My Two Cents: Plenty of Great Cincinnati Stories to Tell in Rays' Locker Room
CINCINNATI, Ohio — It's been eight long years since the Tampa Bay Rays have played in Cincinnati, but that didn't stop all the great storytelling in the Rays' locker room.
Surprisingly, the ties to this National League ballpark are immense.
This was where Rays manager Kevin Cash had to pitch for the one and only time in his major-league playing career, and he got through an inning allowing just one run. It's where center fielder Kevin Kiermaier made his major-league debut eight years ago, where Harold Ramirez completed the cycle on Friday by now playing in all 30 parks, where newcomer Yu Chang was reunited with several former teammates and where Drew Rasmussen's life took a major turn.
That's a lot, right?
Let's start with Rasmussen, who is also Saturday's starting pitcher. The last time he was in Cincinnati was last May. It's the day he was traded to the Rays from the Milwaukee Brewers — "and I was standing right there, right at that locker'' he said Friday while talking in the Rays' visiting clubhouse.
Needless to say, it was a very weird day for him, especially since it was the first time he'd ever had to go through anything like that. He was part of the Willy Adames trade, coming along to Tampa Bay with fellow reliever J.P. Feyereisen, which was a huge blessing.
"I was in this clubhouse when I got traded, and my locker was right there. Not the best memories at the time, but it's certainly worked out fine. Pat Murphy came and got me and said (Brewers manager Craig Counsell) needs to talk to you. I remember thinking, wow, this is a weird time because I'm throwing the ball well. I don't get why they would option me right now, and sure enough, I was very wrong. I had been traded.
"I actually had a drug test that day and the drug testers wouldn't let me leave until I went to the bathroom and got that part of it done. So I sat at my locker for like an hour and a half after knowing I was traded just waiting to go to the bathroom. After that, J.P. could see I was a little flustered and didn't really know what to do. Luckily for me, he had been traded a few times before and he could see I was flustered. He pulled me aside and said, 'look we're going to go get dinner tonight, and tomorrow morning we'll get on flights and everything will be OK.' He promised me everything would be OK, and he was right. Getting traded was a shock, but things have turned out alright.
"Especially him, of all people, he's so outgoing and such a good guy. He could see I was flustered and he helped me relax. It's worked out pretty well.''
The Rays optioned Rasmussen to Durham immediately after the trade, where they wanted to stretch him out to be a starter. So he had the luxury of going back to Milwaukee quickly to pack up his apartment. Feyereisen joined the Rays right away, and even pitched for the Rays in Dunedin against the Toronto Blue Jays the very next day.
Better memories for Kevin Kiermaier
Kevin Kiermaier made his major-league debut here on April 12, 2014, and it's a day he'll never forget. He started in center field, and threw a runner out at home to preserve a 1-0 Rays victory.
"I remember everything like it was yesterday very clearly. I was on Cloud 9 all day,'' Kiermaier said. "I remember everything out of the field very clearly. This is the closest place to Fort Wayne (Ind.), so it was about as convenient as can be, and I had a lot of my family and friends here. I threw out Joey Votto at home and I got named the player of the game. The guys treated me great that day. I got optioned right after, but that day motivated me so much and the goal was to be an everyday player in the big leagues for as long as you can, and I'll never forget it. I've got one game here.''
Kiermaier grew up in northeast Indiana, so Cincinnati isn't that far away. He was here once as a kid, too.
"I was here one time when I was 13. I was in travel baseball and we came to a game in, what, the summer of 2003. A lot's happened since then. It's been a heck of a journey.''
Kiermaier, the elder statesman on the Rays roster, said he remembered then Rays manager Joe Maddon congratulating him on his big game, ''but then he sent me back to Durham about 12 and a half seconds later.'' He went 0-for-4 that day with two strikeouts but started his legacy as a Gold Glove outfielder that day. He came up for good a month later, and has been here ever since.
And when the day was finally done, the future was already cast. When the Rays come back here in another half-dozen years or so, they'll have another unforgettable memory.
Remember the night in Cincinnati when we lost on a walk-off balk?
Related stories on Rays baseball
- RAYS LOSE ON BALK CALL: For the first time in the 25-year history of the Tampa Bay Rays, they lost a game on a walk-off balk in the 10th inning to the Cincinnati Reds, falling 2-1 when Matt Wisler was called for ''a flinch,'' something he says he doesn't do. Here's the game story, with video of Wisler's description of his move. CLICK HERE
Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.