Sports

Sports

Small-Market Teams Leading MLB Standings

7:43am August 11, 2013

The baseball season heads into its home stretch, and it looks like the year of the little guy: The Pirates, Royals, Orioles and Tigers are contending for championship spots. Guest host Celeste Headlee talks to ESPN's Howard Bryant about Major League Baseball.

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A police officer patrols the rooftop of a school at the Rocinha slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sept. 20, 2012, where a

Unease In Sprawling Rio Slum Ahead Of Police 'Pacification'

12:06pm August 09, 2013

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Brazilian police are preparing to occupy one of the deadliest shantytown complexes in Rio de Janeiro, hoping to drive out drug gangs ahead of next year's World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. But in Mare, the vast, poor and dangerous home to 75,000 people, some fear the police more than the drug gangs.

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Sports

Feds Probe If Student Athletes Were Biogenesis Clients

12:06pm August 09, 2013

Alex Rodriguez and the other athletes sanctioned by Major League Baseball are alleged to have received performance enhancing drugs from the now closed Miami clinic Biogenesis. ESPN and other news organizations are reporting the clinic also had high school athletes as patients. David Greene talks to investigative reporter Mike Fish of ESPN about student athletes and performance enhancing drugs.

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Sports

Dick Kazmaier, 'A Honey Of A Guy'

5:24am August 07, 2013

by Frank Deford

Commentator Frank Deford remembers the last Ivy League football player to win the Heisman Trophy. Kazmaier, 82, died on Thursday.

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Sports

Hit! Kick! Punch! Knock 'em Out!

12:20pm August 06, 2013

MMA and UCF. Two acronyms that have elbowed, punched and kicked their way into the American sporting consciousness.

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Sports

Baseball Fans Divided Over Drug Suspensions

6:06am August 06, 2013

by Nathan Rott

Major League Baseball has suspended 13 players for violating the league's drug policy. New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez was suspended for more than 200 games, until the end of next season.

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Sports

Major League Baseball Works To Win Fans' Trust

6:06am August 06, 2013

Monday was a historic one for Major League Baseball after 13 players were suspended for violating the league's drug policy. It's the largest group of players ever sanctioned at one time in an anti-doping action. Is baseball hoping the scope of this sends a message?

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According to author David Epstein, hitters like the Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols look at the movement of the pitcher's shoulder, torso or hand to help them hit the ball.

Talent Or Skill?: Homing In On The Elusive 'Sports Gene'

11:59pm August 05, 2013

Do big league hitters have naturally faster reflexes? Are African-Americans predisposed to be better athletes? In his new book, Sports Illustrated's David Epstein says science now has answers — or at least insights — to all these questions.

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Sports

A-Rod Said To Be Facing Long Suspension From Baseball

5:52am August 05, 2013

Major League Baseball is expected to hand down suspensions to several players implicated in performance enhancing drug use. New York Yankees all star Alex Rodriguez is the most prominent name on the list, and he also faces the longest suspension.

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Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers breaks his bat on a single to right field during a game in June. The rate of such breaks has been cut in half since 2008.

Sports

How Major League Baseball Alleviated Its Broken Bat Problem

6:29pm August 03, 2013

by NPR Staff

In 2008, bats split into pieces once a game on average, posing injury risks to players, umpires and even fans. The issue coincided with a rapid rise in the popularity of maple bats. So Major League Baseball called in a pinch-hitter: the U.S. Forest Service.

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