ESPN Reports Pete Rose Bet on Games He Played #MMBSports

ESPN says it has new evidence that Pete Rose bet "extensively on baseball — and on the Cincinnati Reds — as he racked up the last hits of a record-smashing career in 1986." The evidence is in the form of pages of a notebook seized from a former associate of Rose during a 1989 raid by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 after it was found he was betting on games as a manager. Rose denied that he bet on baseball for the next 15 years, finally fessing up in 2004.

CREDIT / SOURCE - ESPN

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'Macho Man' tried baseball before wrestling

By Evan Drellich / MLB.com

Before becoming professional wrestling star Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Randy Mario Poffo tried his hand at professional baseball.

Poffo, who played in the Minor Leagues from 1971-74, was killed in a car crash Friday in Florida according to The Associated Press. He was 58.

In the wrestling world, Poffo was made famous for his "Oooh Yeah!" catchphrase and a rivalry with Hulk Hogan. He was a champion in Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation -- now the WWE -- and later the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling, once owned by former Braves owner Ted Turner.

A Florida Highway Patrol crash report said the former wrestler Poffo was driving a Jeep Wrangler when he lost control in Pinellas County collided head-on with a tree around 9:25 a.m. Friday, The AP reported. Police told The AP that Poffo may have suffered a "medical event" before the accident, but the report did not elaborate.

Poffo was a lifetime .254 hitter with 16 home runs and 66 RBIs in 289 games in the Minors, and he hit .286 with a pair of homers in his debut season with the Gulf Coast League Cardinals, according to Baseball-Reference.com. He played in the Reds organization at his last stop, at Class A.

Listed as a switch-hitter who mostly played the outfield but also caught one game and played first base, Poffo played alongside a few future big leaguers, including 14-year outfielder Larry Herndon.