Baseball Page 1138 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
James Taylor Sings National Anthem, Eventually
Music legend James Taylor was tonight's World Series singer of the "Star-Spangled Banner," though he started singing "America The Beautiful" first. We think we'd have preferred him do both, with "Something In The Way She Moves" as an encore....
"God Bless America" Singer Not Actually A Retired USMC Sergeant
When Dan Clark finished his performance of "God Bless America" after the top of the seventh inning last night at Fenway, the Internet exploded in praise of a man we were told was a retired United States Marine Corps Sergeant. We were told wrong, a source at the United State Marine Corps acknowledge...
What Dana DeMuth's Blown Call Means For Instant Replay
The next time someone argues that instant replay will unacceptably slow down baseball, remember this: Between the umpire conference and Mike Matheny's argument, it took four minutes and 26 seconds to get an obvious call right....
Adam Wainwright's Moment Of Desperation, Captured For Eternity
Adam Wainwright struggles defensively....
That Time Mike Matheny Took A Fastball To The Face And Barely Flinched
The World Series begins tonight, which means it's as good an occasion as any to look back at one of the more memorable moments from Cardinals manager Mike Matheny's playing career: The night a 90-something-mph fastball hit him square in the face and he barely reacted....
World Series Games Are, In Fact, Becoming Impossibly Long
Baseball is a game of traditions: keeping score, drinking awful beer, mocking the loathsome St. Louis Cardinals, and complaining about how nearly endless World Series games are ruining the sport and alienating the children, who are our future. ...
Check Out These Beautiful (And Useful) Graphic MLB "Box Scores"
Michael Deal, who previously gave us this infographic of every pitch of the All-Star game as part of his Statlas project, has developed a new take on the MLB box score. The sample above shows the 8th and 9th inning of Game 2 of the ALCS, which, as Deal's line-and-node representations make clear, wer...
Bud Selig, The Commissioner Who Didn't Matter
There is a popular line of thinking among statistically minded baseball fans that declares the manager more or less irrelevant. In the course of 162 games, over tens of thousands of pitches, the impact of his strategic decision making is statistically negligible compared to the inherent quality of h...
Eckersley And Canseco Nearly Fought After The World Series Earthquake
Grantland has a fantastic and extensive oral history of 1989's earthquake-interrupted World Series, which includes memories from players, fans, politicians, and reporters. But the single most terrifying anecdote comes from a poor stadium worker who had just climbed a ladder up to Candlestick Park's ...
What Are The Giants Doing Giving Tim Lincecum $35 Million?
He's 29 now, and the long hair is gone along with the velocity. A fastball that once kissed 95 now struggles to clear 90 mph. The ace of the staff for one championship run, he saw himself bumped to long relief for the next—and excelled. He's said he's willing to go to the bullpen if that's where the...
Bobby V: I Could Have Reached World Series If Red Sox Had Kept Me
The brief Bobby Valentine era is one Red Sox fans want to forget as soon as possible. He's currently the AD at Sacred Heart University while new skipper John Farrell and the Red Sox are in the World Series, so that probably helps. But Valentine thinks that if the Red Sox hadn't fired him, he'd have...
OH YEAH! '80s Johnny Bench Kool-Aid Blooper Reel Is A Treasure Trove
In 1985, Reds catcher Johnny Bench made a series of ads for Kool-Aid that masqueraded as mini-lectures on how to play baseball. Since we're on the Kool-Aid beat today, we thought we'd bring you a few bloopers from the production of those spots....
Which Experts Predicted A Red Sox-Cardinals World Series?
Republished with permission from PunditTracker....
Here's Jim Leyland Cursing Out Barry Bonds For Nearly A Minute
Jim Leyland is retiring today, which means that now is as good a time as ever to look back at one of our favorite moments from his coaching career. Here he is at the Pittsburgh Pirates' spring training facility in 1991, chewing out Barry Bonds for who knows what reason. Enjoy the glorious torrent o...
Report: Jim Leyland To Step Down As Tigers Manager
According to Ken Rosenthal, Jim Leyland will step down as Tigers manager after eight years. Leyland reportedly told his players after Saturday's ALCS loss to Boston, and will make it official at a news conference later this morning. Rosenthal says Leyland told the players it was time for someone you...
Your Guide To Giving A Shit About The Red Sox-Cardinals World Series
Though it will feature the two best teams in baseball, this year's World Series will be painful for non-fans of the Red Sox or Cardinals. It's the least appealing matchup out of this postseason's 10 teams. It'll achieve better ratings than Giants-Rangers, sure, but why should any casual viewer feel...
Prince Fielder Continues To Be Tripped Up By The Same Thing
(Previously.)...
Hanley won't start: Hanley Ramirez, bothered by a fractured rib since Game 1, will not start at shortstop for the Dodgers in tonight's Game 6 of the NLCS. Nick Punto will take his place and bat eighth. Don Mattingly hopes Ramirez can pinch hit but says Ramirez "doesn't feel like he can swing the bat...