A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

VISIT THE TWELVE-MILE CIRCLE: With the Tampa Bay Rays quartered in Wilmington, Delaware for the foreseeable future, and wanting to maintain Philadelphia's reputation of hospitality to visiting clubs, I asked long time reader and infrequent commenter George -- a native of the region -- for some advice:

So Tampa Bay Rays:

You're stuck in a hotel room in Delaware, probably for two nights. Rather than abusing the minibar, here are some things you can do.

1) Take advantage of Tax Free Shopping. As anyone who enters the state can tell you, Delaware has few things to be proud of. The two most important are that it beat Pennsylvania in the race to ratify the US Constitution, making it the First State, and it has no sales tax. Go to the Concord Mall and support the "Home of Tax Free Shopping."

2) While you're in the area, go to the Charcoal Pit for burgers and milk shakes.

3) Mike's Famous Harley Davidson is having a big bike blow out. Skip the team bus and go to the game in real style.

4) See where the du Pont family and company got their start and helped save the country by helping us blow things up. Visit the Hagley Museum.

5) If you're into fine china and antiques -- and what ballplayer isn't? -- Winterthur will appeal to you.

6) The Delaware Museum of Natural History has a fine collection of sea shells and birds.

7) Head over to the Federal Courthouse and see what's going on. Then you can share a drink with the old court reporter at the Hotel du Pont bar. The man is a legend.

e.t.a. The AP brings the details from, yes, the Hotel du Pont:

Some players spent much of the day sitting in their rooms resting, watching TV or visiting with family and friends. Others went shopping at the mall and set out looking for places to eat lunch and dinner.

Reliever Grant Balfour got a "good burger at the tavern down the street."

Bench coach Dave Martinez went off to get dry clothes for his children because they got soaked in the steady rain Monday night....

[J.P.] Howell joked that he hadn't done much of anything.

"What's there to do in Delaware?" he said. "We're nervous to go outside. This isn't our territory."