baseball Page 474 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Remembering Kirby Puckett
As you've surely heard by now, Twins Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett died last night at the age of 45. Puckett was a player who was impossible to dislike; he played baseball the way we all imagine we would, if we had the chance. His post-retirement career was smeared by Frank Deford's famous Sports Il...

Deadspin Field Trip: Batting Against Rocker
Earlier today, former New York City subway spokesperson John Rocker caused a minor fuss by walking off the set of ESPN's "Cold Pizza" after being informed he would be asked about his famous comments about "queers with AIDS" and not liking foreigners....

The Ladies Love The Baseball
We always find it kind of embarrassing when major sports leagues make conscious efforts to try to cater to the female audience. From our experience, a woman is either a sports fan, or she isn't — you know, like the rest of the human population. League executives tend to think of female sports fans t...

Four Tiny Tidbits On: The Braves
We re less than a month from Opening Day, so it s time to start previewing the season. Inspired by an old feature on The Black Table, we re going team-by-team and distributing Four Things You Don t Know about them. If you have suggested oddities on your team, send them to us at [email protected]. ...

John Rocker And Cold Pizza: Two Bad Tastes That Taste Horrible Together
Former Atlanta Braves yokel John Rocker has been in New York City all day today, promoting a new show he has on the Spike Network. ("Look, he's by the 7 Train! Whoa!")...

You Can Own Jim Thome's Home
One of our favorite games to play around here is showing you houses recently traded athletes put for sale on the open market. We showed you Terrell Owens' $4.3 million pad and Manny Ramirez' $6.9 million penthouse....

Soon, Bud Selig Will Rule the World! Bwah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
We've never imagined the Yankees' front office as rebel types, but there's a first time for everything, we suppose. On Saturday, some brave soul in the Legends Field ticket office posted a sign in the main concourse of their spring training complex in Tampa, apologizing to fans for the absence of ...

If You've Been Missing the WBC...
A loyal reader (to whom I am quite grateful) sent in an excellent recap of the Day 1 games from the World Baseball Classic. If you're anything like me, you're one of the people who claimed to be excited about the World Baseball Classic, but then didn't actually make any real effort to watch it. H...

Steinbrenner Has Officially Lost It
At first we thought it was a joke, but no, they're serious — batting practice is now being televised. On April 3, the YES Network trots out Batting Practice Today, a show that features, well, New York Yankees batting practice. To begin one half hour before the start of their regular pre-game show (h...

Four Tiny Tidbits On: The Angels
We re just more than a month from Opening Day, so it s time to start previewing the season. Inspired by an old feature on The Black Table, we re going team-by-team and distributing Four Things You Don t Know about them. If you have suggested oddities on your team, send them to us at tips@deadspin....

Pity The Poor Derek Lowe
A couple of days ago, the Los Angeles Times' Bill Plaschke wrote a story about the emotional difficulties of Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe, who last year famously left his wife for Fox Sports broadcaster Carolyn Hughes. (You thought we were gonna say "Fox Sports broadcaster Tom Arnold." Admit it.)...

In Defense Of The World Baseball Classic
Tonight, the World Baseball Classic finally kicks off with Korea taking on Chinese Taipei in the Tokyo Dome. First pitch is at 9:30 ET, but unless you have ESPN Deportes, you'll have to wait until 1:30 a.m. to watch a tape-delay on ESPN2. (Right afterwards, Japan plays China on ESPN2 live, if you ...

Four Tiny Tidbits On: The Reds
We re just more than a month from Opening Day, so it s time to start previewing the season. Inspired by an old feature on The Black Table, we re going team-by-team and distributing Four Things You Don t Know about them. We re not sure how this is gonna work, but if you have suggested oddities on y...

A Few Yards Of Felt, A Lifetime Of Nightmares
Hey kids, want this fella at your next birthday party or family get-together? It's Screech, the loveable mascot for the Washington Nationals. Screech won't harm you! Come back — fleeing headlong through heavy traffic like that is dangerous! Hey, it's Screech ... don't cry! ......

Bonds' Comedic Timing As Pitch Perfect As Ever
It's one thing for Barry Bonds to to dress up as Paula Abdul as a prank in spring training. (Or, more accurately, as a Media Event for his reality show.)...

Four Tiny Tidbits On: The Blue Jays
We're just more than a month from Opening Day, so it's time to start previewing the season. Inspired by an old feature on The Black Table, we're going team-by-team and distributing Four Things You Don't Know about them. We're not sure how this is gonna work, but if you have suggested oddities on y...

What's Going On With Zack Greinke?
For those of you who don't have your Google News Alerts set to "Kansas City Royals," you might not being paying close attention to a truly bizarre story involving Zack Greinke. The one-time Royals phenom, once called "the future of pitching" by Baseball Prospectus, has left the team for an unspeci...

Barry Bonds Is Ready For His Closeup, ESPN
Call us cynical, but we've been mulling over this whole Barry Bonds-in-drag thing that occurred at the Giants spring training practice field on Tuesday. Upon further review, we smell a very large and stinky rat. This, you see, was a very un-Barry-like thing to do. Whatever Barry is about, he is no...

Roger Even Throws At Unborn Sons
As an update on the Roger Clemens item from earlier, an eagle-eyed reader points out that this is hardly the first time Roger has not hesitated to give the high hard one (so to speak) to a family member....

"Uh, Guys? GUYS! Oh Noooooo!"
Ah, Spring Training. The green grass. The sense of renewal. The fields where grown men play a boy's game. The sudden realization that, after years of abuse, it has finally happened: Your balls are gone....