The quick-fire series in the Northern Territory did little to answer batting line-up questions and the top of the order remains an almighty jumble
Cricket Australia didn’t host a Bangladesh Test for 23 years for a simple reason: it would have cost money to stage and earned less money back. That wouldn’t have been a concern for whichever generation of players would have taken the field, but for the suits, the equation was lose-lose. Now that the mandate of the World Test Championship has forced administrators to end that long wait, the result for Australia’s current batting outfit was also been lose-lose, even if the series scoreline ended up lose-win.
Defeat in the Darwin Test will remain a punchline at Australia’s expense, especially if the upcoming cavalcade of cricket against South Africa, New Zealand, India and England goes poorly. The follow-up win in Mackay, no matter the ruthlessness of concluding it in five sessions, won’t provide corresponding solace, given the manner in which it was built.
SACRAMENTO, CA - AUGUST 24: Kaelen Culpepper #12 of the Minnesota Twins bats during the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on Monday, August 24, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Don Collier/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
In the past 10 days, the Twins have been swept by the Phillies, swept the Braves, and then were swept by the Padres. It’s all or nothing in the dog days of summer and hopefully the win today puts them back in the “all” category.
The Twins got off to a great start and, unlike some other games in recent weeks, kept on adding throughout the middle innings to put this one out of reach for the opponent. Byron Buxton walked and Ryan Jeffers singled to put two men on for RBI machine Josh Bell. Bell crushed the first pitch he saw to left-center for what he thought was a three-run dong, but instead bounced off the very top of the wall for a double. Buxton scored but the A’s got the ball back in quickly to keep Jeffers at third. Either way, the Twins took yet another early lead.
Bell also drove in Minnesota’s second run, though this one came in a very different matter. After hitting his first one about 379.9 feet, this one went all of six feet. But with Buxton on third base, that was all the Twins needed to score.
The homeless A’s rallied in the third to bring the game within one. Twins starter Zebby Matthews gave up back to back singles to rookie Henry Bolte and veteran Jeff McNeil to start the inning, but the damage was limited thanks to a Zack Gelof GIDP. Lawrence Butler still drove in Bolte with a two out single, but Matthews did a good job keeping things in check.
Things finally broke open for the Twins the next inning. Local Sacramento kid Ryan Kreidler led off with a solo homer, his first in nearly two months. Buxton and Jeffers reached again ahead of Bell who wasn’t able to drive in a run in three straight ABs, but Kody Clemens delivered a clutch two-out hit off a lefty to put the Twins up 4-1.
The Twins added on again in the sixth, with the first four batters of the inning reaching, highlighted by Luke Keaschall’s two run double with the bases loaded. Josh Bell got one more RBI in the inning, because of course he did, a sac fly to give the Twins a 7-1 lead.
They weren’t quite done their though. The Twins kept making contact and the the A’s kept on not getting outs. Buxton, Clemens, and Culpepper all singled in the eighth to plate two more for Minnesota. Culpepper’s hit was his fourth of the night and put Minnesota up 9-1.
On the pitching front, it was a delightfully uneventful night from Zebby Matthews. This A’s lineup isn’t that strong anymore with All-Stars Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Brent Rooker, and Shea Langeliers all on the IL along with regulars like Tyler Soderstrom and Denzel Clarke, but Zebby did exactly what he needed to do. He pounded the zone, kept the ball down to induce a couple of key double plays, and delivered seven strong innings to a bullpen that’s been a bit overtaxed this past week.
Things got interesting in the late innings. With a 9-1 lead, the Twins turned to Tommy Nance, who had trouble locating his signature slider and allowed a run across. Derek Shelton then turned to closer Yoendrys Gomez in the ninth inning since he hadn’t pitched in nearly a week and the rust showed. Gomez quickly got two outs, albeit on two line drives hit directly at Kody Clemens, and then came trouble. The next five A’s batters reached with one out to go in the game, bring the Athletics within three and putting the tying run in the on-deck circle. Rookie Andrew Morris came in to clean up the mess and finished the game on one pitch.
This game went about as well as the Twins could have hoped right up until the ninth, but we’ll chalk that up to Gomez being a bit rusty. A win is a win and one that emphasizes the need to add on in the middle innings isn’t necessarily a bad thing for this lineup.
STUDS
Zebby Matthews: 7 IP, 6 H, R, BB, 7 K
Kaelen Culpepper: 4-5, R, RBI
Byron Buxton: 3-5, 4 R, BB, 2B
Josh Bell: 3 RBI
Luke Keaschall: two doubles
Andrew Morris: one pitch, one save
DUDS
NO DUDS TWINS WIN!!
PLAYOFFS STANDINGS UPDATE
AL Central:
White Sox (68-63)
Guardians (66-66) — 2.5 GB
Twins (64-68) — 4.5 GB
AL Wild Card
Guardians (66-66)
Astros (65-66) — 0.5 GB
Twins (64-68) — 2 GB
Blue Jays (64-68) — 2 GB
Orioles (63-68) — 2.5 GB
Mariners (63-69) — 3 GB
The White Sox lost to the Rangers, who moved into the AL West lead and bumped Houston back into the Wild Card mix. The Guardians handled their business with the Angels while the Mariners continued their rollercoaster week, beating the Phillies 9-2. The Tigers are 1-9 in their past 10 and are getting dropped off the updates for the time being. The Twins have an incredibly easy schedule in September, with only the Guardians having an easier path to October among teams they are jockeying with.
It’s going to be a fun final stretch! We’ll see you again tomorrow for some more late night summer baseball.
UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1935: An Animal Tamer with his bear, Photograph, Around 1935 (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images) [Dompteur mit einem B?ren, Photographie, Um 1935] | Getty Images
Record 69-63. Pace: 85-77. Change on 2025: +5.
Well, in the broader scheme of things, that probably went about as well as could be expected. It was a Merrill Kelly start, after all. He hasn’t picked up a W in more than a month, his last win coming back on July 22. As mentioned in the GDT tonight, August has been a cruel month for Kelly. Tonight, to be fair, wasn’t so bad. He came within one out of a quality start, something we haven’t seen from Merrill in eight attempts now, since before the All-Star break. While the Arizona bullpen certainly didn’t help matters, this one was more on the offense. Here’s some insightful baseball analysis for you. You won’t win many games when you fail to score any runs. You’re welcome!
After a quick first inning on both sides, it look like Merrill Kelly’s night was set up to be a short one. A one-out walk was followed by a two-out triple, as Corbin Carroll couldn’t corral the ball in the right field corner. Kelly then lost control of his change-up entirely, walking the Cubs #8 and #9 hitters, to load the bases in front of presumptive 2026 NL MVP, Pete Crow-Armstrong. Cue thoughts of, “It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ’em”. Fortunately, it did, though only just, as PCA sent it 388 feet to die in the center field glove of Ryan Waldschmidt. An elevated pitch count for Merrill and a 1-0 deficit were by no means a disaster.
Indeed, Kelly settled down surprisingly well after that, rediscovering the feel for his off-speed pitches. He set down the Cubs in order in the third with a pair of strikeouts, then had another 1-2-3 frame in the 4th, including another K. He did allow another run in the 5th on a pair of doubles, as the Cubs took a 2-0 lead, but it was a solid enough outing. The most interesting thing though, was likely a spat between Kelly and the third-base coach for the Cubs, Quintin Berry. At one point, he stepped off the mound, stared pointedly at Berry, and then the occupants of the D-backs and Cubs dugouts started jawing at each other. The exact specifics of the discussion will have to await the Jomboy breakdown.
However, the broadcast team speculated that Berry’s positioning might have allowed him to look into Merrill’s glove and relay information to the batter, if there was a runner on second. It was notable that, after Kelly was lifted from the game, he remained in the dugout, unusual behavior for a starting pitcher. In particular, he remained right on the top step of the dugout, at the end nearest Berry, and Kelly appeared to be trying to trigger a Scanners-like explosion of Berry’s head, through the sheer force of his stare. Kelly’s final line? 5.2 innings, three runs allowed on five hits and three walks, with four strikeouts. It’s his fifth consecutive outing with at least three walks. Nobody has gone longer for Arizona since Robbie Ray went seven straight in 2018-19.
The Cubs did get the last laugh, however. After Merrill’s exit with two outs in the sixth, Taylor Clarke came in and allowed back-to-back home-runs, the first a two-run shot due to the runner he inherited. In five pitches, the deficit had gone from a still potentially surmountable two runs, to five. We did get to see Drey Jameson’s first outing since he came back off the injured list. But it didn’t go so well, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk over two innings. Juan Burgos pitched a scoreless ninth. He was called up today with Mitch Bratt being optioned down. Though I suspect Bratt may well end up being the 27th man for the double-header vs the Giants on Saturday.
About the sole fragment of good news is that Pete Crow-Armstrong went 0-for-5 today. It’s only the third game this year, where he has had 5+ at-bats and not reached base. However, following on from Sunday’s mauling of the Mariners, the Cubs have now scored twenty-six runs since their opponents last crossed home-plate. If I heard the booth right, that’s the most unanswered runs in a row since 1969. Though, let’s be honest, my attention may not have been a hundred percent focused on the game by that point. Those apple turnovers weren’t going to eat themselves, after all.
The Arizona offense barely showed up, which is why it has not merited a single word of description. There were only five hits, all singles, and one walk. The latter saw Tim Tawa eventually get picked off-base with spectacular ease, after wandering further and further off-base. The D-backs mustered only two at-bats with a runner in scoring position, and one of those was with two outs in the ninth. The other came courtesy of Corbin Carroll, who stole bases #19 and #20 on the season in the fourth. It’s the 31st 20-SB season in franchise history, and Carroll’s fourth such. That ties him with Tony Womack for the franchise record. I’ve a feeling Corbin will have sole possession by the end of 2027. Or whenever the next full season might be.
Click for details at Fangraphs The Bear Necessities: Corbin Carroll, +16% Un-bear-able: Geraldo Perdomo, -21% Bare-ly adequate: Taylor Clarke, -18%
Understandably, not exactly an enthusiastic Gameday Thread. Just one comment turned Sedona Red, an acknowledgement of an athletic play with the glove by Drey Jameson from AzDesertLovr:
The good news is, the Phillies’ nine-game winning streak came to an abrupt end, the Big Dumper homering three times as the Mariners beat them 9-2. The Pirates and Padres are still playing in San Diego, and at least Pittsburgh are putting up a fight, this one being tied at two in the ninth inning. Let’s go, Bucs! Here in Arizona, we’ll hope for better tomorrow, in the second game of the series against the Cubs. We’ll be sending up Brandon Pfaadt, and hoping that last time’s blow-up in Boston was just an aberration. First pitch is 6:40 pm, Arizona time.
BROOKLYN, NY - JUNE 29 : Fans outside Brooklyn Basketball Training Center during an introductory Press Conference for the 2026 Brooklyn Nets Draftees on June 29, 2026 in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by David L. Nemec/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
WARNING: This Off-Season Report contains barely warrantedenthusiasm and optimism. Proceed at your own risk.
There’s always anniversaries to speak of. And this month marks an important one for Nets fans trying to figure out where the organization stands and more importantly, where it’s headed. Twenty-five years ago, in August 2001, annual previews for the upcoming 2001-02 season hit the stands. You know those glossy magazines published by companies like Athlon Sports and Street & Smith’s. All but one of the four big publications that year projected the then-New Jersey Nets wouldn’t even make the playoffs … even with new addition Jason Kidd. The lone holdout had them barely making the post-season as the East’s eighth seed.
The annuals were not alone. Only one prominent pundit thought much of the combination of Kidd, KMart, KVH and Kerry. His name was Charles Barkley. Sir Charles thought Kidd would get them to the playoffs. No real surprise.
After all, New Jersey had won only 26 games the year before behind Stephon Marbury, a 24-year-old wunderkind from just across New York Harbor in Coney Island. Kidd was Kidd, a four-time All-Star, a three-time All-NBA selection, former Rookie of the Year but he had baggage … a lot of it. He had been arrested in January of that year for assaulting his wife in front his children. He was dispatched to East Rutherford for Marbury in July.
Of course, the Nets stunned the NBA that season behind the MVP runner-up, winning a franchise record 52 games, a mark that unfortunately still stands, getting to the NBA Finals the first of two straight times and sending beleaguered Nets fans into the basketball equivalent of Nirvana. They got swept by the Lakers but who cared? Been down so long looked like up to us.
No, we are not saying history will repeat itself in 2026-27. Nor are we comparing anyone on the current roster to JKidd. Few players to ever don an NBA uniform had his charisma, his toughness or his skillset. But to invoke Nets history again, we want to echo Joe Johnson’s famous preseason quote after the departure of Deron Williams a decade ago: “It ain’t that bad here.”
The point is simple: all the projections, predictions and even an insult from one of Hollywood’s biggest stars mean nothing before the games are played. Nada, zip, naught. The team that the Nets will put on the court this season will be decidedly different than last year. The roster has improved. The rookies have a year under their belts. They have two bigs capable of averaging 20/7/3 and two 20-year-old guards who were top 10 Draft picks. The Nets have never had either in their history.
They will present a more physical presence and more than enough assets to improve during the season if that’s what the brass wants to do. But most of all, they want to win this year after two years of desperately tanking to get a top lottery pick and before that a season when they didn’t seem to know what they wanted to do. It should be interesting, even fun.
Maybe it’s pollyannish to think this way. Probably is, when you consider what’s happened in the East this Summer with two All-NBA stars including LeBron James joining the 76ers, new faces in Miami, Toronto, Boston and an old one returning to Indiana. The Knicks are NBA champions and darlings of the city where they play. At the moment, the Nets are irrelevant, but that’s not a surprise. Nor should it be considered a permanent condition.
You have to trust the process and the hunger of a young roster with something to prove and a young head coach who’s intolerant of anything less than a full effort.
Another Nets great, Buck Williams said his week that maybe Joe Tsai’s comment about being embarrassed, first published in these very pages a week ago, will be the “fire” a young team needs to excel. We actually disagree. A team with nine players 22 or younger shouldn’t really need to be set alight. They should be hungry enough to prove themselves. Indeed, there’s every indication they want it. The kiddie corps leaders — Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. — are saying all the right things and did all the right things as well in Summer League. SL head coach and Nets assistant Dutch Gaitley wasn’t exaggerating when he called MBJ’s performance “electric” … and not just on the court. He and Demin have charisma.
As Chaney Johnson, who was also a rook last year, told our Connor Long this week, the youngsters know what’s what.
“I just feel like we’re hungry,” said Johnson who at 24 is the team’s sixth oldest player. “They know — we realize how terrible of a team we were last year, or how terrible we did. I know ‘terrible’ is a strong word, so I don’t want to — but we weren’t the best team last year. So I feel like we’ve got that chip on our shoulder now, and we’re ready to prove some people wrong.”
This week, we also began to see a bit of a counter-narrative emerging about the team, at least in a couple of assessments of NBA front offices if not in power rankings. Although Sam Quinn of CBS Sports ranked Sean Marks & co. 16th out of 30, we found his opening line encouraging:
Brooklyn’s front office probably faces the biggest disparity between perception and reality of any in basketball. The prevailing narrative surrounding the Nets is that they’ve been poorly run and their outlook is bleak. True, they haven’t yet found any truly foundational players, but they have a clean cap sheet and a six-pick first-round draft surplus (not including swaps, though in fairness they owe their 2027 swap to the Houston Rockets). The reality is that this is a pretty promising blank slate if you’re willing to take the long view.
Similarly, Stephen Noh of the Sporting News gave the Nets an A+ for their assets although he ranked the Nets 21st in his assessment of where he thinks teams will be in 2029. He did say they could rank higher if they decided to be aggressive, as they almost certainly will be The other lesson we can take from 25 years ago is that one player can make a difference with a young team.
In the meantime, better to focus not on what an anonymous writer for FanDuel, ESPN’s projection of 18 wins (!!) or even what Marty Supreme thinks but on possibilities with the league’s youngest roster. There will be enough time during the season to make adjustments to your thinking.
Youth movement still a thing
It was our Connor Long who pressed Chaney Johnson late last week on what’s going on behind the doors of HSS Training Center. He gave a generalized and positive review of the Flatbush 5 and the Nets two bigs, the returning Michael Porter Jr. and the new guy, Julius Randle, but saved his highest compliments for Nolan Traore, the 6’4” French guard who was the NBA’s sixth youngest player in 2025-26.
“Honestly, I’m going to have to say Nolan,” Johnson told Connor when asked about what he’s seen . “All the guys have improved, but I feel like Nolan … he’s a different guy now. He done put on some mass. He’s walking around with a sleeveless hoodie on, looking at the biceps, you know what I’m saying? He done put on some strength.”
Troare of course didn’t play in either Summer League, not Sacramento nor Las Vegas. He was still recovering from a post-season scope — arthroscopic surgery — on his right knee. But C.J. also said nice things about how Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf were playing in scrimmages at HSS.
That might have been a surprise to those fans who watched the Nets Summer League games. None of the three were lighting up the arenas in either league. While Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. drew raves, particularly when playing together, there were a LOT of missed shots being thrown up by the picks taken at Nos. 22, 26 and 27. Indeed, it seemed that Powell and Wolf had regressed from the end of last season.
One Nets insider excused their failings by saying they just “need more time” in development, that the worries many fans shared among themselves were not shared by the team’s development types. Of course, development is critical to the Nets plans for what Joe Tsai and Sean Marks have called “sustainable success.” So they’d better succeed. The organization is counting on a steady stream of rookies making their way through cheap four-year contracts, permitting it to push in all their chips when the opportunity to acquire stars arises.
Indeed, the Nets will have eight players on rookie deals this season, from Mikel Brown Jr, at age 20 ,the team’s youngest player by seven weeks, to Noah Clowney, who just turned 22 last month. In fact, it seems likely that the Nets will once again have the youngest roster in the NBA. Last year’s was the youngest in two decades!
Here in order are Brooklyn’s 17 players by age, including two-ways. Those with asterisks are on rookie deals.
— Mikel Brown Jr., 20*
— Nolan Traore, 20*
— Ben Saraf, 20*
— Egor Demin, 20*
— Drake Powell, 20*
— Noah Clowney, 22*
— Danny Wolf, 22*
— Tyler Bilodeau, 22
— Joshua Jefferson, 22*
— Josh Minott, 23
(All 10 players above this line are younger than Yaxel Lindeborg, the Warriors pick at No. 11 in the June Draft.)
— Chaney Johnson, 24
— Day’Ron Sharpe, 24
(All 12 players above this line are younger than the NBA average.)
— Keon Ellis, 26
— Michael Porter Jr., 28
— Moe Wagner, 29
— Terance Mann, 29
— Julius Randle, 31.
There are a few aspects of the list that jump out beyond just the obvious one how young they are. Five of them can’t legally buy a beer! One is that, as the Nets insider noted, there’s time, lot of it, for lots of players on the roster to get a lot better. No guarantees but suggesting that they only need time seems less of an excuse than a rationale for patience. You know, hope.
Another is where Clowney sits on the list: the sixth youngest player on the youngest team in the NBA despite having played nearly 3,200 minutes in the NBA. However, Clowney has the least amount of time to prove himself. He will be a restricted free agent next July. He didn’t play that badly last season, averaging 12.3 points on 40/33/80 splits while grabbing 4.3 boards in 66 games, 60 starts. But he has been disappointing in large part because of what he’s shown on occasion, those seven three’s vs. the Knicks in November of last year and those seven blocks vs. the Raptors in 2024.
Said one NBA scout who followed him since his days at Alabama. “I loved him in college. Loved him when he was drafted,” he said. “Wish he was further along.”
The scout added that aside from Clowney’s occasional shot blocking, he’s “soft on defense.” Where does he fit this season? Back-up to MPJ? back-up to Randle? a 6’10” wing? A rim-runner and protector? If he advances and justifies that scout’s love, it could be a big help to Brooklyn this season and beyond.
One other aspect we found interesting: Minott’s youth. Like Clowney, the 23-year-old could provide the Nets with some depth up front and on the wing. Also, like Clowney, he started young in the NBA and has a wealth of NBA experience despite his youth. In four seasons, he’s played nearly 1,300 minutes, more than half last of them — 834 — last season with Boston and Brooklyn.
After the Nets got him for the bargain basement price of $110,000 from the Celtics in a classic salary dump, he played with enough skill and energy to warrant a two-year. $9 million deal with the second year a team option. He averaged 10.8 points on 49/40/80 shooting splits in 16 games with the Nets who chose him over Ziaire Williams, opting out of Z’s $6.3 million second year.
The question is whether there will be minutes for the two forwards aged 22 and 23? Like a lot of questions with such a young roster, that’s a good thing. Same with the backcourt if Demin, Brown Jr. and Traore develop.
Rising tide of money engulfing Brooklyn?
The changes in ownership at the Los Angeles Lakers, the defining NBA franchise (sorry again, Knick fans), is once again altering the NBA financial landscape. A valuation of $12.5 billion for the Lake Show will cause other franchises values to jump as well. A rising tide, you know, lifts all boats. It already has. Marc Lore, Alex Rodriguez’s partner in owning the Timberwolves, sold his stake in the Minnesota club to San Francisco investment banker Marc Stad at a valuation of $4.5 billion, three times what he paid a mere five years back.
If the Nets were worth $6.2 billion — per Sportico — prior to the Lakers’ sale, then they are more than likely worth closer to $8 billion now. That’s a huge profit for the Tsais who closed on the Nets and Barclays Center in 2019 for $3.3 billion. Indeed, that estimate might be low considering there’s been recent speculation at the two new franchises in Seattle and Las Vegas will likely require prospective owners to put up as much as $8 billion to join the club as the 31st and 32nd franchises. (And we’re not even talking about the Liberty.)
Is that a good thing for the Nets and their fans? At least for now, it would seem so. The Nets, through Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, are among the more stable franchises in terms of finances, despite word that Joe and Clara Wu Tsai are divorcing. The Tsais’ investments in pro sports, in everything from the Nets and Liberty to minor stakes in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and an international catamaran racing team, were featured in a story we wrote a little more that a year ago and updated since in these pages. One of the more telling indicators of just how committed he’s been was this line from that July 2o25 story:
Bloomberg News breakdown of Joe Tsai’s net worth, which the news site estimated at $9.1 billion, puts the value of his sports assets, primarily the holdings of Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, at a conservative $4.85 billion, amounting to 52% of his overall holdings. Bloomberg valued his holdings in Alibaba — 1.4% of the Chinese e-commerce giant’s stock — at nearly a billion dollars less: $3.95 billion.
His single biggest asset, said Bloomberg, is not his Alibaba stock but the Nets.
He’s said both publicly and privately that he sees sports and particularly the Nets as the “family business,” a legacy. He and Clara recently stated that despite the dissolution of their marriage they expect their three adult children will be involved in BSE over the long term. All three have sports backgrounds. Thiers isn’t so much a corporate investment like the one Mark Walter and his Guggenheim partners made in the Lakers 14 months ago then sold under duress to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner this month. (No doubt the Tsais are also taking lessons from what’s happening with the Buss family following the sale.)
For the want of a better term, the Tsai family appear to fall, at least for now, into the “sportsman” category of owners rather than the “investor” category. They have continued putting money in their teams and their infrastructure while selling small pieces to others among the mega-rich whether the Koch family in the case of BSE or Jack Ma and a group of prominent business women in the case of the Liberty.
That certainly doesn’t mean the Tsais are likely to be conservative. They remain ambitious in Brooklyn as recent events have shown.
There hasn’t been much made of the plan since Sam Zussman spoke to Bloomberg News about it in October 2024, but 10 days ago, Peter Stern, BSE’s chief financial officer, mentioned it again in CFO Magazine when discussing differences between what an NBA team CFO’s job entailed a quarter century ago versus now:
First is adjacent opportunities. So in the timeframe you mention, whatever basketball team it was, whatever arena it played in, the focus was on that team and that arena. How much food and beverage are we selling when people come into the arena? What are the per caps?
Now, teams are thinking about how they can make their customers’ experience better before the game and after the game. Should I have a restaurant down the block? Should I have an entertainment opportunity after the game? You’ve seen that done in Chicago with the Cubs, for instance, where the organization literally bought up the land all around, or what the Buffalo Bills are doing with new mixed-use facilities that they’re building.
And indeed, BSE just announced a “restaurant down the block.“ It’s partnering with Casa Tua, a well-known hospitality brand out of Miami to create Cucina by Casa Tua at One Hanson Place in the lobby of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building, a property acquired at a foreclosure sale in 2024. It’s described as ”located just steps from Barclays Center.“ Beyond the restaurant scheduled to open next year, there are plans for it to anchor ”a broader mix of hospitality, dining, and experiential offerings to be announced at a later date,“ said the press release. They also invested in the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre.
And yes, as Marks has said of his boss, he is ready to invest when needed in the team, having already proven it during the glory days of the Big Three, shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars in luxury taxes.
So now, whether you’re a fan of the Tsais’ ownership or not, there’s no indication that the rising tide of money will engulf the Brooklyn Nets (or New York Liberty.) Indeed, it’s the opposite.
Final Note
The WNBA will be taking their bi-annual FIBA break permitting international players to take a couple of weeks off to play for their national teams in the women’s World Cup which this year takes place in Berlin…
As part of the Cup celebrations, FIBA has released a 55-minute documentary on the history of women’s basketball. And one of the key elements in the video is the budding friendship between two Liberty players, both stars of their respective national teams, Marine Johannes of France and Han Xu of China…
"In New York, she told me: You have so many fans in China! So many!" 🇫🇷🇨🇳
Aug 24, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) reacts after giving up a home run during the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Zack Wheeler’s struggles continued as the Philadelphia Phillies’ (73-59) MLB-best nine-game winning streak came to screeching halt with a 9-2 humbling at the hands of the Seattle Mariners (63-69).
Wheeler surrendered eight runs on nine hits, five walks and four home runs, raising his ERA from 2.92 to 3.40. It was the second time in his career he allowed five first inning runs and first as a member of the Phillies. He has an 8.51 ERA in his last six starts.
The Phillies loaded the bases in the first frame of the game and put up the first run on an Alec Bohm sacrifice fly.
The first six batters Wheeler faced reached base and accounted for five runs on a pair of multi-RBI homers by Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh.
Struggling most of the year after a historic campaign last year, Raleigh had his best game of 2026 with his first career three-home run game, two of which came against Wheeler and another by Chase Shugart in his mop up duty.
Singles by Bryce Harper in the third and Bryson Stott in the fourth were all the offense the Phillies had left in the tank after their momentous comeback yesterday afternoon.
Alex McFarlane and Jose Alvarado each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Wheeler.
Harper tied his career long on base streak at 27 games.
Aaron Nola is scheduled to face George Kirby in the middle game of the series tomorrow night.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 24: Austin Hedges #27 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates his 2-run home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the sixth inning of a game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 24, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Scott Strazzante/Getty Images) | Getty Images
A very businesslike win for the Guardians tonight as they beat the Angels 4-2.
The Guardians scored early to give Parker Messick a small lead to work with, which has been rare of late for Cleveland’s best pitcher and Cy Young/Rookie of the Year candidate.
Nathaniel “Knows What to Do With RISP” Lowe got a sacrifice fly in the third after a Kwan walk, Jose single and Jo Adell walk. Rocchio had flied out sharply to begin the inning and Angel Genao was putting up an excellent AB when Adell was caught in a rundown that ended with Jose getting tagged out at third.
Messick’s only troublesome inning was the fourth where a single from Zach Neto and single from Mike Trout allowed a Moises Ballesteros single to drive in the Angels’ only run to tie the game at 1. I am so impressed with how Messick never gets frustrated. He finds his center and gets himself out of trouble over and over.
Another Guardians newcomer got a hit with RISP when Adell got an RBI hit in the fifth to make it 2-1 Guardians.
Then, folks… Austin Hedges hit a two-run homer off a lefty reliever to score Angel Genao who had walked. Somehow, we are at August 24th and Hedges has a 110 wRC+. Is this man going to get a $10M contract from someone as a 35 year old? Good for him. Incredible.
Messick went six, Colin Holderman and Hunter Gaddis held the Angels scoreless for two and then Cade Smith had another shaky ninth, weirdly, but still got the save allowing one run.
I felt like Jose looked a little better at the plate. Now, to hope that Chase DeLauter’s hamstring tightness scratching him from the initial lineup turns out to be nothing. Also… does anyone know if David Fry is alive? Man hasn’t had an at-bat since he got back.
I have to say that it IS nice to know fly balls to the outfield will be caught by either Kwan or Petey Halpin. I get it, Stephen. I get it.
The Guardians are now .500, 2.5 games in back of the Central Division-leading White Sox and 0.5 games ahead for the AL’s third wildcard spot.
Cricket Australia has encouraged curators shave more grass off, and reduce the moisture in, their pitches this summer as some tweaks have been announced to the Sheffield Shield to try find a better balance between bat and ball.
In their 34-year history, the modern-day Ottawa Senators have employed 475 different hockey players from around the world. But there haven't been that many from Ottawa, and even fewer who made a real impact on the team.
We did some digging to determine which of those local players accomplished the most in a Senators uniform.
To make the list, you had to be born and raised in the amalgamated City of Ottawa and play at least 82 games for the Sens, the equivalent of one full season.
Steve Warne and Gregg Kennedy discuss the Sens now keeping a type lid on team information when they want to .
Here, in no particular order, are the best five Senators who were born and raised in Ottawa.
Todd White
Born in Kanata, White joined the Senators for part of the 2000-01 season, playing most of that year with the club's IHL team in Grand Rapids. The next two seasons, White became an important offensive player during one of the most successful periods in franchise history. He had 144 points in 230 regular-season games for the Sens.
His best season came in 2002–03, when he produced 25 goals and 60 points as the Senators won the Presidents’ Trophy with 113 points. White added five goals during that spring’s playoff run, helping the Sens advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final.
His 0.63 points per game remain the highest rate among the retired players on this list.
Marc Methot
Marc Methot was acquired from Columbus for Nick Foligno in 2012 and became the ideal defensive partner for Erik Karlsson. Methot’s physicality, positioning and willingness to handle difficult assignments gave Karlsson the freedom to become the league’s most dynamic defenceman.
Methot appeared in 304 regular-season games for his hometown team and was a key part of the club that came within one overtime goal of reaching the 2017 Stanley Cup Final.
His Sens career ended abruptly when the Vegas Golden Knights selected him in the 2017 expansion draft. His departure left a hole on the Senators’ blue line that proved extremely difficult to fill. But injuries kicked in after that. He ended up in Dallas and played just 45 more NHL games.
Jason York
Born in Nepean, Jason York joined the Senators in a 1996 trade with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and became a steady presence during the franchise’s transformation from expansion team to perennial playoff club.
York played 383 regular-season games for Ottawa across five seasons. The Senators qualified for the playoffs in each of those years, including their first postseason appearance in 1997 and their first playoff-series victory in 1998.
His strongest offensive season came in 1998–99, when he had 35 points and led all Sens defencemen in scoring. He still shares the record for most shots in a Senators game with 12.
Cody Ceci
Cody Ceci is the only active player on this list and will likely hit 1000 career games this season.
Ceci should probably be regarded as Ottawa hockey royalty. No other modern-day Senator was born here, played his minor hockey here, played almost four seasons with the OHL's Ottawa 67’s, and then was drafted in the first round by the Senators.
Ceci appeared in 440 regular-season games for the Sens which is more than any other player on this list. He could never put up the kind of offence he did in junior, but he was a top-four D during the Senators’ run to the 2017 Eastern Conference final.
Mark Borowiecki
Few Senators have represented Ottawa with more enthusiasm and class than Mark Borowiecki.
Born in Kanata, Borowiecki played junior hockey with the Smiths Falls Bears before attending Clarkson University. The Senators drafted him in the fifth round in 2008, and he went on to play 375 regular-season games for the Senators, putting up 51 points and 643 penalty minutes.
Affectionately known as “Borocop,” he scrapped his way to the NHL through physical play, shot blocking and a willingness to defend his teammates.
He was also amazing in the community. Borowiecki built a strong connection with fans that continues today.
Getting to the NHL is a huge accomplishment. But doing it in your hometown with the team you grew up watching makes it even more special.
By Steve Warne The Hockey News
This article was first published in The Hockey News. For more Sens coverage at The Hockey News, click on one of the latest headlines below:
It's officially another season, another prospects ranking for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In years past, this has been a bit easier of an exercise, as there used to be a more clear-cut line between prospects with NHL upside and longshots. However, because of the work that general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas and his staff have put in during the last several years, the line is blurring a whole lot more - and there is a substantially higher volume of talent in the system.
This time around, making a top-20 list was challenging. So, a few criteria were put into place: To make our list, prospects must be under the age of 26 and have played less than 50 NHL games. This excludes names such as Ben Kindel, Filip Hallander, Oliver Okuliar, and Alexander Alexeyev.
We placed forward Bill Zonnon at No. 3, as he has, arguably, the highest floor of any prospect in the Penguins' organization. To be honest, the first and second spots on our list were almost a complete toss-up, but there was a very tiny degree of separation between the two.
So, at No. 2, we chose the potential franchise netminder.
No. 2: G Sergei Murashov
SERGEI. MURASHOV.
You've got to be kidding me.
Calmly to the bench after a ridiculous glove save late in the 3rd period to keep game tied at 1-1.
Many folks who cover the Penguins have the 22-year-old Murashov ranked No. 1 on their Penguins' prospects lists, which is understandable. Given that this is, according to many, a two-horse race between two organizational unicorns, he very well could have been placed first here, too.
And, well, that speaks to how dominant Murashov has been up to this point in his professional career.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound netminder went from dominating the MHL to dominating the KHL to dominating the ECHL to dominating the AHL. In fact, prior to reaching the AHL level, Murashov had never posted a save percentage below .922, at least not since he was 16 years old and in his rookie MHL season.
At the AHL level, he put up back-to-back campaigns with .912 and .919 save percentages, respectively, earning him AHL All-Rookie Honors as voted by players, coaches, and media at season's end. He even saw a brief five-game stint at the NHL level early last season.
The NHL sample was too small to really draw much conclusion from. But one of the unique, key qualities that Murashov possesses is that he's able to come up big in big moments, much like NHL probable tandem partner Arturs Silovs. And he showed that big-game dominance in the Calder Cup Playoffs last season.
in 15 games - he started all 15 games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins during their playoff run to the Eastern Conference Final - he posted a 2.11 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage, which was a pretty impressive showing for a goalie who had only four previous professional playoff appearances. He kept WBS in nearly every game, even when they weren't at their best, and gave his team the best chance he could.
And so much of Murashov's game revolves around his maturity and his confidence. He is poised in net, anticipates well, is quick post-to-post, and plays the puck well, too. Most of the time, his reads are so quick that he puts himself in position to make a big save look easy that wouldn't look as such for others.
So, there is a lot to look forward to with regards to Murashov. There are some areas of weakness that still need to be ironed out, though, for him to find sustained success at the NHL level. He did improve his rebound control by quite a large margin last season, which was one of the biggest knocks on him prior. However, he still gives up a few too many soft goals, and he still sometimes gets himself in trouble when playing the puck.
The main thing for Murashov to iron out is to know when to pick his spots. He can get a bit too aggressive at times and overcommit, and that's something he's going to have to adjust to at NHL speed. He'll also need to remain wary of NHLers who can shoot top-shelf with far more accuracy than the shooters he has faced up to this point, but he already has a nice glove hand and a solid blocker side, too.
Of all the prospects on this list, Murashov is the most sure bet to be on the NHL roster next season, as Silovs re-signed but veteran Stuart Skinner walked, leaving one open NHL roster spot for him, Joel Blomqvist, Taylor Gauthier, and Gabriel D'Aigle to battle for. He also has the highest ceiling of any goaltender in their system up to this point, and unless D'Aigle takes significant strides this season, that will remain the case.
He's the one player in the Penguins' system who could end up a franchise player at his respective position, and that definitely counts for something. However, fans shouldn't necessarily expect to see that franchise-level goaltending right away.
Goaltenders are volatile. A lot can change. Some peak in the AHL, even the best ones. Some take longer to get up to NHL speed, which could happen in this case. Some need a little bit of time to work through struggles and come out the other end. The uncertain nature of his position is one of the reasons why he sits at two on this list and not one.
Things might not be perfect right away for Murashov as he adjusts to the NHL level, and he may even see 1B duties behind Silovs at first as he makes that adjustment. However, this guy has a ton of raw talent, and his quickness, athleticism, maturity, and wisdom beyond his years should serve him well in that transition.
Quite frankly, Murashov missing the NHL roster out of camp would come as a shock, and that's not a knock on the other guys. It just speaks to how high his potential is and where he's at in his development.
Franchise goaltender or not, Murashov will be one of the most exciting Penguins' prospects to watch in the next few years. The sky is the limit for him, and the future of the Penguins might rest on him finding his place somewhere among the stars.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 14: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was taken with a special effects filter) Darryn Peterson #22 of the Utah Jazz poses for a portrait during the 2026 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot at UNLV on July 14, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Utah Jazz have had one of the most eventful offseasons I can remember. It’s been filled with ups and downs, rumors, victories in the lottery, and losing players in free agency.
The quickest of recaps is that the Jazz won the lottery after another year of tanking, or to be more specific, a full year of focused tanking. The fruits of two seasons of tanking led them to an incredible lottery night and the #2 pick, which they then used to draft Darryn Peterson.
After unsuccessful restricted free agency negotiations, the Jazz signed and traded Walker Kessler to the Los Angeles Lakers for two unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps.
All things considered, what grade would you give the Utah Jazz offseason?
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Jazz fans and fans across the country.
DENVER - JUNE 5: General view with fountain during the San Diego Padres game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on June 5, 1997 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s no secret that the Rockies are struggling at home right now.
Not only has Colorado lost eight in a row at Coors Field, but the Rockies are 27-38 at home. That’s more losses at home than every team except the A’s, who are temporarily playing in West Sacramento as a rest stop between Oakland and Las Vegas.
While there needs to be significant improvement on the pitching side and on the hitting side for Colorado at 5,280 feet, having more Rockies fans engaged in the game also couldn’t hurt.
There are the fountains that get fired up in center field on homers, which doesn’t happen as much as it needs to, and there is the dark-into-flashing lights before the ninth inning, but it seems like there needs to be more.
This summer, MLB.com is running a 250 for 250 series. As MLB.com says, “As part of our celebration of America 250, MLB’s content team has created 25 top 10 lists that capture the plays, people, rituals and moments that make baseball America’s game.”
In other words, it’s a list of lists. The list for Aug. 21 featured the top 10 in-stadium traditions. The list includes these 10 rituals:
1.Wrigley Field sings “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”
2.The Phillie Phanatic means Phun
3.Mascot races take over the Majors
4.Yankees fans perform the Roll Call
5. “Sweet Caroline” is a hit at Fenway
6.Orioles fans put their emphasis on national anthem
7.The Homer Hanky is a Twins postseason icon
8.Mets hit a homer? Raise the Home Run Apple!
9.Bernie Brewer celebrates every big fly with a slide
10.Angels fans rally behind the Rally Monkey
It got me thinking that the Rockies need a new tradition. Purple Row’s Zeke Perez got a discussion going about a new mascot race in June. That could certainly be part of it.
What do you think the Rockies should do? Should it be a new feature of the stadium? Something on the field? A fan-centered activity?
Personally, I love the traditions that include a song. I miss singing “Tooooniiggghhtttt” when Charlie Blackman came to the plate. Singing “All the Small Things” by blink-182 at Colorado Avalanche games is about as good as it gets. I liked it when the sound crew used to play “Mountain Music” by Alabama after the seventh-inning stretch. I think it’s time for something new and I also think John Denver is overplayed in Colorado events.
But what about “Mountain Sound” by Of Monsters of Men?
Or a ballad sing along of “Mountains Win Again” by Blues Traveler? That is if the Rockies can find ways to win again at home.
Or, perhaps following the Angels rally monkey theme, and in an attempt to fuel more late-inning comebacks, the Rockies should go with a Colorado band. Anytime the Rockies start a rally, or need one, they could play Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats “Survivor.” It’s made for a sports showdown and could definitely provide some energy.
You know the game is out of control when Luisangel Acuña gets to pitch. | Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images
The White Sox got steamrolled, 11-2, by a team that entered the game worse than .500. The pitching was terrible, the bats were ice-cold, and the Rangers took advantage of the long ball on several occasions.
José Urquidy did not have a great start, tossing 39 pitches in his first frame. He walked the leadoff batter and the third batter, then hit Brandon Nimmo with a pitch to load the bases with only one out. Ezequiel Duran grounded into a force out at second, but sent Joc Pederson home. Evan Carter doubled, putting the second run on the board. With two outs, Jake Burger picked up a walk, but a pop-up from Elias Díaz would finally stop the damage. Miguel Vargas singled with two outs, and Andrew Benintendi nearly tied the game and would have with just a bit more wind, but Nimmo jumped up to rob the good guys of any runs.
With two outs in the top of the second, Corey Seager singled and was safe at second after Colson Montgomery scooped up a single from Wyatt Langford. Drew Romo blew through the first challenge as Nimmo picked up a walk to load the bases, with Urquidy already passing the 50-pitch mark. Chase Meidroth slipped, unable to grab what should’ve been an easy out, and another run came in on an infield single from Duran. Pederson, after not getting his challenge call in on time on a strikeout, continued to throw a tantrum, leading to his ejection. Romo ended additional on-field drama by tagging home for the inning-ending force-out. Braden Montgomery singled for the Good Guys, and with two outs, Tristan Peters took a slider and made the Rangers pay, cutting the deficit to 3-2. That home run put him in double-digits and his 10th homer this season:
With one out in the top of the third, Elias Díaz was hit by a pitch, and Cody Freeman singled. Seager caused more damage with a two-run double, giving the Rangers a 5-2 lead with two outs. The frame ended with a pop fly, but also on 93 pitches for Urquidy. The the bottom half Munetaka Murakami singled and Miguel Vargas walked to put two on base early. Benintendi grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Braden Montgomery picked up a walk to load the bases. Of course, the next two batters struck out to strand all three runners.
Jake Burger started the fifth with a solo homer off Tyler Schweitzer to make it 6-2. Justin Foscue, who replaced Pederson, doubled, and Seager sent Foscue home on another double, making it 7-2 before Langford struck out to end the top half of the fifth. The White Sox went down in order.
Duran picked up a one-out walk and was caught stealing in the sixth. Carter walked right after, and Burger sent him home before being thrown out while trying to get to third on what should’ve stayed a double, making it 8-2.
Duran was back to double in the eighth, got to third on a wild pitch, and came home on a wild pitch/ball four to Burger, making it 9-2. The Rangers continued to pile it on in the ninth, as old friend Nicky Lopez singled and Langford homered, making it 11-2. To spare the already-taxed bullpen, Luisangel Acuña came in to pitch. He got Nimmo to hit a grounder for the final out, at least.
There was no answer to the 11 runs, and the White Sox lost in an embarrassing fashion.
MVP: Tristan Peters: 1 HR, 1 RBI
Runner-Up: Braden Montgomery: 1 H, 1 BB, 1 R
Cold Cat: José Urquidy: 3 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 4 BB
Runners-Up: Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, 3 K The entire bullpen: 6 IP, 6 ER, 4 K, 4 BB Chase Meidroth: BB, 0 H, 2 K
For Kiké Hernández, one of the most meaningful connections of his baseball career began when baseball was temporarily taken away from him.
The Los Angeles Dodgers superutility player has spent plenty of time on the injured list over the past two seasons, where the rhythms of a major league season suddenly give way to rehab rooms, empty hours and plenty of time in isolation. Somewhere inside that monotony, Hernández realized that baseball had consumed so much of his life that he didn’t have any real hobbies.
“If I’m being honest, the IL is something that’s very boring and lonely,” Hernández told the California Post in an exclusive interview last Thursday at the Harold & Carole Pump Foundation 26th Anniversary Celebrity Dinner. “I’ve spent a lot of time on it the last two years.”
Hernández warms up on March 26, 2026, at Dodger Stadium. Carlin Stiehl for CA Post
So instead of taking up pickleball, crochet or baking, Hernández started ripping Pokémon packs.
Hernández said he originally started collecting Pokémon cards as a kid, but was excited to return to it as an adult. The first pack he opened was enough to transport the 35-year-old Dodgers fan favorite backward in time.
“The smell, the sensation of ripping a pack, all these things,” Hernández said. “It made me feel like a kid.”
What began as an escape during an emotionally difficult stretch soon became something bigger when his 5-year-old daughter, Penélope, joined him.
She fell for Pikachu, just like her dad.
Los Angeles Dodgers superutility player Kiké Hernández (left) opens up a pack of Pokémon cards with his 5-year-old daughter Penélope.
Now, father and daughter tear into packs of Pokémon, Disney, My Little Pony and even Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, turning Hernández’s hobby into family time. His collecting obsession has even turned into a side business for the three-time World Series Champion.
Hernández created his own social media channels under the name “PokéKikémon,” his Pokémon- inspired alter ego. His Instagram account alone has over 112,000 followers and spawned its own line of merchandise.
“Not only do I get my fix, but it also helps us connect as a family,” Hernández said. “It’s something that we look forward to.”
We asked Hernández what’s the greatest pull he’s ever had to date. His answer was a Japanese Sabrina’s Gengar 1st edition that sells for over $10,000 on some collection sites.
“I pulled it and got it graded a [PSA] 10. So that is definitely my best one, for sure,” said Hernandez.
Kiké Hernández opens up a pack of cards.
But every collector has a holy grail and there’s one card that Hernández wants that still haunts him. It’s a 2001 Japanese Corocoro promotional card whose shining Mew tail swirl artwork caught his eye before the price climbed between $75,000 and $500,000
DYERSVILLE, IA - AUGUST 11: Owen Ayers #4 and Gabe Klobosits #36 of the Iowa Cubs shake hands after winning the MiLB Field of Dreams game between the St. Paul Saints and the Iowa Cubs at MLB Field at Field of Dreams on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 in Dyersville, Iowa. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. It may be hot outside, but it’s cool in here. There’s no cover charge. We still have a few tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last week I asked you if the Cubs should re-sign Clay Holmes. A large majority of you thought that was a good idea, with 75 percent of you thinking that the three-year, $70 million offer was fair. Another 16 percent of you wanted to re-sign Holmes for less.
Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. You can come join us or you can skip ahead. Or you can stay for the music and movies and skip the baseball stuff. Or you can just read it all. Your call.
Tonight we’re featuring the legendary team of trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach in 1954. This is one of their signature tunes, “Jordu,” from 1954. Joining Brown and Roach are Harold Land on tenor sax, George Morrow on bass and Richie Powell on piano.
Director Edward Dmytryk was coming off an Oscar nomination for Crossfire in 1947 when he was summoned before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Dmytryk refused to testify and became known as one of the “Hollywood Ten” who were charged with contempt and subsequently blacklisted by the film industry. Rather than go to prison, Dmytryk fled to England and directed a few films there before returning to the United States in the early fifties. He then served his six-month prison sentence. After he got out, he changed his mind and agreed to testify before Congress about communism in the film industry and he was cleared to work in Hollywood again. He was the only one of the “Hollywood Ten” who reversed their position and agreed to name names. Dmytryk claimed that he only gave Congress names they already had, but many who suffered under the blacklist never forgave him for testifying.
That’s a long introduction to The Sniper (1952), Dmytryk’s first studio film (and second overall) after getting off the blacklist. It’s a disturbing picture about a mentally-ill serial killer who shoots and kills brunette women from a distance with an M1 rifle. Like many other films by producer Stanley Kramer (High Noon, Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?), The Sniper is a message picture and in this case, not a very subtle one about mental illness and sex criminals. I can’t say it’s a good film, but there are a lot of good things about it, including an unhinged performance by Arthur Franz as the titular serial killer Eddie Miller.
Miller is what we’d today call an “incel.” He has a menial job as a delivery man for a dry cleaner. He finds himself attracted to women, particularly brunettes, but he is so socially awkward he is invariably rejected by them. This makes him feel emasculated and angry—angry enough to kill them. He first takes out his anger on himself by burning his hand on a hot stove. The doctor who treats him knows that it was intentional and wants to put a psychiatric hold on Miller for his own good, but he’s too busy at the moment and he gets released.
After his release, Miller turns to killing brunettes from a distance. Miller also writes letters to the police begging them to catch him, but of course he doesn’t stop the killing. Adolphe Menjou plays the police lieutenant Frank Kafka, who is assigned to catching the sniper killer. Kafka talks to psychologists to try to narrow down the suspects and understand his motive, which is a very early example of criminal profiling. There’s some suggestion that the killer might be a veteran, although Miller doesn’t appear to be one in the end. I found that interesting because the Defense Department at the time was hyper-sensitive to the idea that soldiers might return from the battlefield with PTSD that turned them into killers. Kramer probably wanted to raise the possibility, but Columbia Pictures probably didn’t want to incur the wrath of the Pentagon.
Much of Kafka trying to catch Miller is just the same kind of stuff you’d see on an episode of CSI or Law and Order, minus the modern forensics. But the film also wants to get a message out about sex criminals. The psychiatrist (Richard Kiley) makes a plea that all sex offenders need to be locked up at their first offense. That’s something that a lot of people today would agree with, but then he goes on to say that “those who can be cured should be released.” That’s an awful lot of trust in the psychological community that they can tell when someone is “cured” of their urges to commit sex crimes or that criminals wouldn’t be able to fool them into thinking they were “cured” to earn their release. It’s a noble but not-very-well thought out sentiment.
I was also disturbed by The Sniper for how prescient it was. While there were certainly serial killers in the 1950s (and the film makes a reference to Albert Fish), Charles Whitman and the Texas Tower sniper shooting was still 14 years in the future. The idea that Miller was some kind of “incel” who turns to murder over his frustrations over being constantly rejected by women has also become a major topic in mass shootings today.
As noted earlier, Franz’s portrayal of Miller is the best part of the movie. He plays him as both unhinged and sympathetic, swinging between the two poles with ease. The film wants to make clear that this is a sick man who can be cured more than a hardened criminal who is a natural-born predator. Noir veteran Marie Windsor plays one of Miller’s victims who doesn’t even realize that she’s rejected Miller’s advances. Menjou is just a stock “wise veteran detective.”
The film also makes great use of the streets of San Francisco to create its world. Cinematographer Burnett Guffey would go on to win Oscars for From Here to Eternity and Bonnie and Clyde, and you can see his skill in an earlier work here. The streets look narrow enough to feel claustrophobic but expansive enough to give sniper a good shot from a distance. There’s lots of crawling around rooftops and fire escapes. Anyone interested in what San Francisco looked like in the early-fifties will want to watch The Sniper.
The Sniper veers too close to an episode of of a police procedural for me to think it’s a good film. The performance of Franz and the terrific black-and-white cinematography certainly keep it from being a bad film. But more than anything else, it certainly disturbed me in the way it predicted events that were years in the future.
Here’s the trailer for The Sniper. The entire film appears to be available for fr on YouTube.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.
We are one week away from roster expansion from 26 to 28 players on September 1. The Cubs, like every other team, will be allowed to add one position player and one pitcher.
The Cubs are going to have some hard decisions on the pitching side, as there are several relievers who are getting healthy and will be ready to be activated by next Tuesday. Things aren’t much more straightforward with the position players. Matt Shaw is getting ready to return from his injury and may be activated ahead of the September roster expansion. In his case, however, either Kevin Alcántara can be sent back down to Iowa or Gabriel Arias can be designated for assignment. (Which would be the third DFA this month for Arias.)
One of the bigger questions, however, is who the Cubs should call up to be their 14th position player on September 1. One option that is getting a lot of attention is the Cubs’ number-two prospect, catcher Owen Ayers.
The Cubs have been extraordinarily lucky this season in that neither of their two catchers, Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya, have been injured this year. It’s especially fortunate because the Cubs’ haven’t had an experienced catcher in Triple-A since Christian Bethancourt opted out of his contract in mid-July. Had either Kelly or Amaya gone down after that, the front office would have had to scramble for a replacement.
The one thing any front office should plan for during a season is that at least one of their catchers is going to get hurt. It’s an incredibly physically-demanding position and all it takes is one pulled hamstring coming out of the crouch or one missed catch that hits them in a bad spot to take them out for a while. We all know this from experience as Amaya missed most of last season with injuries.
Manager Craig Counsell has done a good job of alternating Kelly and Amaya to keep their workloads manageable. Yes, there’s been a lot of luck in the two staying healthy, but giving them days off has probably helped a lot too.
This is where Ayers comes in. When Bethancourt opted out in July, Ayers got promoted from Double-A Knoxville to Iowa. Ayers had never played above Low-A Myrtle Beach before this season, unless you count the Arizona Fall League, but he blew through High-A South Bend in 11 games (hitting .372/.481/.860) and then dominated in Double-A with a line of .304/.417/.591 with 16 home runs in 65 games. The power hasn’t translated to Triple-A, but he’s still performing at a very respectable clip of .270/.387/.370 with two home runs over 29 games.
So would you call up Owen Ayers for his major league debut to help keep Kelly and Amaya fresh down the stretch? He probably wouldn’t play much—just one or two games a week for the final four weeks. The switch-hitter might get an occasional pinch-hitting opportunity as well if he shows he’s not overpowered by major-league pitching. But having Ayers on the major league roster would allow the other two catchers to get a little more rest as well as give Counsell more roster flexibility to pinch-run for Kelly or Amaya in critical situations.
Defensively, Ayers is a mixed bag. No one questions his arm or his ability to control the running game. He’s thrown out ten runners trying to steal in 35 attempts and I suspect that he would throw out a lot more if he had pitchers who could hold runners on better. I’d put a “70” (on the 20-to-80 scouting scale) on Ayers’ arm, and most online evaluators agree with me.
He does struggle a bit with the “catching” part of catching, as he has five passed balls in those 26 games in Iowa. Now some of that may just be him getting used to new pitchers, but he’d (mostly) have that same problem in the majors. He also needs to work on pitch framing, although the ABS system lessens that problem somewhat. Ayers could use more experience calling a game from behind the plate, although one would think that working with Kelly and Amaya for a month would be the best way to improve that skill. There’s also always the choice of calling pitches from the dugout like the Marlins and some other teams do.
The other negative about calling up Ayers for September is that it also means that someone like Kevin Alcántara or James Triantos. The Cubs would also have to put Ayers on the 40-man roster, which might have implications for next year and a possible lockout.
The positive is that Ayers would get his feet wet in the majors, he could be pretty good, he could gain some knowledge working with Kelly and Amaya and he would give Counsell more flexibility with his catchers. The downsides is that he wouldn’t play a lot, he’d have to be added to the 40-man roster, his total defensive might not be fully major league ready and it would prevent the Cubs from calling up someone else.
So would you call up Owen Ayers on September 1?
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Hird can bring ‘significant value’ to club, says Bombers president
McVeigh takes on head coach role after leaving Sydney Swans
Essendon president Andrew Welsh and new coach Mark McVeigh have offered an olive branch to James Hird, declaring they intend to speak with the club great about a role at the Bombers.
McVeigh was appointed Essendon coach on Monday, with the club opting for the Sydney Swans assistant ahead of fellow former Bombers player Hird, Fremantle’s Jaymie Graham and Adelaide’s Murray Davis.
