Baseball Page 1005 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Aaron Judge still pissing off college football fans far and wide
Someone give me a stick so I can shake it at TikToker. You damn young people with your apps that allow you to do multiple things at once and decide for yourselves what you want to watch. You have no idea what it’s like to be entertained by a single television in the den, and your father telling you ...

The end of an era: Last outfield hill in professional baseball has been destroyed
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022 — six years to the date after the Houston Astros played their final game with Tal’s Hill in center — the Albuquerque Isotopes played their final game with a hill in center field....

Revisionist history: Roger Maris Jr. backs Aaron Judge as AL HR king
As Mark McGwire hit his shortest home run of the 1998 season, No. 62, barely over the left-field wall at old Busch Stadium in St. Louis, after the “new” single-season home-run king trotted around first-base and was given a high five by Mark Grace, who would’ve made the rest of the infield look child...

Aaron Judge is having the greatest season ever — Yes, I said it!
When all is said and done, Aaron Judge will have had the greatest single season anyone has put together in MLB history....

One, two, three … balks, you’re out?
Is Marlins’ reliever Richard Bleier the first Jewish pitcher to be called for a balk on Rosh Hashanah? I don’t know. What is a stone-cold fact is coming into Tuesday’s game against the Mets, Bleier had made 572 professional baseball appearances over the course of 15 years — never in his seven big le...

If expanding MLB playoffs was about keeping people interested, why does no one care?
The concepts of “parity” and “fairness” in sports were exposed as fig leaves long ago. The idea that fans would care more, i.e. buy more tickets and watch more games on TV, if more teams had a chance at playoff berths and championships was never as important to owners. What was important was not bei...

When was the last time Albert Pujols was this home run happy?
Last night, Albert Pujols lit baseball Twitter on fire, smacking his 699th and 700th career home runs in the same game, the same feat he accomplished for his 499th and 500th home runs. It’s been an incredible run for Pujols. One that not a lot of people saw coming, unless you’re Greg Amsinger....

If Aaron Judge were an Angel…
They still wouldn’t make the playoffs. Thanks, I’ll be here all week. Don’t forget to tip your waiter. ...

Best non-MVP seasons in MLB history
The MVP Award is the pinnacle of baseball. Anybody who wins that award has cemented themselves in the annals of baseball history, and while one win doesn’t guarantee enshrinement in Cooperstown, it’s still one of the highest honors a baseball player can ever receive. The only bad thing about the awa...

Could Ohtani fans inadvertently hand Judge the American League MVP award?
The American League MVP race is a two-horse race between the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani. Depending on who you ask, the award could go to either person. However, the adamancy of Ohtani fans is far greater than that of the fans backing Judge....

This is Aaron Judge’s year, but if Yankees win a title, Giancarlo Stanton will be the reason
Make no mistake about it, this season belongs to Aaron Judge and his historic run through MLB America....

Geez, what happened to Juan Soto?
All of sunny San Diego rejoiced on Aug. 2 when the Washington Nationals sent their 23-year-old superstar Juan Soto to the Padres. A month and a half later, Padres fans are showing their receipts to the Nats, asking for take-backsies. ...

Pujols hits No. 698, and the lies Cardinals fans tell themselves
No, the lie I’m referring to is not the one Max Kellerman spouted to win a fake debate on ESPN. I’m talking about the one St. Louis supporters wholeheartedly believe: If Pujols doesn’t leave the shadow of the Arch, the second half of his career plays out better. ...

Baseball’s rules changes are more about looks than effect
I don’t envy the task that MLB has. I also don’t trust that anyone in charge of it has any sense of the challenge, but that’s another topic for another time. Baseball’s charm will always be rooted in its history and simply the amount of time it has been part of American culture. While pro football m...

Many want Shohei Ohtani to be the best player ever, but this season belongs to Aaron Judge
The Shohei Ohtani love has officially gone off the rails....

At least we know Gabe Kapler isn't to blame for the Giants' underwhelming season
The San Francisco Giants have been one of the biggest disappointments of 2022. That was expected. We couldn’t expect Brandon Crawford to have another career year at 35 years old. Brandon Belt, Darin Ruf (no longer with the team), and Mike Yastrzemski have all had down seasons. Kevin Gausman is gone,...

Tony La Russa was every bit the human gallstone you thought he was
It could end up being the pacemaker that saved Chicago, going down in history along with other objects we revere like a lamp next to a cow, disco records, and all the dirt we moved to reverse the flow of the Chicago River to send our shit to St. Louis (where it belongs and they deserve) to name a fe...
