Baseball

By Stephen Hawkins AP Baseball Writer Nicole Sherry poked some holes in the turf at Camden Yards, cut the grass and then left the ballpark about the same time the Baltimore Orioles should have been wrapping up their season opener.  "What a beautiful day it would have been for a ballgame," said Sherry, the head groundskeeper for the Orioles. "It was kind of surreal because I was thinking, 'Technically, this is opening day.'" Camden Yards was all green and would have been ready for what…

By Jimmy Golen AP Sports Writer FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — The crack of the bat at spring training camps replaced the sound of trash can lids banging in homemade YouTube videos as baseball emerged from its winter of cheating scandals and salary dumps to bask in the Florida and Arizona sun. The Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres held their first official workouts, and pitchers and catchers for 16 other teams reported to their Grapefruit and Cactus League complexes on Tuesday. The rest of…

Staff Report CHICAGO - The Chicago Cubs are expected to name David Ross their new manager, according to multiple reports Wednesday morning. The team is expected to announce the hire Thursday. Ross, 42, is the currently in the role of special assistant of baseball operations for the Cubs. Before taking that position, he played 14 Major League seasons, his last two in Chicago, where won the World Series in  2016. Ross also won a World Series ring as a member of the 2013 Boston Red Sox.…

By Jay Cohen AP Sports Writer From the moment Joe Maddon joined the Chicago Cubs, taking the reins in a Wrigleyville bar five years ago, he talked about winning. He was the right manager at the right time for a franchise that had experienced mostly terrible timing for more than a century. Right until Maddon's time in Chicago ran out. The Cubs will have a new manager next season after Maddon and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein announced Sunday it was time for a change…

Staff Report BELOIT, Wis. - Plans have been shared to build a new riverside ballpark stadium in downtown Beloit. The new community stadium will play host to the Beloit Snappers, the Class A affiliate of the Oakland A’s. In addition to the new stadium, the Snappers announced the team’s future acquisition by Pensacola, Florida-based Studer Entertainment & Retail, who also currently co-owns the minor league baseball team the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. The Riverbend Stadium Authority (RSA) will…

By Jay Coghen AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Ben Zobrist will decide what he wants to do after the season is over. The 38-year-old utilityman already knows how he feels about Joe Maddon's future in Chicago. Asked Sunday about Maddon's legacy after five years as manager of the Cubs, Zobrist responded: "No comment, because I'd like to see that continue." With Chicago facing increasingly long odds for making the playoffs, the uncertain future for Maddon and Zobrist is coming up…

Staff Report CHICAGO  — Chicago Cubs slugger Anthony Rizzo will be out of the lineup for at least five to seven days after leaving Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third inning with a sprained right ankle. X-rays taken at Wrigley Field showed no broken bones. An MRI performed Monday determined surgery, which would have undoubtedly ended Rizzo's season, was not required. The first baseman suffered the injury while fielding a bunt. With a runner on second and none…

By Luke Meredith AP Sports Writer The Chicago White Sox will play a game against the New York Yankees next August at the site in Iowa where the movie "Field of Dreams" was filmed. Major League Baseball announced Thursday that the White Sox will play host to the Yankees in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13. A video tweeted by MLB shows Yankees star Aaron Judge asking Ray Kinsella, Kevin Costner's character in the 1989 movie, if he was in heaven. Costner replies with one of the movie's iconic…

Staff Report CHICAGO - The Chicago Cubs, on Monday, traded pitcher Mike Montgomery to the Kansas City Royals for catcher Martin Maldonado. Maldonado, 32, has played all or parts of the last nine seasons with Milwaukee (2011-16), the Los Angeles Angels (2017-18), Houston (2018) and Kansas City (2019), winning the Gold Glove for defensive excellence with the Angels in 2017. He has thrown out 122 of 327 attempted basestealers in his career, good for a 37.3 percent success rate, the best…

By Jay Cohen AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel has agreed to a three-year contract with the Cubs in a big move to strengthen Chicago's bullpen. The team said Friday he passed his physical and will be optioned to Triple-A Iowa. The addition plugs a major hole for Chicago, which has been beset by blown saves but is still tied for the NL Central lead. Brandon Morrow is going slowly after a setback in his recovery from offseason elbow surgery, and Pedro Strop…