When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy autographed a baseball for an American collector in 2019, he likely had no idea it would one day be used to help his nation during a time of need.

The official Rawlings Major League baseball is being sold by Randy Kaplan, a renowned collector of balls signed by world leaders, with a portion of the proceeds going to war relief efforts in Ukraine, auctioneer RR Auction of Boston said Tuesday.

The ball was expected to sell for at least $15,000 but the leading bid as of Tuesday had already exceeded that amount, an RR spokesperson said.

“With what’s going on in the world right now it makes sense to auction it at this point because the proceeds will help the people in Ukraine,” Kaplan said in a telephone interview “What’s going on in Ukraine is a disgrace and it’s breaking my heart to see the people dying there. Their needs are just so dire right now.”

The ball is signed with black felt tip both in Ukrainian Cyrillic and in Latin letters. It is accompanied by a transmittal letter signed by Volodymyr Yelchenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, which reads: “Dear Mr. Kaplan, Please find enclosed a baseball, signed by the President of Ukraine, H.E. Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the visit to New York in September 2019.”

In addition to the unspecified percentage of the sale that will be donated through the global nonprofit Americares, RR Auction will contribute its buyer’s premium and seller’s commission to war relief efforts. Americares’ website describes its humanitarian response in Ukraine as focused on the medical needs of millions of refugees.

Kaplan is a governmental affairs specialist from New York who has many contacts with the U.N. and in U.S. politics. He doesn’t buy his baseballs at auction, instead acquiring them himself through those contacts.

He started his collection in 1996 when former President Bill Clinton signed a baseball for him at a meeting in Washington, D.C. The collection, which now numbers more than 500 items, has been displayed at museums and presidential libraries around the country.

This is not the first time he has auctioned a piece of his collection, but this is probably the first time he has sold a ball signed by such a high profile leader, a man he has come to admire during the country’s war with Russia.

“I am really hoping Zelenskyy survives this,” Kaplan said. “He’s a very brave man.”

The auction that ends May 11 also includes autographs and artifacts from Johann Sebastian Bach, Nikola Tesla, and Albert Einstein.

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After a six-game road trip, the Cubs returned to Chicago. Two players used their day off to propose.Read More

The Chicago Bears gave up an average of 1.8 passing touchdowns on defense in 2021, leaving them tied for 27th in most passing touchdowns given up. General Manager Ryan Poles used his two second-round picks in the draft to select members of the secondary, Kyler Gordon, cornerback, and Jaquan Brisker, safety, to help shore up issues at those positions.

Ben Linsey of Pro Football Focus listed the Bears secondary as one of the four (a divisional rival also made the list) most improved positions following the draft:

“The Bears’ 2022 NFL Draft had its flaws, but they did manage to get strong value in the secondary in the second round.

Washington’s Kyler Gordon will likely get the first crack at the starting job opposite Jaylon Johnson outside, although he showed at Washington that he can play in the slot, as well. As the PFF Draft Guide put it, Gordon has some of the best burst in the class, even if his 40-yard dash time (4.52 seconds) was worse than expected. He was billed as a first-round talent by many and addresses a glaring need for a cornerback room thin on talent.

The Bears doubled down in the secondary with Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker in Round 2. Like Gordon, he’s an explosive athlete with good size and will be best utilized in and around the box. He’s a willing and physical tackler who earned a 79.4 PFF run-defense grade across his three seasons with the Nittany Lions to go along with strong marks in coverage.

Those are big additions for a secondary that collectively ranked 26th out of 32 defenses in PFF grade last season.”

Bears fans hope this new secondary can help out at the end of games. The Bears blew leads in the 2-minute defense in a few memorable games, like against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football following an epic comeback.

The Bears divisional rival, the Detroit Lions, also appeared on Linsey’s most improved list for their defensive line. While Linsey tweeted he liked the Bears first two picks, he also admitted the Bears made things harder for quarterback Justin Fields.

Bears fans should enjoy watching Gordon and Brisker play this season. If the two can find their ceiling in head Coach Matt Eberflus’ new system quickly, the Bears should be able to keep games close by keeping opponents out of the endzone.

Make sure to check out our Bears forum for the latest on the team.

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Robert Griffin III is hoping that he can potentially extend his career a little longer this season and he is eyeing the Chicago Bears as one team he’d love to join.

During an appearance on the ‘Rich Eisen Show’ Tuesday morning, the former Heisman Trophy winner talked about his future after spending last year as an analyst. RGIII named a few teams with quarterback situations he’d love to help with and the Bears were one of those teams.

RGIII told Eisen that “Going to Chicago with Justin FIelds to try to help as much as I possibly can in that quarterback room would be a great situation.”

Interesting.

At this stage in his career, RGIII doesn’t have a ton to offer on the field but he does have some knowledge he could provide to a team with a young quarterback. And that’s just what the Bears have.

With Nick Foles out of the mix now, Chicago only has Trevor Siemian and Ryan Willis as backup options and ideally, you dont want either of them in the game as it means Fields is either hurt or was benched because he was struggling. So is there room for RGIII?

In addition to Chicago, the former Baylor quarterback listed the Dallas Cowboys or Atlanta Falcons as teams he would be interested in joining potentially.

There’s nothing in the works and this is just RGIII offering up insight on where he would love to go if he did return. But would you be in favor of bringing in a veteran to help Justin Fields? Let us know in the comments!

Make sure to check out our Bears forum for the latest on the team.

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The Chicago Cubs have had a few bright spots come out of the bullpen so far to start the 2022 campaign.

One of those bright spots is the emergence of Keegan Thompson who really seems to have found a home in the Cubs bullpen for the foreseeable future. Thompson definitely deserves the recognition as he has been lights out pretty much every time he has had his number called on the mound. Another pitcher who really is turning some heads out there on the mound is veteran reliever David Robertson.

The Cubs this past offseason had to do some revamping to the bullpen with a number of moves. One of those moves was to bring in the veteran reliever Robertson on a one year deal worth $3.5M. The signing of Robertson has really been a home run, and could be seen as one of the more underrated signings around baseball right now. Robertson is a guy who has had a very successful career and does not look to be slowing down anytime soon with how he is pitching in 2022.

Robertson really wasted no time contributing for the Cubs as manager David Ross called his number the first game of the season against the Milwaukee Brewers on opening day. The veteran right hander was very effective out there throwing 13 pitchers, 10 of them being strikes, while also recording 2 strikeouts and getting his first save in a Cubs uniform.

We are just about a month into the regular season and Robertson still has not given up a run out there on the mound. Hopefully this article does not jinx Robertson here soon, but it really has to be acknowledged how dominate he has been out there when he is given the ball. His stat line going into this two game series against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday is the following: 9 appearances, 10 innings pitched, 1 victory, 0 earned runs, 5 saves, and 14 strikeouts. Robertson also has a WHIP of 0.60 in 2022 with his career WHIP being at 1.15 throughout the regular season.

This is Robertson’s 15th season pitching for multiple teams throughout his big league career. He even got to pitch for team USA in this past Olympics which is something that everybody cannot say they have done in their career. Not only has he been dominant out there on the mound, but he also brings a veteran presence for some of the younger guys in the Cubs bullpen.

Guys like Thompson, Rowan Wick, Ethan Roberts, among others will most likely all tell you how important Robertson has been for them. Whether that was in spring training, or throughout the first month he is a presence these young pitchers can go ask questions to, or go over different situations since he has been around in the big leagues for so long. He also really seems to embrace the leadership role as well.

Will Robertson still be a member of Cubs in a few months when the trade deadline passes? Time will tell, but if he is not then we all should really enjoy how well he is pitching while he is wearing a Cubs uniform at the moment. If Robertson were to be moved and still pitching great come July the Cubs should be able to get a good prospect or two back in return.

The Cubs front office knocked it out of the park this offseason by signing Robertson to help anchor the bullpen. All members of the Cubs organization and fans are hoping that Robertson is able to come in and add a 6th save to his 2022 total against the White Sox on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

Make sure to check out our Cubs forum for the latest on the team.

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The day after Cubs catcher Michael Barrett punched White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski at the plate in 2006, there almost was another brawl at the Cell.

No, not between the crosstown rivals. Between Pierzynski and the Sox’ then-TV analyst, Darrin Jackson.

Let’s take it from the top. The famous fight was during a telecast on Fox, with Jackson working alongside play-by-play man Thom Brennaman. Because it was a national game, Jackson’s intent going in was to show no bias. But he wasn’t about to blame Pierzynski’s face for hitting Barrett’s fist.

As Jackson remembers it, Brennaman asked repeatedly about Pierzynski’s role — barreling into Barrett, slapping the plate after Barrett fell, bumping into him again after both rose to their feet — wanting to know if the punchee had been the -instigator.

“Finally,” Jackson says, “I was like, ‘Thom, it’s possible.’ “

Jackson had been involved in the previous most-famous moment in modern Cubs-Sox history: the Jordan game in 1994. Most long have forgotten — if they ever knew — that Jackson was the man Jordan drove home on his first hit in that exhibition game at Wrigley Field.

“What a memory,” Jackson says. “What a conversation piece for my involvement.”

But now, 12 years later, Jackson was at the center of the rivalry’s new most-famous moment. An article had been written that portrayed Jackson as having put the onus for the Barrett incident on Pierzynski.

So, again, the day after: Jackson entered the Sox’ clubhouse.

“A.J.!” he yelled, approaching.

According to Jackson, he was met with an outpouring of F-bombs. Aside from that, Pierzynski said he wouldn’t be speaking with him.

“I said, ‘First of all, don’t you ever talk to me like that again. Secondly, you owe me an apology. I defended you,’ ” Jackson says.

But Pierzynski was all lathered up — in front of reporters, no less — and it almost got ugly. Fortunately, it didn’t. Jackson moved to Sox radio in 2009 and has been there ever since. More than 20 years in as a Sox broadcaster, he is a South Side fixture and part of a small fraternity, so to speak, of prominent figures with baseball roots on both sides of town.

A day-after fight — in the clubhouse, in front of reporters — might have changed all that. It would have been a disaster. But Jackson and Pierzynski were able to squash it. Good thing, too.

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New general manager Ryan Poles continued to retool the Bears front office on Tuesday, naming Trey Koziol and Jeff King the team’s co-directors of player personnel.

The Bears hired Koziol, a Hinsdale Central High School grad and former Boston College teammate of Poles, earlier this year. King, a former Panthers and Cardinals tight end, was the Bears’ pro scouting director the previous two years.

“Not only are both outstanding evaluators, but they also enhance the work environment and culture due totheirpersonalities, passion and selfless approach,” Poles said in a statement. “BothJeff and Treywill have a strong influence on roster decisions made in pro and college scouting.”

The two will work underneath Poles and assistant GM Ian Cunningham.

Mark Sadowski, who had been the Bears’ college scouting director since 2016, is no longer with the team, a source confirmed.

A new general manager reorganizing the front office at this time isn’t unusual; most are hired in January but hold off on major changes until after the draft.

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The day after Cubs catcher Michael Barrett punched White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski at the plate in 2006, there almost was another brawl at the Cell.

No, not between the crosstown rivals. Between Pierzynski and the Sox’ then-TV analyst, Darrin Jackson.

Let’s take it from the top. The famous fight was during a telecast on Fox, with Jackson working alongside play-by-play man Thom Brennaman. Because it was a national game, Jackson’s intent going in was to show no bias. But he wasn’t about to blame Pierzynski’s face for hitting Barrett’s fist.

As Jackson remembers it, Brennaman asked repeatedly about Pierzynski’s role — barreling into Barrett, slapping the plate after Barrett fell, bumping into him again after both rose to their feet — wanting to know if the punchee had been the -instigator.

“Finally,” Jackson says, “I was like, ‘Thom, it’s possible.’ “

Jackson had been involved in the previous most-famous moment in modern Cubs-Sox history: the Jordan game in 1994. Most long have forgotten — if they ever knew — that Jackson was the man Jordan drove home on his first hit in that exhibition game at Wrigley Field.

“What a memory,” Jackson says. “What a conversation piece for my involvement.”

But now, 12 years later, Jackson was at the center of the rivalry’s new most-famous moment. An article had been written that portrayed Jackson as having put the onus for the Barrett incident on Pierzynski.

So, again, the day after: Jackson entered the Sox’ clubhouse.

“A.J.!” he yelled, approaching.

According to Jackson, he was met with an outpouring of F-bombs. Aside from that, Pierzynski said he wouldn’t be speaking with him.

“I said, ‘First of all, don’t you ever talk to me like that again. Secondly, you owe me an apology. I defended you,’ ” Jackson says.

But Pierzynski was all lathered up — in front of reporters, no less — and it almost got ugly. Fortunately, it didn’t. Jackson moved to Sox radio in 2009 and has been there ever since. More than 20 years in as a Sox broadcaster, he is a South Side fixture and part of a small fraternity, so to speak, of prominent figures with baseball roots on both sides of town.

A day-after fight — in the clubhouse, in front of reporters — might have changed all that. It would have been a disaster. But Jackson and Pierzynski were able to squash it. Good thing, too.

Read More