Free Republic

Joe Maddon selected an adjective usually applied to a gallon of milk. Then again, for all the romance that surrounds the sport, baseball is a consumer product too. “Once you eradicate National League rules, then everything becomes homogenized,” the Angels manager said. With the adoption of the designated hitter in both leagues this year, and with the expansion of interleague play next year, Major League Baseball is giving their consumers what the league believes they want. The National League dates to 1876, the oldest surviving professional sports league in the world, according to MLB historian John Thorn. The American League...

NEW YORK -- Tom Seaver transformed a franchise and captivated a city, setting enduring standards as he whipped his powerful right arm overhead for the Miracle Mets and dirtied his right knee atop major league mounds for two decades. A consummate pro and pitching icon, he finished fulfilled after a career remembered with awe long after his final strikeout. "It is the last beautiful flower in the perfect bouquet," Seaver said on the afternoon he was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame. Seaver, the galvanizing force who steered the New York Mets from the National League cellar to a stunning...

Play ball! Major League Baseball has settled on a plan for a 60-game season that will begin around July 24, according to ESPN. Following months of back-and-forth negotiations with the players’ union, the league’s owners voted to approve a 60-game schedule for the 2020 season on Monday. The players’ union agreed to the league’s terms on Tuesday night, tweeting: “All remaining issues have been resolved and Players are reporting to training camps.” Camps are set to open July 1. MLB in March cancelled spring training for this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. “This action is being taken in the...

A New York judge ruled on Friday that a letter sent by Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred to the Yankees addressing the findings of a 2017 investigation into the team should be unsealed. MLB and the Yankees may submit a minimally redacted version of the letter “to protect the identity of the individuals mentioned” by noon ET on Monday, as part of the proceedings in a lawsuit brought against the league by daily fantasy sports contestants in the wake of the sign-stealing scandals in Houston and Boston. The Yankees argue the letter would cause “significant reputational injury,” Judge Jed...

MLB players’ union has been discussing a handful of potential neutral stadiums that could host baseball games to restart the 2020 season, New York Yankees pitcher Zack Britton said Wednesday. Britton told MLB Network Radio that about five sites have been talked about in meetings about potentially getting the season back up and running. The season was suspended and Opening Day was delayed because of the coronavirus outbreak. MLB PLAYERS UNION CONSIDERS PLAYING GAMES WITH NO FANS TO START SEASON, ANGELS PITCHER SAYS “I know there's sites that have already been discussed -- I'm not sure if I should even...

Major League Baseball is requesting a return of a $5,000 donation to a Mississippi Republican candidate for U.S. Senate following her controversial comments and actions ahead of Tuesday's runoff election. Cindy Hyde-Smith has drawn scrutiny for saying at a Nov. 2 campaign event that she would attend a public hanging if invited. Further digging into Hyde-Smith's past has revealed a photo of her wearing a Confederate military-style hat in 2014 along with questions about the white private school she attended in the 1970s.

MLB Trade Rumors is proud to present our 13th annual Top 50 Free Agents list! For the entire list of free agents, plus the ability to filter by signing status, position, signing team, and qualifying offer status, check out our mobile-friendly free agent tracker here. New to MLBTR? You can follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and download our free app for iOS and Android. MLBTR writers Steve Adams and Jeff Todd joined me in this collaboration, debating free agent contracts and destinations for many hours. We vetted these as much as possible, but...

Mariners star Robinson Cano has received an eighty-game suspension for testing positive for substances banned by the MLB-MLBPA Joint Drug Agreement, as first reported by Hector Gomez of Deportivo Z 101 (via Twitter) and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Since the ban begins immediately, Cano will be eligible to return in the middle of August. Cano was suspended for a diuretic known as furosemide that is prohibited by the JDA among other diuretics and masking agents, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweeted and the league has since announced. Cano has issued a statement through the MLBPA (Twitter...

Will the left now attack Major League Baseball players for not kneeling during the American national anthem? They already say that baseball is a "white sport". It's a "white man's game". What will happen now?

The league has officially handed down suspensions arising out of yesterday’s fisticuffs between the Tigers and Yankees. Detroit star Miguel Cabrera received the stiffest discipline, with a seven-game ban owing to his “inciting the first bench-clearing incident and fighting.” Cabrera isn’t the only one who’ll take some games of unpaid leave (pending appeal). Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez got four games for throwing punches in the melee — he was fortunate, perhaps, not to take a harsher punishment — while fellow New York backstop Austin Romine got two for his part in the tangle with Cabrera. That could cause the organization...

CHICAGO -- A WGN News exclusive -- Steve Bartman has received an official Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series Championship ring as a special gift from the Ricketts family and the Cubs organization. Arguably the team's most infamous fan, Bartman is remembered for tipping a foul ball that left fielder Moises Alou unsuccessfully dove for in the stands during Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series. Now, 14 years later, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts thought it was high time to extend an olive branch. Bartman received the ring before noon Monday in Ricketts' office. Cubs President of Baseball Operations...

It’s time for God to stop blessing America during the seventh-inning stretch. Welcome to the July 4 holiday weekend — when once again, baseball fans will be assaulted by the saccharine-sweet non-anthem “God Bless America” at stadia all over this great land. But no matter which home team you root, root, root for, “God Bless America” should be sent permanently to the bench.

It's hysteria, Carlos Beltran. Pure hysteria. Puerto Rico was thrown out of the game before it even entered the stadium It’s a common theme of mine that the American spirit is growing steadily weaker. One way in which we see that is the propensity to become hysterical at the least provocation, the proverbial elephant afraid of the mouse. Witness the ongoing hysteria over the mosquito-borne Zika virus. The latest victim is the impoverished U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which has struck out with Major League Baseball. A two-game series scheduled for the territory is being moved to Miami. Why? The...

It was a metaphor for all to see on this fall's World Series pre- and postgame shows. An outcast for more than a quarter-century, Pete Rose appeared as a Fox Sports TV analyst -- on a set outside the stadium. Now Rose, 74, will remain officially on the outs for the foreseeable future, following Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred's denial on Monday of Rose's bid for reinstatement, 26 years after his lifetime ban based on evidence that he had gambled on the sport -- and on his own team -- as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Manfred's ruling is...

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred says he has received a formal request from Pete Rose asking that his lifetime ban be lifted and that he will consider the all-time hits leader's request "on its merits." "I want to make sure I understand all of the details of the Dowd Report and Commissioner [Bart] Giamatti's decision and the agreement that was ultimately reached," Manfred said after a meeting with Los Angeles Dodgers players in Arizona on Monday morning. "I want to hear what Pete has to say, and I'll make a decision once I've done that." Rose's...

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - Chicago legend Ernie Banks, also known as 'Mr. Cub' and 'Mr. Sunshine,' died Friday night, sources say. He was 83. Banks would have turned 84 on January 31. He was born in 1931 in Dallas, Texas. Banks was the first African American player to play for the Cubs. In 1950, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs in Negro League Baseball . He then played shortstop and first base for 19 seasons, from 1953 to 1971. The entire time Banks played for the Cubs, he was a national league all-star for 11 seasons. He was...

A home run off the bat of Adam Dunn happily found its way to a young Rangers fan. While the boy celebrated his newfound treasure, an evil, tattooed witch stole the ball and threw it back on the field. The woman and her meathead companion celebrated while the boy sulked. I’ve lost faith in humanity. Here’s a step-by-step look at the boy’s heartbreak.

If Major League Baseball caves into the wishes of those who are breaking the law and entering the law ILLEGALLY and moves the 2011 All Star game from Arizona, I vow to never watch baseball again. Who is with me?

Let's hear a little baseball chatter here! AL EAST Tampa Bay leads division by a game over Boston with the two teams squaring off in a three game series starting tonight. Yankees are in fourth, a half game behind the Blue Jays--and the last game at Yankee Stadium is set for Sunday night on ESPN. AL CENTRAL/WEST White Sox lead Twins by 1.5 games. Angels clinched the west and lead Texas by a mere 19.5 games. Curse of Hillary? The Obama campaign reminds me of the Yanks' fortune this year. Down down down Another close race in the NL EAST...

An open letter to the people of France: Bonjour! We in America are still very thankful for the Statue of Liberty. She is a fine lady. She still stands for freedom and huddled masses and all of that. But let's face it, she needed to dress for a baseball game like everyone else here. So we thought you should know that we have taken a few, um, liberties. Major League Baseball announced more details Thursday about the "Statues on Parade" that will have everyone talking. It is going to be the most amazing celebration of the Statue of Liberty since...