20 Page 309 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

So What The Hell Was John Farrell Thinking In The 9th Inning?
When Red Sox reliever Brandon Workman went out to bat against Trevor Rosenthal in the top of the ninth, it looked like a mistake. Your first thought was one of concern. Was Red Sox manager John Farrell locked in the bathroom? Was he perhaps trapped beneath a large object? When Workman, batting for t...

Here's The Obstruction Rule That Won Game 3 For The Cardinals
The Cardinals took Game 3 of the World Series on a walkoff obstruction call after Allen Craig tripped over Will Middlebrooks heading to home plate. The umpires all stood by Jim Joyce's call afterward, but what does the rulebook say? ...

One Ugly Inning Downs Red Sox, Ties World Series At One
After David Ortiz's sixth-inning two-run homer put the Red Sox in front, Boston's reliable bullpen was in a position to take a 2-0 series lead to St. Louis. Craig Breslow relieved John Lackey with two baserunners and one out in the seventh, and everything fell apart....

What Dana DeMuth's Blown Call Means For Instant Replay
The next time someone argues that instant replay will unacceptably slow down baseball, remember this: Between the umpire conference and Mike Matheny's argument, it took four minutes and 26 seconds to get an obvious call right....

That Time Mike Matheny Took A Fastball To The Face And Barely Flinched
The World Series begins tonight, which means it's as good an occasion as any to look back at one of the more memorable moments from Cardinals manager Mike Matheny's playing career: The night a 90-something-mph fastball hit him square in the face and he barely reacted....

Your Guide To Giving A Shit About The Red Sox-Cardinals World Series
Though it will feature the two best teams in baseball, this year's World Series will be painful for non-fans of the Red Sox or Cardinals. It's the least appealing matchup out of this postseason's 10 teams. It'll achieve better ratings than Giants-Rangers, sure, but why should any casual viewer feel...

Hanley won't start: Hanley Ramirez, bothered by a fractured rib since Game 1, will not start at shortstop for the Dodgers in tonight's Game 6 of the NLCS. Nick Punto will take his place and bat eighth. Don Mattingly hopes Ramirez can pinch hit but says Ramirez "doesn't feel like he can swing the bat...

Here Are The FIFA Rankings That Will Determine The World Cup Draw
FIFA's world rankings are, almost without exception, meaningless. This is that exception. The rankings released today determine the top seeds at next summer's World Cup. That's a valuable reward: they get to avoid each other....

Will Ferrell Introduces The Dodgers Before Game 5 Of The NLCS
For what could be their final home game of the season, the Dodgers pulled out all the stops and had Will Ferrell handle today's player introductions. As one might expect, it was very Will Ferrell-y....

UEFA's Stacked 8-Team Playoff Guarantees World Cup Heartbreak: A Guide
Yesterday, we saw 53 European World Cup hopefuls get cut down to just 17. Nine teams—Belgium, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, England, Switzerland, Bosnia, and Russia—advanced to next year's tournament in Brazil. There are still four spots up for grabs, to be fought for among the next eight ...

With The World Cup Clinched, USMNT Players Must Now Fight For Spots
The United States men's national team is take on Jamaica this evening in what is, thankfully, a somewhat meaningless World Cup qualifying match. That's because the Americans already whooped Mexico, as well as everyone else in CONCACAF, to clinch a spot in next year's tournament in Brazil. So what's ...

English Soccer Is Dead, And It Deserves To Be
World Cup qualifying runs this week, and a lot of what's going on involves glorified exhibition play. Continental giants like the Netherlands and Italy are booked for Brazil, as is our great nation; other teams of interest, like Germany, Spain, Portugal, and France are more or less box-checking. The...

Pirates-Cardinals, Game 5 Of The NLDS: A Very Deadspin Preview
Tonight's game is win or die. Here's Emeritus and me breaking down everything you need to know....

Dodgers To Start Clayton Kershaw Tonight On Short Rest
Had they lost last night, the Dodgers let it be known, they would have considered starting Clayton Kershaw tonight in what would have been an elimination game. Sensible enough—Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball, after all! No reason not to start him in an elimination game. But then they went ou...

Stephen Vogt Is Your Newest Unlikely Postseason Hero
The most compelling bat of last night's Tigers-A's game came in the bottom of the seventh. Oakland had runners on second and third with two outs, and backup catcher Stephen Vogt did his best to make Justin Verlander look mortal....

"TRUDAT 420" Is The Only Customized Jersey That Matters
Meet the intersecting portion of the "Juggalos/baseball fans" Venn diagram. ...

Oh Look, Russia Is Brutalizing Its Olympic Migrant Workers
While we're all still worked up about Qatar's blatant mistreatment of the many thousands of migrant workers who will soon begin building infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, here's a reminder that Qatar doesn't have the market cornered on turning international sporting events into humanitarian cri...

Johnny Cueto Gets Jeered, Drops Ball, Gives Up Home Run
PNC Park finally got to host playoff baseball, and the fans in Pittsburgh made it a party, screaming and chanting and jeering from the moment they passed through the turnstiles. And while there's no way to know for certain, it sure looked like the standing-room-only crowd got to Reds starter Johnny ...


Man Who Was Evicted For 1964 Olympics To Be Evicted For 2020 Olympics
The IOC hates Kohei Jinno....