Second Thoughts

Nats pitcher keeps watch on catchers

Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer treated catchers Wilson Ramos and Jose Lobaton to Hublot watches to thank them for catching his no-hitter and one-hitter games earlier this season.
Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer treated catchers Wilson Ramos and Jose Lobaton to Hublot watches to thank them for catching his no-hitter and one-hitter games earlier this season.

Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer has room to be gracious to his teammates after signing a seven-year, $210 million contract in the offseason.

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Invision/AP

Ronda Rousey arrives at the premiere of "Furious 7" in Los Angeles in this April 1 file photo. Actor Kevin James, a former high school wrestler, believes he wouldn't last longer than anyone else has in a match against the UFC women’s bantamweight champion.

According to the Washington Post's James Wagner, Scherzer used some of that money to buy Hublot watches for catchers Wilson Ramos and Jose Lobaton after they caught for him during no-hitter and one-hitter games, respectively.

Scherzer threw the one-hitter June 14 and the no-hitter June 20, and a luxury watch for his catcher was the "thank you" both times.

It's unclear how much Scherzer spent on the watches, but they retail anywhere from $2,000 to $80,000. There are even a couple in the $200,000-$300,000 range, according to Wagner's research.

A quick Amazon search shows they range from as high as $37,000 to as low as $6,375.

"I told him he didn't need to get me anything," Lobaton told Wagner. "But he did, and it's great."

"You always take care of your catchers," Scherzer said. "They're out there working hard. We're both thinking about how to outsmart the hitter. I have to have a lot of trust in what they do. They put in hard work, too, to make sure we as a team succeed and help me as an individual as well. If I pitch well, it helps the team. They're a part of it."

It's not the first time Scherzer has taken care of his catchers. In 2014 after winning the Cy Young award, Scherzer bought his former catcher Brayan Pena a Rolex.

Pay up, Day

Bubba Watson was wrapping up his complaints to reporters Thursday about Plainfield Country Club -- apparently nothing about the venue for this week's first FedEx Cup playoff game suited him except his tournament-leading first-round score -- when Jason Day pitched a softball to the two-time Masters winner.

"Was it an honor to play with Jason Day?" Day, the PGA champion who was next in line to field reporters' queries about the first round of The Barclays, asked his playing partner jokingly.

"Jason Day is one of my favorite golfers of all time because his son has the best hair I've ever seen," Watson quipped about Dash Day's shoulder-length locks. "He was at my house yesterday eating up all my macaroni and cheese, by the way. So you owe me for that."

Talking the talk

Here comes the cold, hard truth.

Kevin James is an athlete.

Even before the actor starred as a teacher turned MMA fighter in Here Comes the Boom, he was on the same high school wrestling team as future pro wrestling superstar Mick Foley, and he says he took down Foley "all the time."

So how does the actor think he'd fair against UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey?

"I would be on my back so fast," the actor told The Huffington Post. "No, I wouldn't want to mess with Ronda Rousey. She would crush me. And by the way, I've seen her hitting mitts too, so she's nasty. Yeah, she's everywhere. There's nowhere to go with Ronda."

So does James think his match would at least go longer than Rousey's 34-second knockout of Bethe Correia?

"I really don't," the actor said. "I'm going to be honest, I don't make it out of the locker room. Because if I pass a hotdog cart, I make a quick hard right and I'm not even getting in the cage."

QUIZ

Where did Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer attend college?

ANSWER

The University of Missouri.

Sports on 08/29/2015

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