Baseball

An incredibly rare baseball signed by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky just sold at auction ... and a portion of the proceeds are going to a relief fund for the country.

The winning bid for the autographed baseball came in at $50,103 ... according to Boston-based RR Auction, which will be donating their cut of more than $15k to relief efforts in Zelensky's war-torn country.

The sale price is higher than expected ... remember, the ball was projected to go for $15k, and now that's the figure that's being donated.

Zelensky signed his last name on the baseball in two different languages ... Ukrainian cursive and English print ... with his signature underneath an MLB logo.

The ball comes with a letter signed by Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Nations in September 2019, when Zelensky left his John Hancock during a visit to New York.

Randy L. Kaplan, a government affairs specialist in the Big Apple, got the ball as a gift from Yelchenko ... and he's been collecting signed Major League baseballs from world leaders and heads of state dating all the way back to 1996 with Bill Clinton.

We're told there were 35 bids entered and the buyer wishes to remain anonymous.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. just did his best Bo Jackson impression ... completely -- and easily -- destroying his bat over his leg following a tough strikeout.

The Toronto superstar turned his personalized lumber into kindling in the fifth inning of the Blue Jays' game against the Yankees ... when he struck out on a Jameson Taillon cutter.

Guerrero Jr. was so mad at himself for waving at a pitch that ended up outside of the zone -- he slammed his bat to the ground ... and then snapped it over his right quad.

Video shows the thing didn't stand a chance against the wrath of the 6'2, 235-pound first baseman ... it splintered all over the batter's box.

If you're wondering, there's no MLB rule against snapping a bat in frustration ... so Vladdy won't face any penalty over the temper tantrum.

As for the game ... the Jays are currently down 5-2 -- but Vlad's gotten another bat and is scheduled to come up again shortly.

It's 2022, but COVID is still finding ways to affect baseball ... the MLB just announced the Cleveland Guardians' game against the White Sox on Wednesday has been postponed due to a virus outbreak.

In a statement released just hours before the first pitch was scheduled to go down at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, the league said the game will not go on because of "multiple" positive COVID tests in the Guardians' org.

This is the first time in the 2022 season that an MLB game has been postponed over coronavirus.

Unclear which players tested positive for the virus ... but the Guardians did reveal prior to the game's postponement that manager Terry Francona had contracted COVID.

Scary moment on the MLB diamond Tuesday ... A's shortstop Elvis Andrus hit Chad Pinder in the face with his knee in a violent collision during Oakland's game against Detroit.

Thankfully, both guys were somehow OK.

The horrifying moment just went down in the fifth inning of the A's vs. Tigers afternoon matchup ... when Andrus attempted to leave the infield to catch a short pop-up that was dropping in left field.

Pinder raced in from deep in left to also try to catch the ball -- and as he dove to make the grab, Andrus accidentally hit him with full force.

Video shows Andrus' knee hit Pinder's face hard -- and the two stayed down on the grass for several minutes.

Trainers eventually came out to check on the Oakland duo -- and, wildly, both guys ended up being fine and stayed in the game.

Guardians first baseman, Josh Naylor, made history Monday night ... and then he celebrated like a madman, cussing up a storm and throwing his helmet -- and video of the scene is EPIC.

Naylor logged EIGHT RBIs in his final three at-bats of Cleveland's wild 12-9, extra-innings win over the Chicago White Sox ... and following his last AB -- one in which he hit the go-ahead three-run homer -- he completely lost it on his way to the dugout.

Video shot by a fan in the stands shows Naylor dropped F-bombs, hurled his helmet into a wall, pounded his chest and screamed, "You can't f***ing beat me!" over and over again.

Naylor also yelled about wanting "all of the smoke" constantly as he charged through his teammates.

The celly was a wild one -- but it's clearly warranted. In his last three at-bats of the Guardians' win, he had a double, a grand slam and a three-run homer. And, according to ESPN, Naylor became the first player in over 100 years to log eight RBIs in the eighth inning and on during a game.

Olivia Rodrigo turned the Philadelphia Phillies game into her own prom on Thursday ... dancing her face off and vibing to her hit song!!

The moment was captured on the Citizens Bank Park scoreboard in the 6th inning of the Phils' game against the New York Mets ... with the stadium showing off the Grammy winner to the fans.

Naturally, OR's "good 4 u" was blaring over the speaker system ... and just like the rest of the world does when they hear it (admit it, you love it), the singer had to rock out.

The video is pretty cool -- Rodrigo jumps up and down, waves to the cameras, dances and points out her friends as the crowd loses it.

So, what the heck was she doing at a Phillies game?? Rodrigo is in the City of Brotherly Love the next two nights for her "SOUR" tour ... so why not catch a good ol' ballgame??

But, by the looks of it, Olivia might not have cared too much about the action on the diamond ... as she was spotted taking pics during the middle of the game.

Hey ... when ya got 25 million followers on Instagram, you gotta take advantage of every photo op.

As for the game, the Phillies lost 8-7 ... and it was one of the biggest collapses in team history.

If the top part of the Yankees' batting order looks a little sluggish tonight ... now ya know why!

New York stars Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu all attended the Rangers' playoff game against the Penguins on Thursday night -- and they were feelin' so good in their seats, they chugged beers together!!

The trio had on-the-glass spots for Game 2 of the Pittsburgh vs. NY series -- and when the Madison Square Garden cameras spotted them ... they pounded their drinks to get the crowd going.

None of the three were Tom Brady-level chuggers ... but it seems clear Rizzo won the drink-off.

As for how the beer-pounding played at MSG -- it seemed to fire up both Rangers fans and the actual team ... 'cause NY went on to score three more goals after the scene, winning the game 5-2.

But, don't fret about a potential hangover, Pinstripes fans, Yankees aren't slated to play the Texas Rangers on Friday night until 7 PM ET.

The SF Giants lost to the Dodgers on Thursday night ... and then one of their fans got dropped in a fist fight afterward -- and the violence was all captured on video.

Shortly after Brandon Crawford and the Giants took an L at Dodger Stadium ... one of their fans suffered the same fate in a scrap outside the venue.

Footage shot by a bystander shows the Giants fan got into an argument with a man in a white T-shirt -- and seconds later, it didn't end well for him.

You can see the guy in the Joe Panik jersey was popped in the face twice -- with the second punch putting him on the ground.

Fortunately for the Giants fan, the other combatant took off following the big right hand -- appearing to save him from further damage.

Doesn't seem anyone suffered any significant injuries -- other than perhaps a big blow to the ego.

Of course, this is far from the first tilt between fans at MLB games this month ... just a couple days ago, Chicago Cubs fans fought it out in the bleachers at Wrigley Field.

Here's a video that'll hit ya right in the feels ... a Blue Jays fan gifted an Aaron Judge home run ball to a little Yankees supporter -- and the gesture was so appreciated, the kid actually cried tears of joy!!

The moment happened in the sixth inning of New York's game against Toronto at Rogers Centre ... when Judge blasted a moon shot into the upper deck in left field.

A Toronto fan initially caught the souvenir ... but he turned and handed it to a little Yankees fan sitting near him -- and what happened next was truly amazing.

The kid -- who was wearing an Aaron Judge shirt -- burst into tears and gave the guy a huge hug!!!

In the clip of their interaction, which was thankfully caught by broadcast cameras, you can see after the two embraced, the boy was completely overwhelmed with joy.

And, as icing on the cake for the little Judge fan ... the Yanks ended up trouncing the Jays, 9-1.

Talk about a great Tuesday at the ballpark.

A Citi Field security guard was forced to leave a game on Wednesday afternoon ... after he was drilled on the top of the head by a towering foul ball.

The scary moment just happened in the second inning of the Mets vs. Braves game in New York ... when Atlanta catcher, Travis D'Arnaud, hit a pitch way into the air down the third-base line.

As the ball was coming down in foul ground, though, a security guard couldn't track it -- and it ended up plunking him.

The ball hit the man so hard, D'Arnaud visibly winced at the sight.

The guard rubbed his head and appeared to be dazed -- and just seconds later, he left his post with a stadium official.

Unclear if he suffered significant injuries ... we've reached out to the Mets for comment on the situation, but so far, no word back yet.

Madison Bumgarner just lost his mind on the baseball diamond ... needing to be physically restrained from an umpire after the guy threw him out of a game.

The Diamondbacks pitcher's blowup just went down after the first inning of Arizona's game against the Miami Marlins in Florida ... following an incident with an on-field ump.

Mad Bum was pissed during the frame over some balls and strikes calls ... and when he walked toward the dugout and got checked by an ump for foreign substances -- he had some words for the official.

In footage of the altercation, picked up by broadcast cameras, Bumgarner was seen clearly arguing with the ump -- before he was eventually tossed.

The ejection set the former World Series MVP off ... and footage shows he went so ballistic, he needed several teammates and coaches to hold him back from going after the dude.

Bumgarner, thankfully, ultimately left the field without further incident.

Several Chicago Cubs fans tried to beat the hell out of each other in the bleacher seats at Wrigley on Tuesday night -- and the wild scene was all captured on video!!

The melee went down at some point during the Cubs' tilt with the White Sox ... when, for some reason, Cubbies fans turned on each other and began whaling on each other.

In a clip of the fracas, shot by a bystander near the action, you can see as one fan had another pinned to the ground -- another Cubs supporter was kicking another guy in the head.

Security rushed in to try to break things up -- but that still didn't stop one of the men from getting some extra punches in.

Eventually, the scrap was broken up ... but, sadly for one fan, he said one of the combatants who was undoubtedly booted from the section was "my ride home!"

Former Indianapolis Colts star Cato June says his young son was taunted with racist chants while he was pitching during a youth baseball game on Sunday ... and the ex-linebacker says he's "crushed" over it all.

June explained the awful situation on his Twitter page on Monday ... saying that while his kid, Cato Jr., was on the mound -- players from the opposing team aimed "monkey chants" his way.

"I am here in Indy and they are in Texas so my wife called me during the inning going off," said June, who's now an assistant coach on the Colts' staff. "I am crushed they were subjected to just plain old hate."

June said the incident happened during a game featuring kids 14 years old and younger.

June said his son handled it all "with more class than I ever could have" ... but he added it still stung the teenager.

"Hate is taught and the fact that people are poisoning young minds further infuriated me," the 42-year-old former Super Bowl champion said ... "He said he felt alone out there as the only black kid playing and only his mom there to have his back."

"I told him that you are never alone because God has us covered! All praise to the most high."

We've reached out to the team accused of making the chants for comment ... but so far, no word back yet.

The James Madison Univ. softball team will not play another game this season ... the school announced it's canceled all of its remaining contests in the wake of Lauren Bernett's tragic death.

"This was an extremely difficult decision and one that was not made lightly," JMU head coach Loren LaPorte said in a statement Monday morning.

"We are so grateful for the support of our fans all season and for the love from the softball community during the past week. We will use this time to continue healing and to honor Lauren's memory while finishing the academic semester strong."

JMU had four games remaining on its schedule ... one against Virginia on Tuesday and three against Elon slated for this weekend. The school had previously canceled games against Longwood and Delaware after learning of Bernett's death.

"We're thinking about our graduating seniors whose careers have come to an abrupt conclusion," LaPorte said. "We will make sure that they are honored for the commitment and dedication they have made as student-athletes at James Madison University."

As we reported, Bernett -- who had just won Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week honors for her roles in games in mid-April -- died by suicide last week. She was just 20 years old.

Whoops!!!

A Guardians fan hilariously spilled his beer on a woman sitting next to him after he whiffed on trying to catch a foul ball coming his way ... and the epic fail was all caught on video!

The funny moment happened during the Guardians game against the A's on Saturday ... when a fan tried to make the play of the day -- and got nothing instead.

You can see in video from the stadium, the foul ball was coming the guy's way, and he tried his best to snag it using only his left hand, but he bobbled it ... and then, disaster hit.

The Cleveland fan's drink went flying as he jumped into the air to try to nab the baseball ... and it spilled all over the woman's face and her food.

It's unclear if the woman, who was also a Guardians fan, had any relation to the guy who doused her in beer ... but she didn't seem TOO upset at the guy over it all, laughing and smiling at the blunder.

History was made in the Tennessee vs. Auburn college baseball game on Sunday ... a pitcher threw a ball that was clocked at a staggering 105.5 MPH!!!

The ridiculous heater was thrown by Ben Joyce in the seventh inning of the Vols' tilt with the Tigers in Knoxville ... and check out video of the pitch -- the ball was an absolute blur as it reached home plate!

According to baseball historians, it's the fastest a pitch has ever traveled in a college game.

Of course, the throw shouldn't surprise too many ... Joyce has been lighting up radar guns all year -- constantly hitting 103 and 104 MPH.

But, still, you can hear in the broadcast footage of the pitch -- fans in the stands let out audible gasps as the 105.5 flashed on the stadium's radar gun.

Joyce, a redshirt junior, used the crazy fastball to throw four innings of 1-hit ball on Sunday ... securing the win for the Vols while striking out six Tigers batters.