MLB

Scary scene on the diamond Thursday ... MLB ump Joe West took an accidental bat to the side of the head -- and was forced to leave the game after he couldn't stop the bleeding.

It all went down just a few minutes ago in the Nationals vs. Blue Jays game in D.C. ... when Toronto star Bo Bichette swung at a pitch but accidentally let the bat slip from his grasp.

The piece of lumber went backward, connected right to the side of 67-year-old West's head ... and immediately, players signaled for trainers to rush over.

West was bleeding profusely from his ear area ... and despite medical personnel pressing a towel on the wound -- he was forced to go into the locker room for further treatment.

It should be noted ... West didn't seem out of it, and cameras actually caught him smiling -- but there's been no official update from MLB on his status yet.

The Philadelphia Phillies have brought all team activities to a screeching halt ... after 2 members of the organization tested positive for the coronavirus.

Remember, the Miami Marlins announced a serious COVID-19 outbreak after playing a series in Philly over the weekend ... with at least 19 reported cases as of Thursday morning.

The problem -- some Marlins players reportedly found out they tested positive for COVID prior to Sunday's game against the Phillies ... but the rest of the team decided to play anyway.

Now, the Phillies are reporting 2 members of the team -- zero players -- have tested positive ... and are taking no chances at letting things get worse.

The team says it's shut down all team activities "until further notice" ... which also leaves the Phillies' weekend series against the Toronto Blue Jays up in the air.

The Phillies' series against the Yankees was postponed due to the COVID outbreak ... but MLB commish Rob Manfred says the outbreak is "no nightmare."

NFL star DK Metcalf wanted to honor some of his Black heroes -- from MLK to MJ -- so he flew in a tattoo artist to ink their faces on his body.

Michael Jordan. Jackie Robinson. Martin Luther King, Jr. Muhammad Ali.

All of these legends are now immortalized on the Seahawks WR's left leg -- and the artwork is pretty incredible.

In fact, we're told the 22-year-old only trusted one guy to apply the ink -- Wade Gracia from Pharos Ink in Santa Ana.

But, since Metcalf is based Seattle -- where he's been getting ready for the 2020 NFL season -- he FLEW IN the artist to get the work done at his home.

We're told Gracia took 3 trips to Seattle to complete the job.

We know what you're thinking -- what about COVID?!

We're told Gracia took COVID tests before each time he flew to Seattle and tested negative each time.

Gracia also added two tattoos to DK's stomach -- one reads, "One of One" and the other says, "Top Predator."

Dog piles OUT ... air fives and no-touching circles IN?!?

The S.F. Giants got SUPER creative with their celebration of Mike Yastrzemski's walk-off home run Wednesday ... ditching home plate mobs for a socially distanced party!!!

The scene was hilarious ... in the bottom of the 9th, tied at 6-6 with the Padres, Carl Yastrzemski's grandson hit a moonshot to right that gave the Giants their 3rd win of the season.

Under normal circumstances ... Yaz would've been downright tackled once he finished rounding the bases -- but in a pandemic?? IT WAS A SOCIAL DISTANCE FIESTA, BABY!!

Check out the clip ... the Giants stormed home plate -- but then did nothing more than circle around Yastrzemski and bounce up and down!!

How's this for an amazing tribute!?!?

L.A. Angels outfielder Brian Goodwin threw on custom cleats to honor Kobe Bryant and Nipsey Hussle for his game Wednesday ... and then he balled out of his mind at the plate!!!

29-year-old Goodwin -- who's often publicly spoken about his love for the Mamba and Nipsey -- pulled out the fresh Under Armour kicks for the Halos' home matchup against the Mariners.

The spikes were pretty amazing ... one was all yellow and featured depictions of Kobe, his old jersey #8, and the L.A. Lakers logo.

The other, meanwhile, was baby blue with a black and white checkerboard ... and also featured a picture of Nipsey and a cursive "Crenshaw."

But, when Goodwin took the diamond in the cleats ... he took the tribute a step further, going 2-for-4 at the dish with a double, a home run and 3 RBIs!

The dinger was particularly impressive ... it traveled well over 400 feet -- and Goodwin made sure he showed off the cleats as he emphatically stepped on home plate.

Dr. Anthony Fauci's finally talking about that DISASTER of a first pitch at the Washington Nationals game ... and doc's got EXCUSES!

Sore arm. Poor training. Misjudging the distance.

COME ON FAUCI!!!

The Doc opened up about the debacle on the ESPN Daily podcast -- admitting he hadn't thrown a baseball in decades and wasn't properly prepared for the honor.

"I had been practicing for 2 days before at a walk down that I thought was 60 feet, but it was really probably 45 feet," Fauci said.

"I was throwing and throwing and throwing and I got it right but only it was at 45 feet!"

"And I kind of hurt my arm because I haven’t thrown a baseball literally in decades."

Fauci continued ... "So, as I was getting ready to go out on the mound, my arm was killing me -- but I said hell, I could suck it up and just throw it the way I had been practicing."

But, when Fauci got to the mound, the doc says he panicked -- "I said, 'Oh my god, Sean Doolittle looked like he was 200 feet away!"

Fauci says he changed his throwing motion to try and overcompensate for the distance and soreness ... but it backfired.

"I wound up and threw it like a bullet, only it just went way off to the left."

"So it was my bad, all the way."

L.A. Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly was a man out for REVENGE on Tuesday -- firing baseballs at the cheating ass Houston Astros ... and nearly igniting a brawl in the process.

He talked trash to the players. He threw a 96 MPH fastball at Alex Bregman's head. And, mocked several players from the mound.

He also struck out Carlos Correa and shouted, "Nice swing, bitch!"

It was all part of a highly anticipated matchup between the Dodgers and the Astros -- the first time the teams had played since an MLB investigation revealed Houston had cheated their faces off during the 2017 season.

Kelly wasn't on the Dodgers during that 2017 World Series run -- but he was on the Boston Red Sox, which had been eliminated by the Astros in the ALCS earlier that year.

So, yeah ... a bunch of people had some serious axes to grind.

Fast forward to Tuesday when Kelly took the mound in the 6th inning of L.A.'s game against Houston in Texas ... it didn't take long for him to appear to try to exact some revenge.

After getting Jose Altuve out ... Kelly got down 3-0 in a count to Bregman -- and then fired a 96 MPH fastball that missed the star 3rd baseman's head by inches.

Just two batters later ... Kelly threw a breaking ball that nearly clipped Correa in the back of the head as well!!

Neither player was happy with the throws ... and after Kelly struck out Correa a pitch or two later -- Kelly mocked Carlos on his way off the mound.

Joe made crying faces at the shortstop, then appeared to yell, "You gotta cheat to hit!" and other cuss words ... and that's when both benches cleared and almost got into an all-out brawl!!

Cooler heads ultimately prevailed ... but Astros manager Dusty Baker was PISSED at Kelly after the game, saying his actions put Bregman and Correa's careers in danger.

"When you throw a 3-0 fastball over a guy's head, now you're flirting with ending his career," Baker said. "And then a couple other guys, balls were close. And then what really enraged everybody is when he told Carlos when he struck him out, he told him, 'Nice swing, bitch.'"

For their part, Kelly and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts both said there wasn't any intent behind the pitches.

But, with Correa and Bregman being the two most famous players associated with the Astros' sign-stealing, trash can banging scandal that perhaps cost the Dodgers a World Series ring in '17 ... it's not hard to see through this one.

L.A. ended up winning 5-2, by the way ... but there's still another game left in the series Wednesday night.

Getcha popcorn ready!!!

Nick Markakis is back ... the Atlanta Braves OF says he made a "rash" decision initially opting out of the MLB season -- and now, he says he's ready to rejoin his teammates.

"Sometimes in life you make rash decisions without thinking things through," the 36-year-old told reporters Wednesday. "At the time, I thought it was the right decision."

Nick chose to sit out just before the start of Braves' summer camp earlier this month ... saying a conversation with teammate Freddie Freeman cemented his feelings on the matter

At the time, Freddie was sick as hell with COVID-19 ... and Nick wanted no part of that battle -- so he left the squad.

But, Markakis said Wednesday he's back for good ... and while he admitted he's still not sure it's the RIGHT decision -- he felt like he just had to do it for his teammates.

"Sitting at home," Markakis said, "watching these guys compete the last couple days and all the risks that they're taking going out there, you know, I just in a way, deep down, that pit in my stomach, I felt like I needed to be out there."

It's a huge boost for the Braves ... Atlanta needed some outfield help after their agreement with Yasiel Puig fell through due to a positive coronavirus case earlier this month.

CUP CHECK!!!!!

San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham took a pitch directly to the ding dong zone Tuesday -- and YOU KNOW YOU'RE SQUIRMING JUST READING THIS!!!

Talk about a breaking ball, huh?!!

Pham was facing SF Giants reliever Sam Coonrod in the top of the 8th -- when a slider slid a little too far and hit Tommy right in the man junk!!!

The pitch was clocked at 86 MPH -- which ain't exactly slow -- but somehow, Pham wasn't hurt.

In fact, he handled the situation so well, Pham got props from Giants analyst Mike Krukow on the broadcast.

"Oh, man. Tommy Pham you are a better man than I am," Krukow said. "I'd be doing snow angels in the batter's box on that one."

Pham ran the bases for himself after the HBP ... but he was pulled from the game shortly after in the bottom of the 8th.

Fortunately, Padres manager Jayce Tingler said he was removed for precautionary reasons ... and is expected to be fine going forward.

After the game, Pham joked about the incident on Instagram -- saying, "Career almost ended."

The Washington Nationals players have VOTED against traveling to Miami to play a 3-game series with the Marlins in the wake of a COVID outbreak ... and ya gotta wonder, is this a wrap for MLB?!

The Nats were scheduled to play a 3-game series with the Marlins beginning Friday and ending on Sunday.

But, after 15 Miami Marlins players and 2 coaches tested positive for coronavirus, the Washington players decided it was just too damn risky.

The players took a vote -- and the majority of the team felt strongly AGAINST playing.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal says the MLB now has to figure out what to do ... but if the players don't feel safe, how can you force them to play?

As for the Marlins, they are still in Philadelphia -- where they wrapped up a series against the Phillies.

They will be cleared to return to Florida following a series of negative tests -- but who knows how long that could take?!

The 2020 MLB season seems to be in danger -- though Commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday night he thinks the league will be okay ... and insists they have protocols in place for a reason.

7/28 -- More bad news for the Miami Marlins ... 4 more players have tested positive for COVID, bringing the total number of positive tests for players to 15.

12 Miami Marlins players -- and 2 coaches -- have tested positive for coronavirus ... and now their Monday night game has been canceled.

The Marlins were scheduled to leave Philadelphia after their series with the Phillies -- and travel back to Florida to play the Baltimore Orioles in their home opener on Monday, but now that's off according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

The Marlins will remain in Philly -- the flight back off -- and the team will continue to quarantine and undergo testing there until they are cleared to leave.

We already knew 4 players had tested positive over the weekend -- but the team and Major League Baseball were all hoping it wouldn't spread.

But now, seems everyone's worst fears were realized -- the team is dealing with a medical crisis and MLB is scrambling to figure out what to do next.

The 2020 season only began on Thursday -- and already one team has a major COVID issue. Not a great start.

The Marlins played the Phillies in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon -- so now, ya gotta wonder if that team is dealing with an epidemic as well!

Besides the players and coaches, MLB must be concerned about umpires, reporters, staffers and others who were at the stadium interacting with the team.

ALSO, THE YANKEES ARE SUPPOSED TO PLAY THE PHILLIES IN PHILLY ON MONDAY.

The big question -- will the Yankees actually play the game? Will they bail? This is all developing.

Basically, this is a doomsday scenario for MLB.

MLB ratings have been way up since the season kicked off on Thursday — in fact, the opening day games on ESPN scored the network its biggest numbers for an MLB regular-season game since 2011.

Donald Trump reportedly invited himself to throw out a first pitch at Yankees Stadium in a fit of jealousy over Dr. Anthony Fauci ... and was forced to cancel on it all when he couldn't actually make it happen.

Multiple sources familiar with the situation told The New York Times that's how things went down when POTUS made the surprising announcement last week that he'd throw out a ceremonial first pitch for the Yanks on Aug. 15.

Per the report, Trump was so bothered by the attention Fauci was getting in the leadup to his first pitch at Nationals Park on Opening Day last Thursday that he informed staffers to call the Yanks to get him on the mound.

The NYT says BOTH the Yankees and White House personnel were surprised by Trump's wishes ... and never officially locked in a date despite Trump saying they had.

Of course, Donald -- who was reportedly already booked elsewhere for Aug. 15 -- pulled out of the event just days after the announcement ... saying in a tweet his focus on the coronavirus wouldn't allow him to make it.

Trump added, "We will make it later in the season!"

Donald has never thrown out a first pitch since taking over office in 2016 ... but the Times says he DOES have a longstanding informal offer from the Yankees' team president to throw one out for them at some point.

MLB launched a probe into a video that allegedly shows Yankees staffers illegally recording another team during the 2018 season ... but we're told the Yankees were ultimately cleared of wrongdoing.

The video has been quietly making the rounds for about a month -- and this week, began to surface on social media.

The footage appears to show a person with a high-end camera recording an opposing team's catcher.

We were told there are multiple players who strongly believe the footage is smoking gun proof of the Yankees stealing signs from the Boston Red Sox during a 2018 ALCS playoff game.

But, our MLB sources are adamant that's just not the case -- telling TMZ Sports the league investigated the footage and found a couple things.

First, we're told the video is NOT from the 2018 ALCS. MLB believes it was shot during a regular-season game in May 2018 -- and the opposing team was NOT the Red Sox,.

Second, a league source tells us the MLB probe ultimately "found nothing in violation of our rules."

More bad news for baseball ... the Chicago White Sox say they're quarantining their manager, Ricky Renteria, after they say he woke up Monday displaying COVID-19 symptoms.

The team says 58-year-old Renteria had a "slight" cough and nasal congestion ... and immediately went to the hospital for coronavirus testing.

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn says Renteria will quarantine at the team's hotel -- and will NOT manage in Monday's game against Cleveland -- while he awaits testing results.

Of course, MLB is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases ... the Marlins had a large outbreak over the weekend that reportedly included 11 players and 2 coaches.

In fact, the worry of COVID spreading through the league is so rampant ... MLB announced it's postponing Monday's Marlins vs. Orioles game as well as the Phillies vs. Yankees game.

The White Sox, meanwhile, say they'll be managed by bench coach Joe McEwing when they play Cleveland at 4:10 PM PT in Ohio.