AP: Mets denied right to wear special [9/11 first responder] caps

Major League Baseball denied the New York Mets’ request to wear baseball caps Sunday night honoring New York City emergency service departments for their game against the Chicago Cubs on the 10th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Joe Torre, MLB’s executive vice president for baseball operations, told The Associated Press the decision was made to keep policy consistent throughout baseball and that “certainly, it’s not a lack of respect.”

The Mets wanted to wear caps honoring ...

Rays to call up Matt Moore

The 22-year-old left-hander registered a superb 1.92 ERA and 210/46 K/BB ratio in 155 innings this season between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham.

I was a skeptic until I saw him pitch for the first time. But he’s the real deal.

MLB.com: Pirates extend GM Huntington’s contract

Speculation about general manager Neal Huntington’s job security can now be put to rest, as the Pirates announced on Sunday that Huntington has signed a three-year extension to remain in Pittsburgh. The contract also includes a club option for 2015.

Huntington’s previous contract was set to expire at the end of this season.

“I’m very excited to be able to continue to build what we have been working so hard on for the last four years,” Huntington said. “We’re on the right path. [Things] may be ...

AL West race: September 11, 2011

TEX 83-64 [6-4 in SEPT]
LAA 80-66 [7-3 in SEPT] (2.5 GB)

MLB.com: Big days from Wilson, Beltre carry Rangers

The Rangers rode the steady pitching of C.J. Wilson, a milestone homer from Adrian Beltre and two big innings to an 8-1 win on Sunday against the A’s at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Wilson was masterful, pitching eight scoreless innings and striking out 11 to earn his 16th win of the season.

MLB.com: Angels can’t shake off lead-changing error

In a game in which neither starting ...

Former pitcher Loewen hits first HR for Blue Jays

Lookin’ for my Loewen. Behold!

Adam Loewen once tried to prevent home runs as a Baltimore Orioles pitcher. On Sunday, he drilled a game-tying shot against his original team.

A converted pitcher now playing the outfield, Loewen hit his first major league homer to help the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Orioles 6-5.

“I know so many of the guys over there, it was special to do it against them,” said Loewen, who was both a pitcher and position player in high school and junior college.

...

AL Wildcard race: September 11, 2011

BOS 85-61 [2-9 in SEPT]
TBR 81-64 [7-3 in SEPT] (3.5 GB)
LAA 80-66 [7-3 in SEPT] (5 GB)

MLB.com: Rays lower broom, in thick of Wild Card race

Desperately needing to sweep the Red Sox to have any chance at reaching the postseason, the Rays did exactly what the doctor ordered, coming away with a 9-1 win Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field to complete the weekend sweep.

The Rays (81-64) entered the weekend 6 1/2 games behind the American League Wild-Card leading Red Sox (85-61), and after three ...

NL Wildcard race: September 11, 2011

ATL 84-63 [4-8 in SEPT]
STL 79-67 [7-3 in SEPT] (4.5 GB)

MLB.com: Cards right back in playoff hunt after sweep

The Cards took advantage of an uncharacteristically shaky Tim Hudson en route to a 6-3 win over the Braves on Sunday, completing a three-game sweep of Wild Card-leading Atlanta. Yadier Molina’s three-run double highlighted a five-run third inning against Atlanta’s ace, and the homestanding Redbirds held on from there.

The win pulled the Cardinals within 4 1/2 games of the Braves, who ...

TampaBay.com: Upton brothers make history

Best Upton news since Bell and Bob Lobell reunited on Talk1200!

B.J. Upton’s fifth-inning grand slam earned him a rare curtain call from the Trop crowd, and a piece of history.

Upton and younger brotehr Justin, an outfielder for the Diamondbacks, are now the first set of brothers to go 20-20 - that’s 20 homers and 20 steals - in the same season.

Yankees Catching News Catch-All Thread

First, Frankie Brains got brained.:

After being run over by Nick Markakis on Thursday, Cervelli has been in the Yankees lineup two days in a row, only to be scratched each time. Girardi said Cervelli has some concussion symptoms, and he was sent for an ImPACT test tonight.

Then, Russell Martin hurt his thumb:

X-rays are negative on Russell Martin’s thumb, but Joe Girardi said he’ll be out a day or two

So, Jorge Posada donned the tools of ignorance for the first time this year:

He ...

Red Sox, Rays Flirting With Historic Collapse, Comeback

Or as Red O’Flush drooled out at the bar last night…“OMG! Fred Stanley meets Grady Little!”

The Red Sox held a nine-game lead over the Rays on Sept. 3. Based on coolstandings.com, which simulates the remainders of seasons one million times to determine playoff chances, Boston finished that day with a season-high 99.6 percent chance of making the postseason.

Essentially, the site’s engine calculated that if the rest of the season was played out a million times, the Red Sox would make the ...

McDonnell: With Mike Trout in the lineup, the Angels usually win

The Hatcher Act of 2011…in violation of something or another!

The 20-year old, who had never played above Double A until he was promoted in early July. He hit just .163 with one homer and six RBI, but the Angels went 9-3 in the dozen games he started. Since his August 19th recall, he’s again started twelve times and the Halos have triumphed in eleven. Obviously he’s a player who can do everything on the field—offensively and defensively—and do it well. But how has he been able to have the ...

Bickley: Randy Johnson seems at peace, ready for Diamondbacks reunion

This is the land of Grace and Schilling and Bierbrodt. They won’t fall for that!

Johnson turned 48 on Saturday, and the change in his personality seems profound. Retirement has muted his legendary intensity. Time has soothed most of the anger he felt toward the organization, although he still hasn’t forgotten how they rebuked his offer of a 50 percent pay cut, forcing him to reach a treasured milestone (300 victories) and end his career in a different uniform (Giants).

“It was (Jeff) Moorad ...

Image of the day: Memorial in Monument Park

Creative Commons by JVarghese81.

Image of the Day usually only makes in-season appearance for special occasions or remembrances. And today, on the tenth anniversary of the 9-11-01 attacks, here is a picture of a memorial to the victims put up in Monument Park in old Yankee Stadium, which I presume was moved over to the new stadium as well.

NY Times: Big League Anxiety on the Baseball Diamond

Sunday Book Review of THE ART OF FIELDING By Chad Harbach

Chad Harbach makes the case for baseball, thrillingly, in his slow, precious and altogether excellent first novel, “The Art of Fielding.” “You loved it,” he writes of the game, “because you considered it an art: an apparently pointless affair, undertaken by people with a special aptitude, which sidestepped attempts to paraphrase its value yet somehow seemed to communicate something true or even crucial about the Human ...

AL West race: September 10, 2011

TEX 82-64 [5-4 in SEPT]
LAA 80-65 [7-2 in SEPT] (1.5 GB)

MLB.com: Rangers burned by grand slam in loss to A’s

The Rangers trailed by five runs going into the bottom of the sixth before launching a comeback that fell one hit short in an 8-7 loss to the Athletics on Saturday afternoon at the Ballpark in Arlington.

MLB.com: Haren blanks Yanks as Halos climb up West

A more efficient Haren outlasted Sabathia, foiling the Yanks’ ace in his bid for a 20th win, and the Angels prevailed, 6-0, with some ...

AL Wildcard race: September 10, 2011

Braves and Brewers (both having played Phillies/Cards this past week) are also making things more interesting than they’d both probably like, and may also be showing up soon.

BOS 85-60 [2-8 in SEPT]
TBR 80-64 [6-3 in SEPT] (4.5 GB)
LAA 80-65 [7-2 in SEPT] (5 GB)

MLB.com: Behind Longoria, Rays trim Wild Card deficit

But in the 11th, Desmond Jennings hit a ball to right-center off Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard that Jacoby Ellsbury couldn’t catch. Jennings made it to third, and then after B.J. ...

Guillen wants to lead White Sox ‘next 20 years’

Yeah, and I want to lead Die Jungen for the next 20 years…but that whole one-man-band thing kinda gets in the way.

Ozzie Guillen hopes 2011 won’t be his final season with the White Sox. In fact, Guillen said Saturday he expects his managerial tenure in the city to extend well beyond the present decade.

“I expect to be back here next year,” Guillen told ESPN 1000’s “Talkin’ Baseball” on Saturday. “I expect to be back here for a long time. I think I’m shooting for the moon, but I think my ...

Joel Horlen, former OSU baseball player

Catching up with the traceable Joel Horlen.

Horlen, now 74, is believed to be the only person to play on teams that won the Pony League World Series, the College World Series and the major league World Series.

We had a good pitching staff. Led the league in four or five different categories. I still didn’t get pitcher of the year award.

I faced a bunch of good hitters. Tony Oliva won the batting title every year. That’s about the only guy I can remember that I really didn’t like facing. I ...

Sullivan: LaHair hopes to be given chance to make Cubs in ‘12

Lots of interesting little tidbits in this one:

LaHair credited Iowa hitting coach Von Joshua for changing his hand slot and helping renew his confidence. He hopes to be given a chance to make the Cubs in 2012, though the organization appears to be leaning toward re-signing Carlos Pena.

Dusty watch: Reds manager Dusty Baker said the hardest part of managing the Cubs was the lack of patience in Chicago.

“They keep reminding you of the 100 years,” he said, referring to the 103-year ...

NYT: Forman: Lee’s Value to Phillies Can Be Measured in Zeros

Just heard Gary Cohen and Ron Darling talking up Forman’s latest (take note Kay/Flush…HA!).

Lee’s total of six complete-game shutouts leads the National League and is four ahead of the second closest pitchers, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals, and two ahead of any other team’s total in the National League. A four-shutout lead is the biggest lead since 1988 when Roger Clemens led the American League with eight shutouts, four ahead of Greg Swindell, Dave Stieb ...

KC Star: Dutton: Switch in Gold Glove balloting could benefit Kansas City OFs

Balloting this season for the Rawlings Gold Glove awards, which recognize defensive excellence, will for the first time not lump all outfielders together in balloting by managers and coaches.

The new approach will select a left fielder, a center fielder and a right fielder – and candidates at each position will be limited to those who play a specific number of games at that position.

Daniel Hudson Tosses complete game

They’re getting so used to winning at home, the Diamondbacks won’t be satisfied with simply clinching the National League West.

Forget about the San Francisco Giants, who the Diamondbacks lead by a staggering 8 1/2 games. The Diamondbacks have their sights on catching the Milwaukee Brewers for the second-best record in the NL and the right for home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Forget about the magic number, which has quickly dropped to 10. Friday’s win over the Padres, ...

Sportsnet.ca: Davidi: Head of the class

The Toronto Blue Jays’ latest foray into developing Canadian baseball at the grassroots level comes in the form of a scout school for a handful of coaches from the country’s top amateur teams this weekend at the Rogers Centre.

The two-day session, which kicked off Friday morning, is being led by amateur scouting director Andrew Tinnish and is both selfless and a touch selfish in motivation.

By divulging some of the club’s philosophies on both player evaluation and development, the Blue ...

No agreement on NPB’s demand for bigger share in 2013 WBC

Japanese baseball officials held negotiations in New York Thursday to demand a bigger slice of revenue to take part in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, but no agreement has been reached with organizers of the tournament.

Toshimasa Shimada, the head of international relations and other representatives of Japanese baseball, have requested that sponsorship rights and the rights to baseball memorabilia for the Japanese team be transferred to Nippon Professional Baseball.

Japan has said that they ...

Rosenthal: MVP debate will have no clear winner

as Robothal (freep-freep) does have an AL MVP vote this year.

My elite eight:

The Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista.

The Yankees’ Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano.

The Red Sox’s Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez.

And the Tigers’ Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera,

...Most arguments, like most statistics, are flawed. Truth be told, I eliminated certain paragraphs from this column because I was contradicting myself. But that’s all part of the process, one that has ...

Don Malcolm: DEEP IN THE WELLS

or…The Vernon Dent: Healthy, Wealthy and Numb

But let’s stick with the lede, waddya say? Who is that fallen Angel? That’s not hard—it’s Vernon Wells, a convenient target of derision due to his fat contract and his sleepwalking performance.

But Vernon did something the other day that puts him in line to set a major league record—he hit his 20th home run of the season.

How the heck does that put him in position to rewrite the record books? Well, because at the moment, Vernon has the lowest ...

Ex-O’s pitcher Jefferson dead at 62 of cancer

RIP…Jesse Jefferson.

Former Orioles right-hander Jesse Jefferson died Thursday at age 62 of prostate cancer. He pitched for five major league teams, including the Orioles from 1973 to 1975. He was 7-7 with a 4.13 ERA in 42 games with Baltimore. He was a resident of Midlothian, Va

AL West race: September 9, 2011

TEX 82-63 [5-3 in SEPT]
LAA 79-65 [6-2 in SEPT] (2.5 GB)

MLB.com: Rangers rout Athletics, protect division lead

The Rangers continued their domination of the Athletics with a 13-4 victory over the American League West rivals on Friday night.

The Rangers have now won nine straight over the A’s, tying for their second-longest winning streak against them. Texas beat Oakland 13 straight times in 1977-78.

MLB.com: Long after Weaver’s gem, Halos deny Yanks

Maicer Izturis lifted a sacrifice fly with ...

Toronto Observer: Bautista no longer MVP front-runner

Imagine how observers outside of Toronto feel.

Bautista’s September eight-game hitting stats — .179 batting averag, .324 on base percentage and .321 slugging average are atrocious, but can easily be jettisoned due to small-sample-size bias.

His 88 August at-bats,  however, are a much better barometer for highlighting the slugger’s concerning decline. In that month, he recorded a .261 batting average, while launching eight homers, but striking out 26 times, his highest monthly total of ...

Tigers Broadcaster Rod Allen Apologizes for Calling Little People ‘Midgets’

He pingpinging.

During the sixth inning of Friday night’s Tigers-Twins game, play-by-play man Mario Impemba asked Allen what minor league city was his favorite. Allen said it was Buffalo and he explained why.

“The atmosphere at the ballpark was second-to-none. They had people at the concession stands that were dancing on top of the dugouts. They had some midgets around, they had some giants around.”

A half inning later, Allen took a moment to apologize for calling little people ...