The Tampa Bay Rays, who finished 26th in home attendance this season despite being on top of the AL East for the majority of the year, have been trying to raise their profile.

Their first postseason berth might be helping.

Rays manager Joe Maddon said he saw a couple walking around downtown Chicago wearing retro Devil Rays jerseys. Maddon is hoping to see more Tampa Bay support when he goes to Europe for his honeymoon in November.

“My goal is to see someone walking around either Rome or, you know, Barcelona or somewhere with some Rays gear on,” he said. “I'm bringing my camera and if it happens I'm absolutely taking a photograph, and I promise not to set it up.”

TRIVIA TIME

The Tampa Bay Rays have retired two jersey numbers. Name the players who wore them.

THIS BUD'S FOR THEM

Milwaukee – it may be the one and only place baseball Commissioner Bud Selig could get a standing ovation for a strike.

Selig threw out the first pitch yesterday before Game 4 of the NL Division Series between his old team, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Philadelphia Phillies. Selig brought the Brewers to Milwaukee in 1970, and his family owned the franchise for 34 years before selling to Mark Attanasio four years ago.

Already on its feet for the national anthem, the sellout crowd at Miller Park gave Selig a raucous ovation – complete with clattering Thunder Stix – as he walked onto the field. Selig stopped a few feet in front of the mound, and overhanded a respectable throw over the plate to backup catcher Mike Rivera. Selig thrust his arms into the air and grinned as fans applauded and whistled in appreciation. He high-fived Attanasio before disappearing into the Brewers' dugout.

WINNIE THE POOH ON THE LOOSE?

There are bears – including one with a considerable sweet tooth – going wild in the Incline Village in Lake Tahoe.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife recently tried to trap two bears that did considerable damage to two homes they broke into there. When a bear broke into a bakery and a restaurant next door, they set a trap and loaded it with strudel. But the 3-year-old bruin that took the bait apparently wasn't one of the bears the authorities sought.

They plan to release the young, well-fed bear back to the wild and continue the manhunt for the other two bears.

GOT TO LOVE GHOSTWRITERS

Tampa Bay Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber has teamed up with twin brother Tiki, retired and now broadcasting, for their fifth book, a tweener chapter book called “Go Long!”

In an interview with the St. Petersberg Times, Ronde admitted neither of the brothers do much of the actual writing.

“We work closely with Paul Mantell, our ghostwriter,” Ronde said. “We lay out an outline and how we want the book to go and he tailors the story to it. We make corrections to make sure it seems plausible. But really it's an easy process. I'm just a glorified proofreader. Paul does the hard work.”

At least he's honest about it.

“Are you kidding me?” Ronde said. “I'm not over here sitting at a computer hammering it out. It would be a complete disservice not to honor what Paul has done.

PARTING SHOT

Drew Curtis of Fark.com, after mixed martial arts star Gina Carano described her sport as “just two people going at it . . . kind of like sex” on a CBS talk show: “Last we checked, Kama Sutra doesn't usually give you cauliflower ear.”

TRIVIA ANSWER

Tampa Bay retired Wade Boggs' No. 12 (he played third base for the Rays in 1998-99), and the Rays, through Selig's baseball-wide decree, retired Jackie Robinson's No. 42.

– COMPILED BY TOD LEONARD FROM NEWS SERVICES, ONLINE REPORTS