LAKE BUENA VISTA—The Rangers got in some early work this afternoon, but the grounds crew got proactive and put the tarp down after that, so neither team had the usual batting practice. It finally started to rain just before 6:00, but the semi-official word is we should be able to get the game in. Sounds like it’s just one cell, and once it passes we’ll be in the clear. We shall see.
Updating, the eminent communications director Rick Vaughn just announced they’re expecting to start the game on time at 7:10.
Greg Norton’s pregame chat was very entertaining. He’ll start at DH tomorrow night. I asked him if he was limited in any way with something of a quick return. He said “I’m limited when I’m healthy.” Fair enough.
Here are tonight’s respective crews:
Rangers
Kata 3B
Young SS
Teixeira 1B
Sosa DH
Diaz RF
Cruz LF
Kinsler 2B
Laird C
Mahar CF
Loe P
Rays
Dukes CF
Upton 2B
Crawford LF
Wigginton DH
Pena 1B
Harris SS
Young RF
Paul C
Wilson 3B
Kazmir P
TAMPA - The debut of Rogers Clemens in the pinstripes of the Tampa Yankees on Friday will have it all.
When the Yankees got themselves in the fix they are in — not in first place in their division and malingering a bit, it seemed — they did what the Yankees of activist owner George M. Steinbrenner always had done in the days of his rule.
They simply went out and signed the someone who perhaps could help — heat man Roger Clemens, who had quit the game and said he wouldn’t play any more. They said the terms were not a problem - $28 million.
Clemens, who is just one heck of a player/pitcher/man, will pitch in pinstripes at Legends Field here in Tampa - the Yankees’ spring training stadium and the best in the sport - against the Fort Myers Miracle. Yep, top-notch minor-league stadium, in the Class A minor leagues.
It will be a sellout at more than 10,000, it will be a circus circumstance, and it may all be televised on ESPN, Tampa Yankees general manager Vance Smith said. There may be other sellouts that night around the league but none like this — to see one player just acquired, Clemens, but who just may give the Yanks the shot they so badly needed. The big Yanks have not been playing well. Pitching has been a problem, so the big bid that won Clemens. He had choices.
About 10 wins by the fastballer could be the difference.
But, that’s not the reason for tonight’s hot ticket.
Fans just want to see him in the stripes and start a Yankee turnaround.
Vance Smith now heads the Tampa Yanks and this is his baby.
‘’We’ll be in full spring training mode,’’ he said. ‘’Giveways, running the bases by the kids, bargains, now Roger. I am looking at a sellout.’’
The Devil Rays played at Disney this week. Did not quite sell out at about 8,000. Too bad, really, the Clemens debut game tonight is not against the Rays.
Here, we get too caught up in the hoopla than the importance of Clemens to the Yankees. The New York team, our winter guest with its minor-league club as the full-time residence, mean plenty overall to this picture. But hey, if Clemens pitches as the Yankees want him to pitch, it will be the biggest aid to the Yankee future. The Red Sox, right now without fault, are far ahead of New York in the American League East.
But the Yankees have a key series coming up, starting Friday here and perhaps on ESPN. The head and head Red Sox games are just ahead. The Yankees certainly are still in it. The acquisition of Clemens was a boost, tonight with the Roger return and debut, we all may know a bit more.
Win it all, Yanks, and we may trace the start of it all in Tampa tonight.
LAKE BUENA VISTA—Surprise! Rocco Baldelli has been placed on the 15-day DL, retroactive to Wednesday, with a strained left hamstring. The Rays have activated Greg Norton from the DL to take his place on the roster. More on that when I get it.
In other news, there’s a nasty haze moving over the field and the grounds crew has pulled the batting cage off and is preparing to put the tarp down. Looks like that long-awaited rain is on our way. We’ll see…
Jefferson High Athletic Director Bob Morgan said Darryl Wilborn will be the new Jefferson boys basketball coach. Former coach Henry Washington, who guided the program for four years, resigned from the position in March. The Dragons finished 7-20 and lost to Blake in the first round of the district tournament.
Morgan said Wilborn is a 1979 Robinson High graduate who went on to North Florida Junior College and later joined the Air Force, where he played basketball overseas. He added Wilborn has been involved in youth sports for 20 years and also volunteered as an assistant coach for Blake’s girls team.
“We had over 25 applicants and I think with my conversation with Darryl, his experience working with young people will bring strong leadership and discipline and that’s what we need at Jefferson.”
Morgan said the hiring will be made official by the end of the month.
Barrett Ruud didn’t want to wait two years to take over as the Bucs’ starting middle linebacker but now that the wait is behind him, he’s glad he went through it.
“At times it was frustrating, because you’re not playing, but I also look back and think, ‘It’s probably going to be for the best, because I played behind a guy that was a pro’s pro.’ ’’
That pro’s pro was Shelton Quarles. Quarles was released earlier this offseason, leaving Ruud as the starter at one of the most important spots on the Bucs defense
Matt Dziagwa, a senior point guard at Tampa Catholic, has decided to play for North Carolina Wesleyan College, his father and coach, Don Dziagwa, announced in an email on Thursday. Wesleyan does not offer athletic scholarships because it is a Division III school.
Matt finished his career with over 1,000 points, one of three 1,000 point scorers on the Crusaders squad this season. Dziagwa was also selected to the Tampa Bay Basketball Coaches Association All-Star senior team and his up-tempo style made Tampa Catholic one of the more exciting teams to watch this season.
Jacksonville once along the way was the biggest, aggressively advancing city in Florida. Then the other more southern, better-climated, versatile cities caught up, in almost all categories - except bridges - and passed that northernmost of Florida’s biggest areas.
Tampa-St. Pete, Miami and Orlando have stayed on the progressive run, in business, tourism and sports, but Jacksonville is back in the hunt. The wonderfully successful Tournament Players Championship last weekend proved that. It was a top-notch event, beautifully staged in marvelous climatic conditions at the pro golf-hub suburb of Ponte Vedra, on the Atlantic to the south of the Gator Bowl City, as Jacksonville was once known.
The Florida-Georgia football weekend — the world’s largest outdoor cocktail party — was for so long, Jacksonville’s biggest deal and a big deal it was and still is. It was always full, always in the (old, then renovated) Gator Bowl. Years ago they put a metal fence round the gridiron to keep fans off the playing surface post game. Leaving the Georgia locker room after a Vince Dooley news conference, I noticed an abandoned fan sprawling spread eagle on the wet turf and mud. He managed to get my attention and managed, “buddy can you help an old losing Gator out of this mess? They left me to drown, or drunk out.’’
I found a gate, got the guy on his feet, and outside and under the stands out of the rain. He offered me a drink, then the bottle then $50 for the rescue. Refused them all, he wanted my name, at least. Later I received a bottle of champagne in the mail from Bill Scott. Yes, the $50 tested a sports writer. The champagne was better. The good deed was better. Florida had won.
That game is still a hoot, for all, and will always be a winner. They considered moving it for a time, but did not. Good. Some things don’t need to be changed. Players, on both sides, love it.
And it is one of the several big sports deals Jacksonville produces.
Now, the Players Championship, almost a major tournament at the level of the U.S. Open, the Masters, and the British Open, is a super sport event. Jacksonville and the PGA have seen to that. Once Jacksonville and the PGA and Ponte Vedra partnered, the PGA, cities and players themselves (many moved there), made golf as good as it is anywhere, the course compellingly tough, and worth this bigness of its designation.
And the title round this week past was perfect — great weather, great golf won by one of the sports good guys (Phil Mickelson), sellouts, courteous enough fans, style and charm worthy of the title it carries, and just another great mark on the successes of this city that came close to being Bumsburg. This is the city that once was haunted by downtown slums, riots, not much new, as in hotels.
Now, Jacksonville is golf center, a sports center, a business center, and an educational center.
Jax got its Jaguars because of civic hustle, including a vastly improved stadium and accesses to it, and has been a winning enterprise in the National Football League, and in college basketball with Jacksonville University a success.
It looked for a time as if Orlando may jump into that spot Jax now has with Arnold Palmer and so many more golfers moving there, with the Basketball Magic moving there, but no, Jacksonville has hung on to rank just behind Tampa-St. Pete and Miami in the bigtime sports rankings, indeed, in the overall businesses/sports/growth/climate great place to live rankings.
Jacksonville had the head start, being up there where the population center once was. But Miami, Tampa and Orlando can’t be caught by the Jags, ever, even with the Players as good as it is.
Come a long way Jacksonville, since Arnold Finneyfrock was the sports editor. Neat.
Q: I haven’t heard much about David Boston. What are the chances he makes the team this year? A healthy David Boston could take some of the sting away from not getting Calvin Johnson in the draft. — Chip Black, New York, N.Y.
A: Many of us thought Boston would make the team in 2006, so there’s no certainty he will survive camp this summer. Still, Gruden is guardedly optimistic that Boston can contribute. The key is whether he can regain the speed that made him one of the league’s most dangerous receivers in Arizona. Tampa Bay needs another burner in case Galloway tweaks a hamstring, so Boston will get every chance to shine in Orlando. The rest is up to him.
Q: Does 8-8 in ‘07 save Gruden and Allen’s jobs? Thanks. — Will Hartley, Sarasota
A: Just as important as the record this fall will be Gruden’s willingness to give young players significant time on the field. If the Glazers believe a core group of young Bucs are developing, they will be more than willing to keep the current front office intact.
A seven-run sixth inning by Port St. Lucie was too much for Newsome to overome in the Class 5A baseball state semifinals at Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium on Wednesday. It continues Hillsborough County’s drought in state baseball, as no county team has won a state crown since Tampa Catholic in 2001 and no public school since Plant in 1988. Newsome ends its season at 23-9.
A pair of two-out back-to-back errors by Newsome with the bases loaded led to four runs and opened the floodgates for a seven-run sixth inning for the Jaguars.
David Jackson had a leadoff single for Newsome, but an inning-ending double play erased him. Matt Greer set the top of the St. Lucie lineup down in order in the bottom of the fifth.
In the fourth inning, Matt Greer brought home the Wolves’ first run with a two-out RBI double to center, scoring Ryan Osenton, who had reached on a leadoff single and moved to second on a sacrifice. After speed-up runner Tyler McGuire, running for Greer, moved to third on a wild pitch, he scored on Kyle Copach’s single to right to make it 2-0. St. Lucie’s Josh Prine singled to start the fourth for the Jaguars, but he was doubled off on a fly to right. After Greer hit the next batter, he got out of the inning with a pop-up to third.
Scoreless through three. Newsome went down in order against Port St. Lucie’s Mike McGee in the top of third. He has four strikeouts so far. St. Lucie got a two-out walk, then an error and wild pitch put runners on second and third, but Newsome’s Matt Greer got out of the inning with a strikeout. St. Lucie has stranded five runners thus far.
Scoreless through 2 innings. Newsome went down in order vs. St. Lucie Mike McGee in the top of the second. St. Lucie had a leadoff single in the bottom of the second by Josh Prine, and he moved to second on a balk. However, Newsome pitcher Matt Greer caught Prine in a rundown between first and second on an attempted sacrifice. Greer then struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
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