By William Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 7/2/2026 Coined "America's Pastime", baseball is a sport Americans have rallied around for centuries. It's a game where kids grew up playing with sticks and broomsticks; where pitchers completed games, and people crowded around radios, anticipating greatness. Baseball, at times, has represented not just a game, but defined a nation. As America celebrates 250 years of independence this Fourth of July, let's take a look at eight moments in wh

by William Gilhooly Sportz Nation- 6/22/2026 Photo Credits to Mary DeCicco/Getty Images As most clubs approach the midway point of their 2026 campaigns, there are already plenty of narratives forming around the MLB Awards. Shohei Ohtani continues to be... well Shohei Ohtan. The American League is up-for-grabs without Aaron Judge, and Jacob Misiorowski appears to be the best thing since sliced bread. And while the dog days of summer are just getting started, were gonna pretend

By William Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 6/16/2026 Photo Credits to Jeff Roberson/AP Photo On a chilly April afternoon in Denver, with the Colorado Rockies looking to complete a sweep of the Houston Astros, one fan decided to take matters into his own hands. Shirtless and waving his jersey above his head from Section 329 at Coors Field, the fan launched what has become one of baseball's most unexpected fan-driven movements, “Tarps Off”. The tradition traces its roots to an Oklahom

By William Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 6/13/2026 Photo Credits to Brandon Sloter/Getty Images As summer begins to heat up, the MLB trade deadline stove is getting hotter. This year could be especially active, with back‑to‑back American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal potentially on the block. Skubal opened the 2026 season strong, posting a 2.70 ERA in seven starts before being shut down because of a loose body in his left elbow. He underwent surgery May sixth and is se

by Zak Drapeau, Matt Hylen, Joel Piton and Will Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 6/10/2026 Photo Credits to ESPN Illustrations Zak Drapeau - So if you've seen my World Cup Group Stage Predictions article, you know I am extremely high on a few teams. Those teams include France, England, Spain, Portugal, and Japan. I believe they'll all walk out of the Group Stages as their group's winner and move on to the knockout stage, where the real fun begins. The 2026 edition of the World Cup kn

by William Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 6/4/2026 Photo Credits to Matt Dirsken/Getty Images Everyone has seen the video by now. On July 29, 2024, Miguel Vargas was traded from the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to the Chicago White Sox, who would go on to set the modern MLB record with 121 losses. When Vargas joined the White Sox, the club was already in the midst of a 15-game losing streak. In his first five games with Chicago, he struggled at the plate, reco

by William Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 6/2/2026 Photo Credits to Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images When Commissioner Rob Manfred made some rule changes in the 2023 offseason in order to speed up the pace of play and encourage more athleticism in the game, this is the kind of result he had to have envisioned. Over the past decade, there has been more speed introduced in all aspects with pitching, hitting and baserunning. With more and more young faces being called up meaning ,ore ath

By William Gilhooly Sportz Nation- 5/30/2026 Photo Credits to Chris Coduto Via Getty Images The 2026 season hasn’t been up to par so far for back-to-back National League CY Young winner Paul Skenes. By no means is a 3.00 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 60 innings bad numbers, it’s just not up to the CY Young Standard the 23 year old holds himself to. However, even if Skenes were at his best right now, it would still be challenging for him to ascend to the top of the CY Young race gi

by William Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 5/28/2026 Photo Credits to Brandon Badraoui/Lumen via Getty Images 0.0233 seconds. He could have sat in his car for 10 straight minutes replaying it over and over again and who could blame him? Team Penske driver David Malukas had just lost the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 in the closest finish in 500 history. Malukas who started 2nd following a caution on lap 197 that started the race back up with one lap to go. When the white f

by William Gilhooly Sportz Nation - 5/22/2026 Photo by K.C. Alfred via The San Diego Union-Tribune Manny Machado already knew what the reporters were going to ask him following the Padres 4-0 rubber match loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, going 0-4 with one strikeout. Machado’s batting average (has now) dropped to .178 and now has a negative WAR on the year, currently at -0.2 When asked about his offensive struggles postgame by a San Diego reporter, Machado responded very pass