Fan News

Before the Los Angeles Dodgers took on the Chicago Cubs on Friday night, they invited quite a special guest to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Jeff Bridges, the actor who played Jeffrey Lebowski, or "The Dude" in the 1998 film The Big Lebowski, tossed the first pitch. Before throwing a legitimate pitch, Bridges decided to bowl the ball to home plate as a tribute to the film.

With the trade deadline now passed and the calendar switching over to August, we have officially reached the stretch run of the 2014 MLB season.

The entire MLB landscape has been wide open this season, and after one of the busiest trade deadlines in recent memory, the final two months of the year should be awfully exciting.

No division lead is bigger than four games entering play Saturday, and a grand total of 21 teams are within six games of a playoff spot, as parity has certainly reigned in both leagues here in 2014.

Shane Victorino was a key factor in the Boston Red Sox's run to a World Series in 2013. This year, however, he's been unable to stay on the field, playing just 30 games and landing back on the disabled list with back and hamstring problems.

Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig is known for making some crazy highlight plays. And while this one didn't make much of a difference in the final score, it was still pretty impressive.

Although the July 31 trade deadline has passed, the activity across major league baseball is not yet finished.

The Cleveland Indians were one of the more active teams at the July 31 trade deadline.

The club entered the deadline in a curious position, sitting 6.5 games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers and five games back of the final AL wild-card spot. Without all the necessary pieces to make a serious run at the division, the Tribe chose to ship off two of their more high-profile players.

Jose Abreu can hit home runs. That much has been obvious from the moment he put on a big league uniform. But his talents, clearly, go well beyond the long ball.

Excitement has trailed the Cuban star since he inked a six-year, $68 million contract with the Chicago White Sox last fall. But his reputation, by and large, was that of a single-tool slugger.

This trade deadline, the Cubs added to an already loaded system of young talent. Even though they've yet to add any elite pitching prospects to the system, the team continues to claim it can build the pitching staff through trades and free agency. 

Updates from Saturday, August 2

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reported on Carlos Gonzalez's status:

Original Text

Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is going through something of a lost season due to various injuries, and it appears he may have to fight through yet another setback after aggravating an ankle sprain in the team's Friday night game against the Detroit Tigers.

McKayla Maroney is showing the world her supreme athleticism once again. 

In case you need a refresher, Maroney became famous after silver-medaling in the vault during the 2012 Summer Olympics, when she made this face on the podium:

She and her other four Team USA teammates won the gold medal in women's artistic team all-around.