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100 random things about the Red Sox, Rays, and Yankees

By Bill Chuck
April 2, 2009
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  1. The Boston Red Sox (1908-2008) have six world championships and 10 pennants among their 18 playoff appearances. Their predecessors, the Boston Americans (1901-07), had one world championship and two pennants.


  2. The New York Yankees (1913-2008) have 26 world championships and 39 pennants in 47 playoff appearances. Their predecessors, the New York Highlanders (1903-12), had no postseason action.


  3. The Tampa Bay Rays (2008) won the pennant in their lone playoff appearance. Their predecessors, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-2007), barely made it to 2008.


  4. While Babe Ruth starred for the Red Sox and the Yankees, he obviously could never have played for the Rays -- but the Babe does have a Tampa/St. Petersburg connection. A penthouse at the Flori-de-Leon in St. Pete was leased by the Sultan of Swat between 1927 and 1934, during his spring training time with the Yankees. The apartment is located at 130 Fourth Ave. N, Unit 702.


  5. The one Hall of Famer who has a connection with all three teams is Wade Boggs, who played with Boston from 1982-92, New York from 1993-97, and Tampa Bay from 1998-99.


  6. The Yankees have handled Rays slugger and Haverill native Carlos Pena much better than the Sox have. Pena is a lifetime .226 hitter with 11 homers and 26 RBIs against New York. He has hit his hometown team at a .281 pace, with 15 homers and 46 RBIs. Pena played briefly for the Red Sox in 2006 and also spent time in the Yankees' farm system that year before rejuvenating his career in Tampa the following season.


  7. Scott Kazmir is the Rays' all-time earned-run average leader at 3.61. He just about hits that number against the Sox, carrying a 3.62 ERA against them. However, his ERA is a nasty 2.51 against New York.


  8. The last time Jason Varitek was not the Red Sox' starting catcher on Opening Day was 1999. The last time Jorge Posada was not the Yankees' Opening Day catcher was the same season, when current Yankees manager Joe Girardi was behind the plate.


  9. Carl Crawford owns the highest single-season batting average in Rays history, hitting .315 in 2007. Lifetime against the Sox, Crawford is a .293 hitter. He's a .296 hitter against the Yankees.


  10. The longest game between Boston and New York went 20 innings (Aug. 29, 1967). The Yankees won, 4-3.


  11. Last season, the American League champion Rays had 11 walk-off wins and seven walk-off losses.


  12. Last season, James Shields led the Rays with 215 innings pitched, Jon Lester led the Sox with 210 1/3, and Andy Pettitte led the Yankees with 204.


  13. Boston has shut out New York 110 times and Tampa 15 times.


  14. The Rays have had four managers in their history. Current boss Joe Maddon has the best winning percentage at .461 (224-262). Next on the list is former Yankee Lou Piniella at .412 (200-285).


  15. Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has missed only five games over the last two seasons.


  16. While no team stole more bases in the American League than the Rays last season (142), the downside was that no team was caught more often (50). Their stolen base success rate of 74 percent trailed both the Sox (77) and the Yankees (75)


  17. The Yankees are 1108-924 all-time against the Red Sox. At home, they are 596-413 and away they're 512-511. Versus the Rays, the Yankees are 122-62 (65-26 home, 57-36 away).


  18. The Rays are 68-119 all-time against the Red Sox, 43-51 at home and 25-68 on the road.


  19. There are no pitchers who have pitched for all three franchises, although Wade Boggs pitched in mop-up duty for the Yankees and the Rays. The only four players who played in the majors for all three franchises are:
    • Wade Boggs -- hit .338 for Boston, .313 for New York, and .289 for Tampa Bay.
    • Jose Canseco -- hit 52 homers for Boston, 6 for New York, and 43 for Tampa Bay.
    • John Flaherty -- played 49 games for Boston, 134 for New York, and 471 for Tampa Bay.
    • Rey Sanchez -- had 357 at bats for Boston, 181 for New York, and 285 for Tampa Bay.


  20. Last season, the Yankees' Cody Ransom became the first man in Yankee history to homer in his first two at-bats. He also recorded the last putout in Yankee Stadium history.


  21. Derek Jeter has only one walk-off homer in his career during the regular season: April 4, 2005 against Keith Foulke and the Sox.


  22. Boston's Jed Lowrie didn't make a single error in 49 games at shortstop last season. He did make two miscues at third.


  23. In 2005, Rays third baseman Evan Longoria played second base for the Chatham A's in the Cape Cod League.


  24. Last season, Daisuke Matsuzaka led the AL by leaving 80.6 percent of the baserunners he allowed stranded.


  25. Johnny Damon hit 35 doubles in each season from 2004-06. In 2007 and ‘08, he hit 27 doubles in each season.


  26. Don't be late to Fenway: Last season, the first inning was the Sox' biggest homer inning. They hit 26 dingers in the frame.


  27. Last season, Robinson Cano made 13 errors at second base, Tampa Bay's Akinori Iwamura made seven, and and Boston's Dustin Pedroia made six.


  28. The last world championship for the Red Sox was in 2007. The Yankees' last came in 2000, while the Rays have never won a title.


  29. New York's CC Sabathia is 2-4 all-time against the Red Sox with a 3.91 ERA in the regular season, but is 7-1 with a 2.44 ERA against the Rays.


  30. Last season, Carlos Pena homered once every 15.8 at bats, the best ratio on the Rays. David Ortiz led the Sox, going deep once every 18.1 at bats, while for the Yankees, Jason Giambi (now of the A's) homered every 14.3 at bats and Alex Rodriguez (now of the DL) went deep every 14.6 at bats.


  31. On Sept. 13, 1998, in his first major league at bat, Mike Lowell singled. He was a member of the Yankees.


  32. The Red Sox have twice scored a high of 17 runs against the Yankees (May 28, 2005 and July 15, 2005). The most they have scored against the Rays is 22 on July 23, 2002.


  33. On Sept. 9, 2004, Scott Kazmir made the only relief appearance of his career, allowing one run in three innings against the Yankees. The remainder of his 125 appearances have been starts.


  34. In 2008, the Red Sox were 9-9 versus the Yankees (home: 4-5; away: 5-4). Versus the Rays they were 8-10 (home: 7-2; away: 1-8).


  35. Yankees center fielder Brett Gardner was successful on 83 percent of his steal attempts in the minors. He has been successful in 13 out of 14 major-league attempts.


  36. The longest winning streak that Boston has had over New York is 17 games (Oct. 3, 1911 to July 1, 1912). The longest winning streak that Boston has had against Tampa is 11 games (April 6-June 26, 2001).


  37. The Red Sox' Rocco Baldelli has never hit against his former team, the Rays, but is a .257 lifetime batter against the Yankees with 8 homers and 29 RBIs. He is a lifetime .231 hitter at Fenway.


  38. Carlos Pena has hit five career walk-off homers, including one as a member of the Sox on Sept. 4, 2006.


  39. Last season, the Rays' Edwin Jackson and James Shields each won 14 games, which tied them for the most wins ever in a single season for a Rays pitcher (tied with former Rays and Red Sox righthander Rolando Arrojo).


  40. The Yankees were 77-0 last year when going into the ninth inning leading, but 1-64 when they entered the ninth trailing.


  41. On Sept 15, 2008 against the Rays, the Sox hit six homers, their single-game high for the season.


  42. Last season, his first with the Rays, shortstop Jason Bartlett was voted by local Tampa sportswriters as the team's MVP. He batted .286 with one home run.


  43. The Rays' most productive inning last year was the fifth when they scored 98 runs. Which was a good thing because the most runs they gave up in an inning was 93 in the fourth.


  44. The Red Sox led the American League last season in shutouts with 16, but only two were complete games by the starter.


  45. The Rays never trailed in 54 of their 97 wins last season, and came from behind to win in 43 of them.


  46. Kevin Youkilis led the American League with a .353 batting average after the sixth inning.


  47. The longest game between Boston and Tampa went 16 innings (April 1, 2003, the second game of the season). It was won by the Sox, 9-8.


  48. The most runs New York ever scored against Boston was 24 on Sept. 28, 1923. The most Tampa ever scored against Boston was 15 (July 24, 2003).


  49. In 2008, the Sox hit 10 homers against the Yankees, six at Fenway and four at Yankee Stadium.


  50. The Rays were 8-39 last season when allowing six or more runs.


  51. Last season, the Sox only hit one walk-off homer (Kevin Youkilis against the Cardinals on June 22).


  52. Mark Teixeira is a career .232 hitter against Boston, but a career .307 hitter against Tampa.


  53. The Rays led the majors with five pitchers who pitched 150-plus innings: James Shields, Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine, Matt Garza, and Scott Kazmir.


  54. Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins and Blue Jays-turned-Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett each made seven errors last season. Rollins had 593 total chances, Burnett 54.


  55. Lefthanded-hitting Hideki Matsui has batted .294 against righthanded pitchers in his career and .295 against lefties.


  56. The Cubs' Rich Harden (15-4) has the highest winning percentage among starting pitchers over the last three years (15 wins, 4 losses, .789). He is followed by Jon Lester (27-8, .771) and Chien-Ming Wang (46-15, .754).


  57. Manny Delcarmen pitched the most innings on the Red Sox without throwing a wild pitch, 74.1 innings.


  58. Jonathan Paplebon pitched 69.1 innings without hitting a batter.


  59. Last season, Red Sox reserves Sean Casey (199 at-bats) and Mark Kotsay (84 at-bats) hit a total of zero homers.


  60. Last year, the Yankees were 11-7 against both the Orioles and Rays, their best record against any team.


  61. The longest winning streak Tampa has had against Boston is four games, accomplished twice (April 18- July 1, 1999 and September 23, 2007-April 27, 2008). The Rays' longest win streak against the Yankees is also four games (May 3- June 20, 2005).


  62. Tampa has shut out Boston six times and New York four times. New York has shut out Boston 150 times and Tampa 15 times.


  63. The Red Sox, Cubs, and Rays ranked 1-2-3 in walks received in 2008.


  64. In three seasons with Boston, Josh Beckett has a 48-28 record and a 4.11 ERA -- the same ERA as Detroit's Justin Verlander, who is 46-34 lifetime.


  65. In the first half of 2006, Kevin Youkilis drew 55 walks. In the first half of 2007, Youk drew 40 walks. In the first half last season, he drew 27 walks.


  66. Boston's Tim Wakefield, Seattle's Jarrod Washburn, Washington's Tim Redding, and the New York Mets' Johan Santana each were victims of an MLB-high seven blown saves.


  67. Alex Rodriguez hit only .264 with runners in scoring position and two outs last season. In 95 plate appearances, he walked 20 times and was hit by three pitches, and he had only 19 hits. Of the 41 times A-Rod struck with two outs, 20 came with runners in scoring position.


  68. The largest lead the Rays blew last year was three runs.


  69. Before 2008, Kevin Youkilis had never received an intentional walk. Last season he had seven.


  70. In 11 seasons, J.D. Drew has played 136-plus games only three times. Since 1999, Drew's first full season in the majors, 75 players have played more than his 1,195 games.


  71. The seventh inning was the Yankees' most productive last season, scoring 114 runs.


  72. The last time the Red Sox finished under .500 was 1997. The last time for the Yankees was 1992, and the last time for the Rays was way back in 2007.


  73. The longest winning streak that New York has had over Boston is 12 games, accomplished twice(May 27-Aug. 23, 1936 and Aug. 16, 1952 to April 23, 1953). The longest for the Yankees versus the Rays is 11 (Sept. 17, 1998 to Sept. 24, 1999)


  74. The last 100-plus-win season for the Red Sox was in 1946, for the Yankees 2004, and for the Rays, the next will be the first.


  75. Rays pitcher Andy Sonnenstine hit .400 last season (2 for 5), walking twice and scoring twice.


  76. The Yankees were 10-8 in interleague play last year.


  77. Johnny Damon is the active leader in triples with 92, but he probably won't be following this season. Jimmy Rollins has 90 and Carl Crawford has 84.


  78. In 2008, Sox hitters hit 173 homers --131 homers off righthanded pitchers and 42 off lefties. Righthanded batters hit 107 homers and lefties hit 66.


  79. Sox batters hit 94 homers at Fenway and 79 on the road.


  80. Last year, the Sox had two pinch-hit homers, both from catchers: Jason Varitek on April 5 and Kevin Cash on July 9.


  81. Jonny Gomes hit the Rays only pinch-homer last year. Jason Giambi went deep twice as a PH, and Cody Ransom and Robinson Cano each hit one for New York.


  82. In his two regular seasons, Jacoby Ellsbury has hit .351 with 5 homers and 24 RBIs in September/October.


  83. As a starter last season, New York's Joba Chamberlain was 3-1 with eight no-decisions.


  84. The Yankees' Jose Molina was successful in eight of nine sacrifice bunt attempts.


  85. Last year, the Sox were 22-23 in one-run games, the Yankees were 27-18, and the Rays were 29-18.


  86. The only month the Rays had a losing record last year was September, when they went 13-14. In August, they were 21-7.


  87. Last year, the Sox had six walk-off wins and seven walk-off losses.


  88. The Yankees had 49 comeback wins in 2008.


  89. Last year the Sox' longest winning streak was seven games from May 17-22.


  90. Their longest losing streak in 2008 was five games, which occurred twice, from April 23-27 and June 28-July 2.


  91. In four seasons with Boston, Johnny Damon hit 56 homers. In three years with New York, he has hit 53 dingers.


  92. The Rays never fell more than five games out of first place last season, and that happened in April.


  93. On Sept. 7, 2004, Rays catcher Dioner Navarro made his major league debut, catching for the Yankees against Tampa Bay.


  94. The Yankees were caught stealing third three times last season, Jeter once and A-Rod twice.


  95. Among pitchers who have thrown at least 200 innings, Jonathan Papelbon's 0.930 WHIP is the lowest ever. He's thrown 230 innings.


  96. Jorge Posada has hit 162 homers from the left side of the plate and 59 from the right in his career.


  97. In 14 seasons, the Yankees' Andy Pettitte averages 158 strikeouts a season, the same number as he accumulated in '08.


  98. Gabe Kapler, who hit .270 in four seasons with the Red Sox, joins the Rays this season.


  99. In his career, Tim Wakefield has made 400 starts (168-144 record) but he's completed only 30 games, the fewest of any pitcher in history with as many starts.


  100. In six seasons with Minnesota, David Ortiz hit 58 homers, in six seasons with Boston he's gone deep 231 times. He has hit the most homers against Tampa (34), and has 25 against the Yankees.


Bill Chuck is the creator of Billy-Ball.com and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, "Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs -- Baseball's Grand (and not so Grand) Finales".

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