maj Page 63 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Why I Quit The Major Leagues
During my first year in the major leagues, I was twice sent back down to the minors. This is common for rookies, especially if their competition for a roster spot is doing well—and I was playing behind Darwin Barney, who was chasing the record for the most consecutive games at second base without an...
Bud Selig, The Commissioner Who Didn't Matter
There is a popular line of thinking among statistically minded baseball fans that declares the manager more or less irrelevant. In the course of 162 games, over tens of thousands of pitches, the impact of his strategic decision making is statistically negligible compared to the inherent quality of h...
Major Wright–But <em>Not</em> Terrance Williams–Sued For African Diamonds Loan
So, which is the better story here? TMZ's report that Bears safety Major Wright's diamond trading company is being sued for not repaying a loan that carries 100 percent interest? Or that TMZ's initial report claimed Cowboys receiver Terrance Williams was in on it too, but quickly removed him after h...
Can I Flip It?
Allen Barra once gave me a set of Major League Writers trading cards. ...
Report: A-Rod Refuses To Give Bosch Money; Bosch Cuts Deal With MLB
According to the New York Daily News, Anthony Bosch tried to get money from A-Rod to help pay his mounting legal bills, due in part to the frivolous lawsuit filed by Major League Baseball for tortious interference. A-Rod refused his request, so Bosch cut a deal that would end the lawsuit and require...
No Steroids, No Birthday Cake: Parsing MLB's Employee Handbook
Congratulations! It's your first day working for Major League Baseball. You probably grew up a huge baseball fan, and while this isn't as good as actually playing, you're about to embark on a fun and rewarding career with MLB. But first, there's something you need to read and sign....
An Abu Dhabi Sheik Is About To Buy A New York MLS Expansion Team
Back in August, we heard noise from a deep-money source that a United Arab Emirates sheik was prepared to pay a ton of money for a New York-based MLS team. The owner was reportedly lobbying for "crazy benefits and tax breaks."...
Jonathan Papelbon Is Afraid Obama "Wants To Take Our Guns From Us"
The Boston Marathon bombings have had a particular resonance for Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon, who spent seven seasons with the Red Sox and says he once lived above the spot where one of the bombs detonated. Papelbon is rightly concerned about security at open gatherings in the wake of the atta...
The Major Leagues Were Never Really As Black As You've Been Told
Today Tyler Kepner’s New York Times story about the dearth of African-American players in the Major Leagues quietly distinguished itself from other articles in that vein, in that it didn’t cite a popular and wrong figure about the peak of black representation in baseball....
The Missouri Valley Conference's Wichita State Shockers Are Going To The Final Four
Ninth-seeded Wichita State continued a stunning run through the NCAA Tournament, downing second-seeded Ohio State despite nearly losing a 20-point second-half lead. It's the first appearance in the Final Four for a Missouri Valley Conference team since Larry Bird led Indiana State to the national t...
MLB Is Trying To Dick Some Of Its Employees Out Of Their Pensions
Sure, Bud Selig and Major League Baseball may be the plucky underdogs when the league gets into a scheduling dispute with the all-mighty NFL, but that doesn't mean the MLB isn't also a vampiric organization with its own free-market-or-bust tendencies. Case in point: MLB owners are expected to vote ...
Texas Assistant Coach Major Applewhite Was Disciplined For "Inappropriate, Consensual Behavior With An Adult Student" Four Years Ago
Former University of Texas quarterback and current UT co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Major Applewhite (that's his first name, not his rank) was disciplined in 2009 by the University of Texas for an infraction now being described as, if we're accurately connecting the very clear dot...
![Report: Former Major Leaguer Ryan Freel Commits Suicide At Age 36 [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/18970v1t537j7jpg.jpg)
Report: Former Major Leaguer Ryan Freel Commits Suicide At Age 36 [Update]
Former utility player Ryan Freel, who broke into the majors with Toronto in 2001 and played the majority of his eight-year career with the Cincinnati Reds, committed suicide today. First Coast News in Jacksonville has the first report:...
The Official MLB Twitter Account Just Murdered The IKEA Monkey Meme
Goddammit, @MLB. Why did you have to do this? It's bad enough that you are already one of the worst Twitter accounts in sports, but why did you have to take a perfectly good internet meme, one that plenty of people were having fun with, and murder it with a bullshit tweet like this?...
The Jovial, Bleak, Affectionate Bully That Was Rick Majerus Simply Cannot Be Comprehended In Full
Today, a week after his death, many of Rick Majerus' friends, former players and colleagues gathered to wish the basketball coach farewell from this mortal coil. Del Harris and George Karl were reportedly there, as was Glenn Rivers, whose nickname Majerus pinned on him years ago when he saw the youn...
Professional Lacrosse Player Jovan Miller Ends His Boycott Of Racist Apparel Company
It's been a little less than month since we told you about Jovan Miller and his boycott of Warrior, Major League Lacrosse's official equipment sponsor, over its use of the hashtag #ninjaplease to promote its products on various social media outlets. Miller, one of three black MLL players, was offen...
Legendary College Basketball Coach Rick Majerus Passed Away Today
First, this, from Loyola University of Chicago's head basketball coach and onetime Rick Majerus assistant Porter Moser:...
Rick Majerus Is Retiring Due To Heart Problems, So Let's Remember His Career The Way He'd Want It Remembered
Rick Majerus will no longer be lumbering up and down the sidelines at St. Louis University: He's been forced into retirement by a heart condition. The nature of Majerus's exit has led to a bunch of staid and somber reflections on his life and career, with passsages like this, from USA Today:...
Black Lacrosse Player Boycotts Equipment Company Over "Ninja, Please" Slogan, Threatens To Retire
Every joke ever made about lacrosse is based on the premise that the players are obnoxious, privileged white kids from elite Northeastern prep schools. Stereotypes exist for a reason, though. So it shouldn't be a surprise that Warrior Lacrosse's "Ninja" line of products (such as training shoes calle...
The <em>Houston Chronicle</em> Won't Cover Tonight's Dynamo Match, So We're Liveblogging It
Houston Dynamo are riding a 20-game home unbeaten streak and host Toronto FC tonight looking for a win that could put them tied with New York Red Bulls for second place in the MLS East....