chicago Page 36 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Andrelton Simmons Lucked Into A Little League Homer Because He Was Playing The White Sox
Andrelton Simmons, the best defensive shortstop in the Majors since he made his debut in 2012, has had a career year at the plate this season, with a slashline of .305/.362/.427 that is on pace to shatter his previous career-highs. On Thursday against the White Sox, he bumped up his slugging percent...

Ignore The Haters, Wearing A Bucket On Your Head At A Baseball Game Can Save Your Life
Picture yourself at a mid-summer baseball game. You’ve had a few cold ones. You’ve polished off the bucket of 24 slimy buffalo wings that you spent $84 on. You’re honestly starting to get a little bored. I’m gonna put this damn bucket on my head, you think. That will spice things up....

Sounds Like Everyone Should Lay Off That Cubs Fan Who "Stole" A Baseball From A Kid
Sunday outrage gives way to Monday fact-checking. If you were one of the people who (reasonably) got very angry at a short video clip appearing to show an adult Cubs fan intercepting a ball meant for a child, you can stand down. The man, it now appears, is a good guy who does not deserve this at all...

Joe Maddon Shamelessly Reams Out Umpire Without Getting Tossed
There’s no lip reading required to figure out why Cubs manager Joe Maddon was pissed off in Sunday’s 7-4 win over the Padres. Home plate umpire Ryan Blakney’s strike zone was indecipherable all day—both teams complained about it—so in the eighth inning, Maddon had had enough....

Jabari Parker Signs Two-Year Deal With The Bulls, Gets The Fresh Start He Deserves
Confident proclamations from Giannis Antetokounmpo about Jabari Parker’s future in Milwaukee turn out to have been premature: Saturday the Milwaukee Bucks rescinded the qualifying offer that gave them matching rights for any restricted free agency offer for Parker, paving the way for Parker to sign ...

Javy Baez Finally Did Something Imperfectly
Cubs infielder Javy Baez is so appealing as a baseball player because he always seems to know exactly how to change the game in the most creative, unexpected ways. But in tonight’s game against the Giants, Baez’s seemingly unlimited supply of wits and skill failed him, and he shockingly allowed an o...

Bulls Save Kings From Themselves, Match $78 Million Restricted Free Agency Offer For Zach LaVine
The Bulls and Kings, two teams roughly as far from NBA relevance as possible, spent Friday in a brief tug-of-war over the right to pay huge sums of money for the services of Zach LaVine, a butt player with zero track record of contributing to anything even approaching functional professional basketb...

Javy Baez Stole Home With Another Dope Slide
Nobody makes the little things in baseball more exciting than Cubs infielder Javy Baez, and he did it again today against the Tigers. A steal of home is, of course, alright pretty thrilling. But watch the subtle yet significant way Baez contorts his body for the swim-move slide to avoid a seemingly ...

Home Run Ball Of Pure Evil Comes Back To Ambush Albert Almora's Skull
Some hard-hit baseballs aren’t content just to do their damage on the scoreboard. Some, like Max Muncy’s home run ball from Wednesday’s Cubs-Dodgers game, seem to get their kicks from inflicting as much humiliation on fielders as possible. These sociopathic balls are on a path of destruction, and no...

Javy Baez Deployed His Bionic Arm For This Double Play<em></em>
It might seem like the marketplace is saturated with Javy Baez highlights, and adding another to your memory might seem exhausting. But I urge you to take the time to appreciate the Cubs’ infield stud’s speed, alertness, and arm strength on this double play, which comes with a rare added wrinkle of ...

Only Javy Báez Could Have Made This Wild Solo Double Play
Cubs second baseman and shortstop Javier Báez is a known defensive wizard who makes all sorts of cool-looking plays all the dang time, but he really showed off his skills this afternoon against the Dodgers. Kikè Hernández smacked a double to lead off the eighth inning, but got just far enough out of...

Cubs Reliever Brandon Morrow Says He Hurt Himself While Taking Off His Pants
The Cubs didn’t use closer Brandon Morrow in either of their games Tuesday against the Dodgers, instead relying on a bevy of other relievers. He would’ve been really helpful in the first game, which the Cubs lost 4-3 after Justin Wilson blew a 3-2 lead in the ninth. According to the team, the reason...

Lorenzo Cain Saves His Teammate, Breaks The Cubs' Rundown
Early on in the Brewers’ 4-0 win over the Cubs Tuesday, Christian Yelich was on second base and Lorenzo Cain hit a sharp grounder up the middle. Javier Baez was there for a nice backhand play, but Yelich had already taken off for third, maybe figuring the ball was getting through. That required a ru...

Jason Heyward, Of All People, Finally Got To Josh Hader
Listen, it is illegal to exhibit any sort of excitement about a potential bounce-back from Jason Heyward until he actually finishes a full season with an OPS over .800. I’m sorry, but that’s just the law, and it has been the law ever since he convinced everyone that 2017 was going to be his big come...

The Phillies And Their Dumb Shift Just Handed Third Base To Kris Bryant
The Cubs beat the Phillies 7-5 in a thriller on Wednesday night that culminated in a walk-off grand slam dinger from Jason Heyward. This came right after the Phillies had taken a 5-3 lead in the top half of that inning on a two-run smash from Dylan Cozens. The win-probability graph alone is exciting...

Javy Baez Ruins Sweatshirt, Also Gets An Out
In the ninth inning of an otherwise pretty blah Cubs loss, Chicago shortstop Javier Baez made a daredevil catch along the Steve Bartman wall at Wrigley Field. The out came at the cost of a Cubs fan’s beer and his previously clean sweatshirt, but it was a worthy sacrifice for an acrobatic play....

Danny Farquhar Gives First Interview Since Brain Hemorrhage
Here’s some nice news: White Sox reliever Danny Farquhar, who suffered a brain hemorrhage in the dugout during an April game, gave his first interview since returning home from the hospital. He sat down with Good Morning America on Friday to talk about his recovery for the first time, and while it’s...

Joe Musgrove Reheats The Pirates-Cubs Beef, But Only A Little Bit So It's Still Cold In The Center
The Pirates made it seem like they had moved past Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo’s “illegal but not dirty” slide into catcher Elias Diaz in Monday’s game, but in the third inning last night Joe Musgrove put the beef in the microwave for about 30 seconds. The Pittsburgh pitcher slid hard into Chica...

MLB's Ruling On Anthony Rizzo's Slide Has Some More Cubs-Pirates Beef Simmering
In the eighth inning of Monday’s Cubs-Pirates game, Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo pulled off a successful takeout slide on Pirates catcher Elias Diaz. Though Rizzo was out at home, two runs scored on the play as the slide forced Diaz to throw the ball into the outfield. The catcher stayed on the ...

Is There Nothing That Pablo Sandoval Cannot Do?
Pablo Sandoval made his first career start at second base Sunday night, against the Chicago Cubs. Evan Longoria has supplanted him at third, but Giants manager Bruce Bochy apparently wanted Sandoval’s bat in the lineup with Buster Posey hurt, and the opening was at second base, where regular starter...