Kansas.com: Baseball

'Rookie' pitcher reflects on life, chasing dreams

JEFFREY LUTZ — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:25 CST

Dennis Quaid played a trimmed-down, rugged version of former major-league pitcher Jim Morris in Disney's "The Rookie."

Neither Quaid nor the movie captured Morris' sense of humor. Maybe, like Morris' path to the big leagues, it just took time to develop.

Morris is the former 35-year-old rookie for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays whose story of making a deal with the high school baseball players he coached was told in the 2002 film.

Howard struggles for Phils

ROB MAADDI — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:03 CST

PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Howard's World Series can be summed up like this: Swing and a miss.

Over and over, Howard has gone down swinging against the New York Yankees. The Philadelphia Phillies' slugger has struck out 12 times in the first five games, tying Willie Wilson for most whiffs in a World Series. Wilson did it with Kansas City against the Phillies in 1980.

Howard has been prone to striking out throughout his career. The 2006 NL MVP fanned 199 times in 2007 and again in 2008. Only Arizona's Mark Reynolds has K'ed more times in one season.

Yanks' Sabathia halts Angels

Associated Press — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:09 CDT

ANAHEIM, Calif. —CC Sabathia held the Los Angeles Angels in check for eight innings while pitching on short rest and the New York Yankees beat the Angels 10-1 Tuesday night in Game 4 of the AL championship series.

New York leads the series 3-1 and can close it out Thursday.

The Yankees got another big hit from Alex Rodriguez, a two-run homer in the fifth inning. He has driven in at least one run in eight consecutive postseason games, tying the record shared by Lou Gehrig and Ryan Howard, who will attempt to extend his streak tonight when the Phillies host the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLCS.

Angels rally, sweep Boston

Associated Press — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:41 CDT

BOSTON — Torii Hunter emerged from the visitors' clubhouse at Fenway Park to spray champagne over the fans and family gathered there. Erick Aybar did him one better, handing over bottles of bubbly to those who came from California to see the Los Angeles Angels go for the sweep.

The Angels and Vladimir Guerrero shrugged off their postseason failures and swept away the Red Sox on Sunday, scoring three runs off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth inning to beat Boston 7-6 and advance to the AL championship series.

It was the first postseason sweep in Angels franchise history. And they did it against the team that has knocked them out of the playoffs the previous four times they met.

Cold, snow lets Phillies adjust plans

ARNIE STAPLETON — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:07 CDT

DENVER — The snow in Colorado scrapped plans for Pedro Martinez's first postseason start in five years.

Game 3 of the Philadelphia-Colorado playoff series was postponed a day because of Saturday weather better suited for cross-country skiing. That prompted a pitching switch by the Phillies, with left-hander J.A. Happ going to the mound today instead of the 37-year-old Martinez. The Rockies are sticking with Jason Hammel.

The Phillies holed up in their hotel Saturday with no plans of working out at the ballpark. The Rockies summoned their players for a 90-minute workout inside Coors Field.

Lee's six-hitter sparks Phillies

Associated Press — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:04 CDT

PHILADELPHIA — One strike away from a shutout, Cliff Lee stepped off the mound, took a deep breath and allowed himself to enjoy the moment.

Quite a debut for a postseason rookie.

Lee dominated the Colorado Rockies, tossing a six-hitter, and the Philadelphia Phillies began their World Series title defense with a 5-1 victory in their playoff opener Wednesday.

Yankees win first postseason game at new park

ronald blum — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:04 CDT

NEW YORK — Derek Jeter got a big hit, just as he did in Octobers past at the famed ballpark across the street. CC Sabathia joined in the postseason fun. Even Alex Rodriguez broke out of his playoff rut.

It was like old times in the first postseason game at the new Yankee Stadium, with New York beating these tired Minnesota Twins 7-2 Wednesday in the opener of their AL playoff series.

"Just like the old place," Jeter said. "We couldn't have drawn it up any better for us."

Red Sox enjoy edge in bullpens

Los Angeles Times/ Washington Post — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:04 CDT

LOS ANGELES — The Angels and Boston Red Sox appear evenly matched offensively, with both teams featuring speed at the top of the lineup and patience and power from both sides of the plate throughout.

Their rotations are among the best and deepest in the game, each boasting four high-quality arms — John Lackey, Jered Weaver, Scott Kazmir and Joe Saunders for the Angels, and Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka for Boston.

Both teams play sound defense, though the more athletic Angels have a slight edge in game-changing playmakers.

Dodgers finally clinch NL West division title

Associated Press — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:06 CDT

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers' magic number for clinching the NL West is down to zero — finally.

After a season-worst five-game losing streak, they came through with one game left in the regular season and beat the stubborn Colorado Rockies 5-0 on Saturday night with a five-run seventh triggered by run scoring hits from pinch-hitters Ronnie Belliard and by Mark Loretta and six scoreless innings by 21-year-old lefty Clayton Kershaw.

Los Angeles' second straight division title wasn't as easy to secure as it appeared to be last weekend, when it held a six-game lead with seven games remaining.

Ramirez's batting title is a Miami first

Associated Press — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:06 CDT

Minnesota's Joe Mauer all but locked up his third American League batting title in four seasons, and Hanley Ramirez became the first Florida Marlins player to win a National League batting crown.

In a year in which home runs increased from last year's average of 2.01 per game to 2.07, there were no 20-game winners on the mound. It was only the second time that's happened in a non-shortened season since 1900. The other time was 2006.

Mauer, the only catcher to win an AL batting title, has a .364 average. While Minnesota meets Detroit on Tuesday in an AL Central tiebreaker that counts in the regular-season statistics, Mauer would have to go 0 for 18 or worse to drop behind Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, who is second at .352.

Tigers, Twins all even

Associated Press — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:06 CDT

The AL Central will come down to the final day — or perhaps longer.

Detroit lost and Minnesota won and the Tigers and Twins are dead even going into today's final games.

White Sox 5, Tigers 1 — Tigers manager Jim Leyland made two pitching changes in the second inning, trying to find a way to end his team's slump. Instead, Detroit lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Attendance drops 6.9 percent; Royals show increase

Associated Press — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:06 CDT

NEW YORK — Rich Aurilia noticed all the empty seats as he made his way around the major leagues during the second half of this season.

"You have to," the San Francisco Giants infielder said. "I think you do in the places where the teams are totally out of it."

Attendance has dropped 6.9 percent across the majors to its lowest level since 2003, an average of 30,276. That follows a 0.8 percent slide last year from the record average of 32,785 set in 2007.

Detroit's lead sliced to one

Associated Press — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:06 CDT

Minnesota cut Detroit's AL Central lead to one game Friday night, beating Kansas City while the Tigers lost to Chicago's White Sox.

Both teams have two games remaining.

Twins 10, Royals 7 — Jeff Manship's first major-league win was well-timed for Minnesota, which got a grand slam from Delmon Young.

Phils cut magic number to 1

Associated Press — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:05 CDT

Philadelphia reduced it magic number to one Tuesday night, thanks to Florida defeating Atlanta.

Elsewhere, Boston, needing only one victory to clinch the AL wild card, lost to Toronto.

Angels get sixth playoff berth in eight years

Associated Press — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:05 CDT

ANAHEIM, Calif. —Mike Scioscia stalked the clubhouse with a soaked T-shirt and a bottle of champagne, looking for somebody to hug. Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno was an easy target.

The Angels' two bosses reveled in another division title and another playoff berth Monday night, celebrating another year of success for a franchise with regular postseason reservations — and a few reservations about how they'll perform in October.

"It never gets tired, and it never gets old," said Scioscia, whose Angels are back in the playoffs for the sixth time in eight years after Monday night's 11-0 win over Texas.