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
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.
Miami Marlins fans have little to look forward to this season.
AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
Roughly one-third of the league won’t be trying to win this season. What’s fueling this trend?
Danny Farquhar’s fellow relief pitchers hung up Farquhar’s jersey in the Chicago White Sox bullpen on April 21, 2018, to show their support.
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
How could an otherwise healthy professional baseball pitcher suffer a devastating brain hemorrhage? A neurosurgeon who studies aneurysms explains their unpredictability.
Should baseball teams pay tax on the bobbleheads they give away?
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
The Cincinnati Reds’ struggles on the field in recent years have extended into the courtroom, where they are battling to avoid paying sales tax on promotional giveaways they use to sell tickets.
A century-old legal doctrine has protected MLB teams from liability, when a fans gets injured by a foul ball. New research shows why it’s time that changed.
Fans plead for an autograph from Shohei Ohtani, Major League Baseball’s newest Japanese import.
Chris Carlson/AP Photo
The national pastime is more than just a sport. In this roundup, we feature stories about baseball’s relationship to race, politics, the media and health.