Early next year, Major League Baseball will release the number of players who had first-time positive tests for amphetamines in 2008, according to The New York Times. The move is in line with one of the recommendations from the 2007 Mitchell report on performance-enhancing drugs, which advocated the need to make more data and test results public, according to The Times.
The test result numbers, along with other data and information related to the testing program, will be included in a public report to come out sometime in January.
"We believed that adding the yearly reports would allow us to get a better idea of how the program is functioning," Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president for labor relations, told The Times.
Major League Baseball started testing for amphetamines in 2006, but according to The Times, the number of first-time positive results for 2006 and 2007 will not be revealed.
Report: MLB to show more amphetamine test data....
Miami, FL (Sports Network) - The planned 2011 target date for the new Florida Marlins stadium has been pushed back one year due to the extensive lawsuit filed by auto dealer Norman Braman, according to Marlins president David Samson on Tuesday.
Though Braman lost all seven counts in the lawsuit, which challenged the public funding of the project and was concluded last week, the time spent in court has delayed the construction of the estimated $515 million retractable- roof ballpark to be plotted on the grounds of the Orange Bowl in the Little Havana section of Miami.
In order to make the new 2012 deadline, the Marlins must break ground on construction in May 2009.
New Marlins stadium slated for 2012 opening....
By Jim Molony / MLB.com
Brian McNamee, the former trainer for Roger Clemens, has submitted samples of his DNA to federal investigators trying to ascertain whether Clemens committed perjury before Congress, two newspapers reported Tuesday.
According to the New York Daily News and The New York Times, the request for a DNA sample from McNamee suggests that investigators found readable DNA on the syringes, needles and gauze pads the trainer turned over to federal prosecutors in January and now are seeking to determine to whom it belongs.
McNamee's lawyers claim their client used those needles and gauze pads while injecting Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone.
McNamee submits DNA samples....
After 18 major-league seasons, Mike Mussina announced his retirement Thursday. A 270-game winner with the Yankees and Orioles, the 40-year old right hander ranks 32nd on baseball's career win list.
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
BOSTON -- Just call him Mr. November. Or better yet, refer to Dustin Pedroia as the Most Valuable Player of the American League.
The second baseman of the Boston Red Sox continued his rapid burst into the national spotlight on Tuesday, when he was recognized with that impressive honor.
Though most pundits expected the race for MVP to be agonizingly close, Pedroia won in comfortable fashion, outdistancing a solid field that included, among others, Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis, Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton and Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez.
Following a 2007 season in which Pedroia helped fuel the Red Sox to a World Series championship and won the American League Rookie of the Year Award, the right-handed hitting machine staged quite an encore.
Pedroia joins Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryan Howard as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in consecutive years.
Pedroia named AL MVP....
New York, NY (Sports Network) - St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols has been named the National League's Most Valuable Player, as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Pujols, who won this award in 2005 and is a four-time runner-up, garnered 369 points to outdistance Philadelphia first baseman Ryan Howard by 61 points. Pujols placed first on 18 of the 32 ballots cast by two writers from each NL city, second on 10 others, third on two, fourth on one and seventh on another.
The 28-year-old Pujols, who was named the Sporting News Player of the Year and the NL's Most Outstanding Player earlier this offseason, finished second to Atlanta's Chipper Jones in the NL batting race, hitting .357 with 37 home runs and 116 runs batted in during the 2008 season, and did so while playing with a torn ligament in his right elbow.
Pujols' 104 walks, .462 on-base percentage and 1.115 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) were all career-highs. He is also the only major leaguer to hit at least 30 home runs and drive in 100 runs in each of his first eight seasons.
This marks the 16th time a Cardinals player has been honored. Their total of MVP winners is the most in the NL and second only to the New York Yankees' 20 MVPs in the American League.
Pujols named NL MVP....
By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com
The constant quest for perfection drove Cliff Lee to great feats throughout 2008.
"Even if I had won every start, I don't know if I'd be satisfied," he said near the season's end. "There's always something you can do better. I don't know how to explain it other than that. It's just the way I am, I guess."
But even Lee has to be satisfied with what took place Thursday, when the Baseball Writers' Association of America named him the American League Cy Young Award winner.
The honor was well-deserved. Lee led the AL in wins with a 22-3 record and in ERA with a 2.54 mark, posted the third-highest winning percentage (.880) for a 20-game winner in baseball history and became the Tribe's first 20-game winner since Gaylord Perry in 1974. The voters took notice. Lee received 24 of 28 first-place votes and finished with 132 points in balloting. He beat out the Jays' Roy Halladay, who finished second with 74 votes.
Lee wins 2008 AL Cy Young Award....
BOSTON (AP) — For the first time in more than a decade, the Boston Red Sox aren't increasing their ticket prices at Fenway Park for the 2009 season.
The team said Wednesday that it had increased prices in each of the last 14 years.
Prices range from $12 to $125 for tickets bought after Dec. 17. There is a discount for earlier purchases once tickets go on sale Dec. 13.
Fans with contracts for premium seats can keep their ticket prices the same if they agree to extend those contracts for one year.
The team plans to add about 350 seats at Fenway Park before next season.
The Red Sox said prices also would remain the same for tickets available to the public at spring training games.
Boston Red Sox hold line on ticket prices....
By Tom Singer
Joe Maddon and the man he succeeded as Tampa Bay manager, Lou Piniella, were named Managers of the Year in the American League and National League, respectively, by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, announced Wednesday afternoon.
Both were recognized for leading their teams to 2008 glory, with Maddon's Rays reaching a destination that remained out of the reach of Piniella's Cubs for a 63rd straight year -- the World Series.
Maddon's selection had been long anticipated, ever since he put the Tampa Bay Rays on track for their first playoff appearance following a 10-year existence of losing.
The honor is the first for the 54-year-old Maddon, who assumed his first managerial job when he was hired by Tampa Bay in November 2005, taking over after Piniella had guided his hometown team to 200 wins in three seasons.
And, typical of the blithe spirit that is often associated with the manager, Wednesday's announcement caught Maddon on a European honeymoon with his bride of a few days, Jaye.
Piniella, a two-time winner of AL honors in 1995 and 2001 with the Seattle Mariners, prevailed in a more competitive NL race after guiding the Cubs to the Central Division title with a 97-64 record.
Maddon, Piniella named top skippers....
By Chris Haft / MLB.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- Tim Lincecum has been called "The Freak," "The Franchise" and "Seabiscuit."
Now he can be called something else: The National League's Cy Young Award winner.
The Giants right-hander earned the prestigious honor, emblematic of the league's best pitcher, in voting conducted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and announced Tuesday.
Lincecum received 23 of 32 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and one third-place vote for 137 points, which were assigned on a 5-3-1 basis. He outdistanced Arizona's Brandon Webb (73 points), the New York Mets' Johan Santana (55), Philadelphia's Brad Lidge (10), Milwaukee's CC Sabathia (9) and the Chicago Cubs' Ryan Dempster (4).
NL Cy Young Award goes to Lincecum....
By Tom Singer / MLB.com
Evan Longoria, the third baseman whose powerful bat keyed the Rays' remarkable turnaround season, and Cubs catcher Geovany Soto were named winners of their respective leagues' 2008 Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Awards.
Longoria, the unanimous American League selection of Baseball Writers Association of America voters, was honored for the 27 homers and 85 RBIs that followed his delayed addition to the Rays' lineup on April 12.
Soto was nearly as popular in the NL, after minding the critical defensive position for the Central division champs while putting up 23 homers and 86 RBIs.
Longoria, Soto are Rookies of the Year....
Hundreds of thousands of fans showered the World Series champion Phillies with brotherly love and confetti Friday, hanging out of windows and packing sidewalks to honor the team that made Philadelphia a winner after 25 years.
