Baseball Page 841 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

‘Bullpen’ is the hill you wanna die on?
Yesterday, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) called upon Major League Baseball to stop using the term “bullpen.”...

'Analytics understander' A-Rod logs on and fails in October once again
Does Alex Rodriguez know what “analytics” means? You would think he should, being a television commentator for baseball in 2021, but life is full of surprises — such as A-Rod praising the Houston Astros in Game 2 of the World Series for an “anti-analytics inning.”...

The Cleveland Guardians name situation keeps getting uglier
The team formerly known as the Cleveland Indians is being sued over their non-rights to the name “Cleveland Guardians.” The Cleveland Guardians moniker is already trademarked by a roller derby team located in Parma, one of the suburbs of Cleveland. However, that hasn’t stopped Cleveland’s MLB franch...

MLB Rebuilding in 2021: Totally luck out, and just find a great international player
Where would the Braves be without Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr.? Where would the Padres be without Fernando Tatís Jr.? What about the Astros with Carlos Correa, José Altuve, Yuli Gurriel, and Yordan Álvarez?...

This is fine: Cardinals make internal hire after firing previous internal hire
Oliver Marmol was introduced as the new manager of the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. At 35, he’s the youngest manager the Cardinals have had since Marty Marion, who was 34, in 1951. He’s also younger than eight players from last season’s roster, including Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright. Perhaps...

Why am I happy for Dusty Baker? Am I? Should I be?
I have some sympathy for anyone who has to sell this World Series. While it would be honest, if it is one’s job to write about MLB’s climax, you can’t really attract eyes and hearts by constantly beating the drum of “Boy, everyone sure hates these assholes!” You do have to find some angle that can g...

The Dodgers blew it
Don’t let the Los Angeles Dodgers off the hook....

We’re not even getting the best teams in this year’s World Series
The fourth and 12th-best teams in baseball will meet in the World Series, as Atlanta wrapped up its first pennant in 22 years with a 4-2 triumph over the Dodgers in Game 6 of the NLCS on Saturday night. ...

Dusty Baker is heading back to the World Series, as Astros beat Red Sox
The one good thing about the Astros returning to the World Series, which they’ll do after wrapping up the American League pennant with a 5-0 win over the Red Sox in Game 6 on Friday night, is that Dusty Baker will get his chance to finally manage his way to a World Series ring....

Max Scherzer out for Game 6, which the Dodgers will definitely win anyway because Atlanta
The Dodgers aren’t going to have Max Scherzer start Game 6 of the NLCS due to arm fatigue, after the ace lasted only 4.1 innings in Game 2 and clearly wasn’t his regular self in the wake of his dramatic save in Game 5 of the division series in San Francisco....

He may still be Mad Max, but he’s also a weary warrior right now
The Braves are facing down the possibility of blowing a 3-1 lead to the Dodgers in the NLCS for the second year in a row after an 11-2 rout in Los Angeles last night. As they head back home to Atlanta, the Braves’ offense prepares to face Max Scherzer in Game 6 — a sentence that’s not as daunting as...

Of course it’s going back to Atlanta
I’m going to get out ahead of this and just condemn the Braves. I know what happens now, because my motherfuck skills have risen to a level I can no longer control or understand. I just speculated on what the baseball world would think of Dave Roberts. I tried to make it clear that I didn’t think th...

Joey Gallo is this generation’s Adam Dunn
Nothing against him, but New York Yankees outfielder Joey Gallo is irrelevant in Major League Baseball right this second. His team isn’t in the playoffs. He’s never played for any of the teams involved in either Championship Series. He’s at home watching the games from his couch, the same as you and...

The Tomahawk Chop is a shameful reminder of America’s continuing genocide against indigenous nations
It’s 2021. Only a single win away from the Word Series, the Atlanta Braves seem poised to take one of the most visible stages in American sports for the first time since 1999. If they do, 10 million people will be tuning in to their home games to see their majority white fanbase in their majority wh...

America’s pastime indeed
Whether the label of “pastime” still applies to baseball, specifically Major League Baseball, I don’t know. It’s certainly not America’s favorite sport anymore, if that’s what gives a game and league that mantle. But it certainly does represent what America is these days, which isn’t a good thing. ...

Red Sox thumpin’ grand slams at a historic rate
Kyle Schwarber’s second-inning grand slam put the Astros into an early 6-0 deficit that they would never get the chance to overcome, as the Red Sox piled on the homers in Fenway Park during a rowdy ALCS Game 3 on Monday night. The early clout was a morale boost at home — on top of the four runs it d...

Don’t celebrate just yet, Atlanta
If there is one town that shouldn’t take part in a premature celebration, it’s Atlanta....

‘Grow, evolve and improve?' George Steinbrenner would never have uttered such kumbaya bunk
Hal Steinbrenner made things very clear on Tuesday morning....

The NLCS has actual action
I always fear that when fans of a sport complain about a lack of “offense” they never really understand what the real problem is. The problem, usually, is action. Hockey went through this, and is still kind of going through this, by always trying to pump up goals with power plays. Though the main ai...
