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Ex-Rays thrive, but McRae not surprised

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 8, 2001

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Vinny Castilla, enjoying a remarkable renaissance, is playing a key role in Houston's bid for the NL Central title. Albie Lopez has helped pitch Arizona to the NL West lead. Fred McGriff is trying to keep the Cubs atop the wild-card race. Gerald Williams is a reserve with the soon-to-be AL East champion Yankees.

The veterans discarded by the Rays have done their parts to help their new teams take part in the playoffs, with the chance for some interesting postseason reunions.

But, manager Hal McRae said, no one should think the players would be doing as well if they were still here, or that the Rays would be any better if they were.

"It wasn't the players themselves, individually, it was more so the group of players," McRae said. "Some first-division clubs wanted those guys and they got them, so they must be pretty good.

"We just had too much of the same. The pieces were more valuable than the whole. The pieces were very valuable. As a whole it was not a compatible group."

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE: Matt Keough spends every day trying to help the Rays win. Friday, he saw them play for the first time this season.

Keough is the Rays' advance scout, and he spends most of his time watching whatever team the Rays are going to play next, filing reports on who and how the Rays should attack.

With plenty of Boston games on tape, Keough is spending this weekend watching the Rays.

"With all the new faces, it's nice for me to get a feel for our team," Keough said. "And to get to watch three games without writing down a million things, and running a radar gun and stopwatch will be a little bit fun, too."

THE LIFE: Having spent a week in the majors, staying in fancy downtown hotels in Seattle and San Francisco and traveling on two charter flights, Dewon Brazelton says he enjoys the major-league lifestyle.

"It's great, what everybody dreams of," Brazelton said. "We stay in the best hotels. I haven't carried a bag since I've been here. Everything's the best, a first-class organization. I'll probably gain 40 pounds because there's food everywhere."

The routine is a huge change from what Brazelton was used to at Middle Tennessee State, where the team rode a bus to all away games and usually stayed two to a room in a Super 8 motel. "Sometimes a Best Western if we were lucky," Brazelton said.

JUNIOR RAYS WIN: Tarpon Springs High product Ed Kofler pitched a complete-game two-hitter to lead Class-A Bakersfield to a 6-2 win over Mudville and a place in the California League Northern Division finals. The Blaze opens a best-of-five series today at San Jose.

RAYS BITS: Greg Vaughn's sore left hamstring kept him out of the lineup for a fifth straight day, but he could be available today. If not, Steve Cox will DH and Aubrey Huff will play first. ... Players and coaches will spend Monday's off day playing in a golf tournament with team sponsors and suiteholders at the Preserve golf course in Manatee County. ... Randy Winn tied a team record held by Jason Tyner and Quinton McCracken with eight hits in the three-game series at Seattle. ... The three errors in the sixth inning also matched a team high.

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