ST. PETERSBURG - Who will spring for the confetti?
Who wants to plan this celebration and, at the same time, purchase a piece of history? Who is going to unveil the scoreboard countdown to 500 home runs?
Tell me, who wants Fred McGriff?
Speak up. Raise a hand. Won't somebody please take a step forward and offer this man a better chance to sneak up on the Hall of Fame?
We are days from spring training and McGriff has no job. Oh, the Devil Rays have given him a contract, but no assurances. This is an audition. A month-long stage on which he can make his case for a happy ending.
McGriff is nine home runs away from 500 and 29 teams away from being unemployed. Is this how it happens? You stalk history for so long, eventually you are confined to its pages?
You didn't figure it would go down this way. Sure, everyone gets old. Every athlete has a finite number of games. But who knew it could come so quickly?
At this time a year ago, McGriff was coming off a 30-homer season. His second in a row. He was coming off a 100-RBIs season. His fourth in a row.
He was not that far removed from the All-Star Game and not that distant from becoming the 20th player to reach 500 homers.
Then, last summer, he pulled a muscle. Later, it would lead to a torn ligament. Eventually, it became a strain on his credibility.
In a year's time, McGriff has gone from a starting job on a big-market team to a minor league contract for baseball's minimum wage.
So do you pity the poor millionaire? Of course not. McGriff has signed contracts for more than $65-million in his career. He lives in a gated community in Tampa and has time to watch his children grow.
But you do wonder about baseball's economics. About the game's priorities. All McGriff has done is play consistently and productively for the better part of 17 seasons. Then one bad summer and he's through? Nine home runs away from leading the news on SportsCenter and he's without a locker?
"It's always been a very humbling game," Rays general manager Chuck LaMar said. "Here's a player who would add a veteran presence to any team. Hopefully, still a productive player. And yet he's had a very hard time finding a job. The last several years, the pendulum has swung, the market has changed. Someone like Fred is an example of that change."
You could call it change. Or you could call it backlash. Teams are no longer interested in spreading the wealth. Either you're a star making star money, or you're a prospect making your bones.
Look at the big picture, agent Jim Krivacs said, and it's hard to understand. Go team by team, he said, and you see how it happens.
A lot of teams have first basemen tied up in long-term deals. Other teams are rebuilding and want to give younger players an opportunity. McGriff has been caught in between with, literally, nowhere to go.
"Some things are not left up to you," McGriff said. "You have to go with the flow. I've been blessed. I've played 17 years. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would play 17 years. So I've got no complaints."
Actually, at least on this day, he is indebted. The Rays had no reason to sign McGriff. LaMar had no obligation to pursue him. The team already is loaded with first basemen and designated hitter types.
So maybe it doesn't make the best business sense, but it is a warmhearted gesture in a sport that often lacks compassion.
LaMar, essentially, is offering McGriff a chance to catch the eye of another team with some spring training at-bats. His only shot at making the Rays is if holes open through injury or trade.
"All I know is 500 home runs is a tremendous accomplishment," LaMar said. "We'd be proud to say we helped him in achieving that goal."
We never knew quite how to take McGriff. Nice guy, but a little aloof. Good player, but not exactly a fan favorite. He was the type of player who made it look effortless, and that was not always a compliment.
Maybe that has something to do with the lack of interest. McGriff's singular asset was his bat and, when it finally failed in 2003, he became a lot less attractive.
The shame is his numbers may not yet add up. Oh, you could point out that of the 20 players with more career home runs, all who are eligible are in the Hall of Fame. And of the 33 players with more RBIs, all but one who are eligible are in the Hall of Fame.
But times are changing and standards are expanding. Numbers that once seemed automatic for Cooperstown may soon be subject to debate.
If McGriff is borderline today, another nine home runs could help to change perceptions.
"Fred has had many days in the sun throughout his career," LaMar said. "I just hope he has one more."
