The Tampa Bay Rays were in Sahlen Field last weekend to meet the Toronto Blue Jays and Brian Anderson had a job to do, just like he does every night as the color analyst for Fox Sports Sun. Of course, in 2020 he was working remotely from Tropicana Field like he does for every road game.

But this series was different. This was a new look at Anderson's old haunt from 1996 and 1997, a stadium then known as North AmeriCare Park that cleared the path for his trip to play for his hometown team, the Cleveland Indians.

"It was strange for sure. But also it brought back a ton of memories from '96 and '97," Anderson said by phone Friday on his way to the Trop for the Jays' return visit to Florida. "They had me on our pregame show to talk about my experiences playing in Buffalo. That just kicked up the dust of all those memories. I went back to the Baseball Cube website and looked up those teams, reminding myself of all the guys we had.

"We were so well supported. It really stood out that we had a great following in Buffalo. It was so much fun to go to that ballpark and play in Triple-A. You'd go on the weekend series in the summer and we'd have 18-, 19-, 20,000 people there on those Friday nights. It was absolutely incredible for a Triple-A experience. Most players didn't have that. That was a main point I made, 'You guys don't understand. It was a fun place to play because we had such good teams, but the fan support was phenomenal. That place was always buzzing.' "

The broadcast used Anderson's inside knowledge of the ballpark to describe the Jays' six-homer barrage and 12-4 win.

"A definite side benefit of playing there," he said. "I knew it can get cozy in the gaps in the summer months when it's muggy and warm. The ball has a tendency to fly and there's no question the balls are jumpier than ever now. 

"Combine the weather elements with 325 down the line, 367 and 371 in the gaps, and the jumpy ball, it was not a surprise at all to see the Blue Jays hit 13 home runs in two games, the one that night and the one before against the Marlins. That can make sense at this time of year with this baseball and that lineup."

Anderson went 18-6 in his two seasons with the Herd and remains second on the modern-era list for winning percentage at .750. He also garnered two of Buffalo's six wins during its memorable '97 run to the American Association championship, its first postseason title in 36 years. His best outing was a five-hitter with 10 strikeouts and no walks in Game 2 of the championship series against the Iowa Cubs. The Bisons swept the next night in Des Moines.

"That '97 team in Buffalo was absolutely loaded and just got better and better as the year went on," Anderson recalled. "We finally vanquished Indianapolis to get to that championship round after they beat us the year before (in Game 5 of the semifinals). Those were always wars. We didn't like each other. Maybe we respected each other but we didn't like each other. Then we blew Iowa out of the doors to win it."

Anderson was a media favorite during his time in Buffalo, always ready with a good quote or three after an outing and lots of good analysis on the games. So it's no surprise he landed a TV gig after his playing days ended in 2008 following two Tommy John surgeries. He started on an Indians magazine show on SportsTime Ohio and a few home games that summer, then moved on to Tampa, where he split time as a road TV analyst and assistant pitching coach.

He transitioned to full-time broadcast work in 2011 and has been partnered ever since with veteran Dewayne Staats, who has called games for the Rays since their 1998 inception.

"When they're counting down 3-2-1 in your ear and the red light on the camera goes on, you have that little heart flutter, sort of like you did when you were playing," Anderson said. "TV is the only thing I've found in the same area code. I've never had that feeling outside playing. This is live, baby. there's no hiding. If you're not prepared, you'll get exposed. You better be on point and know what you're talking about."

Having a veteran partner like Staats has certainly helped.

"Early on it was just learning to follow him," Anderson said. "How am I going to play off him and have chemistry? But way back in the day, he just told me, 'Be yourself. Come to work and have fun.' And we've built a chemistry now where we were in sync. We have so many non-verbals now to get our points out."

The title with the Herd was just the start of a whirlwind seven weeks for Anderson in '97. He got called up to Cleveland and was with the Tribe for its division-clinching win in Jacobs Field. That set the stage for him to make a big impact in October, as he was the winning pitcher of Cleveland's 11-inning Game 6 clincher of the ALCS at Baltimore and earned a three-inning save in Game 4 of the World Series against Florida, a 10-3 victory on a night he wore no sleeves despite temperatures in the 30s and wind chills in the teens.

Anderson grew up in Geneva, Ohio, about an hour from Cleveland. He recalled sobbing as a 15-year-old after the Earnest Byner fumble that cost the Browns a trip to the Super Bowl in the 1987 AFC Championship Game in Denver and then making his parents a promise.

"I told my mom, 'I'm going to be a part of the first team that wins a championship in Cleveland.' I was 15 years old and I hadn't even made my high school team yet," he said. "The morning of Game 7 of the World Series in '97, we were sitting at brunch with my parents in Florida and I told them, 'You realized we said it 10 years ago and here we are.' They couldn't believe it.

"There's no question in my mind we were going to win just because of that. I really am in the big leagues, I am with the Indians and we're playing for all the marbles. I knew we were going to win. So to lose was really disappointing, but the whirlwind to get there was an absolute blast."

Anderson was lost that fall in the expansion draft to Arizona and got a Series ring in '01. He was the starter against Roger Clemens in Yankee Stadium for Game 3 – the night of President George Bush's iconic ceremonial first pitch just over a month after the 9/11 attacks.

"I missed that," he said. "I knew it was going to happen. Was out in the bullpen and I had no idea when he actually did it. None whatsoever."

He said the game remains vivid. The Yankees held on to win, 2-1, but Anderson pitched well over 5 1/3 innings.

"I don't care if I was still playing today, I would not have pitched in a bigger game than that," Anderson said. "We were up 2-0 in the series and you were going to get the absolute best bolt that team had. The president is there. It's the first World Series game back in Yankee Stadium so these people in the crowd are going to be frothy. And you're going against Roger Clemens. Give me another scenario bigger. Not happening."

What does Anderson think of this year's Rays? They continue to be the Little Engine That Could. He says the Rays – and not the Yankees – are going to win the American League East.

"The Rays have quietly put together an unbelievable team of players that maybe you don't know, but they have so much depth, they can withstand a lot of things going wrong," he said. "The defense has picked things up, the bullpen is strong and there's good players all over."

That's topped by second baseman Brandon Lowe, who is the reigning AL Player of the Week after a big series in Buffalo.

"Very quietly, he's put himself right there in the MVP race," Anderson said. "He's been that good. He's so quiet at the plate, so confident in his swing and his ability to track the ball. He makes such good adjustments and if you make a mistake, look out. His swing mechanics are so good when he hits the ball hard, it goes."

And as for the red-hot Blue Jays, Anderson is also impressed.

"They're dangerous, a hungry team feeling their way through the major leagues," he said. "How good can we be? Can we make our mark on this division right now? I watched them last week and thought, 'You've got your core young players. Can you surround them with enough pitching to make a difference?' That's got to be the focus on that organization now."

Rowdy's rocket

Rowdy Tellez's home run in the sixth inning of Thursday's nightcap against Philadelphlia sizzled out of Sahlen Field at 117.4 mph, the fastest by a Blue Jays hitter in the Statcast era (since 2015) and second-fastest of the season in MLB.

"You don't feel it to be honest," Tellez said of the drive that cleared the right-field party deck. "People ask the question, 'What it's like to hit a baseball that hard or that far?' and when you truly square up a ball to the best of your ability, you don't feel it.  When you hit one off the end of the bat, it stings. You get jammed, it stings. When you find the barrel perfectly, it doesn't send vibrations down the handle. I hit it and I was like, "All right let's take this jog."

Around the horn

• The Blue Jays' comeback in Thursday's nightcap made them the first MLB team to win a game after falling behind 7-0 in the first inning since the Red Sox did that to Cleveland in 2000. And remember, Toronto did it in a seven-inning game.

• The Jays are finished with their 10 games against the Rays this weekend. They have 10 games left against the Yankees and don't play any of them until the first of seven meetings in Sahlen Field on Sept. 7. The Yankees' current injury list includes Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, D.J. LaMahieu, James Paxton and Zack Britton. How many will be back when they hit Buffalo? It seems all are possible other than Stanton.

• The Phillies hit town Thursday with an 8.11 bullpen ERA and the relievers blew leads of 2-0 and 7-0 in dropping both games. Manager Joe Girardi was matter-of-fact afterward when he made it clear he just plays who GM Matt Klentak gives him. Message received. Klentak got Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree from the Red Sox on Friday.

• Comment from reader Chris Delvalle on Buffalonews.com after the Jays' sweep: "I live in West Hollywood, I haven't cared about baseball in 20 years but I love my hometown and seeing MLB played downtown is something special to me. It's almost like I'm living the dream of what might have been had we been awarded a team in the 90's. Love the cutaway shots of the city! I watched both games today and found myself screaming and pumping my fist. Who am I? A Buffalo fan!"

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