His travails are well documented when it comers to authority figures and his rapport with the media is worse, depending on who it is you are talking to.

 

With all that in mind, Delmon Young gets his chance to show off all that God-given talent that has put him atop the prospect list for what seems like forever.

 

Part of what some were calling the Devil's Triangle at the Rays triple-A farm club at Durham, B.J. Upton has already separated himself from the trio by doing a wise and long overdue grown-up thing apologizing for his comments in a recent magazine article when he was recalled from the ballclub.

 

Now it's Delmon's turn.

 

The bad boy with the wealth of talent is getting a shot to be on the post-season roster because he is getting his promotion before the first of September deadline Major League Baseball sets to be on the 25-man to be eligible.

 

OK, the Rays will not be playing any meaningful games past the October first season finale, Young gets to start his major league career before most expected - the roster expansion to 40 on Friday - mitigated by the surgery to Jonny Gomes.

 

To say the very least it is a controversial move in light of his off-off-off Broadway act he perpetrated on the International League, umpires, teammates and the men in blue.

 

Some, including myself, have said he should get a one-way ticket home after the Bulls season ends and let him have a long winter to think about his deeds. Instead, he gets a trip to the show.

 

Now while baseball is a forgiving sport - see Jason Giambi, steroids, apology, return to form then being re-embraced by the New York fan and media - Young has done something far worse, in my opinion, than using performance enhancing drugs or even following in Pete Rose's path.

 

He attacked the very foundation of the sport, the umpires who are there to keep things from degrading into utter chaos. Throwing a piece of lumber at one is not the way to get your point across.

 

You want to act like Earl Weaver and kick and cover the plate with dirt, Lou Piniella using a base in an impromptu discus throw or others emptying the dugout from Gatorade buckets to bubble-gum boxes, knock yourself out. Doing the unthinkable crossed a line no one else had ever attempted.

 

Young is now a marked man as much as Dave Pallone was to Rose for being a scab umpire that made it past the replacements. The fraternity of those who maintain the integrity of the game will see a bulls-eye on his back instead of his number.

 

Close pitch at home? Strike three. Bang-bang at first? You're out. Safe at second on a steal? He will be invited back to his dugout. Young will be tested in every way imaginable and it will not be just for the remainder of the 2006 season.

 

Umpires have long memories and this will linger for years until Young proves he has truly changed like Rays' new infielder Kevin Witt says.

 

Witt spent the year at Durham and watched the circus that unfolded there and one of the first things he said when he got the call by the big club was that Young had indeed changed. Others have said the same thing.

 

That remains to be seen.

 

His new teammates, like Carl Crawford who spoke out about his actions and then comments in the magazine, will have to be convinced that Delmon has grown up and deserves to be in the same clubhouse with them.

 

He needs to show the opposition that he is nothing but a plain old ballplayer who just happens to have this talent that may or may not be better than most. A good big league curve ball with two-strikes could convince many he is not all Baseball America said he is cracked up to be. Any flaws will not be exposed, if there are any to uncover.

 

He also needs to prove to the men in blue that he is truly contrite and can accept their form of payback, which is inevitable.

 

Many believe Delmon Young should follow Upton's lead once he arrives in the U.S. Cellular Field clubhouse then manager Joe Maddon should tell him that he is the judge and has issued a gag order.

 

In other words, simply shut up.

 

It has been his actions that made him into public enemy number one and his mouth that gives the impression that he believes he is entitled to become a card carrying member of major league ballplayers.

 

Young will be tested, poked and prodded. He will be drilled by the media, most especially those from outside the Tampa Bay area who have nothing to lose if they can get Delmon to lose his composure in a pre- or post-game Q and A.

 

Most importantly, Young will be under a microscope by the Devil Rays organization as a whole, from Maddon and staff up to the baseball operations, right to the top with Stuart Sternberg, an owner who has a deep sense of what the game is all about and what it stands for.

 

He is a fan.

 

For better or worse, the day has arrived and Rays' fans finally get their Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson introduction: "Here's Delmon!"

 

Now all the player has to do is put up and shut up.