baseball Page 162 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The MLB Narcs Have Come For Willson Contreras And His Venezuela Sleeve
Cubs catcher Willson Contreras began wearing a Venezuelan-flag sleeve to honor his home country last summer, and it has become an essential component of his uniform. But as part of MLB’s recent efforts to crack down on uniform regulations, Contreras has been told by the league that he can no longer ...
Josh Reddick Fries Mike Trout At Third, Then Cooks Ian Kinsler At The Plate
Astros right fielder Josh Reddick had to have assumed he taught the Angels a lesson about running on his arm in the sixth inning tonight. When Mike Trout tried to move from first to third on a Shohei Ohtani single, he quickly became, in the accurate words of the announcer, “a dead duck.”...
Stephen Piscotty Homers In First At-Bat Since Returning From Bereavement List
Oakland A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty—who missed his team’s previous four games after his mother, Gretchen, died from ALS—smashed a dinger over the Green Monster tonight in his very first at-bat since returning to the team. The reaction to the homer was subdued, in part because it was hit on the r...
Red Sox Pitcher Carson Smith Suffers Potentially Major Injury After Throwing His Glove In Frustration
Carson Smith tossed one inning in relief for the Red Sox in yesterday’s loss to the Oakland A’s, giving up a home run to Khris Davis. After he left the game, he was apparently mad at himself, and he tossed his glove in frustration. That’s a normal and fine reaction, but Smith injured himself doing s...
Robinson Canó Suspended 80 Games After Testing Positive For Banned Drug
Mariners second baseman Robinson Canó has been suspended for 80 games after failing a drug test. Domincan journalist Héctor Gómez first reported that Canó would be suspended, with Ken Rosenthal confirming shortly afterward. According to MLB, Canó tested positive for Furosemide, a diuretic that is ba...
A.J. Pollock Smashed His Thumb On What Wound Up Being An Inside-The-Park Homer
A.J. Pollock has been among the top National League players in WAR for much of this young season, but he also just cannot catch a break. In the ninth inning of the Diamondbacks’ 7-2 loss to the Brewers Monday, the outfielder laid the hell out for a Tyler Saladino line drive that turned into an insid...
Adeiny Hechavarria Turned Elastic To Dodge An Easy Tag<em></em>
Rays shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, fully recovered from his freak injury last week, blasted straight through his third-base coach’s stop sign while attempting to score a go-ahead run against the Royals, but redeemed himself with an elastic slide that eluded a cannon throw from Jorge Soler and a tag ...
The New Red Sox Dugout Band Ain't Half Bad
The Boston Red Sox have a nice storied history of bench players exploring their musical gifts while not taking part in the action on the field, specifically in the cases of a couple different “bullpen bands” that played instruments like “the water bottles” and “the spoons.” Before their game tonight...
Jameson Taillon Is Willing To Have His Teammates Pee On Him If It Helps
Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon was pulled from his start against the Giants on Friday after three excellent innings because of a serious cut on his middle finger, which was likely the result of his thumbnail digging into his finger when he threw curveballs. Taillon was bleeding on the ball to point...
The Very Short Saga Of The Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Airport Picture
All right-thinking people on this planet and any others want to see Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who does very rude things to baseballs in very loud ways, called up to the majors as soon as possible. So you can imagine the excitement that was generated when Young Vlad posted this photo on Instagram:...
Steven Souza Appreciates Mothers
Diamondbacks outfielder Steven Souza was mic’d up during yesterday’s game against the Nationals, and that was good news for anyone who likes their baseball accompanied by wry commentary....
The Braves Suddenly Own The Best Record In The National League
On Sunday night, the Nationals completed their four-game sweep of the Diamondbacks in a primetime thriller that featured a freeze-the-outfielder smash from Bryce Harper, two Mark Reynolds dingers (?), and the third solid start in a row from Jeremy Hellickson (??). This all means exactly as much as a...
Get This Father-To-Be A Tennis Racket
Look, man, you’re not going to draw a walk here. You only get one crack at the baby sex reveal pitch, and while the father in question here does at least make a wise adjustment of trying to catch the wayward pitch instead of just letting it pass like this dude did, you have to swing. No hesitation....
Jay Bruce Apparently Celebrated Being Traded Away From The Mets By Conceiving A Child<em></em>
The New York Mets, a team that began the season 11-1, lost their ninth game of their last 11 in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon. Ace Noah Syndergaard, who was scheduled to start Saturday’s rained-out game against the Phillies, was skipped for reasons vague enough to be weird. Less-hairy co-ace Jaco...
Shohei Ohtani's Starting To Reveal All His Powers
Shohei Ohtani has a fastball that he can pump up to 100 mph and dot on all four corners of the strike zone. He has a splitter that dives straight into hell and takes the souls of many batters with it. Those are two very good pitches. If you throw those two pitches exclusively, you’re basically late-...
Mookie Betts Makes Baseball Look Too Damn Easy
Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts is having a ridiculous season. He leads the majors in dingers and runs and batting average and OPS, and he’s 25 years old, and, not coincidentally, his team is tied for the best record in baseball. And he’s a two-time Gold Glove winner. And he bowls perfect games. It’...
Willson Contreras Is On An Unholy Tear
Cubs catcher Willson Contreras came into Wednesday’s game against the Marlins stuck in a bit of a slump, having gone 4-for-35 over his previous nine appearances. Contreras, who smacked 21 dingers in 2017, tallied just one in April, and hadn’t had a multi-hit game since April 10. The nine-game slump ...
Ichiro Survives Retirement, Fills In As Mariners Bench Coach
Asked last spring what his retirement might someday look like, Ichiro said “I think I’ll just die.” Which made his sudden retirement, earlier this month, darkly fascinating, if not downright alarming—would Ichiro fall down dead immediately after making the announcement? Would he lay down tiredly, de...
Ben Zobrist Calls Out MLB For Threatening Punishment Over Black Cleats
Cubs second-baseman Ben Zobrist likes to wear all-black cleats to home games. To hear him tell it, that’s no random fashion statement—it’s done to commemorate a time in baseball’s past when all-black cleats were the norm. But baseball has collectively-bargained uniform standards, just like every oth...
Innocent Beer Rudely Displaced By Baseball
As baseball catching implements go, the beer cup is less than ideal—it’s minimally flexible, the opening is only slightly larger than the diameter of a baseball, and there’s dang beer in there! But a man will do desperate things to bring home a foul ball from a May Giants-Pirates game:...