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      A trip to the MLB Fan Cave in New York City to play Wiffle ball must have been fun enough for 13-year-old Nick D'Annibale, a seventh grader who happens to also be a survivor of leukemia. Just getting a chance to play in the street, semi-Willie Mays-style — to hit and pitch, with other baseball fans — some 18 months after being diagnosed, that alone made for a happy Friday.

      And then the ice cream van showed up, announcing its presence with the appropriate music box soundtrack. Car! Ice cream delay — those are the best.

      But then, instead of the Ice Cream Man, none other than Robinson Cano popped out of the van, wearing the same No. 24 that D'Annibale wore on his back.

      "I thought it was just going to be ice cream," D'Annibale said.

      On his own free time before the New York Yankees hosted the Blue Jays in the Bronx, Cano played Wiffle ball in the street with D'Annibale and the Fan Cave Dwellers.

      "I love Robinson Cano and he's one of the best second basemen in the league," D'Annibale said.

      Cano and D'Annibale traded swings, with the Yankees star giving a high-five and saying, "Whoa, you're better than me!"

      And the kid did seem to put some good swings on the ball. Watch.

      Read More »from Robinson Cano surprises 13-year-old leukemia survivor Nick D’Annibale with Wiffle ball game at MLB Fan Cave
    • How is Taiwan ever going to repay the Western Hemisphere for Manny Ramirez?

      As Manny continues to hit like Manny, (he has seven home runs), he also provides Taiwan's nightly news with hysterical video clips. Now, it's hard to tell what is happening in this clip in total because of the language barrier and the overgrown graphics that make CNN or ESPN on NFL Draft day look spartan by comparison. It must be like "Blade Runner" in Tapei City.

      But here's the gist of Manny's Moonwalk:

      Read More »from Manny Ramirez ‘moonwalks’ like Michael Jackson after losing balance in Taiwan
    • Target Field on opening day 2012 (Getty Images)

      Have a baseball road trip coming up? Well, in a bid to help you with your upcoming journeys, Big League Stew has solicited the help of the locals. Over the next month or so, we'll be hitting up our usual guest blogger crew to feature 10 tips for enjoying each of the 30 ballparks like the locals do. Have a suggestion in addition to the ones listed here? Make sure to list it in the comments below.

      So you’re in Minneapolis and you’re looking to be entertained, eh? Well you’re in luck, fair visitor! Minneapolis is a jewel of a city, with beautiful parks and lakes, a thriving arts scene, and some of the Midwest’s finest restaurants. Nestled on the banks of the Mississippi River, you’ll surely find myriad ways of enjoying springtime, which this year takes place for nearly two full weeks before three months of oppressive heat give way to winter’s nine months of snow and passive aggression.

      What’s that you say, dear friend? You’re in the mood for a baseball outing? May I convince you otherwise? We don’t really do that anymore around here. For one, the Local Nine haven’t given us much to cheer about over the past two years. Plus, I was actually still shoveling my driveway a week and a half ago. No, I’m not kidding. So please forgive us natives for neglecting to realize that the 2013 baseball season has actually been going on for a while, and for ignoring that our team, while only playing .500 ball, is wildly exceeding our 90-loss expectations.

      So instead of hanging out at that admittedly beautiful ballpark downtown tonight, I would encourage you to seek out a rooftop bar in our sparkling urban playground, order yourself a nice seasonal beer, and watch as all of the beautiful 25-year-olds who work in Target’s marketing department get off work and make tonight a wonderful thing.

      Huh? You’re telling me that you still insist on watching Vance Worley struggle to make it through four innings tonight? I honestly don’t know what to say to that. It’s your life, brother.

      Anyway, here are 10 tips for enjoying your trip to Target Field:

      Read More »from Target Field: A local’s guide to enjoying a road trip to the home of the Minnesota Twins
    • (Getty, BLS Illustration)

      Comparing pitchers by their individual won-loss record isn't useful, usually. First off, pitchers don't complete games like they used to — not even close — so the statistic lacks much of its former meaning. Besides, there are many other, better stats to go by when measuring how well someone pitches. However, when the name Babe Ruth is evoked, it's fun just to take a look anyway.

      Such is the case with Matt Moore of the Tampa Bay Rays, who Sunday became the youngest left-hander, at 23 years old, to start a season 8-0 since Ruth did so at age 22 for the Boston Red Sox in 1917. (It's also fun to remind ourselves that Ruth was once a dominant pitcher, as well, before he became the Sultan of Swat.)

      Moore also set a franchise record by winning his ninth straight decision overall, edging teammate David Price.

      ''Historically speaking, it's been wonderful,'' Rays manager Joe Maddon said of Moore's season.

      Looking beyond the record, has Moore outpitched the Babe? In many ways, yes:

      Read More »from Matt Moore matches Babe Ruth with 8-0 start
    • It started with a chivalrous act gone wrong, was followed by a beer bath and ended with a high-five.

      A couple caught the attention of baseball fans at Wrigley Field on Sunday and the ones watching at home on TV. Why? His-and-her beer baths!

      It happened when Chicago Cubs pitcher Travis Wood hit a home run to left field in the fifth inning. A husband in the bleachers tried to protect his wife from the ball, but in the process spilled his beer on her. So, in return, she dumped her beer on his head.

      This was not a cheap lovers spat. The Cubs have one of the highest beer prices in the league — $7.25 for a small beer, so that's $14.50, minus whatever they had already gulped down.

      [Related: Another Cubs fan shows great hands while reeling in a foul ball]

      Read More »from Wife douses husband with beer in Wrigley Field bleachers after he tries to protect her from homer
    • Usually when we're posting a crazy circus catch, it's a diving outfielder or a darting infielder. It's hardly ever the pitcher or the catcher. But in this case, it's the pitcher AND the catcher.

      You gotta see Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero and relief pitcher Josh Collmenter combining for the rare 2-1 pop-up put-out — on a bunt no less. It's one of the coolest plays so far this season.

      Read More »from Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher, catcher combine for one of the coolest catches of the season
    • The Juice returns for season No. 6! It's almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more.

      Miguel Cabrera doesn't exactly need to remind us that he's really, really good at hitting baseballs. Coming into Sunday's game against the Texas Rangers, the reigning AL MVP and Triple Crown winner already led baseball in batting average and RBIs.

      With an other-worldly display Sunday, the Detroit Tigers slugger showed why he's a Triple Crown candidate again. He hit three homers, going 4-for-4 and driving in five runs. He now has 11 home runs, which is one behind the AL lead.

      But here's the reality check: The Tigers still lost to the Rangers 11-8 in a matchup that many think we could see again come playoff time. The Rangers have the best record in baseball at 29-15, while the Tigers are in second in the AL Central at 23-19, behind the surging Cleveland Indians.

      [Related: Jurickson Profar poised to make fantasy splash for Texas]

      Read More »from The Juice: Miggy smash! Cabrera homers three times, but Tigers still fall to Rangers
    • Ironically, it was less than 24 hours earlier that we rehashed Tim Lincecum's accusatory comments on the Coors Field mound in September 2010 that had everyone (myself included) turning into expert lip-readers.

      Of course that became temporarily significant again because of the interesting exchange between Troy Tulowitzki and Madison Bumgarner on Friday night after a baseball was taken out of play at Tulowitzki's request as he was running the bases. Rather than a continuation of bad blood, though, it turned out to be nothing more than an honest request and a miscommunication. Everyone went about their merry way heading into Saturday night's game in Denver. But maybe the mere mention of that incident stirred up some spirits at Coors Field.

      Well, that, or maybe Tim Lincecum just can't catch a break these days, because the struggling former Cy Young Award winner ended up taking an embarrassing tumble on that same mound in the fourth inning of Colorado's 10-2 victory.

      It happened right in the middle of his 1-1 delivery to Charlie Blackmon when his plant leg slipped right off the rubber. He's actually pretty lucky he didn't suffer a sprained ankle or even a knee injury considering the torque and pressure put on his lower leg, but he bounced up and carried on with the only downside to the mishap being a balk that awarded the runner second base.

      Read More »from Revenge of the Coors Field mound: Tim Lincecum takes mid-delivery spill during ugly outing
    • No beers were sacrificed in the attempt to catch this foul ball, but that's not to say there were no substantial risks involved. In fact, I would confidently say the Cubs fan seated front row in the upper deck at Wrigley Field on Saturday afternoon was willing to put a whole lot more than a beverage on the line to reel in a souvenir.

      Fortunately for him, he had two big things working in his favor as he leaned precariously over the railing with Ike Davis' foul ball slicing in his direction.

      The first would be his tremendous balance, as he managed to keep himself steady while extending his arms as far as they would go.

      The second are his exceptional hands.

      Seriously. That was all about the hands. Even Keith Hernandez, a Gold Glove first baseman in his day who knows how important soft hands are in fielding a baseball, was impressed by how easily the fan was able to snatch the baseball and secure it from that position. And Keith doesn't impress easy, folks, so that's a pretty solid endorsement.

      Read More »from Cubs fan showcases tremendous hands while reeling in dangerous foul ball (Video)
    • Though he remains stuck on one home run through the Dodgers' first 40 games, at least Matt Kemp can say he's taken the same number away from their opponents.

      The Gold Glove center fielder turned in one of the finest defensive plays we've seen in the first seven weeks on Saturday night, gliding into position, timing his jump, and then hanging in the air just long enough to bring back a Jason Heyward fly ball that wasn't quite ticketed for the bleachers, but definitely had enough juice to clear the wall.

      The play happened in the first inning with the game still scoreless. Heyward, who just returned to Atlanta's lineup on Friday after missing 23 games following an emergency appendectomy in Colorado, was making a bid for his third home run of the year. Another foot, maybe 2, he has it, but instead all he could do was tip his helmet to Kemp out of respect for the play he'd just made.

      As the game continued, it looked like Kemp's robbery would hold up as the most important play in the game. The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth behind an excellent outing by Chris Capuano, before manager Don Mattingly turned to his set-up man, Kenley Jansen. That's where things went south quickly, as Evan Gattis (two-run shot) and Andrelton Simmons parked back-to-back big flys in places Kemp couldn't reach to make it 3-1.

      Read More »from Jason Heyward tips his helmet to Matt Kemp after home run-robbing grab (Video)

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