Posts in Major Leagues (MLB)
Elliott: Soccer owner Bautista connects in BP, with new uniform and cap

“Way back in 1999-2000, Jose Bautista was a two-way man for coach Jeff Johnson’s Chipola College Indians.

Bautista filled the gaps with line drives, showed light-tower power to left and if needed would be used as a closer in the Florida state JUCO championships ... hitting 96 MPH.

And now all these home runs later, all these teams later (eight ... but he is really only associated with one) and all these years later, he is still a two-way man.”

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Mark Whicker: Poof! And there went the Pac-12 Conference ... Gone

“The Pacific-12 Conference walked off the scene Saturday.

Tommy Splane, a .237 hitter, stroked the base hit that scored Emilio Correa in the bottom of the ninth, and Arizona wiped out a three-run deficit to beat USC, 4-3, at Scottsdale Stadium.

It was the final baseball game in Pac-12 history. In fact, it was the final sporting event in Pac-12 history. Arizona will go on to play host to a regional this weekend, but USC, which built the most durable dynasty in the history of the league, didn’t make the field.”

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Mark Whicker: Ohtani thriving at plate with Dodgers, but should he pitch again?

“Like most players who leave Anaheim, Shohei Ohtani has thrived.

Thriving is not something that’s automatic after you’ve already won two MVP awards, because the threshold of thriving is already at 30,000 feet. Yet Ohtani, as a Dodger, is hitting .364 with a .676 slugging percentage, a 1.108 OPS, a 211 OPS-plus (compared with the league average), 12 home runs, 16 doubles, and 63 hits, as of Wednesday night. The averages are all career highs, and the batting average is 60 points better than his previous high, set last season in his farewell to Orange County.”

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