closer Page 33 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Special Needs One
David Hirshey writes regularly for Deadspin about soccer....

Ow! My Playoff Chances!
Has a major league player ever before been injured after he was ejected from a game? Come on Elias Sports Bureau, make yourselves useful for once! Milton Bradley may be headed to the DL because of an umpire, he says. It was manager Bud Black who grabbed Bradley and spun him to the ground, preventing...

One Down, Seven To Go ...
Oh, look, we've got our first team out on the dance floor. Quick, someone tell the DJ to keep that 'Kool & The Gang' coming!...

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye ...
If Barry Bonds wants to play another season, it won't be in a San Francisco Giants uniform. Giants owner Peter Magowan handed Bonds the proverbial pink-slip during a 90-minute meeting Thursday night. The Giants informed the press at a news conference last night. (Unfortunately, sans Bonds ... and Ja...

The Mets Are Cursed, And We Know Why
We think we've found the problem, Mets' fans. The reason for your team's sudden collapse is not Willie Randolph's mismanagement of the bullpen, not a stretch of 10 errors in two games, not poor clutch hitting. It all comes down to your very own Steve Bartman. Yes, it's Matt Murphy's fault....

Adeus, Mourinho
David Hirshey writes regularly for Deadspin about soccer....

Here Come The Yankees ... Howdy Do!
Everything is coming up pinstripes lately, and Boston fans are none too happy, of course. Andy Pettitte earned his 200th win and Mariano Rivera escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth as the Yankees beat Orioles 2-1 Wednesday, New York pulling to within 1½ games of first-place Boston. Do I need to m...

The Yankees 2 1/2 Games Back? Inconceivable!
Well, today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day (as if I had to tell you), and fittingly we must report that the Dread Pirate Roberts is now in sight of the first-place Red Sox, and gaining rapidly. The Yankees, who were 14 1/2 games behind Boston in May, are now well within striking distance wi...

Things Change
The 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games and finished 60 1/2 games out of first, a result which could not have been worse if Lucy Van Pelt had played in their outfield. But the current Mets have accomplished something that their '62 brothers never did: They have made 10 errors in their past two games....

Fifteen Hours Of Madness
David Hirshey writes regularly for Deadspin about soccer....

One Sweet Afternoon For Jim Thome
If you ask me, Jim Thome is exactly the kind of guy to whom Willy Wonka would have left his chocolate factory. (I also sometimes imagine Bob Costas as an Oompa Loompa). Think of baseball with no cattle steroids or corked bats or "You dead, dawg," or Human Growth Hormone or Jose Canseco book signings...

New Power Generation
If only he had hit a 'Glam Slam' ... Prince Fielder's NL-leading and franchise record 46th homerun gave the Brewers an edge as Milwaukee beat Cincinnati, 5-3, to gain some ground in NL Central race. Milwaukee sits a game behind the Cubs, who split two against the Cardinals....

Honey, I Shrunk The AL East Lead
Here we go again ... The Yankees honey mustered six runs in the eighth, immediately erasing a five-run deficit, en route to an 8-7 victory over the Sox at Fenway. Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano started the comeback with home runs off Hideki Okajima. Derek Jeter followed with an RBI single against Jo...

Here Comes The Hurt Again
Alternate headline: Everybody Hurts (Sometime). If there's such a thing as momentum in sports — as if games are a rolling wheel of cheese and players are stumbling down a grassy English hill — then the Yankees just lost it on the eve of their most important series of the season. A.J. Burnett pitched...

This Is Getting Ridiculous
Lee to Theriot to Dempster is the new Tinkers to Evers to Chance? With a runner on third and nursing a one-run lead, reliever Ryan Dempster induced a bad-hop grounder to first baseman Derek Lee, who converted it into a game-ending double play. Cubs 3, Astros 2, and coupled with Milwaukee's 7-4 loss ...

Baseball Remembers, Even If The FDNY Lost
We interrupt our ongoing coverage of HGH, cattle steroids, Bud Selig's befuddled countenance, the gyroball, Barry Bonds' expanding head, Roger Clemens' expanding waistline, Craig Biggio's farewell tour, Joba Chamberlain's welcome tour, Boof Bonser, Rally Squirrel, The Big Tilde, Stubby Clapp, Curt S...

Scrape The Brewers Off The Outfield Wall; This Race Is Tied
Call me old fashioned, but I kind of liked it when the teams involved in a tense pennant race were more than three games above .500. It's entirely possible that the Cubs and Brewers could go down to the final day before the NL Central is decided, with both teams sporting a losing record. Wouldn't t...

A Day Of Footie Atonement
David Hirshey writes regularly for Deadspin about soccer....

Shea Stadium Fans Love Them Some Pedro
Who was out at Shea yesterday for the big Pedro Lovefest '07? Faith and Fear in Flushing, for one, which is so giddy over their hero's return that they are declaring September the Mets' Second Spring. Pedro Martinez turned in his second strong outing following his return from the DL, lifting the Met...

Legislating From The Luxury Box
Before the 1978 season, the NFL's owners passed a shit-ton of rules that were designed to scale back the role of physical contact in the game. Under the new rules packages, wide receivers could not be bumped more than five yards from the line of scrimmage. Offensive lineman were allowed to use your...