Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda has a pretty clear New Year's resolution: scaring the living hell outta his translator!!

Since the calendar hit 2018, Kenta's been on a tear messing with his language bro, Will, in the most hilarious ways possible.

On Thursday, the Japanese star punk'd him with a jump scare (again) ... but his best work had to be the classic water bottle coin trick (c'mon, bro ... that one was obvious).

Will's being a great sport through it all ... probably 'cause he's plotting a mistranslating scheme for when the season starts up again.

Yasiel Puig had 11 of the strongest barbers on the planet give him a brand new look Thursday night ... getting a fresh bald haircut from kids battling cancer!!

The Dodgers superstar rolled into Cedars-Sinai hospital in L.A. where he decided to get his head shaved as a show of solidarity with all the tough kids in the hospital going through chemotherapy.

The kids loved it -- and so did Puig, who addressed every kid as his "new barber."

The Dodgers are a lock to make back-to-back World Series trips, right??

Not so fast, says stud closer Kenley Jansen -- who told TMZ Sports a repeat trip to the Fall Classic is far from guaranteed even if the Boys in Blue bust their asses.

The Dodgers did just reunite with ex-superstar Matt Kemp, who was out with Kenley at Thursday night's Lakers game ... and you can bet they ain't done makin' moves.

But, whether or not they repeat as NL champs, one thing's clear -- the fans FREAKIN' LOVE 'EM.

Derek Jeter's haters can take a seat ... 'cause he ain't gonna let the Marlins suck forever -- so says legendary MLB boss Peter O'Malley.

O'Malley was the man back when he ran the Dodgers ... so we got him to give DJ a quick job eval -- after the Marlins CEO got DESTROYED in the media for trading away sluggers Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna.

Peter told TMZ Sports Derek knows what the hell he's doing ... and we'll all see that eventually.

"Jeter’s gonna do a great job. He’s a very fine person, knowledgeable," O'Malley said.

Dodgers star Alex Wood and his red hot wife have ditched the L.A. "winter" for the sunny sands of Saint Lucia ... makin' it rain MLB money all over their Caribbean honeymoon!!

The newlyweds are droppin' around $3K PER NIGHT for their "Galaxy Sanctuary" suite at the Jade Mountain Resort -- which comes equipped with a 900-SQUARE FOOT infinity pool.

As you can see in the video ... the sunset views are a 10/10 -- as is Mrs. Wood, Suzanna Villarreal -- one of the MVPs from our World Series WAGs showdown.

Yeah ... guessing Alex is over Game 7.

Congrats!

The World Series bonus checks are in ... and the Houston Astros are coming up BIG!!!!

Here's how it works ... each team in the MLB playoffs gets a bonus check based on how far they advanced. The bonus money is pooled from gate receipts from the playoff games.

The big winner -- the Houston Astros ... with each player getting a $438,901.57 bonus check!!!!

According to MLB, it's the largest bonus ever paid out. The previous record was held by the 2014 SF Giants, which paid players $392k each.

But don't feel too sorry for the L.A. Dodgers ... even though they lost the World Series, each player still made out with $259,722.14.

Here's how the rest of the bonuses paid out:

NY Yankees -- $138k
Chicago Cubs -- $133k

AZ Diamondbacks -- $40k
Boston Red Sox --$36k

Cleveland Indians -- $36k
Washington Nationals -- $36k

Colorado Rockies -- $18k
Minnesota Twins -- $18k

It pays to be good.

L.A. fans might just have an ace in the hole to get Giancarlo Stanton in Dodger Blue -- his rumored GF, singer Lexy Panterra.

There are big-time rumors that the Dodgers are eyeing Stanton via trade, and when we got Panterra out at Warwick we asked her what she thought of the idea of the slugger in Tinseltown.

"I think that'd be a great idea. He'd be closer!!!"

Remember, it was just last week Panterra performed at Stanton's surprise B-day party at Hyde -- and just a couple of months ago the duo did a super sexy damn-near-naked music video together.

So it's clear what the Dodgers need to do to get Stanton to come to L.A. -- bombard him with THIS VIDEO until he realizes just what he's missing being gone half the year.

Not everyone has the clutch gene -- and MLB playoffs legend Curt Schilling says that includes Clayton Kershaw, who exposed himself in this year's World Series.

We spoke to Curt about big-game pitching after the Dodgers' W.S. collapse ... and he didn't sugarcoat what separates guys like him from the Kershaws of the world -- Hall of Fame talents that don't show up when the lights are brightest.

"You have to want to be in a situation where everything's on you," Schill told TMZ Sports.

"And if you can't accept that -- if you can't accept the demand for perfection -- you're gonna lose."

We also asked Curt about the rumors of him hitting up new Phillies manager Gabe Kapler about an assistant coaching gig ... and he told us what's really going on.

Yu Darvish is opening up on his World Series nightmare -- telling TMZ Sports he feels terrible for blowing his big moment.

"Dodger fans ... they expect we won the World Series. I couldn't do it. I still feel sorry," Darvish told us out in Beverly Grove.

Darvish -- who couldn't have been nicer to our photog -- says he gave everything he had to try and win ... but just came up short. Sucks, but Darvish told us he's soldiering on.

The big question -- will Darvish (a free agent) re-sign with L.A.??

We asked ... and he definitely didn't rule it out.

BONUS: We also got Joe Buck -- who called the game for FOX -- and he told us why L.A. fans should back off that ledge ... it's gonna be okay.

Rapper ScHoolboy Q's got an ice-cold reality check for Lonzo Ball -- saying the Lakers superstar needs to get the hell out the studio and "STICK TO BASKETBALL."

With Lonzo droppin' more tracks in recent weeks, we had to ask Q if he wanted to get in on the aspiring emcee's career like DJ Mustard and DJ Quik.

His answer -- "HELL NAH! 'Cause I rather see that n***a score some points and get some damn assists."

But Q ain't hatin' ... telling TMZ Sports he just wants Lonzo to be great on the court.

FYI, dude's a huge Lakers fan, but beefs hard with the Dodgers -- straight-up TRASHING the National League champs for chokin' away the World Series.

David Ortiz believes the Dodgers will be just fine next season as long as they take one solid piece of advice -- "Just hit the damn baseball."

Big Papi was leaving L.A. after covering the World Series for FOX -- and had some real encouraging words for Dodgers fans before his flight out of LAX.

"They'll be fine next year. They have a good ball club."

Yu Darvish might've cost the Dodgers the World Series, but the city of Los Angeles shouldn't hate the guy -- so says ex-NBA vet Al Harrington.

After Darvish blew his Game 7 start at Dodger Stadium, we asked Harrington if he thought Yu was about to become Public Enemy #1 in L.A. ... and the ex-baller went to bat for the embattled ace.

"My man -- he tried. I'm sure he didn't mean to give up 5 runs," Al told TMZ Sports outside Craig's. "This sh*t happens ... it was just a lot."

That said ... A.H. ain't letting Darvish slide for spoiling an epic night of partying.

With everyone asking if Dave Roberts made a tremendous mistake in starting Yu Darvish for Game 7 -- Vin Scully says he refuses to second-guess the Dodgers' skipper.

Vin -- along with a bunch of celebrity Dodger fans -- was leaving Dodger Stadium after the loss ... and you can see some of the hardcore Blew Crewers were legit sad ... like Flea and Dennis Haysbert.

Larry King says it's easy to question Roberts' pitching decisions after the fact ... but everyone had one thing in common -- they're all focusing on next year!

9:15 AM PT -- Cops are now telling us they don't think Yasiel was targeted. They say it was a random hit by what appears to be a homeless man.

8:00 AM PT -- Puig's probably not sweating this after all ... a law enforcement source tells us the burglar made off with costume jewelry. Total value is a mere $150!

Small victory, but we're guessing Puig will take it.

This ain't the double play Yasiel Puig needed -- while he and the Dodgers were losing Game 7 of the World Series, a burglar hit his house and made off with jewelry ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The burglar busted a window in Puig's San Fernando Valley home to get in, which set off an alarm ... according to our law enforcement sources. We're told the suspect quickly grabbed some jewelry and bolted -- but the whole caper was caught on surveillance video.

Unfortunately, Puig's a veteran of this kinda crap. We broke the story ... back in March burglars hit him for about $500k worth of jewelry. We're told Wednesday night's incident went down at a different house from the March one.

Another big difference ... our sources say this time the creep got very few items. It's unclear what the dollar amount is, but we're told the alarm appeared to have scared off the suspect.

Once Puig got home from the World Series loss ... he had to end his night by talking to cops investigating the burglary. The universe is freakin' cruel.

Are you a Dodgers fan? Wanna watch Game 7 but you're locked up in jail?

Well, good news -- we're told inmates at L.A. County Jail WILL be able to watch the entire World Series game from their cells and TV rooms Wednesday night!!

We know there are a bunch of Dodgers fans behind bars (some of them have it inked on their bodies!) and they're very interested in tonight's game.

So, to make everyone happy ... law enforcement sources tell us they will NOT be turning off the TVs before the game ends.

Listen up Dodgers & Astros ... a former World Series hero is about to tell you how not to FREAKIN' CHOKE in tonight's all important Game 7 matchup.

TMZ Sports talked to Luis Gonzalez ... the man who destroyed Yankees fans with a super clutch Game 7 RBI against Mariano Rivera in the 2001 fall classic.

If any guy knows what it takes to deliver in the big spots, it's LG, and he told us EXACTLY what players in tonight's game are gonna have to do to get the job done.

Pay attention fellas, and remember, it's just a game, not like your entire lives and legacies are on the line.