Baseball

"Hawk Tuah" officially made its way into the MLB on Wednesday night ... when during a broadcast of the Braves vs. Cardinals game, an announcer actually said the now-viral phrase live on-air!

It all happened during the second inning of the team's doubleheader at Busch Stadium ... when Atlanta's announcers were talking about some saliva Alec Burleson had just leaked from his mouth.

The guys noted the St. Louis outfielder didn't quite clear his shoulder with his spit while at home plate -- and they went on to have a spirited convo about it.

A Los Angeles Dodgers bat boy might be in need of a raise ... as the guy snagged a baseball just before it hit the team's biggest superstar -- Shohei Ohtani!!!

Check out the crazy video ... just as Shohei was waiting to hit the on-deck circle during Los Angeles' game against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday evening, a baseball came flying into the dugout.

While Ohtani and others had the normal reaction to duck ... the bat boy stood in front of the designated hitter, and caught the bullet of a baseball with his bare hands before it did some serious damage.

MLB star Hunter Greene uncorked a fastball on Tuesday night ... and then he unloaded the contents of his stomach -- vomiting all over the mound right in the middle of the Reds' game.

The nasty moment happened just minutes after the ace took the bump for Cincinnati's tilt with the Pirates at Great American Ball Park.

Greene walked the first batter he faced, and then in the ensuing at-bat, he threw up everywhere after making a pitch.

If you thought Pittsburgh was already known for its scenic views, check this out ... Olivia Dunne is enjoying time away from competing, getting some quality R&R with her baseball star boyfriend!

The LSU gymnast took to Instagram Sunday night to share some snaps from her day on the water in Pittsburgh with her man, Pittsburgh Pirates flamethrower, Paul Skenes.

Dunne rocked a green two-piece bikini ... while 22-year-old Skenes wore shorts and a t-shirt. From one look at the pics, the couple is very much in love!

Major League Baseball will go silent Wednesday night -- at least for a few moments -- as all thirty teams will hold a moment of silence following the death of one of the greatest players of all time, Willie Mays.

Mays, arguably the greatest player ever, died Tuesday at the age of 93.

TMZ Sports has learned MLB quickly put a plan together ... all 15 of today's games won't start before the tens of thousands in attendance have a moment to remember the 24x All-Star.

Marlins reporter Jessica Blaylock was simply trying to do her job when she was met with a bucket full of liquid on Tuesday ... and it was all at the hands of MLB star Jazz Chisholm Jr., who took great pride in dousing the journalist during a postgame interview.

The moment went down shortly after Miami secured a rare home win over the St. Louis Cardinals in extra innings ... when Blaylock was interviewing the hero of the game, Vidal Brujan, who hit a walk-off single.

As Brujan was in the middle of answering one of Blaylock's questions, Chisholm crept up from behind and unloaded an entire cooler right on the Bally Sports talent ... apparently not even trying to hit his teammate.

Orioles star Adley Rutschman needed a little help from trainers to stay in his game Tuesday night ... after he was badly bloodied following a head-first slide.

The painful play went down just minutes into Baltimore's tilt with the Yankees ... when Rutschman was trying to avoid being picked off at second base.

Nestor Cortes attempted to throw him out as he strayed a little too far from the bag -- but in his hurry to retreat back, Rutschman accidentally faceplanted.

Willie Mays, one of the greatest baseball players to ever step foot on a baseball diamond, died at 93, Major League Baseball announced Tuesday evening.

Mays had been living in an assisted living facility in the Palo Alto, CA area, according to the Giants.

"The Say Hey Kid" was 24x MLB All-Star, 12x Gold Glove winner, Rookie of the Year, and 2x NL MVP who patrolled the massive Polo Grounds center field for the New York Giants before the team relocated to San Francisco in the late-50s.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the new front-runner for the best bobblehead of the year ... as the team just announced the next Shohei Ohtani giveaway will feature his adorable pup, Decoy!!!

The team showed off the August 28 promotional item in an email sent out to fans on Tuesday ... which features Ohtani cradling Decoy in his left arm with a massive smile on his face.

It will mark the second bobblehead giveaway for the Dodgers superstar this season ... and his first one was a huge success. Over 50,000 fans filled Dodger Stadium for the matchup with the Cincinnati Reds last month -- marking the biggest attendance at a Dodgers game since September 2019!!

It was a rough day to be a White Sox supporter on Sunday ... 'cause as the MLB team got smacked by the Diamondbacks -- one of their fans got leveled during a fight in a festival pit too.

The crazy scrap happened at SeatGeek Stadium in Illinois during Summer Smash -- a three-day show headlined by Travis Scott, Playboi Carti and Chief Keef.

In video from the scene, you can see a young Sox fan in a grey Chicago jersey got into a tiff with a man in a pink shirt who had been situated on another side of a barricade.

Warning to all baseball fans: Please refrain from jumping onto the field and doing backflips in front of police officers or you will be tased and handcuffed on the ground.

No Joke! That's exactly what happened Tuesday night when the Cincinnati Reds went head-to-head with the Cleveland Guardians.

Check out the video ... it starts off relatively calmly with this dude hanging out with one of the outfielders on the field at Great American Ball Park in Ohio.

If Alex Rodriguez needed cash -- he's now got it in spades -- 'cause the baseball legend struck a deal with Michael Bloomberg, one of the richest people in the world, who has now joined A-Rod's Timberwolves ownership group ... as the men intend to buy an 80% stake in the team.

The Athletic broke the news on Thursday (and TMZ Sports has since confirmed), revealing the 82-year-old billionaire and former NYC mayor has agreed to link up with Rodriguez and his business partner, Marc Lore, in their quest to acquire majority control of the T-Wolves organization.

FYI, Alex and Marc bought a 40% stake in 2021, and ultimately planned to buy nearly the whole team (and the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, too) ... until 83-year-old majority owner Glen Taylor accused the men of missing a payment and called off the deal.

Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC was totally Pete Rose'd in the middle of a celebrity softball game ... getting leveled at home plate and breaking his hand in the process -- but somehow, the dude kept playing through the injury!!

TMZ is told ... the musician was one of several big names invited to participate in the Rock 'N Jock fundraiser for Folds of Honor in Nashville on Monday -- and at one point in the friendly competition, CK proved just how tough boy bands can be!!

The moment went down in the third inning ... when local radio host Jeremy Loper rounded third base and headed for home.

Ippei Mizuhara -- Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter -- just showed up to court and pleaded guilty to two federal charges ... stemming from allegations he stole from the MLB superstar in order to pay off gambling debts.

The 39-year-old hit a Santa Ana, CA courthouse early Tuesday morning ... and was mobbed by a throng of reporters as he made his way to the proceedings.

He did not, however, address the media as he traversed through all the cameras.

6/4 7:20 AM -- Tucupita Marcano has been banned from Major League Baseball for life, officials announced Tuesday.

The league released a statement on the decision ... saying it was determined Marcano placed 387 baseball bets, including 231 related to MLB, in 2022 and 2023 -- totaling more than $150,000 on the sport.

The league added Marcano bet on the Pirates 25 times while he was a member of the organization -- although he did not play in any of the games due to his season-ending injury.

Josh Gibson is now officially Major League Baseball's all-time batting average leader ... and Albert Pujols couldn't be happier about it -- telling TMZ Sports the MLB's decision to integrate Gibson's Negro Leagues numbers into its record book is "a great thing for baseball."

Rob Manfred's org. made the decision to absorb the legend's stats -- as well as everyone else's who played in the Negro Leagues from 1920-1948 -- on Wednesday ... and Pujols praised the move when we got him out at LAX a day later.

He told us it was the "perfect time" for Manfred and co. to recognize the greats -- saying it showed big respect for those who performed during that era.