Sports category, Page 206
Oneil Cruz’s 513-foot blast ties for 4th-longest recorded at Home Run Derby in Statcast eraVideo
Oneil Cruz entered the 2025 Home Run Derby as a betting favorite, despite having the least amount of home runs at the All-Star break among his fellow seven participants. Cruz ultimately fell in the semifinals to eventual winner Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, who bested the Pittsburgh Pirates slugger...
Steelers A to Z: Defensive tackle Jacob Slade returns as candidate for role in stopping run
Editor’s note: From now until reporting day to training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2025 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between...
Argument over ‘valid business purpose’ for NIL collectives threatens college sports settlement
Less than two weeks after terms of a multibillion-dollar college sports settlement went into effect, friction erupted over the definition of a “valid business purpose” that collectives making name, image and likeness payments to players are supposed to have. The new College Sports Commission sent a letter to athletic directors...
Baseball players’ union head hopeful of major leaguers participating in 2028 Olympics
ATLANTA — Baseball players’ union head Tony Clark says plans are moving ahead exploring the possibility of using major leaguers in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and discussions have taken place this week during the All-Star break. “There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done,” he told...
Fox Chapel native Jack Kartsonas agrees to free agent contract with Tampa Bay Rays
Jack Kartsonas did not hear his name called during the MLB Draft on Sunday or Monday, but, soon after, he was ready to put pen to paper. The West Virginia pitcher and Fox Chapel native agreed to a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Rays after the draft. Kartsonas,...
Former Penguins forward Josh Currie signs in Austria
Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Josh Currie has signed with the Graz 99ers, an Austrian team that competes in the International Central European Hockey League (ICEHL). That team announced the transaction via a release on Tuesday. A native of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the 32-year-old Currie spent the 2024-25 season with...
Mark Madden: Drafting another pitching phenom latest example of unwarranted Pirates optimism
First-round draft pick Seth Hernandez is the latest reason for Bucco optimism. The Pirates’ head scout called the high school right-hander a “culture changer.” But Paul Skenes hasn’t changed the Pirates’ culture. Skenes is MLB’s best pitcher. But he’s 4-8, and the Pirates are last in the NL Central. If...
Robot umpires to make All-Star Game debut, another step toward possible regular-season use in 2026
ATLANTA — Tarik Skubal views the strike zone differently than robot umpires. “I have this thing where I think everything is a strike until the umpire calls it a ball,” Detroit’s AL Cy Young Award winner said ahead of his start for the American League in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game....
Tim Benz: Oneil Cruz’s HR Derby explosion, Paul Skenes’ All-Star start highlight ‘cognitive dissonance’ of Pirates’ fandomVideo
Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz may not have won this year’s Home Run Derby, but he may have emerged as the biggest star of the night. Seattle’s Cal Raleigh added another chapter to his magical season by winning the event. The Mariners’ catcher was every bit a worthy champion. The...
Former Pitt star let go by Fox Sports: ‘Fired on my day off’
Former Pittsburgh Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles star running back LeSean McCoy has been let go by Fox Sports. The Athletic reported Monday that “The Facility,” which McCoy co-hosts, is being canceled. McCoy reacted to the news Monday evening on X. “, fired on my day off. WELL put me on...
Penguins prospect Chase Pietila embraces ‘meaner’ defense as his route to the NHL
Even if he isn’t in the NHL just yet, Chase Pietila had his “welcome to the NHL moment” this past spring. On March 12, three days after he signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pietila was brought to UMPC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry to get a...
Steelers A to Z: Ben Skowronek proved a nice acquisition as ‘gunner,’ depth receiver
Editor’s note: From now until reporting day to training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2025 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between...
First Call: Report claims NFL teams ‘don’t really expect’ a T.J. Watt trade; update on Najee Harris’ eye injury
Tuesday’s “First Call” examines the latest news on T.J. Watt’s contract. We have an update on Najee Harris’ eye. Paul Coffey has a new gig with the Edmonton Oilers. And a Pitt baseball pitcher gets picked in the MLB Draft. Waiting on Watt For T.J. Watt, the roadblock in his...
Pirates are being leveraged by both sides in MLB’s economics debate
As is usually the case around the All-Star break, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred pops up quite a bit with annual “state of the league” media interactions. Often, his quotes come with some sort of player-salary cost control messaging. Equally as predictable are retorts from the MLB Players Association,...
Pair of Pitt Panthers picked by Padres on 2nd day of MLB Draft
A pair of Pitt baseball players were chosen by the San Diego Padres on the second day of the MLB Draft on Monday. Left-handed pitcher Ryan Reed was selected in the 15th round (460th overall) and first baseman Luke Cantwell went in the 20th round (610th overall) Reed went 5-4...
Pirates’ Oneil Cruz wows with moonshots but is eliminated in semifinal round of Home Run DerbyVideo
The Home Run Derby has been notoriously unkind to Pittsburgh Pirates participants over the years. While the format has changed often, no Pirates player had ever advanced out of the first round heading into the 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby in Atlanta. Oneil Cruz, MLB’s resident Statcast record-shatterer, whose 6-foot-7...
Jannik Sinner wanted to win Wimbledon, but he really needed to beat Carlos Alcaraz
LONDON — Jannik Sinner needed this victory. He wanted to win Wimbledon, of course, and it would have meant a lot to him no matter who the opponent was in the final. That this championship, his fourth at a Grand Slam tournament, came via a win over Carlos Alcaraz made...
Fox Chapel’s David Fuhrer II gets off to blistering start at WPGA Amateur
Fox Chapel graduate David Fuhrer II got off to a blistering start to his opening round, making birdie on five of the first eight holes, to take the lead after the first day of the WPGA Amateur Championship on Monday at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown. Fuhrer went out in...
Neal Shipley closing in on PGA Tour card
Neal Shipley has almost secured a spot on the PGA Tour in 2026. Another win for the Mr. Lebanon native on the Korn Ferry Tour this season would earn him an automatic promotion to the PGA Tour, effective for the next full-field event. Shipley shot an 8-under par 64 on...
Sun Belt approves move to lure Louisiana Tech from Conference USA
NEW ORLEANS — The Sun Belt Conference has formally approved a proposal to extend a membership invitation to Louisiana Tech, a person familiar with the situation said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Monday because the Sun Belt has not announced the membership offer,...
Pirates’ Paul Skenes ready to start All-Star Game again: ‘A huge honor and huge opportunity’Video
In part stemming from an aversion to receiving compliments, hyping up himself and publicity in general, Paul Skenes can be notoriously succinct when asked about his growing list of accolades as a major-leaguer. After all, last summer, when Skenes was named to the All-Star Game, as well as the NL’s...
NFL legend John Elway won’t be charged in golf cart accident that killed former agent Jeff Sperbeck
LA QUINTA, Calif. — NFL Hall of Famer John Elway won’t be charged after his business partner Jeffrey Sperbeck was fatally injured falling out of his golf cart at a Southern California golf resort community last April, authorities said. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told KUSA-TV in Denver on Friday...
Former Nailers coach Derek Army hired as assistant with AHL’s Colorado Eagles
Derek Army is leaving as head coach of the Wheeling Nailers, ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, to accept an assistant coaching position with the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League. Colorado announced the hiring via a release on Monday. Army took over as interim head coach of the...
Rory McIlroy returns home for the British Open ready to embrace the love
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Rory McIlroy practically had Royal Portrush all to himself Monday morning, but not for long. By the time he finished his first practice round for the British Open — his first time back on these links in 2,187 days — there was a big crowd that...
The SEC and Big Ten are currently at a standstill over the College Football Playoff format
ATLANTA — Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday that, despite frequent conversations with Big Ten counterpart Tony Petitti, the two leagues have yet to agree on the College Football Playoff format after this upcoming season and could leave it at 12 teams. The disagreement doesn’t stem from a lack...
