Player Wives & Girlfriends

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Let me get this out of the way now - Boston screwed Carl Crawford. Dude played with an elbow needing Tommy John last year and was their best player, busting his ass for the month they put him out their. Yes, he had a tough 2011 campaign with the Sox, but we all deserved to see what he was capable of doing (which is what he's doing now in Los Angeles). It just always felt dirty to turn a guy busting his ass while fighting injuries into the poster boy for the overpaid, entitled, apathetic players that submarined the Sox 2012 season. Crawford did not deserve that distinction, and his time in Boston was marred with the lowest period of his professional career.

Maybe that's why this new rumor makes so much sense, that Carl Crawford's girlfriend is Evelyn Lozada. Yes, the same Evelyn Lozada who's marriage to former NFL wideout Chad Ochocinco lasted less time than the Kim Kardashian- Kris Humphries marriage. But let's think about it for a second. Both Crawford and Lozada are coming off what was likely the most difficult period of their lives - Crawford professionally, Lozada personally. Both desperately wanted a fresh start and a chance to prove that they could rebound from the lows they had recently experienced. I can imagine that a climb back to the top would be easier to trek through by experiencing it with the person you're dating.

Lozada and Crawford were rumored to have met up and possibly started dating in late April when the Dodgers were in New York to play the Mets. Sites HipHopHollywood, and TerezOwens seemed to have the scoop first, citing unquote, unnamed "close to the source," accounts and "eyewitnesses." There has been no confirmation from either party, or any pictures of them together. As unabashed Carl Crawford fans on this site, we'll keep a close eye on this one as it progresses.

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Have we ever mentioned before how much it pays to be a professional athlete?

Take Phillies rookie pitcher Jonathan Pettibone for example. Barely a month after his major league debut, Pettibone is already making headlines off the field in Philly. Notably, while attending Chase Utley's All-Star Animal's Casino night, the buzz began when what appears to be Jonathan Pettibone's girlfriend Kacie McDonnell arrived on his arm.

While the exact status of their relationship isn't currently clear as of yet, this wouldn't be McDonnell's first relationship with a professional athlete. McDonnell previously dated Vikings QB Christian Ponder long before Christian's wife Samantha Ponder was in the picture. McDonnell is a traffic reporter in Philadelphia, so being well known on the local scene isn't entirely surprising.

For what it's worth, McDonnell isn't exactly going out of her way to deny or hide from the relationship rumors. McDonnell posted a picture of the couple together, Tweeting Utley All Stars @Jon_Pettibone. While no confirmation has come out from either camp, we'll keep an eye on these two as the season goes on and keep you posted.

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The baseball world is a tight knit community. Logically, it makes sense with teammates spending months together on the road, and in hotels from pro baseball all the way down through the farm systems. But the tight knit community extends outside the locker rooms as well. In the case of MLB phenom Manny Machado and his former University of Miami first baseman, and current San Diego Padre, Yonder Alonso, their friendship was spurned despite never donning the same uniform. Though the two were never teammates, their connection in the local baseball scene helped bring Manny Machado's fiancee Yainee Alonso into the picture.

Yainee Alonso is the sister of Yonder, who met Manny while the Yonder was playing at the University of Miami. Machado told the Baltimore Sun about the relationship with Alonso despite different home jerseys:

That’s the thing about Miami people. Guys that live in Miami ... I might live in Hialeah and he might be from Key West, but you’re from Miami, so even if we don’t know each other, we know the name and, automatically, it’s like we’ve known each other for years."

Manny and Yainee are set to be married on December 6, 2014 in Paris. As Machado told the Baltimore Sun in the same article, he's excited to officially become family with his closest friend Yonder, saying “We’re already like brothers,’