In the middle of the 2009 baseball season, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded star second baseman Freddy Sanchez to the San Francisco Giants. During the offseason, the Pirates wanted to find a replacement second baseman. Following a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, they found their man.
Akinori Iwamura, who was Tampa Bay’s everyday second baseman in 2008 when the team made a run to the World Series, was traded to the Pirates for Jesse Chavez, a relief pitcher. Iwamura will likely become Pittsburgh’s everyday second baseman.
In 2009, Iwamura’s season was cut sure due to a knee injury. The 30-year-old native of …read more

The San Francisco Giants traded for Freddy Sanchez during the middle of the 2009 baseball season. The marriage apparently is working out well as Sanchez and the Giants agreed to a two-year extension. Terms of the extension have yet to be released.
The 31-year-old second baseman began his career with the Boston Red Sox but made his name with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played with the Pirates from 2004 through the middle of last season. For his career, Sanchez has a .299 batting average and an on-base percentage of .334.
In 25 games with the Giants last season, Sanchez hit .284 with …read more

Angel Villalona, a highly regarded prospect for the San Francisco Giants, has been charged with murder in his home country of the Dominican Republic. The 19-year-old played at Class A San Jose for the Giants this season.
The alleged murder took place at a bar in the Dominican Republic city of La Romana. In a shooting, 25-year-old Mario Felix de Jesus Velete was killed. If convicted of murder, Villalona could spend 20 years in prison.
In Class A, Villanova hit 9 homers, finished with 42 RBIs and had a batting average of .267. Originally signed in 2006, he received more than two …read more

Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants was recently sidelined due to a sore back. Having not pitched since September 3rd, Lincecum returned on Monday and dominated the Colorado Rockies.
In seven innings, Lincecum gave up only six hits one one earned run while striking out 11 batters. His record on the season improved to 14-5, while his ERA was lowered to 2.30. Lincecum got more than enough support as the Giants beat the Rockies by a final count of 9-1.
Most of the runs were produced by Eugenia Velez and Bengie Molina. Velez had a sacrifice fly in the second inning …read more

Going up against possibly NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants, Pedro Martinez looked like the old Pedro Martinez who used to dominate batters. Riding Martinez’s performance, the Philadelphia Phillies were able to beat the Giants by a final count of 2-1.
In seven innings, Martinez gave up only five hits and one earned run while striking out nine and walking no one. With the win, he upped his record on the season to 3-0 and lowered his ERA to 3.52.
Lincecum was hardly disappointing. In his seven innings of work, he gave up four hits, two …read more

The San Francisco Giants have a very strong starting rotation. Recently, it got even stronger when the Giants claimed Brad Penny off waivers from the Boston Red Sox. Although Penny has struggled this season, he was very good not too long ago.
The 31-year-old right-hander will step in and become the team’s number five starter. This year with the Red Sox, Penny had a 5.61 ERA and a record of 7-8. In his last start for Boston, he gave up ten hits and eight earned runs in four innings against the New York Yankees.
Despite his ugly numbers this season, Penny was …read more

The selling spree hasn’t stopped for the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Wednesday, the Pirates made two more trades as they continue their rebuilding efforts.
The first trade sent Jack Wilson and Ian Snell to the Seattle Mariners. In return, the Pirates received Ronny Cedeno, Jack Lement, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock.
Wilson was the starting shortstop for the Pirates and will continue to start with the Mariners. On the season, he’s hitting .267 with four homers and 31 RBIs. Snell is a starting pitcher with a 5.36 ERA and a record of 2-8. Many scouts think that the 27-year-old Snell still …read more

Michael Vick is now free to sign with any team in the NFL after getting partially reinstated by commissioner Roger Goodell. Where might Michael Vick end up? Let’s take a look at some situations that make sense.
New England Patriots
Bill Belichick is one coach who doesn’t have to worry about his job. Also consider that Belichick likes players who can play multiple positions. Could Vick have Randy Moss type success with the Patriots?
San Francisco 49ers
The Niners are arguably the most desperate team in the league when it comes to the quarterback position. If Vick is serious about playing — and playing …read more

Late Friday night, Jonathan Sanchez dazzled fans of the San Francisco Giants. Aside from an error, Sanchez didn’t allow a baserunner on his way to pitching the first no-hitter of the 2009 baseball season.
Sanchez pitched nine innings, gave up no hits, no walks and struck out 11 batters. His no-hitter improved his record to 3-8 and his ERA to 4.69.
If it wasn’t for Juan Uribe’s error in the eighth inning, Sanchez could have had a perfect game. As it was, Sanchez was obviously happy with his effort.
“It’s the game. It can happen,” Sanchez said of Uribe’s error. “I could have …read more

Ryan Zimmerman, the emerging superstar third baseman for the Washington Nationals, had a 30-game hitting streak heading into Wednesday’s game against the San Francisco Giants. Although Zimmerman walked twice, he didn’t get a hit and saw his hitting streak end.
Despite the end of his hitting streak, Zimmerman is still having a very good season. He’s hitting .357 with eight homers, 26 RBI and 28 runs. The 24-year-old from North Carolina is the best thing going for the last place Nationals.
On this day, the Nationals didn’t need production from Zimmerman to take home a rare win. Scoring three runs in …read more