Free Republic

A baseball fan got the steal of a lifetime. Someone selling a ticket to game 1 of the World Series at Fenway Park accidentally sold a ticket on StubHub for $3 dollars. Not $300, not $3,000 but 3 bucks! The receipt of the sale was posted on Deadspin. With the service fee the lucky fan named Eric was able to wrap up the whole sale for $6 dollars. Here’s a map of where the ticket is and its not even in the upper deck! The lucky fan might even be able to snag a foul ball from the seat. The...

Congrats to the RedBirds, and a shout out to Cardinal Nation!

Link only per agreement with Gannett

Andy Pafko, a Wisconsin native who eventually got his wish to play for the Milwaukee Braves and became a fan favorite, died Tuesday at 92 in a nursing home in Stevensville, Mich. Beyond playing for the Braves during their glory days in the late 1950s, Pafko played for the Chicago Cubs in the 1945 World Series, the last year the Cubs made it that far. He also played left field for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951 and stood with his back against the wall at the Polo Grounds as Bobby Thomson hit the "shot heard 'round the world" to give...

Former Cubs star Andy Pafko had a good bat, a memorable nickname and a reputation as one of the friendliest players in the game. Pafko, 92, died Tuesday in a nursing home in Stevensville, Mich., the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. A popular five-time All-Star who played 17 seasons and appeared in 24 World Series games — including the Cubs' last visit to the Series in 1945 — Pafko had a lifetime .285 average with 213 home runs and 976 RBIs playing for the Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers and Milwaukee Braves.

Craig Kimbrel is supposedly the heir to Mariano Rivera. In his postseason career as closer, Rivera recorded 27 appearances of 2+ innings. Uribe bunted two balls foul, ... and then tomahawked a high fastball from David Carpenter into left-field stands for a shocking two-run homer .... Note that I wrote "David Carpenter" and not "Craig Kimbrel." The Braves had to win this game. Lose, and they go home. Somehow they lost -- in the late innings, no less -- without using the most dominant relief pitcher in the game. The sad thing is, Gonzalez apparently didn't even think of using...

As the baseball playoffs approach, beware: As some fans in Boston found out the hard way, snapping too many cell phone photos may be bad for your camera. Or at least your beer. Still, despite the chance of losing your phone or your beverage, we love to snap and share. Everything. It was that noted wine drinker Socrates who opined that the unexamined life is not worth living. But how many friends would he have had on Facebook, anyway? Americans don’t have Socratic problems. Our lives are over-examined. Few of us go anywhere without a smart phone these days. Whether...

**SNIP** Baker quite likely started to sense that maybe his time was up in Cincinnati. Maybe that’s why he said what he said. “The last couple weeks, I’ve been getting a rash of hate mail, racial mail,” he said. “Maybe it is time to go.” “This is really ugly,” he said. “There are all sorts of references to Barack Obama. So now I know where they are coming from. I don’t know, maybe people are mad at him, so they don’t like the idea of blacks in authority.”

I’ve been captivated by the tale of the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates. A smaller market team overcoming two decades of misfortune and misery to not only break a 20-year streak of sub-.500 futility but make the postseason for the first time since 1992, nearly winning a division title... unless you were one of the 41,000+ fans and media at PNC Park on Tuesday night, you could not watch the adoring fans welcome home their conquering heroes, exploding with emotion and gratitude. TBS, one of MLB’s three broadcast partners for the postseason, did not show the traditional pre-game player introductions, National Anthem...

"Is there - or should there be - a wall of separation between ownership of newspapers and ownership of sports franchises? Apparently some think so."

... there has been discussion as to how a three-way tie would be determined for the last clubs in: ... Cleveland would host Tampa Bay to determine one of the wild cards on Monday; the loser of that game would then play at Texas on Tuesday to determine the second wild card. The two winners would be re-seeded for the wild card game on Wednesday based on season series. Therefore, the Rangers would host the Rays after going 4-3 against them this season, and would be at Cleveland after going 1-5 against them (and Cleveland would be at Tampa Bay)....

WASHINGTON - As far as Molly Ryan knew, she was headed to Coors Field in Denver with her family to see the Rockies take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ryan's parents and her boyfriend, Kenny Lovelace, knew this was more than just a family outing. This was the night Lovelace was going to ask Ryan to become his wife. ... Ryan said "yes" and fans nearby cheered for the couple -- everyone but the older couple, that is. They continued to look unamused by the event. In fact, unbeknownst to Mullins, another woman who was there with them retrieved a security...

Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig, who changed the face of Major League Baseball while leading the sport into an era of unprecedented popularity and prosperity, will formally step down from the office when his current term expires on January 24, 2015. The announcement was made Thursday. "It remains my great privilege to serve the game I have loved throughout my life," Selig said. "Baseball is the greatest game ever invented, and I look forward to continuing its extraordinary growth and addressing several significant issues during the remainder of my term. "I am grateful to the owners throughout Major League Baseball...

For the first time since 1992, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in MLB's postseason. The Bucs clinched at least a spot in the wild-card game after a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs that ended with a bizarre play at the plate, and a 4-3 loss by the Washington Nationals to the St. Louis Cardinals. The loss eliminated the Nats from contention. The Cincinnati Reds are playoff-bound as well, after beating the New York Mets, 3-2 in 10 innings. The focus over the regular season's final six days now shifts to the NL Central race, which the Cards still lead by...

THE WILD SIDE: It's a scramble for the two AL wild-card spots, with a half-dozen teams trying to claim them. Texas, Cleveland and Tampa Bay are at the top, but wobbling. Pinch-hitter Justin Morneau's single sent Pittsburgh over the Cubs 3-2 Sunday, leaving the Pirates even with St. Louis for the NL Central lead. WHAT'S THE FORECAST?: Wicked weather always seems to wreak havoc at the end of the season. Cleveland waited out a rain delay of nearly 4 1/2 hours in Chicago before beating the White Sox 7-1 Sunday night. Just watch - somewhere, a storm will sweep into...

Losing a Major League Baseball franchise would be a blow to CBS Radio’s drive to build a successful sports talk station in the market. But MLB commissioner Bud Selig has stated the league is not happy with the support the market is giving the Tampa Bay Rays in terms of attendance despite the club fielding successful teams. The league states, “Last year, the 30 Major League clubs averaged nearly 2.5 million in total attendance; the Rays, who finished with a 90-72 record, drew 1,559,681, which ranked last in the game.” So WHFS-FM “98.7 The Fan” is launching “Save Tampa Bay...

A praying mantis interacts with Florida players during today's Marlins/Nationals game. Some enjoy the mantis's company, other are less than amused. One freaks out when the mantis jumps on him which sends the announcers into a laughing fit.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Making a solid case for its modernity despite being a core sport of the ancient Olympics, wrestling saved its place on the Summer Games program Sunday. Wrestling wiped its opponents off the mat, defeating baseball / softball and squash to gain the one open spot on the 2020 Olympic program and be assured of staying at least through 2024. It took just one round of voting by International Olympic Committee members for wrestling to get the needed majority. Wrestling got 49 votes to 24 for baseball / softball and 22 for squash.

HAVANA TIMES — Cuba’s Industriales baseball veterans finally have a stadium to play at in the Miami area.Somos Cuba, the organization promoting this sporting event, announced that the stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, had agreed to host the two matches scheduled for Saturday, August 31 starting at 11 in the morning..

The Houston Astros, the worst team in Major League Baseball, is set to become the most profitable team in the sport's history. According to a Forbes report, "The Astros are on pace to rake in an estimated $99 million in operating income this season. That is nearly as much as the estimated operating income of the previous six World Series championship teams — combined." The highest-paid player on the team makes $1.15 million and 64 baseball players make more than the whole team combined. The Astros, currently at 43-86, have the worst record in the league since 2005. But Jim...