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Edwin Diaz Surprised By Dodgers Upgrading Awesome Closer Entrance With Live Trumpet Player

Everything is coming up Los Angeles Dodgers these days. The Dodgers are coming off back-to-back World Series titles. They unveiled their 2025 championship banner on Opening Day, then stormed back from a 2-0 deficit to score eight straight runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks in an 8-2 win. Will Smith homered, new offseason acquisition Kyle Tucker laced an RBI double into right center field, and Andy Pages hit a go-ahead three-run homer after struggling in the 2025 postseason. Then on Friday night, the team handed out their World Series rings, which, in a unique twist, actually have a second more wearable "band" inside the traditional, bigger ring. Oh, and their other big free agent acquisition, closer Edwin Diaz, got his first opportunity to pitch in a regular season game at Dodger Stadium. RELATED: Insane New MLB Revenue Numbers Expose Owners Hoarding Cash Instead Of Trying To WinAnd the organization, never one to miss a chance at putting on a show, took full advantage of it.Diaz, in his time with the New York Mets, became famous for his electric entrance into home games, accompanied by the song "Narco" by Timmy Trumpet. On Friday night, with the Dodgers up 5-4 over the Diamondbacks entering the ninth inning, Diaz had his first save opportunity in LA. And unsurprisingly, his new team continued the tradition with one major upgrade: a live trumpet.Hard to beat that. After the game, Diaz said that he didn't know the organization would have a live trumpet to accompany his entrance, but that it was "pretty fun" to see it."I was surprised a little bit," Diaz said in his postgame interview. "I heard a trumpet sounding before I was coming out. I said, 'No way, they got a live trumpet.' It was pretty fun. I enjoyed it, and I know fans enjoyed, too."Dodger manager Dave Roberts apparently was informed before the game, and wanted Diaz to pitch so the fans could enjoy the performance. It just so happened that it came in a save situation."I got word that there might be a trumpet player," he said. "That was great. I was hoping to get him in there, and it worked out, and he performed. I think the fans got what they were hoping for."Diaz worked around a one-out walk to pitch a scoreless inning in his Dodgers debut, securing the 5-4 and giving Los Angeles a 2-0 start. Tucker, by the way, drove in the go-ahead run in the 8th inning after early home runs from Alex Freeland and Mookie Betts. It's an embarrassment of riches in LA right now.

Read moreEdwin Diaz Surprised By Dodgers Upgrading Awesome Closer Entrance With Live Trumpet Player

Hammer These Best Bets For Every Elite Eight Game In 2026 NCAA Tournament

These 2026 Elite Eight bets target two totals and two spreads, with matchup-based analysis for all four NCAA Tournament games: Iowa-Illinois, Purdue-Arizona, Tennessee-Michigan, and UConn-Duke.

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Royals Catcher Humiliates Ump Over Repeated Missed Calls, But Who's To Blame?

The Age of ABS is upon us, folks, and we've already seen it deployed several times over the first two days of the Major League Baseball season. And, frankly, I'm not sure where I stand yet. On one hand, umpires need to be held accountable for an especially egregious call. I've said that for years now. I believe it in my bones. On the other hand … is it really necessary to overturn pitches that are literally a millimeter off the plate? Eh. That's a tricky one. Technically, the answer is yes. The technology exists to correct these calls, and we either have to be all in, or all the way out. But you also have moments like this in Friday night's Royals-Braves game, where Salvador Perez taught home plate umpire Doug Eddigs a tough lesson about the technical strike zone:Thoughts? First impressions? Eh. I don't know. That's just baseball to me. That's just Doug Eddings creating a strike zone. Clearly, he's not calling the low strike. They're all borderline. For some umps, it's a strike all day. For others, it's not. However, it's a tough look for Eddings, and I'm not sure where to land on this one. Part of me wants to side with the ump, and I HATE siding with umps. But come on. All of those pitches are borderline. Eddings called them all the same way, to be fair. There's an old adage in baseball. "All we ask for is consistency." That's what we want, right? If it's a ball in the first inning, it needs to be a ball all game. Same with a strike, obviously. Just give us the zone, and make it the same zone all night long. Umpires get in trouble when they switch zones every inning. That's when managers and players end up getting ejected, and I don't blame them. But Eddings called every one of those pitches a ball. According to the robots on the scoreboard, he was 0 for 3. But at least he kept his zone, right? Again, it's what we were taught growing up. Any baseball player worth his salt will tell you the same thing. We've all heard the speech from our coach when we're arguing balls and strikes, right?"Quit arguing, it's been a strike all day, swing the bat." It's the same argument I used in the WBC a few weeks back when the Domincan Republic lost on the infamous strike three call. It was low. It was a ball. BUT, it was called a strike down there all night long. It's on the player in that spot to swing the bat, especially with two strikes. I don't fault the umpire for that. I fault the player. I think it's the same here. Sure, Eddings whiffed on all three pitches. He looked goofy because the whole stadium saw it. Perhaps it's on him to adjust to the robots now. For decades, hitters had to adjust to an umpire's strike zone. The tables, clearly, have turned. And I'm still not sure if it's a good thing. 

Read moreRoyals Catcher Humiliates Ump Over Repeated Missed Calls, But Who's To Blame?

Big Ten Dominance Is No Accident: Now Tennessee's Own History Stands Between Michigan And Final Four

A financial awakening has fueled the Big Ten’s March Madness takeover—but Tennessee is ready to fight for its own historic breakthrough against Michigan in Elite Eight showdown

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Upsets Still Happen In March Madness, But True Cinderellas Are Disappearing

With NIL affecting how teams structure rosters, mid-major schools are struggling to build teams that can truly make noise in March Madness.

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Stop Coddling Tiger Woods And Be Honest About Who He’s Become

Here's the thing – I love Tiger Woods. Love him. I'm a massive Tiger fan. Whenever he's on TV, it's appointment viewing for me. Except that silly simulator league he created. That's nonsense. But when he's in a real golf tournament? I can't stop watching. No other athlete does that for me. Tiger does. That being said, it's time to start asking the tough questions when it comes to Tiger. Probably past time, if we're being honest. And they're not even tough questions at this point. They're simple ones. Real ones.  Can we stop crying about/over/for Tiger Woods? Can we stop coddling him? Can we start calling him out for what he's become? Are we done shielding him? That one bugs me. The constant shielding of Tiger. I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to that. Believe me. But I think I'm just about over Tiger. It pains me to say it, but I'm just over feeling bad for him at this point. Fool me once … fool me twice … fool me FOUR times now? Yeah, I'll go ahead and just say it. Tiger's an idiot, and it's time to stop coddling him. We can debate the legality of what happened in Jupiter on Friday all day long – and I'm sure we will over the next few days. I don't care. I just don't care. Tiger Woods is a 50-year-old adult man. He's 50. This isn't 30-year-old playboy Tiger getting beat to hell with a golf club on Thanksgiving night. This is Dad Tiger. Adult Tiger. Grown Man Tiger. There's just no excuse for any of it anymore. Frankly, there was never an excuse, but we excused it. Society has excused Tiger's nonsense for decades now. Again, I'm guilty of it, too. But it's just exhausting at this point, isn't it? We've been on this hamster wheel for YEARS now. Rinse, wash, repeat. It's the same crap, over and over and over again! And we just keep idolizing the guy. Seriously. We weirdly idolize him because he was great at golf 20 years ago. I mean, LOOK at this reaction from an actual golf reporter!We're nearly … crying … because Tiger Woods rolled his car over and got charged with DUI? Really? What are we doing here? It's pathetic. We're pathetic. Yes, I'm including myself in this. See? Accountability! Take notes, Tiger!Tiger Woods is an idiot. There. I said it. He constantly puts himself in these situations when he literally has access to every resource possible to avoid them. Hey, Tiger – billionaire Tiger – how about you hire a full-time driver? Just someone stationed in your driveway, 24/7/365? There. Fixed it. Hey, Tiger – billionaire Tiger – why not buy a Tesla and have it drive you wherever you want to go? There. Fixed it. Instead, we get this. Again. Again, and again, again. And we just fall for it. Every time! I get it. Tiger was electric 20 years ago. He began his comeback tour 10 years ago. He won The Masters seven years ago and gave us one of the greatest ‘sports moments’ of all time. But every few years, we get this crap. And every few years, we sit there and give Tiger a free pass because of what he was. What he made us feel. Enough. He's an idiot. There. I said it. He rolled his car over and could've killed someone. He was charged with a DUI, again. He's got all the money in the world, and he put himself in this position, again. Stop falling for it. Stop crying over this. Stop coddling Tiger Woods. I love Tiger the golfer. That'll never change. I think I'm done with Tiger the human.

Read moreStop Coddling Tiger Woods And Be Honest About Who He’s Become

Oregon And Ohio State Lead Big Ten Charge In New 2026 College Football Rankings

The latest SP+ rankings prove the Big Ten is the new king of college football with Ohio State and Oregon leading the field while the SEC dominates with depth.

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