1+ hour, 56+ min ago (419+ words) After playing into November and winning a second consecutive World Series championship with the Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani announced on Instagram on Monday that he will play for Team Samurai in the World Baseball Classic next spring. "Dear fans, thank you for sharing this wonderful season with me. I will train hard and see you again next year," Ohtani posted in Japanese. "I am delighted to have the opportunity to play again representing Japan." Ohtani was named the MVP of the 2023 WBC, when he memorably struck out Mike Trout to end the gold-medal game against Team USA. As Japan's DH, Ohtani hit .435 with a home run, eight RBIs and a 1.345 OPS in seven games during the tournament. He was 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three appearances as a pitcher. Ohtani's post does not specify whether he will participate for Japan as a…...

6+ hour, 56+ min ago (419+ words) After playing into November and winning a second consecutive World Series championship with the Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani announced on Instagram on Monday that he will play for Team Samurai in the World Baseball Classic next spring. "Dear fans, thank you for sharing this wonderful season with me. I will train hard and see you again next year," Ohtani posted in Japanese. "I am delighted to have the opportunity to play again representing Japan." Ohtani was named the MVP of the 2023 WBC, when he memorably struck out Mike Trout to end the gold-medal game against Team USA. As Japan's DH, Ohtani hit .435 with a home run, eight RBIs and a 1.345 OPS in seven games during the tournament. He was 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three appearances as a pitcher. Ohtani's post does not specify whether he will participate for Japan as a…...

7+ hour, 59+ min ago (592+ words) Every small movement of the eyes or wiggle of the fingers provides hope for Rio Foster's mother. Foster, the Angels minor leaguer who suffered serious brain injuries in a car accident in September, is now making gradual progress at a hospital in Atlanta. Foster remains unconscious, but not in a coma, according to his mother, Iris Cleveland. She said his eyes are open and he is breathing on his own. He can sometimes respond to instructions to move a finger, but he doesn't do it consistently. "The doctors tell me that by him being young and healthy, he could make a full recovery," Cleveland said. "That is a possibility. But the thing about that is they can't tell me a time frame." Although it's been nearly three months since the accident and Foster still hasn't regained consciousness, Cleveland said doctors…...

1+ day, 6+ hour ago (231+ words) Three historic home run balls were sold at auction this week for a combined total over $500,000. SCP Auctions of Laguna Niguel sold the ball Shohei Ohtani hit for the second of his three home runs in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium for a top bid of $270,000. The ball MIguel Rojas hit into the seats for the game-tying home run in the ninth inning of World Series Game 7 at Rogers Centre went for $156,000 and the ball Will Smith hit for the game-winning home run in the 11th inning went for $168,000. Rojas" homer was the first in World Series history to tie a Game 7 in the ninth inning or later. Smith"s 11th-inning home run was the first extra-inning home run in a winner-take-all World Series game. A father and son " John and Matthew Bains " claimed to have…...

2+ day, 5+ hour ago (1188+ words) It has been, seemingly, a lifetime of benign negligence from the Lords of Baseball that drove author Jane Leavy " biographer of Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth " to write a how-to book of sorts, aimed at correcting some of what has ailed the national pastime over the years. Then again, there seemed a lack of potential material currently out there involving more recent generations of baseball stars. "The access that you have with dead guys, it turns out, is a lot better than you have in a modern locker room," she quipped in a Zoom conversation this week, noting that the process of writing her last book, "The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created," took eight years before it was published in 2018. The result is "Make Me Commissioner: I Know What's Wrong with…...

2+ day, 10+ hour ago (1188+ words) It has been, seemingly, a lifetime of benign negligence from the Lords of Baseball that drove author Jane Leavy " biographer of Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth " to write a how-to book of sorts, aimed at correcting some of what has ailed the national pastime over the years. Then again, there seemed a lack of potential material currently out there involving more recent generations of baseball stars. "The access that you have with dead guys, it turns out, is a lot better than you have in a modern locker room," she quipped in a Zoom conversation this week, noting that the process of writing her last book, "The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created," took eight years before it was published in 2018. The result is "Make Me Commissioner: I Know What's Wrong with…...

3+ day, 3+ hour ago (301+ words) LOS ANGELES " The Dodgers did not tender a contract to right-hander Evan Phillips before Friday's deadline, allowing their former closer to become a free agent. Minor-league right-hander Nick Frasso was also non-tendered, making him a free agent. Phillips led the Dodgers in saves in 2024 and 2023, but he suffered a shoulder injury during the Dodgers' postseason run in 2024 and started the 2025 season late. He made just seven appearances, pitching 5" innings before being shut down in May. A month later, he underwent Tommy John surgery. The 31-year-old Phillips is in the final year of arbitration eligibility this winter after making $6.1 million on a one-year contract this season. He has yet to start throwing off a mound and is not likely to be ready to return to pitching in major-league games until midseason 2026. After spending four seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles…...

3+ day, 8+ hour ago (235+ words) The Angels have hired Brady Anderson as their hitting coach and John Mabry as assistant hitting coach, adding to the staff under new manager Kurt Suzuki. After a 15-year career in the majors, Anderson worked as a special assistant in the Baltimore Orioles" front office from 2012-19. Mabry, who played for 14 years in the majors, has been a major-league hitting coach with the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals and Miami Marlins. He coached with the Marlins as recently as 2024. He worked with the Orioles in 2025, joining the staff in an advisory role after the jobs were shuffled when manager Brandon Hyde was fired. Anderson, a UC Irvine product, was best known for his 50-homer season in 1996. He had never hit more than 21 homers in a season prior to that. His most in a subsequent season was 24 in 1999. The Angels still…...

3+ day, 8+ hour ago (235+ words) The Angels have hired Brady Anderson as their hitting coach and John Mabry as assistant hitting coach, adding to the staff under new manager Kurt Suzuki. After a 15-year career in the majors, Anderson worked as a special assistant in the Baltimore Orioles" front office from 2012-19. Mabry, who played for 14 years in the majors, has been a major-league hitting coach with the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals and Miami Marlins. He coached with the Marlins as recently as 2024. He worked with the Orioles in 2025, joining the staff in an advisory role after the jobs were shuffled when manager Brandon Hyde was fired. Anderson, a UC Irvine product, was best known for his 50-homer season in 1996. He had never hit more than 21 homers in a season prior to that. His most in a subsequent season was 24 in 1999. The Angels still…...

4+ day, 2+ hour ago (182+ words) The Los Angeles Dodgers" Mookie Betts takes questions during the annual Thanksgiving grab-and-go drive-thru at Algin Sutton Recreation Center in South Los Angeles on Thursday, November 20, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG) The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation in partnership with Brotherhood Crusade and Dodgers infielder and four-time World Series champion Mookie Betts" 5050 Foundation, hosted its annual Thanksgiving grab-and-go drive-thru at Algin Sutton Recreation Center in South Los Angeles on Thursday. Nichol Whiteman, Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation"s CEO, said, "We love the annual turkey giveaway at Algin Sutton Recreation Center. It"s a fantastic location because it"s home to our first and our 50th Dodgers Dreamfields, and it"s a community that we serve here in South Los Angeles all year long. " Charisse Bremond-Weaver, Brotherhood Crusade president and CEO, added, "Thanksgiving is the time that we think of family. Brotherhood…...