Baseball

Vida Blue -- one of the greatest pitchers in the Oakland Athletics' history -- has died.

The team announced his passing Sunday, writing ... "There are few players with a more decorated career than Vida Blue. He was a three-time champion, an MVP, a six-time All-Star, a Cy Young Award winner, and an Oakland A's Hall of Famer."

The A's add ... "Vida will always be a franchise legend and a friend. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends during this arduous time." No other details about a cause of death were released -- the condolences, however, are pouring in from all over.

The man certainly left a mark on the game. As the A's noted, he'd won three World Series with the team in '72, '73 and '74 ... serving as an integral part of the starting rotations during their five years of dominance in baseball. And, as they note ... he was voted in as the best pitcher in the American League during his breakout year with the A's in 1971.

His stats, at times, were off the charts ... once achieving a 1.82 ERA in a season -- which means people weren't getting very many hits off him. He was a southpaw pitcher, and Vida had nasty stuff for that era. By and large, he was considered a massive threat on the mound.

VB was also known for his shrewd business savvy behind the scenes. He famously locked horns with the A's ownership for a big bump in salary -- and he ultimately got it.

Like we mentioned, just about every organization tied to MLB is sending a tribute to the guy ... which speaks to his impact. In addition to playing for the A's, Vida was also on the SF Giants and the Kansas City Royals before he retired in 1987. Vida was also a 6-time All-Star and the American League MVP in 1971 ... on top of all his other accolades.

The San Francisco Giants have a new cleanup hitter ... 'cause after Logan Webb admitted most players were dealing with "the s***s" following their Mexico City trip, the whole team got hooked up with a ton of Dude Wipes!!

Remember, the pitcher was brutally honest about how the team was doing after their two-game series against the Padres in Mexico City last week ... saying three-quarters of the squad was dealing with the runs.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the folks at the popular poo companion company got wind of the ball club's issues ... and decided to help out by sending over enough product to keep their asses clean for the rest of the season!!

We're told the team has 100 packs of Dude Wipes coming their way ... as well as four Dude Bomb "toilet stank eliminators" and 12 toilet sprays -- just in case the guys continue to "turn two" in the clubhouse.

It's not the first time the company had to step up to the plate for baseball stars -- as we previously reported, Dude Wipes helped Red Sox player Kiké Hernandez get back on track after he revealed he crapped his pants in the middle of a game.

An Oakland A's announcer copped to a mistake he says he made during a pregame segment ahead of Friday's game against the Kansas City Royals -- in which he used the n-word.

Glen Kuiper, a veteran, was on camera before the match kicked off, and he was describing what he and the A's broadcasting team had gotten into earlier in the day ... including visiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and hitting up a barbecue hot spot there in town.

The problem ... instead of saying "Negro" he said "n*****" -- which came across very clearly over the airwaves, without any bleeping or censoring whatsoever. It came and went, while Glen and his in-booth partner didn't seem to acknowledge it or even really notice it.

This wasn't addressed until much later on in the game, right around the 6th inning ... when Glen came back on the air and issued an apology as soon as they came back from a break. He said he said something earlier in the day that didn't come out the way he intended.

At first, nobody knew what exactly he was talking about ... 'cause he wasn't specific.

Eventually, though, somebody tracked down the video ... and now, the A's say they're looking into this and considering next steps. A rep for the team announced his use of the slur was "unacceptable," adding ... "The Oakland Athletics do not condone such language. We are working to address the situation." Kuiper's in his 20th season of calling A's games.

Don't count on Logan Webb going to Mexico again anytime soon -- the Giants' pitcher says three-quarters of the team has "the s**ts" after their trip to Mexico City .... and he can't wait to be back home in the Bay Area!

Webb said a majority of the Giants squad has a severe case of the runs ... and he's blaming it on their two-game series against the Padres in Mexico City last week.

"The whole trip was very grindy," Webb told reporters on Wednesday. "It's been a mental grind. It's been a physical grind. I think three-quarters of our clubhouse has the s**ts."

"It'll be good to get back home for sure. Hopefully, the s**ts go away, and we'll be better in a couple [of] days."

In August 2022, Major League Baseball announced that the Giants and Padres would play in the first-ever regular season series in Mexico City as a part of MLB's World Tour.

The series between the two NL West teams took place on April 29 and 30 at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú stadium, the home of the Red Devils of Mexico in Mexico City.

The Padres swept both games against the Giants ... including a 16-11 win in what was a slugfest between the two teams.

Despite dropping both games in Mexico to their division rival, the Giants rebounded by winning two out of three against the World Series champion Astros in Houston.

A baseball signed by John F. Kennedy sold at auction for a whopping $166k over the weekend ... making it the most expensive ball ever signed by a president!!

As we previously reported, the "Associacion Venezuela de Baseball Professional" ball is from a reporter named Julio Messuti ... who was covering JFK and the First Lady's visit to Venezuela to meet President Romulo Betancourt in December 1961.

The trip was part of the "Alliance for Progress" project, which aimed to help economic ties between the U.S. and Latin America.

Messuti was able to meet JFK during the initiative, and POTUS was happy to sign the ball. In fact, you can see the exact moment between Kennedy and Messuti in a photo published by the El Universal.

Kennedy -- who was an avid baseball fan -- praised then-White Sox star shortstop and future Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio when he signed the ball.

SCP Auctions put the one-of-a-kind JFK memorabilia on the market last week ... and after 19 bids, it sold for exactly $166,818 on Saturday -- making it the new all-time high for a baseball signed by a president.

FYI, the first POTUS-signed ball to hit over six figures was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Hancock in 2020.

Terrifying moment during a collegiate baseball game Saturday ... a player was struck by a bullet while he was standing in the bullpen -- and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital.

It all went down during Texas A&M University-Texarkana's game against the University of Houston-Victoria at George Dobson Field in Texarkana, Texas ... after authorities say an argument in the streets near the diamond erupted into gunfire.

According to the Texarkana Texas Police Department, two men shot at each other in front of a home as the game was happening nearby ... and an errant round "traveled about 400 yards and struck the innocent victim at the ball field."

Cops say after collapsing, the TAMUT baseball player -- whose identity has not yet been publicly revealed -- was hospitalized. Thankfully, both the school and police said in statements the 18-year-old is now in stable condition.

Authorities say they believe 17-year-old Kamauri Butler and 20-year-old Demarco Banks were the shooters during the incident. Banks, cops said on Monday morning, turned himself in on Sunday night on a felony deadly conduct warrant. Police said they're still on the hunt for Butler, who's wanted for felony aggravated assault.

As for the game -- which was stopped in the fifth inning as trainers tended to the injured baseball player -- TAMUT said it's been officially declared a no-contest.

Travis Kelce might be in the midst of one of the greatest NFL careers ever ... but the Kansas City Chiefs star tells TMZ Sports he has his eye on another endeavor -- the WWE.

Now, he clearly ain't ready to hang up his cleats in exchange for wrestling boots ... but the two-time Super Bowl champ said this week he definitely wants some kind of role with the org. -- and he hopes it happens sooner than later.

Kelce told us he's been inspired to seek out the job after he watched his good buddy, George Kittle, have a blast in the ring earlier this month.

"My guy George Kittle was at WrestleMania throwing clotheslines left and right, man," Kelce said. "It was awesome to see him go nuts."

So, Kelce said he's hit up his pal The Miz -- who actually lost to Pat McAfee at WrestleMania due to interference from Kittle -- and he told us he's working with the WWE Superstar to try to get some sort of action in the WWE soon.

"Hopefully," the 33-year-old tight end said, "we can brew something into fruition here."

Of course, Kelce doesn't have exactly all the time in the world to mix it up in the ring ... he's gone nonstop this offseason, hosting "Saturday Night Live," throwing ceremonial pitches at Guardians games and even making an appearance at Thursday's NFL draft.

A baseball signed by President John F. Kennedy during an historic trip to Venezuela in late-1961 is up for auction, one of the most coveted presidential John Hancocks, and the ball could sell for upwards of $200K!

The Spalding "Associacion Venezuela de Baseball Professional" ball that SCP Auctions is selling was signed on December 18, 1961, shy of two years before Kennedy's tragic death, when the first-term president traveled to meet Venezuelan president Rómulo Betancourt.

A newspaper reporter named Julio Messuti carried around the ball for days, hoping JFK would sign it ... and as the trip drew to a close, he got his chance, somehow getting by Secret Service and reaching Kennedy, who signed the ball.

The paper El Universal published a photo of POTUS signing the ball.

There's a massive market for baseballs signed by U.S. presidents -- the rarer, the better -- and there aren't that many JFK-signed balls that have been authenticated.

"As far as sports memorabilia goes, there is high interest in baseballs signed by our past Presidents, with the game being America's National pastime going back over 125+ years," David Kohler, SCP president, told us.

"JFK signed baseballs are some of the rarest in all the collecting community with only a handful ever authenticated by the foremost experts."

As we reported in 2020, Donald Trump signed baseballs were selling in the $2,000 to $3,000 price range -- a stark contrast from the $1,000 price point memorabilia shops were getting when he first assumed the White House in 2017 -- despite his polarizing persona.

There have already been 9 bids for the ball ... with the top number currently at $53,594.

Two California high school baseball teams got into a massive brawl during a game earlier this week -- and it grew into such a large melee on the diamond, cops tell TMZ Sports they're now investigating it all.

The fight erupted after Norwalk H.S. beat Mayfair H.S., 3-2, on Wednesday in Lakewood, which is about 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.

The victory meant the Norwalk Lancers swept Mayfair and would advance in the playoffs ... and in order to celebrate the occasion, one of the Lancers' players brought a broom to the postgame handshake line.

Fans in the crowd, though, didn't appreciate the sweep taunt ... and you can hear in footage from the scene, one person yelled, "Put your broom in the dugout! Respect the game!"

Mayfair players clearly didn't like it either ... and seconds later, an all-out brawl between both teams erupted.

At one point, parents even got in the middle of it ... with some calling players on the field derogatory names.

A different angle of the fight shows several players threw punches in the skirmish ... and on Friday, the Lakewood Sheriff’s Department told us officers did ultimately respond to the scene and an investigation is now underway.

The California Interscholastic Federation and officials from the two schools said they're still gathering information on the unfortunate incident ... and a punishment could come down at a later date.

The "f***ing c***" barb that ex-ESPN reporter Marly Rivera hurled at a female journalist earlier this month was captured on video ... and in the footage, obtained by TMZ Sports, you can see it all went down right in front of Aaron Judge.

The incident -- which resulted in ESPN firing Rivera from her role as a national baseball reporter earlier this week -- happened on April 18 at Yankee Stadium ... just before New York took on the Los Angeles Angels in the Bronx.

According to the New York Post, Rivera had set up an interview with Judge ... but grew frustrated when freelance reporter Ivón Gaete showed up at the same time looking to speak with the Yankees superstar as well.

The video shows Rivera got so livid with Gaete -- who the Post reported had been at the stadium to cover Angels star Shohei Ohtani for Tokyo Broadcasting -- she began to raise her voice at the woman in Spanish ... as Judge signed autographs and posed for pics with fans just feet away.

At one point, Rivera rolled her eyes and called Gaete a "f***ing c***."

Gaete was clearly taken aback by the remark -- and asked a nearby camera person if they had caught it on video.

The two reporters then lingered around Judge for several moments. When he finally left the area, it seemed Rivera wanted to apologize ... but it didn't appear Gaete was willing to accept it.

ESPN said on Wednesday it had parted ways with Rivera following the encounter. Rivera, meanwhile, told the Post she fully accepted responsibility for her actions.

"There were extenuating circumstances but that in no way is an excuse for my actions," Rivera said. "I am a professional with a sterling reputation across baseball and I do believe that I am being singled out by a group of individuals with whom I have a long history of professional disagreements."

Rivera has since deleted her social media pages.

Fernando Tatis Jr. was public enemy No. 1 at Wrigley Field Tuesday night -- but the Padres star was unbothered as Cubs fans serenaded him with steroids taunts during the game.

Tatis Jr. -- suspended for 80 games by MLB in August 2022 over a positive PED test -- was showered with "he's on steroids" chants as he stood in the outfield.

How'd the 24-year-old respond to the trolling? By dancing to the chants and, at one point, even gesturing toward fans in the bleachers.

Remember, MLB suspended Tatis Jr. for half a season after he tested positive for Clostebol, a banned substance, and the suspension, coupled with a wrist injury, caused him to miss the entire 2022 campaign.

Fernando, who has always maintained he never intentionally ingested performance-enhancing drugs, said he took medication to treat a skin infection, and that caused the positive test.

Tatis Jr. has apologized for the suspension, saying he was genuinely sorry for letting so many people down, and adding he has work to do to regain trust.

The 2x Silver Slugger debuted with the Padres last Thursday, where he hit leadoff for San Diego against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Russell Wilson went from NFL superstar to proud dad real quick this weekend ... 'cause after Future Zahir hit his first ever over-the-fence home run -- the Denver Broncos QB went crazy!!!

The memorable moment went down on the baseball diamond just after one of Ciara's 8-year-old son's games ... when Russ and the boy were getting in some extra work.

You can see in video Wilson shared to his Instagram page on Sunday ... the quarterback was throwing Future Zahir some pitches, when the kid got a hold of one.

The ball traveled to deep left field ... and when it cleared the fence -- everyone lost their minds!!

Wilson threw his hands up, Future Zahir jumped up and down ... and even Ciara screamed from the stands, chanting his name as her son circled the bases.

"His first Home Run way over the fence!" Wilson said of the moment in the vid's caption. "Future taking ground balls, pop flies & extra swings. Right before Sun down."

"Anything worth having we all have to work for!!! Proud dad moment.⚾️"

Of course, the Super Bowl champ knows a thing or two about baseball ... before becoming an NFL player, Wilson played for NC State from 2008 to 2010 and was actually drafted by the Colorado Rockies.

The 34-year-old went on to play 32 games for Rockies' minor league affiliate, the Tri-City Dust Devils, and had two home runs, 11 RBI and a .230 batting average.

As for Future Zahir -- Ciara's first child with rapper Future -- he isn't just good with the bat ... Wilson's been training him on the football field as well.

A's legend Dave Stewart says if his former team leaves Oakland, he's going to be devastated ... and now, he's hoping for a "last-minute miracle" that stops the squad from moving to Las Vegas.

TMZ Sports spoke with the former World Series MVP just hours after the A's announced they had agreed to buy land in Sin City, seemingly with the intention of eventually moving there ... and Stewart didn't even try to hide his disappointment with it all.

The ex-pitcher, who grew up in Oakland and went on to play eight years for the Athletics, said "it's just heartbreaking to see this happening."

Stewart told us he really feels most for the city itself ... because it already lost the Raiders to Vegas and the Warriors to San Francisco in the past few years.

He added, though, that he understood it might be a move A's ownership just has to make.

"Even though it's heartbreaking, sometimes you just have to make the decision that puts you in a position to be successful going forward," he said.

But, the 66-year-old -- who currently works as an A's analyst for NBC -- told us he's still holding out hope a move is not in the cards.

"We'll keep our fingers crossed," he said, "and we'll continue to say prayers that some type of last-minute miracle will keep the A's in Oakland."

A San Francisco bartender wearing a David Wright jersey was in for a huge surprise on Thursday ... 'cause she came face-to-face with her favorite New York Mets star -- and the moment was pretty awesome!!

TMZ Sports has learned -- the interaction went down at Local Tap on 3rd and Brannan in SF ... after David's friends noticed Kyl Goodman wearing the black #5 threads behind the bar.

Goodman -- a native New Yorker and longtime Mets fan -- says Wright's friends told her the Mets great was right down the street and they would arrange for her to meet him ... but she didn't think they were actually being serious.

Sure enough, Wright popped up at Local Tap shortly after ... and the two were all smiles as they hugged one another!!

"I thought you guys were f***ing with me," Kyl told Wright's friends in the video.

Wright -- selected by the Mets in the first round of the 2001 MLB draft -- played 14 seasons in the Big Apple ... and was a fan-favorite while playing third baseman for the organization.

The 40-year-old was a 7-time All-Star, 2-time Gold Glove winner, back-to-back Silver Slugger winner ... and finished his career with 242 home runs.

Wright retired from MLB in 2018 ... but he's still clearly just as popular even in retirement.

Two weeks after ringing the victory bell, Chicago White Sox star pitcher Liam Hendriks is officially cancer-free!!!

The 34-year-old announced the amazing news on his social media page Thursday ... posting a video and pics of his months-long battle to rid himself of the disease.

"How It Started VS How It’s Going….REMISSION," he wrote in a caption on his Instagram page. "🙏🏻 It’s official. I’m cancer-free."

Hendriks' team also confirmed the great news on Twitter ... tweeting, "Liam Hendriks is cancer free" with a green heart emoji.

The Chicago closer had an uphill battle to get to this point ... undergoing grueling treatment every 28 days since his January diagnosis.

Hendriks -- a three-time All-Star and 12-year MLB veteran -- thanked his wife, Kristi, earlier this month for remaining by his side during the harrowing ordeal.

"You held my hand every step of the way," he wrote in a message to her. "You were my voice of confidence and always made sure I felt loved and safe throughout it all. I love you."

Madison Bumgarner went ballistic on Cardinals star Willson Contreras during their game on Wednesday ... telling the St. Louis catcher to "shut the f*** up" -- while appearing to call him a "p****."

The Diamondbacks pitcher fired off the NSFW commentary after Contreras got mad at himself for fouling off a pitch in the third inning.

It's unclear exactly why the former World Series MVP was so ticked at Contreras for the reaction ... but a hot mic captured almost the entirety of his ensuing rant.

"Shut the f*** up," Bumgarner can be heard saying on the game's broadcast ... before he mouthed the words, "You p****."

Bumgarner later could be seen appearing to tell the 30-year-old, "F*** you!"

Contreras motioned to Madison's catcher as if to signal he needed to do something about Bumgarner's language and demeanor ... but the chatter continued nonetheless.

The at-bat ultimately concluded with a walk ... and after Contreras flipped his bat on the way to first base, Bumgarner looked like he had even more words for the St. Louis hitter.