Rays open with a power play

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 4, 2000
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MINNEAPOLIS -- You know what they say about first impressions.

Well, the Devil Rays made a pretty good one Monday night.

Gerald Williams hit the first pitch of the game over the leftfield fence as the Rays launched a season of great expectations in grand fashion, blasting Minnesota 7-0 on Opening Night at the Metrodome.

"Unbelievable," rightfielder Dave Martinez said.

While Williams had the first home run (and who had him in the pool?), Fred McGriff had the heftier blow, a fifth-inning grand slam. But the biggest star may have been pitcher Steve Trachsel, who was tremendous through seven shutout innings.

"To me that was the story of the night," catcher John Flaherty said. "You can talk about all the offense and Gerald's hit and Fred's grand slam, but seven shutout innings, I don't care what team you're playing, it's impressive."

Much of the focus -- and the basis for most of the optimism -- has been on the power potential of the Rays' revamped lineup. But the players know that to be truly successful they are going to have to play complete games, and there were some encouraging signs of that as well.

Start with Trachsel, who allowed five hits, struck out seven and didn't walk a man. "Absolutely magnificent," Williams said. Miguel Cairo and Martinez made key defensive plays, Greg Vaughn beat out a double-play grounder to extend an inning that led to the second run, Cairo got down a key bunt, and relievers Rick White and Jim Morris seamlessly finished the job.

"Freddie's going to hit his home runs, and Jose (Canseco) will, and Vaughn will and (Vinny) Castilla will, but you've got to do the little things," manager Larry Rothschild said.

The Opening Day win was something new for the Rays. They had lost both of their season openers, as well as both of their road openers, both of their home openers and all three games when they were the visitors in opponents' home openers.

"Is that our last first?" Rothschild asked. "Good."

It was a night for some unusual sights. While the teams played in 69 degrees under the air-supported roof, snow fell outside. Further, there were people in the stadium. Lots of them, a crowd announced at 43,830. There probably won't be that many combined for the remaining three games of the series.

Most startling though was that Brad Radke was struggling on the mound for Minnesota. The Tampa Jesuit product had been brutally tough on his hometown team, posting a 3-1 record and 2.14 ERA. But the Rays went after him aggressively, starting with Williams' startling blast, the fifth leadoff homer of his career.

"That was a huge hit," McGriff said. "It got us started on the right foot."

Williams said he was just trying to take a good swing, but it turns out he had help. First-base coach Jose Cardenal had told him to be ready to hit the first pitch. "Jose Cardenal has 38 years in this game," Williams said. "I think when he talks to me I tend to want to listen."

Radke is in the final year of his contract and has been the subject of trade rumors involving the Rays, so much so the joke all spring was that he knew he'd be pitching on Monday but wasn't sure for which team. Monday -- at least -- the Rays were better off without him.

The Rays didn't plan on Trachsel being the Opening Day starter -- not many 18-game losers get such an honor -- but they had no reason to quibble. He had a good spring, and with Wilson Alvarez sidelined and Juan Guzman behind schedule, he was the logical choice.

Trachsel retired the first seven and was in control throughout, mixing his pitches, varying his location and altering his patterns. "I threw strikes with just about everything and was able to keep them off-balance," Trachsel said.

The Rays turned some impressive defensive plays behind him. Martinez preserved a 1-0 lead early, throwing out Matt LeCroy at home to end the third inning, Flaherty taking the one-bounce throw and a hard hit from the Minnesota catcher. Earlier, Cairo made a leaping barehanded grab of Jacque Jones' infield chopper and McGriff made an equally nice scoop of the short-hop throw.

The Rays extended their lead to 2-0 in the fourth, when Flaherty doubled in Vaughn, then took charge in the fifth. Williams started the rally with a bunt single, Martinez singled off shortstop Cristian Guzman's glove and Jose Canseco loaded the bases with a single to left.

McGriff then lofted an 0-and-1 Radke pitch that seemed to hit the top of the 16-foot-high plastic tarp that sits atop the 7-foot outfield fence.

For all the Rays, it was a good way to start.

"The first win is always the toughest to get," McGriff said. "The first hit, the first home run. They're always the toughest."

First things first:  Williams becames seventh leadoff man with 20 HRs, 80 RBIs
 

It's Gerald's show
Williams homers for the third straight game as the Rays move within one of a sweep of Expos.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 15, 2000
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ST. PETERSBURG -- Gerald Williams left the Atlanta Braves to sign with the Devil Rays because he wanted a chance to play regularly.

But there has been nothing regular about his play.

Extraordinary would be more like it.

Williams has emerged as one of the Rays' most valuable and versatile players, contributing with his offense, his defense, his speed and his passion for the game.

"Gerald's been huge," pitcher Albie Lopez said.

Friday, Williams drove in four runs on a single and a homer to lead the Rays to an 8-5 victory over Montreal before an announced 15,870 at Tropicana Field.

He had some help, as Lopez overcame a shaky start to work seven innings for his fourth win in his past six starts, the infield turned four double plays and Greg Vaughn chipped in with three hits.

The homer was Williams' 11th of the season, all from the leadoff spot, and marked the first time he had gone deep in three straight games. Even more impressively, he pushed his RBI total to 54, second-best on the team and the second-highest season total of his seven-year career.

"Gerald brings a lot of energy, a lot of energy," Vaughn said. "When you're out there in the outfield with him, you know he's going to run all over the place and he's going to do whatever he has to to get the ball, he's going to throw the ball, he's going to do whatever it takes to help you win.

"And at the plate he's going to battle. He's going to put the ball in play somehow, some way. We laugh because he talks about his A-ball swing because he ends up in the craziest positions ... but he just flips it over first base or hits a bullet up the middle or hits it out of the ballpark.

"Gerald has a big heart. Adversity -- he's been at the bottom, so there's no panic. There's a lot of heart and desire, and he plays with a passion."

The Rays seem equally divided over whether Williams has been more of a plus defensively, where he roams centerfield with grace and skill, or at the plate, where his run production has been an unexpected bonus.

"I thought we were getting a good centerfielder, and he's played centerfield as well as you can play it here," manager Larry Rothschild said. "The enthusiasm, the energy, all that comes into play. And for a guy in the leadoff spot, and a little bit in the second spot, to have all the RBI he has says something."

What it says is that Williams, 33, is headed toward the best season of his career. A part-time player for much of his career with the Yankees, he hit .275 with 17 homers and 68 RBI in almost regular duty for Braves last season, and he is on pace for even better things.

"This is pretty much the most opportunity I've gotten to play, or am going to get to play," Williams said. "It comes at a time where I had something to build on in terms of at-bats from year-to-year. Those are the most important things in terms of having a chance to enjoy some type of success. You have to have playing time. You have to be able to put your at-bats together. If you play sporadically, that's exactly the way your play is going to be. You're going to be a bit inconsistent."

The Expos had a 1-0 lead when the Rays rallied in the second, Williams bouncing a two-out two-run single up the middle that put them on top for good at 3-1. The Rays built on the lead from there, and Williams made it 7-2 in the sixth when he hit a two-strike, two-out pitch from Tony Armas over the leftfield wall. In his past three games, he is 7-for-15 with nine RBI.

Double plays got Lopez out of trouble in the first two innings, and he got stronger from there, allowing eight hits but just two runs through seven innings.

"Albie threw good pitches and kept the ball down," second baseman Miguel Cairo said. "They hit ground balls, and we tried to do our job."

The Rays have won four of their past six games and are 20-17 since May 31. They are guaranteed their first series win after dropping four straight and five of six, and they are in position today to complete their first three-game series sweep since Aug. 20-22.

They are not, however, getting too carried away with their recent success.

"There are too many games to get too high just over the last two," Vaughn said. "We dug ourselves too big of a hole. We've got a lot of shoveling to do right now.'
 

Williams proves worthy of MVP

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 1, 2000
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ST. PETERSBURG -- Shortstop Felix Martinez has had the biggest impact of any one player on the Devil Rays this season, so much so that manager Larry Rothschild says that when Martinez doesn't make a spectacular play, you wonder what's wrong. That's valuable.

Fred McGriff has been the most productive Devil Ray, driving in a team record-tying 104 runs while scoring 81 and leading all players with a .373 on-base percentage. That's valuable.

Albie Lopez moved into the starting rotation in late May and quickly proved himself not only worthy of the assignment but capable of leading the staff, winning eight of 12 in one stretch. That's valuable.

But the most valuable Devil Ray has been Gerald Williams.

He may not be the most conventional leadoff hitter, but he has given the Rays tremendous production from that spot. He may not be the smoothest centerfielder, but his play this season has been a stark improvement over what the Rays had. He may not say much (or at least much that isn't a bit, um, out there), but he brings energy and intensity and focus and by-example leadership.

Williams has hit more home runs (21) than he ever has before, driven in more runs (89) and scored more runs (86). He leads the Rays in hits, runs, at-bats, total bases, doubles and infield hits. He has gone hitless in back-to-back games only twice all season. He ranks fourth in the American League with a .563 average with the bases loaded.

Most valuable.

OUTSTANDING ROOKIE: There really wasn't much competition, but even if there was, Steve Cox would be a strong choice. He barely played in the first half and often played out of position in the second, but it never affected his hitting. He's had two seven-game hitting streaks, hit 10 homers and tops all AL rookies with 44 walks.

MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE: Nobody knew much about Martinez when the Rays brought him up in May, and what they did know was bad, stemming from temper-control problems he had with Kansas City. He has turned out to be a spectacular fielder, a modest offensive contributor and not a bit of a problem.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Vinny Castilla was hurt, then he struggled, then he was hurt, then he struggled, then he was hurt. All in all, it was the worst season of his major-league career (a .221 average, six homers, 42 RBI), and nothing close to what the Rays expected when they traded Rolando Arrojo and Aaron Ledesma for him. For what it's worth, Castilla is talking about the 2001 comeback player of the year award.

Local writers honor Williams

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 2, 2000
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ST. PETERSBURG -- Gerald Williams may not have the most impressive statistics on the Devil Rays, but he was named their most valuable player Sunday by the local chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Williams set career highs with 21 home runs and 89 RBI in his first season with the Rays, generating offense from the leadoff spot and playing exciting defense in centerfield.

He finished first in balloting of the newspaper and wire service writers who cover the team on a regular basis, with pitcher Albie Lopez second and outfielder/DH Greg Vaughn third.

BBWAA members voted first baseman/outfielder Steve Cox the team's outstanding rookie, with Aubrey Huff second.

Vaughn was selected winner of the Champion Award, given to the player "who best exemplifies the spirit of true professionalism on and off the field."

Last season, Roberto Hernandez was voted MVP, Ryan Rupe the outstanding rookie and John Flaherty the Champion award. The 1998 winners were Quinton McCracken (MVP), Rolando Arrojo (outstanding rookie) and Flaherty (Champion).
 

  INTRO