Baseball Page 1215 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Minor League Baseball: The Last Bastion Of Acceptable Exploitation In Professional Sports (Not Counting The NCAA)
For every top-flight prospect apprenticing in the minors after receiving a multi-million dollar signing bonus, hundreds of players are drafted every year and get $1,000, tops. Salaries start at $1,100 a month, and the checks only come for half a year. As Lily Rothman says over at Slate, most of thes...

Marlins Park, Camden Yards, And The End Of The Retro Ballpark
Marlins Park has been unveiled to the masses, and early reviews are fawning. "Contemporary," "dazzling," "forward-looking." The only thing not state-of-the-art is a true center field camera (perhaps the home run sculpture is in the way)....

30 Paragraphs About 30 MLB Teams From The Baseball Prospectus Crew
The following is excerpted from the team chapters and player profiles of the perpetually splendid Baseball Prospectus. You can buy the book now. Projected records via BP's playoff odds report. ...

Jeffrey Loria Is Spectacularly Unlikable
Ben McGrath has a fun story about the Miami Marlins in this week's New Yorker (subscription required), which, as its primary function, introduces uptown types to Ozzie (and Oney) Guillen. But Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is present too. In fact, he condescends to you through print. He makes you feel ...

Joe Maddon Wears Short Shorts
The Rays like to have fun, and nothing screams fun like booty shorts. For the Rays' pregame workout on Saturday, the entire team decided to don short pants, because they're a bunch of guys! Hanging out together! Showing a little thigh!...

Here Is The Much-Ballyhooed Ubaldo Jimenez Plunking Of Troy Tulowitzki
Earlier this afternoon, tensions ran high between the Cleveland Indians and the Colorado Rockies when Ubaldo Jimenez drilled his former teammate, Troy Tulowitzki. Tulo immediately dropped his bat and made toward the mound and Jimenez decided to meet him halfway. Benches cleared and not much else h...

Who's Laughing Now: Johan Santana Named Opening Day Starter For New York Mets
Defying all odds, the Mets' prediction of a Johan Santana-pitched Opening Day at CitiField may actually come true. According to Adam Rubin, the Mets and Santana are confident enough to announce he will be the starting pitcher this Thursday....

Joey Votto Has His Own Cereal, And Of Course They're Called "VottOs"
Reds slugger and 2010 National League MVP Joey Votto is endorsing a new cereal available at Cincinnati-area Kroger stores cleverly called VottOs....

Jamie Moyer Made The Colorado Rockies Rotation, Is Old
Not only did Moyer make the rotation, he is slotted to be the second starter behind Jeremy Guthrie. He is 49 years old and will become the oldest pitcher to win a game in the Major Leagues. Notes the Denver Post:...

When Does Major League Baseball Season Begin?
When is Opening Day? Did you know it already happened? This week, the Mariners and Athletics split a two-game series in the Tokyo Dome. Kids in Oakland and Seattle rushed home from school to watch them from 2 to 5 a.m....

Meet Bruce Lee, The San Francisco Giants' Red-Tailed Secret Weapon
Anyone who has ever attended a game at San Francisco's AT&T Park knows that it's one of the jewels of the MLB stadium circuit, except for one teensy problem: THE HORRIFIC TRASH-EATING BIRDS THAT COME OUT AT NIGHT AND STEAL YOUR $7 GARLIC FRIES....

Jackie Robinson Is Back From The Dead And Getting His Nails Done In Beverly Hills
That's according to video-paparazzi-whores Hollywood TV, which stalked Frank Robinson without really knowing who he is. (He's actually a completely different Hall of Fame black guy.) [Vin Scully Is My Homeboy]...

Police Raid Home Of Man Who Claims He Was Carl Pavano's Lover
A high school classmate of Twins pitcher Carl Pavano is under investigation for allegedly demanding money from Pavano's family in exchange for not going public with his story—that he and Pavano supposedly had a three-year "emotional and physical" relationship two decades ago. Christian Bedard, of So...

Glory Days: I Missed My Chance To Win The Conference Title Because Our Third-Base Coach Got Greedy
An occasional series featuring our readers' tales of momentary sports glory. If you've got a video of your own brush with athletic greatness, send it to [email protected], subject: Glory Days....

Which Sports Leagues Care If You Call Someone A "Fucking Faggot?"
This here's Colin Clark, a midfielder for the Houston Dynamo. On Friday, Clark was frustrated with a ball boy for not giving him a new ball fast enough. Picked up by the onfield microphones, everyone watching the nationally televised game heard Clark call the ball boy a "fucking faggot." It immedi...

The Diamondbacks Already Have Four Throwback Jerseys To Choose From
Just a reminder that the Diamondbacks came into existence in 1998, yet still have four options for their now-traditional throwback jersey night. This is less an indictment of the team than of the millennial trend of multiple alternates, all for sale. But which one will most fondly remind D-Backs fan...

Remembering The Deal Of The Century: When Two Yankees Swapped Wives
Excerpted from Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World's Most Loved (and Hated) Team, out on April 3....

Magic Johnson Has Bought The Los Angeles Dodgers For $2 Billion
After eight grueling years, Los Angeles is finally rid of Frank McCourt as Dodgers owner, and Magic Johnson has swooped in as the franchise's savior. The NBA Hall of Famer's bidding group, which includes film producer (and Golden State Warriors co-owner) Peter Guber, former Washington Nationals pres...

Rebounderz Would Like You To Know That Joba Chamberlain Did Not Get Injured At Rebounderz, But At A Non-Rebounderz Brand Trampoline Arena
Today we received a letter, from Al Palladino, Sr. VP at Rebounderz® Franchise and Development, Inc. Mr. Palladino takes issue with our headline last week that implied Joba Chamberlain injured himself at one of the six Rebounderz® facilities in Florida....

R.A. Dickey Says He Was Sexually Abused As A Child, Considered Suicide As An Adult
When he was eight years old, Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey says he was repeatedly abused sexually by a female babysitter. And on one occasion, the abuse was done by a 17-year-old boy. The impact left Dickey feeling angry, alone, afraid of intimacy, unable to trust. He later cheated on his wife, aft...