Youth Sports. ESPN. Bad Idea: Part Two.

I will be STUNNED if we get through the 10-day tournament in Williamsport, PA without a violent incident.

The qualifiers from Davenport, IA are the center of a Houston Astros-like sign-stealing exhibition, according to MSN reports.

It's the "runner on second" who taps his leg to let the batter know what pitch is coming, says the team from Wisconsin.

Someone is going to take a fastball to the dome in this tournament.

NFL Suspension Blotter and some political MLB news...

First, three more suspensions:

• Atlanta Falcons:  James Pearce suspended the for 8 games, personal conduct.  For being accused of taking his car and ramming it into his girlfriend during a domestic dispute.  Let that process.  Attempted murder gets you only 8 games in the NFL.
• Buffalo Bills:  Phidarian Mathis:  Banned for the first 3 games.  Sounds like a repeat offense of failing to cooperate with the Substances of Abuse policy.
• Washington Commanders:  Dorance Armstrong, 1 game for personal conduct, assault and resisting arrest charges under probation in 2025.

And then, it sounds like the vibes against San Francisco's Pride celebrations worked for the Giants:

The Giants and the Bay Area host the All-Star Game for MAGA League Baseball in 2028.

And yet another story of why youth sports on ESPN is a BAD IDEA...

Every year, we seem to get at least one story a year as to someone breaching the rules to try to get their local sports on the Little League World Series (and softball as well) on ESPN.

Developing story out of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Tulsa National softball team was disqualified at the championship game (one before they would go on ESPN for the Softball World Series, completed Sunday) for an ineligible player.

And now the story gets even messier:  The same has happened to the baseball team from that very same organization.  Disqualified at the championship game, as they were waiting to see who they would play.

No less than three other organizations in the tournament protested, giving at least five charges that the baseball team was also illegal.

Stay tuned.  I could foresee this getting all the way to arrests.

UPDATE:  They sued and won.  They'll play for the ESPN berth Tuesday.

AND ANOTHER TUESDAY AFTERNOON:  A higher judge reversed the decision.  Tulsa National is OUT.

Sports To The Right, Part Four: Enemies of Baseball

(No, this was not originally scheduled.)

I hope you all have something to do next year, around the first of April and onward.

Because, after last night, there is now effectively zero chance (outside of an owner- or Trump-enforced season) that there will be any professional baseball of the regular stripe.

The fact that the Dodgers are getting two-time defending American League Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal is bad enough.  What makes it even worse (and makes me wonder if the upcoming lockout is going to be just one season) is that they gave effectively nothing in return.

And that MLB is going to stand for this is indicative of some very ugly political realities...

MLB is MAGA.  There's a very real chance they've gotten through to the Dodger ownership and they're MAGA too -- and that now the brass of Major League Baseball is rigging a dynasty to kill the game as you knew it.

The Dodgers are now enemies of baseball.

So are Rob Manfred and the MLB leadership.

MAGA League Baseball wants to bleach itself, wherever possible.  MAGA League Baseball wants rid of LGBTQ support.  MAGA League Baseball wants there to be one elite team or a small group of elite teams -- which will create the same illusion of competition the NBA fails to purport.

And the Dodgers are now in full economic and political lockstep.

I do genuinely wonder how many people, last night and today, have finally given up on the National Pastime of Delusion.

Couple of June 30 notes:

• As of now, it appears Brendan Sorsby WILL get his NFL shot in 2027, but he'll have to sit out the entire 2026 season.  The NFL, NFLPA, and a third party came to an agreement that Sorsby will be treated as entering the 2027 Draft fully, including the Senior Bowl, Combine, etc.
• And then there's Wilson Contreras, who may be in line for one of the biggest on-field Discipline Blotter situations in recent MLB history.

Contreras was thrown out of Monday night's game for mocking the umpire by tapping his helmet.  Some might think it excessive, but the first-base umpire caught it and threw Contreras.

That was probably handled normally.

Tonight's won't be.

After being struck out by Cade Cavalli, Contreras heard what was believed to be "Sit down, boy!" from Cavalli.  Contreras advanced toward Cavalli, benches clear in the argument, Contreras throws his helmet at Cavalli, and Contreras loses his helmet and attempts to swipe Cavalli twice with it.

Four people were eventually ejected.

Now, a couple of things to keep in mind before I give you my verdict:

• This is back-to-back ejections.  Even managers, in my opinion, should be suspended a game under almost any circumstances for back-to-back ejections, before we get to anything else.  But at least that happens with respect to managers from time to time.
• He was suspended six games just ten months ago for a large-scale fight.

I say 6-7-8 games, appeal MAYBE down to five.  But then MLB makes it clear:  Another large-scale event like this he starts, and the bidding starts either side of a month.

Oh yeah, Pigfucker has made his decision all right...

I make a point of leaving up all my errors.

That may be one of the worst-made posts in history.

Because we would like to congratulate the 2025-26 NBA Champion New York Knicks, who erased a TWENTY-NINE POINT DEFICIT to win Game 4.

Why we can't just stick to sprots, Part II...

The rest of the political-registration survey from earlier was found by our friends at Close Call Sports and they published the findings on their Discord.  They finally also allowed me to find the link to the article with all of the information.

None of what at least the charts they publicized should be of any degree of surprise... 

A side chart on the NFL first...

Among NFL players, defensive and skill-position players tend to lean the most Democratic, while special teams players are the most Republican. Quarterbacks fall somewhere in between the two. pic.twitter.com/QcioxpdKDR

— VoteHub (@VoteHub) January 20, 2026

Defense usually scales Democratic (by well over 30 points), offense and special teams Republican.

And don't fall for VoteHub's trying to sugar-coat it:  Quarterbacks skew Republican by about 13 points.

But the bigger lack of surprise is in the general findings:

• One of the things I really felt would start happening is the abolition of the NBA and WNBA, in the favor of MAGA League Baseball and the NHL.
• MLB is the most Republican-skewing of the major sports, with over 53% of those found registered Republican, only 7.8% Democrat. 
• And I don't believe your rant at all, Firefox Pocket or SB Nation or whoever it was:  The NHL has been actively trying to position itself as The Winter Sport under Trump.
• The NHL has the smallest Democratic registration of all the sports at less then 6%.  Republican?  Almost 44%.
• I don't believe for a second that US MAGA celebration with the FBI director was either against what you believe in or a bad thing for the league.  It probably came at Bettman's direction!
• The reason I think the NBA and WNBA are doomed if Trump ever gets around to being the President they REALLY voted for?  NBA:  42.9% Democrat, 10% Republican.
• WNBA:  2.3% Republican.  13 teams in the WNBA, assume 15 roster spots (as in the NBA) per team.  That would mean, if a representative sample were found, precisely FOUR Republican players in the WNBA.
• Democrat?  67.5%.  Or about a hundred and forty.

 

Massive spot-fixing situation in Major League Baseball?

As people know, former Cleveland pitcher Emmanuel Clase is under indictment for spot-fixing pitches in various Major League games.

Now, we get an idea of at least an extent to the charges.  Documents today pulled by ESPN state that Clase, over the two-year period alleged that Clase is being indicted for, rigged pitches in no less than a quarter of the games he appeared.

In the period, Clase is now believed to have rigged pitches in at least 48 of the 197 games in which he appeared.

Three-time All-Star...

Best relief pitcher in the American League twice. 

$2 million in 2023, the first alleged year.

$2.9 million in 2024.

$4.9 million he would've been paid in 2025, with three more years, including two club options that would've gotten him $26,000,000 thereafter.

All for bettors in the Dominican Republic to win about a half million dollars, as currently alleged.

On top of suspended during COVID for 80 games for the substance policy.

I would not be out of line to start asking questions about not only his entire career, but how many games he has openly thrown as a Major League pitcher.

And then the real questions:  Why?  And who was being threatened to ensure compliance?? 

Shut down all Daily Fantasy prop bets. NOW.

Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase have both been indicted for spot fixing in Brooklyn today.

Two games in June, each paid $5000 each for Ortizto throw an intentional ball in one game, $7000 in another.

It is time for Federal authorities to close down all prop-bet Daily Fantasy, because if you think that's the extent of it...

According to Spotrac:  Ortiz was being paid about $800,000.   Clase?  $4.9 million.

There is ZE and RO chance this doesn't involve full-out game-rigging.  This is just what they have so far.

But please tell me why I should believe otherwise when you literally have a pitcher (Clase) making $5 mil a year on a MASSIVE contract throwing it all away for $12,000...  And he was gonna make $6.4 million this year with two $10 million club options

MLB, you got more to find -- a LOT MORE, and that's just on these two. 

Edit to add 7:35 PM PST:   Now word is they've found suspicious patterns dating back three seasons! 

Does Major League Baseball want to just leave Florida to Spring Training??

Sure sounds like it, if incidents like this are any indication.

Redditor attends what probably is going to be his last Tampa Bay Rays game.

He somehow comes into possession of the 40th home run of the season by Rays slugger Junior Camineros.

Security at the ballpark physically accosts the fan, demanding that the ball is now the property of MLB and the Rays (and I would not be surprised if that is the "answer" for all the big-money balls of the roid freaks of the 2000's) -- the fan isn't entitled to anything for it.

It finally escalates to the point that the next time the fan might be allowed in the ballpark is going to be some point next season.  Not only is the ball taken from him, he's banned six months after Florida Man Security physically attacks him.

No word on whether that clock actually stops in the offseason, but I think it's clear they might as well not bother letting him back in the stadium at all.

Well, we know the phraseology to that:  FUCK ROB MANFRED!!! 

MAGA League Baseball Does It Again, and AGAIN, AND AGAIN...

So it's not enough for the misogynist Marlins to predetermine they needed to fire the first female GM in the league's history, playoff berth be damned...

It's not enough for Aubrey Huff to let his MAN FLAG fly and slam his former team for interviewing their bench coach, the first female bench coach in the history of the league, to become the first female manager in the league (a post at which she served several partial games this year)...

No, we have someone across the San Francisco Bay who has thrown in toward the genocide of transgenders across the country.

Brain-dead and completely blind to the room A's owner John Fisher, in his continuing quest to show he is a MAGA pig (and, hence, hates the Bay Area and everything it represents), threw a maximum Presidential donation to pro-trans-murder Presidential candidate Doug Burnum, according to San Francisco area news aggregator SFGATE.

Look, shithead:  We know you hate Oakland.

It sounds like we know a reason why, and I hope some San Francisco transgender belts you square across the face (since we know nothing else will get through, given the attempts on the parts of A's fans to get your ass to sell the team to -- oh, I don't know...  SOMEONE WHO GIVES A ROYAL SHIT ABOUT ANYTHING????)

You are a transphobic jackass, and I know you won't care, short of actual pain, because it's clear you hate everything about this sport except it's money and it's MAGA...

How many people are you going to get killed, if your man succeeds?  Asking for a friend!!!

Baseball: Yeowch.

Texas and Arizona have 2-0 away sweeps.  That's 8-0 away for those two teams.

Baltimore and the Dodgers are one loss from elimination.  Cobb County even only went 1-1 in their yard.

Are we getting to the point where the grind of the regular season is just too much and that some degree of "management" is going to be required?

Are we literally down to "Do you want to win the division or the World Series?"

Playoffs are set in baseball...

Texas lost to Seattle 1-0

Houston beat Arizona 8-1

Tampa is beating Toronto 12-8

Houston wins the AL West again

Texas the AL #5

Toronto the AL #6

AL Bracket:  Texas at Tampa Bay, winner of that best of three gets a best of five with Houston

Toronto at Minnesota, winner of that series gets Baltimore

NL:  Arizona lost

Miami lost.

Miami wins the tiebreaker, so tomorrow's half-inning won't matter.

NL Bracket:  Arizona at Milwaukee, winner gets the Dodgers

Miami at Philadelphia, winner gets Cobb County

Game 162 and the Last: Kayfabe

Politicals, I think are obvious.  I do think it's Houston vs. Cobb County again, Houston beating Baltimore in the ALCS and Cobb County defeating the Milwaukee/NL#6 winner in the NLCS.  (I think the Urias suspension will get the Dodgers out in the DS, and probably without much resistance.)

So let's fill in the dance card:

American League:

Tampa beat Toronto Saturday 7-5.

Texas beat Seattle 6-1.

Houston beat Arizona 1-0.

So we have our six in the AL, Seattle eliminated with the loss:

1. Baltimore
2. AL West winner between Texas and Houston.  Texas if they win or Houston loses tomorrow, Houston if they win and Texas loses.
3. Minnesota
4. Tampa Bay
5. Toronto/Texas/Houston
6. Toronto/Houston/Texas

So now the only two things left are the AL West, and the 5 and 6 placements.

The AL West is simple:  Texas wins or Houston loses, Texas Rangers are champs.  Houston must win and Texas lose to win the division.  Houston wins the tiebreaker with Texas 9 wins to 4.  That has to be dealt with first.

Whichever of the two teams does not win the AL West:  

If Texas wins, then if one of Houston or Toronto wins and the other does not, the one of those two which wins is the #5, the other the #6.  

If all three gain the same result, win or lose, or both Toronto and Houston lose with Texas winning, Toronto is the #5 and Houston is the #6, Toronto winning the season series 4-3.  

If Houston and Toronto win and Texas loses, Houston wins the division, Toronto is the #5 and Texas is the #6 due to a 6-1 record over Texas.

If Houston wins, and Toronto and Texas both lose, then Texas is the #5 one game outright over Toronto, after Houston wins the tiebreaker for the division.

National League:

Arizona lost, see above.

Miami beat Pittsburgh 7-3

St. Louis revenged Cincinnati by a similar ridiculous score to Friday night's.

Cubs beat Milwaukee 10-6

1. Cobb County Barfs (and WS HFA if/when they get there)
2. Dodgers
3. Milwaukee
4. Philadelphia
5. Miami/Arizona
6. Miami/Arizona

So we now do know the 12 teams which will contest the playoffs.  We just have the 5/6 to settle in the NL, and a half-inning in New York could make this mighty complicated.

Cubs were eliminated today because, even one game behind Arizona, they lost the season series 6-1 to Arizona.  (They also lost to Miami 4-2.)

Cincinnati eliminated today with the loss.

Miami has the tiebreaker with Arizona.  The Monday bottom of the 9th in New York only matters if Arizona wins Sunday and Miami loses.  Then and only then, Miami has all to play for in 5-20 or so minutes in New York. They lead that game 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth.

Well, Fuck Rob Manfred has won on at least a couple points this season...

• Ronald Acuna Jr. helped use the new rules on pitcher disengagements to steal, as of beginning of play tonight, 70 bases.  Last time that was beaten:  2008, Jose Reyes steals 78.
• He will win the National League MVP:  He is the first member of the 40-70 Club:  40 home runs, 70 steals.
  
• Attendance, as of the final weekend, up over 9% to the best in six years:  29,176 per game.
• MLB hasn't seen 30,000 a game since 2017.
• The record per game was in 2007:  32,785.
• Philadelphia and Cincinnati led the increases, and only two teams actually lost more than 100,000 fans over the course of the season:  The White Sox and Nationals.
• The Dodgers led attendance this year again -- as they had every full season since 2013.
• Over 3.8 million, average 47,371.
• Oakland actually made it to 10,000 a game -- the 832,000 fans were the least in baseball by 330,000.
• Average:  10,275
• Ironically, 31st in average is a team deep in the wild-card race:  Miami at 1.16 million, 14,355.
• Tampa Bay, the second-best team in the American League, is 29th at about 17,800 a game.
  

Is someone going to have to deck Curt Schilling to shut this fucktard up?

If so, I volunteer.

Today, Schilling announced that Tim Wakefield has brain cancer.

... without permission from Wakefield, his wife, or his family.

[MLB] One Week Left Until the Barfs[-Assholes] Coronation Begins

So let's take a look at how this last week is shaking out:

American League:

IN:  Minnesota  (Central champs, Magic Number against 2 for the #3 seed)  Baltimore and Tampa Bay (undetermined)

ELIMINATED:  The rest of the Central (KC, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland, Detroit), the two ESPN whores (Boston and New York Yankees), and Oakland and the LA Angels

East:  Baltimore 2.5 up over Tampa, Toronto only playing for Wild Card

West: Texas 2.5 up over Houston, 3 over the Mariners

Seeds:

1.  AL East Champion CLINCHED

2.  AL West Champion unless Minnesota basically runs the table, etc.

3. Minnesota unless they run the table, etc.

4.  AL East 2nd CLINCHED

Other Wild Cards:  Toronto is 87-69.  Houston is 85-71, Seattle 84-71.  Toronto home to the Yankees and Tampa.  Houston at Seattle and Arizona.  Seattle home to Houston and Texas, four with Texas!

So basically the two Seattle series are the biggest.

HTH:  Texas over Toronto (6-1)  Toronto over Houston (4-3).  Next tiebreaker, Seattle and Toronto 3-3.

Houston over Texas (9-4).  Seattle is 8-2 over Houston.

Texas is 7-1 over Seattle. 

National League:

IN:  Atlanta (East Champs), LA Dodgers (West Champs), Milwaukee Brewers (Magic Number 1 for the Central)

So we go directly to Wild Cards:  Philadelphia 87-69 (Magic Number 1), Arizona 82-73, Chicago Cubs 82-74, Miami 81-75, Cincinnati 80-77, Padres and Giants both 77-79 (Tragic Number 2).

All others eliminated.

HFA:  Barfs 3 1/2 up on the Dodgers, Barfs 6 to play, Dodgers 7.

Seeds:  1.  Probably Atlanta

2. Probably the Dodgers

3. Milwaukee

4. Philadelphia

ARI:  Makeup at Yankees Monday, at Chicago White Sox, home to Houston.

CHC:  At Atlanta and Milwaukee

MIA:  At Mets and Pittsburgh

CIN:  At Cleveland and St. Louis.

So, of the four teams, they are not only done playing each other, but only one of the eight series is at home.

Tiebreakers:  

ARI:  Wins over Cubs (6-1).  Loses to MIA (2-4) and CIN (3-4)

CHC:  Loses to all three (ARI 1-6, CIN 6-7, MIA 2-4)

MIA:  Wins over Cubs (4-2) and ARI (4-2).  Next tiebreaker with CIN (3-3)

CIN:  Wins over Cubs (7-6) and ARI (4-3).  Next tiebreaker with MIA (3-3)

We are officially losing our grip, people...

Denver.

Two fans hit the field and tried to accost Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves.

Holy hell pic.twitter.com/txHDVC7eTf

— SportsTalkATL.com (@SportsTalkATL) August 29, 2023

What the FUCK????

At least 3 people injured after shooting at Guaranteed Rate Field where Chicago White Sox game was being played. (Via @CPD1617Scanner) pic.twitter.com/OOC6wPxPcp

— Dredre babb (@DredreBabb) August 26, 2023

 

In Section 162...

During the game...

Left-center field...

Almost 22,000 in attendance tonight and NOT ENOUGH WAS NOTICED TO STOP THE GAME...

With a gun(person -- no word yet on if a shooter was caught) INSIDE THE STADIUM.

EDIT TO ADD 10:50 AM PDT 8/26:  Same night, four were shot at a high school football game in Oklahoma.  Reports indicate there may well have been two shooters and that it was also officer-involved, but that the shooters apparently got away.

Suspension Blotter, Part Continuing...

MLB:

• San Diego Padres:  Robert Suarez will be sitting ten games.  Substance-check failure for the 209th MLB ejection of the year.

NFL, two free agents:

• Travis Jonsen was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2021 season for a DUI, and not being of enough use to keep around.  The NFL pretty much put the door on his career, suspending him the first three games of this season, meaning now two full years-plus out of the league.
• Mazzi Wilkins has also basically had the NFL shut on him, banned three games to start this season, probably for something in 2021 while he was with the Ravens.  He was in the USFL last year.