baseball Page 335 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

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...

Throwing A Baseball At 90 Percent Speed Of Light Would Kill Thousands
The artistically inclined folks over at XKCD (authors of one of my favorite web comics ever) devoted one of their What If? segments today to the logically insane yet weirdly interesting scenario of what would happen if someone pitched a baseball at 90 percent the speed of light. Using actual science...

A Dispatch From "Williamsburg Night" At The Brooklyn Cyclones Game
Last week, we treated you to a lovely photo essay from the Brooklyn Cyclones' "Williamsburg Night."...

Royals Prospect Wil Myers Demolished An ESPN Camera During Last Night's Futures Game
The MLB Futures Game is one of baseball's hidden treasures; while officially part of the All-Star Break festivities, it's held the day before the break actually starts, and thus tends to be ignored by the baseball public. That's a shame, as it's a rare time ESPN puts analyst Keith Law—one of the ...

Get Ready For A Drug-Induced Minor League Home Run Derby
If you have five minutes to kill, watch this thing. It's a Home Run Derby, except I don't think you are supposed to hit home runs. Instead they are putting some kind of insane obstacle course or, like, a Dave and Buster's restaurant on the field....

Baseball Writers Of America: "It's Hot"
A little advice to aspring sports writers: if it's hot at the baseball game you're covering, mention it in the lead. No matter what—even if the heat affected both teams equally, or not at all—don't let three paragraphs go by without pointing out how hot it was. You were there. It was hot. The people...

Minor League Mascot Placed On DL With Third-Degree Costume Burns
Uncle Slam, mascot for the Class A Potomac Nationals, was placed on the 60-day disabled list and will miss the remainder of the season. The release, from the baby Nats:...