MLB Page 987 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Alex Rodriguez Criticized For Showing Up Early To Camp
Yankees position players are scheduled to report to spring training on Wednesday. Alex Rodriguez showed up yesterday to start working out and running drills. Naturally, the New York Daily News, which has been leading the torches-and-pitchforks mob against Rodriguez for a long time, found someone who...

Madison Bumgarner Fulfills His Destiny
Here's Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner—a man who wore jeans to his wedding—dressed up as Paul Bunyan for the team's magazine. (The ox isn't blue, but close enough.) Bumgarner doesn't even look that goofy in the getup. He looks like he's found his calling....

Melvin Upton Explains His Name Change
Yesterday, MLB.com reported that Braves outfielder B.J. Upton will start going by his legal name, Melvin Upton Jr. That means it'll change on his uniform, on the scoreboard, even on his bats. Today, Upton reported to Braves camp and told reporters—some of whom still called him "B.J." out of habit—th...

CC Sabathia Gained A Bunch Of Weight, On Purpose
Yankees starter CC Sabathia (the epithet "Yankees ace" is probably long out-of-date, as he's coming off two very rough seasons) reported to camp at 305 pounds, about 30 pounds heavier than he was last spring. That's good, if only because he doesn't look like a stranger. But Sabathia believes his reg...

Gregg Zaun Shares Heartwarming Stories Of Cal Ripken Jr. Hazing Him
Notable doofus and former MLB catcher Gregg Zaun played his first two pro seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. Why mention that stint? While talking about ex-Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie (who was traded to Oakland last November) on a radio show this week, Zaun reminisced about his 1995 rookie...

Holy Crap, Jesus Montero Is In Shape
Hardball Talk has a running gag where they chronicle every instance of a player getting described as being in the "best shape of his life." In the case of Seattle's former wunderprospect Jesus Montero, this might be the first time that it's no exaggeration....

MLB Will Speed Up Games In 2015 With A Between-Innings Timer
As reported yesterday, MLB, the players' union, and the umpires' union have agreed on three rule changes to be implemented immediately, all with the express purpose of—and, I believe, a very good chance of—stopping baseball games from taking so damn long. It's official now, and we have the details....

Report: MLB Will Implement Three New Rule Changes To Speed Up Games
The verdict from Major League Baseball's pace-of-game committee is in, and according to Fox Sport's Ken Rosenthal, tomorrow MLB will announce three rule changes designed to speed up games:...

Lotsa Rougneds
It's true! The elder is Rougned Roberto Odor; the newest Ranger is Rougned Jose Odor. ...

This Big A-Rod Profile Might Actually Make You Feel Bad For A-Rod
J.R. Moehringer has a huge feature about Alex Rodriguez on ESPN.com today. It's a well-reported, in-depth look at everything Rodriguez has been up to since being banned from baseball for 162 games for using PEDs. There's a lot going on in the story, and you should really read the whole thing, but pe...

1960s Astros Programs Were Weird
Here, just an incredible find from @uniformcritic, a wonderful Twitter follow chronicling baseball history and fashion. It's a Houston Astros gameday program from the 1960s:...

20 Years Ago Today, Sparky Anderson Said No To Scab Players
After calling off the 1994 World Series because of a work stoppage, and failing to reach an agreement over the winter, MLB owners were determined not to lose another season of profits—even if they had to bring in the strikebreakers. A handful of managers, and even one owner, spoke out against the us...

Pablo Sandoval Remains Pablo-Sandoval-Shaped
This photo comes from Boston.com's Steve Silva, and shows new Red Sox third baseman (signed through 2019) Pablo Sandoval on his first day in camp. OK, so maybe he's a little robusto. He just got $100 million guaranteed. That's not really his problem anymore....

The Yankees Will Sell Their Past Until There's Nothing Left Of It
The Yankees announced yesterday that they will retire the numbers of Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, and Bernie Williams, and that all three—along with Willie Randolph—will receive plaques in Monument Park in four different ceremonies spread across the season. No American sports team has made such an...



Court Docs Allege Tony Bosch Spent MLB's Money On Strippers And Clubs
Two years after it was first broken, the Biogenesis saga in South Florida continues to reveal hilarious details about how Major League Baseball conducts business. The Miami New Times reports on the criminal case against Lazer Collazo, an associate of Biogenesis founder Tony Bosch, who is charged wit...

Some Cool Jumbotron-Style Portraits Of '70s And '80s Ballplayers
Depending on your age, artist Peter Chen's aesthetics, as much as his choice of players, will well some deep nostalgia in you. And if not—well, maybe you can just appreciate Chen's dozens of gold-foil Jumbotron portraits for the facial hair....