Top News:
Nick Piecoro / Arizona Republic:
Hinch expected to replace Melvin — SAN DIEGO - Off to an uneven start to a season that was brimming with expectations, the Diamondbacks fired manager Bob Melvin on Thursday night. — Melvin was given the news Thursday night after the team returned from its road trip in San Diego …
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Steve Gilbert / MLB.com:
D-backs to replace Melvin with Hinch — Club dismisses skipper, coach after 12-17 start — SAN DIEGO — The D-backs will name farm director A.J. Hinch as the team's manager Friday, a baseball source said. — Hinch, who has no prior managerial experience, will replace Bob Melvin, who was dismissed Thursday night.
Tim Sullivan / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Does L.A. now have cash for Peavy? — From a competitive standpoint, Manny Ramirez's suspension matters to the Padres in much the same way a hamburger does to a devout Hindu. — It is a curiosity, but not really much of a concern. That the Dodgers'outfielder would find use for a drug designed …
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Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times:
Next notice for Manny Ramirez should be an eviction — The slugger is a selfish player who can no longer be trusted. — The best and brightest neighborhood in the Los Angeles sports landscape is a very different place today. — Mannywood has officially gone to hell. — The giddy streets are lined in shadows.
Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:Baseball's anti-doping program faces renewed scrutiny in light of Ramirez case
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:Manny is latest star to fall under drug cloud; banned 50 games
Discussion:
Dodger Thoughts, Yahoo! Sports, New York Mets Fan Blog, Newsvine, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus, Los Angeles Times and Halos Heaven
Mark Feeney / Boston Globe:
Former Red Sox star Dom DiMaggio dies at 92 — Dominic DiMaggio (left) and older brother Joe posed for a photo in April 1940. — Dom DiMaggio, who despite having to share an outfield with Ted Williams and a name with his older brother Joe became a diamond standout in his own right …
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Mark Pratt / Baltimore Sun:
Dom DiMaggio dies at 92 — BOSTON - Dominic DiMaggio, the bespectacled Boston Red Sox center fielder who was overshadowed by his older brother Joe's Hall of Fame career, died early Friday at his Massachusetts home. He was 92. — DiMaggio was surrounded by his family at his death, according to his wife, Emily.
John Amato / Pinstripe Alley:
Now Girardi tells us Mariano's shoulder has been bothering him — In the post game show tonight on YES, Joe Girardi admitted that Mariano Rivera's surgically repaired shoulder has been bothering him for a while now. He said it wasn't a major issue, but that it just seems to be a little tired which is affecting his velocity.
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Ted Berg / MetsBlog.com:
Q&A: Daniel Murphy, the Insurance Person — SNY's Ask the Booth inbox gets a wide variety of e-mails, from reasonable baseball questions for Ron Darling to unmentionable personal questions for Keith Hernandez. — Sorting through them is a chore, but one that pays off big …
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue
Curt Schilling / 38 Pitches:
Thank you Jason Bay — “Innocent until proven guilty”........ Are we at the point now where that has morphed into, “I hope he didn't,” or, “I'm sure he did,” and both sentiments carry as much validity and weight as the initial belief? I'd sure as heck love to think not …
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Note: Shane Victorino is a Cheater — Last night, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and Luis Castillo did a nice job of chasing down Shane Victorino in a pickle between first and second. — However, on the pass from Reyes to Delgado, before the tag, Victorino intentionally elbowed Reyes …
Bill Simmons / ESPN:
Confronting my worst nightmare — Boston's 2004 title was a defining moment in the lives of many New Englanders. — Dateline: May 7, 2014 — My son and I have flown from California to spend the week in Boston. He is a little more than 6½ at this point. He has never set foot in Fenway Park.
Discussion:
Comcast SportsNet New England, Subway Squawkers, Robots Took My Medicine, SawxBlog and True Blue LA
David Lennon / Newsday:
Murphy's future with Mets could be in infield — What if the Mets did sign Manny Ramirez this winter? For starters, they would be preparing for life without Manny right around now, and presumably calling up Daniel Murphy from Triple-A Buffalo to take his place.
Murray Chass / Murray Chass On Baseball:
ROBERTS WHIFFS ON A-ROD AND 'ROIDS — Will Rogers, it is said, never met a man he didn't like. Selena Roberts never met an anonymous source she didn't quote. Roberts has written a book about Alex Rodriguez, and it is a journalistic abomination. That phrase probably won't appear …
MLB:
New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez plays in what could be final rehab game — TAMPA, Fla. — New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez played what could be his final rehab game Thursday, going 0-for-2 with two walks and putting in three innings of defense.
Discussion:
Fox Sports, MLB.com, A DIE HARD YANKEES FAN, ESPN.com, River Avenue Blues and Los Angeles Times
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