players Page 8 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Angels will make the playoffs...or at least let’s figure out a way they can
As badass as the moment was of seeing Shohei Ohtani face Mike Trout with the World Baseball Classic on the line last night, you could forgive Los Angeles Angels fans if they were rubbing their temples a bit during it. The cry whenever either or both of those names come up in conversation has been, “...
You can’t script baseball, but sometimes it can seem like it
What they tell you about baseball a lot, is that because everyone gets a turn, you can’t guarantee that your best player will get to the plate with the game on the line. Sometimes it’s your second baseman with no concept of the strike zone who wets himself at the sight of any fastball over 96 MPH. S...
How much difference can it make to have a manager who is awake?
How much tangible difference a manager makes on a baseball team over 162 games has never been quite nailed down. It’s generally thought the best ones might only add a couple wins, and a truly bad one might only take away a couple wins. Most are just there, which is kind of why front offices stopped ...
Meaningless baseball continues to thrill millions
I think maybe what I might take most out of the World Baseball Classic is its insistence on portraying the entire scope of the best moments, what makes baseball the most artful game. ...
Is it finally time for the Toronto Blue Jays?
Once the Toronto Maple Leafs get Andrei Vasilevskiy’d in the first round again, it’s not like the angst level in the T.O. will fade all that much through the summer months. That’s because the Toronto Blue Jays have reached the same threshold as the Leafs passed a few years ago, where you go from you...
No, Keith Olbermann, we should not 'kill' the WBC
If you ever wonder why much of the world views Americans as arrogant and uninterested in anything that happens outside the United States’ borders, look no further than Keith Olbermann’s recent tweets about the World Baseball Classic....
![The most Mets thing ever? [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/a2250627fd5242550d5bc10207d4d106.jpg)
The most Mets thing ever? [Updated]
If I asked you, before the WBC, which team might have a player seriously injured not just during the World Baseball Classic, but doing something non-play involved during the WBC that feels like the baseball gods got loaded and said, “Hey watch this!”, there would only be one answer, right? You could...
Deadspin presents: The Great Debates tournament
Welcome to the Great Debates bracket, where we’re trying to find out what is life’s greatest argument. The queries below have stumped philosophers, presidents, priests, and peasants alike. They’ve inspired books, memes, Twitter threads, and even entire fields of study....
Baseball is getting increasingly liberal with the term ‘perfect game’
There was a perfect game in the World Baseball Classic on Monday. The Puerto Rico pitching staff, led by a perfect 5.2 innings from journeyman José De León, didn’t surrender a baserunner to Israel. Normally, that’d be pretty amazing, even by modern-day pitching standards. But — and I definitely fore...
America is one Trevor Bauer lighter and looks fantastic!
If baseball fans out there are feeling just a touch more exuberant, or looking in the mirror and thinking they’re having a good day — or maybe had the motivation to add just one more rep or set to their workout this morning — there’s a reason for it. We, as a society, have successfully punted Trevor...
The World Baseball Classic tiebreaker system is what?
With every new addition, it seems at least a few more people are enjoying the World Baseball Classic. It’s got a bit of everything for the baseball freak, starting off with #WeirdBaseball and overnight starts in Taiwan and Tokyo. Then we get the noise and sights whenever the Dominican Republic, Vene...
Team USA loses exhibition to 3-9 San Francisco Giants
Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Nolan Arenado, Pete Alonso, Paul Goldschmidt, Kyle Schwarber. With a roster like that, you’d expect Team USA Baseball to dominate every game they play. They’re totally going to destroy Great Britain this Saturday in their first game of the World Baseball Classi...
Ukrainian tennis star Marta Kostyuk refuses to shake hands with Russian opponent after win
As her father and grandfather remained trapped in Kyiv with war raging around them, Ukrainian tennis star Marta Kostyuk was making headlines, taking down Russian competitor Varvara Gracheva in the finals of the ATX Open on Sunday. After winning the match in two sets (6-3, 7-5), Kostyuk shook the ump...
Six former Phillies all died of the same brain cancer — was it the turf?
The Philadelphia Inquirer gave a masterclass on journalism this week, publishing a report on the toxic chemicals infused in the turf at Veterans Stadium, which was (at least in part) launched by someone coming to the realization that six former Phillies players all died of the same rare brain cancer...
Here are some MLB prop bets to look into
As the MLB season approaches nearer each day, the time to look forward and make predictions is upon us. Making predictions is tough though. There is no direction involved. With each player comes a myriad of statistics to look at, and trying to find one specific figure to follow and make a prediction...
Did Ryan Leaf just offer the best explanation for Russell Wilson's precipitous decline?
One of the biggest mysteries from the 2022 NFL season was “What the hell happened to Russell Wilson?” This was a conundrum that not even the Scooby Doo gang could solve. Danger-Russ was supposed to help the Denver Broncos compete with the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West, ...
![Zack Greinke shakes himself off, a cat on the diamond — Spring Training has been <i>weird</i> [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/82541c3a94f8db05e1a3fdd138d2cb81.png)
Zack Greinke shakes himself off, a cat on the diamond — Spring Training has been <i>weird</i> [Updated]
Every year, MLB spring training provides some sort of insight into the upcoming season, whether it be emerging stars or the adoption of new rule changes. Well if the early goings of this year’s spring training are any indicator, we’re in for some wild times. I’m at the point where nothing on my Twit...
Winners and losers of the MLB offseason
With the MLB season around the corner, most of the offseason moves we saw over the last few months seem like they happened eons ago. One of the most coveted young players in baseball, Bryan Reynolds, requesting a trade would’ve made waves in any other offseason, but even as rumors surrounding his fu...
Read an excerpt from MLB pitcher Joe Kelly's new book: A Damn Near Perfect Game — Reclaiming America's Pastime
White Sox pitcher Joe Kelly’s book, “A Damn Near Perfect Game: Reclaiming America’s Pastime,” delves into many of the issues frustrating fans of major league baseball, and is on sale tomorrow wherever you get your books. Here’s an excerpt:...
New Yankee Carlos Rodón thinks the Bronx faithful are more passionate than SF Giants fans
The New York Yankees head into 2023 as favorites to win the AL East and the second-biggest favorites to win the World Series. Yes, expectations are high for this team, but that’s nothing new. When a brand as iconic as the Yankees fails to meet its lofty season goals, fans get mad. Despite consistent...