sox Page 13 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Yeah, that Tony La Russa thing is going about as you’d expect
While it was fun to pretend that the forced “Odd Coupling” of a drunk old codger Tony La Russa and one of the flashiest, dynamic young teams in baseball would boil over simply due to culture clashes, that was always a touch unlikely. Certainly, atmospheres within a clubhouse have led to poisonous re...

Mellon Collie and The Minnesota Twins: At this rate a playoff collapse looks unlikely
It’s probably hard enough to be the Minnesota Twins under normal circumstances. Because no one outside of the Twin Cities wants to see you in the playoffs ever again. Some have even drafted measures to get you banned from the postseason forever. That’s what happens when you can’t manage to win a sin...

Please, please, send John Smoltz to a farm upstate
It was a slow, lazy Saturday afternoon. It would have to be for me to turn on the Mets when Jacob deGrom isn’t pitching (though Marcus Stroman can be a very entertaining watch, too). I grew up at a time here in Chicago when we hated the Mets as much as the Cardinals, and those instincts still flicke...

Joey Votto almost pulled off the incredibly rare unassisted triple play
Carlos Rodón came oh-so-close to a perfect game on Wednesday night, settling instead for a no-hitter after he hit Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez with a pitch in the ninth inning, two outs away from what would have been the first perfecto in the majors since Félix Hernández’s in on August 15, 2012....

How well did<em> MLB: The Show</em> choose cover athletes? We rank all 15 player performances that season
One month later than usual, MLB: The Show is finally releasing their 2021 installment. Although the game itself doesn’t fully come out until Tuesday, April 20, today begins the early access release period, meaning if you pre-ordered the game, you’re probably playing it right now....

David Wells shows his ass, water is wet and other knowns
When I was in high school I wore 33 on my baseball jersey because of the numbers available in my size, that was the one I could pick to emulate a favorite player, David Wells....

WTF are these hideous pee-yellow Red Sox/Nike cash-grab alternate jerseys?
It was bad enough when the Red Sox rolled out green alternate jerseys, but at least those had some meaning to them. The Sox have worn green to honor Red Auerbach after his death, again to celebrate the Celtics beating the Lakers in the NBA Finals, and then once more for Earth Day in 2009. They looke...

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...

AL Central Preview: Which is it, Luis Robert?
The White Sox are probably the second-most fascinating team heading into the 2021 season. They haven’t quite cannonballed into the pool and ruined the buffet the way the San Diego Padres have — a team they will always be linked to thanks to Fernando Tatis Jr. and the rampant screen-punching amongst ...

AL East Preview: Baseball Royalty? Let's discuss
The American League East is full of baseball history and royalty, with the likes of the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees often reigning from on high. Last year, the Tampa Bay Rays stole that crown, winning the division in a shortened season by a commanding seven games. The Red Sox, contrastin...

Dodgers fans buy billboard outside Fenway to taunt... someone
I wouldn’t sit here and try to argue that Red Sox Nation is undeserving of being kicked while they’re down. They’ve had it their way for a very long time, though they would say they didn’t have it their way for a much longer period of time. And obviously, there isn’t anyone they didn’t annoy even ju...

Joe Maddon thinks David Fletcher is great, but shouldn’t be throwing others under the bus about it
David Fletcher is a nice, solid ballplayer. Since debuting with the Angels in 2018, he’s played all over the field and been above-average defensively wherever he goes, while posting a .292/.346/.386 line with 10 homers and 13 steals in 283 games....

Red Sox 'Idiot' Johnny Damon busted for DUI in Florida, wife charged with battery on an officer
Johnny Damon looks like he had a rough night....

MLB's biggest question answered as Twins add promising pitcher; also, Dodgers sign jerkwad Bauer
The wait is over, and one of baseball’s top contenders can move toward spring training confident that its new addition to the pitching staff will be just the man to put them over the top....

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...

For better or worse, Dustin Pedroia was Boston
There’s an easy-to-reach joke when someone really old dies. “Oh he died years ago, he just fell down yesterday.” That’s basically how it feels with Dustin Pedroia announcing his retirement today. He’s only played nine games in the past three seasons, so his retirement basically announced him. ...

Masahiro Tanaka won’t make it to Cooperstown, but — like hoops' Hall — there should be room for stories like his
In seven seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, Arvydas Sabonis averaged 12 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. His biggest accomplishments were being the NBA’s Player of the Week at the end of March in 1996, and finishing 12th in the league in total rebounds in 1997-98....

With A-Rod and Big Papi on ballot next year, gatekeepers of Cooperstown will face a reckoning
Just as most writers want, to get the affirmation they apparently crave by denying millionaires access to a club, no one will enter the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer. Once again, they have kept the sanctuary safe from the heathen of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, as they see it. They won’t get t...

Curt Schilling’s putrid mouth continues to keep him out of Cooperstown…. good
The good news is that Curt Schilling isn’t going into the Hall of Fame this summer. In fact, no new players will be joining last year’s class of inductees this summer in Cooperstown after the results of the Baseball Writers Association of America’s balloting were announced Tuesday evening....

Time to put Bonds and Clemens in the Hall of Fame, because my ballot is about numbers, not punishment
The Baseball Hall of Fame punishment should come to an end....