TOP OF THE WEEK –

The search for the Ray’s next manager should be over by now. It’s Dave Martinez in a landslide. The guy knows the players, the league and the team culture. Number three is the most important. Look at two of the three managers inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. They are there in great part because of the organizations for which they worked. Cox and Torre, while good managers, were in the right place at the right time – the salad days of the Braves and Yankees. The same can be said for Joe Maddon. His success was as much or more a product of the organization than anything he did in the dugout. Martinez can keep that wave of success going better than any other candidate. And it sure wouldn’t hurt to add Durham’s Charlie Montoyo as his bench coach – another guy who knows the Ray’s way.

Around the Bay –

1. Item: City of Clearwater contemplating spending a quarter million to mollify condo owners in Station Square because train whistles are disturbing them. Folks, the place is named Station Square – do you know how it got that name? Hint – it dates back over 100 years. This is reminiscent of the folks who buy a place near the Clearwater Airpark which has existed since 1939 and then complain about the plane noise.

2. Heard on the street regarding the Pinellas County Commission election: “They’ve replaced a whack job on one end of the political spectrum with a whack job on the other end.”

3. It was a close race, but Hillsborough County voters wisely returned Al Higginbotham to the county commission. The veteran policy maker now represents the county at large rather than his former seat comprising mostly the Plant City region of the county. Al’s life is a story of courage – told quite well in his book By Faith, I’m Still Standing.

4. Want a good example of how not to do a rehab project? Visit the Clearwater Marina. About half a dozen seemingly uncoordinated projects going on at once - for close to two months, you couldn’t even get a cup of coffee there; dirt everywhere. All of this so we could move the diner from one end of the marina to the other and replace a perfectly good gift shop with a new one? Not to mention the loss of Capt. Bruce Littler’s unique nautical themed shop and the beach’s only post office. The whole project smells.    

5. You’ve really lived in the bay area for a long time if you remember what Jay Black, Guy Bagli, Andy Hardy and Milt Spencer did for a living. They were all sportscasters on local network TV affiliates. And all pretty darn good at their trade.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

6. It’s not too early for the University of Florida to begin its Christmas shopping – as in shopping for a new head football coach.

7. In our lead piece, we intentionally didn’t group Tony LaRussa with his fellow inductees. He’s a special case – having won with three different organizations. He is, arguably, the best manager any of us have seen in our lifetimes.

8. Quick - the three living folks who would join you at the dinner table for a no holds barred discussion. From the music biz – Burt Bacharach; from the political arena – Dick Cheney and from sports probably the smartest man to ever toe the rubber – Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. And your dinner table?

9. Why don’t we give Two and a Half Men a decent burial…like right now?

10. Only 89 days until pitchers and catchers report, but who’s counting?

IN CLOSING-

With three losses on his political resume, have we heard the last of Charlie Crist? The smart money says no. The governor’s mansion is probably out of his reach, but you could see him targeting David Jolly in two years or making a run for the Democratic nomination for the Senate – particularly if Bill Nelson decides to retire (trading one empty suit for another). Most observers don’t see him spending the rest of his still young life working “for the people”.