From the racism and poverty of the Jim Crow South, Willie Mays rose to the height of fame and respect as perhaps the country’s greatest baseball player – one who inspired a president.
Texas Rangers scout Brian Williams takes notes at Roberto Clemente Stadium in Carolina, Puerto Rico.
H. James Gilmore and Tracy Halcomb
Even with teams’ embrace of analytics, the number of scouts employed by MLB teams had stayed remarkably consistent. That all changed with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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
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.
Shohei Ohtani during a Los Angeles Angels baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Oakland, Calif., Sept. 3, 2023.
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The Blue Jays would be well served to heed the lessons learned from losing out on signing Shohei Ohtani to make sure they don’t risk losing out on any more top players.
For the first time ever, baseball players will be governed by a clock this season. It’s one of several new rule changes aimed at making the game more appealing.
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Scientists analyzed 100,000 baseball games, from the days of Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays to Aaron Judge. Here’s what they learned about the climate’s growing role.
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
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?
It used to be spit balls, but now sticky baseballs are giving pitchers an advantage.
Tage Olsin
Pitchers in Major League Baseball have been striking out more batters than ever, and some people say it’s because they’re adding sticky stuff to the balls.
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)
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.
The logos may have been printed too soon.
AP Photo/John Bazemore
Usually, companies use this power to secure financial benefits for themselves, such as tax or regulation relief. But increasingly, they’re using it for social causes as well.
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)
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
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.
Will robo-umps make the game of baseball better or worse?
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
While segregation was a shameful period in baseball history, the Negro Leagues were a resounding success and an immense source of pride for black America.
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
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.
A pitcher tries to throw a ball past a batter.
AP Images/Eric Gay
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?
Umpire Quinn Wolcott signals a strike out during an at-bat by Toronto Blue Jays’ Josh Thole.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren