Josh Hamilton takes public transportation to Friday’s game after Bay Area bridge closure

The Bay Bridge — which connects Oakland to San Francisco — was shut down for a portion of Friday afternoon while authorities investigated what was believed to an explosive device near the bridge.
That meant heavy traffic for Bay Area commuters. And it also meant that some of the Los Angeles Angels — who were staying in San Francisco while playing the Oakland Athletics — had to find alternative ways to get to O.Co Coliseum. The most famous of stranded Angels: Josh Hamilton, the $125 million man.

Most of the Angels had arrived in Oakland via the team's early shuttle, according MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez, but a few, like Hamilton, were forced to take public transportation to the stadium. That meant getting to the game the way many A's fans do, aboard the BART train.

Hamilton ran into this A's fan on his way to the stadium and seemed in good enough spirits to snap a picture and crack a smile:

 Hamilton, who dropped a fly ball last season that helped A's clinch first place, has earned the nickname "Butterfingers" with some A's fans. He's been a good sport about it, eating mini Butterfinger candy bars that A's fans threw at him earlier this season.

At least Hamilton wasn't stranded and using public transportation in a city where people hated him. You know, like back in Arlington.

Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez with gun in his hand?

Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is seen in this still image taken from surveillance video which was released by the Attleboro District Court as evidence, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, July 26, 2013. Attleboro District Court made pages of documents available, along with images which allegedly show Hernandez in his home with what appears to be a gun in his hand.

REUTERS/Attleboro District Court/Handout via Reuters (UNITED STATES - Tags: CRIME LAW SPORT) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Angels in the bullpen: Relief pitcher Dane De La Rosa cares for injured bird during game

Normally when we share stories with you about animals at the ballpark it has to do with a dog sticking it out until the ninth inning or a squirrel running onto the field and interrupting a game. On Thursday night, Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Dane De La Rosa actually had to help rescue one.

During the third inning of his team’s game against the A’s in Oakland, De La Rosa noticed a pigeon hobbling near the visiting bullpen. When it became obvious that the bird couldn’t fly away, the 30-year-old scooped it up and brought it to safety.

After the game, De La Rosa thanked his Twitter followers for praising him for saving Randy, which he apparently named the pigeon.

 

Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson — who got the win Thursday night for the Angels — offered this:

MUST SEE VIDEO!!! Air Force airman in fatigues, boots pulls off windmill dunk

USA Basketball’s intrasquad scrimmage Thursday night in Las Vegas featured some of the best young talent in the NBA, but the highlight of the event came when those players were sitting on the bench.

During a timeout, U.S. Airman Nathaniel Mills — wearing full fatigues and combat boots —  pulled off a windmill dunk that would have earned him some high scores on All-Star weekend. CHECK IT OUT!!!

Vince Young may have possessions seized to pay off $1.7 million loan

The fall of Vince Young continues. Harris County (Tex.) police arrived at his home in Houston this week to inventory his possessions in preparation for an auction to pay for aa $1.7 million judgment against him.

Young took out a $1.9 million loan during the 2011 lockout from Pro Player Funding of New York. However, he defaulted on that loan, and the next summer, Pro Player obtained a $1.69 million judgment against him. Attorneys for Pro Player called the inventory and sale of Young's possessions a last resort, according to local Houston news station KHOU. Young would be able to keep $60,000 in personal possessions, but the remainder of his furniture, artwork, memorabilia and other possessions would go on the auction block.

However, Young has fought the judgment, contending that he didn't know what he was signing and blaming his former financial advisor.

Young's fall has been precipitous. As Shutdown Corner noted last fall, Young signed a contract in July 2006 that, in theory, could have set him up for life. The No. 3 overall pick of the 2006 NFL draft, Young's six-year contract with Tennessee was worth just over $48 million, had a maximum value of $57.79 million, and contained $25.74 million in guaranteed money. Of that initial contract, Young earned over $30 million, as well as another $4 million from Philadelphia in 2011. He'd tried to catch on with Buffalo before the 2012 season, but Bills officials hinted that Young's financial troubles, and the concern about their effects on his psyche, were part of the reason he was cut.

The Pro Player loan was only part of Young's financial problems. He has contended that his former agent, Major Adams II, and former advisor, Ronnie T. Peoples of Peoples Financial Service, conspired to misappropriate at least $5.5 million of his money. Young's attorneys contend that Adams and Peoples falsified documents and forged his signature.

Peoples countered that the loan was, in part, to pay for a $300,000 birthday party Young threw for himself, and that Young's erratic buying habits made budgeting impossible. "It's almost like I can have a $30,000 [monthly] budget that I know we had to pay here," he testified in February, "but then, you know, I get an invoice for a Ferrari that he just bought for $176,000, and they want their money."

Pro Player loaned Young the $1.9 million at 20 percent interest. Young was one of many athletes who took out high-interest loans to make ends meet, or more, during the lockout. As Yahoo! Sports reported in 2011, many lending agencies offered loans to players at interest rates ranging from 18 to 24 percent, with default rates running as high as 36 percent.

In positive news, Young earned his degree from the University of Texas earlier this year. However, no NFL team has shown interest in him at this point.

Florida State tight end Nick O’Leary walks away from horrific motorcycle crash

Nick O'Leary, Florida State tight end and grandson of golf legend Jack Nicklaus, not only survived but walked away from the insane crash in the video below.

As originally reported Wednesday night by Bud Elliot at Tomahawk Nation, the accident occurred on May 2 in Tallahassee. After slamming into the front of a car that pulled in front of him, O'Leary slid between 75 and 100 feet while the remnants of his motorcycle crashed into the windshield of the Star Metro Bus.

 According to the accident report obtained by Tomahawk Nation, O'Leary was treated for non-life threatening injuries at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital while the driver of the Lexus was cited as the cause of the crash for violating O'Leary's right of way. Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher confirmed that Fisher was healthy and ready for the start of camp during ACC Media Days.

O'Leary, who will be a junior this fall, was the top tight end in the country coming out of high school in 2011. He has 33 career catches for 416 yards and four touchdowns so far during his Florida State career.

AT&T Park’s batter’s box was drawn noticeably crooked on Wednesday

Though it didn't take long for them to get destroyed and disappear, the batter's boxes originally drawn in for Wednesday night's Reds-Giants game at AT&T Park — yes, San Francisco was officially the home team this time — may be the most crooked and awkward looking we've ever seen.

Of course that also means they were not up to Major League Baseball standards — or sandlot ball standards, for that matter — but no one on the field seemed to notice or care — most notably home plate umpire Chris Guccione — as the game started and carried on without the lines being corrected. How the umpires could collectively miss it or ignore it I have no idea, but they did.

As for the players, I'd be willing to bet that most hitters — like Miguel Cabrera, for example — can sense when a line is an inch too long or too close to the pitcher's mound. A lot of that is based on routine. A lot of that is based on instincts. But in this case the errors weren't even marginal. Both sides were angled so noticeably, I can't believe Shin-Soo Choo or any of the other seasoned hitters (aka creatures of habit) who followed were able to function at all within those lines.
Here's another look with Gregor Blanco at the plate leading off San Francisco's half of the first.
(MLB.TV)
Blanco appears to be taking advantage of the fact he can get a little closer to the plate, but is staying in line with the pitcher.
Now here's Hunter Pence... just because.
(MLB.TV)
Not surprisingly, Pence looks right at home. If he were to draw the lines himself, that's probably how they would look anyway, so for him there was no adjustment. Just be Hunter Pence, which he was by blooping a single to right field in the first and going 5 for 5 overall in San Francisco's 8-3 loss.

To be perfectly honest, Pence wasn't the only hitter who didn't seem fazed by the wacky line. If anyone was, it was the pitchers who were thrown off. When all was said and done, the two teams combined for 28 hits.

Ryan Braun: 10 damning ‘I am innocent’ quotes

Befor Ryan Braun was suspended for 65 games on Monday for violating MLB's drug policy, the Milwaukee Brewers star had a history of adamant denials about the performance-enhancing drug accusations that have followed him since his 2011 MVP season.

Braun won an appeal in 2012 to eliminate a 50-game suspension and then became a central figure in the Biogenesis scandal. Both times he vehemently denied PED use.
In retrospect, Braun words are damning — hollow proclamations of innocence that we now know were nothing more than lies. -source Big League Stew

Ryan Braun: 10 damning quotes

1.

2.

 3.

 4.

 5.

 

6.

 7.

 8.

 9.

 10.

Even Some Players Aren't Aware Of MLB's Version Of Willy Wonka's 'Golden Ticket'

Charles Lindbergh had one. Jose Bautista tweeted a pic of his. The National League gave one to Babe Ruth, but the American League shunned him. The first of its kind went to Teddy Roosevelt.

Part of an exclusive club, each of these figures received a Lifetime Pass.

Major League Baseball's version of the golden ticket from Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, the prestigious card grants free admission to MLB games for life to any player, manager, coach or umpire with at least eight years of MLB experience. Full-time front office personnel, including general managers, marketing and public relations officials, receive it after 25 years of service.

"It's a nice little reward for putting in a lot of hard work," said Jay Bell, a former All-Star second baseman and shortstop, "and having the opportunity to spend a lot of time in the big leagues."

None of the other major professional sports leagues -- the NFL, NBA or NHL -- has such a program.
Initiation into the Gold Card Club, though, does not involve an elaborate ceremony or presentation. MLB usually mails the Pass to the individual's home or team clubhouse. There have been some instances of a player receiving it at MLB headquarters in New York, if his team happens to be in town shortly after reaching the eight years of service.
It is as esoteric honor, which is shrouded in some mystery. (Even MLB's official historian, John Thorn, was unaware of its origins before researching it for this story.)
"Not that many people know about it," said Brandon Inge, who played 12 years for the Tigers.

When former umpire Steve Palermo, now the supervisor of umpires for MLB, got his in the mail in the 1980s, he thought that MLB sent it either as a mistake or that the league was forcing him into retirement -- until some of his veteran colleagues explained the significance.
"I had no idea what it was," Palermo said. "I wasn't forewarned. "
The gold-toned card reads:

  "The Commissioner Of Baseball In Appreciation Of Long And Meritorious Service Presents This Lifetime Pass _____ & Guest."   One year of service equals 172 days on the 40-man roster.
To gain admission to a game, Pass recipients do not have to call in advance. They typically show the Pass at the stadium's designated VIP window. The card, however, only applies to regular-season games -- not postseason or All-Star events.

MLB indicated the exact seats given to the Pass recipients are based on a club-by-club basis, but one source said his seats were located in prime spots -- even behind home plate.
The Lifetime Pass, which is also given to the occasional historical dignitary, was partly the brainchild of Ford Frick.

When Frick took over as NL president, he came from a public relations background. Showing his promotional savvy, he issued the first NL Lifetime Pass to former Boston Red Stockings shortstop George Wright, who later wrote Frick a personalized thank you note, around February of 1935.

Shortly thereafter, Frick gave Babe Ruth, who played 28 games for the NL's Boston Braves, an NL Lifetime Pass.
The AL had no equivalent, so it became something of an embarrassment that the AL would make its best player -- and one who spent 21 of his 22 seasons in the league -- pay his way into games. A peeved Ruth said, "At least the National League has a heart."
The leagues then began giving out combined passes to players in 1936.
Gold passes were issued to 17 players who put in at least 20 years of service -- Ruth, Fred Clarke, Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, Bill Dahlen, Harry Davis, Red Faber, Walter Johnson, Sam Jones, Nap Lajoie, Rabbit Maranville, Herb Pennock, Eppa Rixey, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Bobby Wallace and Cy Young. Silver cards (386 of them) were given to players with at least 10 years but less than 20.
"They took on quite a luster almost instantly," Thorn said.
Thorn, though, could not pinpoint when eight seasons of experience became the threshold for receiving the pass, adding to the mystique.
Using more modern conventions, Bautista celebrated his lustrous Lifetime Pass by tweeting about it on May 18: "8 years in the show! ‪#goldcard ‪#mlbalways grateful to be able to play the game i love for a living!"
*** During the 444-day occupation, his Iranian captors would storm into his cell in the middle of the night, throw him against the wall, blindfold him, and pull the trigger.
He could only hope the gun wasn't loaded.

"The hardest part," said Barry Rosen, the former U.S. Embassy press attaché, "is the endurance, the will to live through such an elongated crisis, never knowing whether you're going to be executed or not."
A Lifetime Pass was given to Rosen and each of the other 51 Americans, who had been held hostage in Tehran.
Iranian revolutionaries had stormed the embassy in response to the United States' admittance of Iran's ailing and deposed shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, for cancer treatment in 1979. (The Iranian Hostage Crisis was depicted in Argo, the 2013 Academy Award winner for Best Picture.)

Bestowed in 1981 the Pass served as a small token of appreciation for the hostages' sacrifice and suffering.
"When I look back at everything that went on, that is the most unique gift that I received," Rosen said. "Of course, in context of what went on, nothing is of any value, but it was a good way to keep the family together."
Rosen's young kids, Alexander and Ariana, didn't recognize their emaciated father when he first deplaned at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y. In fact they were a little afraid of the disheveled figure.

"The children really didn't know who I was," Rosen said.

Using the Pass, the family went to 15 Mets games a year at Shea Stadium, outings that served as a bonding experience for the Rosens.
"It was my way of bringing them with me to something that I really loved," Rosen said, "and it gave them a spirit of closeness to me that I had not had when I first came home."
More that 50 years before the hostages arrived back in the United States, a Pass was given to Lindbergh in 1927, the year he made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
"Baseball wanted to be part of any national celebration or attach itself to a national hero," Thorn said. "Baseball had become America's national game, and it seemed an appropriate move."
U.S. presidents also have received Passes. Even before Frick brought the idea to the National League in 1934, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues gave Roosevelt the first ever Lifetime Pass in 1907. (At the time the NAPBL was a major governing body in baseball. It still exists as the umbrella group for the minor leagues.) Though an avid sportsman, Roosevelt was not interested in baseball and never used the 14-karat gold pass.
Calvin Coolidge didn't care for baseball -- or sports -- either, but he gave his Pass to his wife, Grace, who frequently went to games.
*** As he sat down in the visiting clubhouse, Inge, a Pirates infielder, pulled his Lifetime Pass out of his backpack, hanging in his locker.

"(Otherwise,) knowing me," Inge said, "I'd lose it."
Although Inge said he would use the Pass to attend games once he retires, neither Bell nor Rob Deer has. The hitting coaches for the Pirates and Cubs, respectively, Bell keeps his in the top of a desk drawer; Deer stores his in a safe.
"I've never used it," said Deer, a power hitter during the 1980s and '90s. "Before I was coaching, I usually had connections, so I didn't need to get in with a (Lifetime Pass). It's more of a memento. "
Similarly, Hall of Fame pitcher and current Orioles color analyst Jim Palmer, who keeps his Pass in his dresser drawer, told The Toronto Star it is more symbolic than practical and that he probably won't ever use it.
"I don't think I ever will," the former Oriole said. "I have a media pass with my picture on it."
While also with the Orioles, current Cubs reliever Kevin Gregg was presented with his by Baltimore's traveling secretary. Gregg, who has pitched for the Angels, Marlins, Blue Jays, Orioles and Cubs, showed it off to his then-Oriole teammates.


"It would probably be a little more special if you were with one team." Gregg said. "But it's still pretty cool. Not many guys can make it eight years."
But if they do last that long, this special honor can also bond fathers and sons -- just as the National Pastime has done for generations.

Now walking with a cane after a robber's gunshot paralyzed him from the waist down in 1991, Palermo gave his pass to his father, Vincent, who was moved by the gesture.
Steve Grilli, the father of Pirates closer Jason Grilli, pitched four years in the majors and sat next to his son during an interview. Steve may not have enjoyed a long career like his son. But Jason, one of the game's best relievers and in his seventh full year, said he wanted to take his dad and sons, Jayse and Jayden, to games when he gets his Gold Card after next season.
"I'm excited to have it," Jason Grilli said. "It's a fraternity you get to be a part of, and you should reap some of the benefits."
Jason remembers being in the Tigers clubhouse when Placido Polanco received his Pass, and the infielder promptly placed it in his in wallet like it was a gold credit card.
"It's just as important as the American Express card," Grilli said. "You can't leave home without it."

Written by: Jeff Fedotin

Aaron Rodgers, who ‘put my salary on’ Ryan Braun being clean, probably regrets that now

Aaron Rodgers was so sure his buddy on the Milwaukee Brewers, Ryan Braun, didn't use performance-enhancing drugs, that he told a skeptical Twitter follower last February that he would put his money where his mouth was.

 Well, Braun has been suspended by Major League Baseball for the rest of the season after dropping an appeal, and somewhere Todd Sutton is wondering how he can collect the Green Bay Packers quarterback's $4.5 million base salary for this year.

When Braun had a positive test for PEDs overturned on appeal, Rodgers publicly defended him then as well.

Might be a bit awkward the next time the two Wisconsin sports stars talk.

Rodgers probably should be regretting being so defensive of Braun, now that Braun has dropped his appeal and said he made "some mistakes" and is willing to accept the consequences. Rodgers once backed out of a jersey bet with the R&B group Boyz II Men, and we really don't figure he will "pony up" on his Braun bet either.

Watch Boxer-Turned-MMA Fighter Holly Holm Knock Her Opponent Out with a Kick to the Head (Video)

For someone who just came from a sport where kicking is not allowed, Holly Holm sure is good with her feet.
On Friday night, at Legacy FC 21 in Houston, the former pro boxer had her first fight since turning to MMA full-time, and she definitely made the most of the new tools at her disposal. Taking on the 5’4″ Allanna Jones, who is a relative newcomer to MMA herself, the 5’8″ Holm delivered a nasty kick to the head of her opponent midway through the second round that knocked Jones out cold.
Take a look:

 

These two women may not be the most exciting fighters in women’s MMA today, but a knockout kick to the head is always entertaining, is it not?

 

Are You Ready to Laugh?!!!! "D'S HIGHLIGHTS"....Must See Video

If you are bored at work. Check out this weeks edition of "D's Highlights"....guaranteed to make you laugh.

El Salvador fans throw sunglasses at Landon Donovan, so he tries them on

Landon Donovan tried to don some sunglasses that were thrown at him by angry El Salvador fans during USA's Gold Cup match Sunday, but an assistant referee was having none of it. Check out video of the incident right here. Donovan had plenty reason to be in a joking mood. The U.S. was dominant throughout the quarterfinal clash, routing El Salvador 5-1 thanks to three assists and one goal from the Galaxy veteran.

Rudy Gay on his vision problems: ‘It was terrible. I could hardly get my license’

The three-team, late January trade that sent Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors was, in some respects, a referendum on how you view and value the talent and worth of an NBA player, generating boatloads of responses from different perspectives. Some accused the Memphis Grizzlies of breaking up a title contender by shipping out a hyper-athletic 26-year-old forward who can create his own shot. Others found Toronto's interest in a low-efficiency wing player who's not a great rebounder, defender or facilitator for his position and is due $37.2 million over the next two season somewhat baffling. 

Memphis seemed to hit its stride after moving Gay, rising from the bottom-third of the league in points scored per possession on the day of the trade up to the middle of the pack afterward. Possessions once belonging to Gay were largely redistributed to more effective players like Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Zach Randolph, and the Grizzlies' vise-grip defense remained stalwart enough to propel them to the Western Conference finals. To his credit, Gay picked up his individual production after the trade, hitting some game-winners and helping the Raptors close the season with a 17-16 mark in his 33 games. But the combination of the Grizzlies' ascendance and his own better-but-still-below-average shooting marks — 42.5 percent from the floor, 36 percent from midrange, 33.6 percent from 3-point land — quieted some of the "Memphis lost a star" talk.

A weird yet entirely plausible explanation for those subpar shooting numbers came up after Toronto's season ended, when Bruce Arthur of the National Post reported that Gay "has required contact lenses for years, but has refused to wear them, and could not get comfortable with goggles this season." This seemed like kind of a big deal, considering the accurate throwing of a ball through a metal ring represents a pretty big part of Gay's job description; four days after Arthur's report, the Raptors announced that Gay had undergone a procedure "to correct vision in his left eye."

During a workout at his alma mater, Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Md., Gay spoke with SLAM's Adam Figman about just how bad the issues were, among other things:

“I did have vision problems,” Gay confesses, sitting up on the trainer’s table after Gray finishes stretching out his muscles. “Actually, it was terrible. I could hardly get my license.” The National Post reported that he refused to wear the contact lenses he desperately needed, which was correct: “I have a stigma about that stuff — I can’t put anything up my nose and I can’t touch my eyes. I think that just comes from me growing up seeing people on drugs — I got over my stigma of needles, but I couldn’t do any of that other stuff. I couldn’t wear contacts. I wore glasses, sometimes.”
Gay finally had the operation to clear up his sight early this summer. “It wasn’t even a regular operation,” he explains. “It was some kind of crazy operation that took a lot more time to heal than I thought. It sucked. They had to patch it up [after], and I had to take eye drops, all stuff that I hated. But I had to do it. It’s crazy because as much work as I’m putting in working on my shot, if I come back shooting [a better] percent from the three-point line, everybody’s gonna say it’s ’cause of my vision, not the hard work I’m putting in.”

I can kind of understand Gay's preemptive frustration. When you put in as many hours of work on developing your game and honing your craft as an NBA player does, you'd like the credit for any improvement to go toward all that hard work and dedication rather than to a LASIK technician, or whomever.

That said, any griping about not getting appropriate praise seems a bit weird, considering the primary reason for the praise would be improved shooting accuracy that Gay very well may have been able to improve himself years ago had he gotten over being squeamish about sticking his finger in his eye. Also, this praise remains purely theoretical, because it requires Gay to start making a higher percentage of his jump shots; after seven years of that not happening super frequently, we're going to need to see that — with our glasses on, contacts in, whatever — before we believe it.

If it does work, though — if Gay proves consistently able to can jumpers off the bounce, when opponents go under screens against him in the pick-and-roll, when the ball swings his way in Toronto's half-court offense, etc. — it would go a long way toward making Dwane Casey's Raptors a legitimate threat to snare one of the East's final two or three playoff slots. Improved shotmaking would also figure to bolster a five-man unit (Gay and DeMar DeRozan on the wings, Kyle Lowry at the point, and Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas up front) that scored like a top-10 offense, defended at an elite level and outscored opponents by nearly 13 points per 100 possessions in 343 minutes after Gay's arrival in Canada, according to NBA.com's stat tool. As potent as that group was, it doesn't have a consistent long-range threat, and it attempted just 13 long balls per 48 minutes of floor time last season.

"If he can knock [the 3-point shot] down consistently, everything is gonna open up more," Gay's trainer, Dustin Gray, told Figman. "Being a threat from out there will open up situations off of close-outs and they’ll have to play him differently off ball-screens. It’s gonna open up the court for him much more."
Depending on how effective Gay is to start the season, I wonder if it'd also open up increased interest in employing vision training as part of teams' player development and strength-and-conditioning programs. MLB's Washington Nationals have emphasized it over the past few years with positive results, but we haven't heard a whole lot about similarly styled approaches in the NBA.

That's a long way off, though; for starters, it'd be neat if Gay just made some more shots. I'm guessing Raptors fans won't really care the makes come from an afternoon of laser work, countless hours of sweat or Valanciunas castin a magic spell on his 6-foot-8 teammate so long as the net ripples; once that starts happening, we can worry about slicing up credit.

Miami Marlins haven’t scored in 37 innings, longest MLB streak in 28 years

Thanks in part to the recent All-Star break, nobody from the Miami Marlins has crossed home plate in eight days. The Flounderng Fish fell 1-0 in 13 innings to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, capping a scoreless weekend at Miller Park and extending their offensive futility longer than manager Mike Redmond can stand it.

The Marlins haven't scored in 37 innings overall, the longest such streak in club history and the longest in the majors since the 1985 Houston Astros, STATS reports via the Associated Press. Miami's offense hasn't produced squat since Derek Dietrich knocked in two runs in the fourth inning of a 10-inning loss to the Washington Nationals on July 14 — just before the break.

The Fish went on a similar streak in 2012.
As reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Redmond finds himself at a loss to explain why his team is at a loss to score:

"To see every single guy in the lineup struggle ... I don't know if I've ever seen that before.

"... We put so much pressure on our pitching to be perfect."

The Marlins have been shut out 12 times this season. It just seems like 12 in a row.

On Sunday, it was pitchers Henderson Alvarez of the Marlins and Wily Peralta of the Brewers putting up zeroes until the bullpens took over. Caleb Gindl of the Brewers ended the suffering with a home run in the 13th against Ryan Webb:

The Marlins have completely forgotten what that feels like. And it's not like they stranded a ton of runners Sunday. Just six. They had a runner at second base with two outs in the ninth, but Francisco Rodriguez pitched around the danger, such as it was.

After a relatively hot finish to the first half, the Fish have gone ice cold. Will they score again? Of course. It's only a matter of when.

Florida linebacker arrested for barking at a police dog at 4:15 a.m.

Antonio Morrison, Florida's starting middle linebacker, was arrested in June for punching a bouncer at a club and shouting "I am Antonio!".  Surely, Morrison would just rely on the legal wizardry of defense attorney Huntley Johnson and be on his best behavior all summer. Not quite.

Last night Morrison, 19, was arrested for barking at a police dog. For real. That's a thing.

According to the police report, Morrison was a bystander outside a late-night Gainesville club when police responded to a disturbance at 4:15 a.m. Sunday morning. As the officers were making arrests, Morrison approached a canine named Bear sitting in the police car and started barking at it.
According to Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples, Bear is a Belgian Malinois Shepherd trained in drug detection and people tracking, so probably not the best animal to antagonize.
An officer on the scene stated Morrison's actions prevented the police from doing their job properly so he asked Morrison to step to the front of the vehicle. When the officer tried to detain Morrison with handcuffs, he resisted. Morrison was charged with interfering with police by harassing a police animal and for resisting arrest/obstructing justice without violence. He appeared before a judge and was released from jail on Sunday morning.

On Tuesday, Florida head coach Will Muschamp said he had yet to decide on a punishment for Morrison for his arrest last month, so we'll have to find out how this latest incident factors in to his disciplinary decision. While barking at a police dog is pretty harmless as far as offseason indiscretions go, it's also really, really dumb, especially for a guy who was just arrested.
If Morrison is suspended a game for his summer adventures, it would be against Toledo in the Gators' home opener. Their second game is a road trip to face the Miami Hurricanes.

UPDATE: Morrison has been suspended for at least the first two games of the season, meaning he will not play against the Rockets or Hurricanes.

Must See Video: Skydiver crashes into Missouri summer league baseball player!!!!

Baseball is a tough enough game without having to dodge skydivers. Just ask Mattingly Romanin, a sophomore infielder from Chicago State University, who is currently playing for the Missouri summer league's Hannibal Cavemen. In a stunt gone hilariously wrong — thankfully — during a pre-game ceremony on Saturday, it was Romanin who had to try dodging one of those wayward skydivers, and he was unable to get out of the way in time.

As you see in the video, Romanin and his teammates appear to be wrapping some pregame work and perhaps preparing for the National Anthem when the diver approaches the second base bag at a high rate of speed and then crashes into the defenseless infielder. According to witnesses at the park, Romanin stayed down on the ground for a couple minutes, but it sounds as though he did escape the incident without injury.

At least that's what I gather from his tweet posted following the game.
By Sunday morning he was in more of a mood to joke about.
Hey, if he can laugh about it, so can we.
According to another funny Romanin tweet, the players were told not to move and to trust that the diver wouldn't crash into them.
Oops.

Perhaps next time the players should be instructed to stay in the safety of their dugout. I mean after all, teams do these types of stunts frequently enough that a miscalculation is bound to happen at some point — remember this guy? — so why not take the extra precaution?

Foul ball rips through net behind plate, hits woman at Nationals game

Barely a month ago, The Stew posted about a man who spilled beer on himself and others at a Philadelphia Phillies game after he flinched when a ball was fouled back to the screen behind home plate.
The post made fun of him. Perhaps he's owed an apology.

A woman sitting in the front row behind home plate at Nationals Park on Saturday night was hit in the left shoulder by a foul ball after the net failed. Jerry Hairston of the Los Angeles Dodgers was batting against Rafael Soriano.

If you watch closely, you can see the woman grab her shoulder. The ball also appears to glance off the woman's hand, which happened to be covering/in front of her face. Try not to imagine the consequences were she hit in the head.
Scary as heck.

Twitter fellow Andrew Tabach happened to be sitting behind her at the game and he message Deadspin two photos, including one with the net obviously ripped:

Yikes. The Washington Nationals have a little problem with one of their nets. At least the Phillies have them beat in that department. Way to go, Citizens Bank Park!

Tabach added:
"[...] She cried a bit and got an ice pack from usher. Guy who found the ball gave it to her"

She got the ball back. The souvenir of a lifetime, which she probably saw flash before her eyes.

New Alabama athletic facility features giant hot tub, other amazing features

 It's a good time to be Alabama, and with the opening up a new athletics facility, things are getting even better. The $9 million facility almost rivals the behemoth at Oregon as the off field arms race in college football continues.

In the above video, Jeff Springer (the Tide's equipment manager), Amy Bragg (Director of Performance Nutrition) and Jeff Allen (Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine) give you a tour of the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility. Its perks include, but are certainly not limited to:

• Two pool tables
• Ping pong tables
• Two foosball tables
• An arcade
• A smoothie bar
• Jerseys from all of the NFL first round picks since Nick Saban took over
• A hydrotherapy area consisting of a hot and cool tub (they're really pools)
• Flat screens everywhere you look
• New lockers with lock boxes and power cords to charge electronics

That's all in addition to the massive weight room we showed you in February that connects the Moore building to the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility. The new facility - named after the former Alabama athletic director who hired Saban as Tide head coach in 2007 - will be used by all Crimson Tide athletes.

Urijah Faber and Renan Barão throw punches at your head (VIDEO)

Have you ever wondered what it's like to have a UFC fighter's fists fly at your head? Wonder no more.

Luckily, you don't have to feel the actual punches from Urijah Faber and Renan Barão. They'll save those strikes for each other at UFC 149 on Saturday night.

Twins closer Glen Perkins converts two-thirds of a save with his fly down

(MLB.TV)Baseball is by no means an easy game, but apparently much of the difficulty is eliminated by playing with your fly down.

That almost has to be true, or else how could we possibly explain Matt Holliday hitting a home run with his zipper all the way down earlier this season, and how else can we explain Minnesota Twins closer Glen Perkins recording two-thirds of his save on Friday night under those same circumstances.
OK, so maybe it happens more often than we're aware of (thankfully), but these two instances were pretty prominent given the players involved, the situation in the game, and the outcomes for each. Fortunately for Perkins though, unlike Holliday's mistake, his was never spotted by either television crew during the game. No videos or gifs exist, but we do have this photo of the critical moment of discovery courtesy of photographer Ben Garvin, who works for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
(@BenGarvin)

That is quality photography.

 

Now that's how you turn an embarrassing situation around. Not only did Glen Perkins earn the save in Minnesota's 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Friday night, he salvaged his pride by being able to have fun at his own expense.

Blown call costs Yasiel Puig an assist after phenomenal 280-foot throw

Yasiel Puig—not an All-Star, according to some of his fellow big leaguers—made a play Friday that was worthy of any of the men who were at Citi Field this week.
The Dodgers' rookie outfielder showed off his cannon arm as the Nationals' Bryce Harper—a two-time All-Star—tried to advance from second to third on a fly ball.

Dodgers third baseman Juan Uribe appeared to tag out Harper, but third-base umpire Eric Cooper called Harper safe.
The close call proved to be important, as Harper later scored on a wild pitch by LA starter Ricky Nolasco.
LA won the game, 3-2, on a solo home run by Andre Ethier in the ninth inning.

Welcome to Milwakuee: Ron Roenicke’s throwback uniform features spelling error

As we noted on Saturday, the Milwaukee Brewers paid tribute to the Negro Leagues when they hosted the Miami Marlins at Miller Park. As a part of the tribute, both teams wore throwback uniforms with the Brewers honoring the 1923 Milwaukee Bears and the Marlins acknowledging the original Miami Marlins from 1956-60. Their uniforms included a special No. 29 patch to honor Hall of Famer Satchel Paige.

Overall it's a very cool to see both teams honoring such an important part of the game's history, but it turns out there was one little problem. The throwback uniform worn by Brewers manager Ron Roenicke has a pretty noticeable spelling error in the only word written across the front.

Take a look thanks to Sean Berg (@sberg2988).
(Sean Berg on Twitter)Well, hey, as I've said many times before: Misspellings, typos and grammatical errors come with the territory when you seek out a careers in writing and manufacturing jerseys. OK, maybe I only said the first part, but unfortunately those are the two careers where it's noticed the most. With that in mind, I feel the pain of whoever was in charge of Ron Roenicke's uniform.

There was some good news, however. Aside from that one little glitch, both teams uniforms look really sharp and classy. Throwback nights really are the best in baseball. Well, aside from those in Houston and San Diego.

Malik Scott gets counted out, even though the referee didn’t appear to reach the count of 10

Malik Scott stands dejected after being counted out against Dereck Chisora. (Press Association)

Malik Scott is probably never going to win the heavyweight championship, so in the grand scheme of things, Saturday's loss at Wembley Arena in London to Dereck "Del Boy" Chisora won't make much of a difference. But fair is fair and referee Victor Loughlin appeared to cost Scott a chance to win the fight and keep his unbeaten record.
In the sixth round of the scheduled 10-rounder, Chisora had Scott pinned in a corner and landed a series of clubbing punches. Scott went down from a right.
Scott appeared to be clear-headed, as the announcers noted while examining the replay, and he took the count on one knee. In professional boxing, there is a mandatory eight-count after a knockout and a lot of fighters choose to take it on the knee as a way to clear their heads and catch a break.
Scott was clearly watching Loughlin as the referee counted directly in front of him. Scott appears to get to his feet when Loughlin reached nine. Inexplicably, though, Loughlin waved the bout off and called it a TKO for Chisora.
The countdown begins at the 23:40 mark and the announcers begin to break down the finish at about the 25-minute mark on the video. Loughlin is counting and using his fingers as he administered the count. But he never said 10 or put up 10 fingers.

The announcers noted that Scott seemed clear-headed and pointed out he seemed to get up at "nine or nine-and-a-half."
It certainly seemed like Scott was on his feet at nine and deserved the chance to continue.
On his Twitter page, Scott was asked if it were a good stoppage. He wrote, "got hit wit good shot..took count and was good 2 go"
The loss was the first of the 32-year old American's career and dropped him to 35-1-1. Chisora is now 17-4 with 11 knockouts.