The Tampa Bay Rays kick off a long road trip when they begin their series against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.

https://www.foxsports.com/florida/story/tampa-bay-rays-at-baltimore-orioles-preview-tuesday-april-24-042418

For the first time since the 2016 World Series, the Chicago Cubs (10-9) will square off against the Cleveland Indians (12-8) on Tuesday as small road underdogs at the sportsbooks...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2772209-chicago-cubs-vs-cleveland-indians-odds-analysis-mlb-betting-pick

NEW YORK — As part of its collection of Babe Ruth items, the Baseball Hall of Fame says it has the bat the slugger used to hit his then-record 60th home run in 1927.

A private collector also claims to own the bat, and he’s selling it at auction. PSA/DNA, one of the leading sports memorabilia authenticators, supports his assertion.

The dispute dates back more than 90 years to the original owner of each bat and how he professed to acquire it.

The bat being sold by the anonymous collector can be traced back to Joe E. Brown, the entertainer and vaudeville comedian with whom Ruth had a friendship. Brown said Ruth, who had presented him with the bat the slugger used to hit three home runs in the 1926 World Series, personally gave him the bat used to hit his 60th homer in 1927. The bat is signed, “To Joe E. Brown From Babe Ruth.”

Brown then passed the bat down to his son Joe L. Brown, who was general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955-76. The younger Brown then sold the bat to a collector.

“There is documentation back to (Joe L.) Brown’s ownership and his talking about the bat that goes back to a sports writers’ luncheon in 1948,” PSA authenticator Jon Taube told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “Even before that the bat is mentioned from his collection in a 1939 baseball centennial celebration. … We also have a letter that continues the story from his grandson Ty Brown that talks about the bat coming out at Christmas time.”

The bat in the Hall of Fame was given to the museum by sports writer James Kahn in 1939, and Kahn was quoted in the Otsego Farmer — a newspaper in Cooperstown, where the Hall of Fame is located — as saying at the time that then-Yankees manager Miller Huggins gave him the bat after the game on Sept. 30, 1927.

Taube, who has done extensive research on Ruth’s bats, doesn’t dispute Kahn was given a bat after that game, but he doesn’t believe it was the one used for the record-breaking homer.

“It’s very unlikely that on Sept. 30, Miller Huggins comes down into the locker room and says, ‘Babe, give me the bat that you broke the record with’ and then he hands it to a beat writer,” Taube said. “And we just think it was very unlikely Huggins came out of the dugout and handed him THE bat. He handed him a bat, there’s no question about that. Was it the bat that hit the 60th home run? I doubt that very highly.”

Another complicating part of Kahn’s story is that he changed the details. Challenged by Brown at the luncheon, Kahn then said he got the bat from Ruth.

“The relationship (Ruth) had with Joe Brown, and the fact he had already gifted him with the 1926 World Series bat,” Taube said, “and especially that the season wasn’t over yet when Kahn says Miller Huggins and/or Ruth gave him the bat — we just don’t see that happening.”

The Hall of Fame reiterated it is confident the bat in its possession is the one Ruth used to hit the historic homer.

“The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to preserving baseball’s history,” Jon Shestakofsky, the Hall’s vice president of communications and education, said in an email to The Associated Press. “One of the institution’s primary responsibilities is to ensure that artifacts in our collection are portrayed accurately. When research shows that an object is incorrectly labeled, or when we have been presented with evidence that proves an artifact is misattributed, we resolve the matter appropriately and with transparency.

“The Hall of Fame remains very comfortable with the sound provenance and authenticity of the bat in our collection. The Museum’s stance on the bat has not changed since it was accessioned in 1939. Given the lack of proof to the contrary, we will continue to maintain that the bat in our collection is the one Babe Ruth used to hit his 60th home run of 1927.”

Taube said he was not aware of any other instance where there were multiple claims of such a high-profile item. He also wanted to make it clear he wasn’t trying to challenge the Hall of Fame.

“I respect them. It’s a baseball shrine,” he said. “You have to understand, during the day, there was no provenance. Many of the items that were given to the Hall were presented as, ‘Here’s the bat that did this, here’s the glove’ and there was no follow-up.

“Nobody is perfect.”

Bidding on the bat being sold by the anonymous collector through Heritage Auctions runs through May 18. In full disclosure for potential buyers, the story of the existence of the bat in the Hall of Fame is detailed on the item’s listing.

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/24/babe-ruth-60th-home-run-in-1927/

Walker Buehler tossed five scoreless innings in his first major league start and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Miami Marlins 2-1 on Monday night.

https://www.foxsports.com/florida/story/los-angeles-dodgers-miami-marlins-score-recap-042318-042418

The Avalanche’s season may be over, but there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about next year. And the year after that. And even the year after that. The young core that was key to most of Colorado’s success during its run to the playoffs will be sticking around the Pepsi Center for a while.

The Avs have 18 players under contract next season, five pending restricted free agents and six unrestricted free agents. Here’s a look at Colorado’s roster makeup, including each players’s hit to the salary cap, how long they’re under contract and their status after their contract expires.

FORWARDS
Player	Cap hit	Contract expires	Status
Nathan MacKinnon	$6.3 million	2022	UFA
Gabe Landeskog	$5.5 million	2021	UFA
Carl Soderberg	$4.7 million	2020	UFA
Colin Wilson	$3.9 million	2019	UFA
Sven Andrighetto	$1.4 million	2019	UFA
Dominic Toninato	$925,000	2019	RFA
Alex Kerfoot	$925,000	2019	RFA
J.T. Compher	$925,000	2019	RFA
Mikko Rantanen	$894,000	2019	RFA
Tyson Jost	$885,000	2020	RFA
Vladislav Kamenev	$833,000	2019	RFA
DEFENSEMEN
Erik Johnson	$6 million	2022	UFA
Tyson Barrie	$5.5 million	2020	UFA
Nikita Zadorov	$2.1 million	2019	RFA
Sam Girard	$728,000	2020	RFA
Anton Lindholm	$717,000	2019	RFA
David Warsofsky	$675,000	2019	UFA
GOALTENDER
Semyon Varlamov	$5.9 million	2019	UFA

Restricted free agents: Matt Nieto, Nail Yakupov, Patrik Nemeth, Duncan Siemens, Spencer Martin.

Unrestricted free agents: Blake Comeau, Gabriel Bourque, Mark Barberio, Mark Alt, Jonathan Bernier, Andrew Hammond.

— Mike Chambers, The Denver Post

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What’s on tap?

• MLB: Padres at Rockies, 6:40 p.m., ATTRM | Pitching matchup | Buy tickets

TV/RADIO: Here’s what sports are airing today

Scoreboard

MLB: Padres 13, Rockies 5
Full story | Box score

Must-Read

Avalanche extends coach Jared Bednar’s contract, GM Joe Sakic says: “We’re going to stay young … we may even get younger”

The Avalanche has given coach Jared Bednar a one-year extension and the NHL’s youngest team intends to remain young, general manager Joe Sakic said Monday at his season-ending press conference at the Pepsi Center. Read more…

Is David Dahl, recently called up to the Rockies’ outfield, ready to become a big-league regular?

After a rib injury wiped out his 2017 season, Dahl was recalled on Sunday from Triple-A and has made two straight starts. Read more…

Winter Olympians will visit Trump’s White House this week — with some notable absences

Even without some of the U.S. Olympic team’s most recognizable names, the contingent will still feature many of the biggest medal winners from the Winter Games. Read more…

Quick Hits

+ Should the Broncos take best QB available or an immediate impact player at No. 5? Mark Kiszla answered this and more in Monday’s Lunch Special.

+ Rockies call up left-handed reliever Harrison Musgrave from Triple-A Albuquerque; Chris Rusin to DL.

+ Broncos trade punter Riley Dixon to New York Giants.

+ Rockies’ DJ LeMahieu and Cubs’ Javy Baez exchange harsh words over sign stealing.

+ NFL draft 2018: It’s quarterback-heavy, but the three best players aren’t QBs.

+ Chicago White Sox pitcher Danny Farquhar in “fight of his life” after procedure to relieve brain swelling.

By The Numbers

50

The number of points the Houston Rockets scored in the third quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.

Parting Shot

Denver Broncos to announce fourth- and fifth-round picks at Casa Bonita

Raise that flag for more sopapillas, the Denver Broncos are coming to Casa Bonita. Read more…

Get in Touch

If you see something that’s cause for question or have a comment, thought or suggestion, email me at dboniface@denverpost.com or tweet me @danielboniface.

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/24/colorado-avalanche-roster-contracts-breakdown/

The 2017-18 MLB offseason was defined by teams not spending. Stars were stranded in limbo. Impact players twiddled their thumbs. In the end, every worthy free agent found a home, but many settled for far less ducats than they expected...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2771769-padres-144m-eric-hosmer-risk-backfiring-giving-credibility-to-mlb-tanking

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If the 2018 Major League Baseball season is going exactly as you expected it would, congratulations. You're the only one of your kind. For the rest of us, there's been plenty to be surprised and disappointed by...

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