MLB

Corey Phelan -- a minor league baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies organization -- passed away after battling cancer. He was only 20 years old.

The team announced the sad news Thursday evening ... saying they are devastated over Phelan's death and described how his "positive presence and selflessness influenced everyone around him".

"Corey is and will always be a special person," Phillies director of player development Preston Mattingly said.

"His smile lit up a room and everyone who came in contact with him cherished the interaction. His memory will live on, especially with the Phillies organization."

The New York native -- who signed with the Phillies org. as an undrafted free agent in August 2020 -- found out about the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in April after he passed out in the shower.

Phelan underwent scans ... and it was determined he had a 9-inch mass in his chest.

The pitcher received chemotherapy treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York after the diagnosis ... and went to visit the team when they played the Mets at Citi Field in May.

"That was one of the best nights ever," Phelan said, "getting to be able to talk with the guys in the locker room, Joe Girardi took me on the field, everyone supportive and nice."

"The whole Phillies organization has been nothing but amazing to me and my family."

Phelan -- who appeared in 9 games with an 0.93 ERA and 1.14 WHIP -- made his last Instagram post 2 weeks ago, saying "Can’t wait to get back out there🙏🏻❤️"

Those closest to Tyler Skaggs had no idea the late pitcher was using pain pills at the time of his tragic death ... saying the details behind his fatal overdose were unbelievable.

Tyler's wife, Carli, and his mother, Debbie Hetman, spoke publicly about Skaggs' passing for the first time this week ... just days after ex-Angels communications staffer Eric Kay was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for providing the drugs that took the pitcher's life.

"I loved him so much," Carli said while tearing up. "We had a love that was so special."

"That day still haunts me," Debbie added.

27-year-old Skaggs died after choking on his own vomit in 2019 ... and his autopsy showed a combination of oxycodone, fentanyl and alcohol in his system.

When asked about the troubling details surrounding his death ... both Carli and Debbie said they had no idea he had been taking pain medication.

"Yeah, that was the last thought that crossed my mind," Carli said. "It didn't even cross my mind actually."

"Not a clue."

Carli revealed the couple had plans to start a family after Skaggs returned from the team's road trip in Texas ... saying, "He would have made an amazing father. He was so great with kids."

"I wonder sometimes if I'll ever be as happy as I was. I have a lot of healing to do. I have faith that I'll get there. I know I'll never be the same. It's going to be different. But, I believe that I can find happiness again."

Goose took the field Wednesday night ... but we're not talking Gossage.

A brave fowl decided to get a closer look at the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres game on Wednesday ... by flying its way down to the field amid the postseason matchup.

The hilarious moment went down during the bottom of the 8th inning in the Dodgers' 5-3 loss ... when the Greater white-fronted goose did a mid-game tour of the diamond with Gavin Lux at the plate.

The bird had the best seat in the house as it remained on the field when Lux hit a single to the outfield.

The Padres made a pitching change after the hit, which was enough time for the Dodgers grounds crew to snap into action ... grabbing towels and a trash can in hopes of safely getting the intruder off the field.

Luckily, the mission was a success ... and the game went on without any other wildlife visits.

Fall baseball is back ... and to commemorate the MLB's postseason, the teams still alive are hookin' up their fans with new food choices at their stadiums -- including the Yankees, who unveiled a massive, Aaron Judge-themed cheeseburger!

The Pinstripes, Braves, Dodgers, Astros, Guardians, Phillies and Mariners all introduced delicious meal choices this week for their supporters to enjoy during the playoffs.

In NY ... the Yanks revealed the "62" bacon burger in honor of Judge, who just became the American League home run king this season by hitting 62 dingers. The Bronx Bombers also showed off a new pumpkin spice milkshake, too.

The Dodgers are offering fans Lomo Saltado Fries -- which are made up of sautéed steak, bell peppers and onions drizzled with aji verde sauce.

The Braves -- who won the World Series last year -- brought out the OPPO "Taco" ... which is chicken rolled in naan featuring a bunch of toppings. It, of course, is named after an opposite-field home run.

Cleveland, meanwhile, has a new menu loaded with all sorts of options, from nachos to hot dogs, to chili, to braised beef.

Former Angels staffer Eric Kay has just been sentenced to 22 years in federal prison ... this after he was convicted of providing the drugs that led to Tyler Skaggs' death.

A federal judge in Texas just announced the sentence.

Kay, 48, had been facing a minimum of 20 years ... and up to life behind bars.

The longtime L.A. media relations official was initially arrested back in 2020 ... after authorities alleged he had given pills laced with fentanyl to Skaggs -- which ultimately led to the pitcher's tragic passing.

Officials claimed they had text message conversations between Kay and Skaggs from the night of the pitcher's overdose -- which prosecutors used as evidence to show the two talking about drugs.

Kay was indicted in 2020 on 1 count of conspiracy to possess fentanyl with the intent to distribute and 1 count of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death. He was found guilty of the charges in Feb.

As we reported, Skaggs passed away in his hotel room in July 2019 just before the Angels were slated to take on the Rangers in a series in Texas. Toxicology results revealed he died from a deadly mix of booze, fentanyl and oxycodone.

Mets fans gave Emma Stone a nasty New York welcome Friday night, booing her LOUDLY when she threw her support behind the San Diego Padres in their playoff game.

The Academy Award-winning actress and her hubby, Dave McCary, showed up at Citi Field in Queens to root for their team in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series. The pair are well-known Padres fans.

Check out this video of Emma smiling and wearing a Padres jacket on the jumbotron in the stadium. The image cuts to a man in a Mets hat, trying to whip the crowd up into a frenzy. The audience takes the bait and starts BOOING.

Witnesses also spotted Emma and Dave dancing in the front row as the Padres routed the Mets 7-1 in the opener. Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday night at Citi Field.

Aaron Judge's 62nd homerun ball has gotten a ton of attention, and with a value of $2 million, justifiably so ... but it's not the only ridiculously valuable piece of memorabilia, the uniform, bat, cleats and batting gloves are also worth a fortune!

TMZ Sports talked to David Kohler from SCP Auctions -- one of the industry leaders in sports memorabilia -- about the value of basically everything but the record-setting baseball.

"Certainly the bat, the tool, the trade that he used yesterday to hit this historical milestone home run. That bat's worth a lot of money and the uniform he wore. Those are Aaron Judge's basically right, so I'm sure he's keeping those, but again if we had those at auction, in our firm, SCP Auctions, that's gonna probably bring, for a pair, probably a million dollars."

"Of course, his cleats that he wore, his batting helmet of course -- all those things are gonna bring big bucks for this very historical moment."

And, Kohler says if Aaron were to inscribe any of the items, they'd be worth even more!

As for the baseball, it's still the most valuable item from the historic game ... and worth upwards of $2 million.

"This baseball's worth a lot of bucks! Our estimate actually, with everything that's gone on in the last week or two leading up to the last game yesterday, our estimate is over $2 million for this baseball!"

FYI, Kohler's company has auctioned some of the most important balls in sports history ... including Barry Bonds' 500th, 755th, 756th and 762nd HR ball, as well as Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire's 500th HR baseball.

And, they'd like to add Judge's 62nd ball to the impressive list.

"We haven't talked to him personally yet, but we reached out to him," Kohler says, adding the situation is very much like a "lottery ticket landing in your lap."

The fan who jumped over the stadium railing in an attempt to catch Aaron Judge's 62nd home run ball somehow avoided injury ... but he did get some bad news following the fall -- he was immediately booted from the stadium.

The guy left his seat and jumped several feet onto a concourse below in an effort to land the historic baseball in the first inning of NY's game against the Rangers in Texas ... but he came up empty -- as the Yankees slugger's historic blast ultimately landed into a man's mitt in the first row.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the guy apparently avoided broken bones in the jump -- although he didn't necessarily escape unscathed, 'cause cops tell us he was met by security guards who tossed him from the venue.

We're told the Rangers did have an opportunity to press charges against the guy and/or issue him a criminal trespass warning -- but they declined, so cops let him go without further incident.

As we reported, Cory Youmans -- a finance worker in Dallas -- was the one who caught the ball ... which, according to SCP Auctions' David Kohler, is worth $2 MILLION.

Youmans told reporters at the stadium he wasn't sure what he was going to do with it.

Aaron Judge would love to make some room on his mantle for his 62nd home run ball ... but there's just one issue -- the fan who caught it ain't sure if he's willing to part ways with it yet.

The Yankees star hit the historic blast in the first inning of NY's loss to the Rangers on Tuesday -- giving him sole possession of the American League record over Roger Maris -- and Cory Youmans was the lucky spectator who ended up on the receiving end of it.

The guy -- who reportedly works in finance in Dallas -- boxed out other fans and snagged it with his glove ... and then he was whisked away by Rangers security guards in order to have it all authenticated.

In his only public comments after making the grab -- Youmans told a gaggle of media members at the stadium he hadn't thought about what he was going to do with it.

"That’s a good question!" he said.

Youmans has a few options -- namely, he can sell it for a fortune ... as experts like David Kohler from SCP Auctions say it's worth up to $2 MILLION right now!

Following the game, Judge said he would like to get the ball back if Youmans wanted to give it up ... but he told reporters that hadn't happened yet.

The 30-year-old, though, said there'd be no hard feelings if Youmans didn't return it.

Aaron Judge has made history … the New York Yankees superstar slugger just knocked his record-breaking 62nd home run of the year.

Judge, with just 3 games remaining in the regular season, led off the 2nd leg of a day-night doubleheader with a blast to left field at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX.

With the home run, #99 passes late Yankees star Roger Maris … who hit 61 HR’s in 1961.

In fact, several members of Maris' family were on hand to witness the historic moment.

Now, the million-dollar question (literally) is who caught the ball ... and do they trade it back to AJ? A memorabilia expert previously told us the ball could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

The record wasn’t just the Yankees' high mark -- it was also the best ever by an American League player ... that is until about 10 minutes ago when 30-year-old, 6'7" Judge stepped to the plate.

Longballs aside, Judge — who will be a free agent next year — has had one of the best offensive seasons ever. AJ has knocked in 131 runs, batting leadoff much of the time, all while batting .310. He also has 176 hits and scored 132 runs.

Of course, Sammy Sosa (66), Mark McGwire (70) and Barry Bonds (73) all hit over 62 dingers in the N.L. … but their careers (and the record) have been tainted by allegations of the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Because of that, many baseball purists believe the true home run record is now held by none other than Aaron Judge.

How'd you like to get punched in the face and tossed over a row of seats in the nosebleeds at Petco Park ... all while a mariachi band played on the field!

Oh, and someone was recording.

The crazy scene went down during the San Diego Padres-Chicago White Sox game on Sunday ... when an innocent fan started recording as the band began performing. That's when the fan noticed the fight ... and turned the camera on the two men who had squared off.

The fight didn't last long ... one of the men threw a bomb that landed on the other guy's head. With the punched fan stunned, the guy who delivered the right hook then pushed the injured guy over the row of seats in front of them.

Other people tried to intervene ... and for his trouble, that guy got thrown over his seat, too.

The whole melee caused panic in the section ... fans were fleeing the area, hoping to avoid catching an errant punch.

This latest fight comes just a few days after another brawl happened at Petco ... where Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers fans went at it right in the stands.

Fat Joe is suing his Chicago-based accounting firm, claiming it was running a Ponzi scheme that misappropriated his funds and those of some MLB players, too.

According to legal documents, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Joe claims tax hub BDO, its longtime CPA Andre N. Chammas and his assistant Vanessa Rodriguez defrauded him in several ways.

According to the docs, Joe noticed some accounting irregularities after Rodriguez was fired in July ... and he says things really didn't add up when he started taking a closer look.

For starters, Joe says his wife Lorena's name was used to open AMEX accounts and make huge unauthorized purchases, including $40K in charges for Uber rides and UberEats deliveries, as well as tuition payments for Rodriguez's daughter.

Joe also claims he discovered one of his entities, Sneaker Addict Touring, was missing large deposits -- to the tune of more than $300K. He says there were similar irregularities with other entities.

As for the Ponzi part of the alleged scheme -- Joe claims the firm also defrauded Jose Iglesias of Colorado Rockies, Luis Garcia of the Houston Astros and former Chicago White Sox player Dayan Viciedo.

In the suit, he says AMEX accounts were opened under their names as well, and the money flowed between all of their accounts to keep the Ponzi going. The players are not plaintiffs in the suit, and Joe makes it clear he feels they were victims ... just like himself.

A Manny Machado fan pummeled a Dodgers supporter in a wild fistfight at the Padres game on Wednesday night -- connecting with haymakers over and over again.

The scrap went down at some point during L.A.'s 1-0 win at Petco Park -- when two rival fans started throwing hands at each other after getting into some sort of disagreement in the stands in right field.

Video from the scene shows the Dodgers fan got the worse end of the deal almost immediately -- getting rocked with a huge right hand at the start.

The Padres fan didn't let up ... and appeared to tag the guy in the face with a few more strikes.

Eventually, the Dodgers fan was able to turn the tilt into a wrestling match ... before a bunch of other L.A. fans raced in to break up the altercation.

The man appeared to have some injuries to his face -- after the fight, he rubbed his eye area repeatedly.

No word if the SD fan had any ailments.

37,008 showed up to watch Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run Wednesday night -- but one of the fans in attendance couldn't have been sicker to see history ... 'cause he dropped the historic baseball, costing himself a small fortune!!

Judge hit the blast in the seventh inning of the Yankees' blowout win over the Blue Jays in Toronto -- officially tying the American League watermark set by Roger Maris back in 1961 -- and one fan was in a perfect position to nab the ball as it crossed over the left field wall.

He had his glove ready ... and when he reached over some railing in front of him to catch it -- the legendary cowhide touched his mitt's webbing!!!

Unfortunately for the guy, it caromed off his hand and landed safely in the Jays' bullpen ... something that clearly crushed the man.

Video from the game's broadcast in Canada showed the guy was absolutely devastated over the fumble -- throwing his mitt and hat in disgust afterward.

Of course, the guy had every right to be sad ... the ball would have been worth a HUGE payday for the Jays fan.

David Kohler of SCP Auctions told TMZ Sports earlier this month it could sell for as much as $250,000 on the auction block!!

As for what ultimately ended up happening to the ball -- Toronto bullpen coach Matt Buschmann initially grabbed it. He gave it to Jays closer Jordan Romano ... who then passed it off to Yankees reliever Zack Britton, who returned it to Judge.

Judge held onto it for a while -- but in a super sweet moment, he turned it over to his mother.

A fan at Tuesday night's Nationals game got so upset with a stadium usher that he hit the man in the face -- before biting him.

The wild altercation happened at Nationals Park during the ninth inning of the Nats' loss to the Atlanta Braves ... when several venue staffers appeared to try to boot a fan from his seat.

A video shot by a bystander shows fans near the guy chanting, "Get him out!" over and over again -- but the two staffers were having trouble getting him to leave.

Eventually, another usher came to the area to nudge the man away from his seat ... and that's when things took a violent turn.

You can see in the footage, the fan elbowed the usher in the face two times -- before he seemed to bite the man's hand.

Thankfully, two police officers arrived and separated the men before the situation escalated further.

Video shows the fan suffered a bloody head in the skirmish. It's unclear if the usher was injured.

We've reached out to both police and the Nationals for comment on it all, but so far, no word back yet.

Sister Jean is proving yet again that age is only a number -- the famed 103-year-old Loyola Chicago chaplain threw out the first pitch at the Cubs game, and she brought the heat!!!

The most famous nun in sports was rocking a custom No. 103 jersey as she took to the diamond on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field ... just one month after she celebrated her 103rd birthday.

Sister Jean's battery mate was Clark, the Cubs' mascot, and after he received her pitch, he hugged her as the fans in the stands roared with applause.

Sister Jean's popularity grew during the 2018 NCAA tournament when her public support of the Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team seemingly became a good luck charm.

Loyola Chicago, an 11th seed from the South bracket, went on an improbable run, knocking off Miami, Tennessee, Nevada, and Kansas State en route to the Final Four.

Sister Jean's love for the Ramblers became one of the most talked-about storylines of the tournament ... as Loyola was two wins away from winning the NCAA championship.

Unfortunately for Loyola, their fairytale story ended after they lost to Michigan, 69-57, but Sister Jean cemented herself as a superfan in the hearts and minds of college hoops fans.