INSIDER
Japan beats US 2-0 to win 1st Olympic baseball gold medal
Read full article: Japan beats US 2-0 to win 1st Olympic baseball gold medalA Japanese team of All-Stars fulfilled a determined national mission to win the Olympic baseball gold medal for the first time, beating the United States 2-0 behind Munetaka Murakami’s third-inning home run.
LEADING OFF
Read full article: LEADING OFFThe Los Angeles Dodgers will raise the World Series flag for the first time since 1988 and will hand out championship rings before Friday’s home opener against Washington, the first time fans are allowed into Dodger Stadium since the Game 5 loss in the 2019 NL Division Series.
Call it a career: MLB ump Winters opted out in '20, now done
Read full article: Call it a career: MLB ump Winters opted out in '20, now doneFILE - In this May 18, 2019, file photo, home plate umpire Mike Winters looks on during the eighth inning of a baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland Athletics in Detroit. After more than three decades of hard work as a big league umpire, Winters is retiring. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)After more than three decades of hard work as a big league umpire, Mike Winters is ready to loaf. But I’m getting there.”One of 12 umps to opt out during the pandemic-shortened season, the 62-year-old Winters has made it official. The reworked schedule gave Winters a chance to reconsider, but he already was looking ahead to days off the diamond.
Don Sutton, Hall of Fame pitcher for Dodgers, dies at 75
Read full article: Don Sutton, Hall of Fame pitcher for Dodgers, dies at 75The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, said Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a long struggle with cancer. (AP Photo, File) (AP Photo, File)LOS ANGELES – Don Sutton, a Hall of Fame pitcher who was a stalwart of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation spanning an era from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela, died Tuesday. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, said Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a long struggle with cancer. Shortly before the start of the following season, Sutton broke his left leg. Sutton pitched for Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, who died on Jan. 7.
California lifts stay-home order for Sacramento region
Read full article: California lifts stay-home order for Sacramento regionSACRAMENTO, Calif. – California lifted a stay-at-home order in the 13-county Sacramento region on Tuesday as hospital conditions improved, a rare turn of good news as the state pushes through what Gov. Three of the state's five regions — the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley and Southern California — remain under the stay-at-home order because their intensive care capacity at hospitals is severely limited. To try to get the virus in check California, is moving more quickly to distribute vaccines. Newsom imposed the nation's first statewide stay-at-home order in March. Supervisor Mike Ziegenmeyer of Sutter County in the Sacramento region acknowledged as much when he reacted to the order being lifted.
Vignettes from life of Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda
Read full article: Vignettes from life of Hall of Fame manager Tommy LasordaFILE - Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda laughs as he reaches out for fans' hands on as he is driven around Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles for a farewell lap following a ceremony in his honor, in this Friday, Sept. 7, 1996, file photo. (AP Photo/Susan Sterner, File)LOS ANGELES – Vignettes from the life and career of Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda. I’m hungry and the postgame spread is cooling.’''Hershiser recalled a mound visit Lasorda made to reliever Jesse Orosco. ‘Dear Corey, your friend Tommy Lasorda. You and the Dodgers are great.’ That was the ultimate compliment for Tommy Lasorda, comparing someone to the Dodgers.
Lasorda, fiery Hall of Fame Dodgers manager, dies at 93
Read full article: Lasorda, fiery Hall of Fame Dodgers manager, dies at 93Lasorda had been the oldest living baseball Hall of Famer — that distinction now belongs to Willie Mays, who turns 90 in March. Lasorda spent 71 years in the Dodgers organization, starting as a player when the team was still based in Brooklyn. Lasorda was the franchise’s longest-tenured active employee since Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully retired in 2016 after 67 years. That was the beginning of a steady climb through the Dodgers’ system that culminated in his 1973 promotion to the big league staff under longtime Hall of Fame manager Walter Alston. In 1998, Lasorda became interim general manager after Fred Claire was fired in the middle of the season.