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BASEBALL COLUMN

A Dream Come True For Blue Jays' Litsch

By MARTIN FENNELLY

Published: May 17, 2007

TAMPA - Bat boys of the world unite!

Those stacks of lumber you carry wearing you down? Tired of lugging that .232 hitter's sanitary socks to the washer?

We've got the bat boy for you.

And the bat dad, too.

It's a story to make all dreamers keep dreaming.

"You've got to follow them," Jesse said.

Jesse's came true.

Jesse Litsch is local. Pinellas Park Pony League, Dixie Hollins High School, what else do you need? Maybe this: He was a Devil Rays bat boy.

If you were in the Rays clubhouse five years back, you remember the big kid with that head of red hair. The Rays, always on the ball, nicknamed him "Red." He told them he'd be a big-league player one day. They'd smile and think "Sure, kid."

Jesse's came true.

"This is the best day - the best day of my life," Jesse said after it did.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Tuesday night, with his dad watching at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Jesse Litsch, 22, made his major-league pitching debut.

Rising at 4 a.m. on Tuesday ("I wouldn't have slept much anyway"), Rick Litsch had caught a plane from Tampa to Atlanta and another to Buffalo. Lacking a passport, he drove across the border to Canada. It was his 57{+t}{+h} birthday.

Sure. Why not?

His birthday present: Jesse, starting for the injured Roy Halladay, came within one out of a complete game in a 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

The crowd booed when he was lifted in the ninth, but cheered Litsch as he left after allowing just four hits, all singles. They demanded a curtain call. He poked his head out and tipped his cap.

"It's awesome," Litsch said. "It's still awesome. I'll never forget it."

Another reward: the old shaving-cream pie in the face delivered by Jays teammates Vernon Wells and A.J. Burnett as Litsch prepared for a TV interview.

Another reward: Jays manager John Gibbons says Litsch will stay in the starting rotation for now. His next scheduled start is Sunday at Philadelphia.

Back home in Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, Litsch's friends gathered at Ferg's Sports Bar and Grill in St. Petersburg.

Among the Orioles he faced: Aubrey Huff, who was a Ray when Litsch was a bat boy.

"It was a little strange," Huff told reporters.

Dreams don't happen overnight, but this one happened fast. Litsch was drafted in the 24{+t}{+h} round and signed with the Jays two years ago. Jesse was on fire at Double-A New Hampshire, 5-1 with a 0.96 ERA, when he was called up last Saturday.

He got his first job in baseball with the Devil Rays by winning an essay competition with his "Why I Want To Be A Devil Rays Intern." The job came with the win. After a spell in the Rays community relations department, he became a bat boy.

Bat boy? Heck, Jesse was nearly a mascot. The guys would rub his red head for good luck. Rays pitcher Albie Lopez clipped off some of Jesse's hair and took it on the road for more luck. Jesse felt like the luckiest kid in the world. And he kept his Jesse dream.

"He always used to tell me that one day he'd be facing me," Rays outfielder Carl Crawford said. "I didn't believe him, but I guess he was right."

Believe him.

They Did It Together

His dad always did. That's what made Tuesday so special, even as the father tried to hang back from the spotlight.

"This is his time," Rick Litsch said.

It's their time.

Rick was once the famous Litsch. Well, famous in a local sort of way. He started out as a professional musician, playing and singing at area hotels and bars. One of his ribald country tunes, "The Beer Drinker's National Anthem," made its way into jukeboxes.

Jesse's mom left for Colorado when Jesse was 5. It was just him and dad after that. So dad stopped working the clubs and got a job as a flooring salesman. And when he wasn't working, he'd take his boy to the baseball fields.

"From the age of 2, he was hooked," Rick said.

Rick made time for his boy's dream. "If he'd wanted to ballerina, I would have bought him a tutu," Rick said. "He wanted to be a ballplayer." Dad helped found the RBI (Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities) program the Rays helped sponsor and coached Jesse in the league.

So it was them together on Tuesday, no matter what dad says. "We did it together," Jesse said. Don't think the other Blue Jays didn't know it. After Vernon Wells shoved that shaving cream into Jesse's face, he crept behind Rick and did the same for dad.

Father and son celebrated. They found a Hooters. Jesse walked in wondering if even one person would recognize him. People asked for autographs and if they could have their pictures taken with him. His dad ate it up. Wednesday morning, on his way back across the border and to flights home, Rick Litsch heard his son talking on sports radio.

"Imagine," he said.

Nothing to imagine.

It happened.

It all came true.

"Anything can if you keep at it," Jesse said.