Cleveland Indians look into changing name amid pressureVideo
CLEVELAND — They’ve been known as the Cleveland Indians since 1915. Those days could be over. Amid new pressure sparked by a national movement to correct racial wrongdoings, the Indians said Friday night they will review their long-debated nickname which has been in place for 105 years. “We are committed...
Rays pitcher Blake Snell puts comments behind, gets back to workVideo
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay Rays ace Blake Snell reported for work, after all. The 27-year-old Snell made headlines in May when he said he opposed the idea of players taking further pay reductions to start the season during a pandemic — that it was not worth the health...
31 MLB players, 7 staff test positive for covid-19, or 1.2%Video
NEW YORK — Thirty-one MLB players and seven staff members tested positive for covid-19 during intake for the resumption of training, a rate of 1.2%. MLB and the players’ association announced the results Friday as teams resumed workouts for the first time since the coronavirus interrupted spring training March 12,...
AL MVP Mike Trout still doesn’t feel comfortable about this yearVideo
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Reigning American League MVP Mike Trout participated in the Los Angeles Angels’ first workout of summer camp, but said before Friday’s practice that he hasn’t made a final decision on playing this year. Trout and his wife, Jessica, are expecting the couple’s first child in August. The...
Indians OF Delino DeShields Jr. tests positive for coronavirus, quarantinedVideo
Indians outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. has tested positive for the coronavirus and is being quarantined from his teammates. Chris Antonetti, the team’s president of baseball operations, said DeShields tested positive before coming to Cleveland. The Indians held their first workout at Progressive Field on Friday. Antonetti said DeShields is doing...
Back on the bump: New dad Gerrit Cole sets sights on Yankees titleVideo
NEW YORK — Getting ready for a high-profile New York Yankees debut at World Series champion Washington on July 23, Gerrit Cole explained his mindset. “There is only going to be only one coronavirus World Series champion, and so that’s unique in and of itself,” he said Friday. “I don’t...
MLB cancels All-Star Game for 1st time since 1945
LOS ANGELES — Dodger Stadium’s 40-year wait to host the All-Star Game is going to last even longer. The game scheduled for July 14 was canceled Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Dodger Stadium was awarded the 2022 Midsummer Classic. The 2021 game is set for Atlanta’s Truist Park,...
Zooming in to start unprecedented MLB summer camp amid virusVideo
Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward was going to address his entire team before the start of MLB’s unprecedented summer training camp, just like he did when spring training opened about 4 1/2 months ago. It was on a Zoom call instead of in person this time. When the New York...
Teams not able to disclose who goes on IL due to coronavirusVideo
Trying to find out the status of a baseball player coming back from an ankle injury definitely will be easier than learning whether someone tested positive for the coronavirus. Major League Baseball said Tuesday a team will not specifically announce a covid-19 injured list placement for a player who is...
Former MLB MVPs believe time has come to remove Landis’ name from awardVideo
NEW YORK — Something still bothers Barry Larkin about his MVP award. The other name engraved on the trophy: Kenesaw Mountain Landis. “Why is it on there?” said Larkin, the Black shortstop voted National League MVP in 1995 with the Cincinnati Reds. “I was always aware of his name and...
Organizational depth, creativity will be important for MLB teamsVideo
PHOENIX — The Minnesota Twins shuffled their on-field staff to protect the health of some of their older coaches. A trio of players, including Diamondbacks pitcher Mike Leake and Nationals slugger Ryan Zimmerman, announced they won’t be playing in the upcoming 60-game season. As MLB lurches toward a late-July start...
Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman and Joe Ross opting out of MLB seasonVideo
The Washington Nationals will try to defend their World Series title without at least two holdovers from last year’s team, including one of the faces of the franchise. Longtime infielder Ryan Zimmerman and pitcher Joe Ross elected not to play this season, the team announced Monday. Amid the covid-19 pandemic,...
Diamondbacks right-hander Mike Leake opts out of seasonVideo
PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Mike Leake opted out of the 2020 season because of concerns about the coronavirus. Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen did not elaborate on Leake’s decision during a Zoom call Monday, but the pitcher’s agent issued a statement saying he made a personal decision not to...
A long-overdue ‘Tip of the Cap’ to baseball’s Black pioneersVideo
Barack Obama tipped his cap. So did three other former U.S. presidents and a host of prominent civil rights leaders, entertainers and sports greats in a virtual salute to the 100-year anniversary of the founding of baseball’s Negro Leagues. The campaign launched Monday with photos and videos from, among others,...
Norwin’s Max McDowell inks deal with YankeesVideo
Catcher Max McDowell made headlines last summer when he helped turn a rare triple play while playing in the minor leagues. On Sunday, he pulled off another game-changing highlight for his career, and with it, two words: “Play ball.” McDowell, a former Norwin standout, signed a free agent deal with...
Yankees, Gerrit Cole to face defending champs in DC on MLB’s opening day
NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole could make his New York Yankees debut in a tasty opening-day treat for fans, facing Juan Soto and World Series champion Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. The Yankees and Nationals are set to meet when the virus-delayed season begins next month, a person familiar with...
Dodgers’ Andrew Toles jailed in Florida on trespass chargeVideo
KEY WEST, Fla. — Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andrew Toles was in jail Saturday and charged with trespassing property. The 28-year-old player was detained this week at the airport in Key West, Fla., by a Monroe County sheriff deputy. The Miami Herald reported he was found sleeping behind a Federal...
Major League Baseball confronting short time period before Opening DayVideo
CHICAGO — Forget about those halcyon first few days of spring training, when arranging for the right tee time on the right golf course is often more challenging than the work on the field. When major leaguers report next week for spring training 2.0 — or perhaps more accurately, baseball’s...
Dodgers, Twins report some positive tests for covid-19Video
LOS ANGELES — Some people in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins organizations have tested positive for covid-19, officials with the teams said Thursday. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said on a video conference call that it’s “a delicate subject,” and he declined to identify those with...
Antsy MLB players such as South Park’s Randy Dobnak embrace end of extra down timeVideo
South Park graduate Randy Dobnak had finished making his morning omelette one day last week when his wife, Aerial, asked the Minnesota Twins pitcher to keep the eggs out so she could make a sandwich. For the base, she used a hot dog bun, an ingredient so bewildering to her...
U mad, bro? Readers fed up with sports and politics, MLB finances, Antonio Brown
It’s a Killer B’s edition of “U mad, bro?” Who is on the dart board for our irate readers this week? Baseball, Benz, Baltimore and “Big Chest.” The #SticktoSports crowd is feeling particularly mouthy this week as well. John from New Cumberland LOVED my column about the second round of...
MLB’s Rob Manfred: ‘We owe it to our fans to be better’Video
NEW YORK — Rob Manfred knows many fans were angered by the financial fight between Major League Baseball and the players’ association during a pandemic. “We need to get back on the field, and we need to in a less-charged environment start to have conversations about how we — and...
Rockies’ Blackmon becomes 1st MLB player known to test positive for covid-19Video
All-Star outfielder Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies became the first MLB player known to have tested positive for the coronavirus. A person familiar with Blackmon’s situation confirmed the test result to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because there was no official announcement. The Denver Post first...
Madden Monday: ‘Steelers making the playoffs this year is far from a sure thing’
Well, we’ve made it to triple digits. We are now beyond 100 days since major American team sports shut down. We’re at 103 now. So if you think it’s easy to do this job without melding the coronavirus and its surrounding society-wide quagmire into the mix, you are insane. During...
Former All-Star shortstop Addison Russell joins KBOVideo
SEOUL, Sout Korea — Former Chicago Cubs All-Star shortstop Addison Russell will look to rebuild his career abroad after he signed a one-year, $530,000 contract with the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization. Russell, 26, was cut from the Cubs roster in December after the Major League club declined...
