7:00 AM ET Since time immemorial, a favorite offseason pastime for the passionate baseball fan has been to scratch out possible batting orders for their favorite team for the coming season. You might do it on a text file you bring up surreptitiously on your office computer. You might do it on the back of
7:09 PM ET PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — When Kawhi Leonard returned to the Los Angeles area to play for the Clippers, he called his friend and mentor Kobe Bryant for advice. Still in disbelief and trying to process Bryant’s death, Leonard recalled Wednesday how he talked to Bryant about everything from basketball to where to
7:55 PM ET Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS — Michael Wright, a former Minnesota football star who led grocery wholesaler Supervalu Inc. for 20 years, has died. He was 81. Wright died Monday at his home in Wayzata of complications from pneumonia, Wright’s son, Adam Wright, told the Star Tribune. A Minneapolis native, Wright excelled in both
7:09 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Larry Collmus is out and John Imbriale is in as race caller and track announcer at Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga. The New York Racing Association said Wednesday that it was making the change. No reason was given. Imbriale won a newspaper contest to call a race
4:24 PM ET MIAMI — The NFL has a minority-coach-hiring problem, and commissioner Roger Goodell knows it. Goodell held his annual Super Bowl week news conference Wednesday, and one of the questions he fielded was about the lack of opportunity for minority coaches. Of the five teams with head coach openings this offseason, The Washingon
4:47 PM ET ESPN News Services Dusty Baker has been hired as the new manager of the Houston Astros, owner Jim Crane announced Wednesday. The deal is for one year and includes a team option for the 2021 season, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Wednesday. Baker will be formally introduced by the team
4:43 PM ET SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Amy Bockerstette returned to the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale Wednesday, about a year after she made a par on the famous hole that catapulted her to instant celebrity, and walked off the green with a donation that’ll help kick-start her foundation. Bockerstette, a disabilities advocate with Down syndrome,
3:14 PM ET UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and rival Jorge Masvidal had to be separated after an exchange Wednesday on Super Bowl radio row in Miami. Usman and Masvidal, who have been linked as potential future opponents, ran into one another between radio interviews. Usman provoked Masvidal, saying “do something” repeatedly. The two have
2:08 PM ET Former lightweight world titlist Devin Haney, recovering from shoulder surgery, told ESPN on Wednesday that he is on course for a ring return this summer. “My shoulder is good, it’s healing up,” Haney said from Miami, where he was doing media rounds along the Super Bowl’s radio row with plans to attend
2:29 PM ET MIAMI — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has watched the recent transgressions of free-agent receiver Antonio Brown and his primary attention right now is on Brown’s health — not his potential return to the league. “The first thing always is to think about the well-being of Antonio, to understand what Antonio is going
7:05 AM ET http://www.espn.com/nhl/player/_/id/2590835/sami-vatanen Now that the 2020 NHL All-Star Weekend is in the rearview mirror, the league’s trade season is underway in earnest. The next several games for each team will be pivotal, as general managers decide whether their teams should be buyers, improving their chances for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, or sellers, perhaps
12:20 PM ET Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Sabres starting goalie Linus Ullmark will miss three to four weeks with an injury to his right leg. The team issued the update without revealing the nature of the injury Wednesday, a day after Ullmark was hurt in a 5-2 loss to Ottawa. Ullmark was untouched
8:00 AM GMT New Zealand Under-19 239 for 8 (Clarke 46*, Field 38*, Need 3-33) beat West Indies Under-19 238 (McKenzie 99, Clarke 4-25) by two wickets New Zealand’s No. 9 Joey Field and No. 10 Kristian Clarke put on an unbeaten 86-run ninth-wicket stand to take New Zealand through to the semi-finals of the
7:00 AM ET Anthony Gulizia The New England Patriots have for nearly 20 years shown the ability to maintain a degree of organizational structure and success that is far superior to that of their counterparts. Bill Belichick’s ability to consistently construct Super Bowl-winning rosters in a league that operates on roster turnover and fast-closing windows
12:30 PM ET It took most of the offseason but the decision is finally in: Kris Bryant lost the service time grievance that he filed in 2015, after the Chicago Cubs kept him in the minors for the first 10 days of that season before promoting him to the major leagues. The ruling in favor
9:54 AM ET Simon Cambers MELBOURNE, Australia — Even for legends of the game, there are times when they just have to say: “Too good.” It took a barrage of brutal hitting from Dominic Thiem to end Rafael Nadal‘s title hopes at the Australian Open on Wednesday night, as the Austrian survived a nerve-addled finale
Formula 1 says it is “monitoring” the effects of the coronavirus outbreak in China in the context of the country’s Grand Prix in April. The UK Foreign Office has adjusted its travel advice to warn against all non-essential travel to China. F1 said it was “monitoring the situation in China closely” in tandem with the
7:41 AM ET ESPN’s MMA Insiders The year has already gotten off to a bang. A couple of the biggest stars in the sport — Conor McGregor and Cris Cyborg — have already made headlines with huge TKO stoppages. The next few months don’t slow down at all, with Jon Jones, Israel Adesanya and Khabib