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Rays tales

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 23, 2001

KARATE KID: As if he wasn't tough enough, Greg Vaughn revealed last week that he has earned a black belt in karate.

Vaughn devotes considerable time to martial arts during the offseason, enjoying the physical benefits and mental challenges of the discipline.

And having missed chunks of this season and last with muscle pulls and related injuries, Vaughn is thinking of continuing his martial arts workouts during next season.

"I do all this stuff all winter and I sort of don't do it during the season," Vaughn said. "I feel better and I don't have any pulled muscles when I do it, so now I may have to do it during the season. I do a lot of kicking and flexibility type stuff. There's probably nobody out here other than Felix (Martinez) who is more flexible than me."

And nobody tougher.

WARM CUDDLIES: Tanyon Sturtze, who grew up going to Fenway Park, had his own way to gauge how peoples' attitudes changed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- he heard far fewer people cursing at him during Tuesday's game.

"It was different, it didn't seem like too many people were yelling at me as much this time," he said. "It was a little more like, maybe, everybody's the same. I think everybody's pulling for everybody right now. I know they want Boston to win and I know they're going to root for the Red Sox, but I don't think they want to see anybody do bad right now. It's just the way people are feeling.'

DO THEY KNOW SOMETHING WE DON'T KNOW?: The Florida Sports Awards named Vaughn winner of a Jasper award as the team MVP. Included in the news release dated Sept. 11 was this quote: "Greg plays hard all the time," said Hal McRae, manager of the Florida Marlins.

Draft results

Thirteen players drafted and signed by the Rays during the past five years have played in the majors, and two others, Jace Brewer in 2000 and Dewon Brazelton this season, have been on the roster. These are the players, with their current organizations:

(Rd., Player, Pos, Team)

1996

5 Alex Sanchez, OF, Brewers

7 Mickey Callaway, P, Rays

16 Jared Sandberg, 3B, Rays

34 Dan Wheeler, P, Rays

89 Travis Phelps, P, Rays

1997

1 Jason Standridge, P, Rays

2 Kenny Kelly, OF, Mariners

4 Todd Belitz, P, Rockies

9 Toby Hall, C, Rays

23 Paul Hoover, C, Rays

1998

5 Aubrey Huff, INF, Rays

6 Ryan Rupe, P, Rays

8 Joe Kennedy, P, Rays

What they're saying

Marvin Pave, writing in the Boston Globe: "Eights were wild (Wednesday) night for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a team so young that there's a rumor going around their equipment is provided by Mattel and their uniforms by Oshkosh."

Quote of the week

"My parents were here, but I don't know if they stayed. They might have been a little embarrassed." -- TANYON STURTZE, Rays pitcher, after giving up seven runs Tuesday

By the numbers

18: Times Rays pitchers have struck out 10 or more batters.

21: Times Rays batters have struck out 10 or more times.

24: Days between Rays homes games, second-longest stretch behind the Braves.

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