Twins furious at Indians’ Jose Ramirez for home run celebration, hint at retribution

Cleveland Indians infielder Jose Ramirez will likely get a fastball in the back or ribs on Thursday night because of baseball’s so-called “unwritten rules.” Ramirez is in the Twins’ crosshairs after a three-run home run he hit in the Indians' 10-2 win on Wednesday.

It wasn’t just the home run – which put a dent in the Twins’ wild-card aspirations – it was the way Ramirez celebrated it. After Twins reliever Ricky Nolasco intentionally walked Jason Kipnis, Ramirez came to the plate and belted a three-run home to right field – and stood at the plate admiring it before flipping his bat in front of the Twins dugout. The Twins did not like it.

Manager Paul Molitor and catcher Kurt Suzuki went to top step of the dugout to give Ramirez an earful. Courtesy of Deadspin comes this GIF of the incident, which perhaps is not safe for work, if you’re a skilled lip-reader.

 

And because it’s baseball and you’re not supposed to really do stuff like that, there’s almost certainly going to be some retaliation during the series finale on Thursday. Nolasco himself hinted at it:

Nolasco on Jose Ramirez's bat-flipping antics: "He'll get his. Don't worry."

— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) October 1, 2015

Also because it’s baseball, where you can’t enjoy your eighth career home run, Ramirez’s own manager didn’t seem thrilled with the antics. Here’s what Terry Francona said:

Terry Francona on Jose Ramirez's bat flip in the 8th: "Good swing, poor judgement."

— T.J. Zuppe (@TJZuppe) October 1, 2015

Hopefully next time Ramirez will think twice about enjoying hitting a home run.

Serena Williams withdraws from WTA Finals and China Open

The 2015 season is over for Serena Williams.

The No. 1-ranked Williams withdrew from her final two scheduled tournaments of the year on Thursday, saying she needs time to heal from a series of injuries and the heartbreak of coming up short in a bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam.

Williams hasn't played since losing to Roberta Vinci in the semifinals of the U.S. Open, where she came two matches short of becoming the first player to win all four majors in the same year since Steffi Graf in 1988.

''It's no secret I've played injured most of the year - whether it was my elbow, my knee, or, in the final moments after a certain match in Flushing, my heart,'' Williams said in a statement.

Williams pulled out of next week's China Open in Beijing and the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore from Oct. 25-Nov. 1.

''I want to compete as well as I can as long as I can,'' she said. ''So I'm taking a proactive step and withdrawing from tournaments in Beijing and Singapore to properly address my health and take the time to heal.''

In 2015, Williams won the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon.

Williams said she plans to get back on the court during the offseason and prepare for the Australian Open in January, where she will be going for her 22nd Grand Slam title. That would tie Steffi Graf for most in the Open era.

''This is a very difficult decision, but one ultimately made because of the love of the game,'' Williams said. ''I plan to return to practicing and participating in exhibition matches later this year. And when I do, l will focus and focus and focus so I can continue my journey in this beautiful game.''

Williams has already secured the year-end No. 1 ranking for the third straight year and fifth season overall.

Williams won the last three WTA Finals, which features the world's top eight players. She has won the tournament a total of five times.

''Serena's health has to be her No. 1 priority,'' WTA president Micky Lawler said in a statement Thursday. ''The risk of injury is a reality in the world of elite athletic performance. We will miss seeing Serena on court in both Beijing and Singapore and wish her a speedy recovery.''

Earlier this week, No. 3-ranked Maria Sharapova pulled out of the China Open because of a left forearm injury. She said she still hopes to play at the WTA Finals.

Jimmy Graham tells traded Saints DL he's fortunate he 'got out of there'

Back in March, right after the New Orleans Saints traded tight end Jimmy Graham to the Seattle Seahawks, Graham gave a wonderful thank you to his former team.

"I do owe a lot to New Orleans and I owe a lot to that coaching staff and to all my teammates and to that city for accepting me and believing in me really early," Graham said, according to the Seahawks' website. “It’s unfortunate that I have to leave somewhere that you’ve been for so long."

There wasn't as much sentiment on Thursday when Graham sent a tweet at former Saints teammate and defensive end Akiem Hicks, who was traded to the New England Patriots. Christopher Dabe of NOLA.com grabbed the screen shot.

	Christopher Dabe @cmdabe
From Jimmy Graham to Akiem Hicks: pic.twitter.com/MaUH5T0oIU 6:55 AM - 1 Oct 2015

Pretty harsh to say someone is #blessed to be leaving the Saints, even if it might make sense considering the Saints are 0-3 and Hicks is going to a 3-0 championship contender. Hicks is a good young player so the trade was surprising, which was said when Graham was sent from New Orleans to Seattle.

Graham quickly deleted the tweet, and perhaps he'll have some explanation for what he really meant. But it sure seems like he might have more hard feelings about getting traded than he let on back in March.

Lakers rumored to be Durant's 'primary objective,' because of course they are

Let the grand slinging-of-stuff-against-the-wall begin!

On ESPN’s “First Take” Tuesday morning, Stephen A. Smith said that sources have told him [Kevin] Durant’s preferred landing spot is the Los Angeles Lakers if he does not re-sign with the [Oklahoma City] Thunder next summer.

“Regardless of how senseless it may (sound), in one breath I’m hearing that if Kevin Durant doesn’t stay in Oklahoma City, L.A. is his primary objective and landing spot as opposed to South Beach or even his home of Washington, D.C.,” Smith said.

That longshot got a longer chaser Wednesday, thanks to noted talker Colin Cowherd:

Stephen A. Smith said his sources tell him Kevin Durant prefers the Lakers in free agency at this moment. And I'm here to tell you ... he knows what he's talking about. He knows what he's talking about. And I'll tell you this: this is happening. I absolutely believe this.

Cowherd goes on to list the reasons for his belief:

• Skepticism that, boatloads of speculation to the contrary, the former NBA Most Valuable Player and Oklahoma City Thunder star really wants to follow in LeBron James' "I'm going home" footsteps and play with his hometown Washington Wizards (which, to be fair, seems reasonable);

• Unremarkable attendance at Wizards games (which seems peripheral at best, since you'd better believe that whichever team employs KD will draw packed houses);

• Los Angeles' status as an NBA epicenter and a Laker town (which has worked wonders for the Lakers over the past several summers);

• The death-warmed-over take that Durant and Russell Westbrook don't fit together (asked and answered, counselor); and

• The belief that Durant will find himself more interested in playing with the young troika of D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson than in playing with Westbrook and Serge Ibaka (okey-doke!).

Here's where we remind you that the smart money still has Durant staying put in OKC come this summer. And that KD's spoken openly about his interest in being the kind of player who spends his whole career with one franchise. And that you can wash the speculative taste clean out with this August directive from the man himself:

What is the most frustrating aspect of media (and social media) coverage of the NBA? [...]

Kevin Durant: Uh, just, I think we should … you know what, I'm not even going to answer that. I'm not gonna answer that one. Along with Matty Ice [Thunder PR man Matt Tumbleson], I've got two people that I trust with my life, my agent and my manager, who's my best friend as well. I trust them with my life. So if you hear sources or anything, don't believe it if it didn't come from them. I tell them everything. We bounce ideas off each other. We collaborate on a lot of different things. They give me advice. so throughout this year, if you hear sources from anybody, it's not true, unless you hear it from Charlie Bell, Rich Kleiman or Kevin Durant.

I wonder which one of those three tipped off Stephen A.

We're going to see and hear a lot more of this over the course of the next nine months. Oklahoma City's ownership and Thunder general manager Sam Presti know they have one more shot at putting together the brand of championship run that eliminates any potentially lingering doubts about whether or not he should stay in Sooner Country before he hits free agency in July. Every step along the way — every success and every failure; every tweet, Instagram post and suspected side-eye — will be scrutinized like it could be worth nine figures and change the power structure of the NBA ... because, y'know, theoretically, they could.

That's why commentators will keep speculating, and reporters will keep digging, and players will keep recruiting, and fans will keep slaving over what promises to be this NBA season's hottest stove. It's October. It's about to get cold out; get ready for lots of hot air.

And maybe, for the sake of your sanity, when you're trying to weigh and evaluate a reheated soundbite, don't disregard "how senseless it may (sound)."

Is Taylor Swift cursing MLB teams?

A Taylor Swift concert at Rogers Centre in Toronto could doom the Blue Jays' playoff run. OK, that's being a little dramatic, but a fantastic ESPNW article pointed out that Swift's summer tour has stopped in three MLB ballparks this summer, and doom has immediately befallen the respective teams that play in each park. First, she stopped at Nationals Park, and a few nights later the power went out. To make matters worse, the team has gone 32-38 since that concert and has been eliminated from playoff contention. Then, she stopped at Petco Park, and the Padres have gone 11-17 since. Worst of all, the Astros moved Swift's concert date from October to September in case they made the playoffs. Since her Sep. 9 concert, the Astros are 7-11 and went from leading the AL West to hanging on for dear life just to get a wild card berth. Coincidence? Probably. But it's more fun to talk about curses. Watch out for that Bad Blood, Blue Jays.

Media Day can be pretty boring for players, so the Milwaukee Bucks decided to shake things up by asking their guys to draw portraits of each other, then posting those illustrations to the team site and letting fans guess who the pieces are supposed to be portraying.The most popular and distinctive picks were Chris Copeland and Michael Carter-Williams, but we couldn't have guessed it by looking.

When you lose your job with your racing team, only to fall into the No. 14 car being vacated by a retiring Tony Stewart, things are looking pretty good. That's how Clint Bowyer felt during Stewart's retirement press conference on Wednesday, and he summed it up well with one perfect quote.

Gary Sheffield: Papelbon 'the wrong person to say something' to Harper

In the wake of the Choke Heard Round The World, plenty of anonymous players apparently sided with Jonathan Papelbon in his dispute with Bryce Harper. Gary Sheffield, a nine-time All-Star, is happy to put his name to the opposite opinion.

"If Papelbon said something, I'd say he's the wrong person to say something," Sheffield told Yahoo Sports' Grandstanding podcast. "He's not in the dugout, he's out in the bullpen. You don't even play every day ... Papelbon is a hardheaded guy who likes to throw his weight around." (Listen to the full interview above.)

Sheffield, who was in his fair share of scrapes during his 20 years of baseball, said the problem was in trying to solve the issue in public. "When guys make mistakes, and keep making mistakes, that's when the manager or an everyday player that he respects [needs to step in]," he said. "Go behind closed doors."

Sheffield will be on TBS over the next few weeks providing commentary on the playoffs, and he joined Grandstanding to discuss topics beyond Harper/Papelbon. In the interview, he breaks down the key playoff teams, including who stands the best chance to come out of each league. He talks about his own days as a player, particularly the contrast between his time on the Marlins and his time on the Yankees. And he offers up a World Series prediction that should make one major metropolis very happy.

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY - OCTOBER 1ST

1903 - First baseball World Series, Pittsburgh Pirates vs Boston Pilgrims (Red Sox).

1919 - World Series begins as a best of 9 affair, White Sox intentionally

throw this series to satisfy gamblers (Black Sox Scandal).
1922 - Former Chicago Staleys play 1st NFL game as Chicago Bears, win 6-0.
1924 - Landis bans Giants Jimmy O'Connell & Cozy Dolan from World Series

after they admit an attempt to bribe Phils shortstop Heinie Sand.

1932 - World Series moves to Chicago, In 5th inning, Babe Ruth waits

until he has 2 strikes, points & hits next pitch into center field bleachers.

1945 - Heavyweight champ Joe Louis is discharged from army.

1945 - Rod Carew, baseball slugger (AL Rookie of Year 1967) is born.

1950 - Phillies win NL pennant on last day of season (10th inning HR).
1951 - First Giant-Dodgers playoff game, Giants win 3-1.
1959 - First World Series since 1948 not to feature a NY team (LA vs Chic).

1961 - Roger Maris sets record of 61 HRs (off of Tracy Stallard).

1963 - Mark McGwire, Pomona California, MLB 1st baseman

(AL rookie of year 1988, Oakland A's, St. Louis Cardinals) is born.

1975 - Muhammad Ali TKOs Joe Frazier in 15 for Heavyweight

boxing title in "The Thrilla in Manila".
1977 - Brazilian soccer great Pele retires with 1,281 goals in 1,363 games.

1984 - Walter Alston, Baseball manager (LA Dodgers), dies at 72.

1984 - Peter Ueberroth replaces Bowie Kuhn as 6th commissioner of baseball.

1989 - Dallas Cowboy, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, records his 1,000th NFL tackle.
1993 - Lennox Lewis TKOs Frank Bruno in 7 for Heavyweight boxing title.

1995 - NY Yankees win 1st baseball wildcard ever.
1997 - Carolina Hurricanes 1st game vs Tampa Bay Lightning.
2000 - Juan Antonio Samaranch, the chairman of the IOC declares

the XXVII Olympics in Sydney the "best Olympic Games ever".
2000 - United States retain Basketball's Olympic gold medal defeating France 85-75.
2000 - United States wins the most medals (97), and the most

gold medals (40) in Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia.

2004 - Baseball: Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki gets his 258th hit

of the season, breaking George Sisler's 84-year-old single-season record.

2007 - Al Oerter, American discus thrower (b. 1936)

(Olympics-gold-56, 60, 64, 68) dies aged 71.
2014 - Canadian freestyle skier and two-time Olympic

gold medalist Alexandre Bilodeau retires at 27.