Top Items:
ESPN:
Dowd criticizes Selig's selection of Mitchell — NEW YORK — Baseball launched its probe Thursday into alleged steroids use by Barry Bonds and others, and right away the head of the investigation came under attack because of his close ties to the sport. — In the wake of a searing book about Bonds …
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ESPN:
Report: MLB sponsors won't celebrate Bonds — Major League Baseball plans to celebrate if Barry Bonds passes Hank Aaron as the all-time home run kind. MLB's sponsors, however, have a different idea. — According to Bloomberg News, one of baseball's 18 national sponsors, Bank of America Corp. …
Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com:
Selig announces steroid investigation — Former Sen. Mitchell named to head probe into past drug use — NEW YORK — Commissioner Bud Selig has named former Sen. George Mitchell to head a full-scale investigation into the past use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball.
Jennifer Szymaszek / Associated Press:
Anna Benson files for divorce from O's pitcher — New Baltimore player says Mets traded him because of wife's actions — Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kris Benson, left, and his wife Anna Benson talk with media after the pitcher's trade from the Mets in January. — Slide show
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Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Baseball 2006: Tracy's goals are big, but strategies small — FORT MYERS, Fla.— When presenting challenges to his players, Pirates manager Jim Tracy stresses thinking big. — The day before the first full workouts of spring training, he gathered all 62 of them in a Pirate City cafeteria …
Todd Zolecki / philly.com:
Floyd likely to make Phils' rotation — The youngster will open the season as a starter as the Phillies finalize their pitching staff. — DUNEDIN, Fla. - The Phillies offered a blueprint of their pitching staff yesterday, and barring a trade or late addition, Gavin Floyd will be on the team.
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Marc Normandin / Beyond the Box Score:
2006 Team Previews: St. Louis Cardinals, Pitching — This pitching preview was written by Ryan of Cardinals Diaspora, "A Refuge for Cardinals Fans Disenfranchised by Geography." Be sure to check out his site, and enjoy this preview. — Imagine a Successories poster that said …
Richard Sandomir / New York Times:
Reality Bites Back: Some at ESPN Assail Bonds Show — A two-day seminar attended by ESPN personnel at an airport hotel in Hartford earlier this week exposed a schism within the network about the wisdom of televising a 10-hour reality series starring Barry Bonds.
Allan Ryan / Toronto Star:
Dear Blue Jays, we are gathered here ... Halladay and Burnett arrange mock nuptials of infielders — DUNEDIN, Fla.—The groom wore a ballcap. So did the other groom. — Aaron Hill and Russ Adams, the Blue Jays' young second base/shortstop combination, were surprisingly "married" …
Discussion:
DRays Bay
Rich Lederer / The Baseball Analysts:
Only The Agent Was Free — Last September, I republished an article written by my Dad for the Long Beach Independent, Press-Telegram about Sandy Koufax's perfect game. The title of that entry was "It Was Forty Years Ago Today..." Well, in the spirit of 40-year anniversaries …
Kelsie Smith / Boston Globe:
Numbers cruncher — When it comes to baseball statistics, analyst Bill James wrote the books — LAWRENCE, Kan. — You can't MapQuest 445 Tennessee St. Not technically, anyway. — It's on a block that doesn't actually exist, the street ending where it runs into ''The Kaw" — what locals call the Kansas River.
Will Carroll / Baseball Prospectus:
Under The Knife — Early Worries — One of my favorite readers asked a question about pitching yesterday that touched on a subject I've often wondered about. In golf, you'll often hear about a golfer taking some time off to rebuild his swing. Even Tiger Woods, the top golfer of this era …
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
Thomas Heath / Washington Post:
MLB Opens Nats' Books to Eight Bidders — Major League Baseball invited the eight groups bidding on the Washington Nationals yesterday to examine the team's most recent financial information before the league proceeds with selecting a new owner, according to several bidders who spoke …
Associated Press:
Red Sox's Tavarez suspended 10 days for brawl — NEW YORK — Boston Red Sox reliever Julian Tavarez was suspended for 10 days and fined Thursday for his role in a brawl this week. — Bob Watson, baseball's vice president in charge of discipline, cited Tavarez for "violent and unsportsmanlike actions" …
Eric Simon / Mets Geek:
MetsGeek.com Pre-season Predictions — Around this time last year, the writers here at MetsGeek sat down and tried to make some predictions about the season, specifically the winners of the divisions, wild cards, and year-end awards. Many of us nailed some of the obvious ones (Braves …
Baseball Prospectus:
Preseason Predictions — AL Staff Picks, 2006 — When BP welcomes new contributors, we like to test them right away—usually by demanding that they take out their crystal ball. Yes, it's time to wrap up the off-season by predicting what things will look like at conclusion of the 2006 season.
