Celebrity Health

Whoa.

Look at Christian Vasquez's eye -- which he's LUCKY to still have after getting hit directly in the face with a baseball during a practice sesh.

The Boston Red Sox catcher revealed his scar Monday during a media session and explained how wearing sunglasses may have saved his vision ... and the whole thing is super scary.

Vasquez was working on drills on one of the practice fields at Boston's JetBlue Park complex Thursday when pitcher Hirokazu Sawamura fired a ball his way ... mistakenly thinking Vasquez was looking in his direction.

We know what you're thinking ... and no, video of the incident has not been released.

The ball struck 30-year-old Vasquez with such force, it opened up a nasty gash under his left eye -- requiring immediate medical attention.

Vasquez required several stitches to close the wound -- and says if it wasn't for the sunglasses, he might have lost his left eyeball.

"You like my scar," Vasquez joked with reporters Monday before giving a health update.

"I’m doing good ... “My eye is good. I can see perfect."

Vasquez then walked reporters through the incident -- "I saw the ball right here in my face and it knocked me down to the floor."

"The sunglasses saved my eye,” he said ... "If I don’t have the sunglasses, it was a different story."

And, get this ... Vazquez says he's "99% sure" he'll be ready to play Thursday for Boston's Opening Day game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Horrific scene on the NHL ice Sunday ... a star player for the Florida Panthers suffered a gruesome knee injury mid-game and was forced to leave the match on a stretcher.

Aaron Ekblad -- who was leading the Panthers in total ice time this season -- took a check from an opponent in Florida's game against the Dallas Stars when things went terrifyingly wrong.

Ekblad's knee and skate got caught under his body ... and when he came crashing down on top of the leg -- it all bent and crumpled awkwardly.

***WARNING: THE CLIP IS TOUGH TO WATCH***

You can see in video immediately after the injury ... Ekblad was in SERIOUS pain -- writhing on the ice, screaming, and holding on tightly to team trainers.

The defenseman was eventually strapped to a stretcher and taken off the ice. In a postgame update, Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said Ekblad would be out indefinitely.

"It was pretty tough," Ekblad's teammate, Jonathan Huberdeau, told reporters after the game ... before adding, "You hear him scream too. I mean, it must have hurt so bad."

Former President Barack Obama's grandmother has died at the age of 99 after a brief illness.

Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama's daughter shared the news Monday, saying her mother had died at a hospital in the city of Kisumu in Kenya ... a family spokesperson shared that Mama Sarah had been sick for a week, but did not die of COVID-19.

The matriarch of the Obama family and second wife of Barack's grandfather, Mama Sarah was passionate about raising money to educate girls and orphans in Kenya. She even had a foundation that fed and educated children who lost their parents.

Mama Sarah became somewhat of a celebrity in Africa during Obama's time in The White House, even attending his inauguration in 2009. In his memoir, Barack referred to her as "Granny" and referenced a trip when he met her in the '80s ... he also mentioned her during his 2014 speech at the U.N. General Assembly.

Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, released a statement on Mama Sarah's death, saying, "The passing away of Mama Sarah is a big blow to our nation. We've lost a strong, virtuous woman. A matriarch who held together the Obama family and was an icon of family values."

RIP

Taraji P. Henson says her little pup is in bad shape following a procedure -- so much so, he's apparently on the verge of death.

The actress posted the sad news Saturday, saying her French bulldog, K-Ball, is fighting for his life after some sort of surgery he just had ... which she says left him with complications. Taraji posted a photo of her pet with a tube up his nose, and he seems out of it.

She writes, "Mommy and team are praying Lil champ!!!! Keep fighting baby @kballhenson"

Taraji threw up a more official post with a bit more info, saying ... "I NEED ALL PRAYER SOLDIERS TO PRAY FOR MY BABY @kballhenson He is having some complications after his surgery. He is fighting and I am loosing my mind. PLEASE KEEP FIGHTING @kballhenson MOMMY NEEDS YOU!!!!!!!"

It's unclear what the pooch had to go under the knife for exactly, but it's known that Frenchies are prone to a number of health problems -- which can set in even at an early age. They can encounter breathing problems, mobility issues ... and a whole sort of others.

K-Ball appears to only be about 3 years old or so -- Taraji got him during Christmastime in 2017 when she says she got him as a baby. Get well soon, buddy ... hang in there.

You wouldn't know COVID is out of control in Europe and, in particular, Spain, looking at this concert Saturday night with thousands of folks packed into a concert hall.

To be specific ... 5,000 fans showed up in Barcelona for the biggest commercial event in all of Europe since the pandemic exploded more than a year ago.

The fans came to see Love of Lesbian, and there were some precautions, as in masks. As for social distancing ... not so much. Concertgoers did get tested Saturday AM. The way it worked ... if they tested negative, they got a code on their cellphones which they then presented at the door.

The event had the seal of approval from Spanish Health authorities, along with folks from the Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation.

WWE star Brian James -- aka Road Dogg -- is bedridden in a hospital after suffering an apparent heart attack ... this according to his wife, who's asking for thoughts and prayers.

Tracy James broke the scary news Saturday, saying RD was having a number of tests done in the hospital to confirm what exactly had happened to him ... this after returning home from work Thursday night and feeling terrible from what she says was a likely heart attack.

She writes, "He has had test run and we’re currently waiting for the results.he has also seen a kidney specialist and will have a stress test done. He’s always been on bp meds for high bp. Just please pray all the test come back for something we can fix."

Tracy goes on to say she's a wreck, but trying to stay positive ... leaving it in God's hands to get her hubby back home safely. She also sent out a somewhat reassuring update.

Sounds like Road Dogg's kidneys are all clear, and a cardiac catheterization is scheduled for Monday to decide the next steps.

Road Dogg's perhaps most famous as part of the D-Generation X tag team collective from WWF's Attitude Era, which was also made up of guys like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Rick Rude, Chyna and others ... including RD's partner in crime in the ring, Billy Gunn, who helped make up one half of the New Age Outlaws with Road Dogg.

Road Dogg wrestled professionally in WWF/WWE until the early 2000s, at which point he went off and competed in other leagues until about 2011 ... never coming back into the WWE fold officially ... until he re-signed as a producer and a writer for them, that is.

He's reported as being behind the scenes for several 'WrestleMania' events and the head writer for other WWE shows, including 'SmackDown' and others. And, yes, Road Dogg is a Hall of Fame member too ... having been inducted as part of the Class of 2019.

An elected official and U.S. Army veteran who is Asian made a stunning point at a town hall meeting in Ohio ... taking off his shirt and displaying some pretty severe war wounds, and then asking the crowd if that was patriotic enough for them.

Lee Wong is an elected official in West Chester, Ohio. He also served in the military for 20 years. In the middle of the town hall, he decided to make a point about the anti-Asian wave in this country. It's interesting ... no one in the crowd made a comment to prompt the display, but it was clearly on Wong's mind.

He said, "There are some ignorant people that will come up to me and say I don't look American or patriotic enough." That's when he took his shirt off and asked, "Is this patriot enough?"

Wong said he was beaten up in Chicago soon after coming to the U.S., and that's what prompted him to join the military, adding, "I have put up with a lot of s*** in silence ... too afraid to speak out, fearing more abuse and discrimination."

He went on to say, "We need to be kinder, gentler to one another because we are all the same, we are one human being on this Earth."

Devastating news from the Minnesota Twins ... former MLB player and current bench coach Mike Bell has passed away after a battle with kidney cancer. He was only 46.

"The entire Minnesota Twins organization is saddened by the death of current bench coach Mike Bell, who passed away today at the age of 46 from cancer," the team said in a statement Friday.

"At the request of the Bell family, we will play tonight’s game in honor of Mike."

Bell was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the 1993 amateur draft ... and played 7 seasons in the minor leagues.

He made his MLB debut in 2000 with his hometown Cincinnati Reds ... hitting 2 home runs and 4 RBI before returning to the minors. He retired from playing in April 2005.

Bell's family has a long history in baseball -- Mike's brother, David, played 12 years in the MLB and is the current manager for the Reds.

His dad, Buddy, had an 18-year playing career in the majors before coaching from 1996-2007.

Mike's grandfather, Gus Bell, is in the Reds Hall of Fame.

Earlier this week, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli praised Bell ... saying he was "absolutely invaluable to what we do," according to the Star Tribune.

"I feel fortunate, I really do feel lucky, that I've had the opportunity to work with [him],"

COVID has just ruined yet another sports team's season ... Michigan men's ice hockey officials said Friday the squad will have to pull out of the NCAA Tournament over positive tests.

The school made the announcement in a lengthy statement ... explaining the team had multiple positive results within U-M's Tier I testing group.

"I'm devastated for these players," Wolverines head coach Mel Pearson said. "These student-athletes have done a wonderful job all year of making sacrifices to get to this point of the year."

"It's unfortunate. I don't completely understand the final decision but I have to respect it."

Michigan -- the tournament's #2 seed -- was set to face two-time defending national champion Minnesota Duluth on Friday ... but the game has now been ruled a no contest.

As a result, Minnesota Duluth will now automatically advance to the quarterfinals ... where it'll play the winner of North Dakota vs. American International.

Demi Lovato had a gut-wrenching, emotionally-charged reaction as she filmed her music video for "Dancing with the Devil," and TMZ has obtained the dramatic video.

Demi co-directed the music video with Michael D. Ratner, which they shot in the last week. The scene is a hospital setting, with Demi in a bed hooked up to all sorts of monitors -- mimicking the fight of her life after almost dying from an OD.

Production sources tell TMZ, Demi surprised everyone by saying she wanted to go off script and freestyle. Once the cameras were rolling, she began lip-syncing the song and began to sob uncontrollably.

As the song -- which was released Thursday night -- chronicled her journey as she lied about her addiction, her emotions got more and more intense.  At one point you hear Ratner say "Into camera" ...  Demi gazed into the lens and the sobbing became primal ... you can feel it even though you don't hear it.

Jack Draper -- a 19-year-old making his debut on the ATP Tour this week -- frighteningly collapsed on the court during a match at the Miami Open on Thursday ... but thankfully, he said afterward he's all right.

The scary scene all went down during Draper's match against Mikhail Kukushkin ... when Draper began to feel ill amid scorching Florida hot and humid weather.

At one point during the match, medics ran courtside tests on a visibly exhausted Draper ... but the young, budding tennis star elected to continue despite clearly being unwell.

Just a few moments later in the match, though ... he crumpled to the ground attempting to hit a ball -- and there was serious concern among onlookers.

"Oh, dear, that's not good," one of the match's announcers said on the television broadcast. "Worrying times."

Thankfully, medics rushed to Draper's aid ... and the tennis player ended up being able to walk off under his own power -- though he did have to withdraw from the contest.

"At the changeover, I was starting to feel my body a bit," Draper told reporters after the match.

"I said that I'm going to carry on because I wasn't feeling faint ... but obviously when I got out there, that wasn't the case."

It's going to take more than serious injuries from a motorcycle crash to keep Barry Weiss away from the auction block ... he's back for the new season of "Storage Wars."

Sources close to production of the reality TV series tell TMZ ... they've resumed filming for Season 13 the past few weeks in L.A. and Orange County, and Barry's among the returning OG stars.

We're told he was on set earlier this week to shoot, and as you can see ... he's looking pretty good for a guy who had multiple surgeries on his back and femur less than 2 years ago following a nasty motorcycle accident.

We're told Darrell Sheets is another "Storage Wars" favorite returning for the upcoming season, along with Rene and Casey Nezhoda, Ivy Calvin, and Kenny Crossley. Dave Hester and Mary Padian will not be returning.

The show's been off the air since early 2019, but it looks like it's coming back strong ... just like Barry.

San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Kevin Givens has been hit with an assault charge after he allegedly beat the hell out of a man at a Maryland hotel ... TMZ Sports has learned.

According to court documents, 24-year-old Givens was charged with misdemeanor second-degree assault after Hayden Bosley said he was attacked by the NFL player on Feb. 21.

In the docs, Bosley says he was out for the night in Baltimore when he had a confrontation with Givens.

Bosley says he, Givens' girlfriend and another friend were grabbing an Uber/Lyft when they asked Givens if he was tagging along for the ride.

In the docs, Bosley says Givens got angry and told him to go away ... so he left with the other two for a Sheraton Hotel in the area.

That's when Bosley says Givens showed up a short time later, saw the three standing in a hotel hallway ... and attacked.

Bosley claims Givens tackled him to the ground, dislocated his shoulder and continued to wrestle with him.

Bosley says he was able to escape and run away ... but claims he ended up suffering a black eye, bruises, cuts and scrapes in addition to the shoulder injury in the altercation.

Bosley says he went to the emergency room, where he got treatment from medical personnel from 3 AM to 7 AM.

Givens is now due in court later next month to face the charge. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 10 YEARS in prison.

We've reached out to Givens for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

Givens signed with the Niners as an undrafted free agent out of Penn State in 2019. He played in just 1 game in his rookie season ... but went on to play in 13 last year.

Pro ski jumper Daniel-Andre Tande suffered serious injuries in a terrifying crash caught on video Thursday ... but thankfully, officials are now describing his ailments as non-life-threatening.

Tande, a 27-year-old who won a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics, was competing in a World Cup event in Slovenia ... when one of his jumps went horrifically wrong.

You can see in video of the crash ... midway through his flight, he turned sideways and landed HARD on the snow below.

The Norwegian then violently plummeted hundreds of feet down the mountain ... before coming to a stop at the base of the jump.

Ski officials say Tande was unconscious when medics arrived. They added Tande had to be "intubated and mechanically ventilated" after he was loaded into the ambulance.

Fortunately, doctors said in a statement later Thursday afternoon that "preliminary tests are very promising."

And, a statement released by Norwegian Ski Jumping Team leader Clas Brede Brathen showed there's clear optimism Tande will eventually make a recovery.

"The fall has looked dramatic for us and we are now relieved after the first diagnosis that Daniel's injuries are not life threatening," Brathen said.

Bring on the picks and leave the masks ... the NFL says if teams' draft war rooms next month feature fully vaccinated individuals, it will lax COVID policies and not require face coverings.

The league made the announcement to its clubs in a one-page memo Thursday ... explaining teams can have quasi-normal draft day procedures if all participating members can prove they've taken the COVID vaccine.

NFL officials say draft-night changes for vaccinated teams' war rooms include no mask requirement and flexible physical and social distancing rules.

The league also says it will allow both eating and drinking as well.

But, there will be some precautions for the draft weekend -- which is set to kick off April 29 -- even for those vaccinated teams.

The league says fully vaccinated rooms are to be capped off at 10 staffers.

If not vaccinated, teams will have to adhere to strict COVID policies ... with masks, social distancing and a cap of 20 per room.

GAME ON, FLAME ON ... right?!

The Olympic torch relay has resumed in Japan on Thursday -- 1 year after that stupid pandemic put the 2020 Games on ice.

Remember, the flame was initially lit in Greece back in March 2020 -- but when COVID exploded, event organizers put a halt to the traditional torch relay and decided to keep the flame burning in a secure location in Japan.

But, now that the world is slowly opening back up (mostly thanks to the vaccine), the Olympic fire is going back on on the road.

Event organizers hosted a small, intimate torch ceremony in Fukushima -- where a handful of musicians and dancers performed in front of roughly 150 people who were all following social-distancing protocols.

That's when Japanese soccer star Azusa Iwashimizu -- who starred for Japan in the 2011 Women's World Cup -- took the torch and began the new relay, which will end in Tokyo in July.

Officials say 10,000 people will participate in the 4-month torch relay-- followed by an opening ceremony event at Japan National Stadium.