Latest news with #WorldSeries-clinching
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ex-Red Sox pitcher's home burned down. Then came a terminal cancer diagnosis
Back in January, Bobby Jenks had just about the worst month one could imagine. The former MLB pitcher lost his home in the Pallisades fire that devastated parts of Los Angeles. Later that month, he was diagnosed with a form of stage 4 stomach cancer. Advertisement The Athletic described Jenks' condition as "a terminal illness for which there is only treatment, not a cure." Jenks, who pitched for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, has been living in Portugal since October to be closer to his wife's family. Since his cancer diagnosis, Jenks has been participating in memorabilia events to help pay his medical bills, including an event with PastPros last month. The White Sox have also organized a charity event to support Jenks in his cancer battle. Those events include Jenks writing his signature on others' memorabilia. The former All-Star doesn't have much of his own since his home was lost to the L.A. wildfires earlier this year. Advertisement 'I've got one suitcase left to my name,' Jenks said to the LA Times. 'It's all gone. Everything else I've ever done. ... All those things are irreplaceable.' The Athletic reports that Jenks is undergoing a grueling treatment schedule that includes a doctor's visit on Mondays, immunotherapy on Wednesdays and then multiple days of chemotherapy at home. His current plan is to return to Chicago this summer to take part on the White Sox's 20-year anniversary of their last World Series win in 2005. Jenks was a two-time All-Star who spent seven seasons in the majors. As a rookie, he was a key part of Chicago's World Series run. Jenks recorded four saves during the 2005 playoffs, including the World Series-clinching win in Game 4. Advertisement Jenks landed with the Red Sox in 2011, his final season in the majors. He appeared in 19 games, posting a 6.32 ERA. A back injury ended Jenks' 2011 season. He's gone on to claim that the resulting surgery ended his career. Jenks never pitched in the majors again and later sued Massachusetts General Hospital for malpractice, accusing the doctor of botching the surgery while overseeing multiple procedures. Jenks eventually received $5.1 million in a settlement deal. More Red Sox coverage
USA Today
10-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery Show Caption Hide Caption The New York Yankees have officially changed their facial hair policy Sports Seriously's Mackenzie Salmon breaks down the change in facial hair policy from the Yankees and the impact it may have on Major League Baseball. Sports Seriously New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery on his ailing right elbow, the team announced Monday, ending his 2025 season before it began and dealing a severe blow to the team's World Series hopes. Cole will undergo surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles by orthopedist Neal ElAttrache, the team said. It is the first major surgery of Cole's 13-year career. Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young award winner, began experiencing arm soreness during his second spring training start against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday, in which he allowed six runs in 2⅔ innings. Although his fastball velocity still neared 98 mph, Cole's command was erratic. He told reporters the next day that his arm "continued to get more and more sore" during his 54-pitch outing and the pain he felt afterwards was "alarming." Cole, 34, had similar issues last spring, when he was diagnosed with elbow inflammation and was shut down from throwing for several weeks. He didn't make his 2024 season debut until mid-June. He was able to recover and make 17 regular season starts, going 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA. In the Yankees' run to the World Series, Cole pitched to a 2.17 ERA in five postseason starts – though he did give up five unearned runs in the World Series-clinching Game 5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cole's injury is yet another injury setback for the Yankees this spring. AL rookie of the year Luis Gil will likely be out for three months after recently being diagnosed with a shoulder strain. In addition, slugger Giancarlo Stanton, the MVP of last year's American League championship series, is dealing with tendinitis in both elbows and is unsure when he'll be able to resume baseball activities. Cole is in the sixth season of a nine-year, $324 million contract. After the 2024 season, he exercised an opt-out clause that the Yankees could have voided by adding a 10th season at $36 million. But Cole and the club came to an agreement he'll play out the final four years of the contract. He'll be eligible for free agency after the 2028 season. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
Los Angeles Times
23-02-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
‘This kid is special.' Kenley Jansen eager to help Angels' Ben Joyce reach next level
TEMPE, Ariz. — Troy Percival, then a rookie setup man with 26 big-league appearances under his belt, watched from the visiting dugout in the Oakland Coliseum as Lee Smith, then the Angels' 37-year-old closer, gave up a walk-off grand slam to Mark McGwire in an 8-5 loss to the Athletics on June 30, 1995. It was just the second blown save of a season that began with Smith converting his first 19 opportunities, the burly right-hander showing few signs of regression as he neared the end of a Hall-of-Fame career in which he racked up 478 saves, ranking third on baseball's all-time list behind Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman. As Percival headed toward the clubhouse that night, the impressionable 26-year-old known for his feisty mound demeanor and occasional temper tantrums in the minor leagues began to envision the havoc Smith would wreak on the locker room. 'He came in, and I'm thinking, 'Oh God, here we go,' ' Percival, now 56, said in a phone interview. 'Lee sat down, took a deep breath and said, 'Give me a beer, boy,' and within a few minutes, he was back to his normal self. 'I'd been beating my head against the wall even in the minor leagues over giving up a hit. That's when I started paying attention [to Smith]. I began to realize that if you want to have a long career, you have to be ready to deal with failure. Just watching his reaction to failure, even if he never said a word, was huge.' Percival replaced Smith as closer in 1996 and recorded 316 of his 358 career saves in 10 seasons with the Angels, nailing down the final three outs of a World Series-clinching Game 7 win over the San Francisco Giants in 2002, and Percival credits the 'immeasurable' lessons he learned from Smith as a factor in his success. Three decades later the Angels hope a similar dynamic will play out with Kenley Jansen, the 37-year-old closer who signed a one-year, $10-million deal on the eve of spring training, serving as mentor to 24-year-old right-hander Ben Joyce. The parallels are uncanny. Jansen, who ranks fourth behind Smith with 447 saves, 350 of them coming during his 12-year stint with the Dodgers, is the same age Smith was when he arrived in Anaheim. Smith racked up 434 saves in 15 years before signing with the Angels. Jansen's 447 saves have come in 15 seasons. Like Percival in 1995, Joyce is a flamethrowing closer-in-waiting, though Joyce's heat, as he has shown in 43 appearances over two seasons, is a few degrees higher than Percival's. Joyce's four-seam fastball averaged 102.1 mph last season and hit 105.5 on a strikeout of Dodgers utility man Tommy Edman on Sept. 3, the fastest pitch thrown in the majors all year. Percival's fastball sat between 96 and 98 mph before a degenerative hip condition slowed him in 2004. 'I know Joyce has incredible stuff, but closing ballgames is a different animal, and when you get an opportunity to watch a seasoned veteran do it, it can only help you,' said Percival, who is entering his second season as manager for the Pioneer League's Idaho Falls Chukars. 'That young man, barring injury, has a long career with a lot of saves ahead of him, and he can probably save himself a lot of blown saves just by watching the old guy go out and do it. I hope Ben can wrap his arms around it and take the opportunity to learn what he can.' Joyce, who assumed a ninth-inning role after Carlos Estévez was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies last July, embraced the new bullpen hierarchy, even if that means relinquishing the closer job and serving as Jansen's setup man most of the time. 'If it works out that I'm an understudy, I'm all for it,' Joyce said Thursday. 'I'm trying to stay around him as much as I can. Even [Wednesday], he was throwing a bullpen, and I was all up in his space, but he's been great about it. He's gone out of his way to talk to me, teach me things, give me pointers. I'm definitely taking advantage of it.' Jansen was mentored as a young Dodger by veteran relievers such as J.P. Howell, Jamey Wright, Jonathan Broxton, Brandon League and Brian Wilson. When he established himself as a dominant closer, Jansen mentored young relievers such as Brusdar Graterol, Victor González and Caleb Ferguson. 'I learned from the guys who did it before me — now I have a little experience, and I'm gonna share my wisdom with him,' Jansen said of Joyce. 'This kid is special. He's throwing 105 mph. He's fearless, and that's what we need. Anything I can do to help make him better, I'm going to do.' What can Jansen teach Joyce? 'How to deal with situations,' Jansen said. 'How to make sure the game doesn't get big on you, that it doesn't speed up on you. How to attack the hitters, knowing who's in the batter's box, who's on deck, who's in the hole, knowing your strengths, knowing the batters' strengths, when not to worry about the base runners … a lot of things.' What can Joyce learn from Jansen? 'The possibilities are endless,' Joyce said. 'How does he approach failure? It's so hard as the closer, you feel like the game is completely riding on your hands, which is an awesome feeling when it goes well. But when it goes bad, it's definitely tough. How does he bounce back from that?' The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Jansen didn't deal with much failure in his first eight seasons with the Dodgers, when he went 24-13 with a 2.08 earned-run average and 230 saves in 474 games. But when he struggled for stretches over his final four seasons in Los Angeles (2018-21), he was forced to confront failure. Jansen has thrived on baseball's biggest stage, with a 12-9 record, 2.20 ERA and 20 saves in 59 postseason games, but he also set a World Series record with his fourth career blown save in 2020 against Tampa Bay, watching from the bullpen as Julio Urías notched the final seven outs of the Dodgers' series-clinching Game 6 win. 'Sometimes, you can't take it as a negative — you have to take it as part of the learning process,' said Jansen, who went 4-2 with a 3.29 ERA in 54 games for the Boston Red Sox last season, converting 27 of 31 save opportunities, striking out 62 and walking 20 in 54 ⅔ innings. 'You have to learn from your failures and move on. Your mindset is, how strong can you be mentally? I started developing that after [a 2017 World Series loss to Houston], going into 2018 and 2019. Those are the years I learned so much about myself, and I feel like I'm a better pitcher, a better man, now than I was at the beginning of my career.' Joyce also plans to observe how Jansen approaches the more mundane 'day-to-day' aspects of the job. 'How does he approach the game, his pregame and postgame routines, his recovery?' Joyce said. 'You obviously have to put a lot into it to be able to pitch that many games over 15 years.' Jansen spends the first three innings watching the game on a clubhouse television to see how hitters are approaching pitchers. Then he goes to the training room to complete his stretching routine before heading to the bullpen in the sixth inning. That will set a little better example for Joyce than Smith set for Percival. Smith was so laid back he often napped on a clubhouse couch or in the training room for the first four or five innings before heading to the bullpen. But with a 6-3 lead over the Cleveland Indians in the eighth inning of a July 26, 1995 game in Anaheim, manager Marcel Lachemann looked into the bullpen, and Smith wasn't there. 'It was my job and Rick Smith's job to wake him,' Percival said, referring to the athletic trainer. 'I ran back to the clubhouse, and Lee's on the couch sleeping. I nudged him, and he said, 'Cookie Dough, what's the sco?' I said, 'It's 6-3 in the eighth.' He said, 'Get my shoes, boy!' They were already on the golf cart. 'He gets down to the bullpen, he might have had four throws, not one of them a pitch off a mound, and he went out and retired the side in the ninth on six pitches.' Jansen smiles and shakes his head in amazement and amusement as the Smith story is relayed to him. 'Wow, that's impressive, that's unbelievable,' Jansen said. 'But it's probably something I'll never do.' A sleeping giant, Jansen is not, but the established and accomplished veteran could play an outsize role in the development of the Angels' potential next great closer. 'He feels like when we have the lead and the bullpen gate opens, the game is over, he expects to win,' Joyce said of Jansen. 'That's the mentality you need to have in that position. I'm really excited to watch him in person and learn from him.'
Associated Press
20-02-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
While Manfred frets, some opposing players cheer the big-spending push of the Los Angeles Dodgers
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred shared conflicting feelings about the big-spending Los Angeles Dodgers this week, praising the franchise's competitive spirit in one breath before worrying about the financial disparity they've created in the next. Players elsewhere around the league don't seem nearly as conflicted. 'Teams spending money is never bad for baseball and never bad for players. Ever. In any situation,' Athletics slugger Brent Rooker said. If Manfred is looking to find some sympathy from Major League Baseball's rank-and-file regarding his worry over the sport's financial health, it's probably not going to come from the guys on the field. MLB is the only major professional sport in America that doesn't have a salary cap, though there are luxury tax penalties for passing certain spending thresholds. Last season, the Dodgers had a $353 million luxury tax payroll and had to pay a $103 million tax. The Athletics had the lowest luxury tax payroll at just under $84 million. Los Angeles' spending didn't slow this offseason. The Dodgers signed two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to a $182 million, five-year deal during the offseason and also made sizable investments in players like Teoscar Hernández, , Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Roki Sasaki. That came one year after the organization splurged on more than $1 billion in commitments to Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. LA's spending has dwarfed all but a few franchises. Opposing players might be envious of those fat paychecks, but it's hard to find them complaining. Even Manfred — who said he's received emails from fans worried about competitive balance — can't fault the Dodgers' approach. 'The Dodgers have gone out and done everything possible, always within the rules that currently exist, to put the best possible team on the field and that's a great thing for the game,' Manfred said on Tuesday. 'That type of competitive spirit is what people want to see.' Walker Buehler threw the final pitch of the 2024 season, recording the final out for the Dodgers in their World Series-clinching Game 5 victory. He signed a $21.05 million, one-year with the Boston Red Sox during the winter, but the right-hander isn't about to talk smack about his former employer. The 30-year-old knows exactly why players are flocking to Chavez Ravine. 'I don't think it's odd,' he said. 'It's a first-class organization and obviously coming off a huge World Series and, I think on top of that, you layer in that on a team right now where there's probably four or five Hall of Famers, I think it's an attractive place to play.' That doesn't mean there isn't some awe from players about the formidable roster that the Dodgers have built thanks to their deep pockets. 'I worked out with some guys that ended up signing with the Dodgers and was like, at a certain point, 'I didn't know they had room on the 40-man (roster),'' Red Sox pitcher Patrick Sandoval said. The Arizona Diamondbacks are one of the teams trying to keep pace with the Dodgers in the NL West. They signed ace right-hander Corbin Burnes to a $210 million, six-year deal in December, but they are still projected to have a payroll that will be roughly half the size of the Dodgers. 'I don't think it's unfair at all,' D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. 'They're within the rules, they're doing what they have to do to get the best players on the field. When I was a kid, it was the Yankees, remember? George Steinbrenner was going crazy with his spending and it yielded World Championships. That's what we're all chasing.' Lovullo makes a good point about the Yankees. Baseball has had a long history of financial disparity, particularly since free agency started in the 1970s. Even so, there haven't been many dynasties over the past 40 years. The Dodgers are trying to become the first team to win back-to-back World Series titles since Steinbrenner's Yankees had a three-peat from 1998 to 2000. Third baseman Max Muncy is in the eighth season with the Dodgers and says a big payroll certainly helps to build a talented roster, but it doesn't mean much once the season starts. He points to 2023, when the Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers out of the postseason in the NL Division Series despite having a much smaller payroll. 'This sport is really tough,' Muncy said. 'It doesn't matter what kind of roster that you have. Time after time, teams have shown that you get into the playoffs and anything can happen.' ___
NBC Sports
18-02-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Rangers add reliever Luke Jackson on a 1-year contract
Former Miami Marlins president David Samson reflects on his worst seasons at the helm, including his least inspiring Opening Day starting pitcher. SURPRISE, Ariz. — Free agent reliever Luke Jackson has signed a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers, his original team announced Monday. The Rangers picked Jackson 45th overall in the 2010 amateur draft and the right-hander made his big league debut for them in 2015. Jackson made 15 appearances for Texas before getting traded to Atlanta after the 2016 season. Texas made room on its roster by putting reliever Josh Sborz on the 60-day injured list. The right-hander, who had the save in the Rangers' World Series-clinching game in Game 5 at Arizona in 2023, is rehabbing from right shoulder surgery in November. He was 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 17 appearances last season. Jackson finished last season with Atlanta, going 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 16 appearances. The Braves reacquired him in a deadline trade after he had gone 4-2 with a 5.40 in 36 games for San Francisco. The 33-year-old has a 22-11 career record with 19 saves and a 4.24 ERA in 338 games - all in relief - for the Rangers (2015-16), the Braves (2017-21, 2024) and Giants (2023-24). He won a World Series with the Braves in 2021 and then missed the 2022 season after Tommy John surgery.
