Major League Baseball

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 22, 2011 - WASHINGTON - Opponents of smokeless tobacco scored a base hit in baseball's new labor agreement, but didn't get the home run they had swung for. Instead of a complete ban, the deal would bar players from chewing tobacco during televised interviews, autograph signings and other events where they meet fans.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 18, 2011 - WASHINGTON - As the baseball world prepares for the World Series opening game in St. Louis on Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and four of his colleagues are urging players to stop using smokeless tobacco on the field, in dugouts or in locker rooms.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 17, 2009 - Comedian Bill Cosby, before he began taking himself a bit too seriously, had a routine involving baseball and the folly of the batter being hit by a pitch.

Unlike almost any other major sport, a baseball player can’t “take a play off” after being slightly injured. This becomes quite apparent when he is hit by a pitch.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 15, 2009 - Ted Savage played the game of baseball and Mike Claiborne broadcasts the game. Together, they made a fantastic double play combination during an entertaining and educational discussion of African-Americans in Major League Baseball – present and past - on Saturday at the Grand Hall of the St. Louis Public Library’s Central Branch.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 10, 2009 - Two stories broke on Saturday and the men behind them had a chance to tell their side. I believe one guy; I think the other is being less than truthful.

David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox announced during a press conference at Yankees Stadium that he has no idea how his name ended up on a list of players that failed a steroid screening test in 2003.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 20, 2009 - During my three years with USA TODAY Baseball Weekly, I had the great fortune to attend the annual Rawlings Gold Glove Banquet in New York and report on one of the most exclusive award ceremonies in American sport.

It was black tie and they weren’t foolin’ around. There were no exceptions. Three times, I rented a tuxedo, caught a train and checked into a Manhattan hotel.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 15, 2009 - All-Star Week in St. Louis was a thrill a minute – until the All-Star Game was actually played. The home team National League went down to the American League 4-3 in a game that was dominated by pitching and turned on a great defensive play by game MVP Carl Crawford.

Here are some highlights, and low moments, of just another summer Tuesday in St. Louis. Yeah, right.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 14, 2009 - President Barack Obama cut an unlikely figure as commander in chief Tuesday afternoon when he descended Air Force One in jeans. The president also appeared to be focused less on the small group of airport greeters than on the older man at his side: baseball great Willie Mays.

Obama took Mays' arm and helped him descend the stairs from the plane's door to the tarmac, where the two then slid into a waiting limousine. The entourage of limos, vans of reporters, Secret Service agents -- and an open jeep with sharpshooters -- then traveled on to Busch Stadium.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 14, 2009 - As you’d expect in 2009, there’s a robust online market for all things All-Star Game. Ticket holders are asking exorbitant amounts for access to the main event and downtown condo owners are looking to cash in on their prime real estate for the long weekend.

And there’s a whole other layer of resume passing, service offering and deal making that takes place on Craigslist (beyond the casual encounters section, of course) in the days before a major sporting event. Here’s a sampling of what you can find on the popular online classified site:

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 13, 2009 - The Reids did FanFest on Sunday, and we did it with style. Mom went shopping, leaving Bryson, Blaine and me to revel in a fantasy world of baseball cloistered in America’s Center.

We pitched, we batted, we fielded grounders and we caught fly balls.

We had baseball cards made with our own photos and stats, played video game baseball and learned how much my Ted Williams’ autographed baseball is worth.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 9, 2009 - As stars like Derek Jeter and Ryan Howard come to town for Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, a different sort of show is stepping to the plate at the St. Louis Public Library .

The exhibit -- "Pride & Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience" -- chronicles the history of blacks playing the nation's pastime. Thirty-two panels display a 150-year progression, from the introduction of the game during the Civil War to the present day. 

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, June 15, 2009 - If you wonder what former President Bill Clinton is up to these days, you can catch him next Saturday (June 20) when he delivers the keynote address during Major League Baseball’s Civil Rights Game weekend in Cincinnati. The game will be televised on the new MLB Network for those with cable or satellite TV.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, May 25, 2009 - When does the Major League Baseball season really start?

If you ask manager Tony La Russa, he’ll probably say the season is as serious the first day of spring training as it is the final game of the year. So, he’d say the season really starts in February.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, May 4, 2009 - If you haven’t viewed Austin, Texas, mayoral candidate Brewster McCracken’s television commercial that totally trashes the city of St. Louis you should find it on YouTube .

You might be insulted, but he says a lot about the past, present and future of the Gateway to the West in 30 seconds, and it is stuff that need be heard.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 27, 2009 - Sharon Robinson never grows tired of teaching young people about her father. The daughter of Jackie Robinson, Sharon serves as director of educational programming for Major League Baseball. Her duties brought her to Busch Stadium on a sun-splashed Thursday afternoon last week.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon - The Supreme Court was not expressing an opinion on the legal issue when it decided without comment to turn down the appeal by Major League Baseball. But the action effectively ends the suit in which Major League Baseball and the Players Association joined forces against C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing, the parent of CDM Fantasy Sports of St. Louis.