Baseball

POTUS apparently has pull in the MLB ... Rob Manfred admitted Wednesday he did consider Donald Trump's opinion when making the decision to lift Pete Rose's baseball ban.

The commissioner made the revelation to a gaggle of reporters while out at an owners meeting ... explaining Trump's strong support of Charlie Hustle was something he "paid attention to" when mulling whether or not to reinstate the Cincinnati Reds legend last month.

"The President was one of a number of voices that was supportive of the idea that this was the right decision," he said. "Obviously, I have respect for the office, and the advice that he gave, I paid attention to."

The Chicago Cubs fan who stumbled upon a meaningful Elly De La Cruz home run ball is hoping to reunite the keepsake with its rightful owner ... telling TMZ Sports he'll hand it over to the Reds superstar if he wants it.

The 23-year-old shortstop dedicated Sunday's performance to his older sister, who tragically died a day prior. He wore equipment with "RIP Manita, te quiero mucho" written on it ... which translates to "RIP Manita, I love you very much."

In the sixth inning of the matchup at Wrigley Field, EDLC hit a two-run dinger (the 50th homer of his career) that reached its final destination outside of the historic stadium ... and Cubs fan Brendan Daly just so happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Mariners star George Kirby was drilled in the face by a 102.7 MPH line drive on Tuesday night -- but somehow, he was able to leave the game under his own power.

The scene unfolded in the fifth inning of Seattle's tilt with the Orioles at T-Mobile Park ... when Ramón Urías smacked a Kirby four-seamer right back at the All-Star pitcher.

Kirby wasn't able to move out of the way quickly enough, and the ball hit him right in the jaw. It ended up caroming to first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who secured the inning-ending out -- but all eyes then turned toward Kirby.

Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter is owning up to hurling a homophobic slur during Monday's game against Tennessee ... saying his words do not reflect his character.

Walter was caught on camera seemingly referring to someone as a "f***ing f****t" as he stood in the dugout ... right before a Volunteers player hit a two-run homer.

There's speculation Walter issued the words toward the home plate umpire he had an exchange with earlier in the outing.

Shohei Ohtani paid tribute to Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima ... who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 89.

Ohtani mourned Nagashima's death on his Instagram ... sharing three photos of himself and the Yomiuri Giants great posing together. Two of the images were from February, when the Dodgers were in Japan to take on the Chicago Cubs during the Tokyo Series.

The third featured a throwback photo of Nagashima and Ohtani ... and the Dodgers slugger captioned the post, "May your soul rest in peace."

MLB phenom Paul Skenes got a special shoutout from his hot girlfriend for his 23rd birthday ... a friendly reminder of how good it is to be the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher.

Former LSU gymnast, internet sensation and S.I. Swimsuit cover model Livvy Dunne shared the romantic post in honor of her man's big day on Thursday ... saying, "Happy birthday little baby @paulskenes 🤍🎂"

Dunne also published some lovey dovey snaps of their time together -- a fancy sunset dinner, getting ready for a formal outing, hanging at a Tigers game and flying on a private jet.

An Aaron Judge fan learned the hard way it's not a good idea to storm the field during an MLB game ... as he got roughed up by security just after he finished his ill-advised outfield jaunt.

The scene played out late in the Yankees vs. Angels game at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Wednesday night ... when a guy in a No. 99 New York uni hopped some fencing and took a stroll through center field.

The man -- who also donned a backward red cap -- bolted past stadium workers ... and at one point, nearly made contact with Cody Bellinger ... all as he filmed himself on his iPhone.

A Detroit Tigers grounds crew member is heading to the IL after suffering an injury in between innings ... and he was apparently really pissed his pain was being documented for all to see -- 'cause he flipped the bird right at the cameras!!

It's unclear what happened to the guy, as the broadcast returned from commercial break already showing the dude in pain. The staffer was tended to by an EMT and some San Francisco Giants trainers.

As the guy was getting checked out, he noticed one of the cameras locked in on him ... and showed his sarcastic appreciation for the courtesy with the one-finger salute.

Dustin May is finally back on the mound, doing what he loves, after multiple serious surgeries -- including one on his esophagus -- which he says had him fearing he'd never be able to live a normal life again!

The Dodgers' right-handed flame thrower joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show this week (airs nightly on FS1) ... and says he couldn't be happier to be back on the hill.

"Just being able to compete to go out and just compete is always a positive in my at this point," May told us. "I've been out for so long, so just being able to just do it to the amount that I have been, I've just been excited to be back with the guys."

Five months ago, Nicholas Turturro was PISSED Juan Soto left the Yankees for the crosstown rival Mets ... but with Soto's early struggles and the Bronx Bombers' strong start -- he tells TMZ Sports he's feeling much better about the situation now.

We caught up with the "NYPD Blue" star and a die-hard Yankees fan after his team won the first round of the Subway Series against the Metropolitans -- in fact, he was present when Cody Bellinger hit a grand slam over Soto's dome to put the game out of reach ... and he loved witnessing the moment due to what it symbolized.

"It was kind of fitting that it landed right over his head," Turturro said. "It was like, 'Hey man, take that.' We're the Yankees, we're loyal fans, and we loved him. We gave him our heart, and we just felt a little bit shunned because you went down the street to little brother."

Shohei Ohtani's inching closer to a return to the mound, and perhaps no one is more excited to see it than his teammate Dustin May, who tells TMZ Sports the Dodgers' pitching rotation could certainly use the "boost."

The Japanese superstar, of course, has stayed away from the gameday rubber for over a year after he required surgery back in 2023 to fix a UCL tear in his right elbow ... but May said this week Ohtani is almost all the way back.

The 27-year-old told us he's seen the two-way player "looking good" in bullpen sessions ... and added Shohei just recently started throwing his breaking pitches again.

Juan Soto's 15-year contract with the Mets is off to a less-than-stellar start ... but Dwight Gooden thinks it's only a matter of time until he turns things around -- telling TMZ Sports he'd like to talk to the MLB superstar to help get him out of his slump!!

We caught up with the Mets legend about the franchise's $765 million man's current output not matching his salary (.243 batting average, 8 home runs and 21 RBI heading into Friday's tilt with the Dodgers) and while some Mets fans are freakin' out, Doc certainly isn't.

"He set the bar so high his first six years, when expectation is going to be there, and then you throw in the contract he just signed, everybody's expecting everything," he said. "Unfortunately, every little thing that happens now, they point at him with a lot of stuff."

5/27/2025 8:00 AM PT -- Chad Reeves' attorney, Glen Jonas, tells TMZ ... "Jamie Grenfell has a 2002 conviction for Felony Perjury relating to an investigation in which he was also convicted for making a false police report in connection with an attempted Insurance Fraud.  Three weeks before trial he filed a verified statement under penalty of perjury in his underlying lawsuit against the Dodgers denying the conviction.  He literally committed perjury about his prior perjury! Meanwhile Lillian Grenfell told a ridiculous story at trial to falsely excuse the fact that she was choking Lindsay Hopkin which forced Mr. Hopkin to defend against a combined attack by the Grenfells.

The Grenfells are bottom feeders that manipulated public with a viral video that was misleading.  This is par for the course for the Grenfells, they have a history of distortion, lies and manipulating the justice system for financial gain.  Here they started a fight, lost and now are trying to turn the melee into a pay out by the Dodgers with their bogus lawsuit. The prosecution's case at trial was not credible and everyone in that courtroom is now dumber for having witnessed it."

Two men have been acquitted of felony battery charges in connection with a parking lot fight after an Elton John concert at Dodger Stadium.

Reece Hopkin and Chad Reeves were each charged in 2023 with one count of battery with serious bodily injury for their alleged roles in a 2022 fight that broke out after the first of Elton's three concerts at Chavez Ravine. Hopkin was also charged with felony vandalism for allegedly damaging a phone someone was using to record the incident.

A Los Angeles jury on Thursday voted to acquit the men on all charges ... according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

Wholesome moment alert -- New York Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt was tasked with catching the ceremonial first pitch ahead of Thursday's game ... and as it turns out, he knew the honorary hurler VERY well!!

According to the broadcast, the team kept its plans for the toss under wraps right until the throw. While he was shaking hands with some active-duty servicemen, they moved to reveal his dad, Dwight, was in town.

Clarke had a huge smile on his face as the two embraced ... and then Dwight hit the mound with the rest of the Marines on the field to handle business. While Dwight's throw was out of the strike zone, we'll cut Dad some slack here.

The Dodgers' walk-off win over the Diamondbacks wasn't the only thriller at the ballpark on Tuesday -- there was also some action-packed wrasslin'!!!

The World Series Champions hosted Mexican Heritage Night at Dodger Stadium ... featuring live music, food and a jersey giveaway.

But the fun started before first pitch ... 'cause the team set up a ring right in center field and held a lucha libre match!!

If Team USA wants Gunnar Henderson in its infield during the 2026 World Baseball Classic -- the Orioles superstar tells TMZ Sports he'd happily accept the invitation.

In fact, the Baltimore shortstop said in a sit-down with us on Tuesday it's actually one of his career goals to suit up for the Red, White and Blue in the prestigious baseball tournament.

"Anytime you have a chance to do that," he said of playing for America in the WBC, "it's pretty special. That's something that I definitely look forward to and hopefully can do one day in the future."