SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The new baseball season began in South Korea on Tuesday with the crack of the bat and the sound of the ball smacking into the catcher’s mitt echoing around empty stadiums.After a weeks-long delay because of the coronavirus pandemic, umpires wore protective masks and cheerleaders danced beneath rows of unoccupied seats as professional baseball got back on the field.There were many faces in the stands in at least one stadium, but they were pictures instead of real people because fans aren’t allowed into the venues — at least for now.Instead, it was easy to hear players cheering and shouting from the dugouts. And it was a relief to fans watching from home in a country that is now attempting to slowly return to pre-COVID-19 normalcy amid a waning caseload.The country’s professional soccer leagues will kick off Friday, also without spectators in the stadiums.As one of the world’s first major professional sports competitions to return to action amid the pandemic, the... [More]

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The new baseball season began in South Korea on Tuesday with the crack of the bat and the sound of the ball smacking into the catcher’s mitt echoing around empty stadiums.After a weeks-long delay because of the coronavirus pandemic, umpires wore protective masks and cheerleaders danced beneath rows of unoccupied seats as professional baseball got back on the field.There were many faces in the stands in at least one stadium, but they were pictures instead of real people because fans aren’t allowed into the venues — at least for now.Instead, it was easy to hear players cheering and shouting from the dugouts. And it was a relief to fans watching from home in a country that is now attempting to slowly return to pre-COVID-19 normalcy amid a waning caseload.The country’s professional soccer leagues will kick off Friday, also without spectators in the stadiums.As one of the world’s first major professional sports competitions to return to action amid the pandemic, the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball’s average salary ahead of a postponed opening day remained at around $4.4 million for the fifth straight season, according to a study of contracts by The Associated Press.Following an offseason when Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon and Christian Yelich all agreed to $200 million-plus deals, the flattened salary curve is evidence of a shrinking portion of the pie for baseball’s middle class. The stagnant stretch is unprecedented since the free-agent era dawned in 1976.And that is before taking into account any decrease caused by a shortened season in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.In a throwback, the New York Yankees top payrolls for the first time since 2013 and tower over the Pittsburgh Pirates at $54 million -- the lowest of any big league team in six years.Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred remains confident there will be a season but is unsure when health conditions will allow training to resume.MLB’s average when rosters were... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball’s average salary ahead of a postponed opening day remained at around $4.4 million for the fifth straight season, according to a study of contracts by The Associated Press.Following an offseason when Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon and Christian Yelich all agreed to $200 million-plus deals, the flattened salary curve is evidence of a shrinking portion of the pie for baseball’s middle class. The stagnant stretch is unprecedented since the free-agent era dawned in 1976.And that is before taking into account any decrease caused by a shortened season in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.In a throwback, the New York Yankees top payrolls for the first time since 2013 and tower over the Pittsburgh Pirates at $54 million -- the lowest of any big league team in six years.Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred remains confident there will be a season but is unsure when health conditions will allow training to resume.MLB’s average when rosters were... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — New Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo said on Monday that he is fully healthy and he will be ready for the season -- if there is one.Verdugo has used the delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic to rehab a stress fracture in his spine he already had when Boston acquired him from the Dodgers in the deal that sent Mookie Betts to Los Angeles on the eve of spring training. At the time, the Red Sox said he was not expected to break camp with the rest of the ballclub; Verdugo had said he may be ready “slightly after” opening day.But that was before opening day itself was put on hold. “Whenever the season is, I think I’ll be ready,” Verdugo told reporters in a conference call. “If they say that we’re ready to go, then I’m out there.”Verdugo said he remained active at home after the Red Sox complex in Fort Myers, Florida, was shut down. But things have been easier since he was allowed to return to the ballpark last week, and he is now working out four days a week. Because of social... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole aren’t the only major leaguers with a big financial incentive to get back on the field.While they head a starry quartet that would take in more than $200,000 per game, 65 players would earn at least $100,000 each time their team wins or loses if the pandemic-delayed major league season get under way, according to an analysis of their contracts by The Associated Press.Most rookies and those making the minimum would get nearly $3,500 each. Every game added to the big league schedule earns players about $24 million in aggregate.Clubs would benefit, too, with huge revenue streams flowing from regional sports networks and national broadcast contracts. A contentious negotiation is likely if Major League Baseball asks the players’ association to accept salary cuts to compensate for competing in empty ballparks.“I would need to be fully informed about revenue and things like that before I would decide if I think it’s fair for us to do that,” Washington... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole aren’t the only major leaguers with a big financial incentive to get back on the field.While they head a starry quartet that would take in more than $200,000 per game, 65 players would earn at least $100,000 each time their team wins or loses if the pandemic-delayed major league season get under way, according to an analysis of their contracts by The Associated Press.Most rookies and those making the minimum would get nearly $3,500 each. Every game added to the big league schedule earns players about $24 million in aggregate.Clubs would benefit, too, with huge revenue streams flowing from regional sports networks and national broadcast contracts. A contentious negotiation is likely if Major League Baseball asks the players’ association to accept salary cuts to compensate for competing in empty ballparks.“I would need to be fully informed about revenue and things like that before I would decide if I think it’s fair for us to do that,” Washington... [More]

May 41869 — Henry Chadwick published his first annual baseball handbook. The book eventually evolved into Spalding’s Official Baseball Guide.1871 — The Fort Wayne Kekiongas beat the Cleveland Forest Citys, 2-0, in the first game played in the National Association. In the 127 games during the 1871 season, there were a total of four shutouts.1910 — The Browns and Cardinals played home games in St. Louis, and President Taft, not wanting to offend either club, saw parts of each game at Robinson Field and Sportsman’s Park.1963 — Bob Shaw of the Braves set a major league record by committing five balks. In the third inning, Shaw walked Billy Williams and balked him home with three straight balks. Shaw lasted five innings before he was ejected for arguing. The Chicago Cubs beat Milwaukee, 5-3.1969 — The Houston Astros set an NL record by turning seven double plays against the San Francisco Giants. First baseman Curt Blefary participated in all seven.1975 — Bob Watson of the Houston Astros, sensing... [More]

May 31936 — Joe DiMaggio made his major league debut for the New York Yankees and had three hits in a 14-5 victory over the St. Louis Browns.1951 — Rookie Gil McDougald of New York drove in six runs in one inning to tie a major league record as the Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns 17-3 at Sportsman’s Park. McDougald had a two-run triple and a grand slam in an 11-run ninth inning.1959 — Detroit’s Charlie Maxwell hit four consecutive homers in a doubleheader sweep of the New York Yankees, 4-2 and 8-2, at Briggs Stadium.1980 — Ferguson Jenkins of the Texas Rangers became the fourth pitcher in major league history to win 100 or more games in each league. Jenkins beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 at Arlington Stadium. Cy Young, Jim Bunning and Gaylord Perry also reached the milestone.1994 — Philadelphia reliever Andy Carter made his major league debut and was ejected from the game after hitting two of three San Diego Padres batters he faced.1999 — Boston’s Creighton Gubanich hit a grand slam for his first major league hit in a 12-11, 10-inning loss to Oakland. Gubanich became the fourth player to accomplish the feat and the first since Seattle’s Orlando Mercado did it Sept. 19, 1982.2011 — Francisco Liriano pitched the major leagues’ first no-hitter of the season, throwing his first career complete game in Minnesota’s 1-0 victory over Chicago. Liriano walked six and struck out two. Liriano, the reigning AL comeback player of the year, was backed by Jason Kubel’s fourth-inning homer.

CHICAGO (AP) — A woman who was struck in the face by a foul ball during a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field two years ago has filed a lawsuit against the team and Major League Baseball.In her lawsuit filed this week, Laiah Zuniga, 28, says the ball knocked her unconscious, caused fractures under both of her eyes and caused extensive damage to her teeth. She said it hit her because the stadium hadn't extended the netting that protects fans from foul balls all the way down the third base line, where she was sitting. “Major League Baseball and the Cubs were aware that severe injuries from foul balls could happen to its fans sitting in rows near the field because it had happened many times before,” Tracy Brammeier, an attorney at Clifford Law Offices representing Zuniga, said in a statement. ”Just last year the MLB announced that all 30 teams would extend netting, ... but it’s too late for Laiah.”The lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court also notes that the league's recommendation for... [More]

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ryan Zimmerman is a two-time All-Star infielder who has played 15 years in the majors, all with the Washington Nationals. He holds most of the team’s career hitting records, and his two homers and seven RBIs last postseason helped the Nationals win their first World Series championship. With baseball on hold, Zimmerman occasionally is offering his thoughts -- as told to AP Sports Writer Howard Fendrich -- in a diary of sorts while waiting for the 2020 season to begin. In the fifth installment, the 35-year-old discusses pondering the possibility of retirement.—-It has been kind of nice to be home, spend more time with my girls. In a way, I get to see what it would be like to not go to the park every day, to not have to face Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Clayton Kershaw. My body feels unbelievable right now. Not having to go through the grind of a season, but still working out. I kind of envision myself being that way when I’m done playing: Still being active and staying... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Orioles outfielder Trey Mancini feels fortunate to have undergone colon cancer surgery before doctors became absorbed in treating COVID-19, and now he’s diligently and carefully working to avoid the virus while receiving chemotherapy.Mancini was diagnosed with colon cancer on March 6 and had surgery six days later. “With COVID really emerging kind of at the same time, I was lucky l got in when I did because they stopped doing a lot of surgeries the week after that,” Mancini said Wednesday in a teleconference with the Baltimore media.The same day he had the malignant tumor removed, Major League Baseball suspended spring training and announced the delay of the regular season.“That happened in the middle of my surgery, and I woke up and my mom and sisters told me they had shut down spring training,” Mancini said.The 28-year-old said he will probably miss the 2020 season, but added, “I have no doubt in my mind I’ll be back playing baseball.”Mancini batted .291 with 35 homers... [More]

April 301919 — Philadelphia’s Joe Oeschger and Brooklyn’s Burleigh Grimes pitched complete games in a 9-9, 20-inning tie. Both teams scored three runs in the 19th inning. Oeschger gave up 22 hits and walked five, while Grimes allowed 15 hits and walked five.1922 — Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox pitched a 2-0 perfect game against the Detroit Tigers. Johnny Mostil, playing left field for the only time, made two outstanding catches.1940 — James “Tex” Carleton of the Brooklyn Dodgers threw a 3-0 no-hitter at Cincinnati.1944 — In the first game of a doubleheader split, New York first baseman Phil Weintraub drove in 11 runs and player-manager Mel Ott scored six runs as the Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 26-8. Brooklyn won the nightcap, 5-4.1946 — Bob Feller struck out 11 New York Yankees en route to his second of three career no-hitters, a 1-0 victory at Yankee Stadium.1958 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox became the tenth major league player to reach 1,000 extra-base hits in... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Orioles outfielder Trey Mancini is undergoing chemotherapy for stage 3 colon cancer and expects to miss the season if major leaguers return this summer.Mancini had a malignant tumor removed shortly before turning 28 on March 18. He has been undergoing chemotherapy since April 13.“My treatment will take six months — every two weeks for six months," Mancini wrote in a story posted Tuesday on The Players Tribune. "If baseball returns in 2020, it will probably be without me."Stage 3 means is defined as a cancer that has grown into nearby tissue or lymph nodes. Stage 4 is defined as a cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.Mancini acknowledged he likely would never have realized he had cancer if not for an examination by the Orioles.“I am so lucky," he wrote.Mancini received an exam at spring training that revealed his iron levels were low. He figured colon cancer was a remote possibility because of his age.“I was only 27. No way I had that," he wrote. “My dad had... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Orioles outfielder Trey Mancini is undergoing chemotherapy for stage 3 colon cancer and expects to miss the season if major leaguers return this summer.Mancini had a malignant tumor removed shortly before turning 28 on March 18. He has been undergoing chemotherapy since April 13.“My treatment will take six months — every two weeks for six months," Mancini wrote in a story posted Tuesday on The Players Tribune. "If baseball returns in 2020, it will probably be without me."Stage 3 means is defined as a cancer that has grown into nearby tissue or lymph nodes. Stage 4 is defined as a cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.Mancini acknowledged he likely would never have realized he had cancer if not for an examination by the Orioles.“I am so lucky," he wrote.Mancini received an exam at spring training that revealed his iron levels were low. He figured colon cancer was a remote possibility because of his age.“I was only 27. No way I had that," he wrote. “My dad had... [More]

April 291918 — Center fielder Tris Speaker executed the fourth unassisted double play of his career in the Cleveland Indians’ 8-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox.1922 — The New York Giants hit four inside-the-park home runs at Braves Field in Boston. George Kelly hit two and Ross Youngs and Dave Bancroft hit the others.1931 — Wes Ferrell of the Cleveland Indians pitched a 7-0 no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns, including his brother Rick. Wes also knocked in four runs with a homer and a double.1933 — In a strange play at home plate, catcher Luke Sewell of the Washington Senators tagged out two Yankees runners on the same play. Lou Gehrig had held up, thinking a fly ball would be caught. Dixie Walker closed up on him, and both were tagged out trying to score.1981 — Steve Carlton struck out Montreal’s Tim Wallach in the first inning of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 6-2 victory over the visiting Expos to become the sixth major league pitcher — and first left-hander — to strike out 3,000 batters.1986... [More]

The Detroit Tigers can feel certain about one thing: They have the No. 1 pick in the draft.What that Major League Baseball draft will look like, when and where it will take place and how the selections will be made still isn't clear.“It’s going to present different challenges, probably," said Scott Pleis, Detroit’s director of amateur scouting. "It’s just going to be different. It’s not going to affect the outcome, it’ll just be a different way of coming to that outcome.”The NFL experienced that last week because of the coronavirus pandemic, conducting a remote draft with video screens, Zoom chats and other tech innovations that made the event popular with fans.Normally, the college baseball season would be in full swing right now, giving major league teams a chance to monitor top prospects in the weeks leading up to the draft. But with college and high school games shelved because of the virus outbreak, front offices can only do so much in what is clearly an abnormal year.Every team faces... [More]

The Detroit Tigers can feel certain about one thing: They have the No. 1 pick in the draft.What that Major League Baseball draft will look like, when and where it will take place and how the selections will be made, still isn't clear.“It’s going to present different challenges, probably," said Scott Pleis, Detroit’s director of amateur scouting. "It’s just going to be different. It’s not going to affect the outcome, it’ll just be a different way of coming to that outcome.”The NFL experienced that last week because of the coronavirus pandemic, conducting a remote draft with video screens, Zoom chats and other tech innovations that made the event popular with fans.Normally, the college baseball season would be in full swing right now, giving major league teams a chance to monitor top prospects in the weeks leading up to the draft. But with college and high school games shelved because of the virus outbreak, front offices can only do so much in what is clearly an abnormal year.Every team faces... [More]

April 281901 — Cleveland pitcher Bock Baker gave up a record 23 singles as the Chicago White Sox beat the Indians 13-1.1930 — The first night game in organized baseball was played in Independence, Kan. In a Western Association game, Muskogee defeated Independence 13-3.1934 — Detroit’s Goose Goslin hit into four double plays, but the Tigers still beat Cleveland 4-1.1945 — Chicago’s Hank Wyse pitched a one-hitter over Pittsburgh for a 6-0 win. The only Pirate hit was by Bill Salkeld in the eighth inning.1956 — Cincinnati rookie Frank Robinson hit the first home run of his 586 lifetime homers in a 9-1 win over Chicago. Robinson homer came off Paul Minner in Crosley Field.1961 — Warren Spahn, at the age of 40, no-hit the San Francisco Giants 1-0 at Milwaukee.1966 — Cleveland’s Sonny Siebert defeated the Angels 2-1 as the Indians tie the modern major league record with its 10th straight win since opening day.1971 — Hank Aaron connected off Gaylord Perry for his 600th career home run in the Atlanta... [More]

April 271869 — Henry Chadwick published his first annual baseball handbook. The book eventually evolved into Spalding’s Official Baseball Guide.1871 — The Fort Wayne Kekiongas beat the Cleveland Forest Citys, 2-0, in the first game played in the National Association. In the 127 games during the 1871 season, there were a total of four shutouts.1910 — The Browns and Cardinals played home games in St. Louis, and President Taft, not wanting to offend either club, saw parts of each game at Robinson Field and Sportsman’s Park.1963 — Bob Shaw of the Braves set a major league record by committing five balks. In the third inning, Shaw walked Billy Williams and balked him home with three straight balks. Shaw lasted five innings before he was ejected for arguing. The Chicago Cubs beat Milwaukee, 5-3.1969 — The Houston Astros set an NL record by turning seven double plays against the San Francisco Giants. First baseman Curt Blefary participated in all seven.1975 — Bob Watson of the Houston Astros,... [More]