Rangers’ outfielder Marlon Byrd is either really brave, really stupid, really trusting or some combination of the three: Marlon Byrd wouldn’t be pulling down $3 million as a Major League baseball player without getting a second chance from an obscure community college after he nearly had a leg amputated more than a decade ago. So […]

Singer songwriter Todd Snider was on NPR last night, and though I always kind of liked him before, I really, really, like him now. Here he is talking about a song on his new record: “America’s Favorite Pastime” is a song for the unprepared. It was inspired by the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball player Doc Ellis, […]

Marlins 5, Orioles 2: Ricky Nolasco has been a completely different pitcher since his little jaunt to New Orleans to get his pyloric valve opened or whatever the hell is was. In his four starts since his return, he’s given up two earned runs, two earned runs, one earned run and last night zero earned […]

Another outraged column about Manny’s rehab assignment, this one from Bill Plaschke. I’m struck by this: Manny Ramirez playing for the triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes is as weird as the word “isotope.” . . . When Manny Ramirez is old and gray and sitting outside the locked doors of Cooperstown, he might reflect on this summer […]

I think that, with this comment, J.W. gets at the core of a good third of the baseball debates that go on around here and elsewhere: I agree that Manny doesn’t deserve adulation or admiration. Neither does A-Rod (for cheating on his wife, etc.) But this brings us to a difficult question regarding entertainment. Can […]

On Monday, I suggested that the Yankees’ protest of Sunday’s New York-Florida game was a waste of time that, if successful, could cause them more trouble than it would be worth. Yesterday, the league saved the Yankees from themselves.

The Indians finally broke their losing streak last night, but it’s not like a close and shaky win over the Pirates is going to silence the rumors about Eric Wedge’s impending termination. Neither will this: With the Indians stuck in last place in the AL Central, Wedge’s status is becoming a daily topic of discussion […]

The putative new boss of the players’ union seems like a very different guy than the departing old boss: Every week, [Michael] Weiner and his trademark blue jeans stride down to his basement classroom and teach Sunday school to one of the few congregations less orderly than major league baseball owners . . . An […]

Tyler Kepner is impressed with the safety measures at Turner Field: Turner Field is the second ballpark the Yankees have seen this season with protective netting that extends beyond the norm. Every stadium has a tall screen behind the plate to protect the fans from hard-hit foul balls. Here in Atlanta, the Braves also have […]

Now if you turn your attention to the center ring, I give you Manny Ramirez, standing on his head while riding on the back of a flaming horse! Or something! Ramirez, easing back into playing shape after a 50-game drug suspension, suited up for the Albuquerque Isotopes as they beat Nashville 1-0. Ramirez wore No. […]