Things escalated quickly between the Braves and Marlins on Friday evening as Miami starter Pablo Lopez was ejected after just one pitch. Lopez drilled Ronald Acuña Jr. in the arm — the sixth time Miami’s pitching staff has hit Acuña Jr. with a pitch in his short career — and after a discussion among the umpires, Lopez was ejected.
If you missed the show on Friday night, here’s the aftermath of Lopez’s ejection.
Fittingly, Acuña scored the only run on Friday night as Atlanta won by a score of 1-0.
After the game, Don Mattingly voiced his displeasure with the umpire’s quick ejection of Lopez and called it “disappointing.” He also accused Mike Soroka of “100%” intentionally throwing at and breaking Peter O’Brien’s ribs during the 2018 season. (The HBP in question actually happened in 2019).
Don Mattingly breaks down everything the umpires told him after the Pablo López ejection in the first inning after the Ronald Acuña Jr. HBP
Mattingly explains how the umpires said the “history” played a factor in the decision to eject López@Marlins | #JuntosMiami pic.twitter.com/TlVuvrMsX3
— Bally Sports Florida & Bally Sports Sun (@BallySportsFL) July 3, 2021
Mattingly’s pointed accusation at Soroka does not compute at all. It sounds like a pathetic attempt to try and shift some blame. Why on earth would Mike Soroka go head-hunting after Peter O’Brien, a 28-year-old journeyman who he had never faced in the big leagues before? And why, more than three years later, is this the first time Mattingly has made the accusation? It’s a bush league comment from a bush league manager.
And by the way, the Braves signed O’Brien as a free agent six months after the incident in question. Clearly, O’Brien was very distressed by the incident that Mattingly claims was an intentional effort to injure.
Brian Snitker voiced his displeasure for the continued throwing at Acuña (intentional or not) during his post game press conference.
Brian Snitker’s comments on tonight’s HBP against Ronald Acuña Jr. ⤵️
“I’m kinda upset it’s the first time they’ve hit him with the first pitch of the game. … I’ve watched it too much.” pic.twitter.com/4CXSi1Tlio
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) July 3, 2021
The Braves and Marlins will continue their series on Saturday afternoon with Kyle Muller and Sandy Alcantara — who hit Acuña with a pitch during last year’s NLDS — on the mound at 4:05 p.m. ET.
Don Rickles‘ widow, Barbara has passed … and on a momentous day in their relationship.
Sources close to the family tell TMZ … Barb passed away Sunday after being hospitalized last week. We’re told she’d been battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other ailments in recent years.
Our sources tell us this touching detail as well … Barbara apparently held on to life until Sunday, which would’ve marked the 56th wedding anniversary of her and Don. They’d been married for 52 years prior to his passing in 2017.
The way we were! Today, March 14th, would have been my Don and my 54th Wedding Anniversary. I am thankful we were able to celebrate 52 wonderful and loving years together. Rest In Peace my Pussy Cat 🐱! pic.twitter.com/9hEwKbb1S2
— Don Rickles (@DonRickles) March 15, 2019
@DonRickles
Don and Barbara were good old-fashioned Hollywood sweethearts — and were pretty much partners as Don navigated showbiz in the ’60s, ’70s and beyond. Barbara served as an EP for a re-release of a comedy show of Don’s called ‘Don Rickles Live in Concert.’ She also appeared alongside him as herself in documentaries and other TV specials over the years.
The story goes that Don met Barbara through his agent, and hit it off. They were in love and pretty much inseparable. Don always spoke highly of Barbara, once telling Al Roker that he was completely devoted to her and she was his life.
Saturday April 6th will be the 2nd Anniversary of my Don’s passing. It is a very difficult time, but reading your kind Tweets is so helpful. Yes I read them all. Don would have been so pleased to know how much joy & laughter he gave to so many during his lifetime. RIP ❤️ Barbara pic.twitter.com/iRCdWgQeKj
— Don Rickles (@DonRickles) April 5, 2019
@DonRickles
Don’s death hit Barbara hard, but she remembered him fondly online … taking over Don’s Twitter account and posting messages on both their wedding and his death anniversary. A couple years back she wrote, “Saturday April 6th will be the 2nd Anniversary of my Don’s passing. It is a very difficult time, but reading your kind Tweets is so helpful. Yes I read them all. Don would have been so pleased to know how much joy & laughter he gave to so many during his lifetime. RIP ❤️ Barbara.”
The couple had two children together, including screenwriter Larry Rickles … who died in 2011. She’s survived by her daughter and grandchildren. Barbara was 84.
If you happened to catch any hour of Fox News over the past couple of days, you may be under the impression that Dr. Seuss getting “canceled” is the biggest news story in America. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that it’s not quite so simple.
As Stephen Colbert explained in his Late Show monologue Tuesday night, Dr. Seuss Enterprises has decided to stop publishing six rather obscure titles from the iconic children’s author because they contain “racist and insensitive imagery.”
“It’s a responsible move on their part,” the host argued. “There hadn’t been an earth-shattering outcry, but they recognize the impact that these images might have on readers, especially kids, and they’re trying to fix it, because Dr. Seuss books should be fun for all people—Black, white, straight, gay, Sneetches both star-bellied and plain, Loraxes, Barb-a-loots, all the Whos down in Whoville and the strange, angry creature called Foo Foo the Snoo.”
Colbert went on to highlight just a few of the Dr. Seuss books that “teach vital lessons to this day,” including the anti-war Butter Battle Book, environmental Loraxand Hop on Pop, which “warns against the dangers of pop-hopping.”
“The Dr. Seuss folks listened to criticism, thought it was reasonable and made what’s called a change,” he added. “Or as it’s known on Fox News: cancel culture.”
After playing a montage that just scratched the surface of how much Fox has obsessed over the story this week, culminating in a full-on meltdown from Donald Trump Jr., Colbert said, “I’m not surprised Don Jr. loves The Cat in the Hat, I’ve always believed he can read at a second-grade level. Also, I think his dad calls him and Eric ‘Thing One’ and ‘Thing Two.’”
Finally, Colbert read aloud from a brand new Seussian book titled “Oh the Books You Can Read,” which began, “So the book news you heard today just got your goose. And now you’re defensive for old Dr. Seuss. If you find that your bookshelf just got a little bit duller, consider these kids books from people of color.”
“There’s lots of new stories you might find quite good,” he continued, “like Imani’s Moon by Janay Brown-Wood. Want more suggestions? No need to keep hopin’. Just pick up Firebird by the Misty Copeland. And this one right here is the real real McCoy, it’s Thomisha Booker’s great book Brown Boy Joy. There’s a whole range of books that will make you feel merry, like this one called Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry.”
“So don’t be so cancel-y, culture-y, whiny,” Colbert concluded. “Read these books after pulling your head from your hiney.”
For more, listen and subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast.
Joe Exotic is getting the best revenge he can against Carole Baskin — hiring the attorney who recently repped the family of her missing husband … who’s now working to free him.
John M. Phillips of the Phillips & Hunt firm broke the news Tuesday, saying he’d been retained by the ‘Tiger King’ himself in a bid to get a new trial arranged so Joe can plead his case in front of a new set of 12 jurors.
Phillips writes, “Work has already begun on @joe_exotic’s New Trial Motion. We are proud to be leading his team. I was sworn into the Western District of Oklahoma this morning. This isn’t about tigers, television or tomfoolery, it’s about justice and evidence. More soon.”
Phillips & Hunt/floridajustice.com
He also posted a video … which took some shots at Joe’s former legal team, who Phillips characterized as engaging in “buffoonery” in their bid to get JE pardoned by Prez Trump.
Doesn’t sound like Joe disagrees — at least that’s how Phillips makes it sound. He says shortly after the failed attempt, the man himself reached out and asked about his services. One thing led to another, and now Phillips is on the case — and he ain’t looking to Joe Biden for a bail-out either.
Law Offices of Phillips & Hunt
Remember, Phillips was also brought on by Don Lewis‘ surviving family members — who seem to believe Carole knows more about his mysterious vanishing than she’s let on. They even bought air time during her debut appearance on ‘DWTS’ which aired mid-broadcast.
Of course, she’s denied she knows anything about Don’s whereabouts — and she’s never been charged in connection to the case. Still, gotta wonder how she feels about this …
This week has been among the stranger golf weeks in the last few years. Tiger Woods was badly injured in a career-threatening car crash on Tuesday, and has undergone multiple procedures in the days that have followed as athletes from all over the world offered up their well wishes.
On Sunday at the Cologuard Classic, a PGA Tour Champions event, Phil Mickelson paid tribute to his longtime rival and recent pal by going full red and black with his scripting — a nod to Tiger’s Sunday threads. Loads of players playing the WGC-Workday Championship on the PGA Tour also paid tribute to the guy who has changed their sport.
Rory McIlroy, Cameron Champ, Patrick Reed, Tony Finau, Jason Day, Justin Thomas and several other golfers playing in the first WGC event of 2021 at The Concession wore some form of a red top and black pants to let know Tiger they were thinking about him.
Finau even went full “Tiger at the 2018 PGA Championship” look with the backwards hat.
One of the fascinating parts of Tiger’s career is this late-stage turn with him playing the role of mentor and friend to so many of the best players in the world who are in their 20s or 30s. Thomas was near tears on Tuesday when being asked about Woods’ accident, and everyone throughout the week has been poignant in their effusive praise for the best to ever do it.
“He means a lot to the game of golf,” said Finau early in the week. “I can only speak from my experience, he means a lot to my career. I’ve said it I think time after time, the 1997 Masters changed the course of my life, course of my career. Without that event, I probably wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be playing golf. So he definitely changed the course of my life, my career.
“I think I’m one of hundreds of guys out here probably that would say the same thing. He means a lot to the game, but individually, I think he means a lot to us just individually, especially for me.”
Later in the day on Sunday as the plethora of tributes were making the rounds, Woods took to time to express his gratitude on Twitter.
“It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the TV and saw all the red shirts,” Woods said. “To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time.”
Rory McIlroy honors Tiger Woods
Getty Images Justin Thomas honors Tiger Woods
Getty Images Scottie Scheffler honors Tiger Woods
Getty Images Jason Day honors Tiger Woods
Getty Images
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a promotion that could be straight out of the “Mad Men” Don Draper playbook.
Brooklyn’s famed Peter Luger Steak House has teamed with Madame Tussauds to have celebrity wax figures mingle with patrons, promoting the easing of coronavirus pandemic restrictions on indoor dining in New York City.
A wax Jon Hamm — known for his portrayal of ad executive Draper in the hit TV series — could be found at the restaurant’s bar Friday with a cocktail in hand. Other figures on loan from Madame Tussauds include Michael Strahan, Jimmy Fallon, Al Roker and Audrey Hepburn in Holly Golightly of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” mode.
Peter Luger “thought this would be a fun, safe way to fill some of the seats that need to remain empty as we continue to fight the pandemic,” said restaurant vice president Daniel Turtel.
As of Friday, restaurants in the city were allowed to fill 35% of their indoor seats, up from 25% previously.
Peter Luger, in business for more than 130 years, will keep the mannequins until Monday. After that, they’ll return to the recently reopened Madame Tussauds in midtown Manhattan.
