The recently retired right-hander will serve as an on-air analyst for the network and is set to make his debut on March 28 as part of the Opening Day coverage, MLB announced Tuesday.
Wainwright, 42, previously signed with Fox/FS1 to call games as a color commentator this season. He had joined that network’s postseason broadcasts after the 2020, 2021 and 2023 seasons.
“I’m excited about this year ahead, and to stay in the game a little bit is exciting for me, to stay in it in that capacity,” Wainwright said Tuesday on MLB Network’s “Hot Stove” show. “I love calling the games. I love talking baseball.”
Wainwright retired in October after 18 MLB seasons, all with the Cardinals, with whom he posted a 200-128 record, a 3.53 ERA and won the 2006 World Series. Those 200 wins rank third in Cardinals history, while Wainwright’s 2,202 strikeouts rank second behind only the 3,117 totaled by Hall of Famer Bob Gibson.
Wainwright served as a late-inning reliever during the Cardinals’ 2006 championship run, during which he famously struck out the Mets’ Carlos Beltran looking with a big curveball for the final out in Game 7 of the NLCS.
Wainwright also played a small part in Yankees history, saying he grooved a fastball to Derek Jeter during the latter’s final All-Star Game appearance in 2014. Wainwright later said he was kidding about giving an easy offering to Jeter, who lined a first-inning double against the pitcher for what was the first of two hits that day.
Omnipresent brothers, Travis and Jason Kelce (who are NFL players, commercial stars, SNL hosts, podcasters, and members of Taylor Swift’s inner circle) are looking to add a game development feather to their caps—specifically, they want to reboot ‘90s classics Backyard Football and Backyard Baseball. Whether or not you’re a member of the Kansas City Chiefs Kingdom, a birds (Philadelphia Eagles) loyalist, or a Swiftie, you can’t deny that this is a great idea.
The Open World Racing Game That’s Been Gone For A Decade Is Coming Back
On the January 31 episode of their New Heights podcast, Travis asked his brother Jason if he remembered Backyard Football, which debuted two years after the first game in the Humongous Entertainment-developed (and Atari published) franchise, Backyard Baseball. The premise is simple: neighborhood kids get together and create teams to play pick-up versions of baseball, football, and soccer. Players take on the role of manager, selecting the teams and making in-game decisions in either quick play matches or an entire season’s worth of games. For many of us, it was a seminal part of our childhood gaming experiences—for me specifically, I still spout off some of the sayings squawked by the in-game baseball announcer, Vinnie the Gooch.
Jason Kelce also fondly remembers Backyard Football—so much so he wants to reboot the damn thing. “I don’t even know if I want to mention this, I’ve secretly been looking into seeing if anybody holds the rights to Backyard Football and Backyard Baseball, ‘cause I want to buy it and get this going again—that was the best game ever.” Kelce then suggests that the game would be perfect on mobile, and he’s not wrong—it certainly didn’t require all that much processing power.
The Kelce brothers are certified geniuses if they reboot the Backyard franchise—and it’s not just because those games are awesome and tons of people would be on-board for the nostalgia alone. Specifically, the genius behind rebooting the franchise lies in later versions of the games: both Backyard Baseball 2011 and Backyard Football2002 (and Backyard Soccer: MLS Edition, which I loved), added professional athletes to the neighborhood kid mix, animated to fit the art style of the games. That meant you got to play alongside a big-headed Derek Jeter or Brett Favre, who rubbed elbows with schoolyard icons like Pablo Sanchez and the Weber twins.
Imagine a modern version of that, with a little cartoon Travis Kelce doing the swag surf? I’m so down. As spotted by IGN and corroborated by Kotaku, American legal information site Justia states that the Backyard Sports trademark is owned by Day 6 Sports Group, who developed the last games in the franchise back in 2015. The Day 6 Sports Group website link is a dead-end, and its Twitter account hasn’t been active since May 4, 2015.
The episode reportedly aired on Tuesday, January 2, per PBS.
During the sitdown, the singer reviewed her ancestry results with the host. However, as she looked them over, she had a huge reaction.
“What the world!” she exclaimed. “You are kidding me! Derek Jeter!”
According to Gates, Ciara and Jeter, a former New York Yankees baseball player, share a “long identical stretch of DNA on their 14th chromosome.” This indicates that the pair are “distant cousins.”
Amid the episode’s premiere, Ciara took to Instagram to share a clip of the moment with fans.
“The moment I learned @DerekJeter was my cousin! Crazy! Thank you @drhenrylouisgates for such an incredible experience! This was a dream come true to learn about my family genealogy!” the singer wrote in the caption of her Instagram post.
Check out the moment below.
At this time, Derek Jeter has not publicly reacted to the revelation.
Instagram user @princedre._ referred to the singer’s rapper ex, Future.
“Future Going To Diss Jeter In His Next Song 😂🤦🏾♂️”
While Instagram user @niccicloset remarked on two celebrity look-a-likes.
“Let’s settle this once, and for all Kirk Franklin and Piles take a DNA test”
Instagram user @kay.xxloveee added.
“How I find out who I’m related to 😭😭 cuz I just knowwwww Chris brown my husband.”
One user, @shelovecj, remarked on the physical resemblance between Ciara and Jeter.
“Oddly enough they do look like they could be cousins”
While another user, @iam_lalah2, remarked that Black Americans should receive free DNA testing.
“Black Americans should get this for free. This should come with graduation or getting your GED or turning 18. It’s the least the U.S. could do. Let every one get a chance to know their roots.”
Tracy Morgan Recently Revealed That Nas Is His Cousin
As The Shade Room previously reported, in December, Tracy Morgan revealed that Queens-bred rapper Nas is his cousin. The comedian explained that he made the discovery in his upcoming episode of ‘Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates, Jr.‘
“The last question he asks you,” Morgan explained while on the premiere episode of the ‘Connect The Dots’ podcast. “He said, ‘We want to know who did this show that you’re related to.’ I turn the last page, and guess who’s sitting there? Nas. Me and Nas is third cousins on my mom’s side.”
Morgan explained that he and Nas had been good friends before the revelation. However, he and Nas shared an emotional reaction to the news.
Check out Morgan’s explanation of the moment below.
PHILADELPHIA — Country music star Tim McGraw, son of the late Philadelphia Phillies reliever Tug McGraw, received a huge ovation during Game 3 of the World Series at Citizens Bank Park Tuesday night.
The “I Like It, I Love It” singer wore his father’s No. 45 McGraw Phillies jersey.
Tug McGraw closed the 1980 World Series with a strikeout, jumping up into that famous pose to celebrate the Phillies’ first championship. He’s also synonymous in Philly with the phrase “Ya gotta believe!”
Before the start of the World Series, Tim McGraw tweeted “Let’s go Phillies!” and a video of his father clinching the championship more than 40 years ago.
Game 3 brought out other big names to The Bank.
Philly sports champions Mike Schmidt, Julius Erving, Brandon Graham and Bernie Parent threw first pitches to 2008 World Series champions Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino.
“Top Gun: Maverick” star Miles Teller who has been a mainstay at the stadium this postseason continued cheering on his hometown Phillies.
New Jersey native and 2-time FIFA World Cup Champion Carli Lloyd, 2020 MLB Hall of Fame inductee Derek Jeter, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Rob McElhenney, Eagles’ Fletcher Cox and supermodel Kate Upton, the wife of Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander, were all on hand to see the Phillies’ 7-0 win.
First lady Jill Biden is set to attend Game 4 Wednesday night.
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone speaks to reporters before a Game 4 of an American League … [+] Championship baseball series at Yankee Stadium, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
In the wake of the New York Yankees capping a tedious 92-win 2021 season with their 6-2 loss in the wild-card game at Fenway Park last year the internet mob and certain voices calling up talk radio wanted someone to be held accountable.
And in most cases since the players cannot necessarily be fired unless a team is willing to absorb the sunken costs of a bloated contract, the person on the firing line was manager Aaron Boone.
A year later after the Yankees saw their season ended with Sunday’s 6-5 loss to Houston in Game 4 of the ALCS, the pattern repeated and perhaps with more vigor.
The hypothetical timeline falls in line with the managerial trends of the Yankees since 1991. The Yankees changed managers 18 times from 1973 to 1991, a timeline that included five stints for Billy Martin and two apiece for Bob Lemon and Lou Piniella.
Then they hired Buck Showalter, whose four seasons started the run of winning seasons. After Showalter would not accept the firing of coaches following Edgar Martinez’s series-ending single on Oct. 8, 1995 in the Kingdome, he departed and in came Joe Torre.
Torre lasted 12 seasons, winning four titles and getting six pennants but it ended badly. With the Yankees facing elimination from the ALDS on Oct. 7, his job was considered to be in jeopardy and about two weeks after they were eliminated in four games by Cleveland, Torre was officially ousted despite getting the support of his players, including Mariano Rivera.
“I don’t feel good about it,” Rivera said Oct. 10, 2007 at a postmortem inside the old Yankee locker room at Yankee Stadium. “The kind of person he is and the kind of manager he is, I don’t see why they’re even thinking about it. If you ask me what I will want, I want him back. I’ve been with Joe for so many years.”
About a month after Rivera’s words of support, Joe Girardi came in, offering more of a sense of rigidness but also some tension at times, especially in 2008 as the Yankees played their final season at the Old Yankee Stadium. Eventually Girardi lasted through the 2017 season, but his personality was viewed as deciding factor for not being retained after a surprising run to Game 7 of the ALCS in Houston, which later was revealed to be stealing signs
A little over 15 years later after Torre’s exit, came the news of Hal Steinbrenner telling the Associated Press he intended to keep Boone much to the consternation of large swaths of fans, who booed him at various points through the regular season and postseason and even during a ceremony to honor Paul O’Neill on Aug. 21 — the day after Boone pounded the table in the interview room following a 5-2 loss to Toronto.
While Steinbrenner’s comments emerged Wednesday in Tampa, so did some differing comments by Rivera, who said the following at Sports Forum of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives:
“If I’m the owner Aaron Boone would not stay. When things don’t come out the way we want them to, all of the fault goes on the manager. Somebody has to pay the price and we won’t put that on the players.”
Whether player performance can be blamed on the manager is an age-old debate that goes up there with who is considered the greatest of all time in a given sport. After all, the manager is not taking the at-bats that result in Aaron Judge going 5-for-32 in the postseason following a 62-homer season or Josh Donaldson going 5-for-29, which is a point Derek Jeter noted when speaking to reporters at his Turn 2 Foundation Benefit.
“Sometimes, when you’re in a situation like that, you’re in a no-win situation unless you win. But I like Aaron. I haven’t been around. I had my head down in Miami for 4 1/2 years. I wasn’t paying close attention. But I like Aaron, and, look, he puts them in a position every year to have that chance to win. Ultimately, it comes down to the players, right?”
And in this day and age, it is a strong possibility Boone was not the one deciding to play three different shortstops and an unprecedented four leadoff hitters during a nine-game postseason run.
One thing is certain, based on what Steinbrenner told the Associated Press, Boone will be in the dugout.
And six days after the World Series ends with Houston or Philadelphia as a champion, comes the mission of making sure Judge is a Yankee on Opening Day next season and not elsewhere, notably the San Francisco Giants – who just happen to be the opponent in the season opener.
