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Albert Pujols open to becoming a manger, says his ‘name is in the hat’ after recent MLB firings
Albert Pujols got a taste of managing during the World Baseball Classic, and it sure seems like he’s caught the fever.
The St. Louis Cardinals legend could have sat pretty after blasting 703 home runs in his illustrious career, but he loves the game and continues to be around it.
But he wants to be in it deeper, and given the recent managerial firings in Major League Baseball, Pujols said he is waiting for the right opportunity.
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“My name is in the hat,” Pujols told Fox News Digital. “I mean, listen, I’m not gonna force it. I think when the opportunity is right — I never was the player that I forced things. I let things come to me and prepared myself.
“My dad used to tell me, control what you can control. Don’t try to control the things that are out of your control. So I’m waiting for an opportunity. If it happens, great, I’ll be ready. If it doesn’t happen, then I’m really excited and happy with the career that I have.”
Pujols knows, though, that being an MLB manager is a thankless job.
“When you win, the team wins. When you lose, the manager loses,” he joked.
But other parts of managing, Pujols said, “have changed a lot,” notably with front offices increasing their say in daily lineups.
“I played in three periods: ’01 to ’10, ’10 to ’20, and then ’20 to ’22. So, I saw everything. I have seen this game strange so much, but I think at the end of the day, I think the communication, whether it’s with the front office, as a manager, your communication with your GM is so important, because that’s gonna transfer into the ballplayers,” he said.
If Pujols’ first managerial job is anything like his stint in the World Baseball Classic, he’d be pretty happy.
“Having all that talent that we had, representing our country in the World Baseball Classic, it wasn’t about teaching this guy how to play the game. These guys were professional. They know how to play the game,” Pujols said. “It was more about their responsibility, and little things that I can help them out, and, you know, writing that lineup, and try to be there, make decisions, and make the best lineup to win games.”
The Boston Red Sox fired Alex Cora, and days later, the Philadelphia Phillies relieved Rob Thomson of his duties. New York Mets fans have been clamoring for Carlos Mendoza to get the axe, but he remains in his post.
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Anti-Israel agitators clash with NYPD officers near synagogue
Anti-Israel agitators clashed with law enforcement outside a Manhattan synagogue on Tuesday night as pro-Israel demonstrators waved Israeli and American flags nearby.
Footage from the protest shows New York City police officers shoving the anti-Israel group back to create a street-wide separation between the two groups. The group waving Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyehs numbered roughly 100 and could be heard repeatedly shouting, “Israel should not exist.”
The anti-Israel group, gathered less than a block from the Park East Synagogue, chanted, “Palestine will never die,” and, “Stop the sale of stolen land.”
The organizer of the protest was the anti-Israel group Pal-Awda NY/NJ, which previously organized a similar demonstration outside the same synagogue in November, according to the New York Post.
JEWISH SAFETY IN NEW YORK DEPENDS ON CLEAR LINES AND MORAL COURAGE FROM MAMDANI
It was in response to that protest that the New York City Council passed legislation allowing the NYPD to place barriers around synagogues to protect congregants from protesters. Police at Tuesday night’s clash were seen enforcing that barrier.
The council passed the legislation with a veto-proof 44-5 majority, but NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani refused to sign the legislation, instead dragging it out until an April 25 deadline when it automatically became law, the Post reported.
The Anti-Defamation League released an annual report on Wednesday morning that found 2025 “marked one of the most violent periods for American Jews.”
ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS BREAK RECORD FOR 4TH STRAIGHT YEAR, ADL FINDS
Assaults against Jews rose to 203 from 196 compared to the year before, and assaults with deadly weapons rose from 23 to 32.
The group did find that non-violent antisemitic incidents, including incidents of harassment and vandalism, were down 39% and 21% since 2024 respectively.
“Our 2025 Audit, which shows it was one of the most violent years for American Jews on record is a reminder of how dramatically the threat landscape has shifted. Numbers that would have shocked us five years ago are now our floor,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
The ADL audit includes both criminal and non-criminal acts of harassment, vandalism and assault against individuals and groups as reported to ADL by victims, law enforcement, the media and partner organizations, and evaluated by ADL’s experts, the group says.
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Lakers player suffers gruesome pinkie injury in Game 1 loss to Thunder
Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt suffered a gruesome finger injury during the team’s Game 1 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
Vanderbilt went up to block Thunder star Chet Holmgren’s dunk, but missed. Instead, his pinkie got caught on the backboard as he came down. Vanderbilt was in a ton of pain, and even the Thunder bench winced at Vanderbilt’s hand.
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“I mean, it just — it looked pretty gruesome in my opinion,” Thunder guard Jared McCain said after Oklahoma City finished off the 108-90 victory. “I don’t even know, to be honest, what I was looking at. It looked pretty bad, though. So prayers for him. Sending him love.”
Vanderbilt, who averaged 4.4 points per game during the regular season, only played six minutes in Game 1. He had two points and a rebound.
Lakers coach JJ Redick spoke about Vanderbilt’s mishap after the game, calling it a “freak injury.”
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“I went to go check on him because it just looked bad,” Redick said. “He was audibly screaming. Knew he had done something. We’re obviously disappointed. But, that happened, and it’s just a freak injury.”
Los Angeles has been hit with the injury bug over the last month. The team lost Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic for the last few games of the regular season. Reaves returned to the floor for Game 5 against the Houston Rockets.
Against the Thunder, he only scored eight points in 36 minutes.
Doncic is still nursing a hamstring injury, which cost him the final five regular-season games and now Game 1 against Oklahoma City.
Game 2 is set for Thursday night.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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WWE legend Ric Flair blasts Lakers’ Luka Doncic, calls on team to trade him
Pro wrestling legend Ric Flair didn’t mince words when it came to Luka Doncic’s absence from the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
The Lakers fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game of their second-round series, 108-90. Doncic missed the first round of the playoffs with a hamstring injury. Los Angeles has seen Austin Reaves return to the lineup in the last series. He played 36 minutes against the Thunder, but only scored eight points.
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Flair wrote on X that Doncic needed to get back in the game and that he hoped the Lakers decide to trade him.
“Luka, Please Get In The Game! Take A Shot Of Cortisone And Deal With The Pain! They Are Paying You 50 Million A Year, And You’re Not There! WTF! I Hope @JeanieBuss Trades You Next Year. Nobody Wants A Lame Duck On Their Team!” Flair wrote in his rant.
Flair made clear in an interview with Fox News Digital in 2023 that he keeps an eye on all sports – not just what’s going on in pro wrestling.
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Particularly, he found players resting due to “load management” loathsome.
“These basketball players that whine and b—h, it’s taken a lot of the sport away from me,” he said at the time.
Flair contrasted wrestling through his own injuries to NBA players sitting out through injuries he felt they should be able to play through.
“They go to work hurt,” Flair said about pro wrestlers at the time. “That’s what p—-s me off today about these basketball players that stub their toe. No s—. How do you think I feel about that knowing I wrestled six months after I broke my back in a f—ing airplane crash? ‘I got a torn thumbnail. Whoa, whoa, whoa.’”
In any event, Doncic’s hamstring injury cost him the last five games of the regular season and each of the Lakers’ playoff games.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
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