Baseball Page 1005 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Royals Trade For Johnny Cueto, Gear Up For Postseason Run
The Royals have the second-best record in baseball, the fourth-best run differential, and lead their division by six-and-a-half games. Barring an incredible disaster, they’re going to the playoffs. But they still didn’t feel like the team was well-positioned, and on Sunday traded Brandon Finnegan, J...

Remember When Pedro Martinez Struck Out 17 Yankees?
Pedro Martinez is being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame today, alongside Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio. As a tribute to one of the greatest, funniest, most dominant, most quote-worthy players of all time, let’s watch him strike out a bunch of Yankees in a complete game one-hit...

Alex Rodriguez Is Old And Fun
I don’t watch many Yankees games because the Yankees are whatever, but I had a game on Wednesday evening for the sake of background noise, which means I got to see Alex Rodriguez hit his 20th homer of the season:...

Astros Trade For Scott Kazmir, Are Going For The Whole Damn Thing
The Houston Astros, who this time last year were churning through a 92-loss season, but have suddenly become a team to be reckoned with in 2015, just swung the first big trade of the season. They are acquiring starting pitcher Scott Kazmir from the A’s in exchange for prospects Daniel Mengden and Ja...

Rob Manfred Says MLB's Trade Deadline Might Be Too Early
It is July 23, and 18 teams either in a playoff spot or within five games of one. They must decide by a week from tomorrow whether to go for it, or to reload for the future. If you think it’s far too early in the season, you have company in MLB’s new commissioner....

The Diamondbacks Are Still Jerks
Former GM Kevin Towers and Kirk “Grit Lord” Gibson aren’t around to urge players to throw baseballs at people in meaningless acts of revenge, but that doesn’t mean the Diamondbacks have totally done away with the Hard Baseball Man ethos. See last night’s game against the Marlins....

Baseball Children Owned So Hard By Food
Children are dumb and uncoordinated, and also fun to laugh at when they are being dumb and uncoordinated. If you think I’m mean for saying that, it’s probably because you are an idiot or a baby (no offense). Anyway, look at this dummy:...

Reds Fan Runs On Field, Films Selfie Video, Escapes Ballpark
It could have been the perfect crime. Justin Buchanan, 19, dashed onto the field at last night’s Cubs-Reds game (while filming himself the entire way), tried to say hi to Billy Hamilton, tossed his phone onto the grass over the centerfield wall, hopped the fence, clambered up into the seats, and dis...

Which MLB Stadium Has The Cheapest Beer?
VinePair charted the best beer prices from all 30 MLB teams. Unsurprisingly, Fenway Park bleeds their patrons dry when it comes to selling beers. Leeches....

Dale Thayer Throws Gum After Giving Up Grand Slam; Benches Later Clear
Tuesday night’s Giants-Padres game generated a nice baseball beef between the divisional rivals. On a chart of cooking steak, it’d probably register at a “medium.” The tiff did involve a thrown piece of gum, however, so that’s fun....

Tim Lincecum Diagnosed With Degenerative Hips
Tim Lincecum hasn’t pitched since he took a liner off the forearm during a start on June 27, and now it’s looking like he’s going to have even more trouble getting back on the field. After receiving an MRI on Monday, doctors found what Giants head coach Bruce Bochy referred to as “degenerative thing...

Brandon Phillips's Absurd Sliding Stop, Behind-The-Back Flip Ends Inning
Brandon Phillips is one of the better defensive players at his position, and plays like this are a big reason why: ...

Alcides Escobar Really Threw The Dick Off The Ball Yesterday
During yesterday’s rain delay at the scheduled Angels-Red Sox game, ESPN threw to a live version of SportsCenter, which is always fun for the chaos a live, highly produced news show always produces. But instead of bad jokes and dead air, the show was basically just a bunch of Alcides Escobar highlig...

Bryce Harper Doesn't Think Zack Greinke Is All That Impressive
Dodgers starter Zack Greinke is on a hell of a roll right now, having not allowed an earned run in his last 43 and two-thirds innings. He extended his streak of scoreless innings—the most since Orel Hersheiser pitched 59 straight shutout frames in 1988—with a dominant outing against the Nationals ye...

John Smoltz Says The Mets' Rotation Is "Way Better" Than The '90s Braves
In Matt Harvey (26), Jacob deGrom (27), Noah Syndergaard (22), Steven Matz (24), and Zack Wheeler (25), the Mets have some of baseball’s best young starters, and hope to have them for a very long time. That staff just received a ringing endorsement from John Smoltz, who’s as qualified as anyone to t...

Five Years Ago Today, Bengie Molina(!) Hit For The Cycle
Baseball’s still on a break, so take a second to remember an unexpected feat that happened five years ago today: Bengie Molina hit for the damn cycle....

What Is The Value Of A Ballgame?
Grantland writer Bill Barnwell posed an interesting question yesterday: What if MLB had a player-loan system similar to those used in soccer leagues around the world? This a perfectly fine idea to consider and precisely the kind of thought experiment that could make for an interesting column, which ...

Mike Trout, American League Win All-Star Game, 6-3
Mike Trout was named All-Star Game MVP for the second consecutive year as the American League beat the National League 6-3 to secure home field advantage in the World Series....

How Much Of The Home Run Derby Awesomeness Was The Format?
The Home Run Derby was, from top to bottom, the best in the event’s three-decade history. (I want to hug the phrase “buzzer-beating home run.” We’ve finally perfected sports.) MLB is rightfully being universally praised for introducing new rules that increased the drama, excitement, and competition,...