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Casanova Gets Another Chance For Rays

Published: Jun 6, 2007

TORONTO - As a 34-year-old catcher with just five big-league at-bats over the last four seasons, it was fair for Raul Casanova to wonder if he was ever going to get another chance in the majors.

He played in just eight games last season, at three different levels in Oakland's minor-league system, as he battled a bulging disc in his back. Healthy again, he was a non-roster invitee to the Devil Rays' camp this spring with no realistic chance to make the Opening Day roster, but he impressed enough people to stick with Triple-A Durham in case of emergency. Having both Josh Paul and Shawn Riggans on the disabled list qualifies, and Casanova was back in the majors Tuesday.

"After being up and down for the last four or five years, you just keep trying, you know?" he said. "I know I can play at this level; I've done it before. The thing is, I was hurt. That's going to keep me down. But you keep trying and do your best and hopefully somebody will give you a chance. I'm glad I'm here. They know what I can do, so hopefully I can help them out and win some games here."

Even his return was delayed a bit, as he spent Monday night at a Cincinnati airport hotel after bad weather forced the cancellation of his connecting flight from Raleigh to Toronto. By 10:30 Tuesday morning, though, Casanova had made it north of the border, and he was in the starting lineup hours later to catch Andy Sonnanstine.

Manager Joe Maddon made that move primarily to help Sonnanstine settle in for his major-league debut, and Casanova wasn't surprised. The two worked together several times this season in Durham.

"I thought it was a perfect opportunity to put Sonny in more of a comfort zone and get Casanova involved," Maddon said.

It didn't take Casanova long to feel comfortable. He singled to right field in his first at-bat, then threw out Adam Lind on an attempted steal of second in the bottom of the same inning.

The veteran has no idea how much time he will get, so he might as well maximize it. Prior to his stint in Durham this season, he had made minor-league stops in Sacramento, Midland, Stockton, Charlotte, Omaha, Pawtucket, Ottawa and Colorado Springs since the start of the 2003 season, with a six-game cameo for the White Sox during their 2005 World Series championship season mixed in.

Casanova has had some trouble with back spasms lately, but that wasn't about to keep him from what might be his last shot.

TOO MUCH?: Now that the Rays have LHP Casey Fossum and RHP Gary Glover at the back end of their bullpen, Maddon acknowledged he probably put rookie RHP Brian Stokes under too much pressure in installing him as the primary setup man from the beginning of the season.

"It was probably a poor assumption on my part to think that Stokes was just going to be able to jump into the eighth inning and be a dominant pitcher," Maddon said. "I have so much faith in him as a person and in his make-up that I may have over-evaluated that in the beginning. I still think he's going to be that, but I think we gave him too much to do too early, and I'll wear that one. That's my fault."

REHAB WATCH: Maddon still expects 3B Akinori Iwamura (bruised left eye) to join the team Friday in Miami. Iwamura did not make the trip to Toronto, but his name was on the Rays' lineup card Tuesday and his batting helmet and gloves were in the dugout during batting practice.

CF Rocco Baldelli (strained left hamstring) continues to work out at the Naimoli Complex and is nearing a return to game action.

FARM FACTS: Montgomery 3B Evan Longoria was named the Southern League Player of the Month after hitting .317 with six doubles, seven homers and 25 RBIs in May. … Durham's game Tuesday at Ottawa, which was scheduled to be RHP Jae Kuk Ryu's debut as a member of the Bulls' rotation, was postponed when Durham's flight to Ottawa was canceled. The teams will play a doubleheader today.

Marc Lancaster

THE HITS KEEP COMING

With his third-inning single Tuesday night, Carl Crawford passed Aubrey Huff to become the Devil Rays' all-time hits leader. Here are the hits leaders for each of the 30 franchises:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

NATIONAL LEAGUE

*-Not including Tuesday's games

**-Does not include statistics from the original Washington Senators franchise (1901-60). Sam Rice is the franchise's all-time leader with 2,889 hits.

***-Does not include Montreal Expos statistics. Tim Wallach is the franchise's all-time leader with 1,694 hits.