CULTURE

Footer Column 2

Footer Legal

Footer Main

Nav Bar

OTHER

SPORTS

Subscribe, at any level, to play

Thanks for your interest in Defector Crosswords!

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Plans start at $8/month.

Subscribers enjoy unlimited, ad-free browsing.

Register to continue

Or click here to subscribe for unlimited, ad-free access!

Our gift to you: This year's post is unlocked. Register your email to get even more free articles.

Welcome to the 2025 Hater's Guide!

Just register your email:

This blog is free to read.

This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Defector

Lauren Theisen

The Angels Have Tried Everything And They’re Still Losing

Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.

Dan McQuade

Mike Trout signs autographs for Phillies fans

One Day, Maybe Mike Trout Will Finally Show Off For His Hometown Fans

Maybe Firing Joe Girardi Will Finally Kickstart The Phillies

Kathryn Xu

Gabe Kapler Sure Likes His Pinch Hitters, Huh?

David Roth

Roger Angell at the 2009 New Yorker Festival.

Arts And Culture

See What You Find

Things My Sister Said While Watching The White Sox Lose Again

Joe Girardi in a red and blue Phillies warm-up top

Joe Girardi And The Phillies Bullpen Are A Flammable Combination

Every Day We Suffer (Through Baseball Games)

Lower Your WHIP With This One Easy Trick

Hunter Greene pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a game in which he allowed no hits and still lost.

Finding The Upside In Losing An Eight-Inning No-Hitter To The Pirates

The Gates Were Open In Phillies-Dodgers

Ray Ratto

Shohei Ohtani Is Just Getting Started

Dave McKenna

High School Sports

A Can’t-Lose Proposition: Wilson High Wins 29th D.C. Baseball Title In A Row

It’s Important To Appreciate The Human Element In Baseball, Like An Ump Forgetting How To Count

Two Nationals Players Tagged Out At Third On Same Play

Josh Naylor Hit A Hell Of A Lot Of Homers For The Guardians Last Night, Which Certainly Proves Something

Samer Kalaf

Trevor Story looks dumbfounded after striking out.

There Are Cold Starts, And Then There’s What Trevor Story’s Doing

J.T. Realmuto #10 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after lining out to end the bottom of the second inning against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on May 5, 2022 in Philadelphia,

Phillies’ Ninth-Inning Choke Is Just The Latest, Biggest Indignity

Things Have Somehow Gotten Even Worse For The Reds

Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

Drew Magary

Funbag

What If A Baseball Game Literally Never Ended?

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Baseball Is So Fucking Hard, Man

Rockies outfielder Yonathan Daza slides past Reds catcher Mark Kolozsvary in a 10-1 Rockies win.

Here’s How The Cincinnati Reds Are Doing

Mets players mobbing closer Edwin Diaz after he got the last out of the team's combined no-hitter against the Phillies.