Second Thoughts

Frustrations boiling over to end spring

New York Mets infielder Asdrubal Cabrera wasn’t too pleased with umpire Angel Hernandez in Thursday’s exhibition game with Washington. He was ejected by Hernandez, then took his time leaving the fi eld.
New York Mets infielder Asdrubal Cabrera wasn’t too pleased with umpire Angel Hernandez in Thursday’s exhibition game with Washington. He was ejected by Hernandez, then took his time leaving the fi eld.

With just under 10 days left until the start of baseball's regular season, both fans and players are more than ready for things to get underway as spring training continues.

Although most players are ready and in game shape, they still have to go through the motions of playing in pretend games for at least another week.

This has taken a toll on some players, including New York Mets infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, who on Thursday was pretty much ejected from a game while running to first base.

In the fourth inning of the Mets game with the Washington Nationals, Cabrera stepped in against Erick Fedde and attempted to call for time on a 3-0 pitch, but it wasn't granted by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Fedde continued with his windup and threw a strike.

At that point, Cabrera briefly exchanged words with Hernandez. While it didn't appear he said anything inappropriate, it was clear he was upset Hernandez didn't grant him time.

On the next pitch, Cabrera ripped a single to right field. As he started running down to first, he turned his head and glanced back at Hernandez for a brief second. Hernandez readied his arm as if to eject Cabrera, but since Cabrera wasn't looking at him, Hernandez didn't pull the trigger.

Cabrera eventually reached first base, turned to look at Hernandez and was ejected. Cabrera did say something to Hernandez, although it's unclear whether he was tossed before or after that happened.

With that, Cabrera embarked on a slow, lengthy walk from the dugout to the outfield fence. He took his time doing so, silently letting Hernandez know he was fed up with the situation.

Putt for dough

Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan are all-time great basketball players. They're also legendary gamblers, particularly off the court -- including on the golf course.

Barkley was on The Dan Patrick Show earlier in the week, talking basketball and other topics, when the conversation turned to Jordan, Barkley and golf. Barkley wasn't shy in talking about some of the more outrageous golf bets the two have made, including when Jordan put $300,000 on the line on a single putt.

"We'd be playing golf with certain people, for a couple hundred dollars a hole, nothing big, and he'd be playing some guy for $100,000," Barkley said Thursday of Jordan.

"He's like, 'Charles, pick that up.' I'm like, 'This putt is for $200.' He's like, 'Pick that up, Charles, get out of my way, you're in my line.' I'm like, 'How much is that putt for?' He's like, '$300,000.' I said, 'Let me get out of your line.' It was crazy, man."

Pizza pitch

Carlos Carrasco is a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, but he made his way to the United States and Major League Baseball through the Philadelphia Phillies.

Carrasco grew up and learned to play the game in Venezuela. The language barrier was an incredible challenge for Carrasco, and it dictated a lot of things in his life back then. Like what he could eat during his first spring training.

"I'm not exaggerating. I had Domino's every ... single ... day. It was the only thing I knew how to order.

"So for 90 days, I ate pizza. I ordered it so much that the Domino's near our facility ended up giving me one month of free pizza as a reward for being their best customer."

Sports on 03/25/2017

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