Triangle Offense

Former Bull-turned Tampa Bay Ray phenom Evan Longoria is the American League’s 2008 Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year. Major League Baseball announced the winners today; Cubs catcher Geovany Soto won for the National League.
Longoria, who joined the Rays at third base in April, was the unanimous choice of the Baseball Writers of America Association. [...]

Depressing piece from the Times’ Harvey Araton, who calls this Series a “turkey.” That’s in response to Bud Selig’s wan assurance to fans that the Series will be concluded, “even if we have to celebrate Thanksgiving.” In a gloomy assessment, Araton bemoans the obvious, that the days of baseball being America’s pastime are long gone.
Even [...]

Tonight’s baseball game was the sort of riveting spectacle that is made just for television. Like the Ice Bowl, it was something to watch from afar, as the Rays and Phillies stumbled through a steady, near-freezing rainfall. Down 2-1 in the 6th inning with the game in danger of being declared over, B.J Upton singled [...]

Last night’s deciding Game Seven of the ALCS Championship Series had the crisp, taut feel of classic October baseball. Both teams’ starters pitched well, especially the Rays’ Matt Garza. (Garza was acquired in the trade that sent former Bulls’ malcontent Delmon Young to Minnesota.) In the eighth inning, Tampa manager Joe Maddon started playing the [...]

Former Bull and Tampa Bay Ray Fernando Perez scored the winning run against the Red Sox in a burnin-the-midnight-oil Game 2 of the AL championships. The New York Times has a lively story recapping the five-plus hour game.
Perez, who was pinch running, scored in the bottom of the 11th on a sac fly by another [...]

It didn’t take long for the Times to catch up with hometown hero Fernando Perez, a season-long highlight (see video) for the Durham Bulls who is now on the Tampa Bay post-season roster.
 
Writer Alan Schwarz describes the New Jersey native and Columbia University grad as a Hermann Hesse fan who has “wit as quick as [...]

The Tampa Bay Rays got off to a fast start in Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, behind two record-setting home runs by rookie phenom Evan Longoria. The Rays prevailed, 6-4.
Longoria, who began this season in Durham (albeit briefly), became the first rookie to hit two home runs [...]