dor Page 25 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Francisco (not Frankie) Lindor, Roberto (not Bobby) Clemente, and the unintentional disrespect of Americanizing Latin names
Nicknames are endearing, but they’re not always respectful. ...

The ones that do the least during games make the most money. No wonder baseball is America’s pastime
When I was in elementary school, we used to take annual field trips to the old Tiger Stadium. One year, Detroit was playing the Royals. I remember those blue jerseys. Our school was sitting in the outfield and somebody who wasn’t in our group pulled a beach ball out from nowhere. It eventually bounc...

Francisco Lindor extension shows Steve Cohen can’t go back on his promise to build a contender
In June 2019, right after drafting Tyler Herro and K.Z. Okpala, and before trading for Jimmy Butler, Pat Riley said the following:...

Vlad, Fernando, Francisco and more: The players who’ll make this baseball season interesting
Every year we discuss how baseball’s become boring, how it could grow more enjoyable for younger fans, and how we long for legitimate progress of our national pastime. ...

What to expect in the AL Central
Can anyone dethrone the Twins? What will the White Sox look like with septuagenarian Tony La Russa returning to manage? Will Cleveland hit enough after trading away Francisco Lindor to help their talented rotation, and ultimately bother Cleveland or Chicago? Will K.C.’s moves move the needle? And wh...

No one seems to care that Kevin Durant is a homophobe
I made jokes about it yesterday, and that’s really all the effort I was prepared to give it. And yet, another day rolled by after Michael Rapaport (who I assume just walked off the set of another charity MTV softball game as that’s still what he does, right?) revealed the heinous and disgusting mess...

What to expect in the NL East
Francisco Lindor is in Queens. Mets Owner Steve Cohen’s Twitter feed. The Braves are still young and loaded. And is Bryce Harper still a superstar? ...

Deadspin’s MLB Gambling Guide/Futures Bets to make for the 2021 season
One year ago, as the coronavirus pandemic resided through its infant stages, the baseball world was looking on helplessly and having to wrestle with the thought that there might not be a season....

NL East Preview: Are the Mets good enough to topple the Braves?
You could make a definitive argument that the National League East is the strongest 1-through-5 division in Major League Baseball, so long as no one fucks this up....

With Francisco Lindor and Anthony Rizzo seeking extensions, it's a tale of two owners
Lindor-palooza has apparently begun. News broke last night that the Mets have offered Francisco Lindor a 10-year, $325 million extension to his deal that ends after the season. Lindor is apparently after a 12-year, $385 million deal. As always, both sides are making noise about negotiations being cu...

Empty protests of Qatar World Cup show players see evil, but can't close FIFA's Pandora's Box
It’s been a week for performative protests in soccer. Last Sunday, Glasgow Celtic and Rangers followed Wilfried Zaha’s lead and tore the facade of the kneeling before the opening whistle protest. It was just three days after one of Rangers’ players was racially abused by an opponent, and it was clea...

Tanks a lot! Rockets going from 44-28 to 11-28 is putrid, but not most historic NBA drop-off ever
On Feb. 4, the Rockets went to Memphis and beat the Grizzlies by 12 points for their seventh win in eight games, moving to 11-10 for the season. Certainly, Houston was outperforming expectations after trading away James Harden, but nobody knew how bad things were about to get....

Carlos Carrasco suffers hamstring strain, confirming the Mets are still the Mets
There’s this dude; we’ll call him Felix. Felix was ecstatic when the New York Mets acquired his favorite player, Franciso Lindor, along with Carlos Carrasco, in early January. Felix told his co-workers about how he and his father Julio were exchanging celebratory texts regarding the news. Felix is n...

Let's see if we can make baseball better by exploiting loopholes in MLB’s rulebook
Major League Baseball’s takeover of the minor leagues has paved the way for the 2021 season to be one of experimentation on the farm, with different rules being tested at different levels in the developmental circuits....

On the anniversary of sports shutting down due to COVID-19, what have we learned about sports, the virus, and ourselves?
It’s been a year since NBA player Rudy Gobert smeared his hands on reporters’ microphones at a press conference and then tested positive for the coronavirus. A year of lockdowns and masking and handwashing and flouting mask-wearing protocols....

If Johnny Damon looked like David Ortiz, he very well might be dead
I know you’ll have to get over the shock that someone who spent their whole career trading on the label of “idiot” got arrested for a DUI. It’s a cold world. That’s what Johnny Damon did last month in Florida, as well as resisting arrest without violence. Damon’s blood-alcohol level was .30, some fo...

Les Miles’ creepy ass got fired on International Women’s Day, which is poetic
Late Monday night, the University of Kansas announced it had “mutually agreed to part ways” with head football coach Les Miles. The fact that Miles is out as head coach on International Women’s Day is truly a delightful display of life imitating art....

Let’s take a moment to appreciate American women in sports of the 21st century
I will say it loudly and frequently – celebrate women in sports. They belong in sports. They belong wherever the hell they want to belong. Gender has zero bearing on knowledge about a topic. It has always been a battle for equality, and it should not have to be. And it’s not just athletes. Before an...

Hold on to your Grapefruits, it’s time for pitchers and catchers
Spring training starts this week, with pitchers and catchers day arriving on Wednesday for eight teams, and the rest of the majors getting going on Thursday or Friday. Hopefully, this year’s ramp-up to the season will go more smoothly than 2020, when the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues had to shut dow...

Story, Lindor and Tatis are the best crop of shortstops since A-Rod, Jeter and Nomar
People really like to post rankings, because they generate a lot of conversations and tend to rile people up with strong feelings about players or teams. “You have WHO ranked at No. 1? You have to be kidding. No way.” It’s a good time. In fact, I love posting rankings. I love sharing my opinions and...