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One more time, from the topTimes staff writers © St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 1998 Not to worry. She began again and completed a stirring, heartfelt version. Womack led a 75-voice choir that included members of three St. Petersburg churches -- First Institutional Church, Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Church and Prayer Tower Church of God in Christ -- that were forced to move in the mid-1980s when construction began on the facility then known as Florida Suncoast Dome. Dang . . . I missedWhen Detroit's Luis Gonzalez hit the first regular season home run in Tropicana Field history, a two-run shot that put the Tigers ahead 6-0 in the fifth inning, it landed in the section where he had purchased 12 tickets for family and friends For the record, the ball went to a man sitting in Section 140, Row Z, Seat 12, just inside the rightfield foul pole, who was neither friend nor relative. According to eyewitnesses, the man promptly sold the baseball to a boy for $100. Gonzalez's best friend, Jack Ferras, said he told his wife Lisa on the drive over that Gonzalez would hit the building's first homer. "It's absolutely incredible," Ferras said. "You could not have drawn it up any better. We were jumping up and down. Luis' grandmother (Amelia Soto) was crying. I guess the only thing better would be if one of us had caught it." I hate these seatsFor one group of disappointed Devil Rays fans, sections 128 and 130 along the rightfield line offered the worst seats in the house Tuesday night. And, at $1,000 or more for each season ticket, they were no bargain, either "We just left at the end of the first (inning) so we could get a hot dog and go home," said Tom Johnson of Temple Terrace. "We thought we were going to have great seats." Instead, Johnson and other fans said the Devil Rays added or rearranged rows between the time they bought their tickets and opening night. For some, it meant they were not as close to the action as they expected or did not have seats on a riser just behind the first rows of field-level seats. Their seats were still at field level, but they said they couldn't see around the heads of the people in front of them. "They told us when they showed us these seats . . . (that) I was supposed to be no more than two rows from the field," said Dr. Louis Soscia, 60, of Sarasota. Tom Sock, a retail manager who is moving from Orlando to Clearwater, said an employee in the ticket window told him some rows were added to the section. Told of the complaints, Devil Rays spokesman Rick Vaughn said the team would begin talking to affected ticket-holders this morning about possibly relocating them or making other arrangements to solve the problem. "We're going to work with them and try to satisfy them," Vaughn said. Why am I not sweating?Dan Moriarty of Tampa had one complaint about Tropicana Field. He was unable to sweat "That's what baseball is all about, being outdoors and sweating," he said. "This place needs a retractable roof. It doesn't feel natural being indoors with air conditioning. It's baseball, but not the baseball I'm used to." Another singer in the newsAt El Cap Restaurant, a favored hangout for baseball fans for many years, owner Mary Jean Bonfili decided to favor opening day with a song She hired St. Petersburg singer Darrell Dodge to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame once every half hour, all afternoon. Dodge, who has sung professionally for 27 years, said he "learned the song this morning." Presumably he knew it well by the end of the day. Judge understands baseball fever * * *Benjamin Fountain Jr. is headed to prison, but that doesn't mean he'll be denied all privileges. Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Frank Quesada wanted to make sure Tuesday that the inmate could catch the Devil Rays' inaugural game. Quesada sentenced Fountain to 22 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine and violation of probation. As bailiffs fingerprinted the 52-year-old, Quesada asked, "Are you going to watch the game from the county jail?" "It's going to be on television?" Fountain asked. Assured it would be, Fountain said he would try. With that, bailiffs led him back to jail -- with time to spare before the first pitch. Too bad it's not Absolut Field * * *"Complimentary orange juice," shouted Robert Eanell, at the helm of Tropicana's Juice Caboose. He had lots of takers on a warm afternoon at Tropicana Field. From 2 to 3 p.m. the caboose doled out half of the 10,000 free cartons the company had available. "How is it?" Eanell asked Bob Bedore, a 58-year-old St. Petersburg resident. "I'll tell you when I put some vodka in it," Bedore said. People "are surprised it's free and glad it's cold," said Tropicana's Carolyn Eastman. But the giveaway is for opening day only, she said. In search of reliefMeanwhile, at the Anheuser Busch brew pub, the pregame beer flowed freely. But the No. 1 question was not "Where's the Bud?" it was "Where's the bathroom? Though the bar was finished enough to serve opening day cold ones, the Brew Pub bathrooms weren't ready to play their very necessary role. Bartenders seemed to be chanting in unison, "Down the concourse, on the left." An unsentimental viewAt the entrance to the Batter's Eye Restaurant is a sculpture of a big, burly baseball player giving an autograph to a pony-tailed little girl She looks up earnestly, waiting for her souvenir. Two men walked by on opening day and noted the sculpture. "Well, that's a joke," said one. "Wouldn't he be charging 40 bucks?"
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azz singer Belinda Womack began the national anthem, then stopped when the field announcer continued to speak, completing his introductions.
