Cactus League

We made it.Image: Getty ImagesWelcome to Opening Day! It was a long, cold winter, but Spring is, at last, officially upon us. Sure, the ivy at Wrigley might be sparse and brown, and your favorite broadcaster might be wearing Gore-Tex for…

How much tangible difference a manager makes on a baseball team over 162 games has never been quite nailed down. It’s generally thought the best ones might only add a couple wins, and a truly bad one might only take away a couple wins. Most…

Xander Bogaerts is headeds to San Diego, YAWN.Image: Getty ImagesRight before I sat down (or stood up as it were, as I’m one of those brain geniuses who works standing up. I’m ever so svelte!), news broke that the San Diego Padres had…

Image: Getty ImagesProjected 2023 Payroll: Not nearly enoughNotable Free Agents: Willson Contreras (pictured above), Drew SmylyCould they use Aaron Judge?: Absofuckinglutely, but the Ricketts would worry about the damage to the buildings…

How could a 100+ win juggernaut make the World Series? That’s the beauty of the playoffsIllustration: Getty ImagesIt’s now generally accepted that playoff baseball is confusing. Given that every series is a week long at most, and it’s…

If anyone deserves a champagne bath, it’s the Mariners.Photo: Getty ImagesIt takes a lot for the sporting public to notice a Saturday highlight other than a football one in early October. It has to be especially good on a weekend when…

The longest playoff drought in North American sports is no moreImage: Getty ImagesThe last time the Seattle Mariners made the playoffs, Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” was atop the Billboard charts, a non-superhero movie (“Don’t…

Yoán MoncadaPhoto: Getty ImagesIt’s not that you have to go back all that far for a season by an MLB team that was as disappointing, confounding, and overall just as big of a waste of time as the 2022 Chicago White Sox. It was just last…

Inflatable PEDs? What will they think of next?Screenshot: TwitterFans trolling their opponents is a time-honored tradition, and one of the many reasons why going to the game is more fun than staying at home and watching it on television.…

I mean, we do use baseball metaphors for sexScreenshot: Twitter: @blogTOThe joke used to be that you were supposed to think of baseball to un-horny yourself. When you needed to prolong proceedings to a length of time that wouldn’t be…