From those icons, any of the Devil Rays could get so much more. If this team, Tampa Bay's own, ever plays with talent approaching that of The Thumper, if it can evolve into competitors with The Man's zeal, there are joyous times ahead at The Trop. The Devil Rays are 0-1. Tampa Bay's baseball team will not go 0-26. Your Rays will not be the reincarnation of your baby NFL Bucs of 1976-77.
Baseball works that way.
I'm still applauding St. Petersburg's uncharacteristically gutsy civic act of building the dome. Still glad my town decided to bet on the come. Still happy we didn't listen to Peter Ueberroth, the naysayer, then commissioner of baseball. Not yet April. Wait until it's July, August and September.