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Giving new meaning to 'big game' pitcher

Rays left-hander Doug Creek is an avid outdoorsman who loves to eat what he hunts.

By MIKE READLING

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 15, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- If it weren't for baseball, places like Canada and Montana and animals like moose and elk would be mere visions in Doug Creek's shaved head.

If not for that strong left arm and a tenacity similar to some of the dogs he uses in the woods, Creek probably would be working construction back home in West Virginia. His evenings would be spent watching elusive animals and the latest hunting methods on some cable television show.

But Creek, an avid outdoorsman, made it to the big leagues. He has proved himself a successful relief pitcher for the Rays and, rather than being dreams, Canada, Montana, moose and elk are plans.

"Up until recently I haven't really had the funds," said Creek, who signed a one-year deal two weeks ago worth more than $200,000. "It's an expensive thing to do to go and pay for some of those hunts you see on TV but I plan on doing it. There are a lot of hunts I would like to do, but an elk hunt out west ... that's my big one. I would love to go out there and get a big bull. I'd love to get up to Canada and get after some moose or some of those big white tails they have up there."

Until then Creek, 32, is going to have to deal with St. Petersburg and its lack of big game. That means more hours in his boat, reeling in some of Florida's finest sea life.

Not that he's complaining.

"I'm in the perfect city and have the perfect occupation to be able to do the things I love to do," Creek said. "I've got outstanding fishing down here during the season and in the summer and then I have all winter off to be able to travel and all that."

During the season, Creek often takes his 17-foot aluminum boat for a morning expedition.

Some mornings he makes the 45-minute trek to Lake Tarpon in pursuit of largemouth bass. Other times it's a quick jaunt from his home in south St. Petersburg to Tampa Bay.

"I grew up freshwater fishing because that's all I had. Then when I came down here, I became more of a saltwater fisherman," Creek said. "It's more convenient for me. I can put my boat in right here in the bay and they got some of the best reds and snook and trout that you can shake a stick at."

Being an outdoorsman lends itself to its share of odd stories and Creek certainly has plenty.

Creek spent 1998 in Japan, pitching for the Hanshin Tigers. There wasn't a lot of hunting to do over there so he indulged in a little Far East line-wetting.

"I did a lot of fishing actually," Creek said. "They do things a little differently over there. I'm more into larger fish, sport fish. They're more into catching a bunch of fish that they can eat ... little mackerel, like a hundred of them. They had some funky looking fish over there."

Creek recalls the time he and six well-armed friends squeezed into a duck blind on the edge of a pond. They were in there before dawn, all crammed in, guns at the ready, waiting for 7 a.m. and the designated shoot time.

"We started shooting right at 7 and everybody had his limit by 7:20," Creek said. "That's six ducks a piece."

Much like his pitching stats, Creek's hunting numbers are impressive.

He has caught salmon in the 17- to 18-pound range, dolphin in the 20- to 30-pound class and an 8-pound bass at Lake Tarpon.

His biggest deer is an eight-point buck, which he shot in southwest Arkansas three years ago on the first day of the season. He just missed a 10-pointer during a celebrity hunting tournament outside Montgomery, Ala., this past hunting season.

"You hunt long enough you're going to miss a few," Creek said.

Creek doesn't buy guns just to have them around the house; he only buys what he uses. The same goes for what he stalks: He won't kill something unless he plans to eat it.

His collection of weapons includes a .308 rifle he hunts deer with, a 12-gauge shotgun for duck hunting and a .22 for squirrels. Creek also has a .357 Magnum pistol to add a higher degree of difficulty to deer hunting.

Lately he has gotten into a habit of hunting with primitive weapons such as his black powder gun or the 72-pound compound bow he showed off in the clubhouse last year.

There are some forms of hunting Creek hasn't tried.

Toward the top of his list is fishing with a crossbow. He saw an episode on that form of fishing last year on Outdoor Life, an ESPN2 program that is a fixture in the Rays clubhouse, and is intrigued by the idea.

"I'm still waiting to do that," Creek said. "The thing is it's illegal to shoot anything other than trash fish. I've never been real big into killing anything I won't eat, just out of meanness or for sport."

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