That’s a rhetorical question, of course. But it’s one that has a basis in fact because girl power is real.
From Joan of Arc to Cassidy Hutchinson, whenever men have proven too cautious, cowardly or complacent to act, women have had the courage to do the right thing. The latest example of this feminine fearlessness came last Saturday, after federal immigration agents launched a series of raids throughout the Southland targeting everyone from schoolchildren to elderly churchgoers.
Within hours of the first arrests, Angel City, a women’s soccer club, became the first local sports franchise to issue a statement, recognizing the “fear and uncertainty” the raids had provoked. A day later LAFC, Angel City’s roommate at BMO Stadium, released a statement of its own.
That was a week and a half ago. But Angel City didn’t stop there. While the collective silence from the Dodgers, the Galaxy, the Lakers, Kings and other teams has been deafening, Angel City has grown defiant, dressing its players and new coach Alexander Straus in T-shirts that renamed the team “Immigrant City Football Club.” On the back the slogan “Los Angeles Is For Everyone /Los Angeles Es Para Todos” was repeated six times.
“The statement was the beginning,” said Chris Fajardo, Angel City’s vice-president of community. “The statement was our way of making sure that our fans, our players, our staff felt seen in that moment.
“The next piece was, I think, true to Angel City. Not just talking the talk but walking the walk.”
Angel City, the most valuable franchise in women’s sports history, has been walking that walk since it launched five years ago with the help of A-list Hollywood investors, including Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera and Jennifer Garner.
Angel City coach Alexander Straus wears a shirt with the words, “Immigrant City Football Club” before Saturday’s match.
(Jen Flores / Angel City FC)
It has used its riches and its unique platform to provide more than 2.3 million meals and more than 33,000 hours for youth and adult education throughout Southern California; to provide equipment and staff for soccer camps for the children of migrants trapped at the U.S.-Mexico border; and to funnel $4.1 million into other community programs in Los Angeles.
But while much of that has happened quietly, last Saturday’s actions were provocative, boldly and publicly taking place in a city still under siege from thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of U.S. Marines.
“We always talk about how we wanted to build a club that was representative of our community. But we built a club where we are part of the community,” said Julie Uhrman, who co-founded the team she now leads as president.
“In moments like this it’s how do we use our platform to drive attention for what’s happening, to create a sense of community and tell our community that we’re there for them.
“Our supporters wanted to do more,” Uhrman added. “And we wanted to support them.”
Angel City’s Sydney Leroux poses for photo before a match against North Carolina on Saturday.
(Ian Maule / NWSL via Getty Images)
So Fajardo reached out to the team’s staff and supporters. What would that next step look like this time?
“We knew we wanted to do shirts but like, is this the right move?” Fajardo said. “Also, let’s talk about language. It had to resonate and it had to be something they felt was true.
“And so it was through conversation that we landed on the Immigrant City Football Club and everybody belongs in L.A.”
That was late Wednesday afternoon. Fajardo needed more than 10,000 shirts to hand out to players and fans by Saturday morning. That led him to Andrew Leigh, president of Jerry Leigh of California, a family-owned clothing manufacturer based in Los Angeles.
“We wanted to be a part of it,” Leigh said. “These were definitely a priority as we believe in the cause and what Angel City stands for.”
That first run of T-shirts was just the start, though. Leigh’s company has made thousands more for the team to sell on its website, with the net proceeds going to Camino Immigration Services, helping fund what the team feels is a pressing need.
The campaign has resounded with the players, many of whom were drawn to Angel City by the club’s commitment to community service and many of whom see this moment as especially personal.
“My mom’s parents came here from China, and it wasn’t easy for them,” captain Ali Riley told the team website. “They had to find a way to make a life here. My dad is first-generation American. Being from Los Angeles, everything we do, everything we play, everything we eat, this is a city of immigrants.”
“It feels so uncertain right now,” she continued, “but to look around the stadium and see these shirts everywhere, it’s like we’re saying, ‘this is our home, we know who we are, and we know what we believe in.”
It has resonated with the supporters as well.
“It is great that they showed support and put it into action,” said Lauren Stribling, a playwright from Santa Clarita and an Angel City season-ticket holder from the club’s inception. “They really showed an empathy for the community they serve.
Shirts with the words “Los Angeles Is For Everyone” in English and Spanish were handed out to fans before Angel City’s game against North Carolina at BMO Stadium on Saturday.
(Jen Flores / Angel City FC)
“They stand up. It makes me proud of the team and makes me a bigger fan.”
And it makes the Dodgers, the Galaxy and the other Southern California franchises who have remained silent look smaller. On the same night Angel City was stepping up, seven miles away the Dodgers were once again stepping back, warning singer Nezza, the daughter of Dominican immigrants, to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in English, not Spanish.
“I didn’t think I would be met with any sort of like, ‘no,’ especially because we’re in L.A. and with everything happening,” said Nezza, whose real name is Vanessa Hernández. “I just felt like I needed to do it.”
So she sang in Spanish. Of course she sang in Spanish.
⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.
With his arm forming a 90-degree angle at his elbow, Shohei Ohtani clenched his right hand like an umpire signaling an out.
The actual home-plate umpire, Tripp Gibson, didn’t make the same gesture.
Fernando Tatis Jr. was ruled safe at home. Three batters into his first game pitching for the Dodgers, Ohtani was charged with a run.
Ohtani pointed his glove at Gibson. He screamed. He turned his head in the direction of the Dodgers dugout, waving his glove as if to urge the bench to challenge the call.
The Dodgers saw another side of Ohtani on Monday in their 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres, but that entailed more than him taking the mound and throwing a couple of 100-mph fastballs.
Ohtani the pitcher, they learned, isn’t as playful as Ohtani the hitter. He snarls. He barks. He’s emotional, even downright combative at times.
This temperament could explain why Ohtani pitched the way he did in his first game in two seasons — why he threw as hard as he did, why he couldn’t control his fastball, why his sweeper lacked its usual movement.
Hitting is what Ohtani does for fun. Pitching is what he treats as work, and Ohtani was amped up to return to the mound.
“I was more nervous than when I’m just a hitter,” Ohtani said in Japanese.
His performance reflected that. In the one inning he pitched as an opener, he was charged with a run and two hits. He threw 28 pitches, of which only 16 were strikes.
Shohei Ohtani takes the mound for the Dodgers for the first time since signing with the team.
“My arm was moving a little too fast, so pitches were going more to the glove side than I anticipated,” Ohtani said.
His first pitch was a 97.6-mph fastball that was fouled off by Tatis. He averaged 99.1 mph with his four-seam fastball and 97.4 mph with his sinker, throwing 13 pitches at 98 mph or faster. He was clocked at 100.2 mph against Luis Arraez and 99.9 against Manny Machado.
That was considerably faster than Ohtani threw in live batting practice and considerably faster than the Dodgers were expecting him to throw in this game.
“I wanted to be around 95-96 as much as possible,” Ohtani said.
Ohtani gave up a single to Tatis on a 99.1-mph fastball that was left over the heart of the plate. Tatis advanced to second base on a 98.3-mph wild pitch and third on a single that Arraiz hit off a 98-mph sinker.
With runners on the corners, Ohtani thought he struck out Machado on a sweeper, but he was ruled to have checked his swing. Ohtani pointed at Gibson and appealed for a strike but to no avail. Ohtani unironically made a Joe Kelly pouty face.
Two pitches later, Machado scored Tatis with a sacrifice fly to center field.
“A little more animated than he usually is,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani.
Roberts already knew Ohtani would be like this, as he’d spoken to people familiar with Ohtani, including former Angels manager Phil Nevin.
“I guess as a pitcher, he shows a lot more emotion and gets frustrated when things don’t go well or he doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do on the mound,” Roberts said with a chuckle.
Ohtani was more in control when he retired Xander Bogaerts for the final out of the inning, and he pointed to the at-bat as a highlight.
“I was able to relax and pitch,” he said.
Ohtani started by attacking him with a sweeper that was called for a strike. He followed that up with a 95.6-mph sinker that missed low, but forced Bogaerts to ground out for the third out on another sinker, this one on the inside half of the plate. That pitch was 95.4 mph.
After that, Ohtani strapped on protective gear and slipped on batting gloves while standing on the railing in front of the Dodgers’ bench. As a hitter, he finished the game two for four with a walk, two runs scored and two runs batted in.
In the batter’s box and on the basepaths, his demeanor softened. By the time he reached third base in the Dodgers’ five-run fourth inning, he was sharing laughs with Machado.
From Jack Harris: Roughly four hours before first pitch Monday night, Shohei Ohtani sat at his locker in the Dodger Stadium clubhouse and prepared for his biggest game of the season.
First, the reigning MVP unwrapped the black compression sleeve he wears when pitching, and pulled it over his prized right arm. Then, he grabbed his bat and a pair of hitting gloves and headed toward the cages.
On this day, each piece of equipment was needed.
For the first time in almost two years, the two-way star would be playing both ways again.
In the Dodgers’ 6-3 win against the San Diego Padres on Monday, Ohtani made his long-awaited return as a pitcher from a September 2023 Tommy John operation, taking the mound in a Dodgers uniform for the first time as the club’s starter while also continuing to serve as their leadoff hitter in the lineup.
Ohtani’s pitching outing was brief, lasting just one inning and 28 pitches. He yielded one run on two hits (a pair of flare singles from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez) and a sacrifice fly from Manny Machado. And while he touched 100 mph with his fastball, his form was far from flawless.
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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS
All Times Pacific
NBA FINALS
Oklahoma City vs. Indiana
Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story) at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story) at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (box score, story) Oklahoma City 111, at Indiana 104 (box score, story) at Oklahoma City 120, Indiana 109 (box score, story) Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*
*if necessary
ANGELS
Nolan Schanuel hit a run-scoring double in the 11th inning and the Angels beat the Yankees 1-0 on Monday night, extending New York’s losing streak to a season-high four games.
Schanuel’s one-out, opposite-field hit to left off Jonathan Loáisiga (0-1) scored automatic runner Christian Moore, a Brooklyn native who tripled in the eighth for his first major league hit.
Ryan Zeferjahn (4-1) pitched a hitless 10th. After the Yankees loaded the bases with two outs against Brock Burke in the bottom half, Hunter Strickland got Anthony Volpe to bounce into a forceout for his first save this year as the Angels improved to 5-0 in extra innings and dropped the Yankees to 1-5.
UCLA will wake up Tuesday morning with a chance to rally from a two-run deficit.
The Bruins’ winner’s bracket game against Louisiana State on Monday night was suspended until Tuesday at 8 a.m. PDT following a three-hour rain delay — it will resume in the top of the fourth inning with UCLA batting and LSU leading 5-3. The remainder of the game is scheduled to air on ESPN.
LAFC hung around against English powerhouse Chelsea at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and had the match still in striking distance nearly the entire way, but lost 2-0 in its first of three group stage matches.
“Chelsea won, deservingly so,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “I think we kind of clawed our way back into the game; I think we played a little better in the second half and maybe had the odd chance here or there to get the equalizer.”
The first competitive fixture between English and American clubs featured the mostly expected run of play, with Chelsea carrying most of the action and carving out nearly all of the afternoon’s clear-cut scoring opportunities. It was one-way traffic, and Chelsea broke through in the 34th minute when Pedro Neto beat LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris at his near post following a quick turn inside around defender Ryan Hollingshead.
Edmonton vs. Florida at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story) Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story) at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story) Edmonton 5, at Florida 4 (OT) (summary, story) Florida 5, at Edmonton 2 (summary, story) Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
* If necessary
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1954 — Rocky Marciano scores a 15-round unanimous decision over Ezzard Charles at New York to retain the world heavyweight title.
1961 — Gene Littler shoots a 68 in the final round to edge Doug Sanders and Bob Goalby in the U.S. Open.
1962 — Jack Nicklaus beats Arnold Palmer by three strokes in a playoff to win the U.S. Open.
1962 — Brazil beats Czechoslovakia 3-1 in Santiago, Chile to win its second straight FIFA World Cup title. Czechoslovakia scored first on a goal by Josef Masopust at 15 minutes. Two minutes later Amarildo tied the game. In the second half, Zito and Vavá scored goals to give Brazil the victory.
1973 — Johnny Miller shoots a 63 in the final round to win the U.S. Open by one stroke over John Schlee at Oakmont, Pa. Miller’s 8-under 63 is the first ever carded in a major championship.
1976 — The 18-team NBA absorbs four of the six remaining ABA teams: the New York Nets, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets.
1979 — Hale Irwin wins the U.S. Open by two strokes over Gary Player and Jerry Pate.
1989 — The Quebec Nordiques select Swedish center Mats Sundin with the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft. He’s the first European player to be taken with the first pick.
1990 — Fifty-year-old Harry Gant becomes the oldest driver to win a NASCAR race as he posts a 2.4-second victory over Rusty Wallace in the Miller 500 at Pocono International Raceway.
1991 — Payne Stewart escapes with a two-stroke victory over Scott Simpson in the highest-scoring U.S. Open playoff in 64 years.
1992 — Philadelphia 76ers trade Charles Barkley to Phoenix Suns.
1995 — Claude Lemieux snaps a tie at 3:17 of the third period as the New Jersey Devils open the Stanley Cup finals with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The victory, the ninth on the road, breaks the NHL playoff record for road wins.
2007 — Angel Cabrera holds off Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk by a stroke to capture the U.S. Open. Cabrera shoots a 1-under-par 69 in the final round at brutal Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club.
2007 — Kate Ziegler breaks swimming’s oldest world record, shattering the 1,500-meter freestyle mark by 9 1/2 seconds at the TYR Meet of Champions Mission Viejo. Ziegler wins the 30-lap race in 15:42.54, easily erasing Janet Evans’ 1988 mark of 15:52.10 set in Orlando, Fla.
2008 — The Boston Celtics win their 17th NBA title with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Lakers in Game 6. Kevin Garnett scores 26 points with 14 rebounds, Ray Allen scores 26 and Paul Pierce, the finals MVP, adds 17.
2010 — The Lakers beat Boston for the first time in a Game 7 to repeat as NBA champions. The Lakers win their 16th NBA championship, dramatically rallying from a fourth-quarter 13-point deficit to beat the Celtics 83-79.
2011 — Rory McIlroy becomes the first player in the 111-year history of the U.S. Open to reach 13-under par, and despite a double bogey into the water on the final hole, his 5-under 66 is enough set the 36-hole scoring record at 131.
2012 — Webb Simpson wins the U.S. Open outlasting former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell.
2018 — Brooks Koepka wins a second consecutive U.S. Open, the first player to do so since Curtis Strange in 1989.
2024 — Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game 5 to clinch the club’s record 18th NBA Championship. Boston forward Jaylen Brown voted Finals MVP.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1915 — George “Zip” Zabel of the Chicago Cubs was called into the game against the Brooklyn Dodgers with two out in the first inning. He won 4-3 in the 19th inning in the longest relief effort in the majors.
1943 — Player-manager Joe Cronin of the Boston Red Sox hit a three-run pinch homer in both games of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia A’s. The Red Sox won the opener 5-4 and lost the second game 8-7.
1960 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox connected for his 500th career home run off the Cleveland Indians. Williams, the fourth to accomplish the feat, hit a two-run homer off Wynn Hawkins in a 3-1 win.
1971 — Don Kessinger of the Chicago Cubs went 6-for-6, with five singles and a double, in a 7-6, 10-inning decision over the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.
1978 — Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees struck out 18 California Angels to set an American League record for left-handers. Guidry, who struck out 15 in the first six innings, ended with a 4-0 four-hitter.
1993 — Baseball owners voted 26-2 in favor of expanding the playoffs for the first time in 25 years, doubling the teams that qualify to eight starting in 1994.
2007 — Brandon Watson extended his hitting streak to 43 games, breaking a 95-year-old International League record with a base hit in the Columbus Clippers’ 9-8 loss to the Ottawa Lynx. Jack Lelivelt set the IL record for the Rochester Hustlers in 1912.
2007 — Frank Thomas hit his record-breaking 244th homer as a designated hitter in Toronto’s 4-2 loss to Washington. The solo shot in the third inning moved Thomas past Edgar Martinez for the most homers by a DH.
2009 — Ivan Rodriguez catches the 2,227th game of his career, breaking Carlton Fisk’s record, in Houston’s 5-4, 10-inning loss to his former team, the Texas Rangers. For Texas, Omar Vizquel, the all-time leader for games played at shortstop, picks up his 2,677th hit, tying Luis Aparicio for most hits by a Venezuelan player.
2008 — Seattle’s Felix Hernandez struck out the side on nine pitches in the fourth inning of a 5-4 win over Florida, becoming the 13th pitcher in American League history to accomplish the feat.
2016 — Michaeal Saunders leads the Toronto Blue Jays to a 13-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles with three home runs and 8 RBIs.
2021 — The Arizona Diamondback set a new all-time mark with their 23rd consecutive road loss losing to the Giants 10-3.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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All eyes are on Shohei Ohtani, as he made his long-awaited return to the pitching mound and delivered his first pitches as a member of the Dodgers on Monday night in a 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Ohtani last pitched on Aug. 23, 2023, while with the Angels. He underwent his second Tommy John surgery the following month.
Ohtani is 38-19 with 3.01 earned-run average over 86 starts in his MLB career entering Monday’s game and finished fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 2022, when he went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA. He is expected to help bolster a depleted Dodgers starting rotation that has been missing Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, among others, for extended stretches this season.
Shohei Ohtani pitches for the Dodgers against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Shohei Ohtani delivers against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Shohei Ohtani pitches against the San Diego Padres on Monday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani in Phoenix in February.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani throws during spring training in Phoenix in February.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani enters the field at the Tokyo Dome for a workout ahead of the Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs in March.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani warms up during a baseball spring training workout in Phoenix.
(Matt York / Associated Press)
Fans head up some stairs wearing Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto jerseys before the game between the Dodgers and the Detroit Tigers at Dodger Stadium on March 27.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani runs onto the field during introductions during the Dodgers’ home opener in March.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani throws a live batting practice before a game against the New York Mets on May 25.
(Adam Hunger/AP)
The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani throws in the outfield before a game against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium on June 4.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers coaches keep a watchful eye as Shohei Ohtani throws in the bullpen before the game against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium on June 4.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Dodgers fans watch as Shohei Ohtani throws in the outfield before the game against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium on June 4.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani plays catch before the Dodgers take on the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium on June 2.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
Shohei Ohtani walks past a throng of journalists before the Dodgers play an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyo Dome in March.
The former Japanese interpreter for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani surrendered to a federal prison in Pennsylvania on Monday, beginning a nearly five-year prison sentence for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player.
Ippei Mizuhara, 40, was processed at a low-security federal prison in Allenwood, Pa., his attorney Michael Freedman confirmed. The facility is about 125 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
Mizuhara was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana in February to four years and nine months for bank and tax fraud. He was also ordered to pay $18 million in restitution, with nearly $17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the IRS. He was sentenced to three years’ supervised release on top of the prison sentence.
Authorities said Mizuhara began accessing Ohtani’s account beginning in 2021 and changed its security protocols so he could impersonate Ohtani to authorize wire transfers. He has admitted to using the money to cover his growing gambling bets and debts with an illegal bookmaker, in addition to purchasing $325,000 worth of baseball cards and paying his own dental bills.
He was a close friend and confidant to Ohtani, standing by his side for many of his career highlights, from serving as his catcher during the Home Run Derby at the 2021 All-Star Game, to being there for his two American League MVP wins and his record-shattering $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers.
Ohtani made his highly anticipated pitching debut Monday night for the Dodgers, nearly two years after having elbow surgery.
The Dodgers announced after Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Giants that Ohtani will make his Dodgers pitching debut Monday against the San Diego Padres. He will start, but will begin his pitching return as an opener, likely throwing just an inning or two.
“It’s very exciting,” said manager Dave Roberts, before the team revealed his Monday start. “I think that for me, I’m still a baseball fan first. I really am. The anticipation here for the game is, man, it’s going to be bananas when it happens. There’s been a lot of anticipation. I think we’ve done it the right way as far as kind of our process.”
For Ohtani, it’s been a long road back to pitching. He signed with the Dodgers on a 10-year, $700-million contract before the 2024 season — a value representing not just his MVP-level bat, but his potential Cy Young Award-level pitching.
He underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2023, only hitting in his first season with the Dodgers. He tallied unprecedented numbers at the plate (.310 batting average, league-high 54 home runs, 130 RBI and 59 stolen bases). In recent weeks, Ohtani ramped up his throwing program, facing live hitters a handful of times.
Fifteen minutes before first pitch on Sunday, Giants catcher Logan Porter trotted in from the visitor’s bullpen. He’d usually be accompanied by the starting pitcher, which was set to be left-hander Kyle Harrison.
Instead, Porter stood on the first-base line for the national anthem, turned to his left and whispered to his teammates. As they all received the information from Porter — reminiscent of the children’s game “Telephone” — other Giants teammates likely learned one-by-one that Harrison had been traded.
“It was crazy,” Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman said. “You don’t expect a trade like that this time of year and just getting the pitching change at the last minute.”
The odd scene at Dodger Stadium was because of a reported blockbuster trade that involved the Boston Red Sox sending infielder Rafael Devers to the Giants in exchange for Harrison, right-hander Jordan Hicks and two prospects — a move that further bolsters the talent in the L.A.-San Francisco rivalry.
San Francisco manager Bob Melvin was forced to turn to long reliever Sean Hjelle, who rapidly warmed up for the start, against a Dodgers offense that had scored 11 runs Saturday night.
It was more of the same from the Dodgers’ offense in a 5-4 victory Sunday. The top of the order manufactured a run via an Andy Pages sacrifice fly in the first inning. Edman hit a solo home run — his 10th — in the second. Pages put a cherry on top in the fifth after Shohei Ohtani (three for three, one walk) and Mookie Betts set the table with singles.
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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS
All Times Pacific
NBA FINALS
Oklahoma City vs. Indiana
Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story) at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story) at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (box score, story) Oklahoma City 111, at Indiana 104 (box score, story) Monday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*
*if necessary
ANGELS
Gary Sánchez hit a seventh-inning grand slam, Ramón Urías and Jordan Westburg also homered, and the Baltimore Orioles completed a three-game sweep with a 11-2 victory Sunday over the Angels.
Cade Povich earned his first victory since April 24 as Baltimore secured its third sweep of the season, all in its last five series. The Orioles (30-40) are within 10 games of .500 for the first time since they were 15-25.
The U.S. hopes a blowout win over the world’s 100th-ranked team can start to lessen the pessimism created by the Americans’ longest losing streak since 2007.
Malik Tillman scored twice and Diego Luna had a pair of assists in a 5-0 rout of Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday in the Americans’ CONCACAF Gold Cup opener.
“Really important I think to cut a little bit this — I don’t say negativity, but, yes … but it’s really important now to start the competition with a good feeling,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said.
Victory in the Group D opener ended a four-game losing streak and came after days of controversy over Christian Pulisic’s desire to rest during the Gold Cup and Pochettino not including the star in a pair of pre-tournament friendlies the attacker offered to play in.
J.J. Spaun turned a sloppy mess of a U.S. Open at wet and nasty Oakmont into a thing of beauty at the end Sunday with two stunning shots that carried him to his first major championship.
First came his driver on the 314-yard 17th hole onto the green that led to a birdie that gave him the lead. Needing two putts from 65 feet on the 18th to win, he finished his storybook Open by holing the longest putt all week at Oakmont for birdie and a two-over 72.
That made him the only player to finish under par at one-under 279. It gave him a two-shot victory over Robert MacIntyre of Scotland.
And it made the 36-year-old San Dimas native a major champion in only his second U.S. Open.
Edmonton vs. Florida at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story) Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story) at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story) Edmonton 5, at Florida 4 (OT) (summary, story) Florida 5, at Edmonton 2 (summary, story) Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
* If necessary
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1927 — Tommy Armour wins the U.S. Open with a three-stroke victory over Harry Cooper in a playoff.
1946 — Lloyd Mangrum edges Byron Nelson and Vic Ghezzi to win the U.S. Open by one stroke in a 36-hole playoff.
1951 — Ben Hogan captures the U.S. Open for the second straight year with a two-stroke comeback victory over Clayton Heafner.
1956 — Cary Middlecoff wins the U.S. Open by one stroke over Ben Hogan and Julius Boros.
1968 — Lee Trevino becomes the first golfer to play all four rounds of the U.S. Open under par as he beats Jack Nicklaus by four strokes.
1974 — Hale Irwin beats Forrest Fezler by two strokes to win the U.S. Open. In what becomes known as the “Massacre at Winged Foot,” not a single player breaks par in the first round. Irwin’s 7-over 278 is the second-highest score since World War II — Julius Boros was 9-over in 1963.
1975 — NBA Milwaukee Bucks trade Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley to the Lakers for 4 players.
1985 — Andy North wins the U.S. Open by one stroke over Taiwan’s Tze-chung Chen, Canada’s Dave Barr and Zimbabwe’s Denis Watson.
1985 — Willie Banks of USA sets triple jump record (58 feet 11 inches) in Indianapolis.
1993 — Michael Jordan scores 55 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 111-105 victory and a 3-1 lead over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals.
1996 — 50th NBA Championship: Chicago Bulls beat Seattle Supersonics, 4 games to 2; the Bulls’ 4th title in 6 years.
1998 — The Detroit Red Wings become the first team to win consecutive Stanley Cups since Pittsburgh in 1992, completing a sweep of Washington with a 4-1 win behind two goals by Doug Brown. It’s the fourth straight NHL finals sweep, a first in major pro sports history.
1999 — Maurice Greene smashes the 100-meter world record at 9.79 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 9.84 set by Donovan Bailey at the 1996 Olympics.
2002 — A runaway winner again in the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods becomes the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1972 to capture the first two major championships of the year with a three-stroke victory at Bethpage (N.Y.) Black.
2006 — Tiger Woods returns from his longest layoff by making his earliest departure at a major, missing the cut in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time as a pro. Woods, with rounds of 76-76, misses the cut at the U.S. Open by three strokes.
2008 — Tiger Woods wins the U.S. Open in a 19-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate, his 14th career major.
2013 — Justin Rose captures his first major championship and becomes the first Englishman in 43 years to win the U.S. Open. Rose shoots a closing 70 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. for a 1-over 281 total and two-shot victory over Phil Mickelson and Jason Day.
2013 — Greg Biffle gives Ford a milestone victory with his second straight Sprint Cup win at Michigan International Speedway. It’s the 1,000th victory for Ford Motor Company across NASCAR’s three national series — Cup, Nationwide and Truck.
2015 — The Golden State Warriors win their first NBA championship since 1975, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 in Game 6. Stephen Curry and Finals MVP Andre Iguodala each score 25 points for the Warriors, who won the final three games after Cleveland had taken a 2-1 lead.
2016 — LeBron James scores 41 points, Kyrie Irving adds 23 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors 115-101 to even an unpredictable series and force a decisive Game 7.
2018 — Video Assist Referee (VAR) technology used for the first time in a World Cup soccer match.
2022 — NBA Finals: Golden State Warriors beat Boston Celtics, 103-90 for a 4-2 series win; Warriors’ 4th title in 8 years; MVP: Stephen Curry.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1916 — Tom Hughes of the Boston Braves pitched a no-hitter in a 2-0 win over Pittsburgh Pirates.
1938 — Jimmie Foxx didn’t get a chance to hit as the St. Louis Browns walked him six straight times. The Boston Red Sox won anyway, 12-8.
1953 — The St. Louis Browns beat New York 3-1 to break the Yankees’ 18-game winning streak and end their 14-game losing streak.
1957 — Relief pitcher Dixie Howell hit two home runs in the 3 2-3 innings he pitched to lead the Chicago White Sox to an 8-6 victory in the second game of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators.
1971 — The Oakland Athletics hit five solo home runs in a 5-1 win over the Washington Senators. Mike Epstein and Joe Rudi had a pair homers and Dave Duncan one. Epstein’s home runs came in his first two at-bats to give him homers in four straight at-bats over two games.
1978 — After three ninth-inning near misses, Tom Seaver threw the first no-hitter of his 12-year career as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0.
1991 — Otis Nixon of Atlanta stole six bases against Montreal to set a modern National League record and tie the major league record set by Eddie Collins of the Philadelphia A’s in 1912. Montreal won the game 7-6.
1992 — Boston’s Mark Reardon became baseball’s all-time save leader when he closed out a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees. Reardon logged his 342nd save to pass Rollie Fingers.
1993 — Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners hits his 100th home run in Seattle’s 6 – 1 victory over Kansas City to become the fourth-youngest to hit the century mark. Only Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews and Tony Conigliaro did it faster than the 23-year-old Griffey.
2001 — John Olerud went 4-for-5 and hit for the cycle as Seattle beat the San Diego Padres 9-2. He hit a homer in the ninth to complete the cycle.
2009 — The San Diego Padres set a major league record with their 12th straight loss in interleague play when they fell 5-0 to Seattle.
2014 — Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, winner of eight National League batting titles, passes away from cancer of the salivary gland at 54.
2015 — Brock Holt became the first Boston player to hit for the cycle since 1996 and the Red Sox slugged their way out to a 9-4 victory over Atlanta.
2015 — Manny Machado and Chris Parmelee each hit two of an Orioles-record eight home runs, and Baltimore pounded woeful Philadelphia 19-3. The eight home runs were the most by the Orioles since their move from St. Louis in 1954.
2019 — An authentic Babe Ruth New York Yankees jersey from 1928-30 sets a record for a piece of baseball memorabilia as it sells for $5.64 million at auction.
2019 — The Padres and Rockies set a record for most combined runs in a four-game series with a total of 92, breaking the previous record of 88 set in 1929 between the Brooklyn Robins and Phillies.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. It’s awards time for high school baseball and softball.
All-star teams
Quentin Young of Oaks Christian sends a slider over the fence in left field at Cleveland High on Monday. Oaks Christian won 5-3.
(Craig Weston)
Pitcher Seth Hernandez of Corona is The Times’ baseball player of the year for the second consecutive season. He improved on his performance and put together a two-year run in which he went 18-1. Here’s a profile on the impact he made.
The Times’ All-Star baseball team includes Quentin Young of Oaks Christian. He moved to shortstop and hit 14 home runs. Here’s a look at the All-Star team.
Second-year coach Andy Rojo has St. John Bosco in the Division 1 final.
(Nick Koza)
The coach of the year is St. John Bosco’s Andy Rojo, who guided the Braves to their first Southern Section Division 1 championship along with the Southern California Division 1 regional championship and their first Trinity League title since 2017. Here’s the report.
The Times’ coach of the year is Rick Robinson of Norco. He put together a team of young and old and guided the Cougars to the Southern Section Division 1 championship. Here’s the report.
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Dorsey football coach Stafon Johnson with son Deuce, a junior receiver.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Dorsey football coach Stafon Johnson used to be a star running back for the Dons and USC. He knows all about running the ball, so there was a little comedy seeing the Dons playing in a seven on seven passing tournament at Western High. Except Johnson has embraced the passing game with the arrival of quarterback Elijah McDaniel, a sophomore transfer from Warren. And Johnson’s son, Deuce, is a standout junior receiver.
So the Dons will be active this summer in passing tournaments. Not that Johnson wouldn’t prefer to run the football. He’ll never lose his love for seeing running backs gain yards.
City Section coaches had their annual meeting at the Rams’ locker room at SoFi Stadium to discuss changes and updates for the fall season.
It was announced that View Park Prep won’t have a football team this season, leaving Metro League teams scrambling to fill games.
Former L.A. Jordan quarterback James Boyd, who was the City Section player of the year, is the new head coach for the Bulldogs. He’s 33 years old.
La Serna won the Los Altos passing tournament. Orange Lutheran won the Chargers tournament using three quarterbacks. Schurr won the SGV tournament.
Notes . . .
Offensive lineman Sam Utu of Orange Lutheran has committed to Alabama. . . .
Defensive back Derrick Johnson of Murrieta Valley has committed to Oklahoma. . . .
Safety Logan Hirou of Santa Margarita has committed to UCLA. . . .
Offensive lineman Cooper Javorsky of San Juan Hills has committed to UCLA. . . .
Tight end Beckham Hofland of Los Alamitos has committed to Boise State. . . .
Former Gardena Serra defensive lineman Robert James has changed his commitment from Fresno State to UCLA and will play for the Bruins this fall. . . .
Former Orange Lutheran linebacker Talanoa Ili, now at Kahuku, has committed to USC. . . .
Defensive lineman Kingston Schirmer of Corona Centennial has commited to Cal. . . .
Tyler Lee of El Camino Real was chosen the City Section player of the year in boys volleyball. Here are the complete All-City teams. . . .
Sophomore Shalen Sheppard of Brentwood is returning home with a gold medal playing for the USA U16 national team. One of the great basketball players in SoCal next season. pic.twitter.com/pfOIbP6sZc
Shalen Sheppard of Brentwood won a gold medal representing the USA U16 national basketball team. He’ll be a sophomore. . . .
Luke Howe of El Camino Real.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Luke Howe of El Camino Real is the City Section player of the year in baseball. Here’s the complete All-City team.
Addison Moorman of Granada Hills is the City Section player of the year in softball. Here’s the complete All-City team.
DeAndre Cole is the new boys basketball coach at Compton Centennial. . . .
Jake Tatch of JSerra has been selected the Gatorade state player of the year in boys soccer. He’s headed to Michigan. . . .
Oaks Christian water polo coach Jack Kocur is the head coach for the USA Junior National team at the World Aquatics U20 Water Polo championships this summer. . . .
Deon Green is the new girls basketball coach at Chino. . . .
Chaminade has decided to add a flag football team. . . .
St. John Bosco closer Jack Champlin has committed to Washington. . . .
Former Servite star Max Thomas of USC finished second in the 100 meters at the NCAA track and field championships and helped the Trojans, coached by former Taft great Quincy Watts, win the NCAA title. . . .
The Fairfax basketball tournament originally scheduled to be held this week at Fairfax High has been changed to Pan Pacific Park.
From the archives: Max Muncy
Former Thousand Oaks High School shortstop Max Muncy celebrates following a home run during a game in 2021.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
Thousand Oaks grad Max Muncy, the “other” Max Muncy, is getting hot in his return to playing for the Athletics.
He got recalled from the minor leagues and started showing power. He’s playing third base while his former Thousand Oaks teammate, Jacob Wilson, is the shortstop. Muncy graduated in 2021 and Wilson in 2020.
From the Washington Post, a story on an adaptive tennis program making a difference.
From NFHS.org, a story on how to start archery as a P.E. program.
From the Los Angeles Times, a look back at the life of former Verbum Dei star David Greenwood.
Tweets you might have missed
UCLA’s John Savage showing you can get to College World Series with local talent. Among high schools with players making major contributions: Servite, Mater Dei, SO Notre Dame, Palos Verdes, Calabasas, Ocean View, Granada Hills, Glendora, Santa Margarita, Harvard-Westlake.
It’s different coaching in City Section. I overheard a football coach saying they had scheduled a seven on seven game but the QB had to work. Others didn’t know who would play this fall because of grades. So many challenges. And yet, they keep coaching trying to make a difference
The Dunlaps are on the move. Former Harvard-Westlake forward Brady Dunlap is now at St. Louis after being at St. John’s. His father, Jeff, is now an assistant coach at Georgia State. Good luck to both.
— Crescenta Valley Football (@cvhsfalconsfb) June 11, 2025
Until next time….
Prep Rally will take the next two weeks off and return on July 7.
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On the field, he’s produced the first 50-50 season in baseball history and won a World Series. Off it, he’s sold everything from unsweetened green tea to skin-care products.
As it was, it felt as if Shohei Ohtani was everywhere. In reality, this was just half of the package.
The Dodgers are finally about to have the complete version of Ohtani, the right-handed pitcher with a 100-mph fastball who also launches 470-foot homers as a left-handed hitter.
Two-Way Shohei is back.
Ohtani will pitch his first game for the Dodgers on Monday, the team naming him as its starter for the opening game of a four-game series against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.
What was already a one-of-a-kind show will evolve into something that might never be seen again after Ohtani retires — not at Dodger Stadium, not at any other major league stadium, not anywhere in the world.
The news of Ohtani’s mound return became a source of anticipation in the Dodgers’ clubhouse, with Clayton Kershaw describing himself as “super excited.”
“I think we all are,” Kershaw said. “I think as fans of the game and just seeing him day in and day out get ready to pitch and do both, it’s going to be really fun, whether it’s one inning or whatever it is.”
The Dodgers plan to deploy Ohtani for an inning or two as an opener.
For most of this season, the Dodgers operated under the assumption that Ohtani wouldn’t pitch until after the All-Star break. The change of plans doesn’t represent a speeding up of a timeline as much as it does a modification of the route that will be taken to a final destination.
Ohtani last pitched in 2023 when he was still playing for the Angels, and he didn’t pitch in his first season for the Dodgers last year as he recovered from his second Tommy John surgery.
Shohei Ohtani pitches in the bullpen at Dodger Stadium on June 4.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
In recent weeks, he prepared for his mound return by pitching to hitters in live batting practice. He threw 44 pitches in three innings in his third and most recent session.
However, throwing live batting practice and taking four or five at-bats in an actual game as a designated hitter was like “playing a doubleheader for him,” Roberts said.
To eliminate the exhausting cycle of warming up to throw, cooling down after, and warming up again to play a game, the Dodgers figured they could build up Ohtani’s arm in games. Whatever modest Ohtani’s contributions can make from the mound, the Dodgers will take them. With multiple starters on the injured list, the bullpen has shouldered a disproportionate share of the pitching load.
Because Ohtani wouldn’t take up an extra roster spot, Kershaw pointed out, “We don’t have to lose a pitcher or anything, so if he throws an inning a week, it’s great.”
Ohtani will likely pitch about once a week, with every start expected to be about an inning longer than the previous one. Theoretically, he could pitch four times before the All-Star break, which would stretch him out to be ready to pitch five innings when the Dodgers resume play.
While Ohtani remains in a ramp-up phase and his fastball has sat in the 94-95 mph range in his live bullpen sessions, still not at the 98-99 mph he once averaged. However, team officials believe he is ready to compete at the major league level because of the movement of his pitches.
Ohtani evidently thinks so as well.
“I think I’m approaching a level that is sufficient to pitch in games,” Ohtani said in Japanese on Saturday night.
His 25 homers are the most in the National League. He is also batting .297 with 41 runs batted in. The Dodgers’ leadoff hitter, he’s also stolen 11 bases.
Ohtani said didn’t think his offensive production would be diminished by pitching.
“I played as just a DH last year,” he said, “but to do both at the same time is my usual style.”
Ohtani played six seasons with the Angels, and he was a two-way player in four of them. His last three seasons with them made up what was arguably the greatest three-year stretch in the history of the sport, as he won two MVP awards and would have won a third if not for a 62-home season by Aaron Judge.
He has an opportunity now to match, or even surpass, that. Only this time, he will do so on a team that has a chance to reward him for his unprecedented achievements with the postseason glory he craves.
The Japanese player will pitch for his MLB side for the first time since his signing a $700m contract with them in 2024.
Shohei Ohtani is set to return to the mound as the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series against the visiting San Diego Padres, the Major League Baseball (MLB) team has announced.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts originally told reporters on Sunday that Ohtani was set to pitch a simulated game in the coming days, but the team decided to give him the nod against the rival Padres on Monday.
“He’s getting very eager, very excited,” Roberts said. “I think the thought is that given where we’re at right now, anything he can give us is additive, even if it’s an inning or two innings on the front end.”
This will mark Ohtani’s first big league pitching appearance since August 23, 2023, and his first with the Dodgers. The two-way player had Tommy John surgery on his elbow in September 2023, three months before signing a 10-year, $700m contract with the Dodgers.
Ohtani has been ramping up for a return to the mound in June. On Tuesday, the right-hander threw 44 pitches over three simulated innings against minor leaguers from the Dodgers’ Arizona spring complex.
Ohtani’s return could not come at a better time for Los Angeles. Starters Roki Sasaki (right shoulder), Blake Snell (left shoulder) and Tyler Glasnow (right shoulder) are all on the injured list. Sasaki was recently forced to shut down his throwing programme after feeling discomfort this week. There is no timetable for his return this season.
In total, the Dodgers have 14 pitchers on the injured list – the most in the MLB.
Over his career in the majors, Ohtani is 38-19, with a 3.01 ERA in 86 career starts, all with the Los Angeles Angels. In 481 2/3 innings, he has compiled 608 strikeouts and 173 walks.
A three-time MVP, Ohtani is hitting 0.297 with 41 RBIs in 70 games this season, leading the National League with 25 home runs and a 1.035 OPS.
Fifteen minutes before first pitch on Sunday, Giants catcher Logan Porter trotted in from the visitor’s bullpen. He’d usually be accompanied by the starting pitcher, which was set to be left-hander Kyle Harrison.
Instead, Porter stood on the first-base line for the national anthem, turned to his left and whispered to his teammates. As they all received the information from Porter — reminiscent of the children’s game “Telephone” — other Giants teammates likely learned one-by-one that Harrison had been traded.
“It was crazy,” Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman said. “You don’t expect a trade like that this time of year and just getting the pitching change at the last minute.”
The odd scene at Dodger Stadium was because of a reported blockbuster trade that involved the Boston Red Sox sending infielder Rafael Devers to the Giants in exchange for Harrison, right-hander Jordan Hicks and two prospects — a move that further bolsters the talent in the L.A.-San Francisco rivalry.
“Those guys over there are doing a great job of putting a team together and obviously, they want to win,” said shortstop Mookie Betts, who was teammates with Devers in Boston from 2017 to 2019.
San Francisco manager Bob Melvin was forced to turn to long reliever Sean Hjelle, who rapidly warmed up for the start, against a Dodgers offense that had scored 11 runs Saturday night. As Betts said after the game, no matter who the Giants were going to throw at them in response, they were prepared. The Dodgers had done their “homework,” he said.
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It was more of the same from the Dodgers’ offense in a 5-4 victory Sunday. The top of the order manufactured a run via an Andy Pages sacrifice fly in the first inning. Edman hit a solo home run — his 10th — in the second. Pages put a cherry on top in the fifth after Shohei Ohtani (three for three, one walk) and Mookie Betts set the table with singles.
The Cuban slugger’s three-run home run helped the Dodgers (43-29) restore a two-game lead over the Giants (41-31) in the NL West standings.
“It’s really emotional, a special moment to hit a home run in that situation because I haven’t seen him,” Pages said through an interpreter, speaking about his father back in Cuba. “It’s hard sometimes. But it was really special to hit a home run on Father’s Day.”
On the mound, Dustin May was looking to get back on track.
May’s recent starts left more to be desired from the former top prospect who had been struggling with his command and not tallying many swinging strikes. He had struck out just six batters across his last 11 innings — striking out just one in his last outing.
Although May couldn’t find his strikeout pitch, his start Sunday was the sixth time he had pitched through the sixth inning in 2025. He walked four batters for the second time in as many starts — the only time he’s issued at least four free passes in back-to-back games in his career — and struck out three batters. He didn’t have his best stuff, but showed his mettle in the fifth inning.
Dodgers pitcher Dustin May delivers against the Giants at Dodger Stadium on Sunday.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
Whereas he crumbled in the fourth, giving up a two-RBI triple to Jung Hoo Lee to give the Giants a 3-2 lead, he battled out of a bases-loaded jam to keep San Francisco at bay, inducing Porter into an inning-ending groundout.
After Pages further strengthened his All-Star case with his 13th home run, the Dodgers’ bullpen took care of business. Alex Vesia tossed a shutout seventh, while Kirby Yates (one run) and Tanner Scott (zero runs and struck out the side) finished it off in the eighth and ninth, respectively.
“It was good to see us find a way to win a ballgame,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Dustin got a little traffic there in the fourth but he finds a way, as he has shown, to still manage to get through six and to use the guys we wanted to and win a ballgame.”
Sasaki’s status uncertain
Ohtani will start Monday against the San Diego Padres, but it’s still not clear when right-hander Roki Sasaki will return. Roberts said Sasaki (right shoulder impingement) recently halted his throwing program.
“There was some rubbing, is the word he used,” Roberts said. “He’s pain-free. When we start that build-up, it should be soon. He’s already moving around. We all feel encouraged where he’s at right now, as far as the pain.”
The Dodgers placed the 23-year-old rookie on the injured list May 13. Roberts did not specify what Sasaki’s condition is other than that he’s out indefinitely.
Piecing together the starting rotation for the week ahead, Emmet Sheehan is set to be activated Tuesday or Wednesday, Roberts said.
The long-anticipated wait is over — Shohei Ohtani is ready to pitch.
The Dodgers announced after Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Giants that Ohtani will make his Dodgers pitching debut Monday against the San Diego Padres. He will start, but there’s a chance he will be an opener, only pitching one inning.
For Ohtani, it’s been a long road back to pitching. He signed with the Dodgers on a 10-year, $700-million contract before the 2024 season — a value representing not just his MVP-level bat, but his potential Cy Young Award-level pitching.
He underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2023, only hitting in his first season with the Dodgers. He tallied unprecedented numbers at the plate (.310 batting average, league-high 54 home runs, 130 RBI and 59 stolen bases). In recent weeks, Ohtani ramped up his throwing program, facing live hitters a handful of times.
Ohtani had been brilliant for the Angels, going 38-19 with a 3.01 earned-run average over 86 starts since coming over from Japan before the 2018 season. In 2022, Ohtani posted his best pitching numbers in the majors, with a 15-9 record, a 2.33 earned-run average and 219 strikeouts over 166 innings en route to placing fourth in AL Cy Young Award voting.
It’ll likely be an incremental start for Ohtani as he looks to add more pitches and innings in the weeks ahead.
“He’s getting very eager, getting very excited,” Roberts said before Sunday’s game. “I think that there’s a point where, in hearing from Shohei, that the effort that it takes to throw lives and things like that, [rather] than to play a game, then let’s use those bullets in a game. He’s getting very excited.”
Now those proverbial “bullets” will be used Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
Singer and social media personality Nezza sang the national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.
And, according to a video the performer later posted to social media, she did so against the wishes of the Dodgers organization.
In a video Nezza, whose full name is Vanessa Hernández, posted to TikTok, an unidentified Dodgers employee is heard telling her before Saturday’s performance that “we are going to do the song in English today, so I’m not sure if that wasn’t relayed.”
Then, the video cuts to Nezza — who was wearing a Dominican Republic shirt — signing a Spanish version of the Star-Spangled Banner on the field ahead of the Dodgers’ win against the San Francisco Giants.
The video’s caption: “So I did it anyway.”
In a separate video, Nezza said the version of the song she sang was commissioned in 1945 by the U.S. State Department under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and that she wanted to sing it amid the recent unrest in Los Angeles stemming from raids by ICE agents.
“I didn’t think I would be met with any sort of no, especially because we’re in LA and with everything happening,” she said. “But today out of all days, I just could not believe when she [the Dodgers employee] walked in and told me ‘no.’ But I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente.”
The Dodgers did not respond to a request for comment.
Nezza reacts after singing the national anthem prior to a game between the Dodgers and Giants in at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
In general, the Dodgers have largely been quiet about the raids and resulting protests in the city over the last week.
Manager Dave Roberts has been asked about the situation twice. On Monday, he said that, “I just hope that we can be a positive distraction for what people are going through in Los Angeles right now.”
On Friday, he offered little further comment: “I know that when you’re having to bring people in and deport people, all the unrest, it’s certainly unsettling for everyone,” he said, “But I haven’t dug enough and can’t speak intelligently on it.”
Veteran Kiké Hernández spoke out on Instagram on Saturday, writing that “I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights.”
The Dodgers, however, have not issued any team-level statement, and a club executive told The Times’ Dylan Hernández on Friday that they did not plan to make any comment.
As part of their Pride Night celebration, a Dodgers official received a commemorative scroll from Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath before the team opened its three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.
“It is truly my pleasure to be celebrating Pride with the Dodgers,” Horvath said. “Especially a time like this to have the Dodgers look at our community and see all of us, and celebrate everyone, especially our LGBTQ community, it is just so incredibly special.”
In almost any other time, Horvath’s presentation would have inspired, well, pride — specifically, pride in how the Dodgers started celebrating Pride Nights when they weren’t commonplace in sports.
On Friday night, however, with many parts of Los Angeles terrorized by large-scale immigration sweeps, the county supervisor’s words evoked an entirely different range of emotions.
Demonstrations against the federal raids have been staged in downtown for more than a week, but the Dodgers have remained silent. Angel City FC and LAFC released statements sympathizing with the residents experiencing “fear and uncertainty,” but the Dodgers have remained silent.
If the Dodgers really see everyone, as Horvath suggested, they’re ignoring what’s happening right in front of them.
Literally.
The Dodgers boast that more than 40% of their fan base is Latino, but they can’t even be bothered to offer the shaken community any words of comfort.
A protestor wearing a Dodgers cap is detained and carried by law enforcement after helping close the 101 Freeway on June. 8.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
How ungrateful. How disrespectful. How cowardly.
Don’t expect this to change.
“We’re not going to comment,” Dodgers executive vice president and chief marketing officer Lon Rosen said.
“We’re not going to comment on anything,” Rosen said.
When the Dodgers announced they accepted Trump’s White House invitation, team president Stan Kasten claimed the decision had “nothing to do with politics.” Kasten sounded as if he was counting on the fans to give the team a pass for visiting an aspiring tyrant, either because their love of the Dodgers overwhelmed their disgust for Trump or because they lacked the intellectual faculties to connect Trump’s racist rhetoric to real-life consequences.
But what were once abstract concepts proposed by Trump and other right-wing extremists are now realities, and these realities have struck Los Angeles particularly hard.
The detention of working immigrants outside of Home Depots. The breaking up of families. The racial profiling that has resulted in law enforcement harassing American citizens. The propaganda campaign to portray the largely-peaceful demonstrations as an insurrection. The invasion of federal troops. The general feeling of unease that has swept over the city.
The team had said nothing about any of this. Manager Dave Roberts, the franchise’s designated public-relations meat shield, was the only person to acknowledge the situation.
“I just hope that we can be a positive distraction for what people are going through in Los Angeles right now,” Roberts said on Monday in San Diego.
The Dodgers are once again asking a significant portion of their fans to look the other way, but how can they look the other way when these developments affect many of them directly?
Dodgers fans honor Fernando Valenzuela at a memorial outside Dodger Stadium on Oct. 24, 2024.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
All because the Dodgers are afraid of offending the 32% of Los Angeles County voters who cast their ballots for Trump in the most recent presidential election, many of whom don’t expect ICE agents to ever show up at their workplace.
The Dodgers have abdicated their social responsibilities, and in doing so, they have once again let down many of their most loyal fans — the fans who made the Dodgers a part of their family because of Fernando Valenzuela, the fans who passed down the love of the team to their children and grandchildren, the fans who wear their merchandise around town.
That won’t stop the likes of Kasten and Rosen from reaching into their pockets, of course. A couple of hours before their team’s 6-2 loss to the Giants on Friday night, a commercial featuring an upcoming promotion was shown on the Dodger Stadium video scoreboard.
The billing couldn’t have been bigger. Dodgers vs. Giants. Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Logan Webb. One of the game’s oldest rivalries, pitting what were supposed to be two of the game’s top pitchers.
On Friday night at Dodger Stadium, however, only one right-handed ace showed up.
In the first meeting of the season between the Dodgers and Giants, Webb did his thing, giving up just two runs on two hits over seven spectacular innings.
Opposite him, Yamamoto was no match, floundering in a five-run, 4 ⅔-inning start that sent the Dodgers to a 6-2 defeat — leaving the teams tied atop the National League West with identical 41-29 records at the 70-game mark.
The evening was a study in pitching excellence (or, in Yamamoto’s case, a lack thereof); serving as a reminder that, for as good as Yamamoto has become in his second major league season, there are tiers to his talent he has still yet to reach.
Where Webb got soft contact and quick outs, needing just 98 pitches to complete his seventh seven-inning outing of the season, Yamamoto labored through hitters’ counts and long at-bats, issuing a career-high five walks while finding the strike zone on just 56 of his 102 pitches.
Where Webb limited traffic and escaped rare damage, giving up just two hits while walking only three batters, Yamamoto toiled through self-inflicted trouble; none worse than when he walked the bases loaded in the third, before giving up a tie-breaking grand slam to Casey Schmitt.
Most of all, where Webb played the part of a contending team’s staff ace, lowering his earned-run average to 2.58 (fifth-best in the National League), Yamamoto faltered in a way that’s become uncomfortably familiar of late, his ERA rising to 2.64 despite an almost flawless opening month.
In his first seven starts, Yamamoto was 4-2 with a 0.90 ERA, a 0.925 WHIP and only one game in which he gave up even two earned runs.
“Right now, he’s pitching like the best pitcher in the world,” catcher Will Smith said on May 2, after Yamamoto pitched six shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves.
Since then, Yamamoto has been on a different planet — and not a good one.
Over his last seven outings, the 26-year-old Japanese star is 2-3 with a 4.46 ERA. In that span, he has more starts of less than five innings (two) than of seven full innings (one). He has given up three or more runs four times. And Friday was the second in which he was scored on five times, tying his MLB career-high.
The most consistent problem during that slump: Poor command.
Yamamoto has walked 17 batters in his last 38 ⅓ innings. And when he isn’t issuing free passes, he is putting himself in bad counts, like when Willy Adames opened the scoring Friday by getting ahead 2-and-0 and hitting a down-the-middle fastball to right for a solo home run.
Another potential factor in Yamamoto’s recent struggles: He has been forced to pitch on less rest between starts.
Over his first seven starts, Yamamoto pitched on at least six days of rest — mirroring the once-per-week schedule he had in Japan.
Since then, however, each of his outings have come on only five days’ rest.
Yamamoto has downplayed that factor in the past. And last year, he actually had slightly better numbers on five days of rest (2.97 ERA in 11 starts) than six (3.07 ERA in starts).
Still, for a Dodgers staff that has been shorthanded — leaving the club without the luxury of starting Yamamoto only once a week — it has been a marked drop-off, coming at a time when their once three-game lead in a competitive NL West has quickly evaporated amid a grueling stretch of the schedule.
The Dodgers’ lineup, of course, didn’t help Yamamoto much, either.
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After scoring on an Andy Pages sacrifice fly in the second, when a throw home beat Smith but was dropped by Giants catcher Andrew Knizner while trying to apply a tag, the team’s only other production against Webb came via Teoscar Hernández, who lined the Dodgers’ first hit to right in the fourth before homering for a second-straight game on a solo blast in the seventh.
By then, however, Webb had already put the game on ice, becoming the latest starting pitcher this month to handle the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup (opposing starters have a 2.43 ERA against the Dodgers in June, and are averaging almost six innings per start).
It made Yamamoto’s clunker all the more costly, highlighting an extended slide in production that continues to plague the team’s only healthy ace.
Twelve weeks into the season, the Dodgers are already turning to a 12th different starting pitcher in their revolving door of a rotation.
For Ben Casparius, it’s an opportunity he’s patiently waited for all season.
Though Casparius is technically still a rookie, the 26-year-old right-hander has seen a lot in his young MLB career. Last year, he went from starting the season as an overlooked double-A prospect (one who didn’t even get an invite to big-league spring training) to finishing it pitching key innings in four postseason games, including as an opener in Game 4 of the World Series.
This spring, a rash of bullpen injuries ensured he’d have a spot on the opening-day big-league roster. More injuries to top right-handed relievers pushed him into a de facto leverage role.
At every step, the former fifth-round draft pick has excelled, posting a 2.86 ERA over 44 innings this year with 46 strikeouts and only nine walks.
Along with fellow rookie reliever Jack Dreyer, Casparius has become one of the unsung heroes responsible for helping the first-place Dodgers overcome their injury-riddled start.
“We don’t win this game tonight without Ben,” is the kind of quote manager Dave Roberts has uttered more than once, and most recently after Casparius pitched 2 ⅔ scoreless innings of relief in a come-from-behind win against the New York Mets on June 3.
“He’s had to grow up really quickly for us,” Roberts added that night, “and he’s got the respect of his teammates.”
Now, however, Casparius is getting a new level of respect from the team’s decision-makers, too.
After exhausting virtually all their other starting pitching alternatives to this point — from struggling minor-league arms such as Landon Knack, Bobby Miller and Justin Wrobleski, to a bulk-inning option such as Matt Sauer — the Dodgers are finally entrusting Casparius with a starting role.
For all the value he brought in the bullpen, they simply couldn’t afford to keep him out of the rotation any longer.
“Where we were at [earlier this season], we felt that there was more value [having him come] out of the ‘pen and being kind of a versatile type reliever,” Roberts said. “But where we are at now currently, he’s certainly showing that he’s 1 of 5.”
Casparius got his first shot at a more traditional start on Wednesday in San Diego, producing four innings of one-run ball in an outing he didn’t know he was making until the night before.
In the days leading up, the Dodgers had lost Tony Gonsolin to an elbow problem — already their fourth starter to get injured just since the start of the season. They had demoted Knack to the minors, and watched Wrobleski give up four runs in six innings to the St. Louis Cardinals as his replacement. They saw Sauer get roughed up as a bulk-innings pitcher Tuesday against the Padres, and Miller implode in a 10-run outing in triple-A that same night.
Emmet Sheehan might be part of that group before long, continuing his recovery from Tommy John surgery with a third triple-A rehab start on Thursday in which he pitched 3 ⅓ innings (once he completes four innings, Roberts said, he will be a viable option for the big-league club). Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell are also making progress towards returning, though none of them are likely to be back until sometime next month.
Emmet Sheehan, left, with Ben Casparius and River Ryan during the World Series ring ceremony in March, made his third triple-A rehab start on Thursday.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Thus, with a Wednesday rubber match against the Padres looming, the Dodgers decided to reassign Casparius from multi-inning reliever to their latest fill-in starter.
“We like this kind of transition right now,” Roberts said. “Figuring out how we get through this period before we get other guys back to health … potentially there’s a chance to continue to build him up, which right now makes sense.”
In a win over the Padres that kept the Dodgers in sole possession of first place of the NL West entering another key series this weekend against the San Francisco Giants, Casparius responded with quality production. He limited damage (with the help of an Andy Pages outfield assist) to one run during a bases-loaded jam in the second. He retired the side in order in each of the other three innings he pitched.
Most notably, he also fought to take down an inning more than initially expected — lobbying to stay in the game for the fourth despite Roberts’ pregame assertion he likely wouldn’t pitch past the third (not since May 5 had Casparius thrown more than three innings in an outing).
“He wasn’t going to come out of that game after three,” Roberts said. “He wanted to stay in for the fourth.”
It gave Casparius the chance to flash his full arsenal of starting-caliber stuff; from a big-breaking combination of sweepers and curveballs, to a late-biting cutter that can induce soft contact, to an upper-90s mph fastball that, one point, even Padres star Manny Machado outwardly endorsed, pointing to Casparius with an approving nod of his head after swinging through a 98-mph heater up in the zone for a first-inning strikeout.
“I saw that,” Casparius said. “He’s one of the best players in the game, so it’s pretty cool.”
Casparius also showcased his evolved mental approach.
During his minor-league career, Casparius started in 57 of his 79 career appearances. Moving to the bullpen full-time at the start of his major league career gave him perspective he believes will benefit him in his return to a starting role now.
“Taking that reliever mindset, pitch by pitch, inning by inning, has helped me to slow the game down in general,” Casparius said. “So I think it’s been kind of a blessing. And then whatever happens going forward, I think I can just use that to keep going.”
Eventually, Casparius could be shifted to the bullpen again. Once the Dodgers get healthier, his value as a multi-inning relief option will likely mean resuming his swingman role.
But for now, Roberts has already confirmed that “the next time he’s on the mound, it will be as a starter.”
And for a pitcher who, despite his success out of the bullpen, has continued to view himself as a starter long-term, it represents an opportunity that might have been borne of out necessity, but was also long-ago earned.
“Obviously, I’ve been doing it for the majority of my professional career, so it’s something I’m comfortable with routine-wise,” Casparius said of starting games. “I’m just looking forward to what’s going on and what’s coming up next.”
From Brady Oltmans: An NCAA communications official apologized to UCLA baseball coach John Savage before he could join two of his players on the stage for Thursday’s news conference. They hadn’t printed all the nameplates for the coaches yet.
The coach then sat next to star shortstop Roch Cholowsky and outfielder Dean West at the microphone, finished typing into his phone and leaned forward for his opening statement.
“Well, I think you can see by the nameplate, you can tell that they weren’t expecting us,” Savage deadpanned.
He admitted he was teasing before acknowledging the Bruins’ circumstances heading into their Men’s College World Series opener against Murray State on Saturday at 11 a.m. PDT (ESPN).
No team in this year’s CWS field played in last year’s tournament — the first time that’s happened since 1957. But the Bruins set themselves apart from the field because they have played at Charles Schwab Field this year.
Omaha hosted last month’s Big Ten tournament. The Bruins won their first three games in the tournament before falling 5-0 to Nebraska in the conference title game.
Savage believes that week-long tournament helped the Bruins get a feel for the ballpark. They know the downtown streets, the hotels and the practice schedule. But he doesn’t want the team to get too comfortable. He wants them to keep the edge they’ve developed since being shut out.
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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS
All Times Pacific
NBA FINALS
Oklahoma City vs. Indiana
Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story) at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story) at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (boxscore, story) Friday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC Monday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC* Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*
*if necessary
DODGERS
From Bill Shaikin: The Dodger Stadium Express is scheduled to operate normally this weekend, even as the bus departs from and arrives at an area subject to curfew restrictions.
The service, which provides fans a free ride between Union Station and Dodger Stadium, “will be running per usual,” Metro senior director of communications Missy Colman said Thursday.
From Gary Klein: The Rams did not draft an offensive lineman, but they have added a veteran just before the end of offseason workouts.
The Rams on Thursday agreed to terms with veteran free-agent offensive tackle D.J. Humphries, a person with knowledge of the situation said.
The person requested anonymity because the contract has not been signed.
Humphries, a 2015 first-round draft pick by the Arizona Cardinals, joins a line that includes starting left tackle Alaric Jackson, right tackle Rob Havenstein and swing tackle Warren McClendon Jr.
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Facing unrestricted free agency for the first time in his illustrious career, Khalil Mack could have chosen any team to chase his championship ambitions. Why did the star edge rusher choose to stick with a franchise that has never won the Super Bowl?
“Why not here?” the Chargers edge rusher wondered back.
Praising the leadership under coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz, the players on the roster and his familiarity with the franchise, Mack’s decision to return to the Chargers wasn’t that complicated at all.
“It was a no-brainer,” he said this week during Chargers minicamp in his first comments with local reporters since January.
J.J. Spaun is still new enough to the U.S. Open, and a newcomer to the brute that is Oakmont, that he was prepared for anything Thursday. He wound up with a clean card and a one-shot lead on an opening day that delivered just about everything.
Scottie Scheffler had more bogeys in one round than he had the entire tournament when he won the Memorial. He shot a 73, his highest start ever in a U.S. Open, four shots worse than when he made his Open debut at Oakmont as a 19-year-old at Texas.
Patrick Reed made the first albatross in 11 years at the U.S. Open when he holed out a 3-wood from 286 yards on the par-five fourth. However, he finished his round with a triple bogey.
Bryson DeChambeau was 39 yards from the hole at the par-five 12th and took four shots from the rough to get to the green.
Si Woo Kim shot a 68 and had no idea how.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing on the course,” Kim said. “Kind of hitting good but feel like this course is too hard for me.”
Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck has won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender, becoming the first at the position to do so since Carey Price a decade ago.
Hellebuyck was unveiled as the top MVP vote-getter on an awards show Thursday night prior to Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, hosted by actor and former Arizona State wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa.
Kings captain Anze Kopitar won the Lady Byng for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct for a third time.
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl finished second in the Hart voting and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov third, a single point ahead of Colorado’s reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon, as chosen by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Hellebuyck was a landslide winner of the Vezina as picked by general managers, receiving 31 of 32 first-place votes.
Edmonton vs. Florida at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story) Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story) at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story) Edmonton 5, at Florida 4 (summary, story) Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
* If necessary
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1908 — Canadian champion Tommy Burns KOs Bill Squires of Australia in 8th round at Neuilly Bowling Palace, Paris to retain world heavyweight boxing title.
1913 — James Rowe, who had won back-to-back Belmont Stake races in 1872-73 as a jockey, sets the record for the most number of Belmont Stakes wins by a trainer, eight, when he sends Prince Eugene to victory.
1935 — Jim Braddock scores a 15-round unanimous decision over Max Baer in New York to win the world heavyweight title.
1953 — Ben Hogan wins the U.S. Open for the fourth time, with a six-stroke victory over Sam Snead.
1956 — 1st European Cup Final, Paris: Héctor Rial scores twice as Real Madrid beats Stade de Reims, 4-3 to claim inaugural title.
1959 — Billy Casper wins the U.S. Open golf tournament over Bob Rosburg.
1971 — Kathy Whitworth wins the LPGA championship by four strokes over Kathy Ahern.
1982 — Jan Stephenson wins the LPGA championship with a two-stroke triumph over Joanne Carner.
1989 — 43rd NBA Championship: Detroit Pistons sweep Lakers in 4 games.
1991 — The National, the nation’s first all-sports daily newspaper, ceases publication.
1992 — Sergei Bubka of Ukraine breaks his own world outdoor record in the pole vault by soaring 20 feet, one-half inch. The jump is the 30th time that Bubka has set the record indoors or outdoors, surpassing the 29 world records by distance runner Paavo Nurmi of Finland in the 1920s.
1993 — Patty Sheehan wins the LPGA Championship for a third time, with a 2-under 69 for a one-stroke victory over Lauri Merten.
1997 — Chicago wins its fifth NBA championship in the last seven years, as Steve Kerr’s last-second shot gives the Bulls a 90-86 Game 6 victory over the Utah Jazz.
2002 — Stanley Cup Final, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings beat Carolina Hurricanes, 3-1 for a 4-1 series win; Red Wings’ 10th title; coach Scotty Bowman retires with record 9th title.
2010 — Zenyatta wins her 17th consecutive race, giving her the longest winning streak by a modern-day thoroughbred in unrestricted races. The 6-year-old mare, ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, wins the $200,000 Vanity Handicap by a half-length over St Trinians at Hollywood Park. With the victory, Zenyatta surpasses the 16-race winning streaks of Cigar, 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, and Mister Frisky.
2011 — Boston scores four times in a 4:14 span of the first period and beats the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden, evening the best-of-7 series. Brad Marchand, Milan Lucic, Andrew Ference and Michael Ryder give Boston a 4-0 lead before the midway point of the first period.
2014 — The Netherlands thrashes Spain 5-1 in the World Cup’s first shocker, toying with an aging team that dominated global football for the past six years and avenging a loss in the 2010 final.
2014 — The Kings wins the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years with a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 5.
2016 — LeBron James has 41 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, Kyrie Irving also scores 41 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers capitalize on the Warriors playing without suspended star Draymond Green, staving off NBA Finals elimination with a 112-97 victory in Game 5. James and Irving are the first teammates to score 40 points in an NBA Finals game as the Cavaliers pulled within 3-2 and sent their best-of-seven series back to Ohio.
2017 — The Golden State Warriors win their second NBA tile in three years with a win over the Cavaliers 129-120.
2019 — The Toronto Raptors beat defending champion Golden State Warriors, 114-110 to win the franchise’s first Championship.
2021 — French Open Men’s Tennis: Novak Đoković wins his 19th Grand Slam singles title; beats Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
2023 — Stanley Cup Final, T-Mobile Arena, LV: Vegas Golden Knights rout Florida Panthers 9-3 to clinch 4-1 series win; franchise’s first title in only 6th year in the NHL; MVP: Jonathan Marchessault (VGK forward).
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1905 — Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants pitched his second no-hit game, beating the Chicago Cubs and Mordecai Brown 1-0. Mathewson and Brown matched no-hitters for eight innings. The Giants got two hits in the ninth for the win.
1912 — Christy Mathewson recorded his 300th career victory with a 3-2 triumph over the Chicago Cubs.
1921 — Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees pitched the first five innings and hit two home runs in an 11-8 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
1937 — New York’s Joe DiMaggio hit three consecutive home runs to give the Yankees an 8-8, 11-inning tie against the St. Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader.
1947 — In the first night game played at Fenway Park, the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3.
1948 — Babe Ruth Day at Yankee Stadium drew 49,641 fans who saw Ruth’s No. 3 retired and the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 5-3.
1957 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit three home runs and drove in five runs in a 9-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians as Williams became the first AL player to have two three-homer games in a season.
1973 — The Dodgers’ infield of Steve Garvey (first base), Davey Lopes (second base), Ron Cey (third base) and Bill Russell (shortstop) played together for the first time in a 16-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. The quartet would set a major league record for longevity by playing 8 1/2 years in the same infield.
1980 — Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies goes 4 for 5 to move past Honus Wagner into fifth place on the all-time hit list with 3,431.
1998 — For the fourth time in major league history, teammates hit back-to-back homers in consecutive innings. Atlanta’s Javy Lopez and Andruw Jones each homered in the second and third inning of the Braves’ 9-7 win over Montreal at Turner Field.
2003 — Roger Clemens reached 300 wins and became the third pitcher with 4,000 strikeouts, leading the New York Yankees over the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2. Clemens, the 21st pitcher to make it to 300, gave up two runs in 6 2-3 innings and struck out 10, raising his total to 4,006. Clemens joined Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Steve Carlton (4,136) in the 4,000-strikeout club.
2008 — Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell hit consecutive home runs in the first inning of Philadelphia’s 20-2 rout of St. Louis.
2012 — Matt Cain pitched the 22nd perfect game in major league history and first for San Francisco, striking out a career-high 14 batters and getting help from two running catches to beat the Houston Astros 10-0. Cain’s 125-pitch masterpiece featured a pair of great plays by his corner outfielders. Left fielder Melky Cabrera chased down Chris Snyder’s one-out flyball in the sixth, scurrying back to make a leaping catch on the warning track. Right fielder Gregor Blanco ran into right-center to make a diving catch on the warning track and rob Jordan Schafer for the first out of the seventh.
2015 — Alex Rodriguez collects his 2,000th career RBI with a two-run home run in the New York Yankee’s 9-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. Rodriguez is the fourth player to reach the milestone joining Cap Anson, Babe Ruth and leader Hank Aaron.
2019 — Shohei Ohtani becomes the first Japanese player to hit for the cycle in Major League Baseball.
2021 — The Blue Jays set a record for a visiting team at Fenway Park by blasting 8 homers in an 18-4 win over the Red Sox. Seven players go deep, with Teoscar Hernandez doing so twice, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits his major league-leading 21st.
2024 — It took him 14 seasons and 320 other long balls, but J.D. Martinez finally hits a walk-off homer, doing so off Tanner Scott of the Marlins with Francisco Lindor on base in the 9th inning to give the Mets a 3-2 win. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the third most homers by anyone before a first walk-off shot, trailing only Mark Teixeira (408) and Jose Bautista (336).
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Two days, two editions of Dodgers Dugout. It’s like “Groundhog Day.”
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The Padres series
The Dodgers won two of three from the Padres, dropping San Diego to third place in the NL West. Several readers were unhappy with the second game of the series, which the Dodgers lost 11-1, feeling they left Matt Sauer in for way too long and brought in Kiké Hernández in too soon, in effect giving the game away.
And you are absolutely right. The Dodgers did give the game away. By choice.
Don’t get me wrong. The Dodgers didn’t go into the game wanting to lose. But, the Dodgers’ bullpen is exhausted. The hope was that Sauer would pitch well and keep them in the game, or heck, even leave with the Dodgers leading. But once the Padres started scoring, Dave Roberts had two choices: Go to his already tired bullpen in hopes they could stop the surge, knowing coming back against a Dylan Cease who was on top of his game was unlikely, or, let Sauer take a beating in order to save the bullpen for Wednesday’s game. The Dodgers went with the second option, and it worked. Because Wednesday, they were able to use seven rested relievers to preserve a 5-2 victory and a series win over San Diego.
Roberts, to reporters after Tuesday’s loss: “You just got to look at where our ’pen is at, and appreciating what we have the next couple days, it wasn’t smart to chase and redline guys. A guy that was available tonight, [Michael] Kopech, I’m not going to pitch him down six or 7-0 in the sixth inning, to then not have him available tomorrow. As the rules are, we abided. That’s kind of what you do to essentially move forward and win the ensuing games.”
Heck, the Dodgers used this strategy in the World Series last season, letting Brent Honeywell get rocked in Game 4, their only loss, to preserve the bullpen.
Of course, most of us grew up in the days of Tommy Lasorda, who wanted to win every game at all costs. If it meant Orel Hershiser or Fernando Valenzuela pitching 10 innings, or Jay Howell pitching five days in a row, that’s what happened. Those days are over. There will come a time again this season where the Dodgers let a reliever get rocked. That’s just the way they approach things. And considering they win more than 95 games every year and have won two titles, it seems to work pretty well for them.
The rest of the series went well. Teoscar Hernández broke out of his slump. Even Michael Conforto played well, going two for seven with a homer. Ben Casparius pitched so well Wednesday (four innings, one run, three hits, two walks, two strikeouts) that Roberts said he is now part of the starting rotation. And the Padres fell to third place. Of course, there’s still 93 games left in the season, so let’s not get too carried away.
A minor quibble
Major League Baseball has got to do something about position players pitching. In Tuesday’s loss, Kiké Hernández started pitching in the sixth inning and finished the game. I’m sorry, but that’s ridiculous. I don’t blame the Dodgers for using the rules to their advantage, but there needs to be some addition to the current rules that state a position player can’t pitch before the ninth inning.
What if you are a fan who saved his money to go to one game this season, and that was the game you picked? You stopped seeing real competition in the sixth inning, as it was a farce after that. If you are a Padres fan, it wasn’t so bad probably, but what if it had been at Dodger Stadium? You would have shelled out around $500 or so to see two-thirds of a real game. It shouldn’t happen. The fans shouldn’t be punished because relievers can’t pitch more than one inning nowadays.
More good news
The Dodgers got some good news on three pitching fronts this week:
Shohei Ohtani took part in another live batting practice session, throwing 44 pitches over three simulated innings, striking out six. Ohtani was so impressive that Roberts said he could return before the All-Star break.
Tyler Glasnow threw a bullpen session, felt OK, and could face live hitters soon.
Blake Snell threw 15 pitches, his first session since suffering a setback in his recovery.
Of course, seeing is believing, and we are a bit away from seeing any of these guys in a real game yet.
And for those asking, the Dodgers do not plan to send Ohtani out on a minor-league rehab assignment. He will continue to do what he’s doing now, facing hitters in simulated game situations, until he’s ready to be activated.
The Giants are up next
The NL West’s new second-place team, the San Francisco Giants, are in town for three games starting tonight, followed by four more games against the Padres. These are the first three of 13 games against the Giants this season, so let’s take a look at them. The Giants have won seven in a row and are only a half-game behind the Dodgers for first place. You can see all the stats on the Giants team page at baseball-reference.com.
Catcher Patrick Bailey (.185/.246/.272, 50 OPS+)
Bailey is a mediocre hitter (although not usually as bad as this season so far), but won the Gold Glove last season. His career high in home runs is eight, so he’s not a power threat. He was put on the IL Wednesday because of a strained neck and will be replaced by Sam Huff or Logan Porter, neither of whom hit well either.
Bonus fact: Bailey has a cannon for an arm, and once was timed throwing the ball to second base in 1.71 seconds, a record since that started being recorded in 2015. He also has the record for fastest throw to first base (1.39 seconds).
First base Dominic Smith (.238/.250/.286, 55PS+)
The Giants designated LaMonte Wade Jr., who had started 41 games at first, for assignment and then traded him to the Angels. Wade was hitting .167. Smith was released by the Yankees on June 2 and signed by the Giants on June 4. His last good season was 2020.
Bonus fact: Smith led Junipero Serra High in Gardena to a CIF title in 2013.
Second base Tyler Fitzgerald (.248/.315/.346, 91 OPS+)
Fitzgerald was the Giants’ shortstop last season, switching to second when they acquired Willy Adames. He hit well last season (.280/.334/.497).
Bonus fact: His father, Mike, played in 13 games with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1988.
Third base Matt Chapman (.243/.360/.452, 133 OPS+)
Finally, someone in the Giants infield who can hit. Chapman is one of the best third basemen in the game, finishing 11th in MVP voting and winning the Gold Glove last season. He is in his ninth season overall, second with the Giants, and has won five Gold Gloves. He’s a big reason why the Giants are in second place. However, he was put on the injured list Wednesday because of a sprained right hand. Casey Schmitt will probably get most of the starts in his absence. Schmtt is hitting .224, but hit better than that with moderate power last season.
Bonus facts: Chapman has Tourette’s syndrome. “I’m pretty comfortable with it now, but it was definitely something I was embarrassed about when I was younger,” he told the Orange County Register. “I wanted nobody to know about it because of how kids are. But now that I look back on it, it was a blessing in disguise because it made me who I am today. It gave me that drive and that chip on my shoulder.”
Shortstop Willy Adames (.203/.288/.339, 81 OPS+)
Adames left Milwaukee to sign a seven-year, $182-million deal with the Giants before the season. He finished 10th in MVP voting last season, but has not gotten on track this season at the plate. His defense slipped last season, which is one reason the Brewers let him go. If his bat is slipping as well, that will be an ugly contract for the Giants.
Bonus fact: In 2024, Adames homered in five consecutive games, tying the record for a shortstop shared by Eddie Miller, Alex Rodriguez, Corey Seager, Trea Turner and teammate Tyler Fitzgerald, who also did it last season.
Left field Heliot Ramos (.295/.365/.484, 143 OPS+)
Ramos was an All-Star last season and has been even better this season. He’s one of those guys like AJ Pollock, who provided steady play for three seasons for the Dodgers but drew few headlines.
Bonus fact: He is the first homegrown Giants outfielder to make the All-Star game since Chili Davis in 1986.
Center field Jung Hoo Lee (.275/.332/.446, 123 OPS+)
Lee came to the Giants last season from the Korean League, and his season ended in May because of an injured left shoulder. He has blossomed so far this season. He was a Rookie of the Year and an MVP award winner in the Korean League, so he has tremendous talent.
Bonus fact: Lee played on the South Korean team at the 2020 Olympics and the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Right field Mike Yastrzemski (.239/.332/.376, 104 OPS+)
A fan favorite who puts up steady, if not spectacular, numbers, which describes almost the entire Giants team. He led the Giants in home runs during his rookie season and has been a GoldGlove finalist in right.
Bonus fact: His grandfather, Carl, was apparently a decent ballplayer too.
Designated hitter Wilmer Flores (.256/.323/.412)
Flores is on pace for a career high 26 homers, but only nine doubles.
Bonus fact: Remember the 2015 NLDS, when the Dodgers were playing the Mets and Chase Utley slid hard into Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada, breaking his leg? Flores replaced Tejada at short.
Starting pitching We will focus on the three pitchers scheduled to start against the Dodgers.
Webb is one of the best pitchers in the game, finishing sixth in Cy Young voting last season and second in 2023. Webb and Robbie Ray give the Giants an outstanding 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. Roupp is in his second season in the majors and first as a full-time starter. He is averaging five innings a start, so expect to see the Giants’ bullpen a lot on Saturday. Harrison also doesn’t go much past five, so if the Dodgers can get to Roupp early Saturday, it will set them up for success Sunday too.
Bonus facts: Webb wears contact lenses and without them is considered legally blind due to severe astigmatism…. Roupp played in the minors for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, which I bring up only because I love that nickname…. In his high school career, Harrison went 21-1 and held batters to a .137 average.
Closer Camilo Doval (3-1, 1.69 ERA, 10 saves)
Doval lost the closer job to Ryan Walker last season. This season, Walker got off to a shaky start and Doval won the job back. In 2023, he led the league with 39 saves.
Bonus fact: Doval has 23 siblings and half-siblings.
You look at all of the above, and you notice the Giants have no superstars, like the Dodgers and Padres do. They just have a bunch of guys who do all the little things needed to win games. That’s why they’ve won seven in a row and why they are in second place. Everyone talks about whether L.A. or San Diego will win the West. It could be San Francisco. It’s a big mistake to overlook them.
Dodger Stadium Express
There is a curfew in downtown L.A. because of the violence, looting and vandalism that sometimes accompanied the protests against federal immigration enforcement in the downtown area. Dodger Stadium is not in the curfew area; however, Union Station is, and that’s where fans headed to the stadium take the Dodger Stadium Express bus. The bus will still run during the curfew, according to Metro officials. But it’s best to check Metro alerts.metro.net or via X at @metrolaalerts. for and updates before you leave for the game. You can read more here.
Top 10 first basemen
Who are your top 10 Dodgers first basemen of all time (including Brooklyn)? Email your list to [email protected] and let me know.
Many of you have asked for a list of players to consider for each position. Here are the 40 strongest first baseman candidates, in alphabetical order:
Del Bissonette, Jack Bolling, Ken Boyer, Greg Brock, Dan Brouthers, Enos Cabell, Dolph Camilli, Hee-Seop Choi, Jake Daubert, Frank Dillon, Jack Doyle, Jack Fournier, Dave Foutz, Freddie Freeman, David Freese, Nomar Garciaparra, Steve Garvey, Adrián González, Buddy Hassett, Gil Hodges, Hughie Jennings, Tim Jordan, Eric Karros, Ed Konetchy, Norm Larker, Sam Leslie, George LaChance, James Loney, Dan McGann, Eddie Murray, Dick Nen, Dave Orr, Wes Parker, Bill Phillips, Albert Pujols, Olmedo Sáenz, Ed Stevens, Dick Stuart, Franklin Stubbs and Tommy Tucker.
A reminder that players are listed at the position in which they played the most games for the Dodgers, which is why Garciaparra is listed here and not at shortstop.
Scheduling note
No Dodgers Dugout this Monday. Instead, we’ll be back Thursday with the top first baseman and Friday looking at what happened against the Giants and Padres. Will the Dodgers be in first place, second or third by then?
Up next
Friday: San Francisco (Logan Webb, 5-5, 2.58 ERA) at Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 6-4, 2.20 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Saturday: San Francisco (Landen Roupp, 4-4, 3.29 ERA) at Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 1-0, 4.35 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Sunday: San Francisco (*Kyle Harrison, 1-1, 4.56 ERA) at Dodgers (Dustin May, 3-4, 4.46 ERA), 4:10 p.m., ESPN, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
From 1988, Kirk Gibson scores from second on a wild pitch (this link should work). Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
The winter wails of “Are the Dodgers ruining baseball?” pretty much established the Dodgers as the team other major league owners love to hate. If there is one thing most owners love more than winning, it is cost control. That is why they covet a salary cap.
The team other owners love? It might just be the Angels.
For owners, costs go beyond the salaries of major league players. In 2021, Major League Baseball eliminated 43 minor league teams affiliated with MLB organizations. Why, owners wondered, should we continue to pay two dozen entry-level players to fill out a roster when only two of them might be legitimate prospects?
And what could be more efficient than turning over player development to colleges? The NFL has no minor league. The NBA has one. Even after those 2021 cuts, MLB teams remain affiliated with 14 minor leagues.
That brings us to the Angels. In football and basketball, a first-round draft pick almost always goes from college one year to the NFL and the NBA the next. In baseball, even a first-round draft pick can spend several years in the minor leagues.
The Angels just called up second baseman Christian Moore, who could make his major league debut Friday in Baltimore, and pitcher Sam Bachman. That means the Angels’ roster now includes eight of their first-round picks — including each of their past five, all 25 or younger.
None of them spent even 100 games in the minor leagues, and almost all of that limited time was spent at the highest levels of the minors. This time last year, Moore was preparing for the College World Series with eventual national champion Tennessee. The Angels gave him 20 games at triple-A Salt Lake, in which he hit .350 with a .999 OPS, and summoned him to the majors.
Of the nine players likely to take the field for the Angels on Friday, the team drafted six in the first round: Moore (2024), first baseman Nolan Schanuel (2023), shortstop Zach Neto (2022), and outfielders Jo Adell (2017), Taylor Ward (2015) and Mike Trout (2009). The bullpen would include Bachman (2021) and Reid Detmers (2020).
Angels shortstop Zach Neto walks through the dugout during a game against the Miami Marlins on May 24.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
This is not the only way to win. None of the Dodgers’ past five top draft picks are even in the major leagues, and the team’s current roster includes only two Dodgers’ first-round draft picks: catcher Will Smith (2016) and pitcher Clayton Kershaw (2006).
No matter, of course, because the team’s current roster also includes Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Total cost for that quartet: $1.6 billion. Total signing bonuses for the eight Angels first-round picks: $30 million.
And there is no evidence to show what we might call the Angels Way — drafting polished college stars capable of getting to the majors in a hurry — is a way to win. The Angels are trying to rebuild without investing heavily in scouting and player development. They have not posted a winning season in 10 years.
As the Angels open play Friday, they are one game under .500. They played .360 ball in April and .500 ball in May, and they have played .700 ball so far in June. They are 4 ½ games out of first place in what appears to be baseball’s weakest division, the American League West.
What the Angels are trying means you absolutely cannot miss on your top draft picks. Although each of their first-rounders this decade now has made the majors, to this point only Neto has displayed star potential. It’s still early, of course, and a team that learned that Ohtani and Trout alone cannot deliver October is hoping to develop a broader base of talent.
The Angels will try again in a few weeks. They have the second overall pick in the July draft. They could aim to fill their Anthony Rendon-sized third-base hole with Oregon State’s Aiva Arquette. On Thursday, prospect analyst Keith Law of The Athletic projected the Angels would take Tennessee left-hander Liam Doyle.
“Everyone expects the Angels to take Doyle or (LSU left-hander) Kade Anderson,” Law wrote, “and then put whoever they select in the majors before the ink is dry on the contract.”
That would make nine first-rounders on the major league roster. That, certainly, would be efficient. Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement start next year, and the Angels Way could embolden owners to eliminate even more minor league teams.
The fans might be rooting for the star-studded Dodgers. The cost-conscious owners are rooting for the Angels.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Good news: Shohei Ohtani could be back on the mound before the All-Star break. More on that in Friday’s edition.
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Top 10 catchers
We are going to break the “Top 10” series into its own edition of the newsletter each week to keep the newsletters from being too long. Sort of like turning “War and Peace” into two editions: “War” and “Peace.”
Here are my picks for the top 10 catchers in Dodgers history, followed by how all of you voted. Numbers listed are with the Dodgers only. Click on the player’s name to be taken to the Baseball Reference page with all their stats.
1. Roy Campanella (1948-57, .276/.360/.500, 123 OPS+, 3 MVP awards, 8-time All Star)
One of the greatest catchers of all time, Roy Campanella (he did not have a middle name) was born Nov. 19, 1921, in Philadelphia. He loved baseball as a kid and grew up a Phillies fan. They once offered him an invitation to try out but rescinded it when they found out he was Black.
Campanella played in the Negro Leagues after high school, and in October 1945 he was the catcher for an all-star team that played five games against a team of major leaguers at Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Dodger manager Chuck Dressen led the major leaguers and was impressed by Campanella. He touted him to Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, who arranged a meeting.
Rickey offered Campanella a contract, but he said no because he mistakenly thought Rickey was offering him a contract with the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers, a Negro Leagues team Rickey was rumored to be starting. The next week, Campanella and Jackie Robinson happened to be staying at the same hotel. Robinson told Campanella he had signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was then that Campanella realized what Rickey was offering. He sent Rickey a telegram asking if he could sign with the team.
Campanella played for the Dodgers from 1948 until his career was cut short after the 1957 season. In that time, all he did was win three NL MVP awards, make eight All-Star teams, hit 242 homers, have a .500 slugging percentage and play Gold Glove-worthy defense behind the plate.
The Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, and Campanella was all set to be the team’s starting catcher in Los Angeles. But on Jan. 28, 1958, while driving in New York, Campanella’s car hit a patch of ice, ran into a telephone pole and overturned. Campanella broke his neck and was paralyzed. He eventually regained use of his arms but used a wheelchair for the rest of his life before dying of a heart attack on June 26, 1993.
2. Mike Piazza (1992-98, .331/.394/.572, 160 OPS+, 1993 Rookie of the Year, 5-time All Star)
The Dodgers chose Piazza in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft, the 1,390th player picked overall. No one picked that low has had a career like Piazza’s, but it’s a bittersweet one for Dodgers fans.
Piazza made his major league debut near the end of the 1992 season and won Rookie of the Year in 1993 after hitting .318 with 35 home runs and 112 RBIs.
Amazingly enough, Piazza played only five full seasons with the Dodgers, but what seasons they were. After his 1993 season, he hit .319, .346, .336 and .362 and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting in each of those seasons. His best season was his final full season, 1997, when he hit .362 with 40 homers and 124 RBIs.
Piazza’s contract was scheduled to run out after the 1998 season, and he was due a large increase in salary. Negotiations turned ugly, and the Dodgers, then owned by Fox, wanted to make a statement. So, on May 15, 1998, they traded the best-hitting catcher in history to the Florida Marlins, along with Todd Zeile, for Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich and Manuel Barrios.
3. Mike Scioscia (1980-92, .259/.344/.356, 99 OPS+, 2-time All Star)
Scioscia was with the Dodgers for 13 seasons; he never won a Gold Glove, never led the league in any offensive category and made only two All-Star teams. But what he did can’t be understated: He gave you above-average play almost every season for 13 seasons. You never had to worry about the position when Scioscia was there, and he hit one of the most important home runs in Dodgers history when he connected off Dwight Gooden in Game 4 of the 1988 NLCS.
Scioscia is the only person in major league history who played at least 10 seasons with only one team and then managed at least 10 seasons with a different team.
Tommy Lasorda and Vin Scully each said that Scioscia was the best plate blocker he had ever seen, high praise considering they also saw Steve Yeager, another excellent plate blocker.
Most Dodger fans remember when Jack Clark leveled Scioscia while trying to score. Scioscia was knocked unconscious but held onto the ball.
You can watch a compilation of Scioscia blocking the plate, including the Clark collision, by clicking here.
4. Will Smith (2019-current, .263/.356/.474, 127 OPS+, 2-time All Star)
The book is still being written about Smith, who may very well move to the top of this list when his career is through. I’ve written a lot about Smith over the years, so let’s go with 10 little-known facts instead.
—His full name is William Dills Smith.
—As a senior in high school (Kentucky Country Day School), he pitched and went 7-1 with an 0.87 ERA. He went undrafted and went to Louisville.
—He played for Rancho Cucamonga in 2017 and was named to the California League All-Star team.
—His first major league homer was a walk-off home run against the Phillies.
—He backed up Austin Barnes before becoming the Dodgers’ starting catcher on July 26, 2019.
—He is one of four catchers to hit 100 home runs with the Dodgers, along with Campanella, Piazza and Steve Yeager.
—Smith is one of three catchers to hit home runs in four consecutive at bats (spread over two days), along with Johnny Bench and Benito Santiago.
—His favorite player growing up was David Ortiz.
—One of only three catchers to steal a base in an All-Star game, joining Iván Rodríguez and Tony Peña.
—Hit only .243 in four minor-league seasons, which shows you can’t always judge everything by just stats.
5. Steve Yeager (1972-85, .228/.299/.358, 84 OPS+)
Yeager was one of the best defensive catchers in history but had the misfortune of being a direct contemporary of the best defensive catcher in history, Johnny Bench. Otherwise, Yeager would have multiple Gold Gloves. His best season offensively was 1977, when he .256 with 21 doubles and 16 homers. Dodger fans remember how he blocked the plate, becoming an almost impenetrable wall whenever a runner tried to score and Yeager had the ball. He also had a powerful throwing arm. Hall of Famer Lou Brock said that Yeager was the toughest catcher to steal against.
In 1976, Yeager was in the on-deck circle with Bill Russell at the plate. Russell’s bat shattered as he hit a ground ball and a jagged piece of the bat stabbed Yeager in the throat, piercing his esophagus and narrowly missing his carotid artery. While he was recovering, Yeager and Dodgers trainer Bill Buhler designed a device that hung from the catcher’s mask, protecting his throat. For years, most catchers wore a mask that had this device, which Yeager and Buhler patented.
Yeager served as technical advisor for the first three “Major League” movies and appeared in them as third-base coach Duke Temple.
6. John Roseboro (1957-67, .249/.326/.371, 95 OPS+, 2 Gold Gloves, 5-time All Star)
Roseboro was the starting catcher on three World Series title teams, and when people mention the great Dodgers pitching staffs of the 1960s, they seldom mention who was catcher for all those great pitchers. It was mainly Roseboro.
Roseboro became a catcher when he tried out for his high school team. No one tried out as a catcher, so he volunteered. He wanted to be a football player at Ohio’s Central State College, not a baseball player. He became ineligible for football because of poor grades and was working out with the baseball team one day when Dodgers scout Hugh Alexander saw him. Alexander was searching for a left-handed hitting catcher and Roseboro fit the bill. He invited Roseboro to try out with the Dodgers.
Five years later, in 1957, Roseboro had moved steadily through the minor-league system as a catcher when he got the call to report to Brooklyn. Only, not as a catcher. They wanted him to play first base because Gil Hodges was injured. So Roseboro’s first games as a Dodger were at first base.
In the offseason, the Dodgers moved to L.A., and Campanella had the car wreck that ended his career. The Dodgers had three catchers: Roseboro, Rube Walker and Joe Pignatano. Walker was past his prime and retired after starting the season five for 44. Manager Walter Alston named Roseboro, 20, the Dodgers’ new starting catcher. Roseboro was the starting catcher through the 1967 season. He was involved in a legendary fight with Juan Marichal, but his career was so much more than that, even though that seems to be what he is remembered for today. Which is a shame. The Dodgers won titles in 1959, 1963 and 1965 with Roseboro in the lineup, and he is a big reason why they won.
Roseboro died of a stroke on Aug. 16, 2002. He was 69. One of the speakers at his funeral: Juan Marichal. You could easily move Roseboro to third on this list. Once you get past the top two, the choices could go a lot of different ways, depending on what you view as most important about each player.
7. Babe Phelps (1935-41, .315/.368/.477, 125 OPS+, 3-time All Star)
Perhaps the second-best-hitting catcher in Dodgers history, Ernest Gordon Phelps was born April 19, 1908, in Odenton, Md. As most kids did back then, he played baseball every chance he got. The Washington Senators signed him in 1929. He was then a first baseman and outfielder, but was mainly a professional hitter. The Senators brought him to the majors briefly in 1931 and he was such a strong hitter and built like Babe Ruth that his teammates nicknamed him Babe. But, while Ruth was a good fielder, Phelps was not, and the Senators traded him to the Chicago Cubs, who decided to convert him to catcher. It was a strange move, because the Cubs had a great catcher in Gabby Hartnett. After two seasons as Hartnett’s backup, his contract was sold to Brooklyn, where he became the backup to Al Lopez. Phelps hit .364 in 47 games, so the Dodgers traded Lopez after the season and named Phelps the starting catcher. He hit .367 in 1936, finishing second to Paul Waner for the batting title. His .367 average is still the highest for a catcher who qualified for the batting title.
Phelps remained a strong hitter throughout his Dodgers career, but he put on weight every season too, getting so out of shape that his teammates nicknamed him Blimp. His offense didn’t suffer, but his defense did, and he became relatively immobile. He was considered one of the nicest guys in the league and was a fan favorite.
Before the 1940 season, the Dodgers made a change that eventually ended Phelps’ career: they started traveling by plane, and Phelps was terrified of flying. He made one flight with the team, and then refused to go on another flight, traveling by train throughout the season while the rest of the team flew.
The Dodgers acquired Mickey Owen before the 1941 season, and held part of their spring training in Cuba. Phelps refused to fly to Cuba, so the team worked out without him. Owen was named the starting catcher. Then, on June 12, 1941, the team was going to travel … by train … to Pittsburgh. Phelps never showed up. Eventually reached by telephone, he said the stress of travel was too much and he was having heart palpitations. He had claimed this before and the Dodgers’ team doctor examined him and said he was fine. Thinking he was faking it or a hypochondriac, manager Leo Durocher demanded that Phelps be traded. Finding no takers, the Dodgers suspended him. A couple of months later, the team was in a pennant race and wanted a left-handed bat on the bench. The Dodgers wanted to bring Phelps back, but because of suspension rules at the time, they couldn’t without Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis’ permission. Landis met with Phelps and refused to reinstate him. The Dodgers lost in the World Series. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates after the season.
In 1950, Dodgers fans voted Phelps as the catcher for the all-time Dodgers team, a testament to his popularity. He died in 1992 in Odenton, Md.
8. Russell Martin (2006-10, 2019, .268/.362/.391, 99 OPS+, 1 Gold Glove, 2-time All Star)
Martin was a rare catcher who was fast enough to steal bases, including a career-high 21 with the Dodgers in 2007. He was with the team for five seasons, but was hurt for the latter part of the 2010 season and the team let him go as a free agent. They replaced him with Rod Barajas, while Martin signed with the Yankees and put together several solid seasons after that. He returned to L.A. for his final season in the majors, and hit .220 in 83 games, sharing catching duties with Austin Barnes and then-rookie Will Smith. He played in one of the five postseason games against Washington that season, going two for four with a double and a homer.
He became a fan favorite in 2019 for pitching four scoreless innings during the season, giving up only two hits and striking out two while throwing a low-80s fastball. Whenever the Dodgers’ bullpen had problems that season (see, this season is nothing new), fans would often call for Martin to pitch.
He is one of 12 catchers since 1901 to steal at least 100 bases, and his 67 steals is the most by a catcher in Dodgers history.
9. Mickey Owen (1941-45, .258/.319/.315, 80 OPS+, 4-time All Star)
Much like Roseboro, Owen is remembered for something (that passed ball in the 1941 World Series) that has overshadowed a solid career. He was a four-time All-Star and during that 1941 season had set a then-record for most consecutive errorless chances handled by a catcher (508). He is also the first player to hit a pinch-hit homer in the All-Star game, which he did in 1942.
Arnold Owen (no middle name) was born April 4, 1916, in Nixa, Mo. (By the way, isn’t baseball amazing? Here we are, 109 years after a player was born, talking about his career). Owen signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1935 and quickly became known for his defense. He was quickly promoted to the majors, and played 80 games with the Cardinals in 1937. After four seasons of solid defense but subpar hitting, the Cardinals traded him to Brooklyn before the 1941 season for catcher Gus Mancuso and $60,000.
Owen was called Mickey because of his resemblance to the great catcher Mickey Cochrane. However, when he came to the Dodgers, manager Leo Durocher refused to call him that, referring to him as Arnold.
Owen was considered the best defensive catcher in the NL, and if the Gold Glove had been around, probably would have won at least five. He was drafted into the Navy midway through the 1945 season and while he was in the Navy on April 1, 1946, Jorge Pasquel of the Mexican League announced that he signed Owen to a five-year deal as a player-manager for the Veracruz Blues. Commissioner Happy Chandler announced that any player who jumped would be banned for five years if they tried to return.
Owen did not like playing in Mexico and, in 1947, petitioned to return to the majors. Chandler denied the appeal. He eventually dropped the suspensions before the 1949 season. The Dodgers released Owen and he signed with the Cubs.
Owen retired after the 1954 season and started a baseball camp for kids in Missouri. He ran the camp until 1985, and the camp remained active until 2005. You would often see ads for it in the Sporting News, nestled among the baseball box scores.
Owen died in Mt. Vernon, Mo., of complications from Alzheimer’s Disease. He was 89.
10. Joe Ferguson (1970-76, 1978-81, .245/.359/.419, 119 OPS+)
The Dodgers had two good, young catchers in the early 1970s, Ferguson and Yeager. They eventually decided to go with Yeager because of his superior defense, but Ferguson was a much better hitter. He also played in the outfield quite a bit for L.A. and his most famous Dodger moment probably came as an outfielder, when he cut in front of Jim Wynn to catch a fly ball and throw out Sal Bando trying to score in the 1974 World Series.
Ferguson’s other great moment as a Dodger came in 1980. The Dodgers were three games behind the Houston Astros with three to play … all against the Astros. In the first game, the Dodgers and Astros were tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the 10th. Houston’s Ken Forsch went to the mound for his 10th inning of work. On Forsch’s first pitch, Ferguson homered to left to give the Dodgers the walk-off win.
“I go up in that situation and I’m looking to hit at least a double,” Ferguson said, “I’ve got to drive the ball. It wasn’t that Forsch was losing command of his pitches. It was just that he didn’t have that little extra. He knows what I can do, because I’ve done it against him before.”
By the way, the winning pitcher in that game: Fernando Valenzuela.
The readers’ top 10
Almost 1,486 ballots were sent in. First place received 12 points, second place nine, all the way down to one point for 10th place. Here are your choices:
1. Roy Campanella, 1,209 first-place votes, 15,867 points
2. Mike Piazza, 124 first-place votes, 11,733 points
3. John Roseboro, 82 first-place votes, 8,642 points
4. Mike Scioscia, 33 first-place votes, 8,256 points
5. Will Smith, 13 first-place votes, 7,918 points
6. Steve Yeager, 19 first-place votes, 7,006 points
7. Russell Martin, 5,774 points
8. Joe Ferguson, 2,803 points
9. Mickey Owen, 2,444 points
10. Jeff Torborg,1,512 points
The next five: Paul Lo Duca, Yasmani Grandal, A.J. Ellis, Rick Dempsey, Norm Sherry.
Top 10 first basemen
Who are your top 10 Dodgers first basemen of all time (including Brooklyn)? Email your list to [email protected] and let me know.
Many of you have asked for a list of players to consider for each position. Here are the 40 strongest first baseman candidates, in alphabetical order.
Del Bissonette, Jack Bolling, Ken Boyer, Greg Brock, Dan Brouthers, Enos Cabell, Dolph Camilli, Hee-Seop Choi, Jake Daubert, Frank Dillon, Jack Doyle, Jack Fournier, Dave Foutz, David Freese, Freddie Freeman, Nomar Garciaparra, Steve Garvey, Adrián González, Buddy Hassett, Gil Hodges, Hughie Jennings, Tim Jordan, Eric Karros, Ed Konetchy, Norm Larker, Sam Leslie, George LaChance, James Loney, Dan McGann, Eddie Murray, Dick Nen, Dave Orr, Wes Parker, Bill Phillips, Albert Pujols, Olmedo Sáenz, Ed Stevens, Dick Stuart, Franklin Stubbs, Tommy Tucker.
A reminder that players are listed at the position in which they played the most games for the Dodgers, which is why Garciaparra is listed here and not at shortstop.
And finally
Mike Piazza hits a home run over the left-field roof and out of Dodger Stadium. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
From Jack Harris: There was a one-handed finish. A slow stroll out of the batter’s box. And a leisurely, long-awaited trip around the bases.
It’d been a while since Teoscar Hernández last admired such a momentous home run ball.
It was a sight the struggling Dodgers had come to sorely miss.
Ever since returning from an adductor strain last month, Hernández had endured one of his coldest stretches at the plate since joining the Dodgers last year. He was batting .171 over 20 games since his mid-May return to the lineup. He had just three hits in 38 at-bats over his last 10 contests.
That slump, which also included only one home run since April 28, finally reached a tipping point ahead of Wednesday’s series finale against the San Diego Padres, with manager Dave Roberts moving Hernández out of his customary cleanup spot in the batting order in favor of hot-hitting catcher Will Smith.
“I love him in the four [spot] when he’s right,” Roberts said pregame. “But clearly the last few weeks, he’s been scuffling.”
In what was a tie score at Petco Park, on a day first place in the National League West was up for grabs, Hernández delivered the decisive blow in the Dodgers’ 5-2 win over the Padres, belting a three-run home run to straightaway center that sent the club a pivotal series victory.
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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS
All Times Pacific
NBA FINALS
Oklahoma City vs. Indiana
Indiana 111, at Oklahoma City 110 (box score, story) at Oklahoma City 123, Indiana 107 (box score, story) at Indiana 116, Oklahoma City 107 (boxscore, story) Friday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC Monday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC Thursday at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC* Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC*
*if necessary
ANGELS
Jo Adell homered in a wild six-run sixth inning and the Angels overcame two homers by Brent Rooker to beat the Athletics 6-5 at Angel Stadium on Wednesday and sweep a three-game series.
Adell’s 13th homer was his sixth in nine games.
His two-run shot capped a rally that saw Athletics starter JP Sears ejected after giving way to reliever Grant Holman (4-2) with one out. Holman walked Mike Trout on a 3-2 pitch he believed was a strike to load the bases. Holman hit Taylor Ward to bring in a run and Jorge Soler followed with a two-run single. That’s when Sears was tossed after yelling animatedly from the dugout.
The Rams linebacker delicately gripped a paintbrush, dipped it into a cup of green paint, and began filling the outline of a bird traced onto a wall of an Altadena school rebounding from the Eaton fire.
A few feet away, Rams tight end Terrance Ferguson and defensive lineman Ty Hamilton maneuvered their huge frames to add their own artistic touches to the hallway mural.
It was the latest rookie bonding experience for the 2025 draft class, a six-player group that includes several expected to play prominent roles for a team regarded as a Super Bowl contender.
But the disappointment that rendered Herbert motionless on the sideline in Houston had faded in his memory, he said. Offseasons tend to have that rejuvenating effect.
“If I spend any more time worrying or focusing on a loss like that, I would be doing a disservice to my teammates,” Herbert said Wednesday on the second day of Chargers minicamp. “Obviously it didn’t go the way we wanted it to, like I said at the end of the year, but you gotta move on.”
Despite the crushing wild-card loss that prolonged the Chargers’ seven-year playoff win drought, Herbert maintained that his offseason has been business as usual.
Rickea Jackson scored a career-high 30 points, Azura Stevens had 19 points and 10 rebounds in leading the Sparksto a 97-89Commissioner’s Cup win over the Aces in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.
The Aces were without star center A’ja Wilson for the final 11 minutes of the game after she left with 1:17 left in the third quarter with an injury. She was accidentally hit in the face on Dearica Hamby’s drive to the basket.
Jackson went 11 of 17 from the field, including four of eight from three-point range, and four of five at the free-throw line to top her previous best of 25 points against Dallas last season.
From Kevin Baxter and Erik Kirschbaum: Think of the World Cup as a big dinner party. Only instead of asking over family, neighbors and some folks from the office, the whole planet has been invited.
Many of those people will be coming to Southern California, and with Wednesday marking the one-year countdown to the tournament’s kickoff, Larry Freedman, co-chair of the Los Angeles World Cup host committee, acknowledges there’s still a lot of tidying up that has to be done before the guests arrive.
“As with any event of this magnitude, there are a tremendous number of moving pieces,” he said. “Nobody is ready, 100%, a year out. When we signed up for this, we knew we would be working to the end to get ready.”
The 2026 World Cup will be the largest and most complex sporting event in history, with 48 national teams playing 104 games in 16 cities spread across the U.S., Mexico and Canada over 39 days. Eight games will be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
Edmonton vs. Florida at Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT) (summary, story) Florida 5, at Edmonton 4 (2 OT) (summary, story) at Florida 6, Edmonton 1 (summary, story) Thursday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT Tuesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT* Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*
* If necessary
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1920 — Man o’ War wins the Belmont Stakes, which was run at 1 3/8-miles, in 2:14 1/5. He shatters the world record by 3 1/5 seconds and sets the American dirt-course record for that distance.
1930 — Max Schmeling beats Jack Sharkey on a fourth-round foul for the vacant heavyweight title in New York. Schmeling becomes the first German — and European — heavyweight world champion.
1939 — Byron Nelson wins the U.S. Open in a three-way playoff with Craig Wood and Denny Shute.
1948 — Citation, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, wins the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown with an eight-length victory over Better Self. It’s Arcaro’s second Triple Crown. He rode Whirlaway in 1941.
1948 — Ben Hogan wins the U.S. Open with a record 276, five fewer than Ralph Guldahl’s 1937 record.
1979 — Bobby Orr becomes the youngest player in NHL history to be selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame. The 31-year-old is inducted months after officially ending his NHL career as the Hall waives its usual three-year waiting period.
1981 — Larry Holmes stops Leon Spinks in the third round for the WBC heavyweight title in Detroit.
1983 — Patty Sheehan wins the LPGA championship by two strokes over Sandra Haynie.
1984 — 38th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat Lakers, 4 games to 3, to win the championship title.
1990 — Egypt, a 500-1 shot, stuns the Netherlands when Magdi Abdel-Ghani makes a penalty kick with eight minutes remaining to tie the World Cup favorites 1-1.
1991 — The Chicago Bulls win the first NBA championship in the team’s 25-year history with a 108-101 victory in Game 5 over the Lakers. MVP Michael Jordan scores 30 points, Scottie Pippen has 32 and John Paxson 20.
2002 — NBA Finals: Lakers beat New Jersey Nets, 113-107 for a 4-0 sweep and 3rd straight title; MVP: Shaquille O’Neal for 3rd consecutive Finals series.
2005 — Annika Sorenstam closes with a 1-over 73 for a three-shot victory over Michelle Wie in the LPGA Championship. The 15-year-old Wie shoots a 69 to finish second. It’s the highest finish by an amateur in a major since 20-year-old Jenny Chuasiriporn lost a playoff to Se Ri Pak in the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open.
2008 — The Boston Celtics overcome a 24-point deficit and beat the Lakers 97-91 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA finals. No team has ever overcome more than a 15-point deficit after the first quarter, and the Celtics post the biggest comeback in the finals since 1971.
2009 — Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot scores two second-period goals as the Penguins beat the defending champion Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 7 and win the Stanley Cup at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena.
2011 — The Dallas Mavericks win their first NBA title by winning Game 6 of the finals in Miami, 105-95. Jason Terry scores 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki adds 21 as the Mavericks win four of the series’ last five games.
2013 — Andrew Shaw scores on a deflection in triple overtime to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins in a riveting Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals. The Blackhawks gets third-period goals from Dave Bolland and Oduya to erase a 3-1 deficit.
2016 — Sidney Crosby sets up Kris Letang’s go-ahead goal midway through the second period and the Pittsburgh Penguins win the fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history by beating the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.
2017 — Kevin Durant caps his spectacular first season with the Warriors by bringing home an NBA championship. Durant, who joined Golden State last July, scores 39 points in a finals-clinching 129-120 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
2019 — Stanley Cup Final, TD Garden, Boston, MA: St. Louis Blues beat Boston Bruins, 4-1 for a 4-3 series victory; first title in franchise history.
2021 — Danish soccer midfielder Christian Eriksen suffers an on-field cardiac arrest during a Euro 2020 match with Finland in Copenhagen. Eriksen is revived with a defibrillator and the game controversially continues with a 1-0 Finland win.
2023 — NBA Finals: Denver Nuggets beat Miami Heat 94-89 to win the franchise’s first title; MVP: Denver C Nikola Jokić.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1922 — Hub Pruett struck out Babe Ruth three consecutive times, and the St. Louis Browns beat the New York Yankees 7-1.
1928 — Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees had two triples and two homers in a 15-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
1939 — The Baseball Hall of Fame was dedicated at Cooperstown, N.Y.
1954 — Milwaukee’s Jim Wilson pitched the year’s only no-hitter, blanking the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0.
1957 — Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals broke the National League record for endurance when he played in his 823rd consecutive game. The previous mark was established in 1937 by Pirates first baseman Gus Suhr.
1959 — The San Francisco Giant’s Mike McCormick tossed a 3-0, five-inning no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. Richie Ashburn singled in the top of the sixth for the Phillies, but the hit didn’t count because the game was stopped by rain.
1962 — In Milwaukee’s 15-2 rout of the Dodgers at County Stadium, the Aaron brothers both homer in the same game with Tommie connecting in the bottom of the eighth after his older brother Hank had hit one out in the second.
1970 — Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates hurled a 2-0 no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader against the San Diego Padres. Ellis walked eight and hit a batter, and Willie Stargell hit two homers.
1981 — Thirteen games were canceled due to the players’ strike.
1997 — After 126 years, baseball broke its tradition and played interleague games. The San Francisco beat the Texas Rangers 4-3.
1999 — Cal Ripken went 6-for-6, homering twice and driving in six runs as the Baltimore Orioles scored the most runs in franchise history with a 22-1 rout of the Atlanta Braves.
2006 — Jason Grimsley was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball, less than a week after federal agents raided his home during an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs.
2007 — Justin Verlander pitched a no-hitter to lead the Detroit Tigers over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0. Verlander struck out a career-high 12, walked four and benefited from several stellar defensive plays.
2009 — Chicago right fielder Milton Bradley had a bad day at Wrigley Field. Bradley lost Jason Kubel’s pop-up in the sun for a single, couldn’t catch Michael Cuddyer’s RBI bloop double, made a baserunning blunder and, most egregiously, flipped the ball into the stands after catching Joe Mauer’s one-out sac fly.
2009 — New York Mets second baseman Luis Castillo dropped Alex Rodriguez’s lazy popup with two outs in the ninth inning as two runs scored, helping the Yankees escape with a wild 9-8 victory over the Mets.
2010 — Daniel Nava hit the first pitch he saw as a big leaguer for a grand slam — only the second player to do it — leading the Boston Red Sox to a 10-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies. Nava connected on a fastball from Joe Blanton in the second inning. Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a slam on the first pitch he saw Sept. 2, 2006, for Cleveland against Texas.
2011 — Realignment is on the table again as Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association are in discussions to renew the collective bargaining agreement, which expires on Dec. 11. One of the options being discussed would see one team moving from the National League to the American League to create two 15-team leagues, with the Houston Astros the likeliest candidate for a move.
2012 — Alex Rodriguez ties Lou Gehrig’s record by hitting his 23rd career grand slam.
2016 — Sam Cohen put UC Santa Barbara into its first College World Series with a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory over second-seeded Louisville 4-3 in the Super Regionals.
2017 — Royce Lewis, a high school shortstop from California, is selected first overall by the Minnesota Twins in the 2017 amateur draft.
2018 — Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera suffers a season-ending injury when he tears a biceps tendon while swinging at pitch in the 3rd inning of a game against the Twins. He had already missed all but one game of May with a hamstring injury.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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