U mad, bro?: Quarterback concerns; stadium name-change anger; RB depth; Pirates draft discord
We’ve had a week off from “U mad, bro?” because I was on vacation. As a result, we’ve got a ton of angst built up. So I thought it would be best to release a bit of the building pressure on my inbox and my Twitter mentions before they pop....
First Call: Some ex-Steelers may be checking out new teams; Pirates pitching prospect heating up
Tuesday’s “First Call” looks at some former Pittsburgh Steelers in new places. An AFC North division rival is dealing with a franchise-tag problem. A top-notch Pirates prospect is in a groove. And the Pirates have a tough challenge in Chicago. Ex-Steelers on the move Some former Steelers are trying to...
Rare 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card going up for auction
NEW YORK — A decades-old, mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card could break a record at auction. The collector’s item from 1952 features one of baseball’s most celebrated and charismatic legends, and is widely regarded as one of just a handful in near-perfect condition. It’s estimated the final cost of...
First Call: Le’Veon Bell’s boxing match on hold; new head coaching job for Hines Ward; Daniel Vogelbach’s Mets debut
Monday’s “First Call” relays some unfortunate news about Le’Veon Bell’s boxing match. Two former Pittsburgh Steelers are getting jobs in the coaching world. The Pirates are getting the Chicago Cubs while they are hot. And Daniel Vogelbach makes his first start as a New York Met against another former Pirate....
Big Papi a big hit at Baseball Hall of Fame inductionVideo
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — David Ortiz promised to speak from the heart. As usual, Big Papi delivered. His megawatt smile tinged with a tad of emotion, the former Boston Red Sox slugger was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday — after his daughter Alexandra sang the national anthiem...
Vogelbach reunites with Lindor on Mets, who add PerezVideo
NEW YORK — Daniel Vogelbach was happy to be leaping up the standings and to reunite with Francisco Lindor, his travel teammate during high school days in Florida. “Just as good as he is now as he was back then,” Vogelbach said of Lindor on Saturday, a day after the...
Former Braves, Cubs OF Dwight Smith dies at 58
ATLANTA — Dwight Smith, a runner-up for NL rookie of the year who played on Atlanta’s World Series-winning team in 1995, died Friday, the Braves announced. He was 58. The Braves said the former outfielder and pinch-hitting specialist died of congestive heart and lung failure. He lived in suburban Peachtree...
Royals’ Whit Merrifield says he ‘poorly articulated’ covid vax remarksVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two-time All-Star Whit Merrifield of the Kansas City Royals apologized Friday for “poorly articulated” comments about the covid-19 vaccine after missing the team’s trip to Canada. Merrifield was among 10 Royals players who didn’t travel to Toronto because of their vaccination status for a four-game series...
Big Papi still awestruck as Hall of Fame induction looms
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Six months after he got one of the most amazing phone calls in sports, David Ortiz is still awestruck at his good fortune. The former Boston Red Sox slugger known affectionately as Big Papi will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday. Maybe then baseball’s...
MLB struggling to get attendance back to pre-pandemic levels
MILWAUKEE — Blame it on lingering effects of the pandemic, resentment over the lockout or economic fears. MLB is struggling to fill the stands at pre-covid levels as the sport heads into the last 2 1/2 months of its first season since 2019 without capacity restrictions. MLB reached the All-Star...
MLB All-Star Game wins night but draws record low ratings
LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball’s Midsummer Classic remains the most-watched all-star game in the major professional sports, even though it drew record lows in viewership for the fifth time since 2015. Tuesday night’s game from Los Angeles — which the American League won 3-2 — averaged 7.51 million viewers...
Aaron Judge, Yankees on top as baseball returns from All-Star break
CHICAGO — Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees, Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jose Altuve and the Houston Astros. They’re all just looking for more of the same. The Atlanta Braves’ title defense is rolling along, and Julio Rodriguez and the Seattle Mariners are looking to crash...
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred defends treatment of minor leaguers, presses Oakland
LOS ANGELES — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred defended the sport’s treatment of minor leaguers, prompting immediate criticism from a players’ advocacy group. “I kind of reject the premise of the question that minor league players are not paid a living wage,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America before...
All-Stars showcase modern MLB: HRs, strikeouts, shifts
LOS ANGELES — The All-Star Game showcased what baseball has become — home runs, strikeouts and offense-killing shifts. The National League didn’t have a hit between the first and eighth innings of Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss, its ninth in a row. In a sport where R&D has become as important...
Latrobe alum Jared Kollar signs with San Diego Padres
Feeling he had more to prove as a college pitcher, Jared Kollar took advantage of a fifth year of eligibility and played last season at Rutgers. What did he prove? That he might have major-league talent. The crafty right-hander out of Latrobe and Seton Hill was signed Tuesday night to...
Rachel Robinson honored on 100th birthday at All-Star GameVideo
LOS ANGELES — Baseball’s All-Stars gathered on the field before Tuesday night’s game at Dodger Stadium to honor Rachel Robinson on her 100th birthday. Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts led the tribute to the widow of Jackie Robinson, speaking to the crowd from the infield grass after the Canadian...
Orioles draft 7-foot pitcher, would be tallest ever in MLB
LOS ANGELES — The Baltimore Orioles aimed high with their 13th-round draft pick. A full seven feet — and that’s before their new pitching prospect gets on the mound. The O’s selected 7-foot left-hander Jared Beck from Saint Leo University with the first pick in Round 13 of baseball’s amateur...
Blackhawk grad Michael Turconi selected by Toronto Blue Jays in 15th round
Michael Turconi is among the latest Western Pennsylvania products to be selected in the 2022 MLB Draft. The Blackhawk graduate and redshirt junior on the Wake Forest baseball team was drafted Tuesday afternoon by the Toronto Blue Jays with the No. 458 pick in the 15th round. Turconi follows a...
Juan Soto overcomes competition, contract talk to win Home Run DerbyVideo
LOS ANGELES — Juan Soto bet heavily on his own talent and health by turning down a massive, long-term contract extension from the Washington Nationals. Soto then went to the Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium and showed why he almost certainly can’t lose. Soto won the Derby for the...
St. Louis Cardinals draft former Allderdice pitcher Tanner Jacobson in 10th round
Allderdice graduate Tanner Jacobson on Monday became the first player in the short history of Queens University baseball to be picked in the MLB Draft. The St. Louis Cardinals chose the right-handed pitcher in the 10th round with pick No. 307, a milestone moment for the NCAA Division II baseball...
Baltimore Orioles draft former Canon-McMillan pitcher Cameron Weston
Former Canon-McMillan star Cameron Weston, who helped win WPIAL and PIAA baseball titles in 2018, was selected Monday in the eighth round of the MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. Weston was picked 227th overall. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound right-hander finished his junior season at Michigan, where he ranked among the...
Clayton Kershaw, Shohei Ohtani brightest All-Stars in LA showcaseVideo
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw are two-way praisers. Six miles from Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, LA’s biggest baseball stars open the All-Star Game on Tuesday night when it returns to Dodger Stadium for the first time in 42 years. Kershaw, the Dodgers’ three-time Cy Young Award winner,...
Cubs draft son of ex-Cardinals slugger Mark McGwireVideo
LOS ANGELES — The McGwire family is set to see the other side of things in one of baseball’s best rivalries. Mason McGwire, son of 12-time All-Star slugger Mark, was selected in the eighth round of baseball’s amateur draft by the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Mark spent five of his...
All-Star Game decided by a HR derby if tied after 9 inningsVideo
LOS ANGELES — Pete Alonso was in the visitors’ clubhouse at Truist Park last week when an attendant made a puzzling request: Would the New York Mets slugger take a call from Atlanta Braves skipper Brian Snitker? “Why is the opposing manager calling me?” Alonso recalled thinking. He quickly found...
Clayton Kershaw to start All-Star Game for NL, Shane McClanahan for ALVideo
LOS ANGELES — Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will start for the National League on Tuesday night in the first All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium since 1980, and Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan will be on the mound for the American League. Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani will lead off...
