Free Republic

Alvin Dark, who was an All-Star shortstop and captain of the New York Giants' pennant-winning teams in the 1950s and later managed the team to a pennant in San Francisco, but who later found himself shadowed by controversy over his attitude toward black and Latino players, died on Thursday at his home in Easley, S.C. He was 92.

Giants defeat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in Game Seven to win the World Series.

May the best team win

Holding a 2-1 Series edge, Kansas City starts Jason Vargas against the Giants' Ryan Vogelsong in Game 4. Pull up a chair, grab a brew, and chat about the World Series, baseball, politics, the human condition - whatever.

Need to go to the link to see the pictures and comments. This is a small excerpt: 1 – He Pays it Forward – Laurence keeps a promise from his grandfather to always pay it forward, to give back to those around you. On top of the regular season tickets that Laurence has for himself and his guests, he has another set of incredible seats open for families coming to the game. Laurence will stand outside of Marlins Park before first pitch to pass out his tickets to give to families, as a way to give back to the Marlins...

No matter what you think of Pete Rose, you can't deny what an electric moment it was on September 11th, 1985, when Rose became baseball's all-time major league hit leader -- a record that still stands today. And yet, the debate over whether his cardinal sin -- gambling on baseball -- should keep him out of the Hall of Fame for life remains as fierce as ever, as correspondent Lee Cowan explains in a profile of Rose, to be aired on CBS' "Sunday Morning" October 19... Take our poll! Do you feel Pete Rose should be inducted into the National...

Walk off home run by Belt.

Well, Freepers. We have the winners.

As you probably know, the Royals are taking on the Orioles in the ALCS this weekend. It's the first time in 29 years that Kansas City has been in this position and players, fans and local church groups are all very excited. But there was still one major issue going into Friday's Game 1: The city had a street named Baltimore Avenue. On Thursday, that issue was corrected: Yes, you can now drink "Moose Drool" on Royals Avenue while watching Friday's game. And hopefully Mayor Sly James is there because Sly James is the best mayor name in all the...

Major League Baseball announced the 14 umpiring assignments for the League Championship Series round Thursday, and many of the boys in blue selected didn't have the best of seasons calling balls and strikes. According to rankings published by Bloomberg Businessweek, the crew chief for the ALCS, Joe West, was the second-least accurate umpire behind home plate during the 2014 season. By percentage of correct calls, West was 83rd out of 84 umpires who made at least 1,000 total calls. West was right 83.91 percent of the time. The best umpire who made at least 1,000 calls was Paul Schreiber at...

Giants prevail in Game #1.. Comments? Senators get handed a message.. 2010 ... 2012 ... 2014??? Is SF on a roll .. Again?

Go Royals!

This is what it looks like after you get hit in the face with a 90 mph fastball: "The Aftermath...Making huge progress!! Want to thank everyone who has played a part in my recovery">

Frank Torre, older brother of Yankees Hall of Fame skipper Joe and former Milwaukee Braves first baseman, dead at 82 Though he was nine years older, Frank Torre, who broke into the majors with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956, served as a mentor to his younger brother growing up on Avenue T in Brooklyn, and later as a father figure after their parents split up.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- "Caucasians fever Be a believer In the Cleveland Caucasians..." You'd be hard-pressed finding fans of Chief Wahoo singing this version of the Cleveland Indians fight song. But it's been a winning pitch for Cleveland T-shirt designer Brian Kirby. You could say it's the All-Star, Rookie of the Year and MVP of sports T-shirts. The logo lampoons Chief Wahoo -- adding blonde hair and a dollar sign for the feather and substituting "Caucasians" for Indians. And it's caught on – big, out of the blue. Kirby sold $20,000 of the shirts during one recent 24-hour period – so...

The San Francisco Giants and 49ers both said Thursday they are "disturbed" by allegations that the CEO of the company that provides concessions to AT&T Park and Levi's Stadium was caught on video kicking and abusing his dog. Media reports have circulated surveillance video of a man identified as Centerplate CEO Desmond Hague kicking a frightened puppy and choking it with its leash in a Vancouver elevator last month. The Connecticut-based company handles food and beverage sales at numerous entertainment venues, including for the Giants and 49ers. Its Board of Directors said in a statement that it has censured Hague,...

In a touching interview with Jeremy Schaap of ESPN, Pete Rose spoke of the reasons why he gambled on baseball, acknowledging he made a terrible mistake when he gambled and also erred in signing away his future when he was suspended. Prompted by Schaap, he concluded with a plea to Bud Selig to let him back in the game for which he has such a passion.

Rob Manfred was elected baseball's 10th commissioner Thursday and will succeed Bud Selig in January. A labor lawyer who has worked for Major League Baseball since 1998, Manfred beat out Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner in the first contested vote for a new commissioner in 46 years. The third candidate, MLB Executive Vice President of Business Tim Brosnan, dropped out just before the start of voting.

From manager Mike Redmond after the game: "To lose a ballgame tonight on that play is a joke. It's an absolute joke. I don't think anybody who plays this game should feel good about winning that game. And I would say that if had been reversed. That guy was out by 15 feet. It was a great baseball play. G threw a strike to Matty. He was out by 15 feet. He didn't slide because he couldn't slide because he was out by so far. And yet those guys in New York decided the outcome of that game ... "No...

Major League Baseball has hired openly gay former ballplayer Billy Bean as their new Ambassador For Inclusion. Bean's job will be to assure all MLB stakeholders of an inclusive and equitable workplace and provide awareness and educational resources that help mandate the league's workplace code of conduct. "It's ironic that I am returning to baseball to help erase the same reason I left," Bean told Outsports in an exclusive interview. Bean left baseball in 1995 shortly after his then-partner passed away. Bean skipped his partner's funeral to play in a game for the Padres, lest someone discover he was gay.