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What's a little envy among friends?
© St. Petersburg Times NEW YORK -- In the heart of tradition, there is jealousy. Look beyond the glare of all those championship rings and, maybe, you can see it too. This is the gospel according to Vince Naimoli. The Rays were in town and the Yankees, by George, were jealous. Did you see it in their eyes? The way they kept checking the scoreboard to make sure they could wrap up the victory in time for happy hour? Jealousy. Did you see it in their gait? The brisk way they ran onto the field to accept their AL championship rings before Sunday's game? Envy. So goes the latest chapter in a rivalry that has much in common with the old Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote dust-offs. The Yankees zip by and the Rays check the sky for falling anvils. In case you missed it, the Rays arrived in New York in first place. Sure, you could point out the season was 3 days old, but they were the best three days in the team's life. Giddy, whimsical days. Then jealousy reared its ugly headline. Buried in Saturday's Daily News was a short story claiming 1) the Rays needed to take out a bank loan to meet expenses, 2) Major League Baseball had to guarantee the loan, 3) other owners were livid at the arrangement. A top baseball official essentially said the report was, at best, a distortion of reality and, at worst, a heaping, stinking pack of lies. And he was the voice of reason. Naimoli called a press briefing and read a prepared statement saying the story was untrue and counsel had advised him not to say anything further. So, of course, Naimoli went far enough to reach Oliver Stone's porch. He said the story's source was someone with a private agenda, and insinuated it involved jealousy of Tampa Bay's 3-0 record. To his credit, Naimoli did not point a finger in accusation. But, then, it really was not needed. As with everything else at Yankee Stadium, the scuttlebutt seemed to lead in the direction of George Steinbrenner's suite. Has Steinbrenner been known to covertly leak stories? Yes. Would this be a petty slap at the Rays? Yes. Would it be beneath Steinbrenner's stature? Yes. Would he do something like this out of jealousy of the Rays? (Cue the audience laugh track.) Steinbrenner has his share of faults, but jealousy of the Rays would be a difficult one to pin on the Yankees owner. The Yankees have 38 AL pennants. The Rays have 38 leftover Juan Guzman jerseys. The Yankees have Monument Park. The Rays have catwalks. The Yankees have given birth to legends. The Rays have contraction pains. It seems far more plausible Steinbrenner enjoys taking little digs at the Rays in retaliation for Naimoli's past carping about the amount of love showered on the Yankees in Tampa. Either way, the issue of jealousy seemed fairly ridiculous by the end of the weekend. The Rays arrived with a one-game lead on the Yankees in the East and departed two games behind in third place. It took 72 hours. New York's starting pitchers were, almost literally, unhittable. The Yankees flashed more power, more speed, more depth. "This is not a weekend to evaluate how we're playing. This has nothing to do with what we're doing," manager Hal McRae said. "This was a hot staff on a superior club. They're doing their thing. And when they are, we're going to come up short. We need their B game or C game to win. Their A game? No." All the qualities the Rays displayed in a three-game sweep of the Tigers to open the season still remain. For the most part, the Rays play smart and play hard. They have decent, if unspectacular, pitching. They need more production at the top of the lineup and will be susceptible all year to injuries because of a deficient bench. So which turns out to be reality? The three-game sweep of the Tigers or the three-game sweep by the Yankees? In essence, both are. The Rays have just enough talent to play .500 or better against a half-dozen teams in the league. Against the rest, the Rays will struggle. "The Yankees are a lot better than us, but they're also a lot better than most other teams," first baseman Steve Cox said. "We're going to be all right. We've still got the same team that beat Detroit. Give us a little more time, a few more games, you'll see how we can play." Perhaps this was the best thing for the Rays. A quick introduction to the real world and a reminder of how far they still must go. McRae has shown exactly the proper amount of expectation mixed with perspective. Now the rest of the organization, from the owner to the second baseman, should follow in line. For whatever reason, this organization has always lacked cohesion. It has lacked a shared sense of purpose from the front office to the field. Too many people have spent too much time looking over their shoulders instead of into the mirror. Maybe, with a little more perspective, that will change this season. Now that would be worthy of envy.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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Times columns today Howard Troxler John Romano Sara Fritz From the Times Sports page |
