16-Year-Old Quits School for Pros

(NEWSER) - Sports fans love to grouse about athletes' salaries and bemoan the ever-rising prices of tickets, concessions, and merchandise. But “it isn’t some vague indefinable ‘they’ who pays the players,” writes Allen Barra for the Wall Street Journal. “It’s you, or rather, it’s us.” Owners set prices they think fans will pay, and "if you are willing to pay their prices that means they set the right prices after all." More»

Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper cuts himself throwing bat

(NEWSER) - Temper, temper: Young star Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals might miss a few games after he a hurled a bat against the dugout wall and it bounced back and hit him near the eye, reports the Washington Times . He needed 10 stitches to close the cut and had a welt the size of a golf ball afterward. "I just got caught up in the moment," said Harper, who slammed the bat after grounding out as part of an 0-for-5 night. One teammate already is calling him "Bam Bam," writes Amanda Comak. The Bleacher Report has more. More»

Legendary Yankees closer tears ACL while catching balls in batting practice

(NEWSER) - A freak injury may have just taken out the greatest closer of all time. Mariano Rivera tore his ACL and his meniscus while shagging flyballs during batting practice yesterday, likely ending his season and, many are speculating, his career. Rivera had already hinted that he might retire after this year. Asked if he thought he'd play again, Rivera whispered, "At this point I don't know. Going to have to face this first," Fox Sports reports. More»

Pettitte takes the stand again in HGH trial

(NEWSER) - Under cross-examination today, Andy Pettitte agreed it was "fair" to say that there's a 50-50 chance he misunderstood Roger Clemens regarding his alleged use of human growth hormone. Pettitte had already made moves toward such an acknowledgement yesterday, after first testifying that Clemens "had mentioned to me that he had taken HGH." More»

Deal is for 10 years, $250 million

(NEWSER) - The Los Angeles Angels made two huge splashes today, snatching up two of the biggest free agents on the market: Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. Pujols has agreed to a 10-year deal worth between $250 and $260 million, a source tells Yahoo! Sports . Depending on the exact number, it may be the second-biggest baseball contract ever—behind Alex Rodriguez's $275 million deal with the Yankees—and according to ESPN, it includes a full no-trade clause. More»