baseball Page 17 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

For those famous enough to be asked to throw a first pitch, learn from Roquan Smith — lob it

Roquan Smith is one of the best athletes on the planet. He knows it, because he has bet on himself for his entire career, and the result is that in his sixth NFL season, he will be the highest-paid off-ball linebacker in the league. He fills gaps, chases down running backs, causes turnovers, plays p...

Deion Sanders is escalating his feud with Pat Narduzzi

Deion Sanders’ recruiting tactics have been pilloried or celebrated far and wide across the college football spectrum since he became the top dog in charge of the University of Colorado’s football program in December. Since then, most of Sanders’ peers have been tightlipped about their concerns surr...

Toronto Blue Jays players didn't want Anthony Bass participating in Pride Night [Update]

Anthony Bass should have learned to stay off of social media — and perhaps pitch better— as he was DFA’d by the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday afternoon....

Texas Rangers don’t need Jacob deGrom to be one of MLB's best teams

The weirdest part of the news of Jacob deGrom’s impending season-ending Tommy John surgery, which in all likelihood could keep him out of the Texas Rangers’ rotation until the beginning of the 2025 season, is that the first-place team in the American League West doesn’t need him. Is deGrom a massive...

Hazardous air quality won't stop baseball in New York — just postpone it [Update]

Walking outside in New York City is sketchy even with pristine air quality. There are homeless people everywhere, rats, and 99-cent slices of pizza littered on the streets. Plus, it’s inevitable you run into a tourist that doesn’t understand how much of the sidewalk they take up. I love living here ...

The Mets are gonna Mets, even if Jacob deGrom is in Texas

While there will be plenty claiming they always knew the Texas Rangers took too big of a risk in signing Jacob deGrom this past winter, the allure of deGrom was simply too much. And it should be. Especially if you don’t really care about the money, which more MLB owners shouldn’t. The Rangers have p...

With PGA-LIV merger, the sportswashing of Saudi Arabia's human rights record is in full swing

The impending merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf series has brought Saudi sports washing efforts to an American pro sport. The alliance between the century-old PGA Tour and the upstart series, backed by the Saudi Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, is their boldest foothold into the American mar...

Alek Manoah has been so awful the Blue Jays sent him to the rookie circuit [Update]

A 30,000-foot view of the Toronto Blue Jays so far this season wouldn’t detect any huge problems. The offense, while maybe not tearing a hole in the Earth or indeed time as might have been predicted, is still 11th in MLB in runs. Bo Bichette is second in batting average, Vladito is bashing the shit ...

We are finally getting the Netflix Florida Gators doc we deserve

It’s finally here. Well, it’s at least on the way — reportedly....

Florida Panthers faceplanted in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final

It’s not that the Florida Panthers haven’t faced adversity in this playoff run. They were down 3-1 to the Bruins. But then, nothing was expected of them, so it’s not like they had much to lose. They certainly do now, so close to the parade, and they certainly appeared intent on losing it all in Game...

MLB’s shift ban hasn’t solved baseball's real problem, but it also probably can’t

A little more than two months into the MLB season, the first with a shift-ban that keeps two infielders on each side of second base, and the league will probably declare victory. There are more hits, and left-handed batters are seeing more grounders and line-drives are resulting in base hits, which ...

5 activities better suited for an MLB stadium series than Pickleball

Here at Deadspin, we’ve penned so much inflammatory shit about pickleball that I feel bad degrading Americans for working out. If you want to spend your summer playing jumbo Ping-Pong, that’s OK. Lather up a sweat, burn some calories, and spend $89.95 on a paddle that assuredly won’t collect dust in...

Sometimes basketball is as simple as having taller guys everywhere

I wouldn’t pretend to be a basketball expert. My colleague Stephen will be around later to do that stuff. I do know there are myriad ways of designing an offense and defense and how to guard pick-and-rolls and rotations and a bunch of other things that coaches play with throughout a playoff series. ...

Toronto trolls Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass for his bigoted views

In a rare display of an MLB team following the lead of its fans, or at least being in the vicinity, something satisfying took place last night in Toronto when bigoted Blue Jays asshat Anthony Bass came out of the pen:...

Are the Oakland A’s a failed state? | Agree to Disagree

The Philadelphia Phillies' offense is doing that thing again

The Philadelphia Phillies are an imperfect being. Yes, they’ve been that way for pretty much their entire existence. But every baseball fan/watcher knows that the recent vintage of the Fightins is kind of a top-heavy outfit, that generally plays defense like it’s just about to sneeze, and the bullpe...

The San Diego Padres are the first to get out of their Bally Sports TV deal

In a few years, baseball TV will look very different. We’re getting a glimpse now, thanks to Bally Sports missing a payment to the San Diego Padres, essentially ending their rights deal. MLB is stepping in already, and starting later today MLB is taking over the broadcasts for the Padres. And of cou...

Clayton Kershaw whines about his poor, misunderstood Christian faith

Looking for a night to not go to Dodger Stadium? Might we suggest July 30? Not only is it usually ungodly hot in Chavez Ravine at the end of July, but Clayton Kershaw will be pushing Christianity and faith on everyone. There are just way more pleasant places to eat a hot dog and drink a beer in L.A....

Remember when Gary Sanchez was a thing?

There was hope that when the New York Yankees called up Gary Sanchez that he’d be the team’s backstop of the future. Sanchez showed plenty of pop — he hit 33 home runs in 2017 in his first full season in the Bronx, and 34 in 2019 — but was also a defensive liability. He committed double-digit errors...

The Celtics find an even better way to lose than just getting swept

Remember the “Minneapolis Miracle?” You might, but if you don’t it’s when the Minnesota Vikings pulled out a last-second win in the divisional round over the Saints when the entire New Orleans secondary decided to reenact a Three Stooges routine. However, it doesn’t really get the play that, say, th...