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Articles on Major League Baseball

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Canadian baseball player Joey Votto is trying to extend his career by playing with the Toronto Blue Jays this year. He issued a handwritten apology for earlier remarks he made about Canadian baseball. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Steve Nesius

Joey Votto’s handwritten apology to baseball fans shows the pen is mightier than the bat

The power of a handwritten letter became clear when baseball player Joey Votto penned an apology to Canadian fans. Votto also reopened the debate about whether kids should learn cursive writing.
After a mistake, people may try to correct the error with an intentional wrong judgment, this time in favor of the previously wronged party. Ed Zurga/Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Two wrongs trying to make a right – makeup calls are common for MLB umpires, financial analysts and probably you

Erroneous calls increase the chances of subsequent calls in favor of the person who was harmed. What drives this behavior, and do people even recognize they’re doing it?
The 2020 World Series featured two teams at opposite ends of the salary spectrum: the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays. The richer Dodgers were the winners. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Pandemic Moneyball: How COVID-19 has affected baseball odds

Twenty years ago, a few small-market Major League Baseball teams used advanced analytics as a secret weapon to compete with large-market teams. But the Moneyball effect is gone now.
A New York Mets employee places cutouts of fans in the seats before the team’s first game of the year on July 24. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The business of sports resumes amid COVID-19, but at what cost?

Sports is typically a reflection of society, not an exception to it. COVID-19 seems to have turned the model of professional sport inside out.
When the Edmonton Eskimos released a statement in support of Black Lives Matter, the team was criticized for not addressing the controversy about its racist team name. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Edmonton Eskimos should follow Washington Redskins and drop its racist team name

In the wake of protests about systemic racism, sports teams are under increased pressure to lose their racist nicknames. An Inuit scholar calls on the Edmonton Eskimos to do the right thing.
A team photograph of the 1919 Chicago White Sox squad, many of whom would be implicated in throwing that year’s World Series. Heritage Auctions

How gambling built baseball – and then almost destroyed it

Up until the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, gambling and baseball had a marriage of convenience. A century later, gambling is again being seen as a solution to the sport’s woes.
Some pitchers are convinced the balls are being messed with behind the scenes. Aspen Photo/Shutterstock.com

What’s really behind baseball’s home run surge?

Recent changes to the ball seem to be juicing hitters’ stats. But could other factors, like the climate and advanced analytics, also be playing a role?
The game is becoming less exciting for fans. Daniel Padavona/shutterstock.com

Statistics ruined baseball by perfecting it

An obsession with statistics has made teams better than ever – but the game is now more tedious for fans to watch.
Boys practice baseball at a park in San Antonio de Guerra, a small municipality in the Dominican Republic. Reuters/Ricardo Rojas

The promise and peril of the Dominican baseball pipeline

Some of the best players in the world come from this small Caribbean nation, where an entire system of training young talent has blossomed. But few actually make it to the big leagues.

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