ST. PETERSBURG - Oh. So this is how baseball is supposed to feel.
Rallies are supposed to happen. Fans are supposed to fill the stands. Runners are supposed to cross the plate, the other team is supposed to worry about its boss, and joy is supposed to return to Mudville.
Gee. Who knew?
The Rays had the perfect game Tuesday night. When you consider it all - the crowd, the competition, the comeback - it might have been the most delicious night in the history of their franchise. In their Western Hemisphere opener, they treated the Yankees as shabbily as they had in their Eastern Hemisphere opener.
How much better can a night be? The Rays not only filled the house, they gave people a reason to come back. They fell behind, but that only made it more impressive when they surged back with nine consecutive runs.
Which made greater leaps? The Rays' credibility, or George Steinbrenner's blood pressure?
Welcome to Lou, Season Two.
And a baseball team that seems to have finally figured out which way is up.
Three games in, and the Rays seem bent on world domination. At least, that's true when it comes to the Yankees. Who knows? Next week, maybe the Rays can beat the Yankees in the Australian opener. Or in Fiji, maybe.
Wherever, this could be fun. Can you imagine the back pages of the New York tabloids if this continues? Start spreading the news, indeed.
Even before the opener, the air felt different. There was something crisper, something better. Even Lou Piniella felt the juice rushing through him.
He stood behind the batting cage, bouncing on one foot, then the other, moving around in tiny circles like a boxer who cannot wait for the bell to sound. He worked at the gum between his teeth with the fury of a second-grader, and he talked a little quickly, a little eagerly.
Piniella was made for nights like this, for the nights that seem essential, for the nights when everyone pays attention. He was meant to be in pennant races, making the big decisions, trying to salvage those games that shuffle the standings. There is a fabric to games such as those; Opening Night is as close as the Devil Rays usually get.
It had been 484 home games since the Rays had a sellout, since the first game the team ever played. Since that moment, the team and the fans had let each other down. This time, they finally discovered each other. The fans were so loud that, most of the time, you couldn't hear the Red Sox giggle.
Oh, the skeptic in you had a moment, didn't it? Twenty-two pitches into the game and the Yankees had hit two home runs, and they led 4-0. You rolled your eyes. Of course you did.
To repeat, though, there is something different about this Rays team. Remember that as Piniella prepares to put a second coat of primer on baseball's ultimate fixer-upper. Once more, he will play most days on a field that leans the wrong way, trying to overcome this disadvantage and that one.
Oh, don't get Piniella wrong. He's happy. Fact is, he's excited.
Piniella likes his team better this year than last, when there was a constant search for parts, when there were players who weren't his kind of competitors. This year's team is more talented, more experienced, deeper. When they start wheeling around the bases, they're a lot of fun to watch.
That said, the Yankees still spend close to 10 times what the Rays spend on payroll. It's hard to outmanage 90 cents on the dollar.
Around here, however, people still believe in Piniella. If he says that, by golly, the Rays aren't going to finish last, who are the rest of us to doubt?
Oh, let's face it. Predicting a finish of ABL - Anywhere But Last - isn't exactly like Babe Ruth calling his shot. Joe Namath isn't going to be impressed by a team that boldly predicts it could finish in - whee! - fourth place.
Around here, where the Rays have never finished anywhere but on the bottom, this is bold stuff. Still, there are those who hear Piniella's words and shake their heads sadly. Who, exactly, is Piniella calling out? The Yankees? The Red Sox? Toronto? Baltimore? All of them?
"I thought the team needed to know what the manager was thinking," Piniella said. "And the fans too. What good is it if I say "Well, let's see.' I like realistic goals. That's realistic. I didn't say we were going to finish first. I said we were going to play winning baseball and we weren't going to finish last."
Winning baseball? Surely, Piniella isn't saying the Rays will finish above .500?
Piniella smiles again. He bounces around some more. He works the gum. He doesn't say no.
"For us to be above .500 would be like winning the pennant," he said. "But if we stay healthy, if our young guys come along, if we get some pitching ... "
You can see it in Piniella. He yearns to compete again. He doesn't want to believe his days of managing a contender down the stretch are over.
The perfect situation is for it to happen here. It's tricky. The team has to be fun enough to capture the imagination of the fans, who have to keep coming in sufficient numbers so the ownership will continue to spend money.
On a night such as this, it seemed possible. All of it.
Who knows? If they keep it up, maybe they won't finish next to last either.
