Baseball

Brett Gardner's 14-year-old son Miller may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) announced Monday.

OIJ Director Rándall Zúñiga revealed via a press briefing high levels of carbon monoxide were detected in the Gardner family's hotel room at the Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort in Manuel Antonio.

Zúñiga also noted in his native Spanish language that the family's room was located next to "a specialized machine room" which may have caused the contamination ... leading Miller to inhale a fatal amount of "these highly dangerous gases."

Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra clearly thinks those barking about New York's new torpedo bats should pipe down ... telling TMZ Sports, "at the end of the day, you still have to swing the bat and hit the ball in the barrel."

The Bronx Bombers, of course, set the baseball world on fire this weekend after they debuted some wonky-looking bats in their series with the Milwaukee Brewers ... and then proceeded to hit a bunch of home runs with them in a three-game sweep.

Critics of the Pinstripes took to their social media pages to blast the MLB for allowing the Yankees to alter their lumber -- with many claiming Rob Manfred and co. let it all slide 'cause NY is the league's most popular team.

Jurickson Profar is four games into his three-year $42 million deal with the Atlanta Braves ... but the team will now be without him for the foreseeable future -- he was just suspended 80 games for violating MLB's performance-enhancing drug policy.

Major League Baseball made the announcement Monday afternoon, saying the 32-year-old tested positive for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), the same drug Manny Ramirez was popped for back in 2009.

"I want to apologize to the entire Braves organization, my teammates, and the fans," Profar said. "It is because of my deep love and respect for this game that I would never knowingly do anything to cheat."

New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm isn't mincing words when it comes to the team's viral torpedo bats ... saying they are well within MLB regulations -- and calling the fans making a big deal out of them "idiots."

Chisholm took to his X account during the team's off day to address the first big controversy of the Major League Baseball season ... saying the Bronx Bombers aren't breaking any rules with their new equipment.

"For the idiots that say it's moved to the label you're an idiot!" Chisholm said. "Nobody is trying to get jammed you just move the wood from the parts you don't use to the parts you do!"

8:02 AM PT -- Some good news for Royals fans -- India was listed in the starting lineup for Monday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers ... so it sounds like he'll be fully recovered in time for first pitch at 1:10 PM CT.

A scary scene unfolded for Kansas City Royals second baseman Jonathan India on Sunday ... when he took a fastball right off his head -- forcing him to leave the game.

It all went down during the Royals' series finale against the Cleveland Guardians. Up 6-2 heading into the last inning, Cleveland brought in closer Emmanuel Clase to wrap things up.

After initially brushing India off the plate with a 97 MPH fastball ... the very next pitch went right at India's noggin -- clocking in at 99 on the speed gun.

A highly coveted Shohei Ohtani card just sold for some insane coin at auction -- a record $1,067,500, to be exact!

The 1-of-1 autographed card -- which features a piece of Ohtani's pants when he reached the 50/50 club -- is from Topps' "Dynasty Black" line and has a PSA Mint 9 Auto 9 grade.

The rare memorabilia was made available by Heritage Auctions ... and once bidding closed on Saturday, the final price tag was revealed.

The New York spotlight might scare some people away ... but new voice of the Yankees Dave Sims isn't sweating over his new gig, even though he has big shoes to fill -- telling TMZ Sports he's excited for the dream opportunity!!

We caught up with Sims on the streets of NYC ... and he explained he feels no pressure to fill the shoes of longtime radio announcer John Sterling, who retired after 36 years -- 'cause it's something he's experienced in the past.

"John had a great run," he said. "I had a great run in Seattle. I essentially replaced Dave Niehaus in Seattle. I've done this before. I'm back home in New York, I mean it doesn't get better than this."

Resorts World casino in Las Vegas just got hit with a bad beat ... as the venue was fined $10.5 million in connection to a money laundering case involving a bookmaker who took thousands of bets for Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board dropped the news on Friday ... saying  the two sides entered into a settlement over the "unsuitable methods of operation primarily resulting from activities at the licensed property by illegal bookmakers Matthew Bowyer and Damien LeForbes."

Along with the fine ... the Vegas location will be making changes to its executive leadership and implementing stricter protocols to prevent money laundering, but it will not have to admit or deny any of the allegations made against it.

Tanner Bibee was set to make his first-ever Opening Day start for the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday before his tummy had other plans -- but the pitcher wants to make it absolutely clear it was NOT Chipotle's fault!!

For those unfamiliar with the 26-year-old, he revealed his pregame superstition ahead of the 2024 MLB season -- which involves hitting up the popular Mexican restaurant to get ready for a start.

Bibee even shared his go-to order ... which involved brown rice, chicken, pico de gallo, hot sauce, cheese, guacamole and lettuce.

Ice Cube delivered the Commissioner's trophy to the 2024 World Series champion Dodgers before their home opener on Thursday ... and he did it in true California style, like only an L.A. legend could!

Cube had the honor of handing over the coveted hardware ... and he did it in a totally unique way, cruising on the field in what looks like a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air.

As you can imagine, the 53K plus fans in the house went nuts when they saw the "Check Yo Self" rapper who was dripped out in an all-Dodgers blue fit.

Fans hoping to catch some Major League Baseball Opening Day action were unfortunately striking out ... as the league's streaming service stopped working as the season got underway -- and fans were pissed!!!

Social media was flooded with people voicing their displeasure with MLB.TV and its rough start out of the gates ... with some being met with playback errors and never-ending loading screens.

As of 1:04 PST ... Downdetector.com reported 21,000 outages. MLB.TV is no stranger to hiccups, with the app having a history of complaints from fans of America's pastime. Those issues have ranged from people calling out the service interface to the blackout restrictions that come with it.

Opening Day 2025 has arrived for the New York Yankees ... and while there's always excitement leading into a new season, the team's manager said the players will take the field with "heavy hearts" following the shocking death of former star Brett Gardner's 14-year-old son.

Aaron Boone spoke with the media ahead of first pitch at Yankee Stadium ... and he said the athletes will have Miller on their minds throughout the season.

"I talk to our guys a lot about perspective," he said. "While this matters so much to us, it's our livelihood, we pour so much into this, so many people care about it, it's baseball. I really think it's important we reflect on that every now and then when we get consumed with this."

It might be sunny down at Major League Baseball Spring Training in Florida, but the moon came out early during one game -- 'cause a mischievous fan pulled down his pants and mooned the camera!

The Toronto Blue Jays were taking on the Philadelphia Phillies Friday at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, FL ... and, one fan behind the plate appeared to be talking to a pal on the phone.

This isn't abnormal at baseball games -- where the fans behind the plate are in full-view of the audience at home ... but, most of the time these fans give a wave or a thumb's up to the folks at home.

Owen Hayes, the college baseball player who cops say beat the crap out of an 84-year-old man at a California bar, is no longer enrolled at his university.

Hayes was playing baseball at The Master's University in Santa Clarita, CA up until this week, when he surrendered to authorities at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station and was booked on a charge of felony assault.

In a statement to TMZ, the school says ... "The individual in question no longer attends The Master's University. The University takes all violations of its standards and biblical convictions seriously."

The most famous Paul Skenes rookie card in existence just sold for a staggering $1.1 MILLION!!!

The piece -- which sparked a frenetic manhunt from hobbyists last year -- was bought out of the Fanatics Collect’s March Premier Auction on Wednesday night. No word yet on who ultimately came away with it.

The hefty price tag set multiple records -- it not only became the most expensive Skenes card ever publicly sold, but it also earned the mark for priciest debut patch.

Dodgers star Max Muncy was super pissed off after a fan derailed his attempt at catching a foul ball during the MLB Tokyo Series Wednesday ... but the culprit wasn't the average spectator -- it was ex-NFLer Rodney Peete!!

The random moment broke out amid L.A.'s 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs in Japan ... when the 34-year-old third baseman ran near the seats to try and catch a pop-up.

Muncy was just inches away from making the highlight ... but Peete, too, extended his limb in hopes of getting a souvenir -- and he came away with it, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering he was also drafted several times by MLB teams, but pursued football instead.