Sports quirks: Basepath chaos, donkey gift

And wherever Stephen Piscotty went, he had a bulls-eye on him. The St. Louis Cardinals outfielder could not live out of harm’s way in a bruising, battering tour around the bases. He changed into hit three times in one inning, as though he was tracked through a GPS. T becomes much less like baseball and greater like archery practice.

The pounding commenced in the fifth when Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arietta struck him in the right arm. Piscotty shook it off and headed to first. It became only the beginning. The ball was soon given far away from the catcher, and Piscotty bolted for a second and hit his left arm using Wilson Contreras’ throw.

Then I got a slow roller to 2nd base that Kolten Wong overran. Wong’s throw to the plate nailed him in the helmet. A shaken Piscotty walked to the dugout. Piscotty rounded 0.33 and broke for domestic. He would later pass all concussion checks.

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Piscotty majored in atmospheric and electrical engineering at Stanford because they traded to Oakland in the offseason. But even he was confused by that inning in opposition to the Cubs. “I’ve never seen that earlier than,” he stated. “Crazy.”

Piscotty turned into no longer the simplest Cardinal traveling strange byways in 2017. A ball comes that may catch the chest protector of St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina, who was asked if an overseas substance had been responsible. “That’s a dumb query,” he stated.

This became an additional 12 months, wherein Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones misplaced a $ 000 earring while jet skiing, prompting erroneous reports that he employed a dive crew to find it. (“I did now not do this. It becomes insured.”).

Synchronized swimming modified its name to artistic swimming. Olympic champion shooter Michael Diamond of Australia was convicted on firearms costs, and his gun license was revoked. Mechanical doping came to the fore in France when a newbie bike owner became stuck with a motor on his motorcycle.

The Saint Louis University basketball group was left anticipating its bus after a sport at St. Bonaventure because the motive force changed into a few 40 miles away, and they were soon to be charged with drunken use. A bowler from upstate New York raced from one lane to every other and rolled an ideal 300 sport in much less than ninety seconds. And Jerry Bozzo beat the percentages at Gulfstream Park, becoming the oldest thoroughbred instructor to win a race at 96.

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The excessive hops and unscripted plays came from throughout:

ANIMAL MAGNETISM: Shortstop Zack Cozart, then with the Cincinnati Reds, made the All-Star group, and with it came a present from teammate Joey Votto that required greater preservation than an eye fixed — a donkey. Second baseman Rougned Odor was not wowed by this agreement provided till Texas sweetened the deal by way of throwing in horses. “I love horses,” he stated. Fans of the pinnacle Danish football membership Brondby threw out the welcome mat for opposing players by throwing dead rats at them. A New Zealand cricket participant attempted to convince the courtroom he had proper cause for riding after too many beverages — he needed to console his distraught female friend over the loss of the life of a pet parrot.

DOUBLE FAULTS: World-weary Australian megastar Bernard Tomic bemoaned that Wimbledon gives insufficient motivation: “I felt a little bit bored to be completely sincere with you.”. Romania’s Ilie Nastase, banned with the aid of the global tennis government for his profane outburst and standard boorishness during the Fed Cup, became given a brand new project — diplomat for the Czech Republic. The style police at all-white Wimbledon were vigilant, ordering some junior boys players to exchange their resplendently colored underwear. While puzzled about the flash of pink under her dress, Venus Williams stated: “I don’t like to speak about bras at press meetings. It’s weird.”

ON THE GRID: Olympic champion gymnast Simone Biles posted a 14-minute video on Twitter of her gauze-filled mouth after her awareness tooth had been removed. An Indiana high faculty scholar gained a bet with his teacher to name off a final exam by getting Kobe Bryant to give him a retweet. The retired NBA big name said: “Hope you have got an A in this class.”. Famous Canadian tennis player and model Eugenie Bouchard figured she was safe. With the Falcons way before the Super Bowl, she tweeted that she “knew Atlanta might win.” A University of Missouri scholar answered with a dare: If the Patriots win, they cross on a date. Bouchard said sure, and New England rallied to win from 25 factors down. The two went to a Brooklyn Nets sport. Said Bouchard: “Never bet in opposition to Tom Brady.”

THE BIG SLEEP: A loss of life notice in The Richmond Times-Dispatch for one Patrick “Pat” Killebrew started with the aid of noting he “exceeded away peacefully at domestic. After watching the Washington Nationals remedy pitchers blow but every other lead.”. A similar word in a New Jersey newspaper requested 8 Philadelphia Eagles for pallbearers so that the Eagles could let him “down one remaining time.”. Red Wings enforcer Bob Probert stayed inside the penalty field, with some of his ashes scattered at the hockey crew’s ultimate domestic game at Joe Louis Arena. A New York City man venerated his plumber buddy by flushing his ashes down lavatories of main league ballparks. The pal instructed The New York Times: “This is the correct tribute to a plumber and baseball fan.”

HONORS CLASS: Theo Epstein, the grasp builder who helped quit title droughts for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, became No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s list of World’s Greatest Leaders. He was followed by Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, and Pope Francis. Epstein didn’t get overexcited, telling ESPN: “Um, I can’t even get my canine to stop peeing inside the house.”. The rugby sevens group from Fiji that received the Olympic name in Rio now has a gold medal but became venerated via its authorities with the release of $7 banknotes. LeBron James became immortalized by using an 8-pound bust of lint. The Cleveland artist dubbed the work “LintBron.”

GAMES PEOPLE PLAY: The English Bridge Union was slammed in its bid to have the cardboard recreation identified as a recreation inside the manner of badminton, billiards, and ballroom dancing. A Russian lawmaker proposed a strategy for the scourge of hooliganism because of you. S. A . ‘s 2018 World Cup processes: Turn the fight into organized competition. He suggests 20 unarmed warring parties in each facet of an arena. “Russia,” he announces, “could be a pioneer in a brand new game.”