Golden opportunity to see stellar 1Bs

ST. PETERSBURG - If you want to get a sneak peek at the American League's Gold Glove first baseman, check out this Devil Rays-Mariners series. Chances are you will see him.

The question is whether it's the Rays' Travis Lee or Seattle's John Olerud. Both likely are the top candidates for the award voted on by the managers and coaches.

Olerud won the award in 2000 and 2002, but Lee is getting noticed for his defense in his first season in the American League. Though most attention goes to his ability to pick balls out of the dirt, a skill that probably has saved the Rays infielders a few dozen errors, Rays general manager Chuck LaMar is amazed at Lee's range on popups. As an example, he pointed to a game when Lee ran all the way to the Rays bullpen at Tropicana Field to track down a fly ball.

Manager Lou Piniella called it "as fine a play as I've ever seen a first baseman make." All this means Lee has a shot to knock off Olerud as the top glove.

"My opinion is he should not only have a shot to win the Gold Glove, he should win the Gold Glove," LaMar said. "And that's not disrespect to any of the other outstanding first basemen, especially (Olerud). But there is no one that has played better than Travis Lee has."

LaMar said he has been so impressed by Lee's defense that he, for the first time as a major-league executive, realizes first base might be a more important position than catcher.

HUFFIN' AND PUFFIN': Aubrey Huff continues to swing a hot bat. He hit his eighth home run in the past 12 games Wednesday and extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He is batting .479 with 21 RBIs during that span and has nine RBIs in the past three games. With four RBIs Wednesday, he became the third Ray to drive in 90 or more in a season.

What's more, Huff is on pace for 200 hits, 52 doubles, 32 homers and 104 RBIs. Only four players in major-league history have reached those numbers in the same season: Chuck Klein (1930), Lou Gehrig (1927), Alex Rodriguez (1996) and Todd Helton (2000).

"He's a bright spot," Piniella said. "He's very quietly developing into one of the really good players in baseball."

Speaking of doing things quietly, Huff has an outside shot at the American League batting crown. Huff went 3-for-3 to raise his average to .318. Anaheim's Garret Anderson and the Yankees' Derek Jeter went into Wednesday tied for the lead at .322.

GETTING RESPECT: The Rays are 54-83 and 29 games out of first place. Yet, for the most part, they appear to have shed their laughingstock image.

Though it's unlikely any teams are trembling about having to play the Rays, it does appear as if the Rays are getting more respect around the American League.

That's nice, Piniella thinks, but at the end of the day it doesn't mean much of anything.

"With the respect factor? The respect factor is okay," Piniella said. "But it would be much better accompanied by 81 wins. That's when you get the step where you can make your presence really, really felt."

THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT: Pitcher Joe Kennedy made his first relief appearance on Tuesday after 72 starts. Piniella said Kennedy would be used in all situations, from middle and long relief to situations where he would be called upon to retire one hitter.

MISCELLANY: Rays centerfielder Rocco Baldelli will be featured on a Web chat today on mlb.com at 3 p.m. The site can be accessed through devilrays.com. ... B.J. Upton, the Rays' 19-year-old first-round pick in 2002, has been named to Sportsticker's 2003 All-Teen team. ... Umpire John Hirschbeck, who was hit by a foul ball Tuesday and bruised a rib, did not work Wednesday. He was replaced by Justin Klemm, who flew in from Chicago to take Hirschbeck's spot. ... Triple-A Durham lost to Louisville 4-3 in 11 innings in the opener of the first round of the International League playoffs.