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Jeurys Familia is one of four players suspended under the new domestic violence policy. (via Arturo Pardavila III) Recently, Pablo Sandoval was designated by the Boston Red Sox for assignment, only to return to his first team, the San Francisco Giants, on a minor league deal. For some Giants fans, myself included, the homecoming was not particularly welcome, and it wasn’t just because of his rapidly eroding skill set. In…

Getty Images A winner, that is for sure. Neymar’s list of honours include: Barcelona Champions League (2015) La Liga (2015, 2016) Copa Del Rey (2015, 2016, 2017) Club World Cup (2015) Santos Copa Libertadores (2011) Campeonato Paulista (2010, 2011, 2012) Copa do Brasil (2010) Brazil Olympic gold medal (2016) Confederations Cup (2013)

By the end, there were maybe 3,000 people in the stands, which is the kind of crowd you might expect in the winter for the Battle of the Bronx, either at Fordham’s Rose Hill Gymnasium or Manhattan’s Draddy Gym. These were the diehards. These were the die-nevers. “FRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-ZZZZZZIER!” one loud, slurry voice exclaimed, serving as the play-by-play man for the last act of this interminable baseball Wednesday, Todd Frazier waving…

As Kai Caranto’s double found grass down the left field line, Greg Pierantoni hurtled home. Santa Clarita resident Kai Caranto is 4-for-13 at the plate with 10 RBIs for the USA Baseball 12U National Team at the Baseball World Cup in Taiwan. Photo courtesy USA Baseball It was a Santa Clarita resident driving in a Valencia resident in a seven-run first inning that capped an…

Slide Show Capturing Camaraderie in a Minor League Baseball Team Credit Fred R. Conrad ‘ ); } In a bygone era, sports photographers didn’t have the benefit of Telephoto lenses, digital cameras or wireless transmission. But their technological limitations had under-appreciated benefits. “Photographers had to get really close to the ballplayers,” said Fred Conrad, a former staff photographer for The New York Times. “So there’s this wonderfully personal and intimate…

NASCAR has standardized the location of the Overtime Line as the start/finish line, a decision that will be implemented immediately ahead of this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Watkins Glen International. “NASCAR has been looking at the Overtime procedure for quite some time,” NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said in a statement. “After many discussions with key…

A pep squad greets fans outside the Verizon Center before a Wizards playoff game. (Photo by Ray K. Saunders/The Washington Post) Monumental Sports & Entertainment is engaged in active conversations with Capital One about renaming Verizon Center, and a person familiar with the deal suggested that an announcement could come by next week. The existing naming rights deal with Verizon, which predated Ted Leonsis’s ownership of the downtown arena, was…

Ken Pagan’s life changed forever with the extension of his elbow and the flick of his wrist. Pagan, an avid hockey and baseball fan, etched his name in MLB postseason lore last October — just for all the wrong reasons. Ken PaganFacebook; AP His name won’t immediately ring a bell like other infamous fans like Jeffrey Maier, the 12-year-old ballhawk who snatched a controversial home-run ball in Game 1 of…

Nationals Manager Dusty Baker is giving sports-talk radio plenty to yap about. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) When I wrote last week about the sports-radio fueled debate concerning the Nationals lineup, the top reaction I got was this: never write about sports-radio fueled baseball debates again. I heard that this is a pointless and silly discussion, an attention-seeking gimmick from needy radio hosts, an unnecessary bit of dissent in a Nationals season that…

American sports fanatics stand to miss out when the State Department ban on travel to North Korea takes effect on September 1. Only journalists, humanitarian workers and people promoting U.S. national interests will be exempted. North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un’s focus on his country’s nuclear development program is well documented, but he has also nurtured ambitious goals for tourism. In 2015, he reportedly decided he wanted to increase the number of…

Yes, the Wednesday match between the MLS All-Stars and world soccer power Real Madrid is a friendly, but anyone thinking the exhibition will be void of intensity and importance would be making a mistake. The two sides will meet before a capacity crowd at Soldier Field in Chicago as the MLS’s All-Stars will look to continue a surprising run of success against the top-drawer European teams that have made this…

The city’s convention and visitors bureau, eXplore Lawrence, has hired a sales manager to help bring major athletic competitions to Lawrence. The new position will be filled by B.J. Harris, who will promote and sell the city as a destination for sporting events. Leaders at eXplore Lawrence said they think the organization needs a “strong presence” in that realm. “We see that this is one of our niche markets and…

“We have to go to the ballgame tonight. Adrian Beltre’s in town!” — nobody, ever. I get that 450 HRs and 3,000 hits is quite an accomplishment, but there is no statistical threshold for the Hall of Fame. The guy’s a compiler. Over a 20 year career, he’s averaged 23 homers and 150 hits per season. That sounds a lot less impressive. When you’ve played for that long in the…

11:00 AM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment NASCAR doesn’t expect many changes in its drug testing program after switching the collection agency and the laboratory that analyzes the samples. But there apparently is one thing that drivers have noticed in the first couple of weeks: They have to do a little more work. “I got drug tested the first week and they asked for about twice…

Across the turf of Schaumburg’s Olympic Park they scampered, 300 children wearing the distinctive navy blue of global soccer titan FC Barcelona. It was billed as a camp, but you could just as easily call it an incursion. The week of drills and scrimmages marked the Spanish mega-club’s first step into Chicago’s youth soccer community. It will be followed this fall by academies where players can practice Barcelona’s fluid, crowd-pleasing…

MARTINSVILLE-Martinsville Speedway’s fall Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race just got a new sponsor. Speedway officials announced Wednesday morning that First Data Corporation will take over sponsorship of the event in a three-year deal. October 29 will mark the inaugural First Data 500 race at the track. Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell and Josh King, global head of communications for First Data, announced the sponsorship at…

The fanfare this week around the selection of Los Angeles as host of the 2028 Summer Olympics provides a taste of what Boston lost when it abandoned its bid for the Games in 2015. Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles announced the agreement Monday, which, if ratified by the Los Angeles City Council and the US Olympic Committee board in August, would make LA a three-time Olympic city after hosting…

Aug 1, 2017 Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment CARSON, Calif. — The Olympic Games have always been a mega sporting event flush with hyperbole. Each of those 17 days are filled with physical tests to see who is the fastest, strongest and mentally toughest. So when Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti stepped onto the podium at the StubHub Center here Monday evening and formally announced the city…

– Nearly 20 years after setting a record for rollerblading and skating around the world, Fabrice Gropaiz plans to travel 15,534 miles around the world in 2018. ()

[This article appears in the Aug. 7, 2017, edition of Sports Illustrated.] With special reporting by Michael Bamberger, Ben Baskin and Pete Madden. Playing golf with the 45th President of the United States offers a revealing character study of him. Donald Trump’s private clubs are where he feels most comfortable, and holding court with members and guests and employees is an important part of the ritual—in the pro shop, at…