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OKLAHOMA CITY — Lakers coach JJ Redick was succinct about what it was like for his group to face the defending NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder during the regular season.
“We sucked against this team,” he said pregame.
The Lakers lost all four regular-season games against the Thunder by double figures, making L.A.’s 108-90 defeat to Oklahoma City in Game 1 of the second round of the playoffs just another big loss to the talented Thunder.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 27 points and six assists while Rui Hachimura had 18 points, but Austin Reaves had only eight points, shooting three for 16 from the field.
The Lakers doubled teamed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander frequently, limiting him to 18 points and forcing him into seven turnovers.
But the Thunder just turned to Chet Holmgren, who had a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, driving to the basket against Lakers guard Austin Reaves, finished with 18 points on eight-of-12 shooting from the field and six assists in Game 1.
(Kyle Phillips / Associated Press)
Game 2 is here Thursday night.
The Lakers didn’t help themselves at the beginning of the fourth quarter, turning the ball over on two of their first three possessions. When Marcus Smart turned the ball over and Alex Caruso waltzed in for a layup, the Lakers went down by 15 points and had to call a timeout with 10 minutes and 41 seconds left to regroup.
The Lakers never did.
They fell into a 19-point hole in the final 12 minutes of play and never fully recovered.
The Lakers lost by almost 30 points per game in their four-game series against the Thunder during the regular season, and one of the games was a 43-point shallacking.
But the Lakers found their groove in the first round against the Houston Rockets and that has fueled their belief in this series against the Thunder.
“We’ve been able to execute, even just going back to the last three games of the regular season,” Redick said. “Again, we kind of had to reset with not a lot of time and build something a little bit new on the fly. I think our guys were able to find their way and find their way from an execution standpoint, and for the most part, did a good job of that on both ends in the Houston series.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves makes one of his three baskets on a layup against Thunder center Chet Holmgren, but Reaves finished with only eight points on three-of-16 shooting from the field in Game 1.
(Kyle Phillips / Associated Press)
“This is a different team and the best team, and it’s going to require more. I think every round that you advance in the playoffs, you need to elevate all of the stuff even more. …That’s our attention to detail, that’s our belief, that’s our poise. We got to be great in all those areas.”
The Lakers talked every practice about the runs the Thunder go on and how they had to limit them.
Well, it happened at the end of the first quarter, when Oklahoma City scored the last five points of the frame, and it happened at the outset of the second quarter, when the Thunder scored the first five points of the frame to open a 10-point lead.
Redick leaped off the bench to call a timeout with 10:36 left in the second to get things back in order for the Lakers.
The Lakers recovered, but they then went down 56-43 in the second quarter and had to recover again.
They did, pulling to within 61-53 at the half.
Note: Lakers reserve forward Jarred Vanderbilt injured his right finger in the second quarter and didn’t return. Vanderbilt tried to block a dunk by Chet Helmgren, but instead hit hand on the backboard and went down in pain.
The UK government says it is in “discussions about supporting potential bids” for the Olympics and Paralympics in the 2040s.
It added that “initial work examining whether the UK could host the Games for the first time since London 2012 will assess key factors such as potential cost, socio-economic benefit and [the] chance of success”.
Ministers say they are also considering whether to support bids to stage golf’s Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup in the 2030s.
The last time the two team competitions were staged in the UK was in 2014 and 2019 respectively, both at Gleneagles in Scotland.
In recent months there has been growing momentum behind a possible attempt to bring the Olympics back to the UK for a fourth time.
Last year London mayor Sadiq Khan said he wanted the city to bid for the 2040 Games.
With Los Angeles in the US and Brisbane, Australia hosting the 2028 and 2032 Games respectively, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is yet to choose cities to stage the events in 2036 and beyond.
In December, the chair of funding agency UK Sport told BBC Sport a bid “has to be an aspiration”, suggesting Liverpool and Manchester could be co-hosts.
In February, a group of political leaders urged the government to ensure any future bid would be based in the north of England, saying there was a “compelling” case for it to host the event.
The Ryder Cup takes place every two years with 24 of the best players from Europe and the USA going head-to-head over three days in matchplay competition. The two continents take it in turns to host the event.
In March, it was revealed that Bolton is bidding to host the Ryder Cup in 2035. If successful it would be the first time in more than 30 years that the event is staged in England.
Last year England Golf urged the government to underwrite its bid to stage the Solheim Cup – a contest between the leading female golfers of Europe and the US – in the country for the first time.
As part of a new ‘sporting events framework’, the government says it will look to make it a criminal offence to resell tickets for specific major sporting events without authorisation such as Euro 2028, claiming it “will make it easier to bid for, secure and deliver major sporting events”.
England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland are hosting Euro 2028, while the UK is the sole bidder to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup.
In November, the government announced legislation to outlaw the sale of tickets to sports events at inflated prices – but it did not apply to football.
It might seem odd to suggest an English club reaching a Champions League final have been in danger of going under the radar – but that has almost been the case for Arsenal this year.
Such has been the immense pressure piled upon Mikel Arteta’s side to end a 22-wait for a Premier League title, their remarkable unbeaten run to the European showpiece in Budapest has arguably not got the credit it deserves.
In truth, while their display at Emirates Stadium was not necessarily vintage, some of Arsenal‘s best performances of the season have come in Europe.
The Gunners remain the only unbeaten team left in the Champions League, defeating teams like Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Sporting along the way.
There has been a desperation to win the league – which, indeed, they could well go on to do as well given Manchester City‘s draw at Everton 24 hours before this semi-final.
But there has been a quiet ruthlessness in Arsenal‘s European games – rarely troubled, rarely in danger of going out.
“I don’t think you can underestimate what we have done in this competition up to this point,” midfielder Declan Rice told Amazon Prime.
“We have every right to celebrate that moment. The most prestigious competition in club football. We are just trying to soak it all in.
“We knew coming into the game what was at stake. If you can’t get up for that, then you can’t get up for any game of football.
“When we went 1-0 up, I knew we were going to win. I could feel something special building.”
The Arsenal supporters welcomed the team bus with flares and chants – the first time that has happened at the stadium – setting the tone and atmosphere for what Arteta described as “an incredible night”.
“We made history again together,” said Arteta. “I cannot be happier, prouder for everybody that’s involved in this football club. The manner that we [were] received outside the stadium was special and unique.
“The atmosphere, our support has created the energy, the way they managed every ball with us… I never felt that in the stadium [before].
“We knew how much it meant to everybody… the boys did an incredible job and after 20 years and a second time in our history, we are back in the Champions League final.”
Welcome back to the Lakers newsletter, where, against all odds, we’re still kicking.
The Lakers defied expectations by winning their first-round series against the Houston Rockets. Most didn’t give them any chance. It felt dicey after a deflating Game 5 loss at home. But the Lakers pulled it off with a headlining performance from their 22-time All-Star and award-worthy supporting performances from the ensemble cast.
Against the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, even fewer people are giving the Lakers a chance for an encore performance. But as Kevin Garnett once said: “Anything is possible!”
All things Lakers, all the time.
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Set the tone
Marcus Smart rotated over to the baseline. He came face to face with Houston’s Tari Eason as the 6-foot-8 Rockets forward leapt toward the basket. The 6-3 guard jumped right along with him.
Smart is used to taking on big challenges.
The Lakers brought Smart in for this moment. It’s not just the defensive tenacity to block a forward five inches taller and eight years younger than him, but when the postseason inevitably challenged the Lakers in unforeseen ways, they needed Smart’s leadership. He proves it every time he steps up to take a charge, gets a deflection or just pulls a teammate aside for a quick word.
“Marcus is a true leader,” center Deandre Ayton said. “Besides [Le]Bron [James], Luka [Doncic] and AR [Austin Reaves], Marcus is the other guy with the grit where [if you feel] discombobulated, he tries to be that guy that puts his arm around you and some of the younger guys. Whether it’s coming down to his competitiveness, keeping that same, consistent edge, Marcus tries to keep that level of intensity pretty high and it’s contagious, too.”
With Doncic (hamstring) still sidelined to begin the Western Conference semifinals against the top-seeded Thunder, the Lakers are counting on their supporting players for major performances. Smart’s role will be one of the most taxing; he’ll be the top defender for a team trying to slow down the NBA’s reigning most valuable player.
On his long list of elite matchups, Smart ranked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the top.
“I think we all know that, right?” the former defensive player of the year said. “He does a really good job of getting to the free-throw line. He’s mastered it. … It’s tough, but it can be done, it’s just going to take a lot of effort from everybody and we gotta stay together.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is a front-runner for his second consecutive most valuable player and led the Thunder to a sweep over the Phoenix Suns in the first round. The Thunder easily carved up Phoenix’s ninth-ranked defense, scoring 126.9 points per 100 possessions. Their offensive efficiency was five points better than the next best team in the first round.
The Lakers are coming off their own defensive masterpiece against Houston, holding the Rockets to less than 100 points in four of the six first-round games. Their 78 points allowed in the series-clinching Game 6 were the fewest in a playoff game by a Lakers opponent since May 16, 2012.
The anchors of the defensive performance are two major offseason additions acquired to help the Lakers bounce back from their disappointing first-round series loss to Minnesota last year. Smart and Ayton are quietly starring this postseason.
Ayton’s 11 points per game didn’t accurately reflect the influence he made against the Rockets. His 10.8 rebounds per game, including four games in which he had 10 or more rebounds despite being ejected in the third quarter of Game 4, were even more impressive against a team that dominated the rebounding battle at a historic rate.
A strong performance from Ayton lifts the ceiling on the team more than anyone else, Lakers coach JJ Redick said. An underrated and unexpected part of Smart’s value is his ability to unlock the team’s most important piece.
“I’m just somebody who he respects,” Smart said. “He sees [me] go out there and not only preaching, I’m actually doing what I’m preaching.”
Smart and Ayton barely knew each other before this season. But their paths are parallel: Former postseason mainstays who, in Ayton’s words, “disappeared.” The center who helped Phoenix to the NBA Finals trudged through Portland for two seasons; Smart, the former Boston Celtics stalwart, bounced between Memphis and Washington.
They’re now soaking up the spotlight in L.A.
“We’re both here, we’re both trying to get our names back into the good graces of the basketball gods,” Smart said, “and just show what we still can do.”
Priority No. 1
The Lakers had two keys for their first-round series against the Rockets: boxing out and taking care of the ball.
Now against what Redick estimated was “one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history,” that list has narrowed to one big thing.
Turnovers.
The Lakers, who got swept in the four-game regular-season series by an average of 29.3 points per game, averaged 17.5 turnovers per game against the Thunder during the regular season, three more than their regular-season average. Turnovers nearly undid the Lakers’ first-round series: they averaged 17.7 against the Rockets and gave up 19 points off turnovers per game.
The Thunder are an especially dangerous matchup for a team that can’t take care of the ball; Oklahoma City led the league in points off turnovers with 22 per game during the regular season.
“Whatever moments we felt Houston pressuring, like the maximum amount of pressure they put on us, that’s OKC’s baseline,” Redick said.
The Thunder, even playing without star two-way wing Jalen Williams for much of the season, were the NBA’s most disruptive defense. They’re league-leading defensive rating came with the third-most steals (9.7), sixth-most blocks (5.5) and the second-most turnovers forced (16.7) per game.
“They somehow do all of that without fouling,” Redick said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, “which is one of the most remarkable things, I think, in NBA history.”
The Lakers, who attempted the second-most free throws in the league behind Doncic’s top-ranked 10.1 attempts, committed fewer fouls than the Thunder this season: 18.5 fouls per game compared to Oklahoma City’s 19.
On tap
Tuesday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m. PDT (Game 1)
Two of the Lakers’ worst losses of the year were in Oklahoma City. If November’s 29-point loss wasn’t painful enough, the injury-plagued disaster on April 2 could be enough for the Lakers to want to sage the whole arena.
Thursday at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m. PDT (Game 2)
The Thunder have had the league’s best home record for each of the last two seasons, including a 34-7 mark this season, but still had two home playoff losses last year. Oklahoma City dropped Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals and the NBA Finals last year, needing to win both series in seven games en route to the championship.
Saturday vs. Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m. (Game 3)
The Thunder lost Game 3 in three of their four playoff series last year. The only exception was their first-round sweep over Memphis.
Monday vs. Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m. (Game 4)
Could this be the final Lakers game of the year?
Status report
Luka Doncic (left hamstring)
After missing the first round, the Lakers’ superstar guard is still sidelined with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. He is not expected to return for the start of the series and has yet to progress to live on-court workouts.
Jalen Williams (left hamstring)
The Thunder’s All-NBA wing will miss at least Game 1 after he suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain on April 22, which kept him out of the Thunder’s last two games. After last year’s breakout season, Williams was plagued by injuries to his wrist and right hamstring that limited him to just 33 regular-season games.
(Second) favorite thing I ate this week
Because I did not take a picture of it, the only evidence I have from my No. 1 meal from Houston is a lingering sweet and spicy tang on my tongue from Rodeo Goat’s Billy F Gibbons burger. It was delicious: candied bacon, caramelized onions, gouda, mango pico, cream cheese and habanero sauce.
Street taco plate from Luchi & Joey’s in Houston.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
A close second was the street taco plate from Luchi & Joey’s, a food stall in downtown Houston’s underground tunnels. The five-taco spread hit the spot while I was hiding from the heavy storm moving through Houston on the day of Game 6. The six-mile tunnel system is lined with restaurants and shops that came in handy during torrential rain. I was safe from the elements while I hunted for lunch then only had to make a one-block scramble through the rain back to my hotel.
Free agent NFL receiver Stefon Diggs has been found not guilty of felony strangulation and not guilty of misdemeanor assault and battery in connection with an alleged dispute with his private chef over money she said he owed her for her services.
Diggs remained stoic in the courtroom as the verdicts were announced, following less that two hours of deliberation by the jury.
Diggs was charged Dec. 30 and pleaded not guilty during his arraignment at Massachusetts’ Dedham District Court on Feb. 13, five days after playing in Super Bowl LX with the New England Patriots.
Diggs did not take the stand during the trial, which started Monday in Norfolk County District Court in Dedham, Mass.
His accuser, Jamila Adams, told the jury that the 11-year NFL veteran “smacked me with an open hand” and wrapped his arm around her neck during an incident that is alleged to have occurred at Diggs’ house on Dec. 2.
“When I went up to block him, he took his arms and came around my neck and he began to choke me,” said Adams, who became emotional during her testimony.
Defense attorney Andrew Kettlewell told jurors there was no evidence of an assault, with no one in the house reporting anything of the kind and no medical records, photos or video that documented any injuries.
Adams said she did not take any photos or video that showed any marks on her body that could be used as evidence because she “was in shock.”
According to Adams, her employment dynamic with Diggs was “complicated.” The two of them have known each other for more than four years, she said, and had previously been in a sexual relationship, although they were not at the time of the alleged assault. As Diggs’ private chef, she lived in his home and prepared him meals and snacks, she said.
In reporting the alleged incident to police Dec. 16, Adams said she and Diggs had a dispute over payment she thought she was owed. Kettlewell told jurors that Adams had sought money from Diggs after reporting the alleged incident, in amounts that increased over time and culminated in her attorney seeking $5.5 million.
“She was furious and she wanted Mr. Diggs to pay in every sense of that word,” Kettlewell said.
Asked Tuesday about the $5.5-million claim, Adams answered at various points, “I can’t speak on that,” “I don’t understand the question” and “I don’t know how to answer the question.”
At times during the trial, Judge Jeanmarie Carroll instructed jurors to disregard parts of Adams’ testimony that the judge said went beyond the scope of the questions.
The Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2026 World Cup announced on Monday the details of the 10 official fan zones that will be set up at locations throughout the L.A. region during the 39-day tournament.
These venues will complement the start of the tournament following the opening of the FIFA Fan Festival Los Angeles, scheduled for June 11–14 at the Coliseum, which will serve as a central gathering point for fans.
The goal is to transform the city into an extended celebration of the World Cup, providing live broadcasts of the matches and various experiences designed to bring the tournament atmosphere to communities throughout L.A.
Match broadcasts in the fan zones will be available via Fox and Telemundo, allowing attendees to follow the tournament live throughout the competition. Each venue will have different programming, so fans are encouraged to check the schedule in advance to be sure they catch their preferred games.
The organizing committee urged fans to plan their travel in advance, highlighting the Metro public transit system as the most convenient option for getting to both FanFest and the various Fan Zones located throughout the region.
Here is the watch party schedule:
The Original Farmers Market: June 18–21
Ticket prices: $5 per day/$17 multi-day pass; free admission for children 3 and under.
It will feature a full lineup of group stage matches, including the United States vs. Australia and Mexico vs. South Korea.
The event will include soccer zones for the whole family, beer gardens, and international cuisine from more than 40 restaurants and specialty market shops.
City of Downey: June 20
Free community event with optional VIP packages available for purchase.
It will feature highlight matches from the group stage, such as Germany vs. Ivory Coast and Tunisia vs. Japan.
There will be an opening ceremony, a massive viewing area, entertainment, soccer exhibitions, an arts and crafts fair, interactive booths, and food and beverage vendors.
Union Station: June 25–28
A free multi-day event in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.
It will feature live broadcasts of key matches and international games, including the United States vs. Turkey.
It will include DJ performances, meet-and-greets with guests, interactive challenges, competitive activities, and immersive experiences.
Hansen Dam Lake: July 2–5
Ticketed outdoor event: $25 general admission, with VIP options available.
The event will feature round of 16 and quarterfinal matches in a festival-like atmosphere.
The event will feature a transformed lakeside area with DJs, international cuisine, beer gardens, an outdoor movie theater, muralists, games with prizes, and continuous entertainment.
Earvin Magic Johnson Park: July 4–5
Free community celebration.
Will include quarterfinal games.
It will feature activities, a community market, local resources, music, food trucks, drinks, and more.
Whittier Narrows Recreation Area: July 9–11
Free community celebration.
It will feature semifinal matches and other moments from the tournament.
It will include cultural activities, a community market and a variety of local dining options. After the matches, fans can tour the park and explore the San Gabriel Valley.
Venice Beach: July 10–11
Ticketed fan zone on the waterfront: general admission starting at $10, with VIP options available.
Will feature single-elimination matches at one of the city’s most iconic destinations.
There will be international food vendors, beverage areas, live music, DJs, cultural performances and additional family-friendly programming.
Fairplex: July 14–15 and 18–19
Ticketed event.
$10 for all four days through May 31; $20 after that date.
VIP options available.
Packages will include multiple matches, including the semifinals, third-place match, and final.
There will be interactive games, recreational activities, appearances by local mascots, educational exhibits on the “science of soccer” and a resident DJ.
San Pedro’s West Harbor: July 14–15 and 18–19
Waterfront experience with ticket: $5 per ticket, with VIP options available.
Will feature the tournament semifinals and final.
Will offer soccer-inspired activities, interactive experiences, food, drinks, and live DJ music.
Downtown Burbank: July 18–19
Ticketed event starting at $25.
The event will feature the tournament’s final matches, including the World Cup final.
The event will include live entertainment, family-friendly games, VIP experiences, and an adjacent free international fair showcasing cuisine and cultural expressions from around the world.
Napoli will turn Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund’s loan into a permanent move, West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville is being monitored by a number of clubs and Chelsea consider appointing Xavi Hernandez as their next manager.
Napoli say they will sign on-loan Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund, 23, on a permanent deal. The Serie A side are close to securing a Champions League spot which would trigger a £38m fee for the Denmark forward. (Mirror), external
West Ham attacker Crysencio Summerville, 24, is being monitored by a number of clubs across Europe, with the Dutch winger’s asking price set to drop if the Hammers are relegated. (Telegraph – subscription required), external
Former Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez is under consideration by Chelsea to be their next manager. (Independent), external
Liverpoolboss Arne Slot is set to stay at the club, despite Ajax being interested in the Dutchman. (Mirror), external
Liverpool are weighing up a move for 28-year-old Bournemouth and Argentina defender Marco Senesi, who has verbally agreed to join Tottenham if they avoid relegation from the Premier League. (Talksport), external
Barcelona are interested inBournemouth‘s 19-year-old forward Junior Kroupi but will face competition from Manchester City and several other Premier League clubs for the France Under-21 international. (Sky Sports), external
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe will get the chance to lead the club’s biggest rebuild since the 2021 takeover, with significant change expected at St James’ Park this summer. (i sport), external
Major League Soccer sides LA Galaxy and Inter Miami lead the race to sign Manchester United‘s Brazil midfielder Casemiro, 34, when his Old Trafford contract expires, despite interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. (Talksport), external
Casemiro’s desire to play with Lionel Messi means the 34-year-old is willing to reduce his salary demands to join the 38-year-old Argentina forward at Inter Miami. (Sky Sports), external
Real Madrid and Brazil forward Vinicius Jr, 25, wants some things to change at the Bernabeu – not just his salary – before he signs a new contract with the club. (Radio Marca – in Spanish), external
Bayern Munich’s honorary president Uli Hoeness says Austria midfielder Konrad Laimer, 28, is “not Maradona” as the two parties struggle to agree a contract extension. (Sky Sport Germany – in German), external
Raducanu last played a match in Indian Wells on 8 March, and has since missed the Miami Open and clay-court events in Linz and Madrid because of her post-viral symptoms.
However, the 23-year-old has been practising in recent weeks at the National Tennis Centre in London and at the Ferrer Academy near Benidorm.
She had been accompanied in Rome by Jane O’Donoghue, a friend and former LTA national coach, and physio Emma Stewart, who perhaps tellingly was with Raducanu during her interviews.
“Coming on to the clay courts is much more physically demanding than potentially other surfaces but I want to come back 100% ready,” Raducanu said.
“I have been building my way up slowly and looking forward to when I get out there.”
We now know she will not be getting out there in Rome this week.
Raducanu has one last chance to play a WTA event before the French Open in either Strasbourg or Rabat in two weeks’ time.
But if she misses the entire clay swing, then Raducanu will have been absent for three months by the time the grass-court season begins.
Even if Raducanu is fit to compete at Roland Garros, which begins on 24 May, she will do so as an unseeded player.
The 2021 US Open champion is currently 30 in the world rankings but only 32 players are seeded – and she will drop several places now she is no longer able to defend the points she earned from a fourth-round run in Rome last year.
Halfpenny was originally a member of the Ospreys academy who let him go because of concerns about his size.
He signed for Cardiff Blues ahead of the 2007-08 season and played for Cardiff RFC and the then Cardiff Blues between 2007 and 2014.
“I’ll be forever grateful to Cardiff for giving me the opportunity to join the academy and start my professional career,” said Halfpenny.
“I instantly felt at home and will always look back at my time at Cardiff as some of the most memorable years of my life.”
During that seven-year stint, Halfpenny made 87 appearances and scored 568 points, winning the Amlin [now European] Challenge Cup and [now defunct] Anglo-Welsh Cup.
He signed for Toulon in 2014, winning the 2015 European Champions Cup with the French side before returning to Wales with Scarlets in 2017, spending six seasons in Llanelli.
Halfpenny travelled to New Zealand to join Crusaders in 2024 before linking up with Harlequins the following year.
After being involved as a kicking coach for Wales’ summer tour of Japan in 2025, Halfpenny returned to Cardiff with a short-term contract in September 2025 as a kicking coach and player and that deal was extended until the end of the season.
He played his first game for the Blue and Blacks in 4,347 days when he faced Ulster in the win in December 2025 and also featured against the same opposition the following month.
That appearance off the bench in Belfast during the 21-14 defeat could be his final professional match, if Halfpenny is not involved in Cardiff’s two remaining United Rugby Championship (URC) matches against Glasgow and Stormers or any further play-off games.
“It’s a special club and to be able to finish my playing career where I started means so much,” said Halfpenny.
“I have given everything to rugby, and in return, it’s given me more than I could ever have dreamed of.
“It’s never going to be easy to say goodbye but I’m finishing with an immense sense of pride and gratitude.”
Poland’s Swiatek said she would prefer continued discussions and negotiations with the majors instead of a boycott.
“I think the most important thing is to have proper communication and discussions with the governing bodies so we have some space to talk and maybe negotiate,” the Wimbledon champion said.
“Hopefully before Roland Garros there’s going to be opportunity to have these type of meetings and we’ll see how they go.
“But boycotting the tournament, it’s a bit extreme kind of situation.
“I guess we as players are here to play as individuals, and we’re competing against each other.
“So it’s really hard for me to say how it would work, if it’s even there on the picture. For now, I haven’t heard anything.”
But French Open champion Gauff thinks strike action would be a genuine possibility if the players come together as one.
“If we all collectively agree, then yes,” the American said.
“I wouldn’t want to be the only one, but we definitely can move more as a collective.
“From the things I’ve seen with other sports, usually to make massive progress and things like this, it takes a union. We have to become unionised in some way.”
World number two Elena Rybakina says she has not been involved in the campaign, but would go with the majority.
“If the majority say we are boycotting, then of course I’m up for it. It’s not an issue,” the Australian Open champion said.
World number five Jessica Pegula has been an articulate advocate of the players’ campaign, but virtually ruled out strike action during a BBC Sport interview in Indian Wells in March.
“We love playing the Slams – I don’t think anyone’s going to strike against the Slams,” the American said.
“I just think it’s us asking for what we think we deserve, but I do think that if the men and the women can come together – which we have on that front – and keep pushing, there’s nothing wrong with us just asking for what we think is right.”
Manchester City will host their FA Youth Cup final against Manchester United at their smaller Joie Stadium after turning down an offer to switch it to Old Trafford.
City were drawn at home for the game but are unable to use the main pitch, with Pep Guardiola’s first team still having three home Premier League games to play.
While there is an 11-day gap between their match against Crystal Palace and the last game of the campaign against Aston Villa, club officials argue playing the final in that space will rob them of essential time to complete construction work on the North Stand, which is planned to open for Villa’s visit.
The club also have a test event booked for Sunday, 10 May. They feel they are entitled not to agree to a switch as they are the confirmed home team.
United, who last won the trophy in 2022 – when more than 60,000 were at Old Trafford to watch a team including Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho beat Nottingham Forest – told City they were prepared to host the game.
City said no, so the game will be played at the 7,000-capacity ground, which is used by the club’s Premier League 2 and women’s teams.
The club have used the stadium to host Youth Cup finals previously but since 2000, every other host club has played the game at their main stadium.
Two years ago a crowd of 20,000 watched City beat Leeds United in the final at Etihad Stadium.
It is a repeat of the 1986 final, hosted over two legs at Old Trafford and Maine Road and won by City.
United sources feel it is a mistake and will cost the majority of the players involved an experience in what could turn out to be the biggest game of their lives.
City are yet to confirm a date for the game but it is likely to take place on Thursday, 14 May.
From Broderick Turner: Lakers center Deandre Ayton bounced across the court after practice Monday wearing all black, his chains swaying, his mood jovial as he approached the media to talk about his role in the Western Conference semifinals.
Simply put, Ayton’s high-level of play will be paramount for the Lakers when they begin the best-of-seven series Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.
“Everything has been pretty solid, just staying in my role and just doing more in my role,” Ayton said. “This is the playoffs, so everybody can do more, everybody has another level. And this is the second round coming in, so I think we all deserve that little bit of increase of confidence from what we’ve done so far and the outcome from the adversity we’ve faced.
“I feel like that’s where we are right now and I think that’s what’s motivating me, as well, coming into these games. Just seeing, listening and being dialed in and seeing the results of it.”
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Lakers playoff schedule
Second round All times Pacific
Tuesday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., NBC/Peacock Thursday at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m., Prime Video Saturday at Lakers, 5:30 p.m., ABC Monday at Lakers, 7:30 p.m., Prime Video *Wed., May 13 at Oklahoma City, TBD *Saturday, May 16 at Lakers, TBD *Monday, May 18 at Oklahoma City, TBD
*-if necessary
Dodgers win, but Ohtani is slumping
From Maddie Lee: It was the perfect time for Shohei Ohtani to step up to the plate. The Dodgers’ offense was rolling again, ready to make a statement with a third-inning rally against the Astros. They loaded the bases and turned over the batting order.
Then Ohtani chased a sinker off the plate and chopped a slow bouncer to Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes, giving Paredes an easy play at second. A far departure from the eye-popping exit velocities that Ohtani’s swing usually produces, the run-scoring grounder was soft enough to avoid a double play.
In the Dodgers’ 8-3 win Monday against the Astros, Ohtani’s hitless streak stretched to five games, his longest such skid since 2022, when he also went five games without a hit (May 24-28).
Manager Dave Roberts had planned to have Ohtani pitch and hit Tuesday. But during Monday’s game, he decided to change course. Ohtani will just pitch Tuesday.
Murakami’s two-run blast in the fourth inning kept the Japanese rookie tied with New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for the major league lead in home runs. Murakami also hit his first double of the season in the sixth, singled and scored in the eighth, finishing three for four with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Davis Martin gave up five hits in seven shutout innings, with 10 strikeouts and no walks. He improved to 5-1 and lowered his ERA to 1.64. The right-hander escaped his only jam in the seventh, getting Josh Lowe to fly to deep center with runners on first and third.
From Kevin Baxter: T-Mobile Arena sits just off the Las Vegas Strip, not far from a faux Manhattan skyline, a pyramid and a casino made to look like a castle.
The line separating illusion from reality can be a thin one in Sin City, where the Ducks opened the second round of the playoffs Monday intent on proving their first-round victory over the Edmonton Oilers was more than a facade. It didn’t go well, with Brett Howden’s goal early in the second period and Ivan Barbashev’s tiebreaking tally late in the third period giving the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-1 victory in the best-of-seven series.
Mitch Marner added an empty-net goal with six seconds to play to end any hope of a Ducks comeback. Mikael Granlund scored for the Ducks with six minutes left in the game.
But the game turned on what the Ducks thought was a missed icing call just ahead of Barbashev’s goal, which came 65 seconds after Granlund tied the score.
“Clearly I disagreed with the call. Clearly it was icing,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “That was the play for me. We had just scored. It was a huge call. And an easy call.”
Monday at Vegas, 6:30 p.m, ESPN Wednesday at Vegas, 6:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO MAX Friday at Ducks, 6:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO MAX Sunday at Ducks, 6:30 p.m., ESPN *Tuesday, May 12 at Vegas, TBD, ESPN *Thursday, May 14 at Ducks, TBD, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX *Saturday, May 16 at Vegas, TBA, ABC or ESPN
*-if necessary
This day in sports history
1908 — 34th Kentucky Derby: Arthur Pickens aboard 66-1 chance Stone Street wins in muddy track conditions; 2:15.20 slowest Derby in history.
1934 — Cavalcade wins the Kentucky Derby by more than three lengths over Discovery. It’s his third victory in less than two weeks.
1966 — The Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 to win the Stanley Cup in six games.
1969 — The Boston Celtics beat the Lakers 107-102 in the seventh game to win the NBA championship for the 10th time in 11 years. Player-coach Bill Russell and Sam Jones retire as players.
1969 — Milwaukee Bucks sign #1 NBA Draft pick, star UCLA center Lew Alcindor.
1973 — Secretariat, ridden by Ron Turcotte, wins the Kentucky Derby with a record time of 1:59.2. Secretariat beats Sham by 2½ lengths and goes on to win the Triple Crown.
1993 — Canisius beats Niagara 11-1 in softball to set an NCAA Division I record with 34 straight wins.
2001 — Monarchos wins the Kentucky Derby carrying Jorge Chavez across the finish line in 1:59 4-5, only two-fifths of a second off the track record set by Secretariat en route to the Triple Crown in 1973. Monarchos finishes a dominating 4¾ lengths over Invisible Ink.
2007 — Street Sense, ridden by Calvin Borel, roars from next-to-last in a 20-horse field to win the Kentucky Derby by 2 1-2 lengths over Hard Spun.
2007 — Floyd Mayweather Jr. beats Oscar De La Hoya in one of the richest fights. Mayweather, with superb defensive skills and superior speed, wins a 12-round split decision and the WBC 154-pound title in his first fight at that weight. The sellout crowd of 16,200 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas sets a record $19 million gate.
2012 — I’ll Have Another catches Bodemeister down the stretch and pulls away in the final furlong to win the Kentucky Derby. Jockey Mario Gutierrez, riding in his first Derby, guides the 3-year-old colt to a 1½-length victory in front of a Derby-record crowd of 165,307.
2012 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,102): Chelsea beats Liverpool, 2–1; Didier Drogba scores winner for Blues’ 7th title.
2013 — LeBron James is the overwhelming choice as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. The Miami star gets 120 of 121 first-place votes, giving him the award for the fourth time.
2017 — Corey Perry scores 6:57 into the second overtime after the Ducks rally from a three-goal deficit in the final minutes of regulation, completing a spectacular 4-3 comeback win over the Edmonton Oilers. Rickard Rakell scores the tying goal with 15 seconds left in regulation to cap a stunning sequence of three goals in just over three minutes, all with goalie John Gibson pulled for an extra attacker.
2018 — Justify splashes through the slop to win the Kentucky Derby by 2½ lengths, becoming the first colt in 136 years to wear the roses after not racing as a 2-year-old. The colt that began his racing career in February improves to 4-0 and gives trainer Bob Baffert his fifth Derby victory. Jockey Mike Smith earns his second Derby victory as the 5-2 favorite in the field of 20.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1904 — Cy Young of the Red Sox pitched a perfect game against the Philadelphia Athletics, beating Rube Waddell 3-0. Having pitched nine hitless innings in two previous efforts, he ran his string of hitless innings to 18.
1917 — Ernie Koob of the St. Louis Browns pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox for a 1-0 win in St. Louis.
1925 — Manager Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers hit three homers, a double and two singles against the St. Louis Browns.
1925 — Shortstop Everett Scott of the New York Yankees was benched, ending his streak of 1,307 consecutive games played that started while playing for the Boston Red Sox. Scott, who gave way to Pee Wee Wanninger, had the longest playing streak before Lou Gehrig.
1933 — Pepper Martin of the St. Louis Cardinals hit for the cycle and scored four runs in a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
1939 — Sam Chapman of the Philadelphia Athletics hit for the cycle in a 10-5 win over the St. Louis Browns. Chapman completed the cycle with a single in the ninth.
1955 — Brooklyn Dodgers rookie Tom Lasorda makes his first major league start as he he throws three wild pitches in one inning, tying a major league record. After his pitching career, Lasorda will enjoy far more success as a Hall of Fame manager.
1962 — Bo Belinsky of the Los Angeles Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-0 with a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium. Belinsky struck out nine and walked four.
1975 — The Oakland Athletics release pinch-runner Herb Washington, ending his unusual major league career. Curiously, Washington played in 105 major league games without batting, pitching, or fielding. He collected 31 stolen bases and scored 33 runs.
1978 — Pete Rose became the youngest and 14th player with 3,000 hits when he singled against Montreal’s Steve Rogers at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium.
1980 — National League president Chub Feeney suspended Pittsburgh’s Bill Madlock for 15 days and fined him $5,000 for shoving his glove in the face of home plate umpire Gerry Crawford.
1999 — Colorado became the first team in 35 years and the third this century to score in every inning in a 13-6 win over the Chicago Cubs. The last time a team scored in all nine innings was also at Wrigley Field, when St. Louis beat the Cubs on Sept. 13, 1964.
2000 — St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire hits the longest home run in the 30-year history of Cinergy Field, but the 473-foot shot is not enough as Ken Griffey, Jr.’s home run leads the Cincinnati Reds past St. Louis, 3-2.
2003 — Matt Stairs of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a home run off Houston Astros pitcher Wade Miller which is estimated at 461 feet, making it the longest in the history of Minute Maid Park.
2004 — Mike Piazza set a major league mark for homers as a catcher, hitting No. 352 in the New York Mets’ 8-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
2004 — Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros moves past Steve Carlton for second place on the strikeouts list with his 4,137th in Houston’s 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
2006 — At Citizens Bank Park, Omar Vizquel of the San Francisco Giants plays his 2,302nd game at shortstop, catching Cal Ripken, Jr. for third-most all time. Vizquel is now behind Hall of Famers Luis Aparicio (2,581) and Ozzie Smith (2,511). He will eventually pass both.
2015 — Bartolo Colon became the first pitcher in at least 100 years to beat the same opponent with seven different teams, stopping Baltimore once again and leading the New York Mets to a 3-2 win over the Orioles.
2018 — In pitching a perfect 9th inning in a 6-5 win against the Rangers, Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox becomes the 29th man to record 300 saves. He is the youngest to reach the mark at 29 (Francisco Rodriguez was 31) and has needed the fewest games, 494 (Mariano Rivera had done so in 537 games) and save opportunities (330, compared to 335 for Joe Nathan) to do so.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Athletic Club have appointed German boss Edin Terzic as their new head coach.
The former Borussia Dortmund coach has agreed a two-year contract and is scheduled to be presented by the Bilbao-based club at the start of next season.
The 43-year-old will replace Ernesto Valverde, who said in March that he would leave Athletic Club this summer after four years in charge.
Terzic has had two spells in charge of Dortmund, winning the German Cup in 2021, narrowly missing out on the Bundesliga title in 2023 and reaching the Champions League final in 2024.
He asked to leave Dortmund shortly after losing 2-0 to Real Madrid at Wembley and was yet to resume his managerial career.
Terzic had previously been Slaven Bilic’s assistant at Turkish club Besiktas and Premier League side West Ham.
Athletic Club are currently eighth in Spain’s La Liga table with four games of the season left.
The ninth in an occasional seriesof profiles on Southern California athletes who have flourished in their post-playing careers.
When the Dodgers drafted David Lesch in January 1980, they had visions of his fastball lighting up radar guns at Dodger Stadium.
He never made it that far.
Lesch never climbed above the lowest rung on the minor league ladder, where he pitched just 10 innings and gave up more runs, hits and walks than he got outs. Less than 18 months after he was drafted, Lesch, wracked by a rotator cuff injury, was released, his major league dream over before he was old enough to legally buy a beer.
“I went to Disney World after that,” he said.
But that wasn’t the only decision the Dodgers made that changed Lesch’s life. When he was drafted, the team gave him just a small bonus, but sweetened the deal by offering to pay for college if he ever went back to school. For the team, it seemed a safe bet.
“They probably have this algorithm saying ‘this is the No. 1 draft pick. If he doesn’t make it, he’s not going back to college. He’ll be assistant baseball coach of his high school or something,’” Lesch said.
Oops.
Lesch not only went back to college, but he also wound up getting three degrees, including a master’s and a PhD from Harvard. It was arguably the most important investment in humanity the Dodgers made since signing Jackie Robinson, because Lesch went on to become one of the world’s top experts on the Middle East, writing 18 books and more than 140 other publications while advising four presidents and a cadre of United Nations diplomats.
David Lesch interacts with students in his history class at Trinity University in San Antonio.
(Lucero Salinas / Trinity University)
“That was the best deal,” Lesch, 65, said by phone from San Antonio, where he is the Ewing Halsell Distinguished Professor of History at Trinity University.
“Without that I probably could not have said yes to Harvard because of the price. The Dodgers committed to paying.”
And by doing so, the Dodgers may have altered history just a bit.
Lesch’s regular meetings with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, which ended with Lesch facilitating an important if temporary breakthrough in U.S.-Syrian relations? The diplomatic and conflict-resolution work in Syria and the wider U.N. initiatives on regional issues throughout the Middle East? The thousands of students Lesch inspired to go on to perform important diplomatic and public-service roles of their own?
None of that happens if Lesch’s shoulder had held on or if the Dodgers had reneged on their deal.
“It was very fortunate that he hurt his rotator cuff. Baseball’s loss is academia’s gain,” said Robert Freedman, a scholar and expert on Russian and Middle Eastern politics who taught Lesch at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
“I’ve been teaching for, I guess, 60 years now and I can tell when a student can see a complex problem and can penetrate right to the heart of the problem very quickly. He was one of those students.”
Still, it took a slightly offhand comment from Freedman, who now teaches at Johns Hopkins, to launch Lesch on his post-baseball career.
“We were having lunch and he was looking for a project and I mentioned to him ‘you know, there hasn’t been a good American scholar doing work on Syria for many, many years,’” he said.
“That struck his interest.”
Playing a child’s game and managing life-and-death Middle East politics share very little in common. But Lesch made the transition seamlessly.
“It is like he’s several different people, or has been,” said journalist and author Catherine Nixon Cooke, whose book “Dodgers to Damascus: David Lesch’s Journey from Baseball to the Middle East” traces those parallel lives.
“I’m wondering if, in a sense, it all worked out the way it was supposed to,” Cooke continued. “Even though his dream was to be a major leaguer, David certainly has reinvented himself to this really remarkable man following a completely different path.
“It was the Dodgers who paid for him to go to Harvard and so it’s kind of a weird thing. Baseball took away his dream because he got hurt, but baseball also gave him his backup plan.”
Lesch was still a teenager when, 20 minutes into his first spring training camp in Vero Beach, Fla., Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda plucked him off a minor league practice field to pitch batting practice in the main stadium.
It was the first time — and nearly the last — that Lesch faced big-league hitters. And it didn’t start well.
Batting practice pitchers throw from behind an L-shaped screen that protects them from comebackers and Lesch had never used one. That, combined with his understandable nervousness, caused him to short-arm his first fastball, which sailed at Cey’s head, sending him sprawling into the dirt.
“He got up and gave me this mean look,” Lesch said. “I remember it so vividly right now. I really thought I was going to be released that day.”
Instead, he gathered himself and finished the session, earning pats on the back from both Garvey and Lasorda. The incident, he said, has colored the rest of his life.
“I’ve met with presidents, prime ministers, been in war zones, all sorts of things,” Lesch said. “Anytime I say ‘well, you know, this should make me nervous,’ I think about that episode and the fact that I made it through and did OK.”
In high school, Lesch had focused on basketball and baseball. Academics? Not so much. So after spending his freshman year of college at Western Maryland College, he transferred to Central Arizona, a junior college, so he would be eligible for the January 1980 draft, allowing him to trade his books in for a baseball.
The so-called secondary draft, which was discontinued six years later, was specifically targeted toward winter high school graduates, junior college players, college dropouts and amateurs who had been previously drafted but did not sign. As a result, the bonuses teams offered winter draft picks were just a fraction of what players taken in the June draft received.
Lesch’s was so low, he can’t even remember what it was.
“I want to say $10,000 to $15,000,” he said. “No more than $20,000.”
When it became clear the Dodgers weren’t going to budge on the money, Lesch’s father, Warren, a family physician in suburban Baltimore, pulled out the Harford County phone book and looked up the number for Baltimore Orioles coach Cal Ripken Sr. Lesch played high school ball against Ripken’s son Cal Jr., who had been a second-round draft pick of the Orioles two years earlier. So his father thought the Ripkens might have some advice on what to ask of the Dodgers.
David Lesch, a former Dodgers draft pick, stands on the baseball diamond at Trinity University in San Antonio.
(Lucero Salinas / Trinity University)
“Ripken goes ‘does your son like school and is he smart?’” Lesch’s older brother Bob remembers. “So Ripken suggested if they offer you XYZ bonus money, take less and say ‘I’ll take this amount, but you have to cover education if he doesn’t make it.’”
Neither side thought that clause would ever be triggered; Lesch, a big, intimidating right-hander who threw bullets from behind Coke-bottle eyeglasses, wasn’t headed to a classroom, he was going to Dodger Stadium.
Until he wasn’t.
Lesch missed a couple of weeks with a back injury. By overcompensating for the sore back, he developed paralysis in the ulnar nerve in his right arm, limiting him to five appearances in his first minor league season.
He arrived healthy for his second spring in Vero Beach and threw three no-hit innings in his first outing against double-A and triple-A players, creating such a buzz that Ron Perranoski, the Dodgers’ major league pitching coach, showed up to watch his second game. By then the shoulder and back stiffness that shortened his first season had returned, and Lesch was rocked. Perranoski left early and unimpressed.
Lesch’s delivery had one major flaw: He threw directly overhand, as opposed to three-quarters or even sidearm, which can increase velocity but also places additional strain on the shoulder and elbow. As a result, his fastball could top out in the mid-90s one day, but when the stiffness and pain returned, it left him throwing in the low 80s.
The inconsistency continued to plague Lesch, and eventually the Dodgers decided they’d seen enough and released him. When he got back to Maryland, Lesch’s father sent him to see an orthopedic surgeon, who found the problem wasn’t in his back or elbow but rather the rotator cuff.
“We didn’t live in the era of pitch counts. So he just pitched,” said David Souter, a high school and college teammate who went on to develop big-league pitchers.
“He had the ability if he was developed and stayed healthy. I think he probably overthrew and tore his rotator cuff and nobody knew it.”
If Lesch had come along 10 years later, when rotator cuff surgeries were common, he might have returned to the mound. But in 1981, a rotator cuff injury was a death sentence for a pitcher.
“It’s just a crapshoot based on physiology,” Lesch said. “I probably was destined. Something would have happened.”
If he could do it over again, Lesch said he would change one thing.
“I’d throw sidearm,” he said. “It’s much less stress.”
He threw to big league hitters just one more time. Following the strike that interrupted the 1981 season, Ripken Sr. phoned Lesch back and asked him to throw batting practice at Memorial Stadium to help the Orioles prepare for the resumption of play. As a reward, the Orioles let Lesch hit — he never had batted in the minors — and he drove a pitch over the left-field wall, then dropped the bat and walked away.
He never stepped on a major league field again.
The Dodgers’ investment in Lesch’s education appeared manageable when he enrolled at a satellite campus of the University of Maryland, in part because his brother Bob was the school’s sports information director.
But it was 1981 and the Middle East was at the forefront of geopolitics. Lesch became convinced the Middle East would be central to world affairs for decades to come. Inspired and encouraged by Freedman and another professor, Lou Cantori, he applied to graduate school at Harvard, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins and the University of Chicago, knowing he couldn’t afford any of those schools on his own.
“I probably could not have said yes to Harvard when they accepted me because of the price,” Lesch said. “The Dodgers had committed to paying and whatever it was, it was a lot more collectively — my undergraduate MA and PhD — than I had gotten in the bonus.”
That wasn’t the only time his baseball background worked in his favor. Years after starting at Harvard, Lesch stumbled upon written evaluations of his application and learned that his grade-point average and other factors were similar to those of other applicants, but it was his athletic career that had swung enough votes in his favor to get him accepted.
“Failure is at the core of sports. And so you have to have this resiliency,” Lesch said. “What a lot of the top colleges have found is that these young kids out of high school who somehow get a 4.6 GPA, they come in — and I’ve seen this as a professor — they get their first C and they’re distraught.
“Athletes stick with it. They say ‘how can I turn this around? How can I get better?’ Admissions departments across the board have looked at athletes much differently.”
The struggles Lesch experienced on the diamond did not follow him into academia. Yet becoming an expert on the Middle East definitely was a backup plan.
“His first passion was clearly baseball and basketball,” said Souter, the former teammate. “Every kid dreamed … that.”
If the shoulder injury wasn’t a strong enough sign that that dream was over, the fire that destroyed Lesch’s childhood home a few years later was. The flames, which severely burned both his parents, also erased his baseball career, consuming all the photos and memorabilia he had collected, save for the championship ring from his one minor league season, which he found buried in the embers. It was the only thing to survive the blaze intact.
David Lesch’s championship ring from his one minor league season, the only surviving keepsake of his professional career after a his family’s home was destroyed in a fire.
(Courtesy of David Lesch)
A post-graduate trip to Syria, the first of more than 30 visits he has made to the country, sealed the deal a few years later. The love he once had for baseball he now felt for a strange and mysterious place that was as old as history itself yet as secretive as the classical ciphers.
Soon Lesch was helping arrange high-level meetings between Syrian president Hafez al-Assad and President George H.W. Bush, a baseball fan who seemed as interested in Lesch’s Dodgers days as his Middle Eastern expertise. But his big break came during the first presidential term of Bush’s son George W. Bush, when Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his father as Syria’s president, welcomed Lesch for the first of many interviews that informed his book, “The New Lion of Damascus: Bashar al-Assad and Modern Syria.”
“His forte is listening,” Cooke, the biographer, said of Lesch, whose polite, unassuming manner reflects an adult life spent mostly in San Antonio. “When he goes in to try to mediate something, he is a big listener. There is a side of David that doesn’t talk much. But he’s listening.”
The book humanized al-Assad and opened, for a time, the possibility of normalized relations between Syria and the West, with Lesch serving as an unofficial liaison between Damascus and Washington, as well as other Western capitals.
“He’s absolutely a critical player in what we would call two-track diplomacy,” Freedman said. “If the government wants to reach out but doesn’t want to take the political consequences, they send somebody to sound out the situation.
“It’s absolutely critical that we have people like that who can speak the language and understand the overall context, which sadly is lacking in the current administration.”
David Lesch teaches students in his history class at Trinity University in San Antonio.
(Lucero Salinas / Trinity University)
But that opening closed as quickly as it opened. Lesch’s close contacts with al-Assad raised suspicions among some in Syria, and Lesch was poisoned twice. His relationship with al-Assad was severed completely shortly afterward when he criticized al-Assad for failing to implement promised reforms and becoming a “bloodthirsty tyrant.” The Syrian civil war took nearly 700,000 lives and displace another 6.7 million people before al-Assad and his family fled into exile in Russia in 2024.
“Many governments think that they can reduce war to a calculation,” Lesch said. “What we cannot measure accurately or fully appreciate is the human element. We cannot assess a people’s sense of grievance, passion, revenge, ideological commitment and historical circumstances that shaped the nature of their response and staying power.
“This is where academics can make a contribution to policy, giving it the depth and insight gleaned from years of study and learning the culture and the people.”
Baseball’s loss wasn’t just academia’s gain. It may prove to be humanity’s as well.
“I don’t really have any regrets,” Lesch said. “My career turned out great. I could not think of doing anything else at this point and, in fact, in a way I’m glad [baseball] didn’t work out.”
Murakami’s two-run blast in the fourth inning kept the Japanese rookie tied with New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for the major league lead in home runs. Murakami also hit his first double of the season in the sixth, singled and scored in the eighth, finishing three for four with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Davis Martin gave up five hits in seven shutout innings, with 10 strikeouts and no walks. He improved to 5-1 and lowered his ERA to 1.64. The right-hander escaped his only jam in the seventh, getting Josh Lowe to fly to deep center with runners on first and third.
Andrew Benintendi added four hits — all singles — and an RBI for the White Sox, who have won six of their last seven games.
Nolan Schanuel and Travis d’Arnaud had two hits apiece for the Angels, who have lost 13 of 15 and have the worst record in the majors at 13-23.
Angels starter José Soriano looked nothing like the ace who went 5-1 with an 0.84 ERA in his first seven starts and became the first Angel to win AL pitcher-of-the-month honors since Matt Shoemaker in August 2014.
Soriano, slowed by neck stiffness in his previous start, gave up a season-high five runs and eight hits in four innings, striking out five, walking three and needing 88 pitches to record 12 outs. The right-hander looked out of whack mechanically in the first, throwing nine of his first 11 pitches for balls and walking two. Run-scoring singles by Chase Meidroth and Benintendi gave Chicago a 2-0 lead.
Soriano escaped two-on, two-out jams in the second and third innings before being tagged for three runs in the fourth. Murakami followed Sam Antonacci’s single by clubbing an up-and-away 98-mph fastball an estimated 429 feet to center for a two-run homer. Vargas followed with a solo shot to right-center to make it 5-0.
Up next: RHP Erick Fedde (0-3, 3.24 ERA) will start for the White Sox on Tuesday night. LHP Sam Aldegheri (1-0, 5.40 ERA) is expected to start for the Angels.
“We went to a small village in Malaysia,” Tonton Zola Moukoko told me. “I gave my passport to the officer. He was shocked. ‘Are you really Tonton Zola Moukoko?’ he asked. ‘You can’t be the one that was playing at Derby!'”
Moukoko’s legend travelled far and wide, carried on fans’ forums and whispered between Championship Manager anoraks. And there was truth in its roots.
Derby beat AC Milan and Bologna to sign the 15-year-old from Djurgardens in Sweden, where he moved from Democratic Republic of Congo to live with his brother after losing both parents.
He was a fledgling star in County’s academy, whose attributes on the game would see him grow into a skilful number 10 in the mould of Lionel Messi, often ending up at Europe’s biggest clubs.
At real-life youth or reserve games, fans would ask for his signature. But Moukoko never made a senior appearance at Derby. The death of his older brother saw him return to Sweden, and he spent his career in the lower Scandinavian leagues.
“Things happened around me which changed me a lot, changed my football career,” he said. “I didn’t really enjoy football any more.
“I found it very difficult to sleep for a long time after my brother died. Football was not the right thing for me after that.”
Moukoko is happy, though, that his legend endures among those who signed him on the game: “Still now, I have people calling from Australia, France, all over the place.”
