By Jason Mastrodonato With the departure of Jose Iglesias to the Tigers in the Jake Peavy trade, the Red Sox shipped away the one shortstop who might be blocking Xander Bogaerts from beginning what the Red Sox hope will be a long and productive career. But the club’s top-ranked prospect is not quite ready for the Major League spotlight. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Steven Petrella Brandon Cumpton, making just his fourth Major League start, tossed seven shutout innings in a 6-0 win in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Cardinals Tuesday night. The Pirates swept a doubleheader against St. Louis for the first time since June 28, 1978. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Ian Browne Right-hander Brandon Workman has pitched effectively in all three of his Major League starts, and he earned his first career win on Tuesday, leading the Red Sox past the Mariners, 8-2. Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered to back Workman, who allowed one run and whiffed nine in six innings. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Jason Beck and Bobby Nightengale Eight years into his Major League career, Jose Veras is now a little more than halfway to Octavio Dotel’s Major League record for franchises played for (13). He knows how to handle the challenge of changing clubhouses in midseason. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Quinn Roberts In a day full of dramatic finishes across the country, a new baseball first occurred, as Monday marked the first time in Major League history that there were three walk-off home runs and a walk-off triple in the same day. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Eric Single Brandon Beachy allowed seven earned runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings with five strikeouts in what was a harsh reintroduction to Major League offenses. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Mark Emery At 42 years and 202 days, Indians slugger Jason Giambi is the oldest player in Major League history to hit a walk-off homer, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, with his blast against the White Sox on Monday night. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Tom Schad Wilson Ramos hit his first career grand slam, Taylor Jordan picked up his first Major League win, and for at least one afternoon the Nationals played up to their lofty preseason expectations with a 14-1 rout of the Mets on Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Chris Haft Bruce Bochy recorded the 1,500th victory of his Major League managerial career as the Giants outlasted the Cincinnati Reds in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader for a 5-3 “road” win in San Francisco. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Paul Hagen With their lineup struggling and the status of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez up in the air, reports that the Yankees have targeted Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano, 37, could return to his first Major League team make sense. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Chris Haft Hoping to latch on soon with a Major League ballclub, former Giants closer Brian Wilson threw Monday at the University of San Francisco before his ex-pitching coach, Dave Righetti, according to multiple reports. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Bill Chastain Since rookie Wil Myers joined the Rays on June 18, they have gone 20-8, entering Saturday. During that span, he leads all Major League rookies in RBIs (16) and is tied with the Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig in home runs (four) and is second in hits with 33 behind Puig’s 36. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Rafael Rojas Cremonesi Fifteen years after leaving the Colorado Rockies, and almost a full decade since ending his illustrious Major League career, Andres Galarraga is enjoying the perks of retirement. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Jesse Lawrence, Contributor
Until recently, All Star games in major league sports were purely exercises in exhibition. Then in 2003 baseball added some significance to the game, by giving the winning league home field advantage in the World Series. This change, however, has not elevated the Mid-Summer classic to the most sought after All Star ticket. That title belongs to the NBA. Along with Bloomberg, TiqIQ analyzed the premium paid for the last 11 All Star contests across Baseball, Basketball, Football and Hockey. The get this premium we divided the average price of the All Star Game by the league ticket average during then corresponding regular season. As the below chart illustrates, the NBA is the clear winner, with premiums of 1,852% in 2011, 1,674% last year in Houston and 710% in 2010 in Orlando. Comparatively, the highest premium for a Major League baseball All Star game in the last three years is 1,196% for this year’s game at Citi Field, followed by 1,016% for last year’s game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Tuesday’s All-Star game at Citi Field marks the second time the Mets have hosted the game and the 7th time that a New York team has hosted the midsummer classic. As far as baseball All Star Games go, this one ranks high on the demand curve. In fact, it’s the most expensive MLB All Star Game over the last three years, with an average price of $855 compared to $576 last year and $294 in Arizona in 2011. The cheapest 500-level ticket on TiqIQ is $310 from our partner eBay and the cheapest 100-level ticket is $365 from our partners at Razorgator. At the other end of the premium spectrum is the NFL’s All Star Game, the Pro Bowl. Played annually in Hawaii, it’s the only game that comes at the end of the season, as opposed to at the midway point. Whether it is the timing or the location, the Pro Bowl has historically been a dud at the box office. Last year, the average price to the Pro Bowl actually sold at a discount to the league’s season average, by -16.2%. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Jane Lee Manager Bob Melvin was admittedly a bit careful in picking just the right spot for Sonny Gray to make his Major League debut. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Corey Long Top pitching prospect Jarred Cosart made his debut against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, but the Astros haven’t decided if he will rejoin the Major League club after the All-Star Break. The plan for Cosart was to go back to Triple-A Oklahoma City after the game and stay on schedule for his next start. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
By Mark Emery A day after Danny Salazar dazzled in his Major League debut, the Indians optioned him to Triple-A Columbus and recalled reliever C.C. Lee from the Clippers. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at MLB
I am a devout Major League Baseball fan. I love the game. My son has played Little League since he was four years old, and I used to live very close to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
I think I own most all of the great baseball movies: Bull Durham, For Love of the Game, Major League, The Sandlot, and The Rookie.
Being a devoted fan, I understand the value of the streak, baseball rituals, and what makes great players exceptional in the Major Leagues. Part of that is the ritual itself.
Stan Musial is in an elite group of baseball greats elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. His passing this January was a huge blow to the City of St. Louis and his fans nationwide.
Musial, a devout Christian, was remembered recently by a grounds keeper at the St. Louis stadium who etched a cross and Musial’s #6 onto pitcher’s mound before every game. Apparently one fan complained:
“Stan the Man,” a deeply spiritual and devout Christian, passed away in January. As a tribute to Musial, a few weeks ago a grounds-crew member began etching the cross and Musial’s number, 6, onto the pitcher’s mound before every game. (One fan complained that the “6″ too closely resembled the Christian icthys symbol.)
Last week, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak ordered that the markings be removed, explaining that he learned of the practice from a newspaper story. Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “It’s just not club policy to be putting religious symbols on the playing field or throughout the ballpark. I didn’t ask for the reason behind it. I just asked for it to stop.”
Read the rest here.
Interestingly, the St. Louis Cardinals held their “Christian Day” bringing together people of faith last week on July 6th.
In my mind, St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak went too far in appeasing one fan in the name of “political correctness”. What’s wrong with a groundskeeper remembering his boyhood hero? And why take action the same week that your franchise is recognizing Christians?
In contrast, today in St. Louis, the “Stan Musial Memorial Bridge” became official when Gov. Jay Nixon signed legislation approving it.
Since the bridge is shared between the States of Illinois and Missouri, federal legislation is pending signature by the President which would rename the bridge the “Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge” to honor our military. This was the result of a bipartisan compromise byIllinois Congressman Rodney Davis (R-IL) and several other Members of Congress.
Seeing all of these acts in the same week made me think that being “PC” (as in “politically correct”) has definitely made otherwise smart people go a little bonkers as they try to appease finger-pointers who are religiously intolerant.
This is what Dr. Ben Carson, now a Washington Times columnist, said in this article about submitting to “political correctness” –
“We should stop …read more
By Adam McCalvy A trio of Cubs errors spotted the Brewers four unearned runs just in time to make a winner of Hiram Burgos, the 25-year-old right-hander making his Major League debut in Milwaukee’s 5-1 victory at sold-out Miller Park on Saturday.
From: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_04_20_chnmlb_milmlb_1&mode=recap_home&c_id=mil
By Mark Bowman B.J. Upton led off the game with a homer, Justin Upton hit his Major League-leading ninth home run and Gattis added to his legend with an eighth-inning pinch-hit homer that proved to be the decisive blow in Thursday night’s 6-4 win over the Pirates at PNC Park.
From: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_04_18_atlmlb_pitmlb_1&mode=recap_away&c_id=atl
