Wearing a Cubs jersey and a backward blue baseball cap, Clark, the Cubs’ new mascot makes his debut at Chicago’s Advocate Illinois Masonic’s Pediatric Developmental Center. Clark the Cub, named after the street located behind Wrigley Field’s home plate, is being touted as the great-grandson of franchise’s first mascot, Joa, a live bear used as a good luck charm in 1916, nine years after the franchise officially adopted Cubs as the team’s name.

ByTom

Wearing a Cubs jersey and a backward blue baseball cap, Clark, the Cubs’ new mascot makes his debut at Chicago’s Advocate Illinois Masonic’s Pediatric Developmental Center. Clark the Cub, named after the street located behind Wrigley Field’s home plate, is being touted as the great-grandson of franchise’s first mascot, Joa, a live bear used as a good luck charm in 1916, nine years after the franchise officially adopted Cubs as the team’s name.

OF Justin Upton of the Diamondbacks vetoes a deal that would have sent him to the Mariners, invoking his no-trade clause. The D-Backs still have a glut of outfielders, but may need to focus on dealing another player given Upton’s unwillingness to leave the desert.

ByTom

OF Justin Upton of the Diamondbacks vetoes a deal that would have sent him to the Mariners, invoking his no-trade clause. The D-Backs still have a glut of outfielders, but may need to focus on dealing another player given Upton’s unwillingness to leave the desert.

Major League Baseball announces changes to its drug testing program. Players will now be subject to unannounced in-season blood tests for human growth hormone and baseline testosterone readings will be taken for all players to make it easier to detect the use of synthetic testosterone. The new procedures, which have the support of the Players Association, go into effect immediately.

ByTom

Major League Baseball announces changes to its drug testing program. Players will now be subject to unannounced in-season blood tests for human growth hormone and baseline testosterone readings will be taken for all players to make it easier to detect the use of synthetic testosterone. The new procedures, which have the support of the Players Association, go into effect immediately.

For only the second time since 1971 (the other was in 1996), no one is elected in the BBWAA voting for the Hall of Fame. In what is dubbed the “steroids ballot”, because a number of leading contenders for induction are considered by many to be tainted by association with the steroids scandal of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Craig Biggio is the leading vote-getter in his first year of eligibility, with 68.2%, followed by Jack Morris, who is down to one final year of eligibility, with 67.7%, with 75% needed for election. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who would have been elected without a second thought were it not for the taint of steroids, finish well down in the ballot, as voters continue to give a clear message regarding their discomfort with players alleged to have used performance-enhancing drugs.

ByTom

For only the second time since 1971 (the other was in 1996), no one is elected in the BBWAA voting for the Hall of Fame. In what is dubbed the “steroids ballot”, because a number of leading contenders for induction are considered by many to be tainted by association with the steroids scandal of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Craig Biggio is the leading vote-getter in his first year of eligibility, with 68.2%, followed by Jack Morris, who is down to one final year of eligibility, with 67.7%, with 75% needed for election. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who would have been elected without a second thought were it not for the taint of steroids, finish well down in the ballot, as voters continue to give a clear message regarding their discomfort with players alleged to have used performance-enhancing drugs.

2013 – The Cincinnati Reds sign Jakub Ižold, the first Slovakian to sign with a MLB club. Ižold had been pitching for Draci Brno in the Czech Republic’s Extraliga and had been with the Slovakian national team. He will go 0-1 with a 8.04 ERA this summer with the AZL Reds.

ByTom

2013 – The Cincinnati Reds sign Jakub Ižold, the first Slovakian to sign with a MLB club. Ižold had been pitching for Draci Brno in the Czech Republic’s Extraliga and had been with the Slovakian national team. He will go 0-1 with a 8.04 ERA this summer with the AZL Reds.