ball Page 1882 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Julio Franco's Career, In Pixels
How long has Mets octogeniarian Julio Franco been around? So long that his career actually spans the whole era of video game baseball. From the Atari 2600 to Bases Loaded to MLB 06, Franco has been around for all of it. The great minds at Progressive Boink — those responsible for the genius that i...

If Barry Bonds Falls In The Forest, Does He Make A Sound?
The photo at left kind of tells the whole story about public reaction to Barry Bonds these days. You have the guy on the left screaming insults, the guy on the right applauding politely, the guy with the camera phone snapping a dark, crappy picture for posterity, and the guy in the front row, far ...

The Closer: Fate, Thy Name Is Josh Beckett
Notes from a day in baseball:...

Jose Canseco Is Staying Active
Outstanding work by the Los Angeles Times this morning; the paper has tracked down Jose Canseco. The steroidal monster, apparently having struck out as an action film star (we're still waiting for someone to get a hold of his famous karate demo tape and send it to us), is playing in the Los Angele...

Color Us Impressed
As we mentioned earlier, Randy Johnson hasn't been pitching well lately. But just to drive that point home, he's now in the record books for a feat that is unlikely to be broken soon; most hits given up with a pink bat. The Yankees played Oakland on Sunday, and of the eight hitters Johnson faced i...

Ron Zook Rocks It, Dude, Totally
This picture, found by The Wizard Of Odds, features Illinois head football coach Ron Zook ... uh, well, we're not sure what he's doing there. The hand gesture? The crazed, intense look in the eyes? The (gasp) "athletic gear?"...

Sutcliffe Tries To Solve That Thing
USA Today's Michael Heistand has the scoop this morning: ESPN's Rick Sutcliffe has been suspended from calling tonight's Red Sox-Orioles game....

The Closer: We're Up 7-3; What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Notes from a day in baseball:...

This Is What Happens When You Brawl On A Pecan Farm
Well, you don't see stories like this one every day. Let's see if we can piece together the progression of things that happened to Texas running back Ramonce Taylor this weekend, according to this from CBS SportsLine.com wire reports:...

Onterrio, Canada
Having been released by the Minnesota Vikings, and suspended until at least October, running back Onterrio Smith is heading to the Canadian Football League, where the laws about fake penises are much more relaxed....

A Snub Of Ruthian Proportions
We're not exactly sure what Barry Bonds' home run No. 714 will look like, but one thing is pretty certain. It won't be as much fun as Babe Ruth's No. 714. Ruth hit the final three home runs of his career on the same day — May 25, 1935, for the Boston Braves — one going into the upper deck and one ...

That Brief Moment Before Phillies Fans Start Hating You
Few things in the sports are more reliably and depressingly predictable than the arc of a young Philadelphia prospect. Philly fans start salivating when they initially hear about a guy, start shaking uncontrollably a few weeks before his debut, are screaming at a fever pitch once he's finally on t...

The Closer: How Griffey Got His Groove Back
Notes from a day in baseball:...

And Here's Your Rick Sutcliffe Video
We asked for it, and you provided it: The complete video of Rick Sutcliffe's drunken meltdown on the Padres' telecast Wednesday night. Whoever posted the video was kind enough, in the middle of the video, to give us closeups of the announcers' faces, particularly play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian, wh...

So Much For That Fresh Start!
We're actually pretty big fans of Sports Ilustrated's Tom Verducci — who never gets enough credit (or blame, depending on your perspective) for being out front of this whole steroid story from the get-go — but we feel maybe he's gotten a bit too caught up in it all. He's become such an anti-steroi...

Look, Everybody! Drunk Athlete Photos!
We haven't checked in with the lovely ladies of On The DL for a while ... so it's probably that time. Why not? It's the Web! It's fun! It's the Wild West! Weee!!!...

Rick Sutcliffe ... Bombed!
Earlier today, we wondered why Bill Murray was hanging out in San Diego while his Cubs were in San Francisco. We now have our answer: He was getting blasted with Rick Sutcliffe....

Hammer Wants To Talk To Barry's Mom
With practically the entire world riding his unusually large posterior over Steroidgate, one often wonders what gives Barry Bonds the strength to go on? Well now we know: He has M.C. Hammer in his corner. And when you've got Hammer Time on your side, you can conquer the world. Previously known as ...