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Mark Herrmann

Baseball honors No. 42

Last updated Saturday, April 14, 2012 - 8:09pm

Forty-two will again be the magic number throughout baseball today, especially at Yankee Stadium, in a 65th anniversary tribute to Jackie Robinson's first major league game.

Every player and everyone else in uniform throughout the big leagues will wear No. 42 in honor of Robinson, who broke baseball's racial barrier for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. His number was retired for all teams during a ceremony at Shea Stadium on the 50th anniversary in 1997, a service attended by then-President Bill Clinton, commissioner Bud Selig and Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow.

MLB, Sports, Baseball Read more Comments

Woods skips British Open to heal injury

Mark Herrmann Newsday

Last updated Tuesday, July 5, 2011 - 10:35pm

Tiger Woods will not play in the British Open next week, he announced on his website Tuesday, a week after he asserted he will not return to golf until his knee and Achilles are completely healed.

Woods personally called Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A, which runs the Open. Golf's oldest major will begin a week from tomorrow at Royal St. George's in Sandwich, England, where Ben Curtis won in 2003. Woods has not played since withdrawing from the Players in May, citing pain from injuries he sustained while hitting off pine straw at the Masters.

He missed the U.S. Open last month at Congressional, where he has hosted and won tournaments, and pulled out of the AT&T National last week outside Philadelphia.

Golf, Sports, Tiger Woods Read more Comments

Summer in Utah helped McIlroy during journey to stardom

Mark Herrmann, Newsday

Last updated Saturday, June 18, 2011 - 4:52pm

BETHESDA, Md. -- When Scott Pinckney qualified for the U.S. Open last week, he was pumped, as you would expect from a 22-year-old amateur. "I couldn't sleep for a couple of nights," he said Friday, his enthusiasm barely fazed by the fact he took a 9 on the sixth hole and missed the cut.

The funny thing is, the thought that got him so juiced was not, "Hey, I just made the U.S. Open!" Rather, it was, "I get to play in a tournament with Rory again!"

Pinckney and McIlroy come from different worlds and they live in different worlds now. The latter is a worldwide celebrity who nearly won the Masters (and became more famous for losing it) and the former just finished his senior season at Arizona State. But they clicked when they were 9-year-old competitors at the Doral Publix Junior Classic in Miami and they resumed their friendship in full stride this week.

Golf, PGA, Sports Read more Comments

The Masters Green Jacket, a tradition unlike any other

Mark Herrmann Newsday

Last updated Monday, April 12, 2010 - 8:38pm

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Early Sunday evening, some fortunate golfer will be overwhelmed as he accepts the lavish, coveted, valuable prize. And the $1.35 million-plus first-place check won't be bad either.

Golf, Sports Read more Comments

Pro: Ban on square grooves won't affect average golfer

Mark Herrmann Newsday

Last updated Sunday, March 28, 2010 - 6:05pm

MELVILLE, N.Y. -- It was a hot topic this winter, a sweeping ruling that influenced the PGA Tour and will alter the way golf clubs are made for decades. The United States Golf Association's ban on square-shaped clubface grooves grew so contentious that Phil Mickelson was accused by a fellow pro of cheating.

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Tiger Woods will be in unchartered territory on Friday

Mark Herrmann Newsday

Last updated Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 9:25pm

If Tiger Woods really is determined to prove that he is a new man, he must be remarkably persuasive on Friday. In his attempt to restore his name and repair his life, he first must overcome the idea that, in terms of public relations, he is the same old Tiger.

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(The Associated Press) New York Met's David Wright wears his new batting helmet while waiting his turn in batting practice.

New Rawlings helmets available to all major leaguers Thursday

Mark Herrmann Newsday

Last updated Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 7:40pm

Thursday marks the start of a new era in baseball helmets, although the public will have to take baseball's word for it. While the new, more protective Rawlings S100 model is being made available to all big league players, it is unlikely you'll see a player wearing one.

"You never want to say never, but I've used the same helmet my entire career and I don't see a need to change," Mark Teixeira said. He has seen the headgear, introduced and discarded last week by David Wright. "They're so big and uncomfortable, you can't have that on your head when you're batting," Teixeira said.

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A tale of two new ballparks

Mark Herrmann

Last updated Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - 5:49pm

NEW YORK -- This just proves that all rookies need a while to settle in, even a pair that came in together with a massive buildup and a combined $2.3 billion price tag. All that New York can say to the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field after a sometimes rocky, sometimes pretty first half-season is what the city always says to a bonus baby: Welcome to the big leagues, kid.
The new homes for the Yankees and Mets sure were the talk of the town, as expected. It's just that the clubs that built the stadiums (or, as they prefer, a stadium and a ballpark) never imagined the conversation would be about obstructed views, empty seats, muted tradition and, above all, too many or too few home runs.
Everyone in the big leagues has heard the buzz. In his first hour as a Met on Saturday, former Brave Jeff Francoeur said: "You're not going to go out and hit 45 home runs in this park. If you want to do that, you've got to go 10 miles down the road."

Baseball Read more Comments