mlb Page 513 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Shawn Chacon Even Worse At Gambling Than He Was At Pitching
Las Vegas authorities have issued an arrest warrant for former Astro Shawn Chacon, after he allegedly passed $150,000 worth of bad checks at Caesar's Palace. Even worse, he always tries to split face cards. [Las Vegas Sun]...

Nationals Set To Make History, Fail As Usual
Without the divine intervention of the Royals, Washington would have gone wire-to-wire on ESPN's power rankings. Guess which end of the wire. [ESPN.com]...

Minnesota Takes Characteristically Polite Umbrage At Sign-Stealing Allegations
You saw the video this morning. The Twins have responded with amusement and gentle outrage at any suggestion that Joe Mauer might've been relaying signs from second base like some Navy signalman on the flight deck of the Nimitz....

Un-Rubbed Balls Create Sticky Situation For Cardinals
John Smoltz thinks the reason he got roughed up last night is because his balls were not properly rubbed down. Yet, opposing pitcher Bronson Arroyo threw just fine. Is it because he was rubbing something special on his own balls?...

Think There's No Cheating In Baseball?
Here's Joe Mauer, in Tuesday night's game, blatantly tipping pitches from second base. Trust me when I say there's nothing extraordinary about this sort of thing. [Via Total Pro Sports]...

Dancing Ump Brings Joy To Meaningless Games
Sorry Daulerio, but butt-chin down there wasn't even the most flamboyant person at a Phillies game this week. That'd be Dancin' Tim Tschida....

Eric Wedge: Dead Man Walking
Manager Eric Wedge and his coaching staff will finish out the season on the Cleveland Indians bench. But don't worry—he's still totally fired. [Plain Dealer]...

The Great Toronto Swindle
I bet that neither you nor anyone you know has ever had your seat randomly selected for those jumbotron contests. Well, here's why: Collusion. Cahoots. Flimflammery....

Former Bonds Teammate To Battle Ornery Muscular Animal
Have we learned nothing from the Junior Seau tragedy? Omar Vizquel, the oldest non-Jamie Moyer in baseball, plans to keep in shape by bullfighting in the offseason. [USA Today]...

Chuck Knoblauch Arrested For Assault
The former major leaguer was charged with choking his common law wife and hitting her in the face. I think it's safe to say he didn't hit her with a baseball. (Hey, at least I didn't mention the steroids!) [KARE11]...

Mike Blowers Knew You Would Read This Post
Journeyman everything Mike Blowers spent 11 years in the majors, but he should've spent that time in Vegas instead because the guy is scary good at predicting the outcome of baseball games—right down to the pitch counts....

A Children's Treasury Of Men Getting Blasted In The Face With Champagne
Grown men who play professional baseball like to celebrate momentous victories by furiously shaking bottles of Champagne and spraying other grown men in the face. It's such a rich tradition that we've made a happy little gallery. Enjoy!...

The Last Days Of Sal Fasano
SI Writer Jeff Pearlman goes back to the Fasano well for the most depressing piece yet. Sal's now 38, and struggling: "You can't help but question your sanity. You're driven by one thing — hope."[SI]...

Tigers And Twins Desperately Trying To Make You Care About Baseball
The 2009 baseball season has been a bit of a dud, drama-wise. So how about a final week double-header that will MEAN EVERYTHING! Or change everything. Or solve nothing? I forget how these dramatic finishes are supposed to work....

Angels Get Nick Adenhart's Jersey Drunk
Got an image you'd like to see in here first thing in the morning? Send it to [email protected]. Subject: Morning crap....

And Speaking Of Winning Organizations...
The Washington Nationals held a everything-must-go! charity auction over the weekend which included autographed baseballs from the likes of Wily Mo Pena and Ray King. [NationalsEnquirer]...

Meet The Mets' Sad Fan
Type "mets fan" into Google Images and you get a good cross-section of Mets Nation, everything from the disappointed to the dejected. A prime example: that downtrodden, scruffy-looking twentysomething with his hands held hopelessly atop his rally cap....

Baseball And Steroids: Corporate Synergy!
The company that owns the Braves is selling steroids over the Internet. That's what we in the business call "centralized distribution." [AJC]...

Is Our Children Learning (To Hate The Red Sox)?
All this talk about Obama's school speech and the indoctrination of students is ignoring the real dark power behind our educational system: Boston fans. Could one be in your child's school?...

Ichiro Finally Cracks
The normally robotic Ichiro was ejected for the first time in his career after arguing a called third strike in today's game against Toronto. Apparently, it was the old "bat in the sand" demonstration that did it.[ESPN]...