By Pete Williams

Now we know why Stuart Sternberg, JFK fan and Democratic Party contributor, was in such a hurry to get a new ballpark built for his Tampa Bay Rays by 2012.

The Republicans are coming to Tropicana Field!

It’s not official, but RNC officials left town yesterday gung-ho about awarding the 2012 Republican National Convention to Tampa Bay. The event, if awarded, most likely would be held at the St. Pete Times Forum across the bay in Tampa, but there’s a possibility the much-maligned St. Pete dome could stage the nomination.

Imagine that. “The Trop,” the last of baseball’s non-retractable domes, with its catwalks, artificial turf, and circus-tent roof, a building deemed unacceptable for baseball by the overwhelming Republican majority that runs Major League Baseball, is considered the frontrunner to host perhaps the most important Republican convention since 1980.

Somewhere, Vincent J. Naimoli is licking his chops and chomping on his gum. The ex-Devil Rays owner is tanned, rested, and ready, poised to kick down his old office door, scream at reporters, berate a few underlings.

“Honey! I’m home!”

First, journalists and delegates must find The Trop. Anyone who watched the 2008 World Series and listened to Fox and ESPN commentators talk about being “live in Tampa” will need to fire up the GPS and head to St. Pete.

They’ll be disappointed to find than many of the area’s top attractions are not in St. Pete but in Tampa: Ybor City, Bern’s Steakhouse, Mons Venus.

In fairness, The Trop has many fun sights, including a cigar bar, touch tank of actual cow nose rays, and a museum dedicated to Republican legend Ted Williams. Since Teddy Ballgame would have liked to attend the convention, John McCain could pull some strings and bring some of Ted home from Arizona.

Here in the Tampa Bay area, we’re unfazed by national politicians who constantly suck up to us, knowing we’re the most unpredictable voters in the country. After all, we literally decided the elections in 2000 and 2004. In 2008, we couldn’t get rid of candidates.

“Hey, Obama is speaking in Dunedin today and Palin’s in Clearwater tomorrow. You want to go?”

“Nah, I saw them last week.”

Will The Trop’s usual rules apply? Will Republicans have to travel four in a car to get free parking? Will they be allowed to bring in their own food and drinks? Will there be a different price for admission every day of the week, especially if there’s a concert involved? What if you don’t show up more than five hours ahead of time?

Will the Rays pull the tarps off the top rows of seats? Will Dick Vitale show up? Will Pat “The Cooler” Burrell be allowed in the building?

Look at it this way: How often do the Rays sell out the building without a single Red Sox fan?

If Republicans want a state-of-the-art, booming sound system that never – ever – lets up, they’ve come to the right place. If they want a friendly guy from “The O.C.” to show them around the building, maybe host a wine tasting, Joe Maddon is the man. If they need one of their local brethren to throw like a girl while delivering a ceremonial first pitch, Charlie Crist and Clearwater mayor Frank Hibbard are available.

And if they need a former Devil Ray to offer a few words, well, someone can round up John Rocker.

By week’s end, everyone in attendance will be able to say they’ve spent more time at The Trop than Bud Selig.

Oh, it will be a memorable time, one of so many The Trop has hosted. Long before the fuss about ballparks staging the NHL’s “Winter Classic,” The Trop was home to entire Tampa Bay Lightning seasons. There was Arena Football, boat shows, soccer games, motorcycle events, tennis, monster truck competitions, karate, gymnastics, and equestrian events.

In 1999, The Trop became the first (and still only) baseball-specific venue to host The Final Four, with Connecticut beating Duke for the title. In 2008, The Trop was site of the Rays worst-to-first turnaround and march to the World Series.

By mid-2012, the Rays and Sternberg could have the basic financing in place for a new ballpark and the Republican National Convention could send the building out with a bang.

At The Trop, where baseballs go up and don’t always come down, anything is possible.

Friday, August 31, 2012. Booming sound system, lights sparkling off the catwalks.

“Hi, I’m Vince Naimoli. Please join me in welcoming the next President of the United States….Sarah Palin!”

By Pete Williams

Nomar Garciaparra officially retired today, concluding a once-promising career derailed by assorted injuries.

It was only 10 years ago when Garciaparra, now 36, was considered among the best shortstops in baseball, along with Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. No-mah won back-to-back American League batting titles. Ted Williams said Garciaparra reminded him of Joe DiMaggio.

I’ll always be grateful to Garciaparra for training with Mark Verstegen, whom he met at Georgia Tech when Nomar was a student-athlete and Mark was a trainer. In 2000, I wrote a story for USA Today Baseball Weekly on Nomar’s success training with Mark and his revolutionary “core” training program. A year later, Sports Illustrated wrote a more in-depth article. Those stories helped raise Mark’s profile to the point where Mark and I landed a book contract for “Core Performance,” one of the better selling fitness books of recent years. I’ve had the honor of writing several more books with Mark; our fifth – Core Performance Women – came out in January. (Nomar wrote the foreword to the original book and his now-wife Mia Hamm also contributed a column for the book.)

Nomar’s relationship with the media, especially in Boston, could be contentious but I always found him insightful. That’s why he’ll be terrific in his new gig as an analyst with ESPN, assuming the Worldwide Leader can find a spot for him among their ever-growing stable of analysts.

By Pete Williams

I’ve long believed there’s no tougher job in journalism than that of the daily baseball beat writer. To call it a grind is an understatement. It’s 10-to-12 hour days from mid-February until at least the end of September, if not October. It’s mostly six or seven days a week dealing with players, managers, front office officials, agents, and readers who often make their lives difficult.

It’s merciless, punishing, and it’s only gotten worse now that baseball writers are expected to blog almost around the clock. It’s why I’m grateful I never had to do it, having started my career back in 1991 writing features and covering the national baseball beat for USA Today’s Baseball Weekly. It’s not that I didn’t work hard for BBW – and even harder the last 11 years as a freelance sports journalist.

But baseball beat writing? Nothing compares to that.

This month, after covering baseball to varying degrees for nearly 19 years, I get to be a baseball beat writer, covering the Atlanta Braves spring training for Fox Sports South. It’s a combination of blogging, feature writing, and video reporting. Not for a minute will I pretend that I’m cranking out as much material as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution or Mark Bowman of MLB.com, both of whom own the Braves beat. But I’m finally getting a taste of what it’s like.

Baseball is a constant reminder of the passage of time. Braves manager Bobby Cox is 68 years old and retiring after this season, completing a magnificent Hall of Fame career. In 1976, Cox was a 35-year-old Triple-A manager when I saw his Syracuse Chiefs face the Richmond Braves in the first professional game I ever saw.

When I began covering baseball in 1991, there were only five players younger than me in the Majors. Only two of them – Pudge Rodriguez and Jim Thome – are still around. These days, I’m hard pressed to come up with five older than me. (Jamie Moyer, Matt Stairs…Is anyone going to sign John Smoltz and Gary Sheffield?)

Three years ago, I took up triathlon and became a morning person, getting up at 5:20 a.m. at least six days a week. It’s possible to maintain that schedule during spring training, though I’m finding it’s easier to get my workouts in right before dinner. I won’t be going on any lengthy bike rides — just spin classes, hour-long swims, and short runs.

The idea is to be ready for triathlon season next month. My gig with Fox Sports South ends with spring training.

I’d be willing to bet no full-time baseball beat writers ever have completed a triathlon.

What they do is a much more impressive endurance feat.