"Of all things, Manny Ramirez was nervous.

The Rays were opening the exhibition season Saturday - successfully, it turned out, with a 9-5 win over the Pirates - and Ramirez was playing his first game for them. But still, at 38, in his 19th big-league season, DH-ing in an exhibition, nervous?

"I always get nervous the first game," he said. "Opening day you get kind of butterflies in your stomach."

Manager Joe Maddon, having raved earlier about Ramirez's work ethic, said he took the nerves as another positive.

"That impresses me," Maddon said. "It tells you how much he cares right now, and I think it's actually a good thing.""