Sports

McCullers gets security in wake of online threats

Published

1 day ago

May 30, 2025

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Associated Press

May 30, 2025, 06:24 AM ET

HOUSTON — Soon after Lance McCullers Jr.’s family received online death threats following a tough start by the Astros pitcher, his 5-year-old daughter, Ava, overheard wife Kara talking on the phone about it.

What followed was a painful conversation between McCullers and his little girl.

“She asked me when I came home: ‘Daddy, like, what is threats? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?'” McCullers told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “So those conversations are tough to deal with.”

McCullers is one of two MLB pitchers whose families have received online death threats this month as internet abuse of players and their families is on the rise. Boston Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks took to social media soon after the incident with McCullers to call out people who were threatening Hendriks’ wife’s life and directing “vile” comments at him.

The Astros contacted MLB security and the Houston Police Department following the threats to McCullers. A police spokesperson said Thursday that it remains an ongoing investigation.

McCullers, who has two young daughters, took immediate action after the threats and reached out to the team to inquire about what could be done to protect his family. Astros owner Jim Crane stepped in and hired 24-hour security for them.

It was a move McCullers felt was necessary after what happened.

“You have to at that point,” he said.

Players around the league agree that online abuse has gotten progressively worse in recent years. Milwaukee‘s Christian Yelich, a 13-year veteran and the 2018 National League MVP, said receiving online abuse is “a nightly thing” for most players.

“I think over the last few years it’s definitely increased,” he said. “It’s increased to the point that you’re just: ‘All right, here we go.’ It doesn’t even really register on your radar anymore. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. You’re just so used to that on a day-to-day, night-to-night basis. It’s not just me. It’s everybody in here, based on performance.”

And many players believe it’s directly linked to the rise in legalized sports betting.

“You get a lot of DMs or stuff like that about you ruining someone’s bet or something ridiculous like that,” veteran Red Sox reliever Justin Wilson said. “I guess they should make better bets.”

Hendriks, a 36-year-old reliever who previously underwent treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said on Instagram that he and his wife received death threats after a loss to the New York Mets. He added that people left comments saying that they wished he would have died from cancer, among other abusive comments.

“Enough is enough,” he said. “Like at some point, everyone just like sucking up and dealing with it isn’t accomplishing anything. And we pass along to security. We pass along to whoever we need to, but nothing ends up happening. And it happens again the next night.

“And so, at some point, someone has to make a stand. And it’s one of those things where, the more eyes we get on it, the more voices we get talking about it, hopefully it can push it in the right direction.”

Both the Astros and the Red Sox are working with MLB security to take action against social media users who direct threats toward players and their families. Red Sox spokesperson Abby Murphy said they have taken steps in recent years to make sure players’ families are safe during games. That includes security staff and Boston police stationed in the family section at home and dedicated security in the traveling party to monitor the family section on the road.

“I think over the last few years it’s definitely increased. It’s increased to the point that you’re just: ‘All right, here we go.’ It doesn’t even really register on your radar anymore. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. You’re just so used to that on a day-to-day, night-to-night basis. It’s not just me. It’s everybody in here, based on performance.”

Christian Yelich, on players receiving threatening messages

Murphy said identifying those who make anonymous threats online is difficult, but “both the Red Sox and MLB have cyber programs and analysts dedicated to identifying and removing these accounts.”

The Astros have uniformed police officers stationed in the family section, a practice that was implemented well before the threats to McCullers and his family.

For some players, online abuse has gotten so bad that they have abandoned social media. Detroit Tigers All-Star outfielder Riley Greene said he got off social media because he received so many messages from people blaming him for failed bets.

“I deleted it,” he said of Instagram. “I’m off it. It sucks, but it’s the world we live in, and we can’t do anything about it. People would DM me and say nasty things, tell me how bad of a player I am and say nasty stuff that we don’t want to hear.”

The 31-year-old McCullers, who returned this year after missing two full seasons with injuries, said dealing with this has been the worst thing that has happened in his career. He understands the passion of fans and knows that being criticized for a poor performance is part of the game. But he believes there’s a “moral line” that fans shouldn’t cross.

“People should want us to succeed,” he said. “We want to succeed, but it shouldn’t come at a cost to our families, the kids in our life, having to feel like they’re not safe where they live or where they sit at games.”

Astros manager Joe Espada was livid when he learned about the threats to McCullers and his family and was visibly upset when he addressed what happened with reporters.

Espada said the team has mental health professionals available to the players to talk about the toll such abuse takes on them and any other issues they may be dealing with.

“We are aware that when we step on the field, fans expect and we expect the best out of ourselves,” Espada said this week. “But when we are trying to do our best and things don’t go our way while we’re trying to give you everything we got and now you’re threatening our families and kids — now I do have a big issue with that, right? I just did not like it.”

Kansas City‘s Salvador Perez, a 14-year MLB veteran, hasn’t experienced online abuse but was appalled by what happened to McCullers. If something like that happened to him, he said, it would change the way he interacts with fans.

“Now some fans, real fans, they’re going to pay for that too,” he said. “Because if I was him, I wouldn’t take a picture or sign anything for nobody because of that one day.”

McCullers wouldn’t go that far but admitted it has changed his mindset.

“It does make you kind of shell up a little bit,” he said. “It does make you kind of not want to go places. I guess that’s just probably the human reaction to it.”

While most players have dealt with some level of online abuse in their careers, no one has a good idea of how to stop it.

“I’m thankful I’m not in a position where I have to find a solution to this,” Tigers pitcher Tyler Holton said. “But as a person who is involved in this, I wish this wasn’t a topic of conversation.”

Chicago White Sox outfielder Mike Tauchman is disheartened at how bad player abuse has gotten. While it’s mostly online, he said he has had teammates that have had racist and homophobic things yelled at them during games.

“Outside of just simply not having social media, I really don’t see that getting better before it just continues to get worse,” he said. “I mean, I think it’s kind of the way things are now. Like, people just feel like they have the right to say whatever they want to whoever they want and it’s behind a keyboard and there’s really no repercussions, right?”

Sports

Thousands attend race event honoring Gaudreaus

Published

3 hours ago

May 31, 2025

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Thousands attend race event honoring Gaudreaus

Associated Press

May 31, 2025, 03:19 PM ET

SEWELL, N.J. — A few days after brothers John and Matthew Gaudreau died when they were struck by a driver while riding bicycles on the eve of their sister Katie’s wedding, family friends were visiting parents Guy and Jane at their home during a rainstorm. Looking outside after the skies cleared, they saw a double rainbow that brought them some momentary peace.

Since then, Jane Gaudreau had not gotten any signs she attributed to her sons, so she sat in their room Friday and asked them for some divine intervention to clear out bad weather in time for an event to honor their legacies. After a brief scare of a tornado watch the night before, a rainbow appeared Saturday morning about an hour before the sun came out for the inaugural Gaudreau Family 5K Walk/Run and Family Day.

“I was so relieved,” Jane said. “I was like, ‘Well, there’s my sign.'”

Thousands attended the event at Washington Lake Park in southern New Jersey, a place John and Matthew went hundreds of times as kids and around the corner from Hollydell Ice Arena, where they started playing hockey. Roughly 1,100 people took part in a walk or run in person, along with more than 1,300 virtually in the U.S., Canada and around the world.

“I think it speaks to them as a family, how close they were and how everybody loved being around them,” said Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, one of a handful of NHL players who were close to the Gaudreaus and made a point to be there. “You just see the support from this community and from other players as well that are here and traveled in. It just says a lot about Johnny, Matty, their legacy and this family as a whole, how much support they have because they’re such amazing people.”

Along with honoring the NHL star known as “Johnny Hockey” and his younger brother who family and friends called Matty, the goal of the event was to raise money for an accessible playground at Archbishop Damiano School where Jane and her daughter Kristen work. It was a cause John and Matthew had begun to champion in honor of their grandmother Marie, who spent 44 years at the school and died in 2023.

It became their mother’s project after their deaths.

“Jane works every day with children with disabilities, and she knew how important it was for the playground to be built,” said family friend Deb Vasutoro, who came up with the idea for a 5K. “The playground has been a project for, I think, four or five years, and there just never was enough funding. When the boys passed and Jane needed a purpose, she thought, ‘Let’s build the playground.’ It was the perfect marriage of doing something good to honor the boys and seeing children laugh and smile.”

The Rev. Allain Caparas from Gloucester Catholic High School, which the brothers attended and played hockey for while growing up in Carneys Point, said raising funds for the playground is an extension of the impact they had on the community.

“They’re continuing to make a difference in the lives of so many others,” Caparas said. “Johnny and Matthew lived their lives with purpose, and now we’re celebrating that.”

Social media filled with mentions from folks in Columbus and Calgary, the NHL cities in which John Gaudreau played, and as far away as Ireland and Sweden. Paul O’Connor, who has been tight with the Gaudreau family from son Dalton being childhood best friends with Matthew, couldn’t empty out his inbox because he kept getting notifications about signups and donations.

“It just keeps growing,” O’Connor said. “And people that couldn’t be here, they’re doing a virtual [5K]. If they can’t do either, they’re just throwing money at the cause.”

Tears welled up in the eyes of Guy and Jane as they talked about the event. His speech to the crowd was brief and poignant at the same time.

“I’d like to thank everybody for coming,” Guy said after running the 5K. “It really means a lot to Jane and the girls and the family. We miss the boys, and it really means a lot for us to have you here to honor my boys. Thank you.”

The sea of people first in the rain and then the sunshine included folks in gear from all across hockey. Tkachuk wore a “Johnny Hockey” hoodie with Gaudreau’s name and No. 13 on the back.

He handed sticks, collected from various vigils in late August and early September, to race winners along with fellow players Erik Gudbranson, Zach Aston-Reese, Tony DeAngelo and Buddy Robinson.

“Our family wouldn’t have missed this,” Gudbranson said after flying in Friday night following a trip to Walt Disney World. “Hockey’s a very tight community. It’s still a tragedy. We miss the boys.”

The aim is to hold the event annually moving forward, potentially in Calgary and Columbus.

“We thought this was such a good thing to honor the boys we want to keep it up,” Jane said. “I just think each year it’ll just get better and better.”

Sports

Panthers’ Lundell, Luostarinen clear for Final G1

Published

3 hours ago

May 31, 2025

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Panthers' Lundell, Luostarinen clear for Final G1

Field Level Media

May 31, 2025, 02:29 PM ET

Florida Panthers forwards Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell will be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night in Edmonton, coach Paul Maurice said Saturday.

Both players were injured in Wednesday’s series-clinching Game 5 win against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Panthers forward A.J. Greer‘s status for the series opener against the Oilers remains uncertain. He missed Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals and was on the ice for only 4:22 in Game 5 due to a lower-body injury.

All three players did not participate in Saturday’s practice, the first team skate since the defending champions booked their spot in the Final rematch.

“I think the only question mark is Greer,” Maurice said. “We will list him as day to day. The other guys are fine. They will be back on the ice tomorrow when we do a little bit of an optional.”

Luostarinen, 26, recorded 24 points (9 goals, 15 assists) in 80 games during the regular season and 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) in 17 games this postseason.

Lundell, 23, tallied 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 79 games in the regular season and 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in 17 playoff games.

Greer, 28, posted 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 81 games in the regular season and three points (2 goals, 1 assist) in 12 playoff contests.

Sports

Stanley Cup Final odds: McDavid is Conn Smythe fave in Panthers rematch

Published

3 hours ago

May 31, 2025

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Stanley Cup Final odds: McDavid is Conn Smythe fave in Panthers rematch

May 31, 2025, 09:30 AM ET

It’s a rematch of the last year’s Stanley Cup Final, as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Florida Panthers. If you need a quick refresher, Aleksander Barkov and the Panthers went up 3-0 to start the series before Connor McDavid and the Oilers won the next three to force a Game 7. The Panthers prevailed in the deciding match to take home their first championship, though McDavid would win the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP despite being on the losing team.

This year, the Oilers dispatched the Los Angeles Kings in the first round (again), the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round, and the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals. Meanwhile, the Panthers defeated their in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, the Toronto Maple Leafs in a seven-game second round, and the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Oilers opened as early favorites in Game 1, but series odds have been close to a toss-up. McDavid is the current odds-on favorite to win the Conn Smythe.

All odds accurate as of publish time. For more, go to ESPN BET.

Odds to win Conn Smythe Trophy

The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded to the player deemed to have been the most valuable to his team throughout the playoffs. Only players with 100-1 odds or better are listed. More odds available at ESPN BET.

Connor McDavid, Oilers: -110
Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers: +250
Aleksander Barkov, Panthers: +400
Leon Draisaitl, Oilers: 10-1
Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers: 25-1
Sam Bennett, Panthers: 30-1
Carter Verhaeghe, Panthers: 50-1
Brad Marchand, Panthers: 60-1
Stuart Skinner, Oilers: 60-1
Sam Reinhart, Panthers: 75-1
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Oilers: 100-1