baseball Page 333 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
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...
Red Sox Farmhand Flips Over Wall To Wall To Make Grand Slam-Denying Catch
Jason Repko has spent the bulk of his 13-year career in professional baseball in the minor leagues, and he's logged much of that time in Triple-A, most of it with the Dodgers organization. He played in more than 50 games for the Twins in both 2010 and 2011 before signing a free-agent deal with the R...
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 ...
Ken Rosenthal And The Dugout Of Mysteries
What in Dumbledore's name is Ken Rosenthal talking about? I follow Ken on Twitter. He's useful when news is happening and seems like a nice guy (when he's not threatening interns). I have probably never clicked on a link to a story of his in my time following him, though. Until this morning for some...
"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."...
Of Course There Was An Awesome Rainbow On Vin Scully's Bobblehead Night
Some pictures don't require any extra explanation. This incredible shot of legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully accepting his own bobblehead doll, as he marvels at a blazing rainbow in the skies beyond right field, is one of them. Another strong nominee for sports photo of the year, I'd say....
Bryce Harper Sprints Around The Bases For This Season's Fastest Home Run Trot
Bryce Harper has a way of making highlights of normal everyday things, like what's in the trunk of his car or how he answers a reporter's inane question. Then there's tonight, when Harper made everyone stop and take notice of what should've been a plain old home run trot, but Harper instead ran aro...
Sugar Land Skeeters Ace Roger Clemens Plans His Next Start
Frosted-tipped old pitcher Roger Clemens fared pretty well in his Sugar Land Skeeters debut last Saturday, throwing 3.1 innings of shutout ball and striking out two before exiting, and speculation remains that the Astros are hoping to get the 50-year-old in a game or two before their sorry, miserabl...
Ask Bill "Spaceman" Lee About Anything, Especially If It Involves Baseball And Drug Use
On Saturday, we phoned former MLB pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee at his home in the Bay Area and asked him to participate in a live chat with Deadspin readers. It was just two days after the Spaceman, at age 65, had pitched a complete game for the independent San Rafael Pacifics. The Spaceman immediat...
Minor Leaguer Plays All Nine Positions In Nine-Inning Game
After he played every position in the field in a single game over the weekend, you could say Indians farmhand Justin Toole is a nine-toole player, but only if you want to get punched in the kidney....
Man Steals Ball From Small Child, Quickly Gives It Back
This afternoon's game in Cleveland between the Indians and Yankees presented us with a very important teachable moment—one Michael Kay evidently chose to ignore....
Bill "Spaceman" Lee, Age 65, Threw A Complete Game Last Night
The high—and I do mean high—priest of baseball eccentrics hasn't pitched in the majors since 1982, but he's still out there, you know, man, and he's still pitching, 65 years young. Last night, the Spaceman took the mound for the San Rafael (Calif.) Pacifics of the independent North American League. ...
"They Represented Canada Well": Sad Things Said Yesterday By Managers Of Eliminated Little League Teams
The Little League World Series is going on, you realized over the weekend, as you scrolled through your digital cable guide. That means ESPN is lying about fastball velocities and kids' dreams are getting crushed. They will never become Chris Drury or Todd fucking Frazier. They'll just sit around, t...
Dear ESPN: A 77 MPH Little League Fastball Is Not Equivalent To A 100 MPH Major-League Fastball
An email from reader Tommy Leonardi:...
Roger Clemens Is Going To Play Professional Baseball Again
Roger Clemens hasn't pitched since 2007. Probably because he's old and fat and toxic. But just two months removed from a pointless perjury trial, Clemens thinks he still has enough in the tank to take the mound—and the Sugar Land Skeeters think he's enough of a draw to offer a contract....
Phillies Prospect Makes Home-Run Robbing Catch
That's Derrick Mitchell of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs reaching above the wall to take away a home run from Toledo Mud Hens catcher Brad Davis in the eighth inning last night. The Express-Times of Easton (Pa.) said it was one of two outstanding catches Mitchell made during the game. We're...
The Mariners' Double-A Team, Including Felix Hernandez's Brother, Went Nutso When Felix Finished His Perfect Game
Batting practice for the Jackson (Tenn.) Generals ground to a halt yesterday afternoon, as Felix Hernandez closed in on his first career perfecto. The end of the game was played on the scoreboard, and the Mariners' AA affiliate gathered in left field to watch the final few pitches. When Sean Rodri...