And the second hurdle is cleared: A home, at last, for the Marlins. Miami-Dade County commissioners on Monday put to rest more than a decade quest by voting in favor of a roofed ballpark for the Marlins on the Orange Bowl grounds. Commissioners cast two separate votes; the first came back 9-4, and the second […]

At least according to advertisers and the people who care about them: IT is rare that media buyers form a consensus on anything, but in the case of the neophyte Major League Baseball Network, which had its premiere in January, they seem to agree that they like its chances of becoming a successful player in […]

Things to read as you wonder whether your kids would be in a constant state of contracting and/or getting over colds from October through April if you didn’t live in the Midwest: Sean Smith has five questions about the Los Angeles Angels. Question number six: Is this cleared up yet? Josh Kalk looks at some […]

A run of the mill notes column yesterday, with this thrown in: The Reds have let teams know that they will wait and see whether they need to move Aaron Harang during the season. Harang is scheduled to make $12.5 million next season and $12.75 million with a $2 million buyout for 2011. After going […]

It wasn’t much in doubt, but now it’s official: Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling says he’s retiring from baseball. The right-hander who won World Series championships with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox announced on his blog Monday that he’s leaving after 23 years with “zero regrets.” Thank God Schilling has been relieved […]

Russ Smith from Splice Today has visited 17 ballparks. He runs them down today. The difference between him and most other folks who write this sort of thing (myself most especially): He’s capable of honesty when it comes to his own team’s park: Fenway Park. Surprisingly, I have mixed feelings about Fenway, despite a slavish […]

The nightmare that unfolded in Oakland over the weekend hit particularly close to home for the A’s organization: Two of the officers, Dunakin and Hege, often worked A’s games at the Oakland Coliseum, according to David Rinetti, the team’s vice president of stadium operations. “It hit me hard,” Rinetti said. Hege spent years providing security […]

Today is the final vote for the Marlins’ stadium. As you’re waiting for that, why not click over to Facebook and find out which President or Superhero the proposed park would be: The most annoying Facebook gizmo in history appeared in December. Worse than Vampire Wars and the gifting of virtual beer, it inveigled users […]

. . . this is simply an exercise in delusion: If San Diego’s offense were a restaurant, it would be getting one-star reviews from some observers. Scouts have generally been remarkably unimpressed by the Padres’ lineup. Then, there was the GM of another National League West team who said anonymously that the Friars “look like […]

Kepner notes that Sabathia is becoming a leader. After noting that his slide step from the stretch helped Posada throw a couple of guys out, he cites other examples: The Yankees lavished a $161 million contract on Sabathia to give their rotation an ace. As a bonus, they gained a team leader. Sabathia has taken […]