Ex-Padres shortstop Enzo Hernandez found dead

CARACAS, Venezuela — Former major leaguer Enzo Hernandez has died in an apparent suicide. The 63-year-old played for the San Diego Padres between 1971-77 and finished his big league career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1978. He was found dead in his home in …

Andruw Jones accused of dragging wife down stairs on Christmas

ATLANTA — The wife of former Atlanta Braves star Andruw Jones accused him of dragging her down a staircase, grabbing her neck and saying wanted to kill her, according to police records. A police report obtained by The Associated Press said the fight happened around …

McGRATH: Bonds, Clemens, Sosa don’t belong in Hall of Fame

The document has been sitting on a table for a week now, taunting me as I walk past, reminding me of an agonizing task that has to be performed. I’ve been mindful of the duty, but I’ve put off thinking about it since July 2011. …

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa debut on Hall of Fame ballot

NEW YORK — Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa are listed on the baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, setting up an election sure to become a referendum on the Steroids Era. The 37-player ballot was announced Wednesday. More than 600 …

Marvin Miller, baseball union leader who created free agency, dies

Marvin Miller, the union leader who created free agency for baseball players and revolutionized professional sports with multimillion dollar contracts, died Tuesday. He was 95.

Bud Selig approves Marlins trade with Blue Jays

MIAMI — The Miami Marlins have finalized their big salary dumping trade that sends All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes to the Toronto Blue Jays with pitchers Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson, catcher John Buck and outfielder Emilio Bonifacio for seven relatively low-priced players. Miami receives infielders …

Tigers’ Delmon Young pleads guilty in N.Y. harassment case

NEW YORK — Detroit Tigers star Delmon Young pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated harassment in an incident last spring where he shouted an anti-Semitic slur and tackled a man to the ground outside a Manhattan hotel, prosecutors said. The 27-year-old left fielder was ordered to …

GROCHOWSKI: Sabermetrics can clarify crowded MLB awards picture

Much of sabermetrics involves using statistics to evaluate individual contributions while filtering in outside influences, such as park effects and the contributions of teammates. Next week, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will be announcing its major awards for the season. Today, let’s look through …

Champion Giants’ offense much better than it seemed

The San Francisco Giants had an amazing road run on the way to their World Series title, with three consecutive road victories against the Cincinnati Reds, one to avoid elimination against the St. Louis Cardinals and two more to put away the Detroit Tigers.

The …

Bruce glee: Manager Bochy does it again as Giants win World Series

DETROIT — Bruce Bochy climbed out of the dugout and slowly crossed the first-base line Sunday night. Watching the 6-3 manager methodically make his way to the mound, it looked like just another pitching change. Except Bochy was walking to a mound that was crowded …

Ex-Cub Ryan Theriot 2 wins away from 2nd title in 2 years

SAN FRANCISCO — As the Giants took the field for batting practice Wednesday before Game 1 of the World Series at AT&T; Park, former Cub Ryan Theriot and some teammates marveled at a media throng so big they had to sidestep cameras, lighting equipment and …

Giants win the pennant with 9-0 Game 7 victory, will face Detroit in World Series

SAN FRANCISCO — Rookie shortstop Pete Kozma moved to his right, only to watch the line drive off Hunter Pence’s broken bat inexplicably change directions when the shattered barrel hit the ball a second and then third time.

Three runs scored on a strange double …

Giants, Ryan Vogelsong beat Cardinals to force Game 7

SAN FRANCISCO — Ryan Vogelsong and the San Francisco Giants saved their season once more, pushing St. Louis to a winner-take-all Game 7 in the NL championship series. Turns out the defending champion Cardinals aren’t the only team that’s tough to put away in October. …

GROCHOWSKI: Best MLB teams do it with hitting and pitching

Baseball teams do not live by bats alone, nor are arms enough to do the trick without a little run support. The object, after all, is not just to score or prevent runs but to score more than the other guys. At billjamesonline.com, columnist Dave …

Giants beat Cardinals behind Barry Zito, send series back to Bay

ST. LOUIS — The San Francisco Giants waited quite a while for this kind of performance from Barry Zito. The soft-tossing lefty was at his best Friday night, pitching San Francisco back into the NL championship series with a 5-0 win over the St. Louis …