Archives › Bob Harkins
-
Barry Bonds’ charity organization, the Barry Bonds Family Foundation, has donated $20,000 to The National Association of Black Journalists. The donation has stirred a bit of controversy, and it is not sitting well with some members of the NABJ. From the AP: The gift comes as the former San Francisco Giants slugger prepares for trial…
-
As the season wears on, the New York Mets are looking less and less like a playoff team. Luckily, they have Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest to cheer them up with a little rap song. Artest hails from Queens and grew up a Mets fan, so he knows what that’s all about. He’s also…
-
When Dodgers GM Ned Colletti called out Matt Kemp back in April for poor defense and base running, the reaction, via Kemp’s agent Dave Stewart, was swift and harsh. But when Larry Bowa said something the other day, the reaction was much different. First, here’s what Bowa, the Dodgers’ fiery third base coach, told T.J.…
-
Despite sitting in third place in the AL East, the Boston Red Sox appear to be in pretty good shape. Riding a two-game winning streak, they enter the week just 6 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees, and 5 1/2 behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL wild card spot – with no…
-
Chicago Cubs right-hander Carlos Silva (10-4, 3.76 ERA), who is experiencing a stunning resurgence after two horrible seasons in Seattle, left Sunday’s game against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning with an abnormal heart rate, according to the Associated Press. He will remain in a Denver hospital overnight for observation. Alan Trammell, managing the…
-
It’s been a wild run-up to the trade deadline, and the guys have peppered you non-stop with rumors, news and analysis over the last few days. From a position-by-position preview, to a report card of the big winners and losers, we’ve had you, the faithful HBT reader, covered. So if your head is still swimming,…
-
Matt Garza – to paraphrase Kevin Costner’s Crash Davis – has a gift. When he was a baby, the gods reached down and turned his right arm into a thunderbolt. On Monday, the Tampa Bay right-hander unleashed that gift on the Detroit Tigers, dazzling them with an array of high, hard fastballs and tight-spinning breaking…
-
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The American League’s dominance in the All-Star game had become such a joke that David Ortiz was free and easy with some pre-game trash talk, albeit of the good-natured variety, and Ichiro was pressured yet again into giving his annual pre-game inspirational speech – against his will. The AL players clearly had…
-
With the All-Star game coming to a close, the warm California sun sets on the first half of the season. With that, it’s time to look ahead to the second half, and three surprising teams that find themselves in first place – the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds and the San Diego Padres. All of…
-
ANAHEIM, Calif. — I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less out of Brian McCann. I think most players would stick up for their teammate in this situation, even if that teammate happened to be one of the least-deserving All-Stars in baseball history. Nonetheless, McCann should get some kudos for a pretty admirable job attempting…
-
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Boston Red Sox slugger — and newly-crowned Home Run Derby champion David Ortiz held court shortly after taking batting practice today, and had some interesting things to say, including a grand proclamation for tonight’s All-Star game: yet more dominance for the American League. “Oh definitely (the AL will win),” he said. “No…
-
ANAHEIM, Calif. — With four no-hitters, including two perfect games (and that’s not even counting Armando Galarraga’s perfecto robbery), this has definitely been the year of the pitcher. Not only have we seen dominant performances on the mound, we’ve witnessed an incredible rise of talented young arms. These guys can not only bring the heat,…
-
Albert Pujols drew a huge crowd during media interviews on Monday. Ichiro Suzuki, followed by a host of Japanese reporters, had an even larger following. But both of them paled in comparison to Will Ferrell, the actor/comedian who showed up at the Home Run Derby. Ferrell drew quite a following, a group including All-Star officials,…
-
“That’s going to take a couple hours off my night.”- Detroit Tigers All-Star Justin Verlander, discussing how an increased role in the All-Star game will impact his social life. Verlander was joking, obviously, when asked to compare his first All-Star appearance in 2007, when he hardly expected to get into the game, versus his current…
-
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Arthur Rhodes has made the All-Star team for the first time at age 40. The veteran left-hander has been a starter and closer, but has spent most of his career as a middle/late reliever, making his accomplishment as unusual as it is impressive. In 19 seasons in the big leagues, Rhodes is…
-
ANAHEIM, Calif. – The All-Star game is a great opportunity to see baseball royalty in action, as most of the game’s best players will all be together in one spot. But who are the true greats, the so called bucket-list players who every fan should see play at least once? For help in these matters,…
-
ANAHEIM, Calif. — I heard they were going to be serving hot dogs wrapped in bacon at the All-Star game in Anaheim, so naturally I had to go. In addition to the bacon-wrapped goodness, they’ll have a sampling of foods from other MLB ballparks, including Crab Dogs from Baltimore, Blake Street Burritos from Denver (no…
-
Earlier Tuesday there was a report that the Tampa Bay Rays might be in on the chase for Cliff Lee. Later on, Rays owner Stuart Sternberg (pictured) was talking big about his budget and how even though it is “beyond stretched,” he was willing to open the purse strings. From Marc Topkin: Asked if the Rays…
-
We all know that Mariano Rivera is great, even at age 40. I mean, look at his line this season, it’s insane. We also know why he’s great. It’s that infernal cutter of his, which saws up more lumber than Weyerhaeuser. But I don’t think we’ve ever seen his greatness displayed in such a cool…
-
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa says he is in favor of Arizona’s tough new immigration law, which would allow require police officers to stop anyone on the street and demand to see proof of citizenship if the officer has a reasonable doubt that the person is in the country illegally. Here’s what he…
-
There has been a lot of focus on Bobby Valentine as potentially being the next manager of the Florida Marlins, but lost in the shuffle is the interesting story of Marlins interim manager Edwin Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who was promoted from the Marlins Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans just a week ago to replace the fired Fredi…
-
OK maybe that’s not true, but Mother Nature certainly flexed her muscles with an impressive burst of wind and rain on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park. (Craig shared a pic earlier today, now we’ve got more.) “It was like a tornado came,” (Ryan) Howard said. “I was waiting for the cow to fly through. The winds…
-
The Colorado Rockies, scuffling for much of the season and currently in fourth place in the NL West (33-30) are getting a nice boost for Tuesday’s series opener against the Minnesota Twins as shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is expected to return to the lineup. Tulowitzki, one of the Rockies more consistent bats this season (.307/.373/.489) missed…
-
Last week we found out that the Florida Marlins are planning to put real fish in real salt water aquariums in the wall behind home plate at their new ballpark. This week we find out the predictable reaction: PETA is protesting the proposal. The organization sent a letter to Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria denouncing the…
