KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andrew Toles was in jail Saturday and charged with trespassing property.The 28-year-old player was detained this week at the airport in Key West, Florida, by a Monroe County sheriff deputy.The Miami Herald reported he was found sleeping behind a Federal Express building at the airport and refused to move.Jail records show Toles appeared to be homeless when arrested Monday on the misdemeanor charge. His bond was set at $500 but he remained jailed and is scheduled for arraignment Thursday.The team said Toles never reported to spring training camp in 2019 because of a personal matter. He did not play that year.Toles rose from the low minors to the majors in just months and became a postseason star for the Dodgers in 2016. He was the starting left fielder in the second half of 2016 and early in 2017. In May of that year, he tore a knee ligament and spent most of 2018 at Triple-A Oklahoma City.Toles struggled with anxiety issues even before the Dodgers signed him to a minor league contract. He was the Tampa Bay’s minor league player of the year in 2013 but was released in 2015. He was working the early-morning shift in the frozen-food section of a grocery store before the Dodgers recruited him.

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andrew Toles was in jail Saturday and charged with trespassing property.The 28-year-old player was detained this week at the airport in Key West, Florida, by a Monroe County sheriff deputy.The Miami Herald reported he was found sleeping behind a Federal Express building at the airport and refused to move.Jail records show Toles appeared to be homeless when arrested Monday on the misdemeanor charge. His bond was set at $500 but he remained jailed and is scheduled for arraignment Thursday.The team said Toles never reported to spring training camp in 2019 because of a personal matter. He did not play that year.Toles rose from the low minors to the majors in just months and became a postseason star for the Dodgers in 2016. He was the starting left fielder in the second half of 2016 and early in 2017. In May of that year, he tore a knee ligament and spent most of 2018 at Triple-A Oklahoma City.Toles had struggled with anxiety issues even before the Dodgers signed him to a minor league contract. He was the Tampa Bay’s minor league player of the year in 2013 but was released in 2015. He was working the early-morning shift in the frozen-food section of a grocery store before the Dodgers recruited him.

CHICAGO (AP) — Forget about those halcyon first few days of spring training, when arranging for the right tee time on the right golf course is often more challenging than the work on the field.When major leaguers report next week for spring training 2.0 — or perhaps more accurately, baseball's first summer camp — time will be one precious commodity with about three weeks to go before opening day.“We're going to have some live batting practices the first day they show up. Day 1 and Day 2. ... Multiple ups for the starters," Kansas City manager Mike Matheny said Friday on a video conference call. “These guys are prepared for that. They've been hungry for it.”All across the majors, the race is on to set up travel plans and work out the final details for training ahead of an unforgiving season of just 60 games. After intake coronavirus tests and a mandatory quarantine period while awaiting results, full-squad workouts likely will begin next weekend.The regular season starts July 23 and 24,... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Grant Dayton will notice one glaring absence this season after he reports to the Atlanta Braves: his twice-a-month salary.He is among 11 major leaguers whose prorated pay for the abbreviated 60-game season amounts to less than the $286,500 advance already received by the 32-year-old left-hander.“It’s going to be weird not getting a paycheck,” he said Friday, “but we already got paid.”Dayton gave up the 6,776th and final home run of of last season's record total, to the New York Mets' Dominic Smith. To resume preparation for the new season he will drive Monday from his home in Winter Haven, Florida, to Atlanta with wife Cori, 2 1/2-year-old son Decker and nearly 6-month-old Nolan for Braves' workouts at Truist Park.After opening day was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, Major League Baseball and the players’ association agreed March 26 to a deal that called for teams to advance $170 million in salaries over the first 60 days of the season.Others who won’t get... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Grant Dayton will notice one glaring absence this season after he reports to the Atlanta Braves: his twice-a-month salary.He is among 11 major leaguers whose prorated pay for the abbreviated 60-game season amounts to less than the $286,500 advance already received by the 32-year-old left-hander.“It’s going to be weird not getting a paycheck,” he said Friday, “but we already got paid.”Dayton will drive Monday from his home in Winter Haven, Florida, to Atlanta with wife Cori, 2 1/2-year-old son Decker and nearly 6-month-old Nolan for the resumption of workouts when the Braves gather at renamed Truist Park.After opening day was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, Major League Baseball and the players’ association agreed March 26 to a deal that called for teams to advance $170 million in salaries over the first 60 days of the season.Others who won’t get paychecks because of lower prorated salaries are Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jimmy Nelson and New York Yankees reliever... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Catcher Austin Wells has agreed to a minor league contract that includes a $2.5 million signing bonus after the New York Yankees selected him 28th overall in the amateur draft.The Yankees also announced Friday they had released Chad Bettis from his minor league deal after the veteran right-hander announced his retirement.Wells, who turns 21 on July 12, hit .375 with two homers and 14 RBIs for the University of Arizona in a season cut to 15 games because of the coronavirus pandemic. He batted .357 with seven homers and 74 RBIs over 71 games in two seasons.Wells' slot had a value of nearly $2.5 million for the Yankees' signing bonus pool.Bettis, 31, pitched in the majors for parts of seven seasons, all for Colorado. He signed a minor league deal with New York in February.Bettis was diagnosed with testicular cancer in November 2016 after going 14-8 in the Rockies’ rotation. He underwent surgery and chemotherapy and returned to the majors in August 2017, throwing seven shutout innings to beat Atlanta at Coors Field.He was 1-6 with one save and a 6.08 ERA in 39 games, including three starts, for Colorado last season. He went 31-31 with a 5.12 ERA in 164 career games, 92 of them starts.___More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CHICAGO (AP) — Forget about those halcyon first few days of spring training, when arranging for the right tee time on the right golf course is often more challenging than the work on the field.When major leaguers report next week for spring training 2.0 — or perhaps more accurately, baseball's first summer camp — time will be one precious commodity with about three weeks to go before opening day.“We're going to have some live batting practices the first day they show up. Day 1 and Day 2. ... Multiple ups for the starters," Kansas City manager Mike Matheny said Friday on a video conference call. “These guys are prepared for that. They've been hungry for it.”All across the majors, the race is on to set up travel plans and work out the final details for training ahead of an unforgiving season of just 60 games. After intake coronavirus tests and a mandatory quarantine period while awaiting results, full-squad workouts likely will begin next weekend.The regular season starts July 23 and 24,... [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. Zimmerman has been offering his thoughts — as told to AP Sports Writer Howard Fendrich — in a diary of sorts while waiting for baseball to return. In the 10th installment, the 35-year-old Zimmerman discusses what’s on his mind now that there is a plan in place for a 2020 season.___I’m still deciding whether to play.When it comes down to it, it’s a decision not just for me, but for my family as well. I have a 3-week-old baby. My mother has multiple sclerosis and is super high-risk; if I end up playing, I can pretty much throw out the idea of seeing her until weeks after the season is over. There’s a lot of factors that I and others have to consider. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer;... [More]

June 271917 — Catcher Hank Gowdy of the Braves became the first major league player to enter military service in World War I.1939 — The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves played a 23-inning, 2-2 tie. Whit Wyatt pitched the first 16 innings for the Dodgers. Both clubs played a 26-inning tie in 1920 at the same Braves Field.1958 — Billy Pierce of the Chicago White Sox retired 26 straight Washington batters before pinch-hitter Ed Fitzgerald hit a double just inside the right-field line for the only hit. Pierce then struck out Albie Pearson on three pitches and beat the Senators 3-0.1973 — David Clyde, a $125,000, 18-year-old bonus baby with the Rangers, pitched five innings, struck out eight and allowed one hit in his first major league start. Texas beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 before 35,698 fans — the Rangers’ first home sellout at Arlington Stadium.1980 — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Jerry Reuss pitched a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants in an 8-0 victory at Candlestick Park. The... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Call it a true Hollywood story for first-round pick Pete Crow-Armstrong. And no act at all, in fact. The son of two thespians is way beyond a little big league now. Crow-Armstrong and the New York Mets agreed Thursday to a minor league contract with a $3,359,000 signing bonus, the slot value for the 19th overall selection in the amateur draft.“He was a guy that we had targeted for months and months,” Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said June 10 after the team drafted Crow-Armstrong. “He’s been a big fish in a big pond for a long time, and I think his personality and his confidence will play very well in New York City.”The Mets snagged the 18-year-old center fielder out of Harvard-Westlake High School in the Los Angeles area — where both of Crow-Armstrong’s parents are accomplished screen actors. His mother, Ashley Crow, has a long list of film and television credits that includes appearances in “Minority Report” and “Heroes.” She even played a significant role in... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Derek Shelton ended nearly each press availability during spring training by jokingly telling reporters they picked the wrong day to ask the Pittsburgh Pirates first-year manager about his opening day starter.His answer was always some variation of “sorry, that's tomorrow" before jogging off to his next meeting. The bit was equal parts corny and comforting, a way for the former minor league catcher turned major league assistant to set an easygoing tone for a club with both a modest payroll and modest expectations.Three months later, the routine feels like a relic of a reality that no longer exists. The questions Shelton must grapple before managing his first regular season game are far more complex. Like, how is he going to make sure his team is abiding by the 108-page health protocol Major League Baseball put together in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? How will he support players who might feel the need to speak out on social justice issues? How will he help create... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — First-round draft pick Pete Crow-Armstrong and the New York Mets agreed Thursday to a minor league contract with a $3,359,000 signing bonus, the slot value for the 19th overall selection in the amateur draft.The 18-year-old center fielder from Sherman Oaks, California, hit .514 in 10 games for Harvard-Westlake High School with one strikeout in 42 at-bats before his senior season was stopped due to the coronavirus. He batted .426 with three homers and five triples during his junior season.Crow-Armstrong has elite defensive skills in center with Gold Glove potential, according to scouts and evaluators, and a top-of-the-order profile as a hitter. Both his parents are accomplished actors. His mother, Ashley Crow, had a significant role in a well-known baseball movie, portraying young Billy Heywood’s mom in the 1994 film “Little Big League.” The Mets also announced they agreed to a deal with outfielder Isaiah Greene, a second-round compensatory selection from Corona Senior High School in California. The speedy Greene, 18, was the 69th overall pick, which New York received as compensation for losing free-agent pitcher Zack Wheeler to Philadelphia last December. Greene got an $850,000 signing bonus, below his slot value of $929,800. ___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PHOENIX (AP) — Baseball's bubble-free environment is an anomaly as the sports world tries to come back amid the coronavirus pandemic.Instead of bringing a group of teams to Disney World (like the NBA and MLS) or concentrating on a few hub cities (like the current NHL plan), Major League Baseball has 30 teams spread all over the United States and potentially Canada, with players, coaches and team personnel trying to stay healthy while cases are still spreading.Needless to say, it won't be easy. Arizona Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen said he'll be constantly reminding everyone in his organization about the delicacy of the current situation. It's especially important in Phoenix, where COVID-19 cases have increased substantially over the past few weeks.“High-risk behavior is going to impact you and the person standing next to you and the person standing next to them,” Hazen said. "We’re going to be extremely mindful of it. The protocols are going to answer some of those things for us, but away... [More]

Veteran right-hander Lance Lynn has been named the Texas Rangers' starter on opening day, a game that will be played more than four months after manager Chris Woodward actually made that decision.Woodward revealed his choice Thursday. The hard-throwing Lynn got the nod ahead of All-Star lefty Mike Minor and Corey Kluber, the two-time AL Cy Young winner Texas acquired in a December trade from Cleveland.The manager had planned to make the announcement March 13, but that ended up being the day after MLB abruptly shut down spring training because of the coronavirus. The season opener will be July 23 or 24, but the Rangers don't know where or who they will play since baseball hasn't released the 60-game schedule for the pandemic-delayed and shortened season. "I can announce it now," Woodward said when discussing the upcoming resumption of spring training, which will take place at the team's new home ballpark instead of Arizona. “I've talked to all of them before this thing. I was actually going... [More]

Randy Dobnak had finished making his morning omelette one day last week when his wife, Aerial, asked the Minnesota Twins pitcher to keep the eggs out so she could make a sandwich.For the base she used a hot dog bun, an ingredient so bewildering to her husband that he took it as the latest sign that baseball's pandemic-induced hiatus had dragged on too long amid strained negotiations between owners and players over adjusted pay.“It's time to get back to work,” Dobnak tweeted. “Tell us when and where!”Finally, major leaguers have their answer. Teams can start training together again next week, with the truncated 60-game season slated to open on July 23 or 24.“We’re all ready to get back, because baseball’s literally been our lives for our whole entire lives,” Dobnak said in an interview from Hedgesville, West Virginia, where he and his wife have been living with her parents. “To have the last three months now not playing baseball, it’s definitely weird.”Twins teammate Taylor Rogers, after... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Rob Manfred knows many fans were angered by the financial fight between Major League Baseball and the players’ association during a pandemic. “We need to get back on the field, and we need to in a less-charged environment start to have conversations about how we — and the we in that sentence is the commissioner’s office, my staff, the clubs and the MLBPA and the players — can be better going forward,” he said Wednesday during an interview with The Associated Press. “We owe it to our fans to be better than we’ve been the last three months.”Spring training was cut short by the novel coronavirus on March 12. The sides reached an initial agreement on March 26, which was to have been opening day. That deal called for players to receive prorated salaries, get $170 million in advances and receive a guarantee of service time in the event no games were played this year. When it became clear the only way to start the season was to play in empty ballparks, the sides battled publicly... [More]

July 11910 — Comiskey Park — then known as White Sox Park — held its first major league game, with the St. Louis Browns beating Chicago 2-0.1917 — Fred Toney of the Cincinnati Reds pitched complete-game victories in a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Toney threw a three-hitter in each game for 4-1 and 5-1 wins, setting a record for the fewest hits allowed in a doubleheader by a pitcher.1920 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators defeated the Boston Red Sox 1-0 at Fenway Park with the season’s only no-hitter.1925 — Hack Wilson of the New York Giants hit two home runs in the third inning of a 16-7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader. Wilson also doubled twice during the game.1941 — Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees singled off Boston’s Jack Wilson in the fourth inning, tying Willie Keeler’s hitting streak of 44 games.1951 — Bob Feller of the Indians pitched his third career no-hitter, beating the Detroit Tigers 2-1 in the first game... [More]

June 271917 — Catcher Hank Gowdy of the Braves became the first major league player to enter military service in World War I.1939 — The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves played a 23-inning, 2-2 tie. Whit Wyatt pitched the first 16 innings for the Dodgers. Both clubs played a 26-inning tie in 1920 at the same Braves Field.1958 — Billy Pierce of the Chicago White Sox retired 26 straight Washington batters before pinch-hitter Ed Fitzgerald hit a double just inside the right-field line for the only hit. Pierce then struck out Albie Pearson on three pitches and beat the Senators 3-0.1973 — David Clyde, a $125,000, 18-year-old bonus baby with the Rangers, pitched five innings, struck out eight and allowed one hit in his first major league start. Texas beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 before 35,698 fans — the Rangers’ first home sellout at Arlington Stadium.1980 — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Jerry Reuss pitched a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants in an 8-0 victory at Candlestick Park. The... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Rob Manfred knows many fans were angered by the financial fight between Major League Baseball and the players’ association during a pandemic. “We need to get back on the field, and we need to in a less-charged environment start to have conversations about how we — and the we in that sentence is the commissioner’s office, my staff, the clubs and the MLBPA and the players — can be better going forward,” he said Wednesday during an interview with The Associated Press. “We owe it to our fans to be better than we’ve been the last three months.”Spring training was cut short by the novel coronavirus on March 12. The sides reached an initial agreement on March 26, which was to have been opening day. That deal called for players to receive prorated salaries, get $170 million in advances and receive a guarantee of service time in the event no games were played this year. When it became clear the only way to start the season was to play in empty ballparks, the sides battled publicly... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Rob Manfred knows many fans were angered by the financial fight between Major League Baseball and the players’ association during a pandemic. “We need to get back on the field, and we need to in a less-charged environment start to have conversations about how we — and the we in that sentence is the commissioner’s office, my staff, the clubs and the MLBPA and the players — can be better going forward,” he said Wednesday during an interview with The Associated Press. “We owe it to our fans to be better than we’ve been the last three months.”Spring training was cut short by the novel coronavirus on March 12. The sides reached an initial agreement on March 26, which was to have been opening day. That deal called for players to receive prorated salaries, get $170 million in advances and receive a guarantee of service time in the event no games were played this year. When it became clear the only way to start the season was to play in empty ballparks, the sides battled publicly... [More]