8 Best MLB Ballparks in America Baseball is one of the most loved sports in America, right next to basketball and American football. With the sport being such a phenomenon, it goes without saying that there is a significant number of quality ballparks across the states. There aren’t exactly any “bad” ballparks in…
2019 – Veteran OF Adam Jones, one of a number of prominent free agents still on the market, signs a one-year deal with the Diamondbacks for $3 million.
Blue Jays pitcher T.J. House is hit in the back of the head by a line drive in the 9th inning of a Grapefruit League game against the Tigers. He lies on the ground for 10 minutes before being evacuated to a hospital while the game is terminated prematurely as a result of his injury.
2016 – Fans attending a Cactus League game between the White Sox and Royals at Camelback Ranch are treated to two rare occurrences, and both involve Sox LF Jason Coats. In the 5th inning, Kansas City’s Tony Cruz lines a ball to Coats, who catches it and throws to SS Jimmy Rollins to double off Reymond Fuentes for the second out; Rollins in turn relays to 1B Mike Olt before Dusty Coleman can return to the bag for a rare 7-6-3 triple play. Then, in the 7th, Drew Butera hits a line drive to left, but this time, the ball tips off Coats’s glove and the play ends as an inside-the-park homer.
After losing OF Michael Saunders in one of the first workouts of the spring, the Blue Jays are hit with another blow when P Marcus Stroman tears a knee ligament during fielding drills, seemingly putting him out for the season. Stroman is coming off an excellent rookie year and was counted on as the team’s third starter behind veterans R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle. He will make a remarkable comeback however, getting back on the mound for the Jays in September and pitching for them in their first postseason appearance in two decades.
In a Cactus League game, three of the Cubs bright young prospects give fans what they hope is a glimpse of the future when they connect for back-to-to-back-to-back homers in the 4th inning against the Indians. OF Jorge Soler starts things off with a monster shot to left field off Trevor Bauer, and two pitches later, 2B Javier Baez drives the ball to the same spot. The next man up, 3B Kris Bryant, completes the trifecta with a huge blast to the opposite field. Of the trio, Baez has the most big league experience with half a season under his belt.
2012 – The Dodgers sign National Football League player Jarrad Page, a defensive back with the Minnesota Vikings, to a minor league contract after he impresses scouts at an open tryout camp in Arizona. The 27-year-old OF last played baseball while attending college at UCLA and was drafted three times but never signed, prefering to concentrate on football.
Justin Upton (.300, 26, 86) and the Diamondbacks come to terms on a $51.25 million, six-year contract, the second-largest deal in franchise history being slightly less than Randy Johnson’s $52.4 million pact in 1999. The 22 year-old outfielder, who was the team’s No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft, was selected to last season’s National League All-Star squad.
Shairon Martis throws the first-ever no-hitter in WBC history as the Netherlands routs Panama, 10-0. The 19 year-old Dutch hurler threw exactly 65 pitches, which is the Classic’s pitch limit, to accomplish the historic deed in a game which was called after seven innings because of the mercy rule, a 10 run lead after seven innings.
2005 – Singling off pitcher Brad Thompson in a St. Louis Cardinals intrasquad game, former pitching prospect Rick Ankiel goes 1 for 2 in his debut as a position player. Historic wildness and injuries ended the 25-year-old’s once very promising pitching career.