Baby Rays lose, but kids win

By CAROL LOVE

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 10, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- The St. Petersburg Devil Rays lost the game by 10 runs, but 2,342 people, most of them children, still had a good time Saturday night.

It was the ninth annual Optimist Free Youth Night at Florida Power Park.

The Daytona Cubs weren't the only winners. Fifteen children won bicycles, helmets and locks.

"The kids had a tremendous time," said Walt Swan, one of the Optimist organizers of the event. In addition to the bikes, "we gave away . . . two autographed bats from Wade Boggs that went over very well, (and) we gave away 1,000 baseballs this year."

Three children were selected for the dash for cash; every baseball they collected as they raced against the clock earned $1. Each bucket pitched onto the field also had at least two balls marked with an "X," which earned the kids $5.

The event often draws thousands of children, but attendance was down this year.

"After nine years, we relaxed a little," said John Cannon, one of the Optimist coordinators of the event. "We needed more advertising, more push on it."

In keeping with the youth theme, the Optimists and fellow sponsor Val Pak invited Alicia Whedon from the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High to sing the national anthem.

Groups in the audience included a Gulfport T-ball team, students from Grace Lutheran Church School and clients of The TAVE TEAM at RE/MAX Affiliates.

Optimists stopped the show at least three times to toss 100 T-shirts and candy to children.

"We were always doing something for the kids. It was great" Swan said. "The smiles on their faces are worth a million dollars."

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