CHICAGO — Will Venable and Craig Counsell were in good position heading into the All-Star break with teams that had been through various struggles and came out ahead.

Progress is not always accomplished in a conventional manner, as both managers can attest.

The Chicago White Sox were tied for first in the American League Central, despite ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — There wasn’t much of a local flavor to this year’s MLB All-Star Game festivities.

Neither Paul Skenes nor Braxton Ashcraft pitched in the midsummer classic. Oneil Cruz’s injury prevented him from returning to the Home Run Derby. Sunday’s win over the Milwaukee Brewers overshadowed anything prospects Seth Hernandez and ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — In 1976, when the All-Star Game came to Veterans Stadium, the Yankees’ Catfish Hunter and Thurman Munson did a midgame interview about a historic collective bargaining agreement that was ratified the night before.

Now that was a celebration of baseball.

Fifty years on, this wasn’t so bad either. MLB pulled out all the ...Read more

SEATTLE — I keep hearing about how the run is coming. That magical month when the Seattle Mariners finally show their World Series prowess.

It’s happening anytime now, right?

Kalshi seems to think so.

The prediction website said the Mariners vs. Los Angeles Dodgers was the second-most-likely World Series matchup at 8.5%, trailing only the...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Pete Crow-Armstrong was 9 years old, maybe 10. He can't remember for sure. But he clearly remembers the scene: a journey from his San Fernando Valley home to Angel Stadium, for a game featuring Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees.

Jeter wasn't an outfielder, though. Crow-Armstrong sat in right-center field, with a great view of...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Winning six Gold Glove awards gives Mookie Betts more than enough credibility to design and market his own leather. And that's exactly what he is doing with LGND, a line of baseball gloves that he says are "built around versatility, craftsmanship and player-first innovation."

Betts, of course, is the Dodgers shortstop whose Gold...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Every time Sonja Marsh is at a major league baseball game to watch her son, or an international track meet to watch her daughter, she brings a small, gray urn with butterflies on the side.

It contains the ashes of her late husband, Jake, who died of cancer in April of 2021. There are countless ways the family has kept his ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Whenever somebody asks me to name my favorite ballparks, I spend most of my time trying to talk myself out of the most boring possible answer.

Sure, Dodger Stadium is a personal favorite. There’s something about the way a SoCal dusk blends with Dodger Blue and the peaceful rise of the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Cody Bellinger went seven years between All-Star Game appearances.

It was worth the wait.

The Yankees outfielder was voted MVP of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game after he delivered the decisive hit in the American League’s 4-0 victory at Citizens Bank Park.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the first, ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Rays slugger Junior Caminero’s second All-Star appearance came to an early and painful end Tuesday night. He left the game after being hit by a pitch in the third inning.

Caminero was hit on his left pinkie, going immediately to the ground in obvious pain, writhing and rolling to his side. He then jumped up and walked quickly...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — For years, as stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper pleaded for the chance to play in the Los Angeles Olympics, and for Major League Baseball to back up its talk of growing the game internationally by participating in the world's greatest sporting festival, the league was reluctant: Would the owners truly benefit from ...Read more

Two lawsuits already serve as backdrops to the unseemly sequence of events that led to Bryce Harper sending Thanksgiving wishes on behalf of FanDuel to an admitted sports gambling addict.

Could there be a third?

Legal experts say Harper might have grounds to sue FanDuel for false endorsement, misappropriation and invasion of privacy.

The ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The best player in Major League Baseball — a player who can make a claim to being the greatest baseball player ever — will not play in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park. The best player on the most popular team in Major League Baseball — a player who hit at least 53 home runs in three of the previous ...Read more

St. LOUIS — This wasn’t just a moment.

I mean, let’s be clear, it was one hell of a moment. But when Jordan Walker won (no, stole) the Home Run Derby on Monday, it wasn’t simply a moment that was, in a vacuum, one to fondly look back upon.

It was a launching.

Walker’s status and celebrity catapulted into the cognizance of our nation...Read more

DETROIT — Tigers manager AJ Hinch said he expected to see Jahmai Jones back in the big leagues "soon."

And it appears Hinch will be correct.

Jones, who had a breakout season for the Tigers' offense in 2025 but struggled mightily this season before he was designated for assignment last week, was acquired by the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Baseball’s uncertain future briefly hung over the otherwise grandiose MLB All-Star festivities on Tuesday morning as the league’s commissioner and the head of its players union detailed the divide over a potential salary cap.

A significant gap remains between the MLB owners, who are fighting to impose a cap once the current...Read more

LOS ANGELES — How much would you pay for a pair of shoes? Someone else's shoes, I mean.

Would you pay $7,000 for a chair on which Taylor Swift sat in a basketball arena — for an NBA playoff game, not for her wedding? Someone did.

There was one Swift chair up for bid. The Dodgers gave away 52,000 trading cards as part of a promotion for the...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Major League Baseball draft is filled with unfamiliar names. Even the most knowledgeable fans have difficulty knowing much about the mostly anonymous high school and college players taken by the 30 teams through 20 rounds.

Every year, however, a handful of names ring a bell. The 2026 draft, held the last two days in ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — When he reached his 15th and final swing of the championship round of the Home Run Derby, Jordan Walker trailed Kyle Schwarber still be three home runs.

But as long as he hit every pitch from there out of the park, he had a chance to continue and even overtake the Philly favorite.

Walker hit four consecutive magenta balls to ...Read more