Chicago Cubs player Ian Happ rewarded some attendees at Wrigley Field as part of his ongoing tradition to support the loyal fans.
The Cubs lost their last game of the season 3-0 to the Cincinnati Reds, finishing with an 83-79 record and missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
Happ, however, has made it his goal to pay it forward to the typically rowdy Cubs fans who sit behind him in left field.
Per a fan's Instagram post, Happ passed a signed ball into the stands with a note written on it: "Thanks for the support all season! Beers for the left field crew on me!"
The ball was wrapped with three $100 bills.
"[Ian Happ] just tossed this ball to us with some $ to buy our section some drinks for the last game of the year! What a guy! Cheers Ian!" the fan wrote.
"He does this every year, dude is a legend," a fan confirmed online.
He does this every year, dude is a legend
— Jacob Zanolla (@jacobzanolla) September 29, 2024
Indeed Happ has made this his tradition, with Block Club Chicago noting that the outfielder made the same gesture with the signed ball and money in 2023. Luckily for the fans, Happ tripled his budget for 2024 after providing $100 in 2023.
The fan who received the ball both years is a known superfan named Jeff Gorski. He describes himself as "that guy who's always in [left field] at Wrigley."
Gorski said last year that Happ acknowledges him and his crew during games, asks for their opinions on replays, and engages in banter during slow points in the game.
"It's humanizing," Gorski added. "We're all people out here, and we want the same thing: for the Cubs to win."
Gorksi also called Happ an "absolute class act" in a post on X.
Not everyone was impressed with the gesture of the two-time Gold Glove winner, though.
"So nice of him to buy the left field fans 6 beers," a fan mocked.
"$300 bucks will buy what, 25 beers at wrigley?" a second person alleged.
"Secretly showing you he has money," another wrote.
So nice of him to buy the left field fans 6 beers
— AJ (@AJ__2K) September 29, 2024
Despite the mockery, the fans were definitely there for Happ and the Cubs this year. Despite the Cubs' average win-loss record, fans came out in droves to give the team the sixth-highest average attendance in the entire major leagues at 35,922.
Ahead of the Cubs in attendance were the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers were by far the biggest draw this year at 48,657 fans on average.
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A woman who said she was prevented from entering Citi Field, where the New York Mets play, is suing the organization for damages.
Aura Moody said in August that she and her friend were both wearing MAGA hats when they were told by a Citi Field staff member they were not allowed inside the stadium with the Trump-supporting hats on.
The staffer also allegedly refused to allow the women to keep their hats in their bags, forcing Moody, 64, to call another friend in order to put the hats back in their vehicle.
Moody is seeking $2 million from the team and Citi Field, stating that the incident violated her free speech rights and caused her "emotional distress."
'It was embarrassing. It was heartbreaking. It was shocking. It was humiliating.'
The woman visited the Mets' field with a group of women from the Queens Village Republican Club, saying, "We are conservative people, we believe in tolerance. If I was wearing a BLM, Biden, Harris hat, they would have let me go through."
"This country is supposed to be the beacon of freedom for all," she told the New York Post.
Moody is also accusing the Mets of "racial discrimination and political retaliation," along with "reputational harm."
Her legal filing states that she "knew she was being racially targeted and politically retaliated against for being a Black woman wearing a MAGA hat, so she requested to speak to a supervisor."
When the story first broke in August, however, Moody did not appear to make any mention of any mistreatment she suffered due to her race, or any other race-based abuse she may have faced.
The Mets organization apologized after the initial incident and said that the employee had misinterpreted the venue's policy on attire.
"A Mets employee was mistaken about our attire policy," the team said in August. "We are reaching out to Aura Moody to apologize and invite her back to the ballpark."
Nancy Elder, a team spokeswoman, recently told the New York Post that the Mets have no comment on the law suit.
Moody said following the events that the country is on the verge of communism, "a system that confiscates private property."
She added that she is a Trump supporter because he is the "people's president" and the "only one who can save the United States" from destruction by the Democrats.
Moody added that she isn't sure when or if she will return to Citi Field:
"It was embarrassing. It was heartbreaking. It was shocking. It was humiliating. So how can I go back? It may take some time."
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The Chicago White Sox will likely finish the 2024 season with the worst record in modern MLB history.
The MLB ranks its teams by winning percentage, and with a current record of 36-117 — a winning percentage of .235 — they are tied for the worst season since the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics.
The team has been mired in disappointment all season long, whether hitting its own players in the face with the ball or losing the game by forgetting how many outs there were.
A video uploaded to X claimed the White Sox had a combined 98 fans in attendance for a doubleheader in April. Whether that is true or not, the White Sox actually have the fourth-lowest average attendance in the league despite being the worst team by far.
While that accolade may be the lone bright spot for the team this season, the dark cloud has hovered over the franchise so long that even the team's official X account seems to be depressed.
"FINAL: the other team scored more runs than us," the team sadly wrote on X.
— (@)
As mentioned, if the season stopped today, the White Sox would tie the 1916 Athletics for the fewest wins with 36 and worst winning percentage at .235.
Many who are reporting that the White Sox could have the worst record of all time are measuring the modern era as post-WWII, meaning the 1960 New York Mets are the marker for disaster. They finished with a 40-120 record, a .250 winning percentage.
With nine games remaining, the White Sox would need to win six of those to beat out the Mets at 41-121 and squeak past them with a .253 percentage.
With that near-impossible scenario, the White Sox can likely consider themselves the worst modern team already and strive for more historical records.
If they win just two more games and finish 38-124, the White Sox can have the fewest wins in a season since the 1935 Boston Braves.
With just one more win and 37 total victories, the White Sox would have the fewest wins since 1919 and, at a .228 winning percentage, become the worst team to play after 1901.
However, true glory could be achieved if the White Sox lose all their remaining nine games and finish 36-126.
Yes, they would finish with the fewest wins since 1901, but this abysmal record would result in a .222 winning percentage, putting them as the fifth-worst team of all time even when including the 1886-1900 era.
A White Sox team of such caliber would fall just after the 1897 St. Louis Browns, who finished 29-102, a .221 winning percentage.
A look at the Browns' roster and player names gives perspective on truly how long ago this era was.
Leading the team in average was catcher Klondike Douglass. Other stars included Tuck Turner in the outfield and shortstop Montford Montgomery Cross.
Pitchers included Cornelius Lucid, Red Donahue, and Kid Carsey.
Catch the final historic games of the Chicago White Sox, which include three against the San Diego Padres, three against the Los Angeles Angels, and a final three against the Detroit Tigers.
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A game-worn jersey of legendary baseball player Babe Ruth from Game 3 of the 1932 World Series sold for $24.12 million at auction after hours of bidding.
The jersey was allegedly worn by Ruth during his famous "called shot" home run while playing for the New York Yankees against the Chicago Cubs. The home run was hit off of the Cubs' Charlie Root in the fifth inning.
The event has been speculated on for years, as footage exists of Ruth pointing to the outfield, but it is unclear as to whether or not he was gesturing to fans or promising a homerun.
'The legend of Babe Ruth and the myth and mystery surrounding his ‘called shot’ are united.'
The event is legend enough for it not to be the issue at the auction, where the true value came from an authentication. Two Getty Images photos along with a Chicago Daily News photo were used to verify the jersey. The images showed Ruth, teammate Lou Gehrig, and manager Joe McCarthy in the Wrigley Field dugout in Chicago on the day in question.
The authentication sent bids through the roof, Washington Post reported, which led to a six-hour bidding war that closed at around 5:30 a.m. ET.
"It has been an honor and a privilege to work with this incredible piece of American history, and I am proud that it will now be part of one of the finest private collections in the world," said Chris Ivy, director of the sports auction company called Heritage. "This is essentially the Mona Lisa."
"It is clear by the strong auction participation and record price achieved that astute collectors have no doubt as to what this Ruth jersey is and what it represents. The legend of Babe Ruth and the myth and mystery surrounding his ‘called shot’ are united in this one extraordinary artifact," he added.
This was the first time in 19 years that the jersey was available at public auction, carrying with it an estimated value of $30 million. Clearly, auctioneers were looking for a record-setting day and achieved it by eclipsing a Mickey Mantle Topps rookie card that sold for $12.6 million in 2022.
Other high profile sales of memorabilia were made for a $9.3 million Diego Maradona soccer jersey from his "Hand of God" goal in 1986 and a century-old Honus Wagner baseball card in a safe that went for $7.25 million.
Michael Jordan's jersey worn in Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals sold for $10.1 million in 2022, as well.
The name of the winner of the $24 million Ruth auction was not revealed.
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An odd set of circumstances has led to Boston Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen becoming the first player in MLB history to play for both teams during the same game.
A June 26 match between the Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays was rained out in the second inning with a 0-0 score, to be completed as part of a doubleheader at a later date.
About a month later, on July 27, Jansen was traded to the Red Sox for a string of prospects and added to Boston's active roster the next day.
Now, on August 26 Jansen will face his old team in the continuation of the June 26 game, in a series of odd technicalities that will make him the first player to suit up for both teams in the same game.
In fact, if ball fans were able to catch the MLB Gameday page before the 2:05 p.m. start time, they would see that Jansen was slated to be catching and batting in the same at-bat. Jansen was the hitter at the plate for the Blue Jays when the game was officially suspended on June 26.
On the score sheet, Jansen will change teams mid-at-bat and go from from batting for the Blue Jays to catching for the Red Sox.
'Let's make history.'
It all stems from a COVID-era rule in which the league decided that in order to limit exposure between different players, if a game was suspended due to weather, the same players would be required to play in the makeup game.
"Baseball has been around for so long, there's so many things that's happened in the game. So I was surprised when I found out I was the first," Jansen said, according to ABC News. "Any time you can be a part of this great game’s history, it’s pretty unique."
The decision apparently came after manager Alex Cora started receiving texts from journalists asking if Jansen would be playing.
"You know what? Yeah, he's catching!” Cora said, per CNN. "Let's make history."
"What an oddity, right?" Jansen added.
The makeup game, which acts as an extension of the original game, leads to a series of other oddities.
The roster requirements mean that the Blue Jays will lose several players mid-game: Justin Turner, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Kevin Kiermaier, and Jansen have all been traded since the game technically started. Bo Bichette will also likely not be finishing the game due to injury.
Players like Joey Loperfido will magically appear on the roster mid-game, and the technicalities of the game will actually change the history of of a Jays rookie. If Leo Jiménez suits up in the makeup game, the 23-year-old will have his MLB debut retroactively changed to June 26, 2024, even though he physically debuted on July 7, 2024.
Interestingly enough, Jansen will be replacing Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire in the lineup. McGuire was sent down to the minors upon Jansen's arrival in the trade. In what will likely be a future trivia question, this means that Jansen will go down in history as changing teams mid-game, to bat while catching, replacing a player who hadn't been sent down to the minors yet (McGuire), and likely facing another player who wasn't actually there on the original game day (Jiménez).
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The MLB commissioner's office is reportedly considering a rule change that would require starting pitchers to play at least six innings per game.
MLB officials spoke to ESPN and expressed that the league is looking to both have starting pitchers spend more time in the game and also cut back on injuries. While these two viewpoints seem contradictory, the league also reportedly wants more balance in terms of strikeouts versus hits. A pitcher who knows he has to stay in the game longer may take some velocity off his pitches, making it easier for the batter.
'We all want to go at least six.'
"We are interested in increasing the amount of action in the game, restoring the prominence of the starting pitcher and reducing the prevalence of pitching injuries," an MLB official told ESPN. "There are a whole host of options in addressing those issues."
The alleged objective is to prioritize starting pitching but also avoid leaving in a struggling pitcher simply to meet the six-inning minimum.
To counteract this possibility, some caveats would have to be carved out. Some of the suggested exceptions would allow a pitcher to leave the game after:
In regards to the minimum, Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo said "I do that anyway."
"We all want to go at least six," he added.
"It's such a bad idea," baseball analyst Gary Sheffield Jr. told Blaze News. "So bad that it would never be considered by the players."
Sheffield stressed that requiring such a pitch count would be extremely detrimental to young pitchers.
"At the velocities they're throwing these days most young arms would explode."
Arizona Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen suggested pulling back on velocity would be an inevitable result.
"That's a tough thing, because that's where you get outs," Hazen explained.
According to Bleacher Report, MLB starters are averaging 5.25 innings in 2024 while Triple-A starters are averaging 4.3. This appears to reveal that development would be required in the minor leagues to extend the life of a starting pitcher another .75 innings in the majors.
Teams have become much more strict in terms of pitch counts for their starters in recent years, so much so that only 21 pitchers have thrown complete games in 2024. Just three pitchers — Kevin Gausman (TOR), Max Fried (ATL), Cristopher Sanchez (PHI) — have more than one.
Aside from the minimum-innings rule, the league has also reportedly considered limiting the size of pitching staffs and implementing the double-hook DH rule.
Currently being experimented with in the independent Atlantic League, the double-hook DH rule causes a team to lose their designated hitter if they remove their starting pitcher from the game.
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A New York Republican said she was denied entry to Citi Field while wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat and was told she couldn't have it on her person, either.
Aura Moody and her friend Taisha were both wearing MAGA hats when they arrived at Citi Field, the home of New York Mets in Queens, New York.
After passing a security checkpoint, the duo were told by a City Field staff member they were not allowed inside the stadium with their Trump hats on.
The staffer also reportedly refused to allow the patrons to keep their hats in their bags, forcing Moody, 64, to call the friend they carpooled with to put the hats back in their vehicle.
Moody told the New York Post that she only agreed to take her hat off because she was worried about inconveniencing her group of friends, who are all part of the Queens Village Republican Club.
"The United States of America is no longer the vehicle of freedom and tolerance. I am living under a communist regime where our freedoms are trampled upon ... that was the first thought that came to my mind," Moody remarked.
Moody said that she made attempts to invoke First Amendment rights at the stadium but was told that her hat was "too political."
'If I was wearing a BLM, Biden, Harris hat, they would have let me go through.'
The Mets organization has since said that the employee had misinterpreted the venue's policy on attire.
"A Mets employee was mistaken about our attire policy," the team said in a statement to the Post. "We are reaching out to Aura Moody to apologize and invite her back to the ballpark."
Moody was not shy about expressing how she felt about the incident:
"We are conservative people, we believe in tolerance. If I was wearing a BLM, Biden, Harris hat, they would have let me go through," she claimed.
The New Yorker also claimed that she saw "at least eight" other fans wearing pro-Donald Trump hats once she entered the stadium.
Moody alleged that after the game she attempted to file complaints with multiple staff members but was instead pointed toward an online complaint form.
She has accused the venue of "political discrimination."
"We are on the verge of communism, a system that confiscates private property, a system that is against meritocracy, a system that indoctrinates people," Moody added. "I support President Donald Trump because he's the people's president. He is the only one who can save the United States of America from destruction from within by the Democrats and the radical left."
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Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran saw a surge in his jersey sales on the MLB merchandise website despite serving a suspension for responding to a heckler with vulgar language.
Duran was suspended for two games on August 12, 2024, after he responded to a heckler in the sixth inning during a 10-2 blowout loss to the Houston Astros.
"Tennis racket, tennis racket, you need a tennis racket!" the fan can be heard yelling.
Duran then turned to the crowd and was heard saying, "Shut up, you f***ing faggot!"
Despite an apology from Duran and an outpour of dramatic statements from team officials, the All Star was still suspended for the pair of games with his pay ($8,172) being donated to a pro-transgender organization.
During his absence, fans reportedly supported Duran with a flood of social media remarks while many others supported him with their wallets by buying his jersey.
According to Fox News, Duran's jersey became the top seller on the MLB's official online store on Wednesday.
Japanese star Shohei Ohtani jerseys reportedly took the next three spots.
At the time of this writing, Duran's jersey is nowhere to be seen on the page. However, a customizable Red Sox jersey with which customers can select Duran's name (or any Red Sox player) is No. 6 on the bestseller list. Ohtani still has the top three spots.
Other rumors swirled about Duran during his return regarding standing ovations and record-breaking sales.
One video in particular alleged to show a standing ovation for Duran upon his return to the batter's box, however, the video was spliced together with different sets of audio and video.
"Two of [the videos] were from August 13, 2023 for Detroit Tigers legend Miguel Cabrera's final game at Fenway Park," a community note on X said.
At the same time, a reporter for the Boston Herald said that Duran received "a louder than usual cheer when his name was introduced in the pregame lineups," along with "another hand" as he stepped up to the plate in his return.
— (@)
'I'm glad they didn't fine me. They just gave me a warning.'
Other claims that Duran's jersey sales broke a single-day record for the MLB Shop appear to be uncorroborated and do not seem to have an official source.
Several outlets cited a post on X from a user named Simon Charles, however, no citation appeared to exist.
There were also suggestions that Duran responded to his suspension by wearing a shirt that says "f*ck 'em."
Particularly Dan Shaughnessy, sports columnist for the Boston Globe, said that "after getting suspended for 2 games for aiming homophobic slur at Fenway fan, Jarren Duran chose to wear this shirt in his pregame presser today."
Duran did indeed wear the shirt, however, a quick search revealed that Duran has been wearing shirts branded with the same phrase for some time, with the MLB even warning him about a possible fine in early July 2024.
"I'm glad they didn't fine me. They just gave me a warning," Duran said at the time.
The phrase, along with "I'm still here" and "still alive," are references to Duran's struggle with mental health, which he has openly expressed in the past.
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Pete Rose’s life has ended. It's time for his lifetime ban to do the same.
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