Baseball

Travis Kelce might be in the midst of one of the greatest NFL careers ever ... but the Kansas City Chiefs star tells TMZ Sports he has his eye on another endeavor -- the WWE.

Now, he clearly ain't ready to hang up his cleats in exchange for wrestling boots ... but the two-time Super Bowl champ said this week he definitely wants some kind of role with the org. -- and he hopes it happens sooner than later.

Kelce told us he's been inspired to seek out the job after he watched his good buddy, George Kittle, have a blast in the ring earlier this month.

"My guy George Kittle was at WrestleMania throwing clotheslines left and right, man," Kelce said. "It was awesome to see him go nuts."

So, Kelce said he's hit up his pal The Miz -- who actually lost to Pat McAfee at WrestleMania due to interference from Kittle -- and he told us he's working with the WWE Superstar to try to get some sort of action in the WWE soon.

"Hopefully," the 33-year-old tight end said, "we can brew something into fruition here."

Of course, Kelce doesn't have exactly all the time in the world to mix it up in the ring ... he's gone nonstop this offseason, hosting "Saturday Night Live," throwing ceremonial pitches at Guardians games and even making an appearance at Thursday's NFL draft.

A baseball signed by President John F. Kennedy during an historic trip to Venezuela in late-1961 is up for auction, one of the most coveted presidential John Hancocks, and the ball could sell for upwards of $200K!

The Spalding "Associacion Venezuela de Baseball Professional" ball that SCP Auctions is selling was signed on December 18, 1961, shy of two years before Kennedy's tragic death, when the first-term president traveled to meet Venezuelan president Rómulo Betancourt.

A newspaper reporter named Julio Messuti carried around the ball for days, hoping JFK would sign it ... and as the trip drew to a close, he got his chance, somehow getting by Secret Service and reaching Kennedy, who signed the ball.

The paper El Universal published a photo of POTUS signing the ball.

There's a massive market for baseballs signed by U.S. presidents -- the rarer, the better -- and there aren't that many JFK-signed balls that have been authenticated.

"As far as sports memorabilia goes, there is high interest in baseballs signed by our past Presidents, with the game being America's National pastime going back over 125+ years," David Kohler, SCP president, told us.

"JFK signed baseballs are some of the rarest in all the collecting community with only a handful ever authenticated by the foremost experts."

As we reported in 2020, Donald Trump signed baseballs were selling in the $2,000 to $3,000 price range -- a stark contrast from the $1,000 price point memorabilia shops were getting when he first assumed the White House in 2017 -- despite his polarizing persona.

There have already been 9 bids for the ball ... with the top number currently at $53,594.

Two California high school baseball teams got into a massive brawl during a game earlier this week -- and it grew into such a large melee on the diamond, cops tell TMZ Sports they're now investigating it all.

The fight erupted after Norwalk H.S. beat Mayfair H.S., 3-2, on Wednesday in Lakewood, which is about 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.

The victory meant the Norwalk Lancers swept Mayfair and would advance in the playoffs ... and in order to celebrate the occasion, one of the Lancers' players brought a broom to the postgame handshake line.

Fans in the crowd, though, didn't appreciate the sweep taunt ... and you can hear in footage from the scene, one person yelled, "Put your broom in the dugout! Respect the game!"

Mayfair players clearly didn't like it either ... and seconds later, an all-out brawl between both teams erupted.

At one point, parents even got in the middle of it ... with some calling players on the field derogatory names.

A different angle of the fight shows several players threw punches in the skirmish ... and on Friday, the Lakewood Sheriff’s Department told us officers did ultimately respond to the scene and an investigation is now underway.

The California Interscholastic Federation and officials from the two schools said they're still gathering information on the unfortunate incident ... and a punishment could come down at a later date.

The "f***ing c***" barb that ex-ESPN reporter Marly Rivera hurled at a female journalist earlier this month was captured on video ... and in the footage, obtained by TMZ Sports, you can see it all went down right in front of Aaron Judge.

The incident -- which resulted in ESPN firing Rivera from her role as a national baseball reporter earlier this week -- happened on April 18 at Yankee Stadium ... just before New York took on the Los Angeles Angels in the Bronx.

According to the New York Post, Rivera had set up an interview with Judge ... but grew frustrated when freelance reporter Ivón Gaete showed up at the same time looking to speak with the Yankees superstar as well.

The video shows Rivera got so livid with Gaete -- who the Post reported had been at the stadium to cover Angels star Shohei Ohtani for Tokyo Broadcasting -- she began to raise her voice at the woman in Spanish ... as Judge signed autographs and posed for pics with fans just feet away.

At one point, Rivera rolled her eyes and called Gaete a "f***ing c***."

Gaete was clearly taken aback by the remark -- and asked a nearby camera person if they had caught it on video.

The two reporters then lingered around Judge for several moments. When he finally left the area, it seemed Rivera wanted to apologize ... but it didn't appear Gaete was willing to accept it.

ESPN said on Wednesday it had parted ways with Rivera following the encounter. Rivera, meanwhile, told the Post she fully accepted responsibility for her actions.

"There were extenuating circumstances but that in no way is an excuse for my actions," Rivera said. "I am a professional with a sterling reputation across baseball and I do believe that I am being singled out by a group of individuals with whom I have a long history of professional disagreements."

Rivera has since deleted her social media pages.

Fernando Tatis Jr. was public enemy No. 1 at Wrigley Field Tuesday night -- but the Padres star was unbothered as Cubs fans serenaded him with steroids taunts during the game.

Tatis Jr. -- suspended for 80 games by MLB in August 2022 over a positive PED test -- was showered with "he's on steroids" chants as he stood in the outfield.

How'd the 24-year-old respond to the trolling? By dancing to the chants and, at one point, even gesturing toward fans in the bleachers.

Remember, MLB suspended Tatis Jr. for half a season after he tested positive for Clostebol, a banned substance, and the suspension, coupled with a wrist injury, caused him to miss the entire 2022 campaign.

Fernando, who has always maintained he never intentionally ingested performance-enhancing drugs, said he took medication to treat a skin infection, and that caused the positive test.

Tatis Jr. has apologized for the suspension, saying he was genuinely sorry for letting so many people down, and adding he has work to do to regain trust.

The 2x Silver Slugger debuted with the Padres last Thursday, where he hit leadoff for San Diego against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Russell Wilson went from NFL superstar to proud dad real quick this weekend ... 'cause after Future Zahir hit his first ever over-the-fence home run -- the Denver Broncos QB went crazy!!!

The memorable moment went down on the baseball diamond just after one of Ciara's 8-year-old son's games ... when Russ and the boy were getting in some extra work.

You can see in video Wilson shared to his Instagram page on Sunday ... the quarterback was throwing Future Zahir some pitches, when the kid got a hold of one.

The ball traveled to deep left field ... and when it cleared the fence -- everyone lost their minds!!

Wilson threw his hands up, Future Zahir jumped up and down ... and even Ciara screamed from the stands, chanting his name as her son circled the bases.

"His first Home Run way over the fence!" Wilson said of the moment in the vid's caption. "Future taking ground balls, pop flies & extra swings. Right before Sun down."

"Anything worth having we all have to work for!!! Proud dad moment.⚾️"

Of course, the Super Bowl champ knows a thing or two about baseball ... before becoming an NFL player, Wilson played for NC State from 2008 to 2010 and was actually drafted by the Colorado Rockies.

The 34-year-old went on to play 32 games for Rockies' minor league affiliate, the Tri-City Dust Devils, and had two home runs, 11 RBI and a .230 batting average.

As for Future Zahir -- Ciara's first child with rapper Future -- he isn't just good with the bat ... Wilson's been training him on the football field as well.

A's legend Dave Stewart says if his former team leaves Oakland, he's going to be devastated ... and now, he's hoping for a "last-minute miracle" that stops the squad from moving to Las Vegas.

TMZ Sports spoke with the former World Series MVP just hours after the A's announced they had agreed to buy land in Sin City, seemingly with the intention of eventually moving there ... and Stewart didn't even try to hide his disappointment with it all.

The ex-pitcher, who grew up in Oakland and went on to play eight years for the Athletics, said "it's just heartbreaking to see this happening."

Stewart told us he really feels most for the city itself ... because it already lost the Raiders to Vegas and the Warriors to San Francisco in the past few years.

He added, though, that he understood it might be a move A's ownership just has to make.

"Even though it's heartbreaking, sometimes you just have to make the decision that puts you in a position to be successful going forward," he said.

But, the 66-year-old -- who currently works as an A's analyst for NBC -- told us he's still holding out hope a move is not in the cards.

"We'll keep our fingers crossed," he said, "and we'll continue to say prayers that some type of last-minute miracle will keep the A's in Oakland."

A San Francisco bartender wearing a David Wright jersey was in for a huge surprise on Thursday ... 'cause she came face-to-face with her favorite New York Mets star -- and the moment was pretty awesome!!

TMZ Sports has learned -- the interaction went down at Local Tap on 3rd and Brannan in SF ... after David's friends noticed Kyl Goodman wearing the black #5 threads behind the bar.

Goodman -- a native New Yorker and longtime Mets fan -- says Wright's friends told her the Mets great was right down the street and they would arrange for her to meet him ... but she didn't think they were actually being serious.

Sure enough, Wright popped up at Local Tap shortly after ... and the two were all smiles as they hugged one another!!

"I thought you guys were f***ing with me," Kyl told Wright's friends in the video.

Wright -- selected by the Mets in the first round of the 2001 MLB draft -- played 14 seasons in the Big Apple ... and was a fan-favorite while playing third baseman for the organization.

The 40-year-old was a 7-time All-Star, 2-time Gold Glove winner, back-to-back Silver Slugger winner ... and finished his career with 242 home runs.

Wright retired from MLB in 2018 ... but he's still clearly just as popular even in retirement.

Two weeks after ringing the victory bell, Chicago White Sox star pitcher Liam Hendriks is officially cancer-free!!!

The 34-year-old announced the amazing news on his social media page Thursday ... posting a video and pics of his months-long battle to rid himself of the disease.

"How It Started VS How It’s Going….REMISSION," he wrote in a caption on his Instagram page. "🙏🏻 It’s official. I’m cancer-free."

Hendriks' team also confirmed the great news on Twitter ... tweeting, "Liam Hendriks is cancer free" with a green heart emoji.

The Chicago closer had an uphill battle to get to this point ... undergoing grueling treatment every 28 days since his January diagnosis.

Hendriks -- a three-time All-Star and 12-year MLB veteran -- thanked his wife, Kristi, earlier this month for remaining by his side during the harrowing ordeal.

"You held my hand every step of the way," he wrote in a message to her. "You were my voice of confidence and always made sure I felt loved and safe throughout it all. I love you."

Madison Bumgarner went ballistic on Cardinals star Willson Contreras during their game on Wednesday ... telling the St. Louis catcher to "shut the f*** up" -- while appearing to call him a "p****."

The Diamondbacks pitcher fired off the NSFW commentary after Contreras got mad at himself for fouling off a pitch in the third inning.

It's unclear exactly why the former World Series MVP was so ticked at Contreras for the reaction ... but a hot mic captured almost the entirety of his ensuing rant.

"Shut the f*** up," Bumgarner can be heard saying on the game's broadcast ... before he mouthed the words, "You p****."

Bumgarner later could be seen appearing to tell the 30-year-old, "F*** you!"

Contreras motioned to Madison's catcher as if to signal he needed to do something about Bumgarner's language and demeanor ... but the chatter continued nonetheless.

The at-bat ultimately concluded with a walk ... and after Contreras flipped his bat on the way to first base, Bumgarner looked like he had even more words for the St. Louis hitter.

Country star Jessie James Decker is calling out United Airlines for its alleged treatment of her pregnant sister ... who, according to Jessie, was forced to get on her hands and knees to pick up some popcorn.

Even before Jessie sounded off, the incident went viral because her sister Sydney is married to Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass -- and he was first to rip into United, claiming flight attendants made his wife get on the floor to pick up the kernels their daughter dropped.

With the online backlash in full swing, Jessie's adding to it by revealing on IG that Sydney's "five months pregnant, high risk, and also traveling alone with her two small children."

Jessie continued ... "The flight attendant came up to Sydney with a trash bag, and a wet wipe, telling her the captain wants Syd to clean up every drop" -- adding they called the scattered food a safety hazard.

She says Sydney was left in tears after her clean-up duty ... and now there's a push on Twitter for United to apologize.

Many chalked it up to laziness on the attendant's part, but there are some people backing United -- one user tweeted, "Commercial airlines are not your children’s playground. Pick it up and take responsibility for your kids."

We covered it all in the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms!

NHL legend Zdeno Chára just added another accomplishment to his resume ... the former Bruins star completed the famed Boston Marathon in just over 3 1/2 hours!!

Zdeno finished the course -- 26.2 miles long -- on Monday in the 127th installment of the event, with a time of 03:38:23 ... good for an 8:20 min/mile pace.

FYI, the Boston Marathon features 30,000 athletes from more than 100 countries.

Chára -- who spent 24 years in the NHL -- got off to a good start ... running his first 3 miles in under 26 mins (25:32), and seemed to maintain that momentum the whole way through.

Check out the video ... Chára -- a 7x All Star and 2011 Stanley Cup winner with the Bruins -- crossed the finish line with his arms raised in the air and a smile on his face.

The 46-year-old -- who stands 6 feet 9 inches tall and weighs around 250 pounds -- looked relieved after he completed the nearly four-hour journey with his fellow runners.

The Boston Marathon is a huge deal ... and regularly brings out many celebrities and athletes! Doug Flutie, Brock Holt and Ryan Dempster ran this year.

Next on the tee ... John Smoltz?!?

The MLB legend is hoping to hear that a whole lot at PGA TOUR Champions events in the very near future ... telling TMZ Sports he wants to compete on the senior golf circuit as soon as he gets his ailing hip surgically repaired.

The 55-year-old didn't mince words when talking about his golf goals with us earlier this year ... explaining that the first time he tried to find success on the PGA Tour Champions, he was just simply too hurt to make a real run.

Now, though, he says he's already got one of his hips redone -- and he's hoping when he gets the other one fixed ... it could lead to serious success.

"I've got a new hip, I've got one more hip to do, and then after that," he said, "I want to see what my competitive juices take me to."

Hip pain or not, Smoltz is already considered one of the best celeb golfers on the planet. The former Atlanta Braves closer has competed alongside pros regularly ... and won before.

In fact, Tiger Woods said just a few months ago that Smoltz and Tony Romo were the two best non-pros he's played with.

If John doesn't get healthy enough to compete on the PGA TOUR Champions ... he tells us, don't worry, he'll still find some way to get into competitive tourneys.

Police are on the hunt for a man who tackled the Colorado Rockies' mascot during a game on Monday ... believing he committed an assault with his surprising actions.

The incident happened at some point during the Rockies' game against the Cardinals at Coors Field ... when Dinger, Colorado's purple dinosaur cheerleader, hopped up on a dugout to fire up the crowd.

Suddenly, though, as Dinger was dancing around ... video shot by a fan in the stands shows a man jumped up and took the costumed character to the ground.

The moment initially seemed staged ... but, quickly, it was revealed it was anything but that.

The fan who shot the video suspected the man was inebriated ... writing in a caption on the video, "Boooo, drunk guy. [Love] you, Dinger!"

The Denver Police Dept. became aware of the incident shortly after it happened ... and confirmed to TMZ Sports it's now investigating it all as part of an assault case.

"We are working with our partners at the Colorado Rockies to identify the suspect," a DPD spokesperson told us on Thursday morning.

No arrests have been made yet ... but cops are urging anyone with information to reach out to Metro Denver Crime Stoppers.

Fans might be happy, but Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm is pissed off at MLB teams for extending beer sales into the 8th inning ... saying it's a decision that's not in their best interest.

Some baseball clubs have elected to forgo their usual 7th-inning cutoff in light of the quicker games this season ... with many serving up booze until the final 6 outs to help increase revenue.

Strahm thinks those teams went in the wrong direction ... saying they should actually stop serving earlier in the game so fans have enough time to get the alcohol out of their system before going behind the wheel.

"The reason we stopped in the seventh before was to give our fans time to sober up and drive home safe, correct?" the pitcher asked on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast.

"So now, with a faster-pace game -- and me just being a man of common sense -- if the game is going to finish quicker, would we not move the beer sales back to the sixth inning to give our fans time to sober up and drive home?"

"Instead, we're going to the eighth, and now you're putting our fans and our family at risk driving home with people who have just drank beers 22 minutes ago."

Strahm says he's not surprised by the move, though ... because at the end of the day -- it's all about money.

"My thing is, when you're looking at the safety of your fans, that's probably not the smartest decision to extend it into the eighth."

"But, just using common sense -- we stopped it in the seventh for the safety of fans and people getting home. Like, it just, it makes no sense to me that you're going to allow it to the eighth inning."

Minnesota Twins shortstop Kyle Farmer will be spending several unexpected hours in a dentist chair on Wednesday evening ... after he took a 92 MPH fastball to the face earlier in the day.

The scene was terrifying ... in the bottom of the fourth inning of the Twins' game against the White Sox at Target Field in Minneapolis, a heater got away from Chicago ace Lucas Giolito -- and it ended up nailing Farmer right in the mouth.

Video from the game's broadcast shows the 32-year-old immediately crumpled to the ground in pain ... as trainers raced out to tend to him.

Somehow, though, he avoided a broken jaw -- news that Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli called a bit of "a miracle."

"Thank God we got news that was better than what we were expecting," Baldelli told reporters after the game.

But, Farmer didn't come out unscathed ... Baldelli said his player will need surgery "to realign his teeth and fix a major laceration of the lower jaw."

Farmer had played nearly every day for the Twins this year, batting .226 with a home run and five RBI. It's unclear how much time he'll miss while recovering from the mouth injury.

He did get at least some morale boost Wednesday afternoon following the HBP -- as the Twins ended up beating Chicago, 3-1, while he was getting checked out by docs.