Sports Athletes Who Died in 2011 … Harmon Killebrew, Macho Man Randy Savage, Bubba Smith, Al Davis and Joe Fraizer to Name a Few: REST IN PEACE

In Memoriam …

Sadly we lost some real icons in the world of sports this year. Among some who died were MLB Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, WWE Pro-wrestling great Randy “Macho Man” Savage, NFL football greats Bubba Smith, Chester McGlockton, Dave Duerison, Ollie Matson and John Macky, PGA golfing legend Seve Ballesteros, Oklahoma State women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna, NFL icon Al Davis and Boxing great Smokin Joe Frazier.

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No death was probably more tragic than the terrible Indy car crash and the death of race car driver Dan Wheldon at the season-ending Las Vegas Indy 300. Weldon was just 33 years of age.

Sadly, boxing great and former heavy weight champion of the world, Smokin’ Joe Frazier passed away at age 67 after to battle with liver cancer.

The NFL lost its Commitment to Excellence … NFL Oakland Raider Owner Al Davis Dies at Age 82 … JUST WIN BABY!!!

More athletes who passed in 2011 can be seen here at Sports Illustrated. What is the most tragic thing after  reviewing the far many athletes who died in 2011 was sadly the amount who died due to suicide.

MLB Most Valuable Player Brian Braun Tests Positive For Performance Enhancing Drugs

RUT-ROH … Another black eye for Major League Baseball. The title should be MLB NL MVP tests + for PED.

Just when you thought it was safe to think that the drug cheating era in Major League Baseball was over, think again. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun and the reigning 2011 National League’s MLB MVP has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. If the test results are upheld, Braun faces a 50 game suspension. According to ESPN, when Braun was accepting his MVP award, he already knew that he had tested positive.

VIDEO: ESPN – Braun tests positive for PED

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, CBS Sports confirmed on Saturday.

The reigning National League MVP faces a potential 50-game suspension.

ESPN, which reported the story first citing two sources familiar with the case who talked with “Outside the Lines,” said Braun was tested during the playoffs and notified of the results in October. The report adds that Braun is disputing the result through arbitration, which is why Major League Baseball has not announced the findings yet.

MVP Brian Braun responded and told USA’s Today Bob Nightengale, “It’s BS! However, no such test result has ever been reversed. Braun and his peeps plan on fighting the test results. A spokesman for Brian Braun confirmed the positive test Saturday and issued a statement: “There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case … ”

Braun, however, plans a vigorous defense of the positive test. He will appeal any suspension and on Saturday night told USA TODAY of the result: “It’s BS.”

Remember when MLB commissioner Bud Selig stated that the steroid era in baseball was over? Bud may want to rethink his words. Its safe to say that any records in the past 25 years in baseball all need to have an asterisk on them as they are all suspect.

“The use of steroids and amphetamines amongst today’s players has greatly subsided and is virtually nonexistent, as our testing results have shown. The so-called steroid era — a reference that is resented by the many players who played in that era and never touched the substances — is clearly a thing of the past, and Mark’s admission today is another step in the right direction.”

If his test ends up being upheld and Braun tests positive for PED, nothing in MLB can be trusted ever again. Before any award is given, tests should be done and all information should be made public. This is getting to be ridiculous. Enough of MLB, the players union and the media allowing this to continue all so they can have exciting highlights. When will it ever end?

Seattle Mariners MLB Outfielder Greg Halman Stabbed to Death in Rotterdam, Netherlands

Greg Halman, Major League baseball outfielder for the Seattle Mariners, has been stabbed to death in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Are we sure that Joran Van der Sloot is still locked away in prison? Actually, the 22 year old brother of the slain Halman has been arrested for the crime.

Dutch police say Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman has been stabbed to death and his brother has been arrested as a suspect.

Rotterdam Police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels says police were called to a home in the Dutch port city early Monday morning and found Halman bleeding from a stab wound.

More from NBC’s Today:

Police were called to a home in the Dutch port city early Monday and found Halman bleeding from a stab wound. The officers were unable to resuscitate the outfielder.

“A 24-year-old died this morning in a stabbing and we have arrested the 22-year-old brother of the victim,” a Rotterdam police spokesman told Reuters. Officials declined to give the suspect’s name, in line with Dutch privacy rules.

MLB Catcher Wilson Ramos of the Washington Nationals Kidnapped in Venezuela (UPDATE: Rescued, Found Alive)

Wilson Ramos, a catcher with the Washington nationals has been kidnapped in his native country of Venezuela. According to reports, Ramos was abducted from his home by multiple gunman.  Vilera tweeted that four armed men in an SUV took Ramos from his home in Santa Ines in central Carabobo state. The family lives about 95 miles west of Caracas.  To this point there have been no ransom demands.

Professional baseball player Wilson Ramos, a catcher seen as one of the young building blocks for the Washington Nationals, was abducted by gunmen Wednesday from his home in his native Venezuela.

Ramos, a 24-year-old who just finished his rookie season, was taken away in an SUV by four armed men in Santa Ines in central Carabobo state, the spokeswoman for his Venezuelan League team, the Aragua Tigers, said on her official Twitter account.

“This is sad, worrisome and true that Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped,” Katherine Vilera wrote.

UPDATE I: Wilson Ramos found safe in Venezuela, freed from kidnappers. Ramos was rescued by Venezuela police, his agent, Gustavo Mercano, said in a phone conversation … “They got him. He’s safe.”

The Venezuelan Information Minister confirmed that Ramos was found safely by authorities in Montalban, a mountainous area of Carabobo state. Carabobo is the state in which Ramos‘ hometown of Santa Ines is located. Ramos was rescued roughly 10 minutes away from where the car used to abduct him was found abandoned on Thursday morning in Bejuma.

The Venezuelan Internal Affairs minister reported that the authorities had three kidnappers in custody so it was presumed this was a rescue operation and ransom was not involved. One of the kidnappers was said to be a Columbian “linked to paramilitary groups and to kidnapping groups.”

UPDATE II: Statement from the Washington Nationals:

“I am happy to announce that I have spoken directly with Wilson and he assures me he is unharmed but eager to be reunited with his family. He asked me to thank all who played a role in his rescue, and all those who kept him and his family in their thoughts and prayers. I join Wilson in thanking the many law enforcement officials in Venezuela and investigators with Major League Baseball who worked tirelessly to ensure a positive ending to what has been a frightening ordeal. The only detail that concerns us tonight is that Wilson is safe. The entire Washington Nationals family is thankful that Wilson Ramos is coming home.”

That Didn’t Take Long … U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton Declares Mistrial in Roger Clemens Perjury Trial

Now you see it, now you don’t … the Rocket as landed in a mistrial, Houston prosecutors, you have a problem. Will the judge say that there is double jeopardy and no new trial will take place?

“Mr. Clemens has to get a fair trial,” Walton said. “In my view, he can’t get it now.”

Just yesterday was the beginning of opening arguments in the perjury trial of former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens as he was in a battle for his freedom. My what a difference a day makes. In only the second day of the perjury trial, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton declared a mistrial. What was the cause? The prosecution showed jurors evidence that he had been previously ruled out. Good grief, what first year law student did this? The judge ruled that Clemens could not receive a fair trial following this action by the prosecution.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton left the question of a new trial up in the air. But he called a halt to the trial under way after prosecutors showed jurors evidence that he had ruled out — videotaped revelations that a teammate had said he’d told his wife Clemens confessed to using a drug.

Walton scolded prosecutors and said he couldn’t let the former All-Star pitcher face prison if convicted on such “extremely prejudicial” evidence.

“Mr. Clemens has to get a fair trial,” Walton said. “In my view, he can’t get it now.”

Judge Reggie Walton stated that he would hold a hearing September 2 to decide whether Clemens should face another trial. What a gaffe by the prosecution. How could such a blunder have occurred? The real question is whether during Walton’s next hearing whether he will attack “double jeopardy” to this case meaning that Clemens cannot be tried again.

He said a judge may make an exception for misconduct on the part of prosecutors, but this appears to have been a simple yet devastating mistake.

“How could the government not have reviewed each piece of evidence after the court’s pretrial rulings?” he said. “This is crucially important, and prosecutors have to do this all the time.”

Michael Kacer, One Armed Military Vet Who Lost Arm in Iraq Makes a One in a Million Catch

BASEBALL FEVER, CATCH IT … Michael Kacer did.

What was the MLB web gem of the weekend? Michael Kacer’s catch of course. Kacer us a a 29-year old war veteran who lost his left arm in a 2008 rocket attack. What a great moment for the 11 year National Guard veteran who made the play in Yankee Stadium and after making the catch, handed it to his nephew.

“I watched it bounce and I’m like, ‘I might be able to get it,’ and it just happened to go right in the hat,” Kacer explained, “so it makes for a great souvenir for [Isaiah].”

Kacer was one of more than 20 veterans at Friday’s game as part of Achilles International, a non-profit organization based out of New York that provides athletic experiences and opportunities to people with disabilities. The group took a Yankee bus to the stadium and was escorted by the NYPD. The veterans also had an opportunity to meet players prior to the game

Video: MLB.com

In a stadium filled with eight Gold Glove Award winners Friday, Michael Kacer made the play of the night.

Kacer, a 29-year-old from Scranton, Pa., stuck his cap out over a railing with his right arm in Section 121A of Yankee Stadium, snatching Curtis Granderson’s foul ball in the first inning.

Kacer, who spent 11 years with the National Guard and lost his left arm in a 2008 rocket attack, was on the field with the rest of the group before the game and was greeted by outfielder Nick Swisher before taking a picture with manager Joe Girardi.

Suspect in Dodger Stadium MLB Opening Day Beating of SF Giant Fan Bryan Stow is in Custody & Arrested

According to the LA Times, one of the two suspects has been arrested and taken into custody in the Major League Baseball Opening Day beating at LA Dodger Stadium of San Fransisco Giants fan Bryan Stow. The brutal beating left Stow with brain damage and until just last week in a medically induced coma. The suspect was apprehended by Los Angeles SWAT at an apartment building in East Hollywood. According to an apartment manager, one of those lead away by SWAT matched the description of one of  the two suspects below.

Sketches courtesy of LAPD.

At about 7 a.m., the Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team descended on an East Hollywood apartment building with a warrant in hand. According to apartment building manager Maritza Camacho, police, using loudspeakers and with guns drawn, called out to the occupants of Apartment 25. Inside was one of the men police suspect in the March 31 beating that left Stow with brain damage.

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NY METS, Montreal EXPOS & MLB Hall of Famer Gary Carter Diagnosed with Brain Tumor

Say a prayer for Gary Carter …

Major League Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter has been diagnosed with brain tumors. Carter played 18 MLB seasons with multiple teams, but is most known for his time he played with the N.Y. Mets including the 1986 World Series. Carter spent most of his career north of the border playing with the old Montreal Expos. Carter was an An 11-time All-Star who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2003.

An MRI of Gary Carter, the longtime Mets catcher and Hall of Famer, discovered tumors on his brain during a doctor’s visit today. Carter plans to be examined further on Thursday at Duke Medical Center in Durham, N.C., he said in a statement.

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