Baseball

He predicted the Dodgers would make the playoffs ... now Eric Karros is breaking out the crystal ball yet again for a World Series prediction -- and Red Sox fans ain't gonna like this.

TMZ Sports spoke with the Dodgers legend/prophet about the final 4 teams in the MLB playoffs ... and he's expecting a rematch of last year's Fall Classic between the Dodgers and Houston Astros.

Not only is he predicting L.A. to make it, but he also says they have a serious shot at winning it all. He's also biased as all get-out.

Oh, and to the people predicting Clayton Kershaw will choke in the post-season -- KARROS SAYS YOU'RE WRONG!!

Again -- biased -- but Karros says the Dodgers' ace will go down as one of the best pitchers ever.

Drew Brees -- the greatest-ever New Orleans ... Pelican????

Pierre Thomas says that definitely coulda been a thing if Drew never picked up a football ... 'cause the ex-Saints running back says his former QB could BALL!!!!

"He can play some basketball -- he's got some skills," Thomas tells TMZ Sports ... "I used to call him White Chocolate."

Thomas spent 8 seasons with Brees in New Orleans -- the two won a Super Bowl together -- and Pierre swears the 6-foot QB coulda made a serious run at the NBA.

In fact ... Pierre says the dude might've had a real shot at the MLB too!!!!!

"Football is not the only gift that man has," Thomas says ... "They got that movie 'White Man Can't Jump,' but no, he can jump!"

We've unearthed some footage of Brees with a basketball hoop ... and it begs the question -- do we believe Pierre????

THIS IS SAVAGE!!!!!

Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey isn't just dancing on the Yankees' grave -- he's crapping all over it ... eating a bunch of chowda and lobsta rolls ... and crapping all over 'em again!!

Seriously ... it's amazing.

"In Boston, you're born a Democrat and a Red Sox fan and then you're baptized Catholic 7 days later. So, the Red Sox beating the Yankees is absolutely the top of the list because they're the Evil Empire."

You hear that?? Markey just said the Yankees are EVIL -- and he's not done yet!!

"They represent everything that we fight against in the Athens of America."

"We're Athens and they're Sparta. We work smarter, not harder. We're just smarter."

.... AND. THERE'S. MORE!!!!!

"We spend our money in a way that continues in the 21st century to us being the dominant team. Far better than what the Yankees have been since the turn of this century."

"Yes, they might have beaten us in the 20th century, but the Red Sox and Boston, we own the 21st century!!"

Someone get that man some Charmin. Right now.

Dave East is gonna get REALLY HIGH to get over the Yankees loss -- telling TMZ Sports it's gonna take some good grass to move on from the NY "L."

We got the rapper -- who's a Yanks diehard -- just hours after the Pinstripes fell in the ALDS ... and that's when he revealed the perfect East strategy for how to cope with the defeat.

"Some good weed," he says.

Dave's from New York City ... so the loss reallllly sucks for him -- but he tells us he's still ride-or-die with Aaron Judge and the boys no matter what.

In fact ... the "Perfect" spitter tells us he's rooting for anyone that plays the Sox from now on.

"I'm against the Red Sox, man."

Stop us if you've heard this before ... Lenny Dykstra's got problems.

A grand jury in Union County, NJ just indicted the ex-MLB superstar on 3 serious crimes ... possession of cocaine, possession of meth and making terroristic threats after an alleged blowup with his Uber driver last May.

As we previously reported, Dykstra was arrested back in May after allegedly threatening his Uber driver -- who then stopped the car in front of a police station.

Cops say they found evidence of cocaine and meth -- and took Dykstra into custody.

TMZ Sports obtained police body cam video from the arrest -- in which Dykstra tells the cop he does NOT have a gun in his possession (as originally claimed by the Uber driver).

Remember, the driver claimed Dykstra put a gun to his head during the incident. Dykstra says that's just not true.

In the video, Dykstra is frantically trying to dissuade the cops from searching one of his bags -- it seems obvious why.

Dykstra argued that the Uber driver was the bad guy -- who kidnapped him and Lenny was in fear for his life.

But, the grand jury clearly believes there's enough truth behind the Uber driver's story to move forward with charges against the 55-year-old.

If convicted, Dykstra faces between 3-5 years in prison on each charge.

The Boston Red Sox murdered the New York Yankees' season on Tuesday ... and danced on their ALDS playoff graves with champagne and beer bottles.

The BoSox narrowly escaped the Yanks' last-ditch effort to tie up the series by winning Game 4 at Yankee Stadium ... and celebrated the 4-3 win by drenching themselves in champagne. And, LOTS of it.

The lit fest kicked off with a motivational speech from Sox manager Alex Cora -- who warned his guys about their next matchup ... the Houston Astros.

But, Mookie Betts and Co. don't seem fazed one bit, 'cause that's when the corks start flyin' (right into a local reporter's face).

The ALCS kicks off on Saturday -- start hydrating now!

Houston Astros pitcher Ryan Pressly tried to play the role of peacemaker with a heckler who was going after Roberto Osuna ... but Pressly ended up calling the guy a "dickhead" and walking away.

It all went down on Monday when the Astros were taking on the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field for Game 3 of the ALDS ... when a CLE fan began teeing off on Osuna.

The person who shot the video says the heckler was going after Osuna about his domestic violence arrest -- yelling things like, "Do you remember baseball before you committed domestic violence?"

Osuna -- who pled not guilty in his criminal case -- didn't say one word to the heckler but fellow pitcher Pressly came over to try to calm things down.

"Stop, stop, stop ... I don't care what you say. You can talk all the sh*t you want. Just don't bring that stuff up," Pressly said.

The heckler argued that Osuna should be able to handle the trash talk because he's a pro -- but Pressly fired back.

"He's trying to be a professional ... but you're coming over here being a dickhead, dude."

Finally, Pressly gives up and walks away ... telling the heckler, "You're f*cking soft."

The Houston Astros are back in the ALCS for the second year in a row ... but they're celebrating like it's their first time -- drenching their locker room with TONS of beer and champagne!!

The 'stros just finished off their sweep of the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS with an 11-3 win on Monday ... and Jose Altuve & Co. made themselves right at home in the visitor's locker room at Progressive Field.

What's more incredible than their blowout win over the Tribe -- the amount of booze that is flying through the air at one time.

Here's your feel-good story for Friday afternoon ... a Milwaukee Brewers fan just had HIS LIFE SAVED and it's all because he put his need for help on a t-shirt and wore it to a game.

The man's name is Lenny Zweig -- a 43-year-old father of 3 -- who became so desperate for a kidney transplant after falling ill several years ago ... he took his plight on a t-shirt and wore it to a Brewers game last spring.

A fellow Milwaukee fan spotted the shirt -- which had Lenny's contact info and blood type listed on the back -- at Miller Park and threw a pic of them on social media.

The picture went viral ... and fast forward to Thursday -- Lenny announced that all the noise his shirts made had resulted in a donor!!!

"I’d like to thank this person for all she is doing for me and the gift of life she is willing to share," Lenny shared on his Facebook page.

If you're thinking Lenny is going to take the donor out and buy her a beer (least he could do right??), he can't because, of course, the donor is anonymous.

"In this situation, I do not know who my donor is. It is hard to thank people you don’t know, and you aren’t sure if they are even reading but I am so truly grateful."

David Ortiz is just as surprised as the rest of us by his old teammate, Johnny Damon -- telling TMZ Sports he's SHOCKED that Damon would root for the Yankees to beat the Red Sox in the ALDS.

"Johnny Damon?! That's some bullsh*t, isn't it! Red Sox all the way," Big Papi told us.

Damon and Ortiz were both a part of that special 2004 "bunch of idiots" team who broke the Red Sox curse and won their first World Series since 1918. Damon left Boston in 2005 and signed a contract with the rival Yanks.

So, when we asked Johnny who he was pulling for now that his 2 former squads are facing off in the American League Division Series ... and he went with the Bronx Bombers.

Remember, there was bitterness between Damon and Boston -- and in 2015, Damon said he wasn't on speaking terms with Red Sox owner John Henry.

Still, Ortiz clearly felt like there was enough Beantown love for Damon to pick the Sox over the Yanks.

Sorry, Boston ... Johnny Damon's making it 100% clear -- he bleeds pinstripes now.

"New York's my team," Johnny tells TMZ Sports. "The Yankees, that's who I want to win."

Damon says he still does have at least SOME love in his heart for the Sox -- a team he broke a curse with and won a World Series within 2004.

But, when it comes to Boston-N.Y. in the ALDS -- he's got his Yanks cap firmly on.

"I think [the Yankees] upset them," Damon says.

So, why's Johnny -- who played 4 seasons in N.Y. after his 4 seasons in Boston -- picking sides??

Johnny sorta explains -- when he left Boston, contract talks created some drama. But, with the Yanks, it's been nothing but good vibes from them since retirement.

Plus ... it doesn't hurt that he spends a lot of time in N.Y. these days.

Chicago Cubs star Addison Russell has been suspended 40 games for violating the MLB's domestic abuse policy ... after his ex-wife accused him of physically and verbally abusing her.

Melisa Reidy -- who has one child with Russell -- accused the shortstop of name calling, intimidating with personal force and putting his hands on her during their 2-year marriage.

The allegations initially went public last year ... but Reidy says she was not ready to cooperate with the league's investigation until after their divorce was finalized.

Russell was placed on administrative leave 2 weeks ago ... after Reidy published a blog post detailing the alleged abuse. The league claims to have been investigating the allegations since last June.

Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the results of the league's investigation into Reidy's claims on Wednesday ... and said there was enough evidence to hand down the 40-game unpaid suspension, retroactive to September 21.

Russell released a statement on Wednesday ... saying, "After gaining a full understanding of the situation I have concluded it's in the best interest of my family to accept MLB's proposed resolution of this matter."

WHY IS NOAH SYNDERGAARD LETTING ANYONE NEAR THAT BEAUTIFUL HAIR WITH A RAZOR?!?!!

Because "Vikings." That's why.

The NY Mets pitcher -- who earned the nickname Thor because of that godlike blonde mane -- was offered a role on the insanely violent History Channel show but it came with a catch ... ya gotta tweak that 'do.

Don't worry, it's not all the way gone -- as Noah put it, "Party on top, business on the sides."

Noah says his character's name is "Thorbjorn" -- he's a badass -- and he'll be featured on season 6. Chances Thorbjorn meets a gruesome death? Very high (everyone dies on that show).

Producers must be stoked Noah actually showed up for the shoot -- as we previously reported, they've been screwed over by big celebrity guests in the past.

In fact, Katheryn Winnick -- who plays Lagertha on the show -- says Conor McGregor bailed on filming a scene at the last minute ... forcing Katheryn and her team to rewrite the episode.

The Rockies were the WORST houseguests Tuesday night ... 'cause after they booted the Cubs from the playoffs -- they SOAKED their Wrigley Field locker room in bubbly and beer!!!

Colorado scored in the top of the 13th in the NL Wild Card game and slammed the door on Chicago in the bottom of the frame ... and then it was time for champagne and Budweiser.

The team sprayed down the whole locker room -- although they were at least kind enough to put up the tarps beforehand.

There was an MVP chant for Charlie Blackmon ... Nolan Arenado made sure to bring the tunes ... and Tony Wolters (dude with the game-winning RBI) had a great dance. Good times were had by all.

It's the Brewers up next for the Rockies in the NLDS. Series starts Thursday.

MLB star Jayson Werth got into it with a police officer during his DUI arrest back in April -- ultimately telling the cop he's not sure the officer had his best interests at heart.

Werth was pulled over in Scottsdale, AZ on April 17 for expired registration and, during the stop, the officer suspected he was drunk.

Werth tried to celebrity his way out of the arrest -- handing the cop an MLB "courtesy card" which shows he's a pro baseball player -- and told the cop, "We do a lot of work with you guys."

Didn't work.

When the cops tried to conduct a field sobriety test, Werth objected -- refusing to comply and telling the cop, "I'm just not sure I trust you."

The cop tried to explain that he was NOT misleading Werth and was only trying to do the right thing.

Werth replied, "A lot of people have gotten into a lot of trouble assuming that police officers have their best interests [at heart]."

That's when the cop broke out the handcuffs and arrested the baseball player.

As we previously reported, Werth was taken to a nearby station where he ultimately surrendered to a blood draw -- which showed he had a .12 BAC.

Legendary sportscaster Ernie Johnson has just announced he will NOT be covering the MLB playoffs for TBS ... after doctors diagnosed him with blood clots in both of his legs.

The 62-year-old says he was undergoing a routine physical when doctors found the clots -- which can be fatal if not treated immediately.

The danger with blood clots ... they can break off and enter the blood stream and, in some cases, can cause a pulmonary embolism, which is a blockage of an artery in the lungs.

Johnson says he understands the situation -- and he's treating it aggressively with blood thinners and compression socks.

Flying in planes can be dangerous when diagnosed with clots -- and since Johnson would be taking a bunch of flights in a relatively short time period, his medical team advised him it wasn't worth the risk.

"The best course of action is to just stay grounded at this point, not fly," EJ said ... "blood clots are nothing to be messed with."

While recovering and treating the clots, Johnson says he'll be preparing to cover the NBA when the season kicks off in just a few weeks.