haven) helped the Connecticut Huskies past Stanford in Sunday night's Women's Final Four. Hayes now has an opportunity to become the third Tampa Bay area player - along with Brandon's Kiana Robinson (2004 UConn) and Clearwater's Dominique Redding (2007 Tennessee) - to win an NCAA women's basketball championship - in Tuesday night's All-Big East championship game against Louisville.

USF Rugby: On The Move

USF's rugby team recently captured the USA Rugby South title, beating defending champion East Carolina 27-24 in the final. USF (9-0) has scored 364 points, while allowing just 98. USF, ranked ninth nationally, is seeded No. 6 for the Sweet 16/Final 8 round, scheduled for April 18-19 in Sanford. The Final Four is May 1-2 at Stanford University.

National Award For Brooks

Longtime local sports official Clem Brooks, who is retiring, received the National Health and Fitness Association's Community Serivce Award on Saturday during the final day of the organization's national convention in Tampa. Brooks worked on the sideline chain gang during Super Bowl XLIII at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium.

Twice As Nice In SEC

The University of Florida has claimed the last two SEC Freshman of the Week baseball awards, and both players were from Hillsborough County - pitcher Alex Panteliodis (Alonso) and first baseman Preston Tucker (Plant).

Big East Honor

Meanwhile, Georgetown University senior left fielder Sean Baumann (Freedom) took Big East Player of the Week honors by hitting .579 (11-for-19).

Birthday Wishes

Bucs center Jeff Faine, a Notre Dame alum, turns 28 today.

Monday Trivia

Each day, we will feature a sports trivia question with a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below. It's meant to be something not easily found (or Googled), so I'm hoping to toss a few shutouts.

Here goes.

Wilson Alvarez threw the first pitch in Rays' history when the franchise opened play on March 31, 1998 at Tropicana Field. Who was the Detroit Tigers' leadoff batter?

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