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Welcome back to an annual tradition, in which you’re reminded that it’s bad to have opinions about baseball after the first month of the season. For example, these were actual words written after April: Delmon Young might actually be a worthwhile hitter now Fact. While he’ll always be limited by the hackhackhack, we’re 300 at-bats into the new, high-average Delmon. In 44 plate appearances this season, he’s…

LIBERAL – People walked past Kaiser Carlile’s open casket as they entered the Seward County Community College gymnasium Tuesday for his funeral. The 9-year-old was wearing his Liberal Bee Jays uniform, the same one he was wearing Aug. 1 when a player’s swing in the on-deck circle struck Kaiser in the head during a National Baseball Congress World Series game at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. Kaiser died the next day. Some people…

There are 15 games on the MLB schedule Tuesday night, allowing DraftKings daily fantasy players a full array of possibilities when it comes to setting a lineup. Is Zack Greinke worth $12,000 after getting roughed up in his previous start? How about Matt Harvey, or an under-the-radar rookie instead? While star power always helps, the key to outscoring the competition lies in finding value from lesser-used names. A red-hot outfielder…

On June 8, 2001, the Kansas City Royals were in the midst of a lengthy playoff-less streak 16 years long. Though they would wait another 13 years for that streak to end, a young boy did not care about that as he went to Kauffman Stadium with his father. Fresh off a move from Cleveland, Ohio, the boy did not have an attachment to the Royals in any form. He…

Rending of the proposed Vanderbilt University baseball complex. This view shows the pro locker room and lounge facility in the complex at Memorial Gym. The Vanderbilt University Board of Trust has approved a $10 million project, planned to be built after the 2016 baseball season.(Photo: Submitted) Improvements to Vanderbilt’s baseball facilities could begin in the summer of 2016, according to athletics director David Williams. The school’s board of trust has approved…

As Los Angeles moves closer to bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics, officials said they can host the massive 17-day sporting event for $4.1 billion and offered to guarantee that the city will cover any cost overruns. In an interview with The Times’ editorial board Monday, Mayor Eric Garcetti said he is pushing for Los Angeles to be named as the replacement for Boston, which dropped its bid amid financial…

Buddy Baker competed on NASCAR’s premier circuit for more than three decades, running 700 races and winning the 1980 Daytona 500.(Photo: AP) NASCAR has lost one of its greats. Buddy Baker, who announced last month he had inoperable lung cancer, died early Monday morning at 74. Baker, known as NASCAR’s ‘Gentle Giant’ as he towered over most of his competitors at 6-foot-6, won the 1980 Daytona 500, was a NASCAR…

British sports bodies are queueing up to urge caution as athletes race to prove their innocence by publishing the results of blood doping samples with the elite funding agency UK Sport among those encouraging athletes to think carefully before revealing details. Related: Mo Farah calls for his anti-doping blood test data to be made public The double Olympic champion Mo Farah is one of a number of top stars set…

Buddy Baker competed on NASCAR’s premier circuit for more than three decades, running 700 races and winning the 1980 Daytona 500.(Photo: AP) NASCAR has lost one of its greats. Buddy Baker, who announced last month he had inoperable lung cancer, died early Monday morning at 74. Baker, known as NASCAR’s ‘Gentle Giant’ as he towered over most of his competitors at 6-foot-6, won the 1980 Daytona 500, was a NASCAR…

Buddy Baker competed on NASCAR’s premier circuit for more than three decades, running 700 races and winning the 1980 Daytona 500.(Photo: AP) NASCAR has lost one of its greats. Buddy Baker, who announced last month he had inoperable lung cancer, died early Monday morning at 74. Baker, known as NASCAR’s ‘Gentle Giant’ as he towered over most of his competitors at 6-foot-6, won the 1980 Daytona 500, was a NASCAR…

NBC Sports Group extended its exclusive agreement to carry England’s Premier League soccer in the U.S. for an additional six years under a new deal announced Monday. The Comcast Corp.-owned sports unit will air England’s top league through the 2021-2022 season. Ahead of the 2013 season, NBC scored a three-year deal for roughly $250 million,…

“This is Your Brain on Sports” is a new podcast from Sports Illustrated in which SI executive editor Jon Wertheim and Tufts University psychology professor Sam Sommers look at the hidden side of games, athletes, owners, and officials. In this week’s episode we take the title of the podcast quite literally, peeking under the hood at the mind of the sports fan. Our guest is Mina Cikara, a social neuroscientist…

SEATTLE—You know an e-sports event has made it when a crowd’s patriotic chants swell into the tens of thousands. But the bigger surprise at this week’s The International, currently the largest annual Dota 2 gaming tournament, was that those cries weren’t loudest for the usual e-sports titans like Korea or China. This week, capacity crowds celebrated an American squad. On Wednesday night of The International 2015’s main event, I was squeezed into the giant Key…

CINCINNATI – As schools reopen, students and parents should take steps to prevent sports injuries. Physicians in the Division of Sports Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center say preparation before the first day of practice is critical in reducing the risk of injury. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately 3.5 million 14-and-unders get hurt in sports or   recreational activities. More than 775,000 are treated in hospital…

Prepped Blog Post Preps photos Prep, stats, roster, schedule All Colorado high school team sports will use a Rating Percentage Index (RPI) system to determine postseason playing fields beginning during the 2016-17 season, the CHSAA board of directors adopted Saturday and announced Monday. The RPI formula is as follows: 25 percent of a team’s winning percentage, plus 50 percent of the winning percentage of their opponents, plus 25 percent of…

Buddy Baker competed on NASCAR’s premier circuit for more than three decades, running 700 races and winning the 1980 Daytona 500.(Photo: AP) NASCAR has lost one of its greats. Buddy Baker, who announced last month he had inoperable lung cancer, died early Monday morning at 74. Baker, known as NASCAR’s ‘Gentle Giant’ as he towered over most of his competitors at 6-foot-6, won the 1980 Daytona 500, was a NASCAR…

0 Shares Print RIO DE JANEIRO — Thirteen rowers on the 40-member U.S. team came down with stomach illness at the World Rowing Junior Championships — a trial run for next summer’s Olympics — and the team doctor said she suspected it was due to pollution in the lake where the competition took place. The event went on amid rising concerns about the water quality at venues for the Rio…

(Rick Osentoski, USA TODAY Sports) Leading off Tonight’s meager seven-game slate starts at 7:05 p.m. On these light nights, it pays to go with a stars-and-scrubs strategy because the middle tiers of players don’t offer much upside. Click for more tips on how to win days like this. There are eight lefties on the hill — seven not named Chris Sale. Use the platoon cheat sheet. In fact, the Los Angeles…

ENLARGE Updated Aug. 10, 2015 2:27 p.m. ET Major League Baseball prides itself on the idea that every team has a chance. “Hope and faith” is what Bud Selig called it, and in the last decade of his tenure as commissioner he set out to create it in as many markets as possible, for as long into the season as possible, year in and year out. The result has been…

In 2011, Pat Connaughton was ranked by one scouting service as the 33rd-best prospect in the Major League Baseball draft. Pro clubs passed on his services, however, when it became clear that he was going to attend Notre Dame to both play baseball and act as a swingman on the Fighting Irish’s basketball team. Connaughton shined in his college basketball career as a shooter and scorer, and though the Baltimore…