The race to the presidency now turns toward the general election in November. CNN.com Live is your home for all the latest news and views from the campaign trail.
Today's programming highlights...
10:00 am ET - Cal Ripken talks mother's kidnapping - Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken will hold a briefing with reporters regarding the investigation into the abduction of his mother last month.
Some kids may not be learning good sportsmanship from their parents. We've obtained video of some adults losing control at their kids' sporting events by fighting and punching other parents. See why these parents became so upset.
A Little League game in Georgia got out of hand when a verbal fight turned physical.
Three parents face criminal charges after a youth baseball tournament turns ugly. KUSA reports.
Back in 2006, CNN affiliate KZTV captured video of parents at a Texas Little League game fighting with the referee.
[Updated at 4:55 p.m. ET] Famed baseball pitcher Roger Clemens was found not guilty Monday of lying to Congress during an investigation of steroid use among major league players.
The case against Clemens involved one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury. He was found not guilty on all counts.
"Mr. Clemens, you're free to go," Judge Reggie Walton said after the verdicts were read in U.S. District Court in Washington.
Roger Clemens thanks all those who defended him after a jury found him 'not guilty' of federal perjury charges.
Clemens wiped away tears as he hugged his sons in the courtroom following the verdicts.
He was not charged with illicit use of performance-enhancing drugs, but his denial of such use was part of the case against him.
Arguments in the trial concluded last week. Federal prosecutor Courtney Saleski, in closing arguments Tuesday, told the jury Clemens "wanted to protect his brand, he wanted to protect his livelihood," in denying the use of steroids during a 2008 investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives into the problem.
The Clemens defense team disputed whether the government has made its case, telling the jury all the evidence came through a former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, who the defense team said had incentive to lie.
FULL STORY
The New York Mets want Major League Baseball to officially upgrade Wednesday’s one-hitter from pitcher R.A. Dickey to a no-hitter. And they’re willing to blame one of their other players to do it.
The Mets, who beat the host Tampa Bay Rays 9-1 on Wednesday, have asked MLB to change the Rays’ only hit against Dickey to an error on Mets third baseman David Wright, MLB.com reported Thursday.
If MLB makes the change, it would be Wednesday’s second no-hitter – San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain threw a perfect game against the Houston Astros - and the Mets’ second in 12 days (Johan Santana threw the Mets’ first-ever no-hitter June 1).
Dickey sounded conflicted when talking about the team’s request.
"A part of me would love a no-hitter," Dickey, a 37-year-old knuckleballer with a 10-1 record this season, said Thursday, according to MLB.com. "Regardless of how you get it, it's still a no-hitter. And then a part of me thinks it would be cheap."
The key play came in the first inning, when the Rays’ B.J. Upton hit a two-hopper to third base. Video of the game from SNY shows Wright trying to barehand it but not getting hold of it.
On Wednesday night, Wright told SNY that he tried to barehand the ball because Upton is fast, and he didn’t think he had time to glove it.
“I wish it would have been somebody a little bit slower where I could have took my time and then gloved it, but it’s also the first … inning, I think. Had I known that there was going to be a one-hitter, I would have tried a little harder or something, you know,” Wright said.
The Mets’ manager, Terry Collins, said Thursday that the decision to appeal was his idea. He said he expects the league to announce a decision Friday ,and the chances of a change in Dickey’s favor are slim, according to MLB.com and The New York Times.
“It’s something that you don’t see very much, and if you can get something changed to where a guy gets to have a no-hitter, I think it’s great,” Collins said, according to the Times. “We’re just taking a stab.”
The Rays scored their lone run in the ninth inning, after Tampa Bay’s Elliott Johnson reached first on a throwing error by Wright, according to an MLB.com report on the game. Johnson made his way home thanks to two passed balls and an RBI groundout.
Wright said Thursday that it’s “a little awkward when a team wants an error on its own player.”
"I wish I could have made the play. I just didn't. It's a very difficult play," Wright said, according to MLB.com.
Six pitchers from the Seattle Mariners combined to throw a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, the 10th combined no-hitter in MLB history.
Kevin Millwood held the Dodgers scoreless in six innings before leaving the game with a groin injury. Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Leutge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen combined to throw for three scoreless innings to keep the no-hitter intact.
Third baseman Kyle Seager had a RBI single, scoring Ichiro Suzuki from second base in the Mariners' 1-0 victory.
It is the fourth no-hitter of the baseball season so far, following Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Johan Santana of the New York Mets and Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox.
Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda suffered a mild heart attack Monday while in New York, the Los Angeles team confirmed Tuesday.
Lasorda, 84, was in New York for the 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, and doctors inserted a stent to correct a blocked artery, the Dodgers said in a statement. He is resting and in stable condition.
The Hall of Fame manager led the Dodgers between 1976-1996. He also managed the United States to its first gold medal in baseball at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
FULL STORY
Baseball fans who tuned into Sirius XM’s "Power Alley" on Monday didn’t hear the familiar voice of analyst Jim Duquette.
Instead, the former general manager of the New York Mets and one-time vice president of the Baltimore Orioles had more important business: trying to save his daughter’s life.
Ten-year-old Lindsey Duquette has a rare kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, the New York Daily News reports.
Duquette was scheduled to go under the knife at Johns Hopkins Hospital, not far from the family's Maryland home, where he was donating his right kidney, the Daily News reported.
In many ways Lindsey Duquette is like any other fourth grader: concerned with life's pressing issues, like convincing her parents to give her an e-mail account, the Baltimore Sun reported.
"Can I pleeeaaase have an email account?" she is quoted as saying in the the paper quoted her as asking.
But life is different and at times uncertain for Lindsey. She has suffered nearly her whole life, first showing symptoms at the end of 2004, the same year her father was Mets GM. She had both of her kidneys removed after going into end-stage renal failure last year.
The Baltimore Sun article described Lindsey's scarred kidneys leaking protein into her blood and draining her of the vibrant personality, though it seems to have returned since she began daily dialysis treatments.
Now, with the help of her father's kidney, Lindsey has a shot at going into remission from the disease, for which there is no known cure.
Lindsey's outlook is positive. She is looking forward to beginning a new phase of her life with "Raven," the name she gave the kidney, in honor of the local NFL team.
A jersey worn by New York Yankee Hall of Famer Babe Ruth has sold at auction for $4.4 million, the most ever paid for a piece of sports memorabilia, a California auction house announced.
The $4,415,658 paid for the 1920s away jersey eclipsed the $4,338,500 paid in 2010 for an original copy of James Naismith's founding rules of basketball, SCP Auctions of Laguna Niguel said in a statement.
The 1920s jersey was on display in a Baltimore museum.
"We are honored to, once again, be a part of history,” David Kohler, president of SCP Auctions, said in a statement. “This proves again that Babe Ruth is king in the sports memorabilia world."
The jersey was bought by Lelands.com, a New York auctioneer of memorabilia from sports, rock 'n' roll, American collectibles and vintage photography.
"We are ecstatic about the purchase of his earliest known Yankees jersey," Mike Heffner, president of Lelands.com, said in a statement. "It's like buying a priceless painting, the pinnacle of sports memorabilia."
The company plans to offer the jersey to a private buyer.
The jersey had been on display in the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum in Baltimore.
Also sold during the auction was a Ruth cap from the 1930s. Owned by former Yankees pitcher David Wells, it went for $537,278, a record for a cap, according to the auction house. Wells wore the cap while pitching for the Yankees on June 28, 1997, it said.
Ruth played for the Yankees from 1920 through 1934, part of a 22-year career that began in 1914 with the Boston Red Sox and finished in 1935 with the Boston Braves.
Ruth hit 714 home runs in his career and was baseball's all-time home run leader until Hank Aaron passed him in 1974. Barry Bonds subsequently passed both Ruth and Aaron to become baseball's home run king.
Major League Baseball has suspended Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie for four games for an outburst Tuesday in which he threw his batting helmet, which bounced off the ground and struck umpire Bill Miller.
In the ninth inning of Tuesday's game in Toronto against the Tampa Bay Rays, Lawrie faced Rays closer Fernando Rodney. With a count of three balls and one strike Lawrie took back-to-back pitches from Rodney. Miller called both strikes, sending Lawrie back to the dugout.
Trouble was, when the third strike was called, Lawrie had already taken two steps toward first base, thinking he had drawn a walk. He spun around, took two steps back in the direction of the umpire and threw his batting helmet to the ground. It bounced up and struck Miller.
Besides the four games, Lawrie was also fined an undisclosed amount, according to a report on MLB.com.
He pledged to appeal the ruling and can remain in the Blue Jays lineup during the appeal process.
"I feel that I have the right to explain my side of the story about what happened last night. I just have to suck it up, appeal it and worry about baseball, worry about playing today and getting a win," he said before Wednesday's game against the New York Yankees, according to MLB.com.
Lawrie said it was not his intention to strike Miller with the helmet, but the helmet took "a bad hop," according to a report in the Toronto Star.
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie is likely facing a suspension after throwing his helmet in anger and hitting home plate umpire Bill Miller in Toronto Tuesday night.
With a count of three balls and one strike in the bottom of the ninth, Lawrie took back-to-back pitches from Tampa Bay Rays closer Fernando Rodney. Miller called both strikes, sending Lawrie back to the dugout.
Trouble was, when the third strike was called, Lawrie had already taken two steps toward first base, thinking he had drawn a walk. He spun around, took two steps back in the direction of the umpire and threw his batting helmet to the ground. It bounced up and struck Miller.
Lawrie was promptly ejected from the game for the outburst, but is likely to face a further suspension and/or fine because the helmet struck Miller.
I've never, ever, done anything to go at an umpire before in my life, and I didn't mean to tonight. I apologize for that," Lawrie said after the game, according to MLB.com. "It just kind of took an unlucky bounce and I think it got him, so my apologies for that."
The Blue Jays lost to the Rays 4-3. Major League Baseball has made no announcement yet as to how long they'll lose Lawrie's services.
The Arizona Charter Athletic Association state championship baseball game wasn't played Thursday night because Mesa Prep's second baseman is a girl.
Paige Sultzbach, a freshman, is playing baseball because her high school doesn't offer girls softball. But the school Mesa Prep was to face in the final, Our Lady of Sorrows Academy, said its boys would not compete against a team with a girl and forfeited the game - and the state title - to Mesa Prep.
"As a Catholic school, we promote the ideal of forming and educating boys and girls separately during the adolescent years, especially in physical education,” Our Lady of Sorrows said in a statement, according to CNN affiliate KTVK.
“It takes tremendous moral courage to stand by what it is you believe, and they are doing what they think is right,” Mesa Prep Headmaster Robert Wagner told KTVK.
But Sultzbach's mother, Pamela Sultzbach, said her daughter and the Mesa Prep team were being done a disservice.
"This is not a contact sport. It shouldn't be an issue. It wasn't that they were afraid they were going to hurt or injure her, it's that (they believe) that a girl's place is not on a field," Pamela Sultzbach told the Arizona Republic.
"I respect their views, but it's a bit out of the 18th century," Amy Arnold, Mesa Prep's athletic director, told the Republic.
Mesa Prep and Our Lady of Sorrows played twice during the regular season, but Sultzbach sat out, as they were away games for her team.
“It was on their field, and I felt the need to respect their rules,” she told KTVK.
The final would have been on a neutral field, and Sultzbach wanted to play.
Now, despite being hailed as state champions, Mesa Prep will feel like they've missed something, Pamela Sultzbach said.
"This team has worked so hard," she said. "They're undefeated. They had one game left. At our school, we're taught that when you start something, you complete it, and they weren't done."
Sunday was a triple play of surprises in Major League baseball.
First, Albert Pujols homered. No surprise for someone who's hit 446 home runs in a 12-year career, you say? Well, Pujols' homer was his first as a player for the Los Angeles Angels and his first in 110 at bats, a career-long homer drought for the former St. Louis Cardinal who signed a 10-year, $240 million contract with the Angels during the winter.
The two-run blast ended up accounting for the winning runs as the Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 in Anaheim, California.
"I'm blessed that I had the opportunity to do it here in front of the fans," said Pujols after the game, according to a report in the Orange County Register. "They were being patient and waiting until the last couple of days, when I heard some boos. ... I was not performing the way everyone was expecting."
Teammates congratulate Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper after he stole home on Sunday.
While Pujols was finally winning over Angels fans, rookie outfielder Bryce Harper was continuing to delight Washington Nationals fans.
The 19-year-old Harper stole home in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies, becoming the first teenager to steal home in a Major League game since 1964, the Washington Post reported. It was also Harper's first stolen base in the big leagues.
It came after Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels hit Harper with a pitch to put him on base. Harper advanced to third on a Jason Werth single before swiping home.
Hamels admitted later he hit the rookie on purpose.
"I was trying to hit him," Hamels said, according to a report on MLB.com. "I'm not going to deny it. That's just ... something that I grew up watching, that's what happened, so I'm just trying to continue the old baseball. I think some people kind of get away from it."
And Harper seemed to be OK with that.
"He is a great guy, great pitcher, he knows how to pitch, he is an All-Star. It's all good," Harper was quoted as saying on MLB.com.
In the end, Hamels and the Phillies won 9-3.
Baltimore Orioles players celebrate after completing a 17-inning victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
And Sunday's third surprise came during the 17-inning marathon between the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
The winning pitcher in the six-hour, seven-minute marathon was Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis, who hadn't pitched in any competition in six years, when he was in junior college, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Davis took the mound in the 16th inning after the Orioles had used seven other relief pitchers in the game. He gave up two hits, struck out two and walked one in two innings, picking up the victory when Adam Jones hit a three-run homer in the top of the 17th.
“I'm like, sweet,” Davis said, according to the Sun report. “I get to try something different today because hitting ain't working.” Davis was hitless in eight at-bats in the game. He struck out five times.
And if that's not strange enough, the losing pitcher, who gave up Jones' homer, was Darnell McDonald, a Red Sox outfielder forced to pitch when the Red Sox depleted their relief corps.
Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jered Weaver tossed the second no-hitter of the Major League season on Wednesday night, shutting down the Minnesota Twins 9-0 in Anaheim.
Weaver missed a perfect game by two batters, with Chris Parmelee reaching base in the 2nd on a passed ball after a strikeout, and Josh Willingham walking in the seventh.
Weaver threw 121 pitches, 77 for strikes.
Weaver, 29, is a Southern California product, hailing from Northridge and attending Long Beach State, and he had plenty of personal support among the 27,288 in the stands Wednesday night.
"It was unbelievably neat to get it in front of friends and family," Weaver was quoted as saying by ESPN LA.
Weaver's father, Dave, was in the stands.
"I get so nervous sometimes I have to go stick my head in a toilet," Dave Weaver said, according to a Los Angeles Times report. "It gets so nerve-racking, and he's been close before. But after 8 1/3 innings, I figured he'd have a chance."
The victory moved Weaver to 4-0 on the season and lowered his earned run average to 1.61.
"It still hasn't totally sunk in yet," he said on the field after the game, according to a report in the Orange County Register. "It's so surreal."
The first no-hitter of the 2012 season was on April 21, when Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox shut out the Seattle Mariners 4-0. Humber's win was a perfect game, meaning no Mariners reached base.
Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young was arrested in Manhattan early Friday and charged with aggravated harassment after a dispute with another man, New York police said.
Young appeared intoxicated when police arrived at the scene outside the New York Hilton, and he was treated and released from a hospital Friday morning, police Detective Martin Speechley said. The other person involved in the dispute, a 26-year-old male, sustained minor injuries but refused treatment, Speechley said.
Young was in police custody Friday morning, the detective said.
The aggravated harassment charge is a misdemeanor, but Speechley said the case is being investigated as a possible hate crime because of "religious statements made" during the dispute. If there is evidence to support a hate crime, the seriousness of the charge would be "elevated," he said.
The team issued a brief statement Friday afternoon.
"We are aware of the situation, however it is our club policy not to comment on pending legal matters," the statement said. "As we understand it, this is an allegation and we need to allow the legal process to take its course."
The Tigers are in New York for a three-game series against the Yankees beginning Friday.
The team lost to the Seattle Mariners in Detroit on Thursday afternoon before flying to New York.
Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox pitched a perfect game Saturday in a 4-0 win over the Mariners in Seattle.
Only 20 other pitchers have tossed perfect games, in which no opposing batter reaches base, in Major League history, according to MLB.com.
It was the first no-hitter of the 2012 season.
Humber threw 96 pitches, 67 for strikes, and struck out nine. The last batter he faced, Brendan Ryan, nearly spoiled the perfect game when he struck out but had to be thrown out at first when the ball got past Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski.
Until Humber's gem, Philadelphia's Roy Halladay had the most recent perfect game, on May 29, 2010, against Florida. Oakland's Dallas Braden had the American League's most recent perfect game, on May 9, 2010, against Tampa Bay. The last White Sox pitcher to throw a perfect game was Mark Buehrle against Tampa Bay on July 23, 2009.
Baseball’s ageless wonder has become one for the ages.
The Colorado Rockies’ Jamie Moyer – at 49 years and 150 days of age – on Tuesday night became the oldest pitcher in Major League Baseball history to win a game, surrendering two unearned runs in seven innings to guide his new team past the San Diego Padres 5-3 in Denver.
He also tied Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer for 34th on the all-time wins list at 268.
The previous oldest pitcher to win a game in the majors was the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Jack Quinn, who was 49 years and 70 days old when he beat the St. Louis Cardinals in 1932.
Moyer said it was a special night for him, but he said that during the game he was more concerned about having the Rockies finish their nine-game home stand with a winning record than history, according to MLB.com.
"For me to put that in front of the game really would be unfair to my teammates, unfair to myself," Moyer said, according to MLB.com. "It would tell me also that my focus and my attention were in the wrong place.”
Baseball’s attention is now focused on the man who easily could have given up the game two years ago, when – already the oldest active player – he injured his elbow.
Editor's note: This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.
Readers can't stop talking about Ozzie Guillen's remarks praising Cuba's Fidel Castro. The Miami Marlins suspended Guillen for five games, effective immediately, on Tuesday, just before Guillen apologized for what he said.
Marlins suspend manager Guillen for 5 games; he apologizes for Castro comments
Those who have spoken out seemed to be of two camps: Those who think reaction to gaffes is overblown and Americans' right to free speech is increasingly in danger, and those who believe Guillen should not expect to be able to say whatever he wants without consequences.
godsturn: "Don't we have free speech in this country?"
bill: "Sure we do, but even though he may not face civil or criminal prosecution for his supidity for sharing his comments with the rest of America, he will be tried in the court of public opinion. And the public has a right to be angry at his comments and to act against the Marlins for employing this fool. The First Amendment protects your right to say it, but that doesn't mean that you should or that the greater public is going to support or agree with you."
This commenter said they don't believe that a person's comments should have to do with game play.
zma1013: "What the hell does a Castro comment have to do with baseball?? Why is this guy sitting out five games for something that has nothing to do with baseball? I don't care if he said that Hitler was a nice guy, that doesn't relate to baseball at all or his job managing the team at all."
But for some, Miami's Cuban cultural influences should have been Guillen's red flag. FULL POST
The Miami Marlins suspended manager Ozzie Guillen for five games, effective immediately, on Tuesday, just before Guillen apologized for recent comments praising Cuba's Fidel Castro.
Guillen sparked a firestorm when he told Time magazine recently that he respected Castro for being able to lead Cuba for six decades.
"I respect Fidel Castro," Guillen said in the article. "You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that son of a bitch is still there."
Guillen apologized during a press conference Tuesday, first speaking in Spanish, saying that he had "betrayed a Latin community" and that he was speaking to "ask for forgiveness with my heart in my hand."
But, he said, he originally spoke of Castro in Spanish and "the translation to English was a bit confusing."
In response to questions in English on Tuesday, Guillen said he was "very stupid" to make comments outside of baseball.
"Politics has nothing to do with sports," Guillen said.
"This is the biggest mistake so far in my life," he said.
Ozzie Guillen has a knack for controversial statements and it's easy to treat his bombast as Ozzie being Ozzie, but his latest words on his respect for former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro aren't going away - not in Miami.
Guillen, who took over the Miami Marlins this season after eight years with the Chicago White Sox, announced he was flying back to Miami after the Phillies game tonight to hold a press conference about the remarks, according to The Miami Herald.
“I was planning to do something Friday, but (Tuesday) we have the day off and I want to make everything clear so people can talk to me face-to-face,” Guillen told the paper. “They can ask me whatever questions they want, and the sooner the better for the people, for the ball-club and for me. I want to tell people what is going on in my mind and what I believe.”
“I want the people there,” Guillen said. “I feel embarrassed. ... Only my wife knows how bad it’s been last few days. I feel very guilty, sad and embarrassed. Anyone who wants to be there, feel free. I want the Cuban people to understand what I’m going to say because everything I’m going to say is true.”
Guillen sparked the firestorm when he told Time magazine recently that he respected Castro for being able to lead Cuba for six decades.
Major League Baseball will expand its playoffs this season from eight teams to 10 by adding an extra wild-card spot to each league, MLB.com reported Friday.
The expansion was agreed to last year in a collective bargaining deal between Major League Baseball and its players' union, but the parties didn't announce until Friday that the change would start with the 2012 season.
In each league, the playoffs will now consist of the three division winners plus two wild cards, which would be top two teams that didn't win a division. A league's two wild cards will play one post-season game against each other, with the winners advancing to their league’s Division Series.
SI: New wildcard format will have its flaws
Although more teams will make the postseason, wild-card teams now face more of a burden. In recent years, each league's wild-card team went straight to a best-of-five Division Series. Now, wild-card clubs have to spend some of their pitchers on an extra game while the division winners rest, MLB.com points out.
"It used to be if a team had the wild card locked up, they could start setting their rotation for the playoffs," Texas Rangers infielder and designated hitter Michael Young said, according to MLB.com. "Now you have to do everything you can to win the division. You're in - you don't have to play a win-or-go-home game."
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Recent Comments