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The next time your mascot decides to give away gifts at the stadium, make sure it doesn’t look like a bomb.

Why? Because that’s exactly what happened in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies’ Phillie Phanatic had been launching wrapped hot dogs into the stands Wednesday night, hours before the Braves and Phillies game. I guess they were filming some sore of commercial and someone had left some of the wrapped hot dogs outside the stadium, causing people to think it was a bomb.

“We saw something that looked suspicious,” said Michael Stiles, Phillies senior vice president, administration and operations. “We did the right thing. It turned out to be nothing. We could have gone over and picked it up and thrown it in the trash and been done with it. But if we had been wrong, somebody might have lost an arm.”

No Mike, no one lost an arm.

But at least now you have the beginnings of an interesting stew!

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Source: Fox Sports

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“Yes I hear their chanting. I have heard many male fans here saying, ‘I LOVE YOU,’ which I find odd.”

- Chicago Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fokudome’s reaction to the excitement Cubs fans have been showing him.

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Source: Sports Illustrated

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Tell us what you’d say!

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What would you say? Write us your caption and post them in our comments!

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It looks like Yogi Berra’s famous line, “it ain’t over, till it’s over,” doesn’t apply to Alex Rodriguez.

The reigning MVP and Yankees All-Star apparently slipped in an interview, stating the Bronx Bombers’ playoff hopes were done. He didn’t necessarily state it, but anyone who has the remote ability to read between the lines can see, Rodriguez doesn’t see the Yankees playing in October.

“Toronto’s playing really well,” he said. “I’ll tell you what, a lot of people should be happy they’re not in the playoff race, because they’d be the scariest team, with the 1-2 punch they’ve got over there with Halladay and Burnett.”

The Yankees are currently in fourth place. The Jays, in 3rd. Hmm…If you don’t think the Blue Jays will make the playoffs A-Rod, that must mean you don’t see your fourth place Yanks pulling it out either. Way to keep up the positive attitude.

With the Yankees 10 games out of first place and another 8 1/2 out of the Wild Card, it’s safe to say the Yankees will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993.

But c’mon Alex, for $30 million a year, at least lead us on to believe you’ve not fully given up.

Source: Newsday

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We’ve all tried to compare basketball greats of yesterday, with those of today. Who would win in a 1-on-1 matchup? Lucky for our generation, we were able to witness arguably the greatest basketball player Michael Jordan play. And in this recent clip, someone yelled out and asked the question, who would win, Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan? His Airness replied:

“Kobe would win because I’m older. In my prime? Not even a contest. Lets just say I have a better chance of stopping him, than him stopping me.”

Check out the clip of Jordan performing in front of this group of kids at UCSB.

Finally when someone asks Jordan to dunk, he gives the people what they came for. It’s a bit long, but you’ll live.

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I know I wasn’t the only one who was a bit freaked out last night from the Yankees and Red Sox pregame show on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

I couldn’t understand why I was not paying attention to the commentators, then it hit me. It was because I was trying to figure out what was going on with Orel Hershiser’s nose. Then last night I woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare from Orel’s haunting, Satanic face. I swear the man looks he’s going to jump up and bite my ankles.

With the high angle ESPN was using to shoot these guys, it made me think of Orel as a little rottweiler and Jim Miller kind of looked like the little Keebler elf without his little, funny hat.

Great, now I want a cookie. Be right back.

There was one question on everybody’s mind after the first round of the home run derby – from people who don’t follow baseball to those who only do so casually – just who in the world is Josh Hamilton?

After all, the talk leading up to the home run derby was primarily about the players who chose not to participate in the fan favorite event. New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez was too busy playing prima donna to hit a few home runs on his home field. All-time home run leader Barry Bonds can’t even find a major league team to take him at the veteran’s minimum.

Then, as magically as his dream foretold, Hamilton put on a show that baseball fans will be talking about for a very long time. In the house that Ruth built, in the last year Yankee Stadium will exist in its current form, Hamilton laid the foundation for the post-steroids era.

Let’s face it; this year’s all-star game was supposed to be a game that the casual baseball fan didn’t care about. Baseball was at a crossroads between the stars of the steroids-era-past and the young, talented players that had yet to breach mainstream stardom.

Or so we all thought. Hamilton blasted 28 home runs in the first round of the home run derby, surpassing the Bobby Abreu mark of 24 set back in 2005. The average length of each of his home runs was an astounding 445 feet, with three landing beyond 500 feet.

Hamilton would eventually lose in the finals to Justin Morneau, but as Hamilton would probably agree, sometimes the beauty is in the process. You see, a few years ago Hamilton was banned from Major League Baseball for substance abuse and was an admitted drug addict. The 1999 first overall pick was walking down a dangerous path and slowly wasting away, quite literally at points.

Eventually, however, he would get his life back together. After a vivid dream in which he says Jesus helped him fight off the devil, Hamilton started to get clean. The MLB would eventually reinstate him, and in 2007 the Cincinnati Reds drafted him.

Which brought us to Monday night, when a 27-year-old who two years earlier had a dream of being interviewed at a home run derby at Yankee Stadium, stepped to the plate and had all of us asking just who the heck Josh Hamilton is? He didn’t have the name recognition of previous home run derby notables like Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa or Mark McGwire, but he left with one of the most remarkable stories you’ll ever hear in sports: the story of a troubled man who struggled in his life and managed to defy the odds.

A man who overcame addiction and literally lived his dream, in the process helping rebuild the tarnished image of baseball in the aftermath of the Barry Bonds’ and Jose Canseco’s of the past. Maybe this year’s all-star festivities weren’t what we expected them to be, but they were better than any of us, with the exception of Hamilton, could have ever dreamt they would be.

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The Milwaukee Brewers aren’t the only ones pulling off big deals.

The Chicago Cubs responded to the C.C. Sabathia trade by trading for an ace themselves. The Cubs acquired Rich Harden from the Oakland Athletics, hoping to bolster their starting rotation. In exchange for Harden and righty Chad Gaudin, the A’s got pitcher Sean Gallagher, outfielders Matt Murton and Eric Patterson, and minor leaguer John Donaldson.

With such high powered offenses such as the Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers all vying for a postseason run, the Cubs needed an extra arm to team up with Carlos Zambrano in the rotation.

Despite Harden’s battle with injuries the past six seasons, Harden is a proven winner and can help the Cubs reach their ultimate goal.

But there is no pressure on Harden. He was only brought in to help break a World Series curse that spans 100 years.

Harden is 5-1 this season with a 2.34 ERA.

Source: Fox Sports

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It looks like C.C. Sabathia is headed to the Brewers.

With the trade deadline inching closer, teams in contention have been looking for that extra piece to get to the World Series and it looks like Milwaukee Brewers were the ones willing to give up the most for this major player.

The Cleveland Indians gave up Sabathia in exchange for Class AA outfielder Matt LaPorta, Class AAA left-hander Zach Jackson, Class A right-hander Rob Bryson and a player to be named later.

The Brewers were just one of six teams that were in the Sabathia sweepstakes, which included the Dodgers, who just couldn’t give the Indians what they wanted in return for the CY Young winner.

The Brewers currently are three and a half games behind the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central and would win the Wild Card spot if it had to be determined today. A one-two punch of Sabathia and Ben Sheets could very well be a good combo for the Brewers matching up against other top teams. That is if Sheets can remain healthy.

The Brewers though are going to try to drain every ounce of talent out of Sabathia because next year he will become a free agent where he’ll easily ask for $20 to $25 million per year on a new contract expected to be around six years. That could be too steep for a ball club looking to retain players such as Prince Fielder.

For the Brewers sake and for how much they’re giving up, let’s hope this deal works out for them. If not, then this could be a hard bullet to swallow for many years.

Source: Fox Sports

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It looks like Alex Rodriguez can start hanging out with as many strippers and singers as he pleases now. He’s a free man!

Although divorce papers have not been filed, Cynthia Rodriguez has been spotted in Paris hanging out with her own rocker: Lenny Kravitz.

Not bad Cynthia.

Rumors were already swirling about A-Rod’s downward spiraling marriage after he’s been seen paying late night visits to Madonna since Tuesday. And that’s not the first time he was seen with the Material Girl. He was even spotted in Miami with her as early as a day after his daughter was born on April 21.

You’d think that Rodriguez would have tried to clean up his act a bit after he was spotted last year with stripper Joslyn Morse. Many thought his wife would have left him then, but instead, she got pregnant.

What I want to know if why Rodriguez is going for a much older Madonna, who is closing in on 50, while A-Rod is only 32.

Technically since she is almost 20 years older than Alex, does this situation count her as a cougar?

Source: NY Post