(NEW YORK) — It appears Anthony Rizzo is staying put in New York.
Citing a source, ESPN reports the 32-year-old first baseman agreed to a two-year, $32 million deal with the New York Yankees Tuesday night.
The contract includes an opt-out clause after one season, according to ESPN.
Rizzo joined the Yankees mid-season last July after being traded from the Chicago Cubs, with whom he had been playing with since 2012.
In the 49 games he played with the Yankees last year, the three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner had eight home runs, 21 RBIs and a .249 batting average.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Memphis 135, Indiana 102
Brooklyn 150, Orlando 108
Miami 105, Detroit 98
Phoenix 131, New Orleans 115
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Toronto 4, Dallas 0
Arizona 6, Montreal 3
NY Rangers 4, Anaheim 3 (OT)
Washington 4, NY Islanders 3 (SO)
Nashville 4, Pittsburgh 1
Winnipeg 7, Vegas 3
Boston 2 Chicago 1 (OT)
Edmonton 7, Detroit 5
Vancouver 6, New Jersey 3
Colorado 3, Los Angeles 0
Florida 3, San Jose 2 (OT)
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Cleveland 120, LA Clippers 111 (OT)
Denver 114, Philadelphia 110
Atlanta 122, Portland 113
Charlotte 134, Oklahoma City 116
Minnesota 149, San Antonio 139
Golden State 126, Washington 112
Sacramento 112, Chicago 103
Milwaukee 117, Utah 111
Toronto 114, LA Lakers 103
(NEW YORK) — Just 40 days after Tom Brady announced his retirement, the quarterback called an audible on his previous plan and said his place is still on the football field.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion posted on social media Sunday, one day before NFL free agency negotiations start, that he was coming out of retirement for a 23rd season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“These past two months I have realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” Brady wrote. “I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. We have unfinished business.”
ESPN NFL insider Jeff Darlington weighed in on the 44-year-old’s reversal, telling ABC News’ Good Morning America that Brady left the window of opportunity open.
“I’d love to say that I was shocked, but just understanding the fact that the Bucks themselves sort of knew in the last few weeks that Tom Brady wasn’t exactly fully committed to retirement, that there was some willingness to believe that ultimately Brady would come back,” Darlington said.
When Brady said he would retire in January, the sports world celebrated him as the greatest quarterback that ever played the game. But even after his career seemed to be closing, Brady opened the door to playing almost immediately in an episode of his podcast.
“You know, you never say never,” he hinted on “Let’s Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray.”
“It does feel a little bit surprising from the standpoint that Brady is always so methodical about his decision-making, always so decisive,” Darlington said. “And in this case, ultimately just felt like he wasn’t done yet. And maybe he was premature by ultimately thinking he was.”
When asked what more he has to prove after his initial retirement announcement, Brady previously told GMA: “I don’t think proving it for me is the motivation. Like I still want to play. I got like a little sickness in me that just wants to throw a frickin spiral. You know what I mean? Also about football once you stop you cant go back and do it. I got some more football in me. Not a lot and I know that, but what I got left I’m gonna give it everything I got.”
Brady is not the first to change his mind about coming back to the gridiron; Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre came out of retirement twice after his first attempt in 2008 to continue his 20-year NFL career that ultimately ended with the Minnesota Vikings in 2010.
Plus, Brady’s 2021 stats speak for itself; he set a career-high 5,316 passing yards and led the league with 43 touchdown passes.
Longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski came out of his retirement when Brady first made the move from New England and followed him to Tampa Bay in 2020. Now, with free agency opening in just hours, fans of the football duo have speculated what this will mean for the tight end.
ABC News’ T.J. Holmes also addressed the timing of Brady’s update that upset some sports fans who thought the news took the spotlight from the student athletes playing in March Madness.
“The free agency opens at noon today and there is a suggestion that he was trying to get the news out there so the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be in a better position to maybe resign some of the guys,” Holmes explained. “Now it makes Tampa Bay more attractive. That might have something to do with it.”
(INDIAN WELLS, Calif.) — Tennis player Naomi Osaka was nearly brought to tears over the weekend after a spectator heckled her from the stands at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.
Osaka, who is a four-time major champion and was formerly ranked No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association, was playing against Russian tennis player Veronika Kudermetova, when a woman in the stands shouted, “Naomi, you suck,” during the first set.
After the match, Osaka asked the chair umpire if she could borrow her mic to address the crowd to say something that was “on her heart.”
“To be honest, I’ve gotten heckled before, it didn’t really bother me,” she said. “But [being] heckled here, I watched a video of Venus and Serena [Williams] getting heckled here, and if you’ve never watched it, you should watch it. I don’t know why, but it went into my head, and it got replayed a lot. I’m trying not to cry.”
The incident Osaka referred to was when the Williams sisters were heckled by spectators at the Indian Wells Masters in 2001. Venus Williams withdrew with a knee injury from her scheduled semi-final against Serena Williams shortly before it was to begin. Amid speculation of match fixing, the crowd heckled Venus Williams and her father, Richard Williams, when they took their seats to watch Serena Williams in the final against Belgian tennis player Kim Clijsters.
The crowd continued to heckle Serena Williams when she came out to play the final and continued to boo her periodically throughout the entire match. When Serena Williams won the match, she was subsequently booed during the awards ceremony.
Following the tennis tournament and racist comments that Richard Williams alleged were directed at him during the incident, the Williams sisters boycotted the Indian Wells tournament for 14 years, even though it has been a mandatory stop on the WTA tour since 2009. Serena Williams ended the boycott in 2015 and played.
Osaka, who ended her address to the crowd by congratulating her opponent, opened up about her struggle with depression in 2021 after withdrawing from the French Open last year.
The tennis player, who said she wouldn’t be doing any press events during the tournament due to a lack of care for athletes’ mental health, created some controversy for her decision to abstain from press obligations, which resulted in a fine issued to her by French Open officials.
She ultimately withdrew and posted a statement on Twitter about her struggle with depression.
“The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018, and I have had a really hard time coping with that,” she wrote. “Anyone that knows me knows I’m introverted, and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety.”
“I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media,” she added.
Many at the time commended Osaka for openly sharing her experience, including tennis legend Billie Jean King and even Serena Williams, who Osaka defeated in 2018 to win her first Grand Slam title.
“I feel for Naomi,” Serena Williams said about the situation after a first round win at the 2021 French Open. “I feel like I wish I could give her a hug, because I know what it’s like.”
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Brooklyn 110, New York 107
LA Clippers 106, Detroit 102
Dallas 95, Boston 92
Philadelphia 116, Orlando 114 (OT)
New Orleans 130, Houston 105
Atlanta 131, Indiana 128
Memphis 125, Oklahoma City 118
Phoenix 140, LA Lakers 111
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 4, Carolina 2
Buffalo 5, Toronto 2
Winnipeg 4, St. Louis 3 (OT)
Columbus 6, Vegas 4
Montreal 4, Philadelphia 3 (OT)
NY Islanders 4, Anaheim 3
Nashville 6, Minnesota 2
Colorado 3, Calgary 0
Tampa Bay 2, Vancouver 1
Los Angeles 3, Florida 2 (SO)
TOP 25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Tennessee 65, Texas A&M 50
Iowa 75, Purdue 66
Houston 71, Memphis 53
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Atlanta 2, Charlotte FC 1
Minnesota 1, New York 0
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Friday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Orlando 118 Minnesota 110
Final Atlanta 112 L.A. Clippers 106
Final Boston 114 Detroit 103
Final Charlotte 142 New Orleans 120
Final Dallas 113 Houston 100
Final Miami 117 Cleveland 105
Final Memphis 118 New York 114
Final San Antonio 104 Utah 102
Final Toronto 117 Phoenix 112
Final L.A. Lakers 122 Washington 109
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Pittsburgh 5 Vegas 2
Final SO Columbus 3 Minnesota 2
Final N-Y Islanders 5 Winnipeg 2
Final OT Washington 4 Vancouver 3
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (2)Arizona 82 Colorado 72
Final Texas A&M 67 (4)Auburn 62
Final (5)Kentucky 77 Vanderbilt 71
Final (6)Kansas 75 TCU 62
Final (7)Duke 80 Miami 76
Final (8)Villanova 63 (20)UConn 60
Final (9)Tennessee 72 Mississippi St. 59
Final (9)Purdue 69 Penn St. 61
Final Creighton 85 (11)Providence 58
Final Michigan St. 69 (12)Wisconsin 63
Final (13)UCLA 69 (21)Southern Cal 59
Final (14)Texas Tech 56 Oklahoma 55
Final (15)Arkansas 79 LSU 67
Final Indiana 65 (16)Illinois 63
Final (18)Houston 69 Cincinnati 56
Final (24)Iowa 84 Rutgers 74
Final Virginia Tech 72 (25)North Carolina 59
Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Baseball fans rejoice: Your favorite teams will be taking the field in just under four weeks.
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced Thursday that they have reached a new collective bargaining agreement. The deal was approved by the MLBPA and later ratified by team owners unanimously Thursday night, bringing an end to the three-month lockout.
The news comes after the league had announced a day earlier that it was scrapping a second week of games, pushing Opening Day until April 14, because both sides had failed to reach an agreement.
With the new CBA in place, the 2022 regular season will begin on April 7, with Spring Training games beginning next week.
“I am genuinely thrilled to be able to say that Major League Baseball is back and we’re going to play 162 games,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said at a press conference Thursday.
“I do want to start by apologizing to our fans,” he continued. “I know that the last few months have been difficult. There’s a lot of uncertainty, at a point in time when there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world. [It’s] sort of the way the process of collective bargaining works sometimes, but I do apologize for it.”
“One of the good things about collective bargaining is that it gives our players an opportunity to have input on what their workplace and the game is going to look like going forward. And they took full opportunity to provide that input during these negotiations,” Manfred added. “Our players are great, great athletes. I respect them. And I respect the input that we received from them during this process. And we really did learn a lot.”
Under the new five-year CBA, the postseason will expand to 12 teams, minimum salaries will be increased, competitive balance tax thresholds will be raised and a universal designated hitter will be introduced, among other changes.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Brooklyn 129, Philadelphia 100
Golden State 113, Denver 102
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Winnipeg 2, New Jersey 1
Arizona 5, Toronto 4 (OT)
Final Carolina 2, Colorado 0
Buffalo 3, Vegas 1
Ottawa 4, Seattle 3 (OT)
Boston 4, Chicago 3
Florida 6, Philadelphia 3
Minnesota 6, Detroit 5 (SO)
NY Islanders 6, Columbus 0
St. Louis 6, NY Rangers 2
Nashville 4, Anaheim 1
Calgary 4, Tampa Bay 1
San Jose 4, Los Angeles 3 (OT)
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Arizona 84, Stanford 80
Oklahoma 72, Baylor 67
Kansas 87, West Virginia 63
Duke 88, Syracuse 79
Villanova 66, St. John’s 65
Providence 65, Butler 61
UCLA 75, Washington St. 65
Texas Tech 72, Iowa St. 41
UConn 62, Seton Hall 52
TCU 65, Texas 60
Colorado St. 53, Utah St. 51
Iowa 112, Northwestern 76
North Carolina 63, Virginia 43
Southern Cal 65, Washington 61
Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Baseball fans will have to go yet another week without watching their favorite teams take the field.
After two days at the negotiating table, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.
As a result, the league announced on Wednesday that it was scrapping a second week of games, pushing Opening Day until April 14. In total, each team will be missing out on the first four series of the regular season.
The biggest obstacle during the latest round of talks appeared to be on a proposed international draft.
“In a last-ditch effort to preserve a 162-game season, this week we have made good-faith proposals that address the specific concerns voiced by the MLBPA and would have allowed the players to return to the field immediately,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “The Clubs went to extraordinary lengths to meet the substantial demands of the MLBPA. On the key economic issues that have posed stumbling blocks, the Clubs proposed ways to bridge gaps to preserve a full schedule. Regrettably, after our second late-night bargaining session in a week, we remain without a deal.”
“Because of the logistical realities of the calendar, another two series are being removed from the schedule, meaning that Opening Day is postponed until April 14th,” Manfred continued. “We worked hard to reach an agreement and offered a fair deal with significant improvements for the players and our fans. I am saddened by this situation’s continued impact on our game and all those who are a part of it, especially our loyal fans.”
