MLB Page 1114 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Nick Johnson Keeps Alive Most Impressive Streak In Sports, Goes On DL
Orioles 1B/DH/ticking time bomb Nick Johnson left Wednesday's game after feeling pain in his right wrist, and after an MRI yesterday was placed on the 15-day DL. Finally! The season's nearly half-over, and we were getting worried that Johnson might finally, after 13 years in MLB, make it through a s...
Better Know An Umpire: Lance Barksdale
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...
The Biggest Winner In Marlon Byrd's PED Bust? Marlon Byrd. The Biggest Loser? The Cubs (Of Course).
When MLB announced Monday that noted Victor Conte client Marlon Byrd would be suspended for 50 games after he tested positive for taking an estrogen inhibitor, it was reported that Byrd would be docked 50 days' pay, since that's what the rules say. The suspension began immediately, since Byrd is sti...
The Dodgers Spent Way Too Much Money On A 21-Year-Old Cuban Defector Because They Are Crazy
Yasiel Puig is the man in the blurry image—a still frame from a video—up there. I could have found a cleaner video, I suppose, or I could have stolen an image from another website (though that's against copyright law, and we at Deadspin love copyright law). But anything sharp or clear wouldn't effec...
Better Know An Umpire: Mark Wegner
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...
Clay Buchholz's "Vodka Pool Party" Controversy Says A Hell Of A Lot More About The Boston Media Than It Does About Clay Buchholz
Clay Buchholz went on the disabled list after being hospitalized for intestinal bleeding. After being released from the hospital yesterday, Buchholz showed up at a charity event at Foxwoods casino. This is a big deal, because certain media people are awful....
What Happened To John Van Benschoten? The Former Pirates Pitching Prospect Laments The Hitting Career He Never Had
John Van Benschoten, the Pirates' first-round pick (eighth overall) in 2001, didn't have a good big-league career. In 90 innings of work spread over three seasons, Van Benschoten, mostly as a starter, racked up 65 strikeouts against 68 walks and a 9.20 ERA. We ranked him 76th on our list of the 100...
How To Build A 21st-Century Bullpen With Failed Hitting Prospects And A Radar Gun
Earlier this month, Sean Doolittle made his major-league debut for the Oakland Athletics. It wasn't an obviously momentous event: The left-hander took the mound with two outs in the top of the fifth, with the A's trailing Texas 5-0. He struck out Nelson Cruz to end the inning, then pitched a perfect...
Angry Baseball Takes Out Aggression On Umpire Brian Gorman's Face
Not really sure how we should interpret this one. Was it a completely random occurrence? Does Eric Hosmer have some beef with Brian Gorman we don't know about? Or are the balls, after so much atrocious umpiring this season, finally rebelling in a futile effort to regain control of the game they've m...
Prince Fielder Found Himself In A Rundown, And Somehow Emerged Safely
Prince Fielder hit the deck no fewer than three times during tonight's Tigers loss in Arlington to the Rangers, but did so no more bizarrely than here in which the portly first baseman ran his way out of a rundown, waving his arms like a man fleeing a burning building along the way....
Mike Trout Continues To Do Ridiculous, Impossible Baseball Things
This is Angels center fielder Mike Trout's first full season in the majors. He's not only made his mark at the plate (league-leading .331 batting average) and on the bases (league-leading 21 stolen bases) but in the field as well....
Bristolmetrics: Nobody Cared About The Roger Clemens Trial Except ESPN
When last we met, the Jerry Sandusky trial was largely ignored, the Heat were once again all over SportsCenter, and hey, ESPN did a good job covering a perfect games and a no-hitter. What would this week bring? ...
Aroldis Chapman Can Somersault All He Wants
Last night Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman recorded his ninth save of the season when he struck out Martin Maldonado with a 99 m.p.h. fastball. Upon finishing his achievement, Chapman decided to celebrate by performing two somersaults towards home plate. He didn't scream or yell or thump hi...
Better Know An Umpire: Fieldin Culbreth
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year. (All cumulative statistics are through the 2011 season, unless otherwise stated.)...
Dewayne Wise's "Catch": Plucky Gamesmanship Or Low-Down Dirty Cheating? Discuss!
OK, obviously, what happened down the left-field line at Yankee Stadium last night was some ludicrous, amazing bullshit, and umpire Mike DiMuro is a disgrace. But what about Dewayne Wise? By acting as if he had the ball in his empty glove, was he cleverly grabbing any available competitive edge, li...
Stray Bullet Falls Through Tropicana Field Roof, Hits Fan
During a game against the Marlins two weekends ago, a Rays fan visiting from the Florida panhandle felt something strike his leg. It hit so hard, he thought it was a foul ball. But another fan nearby rooted around on the ground and came up with a bullet....
Rob Ryan: Colorful Individual
Our favorite stadium reporter Jim Knox was at his best last night during the Tigers-Rangers matchup, locating Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan enjoying the ballgame. Ryan's choice of multicolored polo sans undershirt is the kind of bold wardrobe choice we've come to expect from the guy who dr...
Manny Gonzalez Submits His Nominee For Worst Blown Call Of The Year
Manny Gonzalez is not an MLB staff umpire, and he had only umped 53 games at the highest level through last season. (He doesn't even have an official profile.) Indeed, he's been bouncing around the minors since the early '90s, and it appears he may never get the permanent call to The Show if he kee...
Reds Closer Aroldis Chapman Celebrates A Save By Doing A Double-Somersault
Reds hurler Aroldis Chapman is in a weird spot. The triple-digit flamethrower is hearing calls to yank him from the closer role, and possibly put him in the Cincinnati rotation. That's not to mention his stripper issues and other stretches of bizarre behavior....
![The Greatest Trick Dewayne Wise Ever Pulled Was Convincing The World He Caught This Ball [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17r17aparlxnxjpg.jpg)
The Greatest Trick Dewayne Wise Ever Pulled Was Convincing The World He Caught This Ball [UPDATE]
Outfielder Dewayne Wise is used to making athletic catches. He saved Mark Buehrle's perfect game once upon a time. But it turns out he's also pretty good at selling an obvious drop on a sensational effort. He fooled YES announcer Michael Kay, he fooled the tens of thousands of other fans who didn't...