Rays tales

By Compiled by MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 30, 2000

DO THEY KNOW SOME THINGS WE DON'T KNOW?: Those Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Books for children can be great; educational and fun to read, what with the full-color pictures, detailed explanations and well-written text. But facts apparently can be a problem. The new baseball edition includes in a section on ballparks: "The Skydome, home of the Toronto Blue Jays, was the first sports stadium with a retractable roof. The large curved portion at the top slides along tracks to cover the field and the fans in case of bad weather. Seattle's Safeco Field and Tampa's Tropicana Field also boast similar technological marvels." Just wondering, but does Vince Naimoli know such a stadium is available just across the bridge?

NO HORSEPLAY: Greg Vaughn isn't the only athlete in the family. His wife, Michelle, competes on a championship level in dressage, an equestrian event that combines discipline and training, and she recently won a national amateur event. The Vaughns have stables at their Sacramento-area home, and Greg does what he can to help out with the horses -- to a degree. "I like to go out there and feed and clean them," Vaughn said, "but I won't get on them. They're too big."

ALL ABOARD: Ozzie Guillen is having too much fun playing baseball to retire. But when he does, the good times are going to continue. Guillen has a 52-foot yacht, complete with three bedrooms and three bathrooms, docked off the coast of his native Venezuela, and he plans to spend plenty of time on board Yemaya 13. His longest trip has been a 12-day journey from Fort Lauderdale to Caracas, but there will be more. "I'm going to make sure my kids live better than I did," he said. "It's as simple as that."

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: Bob Costas, writing in his new book, Fair Ball -- A Fan's Case for Baseball, on the idea of eliminating some franchises as a way to solve baseball's economic woes: "The other problem with contraction is this: More than 24 franchises have a fan base that has proved it will support baseball if some semblance of a competitive team is placed on the field. You can make a case for cutting Montreal based on a longtime lack of fan support. You can even cut Tampa Bay, citing a marked drop in attendance in only its second season. You might even argue for cutting Oakland, based on the idea that two teams can't fly in the bay area market. But that brings you down to 27 franchises, a no-man's land."

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I think it might be harder to get thrown out because you're yelling and no one else is yelling." -- LARRY ROTHSCHILD, Rays manager, discussing new degree of patience shown by umpires

DISABLED LIST
Player	Injury	Likely return
LHP Wilson Alvarez	Shoulder tendinitis	Late May
RHP Juan Guzman	Shoulder tightness	Late May
RHP Bryan Rekar	Groin strain	Mid-May
INF Damian Rolls	Shoulder surgery	Uncertain
LHP Tony Saunders	Fractured arm	Uncertain

BY THE NUMBERS

10: Games, of the first 22, decided in final inning.

229: Career major-league starts by Dave Eiland, Ryan Rupe, Steve Trachsel and Esteban Yan

400: Career major-league starts by Dwight Gooden.

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