Home / MLB

• Tribe pitcher Joe Smith forgets ID, uses the “I pitch for the Cleveland Indians” line, fails miserably

  In MLB

  I don’t need to tell you that being a professional athlete has its perks, but even the benefits of fame in the sports world has its limitations, especially when you’re a little known relief pitcher for the Cleveland Indians with a rather common name.

  The Tribe’s Joe Smith was involved in an altercation with bar staff at the Roundhouse Bar in Put-In-Bay, Ohio early Sunday morning.  Smith tried to get into the bar but was stopped by the doormen who questioned the 28-year-old Smith’s age.  Without identification on him, Smith tried the old “I’m a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians” routine, which might have worked for Bob Feller or even Joe Mesa, but not for a middling reliever on the current Indians roster.

  Words were exchanged (someone in Smith’s party claim the bouncers became “rude and disrespectful”), cops were dispatched, and Smith and his companion ended up in handcuffs.  Fortunately for Smith and his friend, no charges or citations were issued. Read more ›

   

• Watch Eddie Vedder and Chris Chelios enjoy some karaoke while Kerry Wood looks on (VIDEO)

  In MLB, NHL

  If you happened to be one of the lucky patrons hanging out at Stanley’s Kitchen & Tap in Lincoln Park this past Sunday, then you can attest that it was one of the greatest nights in the history of karaoke after Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and retired NHL great Chris Chelios teamed up to handle The Band’s The Weight while recently retired Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood looked on.

  Vedder ended up on stage after one of the karaoke participants tried belting out Pearl Jam’s classic Alive.  The native Chicagoan joined the karaoke singer onstage and turned the song into a duet.  According to the Chicago Tribune (via Puck Daddy), Vedder belted out five tunes after commandeering the karaoke mic, including The Who’s Baba O’Riley and the aforementioned The Weight.  At some point he was joined onstage by Chelios and Wood, although the latter was merely a spectator. Read more ›

   

• Livan Hernandez gave this ballboy the business after he misplayed a foul ball grounder (VIDEO)

  In MLB

  The Braves were taking on Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field this past Sunday when a Rays ballboy had the misfortune of booting a foul ball grounder right in front of the Atlanta bullpen.  Immediately the players started giving the poor kid the business, with Livan Hernandez being the most vociferous of the hecklers.  Not only does he harass the ballboy to no end, he also showers him in sunflower seeds while the rest of the Braves pitchers playfully laugh at Hernandez’s antics.

  But it seems that the ballboys in Tampa Bay are cut from a different cloth, because not only does he take the good-natured abuse from the Braves bullpen like a champ, he wins the day by getting the last laugh on Hernandez (Ed. note:  Anyone else surprised that Livan is just 38-years-old?  I swore he broke into the majors in 1983).

  Video follows the jump… Read more ›

   

• Father and son team up to make a terrific catch on a foul ball during the Yankees/Reds game (VIDEO)

  In MLB

  During Friday night’s interleague match-up between the Yankees and Reds at Yankee Stadium, a father and son combo teamed up to make a terrific grab on a foul ball off the bat of Cincinnati 1st baseman Joey Votto.  There hasn’t been a show of teamwork in the majors between father and son like this since Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr. homered back-to-back in 1990.

  The fact that they’re outfitted in Cincy gear while catching a foul ball hit by the Reds’ best player only adds to their awesome moment, as does the celebration afterwards.

  And while it is a team effort to snag that ball, it’s clearly the kid who should get the lion’s share of the credit.  Sure his dad had to do the muscle work and hold his son up long enough to make the catch, but the young lad has to come up with the grab while being hoisted in the air or it’s all for naught.  Making a catch without having your footing on solid ground is not as easy as it looks.

  Video follows the jump… Read more ›

   

• Sid Bream’s “The Slide” from Game 7 the 1992 NLCS is now a bobblehead giveaway masterpiece

  In MLB

  

  Don’t show this to any Pirates fans, because they’ll scream that bobblehead Sid Bream should have been called out too. Read more ›

   

• Newspaper’s year end high school girls softball write-up is hilariously incomplete

  In MLB

  

  See, truth in reporting does exist…except this may be a little more truth than a newspaper can handle. Read more ›

   

• Now here’s some real in-depth analysis courtesy of the Angels broadcast team

  In MLB

  

  Well something is better than nothing, I guess. Read more ›

   

• Today in cool ideas: Minor League home run derby to take place on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier

  In MLB

  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—Minor League baseball continually trumps it’s Major League counterpart in promotions and stadium giveaways.  This time around it’s the South Atlantic League coming up with the ultra cool idea to hold their All-Star game home run derby on the flight deck of the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier that saw action in World War II and now serves as a museum and national landmark.

  Unfortunately it’s not the entire home run derby that will take place on the flight deck of the Yorktown on June 18th, but only the opening round, with the final round taking place before the league’s All-Star game the following day at Riley Park.  Still, I doubt a better, more patriotic venue the brain trust of the Class A South Atlantic League could not have come up with.

  Read more ›

   

• High school ball player executes the super rare walk-off steal thanks to some fancy footwork

  In Featured, MLB

  Stealing home may be the most exciting play in all of baseball, while winning a ballgame via the walk-off hit is pretty marvelous in its own right.  But combining the two to create the super rare, and ridiculously electrifying walk-off steal of home is undoubtedly the most tremendously enthralling play, game winning or otherwise, in the game of baseball at any level.

  And just such a play happened earlier this month during a high school game between the Lick-Wilmerding Tigers and the University Red Devils.  It wasn’t a straight steal of home but more of a delayed steal after a pitch in the dirt, and the runner, Tigers 2nd baseman Drew Forrest, exhibited some questionable, albeit crafty baserunning to plate the winning run in the bottom of the 8th, but the ump’s call stood and the wild play will live on for eternity. Read more ›

   

• Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a giraffe and a horse take in a reds/nationals game

  In MLB

  

  What I want to know is, how’d they score such killer seats? Read more ›