Hitting delight Aubrey Huff: Tampa Bay's offensive leader; Devil Rays slugger emerged as one of the American League's bright young batsmen with his productive 2003 season.(Tampa Bay Devil Rays)

THAT GUY CAN HIT. ALL THE rest about Aubrey Huff is amplification. In deference to Rocco Baldelli's inside knowledge of the inner workings of the Devil Rays' best player, the story probably ought to end right here.

"You guys can write all the stories you want, you can use all the space you have to analyze why Huffy's doing what he's doing, but you'd be wasting your time," Baldelli said. "All you need to say is, "That guy can hit.'"

That said, what else is there? With all due respect to the Rays' 21-year-old outstanding rookie, there is much more to his friend Huff than bat meeting ball.

So, at the risk of wasting our time, a little amplification from Toby Hall:

"I've seen him after 16-hour bus rides, he just comes out and doesn't take batting practice, and I see him go out and just rake," said Hall, the Rays' catcher who played with Huff at every level in the minors. "He's a threat to every pitcher. ... Huffy's our superstar."

And this, from Rays relief pitcher Travis Harper, who witnessed Huff's 28-game hitting streak at the end of the 1999 season with Double-A Orlando:

"At the time, I didn't know what a major league hitter looked like," Harper said. "But I figured he was as close as you were going to find in Double-A."