national league baseball
Dodgers hire sports sports psychologist
LOS ANGELES -- With their clubhouse fractured and playoff hopes seemingly dashed, the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason committed nearly $75 million to free agents and another $13 million for a new manager whose ability to deal with distractions and keep cool under pressure was unquestioned.
Tracy Ringolsby's weekly baseball notes
The most shocking news in Wayne Krivsky being fired and Walt Jocketty hired as Cincinnati Reds general manager was Krivsky's claim he was shocked."I did not see this coming at all," he was quoted as saying.Really?
Zito is latest big-bucks pitching bust
It's getting difficult to call struggling Giants lefty Barry Zito anything but a colossal bust. Even the most strident Zito defender's patience was pushed to the breaking point Tuesday, when he was staked to a 3-0 lead against 2006 N.L. Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb after 1-1/2 innings at Arizona but gave it all back by the fourth.
Beinfest continues to work magic for Marlins
It's OK to despise the Florida Marlins owner, who cares so little about the team's fans that he openly insults them with the smallest payroll in baseball.Not that being cheap is the only reason to dislike Jeffrey Loria.Just ask Joe Girardi.
Tracy Ringolsby's weekly baseball notes
Troy Tulowitzki has company in his misery.Not that it makes the Colorado Rockies shortstop feel any better.Tulowitzki has struggled through a two-week funk that is unlike any funk he has endured on a baseball field, but he's not alone.
Rehabbing LaRoche becomes 'Guitar Hero'
LOS ANGELES -- In his spare time, Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Andy LaRoche used his surgically repaired right thumb to strum a video game controller shaped like a guitar.
Q&A with Dodgers GM Ned Colletti
LOS ANGELES -- More than a few Southland eyebrows rose incredulously when his hiring was announced Nov. 16, 2005, as the Dodgers franchise's 10th general manager since relocating from Brooklyn in 1958. Sure, Ned Colletti was a nice guy, a seemingly rising star in the game. But he was a stinkin' Giant, the non-believers intoned.
Hope not eternal for Giants this spring
SAN FRANCISCO -- The 2008 San Francisco Giants are like the Northern California housing crisis. They are devalued after being over-inflated. They represent dreams that went awry.
Padres' Peavy denies cheating
SAN DIEGO -- One day after limiting the Los Angeles Dodgers to two hits in a complete-game victory, San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy denied that he had used an illegal foreign substance on his right hand to do so.
Nation not buying into defending N.L. champ Rockies
Coming off their first National League pennant, the Colorado Rockies figured they would enter the new season facing great expectations.For example, this was manager Clint Hurdle's pre-emptive strike Sunday at the Rocks' final workout before Monday's opener at Busch Stadium was rained out:
