Apathy is a sports franchise’s worst enemy. Just ask the Pittsburgh Pirates. They play in PNC Park, universally acclaimed as one of baseball’s most beautiful ballparks. The Pirates made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, from 2013-15, and although they didn’t do much in the postseason, they were embraced by the Steel City. In 2015, the Pirates averaged 30,846 fans […]

Francisco Lindor hit his first Citi Field home run as a Met on Friday night, but no hint of a smile could be seen on his face afterward. Maybe he was still frustrated over the early-season slump that has caused the Flushing faithful to boo him. Or maybe Lindor was still fuming after having had a dustup with double-play partner Jeff […]

Former Major League Baseball player and manager Bobby Valentine announced Friday that he is running for mayor of his hometown in Connecticut.  Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1968, Valentine played in the majors until 1979. He went on to become the manager of the Texas Rangers in 1985, later the New York Mets, whom he led to the 2000 World […]

ESPN MLB insider Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Drew Robinson returned to professional baseball on Thursday night, going hitless in his first game since surviving a suicide attempt and losing his right eye last year. Playing right field and hitting eighth, Robinson struck out in each of his four at-bats […]

Jose Altuve silenced the fans with a loud home run. The Astros and Yankees are finishing up a three-game set in the Bronx, the first time Houston has been in New York in front of fans since news broke of their cheating scandal during their World Series winning season in 2017. Yankee fans are, understandably, still more than a bit salty about the Astros […]

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Just over a month into the 2021 MLB season, no team has separated itself from the pack at the top of the standings just yet. In fact, heading into play Thursday, there are 12 teams within two games of Oakland’s MLB-best 19-13 mark. For our MLB Power Rankings voters, that means the challenge of putting order to this year’s teams […]

Covers MLB for ESPN.com Former deputy editor of Page 2 Been with ESPN.com since 1995 I swear I’m not making this up, but earlier on Wednesday I happened to see a quote somewhere attributed to Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, that he may or may not have said, but certainly sounds like something he would say: “No need to steal […]

Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means tossed Major League Baseball's third no-hitter of the 2021 season, with one unusual play separating him from the first perfect game since 2012. The left-hander faced the minimum 27 Seattle Mariners in a 6-0 win, with the only runner reaching base on a wild pitch following a strikeout in the bottom of the third inning. Means […]