WANT to know more about the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks ahead of their SCG series? Then you’ve come to the right place.

TWO men in the United States of America want to give you $1,000,000,000 — no wait, this is not some sleazy Nigerian phishing scam.

US VIEW: “Hitters” and a “hard strip of clay with short grass”. Check out how America’s baseball writers are grappling with cricket.

WITH two US baseball teams in town, we’re being sold a story of glitz and glamour. But real pro baseball can be quite a sordid tale.

AN Irish Gaelic football star has won praise from equality groups after thanking players’ boyfriends in a post-match victory speech.

FOURTEEN of the craziest, bravest big wave chargers on the planet are heading to Sydney for an invitation-only event at a lethal reef break.

ALEX Rowe is an intelligent man with an eye for history and has nothing but respect for Ralph Doubell’s 45-year-old 800 meter record.

ONE of Bronte Campbell’s favourite swimming memories was seeing three Australian women stand on the Commonwealth Games podium in 2006.

LONG before signing with Arizona, Sydney pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith was engulfed in sporting success.

WEST Coast Fever defender Eboni Beckford-Chambers is hoping the side’s improved on-court unity will hold it in good stead ahead of a testing New Zealand road trip.

AUSTRALIAN sporting codes can learn from the media access offered by the Arizona Diamondbacks and LA Dodgers for the MLB games.

MITCH Dening would need to box Weet-Bix for two, maybe three months to make $10,000 -- or roughly what LA Dodger Clayton Kershaw earns with every single pitch.

ON the SCG you can usually measure the calibre of the star by the placement of his cover drive or the athleticism of his marking.

THE LA Dodgers’ combined salary bill is $240m, Team Australia’s $500,000. But Australia is confident they will perform well.

FROM Vic Richardson to his grandson Ian Chappell, baseball’s affiliation with cricket goes well beyond this week’s makeover of the SCG.

FIRST there was Zack Greinke and his “zero excitement” about coming to Australia. Now his Dodgers teammate has chimed in with a snide remark.

AUSTRALIAN of the Year Adam Goodes is tipped to have the honour of throwing out the opening pitch of the Major League Baseball season.

IF there was any concern that early season rustiness might keep the home run count low in the Major League Baseball opening weekend at the SCG, a few hours changed all that on Tuesday.

WHEN MLB officials compared the SCG to Fenway Park, they hadn't considered Sydney might also have its own version of the Green Monster.

WHAT you need to know about the Arizona Diamondbacks-LA Dodgers opening to the Major League Baseball season at the SCG this weekend.

PHIL Jackson has returned to the New York Knicks as their team president and says Carmelo Anthony could remain the team’s centrepiece.

PUSHING through a media scrum at Sydney Airport, a minder tried to clear a path for $238 million LA Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw.

LIKE true tourists, Arizona players took a moment to respect the “sacred turf” of the SCG and walk through the Members Stand.

A SYDNEY baseball fan beamed with delight after scoring a fist full of signatures from the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers.

SPRINTER James Roberts is struggling to overcome a back injury for the Commonwealth Games swimming trials. He hasn’t raced since the world titles.

OVER the next three weeks, a something will sweep the USA, causing Americans to ditch work, lay bets and obsess over something called “brackets.”

THAT’S not a pitch... Iconic Aussie actor Paul Hogan is the favourite to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Major League Baseball’s Sydney series.

KAZHAKISTAN hockey fans in epic celebration fail that leaves star ice-hockey forward heading to hospital with a concussion.

THE Arizona Diamondbacks were the first of two Major League Baseball teams to touch down in Sydney this morning ahead of special fixtures at a revamped SCG.

HAS your team just played a blinder and you want to gloat? Reckon the ref’s made a howler? Come and chat about it at The Crowd.

BRITISH runner Jenny Meadows is using a revolutionary DNA test designed to prevent injury and improve performance ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

AUSTRALIAN Paralympic chiefs admit their winter team failed in its goal of winning a gold medal in Sochi in the toughest campaign they can remember.

AUSTRALIA’S first Major League baseball opener has now been robbed of two superstar pitchers, with Arizona’s Patrick Corbin ruled out.

DAMON Kelly, Australia’s leading weightlifter, is pumping mammoth stacks of iron 10 times a week in a bid to defend his Commonwealth title.

THE LA Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks are taking a scientific approach to the logisitics of their Major League Baseball opener in Sydney.

LIGHT bulbs, not $235 million pitcher Clayton Kershaw, may be the key to the Dodgers’ success in Australia. Watch the SCG’s transformation!

IT’S the SCG like you’ve never seen it. The hallowed ground has been turned into an American “field of dreams”, ready to make history.

OH, the agony. The Australian athletes who thought they were on their way to glory only to be stripped of success on a technicality.

ARIZONA Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin will miss the team's trip to Australia for the opening games of the Major League Baseball season.

RUSSIA closed the Sochi Paralympic Winter Games with record crowds, a record medal haul and two new national sporting heroes.

THE unfortunate problem for the Winter Paralympics is you have to see it to believe it — footage on a screen just doesn’t do the athletes justice.

THE goalie for Canada's gold medallist women's Olympic hockey team made her debut in a men's professional hockey league over the weekend.

EX-NBA star Lamar Odom’s foray into European basketball has been cut short after only a month due to a back injury.

THE hero of Australia’s Sochi Paralympic campaign arrives home in Melbourne on Wednesday with a bronze medal and another prestigious honour.

VIXENS stumble to first loss of season after nemesis Firebirds reel in six-goal deficit.

JOANY Badenhorst’s first thought when she dislocated her knee in the warm-up for the women’s snowboarding was of South Korea.

THE Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in town for next weekend’s Major League Baseball opening day double-header.

AUSTRALIA’S only medallist at this week’s Sochi Paralympics, Toby Kane, has won the prestigious Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award.

ADELAIDE will sweat on the results of scans on skipper Adam Gibson’s injured ankle less than a fortnight out from the start of the NBL playoffs.

SALLY Pearson overcame national champ Mel Breen to complete the 100m and 200m double at the Sydney Track Classic.