When Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista jacked a home run deep into the left field stands of Yankee Stadium on Sunday, not too many people in the park were anticipating the ball coming back into play – least of all Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner who was pegged in the back of the head by the ball.

The play in question happened in the top of the fourth inning – team medical reports diagnosed a minor bump but Gardner remained in the game and spoke to the press afterwards.

“It’s unfortunate it hit me where it did, but it is what it is,” Gardner said. “I got a hard head, so it’s all good.”

The Yankees have been in a slide of late – the Jays took a three game series this weekend and closed to 1.5 games back in the American League East. Though it has long been a tradition for home team fans to throw back visiting home runs, it’s rare that the fans aim for a player.

Video of this Sunday’s shenanigans even made it onto Vine.

Gardner seemed to maintain as good a humor as could be expected from a player who was accidentally assaulted by his own fans.

“I think they were probably saying I suck, I think. I’m not sure,” Gardner said, jokingly. “I try to block them out most of the time. The home run [Jose] hit was so far — I don’t know how far the ball got thrown back in, but it wasn’t like it was coming in from the second row. So whoever hit me I probably couldn’t have heard them if they tried to say anything anyway. It is what it is.”

Buddy Baker, a journeyman NASCAR driver for 34 years and the winner of 18 major races including the 1980 Daytona 500, died of lung cancer Monday morning. He was 74.

Baker, who was nicknamed “The Gentle Giant” due to his towering six foot six inch stature, seemed destined for NASCAR greatness from birth — his father was NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker. In 700 career starts, the younger Baker finished with 38 poles between 1959 and 1992 with 202 top fives and 311 top ten finishes.

Baker is also famous for being the first driver to break the 200 mph barrier at a closed course in 1970 at Talladega.

“Many of today’s fans may know Buddy Baker as one of the greatest storytellers in the sport’s history, a unique skill that endeared him to millions, but those who witnessed his racing talent recognized Buddy as a fast and fierce competitor, setting speed records and winning on NASCAR’s biggest stages. It is that dual role that made Buddy an absolute treasure who will be missed dearly” wrote NASCAR Chairman Brian France in a statement released this morning after news of Baker’s passing reached NASCAR headquarters.

Even in his retirement from actual racing, Baker was close with NASCAR, gaining acclaim as a color commentator and co-hosting a radio show for SiriusXM NASCAR twice each week. On July 7, Baker announced he had lung cancer and would be immediately leaving the network.

“I’m right with The Man upstairs,” Baker told The Charlotte Observer in story twenty days after his announcement. “If I feared death, I never would have driven a race car.”

Patrick Kane may have just signed an eight-year extension that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NHL but the 26 year old has bigger things on his plate at the moment.

Police in Hamburg, N.Y. where Kane keeps his off season home have reported that they are investigating Kane after a woman came forward and alleged that Kane raped her last weekend.

According to the Buffalo News, who spoke with several law enforcement officials close to the investigation, the woman went to a nearby hospital where a rape kit was administered.

As of now though, Kane has yet to be officially charged with anything.

Social media places Kane at the Buffalo, N.Y., nightclub Sky Bar on August 2nd, a known hang out of Kane’s and allegedly where the woman and he met before adjourning to his lakefront property.

Both the Blackhawks organization and Kane’s agent have made statements to the press that neither confirm nor deny any allegations: “We are aware of the matter and are in the process of gathering information,” said the Blackhawks in a statement Thursday. “It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

This is not the first in a string of troubled off seasons for the four-time All Star. In 2009, Kane and his cousin allegedly punched a cab driver for not having the correct change for their fare; the two pled guilty to a non criminal charge of disorderly conduct.

Three years after that incident, pictures, videos and eye witness accounts of Kane’s rowdy Cinco de Mayo party at the University of Wisconsin hit the web; Kane is described as “passed out,” “belligerent,” and even “choke[d] a girl.”

The Blackhawks star was also heard at this year’s Stanley Cup championship parade saying, “I know you’ve said I’ve been growing up, but watch out for me next week.”

If you ever wanted to see a bunch of overgrown guys all wearing blue hats mill about angrily, you are oh so lucky. Things got heated in the Six this weekend with the first place Kansas City Royals taking on the Toronto Blue Jays; Royals pitchers Edinson Volquez and reliever Ryan Madson had been throwing tight inside on the home team all series long and the favor had been readily returned.

As umpire Jim Wolf watched pitches cross the plate without reaction time and again, tempers climaxed in the top of the 8th when Jays reliever Aaron Sanchez popped Alcides Escobar with a pitch inside. This was immediately preceded by the Jay’s manager, John Gibson, being tossed from the game after complaining about the pegging of his newest star, Troy Tulowitzki by Madson.

Devon Travis of the Toronto Blue Jays

Unfortunately for us, the Royals and Jays series is through for the regular season but never fear; if the Jays win their wild card game, they end up playing the top finishing team in the American League, a spot currently occupied by Kansas City.  The Jays are one game out of the second Wild Card spot right now and with their acquisitions of Tulowitzki, David Price and Ben Revere last month, Toronto clearly have their eyes on October.

If you missed the Ronda Rousey-Bethe Correia fight this past week you weren’t the only one. The bantamweight UFC fighters squared off in the Octagon late Saturday night and in a fight so short that it fit into one GIF, Rousey won by knockout. It improved her record to 12-0 but more importantly, it spawned this immortalization of the fight in claymation.

https://instagram.com/p/54WHLdnAJg/?taken-by=azxd

Although 11 of Rousey’s 12 victories have come in the first round, only two had been by knockout before Saturday. After Correia attempted to intimidate Rousey at the weigh in earlier in the week, Rousey came into the ring far more ready than her opponent who seems to have a talent for saying the wrong thing.

Rousey has been the pride of MMA and the fighting world for about three years now; her last three fights have lasted a combined 1:04 seconds and no opponent has lasted in the ring for more than one round with her since 2013. In no other sport is one athlete able to so completely dominate, even embarrass, their competition and after Correia’s near constant and shockingly tasteless trash talking, it was no surprise to see Rousey so motivated.

Correia’s strategy is typically one of “stay upright and punching” and it was obvious the Rousey knew this going in; right out of the opening bell, Rousey tries to close the gap between the fighters in order to neutralize Correia’s distance friendly gameplan. As soon as Rousey is able to get a hold on the Brazilian, Correia’s fate was sealed. It’s also worth mentioning that Rousey has some of the coldest trash talking game around and if you watch the fight GIF closely, in the last five seconds Rousey can clearly be seen telling her knocked out opponent “Don’t cry.” Ice cold.

This has already been a crazy NBA offseason with free agents playing Bachelorette with owners, teams blackmailing their fans into new publicly funded arena deals, and the obligatory Summer League speculation from the salivating masses. Lost in all of this madness however has been the stealthy moves by the Los Angeles Clippers to make their team into what promises to be the most amusing, though definitely not the best team in the Western Conference.

Take a quick look at who the Clippers have managed to get together since the end of the playoffs:  uprooting journeyman power forward Matt Barnes and center Spencer Hawes is a smart move for a team looking to upgrade talent and downgrade bodies, while getting Lance Stephenson in return guarantees not only a talented shooting guard but also shenanigans like his infamous ear tactics, his stunning portrayal of a paraplegic or even  his general attitude.

The Clippers also signed free agent Josh Smith to a one year deal at the veteran’s minimum which will not only provide the Clippers with some much needed depth off the bench but also with Smith’s average seven technical fouls per season and his much maligned shot selection issues.

Perhaps as a form of checking their more impulsive guys on the roster, the Clippers also signed NBA veteran/legend/god Paul Pierce, also known as maybe the most cocky shooter in the league. His bluster isn’t unbacked however; Pierce’s game winning credentials are well established already.

Add these guys to an already volatile Clippers roster that stills contains dynamic, short statured and shorter of temper point guard Chris Paul who allegedly was so hard on his now-returning teammate DeAndre Jordan that Jordan wanted to leave LA,  Austin Rivers who keeps trying to convince us he’s NOT there because he is the coach’s son, the unshakably self assured but simultaneously elderly Jamal Crawford and the athletic freakishness of Blake Griffin?

The Clippers have assembled a powder keg of players who are all scorers and big personalities on and off the court; combine this with a criminally overrated and incompetent GM cum head coach and the bright lights of LA and we finally have the Clippers team that we’ve all dreamed of for so long. I can already see Chris Paul’s head exploding.

Unless you were hiding out under a rock for the last 16 hours, you’ve heard by now that the NBA Draft was last night. From the already pegged for number one Karl-Anthony Towns to the already hated by his city Kristaps Porizingis, we’re here to break down last night’s action pick by pick.

Results (First Round)

1. Minnesota Timberwolves – Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky

2. Los Angeles Lakers – D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State

3. Philadelphia 76ers – Jahlil Okafor, Duke

4. New York Knicks – Kristaps Porzingis, Latvia

5. Orlando Magic – Mario Hezonja, Croatia

6. Sacramento Kings – Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky

7. Denver Nuggets – Emmanuel Mudiay, Congo

8. Detroit Pistons – Stanley Johnson, Arizona

9. Charlotte Hornets – Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin

10. Miami Heat – Justise Winslow, Duke

11. Indiana Pacers – Myles Turner, Texas

12. Utah Jazz – Trey Lyles, Kentucky

13. Phoenix Suns – Devin Booker, Kentucky

14. Oklahoma City Thunder – Cameron Payne, Murray State

15. Atlanta Hawks (traded to Washington Wizards for Tim Hardaway Jr.) – Kelly Oubre Jr., Kansas

16. Boston Celtics – Terry Rozier, Louisville

17. Milwaukee Bucks – Rashad Vaughn, UNLV

18. Houston Rockets – Sam Dekker, Wisconsin

19. Washington Wizards (traded to New York Knicks) – Jerian Grant, Notre Dame

20. Toronto Raptors – Delon Wright, Utah

21. Dallas Mavericks – Justin Anderson, Virginia

22. Chicago Bulls – Bobby Portis, Arkansas

23. Portland Trail Blazers (traded with Steve Blake to Brooklyn Nets for Pat Connaughton, Mason Plumlee) – Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Arizona

24. Cleveland Cavaliers (traded to Minnesota Timberwolves for Cedi Osman and Rakeem Christmas) – Tyus Jones, Duke

25. Memphis Grizzlies – Jarell Martin, LSU

26. San Antonio Spurs – Nikola Milutinov, Serbia

27. Los Angeles Lakers – Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming

28. Boston Celtics – R.J. Hunter, Georgia State

29. Brooklyn Nets – Chris McCullough, Syracuse

30. Golden State Warriors – Kevon Looney, UCLA

WINNERS

The obvious winners here are the Lakers, the Timberwolves, and the Heat. Minnesota was already cemented in their pick of Towns from the beginning and it’s a smart fit for their young roster. Paired with last year’s first overall pick Andrew Wiggins and fount of wisdom Kevin Garnett, Towns has the potential to grow into a dominating big man.

The Lakers were not as obviously winners only because everyone assumed that their second pick overall was going to be used on Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor; instead the Lakers surprised the building by taking Ohio State point guard D’Angelo Russell with the second pick. This is more telling of the Lakers strategy for free agency – with Okafor still on the board and the Lakers in desperate need of a center, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak must have some unseen reason for taking the young guard.

The Heat on the other hand, had a killer draft not through any planning by their GM but simply through good luck. Justise Winslow rocketed his way up mock draft boards across the nation during the NCAA tournament as the Duke freshman put up 57.1% shooting from behind the arc in the tournament, far surpassing his regular season mark of 41.6%. With franchise stars Goran Dragic and Luol Deng both becoming free agents in July, not to mention superstar Dwayne Wade’s seemingly imminent departure, Winslow was an absolute steal at the tenth pick overall; He could easily be the player that GM’s look back on in three months and kick themselves for not taking higher.

LOSERS

Sure, you can make the argument that no one in the NBA Draft is really a loser but we all know that someone will always come out on the short end of the stick. Here’s who got really shafted last night:

Phil Jackson was brought in to save the New York Knicks from themselves; in a little over a year since he took over, he’s gutted the roster, leaving no player there who wasn’t placed by the hand of the Zen Master himself. Unfortunately, Jackson made the most Knicksian choice possible by taking European prospect Kristaps Porizingis with the Knicks 4th overall pick. The Barclays Center was almost “deafeningly” filled with boos and even though Porizingis is saying all the right things about earning fan’s trust, being a first round European lottery pick is not the greatest company to be in. Jackson did make a remarkably savvy move by trading his young shooter Tim Hardaway Jr. to Atlanta in exchange for their 19th overall pick, Jerian Grant.  If Jackson’s next aim is to alienate Knicks fans he hasn’t hand selected, he’s got a great start.

Sam Hinkie, GM of the Philadelphia 76ers, is like a kid on Christmas every time the Draft rolls around, perpetually picking only whatever comes in the biggest box. The last three drafts have seen the 76ers go out and get Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid and now Jahlil Okafor with the third pick overall this year. You really have to wonder what Hinkie is thinking in drafting three centers back-to-back-to-back; are there concerns about Noel/Embiid’s durability? Neither player played any games their first year in the league. Are the 76ers stockpiling for a blockbuster trade? How is third year coach Brett Brown going to work three big men into the lineup? Does Sam Hinkie not understand puberty and harbor a secret hope that some of their tall hormones will rub off on him?

All in all, the season is shaping up to be a good one;  with so much new talent, expect opening night rosters to bring with them lots of fresh new faces.

In a case of man bites dog weirdness this week, we have perhaps the first physical injury to an eSports athlete. Yiliang Peng, known better to fans by his League of Legends screen name Doublelift, plays on the Counter Logic Gaming sponsored team in the League Championship Series (known as the LCS). Unfortunately for his 5-1 team, Peng will have to sit out this weekend’s match after injuring his pinky playing a real world sport – basketball.

Peng plays a wildly popular free online game called League of Legends made and run by Riot Games. League of Legends or LoL as it is abbreviated has seen an explosion in popularity with advances in live streaming technology and the slow acquiescence of people to eSports. Though largely niche right now (Riot told the New York Times that males 15-25 make up 90% of their fan base). The goal of the game is simple; the execution is anything but.

Almost every League game is played on the same map with teams of five fighting in a sort of strategic domination with the end goal of destroying the enemy team’s “nexus,” located in the heart of their base. Characters to play as range from standard fantasy tropes like sword wielders and mages to small children with demonic stuffed animals to even robots. The map itself is a bewildering explosion of bright colors, loud pinging noises and constant action by mid game and it’s obvious why the “ADD generation” has gravitated towards League.

The Counter Logic Gaming team that Peng plays for is  a professional team like any other: top level e-sports players can often earn up to six figure incomes between their team pay, endorsements and sponsorship. Right now the team has four American, four Canadians, a South Korean and a Czech on the roster.  Riot Games has been focusing on beefing up their corporate sponsorship of recent high level league games and Coca Cola and Korean Air are both now official sponsors of the LCS.

For Peng, the future is not so bright. The injury, which seems to be a theme for Peng who is no stranger to basketball injuries will be sitting out for at least one to two weeks and will be replaced by fan adored Gosu in this weekend’s matches. CLG takes on Team Dragon Knights at 4 p.m. Saturday and on Sunday they battle perennial powerhouse Cloud9 at 5 p.m. Both games can be streamed through the League of Legends desktop application.

Something about horse racing has always inspired sports writers to put forth their best work. The sport exists of a time long since past in American history when bookies used to line the wooden railings and owning a horse was the peak of American wealth. Today, it is a rarity if a sports fan watches a race outside of any of the Triple Crown Races; in honor of the Belmont Stakes being run on Saturday we’ve decided to bring you some of the most timeless writing about horse races from men who defined the field of modern sports writing. Check it out below and tune in to the Belmont Stakes on Saturday to see American Pharoah go after the Triple Crown.

Death of A Racehorse by W.C. Heinz

Published in The Sun on July 29, 1949, Death of A Racehorse tells the story of Air Lift, full brother of Assault. The piece is a beautiful example of minimalism in writing; Heinz was a huge fan of Hemingway and you can see it in his clipped yet descriptive prose.

Excerpt: They were going to the post for the sixth race at Jamaica, two year olds, some making their first starts, to go five and a half furlongs for a purse of four thousand dollars.

The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved by Hunter S. Thompson

This particular story was taken from Scanlan’s Monthly in 1970 when the father of “Gonzo” journalism, Hunter S. Thompson, traveled to Churchill Downs for the running of the 1970 Kentucky Derby. It is written in typical Thompson style with run-ins with characters from all walks of life, all told through a first person view. This essay was published one year before Thompson would become a household name after his work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Excerpt: I decided my only hope for credentials was to go out to the track and confront the man in person, with no warning–demanding only one pass now, instead of two, and talking very fast with a strange lilt in my voice, like a man trying hard to control some inner frenzy. 

Dead Sea Downs by Red Smith

Red Smith was one of the most highly respected horse racing journalists of all time and it’s difficult to pick a single story of his as definitive. Dead Sea Downs stands apart simply due to the unique subject matter of “the lowest gambling hell in the world”.

Excerpt: The gambling hell has no official name. Call it Dead Sea Downs or Qumran Park. It is a little Shoeless Joe of a racetrack on the desert, at present a casualty of last June’s Six-Day War but in its time a center of cheerful debauchery in a region where sin isn’t exactly an innovation.

Pure Heart by William Nack

Finally we get to the classic Sports Illustrated piece about Secretariat, the horse who in 1973 galloped onto the scene and won the first US Triple Crown in 25 years. The story that ran in SI is hailed as one of the great pieces of sports writing of all time. Nack expertly weaves in commentary about the horse’s career with personal observations in order to paint a full picture of Secretariat’s life.

Excerpt: Instead, for a full half hour, I stood by the paddock waiting for Robinson and gazing at Secretariat. The gift of reverie is a blessing divine, and it is conferred most abundantly on those who lie in hammocks or drive alone in cars. Or lean on hillside fences in Kentucky.

Coverage of the 147th Belmont Stakes begins on NBC at 4:30p.m. EST on June 6.

Last night’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals was a close one. Four quarters wasn’t enough to settle the action and even though the Golden State Warriors ended up running away with the game in the overtime period, the biggest story wasn’t Steph Curry’s clutch take over (he finished with 26 pts, 4 rebounds and 8 assists) but rather the re-exacerbation of Kyrie Irving’s knee injury.

LeBron James is undisputedly the heart of the Cleveland Cavaliers and really major part of why they’re even in the Finals but the dog and pony show of LeBron and Timofey Mozgov is not going to be able to take down the Splash Bros and outstanding defense of Golden State. All season we were promised that LeBron, Kevin Love and Kyrie would be the team to finally bring a championship to Cleveland, yet in Game 1 Love was nowhere to be found on the court, healing a shoulder injury from earlier this post season. Irving ended up leaving the court after going down with a shaky left knee only three minutes into overtime.

Irving then told ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst: “You can hear in the tone of my voice that I’m a little worried. I just want to make sure everything is OK, and I’m going to take the necessary steps to see what’s going on.”

Though as of now the Cavaliers have said that there is no ACL or MCL damage, the question now is whether or not Irving will be able to return before Sunday’s Game Two. Throughout the post season his knee and it’s health have been on going story lines but they now take on a new urgency; the Cavs are just coming off an eight day rest which apparently didn’t help the knee so what is their move now?

Responses have been mixed from Irving and the Cavs organization: On the one hand, the Cavs keep referring to the knee injury as “tendinitis” and yes, head coach David Blatt did play Irving for 44 minutes on an injured knee but who’s to say he wouldn’t have gotten injured in the 38th if Blatt were to take him out earlier? Both sides are interested in Irving’s long term health; the Cavs have $80 million invested in Irving’s contract across the next five years, and Irving has a long career and his personal health to monitor. Only Kyrie Irving can tell us how bad Kyrie Irving’s knee really is.

The question of an injured Irving also raises the more immediate questions of who is going to take the burden off of LeBron to score and also, did the Warriors just show us that they can take the Cavs best and still win? Kevin Love is already sidelined for the rest of the season, J.R. Smith is playing about as well as Ray Charles judging a beauty pageant, and only one healthy player besides LeBron is putting up double digit points (Mozgov had 16 last night). The Warriors must be heading into Sunday feeling a larger cushion than a one game lead would have you believe.

The Warriors still have the monumental task of stopping one of the best basketball players on Earth though; even with a true shooting percentage of just over 50 percent James was able to drop 44 points on Golden State in Game One and he is sure to feel even more pressure to carry the team with their dearth of injuries. Cleveland only played eight players last night and last night three of those eight contributed all of 2 or less points to the team.

Game 2 is sure to be a great one in this series and you can watch it on Sunday, June 7 on ABC at 8 p.m. It’s a home game for the Warriors and the Oracle Center is known to be one of the rowdiest home crowds in basketball.

Prediction: GSW 110 – CLE 98. Warriors take the series in 5. 

The thin air in Denver has been hanging a little too thick around the Bronco’s practice facility this week. Players around the league have begun preparations for the 2015-2016 season but defensive star Von Miller has been spending his time dealing with the Broncos new fine system – a Fart Tax, if you will – according to Denver Post reporter Nicki Jhabvala.

Denver Broncos Fart Tax

Thankfully for all of us curious fans, Jhabvala let Miller elaborate:

The plot thickened this morning however when Jhabvala hit Twitter yet again and tweeted this update to the story:

Do the Denver Broncos fine their players for loud gas releases? Should Von Miller go see a dietician? Sure, we’re all worried about concussions but who’s checking on our player’s constipation?

The Broncos play their first game of the season on Aug. 14 in a preseason matchup against last years NFC Champs, the Seattle Seahawks.