World Series

Houston Astros superstar Jose Altuve LOVES the Backstreet Boys -- and it turns out, the feeling is mutual.

A.J. McLean says he saw the rendition of "I Want It That Way" that Jose and his Astros teammates shot in the team locker room last year ... and now he wants to collaborate!

The Backstreet Boys singer admits Altuve ain't exactly the songbird of his generation ... but his voice is good enough -- so he extended the slugger an invite to sing with the band.

Please say 'yes.' Please. Please.

This is pretty awesome ... if you're an Astros fan!

Bun B was ALL THE WAY TURNT after his Astros beat the Dodgers on Sunday night -- he found a news camera, grabbed the mic ... and WENT OFF ON LIVE TV!

The Houston rapper is a HUGE 'Stros fan -- he stayed at Minute Maid Park until the very last out (past midnight) ... and you can see from the live ABC 13 broadcast, the adrenaline was pumping hard.

Yeah, he messed up some scoring math (twice) but who cares?! This is raw emotion at its finest.

There's more ... during the game, Bun B was hangin' in a VIP suite with fellow Houston rapper Paul Wall and celeb jeweler Johnny Dang -- and captured the walk-off madness on video.

Game 6 is in L.A. on Tuesday ... wonder if they can keep this energy up???

C'mon, Scottie ... you're better than this!

Hall of Fame basketball legend Scottie Pippen -- who's now living in Los Angeles -- gives zero craps about the World Series.

He honestly doesn't even know who's playing in it.

So, while the rest of the city -- and the sports community -- was up crazy late watching one of the greatest offensive games in World Series history, Pippen couldn't care less.

1:10 PM PT -- Gurriel has reportedly been suspended without pay for the first 5 games of the 2018 regular season for his racist gesture. He will play in Game 4 of the WS Saturday night, though.

Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel decided to rub it in after hitting the first home run of game 3 with a gesture that has enraged Asians and others who are calling him out as racist.

Gurriel was in the dugout in the second inning after hitting one out of the park off Yu Darvish when he set his sights on Dodgers pitcher, who is from Japan.

Gurriel apologized, but the way he did it makes it even worse. He said, "I didn't mean to offend anybody in Japan. I have a lot of respect. I played in Japan. I was commenting to my [teammates] that I hadn't had any good luck against Japanese pitchers here in the U.S."

The Dodgers and Astros are slugging it out for hardball supremacy, but we here at TMZ Sports decided to take some time to give props to the real MVP's of the series, their hot WAGS.

Obviously these two teams are both championship level, but when you see what the guys have waiting at home, you'll understand just how much each team is already winning.

For the L.A. boys we got the WAGS of Justin Turner, Alex Wood and Kiké Hernandez.

But the guys from deep in the heart aren't slacking either, bringing out the big guns -- Kate Upton -- and the WAGS of OF Jake Marisnick, Tony Kemp and Carlos Correa.

J.J. Watt didn't let a little thing like a broken leg keep him from throwing out the first pitch in a HUGE Game 3 of the World Series in Houston ... and obviously -- the crowd loved it!!!

Watt's a hometown hero for raising more than $37 MILLION for Hurricane Harvey relief ... so you gotta think the fans will give him a pass for the pitch to Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel being juuuuuuust a bit outside.

J.J.'s season with the Texans is over after having a season-ending surgery a few weeks ago ... but clearly he can still have an impact on the baseball field.

Here's Peyton Manning sliding in the pocket, audible-ing his protection, and keeping the ultimate cool all while being besieged by an unrelenting bull rush ... of World Series fans at Dodger Stadium!

The retired NFL quarterback was chillin' at Game 2 with Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, but it was when he was leaving the stadium that he displayed all the poise that made him one of the greats.

The video is actually quite amazing, Manning signs autographs, takes selfies, moves the group forward, and directs his driver to get in the car (to get him the hell out of there) like he's conducting an orchestra.

G.O.A.T.

Tommy Lasorda bleeds Dodger blue -- and that blood was boiling after Game 2 ... telling TMZ Sports, "That's one loss we shouldn't have had!"

After the Dodgers blew a 3-1 lead late in the game, critics were wondering if Dodgers manager Dave Roberts screwed up by pulling starting pitcher Rich Hill too early.

We asked Lasorda what he thought -- and he deflected -- but it's clear he was unhappy his team took the L.

Vin Scully has respectfully rejected Joe Buck -- telling TMZ Sports he won't accept Joe's offer to return to the broadcast booth for one last inning ... and it's breaking our hearts!

After Vin threw out the first pitch of Game 2 at Dodger Stadium, Buck -- who was calling the game for FOX -- said he would personally hand deliver the mic to Vin if he would consider coming back ... if only for an inning.

After the game, Vin told us it wasn't gonna happen ... saying, "No, I'm done."

As Buck pointed out, Vin spent 67 years with the Dodgers -- and he's as close to royalty as you can get in L.A.

Celebs flocked to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series for the first time in 29 years Tuesday night, and it's more of the same Wednesday ... along with a big Astros fan.

Tiger Woods followed in the footsteps of celebs in attendance for Game 1 to root on the Dodgers in Game 2, while Kate Upton's there to cheer for her fiance -- Houston pitcher Justin Verlander. Peyton Manning's also in the crowd with the Astros owner.

Before the game, Brad Paisley sang the National Anthem, and Dodgers fans were treated with something fantastic -- an appearance by legendary announcer Vin Scully.

The beloved Dodgers play-by-play man returned to the ballpark for the opening pitch, but instead of throwing it out himself, he did what he does best ... grabbed a mic and called up another Dodgers legend -- Fernando Valenzuela -- to do it for him.

It was awesome.

Yasiel Puig is showing his true colors -- DODGER BLUE, BABY!!

The Dodgers stud broke out the hair dye and did a little colorwork on his fro-hawk before taking the field against the Houston Astros for Game 1 of the World Series.

It was definitely a process ... Puig first bleached his hair blonde before turning things blue. We think it turned out pretty good!

Now, Puig and the Dodgers have gotta deliver on the field ... or else he'll have a different case of the blues.

Larry King has made MILLIONS over the years -- but he's drawing a hard line when it comes to how much he'll shell out for World Series tickets.

Don't get it twisted, King -- a HUGE Dodgers fan -- will be sitting in his usual home plate seats for Game 1 on Tuesday. But with tix in his section running at least $6,000 each, he's sending his kids to the nosebleed section.

"My sons who usually sit behind home plate, they're gonna be up in upper left field," King told us Monday night on his way out of Craig's.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will all be upright Tuesday when the National Anthem is sung before game 1 of the World Series ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us, none of the players will take a knee, which is consistent with the entire season ... not a single member of the team has taken a knee. In fact, aside from one Oakland player, there has been no such protest on any team for the entire season.

Our sources say it's such a "nonissue" for the Dodgers ... management hasn't even spoken to the players about it.

The Dodgers might have an even BIGGER advantage in the World Series -- because 'Walking Dead' star Jeffrey Dean Morgan says he's willing to loan his beloved barbed wire bat to Kiké Hernandez.

JDM -- whose character, Negan, has been using his bat, Lucille, to smash heads on the show since 2016 -- was at LAX when we started talkin' baseball.

First off, this dude is the coolest ... taking pics and signing for everyone who recognized him.

But when it came to the legendary bat -- Morgan says there's one guy in New York he REALLY wants to give it to ... if the Astros hadn't spoiled the party.

#MaybeNextYear

The Astros have touched down in L.A. -- and the pitchers are already hitting the hot spots!

Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel -- along with relief pitcher Tyler Clippard hit up Delilah in West Hollywood on Sunday evening ... one of the hottest joints in town (Bieber was there last month).

Don't worry ... nothing crazy happened. They all appeared sober and left before midnight.

Justin said the guys were gonna try and win the World Series for the city of Houston. Keuchel said the guys feel pretty good about their chances.

The Dodgers keep winning -- first the NL pennant, and now Stevie Wonder tells TMZ Sports he's willing to pick up his harmonica and perform the national anthem at the World Series!!!

Of course, there's some backstory here ... Wonder famously took a knee (and then a 2nd knee) during the height of the NFL national anthem demonstrations earlier this year.

Which begs a few questions ... would the Dodgers be cool with Stevie? Would Stevie use the massive platform to demonstrate again? Who are they gonna get bigger than Stevie Wonder?!

Stay tuned ...