MLB Page 1143 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

This Is Don Mattingly As Mother Ginger In A Ballet Rendition Of <em>The Nutcracker</em>
The Dodgers manager's wife, Lori, had introduced him to the ballet. He "thought it would be fun" to join the company in his hometown of Evansville (Ind.), and he made his debut on Saturday night—blonde wig, makeup, blue dress, and all, thinking it "would be funny." Mattingly didn't dance, but based...

Teams Bid For Yu Darvish, Carlos Zambrano Climbed Some Mountains, And Other Hot Fucking Stove News
Your roundup of all the hottest hot-stove items of the day (and whatever shit Ken Rosenthal is throwing against the wall.) This is ... HOT FUCKING STOVE!!...

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About How Spectacularly Broke The Mets (And Their Owners) Are
Dan Lewis at Amazin' Avenue makes sense of the Mets' finances so you don't have to. Essentially, they're fucked independent of Bernie Madoff, and everything the team could conceivably sell is mortgaged. Makes you yearn for a couple months ago, when the team was a fuzz less fucked, but still fucked. ...

John Rocker Admits Steroid Use, File Under "Who Gives A Shit?"
John Rocker wants you to give a shit, because he's got a book coming out. It makes a perfect Christmas present for someone you hate, but is not appropriate as a gift for Eid or Diwali because John Rocker doesn't want brown people currency. To drum up interest for the book, Rocker's doing the intervi...

Report: Derek Jeter Once Again Plowing Everything In Sight
Baseball season never ends for the New York Post. Derek Jeter's in the news today because he's reportedly back in the game with a vengeance. After breaking up with Minka Kelly, Jeter is "bedding a bevy of beauties" (because the Post lives in the 1960s) and diluting the collectibles market at the sam...

Phillies Sign Dontrelle Willis, Reports Some Guy Who Says He Accidentally Got Forwarded An Email From Ruben Amaro
Ruben Amaro is a ninja—except when his email blasts on free agency signings find their way into the wrong hands. A reader forwards along this missive, purportedly from Ruben Amaro to the front office announcing that the Phillies are signing Dontrelle Willis to a one-year deal pending a physical. Bec...

A Guide To The Medical, Semantic Mess Of Ryan Braun's PED Case
We told you on Saturday night about Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun, the reigning National League MVP, and his failed drug test....

Someone Wrote The Craziest Thing You'll Ever Read About Tom Verducci
Over at Baseball Prospectus, Jason Parks leers literarily at SI's man: "He didn't intend to harass Verducci, although in hindsight the behavior he exhibited did appear suspect to most casual eyes. ... On the walks, he said he would track his (the World) movements, studying his gait and his smile, ho...

Report: National League MVP Ryan Braun Failed A Performance-Enhancing-Drug Test
Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun is disputing the results of his recent urine test, which is why MLB hasn't announced the result or any discipline. If Braun's appeal fails, he would face a 50-game suspension next spring....

Oakland A's Trade All-Star Pitcher Not Named Gio Gonzalez, Twitter Is Validated
Oakland pulled off a trade yesterday, sending Trevor Cahill, Craig Breslow and some cash to the Diamondbacks. In return, Oakland received "one of the Diamondbacks' top young pitching prospects, right-hander Jarrod Parker, plus outfielder Collin Cowgill and reliever Ryan Cook, a pair of rookies."...

Here's The Newspaper Ad Albert Pujols Took Out To Thank St. Louis Fans
It's become almost expected for itinerant athletes to go the newspaper ad route when leaving town, and at this point free agency might be the only thing keeping print media alive. Pujols took out a full-page ad on C10 of today's Post-Dispatch fondly reminiscing on his time in St. Louis, but the typi...

A Dress Code For Baseball Scribes: Fair Or Foul?
Rick Bacon is the sports columnist for The Citizen-Pollinator of West Waterville, Missouri. He won an APSE award in 1987 for his column, "Batting Around." This is his second column for Deadspin. Read his first here....


A Little Pujols Math To Infuriate Cardinals Fans
In 2009, Albert Pujols said this:...

Which Group Of St. Louis Residents Is Bidding Albert Pujols Good Riddance? Classical Music Fans
Cardinals fans are reacting strongly to today's news of his departure for Anaheim, leading to surreal images like guards surrounding the statue of him outside his St. Louis restaurant....

Man Falls In Lobby Pool At Winter Meetings, Makes Bigger Splash Than Yankees
Rolling MLB Network cameras caught one distracted visitor taking a spill into the reflecting pool at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, where baseball's winter meeting are being held. It's all fun and games until somebody gets sued. [MLB.com, via SBN]...

ShortCenter: The Winter Meetings Get Their Own Theme Music, With Glockenspiel
What is ESPN prattling on about right now? We condense your morning SportsCenter to its essence....

Report: Albert Pujols To Sign With The Angels
Tim Brown of Yahoo appears to have had it first, as you can see above, but Buster Olney's sources are telling him the same thing. Bob Nightengale of USA Today says it's for 10 years and $250 million. Somebody check on Leitch to make sure he's OK. [Yahoo]...

Ken Rosenthal Throws Himself Against The Wall
Your roundup of all the hottest hot-stove items of the day. Photo via @joecapMARLINS. This is ... HOT FUCKING STOVE!!...

"Do You Think Your Nomination Into The HOF Illegitimizes The HOF?" And Other Awkward Questions For Tim McCarver
The media conference call with Tim McCarver that accompanied this morning's announcement of his Hall of Fame award got off to a rocky start (which may have been our fault) when the first question was "What, exactly, is your vendetta against the New York Yankees?" It went downhill from there, espec...