Baseball Page 1072 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Braves-Phillies Turned Into A Home Run Party
The Braves outlasted the Phillies 9-6 in what turned out to be a surprise slugfest. The game was a 2-1 snoozer until the eighth inning, when Evan Gattis, Dan Uggla, and Andrelton Simmons went back-to-back-to-back for the Braves. Between the two teams, there were five home runs in the final two innin...

This Is The Worst Baseball Column
This has to be a joke, it just has to be. Either it's a joke, or the The Batavia Daily News mistakenly published a Scott DeSmit article on sabermetrics from 2003. There can be no other explanation for this lede: "[c]omputers have ruined baseball and 'Sports Illustrated.'" ...

Doug Glanville Was Racially Profiled In His Own Driveway
Former major league player, current ESPN analyst, and all-around good dude Doug Glanville has written an essay for The Atlantic about the time he was racially profiled in front of his own home. ...

Is MLB Replay Just Making Things More Complicated?
"It's extremely difficult to have any faith in the process that's being used," Red Sox manager John Farrell said of MLB's new replay review procedure, which went against Boston on consecutive days. "On the heels of yesterday, it's hard to have any faith in the system."...

Yasiel Puig's Defection Story Is Crazier Than You Could Imagine
Over at Los Angeles Magazine, Jesse Katz has a story in which he attempts to reconstruct Yasiel Puig's journey from Cuba to the major leagues, which you should absolutely make some time to read in full. It's a great story full of scenes that feel ripped straight from a screenplay, but above all it r...

It Sucks Being A Catcher, Part 437
After a deflected pitch clipped him on his throwing hand, Yankee catcher Brian McCann's fingers appeared to briefly transform into some kind of horrible jellyfish:...

Children's Drawings Of The Phillies' Lineup Are Adorably Goofy
Reader Alex sent us photos from today's Phillies game against the Marlins. As an event for the first Sunday home game, the team used children's drawings of the players for the pictures accompanying the lineup on the Jumbotron. The doodles are pretty cute, and—oh no, what happened to Marlon Byrd's ey...

Orioles Ball Girl Ignores Umpire, Fields Live Baseball
We understand the role of ball boys/girls when it comes to protecting bullpens from foul balls, and occasionally they make highlight plays. But they sure do screw up a bunch, and today a ball girl in Baltimore committed the ultimate sin by ignoring the third base umpire's fair signal and fielding a ...

Fan Touches Curtis Granderson During Game, Immediately Regrets It
As Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson turned to throw a fly ball back to the infield yesterday, an Angels fan touched him in the back. Granderson justifiably did not like that....

A Major League Pitcher's Guide To Doctoring A Baseball
The old saying says that it's not illegal if you don't get caught. In baseball, sometimes it isn't illegal even if you do....

Michael Pineda Was Cheating And No One Cares
"It's just dirt, nothing to see here" was Michael Pineda's general reaction to being accused of glopping up the heel of his hand with some unknown substance in a strong pitching performance against Boston last night. It clearly wasn't dirt. But was it cheating? That depends on whether you listen to ...

Hawk Harrelson Should Probably Not Suggest "Asians" Are "Deceptive"
Chen-Chang Lee is a pitcher for the Indians. He's from Taiwan. During tonight's broadcast of Cleveland's bout in Chicago against the White Sox, horrible broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson painted Lee with some broad and ambiguously racist strokes....
![If This Is How MLB's New Home-Plate Rule Will Be Applied, We Hate It [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/Image_Not_Found_1x_qjofp8.png)
If This Is How MLB's New Home-Plate Rule Will Be Applied, We Hate It [Update]
In the fourth inning of today's Pirates-Cubs game, even the WGN announcers were incredulous that Starlin Castro was ruled safe on this play at the plate. It turned out to be the first questionable use of a new MLB rule meant to crack down on collisions at the plate....

The MLB Pundits Are Back. Will They Be Less Of A Disaster In 2014?
In what is becoming an annual tradition, we ask the question: Will this year finally be the one where the baseball pundits turn it around? After a string of terrible prediction seasons from 2009-2012 (see details), the "experts" followed it up with a truly pitiful 2013, in which no one picked either...

Andrelton Simmons Makes Impossible Throw Look Easy
Andrelton Simmons's defense is one of the is one of the very best things baseball has going for it right now. Last night, the Atlanta Braves shortstop made a play that will break your brain. ...

Adam Jones Is Sick And Tired Of Fans Running Onto The Field
In the eighth inning of yesterday's Orioles' blowout of the Yankees, a pair of fans rushed the field. They were quickly swarmed by more security guys then I've ever seen on a ballfield:...

How The Media Abuse Hank Aaron
On Tuesday, the Braves celebrated the 40th anniversary of Hank Aaron's 715th career home run, and the mindless debate over who is baseball's "true home run king" sprang idiotically to life. Barry Bonds "has more home runs," Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci wrote, "but true greatness and authenticit...

Bartolo Colon Celebrates Strong Start By Jiggling His Belly
Bartolo Colon dominated the Braves last night, shutting them out over seven innings while striking out five. He also did this in the dugout....

Jose Abreu Makes His Big-League Splash With Two Homers
It didn't take long for Yasiel Puig and Yoenis Cespedes to go from being Cuban defectors shrouded in mystery to household names. Based on what he did last night, it looks like White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, the latest Cuban-born star to arrive in the majors, is on a similar path to stardom....

Vin Scully Makes Even Stories About Crack Pipes Endearing
Detroit is out in Los Angeles for interleague play tonight, which means America's most valuable treasure Vin Scully has the opportunity to discuss some players he doesn't often see. One Tiger Vin's plenty familiar with is former Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, and the Dodgers announcer took his thir...