Major League Baseball is set to suspend some 20 players in the coming weeks due to a scandal involving performance-enhancing drugs, according to an ESPN report.
The network says it is potentially the worst drug abuse case in the history of baseball. The league declined to comment to CNN, but confirmed that an investigation is in the works.
Baseball's highest-paid player, New York Yankee Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez, as well as Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers are among those facing suspension, ESPN said, citing unnamed sources. Both have denied using performance-enhancing drugs, or PEDs.
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Major League Baseball filed a lawsuit Friday seeking damages against the South Florida clinic Biogenesis of America and its operator, Anthony Bosch, for allegedly providing performance-enhancing drugs to players, the pro sports league said.
According to reports and the MLB suit, filed in state court in Florida's Miami-Dade County, the clinic reportedly supplied banned performance-enhancing substances to a number of current and former pro baseball players such as ex-Boston Red Sox Manny Ramirez.
FULL STORYMajor League Baseball has announced it will begin random testing for human growth hormone during the 2013 regular season.
"This agreement addresses critical drug issues and symbolizes Major League Baseball’s continued vigilance against synthetic human growth hormone, testosterone and other performance-enhancing substances," MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.
The announcement of the testing comes one day after baseball writers balked at naming any new players to the Hall of Fame.
Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens were among those eligible, but their career achievements have been clouded by alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.
FULL STORYFor only the eighth time in their annual elections and the first time since 1996, baseball writers have elected no player to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The 2013 ballot marked the first year of eligibility for several players who have been named in the probes of performance-enhancing drug use in the Major Leagues, including all-time home-run champ Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens. Several of the voters said the results were a reflection of the sport's "steroid era."
Seven-time All-Star Craig Biggio came closest to induction, getting votes on 68.2% on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballots. To get inducted into the Hall of Fame, players need votes on 75% of ballots.
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The Giants will be riding high in ticker tape today, when San Francisco welcomes home the 2012 World Series winners. The team's colors are orange and black, so it's fitting that it is Halloween.
Festivities kick off at 11 a.m. The parade will begin on Market Street and stretch to the Civic Center Plaza.
For the second time in three years, the Giants claimed Major League Baseball's top prize.
Completing their sweep of the Tigers took extra innings, but the Giants prevailed 4-3 Sunday night.
With a strong pitching performance by Ryan Vogelsong, the San Francisco Giants shut out the Detroit Tigers 2-0 on Saturday night, inching one step closer to winning the World Series.
Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants tied a World Series record when he hit three home runs in Game 1 against the Detroit Tigers.
Sandoval, who had 12 home runs during the regular season, hit a solo home run in the first and a two-run shot in the third off Tigers ace Justin Verlander. In the fifth, he added another home run off Al Alburquerque. He has six home runs in the postseason.
Carlton Fisk, one of the greatest catchers in Major League Baseball history, was charged with driving under the influence after driving into a cornfield in New Lenox, Illinois, police said Tuesday.
Controversial manager Ozzie Guillen has been fired by the Miami Marlins, the team announced on Twitter.
The baseball playoffs wrapped up the divisional series Friday night, as two more teams took another step on the road toward the World Series.
The St. Louis Cardinals completed a shocking comeback and the New York Yankees got a sterling pitching performance from their ace to advance to their respective league championship series.
St. Louis 9, Washington 7
The Cardinals stunned the Nationals with four runs in the top of the ninth inning to once again stave off elimination and send the Nationals - who had the best regular-season record in baseball - to an early off-season
St. Louis was down 7-5 entering the ninth inning and staring at elimination, a familiar sight for the defending World Series champs, who - tracing back to the playoffs last season - have won their last six elimination games.
Daniel Descalso had a bases-loaded single off Drew Storen to tie the game 7-7. Pete Kozma singled to right field to bring in two more runs and make it 9-7.
The Nationals went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth.
St. Louis trailed 6-0 early before it began the long climb back.
"You don't envision yourself being behind 6-0," Descalso said to TBS during the post-game TV broadcast. Descalso had a home run and a double for the Cards.
After getting a run back in the fourth, St. Louis added two more in the fifth. Descalso led off the inning with a double to right. After a single and a walk, he scored on a wild pitch by Gio Gonzalez. They made it 6-3 when Shane Robinson scored on a bases-loaded walk.
St. Louis scored a run in the seventh and eight, setting up its ninth-inning comeback.
The Cardinals will travel to San Francisco, where they'll take on the Giants in the NLCS beginning Sunday night.
New York 3, Baltimore 1
CC Sabathia got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning and threw a complete game as the Yankees beat the Orioles to advance to the AL Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers.
Sabathia was masterful, striking out nine and allowing four hits for the Yankees. "It's what I'm here for," Sabathia told MLB.com.
New York will play host to Game 1 of the ALCS at 8 p.m. Saturday.
The Oakland A's kept their unlikely postseason alive by scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in Game 4 of their AL division series.
The final game of the series is tonight in Oakland.
In the ninth, Seth Smith's double drove in two runs to tie the game 3-3 before Coco Crisp singled to right field, bringing home Smith and forcing Game 5, where the A's will have to face Tigers ace Justin Verlander.
The late-game comeback is familiar territory for Oakland, which had 14 victories in its last at-bat this season, most in the major leagues.
In the other playoff series, the Yankees beat Baltimore 3-2 when pinch-hitter Raul Ibanez homered in the bottom of the 12th inning, giving New York a 2-1 series lead; the San Francisco Giants got a solid outing from Tim Lincecum and beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-3 to tie the series 2-2; the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 8-0 and lead their series 2-1.
The two Bay-area teams in the MLB playoffs won Tuesday night to stay alive in the postseason, Oakland at home and San Francisco on the road.
The Oakland Athletics, who lost the first two games of the AL division series in Detroit, got stellar pitching to beat the Tigers 2-0 last night.
The A's are an unlikely playoff team this year. They have the lowest payroll in baseball at $59.5 million and are in a long battle with baseball officials over a new stadium to replace the crumbling Coliseum. The stadium was packed Tuesday night, though, with towel-waving fans who saw four pitchers combine for 11 strikeouts in the shutout victory.
In the NL series, the Cincinnati Reds won the first two games in San Francisco but couldn't close out the best-of-five series. The Giants beat the Reds 2-1 in 10 innings when Joaquin Arias' infield hit brought home Buster Posey.
All four division series play Wednesday. The Cardinals are at the Nationals at 1 p.m. in their series, tied 1-1. The Giants and Reds play at 4 p.m. The Orioles play at the Yankees at 7:30 p.m. The Yankees won the first two games in Baltimore and lead 2-0. At 9:30, the Tigers and A's play at Oakland.
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The last day of Major League Baseball's regular season turned out to be one of its newsiest and most dramatic. Here are some of the top stories from the day:
Update: • Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera became baseball's first triple crown winner (batting average, home runs and runs batted in) since 1967. Cabrera locked up the home run (44) and RBI (139) titles early in the day Wednesday as Texas' Josh Hamilton failed to produce either in the Rangers' loss to Oakland. Cabrera's batting title race against Los Angeles Angels rookie Mike Trout hinged on both men's performances in their respective games later Wednesday. Detroit manager Jim Leyland pulled Cabrera from the lineup after he went 0 for 2, leaving him with a .330 season average, and Trout got two hits in three at-bats to finish the season at .326, according to mlb.com.
Update: • The American League East race between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees came down to the final game. The Yankees could clinch with a win or a Baltimore loss, but a Yankee loss combined with a Baltimore win would force a one-game playoff to be played Thursday. However, the Orioles lost 4-1 to Tampa Bay behind Evan Longoria's three home runs, making the Yankees' outcome moot. The Yankees crushed the Boston Red Sox 14-2 in New York.
• The Oakland A's captured the American League West by completing a sweep of the Texas Rangers, whom they'd been chasing all season.
• The Washington Nationals clinched the National League East, bringing postseason baseball to D.C. for the first time since the 1930s.
• The Atlanta Braves' Chipper Jones singled in his only at-bat in the final regular-season game of his 19-year career. In the same game, Atlanta pitcher Ben Sheets struck out two batters in his one inning pitched as he also concludes his career.
• The Houston Astros set a club record with their 107th loss in the team's final game as a member of the National League. The Astros will shift to the American League West next season.
• The Philadelphia Phillies fired bench coach Pete Mackanin, hitting coach Greg Gross and fired first-base coach Sam Perlozzo. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs determined the cause of their 101-loss season and fired third-base coach Pat Listach.
• After more than 500 tries, Teddy Roosevelt finally won the mascot race at Washington's Nationals Park.
Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera has become baseball's first triple crown winner in 45 years, leading the American League in batting average, home runs and runs batted in.
Cabrera locked up the home run and RBI titles in the afternoon Wednesday as Texas' Josh Hamilton failed to produce either in the Rangers' loss to Oakland. Cabrera finished with 44 home runs to Hamilton's 43 (matched by the New York Yankees' Curtis Granderson with a late surge), and 139 RBI to Hamilton's 128.
Cabrera's batting title race against Los Angeles Angels rookie Mike Trout hinged on both men's performances in their respective games Wednesday. Trout got two hits in three at-bats to finish the season at .326, according to mlb.com. Detroit manager Jim Leyland pulled Cabrera from the lineup in the fourth inning in Kansas City after he went 0 for 2, leaving him with a .330 season average.
Baseball season's final day brings drama
One person who said he wouldn't be shocked if Cabrera nabbed the triple crown was the Boston Red Sox's Carl Yastrzemski, who hit .326 with 44 homers and 121 RBI as the last person to win the crown in 1967.
“I’m surprised it’s gone on this long, to be perfectly honest. When (Pete) Rose broke (Ty) Cobb’s hit record and when (Cal) Ripken broke (Lou) Gehrig’s consecutive game record, I never thought that would happen either, so it’s going to happen,” the Hall of Fame outfielder told the Boston Globe last week.
“There’s so much more publicity nowadays, people call a report in every day,” the Globe quoted Yastrzemski as saying. “In ’67, the Triple Crown wasn’t even mentioned. We were so involved I didn’t know I’d won it until the next day when I read it in the paper.”
That the length of his reign surprises Yastrzemski is, well, not surprising. The Baltimore Orioles' Frank Robinson had done it the year before Yastrzemski. Eleven others have done it also, dating back to Paul Hines of the Providence Grays in 1878. The Red Sox's Ted Williams and the St. Louis Cardinals' Rogers Hornsby each won it twice.
Of course, Major League Baseball was much different 45 years ago than it is today. There were only 20 teams (there are 30 today) and the only playoff was the World Series, which the Red Sox lost to the Cardinals in Yastrzemski’s triple crown year.
But Yastrzemski said batters of his era had one obstacle to face that today’s hitters don’t, a pitching mound that was 5 inches higher. The higher mounds gave pitchers an edge on velocity.
“I’d like to see what some of the pitchers would throw today, what their speeds would be, if they came off a higher mound. I could see (Justin) Verlander probably throwing 100 mph or more on every pitch,” Yastrzemski told Boston radio station WEEI.
With Cabrera winning the triple crown, one historic baseball streak is still standing: Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak in 1941. No one has come closer than 12 games from that mark since.
And one question will still be outstanding on Cabrera's season: Should he be the league's most valuable player? Yastrzemski was in 1967.
TBS MLB analyst Dennis Eckersley thinks Cabrera deserves the MVP honor.
"I think Cabrera's focus has been on his team and winning, not concerns for himself. Playing for your team and having great numbers is an incredible feat,” Eckersley said.
MVP or not, it won't reduce what Cabrera has accomplished this year, says his manager.
"No matter what happens, there are absolutely no flaws in Miguel Cabrera's season. None. Period. End of story," Leyland said in a CBS Sports report.
TBS will have exclusive coverage of the first-ever Wild Card games on Friday, October 5. The network will also be the exclusive home of up to 18 Division Series games and the entire ALCS.
Update 8:32 p.m.: Adam Greenberg struck out on three pitches from Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. Greenberg was pinch-hitting for Marlins left fielder Bryan Petersen at the top of the order with the Marlins leading 2-0.
The Marlins Stadium public address system played Aerosmith's "Dream On" as Greenberg, wearing No. 10, walked up to the plate and took his place in the left-hand batter's box. He took a strike from Dickey, swung at and missed the second pitch and waved at a pitch around his chin for the third strike.
Manager Ozzie Guillen gives Adam Greenberg a hug after Greenberg's belated first major-league at-bat Tuesday night in Miami.
The crowd cheered loudly for him as he returned to the dugout, where his one-day-only teammates congratulated him and slapped the beaming ballplayer on the back.
MLB.com quickly posted video of the brief at-bat.
The world of baseball and its fans greeted the moment with a wave of warm-and-fuzzy tweets:
Congrats to @adamgreenberg5, who just did something millions of us dream about but never accomplish. #oneatbat
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MLB Public Relations (@MLB_PR) October 03, 2012Adam Greenberg story very cool. But you know he has to think: "Sheesh, one at-bat and it's knuckleballer? Seriously?"
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Joe Posnanski (@JPosnanski) October 03, 2012Glad I got to see Greenberg's #OneAtBat. Definitely a special moment for him. Glad the #Marlins gave him this opportunity.
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David Kaufman (@KaufmanDavid) October 03, 2012#oneatbat truly inspiring :")
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Lourdes Martinez (@lulyyM28) October 03, 2012Proud to be a baseball fan right now. #OneAtBat #Marlins
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Mr. Dimples (@LoMoDimples) October 03, 2012Original post: Adam Greenberg signed a one-day contract with the Miami Marlins on Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of taking a single at-bat in the night's game against the New York Mets.
Greenberg, now 31, was hit in the head by a pitch in his first and only Major League Baseball plate appearance, with the Chicago Cubs in
Adam Greenberg today
2005 and has not played in the majors since. A hit-by-pitch does not count as an official at-bat, so Greenberg technically has never batted in the major leagues.
He petitioned the Cubs to let him come back for one official at-bat with them, but team officials turned him down. The Marlins agreed last week to help Greenberg make his dream come true. Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said he plans to use him as a pinch-hitter in the middle of Tuesday night's game, perhaps in the pitcher's spot in the lineup, according to MLB.com.
"I'm ready to help the team," Greenberg said in a tweet on the Marlins' account. "The Marlins are an amazing organization. ... I couldn't be more thankful."
Adam Greenberg wasn’t in a bright mood Saturday. The former Chicago Cub – famously hit in the head in his only Major League plate appearance – had just watched Spain knock out his team, Israel, in World Baseball Classic qualifying in Florida.
A friend approached him after the game, saying he had someone on the phone with good news. The Team Israel reserve outfielder said he didn’t particularly want to hear it, but his friend insisted.
The man on the phone was Miami Marlins General Manager David Sampson. The Marlins – the very team that knocked him out of his only MLB game seven years ago – wanted to give him a full Major League at-bat.
“He ended up smiling after all,” filmmaker Matt Liston – the friend and the man who’s pushed full-time for Greenberg’s return – told CNN by phone Thursday.
The Marlins on Thursday confirmed what they told Greenberg over the weekend: They’ve signed the 31-year-old former prospect to a one-day contract so he can finally have a proper MLB at-bat on Tuesday, when the Marlins host the Mets in their penultimate game of the season.
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar has been suspended for three games after a photo emerged from Saturday's game showing him with a Spanish homophobic slur in his eye black, the substance ballplayers put below their eyes to reduce the sun's glare.
Escobar acknowledged being the author of the message, but was reticent about the underlying meaning of the words.
"It was not something I intended to be offensive," Escobar said through a translator. "It's something I just put on the sticker on my face."
The team said it met with Escobar, Major League Baseball officials and the MLB Players Association and decided the shortstop will be suspended without pay. The salary he forfeits will be donated to the groups You Can Play and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD.)
"The Blue Jays want to reaffirm that discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated," the team said in a statement announcing the suspension.
Escobar said his actions were not intentional or directed at anyone in particular and he wanted to apologize to anyone he offended.
"I don’t have anything against homosexuals," Escobar said. "I have friends who are gay. I'd like to ask for the apology of all those who have been offended by this."
Maria Cristina Cuervo, a Spanish professor at the University of Toronto, told Toronto Star columnist Cathal Kelly on Tuesday that the word "is derogatory, but it’s not necessarily homophobic," and in some Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina, it is more of a teasing insult.
Escobar did not say specifically what he thought the words on his eye black meant, but added the phrase was something that's "been said amongst Latinos."
"It's not something meant to be offensive," he said. "For us, it didn't have the significance to the way it's being interpreted right now. It's a word used often with teens."
When pressed further by reporters, Escobar said that the words he wrote have different meanings depending on how you say it and who you say it to. Reporters then asked what he specifically meant.
"I didn't mean to say anything with it," he said.
Escobar added he has several gay friends, including the person who decorates his house and who cuts his hair. He said those people told him they were not as offended as the larger community.
Bartolo Colon, a starting pitcher for the playoffs-chasing Oakland Athletics, has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for synthetic testosterone, Major League Baseball said Wednesday.
The move comes a week after 2012 All-Star Game MVP and San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera was given a 50-game suspension for a positive testosterone test. Colon is the fifth MLB player to be suspended this year after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, MLB spokesman Michael Teevan said.
“I apologize to the fans, to my teammates and to the Oakland A's," Colon said in a statement released Wednesday by the Major League Baseball Players Association. "I accept responsibility for my actions and I will serve my suspension.”
When Felix Hernandez struck out Tampa Bay's Sean Rodriguez on Wednesday, the Seattle Mariner completed a remarkable achievement, just the 23rd perfect game in 15 decades of major league baseball.
What might be equally remarkable is three of those 23 perfect games have been tossed this year, with a quarter of the season left to play.
In June, the San Francisco Giants' Matt Cain frustrated 27 straight Houston Astros in a 10-0 victory.
And in 2012's first perfect game, the Chicago White Sox Philip Humber breezed past 27 straight Mariners. Like Hernandez's, Humber's completed gem came at Seattle's Safeco Field.
Add to the perfect games, three other no-hitters this season, and you have even the most casual of baseball fans asking, what makes 2012 so perfect for pitching?
Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez on Wednesday afternoon pitched the 23rd perfect game in Major League Baseball history and the third this season.
Hernandez, the 2010 American League Cy Young Award winner, retired all 27 Tampa Bay Rays batters in order as the Mariners beat the Rays 1-0 at Seattle's Safeco Field. He struck out 12 of those batters, including the last one, third baseman Sean Rodriguez.
This is the third no-hitter and second perfect game at Safeco Field this season. Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox threw a perfect game against the Mariners on April 21, and six Seattle pitchers combined to hold the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless on June 8, according to mlb.com.
Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants threw the other perfect game this year, a 10-0 gem against the Houston Astros on June 13.
Johan Santana of the New York Mets and Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels have thrown no-hitters this season, but both pitchers allowed batters to reach base.
Hernandez's feat was the fourth no-hitter in Mariners history. Randy Johnson threw one in 1990 and Chris Bosio had one in 1993.
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