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Rays' Wilson resumes his impressive run

On emotional night, starter stifles Boston through 6 in 12-2 win.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 20, 2001

BOSTON -- Paul Wilson didn't quite understand. He knew President Bush and other leaders wanted the country to get back to work and back to normal as quickly as possible. But he was having a hard time figuring out where something as frivolous as baseball fit in with the nation's recovery from the terrorist attacks, and he couldn't imagine how the results could in any way seem meaningful.

Eventually, Wilson accepted the idea that baseball players are entertainers, and he went to the mound Wednesday with the thought: "If this would help anybody get their mind off what's going on, just to put a smile on somebody's face, it's worth it."

One moment in the midst of a stellar performance that led the Rays to a 12-2 victory over the Red Sox on a chilly night at Fenway Park, he realized just what it meant.

Lee Greenwood's country anthem God Bless the USA was blaring through the stadium, the crowd of 29,627 was on its feet in patriotic roar and goose bumps covered Wilson's arms.

"Before the game I thought that whatever the outcome was it wouldn't mean as much," he said. "But after the inning when they played the Lee Greenwood song and everyone stood up, it was very emotional. I just felt so proud and unbelievably excited to be out there at that point. It gave more meaning to this game than I thought, kind of put it back to where it was supposed to be for me.

"I know they're Red Sox fans, but it was like it didn't matter. There wasn't an away team and a home team, it was just Americans. It was chilling. It was really, really a cool experience."

By the end of the night, Wilson had plenty to feel good about. He turned in another stellar performance, dominating the Red Sox for six innings, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out a season-high eight.

More importantly, he continued an impressive second-half comeback to regain his place among the team's reliable starters.

In nine starts since rejoining the rotation July 25, Wilson is 5-1 with a 2.88 ERA, and the Rays have won seven of the games. He has allowed three runs over his past 20 innings.

"He's been outstanding," manager Hal McRae said. "This is probably the third ballgame he's pitched where we felt he's pitched as well as he could pitch."

Wilson had some help, obviously, as the Rays set a season high for runs (without hitting a home run) and matched their largest margin of victory. Of greater significance, they snapped a five-game losing streak.

The score was 2-2 until the Rays' season-high eight-run outburst in the sixth.

Aubrey Huff, filling in for ailing Greg Vaughn, led the way with a three-hit, five-RBI performance.

The game, the Rays' second since the resumption of play, was more normal than Tuesday's, but not quite routine.

The Rays wore new caps with the American flag stitched over the left ear. Several flags were draped throughout the stadium. There was a rendition of God Bless America before the game and another extended singalong to America the Beautiful during the seventh-inning stretch, followed by chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!"

But the biggest indication of how things had changed came in the middle of the fourth inning. In a stadium where the name "Yankees" is almost always followed by the word "s---," the Fenway fans followed a prompt from the public address announcer to show their compassion and joined in singing New York, New York.

"I was sitting next to Russ Johnson and we were saying that's probably the first and last time that song will be played here," Huff said.

Wilson was pleased with how night went, as much with his performance as the overall presentation and emotions of the game.

His wife, Shannon, is from New Hampshire, and a dozen of her relatives drove in to see Wilson pitch. A trip to Boston is usually a happy homecoming, but Shannon Wilson wasn't there Wednesday. She stayed home because of safety concerns.

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