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For these games, Arena has given many of his top-choice players a rest. In their place on the 23-man roster are some other veterans and a host of new faces and second-tier players, all hoping to catch the coaching staff’s eye a year before the World Cup. A couple did that on Saturday: Forward Dom Dwyer slammed in a deflection to open the scoring 19 minutes into his debut with…

Every now and again, we need a little reminder of something that should be self-evident: Going to a ballgame is supposed to be fun. It is supposed to be a blast, not a bore. It is part of the reason why I always will have a hard time getting 100 percent behind the notion that one of the great signs of American weakness is that baseball games take too damned…

New York Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson called it “a baseball decision” when his team signed Tim Tebow to a minor league contract last September, even though the former football player had spent 11 years away from the diamond. The line drew smirks from just about everyone, and now we know that Alderson may have had his tongue firmly entrenched in his cheek. Speaking Friday at a panel during the…

“It’s a lot easier to analyze than, say, football, which has so many moving parts,” he said. “You aren’t overwhelmed.” Still, baseball is not always simple. Thornley dissected the scoring rules of baseball and asked head-scratching questions of his audience. For example, if a reliever replaced a starting pitcher with a runner on first, and then that runner was called out after being struck by a batted ball, and the…

Tim Tebow.  Uh oh, I’ve gone and done it. The Internet will now melt with all the hot takes on both sides of the fence.  But seriously, this one is actually fun.  Look, most of us are smart enough to know that the Mets signed the former Heisman Trophy winner as a publicity stunt. Sure, there was a small minority of Tebow die-hards who thought for some reason he could…

The dynamic middle infield duo of Nick Madrigal and Cadyn Grenier have joined forces again for the USA Collegiate National Team. The team made up of some of the best college players across the nation is currently playing a series with Chinese Taipei before taking on Cuba and Japan. The wood bat college league has teams in Oregon, Washington and Canada, with the Corvallis Knights playing their games at Goss….

“It’s a lot easier to analyze than, say, football, which has so many moving parts,” he said. “You aren’t overwhelmed.” Still, baseball is not always simple. Thornley dissected the scoring rules of baseball and asked head-scratching questions of his audience. For example, if a reliever replaced a starting pitcher with a runner on first, and then that runner was called out after being struck by a batted ball, and the…

I know I am overthinking it, but the Clark Kent-Superman thing always bothered me. Kent worked at a newspaper surrounded by, in theory, observant folks, and when it came to facial recognition between him and Superman, the whole disguise was a pair of glasses. Really? Fill in your own mean-spirited joke about newspaper people, but any walk of life should have noticed the difference. The before and after was a…

“These are not real names,” the comedian George Carlin once wailed. “Want to hear a real name? Eddie. Eddie is a real name. Whatever happened to Eddie?” Photo The Phillies’ Tyler Green, pitching in 1997, was the first player who went by Tyler to reach the major leagues, for Philadelphia in 1993. Credit Erik S. Lesser/Associated Press Well, Eddie Butler pitches for the Chicago Cubs, and Eddie Rosario plays outfield…

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live lineup now! Dale Earnhardt Jr., $20: Earnhardt Jr. is the best restrictor-plate racer in NASCAR, his car was fastest in final practice and teammate Chase Elliott says Earnhardt is more locked in than he’s ever seen. Oh, and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is starting on the Coors Light Pole. Yes, picking the driver starting P1 is a risk at big tracks due to…

For these games, Arena has given many of his top-choice players a rest. In their place on the 23-man roster are some other veterans and a host of new faces and second-tier players, all hoping to catch the coaching staff’s eye a year before the World Cup. But the players also know a hard truth: Whatever they do in the next month, most of them will watch the World Cup…

Surafel Wodajo’s most cherished memory from his childhood in Ethiopia is sitting on the cement floor in his living room watching Zinedine Zidane, a French soccer star who was in an Italian league at the time, on his family’s black-and-white TV. Armon Tenaw, who now plays on a team with Wodajo in Seattle, can’t pinpoint when he was introduced to the sport. It’s just always been there. He remembers playing…

Big Ten Welcomes Notre Dame Men’s Ice Hockey as Sport Affiliate Member Fighting Irish join Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin to give the conference seven hockey programs for the 2017-18 season Print Email Text July 1, 2017 The University of Notre Dame officially became a sport affiliate member for men’s hockey Saturday. The Fighting Irish join Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin to…

After touching the wall nearly five seconds after Smith and almost two seconds behind Eastin, Beisel made her way to their lanes at the Indiana University Natatorium and offered her congratulations. “I’m handing you over the 400 I.M. baton,” she told them. Photo Beisel, left, was third to touch the wall in the 400 individual medley, but a disqualification moved her into second. The race was won by Leah Smith,…

Tim Tebow.  Uh oh, I’ve gone and done it. The Internet will now melt with all the hot takes on both sides of the fence.  But seriously, this one is actually fun.  Look, most of us are smart enough to know that the Mets signed the former Heisman Trophy winner as a publicity stunt. Sure, there was a small minority of Tebow die-hards who thought for some reason he could…

UNIVERSAL CITY, Texas – As the coaches and players recited the Lord’s Prayer on the baseball diamond Friday evening, they weren’t praying for victory or good weather. They were praying for two San Antonio police officers, one injured and one slain in a shootout Thursday. Officer Miguel Moreno, who died from his wounds Friday morning, and Officer Julio Cavazos were both nine-year veterans of the San Antonio Police Department. Buffalo…

“It’s a lot easier to analyze than, say, football, which has so many moving parts,” he said. “You aren’t overwhelmed.” Still, baseball is not always simple. Thornley dissected the scoring rules of baseball and asked head-scratching questions of his audience. For example, if a reliever replaced a starting pitcher with a runner on first, and then that runner was called out after being struck by a batted ball, and the…

“These are not real names,” the comedian George Carlin once wailed. “Want to hear a real name? Eddie. Eddie is a real name. Whatever happened to Eddie?” Photo The Phillies’ Tyler Green, pitching in 1997, was the first player who went by Tyler to reach the major leagues, for Philadelphia in 1993. Credit Erik S. Lesser/Associated Press Well, Eddie Butler pitches for the Chicago Cubs, and Eddie Rosario plays outfield…

There was a scary moment at Miller Park on Friday night, during the series opener between the Brewers and Marlins (GameTracker). Veteran umpire Joe West, who is stationed at first base for the game, was hit in the back of the head by a baseball thrown from the stands. Here’s the video: The game was delayed briefly as West was attended to. They also looked at replays, though it’s unclear…

“It’s a lot easier to analyze than, say, football, which has so many moving parts,” he said. “You aren’t overwhelmed.” Still, baseball is not always simple. Thornley dissected the scoring rules of baseball and asked head-scratching questions of his audience. For example, if a reliever replaced a starting pitcher with a runner on first, and then that runner was called out after being struck by a batted ball, and the…