It’s probably trite to say this, but if George Steinbrenner were alive and running the Yankees, Steve Donohue would be out of a job. Donohue is the New York Yankees’ trainer and in Steinbrenner’s eyes would be responsible for the multitude of injuries the Yankees have encountered.

Aaron Judge, the team’s multi-talented right fielder, is its latest starting player to suffer a disabling injury. He singled in the sixth inning of last Saturday’s game with Kansas City, winced as he started out of the batter’s box, got to first base and then went directly to the dugout, not passing “Go” nor collecting $200.

On Sunday he joined a dozen teammates, most of them starters, on the major league Injured List.

Judge’s journey to the list, which was formerly known as the disabled list, enabled him to reunite with …

Keep reading...

The recent intersection of Major League Baseball and the White House suggests that there was nothing Barack Obama did in two terms as president that is safe from Donald Trump’s destruction. If Obama did it, Trump is determined to undo it.

Trump reached into baseball last week for his latest “get-Obama” act. He quashed an agreement the United States had reached during the Obama administration with the Cuban Baseball Federation to allow Cuban players to sign contracts to play in this country without having to defect.

A lawyer friend who follows baseball closely disagreed that Trump’s act was another one aimed at Obama, his presidential predecessor, whom Trump sophomorically belittles at seemingly every opportunity.

The lawyer said he heard an interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which he was asked if …

Keep reading...

During the winter the Philadelphia Phillies, fed up with their series of losing seasons, pursued the two most attractive free agents in the market, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. They didn’t want to sign either or; they wanted the outfielder and the infielder.

Derek Jeter, the New York Yankees’ superstar shortstop, who is on his way to the Hall of Fame, turned entrepreneur and contributed a tiny share to a wealthy investor who paid an astounding $1.2 billion for the heck-of-a-wreck Miami Marlins. It was many millions more than the seller, Jeffrey Loria, could ever have imagined.

In the past couple of years, the N.F.L. Carolina Panthers and the N.B.A. Houston Rockets each sold for $2.2 billion, and the 49 percent share of the N.B.A. Brooklyn Nets that was sold valued the team at $2.3 billion.

The Jeter group was willing to overpay for the Marlins …

Keep reading...