data-mm-id=”_6yissx3a9″>Alex Bregman is right at the center of the Houston Astros cheating scandal. While 2017 was his first full season in the big leagues, he was actually already a seasoned sign stealer well before Houston developed its Codebreaker system. At 12-years old, Bregman went on the road with the New Mexico Lobos baseball team as a bat boy and quickly showed a knack for figuring out what pitch was coming. This comes from a Bleacher Report profile from almost exactly a year ago: "'I was a little cocky piece of shit as a kid who'd tell them I'm gonna be in the big leagues, and they're like, ‘Yeah, all right, kid,'' Bregman says. It gave him a taste of college baseball. He loved riding the busses. Within the first few games of being the team's bat boy, Alex began to pick up the signals of other teams.'Hey, I got their signs,' Alex said to the Lobos coaching staff.The next pitch, Alex said, would be a fastball.Fastball.The next pitch was gonna be off-speed, he said.Off-speed.Here comes the changeup, he said.Changeup.Alex explained his secrets, and the coaches observed. 'You're right,' they said. 'You got ‘em.' The Lobos ended up sweeping all the games they played that weekend in Arizona. 'They never found out,' Alex says today. 'Who thinks the bat boy has the signs?' The stories circled the Albuquerque baseball scene before Alex started high school."That story was much cuter when it was published. Now it's just an anecdote used to show that Bregman is actually a savant when it comes to stealing signs. Of course, most baseball people have no problem with this story. As long as Bregman was only using his eyes from the field to figure out what the opposing pitchers were throwing, that's well within the parameters of the unwritten rules. [h/t: @thisyeardc]
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A missed penalty from Salah in a shoot-out against Senegal in March proved costly as the Pharaohs missed out on a place in Qatar.
Asked on Sunday whether Salah would be jealous of him making it to the tournament, Lovren said: One hundred percent! I would be jealous too.
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Prediction: Leeds United to win 1-0
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Newcastle United have a chance in midweek to drag themselves away from the relegation dogfight as they host Leeds United at St James Park.
The Toon come into Tuesday evening s clash in absolutely horrendous form but are coming up against a Leeds side who are somewhat low on confidence themselves.
Newcastle United
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Saints finally get a Valentine´s card, Kane thinking outside of the box – the Premier League weekend
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There was also an impressive scoring feat for an Arsenal striker to enjoy on February 14, as the Gunners sent the White Roses of Leeds United back to Yorkshire with their tails between their legs.
A Valentine s Day chocolate variety set was the only box Harry Kane got near this weekend after a tricky time of it against Pep Guardiola s Manchester City, as Ilkay Gundogan continued his remarkable run.
All the above feature in our quirky facts from the weekend s top-flight action!
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Caretaker boss Gary Mills was proud of his Burton players after they beat Blackpool 1-0 to register a first win in nine League One matches.
Bobby Kamwa netted the game’s only goal after 10 minutes, with play-off hopefuls Blackpool unable to respond.
“It was a really good performance and really proud of the group,” Mills said.
“The energy and pride they showed in their performance was excellent and that is credit to everyone at the football club. They deserve that.”
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We created numerous amounts of chances and we ve got to win the game. The best team lost and they ve punished us for missing the chances.
We ve b…
Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny is refusing to bemoan his luck as he prepares to take on the might of France without his emerging star striker.
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With a semi-final appearance at Russia 2018, and a runner-up finish at Euro 2020, there had been questions over whether Southgate could depart before the end of his contract, which runs through to Euro 2024.
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