Former major league pitcher Phillippe Aumont has retired from baseball and will take up farming in the meantime. He last pitched in the majors in 2015.
Former pitcher Phillippe Aumont told Stu Mills of CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning that he has retired from Major League Baseball and has taken up farming.
Aumont, 31, signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays in December and pitched three innings for the club in spring training before the league shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The right-hander was a top-100 prospect from 2008-10 and was included in the blockbuster trade that brought pitcher Cliff Lee to the Mariners from the Phillies in December 2009.
Aumont reached the majors in 2012 with the Phillies but he wasn’t able to find sustained success. Over parts of four seasons, Aumont allowed 33 earned runs in 43 2/3 innings, striking out 42 batters and walking 34.
After being outrighted by the Phillies during the 2015 season, Aumont — born in Gatineau, Canada — became a free agent and signed with the Blue Jays. He would later join the White Sox and Tigers while also having a couple of stints in the Canadian-American Association. Unfortunately, he never made it back to the majors, though he appeared to have a decent shot to do so this year before the pandemic put the season on hold.
(WDVM) — The Washington Wizards have ruled out NBA star guard John Wall for the remainder of the season. Wall has not played an NBA game since December 2018, as he has been recovering from a torn achilles. In May, however, Wall said he would be healthy to play if the season were to resume, […]
The Washington Wizards have ruled out NBA star guard John Wall for the remainder of the season.
Wall has not played an NBA game since December 2018, as he has been recovering from a torn achilles. In May, however, Wall said he would be healthy to play if the season were to resume, but General Manager Tommy Sheppard said Monday that the 35 person limit per team played a role in not taking Wall to Florida.
So, the Wizards will have to play the shortened season in Orlando without their star guard. Washington is currently sitting five and a half games out of the last playoff spot in the eastern conference.
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Is Sidney Crosby one of the best NHL players of all time? Bobby Orr certainly thinks so. The Boston Bruins legend told The Athletic’s Josh Yohe he thinks the Pittsburgh Penguins superstar belongs among the greats like himself, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. And he’s not kidding around, either. “Please, please,” Orr said,…
Is Sidney Crosby one of the best NHL players of all time? Bobby Orr certainly thinks so.
The Boston Bruins legend told The Athletic’s Josh Yohe he thinks the Pittsburgh Penguins superstar belongs among the greats like himself, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. And he’s not kidding around, either.
“Please, please,” Orr said, per Yohe. “I want you to be very comfortable putting Sidney Crosby’s name with the rest of us. Just trust me on that one. He’s so, so special.” Don’t worry, Orr came with receipts. “First of all, if you ask those other guys on the list, I know that they’ll tell you the same thing I’m about to tell you. Sid belongs on that list,” Orr said. “Sure, there’s the talent that he has and the drive. But look at what he’s been through. That tells me something. Look at the injuries he’s dealt with, especially earlier in his career. He’s been beat up, hurt, been through so, so much. And through it all, look at what he’s accomplished.
“He’s won all of those Cups. He’s won the Olympics. Scored the goal to win it, in fact. The World Cups he’s won. The numbers he’s put up. Everything he’s done. He’s one of the greatest hockey players of all time.” Fair enough. In 984 career games, Crosby has amassed 1,263 points (462 goals, 801 assists) and a whopping 175 plus-minus. The three-time Stanley Cup champion currently holds several of NHL records, including youngest player to record 100 points in a season (18 years, 253 days), youngest NHL captain to win the Stanley Cup (21 years, 10 months, and 5 days) and youngest Art Ross Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award winner. So yeah, Orr’s assessment definitely is valid.
On Tuesday afternoon, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka was back at work, in his office in El Segundo with a large clear window that overlooks the practice court. But the familiar surroundings belie the singular circumstances that Pelinka, the Lakers and the NBA find themselves in just a month out from a planned restart in…
Galaxy fan favorite Juninho closed the book on his professional career Tuesday, announcing his retirement. Juninho, 31, helped the club to a pair of MLS Supporters’ Shields (2010-11) and three MLS Cups (2011-12, 2014). He was also a three-time MLS All-Star. His 189 appearances are second most by any Galaxy midfielder, just behind Mauricio Cienfuegos…
Having run his troops through mostly individual workouts the past week at Florida Gulf Coast University, Nick Nurse says he is pleasantly surprised by both their approach and their conditioning. The Raptors head coach admitted he wasn’t sure what to expect from his team after a near four-month layoff. “I think I would say I […]
Having run his troops through mostly individual workouts the past week at Florida Gulf Coast University, Nick Nurse says he is pleasantly surprised by both their approach and their conditioning.
The Raptors head coach admitted he wasn’t sure what to expect from his team after a near four-month layoff.
“I think I would say I kind of came in here open-minded,” Nurse told reporters on a conference call from the team hotel in Naples, Florida where the team convened and will remain until the NBA campus opens in Walt Disney World just over a week from now.
“I didn’t know if we were going to be not really in the right frame of mind or whatever and whatever it was I was going to kind of deal with it, but I would say I am pleasantly surprised with the frame of mind, I am pleasantly surprised with the conditioning and I just think you have a bunch of guys who have a high care factor,” Nurse said. “They love to play, they are guys that are concerned about getting better individually, about their own careers, and it just seems like they are doing a really professional job. I just think there is a strong love of the game there for a lot of these guys.”
And in a season that was going along rather nicely for the Raptors before the world was stopped in its tracks by the Coronavirus pandemic, that should bode well for the team going forward.
In fact Nurse sounded very much like a guy still waiting to see the best from his team, and for obvious reasons.
“We went into this last season obviously missing a couple of really key pieces to our team (Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green), so you were kind of selling an opportunity to a few guys, there’s some opportunities for some growth and even usage and chances and stuff like that, but you’re not sure how that’s going to turn out,” Nurse said. “Could this guy go to there and this guy go to there? Fortunately Pascal (Siakam) took a jump, Fred (VanVleet), Norm (Powell), Serge (Ibaka) is playing amazing, OG (Anunoby) has been fabulous, so that opportunity there in the middle, the 3-4 spot, there’s a lot of guys that have taken it. I expect to kind of come back into this and see what we are going to look like coming back here but we have a little cheat sheet to know there is a place we’ve been with this group. So I think if it isn’t all holding hands and skipping rope at the beginning we just have to stick with it and see if we can get back to that level. I think there’s another level this group can go.”
Health will certainly be a factor and that’s before anyone even begins to consider the possibility of the Coronavirus overcoming all the precautionary steps the league has taken inside the Disney bubble.
For starters the Raptors were on pace for 60 wins this season pre-pandemic and that was with just about every regular missing a month or more save for Anunoby.
The near four month break has brought everyone back fully healthy, including Marc Gasol, who looks like he went back to Spain and lived in his gym eating nothing but the healthiest of foods.
Powell confirmed on Tuesday during his call that Gasol, in fact, is the envy of all his teammates these days.
“He looks great, man, he’s moving great. He’s feeling great, in talking to him,” Powell said. “I’m supposed to be playing tennis with him either tomorrow or the next day, so hopefully I’ll still be able to give him a run for his money.”
Now granted these are still early days in the re-start. The Raptors haven’t had and won’t have a full team workout until they get to Disney but all indications point to the defending champs having weathered this pandemic rather well and sit in a nice position to make a real run at repeating.
It’s only been a week but Nurse doesn’t sense or feel any angst within the team that could be at the beginning of a four and a half month road trip, albeit one minus any real travel.
“The days go by pretty quickly,” Nurse said of his initial assessment of this elongated road trip. “We’re trying to mix in some days off. We’re trying to mix in a lot of different activities, as much as we can do under the conditions. We had a barbecue the other day. It was kind of nice. It takes an evening. It was good. There’s ping-pong. There’s pool. There are a few other things we’re trying to mix in, too. I don’t really sense much anxiety or people worrying about, ‘Man, this is going to be a long time. The language has been positive.”
It all has to sound almost too good to the Raptors fan at home anxiously awaiting that first game on Aug. 1. But then who among us doesn’t deserve a little good news given how these past four months have unfolded?
Frederik Andersen wants to be back in his crease this summer.
The Maple Leafs goaltender would love nothing more than to try to help Toronto eliminate the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round of Phase 4 of the National Hockey League’s Return to Play plan.
Before that potentially happens, however, Andersen is willing to wait.
“I don’t think we have enough information yet,” Andersen said on Tuesday during a Zoom call with media, referring to which way he might vote on a return to play given the health issues regarding the COVID-19 pandemic that must be taken into account.
“The PA (NHL Players’ Association) and the league are still ironing that out and then we will see. It seems like it’s the 11th hour here, so hopefully things will progress in the next week or so because the July 10th goal (to open training camp) is coming up soon. I’ll make that decision once I get more info.
“The whole thing in general has to make sense. Safety is very important and probably the most important.
“I want to play. I don’t want to just sit and waste a summer and a season.”
The NHL announced on Monday that 26 players in total have tested positive for COVID-19 since June 8, including 15 who have reported to training facilities for optional workouts as part of Phase 2.
Andersen, who has been back in Toronto “for quite a bit now,” was asked what gives him confidence that it will be safe for the NHL to return to play games this summer.
“I’m not quite 100% confident yet,” Andersen said. “The league is very adamant in working toward that.
“I think once we get to the hub cities, everyone will have to be confident and the league will have a good setup. It’s a matter of getting there first.”
The announcement of the NHL’s two hub cities is expected relatively soon. Las Vegas, Toronto, Edmonton, Chicago and Los Angeles were the last cities to be in the running.
“If it is a bubble and it’s done the right way, I don’t think it really should matter (which cities are chosen),” Andersen said. “It could be anywhere. Whatever is the best setup, once we figure that out, I hope we should be good to go.”
And if the Leafs play in Toronto? Andersen doesn’t see that as an advantage.
“Once everyone is there, I think people will be familiar with the hotel, the rink, all that stuff,” Andersen said. “There won’t be fans, obviously, so I think all that stuff will be a pretty even playing field for everyone.”
Andersen had been staying with Leafs centre Auston Matthews initially during the NHL pause at Matthews’ home in Scottsdale, Ariz., but said he was in California working out with his personal trainer when the state of Arizona recently saw a spike in coronavirus cases. Andersen wouldn’t comment on Matthews’ positive COVID-19 test result, reported by the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons on June 19.
“Regarding everyone else and other people’s medical, I don’t want to comment on that,” Andersen said. “I don’t think it’s the right thing for me to do that.”
Andersen has been taking part in on-ice sessions at the Ford Performance Centre in the voluntary workouts, but otherwise must quarantine in his downtown condo until his two-week period is done. It will conclude before July 10, Andersen said.
“The Leafs have done an amazing job of cleaning the facility out there and I think they have done a really good job of setting us up for a safe environment,” Andersen said.
“I feel like I have been able to keep my good shape and work on things I could off the ice, but the on-ice timing is going to be key.”
And then, if the NHL has been able to properly move to Phase 4, a Leafs date with the Blue Jackets.
“They’re a deep team, a team we have to be ready for,” Andersen said. “It will be a tough task, but something we have to work on and getting confident we can win.”
The Ontario government says the necessity of frequent travel between the U.S. and Canada is the complicating factor holding up approval for Major League Baseball to play in Toronto amid the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading →
The Colorado Rockies have signed OF/DH Matt Kemp to a minor league contract.
The move to sign Kemp was likely motivated, at least in part, by Ian Desmond opting out of playing this season. Kemp, in turn, became a free agent after the Marlins decided against including him in their 60-man player pool. Which reminds me that the Marlins had signed him to begin with. My God, have I forgotten about every offseason transaction. He signed that deal in December, which may as well have been a million years ago. Guess we’ve all been distracted.
Kemp, 35, batted just .200/.210/.283 with one home run in 62 plate appearances with the Reds last season and missed time with a broken rib after signing a minor league deal with the Mets. He’d likely have no job at all if not for the DH being adopted for the NL this season, but now he gets another, possibly last chance to continue his big league career.
We’ve spent an awful lot of time talking about how the players will deal with pandemic baseball, but the umpires are affected too. They travel more than the players do, after all. They don’t have a home park. They, also, (a) get people up in their face during arguments; and (b) have to yell and project their voices, which is itself a risky thing to do in the time of COVID-19.
Last night Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported on some of the changes in routine the umps will have to deal with in 2020. Starting with spring training, where groups of three umps each will be embedded with big league camps, will watch bullpen sessions and batting practice and stuff as a means of easing themselves back into game shape, just like the players are.
During the season things will change a good deal too. In normal times umps travel to a new city after every series and are rotated across the league so they are not seeing one team more than others, which could create creeping, unconscious biases or grudges in one direction or another. Now, to limit travel, an umpire crew may stay in a certain city across an entire homestand, for example. And in two-team cities they may just go across town to the other park as opposed to getting on a plane and heading to Cleveland or wherever.
Masks are an issue too. Rogers reports that they will be encouraged for umps but not required. Which seems to be heat/weather driven. The MLB/MLBPA guidelines have already specified that arguments between players and umps should be minimized or eliminated, but human nature may overtake that at times putting players and umps face-to-face in argument. Even if they avoid that, though, I’m wondering how much spit flies from a mask-free ump standing behind a catcher and a batter in the normal course of a game. When you’re bellowing out “strike!” and “out!” scores of times a game, you have to imagine it’s a non-trivial amount.
Just another complicating factor in what will already be a complicated season.
SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) — When fans return to baseball stadiums sometime in July, they will be asked to sit apart from one another to maintain a safe distance. And they’ll not be allowed to bring in any outside food.
This will be part of a new normal in fan experience in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) during the coronavirus pandemic.
The KBO released a new health and safety manual for fans Tuesday, as it prepares to swing open gates to baseball enthusiasts.
A Korea Baseball Organization regular season game between the NC Dinos and the Doosan Bears takes place without fans at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on June 28, 2020. (Yonhap)hide captionpreviousnext1 of 2
The 2020 season opened on May 5 without fans in the stands amid the pandemic, and the league’s 10 clubs have been struggling financially without zero gate revenue. In a welcome relief, the government announced Sunday that sports stadiums would reopen on a limited basis, as long as teams adhere to stringent quarantine measures.
To that end, the KBO put out the manual to ensure safe environments across the league’s nine stadiums.
Fans must wear masks and keep them on during the course of the game. When they stand in a line at the entrance, bathrooms or concession stands, they must maintain a safe distance from others. Teams will put stickers, set 1 meter apart, on their stadium floors to indicate where fans should stand.
Fans must go through temperature checks at the gate, and those who check in at over 37.5 C will be turned away.
Once inside the stands, they must also sit at least one seat from each other, even when they have company.
Though cheering is a major part of KBO fan experience, it will be missing during the pandemic. The KBO manual says singalongs, chanting and other types of cheering that may include contact will be limited.
Tickets can only be purchased in advance online with credit cards, so that health authorities will be able to trace contact information in case of positive COVID-19 tests. Box offices at stadiums will be closed to minimize person-to-person contact.
The KBO said fans will be strongly discouraged from buying tickets from scalpers because it is illegal, and it poses infection risks through direct contact or droplets.
Concession stands will be open on a limited bases but eating from the seats and bringing food from outside will be prohibited. Fans will have to consume their food in the concession areas.
While in their seats, fans will only be allowed to drink water and non-alcoholic beverages.
Teams will only sell tickets to reserve seats at first, and other ballpark amenities, such as children’s playgrounds, will be closed to prevent a crowd from gathering. Smoking rooms will remain shuttered.
Fans will be discouraged from bringing in preschool children due to safety concerns, and those who come in with young children will be asked to take extra care.
“There will be some inconvenience for our fans following these restrictions during the pandemic,” the KBO said. “However, in order to prevent COVID-19 infections and to ensure a safe viewing experience, we’ll need our fans to follow these rules.”
The view from left field 