TAMPA — Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash is about as Tampa as it gets.
"I always said it was kind of icing on the cake to be able to come back home and work in this environment," Cash said.
Cash is one of those rare stories in professional sports — hometown boy grows up to lead a hometown team. But his story has so many layers to it.
Young Cash got the baseball bug early. His dad Mike played five seasons in the minors and his Uncle Ron played six years in the Tigers organization.
Cash's love for the game of baseball started on the fields at the Northside Little League, and in 1989, he made the Northside Little League All Star Team that would go on to play for the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. All the kids from that team would go on to Gaither and make the 10th grade baseball team — except for Kevin Cash.
"It was a blow for sure. I think a lot of guys had passed me growing and got bigger and stronger than I did and I was pretty small at the time, and I wasn't deserving to make the team," Cash said.
"That was hard on him, it was hard, but I think it made him a better person," said Frank Permuy, Cash's Gaither High School coach.
Permuy, who retired in 2014, was a legend in the game and one of Cash's biggest influences.
"He had a good baseball mind even back then. Some people are not baseball minded people — he knew the history of the game and everything else that went along with it. He was pretty knowledgeable," Permuy said.
From Gaither High School to Florida State, Cash's baseball career and learning experience continued. Cash ended up playing third base for another legend, head coach Mike Martin.
"He really taught us how to practice, how to work and how to win," Cash said.
After leaving Florida State undrafted, Cash got his big break in the Cape Cod League as a catcher when he volunteered one game to fill in for an injured teammate. That was the beginning of an 8-year-old career in the majors, playing for multiple teams, and eventually leading him on a path back home.