Baseball Page 1168 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Bryce Harper Wasn't Playing Hard Last Night, He Was Playing Dumb
The fact that Bryce Harper ran face-first into a wall last night is not a laughing matter. It was a scary moment that Harper came away from with a seriously rung bell, a gash under his chin, and a jammed shoulder. We are not going to laugh at Bryce Harper's injury....

How America Commie-Baited A Baseball Hero
MLB executives and owners feared Marvin Miller, but they weren't the first. FBI documents reveal that the federal government, at the height of the Red Scare, undertook an embarrassingly extensive investigation into Miller's liberalism to determine whether or not he was a loyal citizen of the United ...

Bryce Harper Ignores Warning Track, Smashes Face Against Wall
It's called a warning track for a reason....

The Mets Sign Rick Ankiel
This is not the end of one of the stranger careers in baseball history. Jon Heyman reports the Mets have signed Rick Ankiel to a major-league deal, and he'll immediately join the team in St. Louis....

Add This Balk To The 2013 Astros Lowlight Reel
What could possibly make this balk more perfectly Astros? The fact that it made the game 7-0, maybe....

It's Only A Matter Of Time Before Someone Says "Shushgate"
Aw, crap. It was me. ...

MLB More Concerned With Pink Bat Sponsorships Than Umpires Fucking Up
For Mother's Day, MLB players sometimes use pink bats with the intent of bringing awareness to breast cancer. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports found that this season, the MLB struck an exclusive deal with the parent company of Louisville Slugger to make those bats....


Alex Cobb Struck Out Every Batter In An Inning And Still Gave Up A Run
This highlights video of Alex Cobb's start last night features his 13 strikeouts in 4.2 innings, but it doesn't show the conclusion of the most interesting part of the night....

MLB.com Gave Red Sox Owner A Byline To Respond To Dan Shaughnessy
Well, this is ... interesting. MLB.com published a column this afternoon that takes the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy to task for filling precious newspaper space by creating accusations of PED usage for David Ortiz to deny. The author of that MLB.com column? None other than Tom Werner, the Red Sox...

Who Made The Not-Quite-Baseball-Hall-Of-Fame In 2013?
So we know who made up the class of 2013 at the Baseball Hall of Fame: no one. Well, OK, the veterans committee voted in Hank O'Day, Col. Jacob Ruppert, and Deacon White. But they all died in the 1930s; we wouldn't expect much in the way of induction speeches....

MLB Has Disciplined The Umps From Last Night's Angels-Astros Game
Well, what do you know? MLB has not only decided to swing its shithammer at the crew that screwed up a basic rules interpretation during last night's Angels-Astros game. It's also publicizing the discipline being meted out....

This Is What It Looks Like To Be A College Baseball Catcher
South Carolina gave catcher Grayson Greiner a helmet cam for the Gamecocks' bout Wednesday against Wofford, and after some editing put the footage up on YouTube. ...

Umps Don't Give A Shit As Astros Make Illegal Pitching Change
The human element is really on a roll this week. Approximately 24 hours after the umpires in Cleveland reviewed an obvious home run and declared it wasn't a home run, another blue crew in Houston allowed the Astros to make a pitching change that is explictly prohibited by MLB's rules....

Charting The Decline Of The Black Baseball Player
A few years back, baseball writer and SABR member Mark Armour tracked the integration of baseball from 1947 to 1986, the 40 seasons after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Why 1986? That year would begin a precipitous decline in the number of African Americans, to less than half the high-wat...

Dan Shaughnessy Invents Some David Ortiz PED Rumors
David Ortiz is hitting well, and Dan Shaughnessy wrote a stupid, awful column. Stop me if you've heard these ones before....

MLB's Crappy Replay Tech: It's A Miracle Umps Ever Get A Call Right
Much has been made of umpire Angel Hernandez's botching of replay review in last night's Oakland-Cleveland game, a mistake that might have cost the A's the game. You've doubtless already seen the play numerous times on your home TV or computer screen, but you've probably never seen it the way Hernan...

Joe Girardi Batted His Pitcher Eighth And Had Vernon Wells Play Third
I don't know how much of this was Girardi and how much was The Binder, but somehow, for some reason, Joe Girardi managed a May game against the Rockies like it was an 18-inning World Series Game 7. And it...worked?...