“Baseball” on The Daily Caller

1. The Phillies will win fewer than 96 games. That figure is the current line for the Phillies’ 2011 win total set by your finer, ahem, establishments. It’s easy to win December: make the biggest trade, sign the biggest free agent, lose the least talent, and no one is shredding their elbows or having trouble locating their fastball or just plain feeling old. It’s harder to win September, when stat lines give way to baseball games, bad bounces, human frailty. It was three years ago that pundits — myself included — were raving about the Tigers’ 1,000-run offense in the wake of their trades for Edgar Renteria and Miguel Cabrera. That team won 74 games, finished last and fell just 179 tallies shy of a grand. (more)

Mark Teixeira sounds like a man ready to plan a retirement party when asked about Andy Pettitte. (more)

CLEVELAND (AP) — Teenage pitching sensation, World War II hero, outspoken Hall of Famer and local sports treasure. Bob Feller was all of them. (more)

It is going to take awhile to think about the Phillies as the overlords of baseball, the team that can outspend and outrecruit all of the others. (more)

Talk radio, Twitter and various reports are all wondering this morning: Did the Phillies land Cliff Lee partly because his wife was abused by Yankees fans? (more)

Of all the crazy free-agent sagas in baseball history, where would we rank this one? (more)

Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis shut down so many receivers last season that teammates started calling his turf Revis Island, where opposing players were inevitably marooned. (more)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Red Sox threw a curveball at the rest of major league baseball last night, agreeing to terms with All-Star left fielder Carl Crawford on a blockbuster seven-year contract worth $142 million. (more)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Yankees have made their offer to Cliff Lee. (more)

Baltimore Orioles slugger Luke Scott stopped by baseball’s winter meetings Tuesday and, after some harmless chatter about his team’s offseason dealings, stated with conviction that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. (more)

As Howard Kurtz recently reported in the Daily Beast, the packaging of Luke Russert, son of the late journalist and legend Tim Russert, has begun. NBC hired Luke after his father’s death in 2008, and because of all the goodwill towards Russert pere, Luke, despite a clunky TV presence and no political knowledge, has just acquired job security for life. MSNBC, where young Russert works, is hiding him from the media until he gets his training wheels off. (more)

It was 19 years ago — and about 30 degrees warmer — when Cal and Billy Ripken played in the last game at Memorial Stadium. But on Tuesday, when they replanted home plate in its old spot off East 33rd Street, the past returned as if on a welcome summer breeze. (more)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Derek Jeter has navigated an almost impossible path in his time as Yankees shortstop: The most public of people leading the most private of lives. (more)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Some general managers had just arrived at the winter meetings and some were not even at the winter meetings yet when the Washington Nationals made a startling announcement Sunday evening: They had agreed with right fielder Jayson Werth on a $126 million, seven-year contract. (more)

GARLAND, Texas (AP) — There’s only one man tough enough to take down “Walker, Texas Ranger.” And that’s Chuck Norris, Texas Ranger. (more)

SAN FRANCISCO — A top runner who hits the wall. A coach with a cruel illness. A state championship at stake. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton is a runaway winner of the American League’s Most Valuable Player award. (more)

In his most direct statements about the status of contract talks with Derek Jeter, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said on Monday that the team had “concerns” with both Jeter’s age and his recent on-field performance and that both needed to be factored into any new multiyear contract. (more)

NEW YORK (AP) — Joey Votto and Albert Pujols had a long conversation behind the batting cage before a game a few years ago. (more)

In July of 1958, Jim Bunning walked into Fenway Park and did what was seemingly impossible — he threw a no-hitter against Ted Williams and the Boston Red Sox. (more)