Kuzul

Passionate coaching is valuable in any sport.

It’s so valuable, in fact, that for the right man, teams will recruit across league lines.

In the eyes of the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates, Jim Harbaugh is precisely the right man.

For one inning (or possibly more), the Michigan football leader will take on the responsibility of coaching first base for the Tigers come Wednesday afternoon.

Update from Wednesday, March 2

Here’s a look at Coach Harbaugh in action:

[Twitter]

–End of Update–

And he’s already attracted attention from the opposition. According to the Bradenton Herald‘s Jason Dill, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle would like Harbaugh to don black and gold as well:

I told him with his passion for stirring things up, why wouldn’t he just half the game, coach the game for the Pirates. I don’t think that’ll fly, but that’s right up his alley. I’ve encouraged him to try and get out early to spend some time with our group and our team before the Tigers get onto the field.

It’s an easy transition for Harbaugh. He gleefully accepted similar responsibilities for the Oakland A’s a season ago.

The Detroit News‘ Angelique S. Chengelis reported Harbaugh even had aspirations of being a professional baseball player.  

But Michigan football fans needn’t worry about losing their spirited chief. The Wolverines will be taking the trip to Florida along with their khaki-clad coach, and spring practice will occur at IMG Academy. 

What? You didn’t think one of the fieriest men to ever wear a headset would skip out on the opportunity to double his sideline shouting time, did you?

[Detroit News, h/t For the Win]

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Super Bowl winners dump gallons of Gatorade over their coach’s head. The NBA Finals conclude with stormy champagne showers. NHL champions sip (or guzzle) from Lord Stanley’s Cup. In short, sports celebrations are inexplicably intertwined with the decidedly messy utilization of food and beverage.

One MLB team, however, will part with a similar time-honored tradition. The Baltimore Orioles put an end to their beloved victory commemoration: a postgame pie in the face.  

The announcement, which came from notable sweet-smashing instigator Adam Jones via Twitter, began with some serious foreshadowing. 

Then, of course, the news came: no more celebratory on-field dessert consumption. But why?

As it turns out, the gleeful pranking has been deemed hazardous.

Is it the sugar intake? The terrifying tin? Perhaps the velocity of the impact itself is cause for concern?

Regardless of the reason for the tomfoolery’s abandonment, fans can still expect to see some horseplay. Jones isn’t abandoning antics of all kinds. In fact, he’s already fielding alternative ideas.

If his hashtags #PantsThem and #Swirly are any indication, however, his teammates may soon be lamenting the change in protocol.

[Twitter, h/t the Big Lead]

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All New York Yankees can check their attitudes at the door—along with any other excessive outward emotions or opinions.

Following the trend of encouraging progressively more prescribed athlete reactions, the renowned baseball organization aimed to instill within its players the makings of a proper postgame interview.

Their subjects of study? Quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Cam Newton.

According to ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand, the session went something like this: 

During the Yankees’ media training, the Super Bowl is being used to portray the right and wrong way to act. Part of a video shown to pitchers and catchers compares how Cam Newton handled his Super Bowl loss to the way Russell Wilson dealt with his defeat the previous year.

Sports fans are already well aware of the dichotomy between Wilson’s polite bow and Newton’s abrupt exit, but as many have pointed out, passion is a difficult thing to quell.

Wilson’s teammate Richard Sherman was mightily criticized for his own postgame outburst. Recently, fellow Seahawks defensive back Earl Thomas took to Twitter to criticize the NFL’s restrictions on individual expression. 

The various personalities seem to suit Seattle, but don’t expect the Yanks to be embracing the assortment of commentary. If tight-lipped is what they’re aiming for, however, perhaps Marshawn Lynch would have been the best example of all. 

[Yahoo Sports]

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What do Blue Jays and Vikings have in common? Well, if you’re referring to the fowl and the historical people, nothing.

But now that AL MVP Josh Donaldson is getting grimy and suiting up in armor for the History Channel’s upcoming fourth season of Vikings, there is a connection!

According to the press release, this is what fans of both the show and the third baseman can expect:

Donaldson will play the role of “Hoskuld,” a Viking warrior of great skill, in an episode that will air later this year as part of the fourth season. Two-time All-Star Donaldson will film in Ireland this week. Donaldson is a massive fan of “Vikings” and recently tweeted a photo unveiling a striking, new Viking hairstyle inspired by the character “Ragnar.”

Given that Donaldson broadcasted that braided coif in early December, the news should come with little surprise. Still, the level of commitment required to at least semi-permanently modify the look of his locks bodes well for his forthcoming performance. 

And if that wasn’t enough to build the anticipation, peep the Season 4 trailer:

Donaldson seems nowhere to be found—which makes sense given that he has yet to begin shooting—but where there is an overcast sky and thunderclaps, there will almost certainly be downpour.

The Bringer of Rain is on the horizon.

[For the Win, h/t CBSSports.com]

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Understatement: St. Louis Cardinals fans have not taken the news well that Jason Heyward has left for Chicago.

After the report that the outfielder signed an eight-year, $184 million deal with the Cubs, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, some fans took a page out of Cleveland’s book and opted to give J-Hey a warm, crackling farewell a la LeBron James—burning his jersey, of course.

Considering the Cardinals lost pitcher John Lackey to Chi-Town as well, it’s not surprising to see at least one fan become unhinged. Division rivalries make people do crazy things.

[h/t The Score]

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Warning: Video contains graphic content.

David Ortiz isn’t just crushing balls over the Green Monster anymore. He’s crushing the monsters (along with other mutated people and creatures) themselves!

In a recent Fallout 4 modification posted by YouTuber Richie Branson, the Boston Red Sox’s beloved designated hitter is cast as a post-apocalyptic protagonist, taking down anything and everything in his path with a baseball bat.

Update from Saturday, Nov. 14

MLB has issued a statement, via Steve Annear of the Boston Globe, saying that the league will not allow the Ortiz character in the game.

“The use of these marks is an infringement of our rights. We plan to enforce those rights,” an MLB spokesman said in an e-mail to the Boston Globe on Thursday.

–End of Update–

Sound familiar? Although very similar, even down to the uniform, there are a few differences between this Ortiz and his real-life counterpart.

In Fallout 4, Big Papi favors a decidedly pricklier, nail-laden version of his favorite maple wood, and he bats right-handed in the game rather than lefty.

The part about him surviving a cataclysmic event and single-handedly combating the harsh nuclear environment, however, is completely accurate.

[Richie Branson, h/t SB Nation]

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Last week, the San Francisco Giants released their rendition of the Full House theme, dubbed “Full Clubhouse,” to promote an upcoming home date themed after the show.

But it was the Pittsburgh Pirates‘ turn in this week’s edition of “MLB team meets ’90s sitcom,” thanks to one fan who mashed footage of the team with the Family Matters intro.

[YouTube]

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One lucky San Francisco Giants fan got to take home the ball Brandon Crawford powered to left center for a ground-rule double against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.

That lucky fan was Cal quarterback Jared Goff:

The Heisman Trophy hopeful was pretty pumped about his come-up.

Like really pumped.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates got a little friendly with their Instagram followers on Friday, promoting a fan giveaway of free tickets and, err, sexual donuts.

Yep, sexual donuts.

Now, we’ll give the Pirates the benefit of the doubt—it had to have been an unfortunate autocorrect or a misunderstanding with Siri, right?

Hopefully.

The post has since been taken down, but not before screenshots were snapped.

This is a good lesson in what you put on the Internet, kids. It lives forever. Even if you delete it.

(h/t Sporting News)

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On Tuesday, it will be 11 months to the day since Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper uttered his famous “That’s a clown question, bro” response to a reporter during a game in Toronto. The response ultimately turned into a pop-culture reference, as well as a line of Under Armour T-shirts. Almost a year later, the 21-year-old is still willing to laugh about it.

When South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney went first overall to the Texans in the 2014 NFL draft on Thursday night, Harper made the joke that everyone was hoping for. 

“That’s a Clowney pick bro” #NFLDraft

— Bryce Harper (@Bharper3407) May 9, 2014

To be clear, Harper was just having fun, and congratulated Clowney as well, tweeting “Congrats to @clownejd on being the number 1 pick in the @nfl draft..He deserves it! Guy is an absolute stud! #Number1#NFLDraft.”

But it’s good to see that Harper is willing to laugh about something that has probably got on his nerves over the last year, and the Internet benefited because of it.

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