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The Dome's secrets lie buried no moreBy TOM ZUCCO © St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 1998 "Paul Sorrento was kicking some dirt on the infield when he unearthed what appeared to be a rusty, yet still workable, harmonica," said the official. "That's how this whole thing began." Rays groundskeeper Mike Williams and team manager Larry Rothschild emerged from the dugout to inspect the instrument, followed closely by Rays managing general partner Vince Naimoli, who attempted to take the harmonica from Sorrento. In the meantime, Williams and Rothschild uncovered several articles of clothing, including a pair of men's dark socks and what was first believed to be a Devil Rays baseball cap but turned out to be a "Damn Gulls!" cap. "They look very similar," said a stadium security guard. Moments later, Rothschild, trying to dig up what he thought was a discarded sprinkler pipe, made a grisly discovery: human bones. "I want to be very emphatic about this," Naimoli said, "nobody gets in for free. Even if they are deceased." Lydia LaTretta, a forensic pathologist who was attending the game as a guest of the Tampa Bay Lightning, tentatively identified the remains as those of 52-year-old Wendell Feldman, an East Lansing small appliance repairman who was reported missing while on vacation in the area. She was aided by the inscription on the harmonica: Wendell Feldman, 244 Maple Ave., East Lansing, Mich. 517-555-7827. Feldman's wife filed a police report that said he left the couple's motel on Central Avenue to "get a pack of Viceroys" on Jan. 17, 1974. He did not return. Witnesses said they saw a man fitting Feldman's description sleeping under a tree at the site where Tropicana Field now stands. "Only complaint I had about him was his snoring," said Feldman's ex-wife, Vivetta, who was reached by phone in East Lansing. She divorced Feldman two weeks after his disappearance and remarried. "Guess someone didn't like that and popped him one. It's good to know what finally happened. Now I can rent out his room." Officials were unable to determine how Feldman died. At his ex-wife's request, his remains will be displayed at the Juice Joint, a tavern next to Tropicana Field. Local fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning may recall a similar problem when the Ice Palace was being constructed in Tampa. Four unmarked graves were unearthed at the site. Although the bodies were removed and reburied, Lightning right wing Alexander Selivanov, a native of Russia, said he thought the Ice Palace was cursed. "One stadium, bad," a visibly shaken Selivanov said Tuesday night. "Two stadiums, end of world as we know it. I no more talk about this." How the Rays handle this latest glitch will be closely monitored by several organizations, including one that calls itself Sick of Baseball. "When is this c--- gonna end?" asked SOB president Dwayne McHart. "The stadium. The team. The traffic. Now they find some jerk who takes a dirt nap in the infield. Let's see if we can overreact even more. You gotta know the rest of the country is looking at us and thinking Beverly Hillbillies." Another group planned to picket the stadium, accusing Devil Rays officials of a massive coverup involving other harmonica-playing small appliance repairmen who turned up missing in the mid-1970s. Harold Wormer, who was carrying a sign outside the stadium Tuesday that read, "X-Ray the Devil Rays," said he would not give up until the entire stadium floor was dug up or he got an appearance on Jerry Springer, whichever came first. "All we want is for people to look for harmonicas," Wormer said. "Or maybe some Phillips screwdrivers. This is a conspiracy. We know they're out there."
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T. PETERSBURG -- A high-ranking Devil Rays official revealed Tuesday, just hours before the first game in franchise history, that Tropicana Field may be the final resting place of a Michigan tourist who has been missing for 24 years.
