October baseball arrives with 12-team bracket set; postseason action beginning TuesdayVideo
PHOENIX — Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson and the hard-hitting Atlanta Braves have earned a couple days of rest and relaxation after MLB’s long 162-game regular season. So have Jose Altuve, Justin Verlander and the defending World Series champion Houston Astros — who won the AL West on the season’s...
Buck Showalter fired as New York Mets manager
NEW YORK — Buck Showalter was fired Sunday as New York Mets manager after a disappointing season in which baseball’s highest-spending team tumbled from contention by midsummer. The 67-year-old Showalter said before the game against Philadelphia on Sunday that he will not return next year, and a few minutes later...
Former Pirates, Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield dies at 57
BOSTON — Tim Wakefield, who became the knuckleballing workhorse of the Red Sox pitching staff who bounced back after giving up a season-ending home run to the Yankees in the 2003 playoffs to help Boston win its curse-busting World Series title the following year, has died. He was 57. The...
Playoff contending Marlins trying to move on after `disagreement’ over suspension of game vs. MetsVideo
PITTSBURGH — The Miami Marlins are in no mood to go back to New York or talk about New York for that matter. The surprise playoff contenders arrived in Pittsburgh for a three-game series with the Pirates around 6 a.m. after their game against the Mets on Thursday night was...
Red Sox say Tim Wakefield is in treatment, asks for privacy after illness outed by SchillingVideo
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox said announcer and former knuckleballer Tim Wakefield is undergoing treatment for a disease they did not specify and asked for fans to respect his privacy after his illness was outed without his consent by ex-teammate Curt Schilling. The team issued a statement Thursday after...
Analysis: It looks like it’ll take all 162 games to decide MLB’s postseason racesVideo
PHOENIX — It might take all 162 games to decide the playoff races in the National and American leagues. The epicenter of the wild-card chase this weekend is in Arizona at Chase Field. Thanks to some fortuitous interleague scheduling, the AL’s Houston Astros face the NL’s Arizona Diamondbacks in a...
Phillies deny emotional support alligator from entering ballpark
PHILADELPHIA — A Phillies fan and his emotional support animal, an alligator named WallyGator, were denied entrance to watch Philadelphia host Pittsburgh. Social media posts showed the gator on a leash with a harness with his name on it outside the stadium Wednesday. WallyGator is a working emotional support alligator...
Brooks Robinson appreciation: In 1960s Maryland, nobody was like No. 5
ROCKVILLE, Md. — Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson died Tuesday at the age of 86. Among his many fans in Maryland during his playing days was Ben Walker, a young left-hander who would go on to cover baseball for the Associated Press for more than 40 years. Walker...
Terry Francona’s beloved scooter stolen, stripped as Cleveland manager says goodbye
CLEVELAND — Terry Francona made it to the home finale, his last managing the Guardians before retirement. His beloved scooter didn’t get there. Hours before Cleveland fans saluted the popular manager, who is leaving baseball after 11 seasons with the club, Francona revealed the celebrated motorized scooter he rode to...
Mets owner Steve Cohen apologizes to Marlins for soggy field that forced doubleheader
NEW YORK — The sloppy field that caused a costly postponement for the Miami Marlins left the New York Mets all wet. Mets owner Steven Cohen apologized to the Marlins on Wednesday for the circumstances that led to Tuesday night’s series opener between the teams getting washed out. The game...
Brooks Robinson, Orioles 3rd baseman with 16 Gold Gloves, dies
BALTIMORE — Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, whose deft glovework and folksy manner made him one of the most beloved and accomplished athletes in Baltimore history, has died. He was 86. The Orioles announced his death in a joint statement with Robinson’s family Tuesday. The statement did not...
One of game’s characters, Guardians manager Terry Francona, a New Brighton native, set to end career defined by class, touch
CLEVELAND — At some point in the next few days, Terry Francona will hop on his celebrated scooter, zip along the underground concrete concourses of Progressive Field and leave the ballpark he’s called home the past 11 seasons for the final time. His ride is nearly over. Although he hasn’t...
Greg Fulton: Remembering Stan Musial, one of Pa.’s finest ballplayers
It was 60 years ago this month when Stan “the Man” Musial appeared in his final game for the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the end of a career that found him chosen as league MVP three times, winning seven batting titles, being selected to the All-Star team more than...
With the future of AM unclear, a look back at the powerful role radio plays in baseball history
NEW YORK — Growing up in the Boston suburbs, Suzyn Waldman fell madly in love with two things: baseball and Broadway shows. During the 1950s and ’60s, the long arm of AM radio brought both into her home. “I can still hear Ned Martin of the Red Sox reciting poetry...
Tampa Bay Rays finalizing new ballpark in St. Petersburg as part of a larger urban project
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The playoff-bound Tampa Bay Rays put the finishing touches Tuesday on plans for a new 30,000-seat ballpark in St. Petersburg as part of a $6.5 billion development project that includes affordable housing, retail, bars and restaurants and a Black history museum. The site is on the...
Yankees’ Anthony Misiewicz released from hospital after being struck in face vs. Pirates
Yankees reliever Anthony Misiewicz was released from Allegheny General Hospital after taking a line drive to the face, and New York placed him on the seven-day concussion injured list Saturday. The 28-year-old was struck by a 100.6 mph liner from the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ji Hwan Bae in the sixth inning...
Former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel suffers stroke during medical procedureVideo
ST. LOUIS — Former manager Charlie Manuel suffered a stroke Saturday while undergoing a medical procedure in a Florida hospital, the Philadelphia Phillies announced. “The hospital was able to attend to Charlie immediately and subsequently remove a blood clot,” the team said. “The next 24 hours will be crucial to...
Angels star Shohei Ohtani out for season with oblique injury, to have elbow surgeryVideo
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani will have surgery soon on the ligament tear in his pitching elbow after the Los Angeles Angels’ two-way star was ruled out for the rest of the season Saturday with an oblique injury. Ohtani and the Angels, out of playoff contention, decided to wrap up...
Analysis: Ronald Acuna-Mookie Betts showdown for NL MVP highlights award racesVideo
Ronald Acuna Jr. has the kind of numbers that make the young Atlanta Braves star a no-doubter for the National League MVP award. Then again, so does Los Angeles Dodgers standout Mookie Betts and his teammate, Freddie Freeman. It’s getting close to the postseason for Major League Baseball, which also...
Alex Rodriguez ratted out Manny Ramirez, Ryan Braun to feds in PED probe, report says
Alex Rodriguez told federal agents nine years ago that three Major League Baseball All-Stars — Manny Ramirez, Ryan Braun and an unnamed player — were performance-enhancing drug clients of Biogenesis founder Anthony Bosch, according to an ESPN report. In 2014, then-New York Yankees star had been summoned by federal agents...
Rangers RHP Scherzer to miss rest of regular season because of strained muscle in shoulderVideo
TORONTO — Texas Rangers right-hander Max Scherzer will miss the rest of the regular season, and likely wouldn’t be able to pitch in the playoffs if they make the postseason, because of a strained muscle in his shoulder. Rangers general manager Chris Young said an MRI on Wednesday revealed a...
Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías arrested, reportedly on suspicion of domestic violence
LOS ANGELES — Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías was arrested Sunday night and his Los Angeles County Jail booking sheet indicates he was detained in connection with a suspected felony offense. Urías was released Monday morning on $50,000 bond. TMZ and ESPN reported Urías was charged with felony domestic violence, citing...
MLB won’t extend pitch clock for postseason
NEW YORK — MLB is keeping the pitch clock the same for the postseason as it was for the regular season, brushing aside complaints from some players. Following an MLB executive council meeting this week, the commissioner’s office informed the competition committee there will be no change, a decision first...
Ronald Acuna becomes 1st player with 30 HRs and 60 stolen bases
LOS ANGELES — Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a long grand slam in the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night, becoming the first player in major-league history with 30 home runs and 60 stolen bases in the same season. Acuna sent a 429-foot shot to deep...
2 arrested and charged in on-field incident with Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr.Video
DENVER — The Denver Police Department arrested two adult males who went onto the field and made physical contact with Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. during Monday’s game at Coors Field, according to police reports obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The males were both charged with trespassing and disturbing the...
