Bill Cosby’s wife just broke her silence and fiercely defended her husband over various sexual assault allegations, saying, "He is a kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is the man you thought you knew." Camilledidn't attack her husband's accusers, but said the media has been way to quick to pass judgment, saying, "A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man I do not know."
She then zeros in on the accusers saying, "It is also the portrait painted by individuals and organizations whom many in the media have given a pass." Camille warns, "We all followed the story of the article in the "Rolling Stone" concerning allegations of rape at the University of Virginia. The story was heart-breaking but ultimately appears to be proved to be untrue." She adds, "Many in the media were quick to link that story to stories about my husband." And her final salvo ... "None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking the victim. But the question should be asked -- who is the victim?"
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When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, Netflix will be there for you. Yep, that's right! All 10 seasons of Friends will be available for binge watching on New Years Day, the streaming service announced Monday. Joining Ross and Rachel on Netflix in the new year is the second season of the critically acclaimed British drama The Fall, starring Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan. Look for all six episodes on Jan. 16.
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Sy Berger, the father of modern day baseball cards, has died of natural causes at the age of 91. The news was announced Sunday morning by baseball historian Marty Appel on behalf of the family. Berger most famously devised the practice of signing Major League Baseball players year after year to be able to use their name and image on cards in annual sets. For more than three decades, Topps was paying players only $75 a year for that privilege and, most of the time, that amount was applied to buying something from the company catalog. Berger's personal relationships with the stars in the beginning years made it easier to make them sign on the dotted line, though he did not sign Cardinals slugger Stan Musial for the first six years. Berger was often seen at the side of Willie Mays, whom he considered among his closest friends
Topps was founded in 1938 as a chewing gum company. As the competition in the gum market exploded, Topps unveiled Bazooka, with the added value of comics, to help sell the brand. That eventually led to putting gum in packs of baseball cards. And in 1952, Sy Berger arrived at the company to help make and produce the first set, which he designed at his kitchen table using cardboard and scissors. The packs of six cards were wrapped in wax and, of course, had a piece of bubble gum in it for a total cost of five cents. Despite having a Mickey Mantle "rookie" card in the set, sales were not good. Since they overproduced the second part of the set that year, Berger, for years, would try to unload the cards anywhere they could.
"Around 1959 or so, I went around to carnivals and offered them for a penny a piece and it got so bad I offered them at 10 for a penny," Berger told Sports Collectors Digest in 2007. "They would say, 'We don't want them.'" In 1960, still saddled with a huge number of cards from the 1952 set, Berger put the remaining cards into three full garbage trucks and commissioned a barge to dump the remaining inventory into the Atlantic Ocean. With kids putting the cards in the spokes of their bicycle and years later, the parents of those who had saved them throwing out their shoeboxes full of cards, scarcity led to an era where the baseball card became an investment. After the T206 Honus Wagner card, the 1952 Topps Mantle is the most valuable card in the baseball card world. One of the 1952 Mantle cards sold at auction last week for $268,664. For years, baseball cards were the marketing mechanism for the gum companies -- Topps competed with Bowman and Fleer and Donruss. In the mid-80s, the fervor over cards led the cardboard to become the main attraction over the gum. Gum was soon wrapped in plastic so as not to hurt the cards and eventually was gone from packs altogether. Berger, who worked for Topps until 2002, is survived by his wife Gloria, his daughter Maxine, and his two sons Glen and Gary.
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The Dodgers have agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with left-hander Brett Anderson, with $4 million in possible incentives. Anderson went 1-3 with 2.91 ERA in his only season with the Rockies, who elected to decline his $12 million option. Finger and back problems marred Anderson's 2014 in Colorado, limiting the 26-year-old to eight starts. For his career, Anderson is 27-32 with a 3.73 ERA. He played his previous five years with the Athletics before he was dealt to the Rockies prior to the 2014 season.
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The White Sox have found an upgrade in left field by agreeing with free agent Melky Cabrera. The three-year contract is worth $42 million, pending a physical exam which is expected to take place early this week. Cabrera, who was believed to have significant interest from the Mariners, would take over in left field and continue an impressive string of offseason acquisitions from general manager Rick Hahn. The 30-year old Cabrera batted .301 with 81 runs scored in 139 games for the Blue Jays this past season, hitting 16 home runs with 73 RBIs. The White Sox have not confirmed the signing, which comes days after a trade for pitcher Jeff Samardzija was made official and three days after the signing of reliever David Robertson was announced, but White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton mentioned Cabrera in a welcome message on Twitter on Saturday night, and Cabrera retweeted the message.
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The Astros have reached agreement on a three-year contract with infielder Jed Lowrie, general manager Jeff Luhnow announced and Lowrie will receive a guaranteed $23 million. Lowrie, 30, is a .261 hitter over seven major league seasons with Boston, Houston and Oakland. He hit .244 with 16 homers during a previous stint with the Astros in 2012. Lowrie, who makes his off season home in Houston, is expected to play shortstop for the Astros. Houston had also expressed interest in free agents Stephen Drew and Asdrubal Cabrera before signing Lowrie. Lowrie enjoyed a career season in 2013 with the A's, setting career bests in batting average (.290) and RBIs (75) and also finishing with 15 home runs. Oakland acquired him from the Astros in a five-player trade before that season. He was paid $5.25 million last season.
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The Cubs have agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent reliever Jason Motte, pending a physical. The deal is for $4.5 million, a source said. Motte has spent his whole career with the Cardinals and was their closer in 2011 when they won the World Series. He later had elbow trouble and missed the entire 2013 season following Tommy John surgery. Last season, Motte struggled through back injuries, posting a 4.68 ERA in 29 appearances. Before missing 2013, Motte had a career year in 2012. He made 67 appearances, pitched 72 innings, racked up 42 saves and had a 2.75 ERA.
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Outfielder Bryce Harper has agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million contract with the Nationals, avoiding a scheduled grievance hearing this week with the team. The Nats released a statement confirming a deal had been reached. "We are pleased to have reached an agreement today with Bryce Harper," the statement read. "This is a fair agreement that benefits both sides. We look forward to seeing Bryce on the field this spring and working towards a 2015 World Series Championship."
The Major League Baseball Players Association had filed a grievance on Harper's behalf over whether he should be able to void the 2015 terms in the final season of a $9.9 million, five-year contract he signed when drafted. An arbitrator hearing would have taken place Tuesday if Harper and the Nationals hadn't settled. The agreement comes two days after harper didn’t show up for a scheduled appearance at the NatsFest fan festival, which prompted general manager Mike Rizzo to say he was "disappointed" by the outfielder's absence. Harper, who turned 22 in October, is already a two-time NL All-Star and one of the Nationals' most popular and marketable players.
He's coming off an injury-interrupted season in which he batted .273 with 13 homers and 32 RBIs but thrived in Washington's NL Division Series loss to the Giants. Harper hit .368 with three homers and four RBIs in that four-game series. He lost time in the first few months of the season after having surgery on a torn thumb ligament suffered when he slid into third base during a game on April 25. Harper wasn't back in the lineup until June 30. Harper hit career highs during his first season in the majors, belting 22 homers and 59 RBIs in a 2012 campaign that saw him win the National League Rookie of the Year.
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Yankees signed third baseman Chase Headley to a four-year deal. The deal is worth $52 million. Headley also had reportedly been pursued by the Giants, who have a void to fill at third base. Headley, who was traded to the Yankees by the Padres prior to the trade deadline last season, hit a combined .243 last season with 13 home runs and 49 RBIs. Following the trade to New York, he hit .262 with six home runs and 17 RBIs after hitting just .229 in 77 games with San Diego. The signing leaves the Yankees with questions as what to do with Rodriguez, who will be returning from a one year suspension for violations of baseball's drug agreement and labor contract. General manager Brian Cashman said at last month's GM meetings that A-Rod will have to win a job.
"If I signed a Chase Headley, he would be the starting third baseman," Cashman said then. "[Rodriguez] is going to compete for at-bats and for a position. The position would be third, and obviously DH, and that's it. Maybe some time at first base. He may be eventually the everyday third baseman, he may be the everyday DH; I just don't know." The move gives some infield flexibility to the Yankees, as Headley can also play first base. But it certainly looks like for the first time in two decades, the soon-to-be 40-year-old Rodriguez, who has not played a full season since 2007 because of the suspension, leg operations and operations on both hips, will be coming to spring training without a job. He is under contract until 2017 and is owed a minimum of $61 million, a number that could swell by another $30 million, in $6 million increments, every time he reaches a contractual home run milestone. "That has nothing to do with devaluing Alex or disrespecting Alex or anything of that nature," Cashman said at the GM meetings in November. "It's just a fair assessment of the unknown. You can't quantify the unknown right now until you get him out there on a consistent basis to see if he can actually remain on the field, stay healthy, be productive and be that middle-of-the-lineup threat and force that we've all come to see for years gone by."
Headley, who played the previous six seasons for the Padres, had a breakout year in 2012, hitting 31 home runs and leading the National League with 115 RBIs -- big numbers considering Petco Park's dimensions and the lineup around him. He added a Gold Glove Award and finished a deserving fifth in the NL MVP voting. Headley, who will turn 31 in May, was paid $10.525 million in 2014. In eight seasons, he has hit .265 with 93 home runs and 418 RBIs.
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The Royals have reached agreement with free-agent outfielder Alex Rios on a one-year, $11 million contract. Rios, 33, is a .278 career hitter with 165 home runs in 11 big league seasons with Toronto, the White Sox and Texas. He batted .280 for the Rangers last season, but produced only four home runs and 54 RBIs in 131 games. Rios will fill the right-field void in Kansas City created by the departure of Norichika Aoki to free agency. He joins Kendrys Morales who agreed to a two-year, $17 million deal last week, as the second free-agent hitter to sign with the Royals this month.
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