Sport Scores

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Brett Williams knew he wanted to commit to play baseball at South Carolina in late December, telling his head coach Charles Assey he “felt like it is where I need to be.” Less than two weeks later, South Carolina coach Chad Holbrook said the same words to Assey, the Lexington White Knoll baseball coach, when Assey delivered the news that Williams was in the intensive care unit….

Now that the dust has settled on the 2017 Baseball Hall of Fame class, we can start to look ahead to next year’s ballot. Sure, we’ll go far more in depth come next December and January, but we can at least begin to think about which players might be going in next year. We have several carryovers with a good shot at induction, but there are also some worthy first-timers….

Three baseball stars who avoided convincing connection to steroid use during their playing days — Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez — were elected to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame Wednesday. The stars all received 75 percent of the ballots cast by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Houston Astros longtime first baseman and four-time All-Star Jeff Bagwell is pictured announcing his retirement from baseball in 2006. Bagwell…

The Baseball Hall of Fame announced that Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell and Ivan Rodriguez gained induction via the BBWAA vote on Wednesday. As always, the voting results were met with a tide of happiness, anger, smart commentary and a deluge of ignorance. On the latter point, let’s blow up two of the dumbest things I routinely see bumping around. 1. How can someone’s vote total change? There are two groups…

On MLB Network Monday evening, contemporaries Dan Plesac and John Smoltz opined that Bo Jackson could have been a Hall of Famer, at least a regular All-Star, had he committed to baseball. Jackson produced a career wRC+ of 111 and 7.7 WAR over parts of eight major-league seasons, hardly the stuff of bronzed immortalization in Cooperstown. But had Jackson fully committed to the sport, what could he have been?…

The Baseball Hall of Fame announced three new members to its fraternity on Wednesday but a spike in voting for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, two of the most controversial candidates ever, was creating just as much buzz. Bonds and Clemens, whose MLB career achievements would ordinarily have earned them landslide entry into the Hall of Fame, have yet to reach the necessary 75 percent threshold for election with both…

Three baseball stars who avoided convincing connection to steroid use during their playing days — Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez — were elected to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame Wednesday. The stars all received 75 percent of the ballots cast by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Houston Astros longtime first baseman and four-time All-Star Jeff Bagwell is pictured announcing his retirement from baseball in 2006. Bagwell…

Three baseball stars who avoided convincing connection to steroid use during their playing days — Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez — were elected to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame Wednesday. The stars all received 75 percent of the ballots cast by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Houston Astros longtime first baseman and four-time All-Star Jeff Bagwell is pictured announcing his retirement from baseball in 2006. Bagwell…

Three baseball stars who avoided convincing connection to steroid use during their playing days — Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez — were elected to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame Wednesday. The stars all received 75 percent of the ballots cast by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Houston Astros longtime first baseman and four-time All-Star Jeff Bagwell is pictured announcing his retirement from baseball in 2006. Bagwell…

On Wednesday night, the BBWAA revealed its latest round of Hall of Fame voting results. Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez each earned enough of the vote to merit induction into Cooperstown this summer. One player who did not earn induction — or much in the way of votes — was Manny Ramirez. Best known for his time with the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox, Ramirez’s first year…

Statistically speaking, Barry Bonds and Rogers Clemens are both among baseball’s all-time greatest players, yet for years some Hall of Fame voters have managed to vote for one but not the other. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images) On Wednesday the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced the Baseball Hall of Fame’s class of 2017. This year Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez received at least the 332 votes, or 75% of…

There were 34 players on the Hall of Fame ballot this winter, including 19 newcomers, and only Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell and Ivan Rodriguez were selected for induction. Of the 19 first-time candidates, 16 received less than 5 percent of the vote and will drop off the ballot. Among those 16 are Jorge Posada (3.8 percent), J.D. Drew (no votes) and Mike Cameron (no votes). Posada, more so than Drew…

The Hall of Fame class for 2017 has been announced and for the 15th straight year, Lee Smith has missed the cut. This means he has become the last player ever — absent the rule reverting back — to fall off the ballot after 15 tries. The new rule only gives players a maximum of 10 years on the ballot. Smith along with two others (Don Mattingly and Alan Trammell)…

In a flood of clemency orders before he leaves office, President Obama commuted the sentences of 209 people and pardoned 64 others on Tuesday. The vast majority of offenders had been convicted of drug-related crimes. Two were involved in cases about leaks of government material. And two were cultural stars of past decades who had run afoul of the IRS. Ian Schrager in front of his new, luxurious Hotel Delano…

We’re used to a flukey team sneaking into the playoffs every year, riding an unsustainable record in close games to a close finish in the standings, but the Rangers elevated this to an art form. With 95 wins, they led the American League in 2016, and won their division by nine full games, despite posting the third-best run differential in their own division. Seven different teams finished with a better…

By the imperfect standard of Hall of Fame voting, Ken Griffey Jr. might be considered the most well-regarded baseball player of all time. Griffey received a record 99.3% of the vote last year, three votes shy of becoming the first player to be elected unanimously. Chipper Jones might get 100% of the vote next year, or Mariano Rivera two years from now, or Derek Jeter three years from now. It…

Baseball Hall of Fame voting becoming as heated as our elections By Henry Schulman January 17, 2017 Updated: January 17, 2017 7:00am ‘); } Like most great baseball debates, the annual back and forth over Hall of Fame elections used to be fun. Friends would sit on barstools as the new year dawned and good-naturedly gibe one another over which players they believed were the best of the best and…

Cardinals Winter Warm-Up came and went, but the march toward baseball continues as spring training nears. Next up: A chance to chat with Cardinals scouting director Randy Flores. Flores is a featured speaker at the second annual Midwest Baseball and Softball Coaches Convention, a not-for-profit event that benefits St. Louis Challenger Baseball. The former Cardinals reliever will participate in the convention’s Talkin’ Baseball and Softball Q&A…

8:55 AM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment Wake up out there, all you trivia lovers. I’ve given you a couple of months to rest your brain cells. But it’s Hall of Fame election time. So, in a related development, that means it’s also time for the triumphant return of your favorite trivia extravaganza — Trivia Tuesday! This week’s edition looks at the five candidates at the…

Regression is something we talk about a lot in Fantasy Baseball, but it’s also a concept that’s widely misunderstood. The two worst misconceptions can be resolved by simply remembering these two rules: 1. Regression is not always bad.2. Saying someone is going to regress doesn’t mean they’ll suddenly swing to the other extreme to compensate. I chose to make these distinctions at the start of the Red Sox team preview…