Rockies Eject Visiting Fan for Throwing Homer Back: Arizona Diamondbacks fan Joshua Pickett was ejected from a Colorado Rockies game at Coors Field Thursday for throwing a Rockies home run back onto the field. "The guy told me I had a prize, then told me I'm getting thrown out," Pickett said. "I didn't think I did anything wrong. I've seen it all the time."

posted by rcade to baseball at 09:27 AM - 12 comments

Jose Molina makes batters very angry.:
A quick article and a collection of (small) animated gifs that show how lots of batter complaints from umps seem to be when Molina is behind the plate. His "framing pitches" is a continuous display of artistry.

posted by grum@work to baseball at 01:31 PM - 12 comments

High and Tight:: High and Tight: Our Rock & Roll Baseball Experts Pick the Best and Worst Big League Stadiums

posted by NoMich to baseball at 07:47 PM - 0 comments

Why Wrigley Field Must Be Destroyed: Destroy it. Annihilate it. Collapse it with the sort of charges that put the Sands Hotel out of its misery in Vegas. Implosion or explosion, get rid of it. That pile of quaintness has to go. Not merely the structure, but the ground on which it stands.

posted by justgary to baseball at 08:33 AM - 30 comments

MLB Fires Arbitrator Who Unpunished Braun: Major League Baseball management has fired Shyam Das, the arbitrator who overturned Ryan Braun's drug suspension in February. Das served in the job for 13 years and could have been removed at any time with written notice by either the league or the player's association. "He served the parties with professionalism and distinction," union head Michael Weiner said.

posted by rcade to baseball at 07:41 PM - 9 comments

High and Tight: : Our Rock & Roll Baseball Experts Discuss Uniforms – the Good, the Bad and the Fugly.

posted by NoMich to baseball at 07:04 AM - 7 comments

Josh Hamilton Has 4-Homer Game in Baltimore: Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton hit four home runs Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles, going 5-for-5 with 8 RBI (the fifth hit was a double). Hamilton becomes the 16th player in big league history to hit four homers in a game and the first since Carlos Delgado in 2003.

posted by rcade to baseball at 10:33 PM - 6 comments

The Eck: if you're getting paid to sit in front of a computer today, waste ten minutes with this. Then steal some paperclips.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 09:27 PM - 3 comments

Cole Hamels Admits Hitting Bryce Harper on Purpose: Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels intentionally hit Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper with the first pitch he threw to him in the first inning of Sunday's game. "I was trying to hit him. I'm not going to deny it," Hamels said. "I'm just trying to continue the old baseball. ... It's just, 'Welcome to the big leagues.'" Harper stole home on Hamels that inning and Nats pitcher Jordan Zimmerman hit Hamels with a pitch. The Phillies won 9-3.

posted by rcade to baseball at 10:38 AM - 37 comments

How to go 0-8 and still win the ballgame: if your DH isn't getting it done as a DH, pretend there's no such thing as a DH rule and make him pitch.

posted by lil_brown_bat to baseball at 09:27 PM - 9 comments

Mariano Rivera Tears ACL Shagging Fly Balls: New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee chasing a fly ball Thursday at Kaufman Stadium before the Yankees played a game against the Kansas City Royals. Rivera, 42, has caught flies enthusiastically for years during pregame warm-ups. The injury likely ends his season and perhaps his career.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 11:02 AM - 21 comments

Weaver Wonder Wins One for Woeful Angels: Before only 27,288 fans, local boy Jered Weaver helped the Angels forget their slow start by striking out nine and walking one in the first home no-hitter for the team since Nolan Ryan's in 1975.

posted by scully to baseball at 08:32 AM - 5 comments

Bryce Harper Pinch Hits in D.C. Softball Game: Cool: Playing softball next to the Washington Monument. Cooler: Having Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper show up and join the game for an at bat.

posted by rcade to baseball at 11:16 AM - 3 comments

AP: 'So Far Pujols is a $240 Million Mistake': How bad has Albert Pujols' start been for the AL West last-place Los Angeles Angels? "With the game on the line with two outs in the eighth inning Friday night and a runner on second base, the Indians pitched to Pujols instead of giving him the open base," writes AP's Tim Dahlberg. Pujols popped out and is hitting .226 with no homers and four RBI.

posted by rcade to baseball at 05:22 PM - 25 comments

Yankees Great Moose Skowron Dies: Former New York Yankees great Moose Skowron, who won four World Series titles with that team and another with the Los Angeles Dodgers, died Friday of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Arlington Heights, Ill. He was 81. Skowron was one of only two players to hit three home runs in World Series Game 7s. "Moose will always be remembered as being one of the key members of the Yankees' dynasties in the 50's and early 60's," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:53 PM - 2 comments

National Anthem on an Electric Violin Made Out of a Bat: If you were watching the Orioles-A's game from Camden Yards tonight, you saw a guy playing the National Anthem on an electric violin made out of a baseball bat. This is how that looks and sounds. This is the guy talking about and showing off his Louisville Slugger violin. And this is the Washington Post profile of Glenn Donnellan, a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra and the maker and player of the world's only electric baseball bat violin (via MetaFilter).

posted by rcade to baseball at 08:36 AM - 2 comments

Tigers Fans Owe Inge Better: Yes, it's a Yahoo! article, and yes, it was possibly written by Brandon Inge's little brother, but still.

posted by The_Black_Hand to baseball at 01:18 AM - 12 comments

Delmon Young Accused of Anti-Semitic Brawl: Detroit Tigers left fielder Delmon Young was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor hate crime charge for allegedly yelling "fucking Jews!" at a yarmulke-wearing panhandler outside a New York City hotel, sparking a physical altercation with several other men at around 2 a.m. Friday. Young was "highly intoxicated," sources told the New York Post.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:47 PM - 4 comments

The Other Ballpark That Just Turned 100: Fenway Park wasn't the only ballpark whose 100-year centennial took place on April 20 of this month. Tiger Stadium opened on the same day as Fenway in 1912, but no one affiliated with the Tigers or Detroit marked the occasion. Today, a Google Maps flyover shows what remains at the storied corner of Michigan Street and Trumbull Avenue. "The only acknowledgment of the old ball yard is a small plastic sign," reports Eric Adelson of Yahoo Sports. A volunteer group called the Navin Field Grounds Crew keeps the lot mowed and chalks the lines once a week. The ghosts of baseball past take care of themselves.

posted by rcade to baseball at 05:10 PM - 12 comments

Philip Humber Throws Baseball's 21st Perfect Game: Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber retired all 27 Seattle Mariners hitters in a 4-0 victory Saturday, throwing Major League Baseball's first perfect game since^* May 29, 2010, and only the 21st in league history. The closest the M's came to a hit was in the fourth when Alex Rios chased down a Dustin Ackley liner at the warning track. In the ninth, Humber fell down 3-0 in the count to Michael Saunders before striking him out. Humber's 96 pitches were the second least in a perfecto.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 07:17 PM - 18 comments

No Relief in Sight: Tom Verducci asks if baseball's approach to closers makes any sense.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 01:42 PM - 2 comments

Mets Runner Reaches Second, Runs Back to First: During Friday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets catcher Josh Thole advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by pitcher R.A. Dickey, then mistakenly ran back to first as if a foul ball had been called -- and was thrown out for a double play. (See video here on the Video link.) "I knew the ball was fair. I even looked down," Thole said. "You can go watch the video. I checked in. The ball was on the floor. I just took off running back to first. I've got no other explanation."

posted by rcade to baseball at 02:03 PM - 2 comments

Brian Wilson May Need Tommy John Surgery: San Francisco Giants closer and beard laureate Brian Wilson has "structural issues" in his right elbow and will likely need surgery, manager Bruce Bochy said. Wilson had Tommy John surgery in 2003 as a college pitcher at LSU.

posted by rcade to baseball at 12:20 PM - 8 comments

Completely unsurprisingly, Terry Francona does not want to be part of Fenway's 100th Birthday: somewhat more surprisingly, the Boston Globe let his ghostwriter pen an article about that. But then they edited it. Can't imagine why.

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 03:59 PM - 13 comments

Dodgers Bought with Insurance Policyholder Funds: The Mark Walter-led group that bought the Los Angeles Dodgers is making questionable use of funds to do so, claims New York Times Dealbook columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin. "A quick background check and some back-of-the-envelope math raises an obvious red flag: how on earth can this group of individuals afford to pay $2 billion in cash?" he asks. Walter's Guggenheim Partners is using money collected from policyholders by insurance company subsidiaries to buy the team. "Using insurance money -- which is typically supposed to be invested in simple, safe assets -- to buy a baseball team, the ultimate toy for the ultrarich, seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen," Sorkin writes.

posted by rcade to baseball at 09:36 AM - 10 comments

Ozzie Guillen: 'I Love Fidel Castro': As the Miami Marlins try to fill their new stadium, a comment by manager Ozzie Guillen probably won't help. "I love Fidel Castro…I respect Fidel Castro," he told Time magazine. "You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that [expletive] is still there." He subsequently apologized. "I'm against everything 100 percent -- I repeat it again -- the way this man (been) treating people for the last 60 years," he said.

posted by rcade to baseball at 04:36 PM - 24 comments

Looking Back at 100 Years of Baseball: From The Christian Science Monitor comes a look back at 10 seasons, every 10 years from 1912. If you have the time, look through all of it. Links to each of the covered seasons appear at the top of each page, so selecting a single season is easy. Lots of fun facts about the highlights of each season, such as the season long pitching duel in 1912 between Smoky Joe Wood and Walter Johnson, or pitcher Jim Tobin of the Boston Braves hitting 3 consecutive home runs in a game an 1942.

posted by Howard_T to baseball at 05:16 PM - 0 comments

Police Draw Guns on Torii Hunter at Home: Torii Hunter had an unexpected guest after the Los Angeles Angels' final exhibition game Wednesday. Cops showed up with guns drawn after he accidentally triggered his alarm and his wife couldn't be reached by phone. "They didn't believe I lived here in Newport coast so they walked me upstairs at gunpoint to get my ID," he said on Twitter.

posted by rcade to baseball at 03:12 PM - 2 comments

Mets offering freebies: How bad is life at Citi Field? The New York Mets are offering free tickets for this opening weekend's games against Atlanta.

posted by jjzucal to baseball at 01:43 PM - 1 comment

If they really want to be competitive, the Oakland A's should move to New York: At least that's what Slate's Neil deMause says. Should Billy and the boys pack up and head east?

posted by tahoemoj to baseball at 02:13 PM - 11 comments

Why All of Your Fantasy Baseball Picks SUCK: Joey Votto: hit below his career average last year and saw his strikeouts increase to a career high for the fourth consecutive season with 129. In spring training he’s hit .214 with Ks close to every other at-bat. Buy high on this guy! Worst of all: Joey Votto is Canadian. Do you want a Canadian on your baseball team. Of course not. Hanley Ramirez: Intangibles aren’t a measured fantasy stat, but players who actually try tend to put up better fantasy numbers.

posted by BoKnows to baseball at 09:50 PM - 1 comment

Magic Johnson-led group is picked as Dodgers' next owner: Johnson, who guided the Lakers to five NBA championships during the "Showtime" era of the 1980s, is a partner in the group along with longtime baseball executive Stan Kasten and movie executive Peter Guber. The controlling owner would be Mark Walter, chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, a Chicago-based financial services company. The winning group paid $2 billion for the team -- a record for a sports franchise.

posted by tommytrump to baseball at 09:58 AM - 8 comments

Only Two Number One Picks in History Have Never Made the Majors: For 2004 number one pick Matt Bush, this summer would be when he finally joined his peers in cracking the major leagues. His long-standing battle with alcoholism, however, had other ideas.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia to baseball at 10:58 PM - 11 comments

Force of Habit: Science, not the scalpel, is the real solution for Tommy John injuries. Too bad few MLB teams are paying attention.

posted by apoch to baseball at 02:15 PM - 5 comments

Joba Chamberlain suffers life-threatening ankle injury on a trampoline.:
What. The. F***.?!

posted by grum@work to baseball at 04:19 PM - 66 comments

Chipper Jones to retire at end of 2012 season: Next stop, Cooperstown. What I found most interesting is the "yet-to-be-determined role" they are exploring for him. Batting coach perhaps?

posted by flannelenigma to baseball at 11:00 AM - 5 comments

The Last Second Chance for Manny Ramirez: "it was one act of identity at the end of what may be a lost career. Someone who'd already had a clutch of identities developed for him by his own foolishness and by other people — idiot savant, childlike genius, clubhouse killer, reckless hedonist, drug cheat — when the only real identity he ever had was one of the greatest hitters of the baseball in the past 50 years. "

posted by yerfatma to baseball at 01:02 PM - 0 comments

Andy Pettitte Returns to Yankees: A year after he left the game, Andy Pettitte has signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the New York Yankees. Pettitte, 39, is the all-time leader in postseason wins (19), starts (42) and innings pitched (263) and third among Yankees in wins (203).

posted by rcade to baseball at 01:07 PM - 5 comments

Worst to First: Ranking all 30 MLB Uniforms: Thankfully, the 1970s and '80s are over, so there are no truly awful uniforms anymore. Mostly what we have are the great and classic followed by an almost interchangeable array of fine but bland. (Plus a bonus interview with Torii Hunter giving us his rules and regulations for wearing team jerseys! And... the baseball card of the week!)

posted by BoKnows to baseball at 12:01 AM - 5 comments

A.J. Burnett Breaks His Face: A.J. Burnett, expected to be the Pittsburgh Pirates' opening day starter after he was acquired from the New York Yankees, broke an orbital bone near his right eye after fouling a ball off his face during a bunting drill Wednesday. After surgery Friday he's expected to miss two to three months. Burnett was excited about the chance to start batting again, he said a day after the trade: "I'm going back to the National League, where I can hit and bunt and get the joy back into the game."

posted by rcade to baseball at 02:07 PM - 4 comments