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

Derek Jeter has long been considered one of the best players in the history of the New York Yankees. On Wednesday, he took a statistical step to prove his place in the all-time ranks. With his 2,721st hit as a member of the Yankees, he tied Lou Gehrig for most hits in the history of the franchise.
Against the Tampa Bay Rays, Jeter finished 3-for-4 to raise his batting average on the season to .330. The shortstop also has 17 homers, 62 RBIs and 97 runs.
To add to Jeter’s day, the Yankees were able to beat the Rays on Wednesday. Down …read more

In the last month, Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays has been on fire. In fact, he has arguably been the hottest player in the game of baseball. On Monday, however, it all came to a screeching halt.
After getting hit on his left hand by a fastball thrown by C.C. Sabathia of the New York Yankees, Pena broke two fingers — ending his season. X-rays showed that he broke his index and middle fingers. Pena knew there was trouble right away.
Said Pena: “I knew when the ball hit me it was going to be bad. You don’t take a …read more

Early in the season, Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals was almost unhittable. On Monday, the Tampa Bay Rays proved that Greinke is indeed human.
Coming into the game with a 2.08 ERA, Greinke gave up ten hits, six earned runs and three walks in only five innings. The loss gave Greinke a 10-7 record on the season and his ERA jumped to 2.36.
The star at the plate for the Rays was All-Star MVP Carl Crawford. He finished with three hits in five at-bats to go along with three RBIs, one run and his 49th stolen base. DH Willy Aybar …read more

On Wednesday, Evan Longoria had an MRI on his sore left hamstring. Longoria hurt the hamstring on Tuesday when running out a grounder in the sixth inning. The injury forced him to leave the game.
The MRI results showed good news for Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays. Although he may be out for a couple days, the doctors do not believe that Longoria will need to go on the disabled list. If the MRI would have shown a pull or a strain, the Rays likely would have put their star second baseman on the DL.
At 26-28 in the highly competitive …read more

Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays still gets questioned about Desperate Housewives. He still gets asked about Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs. However, Evan Longoria (no relation to Eva Longoria) is quickly making a name for himself.
In his second season in the big leagues, Longoria might be the hottest hitter in the entire game. Against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, he went 2-for-4 with a walk, three runs and five RBI. In the first inning, Longoria hit a two-run homer that put the Rays up for good. When the bashing was all done, the Rays had …read more

Tim Wakefield wasn’t fabulous but he was good enough to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. The 42-year-old knuckleballer won his third game of the season as the Red Sox were victorious by a final count of 10-6.
In five innings of work, Wakefield allowed seven hits and two walks while allowing five earned runs and striking out five batters. His ERA for the season is now 2.91 and he has a record of 3-1.
At the plate, Mike Lowell was 2-for-5 including a homer in the fifth inning. Reigning AL MVP Dustin Pedroia was 2-for-3 …read more

Late last season, Josh Beckett wasn’t himself. He was battling injuries and didn’t give the Boston Red Sox dominant performances late in the season — as has come to be expected of Beckett. However, in the season opener for the Red Sox against the Tampa Bay Rays, Beckett was back to being dominant.
In seven innings, Beckett allowed only two hits and one earned run, while striking out ten batters. That effort helped lead the Red Sox to a 5-3 victory and get Boston off to a good start for their 2009 season.
At the plate, reigning American League MVP Dustin Pedroia …read more

While it’s not uncommon for a politician to recycle content, Sarah Palin recently stretched the limits of acceptable recycling recently while talking about the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays. You can watch the Sarah Palin video below that has both of her speeches.
The first part of the Palin video is her speaking in New England and trying to get the support of Red Sox fans. The second part of the video has her speaking in Florida while trying to get Rays fans excited.
Since these speeches, the Rays have reached the World Series — but they lost Game …read more