Kuzul

During the ninth inning of Sunday’s 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs played a song called “Smack My Bitch Up” as Aroldis Chapman walked off the mound.

That is a wildly inappropriate song for a sporting event, and the Cubs closer’s history only intensifies the misstep.

In March, Chapman was suspended 30 games after he reportedly choked his girlfriend during an argument and then fired eight gunshots into the wall and window of his garage last October.

According to ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers, the Cubs apologized, saying it was “unfortunate and should not have happened.”

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune thinks the DJ at Wrigley Field will be disciplined:

UPDATE: Monday, Aug. 15 at 1:06 p.m. ET

As expected, the Cubs have ended their relationship with the employee, per Rogers:

–End of Update–

This is a bad look for the Cubs all around.

[h/t For The Win]

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Veteran announcer Vin Scully has had too many iconic calls to count.

But on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers asked fans to rank the 88-year-old’s top 20, which include perfect games by Don Larsen (1956) and Sandy Koufax (1965) and Clayton Kershaw’s no-hitter (2014). Also featured are Hank Aaron’s 715th home run (1974) and the team’s first game after Sept. 11 (2001).

The club will reveal the rankings of the calls (from “greatest to great”) starting Aug. 13 and ending Sept. 23, which is Vin Scully Appreciation Night.

[Dodgers]

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Tattoo bets are no joke.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is about to find that out.

TCU, the 30-year-old ace’s former school, lost its chance to reach the College World Series finals after losing Saturday night’s game to Coastal Carolina, 7-5.

According to ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers, Arrieta lost a bet to former Chanticleer and current teammate Tommy La Stella.

“So happy for those kids,” said La Stella, per Rogers. “When we get back to Chicago, we’ll get him [Arrieta] tatted up for life.”

Surely, they’ll document this process, right?

“If it’s a body part that’s visually acceptable, absolutely,” La Stella said.

TCU defeated Coastal Carolina earlier in the week, however, which will force La Stella to dress up as the Horned Frogs mascot.

[ESPN]

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Before the Seattle Mariners hosted the Oakland Athletics at home on Friday night, Ken Griffey Jr. threw out the first pitch.

On its own, that’s pretty cool.

But Junior tossed the ball to Mariners star Felix Hernandez and then hit the former Cy Young winner’s celebratory dance he broke out after his perfect game in 2012:

This was more than just a pump-up moment, too:

[MLB.com, Twitter, YouTube]

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Tuesday night’s contest between the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays ended in controversy after a Jose Bautista slide at second base resulted in a “Chase Utley Rule” double play.

With the bases loaded, Edwin Encarnacion hit a ground ball to third. Running from first, Bautista slid into the bag, and Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe threw wide of first as he tried to complete a double play. It appeared two runs had scored in what was a 3-2 game.

Instead, the umpires ruled Joey Bats did not “make a bona fide attempt to reach and remain on the base.” They thus ruled Encarnacion out as well, ending the game.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was far from amused:

Bautista also defended his slide:

[MLB.com, Twitter]

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Looks like Giancarlo Stanton is OK.

After a broken hand cut short his 2015 campaign, the Miami Marlins slugger returned with a bang in his team’s season opener against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday.

Justin Verlander entered the bottom of the sixth inning with a no-hitter intact, but Stanton put two on the board with a monster blast to left field.

It was the 26-year-old’s first dinger in a long while, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro:

You have to figure there’s more where that came from.

[MLB.com, Twitter]

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Chicago Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward is apparently despised by members of the bee community.

During his team’s spring training contest against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, the 26-year-old was harassed by a swarm of bees.

Heyward did all he could—run around, swat them with his glove, leap up on the fence—but nothing worked. According to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com, Heyward endured substantial pain:

The game had to be delayed for a few minutes, as the horde eventually made its way into the stands.

In the bottom half of the inning, Heyward bombed a two-run dinger. Still, Seattle won, 12-9.

[MLB, Twitter, h/t CBS Sports]

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Wow.

During a Pittsburgh Pirates spring training game Saturday in Kissimmee, Florida, one fan put on his Superman cape and saved the day.

An errant bat came within an outstretched hand of drilling a poor little kid in the head. Luckily, the guy to his right knocked it away.

Update from Monday, March 7

According to Fox 35 in Orlando, the people involved in the situation were a father and son. As you can tell, the man takes his parenting duties very seriously.

–End of Update–

Pittsburgh beat the Atlanta Braves, 9-6, but the bigger story was the kid’s health.

Just…wow.

[Twitter]

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Baseball is typically the old man wagging his fist at the youngsters.

Not anymore.

On Friday, March 11, the league will host a “Snapchat Day” when players across the league will be permitted to use “SnapBat” selfie sticks—yes, that’s real—and smartphones in the dugout and bullpen.

This comes on the heels of a multiyear partnership agreement between the MLB and Snapchat.

Per Forbes.com contributor Maury Brown, Snapchat will cover Opening Day, the All-Star Game, playoffs, games and events, and have access to “exclusive behind-the-scenes content feature the game’s top players.”

Pablo Sandoval was disciplined for “liking” an Instagram post during a game last July. Get it out of your system now, Panda.

Next Friday, Snap away.

[Twitter, h/t Forbes]

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Bryce Harper doesn’t squat with an exercise ball.

He squats on one.

On Friday, the Washington Nationals star gave the world another reminder of what a freak athlete he is.

A year after winning the National League MVP, the 23-year-old slugger will look to use what he’s done in the weight room to carry Washington back into the postseason.

[Instagram]

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