TMZ Sports - Page 50

Sammy Sosa says it's time to finally come back to Chicago ... the legendary Cub tells TMZ Sports he's looking to return to Wrigley after a 12-YEAR hiatus!!!

Of course, Sosa's been missing from the historic ballpark since he quit playing back in the 2000s ... mostly because team chairman Tom Ricketts has created an icy situation with the ex-superstar.

And, why? Ricketts has said multiple times over the years he wants Sosa to come clean about his alleged PED use before the Cubs will officially welcome him back.

Unclear if Sosa is ready to meet those demands ... but he tells us he's ready to return to Chicago nonetheless.

"I haven't gone back to Chicago yet, but I will," Sosa says.

Sammy -- who says he's still a HUGE Cubs fan -- tells us he's been happy living out his life in Miami in the meantime ... saying that's actually the reason why he's yet to make an Illinois return.

"I haven't had the time to go to Chicago, but I will."

South African born athlete Nick Price gained international fame as a great golfer in the early '90s after he won two PGA Championships -- the first in 1992 at Bellerive Country Club ... and the second in 1994 at Southern Hills Country Club.

Nick Price's other major championship win was also in 1994 at the Open Championship where he squeaked out a one-stroke victory over Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik.

Price was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in back in 2003.

Fun Fact: The winner's share for the 1992 PGA Championship was $280,000 ... while the winner's share for this year's championship is close to $2,000,000.

Schwing!!!

3:25 PM PT -- TMZ Sports just received a statement from Ric's wife, Wendy Barlow, who says she expects the WWE legend to make a "full recovery."

"Due to ongoing health complications, Ric was taken to the hospital and is expected to undergo a procedure tomorrow morning, after which he expects to fully recover."

Ric Flair was rushed to a hospital Thursday morning after suffering a medical emergency, TMZ Sports has learned.

We're told Flair was in the Atlanta area when something went wrong. The 70-year-old WWE legend was initially taken to the emergency room to be treated.

The specifics are unclear at this point -- but we're told the situation is "very serious."

We reached out to Ric's camp for comment -- so far, no word back.

Flair had a previous medical scare back in 2017. He was placed in a medically induced coma for 11 days after his intestine ruptured. Flair was in critical condition and on the verge of dying.

But, "The Nature Boy" pulled through -- and a year later, he married his longtime girlfriend Wendy Barlow ... who stuck by his side throughout the entire medical scare and subsequent recovery.

Ric had been doing great recently -- and had a massive star-studded bash for his 70th birthday back in February ... with a guest list that included Todd Gurley, Charles Barkley, Jeff Hardy, Triple H, Evander Holyfield and Dennis Rodman.

The estranged husband of UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich just got 4 years probation in his domestic violence case ... stemming from a violent attack back in November.

Arnold Berdon -- who's also an MMA fighter -- was initially arrested for attempted murder after Ostovich claimed he beat the hell out of her and fractured her eye socket.

Ostovich initially pulled out of a high-profile UFC fight with Paige VanZant due to the injury -- but was later cleared by a different doctor. Ostovich ultimately lost the fight.

As for Berdon ... after his initial arrest, prosecutors downgraded the charge to 2nd-degree assault -- and he pled no contest back in March.

Berdon was sentenced on Thursday to 4 years probation -- which appears to be a good deal for Berdon considering he was facing up to 5 years in prison.

The expletive-spewin', hot tubbin', Caddy drivin' former head football coach featured in "Last Chance U" is putting down the cigar and picking up a pen ... 'cause he's writing a book!!!

Jason Brown -- who recently resigned from his gig at Independence CC in Kansas for telling a German-born player he's his "new Hitler" -- starred in season 3 and 4 of the super-popular Netflix show ... and now he's ready to put his thoughts in writing.

"I have partnered up and signed a book publishing contract with SBPRA, to write a book. I will send the details once the book is printed," Brown tweeted on Thursday.

"Much love for all the support!"

Brown became a massive hit with the show ... thanks to his IDGAF attitude and unorthodox coaching style ... so we're assuming this thing is gonna be entertaining as hell.

UFC legend Anderson Silva says he's already made up his mind about his fighting future -- telling TMZ Sports, "I'm not stopping, I'm not retiring."

The 44-year-old was in pretty good spirits Thursday returning to the United States following his UFC 237 loss to Jared Cannonier this past weekend ... but says his knee is still jacked up.

Silva badly injured his right knee in the fight -- and couldn't make it out of the first round.

After the fight, Silva went to social media and posted a statement that made it seem as if he was pondering retirement.

But now, Anderson says his mind is made up -- he wants to get healthy and get back in the Octagon.

In fact, Silva says he's already spoken with Dana White about a possible rematch with Cannonier ... but White told him to take some time to heal before talking about another fight.

So, how is Anderson's knee?

"It's not good but it's not too bad. The good thing is I start physical therapy," Silva told us.

Call him Sir Andy Murray now ... 'cause the tennis superstar was at Buckingham Palace on Thursday -- receiving his knighthood from Prince Charles himself!!

The 32-year-old actually learned he'd be receiving the honor back in 2016 ... but he held off on having the ceremony until this week because of his tennis schedule.

What exactly does knighthood entail for Murray? Nothin' crazy ... the award is just a way for the Royal Fam to recognize the 3-time Grand Slam champion's achievements on and off the court.

It's kind of like when Donald Trump gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods.

But, Murray was still stoked about the honor afterward, saying, "I'm very proud to receive it. It's a nice day to spend with my family."

It's also a good moment for Murray given what he's been through this past year. Remember, he underwent hip surgery just a few months ago to try to save his tennis career.

Murray seems to be recovering well, but unclear if he'll be ready for Wimbledon this summer.

The Bears and Redskins don't play until week 3 this season ... but the matchup is already in Dwayne Haskins' head -- 'cause he says he's legit concerned about being hit by Khalil Mack!!!

The Washington rookie QB was out at LAX Wednesday night ... when he was asked which player in the NFL he is the most worried about.

Without hesitation, the draft's No. 15 overall pick said, "Khalil Mack is somebody I would not want to be touched by!"

Bad news for Dwayne? That's probably going to happen ... and it's probably going to happen VERY early in his career.

The 'Skins and Bears are set for a Sept. 23 matchup at FedEx Field ... and with the Redskins already hoping Dwayne begins the season as the starter -- Mack's likely going to be gunnin' for him.

Hope the pads are strapped on tight!!!

Khloe Kardashian says she tries to keep the peace around her baby daddy, Tristan Thompson, for the sake of their kid ... who she believes can sense when something's amiss.

The Kardashian dished with Disso Queen Laura Wasser on her hit podcast, 'Divorce Sucks!' which drops Monday. Khloe and Tristan weren't married, but they share a child together ... and definitely went through a nasty breakup that might as well have been a divorce.

Khloe tells Laura she monitors the energy she puts out around baby True, who -- at only 13 months old -- can still pick up on bad vibes ... according to her mom.

That's why Khloe says she didn't have an issue with Tristan coming to True's first birthday party last month -- where she says they were civil with each other and made it work.

More importantly, Khloe says she wants to afford her daughter the same types of experiences and memories she had growing up ... and Daddy's gotta be a part of that.

Bottom line for Khloe ... she'll do what it takes for her daughter, and that includes putting on a happy face when needed. Anything for mommy's little girl, it seems!!!

Zion Williamson's stepdad says the 18-year-old superstar is "excited" to play in New Orleans -- despite reports to the contrary ... noting Zion has learned to "accept the things you can't change."

The Pelicans scored the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery earlier this week -- and most believe the plan is to take Zion.

But, there are rumblings Zion is unhappy with the situation -- that he doesn't want to play in NOLA and would rather go back to Duke and play another year of college ball ... since he still has eligibility.

But, Zion's stepdad, Lee Anderson, shot down all that speculation on ESPN's Baton Rouge radio show, 'Off the Bench' -- saying Williamson is pumped to get going in New Orleans.

"We're excited. We're excited about that," Anderson said.

"One thing that Zion has always been taught is to accept the things you can't change, and change the things that you can change. And, this is one of the things that he has nothing to do with."

"It's the process of the NBA, and certainly we're excited about the Crescent City down there in New Orleans."

When asked specifically about the possibility of Zion going back to Duke, Anderson told the media to pump the brakes on that theory too.

"There has been a lot of speculation. But, that is nothing that we have even considered."

Zion has until May 29 to make an official decision about returning to Duke or entering the NBA Draft.

Two of the Denver Broncos top NFL draft picks --QB Drew Lock and TE Noah Fant -- were involved in an airport shuttle crash at LAX on Wednesday ... but don't worry, THEY'RE FINE!!

In fact, Lock was laughing afterward and joked, "We've taken worse hits!"

Fant (the 20th overall pick) and Lock (the 42nd overall pick) had just touched down in Los Angeles and boarded a shuttle to take them from the plane to the terminal when it collided with another vehicle.

"The shuttle hit something," Lock said ... "It was wild."

Lock -- who was standing inside of the shuttle at the time -- says he doesn't believe anyone was injured in the wreck ... noting, "It was just really weird."

Lock says the crash was "pretty hard" -- but both guys seemed fine afterward ... joking that they wouldn't be filing insurance claims or anything like that.

There's more ...

Lock was also asked about a potential rift with Broncos starting QB Joe Flacco -- who recently said it was not "my job" to mentor Lock.

But, Lock says there's NO BEEF AT ALL -- in fact, he's been getting along pretty well with Flacco so far.

"Me and Joe ... he's taught me a lot so far," Lock said.

"He's been great to me."

Forget Conor McGregor ... UFC fighter Kevin Lee wants to throw down with Kamaru Usman next -- telling TMZ Sports he thinks that scrap would be WAY more challenging than one with The Notorious.

"He might not bring the attention and the money," Lee says ... "But, as a competitor, he'll bring a lot more."

Of course, Lee has been trying to set up a fight with Conor and Khabib Nurmagomedov for the last year ... telling us in the past he'd beat both their asses.

But now, he's saying those fights don't intrigue him as much as a possible scrap with Kamaru does ... saying, "Seeing what he did to Tyron Woodley, that's kind of adding a little bit to me."

Either way, Lee knows fights with any of those three won't go down if he can't get past Rafael dos Anjos in their ESPN+ fight this Saturday night ... which is why he tells us he's laser-focused on that scrap right now.

Multiple law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports ... the domestic violence case against Dodgers star pitcher Julio Urias is "weak" based on the evidence.

We're told the video of the incident does show Urias making physical contact with the woman during the March 13 altercation in the Beverly Center parking lot -- but as one source puts it, "It doesn't appear there's criminal intent to injure her."

One source says it appears Urias used his hands in an attempt to stop her from leaving the area during a heated argument.

In other words, it seems as though he was trying to restrain her, not strike her ... though the woman DID go to the ground at some point during the argument.

We're not trying to minimize the seriousness of the situation -- but rather, this is what we're being told by people who are involved in the case.

We're told both parties have been very cooperative with investigators and are telling consistent stories about what happened.

Urias was arrested for misdemeanor battery and spent the night in jail. He was released Tuesday morning on $20,000 bond.

Major League Baseball has placed Urias on administrative leave while they gather evidence.

Lamar Odom says he's addicted to sex -- and claims he's bedded more than 2,000 women ... including strippers and prostitutes.

Odom comes clean about his sex life in his soon to be released book, "Darkness to Light" -- where he says, "I have been obsessed with sex for as long as I can remember."

"There were too many strippers to count,” Odom said in an excerpt first provided to People ... "It wasn’t a big deal, but often I would pay them. I never thought less of them."

In the book, Odom also admits he cheated on Khloe Kardashian during their marriage -- and she found out.

"I was shocked and embarrassed,” Odom told People ... "I wanted to take it back, but you can’t. [I] wanted to hide it. But that sick sin was hard for me to hide ... I had a problem."

Odom and Kardashian were married in 2009 -- and even though they separated in 2013 ... they weren't officially divorced until 2016.

Odom also says porn addiction was a major issue for him -- and he was so obsessed with X-rated videos, "I ran out of porn to watch! That’s how you know when you are going a little overboard."

The 39-year-old also admitted to People that sex would trigger his drug use because it would allow him to "double up on that good feeling."

Of course, Odom's vices all came to a head at the Love Ranch brothel in Nevada in 2015 -- when the ex-NBA star overdosed during a cocaine and booze-fueled binge.

Odom says he still considers himself an addict -- but recently told TMZ Sports he feels like he's winning the battle.

Chris Sale's early season struggles are gone and the Red Sox star is officially back -- so says Pedro Martinez, who tells TMZ Sports ... Sale's 17-strikeout game Tuesday reminded him of him!!!

"Brought back some memories," Pedro says.

In case you missed it ... Sale got off to a BRUTAL start to this season -- he allowed 17 earned runs in his first 4 games -- and a whole lot of people wondered if the 30-year-old had anything left.

But, Sale's lit it up in his last 3 outings -- with 10, 14 and 17 K performances -- and now, Pedro is officially back on the 7-time All-Star's bandwagon.

In fact, Pedro tells us he couldn't help but think about his own career when Chris was mowing through the Rockies on Tuesday night ... 'cause he's the last Sox pitcher before Sale to strike out 17!

And, if ya don't remember how the Boston legend did that, here are the highlights ... you're welcome.

Bruce Willis has done a lot of cool things in his career ... but uh, this is bad. Like REALLY bad.

The "Die Hard" actor threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Phillies game on Wednesday ... and it's pretty damn embarrassing, considering it didn't even make it to the plate before hittin' the ground!!!

A couple of things to address -- 1. Bruce was standing a few feet IN FRONT of the mound and he still didn't reach the plate. 2. How did the "Die Hard" theme music blaring over the PA system NOT get him in the zone??? Dude shoulda been able to throw it a mile.

The boo birds let Willis have it ... and rightfully so. But, there's a silver lining here, Bruce -- at least it wasn't as bad as 50 Cent's first pitch in 2014.

That STILL gives us nightmares.