MIAMI – The game met the hype. And the Americans met the moment. In a semifinals matchup rife with many of baseball’s biggest names and a game rife with the kind of tension that makes the sport great, Team USA outlasted the Dominican Republic, 2-1, on Sunday night at loanDepot

MIAMI -- When the United States assembled its super team for this World Baseball Classic, the selections were skewed toward established stars not just because of their talent but because of the guaranteed contracts that make them more prone to participate.

HOUSTON -- The afternoon start time at Daikin Park was conducive to a new, beautifully bizarre reality out in Italy. There, the locals could gather in the evening hours Saturday and converse not just about “calcio,” or soccer, while sipping on their espressos and digestivi but also lock in on

In the pages of the New York Times in the spring of 2005, a just-announced tournament to be known as the “World Baseball Classic” was being touted for one particular potential pairing. “Baseball’s first world cup will probably be decided,” David Leonhardt wrote, “by a matchup between one of the

HOUSTON – Team USA has definitely “punched its ticket” this time. And it’s a ticket to a real heavyweight bout. After a tumultuous couple of days emanating from a regrettable MLB Network interview segment for manager Mark DeRosa and a lamentable loss to upstart Italy, the American dream in this

HOUSTON -- Clayton Kershaw has hung ‘em up. Again. Team USA’s 5-3 win over Canada in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic on Friday night at Daikin Park served as Kershaw’s final game on an active roster. He’ll be replaced prior to the semifinals against the Dominican Republic by

HOUSTON -- Yadier Molina has made no secret of the fact that he hopes to manage in the Major Leagues. Same goes for the former Cardinals teammate with whom he is often associated, Albert Pujols. With both greats having managed their respective clubs -- Molina with Puerto Rico and Pujols

HOUSTON -- Members of the United States’ World Baseball Classic team were still in their Spring Training camps when Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal in overtime versus Canada to capture the country’s first men’s hockey Olympic gold since 1980. “I was actually doing an interview with some Japanese media

HOUSTON -- Leave it to Team Italy to come through for a guy named DeRosa. Team USA manager Mark DeRosa returned to Daikin Park for his club’s World Baseball Classic workout Thursday afternoon, having survived the public backlash over comments he made on MLB Network earlier in the week that

HOUSTON – After their enormous upset of the U.S. on Tuesday night, the members of Team Italy were just like the rest of us, learning about the mathematical tiebreakers that might decide their fate if they lost to Mexico the next night. The calculations came in and confirmed that Italy

HOUSTON – For a week, he had been the heart and soul of an upstart Italian squad, brewing up post-homer espresso shots in the dugout, kissing his teammates on the cheeks, arranging a spontaneous after-hours dip in the hotel’s lazy river and passing out celebratory bottles of wine to team

HOUSTON – A shortstop flop benefited Team Italy early in a pivotal matchup with Mexico in Pool B play on Wednesday night. The Italians were ahead, 1-0, with one out in the bottom of the third when Mexico’s Joey Ortiz singled. Jarren Duran hit a fly ball to shallow left-center

HOUSTON -- The United States assembled its best roster yet for this World Baseball Classic. But its fate will now come down to the rosters of Italy and Mexico. “It’s out of our control,” Team USA captain Aaron Judge said. “Now we just need a little luck, and we’ll see

HOUSTON -- A big night for Team Italy catcher Kyle Teel ended abruptly, as the young White Sox backstop injured himself running the bases in World Baseball Classic pool play in an 8-6 victory over Team USA on Tuesday night at Daikin Park. A day later, White Sox general manager

HOUSTON – They came here singing canzones. Not Dominic Canzone (though he was there) but Italian “canzones.” As in, songs.

With in-market, blackout-free streaming subscriptions available for 22 of MLB’s 30 clubs and with ESPN having acquired the rights to sell the popular MLB.TV streaming service, fans have more flexibility in how they consume baseball broadcasts. Watch select Spring Training games on MLB.TV all spring long. For a list of

Following the Americans’ first win in the World Baseball Classic in 2017, there was increased interest among big league stars to represent the States on this stage in '23. And after a close defeat at the hands of Japan in the '23 final, the enthusiasm to participate ramped up all

Missed calls color baseball history in their own, wayward way. Don Denkinger calling Jorge Orta safe in the 1985 World Series. Rich Garcia not calling fan interference on Jeffrey Maier in the 1996 ALCS. Jim Joyce imperfectly calling Jason Donald safe in what woulda/shoulda/coulda been the final out of Armando

At long last, player protest with ball or strike calls can be handled with something other than ineffectual arguing. Beginning with the 2026 MLB season, players will have the power to appeal the strike-zone judgments of human home-plate umpires by turning to the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System, powered by

You know that pitchers run the risk of blowing out an elbow ligament. But who would have thought they could lose a rib? Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is, unfortunately, a risk that comes with the unnatural art of throwing a baseball, and it has affected some big-name pitchers -- and

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The images on the TV screen in the Pirates’ clubhouse at LECOM Park were instantly iconic. In the aftermath of one of the greatest gold medal hockey games ever played Sunday, there were the members of Team USA, draped in American flags and forever bonded by what

SARASOTA, Fla. -- What better way to celebrate your first home run with your new team than to do it against your old team? Ryan O'Hearn made a proper Pirates debut in his old spring stomping grounds by clobbering a three-run blast off fellow lefty Dietrich Enns to cap a

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The morning meetings down here are ordinarily oriented around the future -- what’s ahead that day, that week, that season. The goal of Spring Training is to propel yourself and your team forward. But when Pirates manager Don Kelly convened his club Saturday morning at LECOM Park,

BRADENTON, Fla. -- They packed up the Pirates’ paraphernalia for the move from Pirate City to LECOM Park. With that, Spring Training has shifted from athletic acclimation to actual evaluation. As the Buccos begin their Grapefruit League season against the Orioles at 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday at Sarasota’s Ed

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The cavalry came from the clubhouse to watch their guy, their ace and their axis. If it wasn’t the entirety of the Pirates’ Spring Training roster assembled around a back field Thursday at Pirate City to watch Paul Skenes throw a simulated session, it was pretty close.