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Griffey Jr. Primed for 22nd Season. He Had to Learn his Rookie Lessons Somewhere
Reports out of Seattle have Ken Griffey Jr. healthy and raring to go for his 22nd big league season. Not bad for someone they call, “Kid.” Griffey was a natural interview target for the book, having...
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How to Make an Inauspicious Outing Even Worse, No. 762
By most measures, Jordan Smith has had a fine rookie season for the Cincinnati Reds. He’s compiled a 3.32 ERA in 37.1 innings out of the bullpen, with 22 strikeouts against only nine walks. He’s even...
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Lawrie Draws Buzz: One Kind from Teammates, Another from Opponents
Brett Lawrie celebrated, and Yunel Escobar was drilled as a result. (At least that’s the way it seems.) In Wednesday’s game against Oakland, Lawrie hit the first grand slam of his nascent big league...
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Harper Homers, High-Fives, Handles History
For a young player with a history of attitude, Bryce Harper did a lot right upon hitting his first home run Monday. After crushing a slider from Padres right-hander Tim Sauffer to dead center field,...
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Well, Duh: Miguel Montero probably knows the Padres’ hitters ‘a little bit...
The Arizona Republic recently estimated that Diamondbacks pitchers shake off catcher Miguel Montero three or four times per game. Tuesday, however, was not like most games. That’s because rookie Trevor...
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Valdespin Class: Mets Rookie Gets Some Schooling
For all the modernity in today’s game; for the allowances teams make when the opposition mobs one of their own after a game-winning hit; for the inter-team chatter around the batting cage; for pitchers...
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Flipping Out: Myers Makes the Most of His Sixth Career Homer
Click image for GIF. From The Baseball Codes: When Phillies rookie Jimmy Rollins flipped his bat after hitting a home run off St. Louis reliever Steve Kline in 2001, the Cardinals pitcher went...
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Archer Sets Tone in Rays Camp
Those who thought that the Chris Archer’s outstanding 2015 season—in which he made the All-Star team and finished fifth in the American League Cy Young voting—might be taken as an excuse to ease off...
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On the Importance of Occasionally Embracing the Silence
This is what happens when catchers start talking to hitters about their retaliatory instincts. The reason we don’t frequently hear about this situation is that most catchers, based upon some...
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