baseball Page 334 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

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...

Baseball Game Delayed While Repo Men Attempt To Collect Bats, Gloves, For Team's Unpaid Cleaning Bills
The Worcester Tornadoes, of the independent Can-Am league, couldn't throw the first pitch of last night's game at 7 p.m., as scheduled. They were too busy dealing with police constables sent to enforce a court order to confiscate the team's equipment. Enterprise Cleaning Co. has cleaned clubhouses, ...

Important: <em>This</em> Was The Worst Play In The History Of Baseball
I was encouraged to see Dan take such a bold stance in even entering the A.J. Pierzynski Groundout Debacle of 2012 as a contender for Worst Play in the History of Baseball™. However, there really is no debate when it comes to this. It was actually another former San Francisco Giant, Ruben Rivera, ...

Rajai Davis Goes Above The Rogers Centre Outfield Wall For A Home Run-Robbing Catch
There's a very good chance you've already seen this play from yesterday afternoon, but I'm posting it here a) on the off-chance it has slipped your attention and b) for posterity's sake because holy shit, Rajai Davis! It was a play some Blue Jays fans say they've never seen before, an outfielder sca...

Felix Hernandez, The Big-Game Pitcher Who's Never Pitched In A Big Game
Since his first full season in 2006, Felix Hernandez has been one of baseball's best pitchers. He's accumulated 34.5 fWAR, which puts him behind only Justin Verlander, C.C. Sabathia, and Roy Halladay. You can also find Hernandez's name near the top of the list in most every other meaningful statisti...

Is This The Worst Play In The History Of Baseball? AJ Pierzynski Scores From First On A Groundout
In the bottom of the seventh of yesterday's game against Oakland, White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez hit a grounder to the left side of the infield. Third baseman Adam Rosales and shortstop Cliff Pennington both went for the ball. Meanwhile, White Sox catcher and notable asshole AJ Pierzynski took o...

The Baseballs In College Summer Leagues Appear To Be Juiced
A lot of college baseball players don't go home for the summer. Instead, many make their way to tiny dots on the map like Falmouth (Mass.), Celina (Ohio), DeLand (Fla.), or Quakertown (Pa.), to play in one of a handful of summer leagues....

Carlton Banks Makes Appearance At Iowa Minor League Park, Reads "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" From His Phone
Poor Carlton Banks. He went to Princeton, backed by a large family fortune, but that wasn't enough for him. Somewhere along the line he fell on hard times—2008 felled so many titans—and had to resort to doing personal appearances at single-A baseball games in Iowa....
![This Reds Media Guy <em>Really </em> Wanted To Kick Someone's Ass After Today's Loss [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17ve01kr00h86jpg.jpg)
This Reds Media Guy <em>Really </em> Wanted To Kick Someone's Ass After Today's Loss [UPDATE]
Jamie Ramsey is the Reds' assistant director of media relations, and he's very protective of his team, like any good p.r. person. However, Cincinnati has had kind of a rough week and was on its way to losing its fourth straight game. That's when Ramsey started getting into it on Twitter with some Re...

Latest Baseball Movie Is Really Just Another Baseball Movie
Not to be all get-off-my-lawn about it, but sports movies are just not as good as they used to be, right? They kind of suck these days? Moneyball was just OK. The Blind Side had more hokum than heart. The Fighter won Oscars and did decent box office, but it never became a phenomenon. The latest form...

Andrew McCutchen Gets Hit By A 101 M.P.H. Fastball, Shows Us What A Badass He Is
We've previously alerted you to the greatness of Andrew McCutchen, and last night he made us swoon once again. Even though his team lost 3-0 in the opening game of a series against the Cincinnati Reds, McCutchen gave us the highlight of the game when he took an Aroldis Chapman fireball square on th...

Visual Confirmation That Mario Seneca Is The Most Sensitive Umpire In Baseball History
Last night, we told you about minor league umpire Mario Seneca, who ejected the music guy/college intern working for the high-A Daytona Cubs for playing "Three Blind Mice" after a questionable call. Today, video of the incident has surfaced (thanks to the Daytona Cubs themselves) and it confirms o...

Gore Vidal's First Love: The Baseball Star Turned War Hero
As of Wednesday morning, administrators at Rock Creek Cemetery in D.C. hadn't heard yet whether Gore Vidal would actually be filling the burial plot he reserved there for himself some years ago. But Vidal, who died yesterday in Los Angeles at 86, has a couple reasons to get shipped back to his boyho...

Gregor Blanco's Diving Catches Are Becoming Even More Impressive
This is getting to be old hat for San Francisco Giants fans. First, Blanco became a folk hero in SF for saving Matt Cain's perfecto with an incredible late-game diving catch. Blanco put forth a more impressive version of that feat Wednesday night, with less inherent drama but way more bodily extens...

Minor League Umpire Ejects Ballpark Music Guy For Playing "Three Blind Mice"
If there's one thing umpires love more than ejecting players, it's ejecting non-players. That goes for managers but also fans, mascots, and other ballpark patrons. Tommy Lasorda once complained to umpire Bob Davidson that Youppi!, the Montreal Expos mascot, was jumping up and down on his dugout. (Da...