Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

Rays vs. Red Sox: A history of run-ins

A timeline of some of the Tampa Bay Rays' and Boston Red Sox's past run-ins:

Aug. 29, 2000. Perdro Martinez, perhaps tired of losing twice to the Tampa Bay Rays in two of his last three starts against them, drills Gerald Williams, and Williams responds by charging the mound. The Rays retaliate as Dave Eiland and a parade of relievers continue to throw at Brian Daubach. The benches clear again later in the game. A total of eight players are ejected, though Martinez is not one of them. He retires the next 24 batters and takes a no-hitter into the ninth inning where it is broken up John Flaherty.

Sept. 29, 2000. The Rays eliminate the Red Sox from playoff contention one month later, and Roberto Hernandez waves "bye-bye" after recording the final out. One night later, Morgan Burkhardt hits a two-run homer of Hernandez to erase a 2-1 deficit and start a three-run rally in the ninth for a 4-2 victory. The Red Sox are seen waving to Hernandez, though most use only one finger.

May 5, 2002. Ryan Rupe begins the game by hitting Nomar Garciaparra and Shea Hillenbrand in the first inning. Trot Nixon swings and misses at a pitch, and the bat flies out of his hand toward Rupe. Randy Winn gets plunked later in the game.

July 18, 2002. Esteban Yan and manager Hal McRae are ejected as Manny Ramirez and Brent Abernathy are both hit twice.

Sept. 9, 2002. Warned by the commissioner's office to knock it off, Derek Lowe nevertheless hits Felix Escalona twice.

Sept. 10, 2002. The Rays respond, drilling Doug Mirabelli, Garciaparra and Lou Merloni. Lowe and Rays pitcher Lee Gardner earn suspensions.

Sept. 27, 2004. Scott Kazmir empties the dugouts when he hits Manny Ramirez and Kevin Millar during consecutive at-bats. Kazmir was retaliating because Bronson Arroyo had already plunked Aubrey Huff and Tino Martinez. Kazmir and Lou Piniella are ejected.

April 24, 2005. Bradenton's Lance Carter gets into the act when he throws behind Ramirez, who responds with a home run, and David Ortiz, who responds by making a move toward Carter. The ejections total six, and eight players are either fined or suspended. Two days later Curt Schilling calls out Piniella on his radio show. Schilling calls out Rays announcer Joe Magrane after Magrane criticizes Schilling during the Rays next telecast.

March 27, 2006. The volatile Julian Tavarez kicks Joey Gathright as Gathright scores on a wild pitch during a spring training game in Fort Myers. Tavarez slaps, then punches Gathright as the benches empty. Ty Wigginton breaks a bone in his right hand, and Taverez gets slapped with a 10-game suspension.

June 5, 2008. Boston fans finally get to witness a dustup of their own after Shields drills Crisp and bedlam ensues. Shields was responding to a hard slide into second baseman Akinori Iwamura by Crisp the night before. Three players are ejected, and eight are suspended, including Crisp and Iwamura.