BEST HANG OUT
Channelside
You got Stumps Supper Club there, which is a pretty good place to have a beer. You got the movies, Splitsville if you want to bowl. I just like the whole place. I haven´t tried Signature Grille yet; they were just putting it up the last time I was there.
Channelside, Channelside Drive and Platt Street, Tampa, www.channelside.com.
BEST GUYS ON THE RAYS TO HIT THE HANG WITH
On this team, not very many. Not at all, really. This team´s pretty much all married. It´s tough to get anybody to go out around here.
BEST PLACE TO HAVE A QUIET DINNER WITH MY GIRL
Estela´s Mexican Restaurant
It´s so low-key. My girlfriend and I go there a lot. It´s a little Mexican restaurant over on David Islands. They have great Margaritas, nice Mexican food. You can just sit there and relax. Pretty much everything is good there. The spicier the better.
Estela´s Mexican Restaurant, 209 E. Davis Blvd, Tampa, 813-251-0558.
BEST DJ
Phatty, 98 Rock
I know him pretty well. We´ve hung out together. He´s a good dude. Me and Joe Kennedy (former Rays pitcher) used to hang with him when Joe was here. When Bubba the Love Sponge got fired, he kind of took over as the guy. He´s on afternoon drive. I listen to him coming to the field every day.
WXTB-97.9 FM
BEST SPORTS REPORTERS
Rock Riley and Marc Topkin
They´re both pretty positive about the team. A lot of writers can be pretty harsh, as bad as it´s been around here at times, but these guys are pretty positive. Rock´s a really friendly guy to be around. He doesn´t ask too much of you — maybe once every two months, which is fine. Marc always seems to have the scoop about what´s going to happen.
Rock Riley, Bay News 9; Marc Topkin, St. Petersburg Times.
BEST LOCAL ATHLETE
Brad Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
He´s a really low-key guy. He won a Super Bowl; he doesn´t get the press he deserves, but he´s not the kind of guy to go runnin´ his mouth about how good he is. He just does his job, and I respect that. You don´t hear that much about him, about his contract and all that; he just does his job quietly. He doesn´t need the attention. He just plays.
BEST THING ABOUT PLAYING AT TROPICANA FIELD
The Roof
When it´s like a hundred degrees outside, it would be so hot in here without that roof. And lately, with all the rain we´ve been having, we´d have been rained out for the last two weeks. We´d end up having all kinds of doubleheaders in October just to extend the season on and on.
BEST PLAYER WHO I´D LIKE TO SEEN ON THE DEVIL RAYS
Tim Hudson
There´re so many (laughs). Probably the thing we need the most is one solid ace pitcher. Tim Hudson (of the Oakland A´s) would be a good addition. He´s a free agent this year. I think he lives close to Tampa; this would be an ideal place for him. I think he´d fit in well here. And he can really play.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.