Baseball

Derek Jeter's haters can take a seat ... 'cause he ain't gonna let the Marlins suck forever -- so says legendary MLB boss Peter O'Malley.

O'Malley was the man back when he ran the Dodgers ... so we got him to give DJ a quick job eval -- after the Marlins CEO got DESTROYED in the media for trading away sluggers Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna.

Peter told TMZ Sports Derek knows what the hell he's doing ... and we'll all see that eventually.

"Jeter’s gonna do a great job. He’s a very fine person, knowledgeable," O'Malley said.

24 years after turning down an offer to play for the Miami Hurricanes, Alex Rodriguez is finally suiting up for the Orange and Green ... as a graduation commencement speaker!!

A-Rod was invited to Coral Gables to talk to the U's Fall 2017 graduation class on Thursday ... and the ex-MLB star was so stoked for the job, he snapped a selfie with the 600 students in attendance.

FYI -- Rodriguez signed a letter of intent to play for the Canes in '93, but decided to go straight to the pros with the Seattle Mariners instead.

He went on to reportedly make $480 MILLION in MLB salary and now he's dating J Lo ... so he chose wisely!

Jose Canseco says the women accusing politicians of sexual misconduct are only complaining because the alleged offenders are "ugly men" ... and now the Oakland A's are distancing themselves from the ex-MLB star.

Canseco began ranting on Twitter on Tuesday ... saying, "What is going on with all these politicians molesting women I've been molested by several women and never complained."

He continued, "Well I mean I've been beaten by women taken advantage of by women and molested by women I never complain but it was kind of a turn-on."

"I see the difference I guess cuz I was a good-looking guy and these politicians look like a bag of boogers."

But, it was the next line that REALLY pissed some people off ...

"These women complaining against sexual misconduct are just racist against ugly men."

The comments got back to Jose's former team -- the Oakland A's -- and the organization wasted no time condemning the comments and making it clear they have no relationship with the ex-slugger.

"We were disappointed to learn of Mr. Canseco's statements," the team said.

GOP House Whip Steve Scalise's competitive juices are rivaling those of Astros superstar Jose Altuve ... vowing to return as the Congressional second baseman after surviving a bullet.

We got the congressman at Reagan National Airport in D.C. and asked how his recovery's coming along. You'll recall Scalise and the Congressional Baseball Team came under attack in June after James T. Hodgkinson fired as many as 50 rounds with an automatic rifle.

Dodgers star Alex Wood and his red hot wife have ditched the L.A. "winter" for the sunny sands of Saint Lucia ... makin' it rain MLB money all over their Caribbean honeymoon!!

The newlyweds are droppin' around $3K PER NIGHT for their "Galaxy Sanctuary" suite at the Jade Mountain Resort -- which comes equipped with a 900-SQUARE FOOT infinity pool.

As you can see in the video ... the sunset views are a 10/10 -- as is Mrs. Wood, Suzanna Villarreal -- one of the MVPs from our World Series WAGs showdown.

Yeah ... guessing Alex is over Game 7.

Congrats!

Roy Halladay was flying dangerously close to homes -- and making wild turns and adjustments in altitude -- moments before his fatal crash ... this according to the NTSB.

The National Transportation Safety Board released the preliminary report regarding the Nov. 7 crash in Florida that killed the former MLB pitcher.

GPS data obtained from the plane shows Halladay was climbing and diving around the crash site -- and at one point, flew "as close as 75 feet to the Gulf Harbor South Beach houses."

The report also references video of Halladay's plane taken before the crash which shows the aircraft flying around 10 feet above the water. Unclear if the report is referencing the video obtained by TMZ Sports, but the description is very similar.

One witness also told the NTSB that he saw the plane perform a 300 to 500 foot climb before heading "a 45 degree nose-down attitude."

The witness says he then saw the plane crash into the water and "nose over."

The plane was recovered for inspection -- and investigators say the parachute was NOT deployed.

The report says Roy had only taken delivery of the plane on Oct. 10 ... just 28 days before the crash.

Halladay was 40.

L.A. fans might just have an ace in the hole to get Giancarlo Stanton in Dodger Blue -- his rumored GF, singer Lexy Panterra.

There are big-time rumors that the Dodgers are eyeing Stanton via trade, and when we got Panterra out at Warwick we asked her what she thought of the idea of the slugger in Tinseltown.

"I think that'd be a great idea. He'd be closer!!!"

Remember, it was just last week Panterra performed at Stanton's surprise B-day party at Hyde -- and just a couple of months ago the duo did a super sexy damn-near-naked music video together.

So it's clear what the Dodgers need to do to get Stanton to come to L.A. -- bombard him with THIS VIDEO until he realizes just what he's missing being gone half the year.

Roy Halladay was honored by teammates, family and friends at a memorial service in Florida on Tuesday ... remembering the star pitcher for his accomplishments both on and off the field.

Chase Utley -- who played with Halladay on the Phillies for 4 seasons -- praised Doc's work ethic ... saying he'd be done with his morning workouts by the time Utley showed up at the team facility.

Halladay's wife, Brandy, was the last to speak ... reminiscing about the first time they met as children ... and raising their 2 sons together.

Other speakers included Cole Hamels, Chris Carpenter and Halladay's former manager Charlie Manuel.

Halladay died in a plane crash in the Gulf of Mexico last week. He was 40 years old.

Ex-MLB star Josh Beckett was arrested after allegedly going full NFL linebacker on a country band ... completely laying out the singer and causing injuries, TMZ Sports has learned.

We're told the 37-year-old -- who won World Series MVP with the Marlins in 2003 -- was at an open mic night at a country club in Texas with some friends when he jumped on to the stage mid-performance and tackled the singer.

Cops were called to the scene and Beckett was arrested for public intoxication -- the officer said he determined Beckett was "a danger to himself and others."

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ Sports, Beckett admitted to stage diving and said he hit his leg on the speaker during the incident.

The worst part ... the singer of the band told cops he suffered serious injuries to his arm, neck and shoulder from the incident ... including a torn rotator cuff and dislocated shoulder.

Cops say the incident is still under investigation.

Beckett's lawyer tells TMZ Josh claims it was an act of horseplay and he didn't mean to hurt him. He's apologized since the incident, and is trying to do what he can to make amends.

Yasiel Puig just made a HUGE mistake -- revealing his secret identity to TMZ Sports while leaving Delilah in Hollywood ... and the tip-off was the ridiculously hot car he was driving.

Yasiel Puig, Dodgers star, is Batman.

We know how it sounds, but consider the facts -- Puig, who always talks to us, didn't, then proceeded to hop in his black Lamborghini Aventador -- MSRP $400k -- and sped off like he was hiding something.

Our theory? Yasiel forgot to use his driver (Alfred), absentmindedly got into his work car (chicks dig the car, after all) and headed out to Delilah for dinner not realizing we would be there.

Now we know why he was bragging about having so much money the last time we got him (Wayne Enterprises) and why he's not worried about the crooks who robbed him. He'll take care of it.

George Lopez thinks L.A. Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish has nothing to apologize for ... and then jokes he might want to leave the country!

TMZ Sports got George at LAX Saturday and Lopez seems to think the regrets Darvish expressed to our photog a few days back was misplaced. He did his job ... sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

C'mon, Scottie ... you're better than this!

Hall of Fame basketball legend Scottie Pippen -- who's now living in Los Angeles -- gives zero craps about the World Series.

He honestly doesn't even know who's playing in it.

So, while the rest of the city -- and the sports community -- was up crazy late watching one of the greatest offensive games in World Series history, Pippen couldn't care less.