ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 12: Junior Caminero #13 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates a single in the bottom of the first inning against the Houston Astros at Tropicana Field on September 12, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Parker S. Freedman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The good feelings from the series opening win over the Mets were erased in a flash. The crosstown rivals stomped the Yankees in the Bronx, 12-2, as Gerrit Cole gave up another three home runs. It was a bad day for their ace to not have it with the Rays and Red Sox both winning to gain ground over and toward the Yankees, respectively.
Tampa Bay Rays (89-59) 3, Houston Astros (75-74) 2
The Rays’ second-year starter Ian Seymour logged one of the best starts of his young career, holding Houston to two runs on four hits and a walk in six innings. The converted reliever struck out ten, which is already his third outing of double-digit strikeouts in just his 14th start. He induced 19 whiffs on the game including five on the four-seamer despite the pitch averaging just 91 mph.
The first of those runs was to the second batter of the game, Isaac Paredes launching a solo shot to open the scoring early. The second didn’t come until the sixth inning, Yainer Diaz driving in Jose Altuve with an RBI single after the latter reached on a one-out double. At the time, that was the game-tying run, the Rays having scored two in the fifth on a two-run single by Richie Palacios after Victor Mesa Jr. and Chandler Simpson opened the frame with a pair of singles and advanced on a sac bunt.
The game winner came in the seventh, Liam Hicks leading off with a double and Mesa drawing a walk. A force out advanced Hicks to third where he’d score on a pinch-hit sac fly by Nick Madrigal. A Jonny DeLuca single kept the inning alive and put runners on the corners where they’d be stranded by Jorge Mateo. Walks by Jonathan Aranda, Ryan Vilade, and Mesa loaded the bases in the eighth, but Simpson could not bring home an insurance run that ended up going unneeded. With the win and Yankees loss, the Rays restore their four-game lead atop the AL East.
Other Games
Boston Red Sox (81-68) 5, Kansas City Royals (66-83) 1
Ranger Suarez provided one of his vintage starts for the Red Sox, holding the Royals to a run on four hits and no walks with eight strikeouts across seven sterling innings, lowering his ERA to 3.33 in 26 starts in his debut season with Boston. The lone damage came in the sixth, Carter Jensen getting the Royals on the board with a one-out solo homer.
As it happens, that homer tied the game, the Red Sox mustering just a run in the first five innings on an Adley Rutschman RBI single after Roman Anthony led off the frame with a single. The Red Sox turned it on from there, starting with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, Mickey Gasper and Rutschman reaching on a pair of two-out singles before Wilyer Abreu drove both home with a two-run double. Caleb Durbin tacked on another with an RBI single after Nick Sogard led off the seventh with a double and Sogard added a final run with an RBI double to drive home Trevor Story after his own double in the eighth. With the win and Yankees loss, the Red Sox climb back within 4.5 games of second.
Chicago White Sox (76-72) 6, St. Louis Cardinals (73-76) 5
This was a topsy-turvy, back and forth affair with multiple lead changes. It wasn’t the most cleanly pitched contest by either side, both teams opting for bullpen games and combining to use 13 pitchers overall. The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead scoring three in the second off White Sox trade deadline acquisition Luis Castillo on a two-run double by Masyn Winn and a sac fly from José Fermín.
The two sides then traded runs in the third, Colson Montgomery’s walk with the bases loaded getting cancelled out by an RBI double from Nathan Church in the bottom half. Chicago then rallied to score three in the fifth to knot the scores at four apiece, Munetaka Murakami drawing a bases loaded walk, Randal Grichuk grounding into a run scoring double play, and Tristan Peters adding an RBI single.
By this point both teams had loaded the bases twice in the span of two innings without fully cashing in, a trend which would continue into the final innings. Indeed, St. Louis grabbed a late one-run lead on a Leo Bernal homer to lead off the eighth, the Cardinals then loading the bases before Jordan Hicks entered in relief to strand them loaded. This proved the turning point in the game, Grichuk winning it in the top of the tenth with a two-run blast.
The Twins did all of their scoring in the third, pushing across four in the frame. Emmanuel Rodriguez got things started with a booming solo shot, followed by three straight singles from Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee, and Kody Clemens. Royce Lewis added an RBI single and back-to-back hit-by-pitches first loaded the bases and then forced in the fourth run. It was enough to fend off the Guardians, Travis Bazzana opening the scoring with an RBI single in the second and Steven Kwan drawing Cleveland within one with an RBI single following Brayan Rocchio’s RBI groundout in the fifth. It was a costly loss for Cleveland paired with Chicago’s late win, dropping them back a game-and-a-half out of first.
Toronto Blue Jays (74-75) 7, Baltimore Orioles (72-77) 3
Kyle Bradish has been getting crushed dating back to the five runs he gave up to the Yankees at the end of August, giving up another five runs on eight hits in just three innings against Toronto. Alejandro Kirk had the big day at the plate going 2-for-4 with a homer and three driven in. Brett Bateman also homered and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added an RBI double while George Springer and Andrés Giménez both contributed multi-hit days. Pete Alonso provided the only real pop for the Orioles with a two-run homer in the seventh.
This game can really be boiled down to one inning, the Rangers scoring six in the fifth off Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt. Wyatt Langford led off with a homer, Jake Burger singled and advanced on a sac bunt, Elias Díaz singled, Joc Pederson got hit by a pitch, Josh Jung singled, Brandon Nimmo doubled, and Ezequiel Duran singled as part of the ten hits Pfaadt gave up on his start. A Pavin Smith RBI single and Corbin Carroll sac fly constituted all the scoring for the Diamondbacks.
Sep 12, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) celebrates with second baseman Marcus Semien (10) after defeating the New York Yankees 12-2 at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Meet the Mets
The Mets outslugged the Yankees in a 12-2 win in Yankee Stadium. Francisco Lindor got it started with a leadoff home run and then later delivered the exclamation point with a grand slam. Young Zac Thornton was impressive on the mound pitching seven solid innings and the Mets walked away with a good bounce back victory in the Subway Series.
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole had no explanation for his latest poor performance against the Mets.
Astros DH Yordan Álvarez and and Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson are two very different type of players, but are currently battling it out for the AL batting title.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JULY 18: The Boston Red Sox grounds crew pulls out the rain tarp prior to a game between the Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on July 18, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s going to be a waiting game today at Fenway Park as the Red Sox and Royals try to complete their final game against each other this season. Here’s what we can say with confidence:
It’s going to rain steadily throughout the morning and into much of the afternoon.
The rain should let up and stop late in the afternoon and into the early evening hours, creating a window to get the game in.
With just 13 games left in the season, MLB is going to want to get this in today, even if it means waiting a little while.
As a result, the Red Sox already announced yesterday evening that the scheduled start time has been pushed back 90 minutes from 1:35 to 3:05pm
The #RedSox have moved the start time of the game tomorrow, Sunday, September 13, against the Royals at Fenway from 1:35 p.m. to 3:05 p.m. pic.twitter.com/UDEVIMVSjH
However, that’s probably not far enough, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see additional delays.
Here’s a simulated radar from the HRRR model for 3:00pm today.
Things will likely be headed in the right direction by mid afternoon, but the back edge of the precipitation will probably take a couple more hours to fully clear Boston. Here’s a simulated map for around 5:00pm:
This is probably closer to the time they can pull the tarp off and get things ready for play, and once they do, conditions should remain playable through the evening.
So again, it’s going to be a waiting game. The Red Sox and Royals want to get this game in today, and conditions will improve late. However, until that time, we’re all just going to be watching the radar and waiting for things to clear.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 12: Tyler Glasnow #31 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Miami Marlins in the first inning of the game at loanDepot park on September 12, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dodgers’ season-high eight game win streak came to a crashing halt on Saturday, as they fell to the Miami Marlins 4-3.
Saturday turned out to be a rough outing for right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who completed just four full innings of work through 91 pitches while getting charged for four earned runs, resulting in his first losing decision of the season. Although he struck out seven, Glasnow allowed four walks on the afternoon, the most he allowed in a start since April 29, where he gave up six walks also against Miami.
Glasnow at one point was able to retire the side in order in both the third and fourth innings before the wheels fell off, notes Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times. Despite the poor start, Glasnow said that his back— which kept him off the field for three months— feels good.
“I think it was just trying to move a little quicker and get my glove a little higher,” Glasnow said. “I was just ripping off everything. I kind of put a Band-Aid on it. Felt pretty good then it started to feel a little weird again.”
Glasnow said his back, which sidelined him for three and a half months earlier this season, “feels good.”
Dave Roberts spoke on his decision to pull Glasnow in the fifth inning for reliever Jack Dreyer, insisting on having the bullpen extinguish the fire that Glasnow created for Miami, per Perla Paredes of MLB.com.
“It was great [for him] coming back and competing like he did,” Roberts said. “I just thought for me, walking those first two hitters in that fifth inning was time to just pull the plug and get Jack [Dreyer] in there and try to limit damage.”
Freddie Freeman was back in the lineup on Saturday for his 37th birthday after missing the past two games due to right knee issues. Freeman noted that his injury has hampered his production on both sides of the field, and the team will manage his workload over the final two weeks of the regular season, per Jack Harris of the California Post.
“I was having trouble moving [on defense]. I didn’t have a front side anymore [in my swing],” Freeman said of the way the injury had initially impacted him. “It just got to the point where it wasn’t giving me the best opportunity to play like I want to.”
Moving forward, manager Dave Roberts said the club would continue “to manage” Freeman’s injury by trying to “pick spots to give him an off day here or there, because again, we’ve just got to make sure he’s at optimal health when we finish the season.”
Max Muncy followed up Mookie Betts’s first inning home run with one of his own, but that was all the Dodgers could amount on the scoreboard before a Hunter Feduccia RBI single in the ninth inning. Muncy spoke with Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA following the loss to Miami, describing how the offense was unable to regain the spark they had to begin the game.
“They did a good job of mixing it up on us, and they executed some pitches. We didn’t do a great job ourselves of creating opportunities. That’s baseball.”
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 9: Christian Koss #50 of the San Francisco Giants hits a single against the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park on September 9, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Suzanna Mitchell/San Francisco Giants/) | Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
Another week of San Francisco Giants baseball comes to an end today, so it’s time to share our favorite highlights of the week.
I think it was a pretty easy decision this week. The Giants combined for a whopping six home runs in last Saturday’s 9-5 win over the New York Mets. Including two each from Rafael Devers and Christian Koss!
What was your favorite highlight of the week?
What time do the Giants play today?
The Giants wrap up this series against the San Diego Padres this afternoon at 4:20 p.m. PT.
DETROIT, MI - SEPTEMBER 12: Hunter Goodman #15 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates his three-run home run against the Detroit Tigers with Mickey Moniak #22 in the dugout during the third inning at Comerica Park on September 12, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hunter Goodman has had an outstanding season. He has hit 38 home runs, which not only obliterated his old record (31) but also is 11 more than the next MLB catcher (Dillon Dingler, 27) and 15 more than the next NL catcher (Drake Baldwin, 23). And this, of course, also comes after Goodman spent 10 days on the IL with a shoulder injury in August.
This week, we asked if you thought Goodman would surpass the 40-homer mark. 63% of you believe he will — becoming the first Rockies player to do it since Nolan Arenadon in 2019.
There are 14 games left, and 10 of them are at Coors Field. Do you think Goodman will hit 40 before the end of the season? What do you think his final total will be?
It was not a great day for the Norfolk Tides. The offense managed just three hits. Bryan Ramos homered, Enrique Bradfield Jr. doubled, and Tavian Josenberger singled. As a team, they struck out fourteen times. Every player struck out at least once and Bradfield led the way with three.
Trey Gibson started and was not good. In 4.1 innings, Gibson was knocked around for 11 hits. He had runners on base in every inning. He battled through three innings with just one run allowed, but gave up three runs on a homer in the third and two more in the fifth after back-to-back doubles. His final run scored after he left the game.
Four relief pitchers finished the game for the Tides, including the rehabbing Ryan Helsley and Félix Bautista. Helsley threw 10 pitches in a perfect inning with one strikeout. Bautista wasn’t as successful. He faced five batters, gave up a home run, and walked a batter. He threw 17 pitches and only nine strikes.
Bob Uecker returns to the broadcast booth for the first time since his heart surgery before game against the Washington Nationals at Miller Park on Friday, July 23, 2010. Brewers24 Spt Sieu 2 | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co
Bob Uecker was a man of many talents, although he would have denied it.
Uecker spent six years in the big leagues, even winning the 1964 World Series with the Cardinals. He became a regular on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, starred in Mr. Belvedere, appeared in countless commercials, and played perhaps the most famous fictional baseball broadcaster of all time in Major League.
And, of course, he spent more than half a century calling Brewers games.
“Ueck”, the new documentary about Uecker’s life, touches on all of it. Much of the first half-hour or so of “Ueck” will feel relatively familiar to Brewers fans, replete with some of the most iconic Uecker moments — Tonight Show clips, Miller Lite commercials, his Hall of Fame induction speech, even the time he got choked out by Andre the Giant on live TV.
Those stories are accompanied by newer footage recorded in the final years of Uecker’s life: 90-year-old Uecker pulling up to the stadium in his blacked-out Corvette, cracking jokes with Vinny Rottino in the broadcast booth, and sharing a (now less) private moment with Christian Yelich in the locker room.
The documentary moves back and forth between those two versions of Uecker, centering the story of his life within the context of his final years. We see him, and others, discuss his 2023 lung cancer diagnosis. We see him around the clubhouse with current Brewers players. We hear Robin Yount talk about arriving in Milwaukee as an 18-year-old and having Uecker take him under his wing.
All of that eventually leads to a scene in the Brewers’ locker room where Uecker quietly shares his diagnosis with Yelich. That scene — along with a couple of others — is where the documentary stops showing us “Mr. Baseball” and starts showing us the man underneath.
Another example comes after the Brewers are eliminated from the 2024 Wild Card Series — Uecker’s final broadcast, though nobody knew it yet. He signs off with what would become his last words on a Brewers broadcast — “That one had some sting on it” — and the camera stays on him.
Playoff baseball games are an ecosystem in and of themselves, teeming with energy and alive with movement. Amid the chaos, the throngs of fans rushing for the exits, and the visiting Mets celebrating, Ueck just sits there, quiet, still, staring off into space. Whether or not he knew for certain that it was over, watching it now, we do.
And yeah, I cried a little.
Only a couple of people had any sense that it might be his last game. One of them was Yelich, who — with tears in his eyes — explains that, with the benefit of hindsight, he knew it would be Uecker’s last call. After all his years with the Brewers, there was no storybook ending waiting for Uecker that night, no World Series championship or carefully planned farewell. At the time, nobody watching really knew they were hearing him call a baseball game for the final time.
And that hindsight, more than anything, is what makes the footage from the final years of his life so special to watch now. Brewers fans knew Uecker was getting older. We knew he had health problems. What we didn’t normally get to see was this version of him — away from the broadcast itself, the commercials, and the public appearances. We see him come straight to the ballpark from radiation therapy, unable to get out of his car without assistance and visibly ill in the booth, but then — as he always did — put on the headset and call a darn good baseball game.
Continuing to be Bob Uecker in his final years took an immense amount of strength, but he did it anyway. He could have easily taken the rest of the season off, but he didn’t. He wanted to be in the booth. He wanted to call Brewers games for as long as he could.
And maybe that’s why one line from earlier in the documentary stuck with me more than anything else.
Uecker had played major league baseball, become a television star, made movies, and become famous well beyond Wisconsin. Most people would probably consider any one of those things the accomplishment of a lifetime.
Uecker had other priorities.
“All that other stuff’s fun,” he says. “But I wanna come back here and do baseball.”
It’s easy to watch this documentary and be sad. Brewers fans are still mourning the loss of Uecker, one of the greatest announcers of all time, by all accounts a genuinely great human being, and a proud member of the Brewers organization.
But another thing the documentary makes clear is that Uecker’s impact survives him. In Yount’s words, he was “everybody’s best friend.” Whether you were a security guard or an MVP, he would stop, share a laugh with you, and then continue on with his day. That builds a culture, especially over more than 50 years.
When Uecker called his first Brewers game, in the second year of the franchise’s existence, they were an expansion team in a market that had already lost a major league franchise. As the documentary mentions, there was some doubt as to whether Milwaukee was a big enough city to keep a baseball team.
Uecker could have called Brewers games for five years, then applied to the Yankees, or gone and been an actor. But he didn’t. He loved Milwaukee, he loved the Brewers, and he built a community here — one that will survive without him.
The Cubs’ offense and Shota Imanaga just rolled over the Pirates on Friday, 12-2. Alex Bregman hit his 25th HR and his 30th double in his 3-for-4 day at the plate. Shota Imanaga was effective, allowing two runs (one on a CSPSHR*) on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts over six innings.
Bregman’s double was one of five in the game. Carson Kelly (2-for-3, two RBI), Nico Hoerner (2-for-5, RBI), Michael Busch (2-for-4, 3 RBI) and Pedro Ramirez (1-for-4, two runs scored) all had two baggers. Seiya Suzuki added a triple in his 3-for-5 total for the game. He also scored three runs.
There was another low-leverage, scoreless three innings by three relievers. It’s hard to rate these type of outings. Maybe the small bullpen wins will lead to a more confident group of relievers. We can hope, at least.
Complimentary Starting Pitcher Solo Home Run*
*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.
Brian Sandalow (Chicago Sun-Times): Why the Cubs are hoping Edward Cabrera emulates Roki Sasaki in move to bullpen. “Cabrera was activated from the injured list Saturday and will pitch out of relief like Sasaki did last year, when his electric arm helped the Dodgers win the World Series despite disappointing as a starter.”
Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): Cabrera returns from IL ready to step up in new role out of Cubs’ ‘pen. “The Cubs do not know exactly how things are going to go for Edward Cabrera as he shifts into a relief role in a crucial part of the season and with postseason baseball on the horizon.”
A four times UK Blues Awards winner, UK Blues Hall Of Famer and Take Me To The River All Star. Singer, guitarist and songwriter making music with real gravitas, marking him as the new voice of British soul-blues. Scored successive no.1 albums on Radio charts with the IBBA and RMR. Influenced by the playing of Albert King and the vocals of OV Wright. New music with Hi Rhythm out summer 2026.
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.
The Detroit Tigers secured their second-straight series win on Saturday afternoon with an 11-7 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Comerica Park. Down 7-4 in the bottom of the eighth, the good guys ran off seven straight runs to prevail over their MLB basement-dwelling foes.
On Sunday, the Motor City Kitties look for their first four-game win streak as well as their first sweep since the start of August, when they swept the Athletics in Sacramento followed by a win against the Mariners in Seattle. That glorious stretch seems like forever ago as the 2026 schedule quickly wanes.
Getting the start in the series finale for the Ole English D is right-hander Jackson Jobe, who recovered from an ugly outing against the Guardians in Cleveland last time out. The 24-year-old gave his team five frames of two-run ball on four hits (one home run) and two walks while striking out seven, getting a no-decision in an eventual 3-2 loss in extras.
For the Rockies, fellow righty Gabriel Hughes will make his 11th start of the season in search of his first win. The 25-year-old has been sharp over his last two starts, putting up a 1.86 ERA and 1.96 FIP over 9 2/3 innings of work, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks while striking out 10 and hitting a batter, earning his seventh loss in the process.
Take a look at how the two match up as the Tigers go for the kill on Sunday afternoon.
Detroit Tigers (69-79) vs. Colorado Rockies (55-93)
Time (ET): 12:10 p.m. Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan SB Nation Site:Purple Row Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Game 149: RHP Jackson Jobe (1-2, 4.45 ERA) vs. RHP Gabriel Hughes (0-7, 5.81 ERA)
Curtis Pride stands on the field during a game between the Angels and the Seattle Mariners in August 2006. (Stephen Dunn / Getty Images)
The 11th in an occasional seriesof profiles on Southern California athletes who have flourished in their post-playing careers.
Curtis Pride was born deaf, and when he started playing baseball he was doing it mainly for himself. But the closer he got to becoming the first deaf major leaguer in nearly half a century, the more he realized he was actually playing for a far bigger audience.
“Growing up, I never really had a role model,” he said. “I wanted to be that person because I wanted to tell people that no matter what kind of disability you have, we should not let those disabilities stop us from pursuing our golden dream.”
Yet seven years into what seemed like endless minor league purgatory, Pride’s dream had become a nightmare. He was stuck in double A, where he batted .227 and struck out 110 times in fewer than 400 at-bats. His longtime girlfriend had just broken up with him, his teammates were mocking him behind his back and, at 23, he had crossed the line from prospect to liability.
With a finance degree from William & Mary, he could surely do better things with his life.
So he put away his bat and glove and took a temporary job with a special education program at John F. Kennedy High, his old school, in Maryland, where he quickly learned quitting wasn’t an option. When the students, all of whom had disabilities, found out what he did during the summer, they threw his own words back in his face and insisted he go back. How could he urge them to chase their ambitions if he was willing to give up on his own?
“It kind of hit me. What kind of message would I be sending to them if I walked away from baseball?” he said. “So I thought maybe I should give it another try and see what happens.”
Less than a year later, Pride was standing at second base in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, doffing his batting helmet to a long-standing ovation he couldn’t hear after doubling in his second big-league at-bat.
“I shed a tear,” said Jim Tracy, Pride’s manager at double-A Harrisburg, where he began his comeback. “That was, for me, a sense of accomplishment for a young man that was driven his whole life to eventually be standing there.
“It was a moving moment.”
“He wanted to be an inspiration,” added Mike Scioscia, Pride’s final big-league manager with the Angels. “He is an inspiration.”
Pride would go on to play 15 more seasons and wouldn’t take the uniform off again until he was forced to, teaching thousands of children (and almost as many adults) that success is possible if you refuse to quit.
“I’ve had so many parents come up to me [and say] ‘wow, you have really given them hope,’” Pride said two days into September, which is Deaf Awareness Month. “To provide that inspiration, that’s more important to me than being a Hall of Famer.”
Curtis Pride poses for a portrait during Angels spring training in February 2005. (Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)
Pride first learned he could be that inspiration when, as a 17-year-old struggling through his first season of rookie ball in Kingsport, Tenn., he opened a letter from a blind elementary-school student named Amanda. She had always wanted to play baseball, but until she heard about Pride she felt there was no place in the game for a girl with a disability.
The same summer Pride made his professional debut, Amanda set aside her hesitations and joined a tee-ball league.
After his first major league game with the Expos, the trickle of fan mail became a deluge, with hundreds of letters arriving annually from children dealing with everything from hearing and vision loss to debilitating illnesses and injury. Pride answered every one.
“For parents of children with hearing differences, one of the hardest worries to carry is not knowing how to support your own child, or whether they’ll be able to communicate with the people who love them most,” said Cathleen Mathes, president and CEO of the John Tracy Center, a private, nonprofit education center in Los Angeles for infants and preschool children with hearing loss. “Curtis’ story proves that hearing loss puts no barriers on what can be achieved.”
“He’s a shining light,” added Scioscia, who managed Pride for three seasons in Anaheim. “He’s got so much to offer — not only the baseball world, but just [to] people who strive for their goals.”
One of Pride’s goals now is to stay busy.
“I play pickleball every morning. And golf,” said Pride who, 18 years after his last game, isn’t far off his playing weight of 205 pounds.
Pride and his wife Lisa, a former TV journalist, have two children, a daughter Noelle, 22, who is a senior at Ohio State, and son Colten, 19, a sophomore at Central Florida. Noelle has bilateral cochlear implants while Colten has hearing loss in his left ear; both children appeared alongside Judd Hirsch and Amy Smart in the 2024 coming-of-age movie “Rally Caps,” and are active in their father’s advocacy for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth.
For Pride, who has lived most of his life on someone else’s schedule, the free time of retirement in South Florida can be both a luxury and a burden. After his final season as a player with the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in 2008, Pride was hired as the head coach at Gallaudet University, a school for deaf students, taking the team from an 8-23-1 record in his first season to 27 wins in 2014. He was also appointed to the President’s Council of Fitness, Sports and Nutrition under Barack Obama, represented the U.S. at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in London and worked as an ambassador for inclusion with Major League Baseball.
But Gallaudet dropped baseball two years ago and MLB scaled back much of its inclusion programming two months into the second Trump administration, so now Pride, 57, coaches part-time with the Louisville Slugger Warriors, an amputee and limb-difference baseball team made up primarily of former and current military members. Pride shares his story in motivational speeches and through his book, “I Felt the Cheers: The Remarkable Silent Life of Curtis Pride” (co-written with Doug Ward, the former publications manager for the Angels).
“I never really thought [I was] different from everyone else,” Pride said on a videoconference call, where he fielded questions by reading lips and real-time captions that scroll across his computer screen. “I never knew what hearing is like so there was never an adjustment for me to make.”
In clinical terms, Pride is profoundly deaf. While others with hearing disorders can perceive certain low-frequency vibrations as sound, for Pride almost everything is completely inaudible without powerful hearing aids. And even then loud environmental vibrations such as a low-flying airplane or a heavy truck passing are no more than faintly perceived.
Pride was 6 months old when doctors told his father John, who served eight presidents in a long government career during which he helped investigate the civil rights noncompliance of Southern states, and mother Sallie, a nurse, their son was deaf. After meeting with doctors, audiologists, speech therapists and the families of other deaf children, Pride’s parents made a series of decisions that would change the course of his life.
Pride could learn to communicate orally, through cued speech or in American Sign Language, they were told. Sign language, or the use of hand signals that correspond to separate words or phrases, is the most common choice in the deaf community while oral communication, which involves reading lips and learning to pronounce words you’ve never heard, is by far the most difficult. Yet that was also the option that presented the best chance for Pride to achieve his maximum potential.
So the Prides chose that one, moving to Silver Spring, Md., and enrolling their son in top educational programs for deaf children. At age 6 they also signed him up to play tee ball with the other neighborhood kids, teaching him his deafness may be an obstacle to a normal life but it was not a wall that separated him from one.
“My mom, she explained to me that it was something that I was born with and that I had to make the most of my situation,” recalled Pride, who speaks clearly but with atypical speech patterns since he cannot hear his own voice and adjust his pronunciations.
“[It] should not keep me from fulfilling my dreams and goals.”
And those dreams and goals weren’t confined to the baseball diamond. As a senior at Kennedy High, where he was the only hard-of hearing student, Pride was arguably one of the greatest prep athletes in the country, batting .509 and making the all-county and all-state teams in basketball while becoming the first player at his school to score more than 1,000 career points.
Soccer, however, was his best sport. Pride was a Parade high school All-American, the national player of the year and was ranked by Kick!, a UK soccer magazine for kids, as one of the top 15 youth players in the world after scoring two of the three U.S. goals in the FIFA U16 world championships in China in 1985.
Pride was also an honor student academically, earning a 3.6 GPA despite not being able to hear any of his teachers. So after the New York Mets selected him in the 10th round of the 1986 amateur draft — ahead of future teammate Tim Salmon and future All-Stars Steve Finley, Chuck Knoblauch and John Olerud — his father insisted the Mets allow Pride to attend William & Mary on a basketball scholarship while playing minor league baseball in the summer, an arrangement that may have slowed his progress as an outfielder but one that allowed him to earn a bachelor’s degree in finance in four years.
Pride often refers to his deafness as a “hearing difference” rather than an impairment or handicap. He wasn’t disabled, he said, he was differently-abled — and in some ways, he thought his deafness actually helped him on the field.
“I relied on my other senses,” he said. “My other senses have been enhanced because of my lack of hearing.”
He had no problem communicating with coaches and teammates as long as they stood in front of him, where he could read their lips. And while his teammates could be distracted by raucous crowds and heckling fans, Pride heard nothing but silence. Some outfielders could be fooled playing balls off the crack of the bat, but Pride got good jumps by watching the swing. He also learned to avoid pickoffs by watching for the shadows of opponents sneaking up behind him.
“He had an innate sense of positioning and really relied on that sense,” said Scioscia, who never saw Pride make an error in parts of three seasons with the Angels. “He worked hard at his craft.”
The first deaf player to excel in the major leagues was Billy “Dummy” Hoy, an outfielder who debuted for the Washington Nationals in 1888. He would go on to play 14 years, batting .288, averaging more than 100 runs scored a season and stealing 596 bases before retiring as the all-time leader in career chances and putouts by an outfielder.
Both records have long-since been eclipsed, but Hoy’s influence lives on in the visual signals umpires use to indicate strikes at the plate and out and safe calls.
At the start of Hoy’s career, those calls were typically made verbally, meaning Hoy would have to turn around and look at the umpire to find out if a pitch was a ball or strike. Opposing pitchers would take advantage of that by quick-pitching Hoy, who eventually asked umpires to indicate strikes with a raise of their right hands.
By 1906, four years after Hoy’s final game, that practice was widespread and by 1908 umpires were required to use visible hand signals alongside verbal calls so players, fielders and fans could understand rulings.
At least six deaf men have played in the majors since Hoy, but Pride is just the second to do so in the last 112 years. And only Hoy appeared in more big-league games than Pride.
“Most of the deaf kids who follow sports know who he is,” Joe Strasser, Pride’s longtime agent, said of his client. “To a deaf kid he is like Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan. And when he talks to them, the kids realize that hey, this guy knows what I’m going through because he went through it himself.”
Pride, like Hoy, also left his own unique mark on the game by inspiring the now-ubiquitous practice of players and coaches covering their mouths during meetings at the mound.
Curtis Pride, right, celebrates with Roger Clemens after driving in the winning run during a game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in July 2003. (Bill Kostroun / Associated Press)
Although there is some disagreement over exactly how that ritual started, Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux insists it began after Pride was called up by the Expos in September 1993. Nine days later Maddux started for the Braves in Montreal and took the mound remembering something his brother Mike, also a major league pitcher, had told him about Pride.
“He always reads lips, then tells the coach or the manager exactly what they said,” Maddux later recounted to the Athletic. “When I started [covering my mouth], I started doing it because of Curtis Pride.”
That wasn’t Pride’s only contribution to the teams he played for. A slashing and slender left-handed hitter with blinding speed, Pride hit .300 or better six times, stole 20 or more bases seven times and reached double digits in homers in six seasons, mostly in the minors.
“His physical abilities were flooring,” said Tracy, who managed Pride during his best minor-league season, when he hit .356 with 15 homers and 21 steals in 50 games for Harrisburg. “I think he was driven to prove that hey, not only am I a player, I’m a major league player.”
That last part didn’t go so well. Because while Pride did everything every big-league team asked of him — homering in his first games for both the Red Sox and Yankees — it was never enough to make him an everyday player. Yet Pride wouldn’t quit, Strasser said, urging his agent to call around each winter hoping to get one club interested.
“I would say ‘Curtis, you understand that if you retire now, you would make more money working for an investment banking firm,’” Strasser said. “He wanted to keep playing as long as he could because he saw what kind of effect he would have on kids. That’s why he kept doing it.”
Pride hit .444 with three extra-base hits and five RBIs in nine at-bats as a September call-up for the Expos in 1993. But he got just 63 more big-league at-bats for Montreal before being let go two years later.
After signing with Detroit, he played a career-high 95 games for the Tigers in 1996, hitting .300 with 10 homers and 11 stolen bases — only one teammate with at least 300 plate appearances did better — then batted .252 in 70 games for Atlanta two years later, only to be released both times.
“If a team had given me a chance to be an everyday player, I have no doubt in my mind that I’d have done well,” said Pride, who spent parts of 11 seasons in the majors, hitting .250 in 421 games for six teams. “It’s one of those unfortunate situations where I [was] a pinch-hitter or the fourth or fifth outfielder off the bench.”
As for why he couldn’t stick, Pride has a theory, one that goes back to the second of two short trials with the Red Sox. In the 13th inning of a midseason game in Toronto, the Blue Jays’ Chris Woodward drove a ball to the alley in left-center that center fielder Carl Everett misplayed after he saw Pride closing in from his right.
The mistake cost Boston the game and even though Everett took ownership of the error, many incorrectly blamed Pride’s inability to hear his teammate calling for the ball. Boston released Pride less than two weeks later.
“That sort of reinforced his fear that he had to be twice as good to get half the chance,” said Ward, the co-author of Pride’s biography. “He just didn’t have the margin for error that maybe some of the other players had.”
Pride would play just 108 more games in the majors, making an encore with the Expos and spending a week with the Yankees before finishing with three short stays with the Angels; at 37, he walked and scored a run in his final plate appearance on the last day of the 2006 season.
He would play one more season in the minors and another in the independent Atlantic League before retiring after 23 pro seasons and 1,853 professional games, his debt to the special education students at John F. Kennedy High more than paid off and his legacy as an inspiration secure.
Sep 8, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) during batting practice before the game against the Colorado Rockies at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Yankees fans and fans across the country.
Aaron Judge officially made his return to the Yankees’ lineup earlier this week. While at time of writing, he has yet to have a truly breakout performance, the team already seems bolstered. The offense has put up a couple good games, and just looking at the lineup on paper, it looks way better.
With the Captain back in the fold, we wanted to know what everyone made of the Yankees’ now, and here’s what you had to say.
Well, the results say we may be homers a bit. It wasn’t a majority, but a plurality of voters think that the Yankees will win the World Series with Judge back in the fold. The Yankees aren’t terribly far off the best record in the American League. It’s getting iffy whether or not they can overtake the Rays in the standings, but it’s not impossible to believe that the addition of Judge could put the team over the top as the best in the AL. At that point, if the team gets to the World Series, then you’re just talking about a seven game series in a high variance sport.
If you add in the voters that think the Yankees will win the AL pennant, then a majority of people think the Yankees will at least go to the World Series. Sixty-four percent of responders have the team winning or going to the Fall Classic.
There are doubters that even Judge can help take the team deep. While only 11 percent of voters think the Yankees will fail to get past even the Wild Card round, many others think they’ll only win one or two rounds. You also really can’t blame anyone for thinking that either. Judge was healthy and mostly hitting well last year, and the team still lost in the ALDS to the Blue Jays.
No matter what happens, it’s very good for the Yankees to have Aaron Judge back in their lineup. You always want your best players ready to go when the postseason comes around. In Judge, he’s not only one of the best players on the Yankees but the among the best in baseball.
This week’s SB Nation Reacts poll results are brought to you by FanDuel.
TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 12: Kyle Bradish #38 of the Baltimore Orioles looks on prior to the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Saturday, September 12, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Colton Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Hello, friends.
The Orioles aren’t quite yet at “need to win every remaining game to make the postseason” territory, but yesterday’s loss puts them ever closer to that point. A golden opportunity was there for them, with a chaotic Blue Jays pitching staff pulling out a bullpen game. They didn’t do much with the opportunity since Kyle Bradish was bad and the offense did less than they should have against that parade of relievers, leading to a 7-3 loss. Check out Paul Folkemer’s recap of the game for more of the not-so-lovely totals.
One very small silver lining from yesterday’s results is that the Guardians also lost, so the Orioles remain three games back of Cleveland with 13 games to play. They are on the wrong end of the tiebreaker against that team, so it’s an effective four-game deficit. The Blue Jays are also ahead of the O’s, though the O’s do have four more games against Toronto, including today, to change that two game deficit. If the Orioles are lucky, they can get by with 11-2. Maybe it’ll take 12-1.
Obviously, it’s not going to happen. It’s a mere theoretical possibility. The only question is how long it will go before they get mathematically eliminated. On their current trajectory, September 22 is my guess. They are fully capable of playing badly enough to see it happen sooner. They are just as capable of playing well enough to kick it to the final series of the year. The season must be regarded as a disappointment either way.
A much tougher challenge awaits the Orioles today. They’ll be going up against Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays. He has a 2.40 ERA this season and has struck out 227 batters. Sounds pretty good. The Orioles should try having pitchers that good. They counter with Trevor Rogers, who had an even better ERA last year but is sitting at a 4.15 ERA this season. Since June 1, though, Rogers has a 2.88 ERA and 2.78 FIP, which is also pretty good. They’re going to need Good Trevor and then some in today’s 1:37 series finale.
Bradish irked by “terrible” results as innings climb (The Baltimore Sun) Between the majors and minors last year, Bradish threw 54 innings. After yesterday’s game, Bradish has thrown 155 innings. One can’t help but wonder if there’s a connection to this and his struggles over the last seven games.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1971, Frank Robinson joined the 500 home run club by hitting a home run in each game of a doubleheader against the Tigers. The Orioles won game 1, 9-1, but lost the second game in which Frank hit his 500th by a 10-5 score. Robinson was just the 11th player in the club at that point in time. There are now 28, none of whom are active players. The closest active player is Giancarlo Stanton at 468 homers.
There are a pair of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1976-86/92 catcher (and longtime coach and broadcaster) Rick Dempsey, and 1967-69 pitcher Mike Adamson.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: composer Clara Schumann (1819), Hershey founder Milton Hershey (1857), American World War I commander John Pershing (1860), author Roald Dahl (1916), animator Don Bluth (1937), movie maker Tyler Perry (1969), singer-songwriter Fiona Apple (1977), and One Direction singer Niall Horan (1993).
On this day in history…
In 1814, at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there, and Francis Scott Key wrote about it the next morning.
In 1985, the first Super Mario Bros. game was released in Japan. The franchise has nearly two dozen entries today, in addition to many more spinoffs, with a 2023 estimate that the games have sold over 430 million copies combined.
**
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 13. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!
Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom sat back on the visitor’s bench at Chase Field this weekend pondering whether any pitcher will ever strike out 3,000 batters again, let alone win 300 games, but ever, so quietly, we’re about to witness a historic pitching feat.
One that hasn’t been accomplished since 2009, and one that we may never see again.
Detroit Tigers reliever Kenley Jansen is on the verge of reaching his 500th career save, a feat accomplished only by Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman, who each eclipsed 600.
“Now that I’m getting close to it," Jansen tells USA TODAY Sports, “it’s a wow moment. How did I achieve all of these? It’s unbelievable. It shows you how fast it goes."
Jansen, one of only three active pitchers with more than 300 saves, entered Saturday with 495, five shy of an automatic ticket into Cooperstown.
“I can’t wait to see it," Houston Astros executive De Jon Watson says. “He’s worked so hard to get to this point, maintaining success, and he keeps climbing the ladder. His journey is amazing."
Then again, without Watson, the baseball world may never have heard of Jansen.
Jansen was a 6-foot-5, minor-league catcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization trying to save his career. He had fine defensive skills, but he badly struggled at the plate. He had a .229/.310/.337 slash line with 15 homers in 953 plate appearances in 304 minor-league games.
Watson, the Dodgers’ vice president of player development at the time, visited him at Triple-A Albuquerque and laid down the truth. He told Jansen, who was hitting .185 with no extra-base hits, that if he wanted to be a big-leaguer, he needed to give up catching and covert to being a hard-throwing reliever.
“He did not want to hear it," Watson said. “He was adamantly opposed. I told him to talk to your family, talk to your parents. He talked to them, took a a day, came back, and said, “Let’s go do it.’’’
Says Jansen: “I still remember that day. I didn’t want to pitch, and I told De Jon Watson that I still wanted to catch. I talked with my mom and my dad and then my dad told me that he always wanted to see me as a pitcher. That made it smoother for me."
Jansen was sent to their Class A Inland Empire team in San Bernardino, Calif., to be with revered pitching coach Charlie Hough. He began throwing 95-97 mph in his side sessions, and in his first outing, threw 96-99 mph, and struck out the side.
“Oh my goodness,’’ Hough told Watson, “we may have something here."
Says Jansen: “I remember feeling at that moment this could be something special."
Jansen was called up to the big leagues a year later, posted a 0.67 ERA in 25 games for the Dodgers, became the closer in 2012, and now after 3,844 batters faced, 978 games and 495 saves, he’s on the verge of history.
Who would have imagined that the same man who caught Clayton Kershaw’s first professional game in the minor leagues in 2006, and who recorded his first save in the same game that Kershaw pitched eight shutout innings in 2010, now could be joining him one day in Cooperstown?
“I know when I get my 500th save," Jansen said, “I’m going to get a call from that man, and De Jon is going to say to me, 'So, how about that? You didn’t want to pitch. Now, look at you.’ I know I’m going to hear all about it when I get to 500."
Oh yeah, you better believe it.
“I can’t wait," Jansen said, “because I appreciate him so much for what he did for me. He was always hard on me, and I didn’t understand it at the time, but he saw something special in me. He believed in me before I believed in myself.
“Believe me, I’m not here without him."
– Mike Rizzo, the man who built the Washington Nationals into a power and led them to the 2019 World Series championship, recently had a formal interview with the Athletics for their vacant GM position.
The Athletics, who have also interviewed assistant GM Billy Owens, and have identified James Click, vice president of baseball strategy with the Toronto Blue Jays as a strong candidate, would like to make their hire before the season’s conclusion.
Rizzo, who lives in West Palm Beach, Fla., also has strong interest in the Houston Astros’ GM vacancy, but the Astros aren’t expected to begin their interview process until after their season concludes.
– The Houston Astros are considering shifting Carlos Correa from third base to second base if he’s able to return from his torn left ankle tendon surgery. It would keep Isaac Paredes at third base, move Jose Altuve to the DH role and MVP candidate Yordan Alvarez from DH to left field.
– It will be a disastrous signing for the New York Mets if infielder Bo Bichette opts out of his contract after the season. It would mean that the Mets wasted a cool $42 million, getting precious little return with Bichette having the worst year of his career in the Mets’ ugly season.
The Mets are hoping that Bichette at least stick around another season before opting out of the final year of his three-year, $126 million deal.
– The Athletics, who made wholesale firings on their minor-league development staff, aren’t done yet.
While there have been rumblings in the industry about manager Mark Kotsay’s future, but he has a contract through 2028 and is considered safe.
– The greatest move the Arizona Diamondbacks made since signing Randy Johnson to a four-year, $52.4 million contract and winning four Cy Young awards and a World Series championship was locking up outfielder Corbin Carroll to an eight-year, $111 million contract.
Carroll, an ultimate gamer who constantly plays with nagging injuries, just produced his fourth consecutive season with at least 20 homers, 20 doubles and 10 triples.
The last man to achieve the feat is Hall of Famer Dick Allen, and only legendary Lou Gehrig has done it in five consecutive seasons.
– RIP esteemed baseball executive Joe McDonald, who passed away at the age of 97. McDonald, who won six World Series as an executive, spent 18 years with the New York Mets, including time as their farm director, scouting director and GM. He was later the GM of the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers. He retired as the Boston Red Sox scout in 2019.
His son, Jody McDonald, is the famed longtime national sports talk show host.
– While former Astros GM Dana Brown is actively seeking to return as an executive as quickly as possible, his Kyle Tucker trade with the Chicago Cubs may go down as an all-time win.
The Astros acquired young budding right field star Cam Smith, slugging third baseman Isaac Paredes and starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski.
The Astros certainly aren’t in first place in the AL West without the trio, and Tucker lasted just one year with the Cubs before signing with the Dodgers.
– Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout went 27 games without a homer, just one shy of the longest drought of his career.
– While the widespread belief is that this will be the Dodgers’ most vulnerable year in the postseason since 2023 with Shohei Ohtani’s injury and slumps with their biggest stars, it’s easy to forget that they still are the heavy favorites to win their third World Series title.
Simply, no one has a better and more feared starting trio of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell.
Snell, who has a fresh arm having pitched just 37.2 innings all season, has been sensational since his return from surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow.
Snell is yielding a 1.04 ERA with a .126 opponent’s batting average in the six starts since his return, with 46 strikeouts in 34.2 innings. He hasn’t allowed more than one run in any of the starts, and three or fewer hits in four of them.
– Pretty cool that World Series MVP David Eckstein and his wife, Ashley Eckstein, released books simultaneously this past week.
Eckstein’s book, “Just Enough," is about his perseverance and faith that helped him become a 10-year major-league infielder after being drafted in the 19th round and later dumped by the Boston Red Sox. Ashley’s book, “Love 22,’’ is a love story about how she and Eckstein met in Anaheim, almost falling in love immediately, and getting married two years later in 2005.
– Remember when the San Francisco Giants let everyone know that Rafael Devers was available at the trade deadline, and had no takers?
Well, considering that Devers now has 36 homers and 96 RBIs – including 18 homers at Oracle Park, the most by any Giants’ player since Barry Bonds in 2004 – he’s back to being the guy the Giants want to build around.
He’s not going anywhere.
– What happened to that soft schedule of the final 21 games that was supposed to vault the Seattle Mariners into playoff contention?
They entered Saturday having lost four of their last five games to the Athletics and are now 10 games under .500.
Put a fork in them. It’s over.
– The Yankees certainly have a dangerous starting rotation behind Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler, but there are red flags emerging.
Max Fried has now gone 11 consecutive starts without a victory, while Gerrit Cole is yielding a 5.96 ERA in his last four starts, giving up 29 hits, including eight homers, in 22.2 innings.
– Congratulations to Tampa Bay Rays 23-year-old All Star Junior Caminero, who became the second-youngest player in MLB history to hit 40 homers in multiple seasons, joining 21-year-old Eddie Mathews.
– Arizona Diamondbacks prized catcher Gabriel Moreno, the gift that keeps on giving in a trade from Toronto, could be in line to become the game’s richest catcher. Moreno, 26, who’s hitting .300 with 12 homers and an .841 OPS, with the second-highest WAR in the National League since late May, is eligible for salary arbitration a second time this winter. He could eclipse the 10-year, $140 million contract Will Smith signed with the Dodgers two years ago if they can work out an extension this winter.
– Remember when Don Baylor, the Rockies’ original manager, was incessant they would not lose 100 games under his watch with baseball’s new expansion team?
They never did. Now, they’re on the verge of losing 100 games for the fourth consecutive season.
– Future Hall of Fame second baseman Jose Altuve produced his 2,500th hit and now along with Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Derek Jeter, are the only players to produce at least 2,500 hits, 250 home runs and 300 stolen bases with a career batting average of .300.
– While the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks are on a collision course to determine the National League’s final wild-card berth in San Diego the final weekend of the season, pardon Padres starter Michael King for not appreciating the drama.
“I would much prefer to have a little rocking-chair series and be prepared for whoever we’re playing in the wild card," King told reporters.
Well, considering they have traded spots in the standings six times in the past two weeks, there’s little chance of someone pulling away before that critical series.
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association met for about an hour Thursday in New York, as they do just nearly every week, this time talking about the domestic violence policy and the debt-service rules.
The meeting ended, they promised to convene again next week, and will continue to discuss non-core economic issues for the next few months.
When it comes to talking about that monstrous elephant in the room, the one that’s expected to result in a Dec. 1 lockout that could last anywhere from a few months to Memorial Day weekend to the entire season, that’s going to have to wait.
Those serious talks may not transpire until February, just like the 99-day lockout in 2021, when nothing became urgent until spring training was about to commence.
But once they do, and MLB reiterates their demand for a salary cap, and the union again tells them to take a hike, circle last Friday on the CBA negotiations calendar.
And the proof, the union declares, that baseball does not have a competitive balance problem.
The Brewers, who reside in the smallest market in baseball and have the 11th-lowest payroll, are back in the postseason for the eighth time in the last nine years, and are about to clinch their fourth consecutive NL Central title over the Chicago Cubs.
The Rays, another small-market team with the seventh-smallest payroll, are in the playoffs for the sixth time in the last nine years and about to clinch the AL East over the powerful and rich New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
So, what’s the issue, the union asks?
Well, not to take anything away from the Brewers or the Rays, MLB says, but where are their World Series trophies?
The Brewers have been around 58 seasons, and they still are looking for their first World Series championship, last winning the pennant in 1982.
The Rays have been in existence for 29 years, have been to the World Series twice – including the 2020 COVID year – but don’t have a title either.
That’s a problem, MLB insists, with plenty of research and fancy charts to back their claims that they have the worst competitive balance in North American sports.
While the Royals are the lone small-market team to win a World Series title since 2012, seven small-market teams have won titles during the same time span in the NBA and NFL, and five in the NFL. Yes, that includes three Super Bowl championships in five years by the Chiefs, who are located just across the parking lot from the Royals.
MLB also reminds you that last year’s NBA Finals featured the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder, two markets so small that they only have Triple-A baseball teams, and aren’t even under consideration for expansion in the near future.
They’ll emphasize that while small-market teams in other sports can retain their stars, teams like the Brewers and Rays constantly are forced to trade them away.
Will there be a salary cap?
While Oklahoma City spent $822 million in the offseason to bring back their core stars, the Brewers, who had the best regular-season record in baseball last season, traded away ace Freddy Peralta believing they couldn’t afford to keep him once he hit free agency. It has become an annual tradition for for the Brewers who also dumped Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes and All-Star closers Josh Hader and Devin Williams also a year before free agency. And once players hit free agency, most go to the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and Phillies, who have spent more money in free agency since 2021 than 22 other small- and middle-sized market teams.
Money doesn’t mean everything, of course, as the Mets have proven, but Atlanta is the only team in the last eight years to win a World Series without having a top-10 payroll. Just 22.5% of the teams reaching the NLCS and ALCS the past 10 years have had a payroll in the lower half.
This is why MLB is insisting on a salary cap, including a salary floor, with the Dodgers’ current $378.3 million payroll about $300 million more than the Cleveland Guardians, and at least $200 million more than 25 teams in baseball. Their $160 million luxury tax penalty last year exceeded the total player payroll of 16 teams.
It’s simply a matter of leveling the playing field, MLB officials say.
“We need to make sure that fans and markets at the beginning of the season have a realistic belief that their team has a chance to win," commissioner Rob Manfred said at the All-Star Game. “I think that we need a system where fans, particularly in smaller markets, can have some hope that the players that are signed and developed by their organizations can actually stay there through free agency.
"And, honestly, I think we need a system where there is a more robust free agent market so if you don't want to go to New York or Los Angeles, you have a realistic opportunity to get a viable free agent contract."
Yet, if market size and revenue mean so much, the union argues, then why do four of MLB’s worst teams reside in the three biggest markets – the New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals?
And why do the Mets have a 40-year World Series drought? Why do the Cubs and White Sox, residing in the third-largest market in the country, have only one World Series title apiece since 1908? And how do you explain three teams who have bottom-seven payrolls in position to be in the postseason with the White Sox and Cleveland Guardians joining the Rays?
So sorry, if the union doesn’t buy the argument.
Besides, if competitive balance is truly MLB’s biggest concern, the union points out that there have been 16 different World Series champions in the last 25 years, with 23 teams reaching the World Series.
In fact, eight teams since 2002 have ended World Series droughts of at least 50 years.
And, please, don’t get the union started with teams complaining about money woes, even with teams insisting their paper losses are real. The recent historic sales of the Los Angeles Angels ($4 million) and San Diego Padres ($3.9 million) have increased the average franchise value from $2.95 billion to more than $4 million alone in the last six months, according to CNBC.
This is why the union steadfastly refuses to budge in any attempt by MLB to impose a salary cap. It doesn’t matter that MLB is willing to reduce free agency from six years to five years for players at least 30, eliminate the qualifying offer free-agent system, increasing the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1 million, increase the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $50 million in 2026 to $65 million in 2027 and $75 million within five years, along with other bells and whistles.
It means absolutely, the union argues, since all of the proposals include a salary cap, and will refer to their statement on June 24.
“These misleading offers are designed to look like 'improvements' but are of little or no value, given that they are expressly conditioned on agreement to the league’s cap system which eliminates the free market, and ensures gains for one player only come at the expense of another."
So, it goes, ‘round and ‘round.
Will there be an MLB lockout?
The two sides will slowly work out agreements on the intricacies of the CBA, but when Dec. 1 rolls around, the monstrous obstacle of the salary cap will still be hovering, with everyone from players to front-office executives, to scouts to umpires wondering how long the stalemate will last.
Teams already are slashing their scouting and player developments, and many of those that remain have expiring contracts.
No one knows how long the eventual lockout will last, but there is fear, knowing there could be several paychecks missed with mortgages to be paid and mouths to feed.
There are plenty of theories on the end date, with a growing sentiment that baseball may not be played until Memorial Day weekend, but no one knows.
Not Manfred. Not Meyer. Not the owners. And not the players.
All that’s known is that with just two weeks remaining until the postseason, there will be intense scrutiny on the postseason fates of Milwaukee and Tampa Bay.
A Brewers-Rays World Series would be a TV ratings nightmare, but, oh, what a dream matchup for the player union.
Who ever would have imagined these two franchises could wind up playing an integral role in not only labor talks, but MLB’s future.
