baseball Page 34 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

We should be trying to find ways to extend, not shorten, college football games
Since when did we start caring so much about the length of sporting events? MLB’s rush to shorten games seems like a direct response to society’s inability to be bored for any length of time. My favorite thing to do on the train in the morning is tally the people who aren’t looking at their phones a...

If expanding MLB playoffs was about keeping people interested, why does no one care?
The concepts of “parity” and “fairness” in sports were exposed as fig leaves long ago. The idea that fans would care more, i.e. buy more tickets and watch more games on TV, if more teams had a chance at playoff berths and championships was never as important to owners. What was important was not bei...

When was the last time Albert Pujols was this home run happy?
Last night, Albert Pujols lit baseball Twitter on fire, smacking his 699th and 700th career home runs in the same game, the same feat he accomplished for his 499th and 500th home runs. It’s been an incredible run for Pujols. One that not a lot of people saw coming, unless you’re Greg Amsinger....

It’s OK to enjoy Albert Pujols’ 700th home run
I never know how to write about the teams or players I like. I could pen 2,500 words on Albert Pujols in 20 minutes, literally breaking Mavis Beacon records along the way, and none of it would be coherent or old-time-y poetic like in the days when you had to read sports writers to see a swing. ...

If Aaron Judge were an Angel…
They still wouldn’t make the playoffs. Thanks, I’ll be here all week. Don’t forget to tip your waiter. ...

Best non-MVP seasons in MLB history
The MVP Award is the pinnacle of baseball. Anybody who wins that award has cemented themselves in the annals of baseball history, and while one win doesn’t guarantee enshrinement in Cooperstown, it’s still one of the highest honors a baseball player can ever receive. The only bad thing about the awa...

The White Sox’s year finally dying the death it deserves
It’s not that you have to go back all that far for a season by an MLB team that was as disappointing, confounding, and overall just as big of a waste of time as the 2022 Chicago White Sox. It was just last year that the San Diego Padres acquired every player that wasn’t nailed down, and then finishe...

How big of a dumbass do you have to be to strike out with Congress while rich?
For some reason, Greg Norman marched up to Capitol Hill to lobby for the Saudi Golf Tour to get Congress to do… something. And man did he strike out!...

Could Ohtani fans inadvertently hand Judge the American League MVP award?
The American League MVP race is a two-horse race between the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani. Depending on who you ask, the award could go to either person. However, the adamancy of Ohtani fans is far greater than that of the fans backing Judge....

This is Aaron Judge’s year, but if Yankees win a title, Giancarlo Stanton will be the reason
Make no mistake about it, this season belongs to Aaron Judge and his historic run through MLB America....

60 is such a round number
It was a number we didn’t even think about when we were kids. Only if you were born in a specific time, where you were an impressionable youth between 1998-2003, would 60 seem reasonable, or even reachable, or something to be expected to happen semi-regularly. It was never even talked about....

Are we done being salty about the Astros yet?
Last night, the Astros clinched their fifth AL West title out of the last six. And that one they missed was the 2020 season, which basically doesn’t count. So for all intents and purposes, this is their fifth straight division title. Currently, that’s the longest streak in the majors, as the Dodgers...

Geez, what happened to Juan Soto?
All of sunny San Diego rejoiced on Aug. 2 when the Washington Nationals sent their 23-year-old superstar Juan Soto to the Padres. A month and a half later, Padres fans are showing their receipts to the Nats, asking for take-backsies. ...

Pujols hits No. 698, and the lies Cardinals fans tell themselves
No, the lie I’m referring to is not the one Max Kellerman spouted to win a fake debate on ESPN. I’m talking about the one St. Louis supporters wholeheartedly believe: If Pujols doesn’t leave the shadow of the Arch, the second half of his career plays out better. ...

Yordan Alvarez would like you to know that play time is over
There are less than 20 games left for each MLB team, and a lot of fan bases have already switched to football mode. When you mix that with these home runs races — Aaron Judge mashing balls toward the Yankees franchise record, and Albert Pujols trying to reach career home run No. 700 — it’s easy to f...

der Fußballbundesliga?
The partnership between the NFL and the German Bundesliga, the top tier of the country’s professional soccer scene, is an interesting pair on its own. They both dominate their domestic markets. Dirk Nowitzki and Leon Draisaitl have come from Deutschland to dominate in North America. Steve Cherundolo...

Baseball’s rules changes are more about looks than effect
I don’t envy the task that MLB has. I also don’t trust that anyone in charge of it has any sense of the challenge, but that’s another topic for another time. Baseball’s charm will always be rooted in its history and simply the amount of time it has been part of American culture. While pro football m...

Many want Shohei Ohtani to be the best player ever, but this season belongs to Aaron Judge
The Shohei Ohtani love has officially gone off the rails....

At least we know Gabe Kapler isn't to blame for the Giants' underwhelming season
The San Francisco Giants have been one of the biggest disappointments of 2022. That was expected. We couldn’t expect Brandon Crawford to have another career year at 35 years old. Brandon Belt, Darin Ruf (no longer with the team), and Mike Yastrzemski have all had down seasons. Kevin Gausman is gone,...
