Jays Get An Earful From Former Teammate

[Giants666]

ST. PETERSBURG - The guy wearing a Devil Rays cap and a Aubrey Huff jersey wouldn't stop yelling. He was seated near the Blue Jays bullpen down the left-field line.
``Schoeneweis is a bum,'' he howled. ``Go Devil Rays.''

Scott Schoeneweis, a left- handed reliever for the Blue Jays, was surprised a Tampa Bay fan would pick him out as a target.

``I can't believe that they think I'm a bum here too,'' Schoeneweis said was his initial reaction.

When he saw the loud- mouthed culprit, Schoeneweis couldn't stop laughing. A closer look revealed former Toronto closer Billy Koch was the man doing the yelling.

``I went down [to the bullpen] and they said it's the funniest thing they had ever seen,'' Koch said. ``Maybe [Rays general manager] Chuck [LaMar] is up in the box and he'll see me and offer me a contract.''

Koch expected to be at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, but not seated in Section 137. He had hoped to pitch so his three kids and their classmates could watch. Koch, who lives in Clearwater, bought 240 tickets to Tuesday's game for students at three Tampa Bay-area elementary schools.

However, Koch was released by Toronto on March 17.

``They expected to see me on the field,'' Koch said. ``Now I get to sit by them.''

Koch said that before Tuesday, the last time he attended a major-league game as a fan was in 1998 when he was playing for Class A Dunedin. He and several teammates went to watch then-Toronto ace Roger Clemens face the Rays.

The way the 30-year-old Koch sounded Tuesday, he could be coming to more Rays games this summer. He said he has no job offers and that he's not looking for any.

``I've been married since 2000 and I don't get to spend the summer with my family,'' Koch said. ``So this is the perfect opportunity to do that.''

At one time, Koch was one of the league's top closers. He recorded 144 saves from 1999 to 2002, including a career- high 44 in his only season with Oakland in 2002. However, he has struggled to regain that form in previous seasons and split last season between the White Sox and Marlins.

In his return to the Blue Jays this spring, Koch allowed eight hits and five runs in three innings and was roughed up in an intrasquad game. There also were whispers about Koch's work ethic, which led to his release despite Toronto owing him $950,000 this season.

Koch vented his frustration to Toronto media when he was released. He still doesn't understand why they cut him loose so early in spring training.

``The Blue Jays had a million and six different options on what they could have done with me,'' Koch said Tuesday. ``They did me a favor. I still get paid and I can spend the summer with my family. So it's terrific.''

Now, he has time for more evenings like Tuesday.

``I like this place,'' he said. ``They have good food here with Outback.''

Would he consider signing with the Rays if they ever called?

``I'd like to play here,'' he said. ``They have got so much young talent that they are going to be a good team.''

[Steak]

Billy Koch is really bitter about how he was treated by the Jays this spring.

He has no one to blame but himself.

[RockSports17]

I thought the situation was funny. I think Koch only meant it as a joke.

I understand why he was released. He hasn't really pitched well for some seasons now.

[Steak]

Go Yankees: I don't think so. Kock ain't kidding. I was reading an article at Slam.ca about Koch couple of weeks ago and he was really annoyed about how the Jays gave up on him after a week.