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Baseball is slow, low-scoring and quiet—the opposite of the fast, loud and violent game of football. But is baseball really dying in the shadow of its flashier rival? While football is undoubtedly very popular, the numbers show that the demise of the sport known as the national pastime has been considerably exaggerated. Since it is spring…

Sign InRegister Help Shop TV Radio Mobile NFL NBA MLB Masters NCAA FB NCAA BB NHL High School Local Video More Play the ultimate Fantasy Baseball Game featuring exclusive Player Rewards and Benefits. PLAYNOW Join the competition and play for up to $5,000 in prizes. PLAYNOW Get into the Fantasy Baseball action by creating or joining a Free league. PLAYNOW …

If there’s one thing you can always count on a baseball player in a high-stress situation to be, it’s a sensitive weenie. Allow me to direct your attention to this moment, from yesterday’s game between the Giants and Padres. After the first pitch of his at-bat, Giants outfielder Angel Pagan noticed a piece of gum sitting in the batter’s box, and so he absentmindedly tossed the gum in Padres catcher…

Trevor Bauer was once a can’t miss pitcher prospect that I acquired in a trade proposed to me along with Mike Trout for Carlos Gonzalez in a keeper league. Bauer, who made his debut with the Diamondbacks later that year (2012), struggled with control and other issues and was traded to Cleveland. He’s now Cleveland’s No. 3 starter and still just 24 with loads of potential. His 2015 debut featured…

Earlier today, we shared a service called BandSwapper, designed to let people who purchase an Apple Watch Sport trade their extra unused Sport Bands for a Sport Band in a different size and color. As it turns out, Sport Band trading is not going to be possible, due to the way that the bands are configured. Ahead of pre-orders, the Apple Watch Sport was advertised as shipping with two separate…

In recognition of FOX Sports broadcaster Steve Byrnes’ courageous and ongoing battle with head-and-neck cancer, FOX Sports, in coordination with Bristol Motor Speedway, Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI), Stand Up To Cancer and NASCAR, is naming the April 19 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race from Bristol the Food City 500 In Support Of Steve Byrnes And Stand Up To Cancer. The event, which will be aired live on FOX at 12:30…

CINCINNATI — Lauren Hill’s teammates and coaches are remembering the 19-year-old college basketball player with her own inspiring words: “Never give up.” An example she lived by as she fought a brain tumor and rallied those around her to help her achieve her dream of playing in a game. Several hundred students gathered on the grassy quad at Mount St. Joseph on Friday, spelling out Hill’s No. 22 with blue plastic…

The Dutch Eredivisie match between FC Utrecht and Ajax Amsterdam held at Stadion Galgenwaard on April 5 in Utrecht, Netherlands. (Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images) It was a beautiful day for soccer in the Dutch town of Utrecht. Spring sunshine filled the stadium as the local team, FC Utrecht, kicked off against perennial powerhouse Ajax Amsterdam. As the beautiful game slowly played out on the field, however, things in the stands quickly got ugly. “Hamas,…

Don’t take Mark Laird’s word for it. Laird only thinks he knows the meaning behind the celebratory hand motion some of his LSU teammates make after hitting a double, triple or, even, a clutch single. “I think I overheard them talk about it. I may be wrong,” Laird said. “I haven’t really asked, but I think it means ‘You’re crazy for throwing to me.’” If you’ve watched LSU play a…

Adrian Gonzalez has already slugged 5 home runs for the Dodgers. (Getty) We’re not even a handful of games into the season, so if you’re fantasy team is slumping, don’t fret. There are close to 160 to go. The first weekend of the baseball season brings us to a new set of series. Remember, pitching staffs are getting toward the back end of the rotations right now, so that could…

Picking the right pitcher can either save your daily fantasy team or put it over the top in search of big money. While there is a lot of uncertainty at this early part of the season, these players should exceed their value with big games Friday.   Gio Gonzalez, Washington Nationals ($9,100) It’s always difficult to trust a pitcher like Gio Gonzalez, who has put together…

The New York Times on Wednesday published an op-ed with the headline “Don’t Let Statistics Ruin Baseball.” Some of the baseball nuts at FiveThirtyEight staff couldn’t contain themselves after reading it. Here’s an edited transcript of our Slack conversation. cwick: This is the kind of thing that gets our attention around here. A sample of the op-ed: “Thanks to ‘Moneyball’ and stats-driven fantasy leagues, advanced statistics have changed how fans…

M.L.B. is engaged in a full-court press to turn players such as Mike Trout into national celebrities a post-Jeter world. Credit Photograph by Stephen Dunn / Getty The New York Yankees opened the 2015 season with a dispiriting 6—1 loss at home, but perhaps more dispiriting, to the team and to Major League Baseball, was the absence of one man: Derek Jeter, who retired last year after two decades as…

Starting pitcher projected Game Scores for April 9 2014 Statistics Past 21 Days GS Team Name T Opp W-L ERA WHIP W-L ERA WHIP 68* Matt Harvey R @Wsh — — — — — — 67 Stephen Strasburg R NYM 14-11 3.14 1.12 — — — 55 A.J. Burnett R @Cin 8-18 4.59 1.41 — — — 55 CC Sabathia L Tor 3-4 5.28 1.48 — — — 53 Ian…

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For a list of all the latest deals, check out the transfers page. TRANSFER GOSSIP Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling, 20, and Arsenal winger Theo Walcott, 26, are poised to swap clubs in the summer with the Gunners ready to pay an extra £20m to complete the deal. (Daily Star)  Friday’s Daily Star back page Manchester United target and…

To save articles or get newsletters, alerts or recommendations – all free. Don’t have an account yet?Create an account » Subscribed through iTunes and need an NYTimes.com account?Learn more »

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The cash-strapped national ice hockey team launched a successful crowdfunding campaign on April 4 for their trip to the Ice Hockey Federation Challenge Cup in Kuwait next week. With the hashtag #SupportIceHockey skating across Twitter, the Ice Hockey Association of India urged the public to help them meet a Rs3.5 lakh ($5,630) goal through the online platform BitGiving. According to the website, each player had paid Rs20,000 from his own pocket. But the programme…