baseball Page 292 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Eric Gagne Estimates 80 Percent Of His Dodger Teammates Were Taking PEDs
"I knew I had the mental attitude to be a closer, it was just a matter of doing it in the major leagues." That was Eric Gagne after he won the 2003 Cy Young Award, following a perfect season in which he converted all 55 save opportunities and struck out 100 more batters (137) than hits allowed (37)....

Science! Proves That Hawk Harrelson Is More Biased Than Every Other AL Broadcaster Combined
Today is probably a good day for the other sports to drop bad news. Maybe announce some NCAA sanctions, or failed steroid tests. Everything non-scabby is completely under the radar, so it would have been lucky timing for the White Sox broadcasting team to be selected as far and away the biggest home...

Ballhawk Zack Hample Was Kicked Out Of Nationals Park Last Night, And He Is Pissed About It
We've met Zack Hample before, and we haven't exactly been kind to him. That's because Hample is a ballhawkâa member of that fraternity of obsessive dudes who hang around ballparks and trample babies whenever Omar Infante flips a baseball into the stands. Nevertheless, Zack reached out to us this mo...

Who Is The Blurry Guy In This Photo, And Why Did Manny Ramirez Steal His Pants? The Long Baseball Life Of "The Machete"
After Roger Clemens's first start in the Atlantic League, the Associated Press sent across the wires a photo of him in the middle of his lumpy follow-through, pitching to an out-of-focus batter at the plate. The Hall of Famer, of course, had dropped in to pitch for the Sugar Land Skeeters; his oppon...
![Yunel Escobar's Eyeblack Reads "You Are A Faggot" In Spanish [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17zfg1rffid3ajpg.jpg)
Yunel Escobar's Eyeblack Reads "You Are A Faggot" In Spanish [UPDATE]
The image above comes from Saturday's Blue Jays game, and it shows shortstop Yunel Escobar with the Spanish phrase "Tu Ere Maricon" written on his eyeblack. That translates into English as, "You Are A Faggot." We've tried to come up with a plausible explanation for this. The best we've got is that ...

The Astros Are Selling Tickets To A Lunch With Joe Niekro, Who Has Been Dead Since 2006
Above, the Astros's official Facebook page, on which they are currently advertising next weekend's Legends Weekend. The deal?...

Maybe The Dodgers' Woes Can Be Linked To The Fact They're Practicing Without A Baseball
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a little bit of a problem scoring runs. They're 26th among all MLB teams, and it's became notable news when they can accomplish something as trite as scoring twice in a single inning. ("A really strange thing," as the Los Angeles Times called it.) So it seems weird tha...

Drunk 9/11 Hippie Girl Speaks Out: "I Wanted To Make A Tribute"
On Tuesday, we brought you the tale of a Phillies superfan that one tipster dubbed "Drunk 9/11 Hippie Girl," a moniker based on (a) her presumed level of intoxication, (b) her unwavering patriotism, and (c) her obvious predilection for wearing headbands and bracelets and expressive body paint. After...

Ozzie Guillen Went On A Truly Fantastic Twitter Rant In Which He Compared Derek Jeter And Alex Cintron
Ozzie Guillen is back on Twitter, after three-and-a-half month sabbatical. Today he shared with the world his thoughts on Derek Jeter, Alex Cintron, football, and bullfighting, all in typical Ozzie fashion:...

What If Baseball's Foul Lines Ran On Forever?
In W.P. Kinsella's novel, The Iowa Baseball Confederacy, the narrator's father muses upon a loophole in the rulebook. There's nothing that specifically states the foul lines end at the fence....

Just How Tight Is The AL Playoff Race?
With three weeks to go in the season, over half of baseball is still in the race. Seventeen teams are within five games of a playoff spot. You might think that's mostly due to the new second wild card, and that's the case in the NL. With all three division leaders comfortable and the Braves safe at...

Cody Ross Went Completely Apoplectic Over A Called Third Strike
I really don't think there's any universe where a baseball player would actually swing and strike an umpire upside the head with a baseball bat. (Delmon Young, by far, has come the closest.) However, when you're reacting in anger to a called third strike and you're still holding a bat in your hands,...

You Can Actually Pinpoint The Second When Dustin Pedroia Learns His Wife Is In Labor
Dustin Pedroia missed the 2009 All-Star Game to be with his wife, who was about to give birth to their first child. Tonight, Bobby Valentine had to abruptly pull Pedroia from the game, telling him mid-inning that Kelli had gone into labor and that he had to vamoose immediately. Alas, shortly thereaf...

David Cone Made A Funny As John Sterling Cowered In Fear From A Foul Ball
David Cone, sitting just one booth over from John Sterling, showed off his sense of humor when a foul ball came screaming toward their respective position during tonight's Yankees-Red Sox game. We've seen the Sterling Shake before, so we know John has a certain agility when it comes to maneuvering w...

The Washington Nationals Are Shutting Down Stephen Strasburg A Little Earlier Than Expected
They are flipping the switch as we speak. Strasburg is 15-6 with a 3.14 ERA, and will finish with those numbers. Strasburg was hit pretty solidly by the Marlins last night (the Nationals lost 9-7 in 10 innings), and today, manager Davey Johnson told the media it would be Strasburg's final start of ...

Bobby Valentine Goes Apeshit On A Boston Sports Radio Host
Bobby Valentine's tenure as Red Sox manager is, in all likelihood, coming to an end, which is sad, because whatever faults you can find with the favorite son of Stamford, Conn., at least he's genuine. Yeah, he might be a genuine nutcase, but such candor and expression should be considered refreshi...

Dusty Baker Addresses Uniform Malfunction With An Assist From His Pitching Coach
There are reasons you, as a manager, want a reliable staff of coaches on the bench: To manage the pitchers, keep an eye on the team when times get tough, and to let you know (with an ever-so-casual hand over the mouth) that your fly has been open for who-knows-how-long. We see what you did there, ...

Braves TV Reporter Gets Busted Taking A Bite Of His Tasty Burger, Doesn't Skip A Beat
On-air talent foibles often reside in the realm of unfortunately pronounced everyday words, but there are other times when they get caught stuffing their face with some ginormous, burger-y goodness while the cameras are rolling. But good for Tom Hart, rolling with it and even using the moment to tea...

Jason Bay Hit A Grand Slam, So Naturally Twitter Brought Out The Knives
Jason Bay has been having a bit of a rough go of it lately...this season...since he was diagnosed with that reverse-aging disease since joining the Mets. Mets fans can be tough crowd to please, too, so when Jason Bay hit a spirit-lifting grand slam during today's game to put the Mets up five on the ...

"Oh Geez": A Streaker Made A Spirited Run Through The Infield At The Angels-Mariners Game Last Night
Angels-M's, Angels up 5-1, top of the sixth, all the drama in the world. Then...this guy. The Orange Country Register (which couldn't resist a win-streak pun for their headline) reports the be-Speedo'd fan "led security personnel on a merry chase for a minute or two."...