Baseball

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez had nothing but great things to say about Bruce Bochy following his World Series victory this week ... telling TMZ Sports there's absolutely no doubt in his mind the Texas manager will be inducted in Cooperstown one day.

"Hall of Famer," the former Rangers catcher said. "Hall of Famer, obviously."

With a 5-0 win over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, Bochy became just the sixth manager ever to earn four World Series championship rings. Unlike the other five, though, he's not yet secured a place in baseball's HOF.

Pudge, however, clearly thinks that will happen sooner than later ... calling the 68-year-old one of the greatest big-game coaches of all time.

"When you start to play in the playoffs, it's a different monster," said Rodriguez, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017. "It's always a different game. It's a different ball game. And he's the best doing that. He's the best manager in that situation. And we all see it."

Pudge -- who's been working as a special assistant to the general manager of the Rangers -- said Bochy deserves a ton of credit for leading Texas to its first-ever title, adding that his calming presence made a huge difference in the dugout.

"As a player," he said, "you feel comfortable that, 'Hey, he's going to put all the pieces together to bring this game back and win for us.'"

Pudge also had high praise for the Rangers' World Series MVP, Corey Seager ... calling him straight up "one of my favorite players."

Nathaniel Lowe was so giddy during the Rangers' World Series parade Friday, he straight-up downed a fan's beer in seconds -- and then ripped off his shirt in celebration of the achievement!!

The 2022 Silver Slugger award winner was being driven around in the back of a pickup truck to soak in love from Texas fans when the hilarious moment happened.

You can see in video from the scene in Arlington, a Rangers supporter tossed Lowe a Modelo -- before the first baseman cracked it open and drank it 'til the last drop.

But, he wasn't done there ... he then ripped off his jersey and his undershirt -- much to the crowd's delight.

Thousands of people showed up to celebrate Lowe and his Rangers after they won the title over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday ... and one supporter was so thrilled by his team's performance, he actually climbed to the top of a light pole to pump his fists.

Thankfully, he reportedly made it down unharmed.

Following the jaunt around the city ... the Rangers then took the stage to address their fans -- and Series MVP Corey Seager delivered an epic drop-the-mic moment.

The Texas Rangers won the World Series and then they dominated the postgame celebration ... sucking down a ton of beers and bubbly -- all while they blared Creed on the sound system!!

Corey Seager, Nathan Eovaldi and the rest of the guys threw the epic locker room party just a few minutes after they beat up the Diamondbacks, 5-0, at Chase Field in Arizona.

Manager Bruce Bochy got everything kicked off with a congratulations speech -- praising his team for its 4-1 Series win ... and then for a while, the guys got after it.

They dumped bottle after bottle of champagne and Budweiser on each other ... pausing only to make sure they sang Creed's "Higher" -- their unofficial postseason anthem -- as loud as possible.

The fiesta got so rowdy that at some points the guys filled buckets full of beer ... and then they doused each other in the suds.

Eventually, the dudes packed it in to fly back home to Texas ... and you can see in a video of the aftermath of their celebration, it looked like dozens -- if not hundreds -- of bottles of alcohol were spilled during the party.

As for the on-the-field action, Seager made history ... becoming just the second position player ever to win World Series MVP honors. Bochy, meanwhile, logged his FOURTH W.S. title with the victory.

And, Creed made sure to shout out the guys following the dub ... writing on X, "Congratulations Rangers!"

A baseball fan is suing MLB star Jorge Soler ... claiming he hurled a ball into the stands during a 2021 World Series game that ended up causing an "excruciating injury to her right eye."

The lawsuit was filed by Mayra Morris in Georgia on Oct. 25 ... nearly two years after she says Soler caused the injury during one of the Braves vs. Astros championship games at Truist Park in Atlanta.

Norris claims she, her husband and her brother-in-law had seats for the Oct. 29, 2021 contest near the right field grass ... when in the fifth inning, Soler changed her life completely.

She alleges the then-Atlanta Braves outfielder hit her "directly" in her eye after he threw a baseball into the stands during a break in the action "with great force, speed, and intensity."

In the suit, Norris says Soler's toss was not "incidental to the game or any warm-up between players." She also says that after she got checked out by medical personnel, she was diagnosed with multiple fractures, an edema, and an infra-orbital abrasion ... which will require long-term medical care.

She's suing Soler and the Braves for unspecified damages.

Meanwhile, Norris' husband, Scott Norris, is also listed as a plaintiff in the suit ... after he alleges the "loss of companionship, love, affection and intimacy" as a result of the incident.

The Braves did not have a comment on the suit when reached this week ... according to Atlanta News First.

The Arizona Diamondbacks had to threaten to boot people from the World Series on Tuesday night ... and it's all 'cause they wouldn't stop hurling paper airplanes onto the field.

The wild scene happened late in the Rangers' blowout win over the Snakes at Chase Field in Phoenix ... when fans got so bored with the rout on the diamond -- they decided to fold up papers and chuck them from their seats.

Several of the makeshift planes actually made it all the way to players' feet ... and it happened so often throughout the evening, the stadium's public address announcer had to warn people that if it continued, they'd be thrown out.

"Fans are not permitted to throw objects of any kind on the field," the announcer said during a break in the action.

Eventually, the planes stopped ... however, unfortunately for D-Backs fans, the game never really got much better.

Texas jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the third inning ... and while Arizona was able to scratch out a few runs late, they still never really got close to winning, losing the contest, 11-7.

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez just got in front of a camera with his manhood nearly on full display ... and he's hoping the hilarious sight will now help save some lives.

The MLB legend stripped down to his undies as part of a partnership with underwear company Saxx -- filming a 75-second commercial with the goal of raising awareness for testicular cancer in mind.

In the vid, Rodriguez rocked a pair of boxer briefs that he insisted held his family jewels "like a catcher's mitt" ... before he introduced a "Ballgorithm" that will ultimately raise cash for the good cause.

Rodriguez and his co-host explained ... the algorithm -- a math equation centered around the number of bad balls that a pitcher hurls during a contest -- will be applied to every Rangers vs. Diamondbacks World Series game this fall ... and then that figure will be multiplied by 1,000.

That total number will then be turned into dollars and donated to the Testicular Cancer Foundation -- a cause Pudge tells TMZ Sports he cares deeply about.

"The purpose is just to make people laugh and make people aware to go check themselves," he said, "and we did a nice commercial."

The MLB Hall of Famer -- who's now working as a special assistant to the general manager of the Rangers -- said he's been catching a lot of ribbin' both inside and outside of the Texas clubhouse over the vid ... but he couldn't be happier that it might prevent tragedies for people going forward.

"For me, that's the most important thing," he said. "Pay attention. This is a disease you can get in the early ages. So, our message is just to go check, because you never know."

The Arizona Diamondbacks won the pennant AND the postgame party on Tuesday ... going totally bonkers in the locker room after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series -- and the pics of the boozy bash are nuts!!

The D-Backs came back from a 3-2 deficit to win the final two games of the series ... logging a 4-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park in the elimination tilt to punch their tickets to the World Series.

Of course, no one expected Arizona to face off against the Texas Rangers in the Fall Classic ... considering the D-Backs only won 84 games in the regular season.

Corbin Carroll led the charge for Arizona in Game 7 ... going 3-4 with two RBI, two runs, and two stolen bases. The D-Backs also got some big help from the bullpen, which combined for five shutout innings.

Ketel Marte had the best performance of the series ... batting .387 throughout the seven games for the NLCS champs -- earning MVP honors.

Arizona made sure to celebrate the huge accomplishment ... taking all the Budweiser, Michelob Ultra, and champagne bottles they could and letting the liquid fly!!

There wasn't a dry spot in the locker room ... as all the players threw on their ski goggles and NLCS championship shirts for the festivities.

It's a World Series no one predicted -- the Diamondbacks were 125-1 odds to win it all before the season, and the Rangers were 50-1.

The matchup might not feature the biggest markets in the league ... but it's shaping up to be an entertaining series.

The Texas Rangers are World Series bound ... and the whole squad celebrated like it on Monday -- raging their faces off after their huge American League Championship Series win!!

The Rangers officially eliminated the Houston Astros in Game 7 ... easily handling the defending road champs in an 11-4 victory.

But before Texas switched its focus to the winners of the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks series over in the National League, the boys cracked open the bottles of bubbly and brew and doused each other in a locker room party for the ages.

The squad has a lot to be happy about -- it's only the third time they've made it to the Fall Classic in franchise history, and their first since 2011.

Corey Seager -- who won it all with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020 -- was at the center of the festivities ... with all his teammates drenching him in alcohol.

Cleanup hitter Adolis García was the star of the night ... winning ALCS MVP thanks to his two-homer game and 15 overall RBI throughout the series.

Brace yourselves, Dodgers fans ... there's a chance Clayton Kershaw's career is done -- or, perhaps worse, he ends up pitching for Texas next season.

L.A.'s play-by-play man Joe Davis tells TMZ Sports the two options are very much on the table for the future Hall of Famer ... saying he knows Kershaw won't do anything in 2024 other than stay with the Dodgers, throw for the Rangers -- or hang up his spikes.

The voice of the Dodgers says he fully expects Kershaw to have lengthy conversations with his family in the upcoming weeks and months to ultimately make the best choice of the trio.

"It's a pretty simple decision," the 35-year-old said. "But it's certainly one that a lot of the Dodgers' offseason plans will hinge on the outcome of."

If it is ultimately the end ... Davis said there's simply no debate that Kershaw will go down as "one of the best left-handed pitchers of all-time."

And, it's definitely not hyperbole ... through 16 seasons so far, Kershaw has a 210-92 record, a 2.48 ERA and 2,944 strikeouts.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Danny Serafini is in some MAJOR trouble ... 'cause he just got arrested for serious felonies!!

Serafini and his alleged accomplice, Samantha Scott, were busted in Nevada Friday for the 2021 fatal shooting of Robert Gary Spohr and attempted murder of Wendy Wood.

Cops said the victims were Serafini's in-laws, but they wouldn't characterize the relationship between the ex-Minnesota Twins player and Scott.

According to a June 2021 press release, officers were called to a home in North Lake Tahoe, California, and discovered Spohr had been shot to death.

His wife, Wendy, suffered a bullet wound in the same attack and was rushed to a local hospital, where she was released after treatment. She passed away a year later.

Security video from their house shows a hooded masked man with a backpack lurking around the property in the hours before the bloodshed. Investigators have not disclosed a motive, and formal charges have yet to be filed against Serafini and Scott.

The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers nearly got into a bench-clearing brawl after a beanball incident during the 8th inning of their Friday night championship game.

The teams were going head-to-head in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series when Houston relief pitcher Bryan Abreu wound up and hurled a 98.9 mile-per-hour fastball, striking Rangers batter Adolis Garcia in his left arm.

Check out this video posted on X ... Garcia looks furious as he pushes Houston catcher Martín Maldonado, while the umpire gets between them.

Both teams then pour onto the field and run toward each other, gathering in one big heap near home plate.

The players start yelling and shoving one another, but the tense situation never escalates into a full-scale fight.

Still, Garcia continues to blow off steam as his teammates hold him back -- and eventually escort him off Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX.

The umpires ejected three people: Abreu, Garcia and Astros manager Dusty Baker.

When the game resumed, the Astros went on to beat the Rangers 5-4. The Astros now hold a 3-2 lead in the series as they travel back to Houston for Game 6.

Megan Thee Stallion's no longer tethered to the 1501 Certified Ent. label she railed against for years -- and Trinidad James thinks the "Savage" rapper can become an even bigger act.

TJ floated all the possibilities speaking to TMZ Hip Hop at LAX this week but predicts Meg will land all right. He says there's also a possibility momentum fizzles.

Thee Stallion is gearing up to resume her career Monday with a new release after telling fans she was entering a new journey, where she'll be paying out of her own pocket to give fans the good news.

TJ tells us having a solid team is crucial to making money in the music biz and the industry is especially shady when it comes to the needs of women.

Megan Thee Stallion le dijo recientemente a sus fans que su próximo álbum sería un esfuerzo indie, y no estaba mintiendo... Su batalla de años con su sello discográfico 1501 Certified y su jefe Carl Crawford, ¡se ha terminado!

Billboard informó el jueves que tanto Megan como 1501 acordaron "separarse amistosamente", poniendo fin a tres años de ida y venidas en las redes sociales.

Las dos partes comenzaron a tener problemas en 2020, cuando la rapera citó repetidos intentos del sello de bloquear el lanzamiento de nueva música y no cumplir su contrato.

No se sabe si alguna de las partes pagó dinero para poner fin al acuerdo, pero Crawford suavizó su postura sobre Meg a principios de este año después de conocer el veredicto de culpabilidad de Tory Lanez por dispararle.

Crawford estuvo conversando junto a Kai "Verse" Tyler, presidente del sello entonces, en TMZ Hip Hop en febrero, revelando que estaba arrepentido por su rol en las rencillas con Meg, las que incluyeron hablar mal de su jefe Roc Nation Jay-Z.

La fanfarria no duró mucho ... Desde entonces, Kai ha abandonado el barco, al igual que la otra creadora de éxitos de 1501, Erica Banks, que recientemente lanzó una canción disidente dirigida a 1501 con las mismas quejas que Megan: "Me importa una m*** esa discográfica, me ven, y me deben dinero, son codiciosos".

Megan Thee Stallion recently told fans her next album will be an indie effort, and that's no cap -- her years-long battle with her record label 1501 Certified, and its boss Carl Crawford, is now over!

Billboard reported on Thursday that both Megan and 1501 will "amicably part ways" ... ending 3 years of back-and-forth swipes on social media.

The two parties started going at it in 2020 ... the "WAP" rapper cited repeated attempts by the Houston-based label blocking her from releasing music and fulfilling her contract.

No word if either party paid out any money to end the deal, but Crawford softened his stance on Meg earlier this year after the Tory Lanez guilty verdict for shooting her.

He debuted his new label president Kai "Verse" Tyler to TMZ Hip Hop back in Feb. ... revealing he was sorry for his part in the Meg wars, which included bad mouthing her Roc Nation boss Jay-Z.

The fanfare didn't last long ... Kai's no longer a part of the machine and 1501's other hitmaker, Erica Banks, recently dropped a diss song aimed at 1501 with the same gripes as Megan -- "Give a f*** about that label they see me/And they owe me some money, they greedy" ... but we're told cooler heads have prevailed.

Carl's a former MLB All-Star, so it's time to draw on that "team-building" expertise.

Ian Kinsler wasn't repping the Rangers or Astros last night, the former MLB star had a bigger cause on his mind than the ALCS ... the 4x All-Star, who is Jewish, threw out the first pitch wearing a Team Israel jersey.

Kinsler is a special assistant to the Rangers general manager ... and the organization invited him to kick off Game 3 of the American League Championship Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX with the ceremonial first pitch.

IK was born in America but obtained Israeli citizenship (dual citizenship w/ U.S.) a few years back when he wanted to play for Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Ian then went on to serve as the manager for the Israeli team at the World Baseball Classic in 2023.

Since the horrific attack two-and-a-half weeks ago, Kinsler says he's been following the situation on the ground closely.

Kinsler is just one of many star athletes and celebs who have spoken out since October 7 ... 1,400 Israelis have been killed since the incursion began.

Perhaps none have done more than Floyd Mayweather, who sent his plane full of supplies to Tel Aviv over the weekend. He also FaceTimed IDF special forces soldiers and walked in a pro-Israeli march in Los Angeles.

Ian Kinsler no representaba ni a los Rangers ni a los Astros, la ex estrella de la MLB tenía en mente una causa mayor que la ALCS. El cuatro veces All-Star, que es judío, realizó el primer lanzamiento con una camiseta del Equipo Israel.

Kinsler es un asistente especial del gerente general de los Rangers, y la organización lo invitó a iniciar el tercer Juego de la Serie de Campeonato de la Liga Americana en Globe Life Field en Arlington, con el primer lanzamiento ceremonial.

Ian nació en Estados Unidos, pero obtuvo la ciudadanía israelí (doble nacionalidad con EE.UU.) hace unos años cuando quiso jugar para Israel en los Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 2020 en Tokio. A continuación, Ian pasó a ser el mánager del equipo israelí en el Clásico Mundial de Béisbol de 2023.

Desde el horrible ataque de hace dos semanas y media, Kinsler dice que ha estado siguiendo de cerca la situación.

Kinsler es solo uno de los muchos atletas y celebridades que se han expresado desde el 7 de octubre, 1.400 israelíes han sido asesinados desde que comenzó la incursión.

Quizás ninguno haya hecho más que Floyd Mayweather, que envió su avión lleno de suministros a Tel Aviv durante el fin de semana. También se comunicó por FaceTime con soldados de las fuerzas especiales de Israel y participó en una marcha proisraelí en Los Ángeles.