Torkelson, Martin, Lacy lead list of top MLB draft prospectsVideo
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball’s amateur draft begins Wednesday night with the first of a pandemic-shortened five rounds. Detroit has the No. 1 overall pick for the second time in three years after taking pitcher Casey Mize in 2018. Here’s a look at the top college and high school...
A plethora for playoffs: MLB proposes up to 16 teams advance
Major League Baseball is tossing around plenty of ideas these days to start up a shortened season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic — a DH in the National League, neutral-site games, personal rosin bags for pitchers. Now comes a proposal that would truly upend the sport: up to 16 playoff...
Latrobe grad Zach Kokoska hopeful to hear name called during shortened MLB Draft
Zach Kokoska might be on a baseball field or camped out at a Marriott hotel in South Florida on Wednesday and Thursday during the MLB Draft. Either way, the power-hitting outfielder will have his cell phone turned on. The former Latrobe star and Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year has...
AP sources: MLB offers 76-game season, up to 75% of salaries
NEW YORK — MLB made another try to start the coronavirus-delayed season in early July, proposing a 76-game regular season, expanding the playoffs from 10 teams to as many as 16 and allowing players to earn about 75% of their prorated salaries. Players have refused cuts beyond what they agreed...
Unfiltered: Mark Madden, Tim Benz break down MLB’s reboot failure, Drew Brees, media coverage in covid-19 era
Madden and Benz Unfiltered returns this week, and the guys are catching up with the sports world. Mark Madden and Tim Benz discuss the stalled rebooting of the MLB season and whether fans even care at this point. They also discuss the NHL’s plan for pod cities to host playoff...
Could this MLB draft tip the scales overwhelmingly in favor of analytics?
Circumstances have forced this year’s baseball draft to become an exercise in profiling and evaluating athletes from a distance. The covid-19 pandemic prevented scouts from the Royals and other clubs from doing much of the in-person and interpersonal information gathering that typically helps drive decision-making processes. Reliance on quantitative data,...
Madden Monday: How MLB and NHL are getting in their own way, Steelers talk
After a week off, the “Madden Monday” podcast is back. Mark Madden and Tim Benz take a long look at attempts to reboot the NHL and MLB seasons. Why are both leagues constantly getting in their own way? From a hockey perspective, the issue seems to be how long things...
Former MLB player from Fayette County dies
Lawrence Donald “Bobby” Locke grew up in the small coal patch community of Rowes Run in Fayette County. He was one of 10 children of the late John and Anna Misenko Locke and a star football and baseball player for Redstone High School who pitched the Hawks to a 1-0...
AP source: MLB rejects 114-game plan, now looking at 50Video
NEW YORK — MLB rejected the players’ proposal for a 114-game schedule in the pandemic-delayed season with no additional salary cuts, telling the union that teams have no reason to think 82 games is possible and now will discuss even fewer. Players made their proposal Sunday, five days after management’s...
MLB players, owners revert to money squabbles of oldVideo
NEW YORK — Baseball owners and players have reverted to form — the type displayed over the past half-century during eight work stoppages filled with salary squabbles. Players proposed to resume the sport in the coronavirus pandemic with a 114-game regular season and full prorated salaries, leaving each player with...
AP source: MLB players offer 114-game season, no more salary cutsVideo
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball players proposed a 114-game regular season Sunday, up from 82 in management’s offer, but no additional pay cuts beyond the one they agreed to in March, a person familiar with the plan told the Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because...
Column: Pandemic doesn’t stop MLB players, owners from taking low roadVideo
We’ve got billionaires and millionaires pointing fingers while the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic ticks past 100,000 lives lost. Conversations that are supposed to be confidential are becoming public knowledge before they can finish reaching everyone who is supposed to be in the loop. There’s no shortage of...
Pirate Parrot benched? Mascots wonder why they’re banned from MLB
The Phillie Phanatic had stories of his favorite adventures — from the Galapagos Islands to the cobblestone streets of Philadelphia — read to him most weeks from his very best buds. The Philly furball was tucked in with a bedtime story from Bryce Harper. Andrew McCutchen and manager Joe Girardi...
Hundreds of minor league ballplayers releasedVideo
NEW YORK — Major league teams released hundreds of young players with the minor league season in doubt because of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 200 players were cut Friday, and more than 400 have been released over the past month according to transactions posted at MiLB.com. The start of...
Paul Newberry: Remembering old family friend Braves C Biff PocorobaVideo
ATLANTA — Ahh, that name. No doubt, one of the greatest baseball monikers of all time. If having such a splendid, awe-inspiring name was the primary qualifier, he’d be enshrined in Cooperstown for sure. Biff Pocoroba. The former Atlanta Braves catcher died last weekend at age 66, a loss I...
Scott Boras to clients in memo: Don’t bail out baseball ownersVideo
NEW YORK — Agent Scott Boras recommends his clients refuse MLB’s attempt to cut salaries during negotiations with the players’ association, claiming team financial issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic have their origin in management debt financing. In an email obtained by the Associated Press, Boras wrote that players should...
AP sources: Players want more games, no more salary cuts
NEW YORK — Baseball players appeared likely to propose increasing the number of regular-season games this year while holding to their demand for full prorated salaries, people familiar with their deliberations told the Associated Press. A day after Major League Baseball proposed a sliding scale of salary slashing for a...
Now 47, Colon still hoping to pitch again in major leaguesVideo
NEW YORK — Bartolo Colon refuses to entertain the idea of retirement. It doesn’t matter that he didn’t pitch in 2019 and that on Sunday he turned 47. He craves one more shot in the majors. “I’m not retired. That’s not in my mind,” Colon told the Associated Press in...
Japanese baseball season to start June 19 without fans
TOKYO — Japan’s professional baseball season will open on June 19 under a plan that excludes fans. League commissioner Atsushi Saito made the announcement on Monday after an online meeting with representatives of the league’s 12 teams. “I hope we can provide some guidance for sports other than professional baseball,”...
Baseball players respond to MLB on coronavirus protocols
NEW YORK — The baseball players’ association gave management a wide-ranging response Thursday to a 67-page proposed set of protocols for a season to be played during the coronavirus pandemic. Management had presented the union and the 30 teams the proposed draft last Friday. The union said Thursday it addressed:...
Nationals to unveil World Series rings in virtual ceremonyVideo
WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals will unveil their World Series championship rings during a “virtual” ceremony shown on television and online Sunday — an unprecedented approach brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. With the start of the MLB season on hold because of the covid-19 outbreak, Nationals owner Mark Lerner...
California gov.: Pro sports without fans possible in JuneVideo
LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom thinks pro sports could be back playing in his state — without fans — in early June. The Democratic governor said during a news conference Monday that the state is making good progress against the coronavirus, posting a 7.5% decline in hospitalizations over...
Shaler native Art Howe returns home from Houston hospital after ICU stay for covid-19
After spending time in intensive care last week battling the coronavirus, Shaler native Art Howe returned to his Houston home Sunday and said he is “feeling a little bit better.” Howe, 73, was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a 24-year-old in 1971, and played second base and third base...
Paul Sullivan: Has baseball reached its endgame?
Good morning, students. Welcome back to our class, “History of Baseball in America.” I hope you all have read the required e-material for today, and in a minute we’ll have the book’s author, former baseball writer Adam Fraley, joining us to give his views on the extinction of what once...
New MLB rules: shower at home, don’t spit, Pirate Parrot stay awayVideo
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball will look somewhat like high school ball this year under protocols to deal with the new coronavirus, with showers at ballparks discouraged and players possibly arriving in uniform, like they did when they were teenagers. Team personnel will be banned from eating at restaurants...
