LARGO — For Largo native Matheu “Mat” Nelson, July 11 was a day the baseball catcher won’t forget.
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LARGO — For Largo native Matheu “Mat” Nelson, July 11 was a day the baseball catcher won’t forget.
The New York Yankees were in the midst of winning the World Series against the Reds in the fall of 1961 when a man in an Army uniform came into the visiting clubhouse at Crosley Field in Cincinnati and said, "I am looking for Anthony Kubek." Tony Kubek finished the World Series, with the Yan…
Former Largo High multisport standout Bobby Roundtree, whose football career at Illinois was cut short by a 2019 swimming accident that left him partially paralyzed, died July 16. He was 23.
When the New York Yankees arrived in St. Petersburg in 1961 for what would be the team's last year of spring training in the city, there were the usual expectations that they'd be heading into another pennant race that season.
TAMPA — The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters are bringing their newly reimagined “Spread Game Tour” to the Tampa Bay area for one show Sunday, July 25, 2 p.m., at the Yuengling Center, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., SUN 130, Tampa.
CLEARWATER — A trend is beginning around the Tampa Bay area for high school athletic stadiums, as many football programs are pushing to get artificial turf fields laid down at their facilities.
For 13 years as a major league ballplayer and another 17 as a manager, Davey Johnson was under immense pressure to produce hits or wins.
DUNEDIN — The Toronto Blue Jays bid farewell to TD Ballpark on May 24 as the team dropped a 14-8, 11-inning decision to the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.
CLEARWATER — The Clearwater Threshers recently returned to the field following an 18-month layoff caused by the pandemic, and everyone from the fans to team officials to Phinley the mascot was thrilled to be back at BayCare Ballpark again.
LARGO — The game of youth soccer has taken a dramatic turn in the past 20 years. A combination of competitiveness and cash has changed the game for some from a recreational outlet to a lucrative enterprise that includes numerous affiliations and big-time tournaments.
PALM HARBOR — Like many events returning to the schedule this year, the 2021 Valspar Championship would be considered a success just because it was being played following a coronavirus-induced hiatus.
PALM HARBOR — To say everyone associated with the Valspar Championship was disappointed when the PGA Tour event was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus would be a massive understatement.
DUNEDIN — I am a baseball stadium nut. Some people enjoy coins and stamps as hobbies. Others prefer baking and gardening. Me? I go to Major League Baseball stadiums.
Typically when spring training ends, Major League Baseball players pack up their bats and gloves and head north for the start of the regular season and the highly anticipated Opening Day. But this being 2021, which so far has been a slightly less crazy version of 2020, traditions are out the window.
PINELLAS PARK — “Like father, like son.”
Go to a Philadelphia Phillies home game any day during the regular season (last year notwithstanding) and the unmistakable aroma of barbecue wafts through the air beyond the left field fence. Playing host to "Bull's BBQ" every game is “The Bull” himself, longtime fan favorite Greg Luzinski, …
Despite a Major League Baseball mandate that capped attendance at 2,200 per game at newly renamed BayCare Ballpark as well as other stadium safety guidelines, officials at the facility said they considered the season a success. Now, they are turning their attention to the upcoming Clearwater Threshers season.
CLEARWATER — The Philadelphia Phillies’ annual St. Patrick’s Day game is usually a raucous affair, with thousands of green-clad fans, many fresh in town from Philly and ready to party, packing what is now BayCare Ballpark.
SEMINOLE — After a year of waiting, Joey Krehbiel is back on the mound and ready to pitch, this time for his hometown team.
CLEARWATER — Ruth Eckerd Hall and the Ted Williams Museum will present the rescheduled Phillies 40th Anniversary of the 1980 World Championship featuring an evening of classic stories and videos. The event will take place Sunday, March 21, 7:30 p.m., at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth …
The Philadelphia Phillies kicked off the home portion of their Grapefruit League schedule March 1. And while there were several notable differences at the newly renamed BayCare Ballpark because of the coronavirus pandemic, team officials said the precautions are a small price for fans to pay to be able to watch Major League Baseball under the warm Florida sun again.
In November 1976, Dave Lemanczyk was enjoying himself immensely in the warmth of Puerto Rico, hanging on the beach, surfing and eating lobster — and playing some baseball. When he left the states to go south to hone his pitching skills, he was a Detroit Tiger. When he returned to the mainlan…
Following an offseason of uncertainty coming on the heels of a coronavirus-shortened 2020 spring training season, Major League Baseball announced the 2021 Grapefruit League season will begin Sunday, Feb. 28, with the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies set to kick off the home portio…
The Toronto Blue Jays announced this morning that the team will play its first two homestands of the season at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, marking the first time the city will host regular season games.
Should the city of Seminole take over ballfields of the Seminole Youth Athletic Association? That’s the question the City Council is considering following a plea for action from a representative of the Greater Seminole Area Special Recreation District from which the SYAA fields are leased.
Most baseball players — especially veterans — traded to an expansion team are disappointed. After all, most expansion teams don't have a chance to be a winner any time soon.
A lot has transpired in the country and the world since the Bucs beat the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego on Jan. 26, 2003. One thing hasn’t changed since the team’s last title — the attitude of the Bucs’ loyal fan base.
SEMINOLE — As Seminole Warhawks soccer is halfway through their season, coach Rick Masi remains energetic from the sideline while watching every kickoff, pass and shot.
It was February 1985 and Dwight Gooden was already the talk of the town as the New York Mets opened up their spring training camp at Huggins-Stengel Field at Crescent Lake Park in St. Petersburg.
CLEARWATER — When Major League Baseball officials announced in October 2019 the league was planning a restructuring of the Minor League Baseball system, a process that would include the elimination of more than 40 affiliates, minor league franchise owners around the country waited and wonder…
Larry Bowa has a well-deserved reputation of having a fiery personality, as a player, coach and manager. Who could blame him for having an attitude like that? After all, he never made his high school baseball team, went undrafted after two terrific all-conference years at a junior college, a…
The inaugural LPGA Pelican Women’s Championship held Nov. 19-22 at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair featured a little bit of everything you want in a big-time golf tournament.
The inaugural LPGA Pelican Women’s Championship held Nov. 19-22 at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair featured a little bit of everything you want in a big-time golf tournament.
BELLEAIR — In a normal year, this week’s inaugural LPGA Pelican Women’s Championship would’ve drawn thousands of visitors to Pinellas County, as a top-notch field featuring local favorites and international stars play the newly remodeled Pelican Golf Club in Belleair on Nov. 19-22.
BELLEAIR — The long-awaited, but downsized Pelican Women’s LPGA tournament should not tie up local traffic inside Belleair Township.
St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Mike Shannon was really in the groove during spring training in March of 1970. A few weeks out from the start of the season, Shannon was hitting over .300 and looking forward to a solid year. He was feeling awfully good in general coming off the 1969 season …
Town commissioners approved a special permit for a “fan-less” tournament in November with procedures to protect professional golfers, caddies, volunteers, and local residents from COVID-19.
After eight years, three team trades and 136 games, Major League Baseball outfielder Brett Phillips is playing for his hometown team — the Tampa Bay Rays.
ST. PETERSBURG — Major League Baseball returned to action last week following a four-month layoff because of the coronavirus crisis, but there was a decidedly different look and feel to the sport known as America’s pastime.
Fans may not be able to enter Tropicana Field during this year's truncated Major League Baseball season, but they can be there another way.
The abrupt halt to the 2020 spring training season in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic dealt a huge economic blow to Pinellas County, where the Toronto Blue Jays play in newly refurbished TD Ballpark in Dunedin and the Philadelphia Phillies have trained in Clearwater for more th…
ST. PETERSBURG — Get ready sports fans because Major League Baseball has taken another step toward returning to the field.
This past week, Major League Baseball owners and players agreed to a deal to play a 60-game season in empty ballparks.
EAST LAKE — On a recent mid-June morning, small groups of prospective East Lake High School football players gathered at the Eagles’ field, but there were no group huddles to be seen, no cracking of pads or clanging of weights to be heard and not a football in sight.
CLEARWATER — The Philadelphia Phillies confirmed today that five players and three staff members working at the club’s Clearwater facility have tested positive for COVID-19.
BELLEAIR — Two months ago, Belleair sports fans thought LPGA stars would be rolling into town about now for the Pelican Women’s Championship, which was slated to commence with a series of events May 11-17.
TAMPA — If you’re thinking the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ new uniforms released Tuesday look familiar, you aren’t wrong.
The coronavirus pandemic means Belleair will have to wait a little longer for its moment in the sun. In an announcement that came to no one’s surprise, the LPGA said April 3 that the Pelican Women's Championship that was scheduled to take place in May has been rescheduled to Nov. 9-15.
When Major League Baseball, along with other professional sports leagues, ceased operations as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in mid-March, the move resulted in a premature end to spring training and left thousands of fans who traveled to the Sunshine State for the 2020 Grap…
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The number of new cases of COVID-19 in Florida and the positivity rate continues to go down; however, reported deaths are increasing every week. And the transmission rate is still high.
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