Messi Named Best International Athlete at This Year’s ESPY Awards

Lionel Messi is the best of the best…

The 28-year-old Argentine soccer star picked up the Best International Athlete prize at this year’s ESPY Awards.

Lionel Messi

Messi, a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team, beat Real Madrid‘s Cristiano Ronaldo, tennis player Novak Djokovic, golfer Lydia Ko and F1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

Messi became the all-time leading scorer in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. He helped Barcelona claim the 2014-15 Champions League title as the joint top scorer (10) and the assists leader (6).

It’s Messi’s second Best International Athlete win. He previously took home the award in 2012.

But the soccer star wasn’t the only Latino athlete honored at this year’s awards show…

Victor Espinoza took home the award for Best Jockey…

The 43-year-old Mexican jockey won the Triple Crown in 2015 on American Pharoah. Espinoza helped end the longest streak without a Triple Crown winner in the history of American horse racing, with 13 horses losing in the Belmont Stakes after winning the first two races in the series.

Here’s a look at this year’s ESPY Award winners:

Best Team: U.S. Women’s Soccer – FIFA
Best Male Athlete: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Best Play (bracket-style): Odell Beckham catch vs. 16. Albany goalie lacrosse goal
Best Comeback Athlete: Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
Best Female Athlete: Ronda Rousey, MMA
Best Moment: Lauren Hill
Jimmy V Award for Perseverance: Devon and Leah Still
Pat Tillman Award for Service:
Danielle Green
Icon Award: Derek Jeter
Arthur Ashe Award for Courage: Caitlyn Jenner
Best Championship Performance:LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Best Male College Athlete: Marcus Mariota, Oregon Football
Best Breakthrough Athlete:Mo’ne Davis, Little League Baseball
Best NBA Player: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Best Record-Breaking Performance:Peyton Manning throws record-509th touchdown pass
Best Upset:Mississippi over Alabama, FBS
Best Fighter:Ronda Rousey, MMA
Best Jockey:Victor Espinoza
Best Game:Patriots vs. Seahawks, Super Bowl
Best Coach/Manager: Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors
Best Comeback Athlete: Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
Best International Athlete:
Lionel Messi, Barcelona/Argentina
Best NFL Player:Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Best MLB Player: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
Best NHL Player: Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
Best Driver: Kevin Harvick, NASCAR
Best WNBA Player: Skylar Diggins, Tulsa
Best Male Golfer:Jordan Spieth
Best Female Golfer: Lydia Ko
Best Male Tennis Player: Novak Djokovic
Best Female Tennis Player: Serena Williams
Best Female College Athlete: Missy Franklin, Cal Swimming
Best Male Action Sports Athlete: Ryan Dungey, Motocross
Best Female Action Sports Athlete:Kelly Clark, Snowboarding
Best Male Athlete with a Disability:Krige Schabort, Triathlon
Best Female Athlete with a Disability:Becca Meyers, Swimming
Best Bowler: Jason Belmonte
Best MLS Player: Robbie Keane, Los Angeles Galaxy

Espinoza Rides American Pharoah to Triple Crown Greatness

Victor Espinoza has jockeyed his way into the history books…

American Pharoah, with the 43-year-old Mexican jockey at the reins, won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.

Victor Espinoza
Affirmed had been the last horse to win the Triple Crown, taking the most coveted prize in horse racing in 1978.

American Pharoah lived up to expectations on Saturday, pulling away from its challengers in the last stretch of the 147th Belmont Stakes and becoming just the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown.

“It’s very emotional,” American Pharoah’s trainer, Bob Baffert, said. “What a feeling. It’s probably going to take a few days to sink in.”

The horse, which is owned by Zayat Stables, won the Kentucky Derby on May 2 and the Preakness Stakes two weeks later, taking the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Baffert and Espinoza had come up short in five previous bids between them to win the Triple Crown.

“He walked into the gate amazing,” Espinoza said. “He was ready today. As soon as I sat in the saddle, there was so much power and so much energy this horse had. He trained perfect, just unbelievable coming into the race.”

American Pharoah ended the longest streak without a Triple Crown winner in the history of American horse racing, with 13 horses losing in the Belmont Stakes after winning the first two races in the series.

The previous longest stretch without a Triple Crown winner was 25 years, spanning the time from Citation’s victory in 1948 to Secretariat’s win in 1973.

“It’s just an amazing thing. It’s just unbelievable how things work out. It’s just an amazing horse like American Pharoah. I was coming to this race with so much confidence the last two times. It’s just unbelievable,” Espinoza said.

Espinoza won the first two legs of the Triple Crown with War Emblem in 2002 and California Chrome last year, but he came up short each time at Belmont.

Cabrera Agrees to Record $292 Million Contract with the Detroit Tigers

It’s official. Miguel Cabrera is the highest-paid player in Major League Baseball

The 30-year-old Venezuelan baseball star, a two-time American League MVP, has agreed to terms with the Detroit Tigers on a new 10-year contract that will pay him a whopping $292 million.

Miguel Cabrera

The new contract, which covers the two years remaining on Cabrera’s current deal and eight additional years, is expected to become official later this week, the source said.

According to CBSSports.com, which earlier reported Detroit and Cabrera were closing in on an agreement, the new deal also includes two additional vesting options worth $30 million apiece for years 11 and 12 that could bring the total of the deal to $352 million.

Multiple media outlets have reported that Cabrera needs to pass a physical exam before his new deal is complete.

If the new contract is calculated as a single, 10-year entity, it will surpass the 10-year, $275 million deal that Alex Rodriguez signed with the New York Yankees in December 2007, as the largest in MLB history.

Based on a career average of 607 at-bats per season and an average of $30 million annually, Cabrera would earn $49,423 per at-bat.

Cabrera, who turns 31 in April, is an eight-time All-Star in 11 seasons with the Florida Marlins and Tigers. He’s a .321 career hitter with 365 home runs.

He’s the only major league player with 100 or more RBIs in each of the past 10 seasons, and last year he became the first Tiger to win three consecutive batting titles since Ty Cobb achieved the feat from 1917 to 1919.

Cabrera led the majors with a .348 batting average last year and his 44 homers and 137 RBIs were both second to Baltimore’s Chris Davis.

The Venezuelan slugger won the Triple Crown in 2012 — becoming the game’s first player to lead either league in batting average, homers and RBIs since 1967.

Cabrera Named Player of the Year at Major League Baseball Players Choice Awards

Miguel Cabrera is getting some serious respect from his fellow Major League Baseball players…

The 30-year-old Venezuelan baseball star and Detroit Tigers slugger has won his second consecutive player of the year award in voting by his fellow major leaguers.

Miguel Cabrera

Cabrera followed his historic Triple Crown season of 2012 with another impressive year. He led the American League with a .348 average and had 44 homers and 137 RBIs, both second to Baltimore Orioles star Chris Davis. Cabrera edged Davis and the Angels’ Mike Trout for the honor.

Retiring Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was voted Marvin Miller man of the year for excellence on and off the field, and Rivera was also picked as the AL’s comeback player of the year, notching 44 saves after missing most of 2012 with a knee injury. Pittsburgh’s Francisco Liriano was selected the National League‘s comeback player.

For the second consecutive year, Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen won NL outstanding player. Cabrera was selected AL outstanding player.

Other awards Monday night went to Detroit’s Max Scherzer (AL outstanding pitcher), the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw (NL outstanding pitcher), Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Wil Myers (AL outstanding rookie) and Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (NL outstanding rookie).

Triple Crown Winner Cabrera Earns ESPY Award for Best MLB Player

He may have lost the ESPY for Best Male Athlete to the Miami Heat’s LeBron James. But Miguel Cabrera didn’t come empty-handed.

The  30-year-old Venezuelan baseball star, a third baseman for the Detroit Tigers, was named for Best MLB Player at the 21st ESPY Awards show on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Miguel Cabrera

Cabrera earned the award after becoming the first Triple Crown winner (.330 average, 44 home runs, 139 RBIs) since 1967 and winning the American League MVP title.

Meanwhile, Joel Rosario was named the year’s Best Jockey. The 28-year-old American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey won the award after riding the colt Orb to a win at the Kentucky Derby.

Rosario also won the world’s richest horse race, the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai in March, aboard the US-based stallion Animal Kingdom.

ESPY Award is short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award.

Fan voting, conducted online, was based on performances spanning the past 12 months.

The awards show, which celebrates the year’s best athletes and moments in sports, was hosted by Mad Men star Jon Hamm.

San Francisco Giants’ Romo Declares: ‘I Just Look Illegal’

He’s already garnered acclaim for his pitch perfect play in this year’s World Series… But now Sergio Romo is getting attention for his political attire.

During the San Francisco Giants‘ victory parade on Wednesday, the team’s 29-year-old Mexican American relief pitcher – the closer last seen striking out Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers on Sunday to end the World Series – donned a t-shirt that read, “I just look illegal.”

Sergio Romo

Romo, the son of Mexican immigrants, just miles from the Mexican border, set the social media world on fire in response to the provocative message he sported while parading through the streets of San Francisco.

“Giant hero indeed: Sergio Romo’s t-shirt at World Series parade proclaims ‘I JUST LOOK ILLEGAL,’” tweeted one fan.

“@SergioRomo54 Props to the shirt you wore! Big ups to you for blasting a solid message!!!!” tweeted another.

Immigrant activists around the country interpreted it as a satirical message about a term that many say dehumanizes immigrants in the country illegally — as well as American-born Latinos like Romo.

“You cannot tell who looks ‘illegal,'” tweeted Bay Area activist and journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who thanked Romo for taking a stand. “No human being is illegal.”

Romo, who was raised in the small Southern California city of Brawley, said nothing publicly Wednesday about the shirt and partially concealed its message with a zip-up hoodie when he held the World Series trophy behind crooner Tony Bennett. 

He did, however, thank fans in a speech celebrating the Bay Area’s diversity and its “different folks with different strokes” and “different faces from different places,” then flashed the message on his way back from the stand.

Cabrera Gets His “Crown” & Wins the AL’s Hank Aaron Award

Miguel Cabrera made history by becoming the first Latino Triple Crown winner… And, now he’s got the hardware to prove it.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig presented the 29-year-old Venezuelan third baseman with an actual crown on Saturday for becoming only the fifteenth player to win the coveted Triple Crown, and announced that the Detroit Tigers slugger won the American League‘s Hank Aaron Award.

Miguel Cabrera

For the first time, both winners of the award that recognizes the top offensive players in each league were getting ready to play in the same World Series.

After Cabrera received his crown, he went to get ready for Game 3. Moments later, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey was honored for being the National League‘s Hank Aaron Award winner.

“Miguel joined historic company this year by winning the game’s first Triple Crown in 45 years,” Selig said. “And, Buster was a consistent force in returning to the field triumphantly this year.”

Cabrera is the first player to lead baseball in batting average, home runs and RBIs since 1967 when Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski pulled off the feat.

“I am very nervous right now,” Cabrera said after waiting for more than 10 minutes for Selig to arrive at the pregame news conference. “But I want to thank you very much. It’s an honor to be sitting here with a Hall of Famer and commissioner.”

Posey hit .336 and became the first catcher in the league to win the batting title since Ernie Lombardi of the Boston Braves in 1942.

“I’m humbled that Hank Aaron knows who I am,” Posey said. “Growing up in Georgia, he’s a legend.”

Blanco’s Bunt Helps Propel the Giants to Victory

Gregor Blanco‘s small bat skills have helped lead his San Francisco Giants to a 2-0 lead against the Detroit Tigers in the World Series

Gregor Blanco's Bunt at the World Series

Unlike his teammate Pablo Sandoval’s hard-hitting performance in Game 1, the 28-year-old Venezuelan baseball star’s bunt stayed in bounds to eke out the go-ahead run in a 2-0 win Thursday night against the Tigers.

Blanco’s single trickled to a stop just inches fair on the infield dirt, setting up Brandon Crawford‘s run-scoring double-play grounder in the seventh. Hunter Pence added a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Gregor Blanco's Bunt at the World Series

“I was joking with (coach) Roberto Kelly when I got to first base, ‘We practiced that today,'” said Blanco about his single that rolled 45 feet, if that. “That was a perfect bunt. I wasn’t really trying to do that. I think it was just meant to be and I’m thankful that I did it.”

Madison Bumgarner shut down the Tigers for seven innings, then Santiago Casilla pitched a perfect eighth and Sergio Romo worked the ninth for a save in the combined two-hitter, leaving Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera and his team in a huge hole heading back to Comerica Park.

Game 3 will be played Saturday night in Detroit, and for once, the Giants aren’t playing from behind. They overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat Cincinnati Reds in the best-of-five National League Division Series and escaped a 3-1 hole against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.

Anibal Sanchez will start for the Tigers against Ryan Vogelsong in Detroit.

Of the 52 teams to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series, 41 have gone on to win the title. That includes 14 of the last 15 teams with that advantage.

“I’m not sure, and I haven’t done any studies on it,” said Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt, “but statisically it’s always better to be 2-0 than 1-1 or 0-2. I’m just guessing.”

Cabrera ThisClose to Making MLB Batting History…

Miguel Cabrera is chasing history…

The 29-year-old Venezuelan third baseman for the Detroit Tigers is thisclose to joining an elite list of the Major League’s batting stars.

Miguel Cabrera

Baseball hasn’t seen a Triple Crown winner — a hitter leading the league in home runs, runs batted in, and batting average — since 1967.

But Cabrera could change that this season… by becoming the first Latino Triple Crown winner.

The seven-time All-Star player is currently leading the American League in batting average and RBIs, and he trailed the Texas RangersJosh Hamilton by just two home runs as of September 19, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Cabrera—who homered to help the Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 6-2 on Wednesday night—is already a World Series Champion (with the Florida Marlins), a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner and two-time recipient of the Luis Aparicio Award, which is given annually to honor the Venezuelan player who recorded the best individual performance in Major League Baseball.

Here are the eight players who have pulled off the feat in the American League:

Carl Yastrzemski, Boston Red Sox, 1967 (.326 batting average, 44 HRs, 121 RBIs) – Yaz is the last player to win the Triple Crown. His greatest competition came in the home-run race where he tied Harmon Killebrew with 44.

Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, 1966 (.316, 49, 122) – Just a year before Yastrzemski won his Triple Crown, Frank Robinson won one of his own for Baltimore. Robinson’s .316 average was the lowest ever for a Triple Crown winner.

Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees, 1956 (.353, 52, 130) – Mantle joined Gehrig as the two Triple Crown winners in the long history of success for the Yankees. The Mick led the league by a whopping 20 home runs over Cleveland’s Vic Wertz.

Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox, 1947 (.343, 32, 114) – It’s fitting that the man who many feel is the greatest hitter ever won not one but two Triple Crowns. Williams’ second, in 1947, featured the third of his six batting titles. He edged out Hall of Famer Joe Gordon, then of the Indians, by three for the home-run title.

Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox, 1942 (.356, 36, 137) – 1942 was Teddy Ballgame’s last year before missing three years for military service. He made sure baseball would miss him. Though his average dropped by a full 50 points over his amazing 1941 season, he still won the batting title by 25 points. Amazingly, he did not win the AL MVP in either of his Triple Crown seasons.

Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees, 1934 (.363, 49, 165) – In accomplishing the Triple Crown, Gehrig pulled off what his more famous teammate — Babe Ruth — never did. Gehrig’s 165 RBIs were the most ever in a Triple Crown-winning season.

Jimmy Foxx, Philadelphia Athletics, 1933 (.356, 48, 163) – Foxx won the second of his thee MVPs for this season. This was part of a remarkable streak in which Foxx drove in 100 or more runs for 13 straight seasons.

Ty Cobb, Detroit Tigers, 1909 (.377, 9, 107) – It’s amusing in today’s era to see a player lead the league with just nine home runs. Cobb dominated the 1909 season. In addition to the Triple Crown categories, he led the American League in runs, stolen bases, hits, total bases, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.

Nap Lajoie, Philadelphia Athletics, 1901 (.426, 14, 125) – Lajoie produced the highest batting average for a Triple Crown winner. A Hall of Famer, Lajoie led the AL in 11 offensive categories in 1901. He won the batting title by 86 points that year.

Velazquez Rides Union Rags to Victory at Belmont Stakes

The first time’s the charm for John Velazquez

Riding Union Rags for the first time, the 40-year-old Puerto Rican jockey led the 3-year-old colt to victory at Saturday’s 144th Belmont Stakes.

John Velzquez & Union Rags

Union Rags determinedly budged through a narrow opening on front-running Paynter‘s left flank with eight strides to go and snatched a dramatic neck victory in the Triple Crown finale in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 85,811 showed up at Belmont Park.

“I waited for a hole to open up, and I got lucky,” said Velazquez. “The horse did it all. … If it happens, it’s brilliant. If it doesn’t happen, you’re a bum, basically.”

John Velzquez & Union Rags

Velazquez set up the move by putting Union Rags in Paynter jockey Mike Smith‘s blind spot. But he still could only hope that Paynter would move ever so slightly off the rail. With Atigun making a run on the outside, Smith switched to his left-hand stick — and Velazquez seized the opportunity.

“I said this could be my chance,” he said. “… At first the hole was pretty tight.”

Smith said he didn’t see Velazquez until too late.

“I could have tried to make a difference, but you don’t want to let the stewards (decide) the outcome of a race like this,” he said. “If I tried to do anything, I was going to put him in harm, and I certainly didn’t want to do that, either.”

John Velzquez & Union Rags
“I thought he rode a brilliant race,” Union Rags’ trainer Michael Matz  said of Velazquez. “Whether he got up there or wouldn’t, he still rode a great race. … He’s a strong rider, he knows Belmont, and those were some of the things that went into picking John.”

Velazquez, who will be inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame in August, now has won three Triple Crown races, and all came after rider changes. He won the 2007 Belmont with Kentucky Oaks winner Rags to Riches, after jockey Garrett Gomez had a prior commitment for the race. He won last year’s Kentucky Derby on Animal Kingdom after Robby Albarado was kicked in the face by a horse.