Ken Griffey Sr. may have paved the way for his son’s Major League Baseball career with 19 seasons of his own in the big leagues, but proud papa acknowledges Junior is on his own now as he prepares to enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend.

Could A’s right-hander Sonny Gray still be moved by the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline? Sure. But the chances fell precipitously Thursday night.

Whenever I think about the upcoming Hall of Fame ceremony on Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y., I get chills. The word “overwhelming” comes to mind, along with the words “unbelievable” and “surrealistic.”

The Padres have agreed to terms with 19-year-old Cuban outfielder Jorge Ona, the team announced Friday.

Most 20-year-olds are still in college, trying to decide what to do with their lives beyond those four years. But Drew Finley isn’t like most 20-year-olds.

This was the 15th consecutive year that Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith led his “Play Ball with Ozzie” clinic.

For the second straight summer, the past and future of baseball in minority and undeserved communities has converged at Historic Dodgertown for the Elite Development Invitational.

Though the Cubs are on the road in Milwaukee, Wrigley Field still will be packed with talented young players on Saturday. The ninth annual Under Armour All-America Baseball Game, one of the highlights of the summer showcase circuit, will feature 40 high school standouts. The game will be broadcast live on MLB Network and simulcast on MLB.com, starting at 4 p.m. ET.

It was destiny.

No hard feelings, Mr. Pigeon.

It has been 24 years since Tom Seaver entered the Hall of Fame, the first player in franchise history to have his Mets cap bronzed. Other prominent Mets have entered the Hall with different caps, including Gary Carter, Nolan Ryan and Willie Mays. But in the years since Seaver, the Mets have never come particularly close to adding another Hall of Famer they could truly call their own.

The non-waiver Trade Deadline is fast-approaching, and executives for contending clubs are weighing how aggressive they ought to be in shoring up their rosters between now and Aug. 1. Quite often, late-breaking developments compel action, and we’ve had quite a few of those developments this month. It’s time, then, for a trade-related installment The Freak-Out Factor, a 1-10 scale with 1 being relative calm and 10 being a five-alarm fire worthy of a Deadline binge.

There is a reason Ken Griffey Jr. was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame with the highest percentage of votes in the history of the Hall. Griffey played 13 seasons in Seattle and nine in Cincinnati, as well as a couple months with the White Sox, but his popularity far transcended those cities, as an entire generation of fans and players grew up watching and emulating “The Kid.”

The hot-hitting Rays took batting practice off of Sonny Gray, tagging the struggling A’s starter for nine hits in a 7-3 series-opening victory at the Coliseum on Thursday night.

Tim Beckham singled up the middle to start the fifth inning of Thursday night’s contest against the Athletics, putting him in the Rays’ record book with eight consecutive hits.

Already dealing with a number of injuries, the White Sox Had another one crop up during their rain-shortened 2-1 loss against the Tigers on Thursday at U.S. Cellular Field.

Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez and pinch-hitter Mark Reynolds made their homers count Thursday night in a 7-3 victory over the Braves at Coors Field.