Baseball Page 1211 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
How A Career Ends: Mike Marshall, Ph.D., The Outcast Screwballer Turned Outcast Pitching Coach
Tell Me When It's Over is an interview series in which we ask former athletes about the moment they knew their playing days were over. Today: Mike Marshall, the rubber-armed screwballer who won the 1974 National League Cy Young Award and who now believes his unconventional methods could eradicate pi...
Rick Ankiel Threw A Strike From Center Field
Houston's Jordan Schafer had 22 stolen bases last year, so he's not slow. But even he wasn't about to tag up and test the arm of Rick Ankiel, who showed the Astros' prudence to be warranted by hitting the catcher on the fly. Perhaps it wasn't strictly a strike (unless Larry Vanover was working the p...
Boston Paper Already Declares Red Sox Clubhouse Mutiny
The Red Sox lost a frustrating game yesterday, highlighted by a questionable strike zone, a mid-conversion Daniel Bard looking great but clearly tiring, and the manager crossing swords with the team's two most beloved players. So today the Herald leads not with a game report, but a rush to be the fi...
Here's The Only Woman In New York Unimpressed By Derek Jeter
The Yankees fell to .500 on the season with a 7-3 home loss to Minnesota last night, though Derek Jeter continued his hot hitting with two knocks—including a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first. All that, though, wasn't enough to impress this lass in the Legend Seats....
Hey, It's Jake Peavy Partying At A Bar In Wrigleyville
White Sox right-hander Jake Peavy was known for doing plenty of partying (see here and here) back when he was with the Padres. From the looks of these photos, taken last night at the Houndstooth Saloon near Wrigley Field and sent to us by a reader named Erick, not much has changed. As of March 2011,...
Is There A Young Lefty Starter In MLB Who <em>Hasn't</em> Gotten An Extension?
The San Francisco Giants just signed lefty starter Madison Bumgarner to a five-year, $35-million extension. 2011 was Bumgarner's first full season in the big leagues. He struck out 8.4 batters per nine innings and walked only two per nine. That's quite good. It is, as you might expect, far too early...
The Mets' Regrets: Will You Start Loving Citi Field If It Gets Uglier?
So now the ballpark of the moment is glassy and modern and full of moving fish, leaving the retro-style ballparks of the previous moment kaput. What happens to all those teams that are stuck with suddenly unfashionable nostalgia-parks? (And are stuck with them for a very long time.)...
The Red Sox Game Ended With A Magical Elastic Strike Zone
With runners on first and second with two outs, and the Rays up one in today's Patriots' Day morning start at Fenway, it came down to Fernando Rodney and Cody Ross. Rodney threw five straight balls outside, except three of them weren't strictly balls, since home plate ump Larry Vanover called them s...
Bobby Valentine Is Now Openly Antagonizing Kevin Youkilis
Kevin Youkilis has had a rough start to his 2012 season. He's hitting .200/.265/.223, and the Red Sox are 3-5. (CLARIFICATION: They were 3-5 when Valentine gave this quote. They're 4-5 now.) But it's the smallest of sample sizes, and the Red Sox got off to a bad start last year and everything work...
The Marlins Finally Hit A Home Run In Miami, And So We Got To See Their "Sculpture" In Action
It took a few weeks, but the Miami Marlins finally have a home run in their new ballpark (thanks to Omar Infante in the first inning of today's game against Houston) which means we've gotten our first glimpse at that wonderful center field structure in action... and now we've seen it. Back to wor...
Jurors In Original Clemens Case Thought Retrial Would Be A Waste Of Taxpayer Money
So says U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton in court transcripts recently made public. While at a company picnic last September, Walton made an off-the-cuff remark to a former colleague's spouse—also an attorney. The spouse said something to the effect of "Looks like you have to retry the Roger...
Jacoby Ellsbury Placed On Disabled List After Dislocating His Shoulder Yesterday
It's been a tough April for the Red Sox. They're in last place in the East and are still dealing with the hangover of last September's epic collapse. Centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury can't be blamed for either. He was the best position player in the American League last year (321/.375/.552, 32 HR), a...
Just For Yu: Your Saturday MLB Open Thread
It's a lovely spring afternoon in April, and that means a full slate of MLB games. Yu Darvish has already thrown 27 fewer first inning pitches against the Twins than in his first start of the year. The Machine and his Angels are in the Bronx against the Yankees. Later today, the Rays play the Sox in...
Bryan Stow And His Son Participate In Ceremonial First Pitch At San Francisco Giants Home Opener
Bryan Stow continues on his path to recovery following a vicious beating at Dodger Stadium that left him in a coma resulting in severe brain damage. The San Francisco Giants had hoped he would be able to attend Opening Day, but he remains in a care facility....
This Resizing Of The Batter's Box Sponsored By <em>The Three Stooges</em>
Yesterday's White Sox home opener against the Tigers was delayed when Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera noticed the batter's boxes weren't in the right place, leading to the above display of buffoonery. Cabrera's at-bat (which came after consecutive Jake Peaky strikeouts) was pushed back nearly nine m...
Josh Thole Fell For The Old "Tell The Runner It Was A Foul Ball" Trick
The hidden-ball trick is old news, as the Philadelphia Phillies utilized social engineering to fool Josh Thole into an out during the second inning of tonight's Mets-Phils matchup in Philadelphia....
C.J. Wilson Says The Rangers Wasted His Time
Every morning, the fine folks at Sports Radio Interviews sift through the a.m. drive-time chatter to bring you the best interviews with coaches, players, and personalities across the sports landscape. Today: Wilson says Texas can spend their money any way they want, but they shouldn't string him alo...
The San Francisco Giants Are Selling Their Old, Game-Used Stuff
Starting with today's home opener, the San Francisco Giants will be selling game-used equipment to fans inside AT&T Park. Home/road jerseys, balls, batting helmets, bats, pitching rubbers, and even empty champagne bottles from the 2010 World Series celebration will be offered for sale at a special p...
This Texas Rangers Fan Can Do Amazing Things With Her Mouth
And yet this is still only the second-weirdest face ever to appear in the background behind erstwhile sideline reporter Jim Knox. (This would be the weirdest.)...
Baseball's Unwritten Rules, Uncovered After 26 Years
A few weeks ago, I found myself in Austin and happened upon one of these flea market-type warehouses. It's like a ginormous, impersonal yard sale: People come with their stuff, set it up in their little station, put a price tag on everything, and hope it eventually sells. As it turns out, one of the...