Long-distance greetings from friend

Eduardo Perez is the son of Hall of Famer Tony Perez, who turned 40 in a Boston uniform in 1982, the last of his three seasons with the Red Sox. That year, the Perez and Bass families cemented a friendship that began when Tony Perez was playing with Cincinnati and they were introduced by a mutual acquaintance.

Last night, Eduardo Perez had a Hallmark moment all his own, hitting Alan Embree's first pitch in the bottom of the ninth for a home run that gave the Tampa Bay Devil Rays one of those sweet wins that have come with painful infrequency in their eight-year history, a 5-4 victory over the world champion Red Sox. The home run hit the "D ring" catwalk, the lower of the catwalks in this erector-set dome, right by the Tropicana Field sign. The crack Devil Rays public relations staff estimated that from bat to catwalk, the ball traveled 459 feet.

A wise guy might say it went at least as far as the home run Papa Perez hit when Bill Lee foolishly threw him an eephus pitch in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series. Last night's home run struck by Eduardo Perez didn't resonate with quite the same significance, though it succeeded in spoiling the evening for those Sox fans who had turned Tropicana Field into their own personal fruit bowl, in which those cheering for the visitors outnumbered the hardy loyalists for the home nine.

"It's definitely been a fun week, to have done what I've done," said Perez, who on Tuesday night hit two home runs in Yankee Stadium off Randy Johnson, then was the last position player Piniella had on his bench after the Red Sox had tied it with two runs in the top of the ninth off Rays closer Danys Baez.

"You feed off the fans cheering against us," Perez said. "It's different. There must have been 20,000 of them. When they came back and tied it, I'm going, `Wow, where's my meal money?' "

(For the uninitiated, players receive meal money only when they're on the road, not home.)

"Weird? Not at all," Perez said. "Red Sox Nation is all over the place. I know that. My dad played in Boston for three years."