Fans will help Rays ring in home opener tonight

It seems forever since the Tampa Bay Rays were in town, playing games and becoming the best little baseball story in years. Actually, it has been only five months since Tropicana Field was packed every night for the playoffs and no self-respecting Rays fan, nouveau or otherwise, would have been caught without a cowbell.

Those days were grand but they live in the archives now, assigned forever to that place where only the fondest memories exist. The new season is at hand, and the Rays make their return to the Trop tonight against the New York Yankees. The Rays have some extra-special welcoming gifts for their friends from Gotham.

First, the Yankees get to watch as the American League pennant is raised to flutter in the air conditioning. On Tuesday night, the Rays receive their championship rings - yet another reminder to the free-spenders from New York that money doesn't necessarily buy a pennant. The Yankees continue to try and disprove that, by the way.

This isn't about the Yankees, though.

It's about a franchise that promised and promised this day would arrive, even as the Rays - or the Devil Rays, as they were known then - got sand kicked in their collective faces night after night. When the Rays began kicking back, people weren't quite sure what to think. They just knew they liked it.

"Most of our community had never been in a pennant chase. They had never experienced that drama," Rays President Matt Silverman said. "Once they went through it, they got hooked. I think our fans have an emotional attachment to the team and feel vested. There is a lot of pride in being a Rays fan now."

There is also a lot of anticipation.

Long time gone

The Rays haven't played at the Trop since beating Philadelphia 4-2 in Game 2 of the World Series on Oct. 23. Spring training, which for the first time in franchise history was spent outside the Bay area in Port Charlotte, lasted a week longer than normal because of the World Baseball Classic.

Manager Joe Maddon called the Port Charlotte digs "everything I had imagined - a really healthy work environment."

But the move also meant an end to easy trips to Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg, the Rays' former home, for a quick afternoon baseball fix.

When the regular season finally began last week, the Rays were sent on the road to Boston and Baltimore.

That's a long time to wait for a hot dog and the clang of a cowbell.

The pundits seem to think last season was a fluke, with many predictions for the Rays to finish behind the Yankees and Boston this year. Still others take aim on the Tampa Bay market itself, saying overall fan interest remains tepid despite the magic of 2008.

Attendance increased to about 1.8 million last season, an increase of about 400,000 from 2007 but still among the lowest overall totals in baseball. Even in a bad economy, that should change this year. In the past 20 years, only the Florida Marlins made it to the World Series and drew less than 2.5 million fans the next season.

More respect

We'll find that out in time as this season progresses. For now, though, tonight will be the 12th consecutive Rays sellout at the Trop, including eight post-season games last year. Tuesday's game against the Yankees is nearing a sellout as well.

"There is universally more respect for the organization and there is recognition throughout the community for what the Rays are," Silverman said. "We have certainly expanded our base. We're more a regional team now."

This is how the dreamers who wanted to bring an expansion team here said it would be, all those years ago. They imagined nights with the Yankees in town, with a pennant to be raised, and with celebrations to enjoy.

It took a while, but when you hear the clanging of the cowbells you'll know that day finally has arrived. It was worth the wait.