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ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was drunk and talking on his cell phone at the time of his fatal accident, and marijuana was found in the sport utility vehicle he was driving. Medical examiner Michael Graham said at a news conference Friday that the 29-year-old reliever was dead "within seconds" from head injuries in the crash early Sunday on Interstate 64 in St. Louis. His vehicle hit the back of a tow truck parked on the highway to assist a driver from a previous accident. "There is nothing at all that could have been done for...

A local sports radio station here in Denver mentioned this recently - Give it back to Maris Help restore the MLB homerun record to the rightful owner http://www.giveitbacktomaris.com/This website is designed for the sole purpose of setting the Major League Baseball Single Season Home Run Record straight. With the acknowledgement of an era of baseball where the legitimacy of every record is in doubt, we believe there is only one solution to the ongoing steroid controversy and mistrust that not only surrounds the game but has created doubt in the game for the last 16 years. That solution is for...

HOUSTON -- Albert Pujols simply was not ready to call it a season. Even after struggling through an ugly 0-for-4 on Monday night and leaving four runners on base, Pujols knew he needed just one more chance. One more at-bat, and he could turn around the game, the National League Championship Series and the Cardinals' season. He got the chance, and he did what great players do -- he seized it. Pujols obliterated a hanging slider from previously impenetrable Brad Lidge, depositing it 412 feet over the train tracks in left field at Minute Maid Park to give the Cardinals...

ST. LOUIS (AP) Mark McGwire was so popular in St. Louis after his 70-homer season in 1998 that a stretch of Interstate 70 was named after him. Now, a St. Louis congressman who was part of the House Government Reform Committee says McGwire's name should be removed from the highway over his refusal to say if he used performance enhancers. William Lacy Clay says he was disappointed in McGwire's testimony yesterday. He says baseball fans want to know if McGwire was using steroids when he set the home run record. In 1999, a five-mile stretch of I-70 through St. Louis...

 Game Info: 8:05 pm EDT Thu Oct 21, 2004 TV: FOX  Starting Pitchers  Regular Season Stats  R. ClemensHou vs.  J. SuppanStL 18-4 Record 16-9 2.98 ERA 4.16 218 K 110 79 BB 65 15 HR 25 SERIES: NL championship series; tied, 3-3. This is why Houston manager Phil Garner held Rogers Clemens back. And this is why the Astros lured The Rocket out of retirement last winter. For the third time in four seasons, Clemens will be on the mound for a decisive Game 7. Only this time, he'll be doing it for his hometown team, hoping to pitch them...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Politicians may flip-flop on some issues, but Gov. Rod Blagojevich insisted Thursday that he has never wavered in his loyalty to the Chicago Cubs. Risking a backlash from die-hard fans of other teams, Blagojevich rejected suggestions that he has sometimes flirted with the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. ``Let me be clear: I am unabashedly a Cubs fan,'' Blagojevich said. ``I love the Cubs. When they play the Cardinals, I'm for the Cubs. When the Cubs play the White Sox, I'm for the Cubs.'' Blagojevich said he was simply being polite when he wore a...

Though not a boxing related issue, there are times when one must contemplate the existence and untimely loss of those who truly do make a difference; those who define courage and integrity, and those who truly are American heroes. Every person who has paid the ultimate price in order to secure the freedoms Americans enjoy to the point where most take them for granted is both a hero and an architect of humanity. Everything one needs to know about how special and truly different America is was on display in the ESPN2 co-feature. In 1995 Giorbis Barthelemy attempted to swim...

President Bush left the White House, Monday, April 5, 2004, for a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to speak on job training and attend a Bush-Cheney 2004 luncheon. Bush will then attend a opening day major league baseball game in St. Louis, Missouri, throwing out the first pitch, before heading to his Crawford, Texas ranch for the rest of week.

President Bush (news - web sites) on Monday defended his record on the economy and the war in Iraq (news - web sites), appearing at a North Carolina college where he praised a partnership between local business leaders and the academic community. "Terrorists can't stand freedom," said Bush, declaring that he will "stay the course" and bring democracy to Iraq. "We're still being challenged in Iraq and the reason why is a free Iraq will be a major defeat in the cause of terror." The president said that in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, "I had a choice...

President Bush just threw out the first pitch for the Cardinal-Brewers baseball game. And nailed it for a strike, just as he did in 2001 at the Yankee playoff game.

"Catch this Kerry!"

(St. Louis-AP) -- When St. Louis Cardinals and their fans hear the opening day command of "Play Ball!" on Monday, it'll be none other than the nation's commander in chief throwing out the first pitch. President Bush will toss the ceremonial pitch when the Cardinals open the season against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. Bush announced his plans today during remarks to members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He says it's a tradition for the president to throw out the opening pitch, and this year he's decided to do it in St. Louis. Hall Of Famers Welcomed To...

ESPN.com and the Associated Press, both citing unnamed sources, are reporting that the slugger has agreed to a seven-year contract worth $100 million. The Cardinals have not confirmed either report. Pujols, who will make the switch from left field to first base this season following the trade of Tino Martinez, was scheduled to have his arbitration hearing on Friday. He asked for $10.5 million, while the Cardinals countered at $7 million. ( full story , go to link).

The Polo Grounds: A Calm Review of Baseball Sunday, September 22, 2002Cursebusters, Inc.? by Jeff Kallman Plans can change. Sometimes, maybe they should. Saturday in Seattle, they certainly should have. Not very nice, Seattle Mariners. The visiting Anaheim Angels were in town Saturday, needing one game to clinch a postseason spot. Who comes out to throw out the ceremonial first pitch? An assassin from yesteryear: Dave Henderson, Boston Red Sox, Class of '86. Talk about the hand that held the dagger thrusting it into the back of the sons who are not supposed to be visited with the sins of...

<p>Ken Ludwig, center, of St. Louis, celebrates Scott Rolan's sixth inning home run during Friday's game against Houston.</p> <p>ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The Cardinals clinched the NL Central title on Friday night, getting four hits from Eli Marrero and four home runs in a 9-3 victory over the Houston Astros that put St. Louis in the playoffs for the third straight year.</p>

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - Knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, the first reliever elected to the Hall of Fame and the last pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the New York Yankees, has died. Wilhelm died Friday, but the cause of death was not released. Baseball records listed him at 79 years old, though the funeral home handling the arrangements said he was 80. Wilhelm played from 1952 and 1972 and when he retired, he held the major league record for games pitched at 1,070. Jesse Orosco and Dennis Eckersley have since passed that mark. While known for his fluttering pitch — it...

Wednesday, June 19, 2002 Jack Buck, RIP: The Impossible Becomes The Improbable Yes, I know. Baseball is in a mess of its leadership's own making, between Bud Selig's conflicts of interest (real and alleged) and Donald Fehr's duplicity. (Fehr sits on the board of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which send to the Phantom Zone competitors caught using cold remedies if certain ingredients just so happen to be even a minor part of the mix, but he runs the Major League Baseball Players' Association on the plank that steroid testing - which a continually rising number of players favour, perhaps to...