Sports

BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The Minnesota Twins won the AL Central last year on the strength of a lineup heavy with HR hitters and a deep bullpen. Those same attributes should return for the Twins in 2021. They retained the ageless Nelson Cruz on a one-year deal to anchor the middle …

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER In their first home game in over two weeks, the Warriors scored an impressive 131-119 victory over the Utah Jazz in a Sunday afternoon matinee at Chase Center. The win came against the team with the best record in the NBA (28-9) and snapped a four game …

BY J.A.SCHWARTZ The Tampa Bay Rays are the defending American League champions, and they pushed the Dodgers to six games in the World Series before being defeated. Despite their achievements in 2020, the Rays enter the 2021 season no better than the fourth choice to represent the AL in this …

BY ALEX NAVARRO After reaching the playoffs the past three seasons but never advancing past the ALDS, for most of the offseason, the Oakland A’s did nothing. They lost ten free agents, including star closer Liam Hendriks and their spectacular shortstop Marcus Semien. Yet they didn’t make any moves until …

BY ALEX NAVARRO With Gabe Kapler having the opportunity to manage his first full season with the Giants, what are San Francisco’s expectations in 2021 ? The club hasn’t made the playoffs in four seasons, including Kapler’s first year managing the team. However, he squeezed the most out of the …

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER Returning to Chase Center for the only time in the midst of an eight game stretch to close out the first half of the season, the Warriors avenged a last-second road loss in Charlotte six days ago with an impressive 130-121 victory over the Hornets Friday night. …

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER Further short-handed by the absence of Draymond Green, the Warriors rode a balanced team effort to overcome a poor start and score an improbable 120-112 win in overtime against the Miami Heat Wednesday night at Chase Center. Already playing without a legitimate big man while both James …

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER Steph Curry maintained his recent groove Thursday night, pouring in 40 points including 10 three-pointers to lead the Warriors to a 111-105 win over Orlando at Chase Center. The effort extended Curry’s career-best streak with four or more three-pointers to 13 consecutive games, tying James Harden’s all-time …

BY J.A. SCHWARTZ By any measure, James Harden has had a Hall of Fame career. He’s easily the best player the Rockets have employed this century, and the second best player in franchise history, behind only the iconic Hakeem Olajuwon. In the context of his place in NBA history, Harden …

BY J.A. SCHWARTZ The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) is responsible for the election process that admits or denies retired players access to the Hall of Fame. The process is very straightforward. Once a player elects to retire, a period of five years must pass before that player can …