baseball Page 335 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Of Course Bryce Harper Wore A "Sun's Out, Guns Out" Tank Top When He Met George Thorogood
The above photo comes from the Washington Nationals PR department, and it features Bryce Harper and his oozing Natitude in the bro-est tank top imaginable and what is either a red bandana or the biggest headband I've ever seen....

Pirates Prospect Starling Marte Made History With His First MLB Swing
On the first swing of his major league career, Pittsburgh's Starling Marte homered tonight to deep left-center field in Houston. He became the first Pirate in 51 years to homer in his first at-bat, as well as the 28th player in MLB history to homer on his first pitch. That ranks just behind perfect ...

Umpire Cancels Little League Game When Coach Won't Stop Arguing
This video, unfortunately, only shows the last few seconds of a little league coach's tirade against the ump. According to witnesses, it went on for a lot longer than this, and included "belittling [his own team] and swearing while describing the way they played." That's an awful lot of buttmad fo...

Kirk Gibson Is <em>Really</em> Excited To Be Getting His Own Bobblehead
When is a fist pump more than just a fist pump? When it looks like this....

Misspelled "Fourty Niners" Cap Marked Down To Just $15
I mean, you'd be a fool not to take advantage of this great deal at Lids. Look at that hat! It's normally $24.99, but because of a barely noticeable little thing like the team's name being spelled wrong, you can get it for more than fourty percent off. If you don't take advantage of a deal like this...

Shaq Thompson Returns To Football After The Worst Minor League Career Imaginable
There is something unique about hitting a baseball: the assumption of failure. A batter can fail at his job two out of three times, and do it for 15 years, and he'll make the Hall of Fame. Baseball is a sport designed for only occasional success, even for its most skilled practitioners....

Cubs Pay Tribute To Ron Santo On Day He Is Inducted Into Hall Of Fame
To honor the late Ron Santo on the day of his induction into the Hall of Fame, the Cubs took the field with the same heel click Santo became known for following a walk-off win in in the summer of 1969....

Minor Independent League Baseball Is Just The Weirdest
The New Jersey Jackals hosted the Gary South Shore Railcats for a double header yesterday that was suspended due to fireworks. Every Saturday is fireworks night at the Railcats ballpark and it was put into serious jeopardy because of the doubleheader and a local noise ordinance. Rather than run the...

Mike Schur Is "Ravenously Hungry" For More Replay In Baseball
According to Bud Selig, "the appetite for more replay [in baseball] is very low." Because what would baseball be if it were not for that certain "human element?" However, in this week's excerpt from Slate's podcast Hang Up and Listen, Mike "Ken Tremendous" Schur (last seen around Deadspin in Septe...

Shaq Thompson Update: Shaq Has An At-Bat Where He Doesn't Strike Out!
Red Sox prospect and UW football recruit Shaq Thompson is putting together one of the all-time great stat sheets. Coming into today, Thompson was 0-for-37, with 36 strikeouts in his short career. (He'll start at safety for the Huskies in the fall.) We're committed to providing you the latest Shaq Th...

Noted Pirates Fan Captain Jack Sparrow Is At Today's Twins-Orioles Game
Notorious international criminal Captain Jack Sparrow is in, of all places, Minneapolis today, and while his favorite team may be Pittsburgh's Bucs it appears he has a soft spot for American League ball as well—proving that even terrorism, grand theft, and murder need a day off. It leads us to ask ...

Kris And Anna Benson To Divorce After 13 Irritating Years
If a boring overpaid retired major leaguer and a crazy former stripper can't make it, what chance do the rest of us have? Kris Benson and Anna Benson, overhyped sports power couple of all overhyped sports power couples, have decided that this is it: after 13 years of marriage, it's divorce time....

Shaq Thompson Update: Strikes Out Five Times, Is Now 0-For-37 With 36 Ks
We told you yesterday about Shaq Thompson, the UW football recruit who is giving baseball a go in the Red Sox system. His career stats, since being drafted by Boston in the 18th round, are incredible: Not a single hit, and all but one of his outs have been strikeouts. (To be totally fair, he has sev...

Disenfranchise Mode: The Exhausting, Infuriating, Totally Addictive Baseball Simulation Game That Imitates Life Too Well
The summer after my freshman year of college, I told somebody's mother that I wouldn't be attending her son's funeral. I remember the moment, if not the conversation, with great clarity. I was working in my dad's shop, filling orders for spare bike rack parts, when my phone rang. My hands were stick...

A Red Sox Prospect Is Putting Together The Most Amazing Season Ever
This afternoon, the Gulf Coast League Red Sox took on the GCL Rays. The Sox' starting center fielder, Shaq Green-Thompson, had a rough day, going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. Yesterday, Green-Thompson pinch hit, and struck out in his only appearance. Back on July 13, Green Thompson went 0-for-2 wit...

Minor League Mascot Eats It In ATV Crash
Rip Tide, blue fursuited embodiment of the Triple A Norfolk Tides, was out for his usual four-wheeler cruise around the stadium when he took the right field turn a little too sharp. Rip Tide was unharmed but embarrassed (especially when he couldn't get his ATV running again), and I think The Oriol...

New Statistics Unveiled, Oddibe McDowell Likely a Hall Of Famer
The fine folks at baseball-reference have this to offer, just below "transactions" and "salaries" on Oddibe McDowell's player page. Don't get too excited though, as with any new stat, only time will tell if the information is complete and accurate, so be sure to read the fine print....

Minor League Team To Hold "Atheist Night"
We've got a whole tagpage of oddball promotions by the independent St. Paul Saints, but this is probably the first one that runs the risk of excommunication. It's not called Atheist Night—it's actually called "A Night of Unbelievable Fun"—but when the Amarillo Sox come to town next month, the home t...

Baseball Player Who Said He'd Never Live In Racist South Carolina Assigned To South Carolina Team
Outfielder Robert Refsnyder, who was born in South Korea, took some heckling from South Carolina fans at the College World Series last month when his Arizona Wildcats beat the Gamecocks. Refsnyder ran to Twitter and declared he "will never live in South Carolina because they can't accept Asians play...
![The World's Craziest Home Run Derby Was A Rousing Success [UPDATE]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/17sfwc5jdgdesjpg.jpg)
The World's Craziest Home Run Derby Was A Rousing Success [UPDATE]
We gave you fair warning about the world's weirdest Home Run Derby a few days ago, the one with the on-field party, live entertainment, and trampoline in left field, among other attractions. Well, lest you think that was all just bluster and hype, here's a photo of Ryan Petzar of 97.3 ESPN Radio try...