RightFielders Women in Sports

Meet Candice Houlihan, the former pole dancer who is alleging an affair with baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez. See her photos, biography, and video here.

Candice Houlihan

Her name is sometimes written as Candace Houlihan, which is a common misspelling. It is easy to misread people when their best work is in the dark.

She told the Boston Herald that she had sex 2x with Rodriquez after his wife was knocked up. Who knew? Of Cynthia Rodriguez, Ms. Houlihan says “A leopard doesn’t change his spots. Good for her, I think she’s doing the smart thing. And she’ll probably get tons of cash.”

She connected with him in 2004 after a particularly stressful baseball game, and you know what men want when they are stressed. They want to drink. And drink they did, she claims, and whatever comes next. “It was killing me and I felt bad afterwards. I know how it feels to be cheated on, it sucks.” Literally it does. She did not know that A-Rod’s wife was pregnant at the time.

A-Rod apparently was not done with his topless pole dancer. He called Candice the next time he was in town. “I reversed the curse,” she explained. You see, Houlihan is a Boston Red Sox fan. A-Rod was sleeping with the enemy during the ALCS playoffs to add insult to injury.

“We were really bustin’ his chops and he walked over to us and I thought he was going to yell at us. But he introduced himself, asked me who I was and if I wanted to meet up for drinks later. I was like ‘Hell, yeah!’ ” They had sex in his hotel room, she claims.

As a biography, Candice Houlihan is a 31 year old beautician and hairdresser who resides in Reading, Massacheussetts and previously in Brookline. An extremely athletic person, she played basketball and still competes in local endurance events.

In 2005, Candice finished #621 in the Jerry Garcia Memorial River Walk-Run in Cambridge with a time of 42:41. She finished #34 in the Sheraton Hyannis Marathon (Hyannis, MA) in 2006 at the age of 29. And she finished #730 in the Brie Burger in Paradise Run & Tailgate Party in Cambridge MA in 2005. She finished #291 in the Jingle Bell for Arthritis run in 2004 in Roanoke, VA. You go girl.

She was a pole dancer for five years at the famed strip club named Centerfolds. Her measurements are busty-tight-fine but her weight is unknown. We have been unable to locate Candice Houlihan MySpace or Facebook pages.

Photos

Meet Mando Ramos, former lightweight boxing champion who died on Sunday at 59 years old. Read his biography and see photos and a video of him below.

Mando Ramos

Former lightweight boxing champion Armondo Ramos (better known as Mando Ramos), died in his San Pedro, California home on Sunday. He has suffered from chronic back pain and diabetes. His wife, Sylvia, reported that he wouldn’t get up to watch the fights on Saturday night, which was very unusual for him. By Sunday morning he was exhibiting labored breathing. His wife called paramedics but he never regained consciousness.

His son, Mando, Jr., said of his father, ‘He was a great champion in the ring, but he was an even greater champion in life.’ What a great legacy to leave.

Armando Ramos was born on November 15 1948 in Long Beach, California. He died on Sunday, July 6, 2008. He was 59-years-old. Growing up in Long Beach, he and his older brother, Manuel, learned how to box from their father, Ray who was a former professional boxer. Ramos has said that his father started teaching him to box as soon as he could walk. The brothers spent all their spare time in the gym. They went to school, worked in their grandmother’s grocery store and worked on boxing.

Ramos turned pro in 1965 when he was just 17-years-old and immediately started winning one match after the next. He won his first 17 matches straight. He was enormously popular as a boxer. He was handsome, friendly and charming. He rose to fame quickly. His fans loved him and were practically fanatical about him. He was the youngest man in history to win the lightweight championship of the world. He was at the top of his game in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Unfortunately, boxing wasn’t the only thing he learned from his father. His father was an alcoholic and Mando started drinking when he was just 11-years-old. His addiction to alcohol and drugs ended his boxing career prematurely. As his fame and fortune rose, so did his addiction. At first it was alcohol, then marijuana and ultimately heroine. His partying and drug abuse escalated and eventually became more important to him than his career, his marriage and even his son, Mando, Jr. His lifestyle caught up to him and he started losing matches that he otherwise would not have lost. The money started drying up and he finally quit boxing in 1975.

Two of his older brothers died of heroine overdoses. That was when Mando quit using drugs. He has been clean and sober since 1983. He has spent the rest of his career working with kids to battle drug and alcohol addiction. He set up a foundation, Boxing Against Alcohol and Drugs (B.A.A.D).

Ramos was inducted into the World Boxing Boxing Hall of Fame in 1988. He was inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame just a couple of weeks ago.

His wife is Sylvia Van Hecke. Mando died in his home in San Pedro, California.

I was only on top for three years, and I was never really in shape. All the damn drugs. All the cocaine … I did love the cheers of the crowd, though.

I definitely heard lots of them, brother. ~ Mando Ramos

Photos and Video

Meet Leisel Jones, Australian Olympic and record breaking swimmer. She’ll be competing for Australia in Beijing. Read her biography and see some hot photos of her and a video below.

Leisel Jones

Australian swimming champion, Leisel Jones, opted to sit out competition in Sydney this weekend to allow more time for her groin injuries to heal before the Olympic games in Beijing. With only a month left before the games, she says she didn’t want to risk further aggravating the injury and to give herself more healing time before she competes in the 2008 Olympics.

The five time Olympic medalist is favored to win three gold medals in China next month.

Leisel Marie Jones was born on August 30, 1985 in Katherine, NT, Australia. She is 23-years-old. She currently lives in Melbourne. She first started learning to swim for water safety when she was just two years old. She attended Southern Cross Catholic College in Queensland and is currently attending Australian Institute of Applied Science in Queensland working on a degree in Beauty Therapy.

When she was 15-years-old, she was the youngest ever Olympic swimming medalist when she won the silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She also participated in the 2004 Athens Olympics. In all, she has brought home one gold, three silver and one bronze Olympic medals. She holds seven gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal from four FINA world championships. She also holds seven gold medals from two Commonwealth games.

Leisel has said that she takes her inspiration from Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Braddock. She considers Muhammad Ali one of the finest persons in sports. In addition to swimming, she participates in gymnastics, netball, tennis and physical culture.

She is engaged to be married and has a tramp-stamp in the shape of the Olympic rings.

Photos and Video

Meet Dara Torres, an Olympic swimmer who has qualified for yet another Olympics at 41-years-old. She’s not just a world class swimmer, she’s a mother and she’s so hot she’s an inspiration for all women who are getting a little older! Read her biography and see photos and a video of her below.

Dara Torres

Olympic swimming legend Dara Torres has won a place in the Beijing Summer Olympics. This will be her fifth Olympic games and it comes after her second retirement from the sport. She has been a real swimming phenomenon with repeated comebacks and repeatedly outperforming her younger opponents. At 41-years-old qualified in the women’s 100m freestyle, but says she’ll probably opt for the women’s 50m freestyle if she qualifies for it because it’ll be a better medal opportunity.

Dara Grace Torres was born April 15, 1967 in Los Angeles, California. She is 41-years-old. She is 6′ tall. She attended the Westlake School for Girls in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The CIF records she set there have yet to be broken. She attended the University of Florida and received 28 All-American honors.

Her father was Jewish. She converted to Judaism before marrying her second husband, Israeli surgeon Itzhak Shasha. She was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Torres has competed in five Olympic competitions. She competed in the the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and will compete in the 2008 Olympics. She has won nine career Olympic medals. During her retirement from swimming she has worked as a reporter and announcer for television networks, NBC, ESPN, TNT, OLN and Fox News. She hosts a golf show called the Clubhouse on the Resort Sports Network. She has been a model and in 1994 she was in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

She has a two-year-old daughter, Tessa Grace, who was born in April 2006. Her daughter is with her partner, David Hoffman.

Photos and Video

Meet Kerri Walsh, known as Six-feet of Sunshine on the Beach Volleyball court. She’s an Olympic champion and is headed for Beijing. Read her biography and see some photos of this hot volleyball babe and a video below.

Kerri Walsh

Kerri Walsh and tandem Beach Volleyball partner Misty May-Treanor have been undefeated this year. They haven’t lost a match since August 19, 2007. They continued their winning streak this weekend with a victory at the AVP Crocs Slam Boulder Open over Kristen Batt and Megan Wallin.

Kerri Lee Walsh was born on August 15, 1978 in Santa Clara, California. She is 29-years-old. She is 6′ 3′ tall. She was raised in Saratoga, California. She undoubtedly inherited her athletic abilities through her athletic parents, Tim and Margie Walsh. She is the second of four children who all grew up playing sports. Her older brother is Marte and her younger sisters are Kelli and KC. Her father played minor league baseball for the Oakland A’s and her mother played professional volleyball in Santa Clara. Her mother was named MVP twice. All of her siblings have played college sports.

Walsh and her long time partner, Misty May-Treanor, have dominated women’s beach volleyball since they began their partnership in 2000. They have finished at the top of the Association of Volleyball Professionals Tour (AVP) each season. The duo brought home the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics and have qualified to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing next month.

Walsh met her husband on the same day that she auditioned to be Misty May-Treanor’s partner. Apparently, the stars were all aligned just perfectly for her that day. She dated men’s beach volleyball player Casey Jennings for four years and they married on December 4, 2005.

Photos and Video

Meet Andrea Jaeger, 1980s tennis star who is now a nun. She has recently made some controversial revelations about her tennis career. Read her biography, see photos of her then and now and a video below.

Andrea Jaeger

Andrea Jaeger has revealed that she intentionally lost the 1983 Wimbledon final to Martina Navratilova. She says that she had an argument with her father the afternoon before the match. She ran next door to the apartment that Navratilova was renting so she could call a taxi. When she finally got someone to answer the door, it was Navratilova’s trainer. Jaeger says that Navratilova never acknowledged her while she was in the apartment even though she was sitting in the room. Jaeger says that she felt she had interrupted the older tennis star’s routine and therefore felt she had to make it right.

Martina missed her chance to help her neighbour who was suffering in order to fulfil her desire, so I had to make it right. I gave up my desire to give someone their help.

She also noted that she saw her father’s reaction in the stands as she was getting defeated, which frankly, I think since she was angry with her father at the time might have been more to the point of her desire to lose.

Andrea was a child prodigy in the 1970s and 1980s until her tennis career ended prematurely due to a shoulder injury when she was just 19 years old. After that she dedicated her life to philanthropy and became an Anglican Dominican nun in 2006.

Andrea Jaeger was born on June 4, 1965 in Chicago, Illinois. She is 43 years old. She started her tennis career while she attended Stevenson High School in suburban Chicago.

Her tennis career was spectacular in several aspects especially considering that her career was so brief. She was world ranked number 2 while she was playing. In 1980, at just 15-years-old, she was the youngest player to be seeded at Wimbledon. She held that record for 10 years. She was the youngest player to reach the quarterfinalist in the history of Wimbledon and was the youngest semifinalist in the history of the U.S. Open. She was elected rookie of the year that same year.

Between turning pro in 1979 and her retirement in 1987, she won 12 titles and had career stats of 260–85.

Following her retirement from tennis she has been based out of Colorado and has dedicated her life to helping children with terminal illnesses. She founded the Silver Lining Foundation, which provides activities and assistance for children with cancer. She has also founded the Little Star Foundation that serves approximately 4,000 children annually who are suffering from terminal illnesses. In 2006, she became an Anglican Dominican nun and continues her dedication and service to children.

Photos and video

Meet Gisela Dulko, Argentine tennis star and one of the hottest women in tennis. Read her biography and check out her photos and a video of her below.

Gisela Dulko

Gisela Dulko made news at Wimbledon this year when she gave Elena Dementieva a run for her money. She started out strong against Dementieva, but in the end, her Russian opponent was able to pull out the win with a with a 7-6 (7/2) 7-5 victory over Dulko.

Gisela Dulko was born on January 30, 1985 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is 23-years-old. She is 5′ 7″ tall and weights 123 pounds. Her parents are Estanislao and Ana Dulko. Her father is deceased. Her older brother Alejandro was Gisela’s inspiration to start playing tennis when she was just 7-years-old and he is now her coach. She lives in Buenos Aires with her family, including her grandparents. She turned pro in January 2001.

Dulko is ranked world number 39. Her career high was on November 21, 2005 when she reached world number 26. She won her first WTA Tour title on April 29, 2007 in Budapest and her second on August 25, 2007 at the Forest Hills. Her third WTA Tour title was at the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem Tier IV event on May 4, 2008.

She has been dating Fernando González, a Chilean tennis player. Previously, she’s been romantically linked to Spanish tennis starts Fernando Verdasco and Tommy Robredo.

Gisela has three dogs, Goran, Nicole and Guga. She loves pizza and the movies Pearl Harbor and Good Will Hunting. Her favorite actors are Josh Hartnett and Keanu Reeves and her favorite musician is Alajandro Sanz. She loves shopping and relaxing on the beach. She most admires her mother. Tennis players she looks up to are Sampras and Safin.

Photos and Video

Meet Michel Inoa, the 16-year-old pitching phenom who just signed a $4.25 million dollar deal with the Oakland A’s. See photos and a biography of Michel below.

Michel Inoa

The 6 foot 7 right-hander from the Dominican Republic throws at 94 mph and international scouts have touted him as a “once in a decade type pitcher”. Scouting reports on Inoa have all been quite favorable, with reports even suggesting that his 6 foot 7, 205 pound frame will probably grow some more. Well of course, he’s only 16. Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane said:

“We think Michel is one of the best Latin American prospects to come out in the last decade. That’s why we spent so much time and made such a significant investment. We felt like this kid, if not this year, then a couple years from now would have (projected) as a top-five pick.”

As a biography, Michel Inoa was born on September 24, 1991. He is 16 years old. He hails from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. He stands 6 feet 7 and weighs 205 pounds.

Michel comes from a baseball family - his father, Simon, played first base in the Dominican, and mother Juana Ventura was a softball pitcher.

Inoa will travel to the U.S. for a physical but will head back home to the Dominican Republic and spend time at the Oakland A’s La Victoria Baseball Academy.

Click below for more photos of Michel Inoa.

Photos

Chris Snyder suffered a testicular fracture in Monday night’s game. Read more about it and see the video below. Ouch.

Chris Snyder

Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder has been placed on the 15-day disabled list following an injury he suffered in Monday night’s game. That means he busted a nut. A proper medical explanation goes like this:

Testicular rupture or fractured testis refers to a rip or tear in the tunica albuginea resulting in extrusion of the testicular contents.

I’m not a guy, but I’m thinking that probably hurt a lot.

At least, all the guys I know groaned when they heard about it. Then they wanted to watch the video over and over again because they are basically sadistic and like seeing someone else in pain. That’s what I figure anyway. Since we live in a world that takes voyeuristic pleasure in watching other people wipe-out, you have to know the video got put on the internet as quickly as possible. That way, Snyder is not only suffering from his busted balls, he’s also suffering the humiliation of having everyone from all over the world watching him get hit repeatedly.

So what could we do? We aim to please, so the video is right here for you to watch, just under the fold.

Here’s the video you sadistic pervs!

Meet Elena Dementieva, a Russian tennis star who also happens to be one of the hottest women in the sport. She’s been playing at Wimbledon this week. Read her biography and see photos and a video of her below.

Elena Dementieva

Elena Dementieva fell to American Venus Williams today at Wimbledon. Williams gained a 6-1 7-6(3) victory that will take her to the finals for the seventh time. Dementieva and Chinese phenomenon Zheng Jie had hoped to stop the Williams sisters and they have certainly made the sisters work for every gain they have gotten. Dementieva was overpowered by Williams from the beginning of the first match, however, in the second match she forced a tiebreak. She was defeated on the first tiebreak.

Dementieva defeated Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 in quarterfinals putting her in the semi-finals for the first time in her impressive career. She’s been an Olympic silver medalist and has been in the world top ten for ten years.

Elena Vyacheslavovna Dementieva was born October 15, 1981 in Moscow, Russia. She is 26-years-old. She is 5′ 11″ and weights 140 pounds. She’s been referred to as the “Tennis Lolita”. She has been an international tennis champion since she was 13-years-old. Elena turned pro in 1998.

Photos and Video

Cynthia Rodriguez and Lenny Kravitz are having an affair? This news comes on the heels of reports that came out yesterday, claiming that Cynthia’s husband, Alex Rodriguez, and Madonna are allegedly having an affair.

Cynthia Rodriguez and Lenny Kravitz affair?

Both the NY Daily News and the New York Post are reporting that multiple sources have indeed confirmed that Cynthia has left A-Rod and is holed up at the Paris home of Kravitz.

Kravitz has vehemently denied that he and Cynthia are having an affair, explaining to Us Weekly that he welcomed Cynthia to his home as a “friend”. He also added that Cynthia brought along the godfather of her baby girl Ella, his wife and their baby. Kravitz said:

“She came here to escape from everything happening in New York City. I opened my home to her as a friend and I find it extremely hurtful that I am now being referred to as an adulterer.”

It’s about time Cynthia left her husband…I don’t know why she stuck around as long as she did. I would’ve left after the whole Joslyn Noel Morse stripper scandal. But Cynthia and Lenny Kravitz having an affair? Quite an unlikely couple…but then again, in the world of celebrities, anything is possible.

See more photos of Cynthia Rodriguez and Lenny Kravitz below.

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Meet Tori Praver, the model widely known for her hot body gracing the pages of Sports Illustrated. See photos, video and a biography of Tori here.

Tori Praver

As a biography, Tori Praver was born in 1986 in San Diego, California. She is 21 years old. As far as particulars, this blonde hair, blue eyed beauty has measurements of 34-27-35.5 and she stands 5′11″.

Tori grew up in Maui, Hawaii. It was there that she was discovered by a Hawaiian modeling agency at the age of 12, while she was shopping with her mother. She spent two weeks in New York City when she was 13 as a test run, but wanted to surf instead of model. It would be four years later that Tori realized she wanted to take the fashion world by storm. She became the youngest face of GUESS? at 17 years of age and has since appeared on the covers of Glamour, Cosmopolitan and of course has graced the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editions. Check those pictures out here.

Tori spends time at both of her homes in Venice Beach, California home and the West Village in Manhattan, but to her, Maui will always be her home.

Click below for more photos and video of Tori Praver.

Photos and Video

The ball girl great catch video has been making its rounds on the internet. The viral video is actually a commercial by the folks over at Gatorade. Check it out below.

Ball Girl Great Catch Viral Video

You can see the ball girl scale the walls out in left field to catch a foul ball, and, of course, the video has created quite a buzz online. It was originally posted on June 3rd and a couple days later, Advertising Age reviewed the spot and gave it a thumbs up. Good Morning America even gave it a plug, thus giving the video even more attention.

The commercial landed on YouTube and was posted there by Harvest Films. They are the production company affiliated with Element 79, a Chicago based advertising agency who put together the video. Element 79 has worked with Gatorade since 2002.

The original spot made a reference to Gatorade when describing the video, but then copies were made and shared without Gatorade even being mentioned. The only thing you see about Gatorade in the spot is when the ball girl takes a seat after the catch and you can see a Gatorade bottle by her feet.

See the video of the ball girl making the catch below.

Video

Meet Kim Sears, girlfriend of Scottish (and Britain favorite) tennis player Andy Murray. See photos, video and a biography of Kim below.

Kim Sears

With boyfriend Andy Murray set to play Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon Wednesday, you can bet Kim Sears will be in the stands to cheer him on. Tickets to the quarterfinal have reportedly been selling for £1,500.

As a biography, Kim Sears was born on December 10, 1987 in London, England. She is 20 years old. Her father is Nigel Sears, who is the former coach of Daniela Hantuchova. Kim and Andy reportedly met during the US Open in 2005, but their relationship did not go public until 2006. It’s been said that he had pursued Kim for about a year, phoning her, and she finally relented gave in.

You won’t see Kim as the typical WAG, shopping at the swanky boutiques and attending movie premieres, and was asked at one point if she would be following in the footsteps of another famous WAG, Coleen McLoughlin. She has said, “No. Sorry. It’s not about me, it’s about Andy.”

Kim is currently a student at Brighton University. She previously attended Burgess Hill School for girls.

Click below for more photos and video of Kim Sears.

Photos

Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady’s other half, is the latest celebrity to pitch for German manufacturer Volkswagen. Check out the video below.

Gisele Bundchen for Volkswagen Gol

The Volkswagen ads debuted this past weekend in her native Brazil and just how much did the former Victoria’s Secret supermodel pocket for the ads? A cool $2.5 million. Sylvester Stallone appears in the ads as well, looking his age (61), and was only paid $800,000.

The commercial, which was directed by Brazilian Andrucha Waddington, cost the Volkswagen folks $5 million to make. It’s jam packed with action, the Gol trying to outrun helicopters and Humvees, all the while Gisele speaks in her native Portuguese to pitch the Gol to her fellow countrymen.

What did you think of the commercial? Um, I wasn’t impressed. Definitely a waste of $5 million, and for that price they could have done a better job dubbing Sly’s voice.

See the video of Gisele Bundchen for Volkswagen below.

Video