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© St. Petersburg Times, published December 19, 1999
Having been a Padres season-ticket holder two years ago, I can attest firsthand to the kind of impact Greg Vaughn has on a team. That year he was the offensive catalyst who powered the Padres to their first World Series since 1984. After being subjected to harsh criticism during his first season and a half with the Padres for his slow adaptation to the National League, he quickly turned around with an astounding 50 home runs.
The Devil Rays have an offense that is arguably the best in the American League. With the pickup of a solid middle reliever and quality starter, this club can compete with the Yankees. Kudos to Vince Naimoli and Chuck LaMar for engineering the addition of Vaughn and Vinny Castilla. It now is up to the fans to get behind this organization, before we lose it.
With ease of parking, virtually open freeways to Tropicana Field and a quality lineup, there are no excuses for Tampa Bay fans not to go. How many ballparks in any city are within 45 minutes of 85 percent of the population? Not many. How can Los Angeles endure the traffic woes accessing Dodger Stadium and still sell out virtually every game?
Appreciate what we have here in Tampa Bay.
-- Eric Hamblen
Tierra Verde
Gary Shelton wrote: "If you are not excited about this team because of these moves, you simply don't like baseball."
No, Gary. If we simply don't like these moves, it means we've looked past the offensive slugfest and the facts that lie within -- no pitching, low on-base percentage and weak up-the-middle defense. We might actually know baseball well enough to figure out things aren't all bright and rosy at Tropicana Field in spite of the dealing last week. Maybe the other fans are going to jump up and down over these acquisitions without realizing the team needs vastly more to improve.
The media ought to stop candy-coating the Devil Rays. If you pay attention to some of the buzz from other media outlets, they've deemed us as "rebuilding." How so? This team never was "built" in the first place. That has to say a lot about how bad this team is -- with or without Castilla and Vaughn.
-- John Fontana
Palm Harbor
Rolando Arrojo is one of the better pitchers in baseball, and certainly at the top of the Rays' starting rotation. His journey to the United States followed by his family's escape from Cuba is a great story. He is sort of a baseball hero. When I decide to go to a game, I usually pick one when he is the starter. He is fun to watch, keeps a clean off-the-field lifestyle, and is a pretty good role model for the kids.
Considering what he's being paid, and the fact that (in this era of get-what-you-can, the-heck-with-loyalty) he truly wanted to stay with the Rays. I think it was downright dumb to trade him.
-- Carl Anderson
Palm Harbor
Two days after the blockbuster deals by the Devil Rays, you open the Times sports section and notice sizable ads by the Lightning and Buccaneers, but nothing from the baseball team. No wonder the Rays flopped at the box office last year. The marketing department still does not understand how and when to capture the moment.
-- Steve Guss
Clearwater
What does Hank Aaron mean when he says "minorities"? Are African-Americans the only minorities? I think not. ... I always thought qualification was the main reason for a specific job, not the color of one's skin. ... My solution to his problem is for him to buy a major-league team and staff it with all the minorities he can find.
-- Bruce Miller
Spring Hill
As a lifelong baseball fan, I really appreciated Marc Topkin's reporting of the 1999 baseball winter meetings. With other sports dominating the news scene, we baseball fans needed his in-depth reporting.
-- Bill Levitt
Clearwater
It appears Rick Dudley's move to dismiss Jacques Demers and replace him with Steve Ludzik was the right one. I don't believe Demers' easy manner of coaching would've brought about the work ethic that this team needs. Ludzik's hard-work philosophy is the only thing that can make a team succeed when it lacks high-caliber players like Eric Lindros.
If Dudley can spend a few dollars in the free-agency market next summer, you'll be able to watch the Lightning become a very competitive playoff team in 2000-01.Bob Maglietta
-- Oldsmar
Peter Warrick says Heisman candidates should be judged by what they do on the field. I would have no problem with that if citizen Peter Warrick had been judged in the criminal courts only on the basis of what he did away from the football field.
-- Palmer O. Hanson Jr.
Largo