el Page 2389 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Last Chance For Midwest Pants Party Tickets
A while back, we let you know about The Deadspin Midwest Pants Party, coming this May to U.S. Cellular Field. Well, this is the last week to get tickets, so we figured we'd remind you....

NBA Roundup: LA Confidential
Notes on Sunday's games in the National Basektball Association ......

I Like Oscar de la Hoya's Chances, If He Doesn't Explode Before May 5th
I'm not an expert on boxing training techniques, so I don't know if this is a common practice or not ... it's hard for me to imagine, though, Mike Tyson training for a fight by getting a full body nude "greasedown massage" from a fellow named Freddy Roach, and then engaging in non-ejaculatory sex....

Mike Hargrove Makes The Weather Work For The Mariners
Nothing officially happened in Cleveland yesterday. If you check the MLB record books, you'll see that Paul Byrd did not have a no hitter going through nearly five innings, he was not one pitch away from completing the abbreviated game, and Mariners manager Mike Hargrove did not manipulate the umpir...

It's Possible Garret Anderson Might Be Missing The Point A Bit
Several prominent black baseball players — not that many to choose from anymore — have taken the opportunity to honor Jackie Robinson by wearing No. 42 on April 15, the 60th anniversary of Jackie's first day in the bigs. (It was initially Ken Griffey Jr.'s idea, though, sadly, coming up with it caus...

F-Rod Is A Big Fan Of The Bottom Of His Cap
In his new book The Cheater's Guide To Baseball, Derek Zumsteg looks at all the different ways baseball players and managers have cheated (or tried to cheat) throughout the years. It's a highly entertaining book; our favorite part is "Tips For Doctoring Bats For Amateur Players."...

If Only This Policy Applied To Julian Tavarez
Note to Cincinnati Little Leaguers: You're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you. As we mentioned briefly last week, a new rule there for the upcoming season forbids any type of "negative chatter" during youth baseball games. To illustrate, we've made this chart....

Love Your Local Beer Vendor
We'd never heard of this before, but its existence makes us extremely happy: It's the Beer Vendor Association, consisting (apparently) of only Wrigley Field pourers. They even have their own trading cards....

This Can't Turn Out Well For Anyone
OK, this is no laughing matter, but Wolverine Nation can't be happy that when this 35-year-old man went out to meet a "kid" he met on the Internet, he decided to wear his lucky Michigan cap. Next to "First down, Troy Smith," the next phrase a Michigan fan does not want to hear is "Hi, I'm Chris Hans...

Joel Zumaya Is Just Like The Undertaker
Sometimes we forget that the men we watch and obsess over on the baseball diamond are mostly children themselves, not just in age, but in a state of perpetual arrested development. They are gleeful imps, lucky to be allowed to frolic for a living....

The Crack Of The Bat, The Middle Finger Of Pat Burrell
With the start of the 2007/2008 MLB season just hours away now, everyone's thoughts turn to how beautiful the game can be ... the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the green grass, the fathers and sons in the stands with their mitts, and the asshole in the Phillies dugout gesturing to opposin...

Michael Phelps Will Have Eight Gold Medals Over Ian Crocker's Dead Body
Michael Phelps wanted to swim eight events at the World Swimming Championships, and he wanted to win 8 gold medals. The biggest obstacle in his way was fellow American Ian Crocker, the worst record holder in the 100m butterfly, an event in which Crocker would be swimming against Phelps....

If The Indians Win, Do Native Americans Get Civil Rights?
In about a half an hour, Major League Baseball is going through with something they're calling "The Civil Rights Game," which was a really really nice idea ... until Major League Baseball screwed it up about as badly as anything can be screwed up....

Your NL West "Preview"
Whew, last one. We'd like to point out a couple of the pictures above. First, we enjoyed choosing a picture of Tony Clark for the D-Backs one, considering he's the opposite of a Diamondback this year. Second: Steve Finley is on the Rockies? Wow!...

Baseball Season Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers
You might remember, from back at the beginning of the NFL season, when we previewed each team by having a writer we liked write about their favorite team....

Your NL East "Preview"
We should probably warn you: The Phillies are one of those teams we pick to win the National League East a lot. If you haven't noticed, they haven't won the NL East in a long, long time. But we're gonna try again anyway....

NBA Roundup: Yep, Bulls Are In The Playoffs
Notes on Thursday's games in the National Basketball Association ......

Your AL West "Preview"
All right, last one of the day until tomorrow ... we think this is actually the easiest division to pick, which is why, obviously, we're going to have it entirely wrong....

Your AL Central "Preview"
Everyone says it's the toughest division in baseball, but we think it's just the mostly hotly contested: You could pretty much interchange any of those top four teams and not sounds like a fool. But those Royals ......

NBA Roundup: The Number 23
Notes on Tuesday's games in the National Basketball Association ......