MLB Page 970 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Don't Make Me Root For These Creatures To Be Happy
I am never going to forgive the Houston Astros. Not because they’ve dropped two straight at home to the Washington Nationals in this year’s World Series, although that was pretty grotesque. (They gave up a crucial home run to Kurt Suzuki, who is 129 years old.) No, it’s because their idiot assistant...

The Astros Are Not In The Apology Business
“We talk internally about being on the ‘bleeding edge,’” Astros GM Jeff Luhnow told the McKinsey Quarterly in June of 2018. The exceedingly collegial two-part interview was a homecoming of sorts for Luhnow, who worked at the management consulting giant for five years before going into the baseball b...

This Is The World Series MLB Deserves
Joe Buck is about to have the most difficult day of his professional life, because unlike his Jose Altuve home run call from the American League Championship Series, he must speak....

Astros GM Jeff Luhnow Keeps Digging And Digging
Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow came before assembled members of the press Thursday evening in D.C., to face the music for now-fired assistant GM Brandon Taubman’s locker room taunts directed at three women reporters after his team’s ALCS-clinching victory, and for the Astros publicly and falsely...
![Astros Fire Brandon Taubman, Now Need To Fire Whoever Smeared Stephanie Apstein [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/ujsruq4h4guxhyzk2i3w.png)
Astros Fire Brandon Taubman, Now Need To Fire Whoever Smeared Stephanie Apstein [Update]
The Houston Astros have fired assistant GM Brandon Taubman for conduct that “does not reflect the values” of the organization, according to a team statement released on Thursday. ...

Yu Darvish Waited Over A Year To Get Justin Verlander Back For A Joke
While chasing down a slow grounder in Game 2 of the World Series, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander fell on his butt as he threw the ball off his shin. Nobody was hurt; it was just a nice blooper....

Alex Bregman Was So Close To Stopping Everything
It’s obviously hyperbole to say that a misplay on a tough grounder lost the Astros Game 2 of the World Series. But that six-run seventh inning from the Nationals that broke the 2-2 tie and led them to a 12-3 win was such an intense morale-sapper—for both the Houston team and the formerly rowdy crowd...

Hug Stephen Strasburg More. Continue Hugging Him.
Stephen Strasburg continued his great postseason run last night by throwing six solid innings in Game 2 of the World Series, during which he allowed just two earned runs and struck out seven. You know what that means, don’t you? He got a big hug for his troubles....

After Game 2 Pounding, The Astros Are Up To Their Necks In Doo Doo
The Astros are in big trouble. They lost Game 1 Tuesday night when the Nationals touched up the best pitcher in baseball for five runs, and came into Game 2 needing to scratch out some offense against a rolling Stephen Strasburg in order to salvage a split at home. They got off to a good start on th...
![MLB Umpire Rob Drake Is Prepared To Shoot People In Defense Of Donald Trump [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/yvdhgaxqhu32sn4bgymi.jpg)
MLB Umpire Rob Drake Is Prepared To Shoot People In Defense Of Donald Trump [Update]
Major League umpire and apparent MAGA fiend Rob Drake posted and deleted a tweet late Tuesday indicating that he would be purchasing an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle on Wednesday in order to wage “CIVAL WAR” should Congress impeach peabrain president Donald Trump. Going to go out on a limb here and ass...

Patrick Corbin Was The Only Choice
Dave Martinez knew it. He knew it by the fourth, when the Astros worked Max Scherzer for 27 pitches, pushing his pitch count on the night to an unsustainable 96 through four, but also he knew it on Monday, when the Nationals manager declined to name a starting pitcher for Game 3 despite having a cle...

Nationals Make Gerrit Cole Look Maybe Not Quite Human, But At Least Humanoid
The combustible Nationals bullpen tried very hard to give this away, but in the end the five runs their hitters put up on terrifying buzzsaw Gerrit Cole held up, and the Nationals escaped Game 1 with a 5–4 victory to snatch away home-field advantage in the World Series.Cole looked very much like his...

Overeager Victor Robles Eats Shit On Badly Mistimed Diving Catch Attempt
The Astros are tough as hell. They jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the bottom of the first against Nationals Game 1 starter Max Scherzer, and have made Scherzer work out of trouble in every inning so far. In the bottom of the third, with the Astros up a run, Yuli Gurriel flared a blooper to shallow left...

Umpire Joe West Sues Retired Catcher Paul Lo Duca Over Bribery Allegations
Umpire Joe West has had his share—some would say more than his share—of failures. You would be well within your rights to describe him as unreliable, ornery, confrontational, or an occasional obnoxious textualist. He’s been all of those things! But one thing West will not hesitate to sue your ass ov...

Astros Drop Failed Smear Campaign Against Sports Illustrated, MLB Picks It Up
Less than 24 hours after the Astros issued a statement accusing Sports Illustrated of “fabricating” a story about assistant general manager Brandon Taubman gloating to a group of female reporters about having signed accused domestic abuser Roberto Osuna, the team has changed their tune to something ...

A Modest Proposal For The World Series Baseballs
With the World Series upon us, and the magic of the Houston Colt .45s vs. the Montreal Expos preparing to unfold before our satanically red-rimmed eyes, we can sit back, forget the rest of the world its slowly advancing state of entropy and decay and ask ourselves the most existential of questions:...

Report: Astros Assistant GM Yelled "Thank God We Got Osuna" At Female Reporters After ALCS Win
During the Houston Astros’ clubhouse ALCS victory celebration Saturday night, Astros assistant general manager for player evaluation Brandon Taubman taunted three female reporters about the organization’s trade for closer Roberto Osuna, who was suspended for 75 games last season for violating Major ...

Mets Owners Gave Bill de Blasio $5,400 The Day Before He Quit His Presidential Campaign
In 2019, Jed Lowrie suffered a lower-body injury in spring training that somehow never got better or better-understood; for much of the year, the injury was just designated as “left side.” While he was unable to play the field at all, Lowrie did finally make it back to the bigs at the very end of th...

The Astros' Defense Grew More Impressive By The Inning
Before Jose Altuve’s heroic swing sent the Astros to the World Series, left fielder Michael Brantley was thought to be the one who all but guaranteed the pennant for Houston. In the top of the seventh, the 32-year-old veteran made a ridiculous diving catch to stop an Aaron Hicks popup from plopping ...

Jose Altuve Sends Astros To World Series With Walk-Off Bomb Against Aroldis Chapman
The final inning of the ALCS was a dramatic one, as the Astros booked their tickets to the World Series with an emphatic walk-off dinger. After spotting Houston a three-run lead in the first inning and trailing for the entire game, the Yankees finally drew even in the top of the ninth when D.J. LeMa...