Baseball

The lively atmosphere Alcides Escobar expected for his Tokyo Dome return was silenced by Japan’s efforts to counter the spread of the new coronavirus known as COVID-19. In November 2014, the longtime defensive wiz with the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals got a taste of the noise and clamor […]

MESA, ARIZONA – Yu Darvish’s spring training debut began exactly the way he predicted. First pitch, home run. Orlando Arcia connected right away, launching a drive over the fence in left center field, prompting the Chicago Cubs right-hander to rapidly snap his glove open and closed, imploring the plate umpire […]

The return of pro baseball to Tokyo Dome on Saturday night was greeted by a jarring silence. There were no songs or chants to welcome the players to the plate nor the blaring of trumpets to provide the familiar soundtrack to the NPB experience. Instead, it was a decidedly different […]

ROCHESTER NEW YORK – Johnny Antonelli, a five-time All-Star who was a key pitcher on the World Series-winning New York Giants in 1954, has died. He was 89. The San Francisco Giants released a statement saying Antonelli died Friday in Rochester, New York. A cause of death wasn’t given. The […]

The return of pro baseball to Tokyo Dome on Saturday night was greeted by a jarring silence. There were no songs or chants to welcome the players to the plate nor the blaring of trumpets to provide the familiar soundtrack to the NPB experience. Instead, it was a decidedly different […]

WASHINGTON – Curt Flood’s widow has a simple explanation for why her late husband, who is revered by players for sacrificing his career to advocate for free agency, has not been enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. “I think the holdup is that he got on a lot […]

NEW YORK – The United States may get some better players for its second attempt to qualify for the Olympic baseball tournament. Major League Baseball and the players’ association agreed to make players not likely to be on 26-man major league rosters available for the Americas qualifying tournament, to be […]

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – Madison Bumgarner showed the Arizona Diamondbacks he’s more than a rodeo star. The team’s marquee free-agent acquisition of the offseason was solid in his first spring training outing on Thursday. He retired his first five batters, including four on strikeouts, before giving up a solo homer to […]

NEW YORK – Kerwin Danley became the first African American umpire crew chief in Major League Baseball when a series of promotions, additions and retirements were announced Thursday. The moves included Alfonso Marquez being elevated to the first Hispanic crew chief in MLB history born outside the United States and […]

Nippon Professional Baseball announced Wednesday it will hold all 72 of its remaining preseason games behind closed doors, becoming the latest Japanese sporting body to take drastic steps to address the spiraling coronavirus crisis. It follows an announcement by the Japan Rugby Football Union earlier in the day that it […]