Star Of The Game: Cole Hamels Hamels, the Philadelphia Phillies' left-handed ace, kept coming up big in the clutch. He recorded his fourth win of this postseason, defeating the Rays 3-2 in Wednesday night's Game 1 of the World Series at Tropicana Field. Hamels allowed five hits and two runs in seven innings of work, walking two and striking out five. He had a pair of 1-2-3 innings, while facing the minimum three batters in three other innings (thanks to a pair of double-play balls and one runner caught stealing). For the postseason, he is 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA, walking seven and striking out 27 in 29 innings. ...more

October 23, 2008

Star Of The Game: Matt Garza The Rays needed an inspired performance in Sunday night's Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at Tropicana Field. That's exactly what they received from right-hander Matt Garza, who pitched the game of his life in a 3-1 victory against the Boston Red Sox, sending Tampa Bay to its first World Series. Garza, the ALCS Most Valuable Player, allowed just two hits in seven innings on 118 pitches - he started the eighth, but was immediately removed when shortstop Jason Bartlett booted Alex Cora's routine grounder. He struck out nine and walked three, finishing 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in the ALCS. ...more

October 20, 2008

Star Of The Game: Carl Crawford When the postseason began, Crawford almost had to talk his way back into the lineup after missing nearly two months to injury. He insisted he was ready. He insisted he was all the way back. Believe it. Crawford was 5-for-5 - a triple, two doubles and two singles - on Tuesday night in the Rays' 13-4 victory against the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. He also had two stolen bases, scored three runs and had two RBIs. ...more

October 15, 2008

Star Of The Game: Matt Garza The Rays got 13 hits - and four home runs - in Monday's 9-1 victory against Boston in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. "You can talk about the hitting all you want," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Matt Garza is the reason we won the game. He did not permit them to come back." Garza, who pitched to two batters in the seventh inning before his exit, allowed six hits, walked three and struck out five on 116 pitches. In the first two innings, Garza stranded three runners in scoring position. Garza got the leadoff batter out six times. The Red Sox's 3-4-5 batters (David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, J.D. Drew) were 0-for-9 against him. ...more

October 14, 2008

Star Of The Game: B.J. Upton Upton, who labored with a shoulder injury and had only nine home runs in the regular season, saved the brightest moments of his career for Monday. The Rays defeated the Chicago White Sox 6-2 in the clinching Game 4 of the American League Division Series. Upton's solo home runs in the first and third innings provided a 2-0 lead and the Rays never looked back. "He White Sox starter Gavin Floyd left two fastballs over the plate," Upton said. "I got them up in the air and, well, this is the Windy City for a reason." Upton was 5-for-17 in the ALDS, but he heated up at the end. There was a triple to the center-field wall in Game 2. Then came Upton's four at-bat flurry, bridging the final two games - homer, single, homer, homer. ...more

October 7, 2008

Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, keynoting the Democratic National Convention, said Tuesday night that American voters "have one shot to get it right" by electing Barack Obama president to end Republican leadership that is stuck in the past. ...more

August 27, 2008

It's just not the same. The Olympics I mean. I remember the first Olympics I saw on the television - the 1964 Summer Olympics from Japan. There were Bob Hayes, the World's Fastest Human, and Joe Frazier, the young boxer. My dad, an Air Force officer, taught me to root against the Russians, East Germans and any Soviet bloc country because they were "commies." These were the countries that wanted America to fail, he said. They hated the way we flaunted our freedom, our capitalist ways and the way we want others to be more like us. Don't be mad at the athletes, just their governments, he said. ...more

August 19, 2008

Despite protests that at times erupted in violence, the city council voted unanimously Thursday in favor of demolishing about 4,500 public housing units as the city rebuilds from Hurricane Katrina. ...more

December 21, 2007

Plagued by turmoil at the top, the American Red Cross ousted its president, Mark Everson, on Tuesday for engaging in a "personal relationship" with one of his subordinates. He took the job six months ago. ...more

November 28, 2007