And apparently, still a prickly one to some.

"I'm going to tell him, 'Why don't you go hold your meeting down in Port Charlotte?' " said Kevin Schauer, who manages Lenny's, a Clearwater staple for 30 years.

Port Charlotte is the new spring-training home of the Tampa Bay Rays, almost 2 hours south of Clearwater, the Phillies' spring-training home since 1948. Surrounded by waitresses wearing Phillies shirts during breakfast last week, Schauer was still peeved at the mayor for his duplicity last October, and he makes no secret about it. Clearwater mayor Frank Hibbard wore a Rays mohawk for the World Series last year, openly supported the Rays over the Phillies, and stopped office employees from wearing either team's gear.

The Rays-Phillies World Series, dubbed by many as a "dream matchup" when the postseason started, instead became a political powderkeg for the 41-year-old, second-term mayor, who admits to having political aspirations beyond the bridges that separate Clearwater from the rest of Florida.

Spurred on by some convenient misinformation from talk radio, Rays fans flooded the phones of Hibbard's office during the buildup and first two games of the World Series with protests over signage, over perceived city-sponsored Phillies pep rallies (there were none), and a general overall perception that Clearwater loved the Phillies first and foremost.

"It was a Cinderella situation, but it posed some problems for us internally," Hibbard said the other day. "We had a lot of people call up and call us some really awful things.

"It's a shame how people reacted."

Shame is a word that comes up often when last October is reviewed here. But the context varies wildly. In a rambling conversation as he seated people for breakfast, Schauer said, "Shame on him" several times when speaking of Hizzoner. Schauer thinks the mayor brought some of it on himself by "living a dual existence" instead of staying red and explaining the obvious.

Which is?

"The Rays fans in St. Pete and Tampa - we're not getting any dollars from them," Schauer said.

Ah, but what about the Rays fans in Clearwater? Schauer admits he got a little flak last October for decorating his restaurant in Phillies gear, and does even now, especially with "World Champion Phillies" painted all over his windows. Schauer, who feeds both the Phillies' and Blue Jays' minor and major league teams every morning during the spring - he figures 47,000 meals between them before they head north - tells those people that they can "go eat at Denny's" if they don't like it.

Judging from a packed breakfast crowd last Tuesday, some wearing Rays hats, most don't.

Schauer estimates that Clearwater is 70 percent Phillies,

30 percent Rays. The mayor is convinced that if put to a ballot, Rays fans would win. "They're here all the time," Hibbard said. "People go to their games all summer long, especially last year. But the old-time Clearwater people have a connection they are never going to relinquish."

Any stroll through town reveals that. The older you are, the more likely your cap is red. For starters, there is a sizable retirement community that has relocated here from the Delaware Valley. Hibbard is quick to point out that both the Rays and Phillies have given back to the community through various outreach programs. But, he said readily, the Phillies have been doing it for much of what has been, all told, a 64-year relationship.

When the Phillies had a tailgate party and opened the gates to Bright House Field for the first two games of the World Series, there allegedly were more Rays fans than Phillies fans. By all accounts, the Phillies were gracious hosts. The organization also has been cordial about Hibbard's conflict. When Hibbard wore a Rays hat to the postgame parties after Games 1 and 2, several Phillies front-office types tried good-naturedly to replace it with a Phillies hat.

"If this was George Steinbrenner's team?" Schauer said of the Phillies. "He would have chewed him [Hibbard] a new one right to the media."

As for Hibbard's claim of summerlong attendance at Rays games . . . well, the empirical evidence is sketchy at best. Despite its surprising success, Tampa Bay averaged fewer than 20,000 fans over its first 42 home dates in 2008 and finished the regular season with an average attendance of 22,370 at Tropicana Field - little more than half its capacity.

And when the first two games of the World Series were held there?

"I don't know if the players felt this way, but it was very comfortable being down here," said longtime Phillies clubhouse director Frank Coppenbarger. "We had a lot of fans in there. When Chase Utley hit that home run in the first inning, you could hear them."

Still, the mayor has a point. The Phillies are in and out of here in 7 weeks, leaving behind a Class A minor league team to play at Bright House Field over the summer. And until last October, there was little or no conflict being a fan of both teams at once.

As Hibbard said, "What were the chances?"

Now, though . . . Well, the welcome banners are already up for the "World Champion" Philadelphia Phillies , as the players begin to filter into camp. This year's Phillies Phan Fest on Feb. 20, an annual event, will include the region's first up-close and personal look at the World Series trophy.

For some, like Schauer, it's nirvana. "You guys saw it all winter," he said. "But this our first chance to see it."

For others, though, it is a reminder of what could have been.

A 7-week reminder.

"Based on last year, I'm sure we're going to get some push back," said Hibbard.

And like last year, he will be careful not to push back. "I tell people you can't discard a 64-year relationship," said the mayor. "They're part of the fabric of our community."

Do those people buy it, he was asked.

Or was his political future

jeopardized by last October's "Dream Series"?

"I hope the electorate isn't that shallow," he said.

"Or if they are, I hope they don't vote." *

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