Worldwide Sports News

Garret Anderson was a Hall of Fame-caliber major league baseball player who never made the Hall of Fame. Baseball is a numbers game, and GA didn’t have enough of them.

When he finished his career and was eligible for the vote in 2016, he got just one vote. That represented 0.2% of the total. It also meant that he wasn’t even on the ballot the next year.

So, when he died Friday, way too soon at age 53, it presented an interesting twist. Had he lived into his 80s or 90s, there would have been few still around to remember anything about him but statistics. Now, the memory of his underrated greatness remains. What he did and how he did it is still in the frontal lobe of those who watched and those who wrote and broadcast about him.

He was the quiet man who played for various versions of the Angels for 15 seasons — the California Angels, the Anaheim Angels and the Los Angeles Angels. Right there, you have a Hall of Fame problem. A team struggling so hard to find its own identity does not attract the deep and passionate interest of the bulk of the writers/voters who live in time zones whose bed time is the same as game time in Anaheim.

It should have mattered that GA delivered the most important hit in Angels’ history, the game-winner in the 2002 World Series. It was Game 7, it was at Angel Stadium and the opponent was the San Francisco Giants, who had superstar slugger Barry Bonds and his line drives that created dents in outfield fences, except when they flew over them, which was often.

Anderson came to the plate in the third inning. The bases were loaded and Anderson took a shoulder-high fastball, slapped it down the right-field line and three runs came home. The Angels won 4-1 and haven’t come close to a World Series title, much less a World Series, since then. That at least got Anderson into the Angels Hall of Fame in 2016.

Read more:Angels' World Series hero and even-keeled slugger Garret Anderson dies at 53

Mike Scioscia was the manager then and the most effective the team has had. He is the one who, Saturday, called Anderson’s Game 7 hit the greatest in team history.

“I remember looking out there when he went to the plate with the bases loaded,” Scioscia said, “and thinking he is exactly the guy I want there right now.”

Scioscia called Anderson’s death “a punch in the gut.” He said the player everybody called GA, didn’t have to be managed. “He was a resource for me,” Scioscia said. “He had an incredible inner drive. He was one of the most talented players I have been around. I’d call him a superstar.”

Scioscia, reminded that his “superstar” didn’t make baseball’s Hall of Fame, said, “Sometimes, great players slip through the cracks.”

Anderson’s not-quite-Hall-of-Fame performances included three All-Star game appearances. He was the game’s MVP in 2003 and also won the home run derby that year. He beat out Albert Pujols, then of the Cardinals. His career batting average was .293, he hit 287 home runs and had 1,365 runs batted in. He went to the plate to hit, not to watch. He never drew more than 38 walks in a season and never struck out more than 100 times.

Yet the statistic he felt gave him the best chance for the Hall of Fame was number of hits. Getting 3,000 hits would make him almost an automatic choice. He ended with 2,529, and near the end of his career with the Angels, he sat down with a reporter to discuss just that, plus one other thing.

It was uncharacteristic for Anderson to have this sort of conversation with anybody outside of his teammates, or maybe his family. It was lunch at Zov’s in Tustin and the question was how this voting system works and could maybe 200 more hits get him in. Could 2,750 do it? He wasn’t a big ego guy by any stretch of the imagination, but the Hall of Fame seemed to be dangling there and any baseball player who could see that for himself in the distance had to be intrigued.

There was no discussion of the intangibles, no consideration of the Angels being the Angels and what effect that will always have. Do voters even look much at other stats, such as his 24 walks and 35 home runs in the same season? The reporter wasn’t a great help. He wasn’t even a voter. Anderson wasn’t really stressed out over the Hall of Fame premise, just kind of fascinated. The reporter was probably more encouraging than realistic. Zov’s food was good, the company great.

Eventually, Anderson got to the second issue that had prompted the lunch: How to deal with Times columnist TJ Simers. He asked because the reporter was once Simers’ boss. Simers tended to probe and kid and seek to stir up things, but Anderson also recognized that he could be highly accurate, perceptive and even fun. Anderson, as a team star, was bracing for frequent visits. How should he handle it?

The answer was simple: Don’t lie to him. Don’t hide from him. If he is being a jerk, tell him so. He will accept that. If he is wrong, tell him that and tell him how. If he insults you, insult him back. He loves that.

Tim Mead, former director of public relations, when asked for his thoughts on Anderson, said that his perspective or quotes would not be as telling or as meaningful as simply watching the tape of Anderson’s three-run double that won the 2002 World Series for the Angels.

“Just watch it, just watch his reaction when he gets to second base,” Mead said Saturday.

And so we did. Anderson slaps his hit down the right field line, just fair. Angel Stadium goes crazy. Anderson stops at second base, claps his hands four times, then stands there quietly. Little emotion. Little hoopla. No contortions for "SportsCenter." He has done his job. He has done what was expected of him. There are six more innings left. Let’s celebrate when it is truly over.

That was Garret Anderson, GA to his friends, a Hall of Fame player in all the ways that numbers don’t show.

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Cincinnati Reds have leaned in to winning games by the thinnest of margins so far this season, their threadbare offense somehow coming up with particularly good timing while their bullpen pulls out all the stops to hold on. The results, so far, have been impeccable, with the Reds sporting a 13-8 record that has them atop the National League Central division.

It’s been precisely that recipe this weekend in Minneapolis, too. The Reds squeezed out a 2-1 win on Friday in lefty Brandon Williamson’s homecoming, and they backed it up with an inch-by-inch comeback win in 5-4 fashion. Now, they head to Target Field on Sunday with a chance to sweep aside the Twins.

Brady Singer will get the start, and he’ll do so fresh off his best outing of the year so far. He fired 6.0 IP of 1 ER ball against the San Francisco Giants last time out, even though his peripherals (just a lone K) didn’t exactly jump off the page the way he’d prefer. Perhaps he’s still dealing with the residual effects of that blister issue – velocity, pitch selection, etc. – but another five-days removed will hopefully see him progress even more back to the guy he was in 2025.

The Reds will be up against righty Bailey Ober. First pitch is set for 2:10 PM ET.

Here’s how the Reds will line up to begin this one:

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list on Sunday, as he and his wife Chelsea are expecting their fourth child, their first daughter to join their three sons.

That opened the door for Ryan Ward, at age 28, to get called up to the major leagues for the first time and is starting at first base on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies, batting seventh. At 28 years, 55 days old, Ward will be the oldest Dodgers draft pick to debut with the team. Geoff Zahn, a pitcher drafted in 1968 who debuted with Los Angeles at 27 years, 257 days in 1973, held the previous mark.

Paternity leave in Major League Baseball is a minimum of one day and a maximum of three days, so this window for Ward will likely be short.

Ward was originally slated to start Friday night’s game for Oklahoma City, but was a late scratch, with Nick Senzel filling in at first base. This was the moment he found out he was getting the call to the big leagues:

Ward picked right up where he left off last season in winning Pacific Coast League MVP, hitting .324/.432/.588 with a 165 wRC+ this season in Triple-A, with four home runs, six doubles, and 14 RBI in 18 games while splitting time between first base and left field.

Drafted by the Dodgers in the eighth round in 2019 out of Bryant, Ward methodically made his way through the minor leagues, one level per season — except for bypassing Class-A after the 2020 minor league season was canceled — to reach Oklahoma City in 2023.

Ward got progressively better in Triple-A, culminating in hitting 36 home runs while hitting .290/.380/.557 with a 132 wRC+ in 2025 to win league MVP honors. That followed an offseason that saw Ward thrive in international competition, hitting five home runs in nine games for Team USA in the Premier12 tournament in Tokyo in 2024.

Playing so long in Triple-A has Ward at or near the top of many Oklahoma City modern career records — from 1998 to present, at their current ballpark — including 94 home runs and 322 runs batted in. During his 2025 MVP campaign, Ward also set Oklahoma City record for hits (164), home runs, RBI, and runs scored (113).

Ward is an older version of Michael Busch, who also won PCL MVP but was a man without a path to playing time with the Dodgers, with Shohei Ohtani at designated hitter, Freddie Freeman at first base, and Max Muncy at third base. Freeman and Ohtani also blocked Ward’s easiest path to playing time in Los Angeles, and in 2025 when they needed outfielders the club opted for better defensive players in Esteury Ruiz and Justin Dean instead.

Minor league free agency beckoned for Ward this offseason, but the Dodgers tossed one more lifeline his way the day before free agency, adding him to the 40-man roster on November 6.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The Braves will look for a sweep in Philadelphia on Sunday night. The punchless Phillies have lost four straight, scoring a total of seven runs — including a total of one run in back-to-back losses to visiting Atlanta. 

The Phillies start promising rookie Andrew Painter, but Atlanta has Grant Holmes, who has had a better April so far, on the mound.

My Braves at Phillies predictions and MLB picks have the Braves completing the sweep on April 19.

Who will win Braves vs Phillies today: Braves (+104)

The Atlanta Braves are tied for the most runs scored in MLB. And now Austin Riley, who had struggled, is heating up.

Riley has nine hits in his last 26 at-bats (.346), and he is four for 10 with two homers and five RBIs in this series. Fourteen of Riley’s last 20 balls hit into play have been hard hit (over 95 mph exit velocity). Ten have topped 100 mph. 

Catcher J.T. Realmuto, one of the few Philadelphia Phillies who’s been hitting, left Saturday’s game with back trouble — the second time this month that’s happened. He’s already been declared unlikely for Sunday’s game.

COVERS INTEL: More than half of the swings against Holmes’ slider this season have missed. He has a 53.3% whiff rate on the pitch. Painter isn’t far behind with a 47.6% whiff rate on his slider. 

Braves vs Phillies Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-125)

It’s not the marquee pitching matchup of Saturday’s Chris Sale vs. Cristopher Sanchez, but Andrew Painter against Grant Holmes is underrated. Holmes has leaned harder on his slider and four-seamer this season, throwing those two pitchers 80% of the time. Opponents are hitting .121 against those two pitches. 

Painter has yet to allow a home run in three MLB appearances. He’s striking out a quarter of all batters he’s faced, and his hard-hit percentage is in the 92nd percentile among pitchers. He’s even better in Philadelphia with a 1.74 ERA, 0.871 WHIP, and 13.1 strikeouts per 9 in home games. 

Braves vs Phillies odds

• Moneyline: Braves +104 | Phillies -108
• Run line: Braves +1.5 (-194) | Phillies -1.5 (+186)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Braves vs Phillies trend

The Atlanta Braves have hit the Moneyline in 24 of their last 35 away games (+15.00 Units / 37% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Braves vs. Phillies.

How to watch Braves vs Phillies and game info

Braves vs Phillies latest injuries

Braves vs Phillies weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

We’re back with another shirt from our partners at Breaking T, and this one features Milwaukee’s young pitching phenom.

Jacob Misiorowski, slated to start later today against the Marlins, just turned 24 but is already one of the most exciting arms in the league. Through four stars, we’ve seen both sides of Miz — he has a 3.32 ERA and 4.04 FIP with 33 strikeouts but nine walks and two hit batters in 21 2/3 innings.

The good news?

Misiorowski’s last start against the Blue Jays featured zero walks. While the Brewers ultimately lost in extra innings, Miz went 5 1/3 innings in that one, allowing two runs (both solo homers), five hits, and no walks with five strikeouts. Let’s hope he can repeat that performance against Miami.

In honor of the Brewers new City Connect uniforms — which, I’m slightly upset to admit, are beginning to grow on me — Breaking T created a new Nobody Beats the Miz shirt in those colors.

Nobody beats Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, because he’s The Miz!

• Officially licensed by MLB Players, Inc.
• Super-soft, durable t-shirts and hoodies
• Designed and printed in the USA
• Free returns and exchanges

Click here to get a Nobody Beats the Miz shirt from Breaking T. And be sure to check out their full line of Brewers’ merchandise here.

Entering play on Sunday, April 19th, the American League only has five of its 15 teams with a positive run differential. Normally, a small number like that means there’s a great likelihood of it being a top-heavy league, but that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, for all the potential flaws that the Yankees have displayed so far, the teams predicted to be their main rivals for American League supremacy have struggled far more, seemingly opening a path for the Yankees to not only take control of the American League East, but the AL as a whole.

Not simply due to the fact that they faced off in last year’s ALCS, but for everything they did on the path to it and afterwards, the Blue Jays and Mariners opened the season as the two strongest adversaries the Yankees could face. Through these first 20+ games, both of these teams have encountered more than their fair share of issues, some far more concerning than anything the Yankees have had to deal with.

Starting off with the Mariners, you have key players struggling for different reasons, everything from the continuance of Luis Castillo’s steady decline over the past few seasons to core hitters unable to match last year’s career-high numbers. While it’s too early to pass judgment on the numbers of Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor, and Julio Rodríguez, the former two, particularly Raleigh, went out of their way to carry the load for this lineup last season. Just how much of those 2025 numbers they can replicate remains to be seen. Furthermore, the M’s were only a 90-72 team last year with a healthy number of breaks going their way — it’s reasonable to ponder if too much time was spent projecting potential marginal improvements and not enough on the steps back that were just as likely.

Moving over to a more well-known rival and the responsible party for the Yankees’ demise last season, the Jays have been the biggest disappointment of the AL and maybe all of baseball early on — even managing to get swept by the White Sox at one point. The Blue Jays had a better season than the M’s last year, winning 94 games, but they both shared the same Pythagorean win-loss record of 88-74. Assessing how the Jays got to that win total, there are some warning signs, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. may be the star, but who unequivocally ran the show last year was George Springer, a 36-year-old who experienced a resurgent and surprisingly healthy season. He is currently sidelined with an injury, and it’s unrealistic to expect something close to those numbers he put up in 2025, especially playing as many as 140 games. The impact of losing Bo Bichette and indirectly replacing him with Kazuma Okamoto, with some infield shuffling, is going to be felt throughout the whole campaign. Current injuries to Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk also lower this offense’s floor, but even at full strength, it may not be quite as imposing as it was a year ago.

The boost of adding Dylan Cease has been nullified early on by the absence of the injured Trey Yesavage. Speaking of injured players, as much as that quote-unquote excuse can be used to address some of the struggles the Jays have had early on, if you look at a team like the Yankees, there is a clear pathway of improvement from that department.

If you look at the Yankees’ Opening Day payroll, a healthy chunk of that is tied up with Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole, by all accounts two-thirds of the top three in this rotation. Yes, he was out last year, but even counting on Cole’s imminent return in 2026 — something that was factored into how they built their staff — the Yankees had a very real excuse for a bit of a slow start pitching-wise, and yet, they’ve flourished in that department.

The smart money is on both the Jays and Mariners finding their stride as the year moves forward, but whether they figure out their problems or not the Yankees can gaze at the American League picture right now and foresee a path for dominance.

On Saturday, manager Matt Quatraro gave Salvador Perez a day off for the first time since August of last year, when the team captain missed two games due to illness. Other than that, his most recent day off without an injury or illness concern was June 21, 2025. Perez has struggled to start the year, hitting just .160/.210/.307 in 20 games. Quatraro said the day off was to give him a “little mental breather.”

Salvy is famous not just in Kansas City, but around the league as a guy who doesn’t want to sit. Up until now, everyone has taken it in stride as a fun thing to make jokes about.

That perhaps is in a new context now. Salvy contradicted Quatraro, posting on social media, “I don’t need a mental breather.”

He even went posted on Instagram, calling the idea he needed a break as “FAKE.”

Sal DOES need time off

Most of the Royals’ blogosphere spent the entire offseason pontificating that the team needed to play him less or at least shift him from behind the plate into a designated hitter role more often. Over at Inside the Crown, David Lesky noted that Salvy hit much better in 2025 on the days after he hadn’t caught the day before. It seemed to be fine for him to DH, play first, or sit entirely, but it was clear he needed less time behind the plate. When the Royals signed Perez to another extension, guaranteeing he’d be under contract through 2027, almost everyone hoped it came with an explanation to the captain that he wasn’t going to be able to catch every game.

And yet, as the Royals have played 21 games this season, Salvy has now played in 20 of them and caught 14 of them. That would be considered the maximum catching load for anyone but Sal. And Sal hasn’t exactly been lighting the world on fire this season.

Batting averages have been down across baseball for a while now, but batting under .200 is still very bad. Having an OBP nearing that line would be enough to get most players benched. It’s not just those numbers that look bad, either.

His bat speed and hard-hit rates are down. He’s always been known for chasing, but his chase rate is as high as its been since 2022 and 2023, when his numbers cratered for a while. Last year, it was often noted that while he was not an amazing hitter, his expected stats all suggested he was fairly unlucky. But this year, they paint a picture of a guy who would be a liability at the plate even if he was reaching them.

So, yeah, he probably deserved/needed a day off. But what the heck is going on?

In Salvy’s defense

Salvador Perez is a guy who allegedly offered to accept a trade in 2023 while the team struggled if the Royals could get significantly better by dealing him. He won the Roberto Clemente Award for exhibiting extraordinary character. He’s been the face of the franchise for more than a decade with his big smile and positive attitude. What do you have to do to upset a guy like that this much?

He’s obviously earned a lot of respect, not just in the Royals clubhouse, but around the entire league. And I just wrote last week about the importance of showing loyalty to veteran players. If he were given a day off without any discussion, that certainly would seem to be a poor choice.

In Q’s defense

When Quatraro told Anne Rogers that Sal was struggling, that was simply and obviously factually correct. When he said that he was giving Sal a mental break, that was extremely standard and boilerplate language to describe giving a struggling guy a day off. If Sal took exception to it, it seems like the best way to handle that would have been in a private discussion, not a public argument. The only way in which Sal’s reaction to getting a single day off seems reasonable to me is if Quatraro has had a much worse handle on the clubhouse culture than we’ve been given any reason to believe. This is the first time there’s ever been any kind of public rumbling of discontent, and Quatraro just received a lengthy extension as a show of faith from the front office and ownership.

It does lead me to wonder if the reason Sal continues to bat fourth even as it’s obvious to just about anyone that the team would be best served by him batting lower in the order is less about Quatraro being unwilling to make the move, as perhaps he has been afraid to upset the captain with such a demotion. But that would be an indictment of everyone involved.

Adding an extra wrinkle to all of this is the addition of Elias Díaz to the active roster, a transaction that was announced today.

The Royals were very clear entering the season that they didn’t think they needed a third catcher on the roster. Now, a day after giving Salvador Perez a day off, they add that third catcher? It could be a belief that Carter Jensen needs to play less often – he’s out of the lineup in favor of Díaz – but the timing is unfortunate, if so.

There is absolutely no way to know who is at fault in this situation, or if anyone is at fault, or if it is some combination of faults. But it’s an unfortunate distraction at a time when the team can seemingly least afford them as they try to find their way out of an early-season swoon that is rapidly exiting the realm of something that can be easily shaken off. Hopefully, everything is resolved quickly and amicably and the team can get back to winning, or we could all be in for a very, very long 2026 season.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The Arizona Diamondbacks struggle against the splitter, which should play into the hands of Toronto Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman this afternoon.

Read on to see why in my Blue Jays vs. Diamondbacks predictions and MLB picks for today's game. 

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks predictions

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks best bet: Kevin Gausman Over 5.5 strikeouts (+105)

When Kevin Gausman’s splitter is dancing, he’s one of the most lethal pitchers in the majors, which makes his 5.5-strikeout total at plus-money an attractive price.

The Toronto Blue Jays ace has been racking up the Ks, averaging 7.75 strikeouts this season, which ranks in the 94th percentile in K%, while using the splitter as the put-away pitch, garnering a 44.2% whiff rate and a strikeout rate of 42.9%

The split-fastball has given this Arizona Diamondbacks lineup fits this season, with the third-highest strikeout rate in the majors, with a 42.4% whiff rate against the pitch.

Additionally, Gausman owns a .164 opponent batting average against this lineup. 

COVERS INTEL: The Diamondbacks rank 29th in the majors with a .294 OBP.

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks same-game parlay (SGP)

I’ll continue to bet on Gausman and take the Under on his hits prop set at 5.5, a total he’s stayed Under on in three of his four starts this season. Additionally, the Arizona lineup is just 12-for-73 against Gausman through his career, with a .447 OPS

Lastly, I’ll take Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to go Over 0.5 strikeouts tonight. He’s 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts against Gausman throughout his career.

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks SGP

• Kevin Gausman Over 5.5 strikeouts
• Kevin Gausman Under 5.5 hits 
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Over 0.5 strikeouts

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks home run pick: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (+500)

I’ll make this a half-unit wager. Ryne Nelson has been hit hard this season, ranking in the 10th percentile in hard-hit rate. This has resulted in four home runs allowed this year, all against his four-seamer.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushes the baseball and has a .417 average against the four-seamer, with a .500 slug rate against the pitch. He's 2-for-8 against Nelson, with one of those hits being a home run. 

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks odds

• Moneyline: Toronto -110 | Arizona -110
• Run line: Toronto -1.5 (+155) | Arizona +1.5 (-185)
• Over/Under: Over 8 | Under 8

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks trend

The Blue Jays have cashed the first five innings team total Under in six of their last seven games for +5.75 units and a 74% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Diamondbacks.

How to watch Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks and game info

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks latest injuries

Blue Jays vs Diamondbacks weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.