Tampa Bay Rays Playoffs Are New Territory for Local Papers

By: Joe Strupp When Marc Lancaster left his job as Reds beat writer for The Cincinnati Post two years ago to cover the Tampa Bay Rays, he got his share of ribbing from fellow sports scribes.

Although Lancaster, 34, had good reason to leave the soon-to-be-shutdown Post for The Tampa Tribune, giving up a spot covering the legendary Reds - baseball's oldest franchise - for the perennial loser Rays took some pride-swallowing.

"I caught a lot of grief from baseball types, and media types, for going to cover the Rays," Lancaster recalled about his move before the 2007 season. "People raised their eyebrows and said, 'good luck.'"

While he was excited go to the Tribune, which he considered an excellent paper, the potential assignments were not too appetizing: "I found there were good people here who didn't have a lot to work with."

Lancaster's five seasons at the Post, three covering the Reds, had also included no playoff experience. Heading to the Rays, who are only in their 11th season ever, offered little chance for that to change.

But as the 2008 season unfolded, things looked brighter for Lancaster and other Rays beat writers. The team not only took off, but stayed hot and won the American League Eastern Division, beating the likes of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

On Thursday, the Rays will play their first-ever playoff game against the Chicago White Sox, which could eventually lead to the World Series. And The Tampa Tribune, as well as other local papers, will make history covering it.

"They have gone from last to first, nobody would have thought that," said Kim Pendery, sports editor for the Tribune, which is planning an eight-page special section for Thursday. "The baseball team has been awful up until this year."

At the rival St. Petersburg Times -- which is running a 12-page special section Thursday -- the mood is similar. "It is a big turnaround for this franchise," said Deputy Sports Editor Mike Stephenson. "It was not expected."

Times Rays writers will also see their first playoff experience as beat writers, Stephenson said. While lead beat writer Marc Topkin's time with the team dates back to before they began in 1998, Joe Smith is in just his first year ever covering major league baseball. "It is exciting to cover, a lot of people are finding out," Stephenson said.

Tampa Bay newspapers may be a bit used to the worst-to-first routine. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL, longtime jokes of the league from their first season in 1976, won the Super Bowl in 2003, while the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL, first skating in 1992, eventually won The Stanley Cup in 2004.

As for Lancaster, he says some Rays writers expected to be making vacation plans by now when the season started. For him and his wife, a visit to an annual food and wine festival at Walt Disney World was on the calendar. "My wife had that circled," he said. "Maybe she can still go on the weekend."