Newcomer to Baseball's Disabled List: Anxiety

Female umpire speaks out against baseball's 'stained-grass ceiling'

(NEWSER) - Forget blown calls. The real problem with umpires in the MLB, says Perry Barber: A complete lack of females. Barber, who has been in the business since 1981, works high school, college, spring training, and Independent League games—and tells DoubleX , “ We’re just going to have to storm the Bastille, baby, and flood the schools with women candidates and shatter what I call the stained-grass ceiling.” More»

Postseason miscues have MLB considering drastic changes

(NEWSER) - This year’s postseason has featured the usual thrills—pitchers' duels, come-from-behind victories—and an outbreak of something unusual: botched calls by umpires. The threat of more gaffes in next week’s World Series has the tradition-bound sport considering expanding the use of instant replay beyond the verification of home runs. And not everyone objects. More»

(NEWSER) - Branch Rickey once complained that “there is nothing on earth anybody can do with fielding,” but that's about to change thanks to a complex new camera and computer system, the New York Times reports. The system, which will be unveiled for baseball executives tomorrow, records the exact speed and location of every ball and every player, giving stat geeks a mountain of new data. The idea is to get a better handle on intangibles such as which outfielder has the best arm. More»

These managers are an ump's worst nightmare

(NEWSER) - Among baseball managers, 10 have perfected the theatrics of fighting umps. Forbes looks at the skippers ejected most since 2004:

1. Bobby Cox, Atlanta Braves: Also the all-time ejection king, Cox (34 ejections since '04) was once booted over stadium lights.
2. Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota Twins: Fiery former player has 32 ejections.
3. Charlie Manuel, Philadelphia Phillies: Fans once egged on Manuel (21) as he berated an ump for two full minutes.

Yuri Sucart described as A-Rod's lap dog

(NEWSER) - The cousin who injected Alex Rodriguez with steroids has been identified as Yuri Sucart, a longtime friend and confidant of the disgraced Yankee, ESPN reports. The previously anonymous relative, whom A-Rod refused to identify during his mea-culpa news conference Tuesday, is too devoted to Rodriguez to have stopped him, friends of the cousins say. “He took an instruction from me and felt he was doing something helpful, not hurtful," A-Rod said. More»