The NEW YORK Yankees on paper seemed unstoppable. Seriously some said in order for the Dodgers to win it had to be thanks to the hand of god! But this was a magic season for the LA Dodgers after picking up the biggest contract in the sports history with them signing Shohei Ohtani in the off season and with him added to an already impressive line up they had to secure the pitching staff, and pen and boy did they ever!
They went in the entire year doing amazing things from Ohtani becoming the first man to hit 50 Home Runs and steal 50 Bases to this impressive playoff run. They had to stare down an ugly history with the Yankees and had to empty their minds of past failed WS loses to them and had to go out with the best the American League had this 2024. They had to rally against Gerrit Cole and then against the Yankees’ best relievers for the finale of the World Series, and had to get a World Series-clinching save from starter Walker Buehler, of all people.
With an amazing team effort, the Dodgers claimed their second World Series title in the last five years and their first in a full season since 1988 by beating the Yankees in Game 5 on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. Yep they kicked the Yankees ass in their own home town.
This folks was an incredible World Series and in this 7-6 victory, they earned their champagne celebration the hard way, becoming the first team in a World Series-clinching win to come back from five or more runs.
Congrats to the Los Angeles Dodgers on this incredible run, and victory... NOW it's time for the WINTER MEETINGS!
We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of former Dodgers great Fernando Valenzuela. IF you we're living under a rock during the 80's or in a Coma that's about the only way you missed what was named at the time as “Fernandomania” which did indeed sweep through baseball in 1981 when the 20-year old rookie sensation began the season 8-0 with a 0.50 ERA.
The left handed big man capped off his incredible year by winning both the NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards while helping lead Los Angeles to a World Series title. Man he was fun to watch and while in the Minors my dad once told me that he was so good he was once now allowed to pitch in one game because the other team didn't want to face him.
And they let him hit which was a mistake as he could also swing the bat pretty darn well... All in all Valenzuela pitched 17 Major League seasons, was a 6-time All-Star, and has the most wins (173) and strikeouts (2,074) of any Mexican-born pitcher. Spending the last 22 years as a Spanish language broadcaster for the Dodgers, who retired his No. 34 in 2023.
The entire Dodger community loved him from day 1 and will miss him I'm sure. Especially what makes this even more sad is the timing as the Dodgers just beat the New York Mets to go to the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees. Maybe Fernando will bless the Dodgers from Heaven and guide them to a World series win over the Yankees. Rest in Peace he was only 63.
First in franchise history the Texas Rangers have just won the world series in a 5-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks who had a no hitter going into the 7th until the Rangers began to break through and ended up winning on Arizona home field. One of the best runs in MLB history the Rangers were one of 7 teams in the majors to have never won it all. Now it's down to 6.
The Rangers have had some historical players and never won! From Nolan Ryan to Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmero, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Canseco in the 90's and not a single series win. They have always had a strong hitting ideology but it took a Miami Marlins ex pitcher in Nathan Evaldi and another player they signed who was a free agent in Corey Seagar that they are now winning it all. Also can't forget the great manager they got in Bruce Bochy who came out of retirement to win a ring with Texas on his first year there... Once more we can say. "Don't Mess with Texas!" This time it's them winning the World Series. So once again! Congrats to them, the franchise, and their fans.
"I’m so proud of this team. We fought through adversity, injuries, and we came out on top. I don’t know what else to say." Gallen and Eovaldi staged a World Series-worthy pitchers’ duel that was a welcomed tonic after the bullpen-palooza that had played out the previous night. They also proved that zeroes come in many forms.
For Gallen, it was efficient, almost effortless out after out after out. He became the first pitcher in World Series history to pitch six no-hit innings with his team facing elimination. Eovaldi, on the other hand, had to sweat his way to success. He had baserunners abound, allowing four hits and five walks in six innings. But the D-backs went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position against him to strand all nine of those runners. They had two aboard with none out in the third, when No. 3 hitter Gabriel Moreno questionably put down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, and nothing came of it.
In short, the Snakes let Eovaldi off the hook and, in the process, left themselves vulnerable to anything short of perfection by their ace. "I kind of joked around that I didn’t know how many rabbits I had left in my hat," Eovaldi said. "I didn’t really help myself out in some of those situations. Other times, they put together quality at-bats and were able to find the whole. A lot of the credit goes to Jonah back there behind the plate. He called a great game. We were on the same page for the most part. We were able to come out on top. That was the main thing."
Gallen finally bent in the seventh, and it began in an ironic way. Seager broke up the no-no, but he didn’t do it in the style that suited him all series. Rather, it was a softly hit grounder to the opposite side a ball that would have been harmless if third baseman Evan Longoria hadn’t been shifted toward shortstop. The ball reached the outfield grass, and the Rangers had life.
Reflecting a theme of this series, the Rangers seized the moment in a way the D-backs did not. Evan Carter ripped a double to put two runners in scoring position. And after a consultation on the mound with pitching coach Brent Strom, Gallen gave up a ground-ball single up the middle to Garver to bring Seager home with the game’s first run. "Gallen was unbelievable tonight, but we came through," Semien said. "Once Corey got the first hit, everybody kind of woke up." Though Gallen recovered to strike out Josh Jung and October relief hero Kevin Ginkel came on to record the last two outs and escape a bases-loaded jam of his own making in the eighth, the D-backs were made to pay for their early inability to cash in at the plate.
The Rangers came out swinging in the ninth against Arizona closer Paul Sewald with consecutive singles from Jung and Nathaniel Lowe. Heim ripped a single to center that Thomas misplayed. The ball scooted toward the wall, as Jung and Lowe hustled home and Heim streaked to third. Two outs later, Semien went deep for the second time in as many nights to make it 5-0, igniting a Texas-sized soiree, 52 years in the making. "This is the biggest moment, the World Series," Semien said. "Put up four runs in the ninth inning to be up 5-0 after being no-hit, it just felt so good. [I] just looked over to the bench and screamed. It’s just an unbelievable feeling."
Well another ICON gone.. Now I don't follow college basketball much but I'm well aware who Bob Knight the legendary Indiana basketball coach was. Seen maybe a handful of games he's coached as again I'm not big on college basketball. But he's now passed at 83 years old so another sad story.
Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games! A sports giant for sure, and here is an official report and some videos of the news and his legendary coaching career.
Thoughts and prayers to the Knight family as legendary Coach Bob Knight passed away today at the age of 83. https://t.co/EE6twbBsQe
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Bob Knight, the brilliant and combustible coach who won three NCAA titles at Indiana and for years was the scowling face of college basketball, has died. He was 83. Knight's family made the announcement on social media on Wednesday night. He was hospitalized with an illness in April and had been in poor health for several years. “It is with heavy hearts that we share that Coach Bob Knight passed away at his home in Bloomington surrounded by his family,” the statement said. “We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as Coach requested a private family gathering, which is being honored." Knight was among the winningest and most controversial coaches in the sport, finishing his career with 902 victories in 42 seasons at Army, Indiana and Texas Tech while mentoring some of America's best coaches.. He also coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in 1984.
The Hall of Famer cared little what others thought of him, choosing Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” to celebrate his 880th win in 2007, then the record for a Division I men’s coach. He was nicknamed “The General” and his trademark temper also cost him his job at Indiana in 2000. He once hit a police officer in Puerto Rico, threw a chair across the court and was accused of wrapping his hands around a player’s neck. Critics fumed relentlessly about his conduct, but his defenders were legion. There was this side of Knight as well: He took pride in his players’ high graduation rates, and during a rule-breaking era he never was accused of a major NCAA violation. At Indiana, he insisted his base salary not exceed that of other professors. At Texas Tech, he sometimes gave back his salary because he didn’t think he earned it.
Knight expected players to exceed expectations on the court and in the classroom. He abided by NCAA rules even when he disagreed with them, never backed down from a dust-up and promised to take his old-school principles to the grave. While he was beloved by many of his players, his disposition and theatrics sometimes overshadowed his formidable record, tactical genius, innovation and dedication to and the game, leaving behind a singular resume.. “He changed basketball in this state, the way you compete, the way you win,” Steve Alford, the leader of Knight’s last national championship team in 1987, once said. “It started in Indiana, but he really changed college basketball. You look at the motion offense and people everywhere used it.” Long esteemed for his strategy and often questioned for his methods, Knight reveled in constructing his best teams with overachievers. As a hard-to-please motivator, he clung to iron principles, and at 6-foot-5 was an intimidating presence for anyone who dared cross him.
When Knight retired in 2008, he left with four national championships (one as a player at Ohio State) and as the Division I men’s record-holder in wins. He coached everyone from Mike Krzyzewski to Isiah Thomas to Michael Jordan. His coaching tree included Krzyzewski, who broke Knight’s wins record; Alford; Lawrence Frank, Keith Smart, Randy Wittman and Mike Woodson, Indiana’s current coach, among others. “We lost one of the greatest coaches in the history of basketball today,” Krzyzewski said. “Clearly, he was one of a kind. He recruited me, coached me, mentored me and had a profound impact on my career and in my life. This is a tremendous loss for our sport and our family is deeply saddened.” Robert Montgomery Knight was born Oct. 25, 1940, in Massillon, Ohio. His mother, whom Knight credited as his strongest childhood influence, was a schoolteacher and his father worked for the railroad.
Hazel Knight seemed to understand her son’s temperament. Once, when Indiana was set to play Kentucky on television, two of Knight’s high school classmates ran into her at a grocery store and asked if she was excited about the game, according to his biography, “Knight: My Story.” “I just hope he behaves,” his mother remarked. He played basketball at Ohio State, where he was a reserve on three Final Four teams (1960-62). He was on the 1960 title team that featured Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek, two future Basketball Hall of Famers. After a year as a high school assistant, Knight joined the staff of Tates Locke at West Point. In 1965, he took over as head coach at age 24. In six seasons, coaching the likes of Krzyzewski and Mike Silliman, his teams won 102 games and it was off to Indiana in 1971.
Knight quickly restored the Hoosiers’ basketball tradition with a revolutionary offense and an almost exclusively man-to-man defense. Most opponents struggled against his early Indiana teams, with the Hoosiers going 125-20 and winning four Big Ten Conference crowns in his first five seasons. The run concluded with Indiana’s first national championship in 23 years. That 1975-76 team went 32-0, ending a two-year span when the Hoosiers were 63-1 and captured back-to-back Big Ten championships with 18-0 records. It remains the last time a major college men’s team finished with a perfect record. That team was voted the greatest in college basketball history by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association in 2013.
“One of the things that he said to our 1976 team, which I was fortunate enough to be a part of, was that you may never see another team like this again,” Indiana Board of Trustees chair Quinn Buckner said. “Well, I don’t know that we will ever see another coach like him again.” Knight won his second title in 1981, beating Dean Smith’s North Carolina team after NCAA officials decided to play the game hours after President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded earlier in the day. His third title at Indiana came in 1987 when Smart hit a baseline jumper in the closing seconds to beat Syracuse, one of the most famous shots in tournament history.
Knight spent five decades competing against and usually beating some of the game’s most revered names -- Adolph Rupp, Smith and John Wooden in the early years; Krzyzewski, Rick Pitino and Roy Williams in later years. “He was a guy I idolized when I got here (in 1983) because Bobby Knight was the man," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “He treated me great, and he helped me. I wish people knew what a great heart that he had. He was a different dude, but if you needed some help, he would answer the bell.” The Olympic team Knight coached in Los Angeles in 1984 was the last amateur U.S. team to win gold in men’s basketball. And, to no surprise, it came with controversy. Knight kept Alford on his team while cutting the likes of future Hall of Famers Charles Barkley and John Stockton.
“I am so blessed that he saw something in me as a basketball player,” Woodson said in a statement. “He influenced my life in ways I could never repay. As he did with all of his players, he always challenged me to get the most out of myself as a player and more importantly, as a person. His record as a basketball coach speaks for itself. He will be remembered as one of the greatest ever.” But winning and winning big was only part of Knight’s legacy. Other big-time coaches might follow the gentlemanly, buttoned-up approach, but not Knight. He dressed in plaid sport coats and red sweaters, routinely berated referees and openly challenged decisions by NCAA and Big Ten leaders. His list of transgressions ran long:
— Knight was convicted in absentia of assaulting a Puerto Rican police officer during the 1979 Pan American Games.
— He forfeited an exhibition game to the Soviet Union in 1987 when he pulled his team off the court after being called for a third technical foul.
— He told NBC’s Connie Chung in a 1988 interview, “I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it.” Knight was answering a question about how he handled stress and later tried to explain he was talking about something beyond one’s control, not the act of rape.
— He was accused of head-butting one player and kicking his own son, Pat, during a timeout.
— At a 1980 news conference he fired a blank from a starter’s pistol at a reporter. During the 1992 NCAA Tournament, Knight playfully used a bull whip on star player Calbert Cheaney, who is Black.
His most famous outburst came Feb. 23, 1985, when Purdue’s Steve Reid was about to attempt a free throw. A furious Knight picked up a red plastic chair and heaved it across the court, where it landed behind the basket. Fans started throwing pennies on the court, one hitting the wife of Purdue coach Gene Keady. Reid missed three of his next six ensuing free throws. “There are times I walk into a meeting or a friend calls to say, ‘I saw you on TV last night,’” Reid said on the 20th anniversary of the incident. “I know what they’re talking about.” Knight apologized the next day, received a one-game suspension and was put on probation for two years by the Big Ten. Intent on preventing such a thing again, Indiana officials chained together the chairs for both benches.
The iconic black-and-white photo of the incident remains a classic for Hoosiers fans and even became fodder for a television commercial with one of his old coaching rivals, former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps. Knight for years joked he was merely attempting to toss the chair to a woman looking for a seat. Fifteen years after the chair toss, Knight’s temper led to his downfall in Bloomington. Video surfaced of Knight allegedly putting his hands around the neck of player Neil Reed during a 1997 practice, a charge that prompted Indiana President Myles Brand to put Knight on a zero-tolerance policy following a university investigation.
Then, on Sept. 10, 2000, after winning a school-record 662 games and 11 Big Ten titles in 29 seasons, his time at Indiana came to a shocking end. While passing Knight in an Assembly Hall corridor, Indiana student Kent Harvey said, “Hey, what’s up, Knight?” Knight considered it disrespectful, grabbed Harvey’s arm and lectured him about manners. A few days later, Brand fired Knight. Students protested by tearing down a goal post at the football stadium, ripping a dolphin statue off a fountain and hanging Brand in effigy outside his home. Knight publicly condemned Brand’s leadership. Brand became NCAA president in 2002 and died in 2009 at 67 while still on the job. Neil Reed died in 2012 after collapsing in his California home. He was 36.
In 2003, Knight lashed out profanely after an ESPN reporter asked about his relationship with Alford, then the Iowa coach. The following year Knight received a reprimand after a verbal dust-up with David Smith, then the Texas Tech chancellor, as the two men stood at a grocery store salad bar. He still won, too. In his first six years in West Texas, Knight led the Red Raiders to five 20-plus win seasons, a feat never previously achieved at the school. On Jan. 1, 2007, Knight won his 880th career game, breaking Dean Smith’s record with a win over New Mexico. Krzyzewski topped Knight’s mark in 2011, with his mentor broadcasting the game for ESPN.
For nearly two decades, Indiana officials attempted to make peace. Knight refused, even skipping his induction into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. “I hope someday he will be honored at Indiana. That needs to happen. Somebody needs to make that happen,” Scott May, a starter on Knight’s 1976 championship team and an outspoken critic of Knight’s firing, pleaded as Knight stayed away. “I think they should name Assembly Hall after him.” The ice finally broke in February 2020, a few months after Knight bought a new house in Bloomington. His first public appearance at Assembly Hall since the firing came at halftime of the Hoosiers’ game against rival Purdue.
Billed as a reunion between the coach and many of his former players, the halftime celebration became a sustained roar for The General. May and Quinn Buckner, who also played on Knight’s first title team, helped the aging coach no longer steady on his feet walk onto the court. “When he moved back here, I knew he was in a good place,” said Wittman, who played on the 1981 national champs. “I knew he was happy here, living, and I told him you belong here.” Knight didn’t speak to the crowd that day. It spoke to him. “We love you, Bobby,” one fan shouted during a brief pause from the crowd, a scene that brought the steely Knight to tears.
Away from the court, Knight was an avid golfer who loved to read, especially history, and donated generously to school libraries at Indiana and Texas Tech. He would vacation in far-flung places to hunt and fish with family or friends such as baseball great Ted Williams or manager Tony La Russa. Knight also made a cameo appearance in the 2003 movie “Anger Management” with Adam Sandler. In 2006, he starred in “Knight School,” an ESPN reality show in which 16 Texas Tech students vied for the chance to walk on to his team the following season. A month after leaving Tech, Knight, who often lashed out at reporters, joined ESPN as a guest studio analyst during the 2008 NCAA Tournament. The next season, he expanded his role as a color commentator. The network parted with Knight in 2015.
He returned to public view in 2016, campaigning for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and kept a mostly low profile until returning to the campus where he became a household name and the state where his presence was so big, his death was announced in retail stores Wednesday night. "I was standing there, and he was coach Knight,” Wittman said, referring to Knight’s pregame speech in February 2020. “It was like he hadn’t left that locker room. The words he gave to those players before they went out on the floor, it was fabulous.”
Survivors include wife Karen and sons Tim and Pat.
Under the TKO Umbrella now the WWE has merged with UFC to form venture which will reach BILLIONS of people around the world but with this dynamic coming together the WWE is now not majority controlled by Vince McMahon who had originally financed the company from his father decades ago.
The long time talked about endeavor is now official and completed. Its majority-stake purchase of the wrestling giant as of Tuesday, ironically the company which also owns TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), and UFC is also called "Endeavor" which is a premium sports and entertainment company again now comprising of TKO, UFC and now WWE.
The shares in the company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange with the opening bell Tuesday, opening at a price of $102 per share. Endeavor owns 51 percent of the newly formed company. McMahon owns 16.4 percent of TKO under terms of the deal.
Endeavor agreed to a deal to acquire a majority stake in WWE in April. The deal placed a $9.3 billion valuation on the world's largest professional wrestling company. As part of the deal, Endeavor agreed to spin off UFC and create a $21 billion combat sports behemoth.
McMahon has owned a controlling stake in WWE since purchasing the company from his father in 1982. The 78-year-old transformed the business, taking it from its regional base and turning it into a national phenomenon.
"The creation of TKO marks an exciting new chapter for UFC and WWE as leaders in global sports and entertainment," Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel said in a statement. "Given their continued connectivity to the Endeavor network, we are confident in our ability to accelerate their respective growth and unlock long-term sustainable value for shareholders. With UFC and WWE under one roof, we will provide unrivaled experiences for more than a billion passionate fans worldwide."
While there have been ebbs and flows, McMahon has found a way to stabilize WWE and ensure it remains atop of the sport. The 1990s challenge from WCW provided fierce competition and AEW's ascent over the last decade has done the same, but WWE is far and away the most valuable promotion on the planet.
McMahon is staying on as executive chairman of TKO holdings and is expected to remain involved in WWE creative decisions. Paul Levesque, better known as Triple H, will remain WWE's head of creative.
Shohei Ohtani is no doubt the biggest baseball star today and was at this moment setting an example of everything right in sports. The two way superstar is setting stats so elite that word is that he's on pace to break free agency becoming the sports first half billion dollar player.
But now the future is on hold, and his contract looks to be also as he has a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and will not pitch again this season, Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian said Wednesday night in Anaheim, California, a shocking twist in the lead-up to arguably the most highly anticipated free agency in baseball history.
Ohtani exited his start in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds earlier Wednesday after recording just four outs and throwing only 26 pitches. A subsequent MRI revealed the tear, though Minasian said he did not know the severity of it. Ohtani nonetheless insisted on serving as the designated hitter in Game 2, ultimately going 1-for-5 in the Angels' 7-3 loss, and will seek secondary opinions to determine his next step.
One option, of course, is a second Tommy John surgery on his right elbow the same one done in October 2018 and one that would keep him off the mound for the entirety of the 2024 season. This is best case for him health wise but this development would significantly affect a free agent sweepstakes that many expected to yield like I said a $500-plus million contract.
"As far as plans and details, I don't have those yet," Minasian said at Angel Stadium. "I've been in contact with his representation. Obviously he hit the second game. He's played with this, in '18, but with that being said we'll take it day by day and see where it goes. Obviously disappointing news. I feel terrible for him. But it is what it is. If anybody can bounce back, it's him."
Recently The Angels decided not to trade Ohtani at the deadline and they hoped to sign to a lucrative extension with him, and have gone 5-16 since the Aug. 1 trade deadline, on pace for a franchise-record eighth consecutive losing season.
The team is riding a four-game losing streak and the other superstar, Mike Trout, who returned from a seven-week absence because of a hamate fracture earlier this week, will return to the injured list because his attempts to swing in Tuesday's game "didn't go well," Minasian said.
Now The Angels can at least hold out hope that Trout will return this season. To me they should both be sent home to heal and let other players take their spot. This would let them get ready for 2024 as a hitter as Ohtani probably won't be able to pitch until 2025 at best.
Ohtani previously battled a cracked nail and blister on his right middle finger. Also in recent weeks, he also has navigated through cramping issues. When asked to skip his previous start because of what Angels manager Phil Nevin described as "arm fatigue." It's the same term the Angels initially used to describe the reason for Ohtani's early exit Wednesday, his first start in 14 days.
His fastball was down to an average of 93.1 mph, nearly four ticks slower than his season average. Minasian said the Angels were not aware of any issues before Wednesday. "He never complained about anything," Minasian added about Ohtani, who was not made available to reporters.
"He had cramps, he was dehydrated, but today is the day. He came out of the game and said, 'Hey, I've got pain in the elbow area.' It's the first day we've heard of any type of pain."
Ohtani, 29, was diagnosed with a Grade 2 sprain of his UCL in June of his rookie season in 2018 and hoped to combat the need for Tommy John surgery with platelet-rich plasma and stem-cell therapy. He remained in the lineup throughout that process, then was told he needed Tommy John surgery on Sept. 5 and he hit two home runs later that night.
Ohtani put off the procedure until the early part of the offseason, spent all of 2019 rehabbing as a pitcher -- while serving as a full-time DH -- and struggled in both aspects during the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020.
His prowess as a two-way phenomenon began in 2021, a year that saw him win the American League's Most Valuable Player Award unanimously. He would have won the hardware again in 2022 if not for Aaron Judge's record-setting home run campaign.
And in 2023, he looks like the easy favorite again even with the Angels once again out of the playoff picture, and even with another UCL tear ruling him out as a pitcher for the final six weeks.
Ohtani, who hit his major league-leading 44th home run moments before exiting his start, is slashing .304/.405/.664 this season but also boasts a 3.14 ERA with 167 strikeouts in 132 innings. His 8.7 FanGraphs wins above replacement easily leads the majors.
The Angels still don't know whether Ohtani will hit the rest of this season. "We're going to go day to day and just see how it goes, see how he feels," Minasian said.
"I think as we get more information, as far as recovery time and all those types of things, we'll have more information down the road."
