ap Page 1540 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Bobby Abreu Heading North
As you may have expected, it's the Yankees who have stepped up and acquired Bobby Abreu. ESPN.com is reporting that the Yankees and Phillies have agreed to a deal that puts Bobby Abreu in pinstripes. The Yanks also pick up pitcher Cory Lidle as part of the deal, and going the other way are shortstop...

He Homers In Peace
For all the talk about how baseball's All-Star Game has become boring and irrelevant, it appears the Japanese All-Star game has figured out how to liven up matters: Aliens in the dugout....

Exit, Stage Right
For the record, we would have done the same thing: Here's a video that's old, but has never appeared here, of pitcher Masanori Ishikawa of the Yakult Swallows, plunking former American major leaguer Tony Batista of the SoftBank Hawks in a Japanese League game. When it appeared that the rather imposi...

Please Don't Make Us Lonely In July
Forgive this trifle of self-indulgence, but after our brutal sojourn at Busch Stadium is completed, we're heading back toward our home plains of Illinois. Anybody out there fortunate enough to be so near miles of corn is invited to join us....

It's Always Sunny In San Francisco, Apparently
Philadelphia pitcher Brett Myers, everybody's favorite wife flattener, returned to the Phillies yesterday for a game against the Giants in San Francisco. Before the game, he had given a statement apologizing for his actions and saying he was getting counseling. It sounded sincere enough that you w...

What It Might Be Like When Stephon Marbury And Steve Francis Try To Share One Basketball
Big thanks to J.E. Skeets (who also takes a deeper look at the T.J. Ford/Charlie Villanueva trade) and the Basketball Jones for the heads-up....

"Leon ... POWE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
So we haven't been watching much summer league basketball, if just because the only local games on around these parts are the Knicks, and honestly, if we wanted to watch a snuff film, we'd just go see the new M. Night Shyamalan movie....

Cultural Oddsmaker: Death Becomes Them
A.J. Daulerio's Cultural Oddsmaker runs every Friday. Send him all kinds of fan mail....

You Know, We Hear The Smell Attracts Bears
You know, there are times when it's obvious that we're not covering enough auto racing around these parts....

Phillies Owner Says Myers' Wife Is A Damned Liar
It was a mistake, as they later admitted, for the Phillies to allow Brett Myers to pitch just two days after he was arrested for punching his wife in the face on a crowded Boston street. But a bigger mistake, we think, might be the team's owner claiming that Myers' wife is a liar. Quoth Bill Giles...

Look! A Funny Gary Williams Photo!
Apropos of absolutely nothing, here's a rather silly photo of Maryland head basketball coach Gary Williams. Careful with those wings, Coach....

Of Streaking And Shrieking
At first we thought all the shrieking coming from Maria Sharapova on Tuesday was because of this guy. Apparently not. Sharapova, it seems, has a habit of screaming on every shot, something of which we were blissfully unaware until today, due to the fact that we watch her matches with the sound off. ...

And They Call It The Streak
There are few things of which we are certain, but one is this: When we get out of bed at an ungody hour to view Maria Sharapova playing Elena Dementieva in the Wimbledon quarterfinals (Sharapova won, 6-1, 6-4), what we don't want to see is this (pictured). We want this. And perhaps this. Under no ...

Charlie Villanueva Finds A New Home
In need of a point guard, and realizing that free agents flock to Toronto like women flock to bloggers, the Raptors acquired a point guard in a trade last night. T.J. Ford heads north of the border, and Charlie Villanueva goes back the other way to play alongside Andrew Bogut in Milwaukee....

So Long, Wimbledon. See You Next Year!
Well, we missed possibly the greatest match ever in women's professional tennis. Damn it. Earlier today, Russia's Maria Sharapova met Ashley Harkleroad of the U.S. in Day Four Qualifying at Wimbledon, with the fourth-ranked Sharapova coming away with a 6-2, 6-2 victory (like the score mattered). M...

Hey, Kids, Come Out To The Park!
We encourage all kids in the Philadelphia area to get their tickets now for August 20 at Citizens Bank Park, for a very special Phillies promotion for a Sunday afternoon game against the Nationals: It's The Brett Myers Back-To-School Pack!...

Some Big Hockey Happenings This Weekend...
• The NHL entry draft went down yesterday, and it included a record 10 American players taken in the first round. This, of course, builds tremendous hope that one day the United States will have an international hockey team that will generate tremendous interest and hype, only to fall flat on their ...

Brett Myers Punched His Wife In The Face
It is commonplace among Major League Baseball teams to send the starting pitchers for upcoming road series ahead of the team, allowing them to get on a normal travel schedule. That's what the Philadelphia Phillies did with starter Brett Myers, who was scheduled to pitch against Boston tomorrow after...

Live Blog: Brazil Vs. Japan
It's impossible not to have a good time watching Brazil, and not just because of the ladies, yeahhh. So far, the Brazilians haven't played that beautiful game we've all expected of them, but it's early, and Ronaldo hasn't lost all his weight yet. Give him time....

Jonathan Papelbon's Dramatic Debut
How do you know you've made it, you've crossed from the niche market of athletics into the popular subconsious of local culture? When you start doing terrible, cheapo car commercials, of course!...