Boston Red Sox

Bill Buckner -- who drew the ire of Red Sox fans for decades due to a major World Series error -- has died after battling dementia ... according to his family.

Buckner passed away early Monday morning surrounded by family and friends following a tough battle with Lewy Body Dementia, per a statement his family released. They went on to write, "Bill fought with courage and grit as he did all things in life."

They ended their remarks by saying, "Our hearts are broken but we are at peace knowing he is in the arms of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

He's perhaps most famous for a game-deciding blunder during the 1986 World Series, when he was playing first base for Boston and failed to field a slow chopper down the line.

With the game tied at the bottom of the 10th and a runner on second, Mets player Mookie Wilson tapped a ball on the ground toward first, which seemed like an easy enough play to make -- only Buckner didn't. It hopped between his legs and rolled into right field.

The Mets scored and won the game, and then went on to win Game 7 ... dashing the hopes of the Red Sox who were hunting for their first World Series win at the time since 1918. The mistake went down in baseball history, and made him hated among Sox fans for years to come.

Buckner was eventually honored at Fenway Park in 2008, after the Sox had won the WS four years prior. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and it was clear the old wounds between himself and the city had healed.

He played with the Dodgers, Cubs and Sox over the course of his 22 season baseball career.

Bill was 69.

Chris Sale's early season struggles are gone and the Red Sox star is officially back -- so says Pedro Martinez, who tells TMZ Sports ... Sale's 17-strikeout game Tuesday reminded him of him!!!

"Brought back some memories," Pedro says.

In case you missed it ... Sale got off to a BRUTAL start to this season -- he allowed 17 earned runs in his first 4 games -- and a whole lot of people wondered if the 30-year-old had anything left.

But, Sale's lit it up in his last 3 outings -- with 10, 14 and 17 K performances -- and now, Pedro is officially back on the 7-time All-Star's bandwagon.

In fact, Pedro tells us he couldn't help but think about his own career when Chris was mowing through the Rockies on Tuesday night ... 'cause he's the last Sox pitcher before Sale to strike out 17!

And, if ya don't remember how the Boston legend did that, here are the highlights ... you're welcome.

The Boston Red Sox are back ... and it's all 'cause of Donald Trump -- so says the President himself, who says it was White House visit magic that turned their season around!!

Of course, the Sox didn't get off to a great start this season -- they were just 2-8 in their first 10 games -- the worst opening record EVER for a team with 100-plus wins in the previous season.

But, Trump says their championship visit to the White House last week has changed everything -- saying, "Has anyone noticed that all the Boston @RedSox have done is WIN since coming to the White House!"

Boston has notched 3 straight victories since heading to 1600 Penn. Ave. last Thursday ... and now, Trump is claiming visits to the White House are an anti-curse!!!

"The White House visit is becoming the opposite of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated! By the way, the Boston players were GREAT guys!"

Teams haven't exactly been open to White House celebrations under Trump ... no NBA team has visited since he took office and even several Red Sox players themselves protested last week's trip.

But if the visits are now in fact good luck charms, could that change future champions' minds???

Donald Trump heaped TONS of praise on the Boston Red Sox at the White House -- calling out individuals like Chris Sale and J.D. Martinez ... while leaving out the key players who didn't show up.

As we previously reported, Sox manager Alex Cora boycotted the trip because he doesn't "feel comfortable" with Trump over the way POTUS handled the hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico.

Other Red Sox players who refused to attend include Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, David Price and Red Sox legend David Ortiz.

Betts was the A.L. MVP last season and Price CRUSHED IT during the playoff run -- but got NO LOVE from Trump since they didn't show up to the White House on Thursday.

Same with Alex Cora.

Trump had glowing remarks for Chris Sale -- complimenting his World Series performance and the fact he struck out 14 batters Wednesday night in a regular season game against the Orioles.

Trump also invited the Red Sox players and staff in attendance to a personal tour of the Lincoln Bedroom -- a room that's supposed to be off-limits to the public.

TMZ Sports shot footage of some of the key execs arriving at the White House before the ceremony -- including VP of Baseball Operations Tony La Russa, owner John Henry, President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski and others.

Earlier Thursday, the Red Sox visited the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in the D.C. area -- where they visited patients.

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora is getting high praise from Elizabeth Warren -- who says she "admires" Cora for his decision to boycott Trump's White House over his treatment of Puerto Rico.

"He's right," Warren said about Cora ... "It's bad over there."

Cora -- who's from Puerto Rico -- announced he would NOT join the Red Sox at the White House on Thursday to be honored by the President for winning the 2018 World Series.

In his statement, Cora said he doesn't feel "comfortable" visiting Trump after the way POTUS handled recovery efforts in his native Puerto Rico after the 2017 hurricane.

And, when we saw Senator Warren [D-Mass] in D.C. Tuesday morning, she told us why she's throwing ALL of her support behind the MLB manager.

"He did this in a clear and respectful manner but he said, 'I can't go and show up for a photo op with someone who's been withholding funds from Puerto Rico.'"

"There's a lot of suffering going on over there," Warren added ... "I admire what [Cora is] doing."

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora says he will NOT join the team to visit Donald Trump on Thursday ... and several Red Sox players are boycotting with him.

The team was invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to be honored for winning the 2018 World Series -- and it's all set to go down on Thursday -- but Cora says he ain't going.

The 43-year-old issued a statement in Spanish saying he doesn't feel "comfortable" visiting Trump after the way POTUS handled recovery efforts in his native Puerto Rico after the 2017 hurricane.

"Puerto Rico is very important to me," Cora said ... "Unfortunately, we are still struggling, still fighting. Some people still lack basic necessities, others remain without electricity and many homes and schools are in pretty bad shape almost a year and a half after Hurricane María struck."

"Even though the United States Government has helped, there’s still a long road ahead and that is OUR reality."

"I’ve used my voice on many occasions so that Puerto Ricans are not forgotten and my absence [from the White House] is no different."

"As such, at this moment, I don’t feel comfortable celebrating in the White House."

Cora said he told Red Sox officials about his decision before informing the media.

Other Red Sox stars who will NOT go to the White House include shortstop Xander Bogaerts, David Price and Mookie Betts.

Trump has hosted a bunch of athletes recently -- including NASCAR champ Joey Logano.

Nobody's droppin' into Tilted Towers in the Red Sox locker room these days ... 'cause the team has decided to quit playing Fortnite until they start winning again!!!

TMZ Sports has learned there's no official ban on the ultra-popular video game ... it's just become an unspoken rule in the clubhouse that the Sox ain't playin' it until the L's stop piling up.

Of course, Boston's been off to a sluggish start after winning 108 games and the World Series last year ... going just 14-17 in the season's first month.

But, seems they've found a solution to their woes -- put down the controllers ... and start picking up some W's!!!

Star pitcher Nathan Eovaldi spoke with WEEI about the situation, saying, "Maybe if we were doing a little better maybe we would be doing it. But you can’t be losing and playing Fortnite in the clubhouse."

It's a pretty big deal for the guys in Beantown ... the Sox were one of the strongest proponents of the game last year, hittin' popular Fortnite dance moves all over the diamond.

But, don't bet on the game's banishment taking too long ... the Red Sox have won six of their last 10 -- and Mookie Betts is just starting to heat up!!!

If this isn't the most Gronk story to date ...

Rob Gronkowski made sure to leave his mark on the Patriots before retiring from the NFL ... putting a HUGE dent in their 6th Lombardi trophy while trying to use it as a baseball bat.

Yes ... Gronk used a freakin' Super Bowl trophy to try to hit a baseball because ... we don't know why he would do this, actually.

It all went down when the Patriots were honored at Fenway Park before a Red Sox game earlier this month ... when players like Gronk and Julian Edelman were having some fun and *pretending* to hit baseballs while using the trophy as a bat.

Gronk must've missed the memo about PRETENDING ... 'cause the dude switched up his batting stance to bunt the ball ... and he made contact.

The bunt resulted in a massive dent in ol' Vinny ... and the Patriots hilariously released a mini-mockumentary to give the play-by-play of the whole thing.

Flea HATES the Boston Celtics with the red, hot, fiery passion of 1,000 suns -- and when we saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers star at LAX ... HE WENT NUCLEAR on Beantown!!!

Oh, we should mention he's a die-hard Lakers fan ... if you couldn't tell by his throwback Magic Johnson shirt.

"I just think the Boston Celtics SUCK ASS," Flea proclaimed, "They're like the Satanic bottom of the basketball world! They are the shadow side."

It didn't stop there ... Flea reached way back into the rivalry to throw even more shade at the Celtics.

"Magic Johnson owned Larry Bird in college, owned him in the pros ... more championships, smoked him in college -- it's a simple fact."

We asked Flea if he'd like to see a Lakers vs. Celtics series in the NBA Finals -- and he went even HARDER!

"That would be thrilling. I'd like to see Lonzo dunk right on Jason Tatum's head!"

So, how do people in Boston feel about that? We got Mark Wahlberg out the other day, and he's already counting on the Celtics and the Boston Bruins to make it a clean 4-team championship sweep this year.

Wine was chugged (Gronk). Shirts were ripped off (also Gronk). Tide Pods were thrown (who do you think?).

It's the New England Patriots Super Bowl parade in Boston -- and more than 1 MILLION people reportedly flocked to the streets to watch the champs roll through!!

Tom Brady talked about the event on 'WEEI' early Tuesday morning -- saying this should be the craziest bash yet ... his 6th Super Bowl parade in his insane Hall of Fame career.

Brady and Julian Edelman have already been partying it up in Disney World ... and Rick Ross raged with some of the players on Monday night. But, the REAL party goes down with the fans.

Team owner Robert Kraft rocked Meek Mill's "Championships" chain for the parade ... and we're starting to think he ain't giving it back.

Gronk lost his shirt about halfway through the festivities ... and even grabbed a police vest for a quick wardrobe change. Center David Andrews followed by goin' shirtless as well.

If this parade seemed a bit more "tame" this time around ... it's probably because Boston Mayor Marty Walsh asked partygoers to NOT throw beers at the duck boats to keep the dudes safe, right, Alex Cora???

The parade wasn't completely incident-free, though ... some Pats fans ended up duking it out in the streets!!

Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts is sitting out a visit to the White House to celebrate his team's World Series win.

According to the Boston Globe, Betts was asked about the trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Saturday night -- which is currently scheduled for May -- and he reportedly said, "I won't be going there. I decided not to." He didn't elaborate beyond that, but he joins at least one other Sox player skipping it ... third baseman Rafael Devers also said he'd be a no-show.

FWIW ... Betts is the American League MVP, and arguably the best player on the Sox's roster. It's kind of a big deal in baseball if one of the best of the best doesn't wanna meet with President Trump.

Three other Red Sox players are reportedly on the fence, but the rest of the team has expressed interest in meeting with the Prez. The team was supposed to head out there in February, but it was pushed back to May because of the government shutdown.

Red Sox President Sam Kennedy said he didn't feel it was appropriate to be celebrating at the White House while so many federal employees were going without a paycheck and struggling.

Wanna live like the owner of a prestigious MLB team?? Got $25 MILLION laying around?

Awesome ... 'cause you can gobble up the insane mansion John Henry owned down in Boca Raton, Florida!!

The Sox owner -- who's also the honcho of Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Globe -- is ready to move on from the pad and just put the 41,000 square foot place on the market.

The estate is absolutely epic ... seven bedrooms, 19 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) bathrooms and unreal pool that overlooks a lake.

It's also got a library, a theater, a recording studio ... AND AN INDOOR-OUTDOOR ROOM DEDICATED ENTIRELY TO MAKING PIZZA!!!

Oh, there's also a clay tennis court, sports bar room AND an underground wine cellar that promises to keep your booze at a perfect 53 degrees -- even in a power outage!!

Unclear why John's getting rid of the spot -- dude's owned it since 1999 -- but we do know one thing for sure ... being rich rules.

[H/T TopTenRealEstateDeals.com]

The Red Sox should ABSOLUTELY take their championship trip to the White House ... so says ex-MLB star Brad Penny, who says the team needs to support Donald Trump regardless of their opinions of him.

It's up in the air whether Boston will make its post-World Series visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave ... especially after manager Alex Cora publicly criticized the President in September.

But, Penny says it would be a huge mistake to not go ... telling TMZ Sports the team should be there.

"You gotta go," the ex-star pitcher says ... "You support the President whether you voted for him or not ... I think they just gotta go."

Penny knows a thing or two about those trips ... the 2-time All-Star went to George W. Bush's White House after his Marlins won it all back in 2003.

He says the trip was unforgettable ... and Red Sox players would regret not making it.

In fact -- Brad tells us he thinks Boston can send a strong message to those protesting Trump by going.

"All those protests and stuff, to me, we want everybody who's in office to do good ... I feel like a lot of people want Trump to fail and it's unfortunate."

Unclear whether Red Sox players will listen to Brad ... but we know at least one of their pitchers is on board.

The Red Sox players are STILL winning ... 'cause the bonus checks for their World Series "W" were just announced -- and Boston got paid!!!

Major League Baseball just announced the postseason bonus pool totaled $88 MILLION to be divided by all of the teams that made the 2018 playoffs.

The total pool number -- essentially made up of playoff stadium ticket sales -- is the largest pot in MLB history. It's divided by the 10 playoff teams based on how far they got.

The biggest payout was obviously Boston -- the champs split $31.7 million between 66 players, which came out to $416k each!

Not too shabby, but slightly LESS than the $438k each Houston Astros player got last year for winning the 2017 World Series.

Don't feel too bad for the 2018 losers ... Los Angeles will get a cut of the bonus money too -- with their checks coming in at $267,027.49 per player.

Here's how the rest of the playoff bonus money was distributed ...

Houston Astros -- $154,656.05 per player.

Milwaukee Brewers -- $122,957.13

Atlanta Braves -- $40,375.74

Cleveland Indians -- $37,040.29

Colorado Rockies -- $40,335.96

New York Yankees -- $43,081.55

Chicago Cubs -- $16,155.34

Oakland Athletics -- $19,760.35

Yeah, it still pays to be good.

Sorry, Mike Trout ... Matt Damon says voters got it right -- Mookie Betts WAS the AL MVP!!!

"That's great," Matt says ... "Good for him. He deserves it!"

Of course ... Mookie went head-to-head with Trout and the Indians' Jose Ramirez for the award -- but dominated the voting thoroughly, winning in a near-unanimous decision.

Damon tells TMZ Sports that's the way it shoulda been ... and he ain't wrong -- Betts batted .346 this season with 32 home runs and 30 stolen bases.

BTW ... it's not like Mookie was in much need of the confidence booster -- dude just won the World Series, had a new baby girl AND nabbed a Silver Slugger Award last week.

The celebration for Mookie Betts might never stop ... 'cause on top of winning the World Series two weeks ago -- the Red Sox superstar just welcomed a baby girl into the world!!

The outfielder posted Tuesday he and his longtime girlfriend, Brianna Hammonds, had their first child together ... and said he couldn't be more pumped about it.

"Never knew what unconditional love meant or how it felt until I met this little princess," Betts wrote.

"Nov 6th 2018 is a day I’ll never forget❤️"

It's been a helluva past few days for Betts ... who won a 'ship on Oct. 28, celebrated like crazy at nightclubs, had an epic parade around Boston -- AND partied with Tom Brady and the Pats last weekend.

Things might still be gettin' better for Mookie too ... he's expected to be named AL MVP next week!!