Sport Scores

Why play games with Zika? That’s what players from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Florida Marlins are asking Major League Baseball. The teams are scheduled to play a two-game series on May 30-31 in San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium. The Puerto Rico Health Authority has reported more than 700 cases of the virus. On April 29, federal officials reported that the first U.S. death linked to Zika virus disease occurred in…

Under Armour is betting big on baseball. The athletic-apparel maker extended the contract of Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper Tuesday in what ESPN says is the largest endorsement deal in history for a baseball player. Harper has endorsed the company since 2011, months after the Nationals chose the 23-year-old right fielder in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. Under Armour would not disclose the length of the deal…

image via Henry Holt and Company The following is excerpted from The Only Rule Is It Has To Work, the wonderful new book in which two sabermetrically-inclined baseball writers—Sam Miller of Baseball Prospectus and Ben Lindbergh of ESPN—recount their experience running baseball operations for the Sonoma Stompers, an actual, real-life ballclub. As it begins, the authors—who will be joining us for a live chat Friday afternoon—are preparing for the annual…

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SAN MATEO — The past two years have been full of transitions for the player ranked among the nation’s top high school baseball prospects by ESPN. Hunter Bishop changed schools, from St. Francis to Serra. Changed positions in football, from quarterback to wide receiver. Changed his primary focus, from football to baseball. And, most significantly, changed his contributions to Serra’s baseball team, going from a lightly-used transfer outfielder his junior…

Note: Don’t whiff on this special FanDuel offer. Win your first contest or get your money back (up to $10) to keep playing. Try FanDuel now! Someone asked me Tuesday night if continuing to stack the Toronto Blue Jays was a form of the gambler’s fallacy. That fallacy states basically that because something has happened more frequently in the past it will happen less frequently in the future. It’s a…

College baseball teams from Minnesota won’t have a chance to advance to two national tournaments. The Minnesota State College and Universities system (MnSCU) announced that all sports travel is nonessential, meaning any future trips to North Carolina would be prohibited. The NCAA Division II national baseball tournament and NJCAA Division III World Series are scheduled to be played in North Carolina this spring. The announcement follows Gov. Mark Dayton’s statement…

Engagement Official, Kate Upton Destined For Baseball WAGs Hall Of Fame After years of speculation and public appearances together, Kate Upton and Justin Verlander took their relationship to the next level. The 23-year-old super model and former Sports Illustrated cover girl showed off her glamorous engagement ring at the Met Gala while with new fiancé Justin Verlander, a former Cy Young Award winner and MVP pitcher for the Detroit Tigers….

Note: Don’t whiff on this special FanDuel offer. Win your first contest or get your money back (up to $10) to keep playing. Try FanDuel now! It’s May, you know, which means at least one thing: We can no longer use the excuse “it’s only April.” A quick survey of the leaderboards, though, tells us the excuse was justified. Even now, there’s still plenty of statistical weirdness going on —…

PITTSBURGH — Jake Arrieta’s baseball life is a series of events that are cast against those from last summer, the absurd jumble of numbers that established him as one of baseball’s best pitchers. Sample: When Arrieta walked four batters in a start last week, it was tempting to point out that he had walked four batters in the entirety of September last year. His starts are events. His development is…

Four weeks into the season, we’re bound to see some surprising player performances. With the sample size of games in the books still relatively small, statistical leaderboards both well known and more obscure can leave us downright confused. So let’s delve into a few of those weird leaderboards. Here are five players doing things you’d have never thought possible so far this year. Walk rate: Odubel Herrera Odubel Herrera (right)…

Note: Don’t whiff on this special FanDuel offer. Win your first contest or get your money back (up to $10) to keep playing. Try FanDuel now! It’s May, you know, which means at least one thing: We can no longer use the excuse “it’s only April.” A quick survey of the leaderboards, though, tells us the excuse was justified. Even now, there’s still plenty of statistical weirdness going on —…

PITTSBURGH — Jake Arrieta’s baseball life is a series of events that are cast against those from last summer, the absurd jumble of numbers that established him as one of baseball’s best pitchers. Sample: When Arrieta walked four batters in a start last week, it was tempting to point out that he had walked four batters in the entirety of September last year. His starts are events. His development is…

FEDERAL WAY — Christian Jones likes simple things. He’s never eaten a hamburger or a hot dog because there’s “too much going on” between the buns. The Federal Way senior baseball player is sharp, smart, self aware. He’s got a 3.9 GPA and bats lefty, although he’s otherwise right-handed. “Left side is where the money’s at,” Jones said with a laugh before a game last week. He’s also a people…

By: Andrew Joseph | May 3, 2016 11:09 pm Follow @andyj0seph

Dusty Baker and his son, Darren, at batting cages near Sacramento this winter. (Photo by John McDonnell / The Washington Post) KANSAS CITY — Once the school year ends, Dusty Baker’s 17-year-old son, Darren, will join his dad in D.C. Darren, best remembered as the little bat boy whom J.T. Snow picked up and carried away from home plate in the midst of a play during the 2002 World Series, loves baseball….

Note: Don’t whiff on this special FanDuel offer. Win your first contest or get your money back (up to $10) to keep playing. Try FanDuel now! It’s May, you know, which means at least one thing: We can no longer use the excuse “it’s only April.” A quick survey of the leaderboards, though, tells us the excuse was justified. Even now, there’s still plenty of statistical weirdness going on —…

Note: Don’t whiff on this special FanDuel offer. Win your first contest or get your money back (up to $10) to keep playing. Try FanDuel now! We’re now through April and people will begin to take 2016 stats more seriously. In some ways I’m OK with that, but I’d hardly take them as a replacement for numbers over the last three years. The Toronto Blue Jays are a fine example…

Sean approaches pitching with the same studious desire to stay one step ahead. No one else on the Stompers’ staff shakes off signs as often. “I always know what I want to throw, and it’s difficult for the catcher to be thinking along the same lines as me,” he says. (“The slider’s the one I like,” I hear him remind his battery mate Andrew Parker, semi-sarcastically, before a game.) But…

About 100 scouts and executives descended upon Puerto Rico this week to watch high school shortstop Delvin Perez, a possible top-five pick in the June draft. One of the officials texted a picture of bug spray with 30 percent DEET, accompanied by a two-word caption: “I’m prepared.” The fear of Zika virus, palpable as ever in the aftermath of the Center for Disease Control report this week that linked a…