[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11241]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING DEWAYNE STAATS, VOICE OF THE TAMPA BAY RAYS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dewayne Staats, 
the iconic voice of the Tampa Bay Rays. Broadcasting major league 
baseball for over 30 years and calling games for the Rays since their 
inception, Dewayne will call his 5,000th major league ball game tonight 
when the Rays play the San Diego Padres at St. Petersburg's Tropicana 
Field. In fact, I think they just got started this evening. Baseball 
fans all across Tampa Bay and Florida have watched and listened to 
games called by Dewayne as the Rays have grown from an expansion team 
to American League champions and one of the best teams in major league 
baseball. I think the best.
  Prior to joining the Rays, Dewayne spent years calling play-by-play 
for ESPN in a variety of sports, including major league baseball and 
NCAA baseball, basketball and football, as well as for several other 
major league teams, including the Houston Astros, the Chicago Cubs, and 
the New York Yankees. Dewayne began his career as a sports reporter 
while a student at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and at 
the time became the youngest active broadcaster when he began calling 
major league games in 1976.
  Remarkably, he has called six no-hitters, Wade Boggs' 3,000th base 
hit, and the game in which Pete Rose tied Ty Cobb's major league hits 
record. Among many accomplishments of an outstanding broadcast career, 
Dewayne Staats has been honored as one of baseball's all-time top 101 
broadcasters by author Curt Smith.
  Aside from masterfully calling Rays' games from the broadcast booth, 
Dewayne and his wife Carla are pillars in the Tampa Bay community, 
actively supporting the Veteran Employment Transition Foundation and 
Quantum Leap Farm, a therapeutic and recreational facility for wounded 
warriors and disabled adults.
  Again, I congratulate Dewayne on the occasion of his 5,000th major 
league broadcast, and I look forward to hearing him call many more Rays 
wins.

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