TMZ Sports - Page 50

Justin Verlander is going OFF on woman-beating baseball player Danry Vasquez -- essentially saying he's a piece of trash who doesn't deserve to play baseball ever again.

"(Middle finger emoji) you man," Verlander posted on Twitter ... "I hope the rest of your life without baseball is horrible. You deserve all that is coming your way!"

There's a connection here ... Verlander currently plays for the Astros and Vasquez was a member of the Houston farm system at the time of the 2016 attack.

As we previously reported, Vasquez repeatedly brutalized his girlfriend in the stairwell at Whataburger Stadium in Texas while a member of the Corpus Christi Hooks ... Houston's AA minor league team.

The 'Stros organization released Vasquez right after the arrest. But he was picked up by another team in Pennsylvania which JUST fired him this week when the beating video went public.

Vasquez only got a slap on the wrist from prosecutors -- he was only ordered to complete anger management (which he did) and his case has since been dismissed.

But Verlander isn't the only Astros star who's pissed about the Vasquez situation -- Houston pitcher Lance McCullers says the guy should have been thrown behind bars.

Clyde "The Glide" Drexler is the NEW man in charge of Ice Cube's BIG3 basketball league -- replacing Roger Mason Jr. ... who got the ax earlier this week.

As we previously reported, Mason and BIG3 are in the middle of a legal war -- so BIG3 removed him from the top spot and had Ice Cube fill in while they searched for a new Commish.

But, the search is over ... BIG3 tells TMZ Sports the 10-time NBA All-Star has signed a 3-year deal to be the new Commish.

"As Commissioner he will help lead the BIG3’s basketball operations as well as executing the league’s long-term strategy on all fronts," the league said in a statement.

55-year-old Drexler was the coach of Team Power during the 2017 season -- so he's familiar with how the league runs.

"Clyde is a consummate professional, revered businessman, and indisputably one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball," said league Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Jeff Kwatinetz and Ice Cube.

John Skipper is finally opening up about his shocking exit from ESPN -- and admitting the "substance addiction" that led to his resignation was with cocaine.

"I did get some therapy. I did go through treatment," Skipper told The Hollywood Reporter.

"I thought the best thing to do was to take the time to check myself into a facility, and I was able to understand a bit more about substance use and to think about how it intersected with my life."

Skipper is adamant he never had a problem with alcohol, heroin or opioids -- it was strictly cocaine.

"At ESPN I did not use at work, nor with anyone at work, or with anyone I did business with. I never allowed it to interfere with my work, other than a missed plane and a few canceled morning appointments."

But, Skipper says he knew he had to come clean about his coke habit in December when someone he bought cocaine from tried to extort him.

The dealer is described in the article as a "strange source."

Skipper also claims rumors of alleged sexual misconduct contributing to his resignation are false.

Former boxing champ Vinny Paz was arrested for domestic violence in Rhode Island early Thursday morning after cops say he beat up his girlfriend and then tried to hide inside of his home.

The Warwick Police Dept. says it had to use force to break down Paz's garage and enter the home to apprehend the 55-year-old at around 3 AM.

Cops initially received a call from a member of Paz's GF's family who said Paz got violent. The woman reportedly suffered injuries to her face.

When cops arrived, the woman was taken from the scene in a stretcher.

Paz refused to answer the door, answer his phone and had turned off all the lights -- so cops decided they had to make a move "out of an abundance of caution" ... and entered the house to get Paz.

He was eventually taken into custody around 4 AM and hauled to a nearby station where he's being booked for domestic violence charges.

Danry Vasquez did stay engaged to his girlfriend for months after the August 2016 beating -- but eventually they broke up and he has since married a new woman.

Vasquez posted a photo with his beating victim in Oct. 2016 showing the two smiling together and described her as "the person who is always with me in the good and the not so good!"

But now we're told they broke up after that -- and Vasquez began dating a new woman.

With regard to the beating victim ... we spoke with Danry's attorney who tells TMZ Sports, "I recall conversations about the extreme stress he was under and the pressures to perform that he was young. Came to USA at a young age with no parents (accommodating him) and no guidance ... just his dreams. She never excused his behavior just loved him enough to believe they could move forward."

Danry got engaged to a new woman in Nov. 2017 and in an interview with elemergente.com, he explained the situation.

"I am currently married, and not with the girl with whom I had the incident."

Floyd Mayweather says he's DEAD SERIOUS about taking an MMA fight -- confirms he'll start training with Tyron Woodley -- and breaks down his wrestling and kicking skills.

THIS CLIP IS AWESOME!!!!!

Floyd was leaving Katana in L.A. with his TMT crew on Wednesday when he opened up about EVERYTHING ... and admits gearing up for the octagon is "probably gonna be a little difficult."

As we previously reported on "The Hollywood Beatdown," Mayweather and UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley have agreed to train together ... and Floyd thinks he can REALLY elevate his ground game.

"I can wrestle," Floyd says ... "My wrestling game is not that bad. On a scale of 1 to 10, it's probably a 7 and I think we could take it up to like a 9."

Floyd also breaks down his kicking game -- and explains why he scores himself a 4 out out 10.

So, how much MONEY will it take to lock Floyd for an MMA fight, possibly with Conor McGregor?

"It's all about presenting the right numbers and of course, they gonna present the right numbers and we gonna make it happen."

Bre Tiesi's killing 2 birds with one stone -- hitting the beach to show off her expensive new wedding ring ... and flaunt her bangin' bod once again.

Johnny Manziel's wife soaked up the sun in Miami Wednesday afternoon in a tiny bikini ... which has kind of become her thing. Johnny was nowhere to be seen, so it's possible he's back to practicing for a hopeful return to the NFL.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Johnny and Bre tied the knot last week in a private ceremony in California. The couple got engaged last March.

Johnny Manziel is officially a MARRIED MAN -- tying the knot with Bre Tiesi in a very quiet private ceremony, TMZ Sports has learned.

Manziel had popped the question to Tiesi in March 2017. The 25-year-old has credited Bre with turning his life around and getting him cleaned up after years of craziness.

We had noticed the two were wearing rings recently that appeared to be wedding bands -- and now, sources connected to the couple tell us they have indeed traded "I do's."

In fact, sources tell us Tiesi plans on taking Manziel's last name.

We're told the ceremony took place at a California courthouse. Unclear if it was just Johnny and Bre, or if a few other people attended as well.

Sources tell us the couple hasn't ruled out a wedding celebration later this year.

It's been a big year for Johnny who's been training like crazy with some of his NFL friends including Joe Haden in an effort to get back to the NFL.

He'll finally get back on the field when the Spring League begins in two weeks.

Mazel tov!

Things got a little TOO real on Mike Tyson's movie set -- when the 51-year-old accidentally socked UFC star Fabricio Werdum with an actual punch ... and almost shattered his nose!

Mike and Werdum were shooting a fight scene for Jean-Claude Van Damme's new "Kickboxer: Retaliation" when Mike miscalculated ... and REALLY punched Werdum.

"Accident, but he punched me," Werdum tells TMZ Sports ... "almost broke my nose."

Werdum says the punch almost knocked him down -- but he let it slide because Mike was a super nice guy on set.

"It's good 'cause he's Mike Tyson!!"

If ya wanna see Werdum throw hands for real, he's fighting at UFC Fight Night: London this Saturday ... taking on Alexander Volkov in the main event.

Fabricio says he's getting his belt back after the Volkov fight -- but does he think he's gonna take on Stipe Miocic or Daniel Cormier??

We asked. Werdum answered.

Donald Trump (45) won't do one ... but Barack Obama (44) is still filling out his March Madness bracket -- and he's picking Michigan State -- a 3 seed -- to win it all!!!

"Just because I have more time to watch games doesn’t mean my picks will be better," Obama wrote ... "but here are my brackets this year."

So, who's he got? There are some upsets in there including Loyola-Chicago (11) over Miami (6).

He also has Texas (10) over Nevada (7).

Obama also has Syracuse (11) beating Arizona State in the playoff game and then beating TCU (6).

His Final Four -- Virginia (1), North Carolina (2), Villanova (1) and Michigan State (3).

The official tournament starts Thursday.

Of course, President Obama went to Harvard ... but they suck at basketball and didn't make the NCAA tourney.

Charles Barkley says whoever picks first in the NBA draft is about to hit THE MOTHER LODE -- 'cause University of Arizona star Deandre Ayton is the best college hoops player he's seen in decades!!!

"The kid from Arizona -- he's a monster. He's the best college player I've seen in the last 20 years. He's unbelievable," Chuck told Adam Glyn out in NYC.

FYI, the guys who played NCAA basketball from 1998 to 2018 include Steph Curry, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul ... so Barkley's making a HUGE statement here.

There's more -- Sir Charles also shaded all the top squads playing in March Madness this year ... and gave the hilarious reason why he's never gonna do politics.

O.J. Simpson was all smiles and snapshots just a couple days after confessing to murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman ... with 2 women ... who didn't seem to care.

Simpson was spotted out Tuesday night at Kona Grill in Summerlin, NV -- a ritzy 'burb within Vegas -- when two older ladies wanted to get their photos taken with The Juice.

Whether they'd seen him give a "hypothetical" blow-by-blow account of slaying his ex-wife and Goldman on national TV a few days earlier is unclear. What is clear, however, is that some people, including these two, still love them some O.J. all these years later.

Shaq says he has the answer to stopping mass school shootings like the one we saw in Parkland -- placing armed police officers on school grounds.

"The quick fix ... the government should give law enforcement more money," Shaq said on WABC Radio's "Curtis and Cosby" show.

"Give more money, you recruit more people, and the guys that are not ready to go on the streets, you put them in front of the schools. You put 'em in front of the schools, you put 'em behind the schools, you put 'em inside the schools."

"I would like to see police officers in schools, inner cities, private schools."

Shaq says he got the idea from growing up on a military base -- where the cops they had on campus were very effective at stopping any violence that broke out.

What Shaq does NOT want the government to do is ban semiautomatic weapons -- like the one Nikolas Cruz used to gun down 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS -- arguing they'll become even more dangerous on the black market.

"There's a lot of those weapons already on the streets. So it's not like, if you say, 'OK, these weapons are banned,' people are gonna go, 'Oh man, let me turn it in.' That's definitely not going to happen."

Here's undefeated boxing champ Oscar Valdez proving even winning hurts in boxing -- showing his totally jacked up fist (and face) following a big win in an absolutely brutal fight this past weekend.

Valdez gutted out a tough victory over Scott Quigg Saturday night in a controversial and dangerous bout -- mostly because Quigg came in overweight for the fight and made it a slugfest.

FYI, Valdez (24-0) and Quigg (34-2-2) were supposed to fight at 126 lbs ... but Quigg missed weight and then ballooned up to 142 lbs on fight night while Valdez DID make weight.

Oscar won on points to keep his featherweight title, but had to have his jaw wired shut after the fight -- and judging by these recovery room pics, dude might have someone opening his sodas for a while.

As for Quigg, he also posted a post-battle photo -- and, although he does look a little like Mr. Magoo, he's not in the hospital. He did suffer a broken nose.

Still wanna be a boxer when you grow up?!

Johnny Manziel can still resurrect his NFL career, so says Tyrann Mathieu -- but he's gotta do one fundamental thing to complete his comeback.

We spoke with Honey Badger on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) ... and since he's got one of football's best redemption stories, we asked him what Johnny should do to follow suit.

Tyrann's main piece of advice -- tune out the haters!!

"We get to certain points and certain stages in our career where we start to take other peoples’ opinions more than our own," Mathieu said.

"We stop believing in ourselves. We start believing in other people and what they’re saying."

And if Manziel gets that self-belief back -- "He’ll be alright."

FYI, we got Johnny out in L.A. over the weekend ... and it looks like he's already on his way!!

A professional baseball team in Pennsylvania has cut outfielder Danry Vasquez after a 2016 video surfaced showing him beating the hell out of his girlfriend IN A STADIUM.

Vasquez was arrested for domestic violence in Texas back in August 2016 -- and despite the fact officials had the video showing him backhanding the woman in the face and continuing to beat her while dragging her down a stairwell ... he basically got off with a slap on the wrist.

FYI, at the time of the incident, Vasquez was playing for the Corpus Christi Hooks -- the AA minor league affiliate of the Houston Astros. The team released him days after the incident.

Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez tells TMZ Sports the victim did NOT want to cooperate with prosecutors and wanted the case dropped.

Prosecutors WANTED to press but felt it was an uphill battle with the victim not wanting to press charges. Ultimately, Vasquez was ordered to complete anger management courses ... and that's basically it.

Gonzalez says Vasquez has now completed the terms of his probation and the case was formally dismissed on March 6.

"At that point, probation checked with us, and he had done everything we asked him to do so I was forced to dismiss the case," Gonzalez told KRIS 6 News.

Vasquez went on to sign a contract with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. They have now released Vasquez in the wake of the video being released ... saying, "Upon being made aware of the nature of the incident, the Barnstormers made a prompt decision to cut ties with the 24-year old."

Manager Ross Peeples added, "There is no choice but to sever the relationship. Neither I, nor the Barnstormers' organization as a whole, can condone or associate with that behavior."