It took less than a week for Major League Baseball to provide its first wacky play of the season. In the seventh inning of the St. Louis Cardinals’ matchup with the Chicago Cubs, Cardinals pitcher Brett Cecil spiked a curveball in the dirt that catcher Yadier Molina blocked with his chest protector. Cubs hitter Matt Szczur swung and missed for strike three and took off for first base. Molina searched frantically for the baseball, only to make a shocking discovery: The ball was stuck to his chest. Molina’s chest protector essentially is flat, so there’s no way the ball got wedged in anywhere. That pretty much leaves one explana... NESN.com
Tag: Major League Baseball
Ichiro Suzuki Has Hilarious Response To Question About When He’ll Retire
Share this: Ichiro Suzuki is headed into his 17th season in Major League Baseball, but he’s not planning on retiring anytime soon. The Miami Marlins outfielder is 43 years old and is the second-oldest player in the league after Atlanta Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon, who only has a few months on Ichiro. But it might be a matter of time before the Japan native takes the top spot because he told the Miami Herald’s Clark Spencer he wants to keep playing until he’s 50. In fact, Ichiro is so crazy about baseball that he doesn’t even take vacations. Here’s an excerpt from Spencer: The last time he took one — 2004 or ’05, he doesn’t recall which — was a week-long trip to Milan, Italy.
AL East Preview: Which Team Has Best Chance To Knock Off Red Sox In 2017?
The Boston Red Sox are expected to run away with the American League East this season, but as they say, you can’t predict baseball. The Red Sox have the best rotation, the best lineup and the advantage of being last season’s AL East champions. But anything can happen over the course of a 162-game season, and the division still is one of the more competitive ones in Major League Baseball. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at how each team stacks up. The Favorite: the Red SoxThe Red Sox made the biggest offseason move in the division, adding Chris Sale to the rotation after sending four top p... NESN.com
If You’re Not Watching World Baseball Classic, What Are You Waiting For?
The World Baseball Classic isn’t perfect — far from it, actually. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching. The WBC has its issues. The timing of the tournament itself isn’t ideal. It’s hard to expect the highest quality of baseball when a good chunk of the world’s best baseball players are focused on preparing for the Major League Baseball season. That’s their prerogative, especially when you’re trying to have a “meaningful” tournament smack dab in the middle of spring training. You’re never going to be able to convince the game’s biggest stars to participate in a preseason tournament. There’s risk of injury, especially so ... NESN.com
Carlos Asuaje’s Mom Tweets At Padres To Check On Her Son During Game
All of our parents embarrass us at some point in our lives, but it usually doesn’t happen during a Major League Baseball game. Second baseman Carlos Asuaje, who was among the players the Boston Red Sox shipped to San Diego for closer Craig Kimbrel ahead of the 2016 season, started for the Padres on Wednesday in their split-squad spring training game against the Colorado Rockies. The 25-year-old still is pretty new to the big leagues — he made his MLB debut and appeared in just seven games last season — so his mother apparently has been keeping a close eye on him. So when Asuaje was taken out of the game, which wasn’t televised,
Jose Canseco Warns Humanity About Robot Takeover In Bizarre Twitter Rant
Jose Canseco wants us all to be smarter about artificial intelligence The former Major League Baseball player used Twitter on Monday to issue a dire warning about robots’ impending takeover of the economy and ultimately our ability to survive. Canseco used history and statistics to further his argument, although we’re not sure how accurate his numbers are. Canseco published a book in 2005 in which he asserted performance-enhancing-drug abuse was rampant among professional baseball players. Many initially scoffed at him, but history vindicated him, So maybe we should take Canseco’s warning seriously, lest we all will be assimilated... NESN.com
Yoan Moncada’s Son Already A Bat-Flipping Machine And He’s Not Even 3 Years Old
Yoan Moncada made his Major League Baseball debut at a young age, and it appears his son is headed in that direction, too. The Chicago White Sox infielder’s son is just 2 1/2 years old, but he’s already displaying some pretty impressive bat flip skills. A video posted to Instagram on Thursday night showed little Robinson Moncada schooling all the other kids on the tee-ball field. His baserunning could use some work, though. Moncada is MLB’s No. 2 prospect, right behind former Boston Red Sox teammate ... NESN.com