Baseball Page 896 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Is there actually a reason to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates?
The Pittsburgh Pirates have been the prime symbol of everything wrong with MLB. They play in perhaps the league’s best ballpark. They have a passionate fanbase that is just screaming for a team worth their time, assuming they haven’t all been chased off (and they may need the Pirates soon given that...

Here are the Braves, sittin’ on top of the world
Life must be pretty good for the Atlanta Braves. They can kick back and watch all the headlines be about the New York Mets and their Correa fiasco, or the Mets and their Edwin Diaz fiasco, or the Philadelphia Phillies signing Trea Turner without really solving the problem that their outfield will lo...

The Angels will make the playoffs...or at least let’s figure out a way they can
As badass as the moment was of seeing Shohei Ohtani face Mike Trout with the World Baseball Classic on the line last night, you could forgive Los Angeles Angels fans if they were rubbing their temples a bit during it. The cry whenever either or both of those names come up in conversation has been, “...

How much difference can it make to have a manager who is awake?
How much tangible difference a manager makes on a baseball team over 162 games has never been quite nailed down. It’s generally thought the best ones might only add a couple wins, and a truly bad one might only take away a couple wins. Most are just there, which is kind of why front offices stopped ...

Is it finally time for the Toronto Blue Jays?
Once the Toronto Maple Leafs get Andrei Vasilevskiy’d in the first round again, it’s not like the angst level in the T.O. will fade all that much through the summer months. That’s because the Toronto Blue Jays have reached the same threshold as the Leafs passed a few years ago, where you go from you...

No, Keith Olbermann, we should not 'kill' the WBC
If you ever wonder why much of the world views Americans as arrogant and uninterested in anything that happens outside the United States’ borders, look no further than Keith Olbermann’s recent tweets about the World Baseball Classic....

Stop bitching about the World Baseball Classic
We tend not to appreciate things that don’t matter as much to us as it does others. If there’s anything more American than “I got mine,” I don’t know what that would be. That seems to be the trouble with the World Baseball Classic, even though with every iteration it seems to pick up more steam. The...

Keith Olbermann has a scorching bad take on the World Baseball Classic
When there’s a way to have a trash take on sports, enter Keith Olbermann. This time, it’s about the World Baseball Classic, because what matters most to Mr. Olbermann is the Major League Baseball season, as the yearly league is much more important to those who don’t see value in the global tournamen...

Baseball is getting increasingly liberal with the term ‘perfect game’
There was a perfect game in the World Baseball Classic on Monday. The Puerto Rico pitching staff, led by a perfect 5.2 innings from journeyman José De León, didn’t surrender a baserunner to Israel. Normally, that’d be pretty amazing, even by modern-day pitching standards. But — and I definitely fore...

America is one Trevor Bauer lighter and looks fantastic!
If baseball fans out there are feeling just a touch more exuberant, or looking in the mirror and thinking they’re having a good day — or maybe had the motivation to add just one more rep or set to their workout this morning — there’s a reason for it. We, as a society, have successfully punted Trevor...

The World Baseball Classic tiebreaker system is what?
With every new addition, it seems at least a few more people are enjoying the World Baseball Classic. It’s got a bit of everything for the baseball freak, starting off with #WeirdBaseball and overnight starts in Taiwan and Tokyo. Then we get the noise and sights whenever the Dominican Republic, Vene...

College ump made a call so bad, he's been indefinitely suspended
Somewhere Fred VanVleet is smiling and cursing happily after a subpar official received his just due. The University of New Orleans defeated Mississippi Valley State 7-3 in a college baseball game on Friday. As the college basketball season is heating up, millions of people still found time to view ...

Team USA loses exhibition to 3-9 San Francisco Giants
Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Nolan Arenado, Pete Alonso, Paul Goldschmidt, Kyle Schwarber. With a roster like that, you’d expect Team USA Baseball to dominate every game they play. They’re totally going to destroy Great Britain this Saturday in their first game of the World Baseball Classi...

Six former Phillies all died of the same brain cancer — was it the turf?
The Philadelphia Inquirer gave a masterclass on journalism this week, publishing a report on the toxic chemicals infused in the turf at Veterans Stadium, which was (at least in part) launched by someone coming to the realization that six former Phillies players all died of the same rare brain cancer...

Here are some MLB prop bets to look into
As the MLB season approaches nearer each day, the time to look forward and make predictions is upon us. Making predictions is tough though. There is no direction involved. With each player comes a myriad of statistics to look at, and trying to find one specific figure to follow and make a prediction...

Talk about speeding up the game
The traditions involved with going to a baseball game are unbeatable. Even if you’re not a fan of the game, enjoying a day out of the house and talking with friends and/or family about life while everyone around you partakes in a singular activity that they can root and cheer for is always a grand t...
![Zack Greinke shakes himself off, a cat on the diamond — Spring Training has been <i>weird</i> [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/82541c3a94f8db05e1a3fdd138d2cb81.png)
Zack Greinke shakes himself off, a cat on the diamond — Spring Training has been <i>weird</i> [Updated]
Every year, MLB spring training provides some sort of insight into the upcoming season, whether it be emerging stars or the adoption of new rule changes. Well if the early goings of this year’s spring training are any indicator, we’re in for some wild times. I’m at the point where nothing on my Twit...

Trevor Bauer sued us – and lost
Former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer sued Deadspin and former managing editor Chris Baud over three statements in this article from 2021, written about a temporary restraining order a woman sought after a sexual encounter with Bauer. According to the woman, the sex was initially consensual but turned...

Winners and losers of the MLB offseason
With the MLB season around the corner, most of the offseason moves we saw over the last few months seem like they happened eons ago. One of the most coveted young players in baseball, Bryan Reynolds, requesting a trade would’ve made waves in any other offseason, but even as rumors surrounding his fu...

Read an excerpt from MLB pitcher Joe Kelly's new book: A Damn Near Perfect Game — Reclaiming America's Pastime
White Sox pitcher Joe Kelly’s book, “A Damn Near Perfect Game: Reclaiming America’s Pastime,” delves into many of the issues frustrating fans of major league baseball, and is on sale tomorrow wherever you get your books. Here’s an excerpt:...