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When the Oakland Athletics released Max Muncy before the 2017 season, the then-26-year-old didn’t know if a baseball career was for him anymore, let alone a future at third base.

“Man, there’s a lot with that,” Muncy told The Times. “It’s just a lot.”

Then, the Dodgers came calling, signing Muncy to a minor-league contract in late April 2017.

And now — nine seasons, three All-Star nods and three World Series championships later — Muncy just eclipsed 10 years of service time on Sunday against the Brewers, eight days before his 36th birthday.

“It’s special. It’s a rare accomplishment in baseball,” Muncy said of the feat that fewer than 10% of all MLB players reach. “It’s something that I’m extremely proud of. There’s not many things that I take personal pride in when it comes to, you know, personal accomplishments. For me, it’s always about winning rings and doing things as a team.

“But this is one of the few that I’m really, really proud of, and I’ll definitely cherish.”

No one could’ve foreseen the unobtrusively great career that Muncy has carved out for himself, specifically over the last nine seasons in Los Angeles since getting called up in 2018.

Entering this week’s three-game series in Colorado against the Rockies, Muncy is the Dodgers’ all-time playoff home run leader with 16 and is fifth on the franchise’s all-time home runs list with 233. He has slashed .234/.357/.486 over 1,039 regular-season games with the club, anchoring lineups alongside countless big-name teammates while evolving into a trustworthy defender.

Even someone who’s seen Muncy’s journey up close like Dodgers reliever Brock Stewart, who was also vying for a big-league opportunity in Triple-A Oklahoma City during that forever-ago 2017 season, is still moved by his ascent.

“He’s always been a good teammate [and] always been a good human,” Stewart said. “I don’t know if he always believed in himself, and I can relate to that, because I didn’t believe in myself all the time … But to see him and how he persevered through that feeling [or] that self-doubt and became what he is now [is] super special.

“And, man, to know that he’s now the Dodger [Stadium] all-time home run leader? Whatever it is … after being an older guy in Triple-A with me and then getting called up … special.”

In retrospect, though, this was always Muncy’s destiny.

He’s long been a manager’s dream, a status that is timeless and priceless.

“I remember a guy that just got DFA’d that was sort of kicked to the curb by an organization that didn’t believe in him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Muncy. “He was close to being out of baseball … He’s one of the leaders on our ballclub, the longest-tenured Dodger currently. So I just have nothing but praise.

“The ability to kind of adapt, start, come off the bench and still [do] whatever it takes to help the team win — he’s all in. … He does everything you want as a manager — everything. He’s cut from the same Freddie Freeman cloth.”

Muncy is as team-first as it gets.

Although some stats might occasionally catch his eye, Muncy doesn’t put much thought into individual accomplishments. Recently passing Eric Karros, for example, for first in career homers at Dodger Stadium — Muncy currently has 132 to Karros’ 130 — doesn’t light up Muncy as one might think.

“There’s not much when it comes to me, personally, that I care about,” Muncy said. “But three rings is definitely what I [cherish] most.”

That selfless approach is what MLB’s premier organization and latest dynasty loves most about Muncy.

“He’s a guy that is always going to show up for the team and do whatever it takes to put the team in a good position,” said Miguel Rojas, Dodgers infielder and veteran leader. “That’s what I believe is a sign of a leader without talking much. … Every time he goes out there and he breaks a record, you feel good for the guy because he’s been working really hard toward the things he has right now in his power.

“I’m so happy and proud that I can say I was a teammate with him because he was one of the first guys that kind of opened his arms to me when I got back here in 2023. … He’s a guy you always can root for, especially in this organization full of stars. He always gets [overlooked] a little bit, but I feel like he’s one of the leaders of this club, and he will be until he retires.”

L.A. has borne witness to nothing but stars over the years.

Since Muncy has called L.A. home, he’s suited up alongside several future Hall of Famers, from Clayton Kershaw to Shohei Ohtani, mainly at the hot corner, where the bar is high after the trails blazed by Justin Turner, Ron Cey and others.

But if Muncy’s 10 years of service represent anything, it’s that he has become a Dodgers great, too — even if he hasn’t fully embraced the label yet.

“Surreal. It’s crazy. I definitely don’t see myself as that,” Muncy said of his growing place in Dodgers history. “But maybe one day, when I’m done, I’ll be able to sit back and kind of reflect on that. But for me, it’s just all surreal.”

Program a reminder into his phone. Tie a string around his finger. Chant his name like a mantra: Moo-kie! Moo-kie! Moo-kie!

Whatever it takes to jog Mookie Betts’ memory, to remind him he’s Mookie freakin’ Betts.

Because this Dodgers’ three-peat campaign won’t succeed without his contributions at the plate.

The Dodgers lose the plot without the swagger they’re used to from the four-time champion in their midst.

They need Betts to be that right-handed hitter who will keep opposing pitchers honest in a lineup of lefty stars. To help them compensate without Will Smith’s dependable bat and without being able to depend on $240-million-man Kyle Tucker in games at home.

They need Betts to keep feeding his “hope meter.”

“I’m always trying to remind him who he is,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday before the Dodgers began a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers. “The guy standing 60 feet, 6 inches from him understands the baseball card, knows who’s in the box. And it’s important that [Betts] can’t forget that, regardless of what the scoreboard might say.”

That scoreboard has really not been helping.

All it’s been doing is serving an oppressive, jumbo-sized reminder every time Betts goes to bat of how un-Mookie-Betts-like he’s been for much of this season. Going into Saturday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, he has career lows in batting average (.239), on-base percentage (.295) and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.709).

Unless, of course, this is Betts, now at 33, in his — unlucky? — 13th major league season and seventh as a Dodger? Father Time is inevitable.

But let’s remind ourselves: It’s better to be lucky than good, and that Betts has been unlucky, which is bad.

There was the oblique strain in early April that sidelined him for more than a month. Misfortune that brought back bad memories of last season’s mystery illness that caused Betts to lose nearly 20 pounds.

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts (50) celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run against the Royals on Wednesday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

And there’s the data since his return this season, Baseball Savant’s evidence of Betts’ bad rolls: His .278 expected batting average — the Statcast metric measuring the likelihood that a batted ball will become a hit — is .039 points higher than his actual batting average. That’s the third-largest discrepancy in the big leagues.

Also, Betts’ HardHit% this season — measuring the rate of hard-hit balls — of 38.8%, nearly a 3% increase from last season. His exit velocity (90.5 mph) is a mile and a half more than last season.

The game honors you, and the game tests you.

Early this month, a dejected Betts had as tough a time explaining to reporters why, despite hitting the ball hard and stacking disciplined at-bats, he’d had little to show for it. He hit only .205 in July, with a slugging percentage of .313.

“I’m gonna have to help the team at some point,” Betts said on Aug. 4. “It’s really hard, I’ve just never done this so I don’t really know how to get through it. Everyday I show up and try to restore that hope meter.

“But this is very hard.”

Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts throws the ball to first base for an out against the Royals on Wednesday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

That’s why Roberts has stayed on him, he said, reminding him who he is. And who Betts is, of course, is a former MVP and eight-time All-Star, a seven-time Silver Slugger and former batting champion. He’s a scratch-level bowler who made a virtually unprecedented shift from right field to shortstop in Year 11. There’s not a lot Betts hasn’t been able to do.

We got a glimpse of that guy in this recent nine-game stretch, when Betts hit .387 (12 for 31) with a .645 slugging percentage.

“For me,” Roberts said, “it’s just kind of how he’s carrying himself, really. … He’s always been good with not swinging at balls, swinging at strikes. So those components have been consistent. But, yeah, for me, it’s just I like the swagger, the demeanor.”

More like Mookie.

“He’s crucial,” Roberts said. “He’s got the experience, the talent, and he’s an emotional guy. I say that in the sense that when he’s going well, guys feed off that energy. And, when he’s not, you’re sort of trying to find it in him and get it in him.

“So when he’s going well like he has been this past series, guys feel good about it. So, it’s important … that he’s kind of found something to kind of hang his hat on.”

Put a sticky note in Betts’ locker. Better yet, stick his baseball card in there. Because the guy in the box should understand who the guy in the box is — regardless of what the scoreboard might say.

Coach Jim Harbaugh said roughly 15 starters won’t play in the Chargers’ preseason opener against the Houston Texans, and there are several spots on the depth chart that still need to be decided.

“The preseason games will give us a window of insight into where everybody is,” Harbaugh said.

Here are five position groups to monitor when the Chargers face the Texans on Thursday at 5 p.m. PDT (CBS, NFL+).

Left guard battle

Chargers offensive lineman Trey Pipkins (79) works out with his teammates during drills in June.

(Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)

Who will line up to the left of center Tyler Biadasz remains to be determined.

A competition has been brewing all summer between rookie Jake Slaughter, Trey Pipkins, Kayode Awosika, Trevor Penning and Branson Taylor.

Slaughter appears to be in the lead, with Awosika and Taylor behind.

“Jake Slaughter had a great weekend,” Harbaugh said Tuesday. “If we were right up to the minute right now, [I] really liked [Slaughter’s] tape from the weekend — and his confidence. Like, he’s getting it.”

It’s a given that Biadasz will start at center, Cole Strange at right guard, Joe Alt at right tackle and Rashawn Slater at left tackle.

But the Chargers need someone to seize control of the left guard spot sooner rather than later.

“No one has eliminated themselves from the tournament,” offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel said.

The list might be narrowed by Friday morning.

Tight end trio?

Chargers tight end Charlie Kolar takes part in drills at minicamp in June.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Unlike the left guard competition, the Chargers believe they have a three-headed monster at tight end with Charlie Kolar, David Njoku and Oronde Gadsden.

“They’re all great dudes,” Njoku said of the tight end room. “Everyone has their own thing … I think we complement each other and push each other to strive for greatness.”

Each has seen a good amount of reps in various packages throughout training camp, and all should see the field quite a bit during the regular season.

Perhaps the Chargers’ first preseason game — and who plays first, most or not at all during it — will indicate a pecking order.

Third safety

Chargers safety Genesis Smith goes through drills during rookie minicamp in May.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

Derwin James Jr. and Elijah Molden have their starting safety spots locked up. However, James is a Swiss Army Knife who often plays nickel, meaning the Chargers need a solidified third safety.

Who will be that guy?

“The standard is the standard,” James said of the defensive backs. “I feel like everyone’s going out there competing. We got a lot of depth. We got a lot of guys who can make a lot of plays. When their numbers [are] called, guys are stepping up. So, it’s good to see.”

It appears to be a three-way race between rookie Genesis Smith, Tony Jefferson and RJ Mickens.

Cutting corners

Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. (3) and cornerback Rodney Shelley run a drill during training camp on Aug. 1.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

Tarheeb Still is the Chargers’ No. 1 outside cornerback with Donte Jackson and Cam Hart following.

“I feel very comfortable and very confident,” Still said. “I think that’s just a credit to my coaches [and] my teammates. … I feel really good about where I’m at personally, and where the team and the defense is.”

But after that trio is a deep mix of options competing for spots on the 53-man roster.

Avery Smith and Rodney Shelley have impressed as undrafted rookies like Nikko Reed and Eric Rogers did in 2025. And Deane Leonard is probably a lock to stay in L.A. as a special-teamer.

So Thursday’s game will be pivotal, as teams rarely keep eight-plus cornerbacks; the Chargers kept seven last season.

“We always encourage each other,” Jackson said of the room. “No selfish demeanors on this team.”

Herbert insurance

Chargers quarterback Trey Lance throws during offseason workouts in May.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

Harbaugh said backup signal-callers DJ Uiagalelei and Trey Lance will each play one half against the Texans as they battle to be Justin Herbert’s primary replacement.

“Both have really acquitted themselves well,” Harbaugh said. “From what I’ve seen in practice, it’s going to be pretty close. They’re both good.”

Uiagalelei and Lance, once a pair of big-named prospects, have had their share of highs and lows throughout training camp. Each could use a good, live outing.

The Lakers are being sold … again?

The Lakers are being sold … by the Dodgers owner who was supposed to save them?

The Lakers are being sold … to one guy who owns an underachieving women’s professional soccer team and another guy who owns a piece of the hated San Francisco Giants?

What in the name of Luka is going on here?

Los Angeles sports fans awoke Wednesday to the news that one of their two crown jewels was being sold for the second time in a year, a transaction valued at $12.5 billion and accompanied by at least that many worries.

This doesn’t feel good. This doesn’t feel right. Something stinks here, and it might just be the future of a franchise that once seemed in such good hands.

On Wednesday it was stunningly and ingloriously fumbled, and for what?

There are two main unknowns here, and both should send shivers through a Laker fan base that could be watching their team become the Portland Trail Blazers.

First, why did Mark Walter sell just 10 months after buying? Yes, he made a $2.5 billion profit, but 10 months? Who owns a major sports franchise for just 10 months?

Second, what sort of owners will Bob Iger and Josh Kushner be? Iger is known for running Disney, and Kushner is known for running with President Trump’s son-in-law, who happens to be Kushner’s brother, Jared.

So crazy. So scary.

Does all this mean the Dodgers are also for sale? Will courtside seats be converted to spinning teacups? Is President Trump going to show up for a ceremonial opening tip?

Mark Walter, chairman and controlling owner of the Dodgers, acknowledges a fan before a game in Chicago on Aug. 4.

(Melissa Tamez / Associated Press)

Lots to dig in here, starting with Walter, who brought much hope to the struggling franchise after buying it from the Buss family last summer.

In his short tenure the Lakers racked up a bunch of off-court wins. They revamped their scouting department, increased a focus on analytics and rid themselves of LeBron James without the usual noise of an ugly breakup.

Under Walters, the Lakers didn’t fire Rob Pelinka, didn’t fire JJ Redick, brought back Austin Reaves, and actually set the team up for a pretty exciting playoff run next season.

Walter was clearly building the Lakers into the image of the Dodgers, which makes it so shocking that he would so easily cast them aside.

Could this be the result of outside forces? Walter is under federal investigation for tax fraud by companies controlled by the billionaire, and perhaps he sold the Lakers as a peace offering to the feds. The fact that he sold to somebody so close to President Trump could also help his federal case.

Remember last month when Walter embarrassingly groveled at Trump’s feet during the Dodgers visit to the White House, even giving the president a championship ring? It feels like the Lakers sale to a group co-led by Kushner is an outgrowth of that pandering.

Sources told The Times’ Bill Shaikin that the Dodgers are not for sale, but if Walter was troubled enough to sell arguably America’s most glamorous sports franchise after owning it for less time than it takes for Edwin Díaz to walk to the mound, who knows if the Dodgers are really safe?

In Walter, the Lakers had a proven champion who forged a partnership with the fans and rewarded them with sustained success.

In Iger and Kushner, the Lakers have two rich guys who have never been the majority owners of a team, never run a team and never done much more than cheer for a team.

Iger, 75, an entertainment genius who ran Disney for much of the last 20 years, has failed in his previous attempts to buy a sports team. A decade ago, he was in the finals to bring an NFL team to Los Angeles, but lacked the gravitas to pull it off.

In 2024, Iger and his wife, USC journalism dean Willow Bay, bought a controlling stake in the Angel City Football Club in the National Women’s Soccer League. But the team has yet to make any sort of local splash, missing the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger, in white shirt, has been a longtime basketball fan. In 2025 he sat courtside for a Clippers game at Intuit Dome.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Kushner, meanwhile, is a 41-year-old billionaire venture capitalist who is best known for his brother’s father-in-law and his super-model wife Karlie Kloss. He owns a minority stake in not only the Giants, but the Miami Heat, which he must sell.

There is no indication whether they will be good owners, and they will clearly have to hire a seasoned NBA executive to serve as president to run the show. The identity of this person will be the first sign of their seriousness in restoring a championship culture, but there will be other signs as well, and not all could be positive.

There should be fear that these new wonders will follow the path of the most recently minted NBA owner, Portland’s Tom Dundon, who unapologetically cheapened the organization by doing everything from firing 70 business employees to bucking NBA tradition by refusing to pass out free T-shirts to the fans during playoff games. He even showed the door to both the club’s radio and TV play-by-play announcers in a dramatic cost-cutting move that could be a blueprint for other struggling teams.

Which is to say, nobody has any idea how Kushner and Iger will run things. They have no history here. They have no experience. They have no credibility. This isn’t Disney. This isn’t some hedge fund.

These are the 17-time NBA champion Lakers. This is a national monument forged on the sweat of everyone from Jerry West to Magic Johnson to Kobe Bryant.

This is a community’s heartbeat. This is a region’s touchstone.

Handle with care.

A city will be watching.

So instead of the Dodgerfication of the Lakers, we’re getting the Disneyfication of the Lakers.

Hakuna Matata?

Yes, it’s weird and distressing, watching billionaires play catch with our ballclubs.

But this high-stakes game of hot potato that resulted in Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner acquiring the Lakers for $12.5 billion from Mark Walter less than a year after the Dodgers owner bought the NBA team?

For the Lakers, it really could end happily ever after.

Because we’re realizing you probably shouldn’t put all your proverbial eggs — or both of a city’s most beloved sports teams — in one guy’s basket. Especially if that one guy happens to be at the center of a federal loan investigation.

And if all it took, really, to get Walter to relinquish his ownership of the Lakers was $2.5 billion more than the reported figure he paid for them, then he wasn’t the right owner for the franchise anyway.

He wasn’t actually going to spin blue into purple and gold.

And Disney did give us some pretty great stories under Iger, didn’t it?

A native New Yorker, Iger, 75, grew up a Knicks fan. But he has also long been an L.A. basketball fan — though he has identified as a Clippers supporter. (Sorry, Clips, I think you’re down a fan.)

Lakers great Magic Johnson said he’s known Iger since the Showtime era, and gushed in an interview Wednesday with The Times’ Broderick Turner: “The great thing for Laker fans is Bob Iger loves basketball, loves the Lakers and I think that we couldn’t have a better person.

“Somebody that don’t know the Lakers, the tradition, that don’t know the city, that don’t know the passion that the fans have for the Lakers here in L.A.? Then I would have been like, ‘Oh man. They gotta learn all that.’

Bob Iger, then chief executive of Disney, addresses the media during the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge media event in 2019.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“Well there’s no learning curve for Bob.”

And Angelenos know Iger. We don’t know Kushner except for his family ties. But Iger, we do.

Walter isn’t selling the Lakers to some rich guys without any L.A. cred. He’s selling to a basketball fan whom we’ve seen courtside at Lakers games. Someone who joined us in sharing our heartbreak on social media when Kobe Bryant died in 2020, calling him “a friend and a fan of ours, full of life and taken from us too soon.”

We recognize Iger; he’s the Disney guy. We know him for his successful tenures as chief executive of that beloved company, which were highlighted by innovative storytelling, savvy investment and expansion — including into sports. We know he helped turn ESPN into a TV juggernaut.

Before the sale to Walter, the Buss family, which owned and ran the Lakers for 46 years, was having trouble keeping up in a booming NBA. Player salaries are capped, but ownership’s resources matter much in terms of creating a competitive infrastructure of coaches, basketball operations, medical and scouting staffs.

So we were looking forward to seeing sweeping improvements when Walter took control and provided the organization with a much-needed financial infusion. After all, his Dodgers have won three World Series crowns and clinched the National League West in 12 of 13 seasons since 2012, when he and his partners bought the club for a then-MLB record $2.15 billion.

But as of Wednesday morning, we were still looking.

We thought the new Lakers’ regime would get to work without a second to spare. Yeah, they added a second row of seats courtside. And laid off more than a dozen employees.

We expected they’d beef up their scouting department. But they moved the G League team from the South Bay way out to the Coachella Valley, so even the most ardent fans in L.A. will have a hard time keeping an eye on the team’s prospects.

We expected, under Walter, that the Lakers would give their basketball brain trust an obvious boost.

But they’ve only flirted with filling the job of second assistant general manager. And they failed to poach anyone from the league’s most innovative front offices like the Dodgers did when they hired Andrew Friedman. Their big get was Rohan Ramadas, from the … New Orleans Pelicans, a team that made the playoffs only twice in the last eight seasons.

Iger and Kushner can do better. They better do better.

Joshua Kushner, founder and chief executive of Thrive Capital, speaks onstage during the Big Bets panel at the Fortune Global Forum 2024.

(Jemal Countess / Getty Images for Fortune Media)

I think they will.

This isn’t a fly-by-night proposition for Iger, who headed an effort by the Chargers and Raiders to build a stadium in Carson before Stan Kroenke built $5-billion SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

In 2024, Iger and his wife, Willow Bay, who is dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, acquired a controlling stake in the Angel City Football Club of the National Women’s Soccer League for $50 million, pushing its valuation to $250 million, a record for a women’s sports team.

Angel City hasn’t been winning, but they doubled the staff and wasted no time setting up a sizable new performance center at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. The WNBA’s Sparks, which Walter has owned since 2014, are still waiting for their own practice facility, which is now finally under construction in El Segundo.

“As lifelong NBA fans,” Kushner and Iger said in a statement, “we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world.”

Iger knows as much as anyone about successfully stewarding an iconic brand.

Now he could be the Imagineer to bring the 17-time champion Lakers back to the happiest place on earth — the NBA’s mountaintop.

With the blink of an eye, years go by so fast covering high school athletes. It seems like only yesterday Jake Bauers was a senior at Marina High collecting 48 hits with a .571 batting average. Thirteen years later, Bauers has a beard, tattoos and is in his seventh major league season as the first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The last time I saw him was the Division 1 championship game at Dodger Stadium. His team lost 1-0 to Harvard-Westlake and Jack Flaherty at Dodger Stadium.

Fast-forward to Tuesday afternoon. He’s in the visiting clubhouse at Petco Park preparing to face the San Diego Padres, the team that drafted him in the seventh round in 2017. He’s as levelheaded and as comfortable as he was living in Huntington Beach. He has 21 home runs this season. Not bad for someone who didn’t get to play varsity baseball until his junior season.

Wearing No. 11 on her cheek at Marina games was his girlfriend, Lauren Carr, now his wife and mother of his two children.

“Same one,” he said of his biggest fan.

Not playing varsity until junior year is now considered a little unusual for top players, but Bauers said it’s nothing to think deeply about.

“We had a good team,” he said. “Maybe it was frustrating at the time. In hindsight, it doesn’t really matter. If you’re a good player, you’ll keep playing.”

The Brewers can call themselves the best team with the most Southern California natives. Trevor Megill, a high school teammate of Bauers, joins Joey Ortiz (Garden Grove Pacifica), Brice Turang (Corona Santiago), Garrett Mitchell (Orange Lutheran) and Christian Yelich (Westlake) as the SoCal group.

“We got a lot of guys from Southern California,” Turang said. “It’s cool. A lot of guys played against each other in high school.”

The Brewers also drafted in the last two years the Ebel brothers from Corona, Brady and Trey, so when they make visits to Dodger Stadium, it’s a big deal.

“Crazy,” Turang said of the Southern California players getting asked for tickets.

Bauers, 30, certainly hasn’t lost his passion for fun. He was playing two Brewers in a video game before heading out to the field.

He said people change as they get older.

“Years of experiences, you gain perspective if you’re willing to look at yourself,” he said.

Turang was asked what high school kids today need to do to succeed in their journey to major league baseball.

“You have to practice every day. This doesn’t come easily,” he said.

As an aspiring young quarterback at Muleshoe High in the early 2000s, Lincoln Riley attended a football camp at Texas Christian University, run by a coach known even then as a mastermind of defense, a man whose ideas and 4-2-5 scheme would one day be disseminated across college football.

Gary Patterson had just been elevated from defensive coordinator to head coach at TCU, a job he would occupy for the next two decades. Around the same time, his staff saw something in Riley. They talked briefly about giving him a shot at safety on Patterson’s vaunted TCU defense.

“Needless to say,” Riley told The Oklahoman in 2018, “it didn’t turn out.”

But a quarter-century after first crossing paths at that camp, it’s now the young quarterback giving the old ball coach a chance to prove himself.

When USC announced it was hiring Patterson as Riley’s defensive coordinator in January, ears perked up across college football. On one hand, Patterson, 66, is a freshly minted College Football Hall of Famer and one of the great defensive minds of the modern era. On the other hand, he hasn’t led a college football team since 2021, when he was forced out at TCU, and a lot has changed in the sport since. Not to mention it’s been more than 25 years since Patterson last served as a coordinator.

Those were fair concerns, considering all that’s riding on Riley getting it right with Patterson, his third defensive coordinator in five seasons. But after seven months with him on the job, you won’t find anyone at USC — players, coaches or administrators alike — with an ounce of distress over Patterson’s stamina.

“I think I would have had more reservations had I not known him,” Riley said. “But that fire still burns very, very hot.”

That much was obvious in the spring when Patterson jumped into the middle of a tackling circuit to teach proper technique, and ended up running through the whole drill. He even delivered a blow at the end.

“He knocked the guy back,” said safeties coach Paul Gonzales, who coached with Patterson for a decade at TCU. “For a 60-year old guy, he still got some pop.”

USC defensive coordinator Gary Patterson watches practice in March.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Riley is betting big on that translating to the Trojans’ defense this fall. Over his four seasons as USC’s coach, there’s no mistaking what’s held Riley back from reaching the same heights at USC as he had at Oklahoma. The Trojans finished 124th, 104th, 87th and 65th in yards allowed per play during those years.

At TCU, Patterson’s defenses finished No. 1 in yards allowed five times during a 10-year stretch. Yet in the second half of his tenure at TCU, there was a noticeable decline, as his defenses finished in the top 25 of that same category just twice.

It was during that time that Riley’s offense went toe-to-toe with Patterson’s defense on numerous occasions. Riley, who was in his first head coaching job at Oklahoma, got the better of Patterson in each of their four meetings, piling up at least 498 total yards each time out.

“There was never anyone who was more of a pain to gameplan for or try to move the ball against than this guy,” Riley said.

During his five years away from coaching, Patterson said he actually spent more time studying the game than he had at TCU, where he was often consumed with other responsibilities. After consulting briefly at Texas and Baylor, Patterson took a job with an Amazon college football show, he says, primarily for the subscription service that came with it. Every Sunday morning, he’d watch whatever college game he wanted, just to stay fresh.

When he did return to coaching, Patterson didn’t just want to install the same scheme he used at TCU. So he closely studied Ohio State and Indiana’s defenses, which gave up a combined 32 touchdowns last season — seven fewer than USC’s defense (39). He took cues on how both clamped down better than anyone else in the red zone, where they each allowed opponents to convert touchdowns just 37% of the time.

“All I did was do football,” Patterson said. “I mean, it’s like getting married. I mean, it’s like I got nothing else. I wasn’t doing anything else.”

Those habits haven’t changed at USC. When other assistants took time for vacation this summer, Patterson stayed in the facility. He wanted to hone in on how to install his defense for a second time this fall. So he came in every day before 7 a.m., in a mostly empty office — just to beat the traffic.

“You want to change things, it’s a full-time job,” Patterson said. “It’s not one of those things that you do 70 or 80% of your time.”

It also gave him time to get to know his new players, each of whom have been summarily stunned by their veteran coach’s vitality.

“I don’t know how old he is, but he‘s out there like he’s 30,” linebacker Desman Stephens said. “He‘s still being active with us. He’s showing us drills. Like, if he want it done right, he gonna show you the exact way how to do it.”

So far, at USC, Patterson has had his hands on just about every detail of the defense. Which is precisely what Riley envisioned after watching him coach at TCU — and why he wasn’t worried about the game passing Patterson by.

“He was such a hands-on head coach,” Riley said. “He wasn’t a head coach just kind of doing a practice schedule, doing the speech, getting out early. He didn’t just straight CEO this thing, right? He was still calling defense, still game planning. He was very involved in every aspect of that program through all those years.”

USC defensive coordinator Gary Patterson fist bumps linebacker Desman Stephens during practice on Aug. 5.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

He won’t have to do that at USC. And Patterson seems perfectly fine with that.

But while others still wonder if he can make a successful return to college football, with a scheme that hasn’t been tested since 2021, Patterson is pretty confident his decades of experience count for something, too.

“It’s an advantage for me compared to somebody that’s 30 years old and doesn’t have kids, never been married, doesn’t know what it’s like to grow somebody up and raise a family and do things,” Patterson said.

“This is, I think, my 45th season. … “There’s not a lot of guys in this profession of the age where you can go back to all the things that I’ve learned through all the years.”

Rodrick Pleasant grew up with built-in role models.

His two older brothers were both Division I athletes with Dominic Davis playing football and running track at USC and Diab Davis running track at California.

For a dual-sport athlete with big dreams like Pleasant, having mentors in his two brothers to lean on and gain advice from was everything he ever needed.

But once the four-star Gardena Serra product made it to Oregon for his first year of college football, he struggled to adapt and get situated in Eugene, Ore., — he needed another older brother.

Defensive back Rodrick Pleasant signals downfield during a UCLA football preseason practice.

(Isabella Serafini/UCLA Athletics)

And it was former Oregon and Chargers cornerback Nikko Reed who stepped up to the plate and guided Pleasant through his first two years of Power Four football.

Reed’s impact on Pleasant was so profound that the UCLA cornerback promised himself that he would be the Reed to other younger players.

And now it is the senior’s time to pay it forward.

“That’s what I’ve taken pride in in the spring, being a leader, being a guy that can talk too, being the guy that I needed when I was a young kid,” Pleasant said on the second day of UCLA preseason camp. “I’ve had great leaders for me when I was at another place, and that’s what I’ve been trying to work on and be there for the guys because I know I’ve dealt with stuff that they’re going through, so that’s what’s been the biggest thing for me.”

Pleasant got his first taste of leadership throughout spring practices. He was recovering from a shoulder injury suffered at the tail end of the 2025 season and had to sit out of team and contact drills.

On the sideline, Pleasant had to learn to impact the game and the players around him without stepping onto the field.

The 2025 All-Big Ten honorable mention honoree quickly found out that by coaching others, he could also help himself.

“Being out there and being able to coach the guys and help the guys. If you can coach it, you can play it,” Pleasant said. “It wasn’t a frustration. I believe in the staff. I believe in what we’re doing here and they had me limited … for a certain reason. I trust the process.”

Pleasant’s belief in the process stemmed from his confidence in the culture head coach Bob Chesney is creating.

The Gardena native could have entered the transfer portal after head coach DeShaun Foster was fired three games into the 2025 season. And he had another chance after the season ended with his position coach Demetrice Martin left for Arizona State.

But the Bruins new coaching staff left a lasting impression on Pleasant.

“It’s a family-oriented place. You see, their families running around here, their kids. They’re people at the end of the day, and being around them is special,” Pleasant said. “So knowing that they treat their families like that, and have their families around us, I appreciate it.”

And no one left a stronger imprint then Chesney, who Pleasant said has been the same guy ever since their meeting.

Despite five new cornerbacks joining the team through the transfer portal and 2026 recruiting class, the comfort induced by the family-oriented coaching staff has allowed Pleasant’s leadership to flourish, supporting one of the deepest position groups on the team.

“We’ve been jelling. . We’ve been practicing for a very long time together and the chemistry is there,” Pleasant said. “It’s exciting. A lot of dudes are on the same page together, so that’s what I’m really excited about.”

Pleasant is determined to be a leader among the defensive back group and in the locker room, being the person Reed was to him.

And one of the first players he took under his wing was sophomore cornerback Osiris Gilbert, a UConn transfer.

“That’s my guy. He’s a young guy. He’s going to be special,” Pleasant said of Gilbert. “He has talent. He’s a competitor, and I’m excited about this season for him. He has a lot to give out to us, and he’s going to bring a lot out of us.”

Rodrick Pleasant, center, of Gardena Serra wins the 100 meters state championship in 10.20 seconds in 2023. Jaelon Barbarin, left, of Simi Valley finished sixth and Anthony Flowers of South Torrance was fourth.

(Nick Koza)

While Pleasant’s leadership is centered around UCLA football, it does not end there.

The defensive back and former 100-meter sprinter who broke the California state record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.14 at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet in 2023 is also supporting the Los Angeles Jets Track Club.

“I went to the [USA Track and Field] Junior Olympics this past weekend and it’s just great seeing the young kids,” Pleasant said. “I’m a Jet at heart, and being out there and watching them run, it brings back memories. I’ve done it and the youth is a special place. Being somebody that they can see has done it before is like no other. So that’s why I wanted to get back. I like to be there because I know I needed somebody.”

A tempting life as a full-time family man nearly pulled Khalil Mack away from football.

“I was leaning towards coming back the whole time,” Mack said of mulling retirement before signing a one-year, $18-million contract in March to remain with the Chargers. “But it’s just considering the stage of life my kids are at, that balance of being a dad and a husband but still trying to follow the dream. I feel like I’m still in a position to do both.”

The future Hall of Famer decided the show must go on.

And now, with championship aspirations entering his 13th season, and fifth in Los Angeles, Mack is basking in his role as the Chargers’ elder statesman.

“Priceless,” defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary said of the 35-year-old outside linebacker’s presence. “He’s the flag bearer of our culture on defense. He leads the way with his actions. … When it’s time for him to say something, he’s going to say something.

“You’ve got a group of young edges in that room that all they’re doing is watching everything he does [and] listening to everything he says. It’s more valuable than anything I can say or do.”

IChargers linebacker Khalil Mack embraces one of his son on the sideline before a game against the Raiders at SoFi Stadium last season.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

He’s the 2016 defensive player of the year. He has nine Pro Bowl selections and three All-Pro nods under his belt. And 113 sacks to his name.

Mack, despite coming off an injury-riddled down year, has never needed an introduction.

“He’s one of the best players of our generation,” offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel said.

Yet, perhaps even more invaluable than Mack’s on-the-field impact is his leadership.

“Oh, man, I try,” Mack said. “I try to motivate.”

He’s pretty good at it.

Whether by sharing pointers with rookies or helping rising stars such as teammate Tuli Tuipulotu navigate fuzzy contract negotiations, Mack makes himself available to help those in the Chargers organization become their best selves.

“It is unique,” Mack said of being a resource. “When you’re in that room, you want to be the guy you wanted to see early on … have those conversations that you wanted to have early on in your career, whether it was financial [or] different conversations you wanted to have and guys pouring into you.”

Mack learned the importance of passing down knowledge as a youngster in Oakland under the tutelage of seasoned veterans Charles Woodson and Justin Tuck.

“I feel like it [was] the catalyst for my career. I had them to lean on and those examples to lean on,” Mack said.

Nowadays, the Buffalo product stands on the other side of the street, paving the way for the next generation as one of the league’s older stars.

“I got friends that don’t play anymore,” Mack jested. “They’re like, ‘Aye, Mack, it’s lonely on this side.’ They’re always talking about the locker room and camaraderie. It’s just knowing how special being in the locker room is and being around your guys and enjoying it while you can.”

On that note, Mack has made it a point to savor every moment of training camp.

ISteelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers fumbles the ball as he’s sacked by Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack in the end zone during a game last season at SoFi Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Beyond looking the part, he has already spent time helping teammates better their technique, jumping at the opportunity to teach.

“He walked up and asked me three things that he can work on,” Mack said of helping rookie offensive tackle Travis Burke after practice. “I talked him through that stuff … kind of reminds me of Joe [Alt] his first year. Whatever I can share, I’m going to share, because I want them to be the best version of themselves.”

No one has anything bad to say about the man who wears No. 52.

Instead, everyone in the Chargers organization knows how integral Mack is to the day-to-day operations.

“Right now, [the rookies] don’t know any other way to do it than the way Derwin [James] does it, the way Justin [Herbert] does it, the way K-Mack does it,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “They don’t know any other way to do it than the way those best players go about their business. …”

Mack is the epitome of a pro’s pro.

Since being the No. 5 overall pick in the 2014 draft, he has been one of the most dominant pass rushers of his generation, one of the richest players off it, and in between, the ultimate captain.

“I had a lot of coaches that were in my ear about being a professional early,” Mack said. “I feel like that’s helped prolong my career. … You can take what you want and take what works for you … that’s kind of the advice I give.”

Mack returned to the Chargers to compete for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. But playing big brother to his teammates, has been a joyous subplot.

“What’s Coach Harbaugh say?” Mack asked rhetorically. “Enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”

CHICAGO — Just a few days ago, new Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal was on the other side, on a mid-market Detroit Tigers team that had hoped to unseat the Dodgers from the top of the league, before a disappointing season made them sellers at the trade deadline.

Still, with that perspective, he wasn’t going to entertain any talk about the Dodgers ruining baseball.

“I don’t really sympathize with people that blame the Dodgers for anything they’ve done,” Skubal said from the Barrel Room at Wrigley Field on Monday. “They’ve developed a really good organization. They draft well. They acquire talent really well. They retain talent. It’s a winning organization. Now the complaints seem to be [happening] because they’ve won the last two World Series. I don’t think it was like that three years ago. So I don’t really sympathize with people that are complaining. Because the Dodgers do all the right things.”

Skubal didn’t want to talk about his impending free agency. And he said he did not have any conversations with Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris about preferring to be traded to the Dodgers. Before the trade, he told Tigers reporters that he wanted to remain with the only team he’d known and compete for a championship there.

“Initial reaction, there was a lot of emotions,” Skubal said. “I spent eight years with the Detroit Tigers. That place will always be special to me no matter what. In the same breath, I’m excited to be here with these guys. When you watch them from across the way, see them do their thing on TV, you just have a lot of respect because they play the game the right way.

“The entire focus of this organization is on winning championships and that is my entire focus — playing baseball — so we’re very much aligned. I’m ready to go out there and compete and give this organization and city everything that I’ve got.”

The Dodgers put the final touches on their trade deadline, adding catching depth as Dalton Rushing went on the 10-day injured list with a sprained left elbow. The Dodgers added two backstops they’re already familiar with in Ben Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia. They also added left-hander Kris Bubic, who is dealing with a shoulder injury.

It was clear all along, however, that Skubal was going to be the biggest splash of the deadline — for any team, really. And fuel for frustrated baseball fans upset about the Dodgers acquiring another star player.

“I think the Dodgers have done a fantastic job in player development,” said Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, who also engaged in trade talks for Skubal. “They have a really good farm system, and Scott [Harris] did the best thing you could do for the Tigers and got a lot of talent back. And obviously they did the best thing for their team.

Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal throws in the outfield before the team’s game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday.

(David Banks / Associated Press)

“And he’s an incredible pitcher. I mean, there’s no question about that. And I guess we’ll see firsthand. But I know there’s been a reaction around baseball about it, but they put themselves in positions to do that deal, and they did, and that’s exactly what they should be doing.”

Skubal had accepted by the end of his last start that he was going to be moving on.

“Losing that game kind of felt like that was kind of it for me in Detroit,” he said. “So not surprised, but that didn’t make the news any easier because I love a lot of those people there. I’ve got a lot of respect about what they do and how they go about their business. A lot of those guys are like my best friends on and off the field. I wish those guys nothing but the best. I’ll be rooting for them, unless we’re playing.”

He officially starts a new chapter Tuesday, taking the mound for the Dodgers at Wrigley Field.

“They’ve been a pretty good baseball team without me,” he said. “So I’m going to show up and kind of be a chameleon in a sense and fit right in with these guys and just jell with them. They’ve got the winning recipe. They know what it takes to win.”

Tuli Tuipulotu wants to get paid.

Although Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh expected everyone to be full-go for training camp, the fourth-year edge rusher is holding in amid contract negotiations.

Tuipulotu, who was a full participant in minicamp, did individual work off to the side during Wednesday’s practice and was in general workout attire rather than in a helmet, jersey and football pants like his teammates. On Thursday, Tuipulotu suited up normally and participated in drills alongside fellow defensive linemen but didn’t participate in team sessions.

A hold in is one way players can exercise leverage during contract negotiations. Hold-in players fulfill basic requirements outlined in the collective bargaining agreement — such as attending meetings and doing individual work — to avoid mandatory fines from teams for not reporting to training camp.

“We keep it rolling in practice,” Chargers defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary said. “You know, you get into a game, and you spend a little bit more time game planning and figuring out how to fill that void. … So we haven’t felt it as much. Obviously, we miss [Tuipulotu] out there. We miss how vocal he is and plays that he makes. But for us, we’re just keeping it rolling with the guys we got out there.”

The No. 54 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, Tuipulotu has steadily climbed into a key role in the Chargers’ defense and is coming off a career year.

He collected 13 sacks in 2025 as a pivotal part of former defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s system, which helped the Chargers finish the season fifth in yards allowed per game (285.2) and ninth in points per game (20.0).

“I just let my agent — let the guys — handle that,” Tuipulotu said during minicamp in June. “I’m just trying to be here with the team, you know what I’m saying? Be close with the guys.”

Tuipulotu, a Hawthorne native, has earned 26 sacks and 144 tackles over 36 starts with the Chargers. He made 16 starts last season.

“It’s just the process of it, man,” said Chargers safety Derwin James, who has earned a pair of hefty paydays after a training camp hold in of his own four years ago. “We love Tuli. Like, I knew the team loved me too when I had [a] similar situation.

“Sometimes, that stuff takes longer to iron out. But man, everyone knows we love Tuli here. … And he loves the team. So it’ll get worked out. … I can’t wait to have him out there. It’s just part of the business, man.”

James, a five-time Pro Bowl selection set to earn more than $24 million this season, is someone Tuipulotu can lean on during his hold in. Another is fellow edge rusher and future Hall of Famer Khalil Mack, who has mentored Tuipulotu.

The two said they discussed Tuipulotu’s situation privately. Like James, Mack is seasoned in contract negotiations, having famously signed a record six-year, $141-million extension with the Bears in 2018 after a holdout with the Raiders had him shipped to Chicago.

“I would be doing [Tuipulotu] an injustice not to talk to him about business or just life in general, of how to handle your business off the field and on the field,” Mack said, referencing Raiders teammates such as Charles Woodson and Justin Tuck who helped him navigate his early NFL years. “He kind of bounces questions off of me, and I say what I did or what I saw other people do — just give the best example or the best advice I can. But every situation is different.”

“I just hope you know everything works out in his favor,” Mack added. “And whatever works in his favor works in the organization’s favor as well.”

Tuipulotu said he didn’t have a timeline for his contract negotiations, but reiterated he’d show up.

But as a key cog in the Chargers’ defense who loves practice and training camp, the Chargers won’t feel quite complete on the field until Tuipulotu is practicing with his teammates again.

“There’s always something to get better at,” Tuipulotu said. “There’s always something you miss. Man, I love practice, you know what I’m saying? I bring the juice during practice.”

Country music’s emo cowgirl Megan Moroney canceled her Denver show just a few songs into her set on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old singer was barely able to get through her hits “Stupid,” “Medicine” and “Bless Your Heart” before she broke down in front of the Ball Arena audience and said she would need to nix the gig for health reasons.

A video on TikTok captured the moment Moroney broke the news to concertgoers. “I am obviously extremely sick, and I thought I did everything to make myself better, and obviously, two songs in, I just can’t play this show tonight,” Moroney said. “I will make it up to you guys. I absolutely promise I’ll be back. You’ll be able to come. But I want to give you guys the show you deserve. I’m probably gonna go cry in my dressing room now.”

Fans in the audience could be heard yelling, “No, you got this!”

In a since-expired Instagram story, Moroney apologized again and told Denver fans that the show had been rescheduled for Aug. 27, and that if they weren’t able to make the new date, their tickets would be refunded.

“I never ever will give you guys a show that is not 100% and by song 3 I knew that I was not capable of giving that to you tonight,” she wrote. “I’m typing this as I’m quite literally bawling my eyes out in my dressing room & it hurts me so much to disappoint you all.”

The country hitmaker said she had never had to cancel a show before.

In February, she released her third album in less than three years, “Cloud 9,” which features chart-topper “6 Months Later,” and duets with Kacey Musgraves and Ed Sheeran. The same month, as she geared up for her “Cloud 9 Tour” — which kicked off May 29 in Columbus, Ohio, and concludes Oct. 1 in Belfast — she told The Times that she copies Kenny Chesney when training for the run of back-to-back performances and life on the road.

“Lots of cardio,” she said. “Treadmill while singing. Lagree three to four times a week.”

If you’re unfamiliar with Lagree, Moroney said it’s “like Pilates but harder.”

“There’s a place in L.A. that killed me — I couldn’t walk properly after. If you do Lagree and an ice bath in the morning, then the worst part of your day is already over. That’s how I look at it: Anything that comes my way today will not suck as much as this sucks right now,” she said. “There’s also a diet of some sort — low sugar, no carbs, just meat and vegetables. I’m kind of copying Kenny and his routine because he gets in crazy shape. He does a freaking 31-day juice cleanse. I tried to do a juice cleanse in college, and by Day 2 I wanted to die. I’m not that committed.”

Moroney is slated to hit the stage again on Saturday at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore., before she travels to Seattle, Sacramento and Los Angeles over the next two weeks. She is scheduled to play Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A. on Aug. 8.

HOLLYWOOD filmmaker Guy Ritchie has been given the go-ahead to create Airbnbs on his historic airfield.

The Brit director angered local residents with his scheme to turn staff accommodation at Compton Abbas Airfield in Dorset into holiday lets.

They have accused him of trying to build an “aviation theme park by stealth” and “by any means” with no consideration for he local environment.

They fear his ultimate goal is to have a hotel on the sensitive site which is in the Dorset National Landscape and part of the Cranborne Chase International Dark Sky Reserve.

The Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director has already opened a smokehouse restaurant and re-routed a 130-year-old public footpath since buying the airfield in 2022.

He puts on Spitfire flight experiences and has turned the airfield into a popular visitor destination with events held throughout the year.

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Now his plans for two holiday apartments – one two-bedroom and one four-bedroom – have been won planning permission.

They will allow guests to stay overnight while they enjoy flying experiences during the day.

The airfield has had permission for a flat for live-in staff since 2005.

Locals argued this was for a member of staff to live on site to provide “security and safety”.

But Dorset Council disagreed and said there was no planning reason to refuse it.

Planning officer Jamie Francis said: “The owner has been open that they are seeking to generate additional income streams for the airfield, which would have personal gain, this is also considered to bring economic benefits to the area.

“Overall, the re-use of the building for tourist accommodation in place of staff accommodation is considered acceptable.

“A condition has been applied to ensure that the accommodation is used for short term lets only and not for permanent residential accommodation.

“The conversion of one unit of staff accommodation and one office unit to two units of holiday accommodation is considered acceptable.

“In addition, two units of accommodation to two units of holiday accommodation are considered acceptable.

“Therefore, the Council see no reason to refuse the application on this basis.

“The impact of holiday accommodation is anticipated to have a negligible impact on neighbouring amenity, air pollution, and the overall business of the airfield and flight activities.”

The airfield is near Ritchie’s Ashcombe Estate on the Dorset/Wiltshire border.

He previously shared Ashcombe House with ex-wife Madonna and now he and wife Jacqui split their time between their London home and the country estate.

He has hosted celebrity pals there, including David Beckham and Robert Downey Jnr.

Neighbour Christopher Dymond said the regular flying events caused a nuisance and disturbance to neighbours and likened going into his garden to “walking onto a WW2 film set”.

Mr Dymond said: “Compton Abbas Airfield, until recently, was a polite small grass airfield run for local flying enthusiasts and was managed carefully to reflect the incredibly sensitive location and the proximity of local villages.

“The airfield now is run on a much more commercial basis and largely by stealth is morphing into an aviation theme park with numerous events, shows and visitor attractions.

“The nuisance and disturbance to local residents has increased significantly and many of the historic planning restrictions governing the airfield are not being adhered to.

“Often, on a summer weekend, entering your garden is like walking onto a WW2 film set with noisy historic aircraft constantly flying overhead.

“The current apartment was only allowed on the basis it was an absolute necessity for a member of staff to be on site for safety and security reasons.

“If this safety and security requirement is no longer a necessity there are provisions in the planning legal agreements for the use to cease, not for it to be opened up for paying visitors to stay on the site, without any staff presence.”

Philip Cayford, a neighbour and member of the Compton Abbas Airfield Monitoring Group, said: “It began as a small private strip capable of hosting up to six small aircraft.

“It has long since been accepted that the original permission was a planning mistake; councils since that time have accepted the need to curb the expansion pushed for by successive owners.

“The current application would appear to be a further attempt to increase the size and profitability of this site by any means with no regard whatever for environmental issues or the inconvenience to local residents.

“Approving this application would constitute one further step in the commercial development of one of the most beautiful and sensitive rural landscapes in southern England, and as such is quite inappropriate.”

The Sun has approached Ritchie’s reps for comment.

Shohei Ohtani is a global superstar.

The 2026 ESPY Awards provided the latest evidence of that, with the Dodgers two-way player winning two trophies, as determined by fan votes, at Wednesday night’s ceremony in New York.

But as surprising at it may be — especially to those of us in the Los Angeles area who have witnessed the Japanese baseball phenomenon during his nine years with our local MLB teams — not everyone on the planet is familiar with the four-time MVP and two-time World Series champion.

The ESPYs provided evidence of that as well. Boxers Mike Tyson and Jake Paul joined musician DJ Khaled to present the award for best single-game performance. Ohtani — nominated for his historic Game 4 of the 2025 National League championship series against the Milwaukee Brewers — was the winner, as announced by Tyson.

Paul told the crowd that Ohtani was unable to attend the event, but “he sends his gratitude and appreciation to ESPN and everyone who voted for him.”

Afterward, a hot mic picked up Tyson seeming to ask Paul a rather unexpected question:

“Shohei’s a guy?”

The question seemed to be genuine, and Paul gave a casual response to his friend and former boxing opponent. “Yeah, he’s a guy,” Paul appeared to say as the trio started leaving the stage.

The Times reached out to a Tyson representative for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

No shade toward Iron Mike for apparently not knowing much about Ohtani. Tyson is a legend in his sport and has a number of other ventures and interests that occupy his time. While he did throw out a ceremonial first pitch before a Brewers-Pittsburgh Pirates game in 2014, Tyson just might not be all that into baseball.

Also, the name Shohei isn’t at all common in the U.S., even amid Ohtani’s massive popularity. According to Parenting Patch, only nine American babies were given that name in each of the last two years. All of them were boys, but the odds are good that Tyson doesn’t know any of them.

If Tyson hasn’t been following Ohtani’s career, though, he’s missing out. Take the aforementioned Game 4 of last year’s NLCS as an example. Ohtani hit three home runs and pitched six-plus scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in a 5-1 victory over the Brewers that completed an NLCS sweep and sent the Dodgers to the World Series for the second straight year.

“That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game.

Ohtani was much more low-key in his postgame assessment.

“This time around, it was my turn to be able to perform,” he said through interpreter Will Ireton. “I think just looking back over the course of the entire postseason, I haven’t performed to the expectation.”

With his performance that night, Ohtani beat out fellow nominees Tyce Armstrong of Baylor baseball (three grand slams in a game), Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat (83 points in a game) and Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame basketball (16 steals in a game) for the award.

That epic game certainly contributed to Ohtani’s other ESPY of the night. He was named best MLB player over fellow nominees Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners and Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Dodgers utility player Kiké Hernández confirmed Friday what he posted as a comment on Instagram: he won’t be going to the White House on July 23, when President Trump will honor the team for its 2025 World Series championship.

Instead, Hernández (strained left oblique) is scheduled to be on a minor-league rehab assignment.

“It’s going to be hard to be in two cities at the same time,” Hernández said. “If I was active, I probably wouldn’t have gone anyways.”

Why?

“I’d rather take a day off than do team activities,” he said.

Last year, Hernández expressed his support for immigrants in Los Angeles on social media amid ICE raids authorized by the Trump administration.

The White House visit will be on a day off in the middle of a nine-game East Coast trip.

“I’m sure a lot of guys are going to participate and be there, and this is an individual choice,” Roberts said. “But I do expect a lot of our guys to be there.”

Scheduling conflicts when the Dodgers played the Nationals in Washington on April 3-5 pushed back the trip.

“This took a long time to get both sides together, and, honestly, like I’ve always said, my company line, my personal line is I hope that we get this invitation every year,” Dodgers manager Roberts said. “Because that’s the goal: to win a championship, to get this invitation to the White House. And I’m not a politician, and I’m doing something that teams have done for decades. And so that’s where I stand, really. I’m a baseball coach. That’s what I do.”

Back in 2019, Roberts suggested that he might not accept an invitation to the White House with Trump in office. But he did attend last year when the Dodgers celebrated their 2024 title.

Roberts said the Dodgers found out earlier this week that the White House visit had been scheduled.

“There was a lot of unknown,” Roberts said. “It’s an off day, and then how could we work this out logistically?”

That set off “a lot of phone calls, texts, and communication internally.”

Hernández’s injury rehab has moved along more quickly than Roberts initially expected. He landed on the injury list in late May after playing in just two games following offseason surgery on his left elbow.

“He looks normal,” Roberts said last weekend. “I’m not saying miraculous, but I’m really in disbelief how well he responded, given the injury.”

Herb Alpert walks up a long driveway at his rambling Malibu estate, wincing slightly after having woken up around 3 a.m. with a cramp in his left calf.

“It’s still kind of seizing,” the trumpeter says as he leads me past a garden lush with moist-looking tropical plants.

This, Alpert accepts, is the reality of life at 91. Yet the only reason he’s out here racking up steps by the hundreds on a recent morning is because he was tooling around in his sculpture studio before I arrived. And the only reason the sculpture studio is so far from his music studio — there’s also a studio devoted to his painting — is because of his huge success over the last 60 or so years.

“So I can’t really complain,” he says.

A Los Angeles native who got his start writing songs like Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World,” Alpert has lived here in Malibu since 1972, a decade after he released “The Lonely Bull,” his debut album with the Tijuana Brass. The LP’s title track, inspired by a bullfight Alpert caught in Mexico, went to No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100; more than a dozen finger-snapping Top 40 hits followed, including “A Taste of Honey,” “Spanish Flea” (also heard as a theme song on TV’s “The Dating Game”) and “This Guy’s in Love With You,” which took a rare Alpert vocal turn all the way to No. 1.

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What’s more, these inescapable tunes came out on Alpert’s own label, A&M Records, which he “formed on a handshake,” as he puts it, in 1962 with his business partner Jerry Moss. The label quickly became one of the biggest independent record companies in music, with acts such as Carole King, the Carpenters, the Police, Peter Frampton and Janet Jackson, as well as a beloved recording studio complex on La Brea Avenue. (Moss, who with Alpert sold A&M in 1989 for a reported $500 million, died in 2023.)

After years working on his own and with his wife, the singer Lani Hall, Alpert revived the Tijuana Brass name in 2024 and launched a tour that will stop Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl. We sat down in his gear-stuffed music studio to talk about it and much more.

I’m sure you heard that John Mayer and McG bought the former A&M Studios last year. I wondered what your emotional investment is in the place at this point.
I don’t have an emotional investment. Once I left the lot, I was out of there — I didn’t look back. I wanted to paint, I wanted to sculpt, I wanted to make music. I wasn’t thinking about the business.

What’s an A&M success story you took particular pride in?
Cat Stevens. I heard this kid — he was a kid at the time — at the Troubadour, just him and a guitar, and I got goosebumps. It was so beautiful and so honest.

What was Karen Carpenter like?
She was a doll. She didn’t know how great she was — didn’t think she was a great singer. One hell of a drummer too. Go onto YouTube and search Karen Carpenter’s solo on drums — it’ll knock your socks off. But she was innocent. She was lucky to have [her brother] Richard because Richard knew what to do with her in a very gentle way.

Even at the Carpenters’ smoothest, I hear deep sadness in Karen’s singing.
I think that’s a standard ingredient to great artists. Listen closely to Miles Davis and you’ll hear the same thing.

Karen struggled with her mental health, which her fame didn’t help. Did you ever feel responsible for what she went through?
I’ve gone over that question so many times in my head: If I hadn’t picked them out and signed them, would the same result have happened?

Where have you landed?
I don’t have an answer.

In a recent documentary about you, you’re talking about “Wonderful World” and you say that nobody knows what a hit record sounds like. That’s your feeling now based on years of experience. But did you think you knew when you were young?
I didn’t know then either. “Wonderful World” was a demo that Keen Records put on a shelf. When Sam started selling records on RCA Victor, they pulled it out as a lark, and it ended up one of the biggest-selling singles Sam ever had. I’ve told this story before, but at A&M a guy played a record for me — I said, “Man, this record stinks.” Well, I was turning down “Louie Louie.”

Why didn’t you understand “Louie Louie”?
It was out of tune. It was too long. I didn’t know what the hell they were saying.

That’s why it’s great.
Probably so. But did they have another hit record? Sam used to say, “Close your eyes when you listen to a new artist — don’t get swayed by whether they’re beautiful or they’re handsome or they can dance their ass off.”

OK, but you were like a heartthrob in the ’60s.
What am I now — chopped liver?

I don’t think you can say your success had nothing to do with your looks.
I don’t think it did. You know that sadness you were talking about? It’s in my horn.

I agree. But it didn’t hurt that you looked great.
It didn’t hurt once I had a hit record. It wouldn’t have given me a hit record.

Jerry Moss, left, and Herb Alpert in 1974.

(Michael Putland / Getty Images)

Let’s talk about your song “Rise.”
Got lucky with that.

In what way?
My nephew Randy, who’s one of my managers, he wanted me to take some of the Tijuana Brass records and do a little disco number with them. So we go into the studio with a bunch of great musicians, start playing “Taste of Honey” at 120 beats per minute. I got nauseous — I said, “Man, I ain’t doing this.”

Nauseous?
The record was big, and I didn’t want to tamper with it. But Randy had written this song called “Rise” with a friend of his. He wanted me to play that at 120 beats per minute too. I said, “Lookit, man — let’s slow this thing down and let people dance closer together.” We recorded it live in the studio. Julius Wechter was playing marimba — dear friend of mine. I said, “What do you think of this thing? Pretty cool, isn’t it?” He turns around and says, “I hate it. That beat — the four-on-the-floor is killing me.” I expected a different answer from him. But it didn’t matter.

What’d you make of the Notorious B.I.G.’s sampling “Rise” for his “Hypnotize”?
How could you not like that record? These guys that take your bass line and make a record by pressing a button — I think that’s cheating a bit. But there’s 70 zillion streams on that song. Can’t deny it.

“Rise” was also sampled by the rapper Nas for his song “Power, Paper & P—.”
I don’t know how to comment on that one.

A lot of musicians from your generation have been selling their catalogs lately. Have you considered it?
There’s no reason to — I don’t need the money.

I wrote about Frankie Valli a few years ago, and he and Bob Gaudio seemed eager to have this company Primary Wave out there finding ways to —
Monetize the catalog. I get it. But they don’t have to do that with us. I don’t know if you know what’s happening, but I’m in the heyday of my career right now.

Right now?
It wasn’t my idea to get the Tijuana Brass back together again. My nephew, he’s a social media guy, and he went around the world to see what songs of mine were selling the most. Turned out there were about 18 songs. I started listening to the 18, and at the end, I felt happy, I felt joyous, I felt a smile was on my face. I thought, Man, let’s try this — this might be interesting. We started doing it, and we’ve been sold out 50 concerts in a row.

It strikes me that without the Tijuana Brass, you weren’t playing the Hollywood Bowl.
Hell no, I wasn’t.

What’s that say to you?
That the music is touching people. The times we’re living in, there’s a lot of doubt with what’s going on, and I think people are getting some positive energy from it.

You’re a lifelong Angeleno. Lots of well-to-do folks say that L.A. has gone to hell in a handbasket. What’s your take?
I think it’s pretty much the same all over the country.

Which is?
Gone to hell in a handbasket. People are confused about where they’re going, whether they’re gonna be able to have enough food on the table, whether they can afford gasoline. I’m not saying it’s all bad — it’s just hard to make sense of a lot of it for a lot of people, including the guy you’re talking to.

Your music has pulled from any number of cultures. Do you think it speaks of your Jewish identity?
Most definitely. My father was born in a shtetl outside Kyiv — didn’t speak Russian, spoke Yiddish. He brought his mandolin with him when he was 16 years old on a boat by himself and landed at Ellis Island. He used to play songs for me on the mandolin. When his nostrils flared, I knew he was into it. That kind of got me.

Jewish meets Mexican feels very L.A. to me.
I think we’re all a product of our surroundings. In high school I used to go see Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, and I was touched by them. Of course, they were loaded.

What kind of guy was Chet Baker?
A troubled guy who was a brilliant musician. I gave him one of my horns, and he pawned it the next day. He was sweet but he didn’t have a hold on his emotions.

Not great for living, obviously. But good for music?
Well, you’re opening up a whole can of worms. I mean, why did so many great jazz musicians get hooked on drugs? Maybe guys that were hung up on being a human being, they found that getting stoned helped them through the struggle. I recorded Stan Getz the first time he ever recorded without drugs. It was at A&M — he was wearing this red silk shirt that had sweat stains under both arms. He had like 75 reeds on the ground because he couldn’t pick out the right one. He finally found the right reed, got over the anxiety and started playing — same Stan Getz you heard throughout his career. These guys were under the assumption that being stoned would change what they played. I don’t think that holds any water.

Was there a time you thought it might be true?
I did experiment with grass once. Turned on a recorder, took a puff, started playing some jazz. Took another puff, started playing some more jazz. I listened to that recording the next morning — it was terrible.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Can we do a little Herb Alpert trivia to finish?
Do I have a choice?

“A Taste of Honey” won record of the year at the Grammys in 1966.
You’re gonna ask why.

You beat the Beatles’ “Yesterday.”
No kidding?

The year after “Taste of Honey,” you were nominated for record of the year again with “What Now My Love.” That one you lost. Remember what you lost to?
Not “Louie, Louie.”

“Strangers in the Night.”
That’s a real pop song. Love the guy, but not my favorite by him.

What’s your favorite Sinatra song?
“Only the Lonely.”

“This Guy’s in Love With You” — great vocal performance. Why didn’t you do more?
I’m not a singer.

Sure you are.
I know it’s a great performance. But it was one take, man — I did that in one take.

This is what I’m saying.
Look, I had an interesting guy in the sound booth who did the arrangements named Burt Bacharach.

I read that you talked with Burt a few times a week until he died.
I did, and not about music. We talked about football, basketball, politics, you name it.

What’s your basketball team?
Lakers.

Hard to be a Lakers fan these days.
Easy to be a critic.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell.

We received more than 500 questions for Justin Turner after putting out the plea a couple of weeks ago, which is a record. (Some were the same question asked by multiple people.) I selected a few, and Turner answered them via email between games with the Tijuana Toros.

Mark Haendel in Santa Monica asks: Any ideas of staying in baseball after you actually retire? Coaching, managing, college or pro level, etc.?

Turner: I will definitely stay in the game in some capacity. I love it too much and my son loves being around it too much to step away.

Kristen Lazalier in Norman, Okla., asks: Please share three favorite memories of your years with the Dodgers. Thank you for always bringing such passion and joy to your play — both on and off the field!

Turner: It would have to be winning the World Series in 2020. Winning the Roberto Clemente Award in 2022. The walk-off homer in the NLCS and winning the fan vote for my first All-Star Game in 2017.

Chris Nayve asks: What is your go-to mindset or thought that helps you when things get challenging in baseball or just in life?

Turner: The best thing is just to simplify things and not try to do too much. Take the results out and trust the process. Live in the moment and control what is in front of me.

Robert Scott Wallace asks: First and foremost, I wanted to thank JT and his wife for all the good they do for the city of Los Angeles. A basic question: Who is the toughest pitcher you had to ever face in the big leagues and why?

Turner: Felix Hernández was the nastiest. Cliff Lee and Tyler Glasnow, after the 2020 World Series, own me. (Editor’s note: Turner was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts against Hernández, one for 20 against Lee with four strikeouts and 0 for 11 against Glasnow with 10 strikeouts.)

Paul Mihalow asks: Did anybody on your MLB teams ever complain about the “pine tar” on the back of your jersey — like clubhouse managers or laundry guys?

Turner: No. I asked the clubhouse guys and they said it was actually very easy to get out every night.

Jeff Plotkin asks: Who were some of your favorite teammates?

Turner: That’s a tough one. I get along great with just about everyone. But my favorite baseball guy of all time is, hands down, Chase Utley.

Gabriel Ortega asks: What is one lesson you’ve learned from fatherhood that has surprised you the most, and how has it changed the person you are both on and off the field?

Turner: Being a dad definitely taught me patience and understanding. That just because i know what I’m saying or asking doesn’t mean Bo or anyone else does. Sometimes you have to get creative to get your message across.

Robert Shannon asks: Where does the 2004 College World Series championship with Cal State Fullerton rank on your career highlights?

Turner: That has to be way up near the top. That’s one of the hardest tournaments to win and that was always a special group of guys.

Marshall Fong asks: What adjustments did you make as you aged to remain a competitive player?

Turner: The biggest thing is time management and learning how to get my work in that needs to be done without killing myself and my energy for the game.

Thanks again to Turner for taking the time to answer reader questions.

Andy Pages has a burden

Last week, colleague Liana Handler wrote a nice story on Andy Pages and the struggle he has as his family lives in Cuba. He is unable to see them and sometimes he can’t get reach them on the phone, which is when the fears really loom large.

A few key passages from Handler’s story:

Unlike his teammates — both American and those on visas — Pages is distinctly cut off in the United States, where he lives with his wife, Alondra, but is separated from his parents and sister in Mantua. The third-year Dodgers center fielder is making $800,000 this year but can’t spend his money on flights home or on bringing his family to the country where he plays baseball. The tense relations between the U.S. and Cuba — the Trump administration has imposed economic sanctions and made diplomatic threats — don’t allow for that.

“I haven’t found any way that gives me that tranquility and peace,” he told The Times in Spanish two weeks ago. “Because the way things are there, what’s always on your mind is that it could happen. Anything, any time. And I have all my family in Cuba. So, you have to live with that worry all the time.”

Most of Pages’ family can only listen to his baseball games on the radio or through fuzzy images on the television.

No one understands that more than Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas. A Venezuelan immigrant, Rojas said he felt a personal responsibility for Pages, who is caught between wanting to speak more about the situation and being guarded because of his budding career and the fact that he’s not yet eligible to be a free agent.

“We need to preserve our job, because this is our only way to make an income, and a lot of us are the head of the family, so we got to continue to think about it that way,” Rojas said. “I would like to be more vocal and be a little bit more present for my community, but it’s really hard because I’m performing my job, and if I stop doing this, I don’t know how to do anything else.”

As Rojas describes, it is not easy to focus on your job when you see people you know at home suffering.

“We are here to perform and actually provide entertainment to people, and sometimes we are seen like that,” he said. “The problem is when the lights are off at night, when you have to go home, when you become a regular human being that is on the streets.”

The story is well worth your time and can be read here.

Perfect Father’s Day present

Shohei Ohtani missed Friday’s game to be present for the birth of his second child with his wife, Mamiko.

“We are again overjoyed to experience this wonderful day in our lives together,” Ohtani said on Instagram. “Thank you for being born safely. We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported us throughout this journey.”

Injury updates

—Will Smith has an inflamed disk in his neck and recently had an injection there to help reduce it. The earliest he will be back is Friday, as he is not going on the team’s trip to Minnesota.

—Teoscar Hernández will begin a rehab assignment in triple-A this week and could be back before the end of the month.

—An MRI on Blake Treinen‘s elbow showed no structural damage, so he should be back as soon as he can come off the 15-day IL.

—Reliever Edwin Díaz is progressing well and remains on track to return after the All-Star break.

—Reliever Evan Phillips has pitched in six games for triple-A Oklahoma City. In 5-1/3 innings, he has given up five hits, walked four and struck out five. He should return in early July.

—Reliever Brock Stewart could be activated before today’s game against Minnesota. If not, then sometime this week.

These names seem familiar

How notable players who were with the Dodgers the last couple of seasons are doing with their new teams (through Sunday). Click on the player’s name to be taken to their full stats page:

Anthony Banda, Twins: 2-0, 4.22 ERA, 2 saves, 32 IP, 26 hits, 14 walks, 29 K’s, 104 ERA+

Cody Bellinger, Yankees: .276/.370/.473, 324 PA’s, 15 doubles, 3 triples, 11 homers, 49 RBIs, 133 OPS+

Walker Buehler, Padres: 4-3, 3.96 ERA, 72.2 IP, 73 hits, 23 walks, 65 K’s, 105 ERA+

Mike Busch, Cubs: .247/.377/.396, 337 PA’s, 13 doubles, 2 triples, 8 homers, 42 RBIs, 122 OPS+

Michael Conforto, Cubs: .222/.328/.434, 116 PA’s, 9 doubles, 4 homers, 13 RBIs, 116 OPS+

Justin Dean, Cubs: .500/.500/1.500, 2 PA’s, 1 triple, 3 RBIs, 443 OPS+

Caleb Ferguson, Reds: 0-0, 1.50 ERA, 12 IP, 10 hits, 5 walks, 12 K’s, 302 ERA+

Jack Flaherty, Tigers: 1-8, 5.35 ERA, 65.2 IP, 69 hits, 34 walks, 78 K’s, 81 ERA+, on the IL

Kenley Jansen, Tigers: 1-3, 4.00 ERA, 9 saves, 18 IP, 10 hits, 10 walks, 22 K’s, 110 ERA+

Craig Kimbrel, Rays: 0-2, 5.50 ERA, 18 IP, 19 hits, 8 walks, 18 K’s, 78 ERA+

Gavin Lux, Rays: on the IL

Dustin May, Cardinals: 5-6, 4.30 ERA, 83.2 IP, 78 hits, 22 walks, 77 K’s, 94 ERA+

Zach McKinstry, Tigers: .177/.272/.259, 171 PA’s, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers, 11 RBIs, 48 OPS+

James Outman, Tigers: .169/.238/.286, 84 PA’s, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, 5 RBIs, 44 OPS+

Joc Pederson, Rangers: .237/.333/.419, 235 PA’s, 7 doubles, 2 triple, 9 homers, 25 RBIs, 119 OPS+

Luke Raley, Mariners: .241/.303/.503, 210 PA’s, 6 doubles, 1 triple, 14 homers, 35 RBIs, 126 OPS+

Ben Rortvedt, Mets: in the minors

Corey Seager, Rangers: .186/.284/.373, 204 PA’s, 6 doubles, 9 homers, 24 RBIs, 91 OPS+, on the IL

Justin Turner, Tijuana (Mexican League): .273/.483/.461, 196 PA’s, 14 doubles, 6 homers, 25 RBIs

Trea Turner, Phillies: .227/.280/.336, 328 PA’s, 12 doubles, 7 homers, 22 RBIs, 67 OPS+

Miguel Vargas, White Sox: .236/.353/.465, 324 PA’s, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 16 homers, 44 RBIs, 126 OPS+

Kirby Yates, Angels: 0-3, 3.68 ERA, 1 save, 14.2 IP, 9 hits, 7 walks, 19 K’s, 116 ERA+

Up next

Monday: Dodgers (*Eric Lauer, 2-5, 5.37 ERA [1-0, 3.22 ERA with Dodgers]) at Minnesota (Zebby Matthews, 3-4, 4.78 ERA), 4:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Tuesday: Dodgers (*Justin Wrobleski, 8-2, 2.72 ERA) at Minnesota (Joe Ryan, 5-3, 2.99 ERA), 4:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, TBS, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Wednesday: Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani, 7-2, 1.47 ERA) at Minnesota (*Connor Prielipp, 2-5, 5.17 ERA), 4:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

All times Pacific

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani announces birth of second child

Shaikin: Why MLB’s Pride Night cap condemnation isn’t the anti-Christian crackdown conservatives claim

Lopez: There might be one advantage to climate change: More home runs at Dodger Stadium

Dodgers Debate: BLISTER WATCH. Should Shohei Ohtani be shut down?

Shaikin: The Dodgers are ruining baseball! Stop them! But first let me vote for all their players

And finally

Vin Scully tells us “Don’t be afraid to dream.” Watch and listen here.

Until next time …

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

For my 50th birthday, I bought a Toyota Corolla. Wait. Is my midlife crisis car really a Corolla, the best selling and most boring model of all time?

Well, yes. And no.

I have “modded” it, or in layman’s terms, modified the stock components and tuned the engine. This is not your aunt’s Corolla. When I hit the gas, the car pulls hard and the engine buzzes as if it’s powered by a hive of killer bees.

I get thumbs-ups from Mustang drivers and cool head nods from Challenger owners. My favorite is when kids at red lights ask me to rev the engine like I’m F1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

Probably a lot of my drive-by admirers are fans of the movie “The Fast and the Furious,” which was released 25 years ago this month. Fans of modified Japanese import cars, like me, have a love-hate relationship with the $7 billion “Fast and Furious” franchise. On one hand, the movies helped popularize modified Japanese cars. People all over the world fell in love with them and the import car culture they publicized.

On the other hand, the movies left out so, so much of the story.

In Southern California in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, people lived, for the most part, phone-free. The internet was nascent — a repository for flyers and ’zines — and most websites looked like Tetris.

The fashion was baggy everything for guys and short shorts, midriffs and little backpacks for girls. The hair was outrageous. And the cars, especially Japanese import cars, had reached the pinnacle of automotive engineering.

During this era, I was in college at UCLA. I saved up and bought a red 1989 Honda CRX Si. It also had a slick five-speed manual transmission, peppy engine and nimble steering. That car got me to work and through college, and from the mountains of California to the border of Oregon. It probably helped me get girlfriends. It consoled me through breakups. It helped me move to the San Francisco Bay Area for my first grown-up job.

And then, stupidly, I sold it, and all the precious memories it carried.

Now when I hit a loopy freeway interchange at night and my GR Corolla carves through the turns, it’s 1996 and I’m cruising in my CRX, getting pho in San Gabriel or rushing to a flyer party at Naga in Long Beach. That’s the magic of certain cars. A regular car takes you from place to place. A special car takes you back in time.

To be completely honest, I bought the CRX to fit in.

The ’90s import car scene was as diverse as Southern California. But there’s no doubt it started with Asian Americans (specifically Japanese Americans in the South Bay city of Gardena) who were influenced by modified car culture in Japan. Soon, Asian American kids all over the region were taking their inexpensive, underpowered four-cylinder, front-wheel-drive Honda Civics (our parents preferred Japanese reliability over American muscle) and turning them into street rockets.

Not only were they building race cars from scratch, they were also building one of my first experiences with a collective Asian American identity: one that wasn’t overtly about politics and activism, or immigration and assimilation. It was about Asian American joy. It was Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino and Vietnamese Americans building cool-looking, fast cars. It was kids stereotyped as nerds going to parties where the awful stereotype of Long Duk Dong from “Sixteen Candles” was shredded into rubber and obliterated by exhaust blasts.

At the time, the Asian Americans we saw in the mainstream media were negligible or offensive, especially for Vietnamese Americans like me. But in import car culture, I saw, for maybe the first time, Asian guys and Asian girls in a centered and even glamorous light.

We made our own cars and our own car shows. We raced each other and then got fast (with turbos, superchargers and nitrous oxide) and raced others. And we won. We published our own magazines, built our own automotive businesses and, for good and bad, promoted our own outlaw street racer image and our own beauty standard. In those 1990s clubs and car shows, you could see and feel that Asian Americans weren’t assimilating culture. We were creating it.

“The Fast and the Furious” picked up on that. Based on a 1998 Vibe magazine article about street racing import cars in New York, the film was transplanted to Southern California. But it got so many details glaringly wrong. Its street races looked like street raves on major, four-wide roads packed with pedestrians. The races of our scene were clandestine, underground events in industrial, under-policed areas, where cars faced off two at a time.

But the most egregious and inexcusable Hollywood crime to me is that “The Fast and the Furious” whitewashed Asian Americans, the creators of this world, out of starring roles. The Korean American actor Rick Yune appears in the movie, sure — but he plays the villain, Johnny Tran, a guy who hates Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto for a crime deal gone bad (understandable) and for sleeping with his sister (ditto). Of course, in a tradition that goes back to “Madame Butterfly” and “Miss Saigon,” Tran dies at the end, shot dead by the blond-haired, blue-eyed hero, Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner.

A few months ago, seeking a mechanic to mod my Corolla, I was referred to an auto shop in Garden Grove aka Little Saigon. The guy who sent me asked me, “Do you even know who’s working on your car?”

“No,” I replied.

He told me the name, and I Googled it.

Apparently, back in the ’90s, this Vietnamese American mechanic from Orange County had one of the fastest Honda Civics in the world. A true OG of the import car scene modified my car with his own hands. What an honor, and what a connection to the past.

This import car story ends in a full poetic justice circle. As a pioneer and legend of the real-life import car scene, my mechanic wasn’t the villain. He was the hero. He was the fastest, and his car was the most furious.

That’s the heart of my GR Corolla journey. Asian Americans created import car culture. We all deserve to be the hero of our own story.

Ky-Phong Tran is a Vietnamese American writer from Long Beach. He is a professional artist fellow with the Arts Council for Long Beach. This article was produced in partnership with Zócalo Public Square.

There was a time in the beginning of Sublime’s recent revival when Jakob Nowell, the son of the band’s late singer Bradley Nowell, saw himself simply as a good son trying to help his adoptive uncles — drummer Bud Gaugh and bassist Eric Wilson — restart his dad’s iconic Long Beach trio. The goal wasn’t to take the place of his frontman father who died of an overdose in 1996. “I’ll never look at it as my band. Sublime is my dad’s band, and I’m helping out, that’s all,” he told The Times in 2024. Luckily, he was wrong.

The journey of finding his own voice through his father’s sly, shambolic poetry and reggae rock anthems, along with his determination on the road with Gaugh and Wilson through a barrage of festivals and tour dates helped him eventually step into his own as a songwriter and Gen Z rock star. It’s all been done with the mission to preserving his dad’s legacy and having fun while doing it. Now it feels as natural as the trio sitting together on the waterfront in LBC’s shoreline marina within earshot of the bellowing horn of the Queen Mary earlier this year as they were finishing the recording of “Until the Sun Explodes,” the first album under the Sublime moniker in 30 years.

Just like the band’s original recipe of shoving punk, dub reggae, hip-hop and ska into a blender, the new songs dutifully stick to the formula along with Jakob’s soulful caterwauls that sound scarily similar to his dad. But what emerges from the 21-song tracklist is the evolution of a trademark sound that gives a nod to the past while standing strong on its own, just like Jakob, despite coming to the interview on crutches while healing from a performance-related knee injury. The band members chatted with The Times about recapturing the effortless essence of their immortal beach-ready sound and looking forward to a second chance to chase an endless summer.

This interview was edited for length and clarity

It’s kind of a rare thing for all three of you guys to be in one place at the same time. What was it like working in the studio together to finish the new album?

Bud Gaugh: Magical. Things are just coming together. We showed up, Jake had an idea for another song, and he sent us a little demo and said “Hey, this is what I’ve been thinking about.” And then we get down to the studio [in San Pedro], and he’s like, “Oh yeah, so I had another idea,” and kind of changed it. We jumped in there [and by the end of our sessions, we had written] brand new songs to the list of songs that we already had.

The band’s revival has been a long time in the making. I remember when you guys had your first show together, a surprise gig a couple years ago as part of a benefit show for the Bad Brains frontman H.R. Do you feel you’ve come a long way since then?

Eric Wilson: I never thought the chemistry would be like it was with Bradley.

Jakob Nowell: Especially now that we’ve been playing together this long, the chemistry is very much there. We’re just comfortable and having fun. Jamming together is the best. We get in there to do a take for a song, and I’m always like “Let’s just do like three more!” It’s just that much fun, and that’s how it feels playing live too.

When did the idea for creating a new album come about?

Gaugh: It was pretty much just while we were playing shows, At first, the idea was that we were getting together to do this benefit for H.R. [at Teragram Ballroom in December 2023]. We went from “How’s this going to work?” and then [after the show] it was like, “Wow, this is something special. We should definitely go out and play some more shows, and get this music out there and get the opportunity to bring the music to the people in the purest form that we possibly could.” As we’re doing that, it’s like we’re seeing the reaction in the fans, and we were feeling it emotionally. We realized this is going to be bigger than we ever thought. That’s when we really decided where it was going to go.

Jakob Nowell, right, once thought Sublime was only his late father’s band; now, fronting the Long Beach trio, he’s leading a new chapter that still honors Bradley Nowell’s legacy.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Were any of the songs on the new album mined from previously unreleased material or did you start fresh?

Nowell: There was that song we did with Stick Figure [“Feel Like That”], so I think that kind of inspired us. [We realized] “Oh s—, there really is some meat on the bone.” And then I had found some old recordings of stuff that were just like jams without even like vocals or whatever. Then it became just this thing during sound check or maybe in the middle of sets, we’d just start jamming these random progressions and stuff, and it kind of just evolved from there naturally.

The new songs that I’ve heard fit right in the vein of what people love about Sublime. What was it like putting some of those new songs in the setlist as you were building them?

Nowell: It was like magic. We were joking yesterday that sometimes we’ll play a new song for the first time just randomly and I’d see people try mouthing the lyrics and stuff and I’ll say “you’ve never even heard this before! I know you haven’t. We don’t even really know what the hell we’re saying.”

Gaugh: You frontin’! [Laughs]

Nowell: But [the new material] sounded like it was supposed to be there, so it was kind of a rad little test in a lot of ways. We almost don’t even have to think about it. That’s always going to be the guiding goal of any band trying to make fun music that’s relatable.

Wilson: What if you’re Slayer? That’s not true if you’re Slayer.

Jakob, it seems like you’ve gotten a lot more comfortable in the frontman role since joining the band. What’s it like just taking the lead, not just for the sake of your dad, but for the fans?

Nowell: Oh, dude, it’s the best. I don’t even have to think about it. We really feel like this is — we’re a band, you know?

Gaugh: It’s [Jakob’s] band too. Now it’s our band. It’s us.

Nowell: It feels like that whenever we’re hanging out, just doing stuff, or at the studio or at these shows. So, this upcoming year feels like a really rad adventure. We got all these different eras [of fans] — people who were in their 50s when [Sublime’s] first stuff dropped, who are still alive, and then their kids and their grandkids and great grandkids. Everybody finds a piece of the discography they can relate to. That’s what is most exciting. It’s not just one or two songs, people sing along to everything.

I was at Warped Tour in Long Beach last year when you guys played and —

Nowell: That was my favorite set!

To me that felt like it encapsulated what you were talking about with the multigenerational groups of fans that have enjoyed you guys and associate you with Long Beach.

Gaugh: It was like a homecoming for me. I remembered playing the Chili Cook off, you know, right over there in the same area [as Warped Tour], and it was just bringing me back 30 years. It’s so meaningful to be in our backyard playing our music again, right there. This is where it all started. It’s come full circle.

Nowell: It was like playing at a local bar in a cool way. I had this huge group of people up front, they were just talking and shouting and saying stuff, like f–ing with us and joking around. I was like “Damn this is great!”

How about you, Eric? How’d you feel playing Warped?

Wilson: [Mumbles] It was f–ing awesome.

Now that you’ve played all these festival shows, from Coachella to No Values, you’ve got your own festival going on. Can you talk a little bit about Sublime Fest and your Sublime Reef Madness Cruise and how you came up with it?

Nowell: We could put on a bunch of the bands we love, and some of our boys, like Vandals, and make it our own vibe.

Gaugh: You walk around Coachella and there’s so many different elements there. Wouldn’t it be neat if we could make like all this like a Long Beach element, a Sublime element. Looking at this thing, it’s like “Oh wow. So we can actually get some of our friends and set up like a tattoo booth, and have our idea of art and everything out there, and mix it all together — food, art, music — bringing all these different elements, and friends of ours that play music. We get to decide who’s going to share the stage with us, so it’s really neat. It’s like planning a high school party or something like that.

Nowell: The biggest backyard party ever seen.

You guys always had your own sound going on, what’s it like to see that the fans still want it?

Wilson: It took a lotta years to catch on, but it did.

Nowell: Yeah, the kids really want that, like ‘90s, Y2K kind of vibe. That was the last era of like cool authenticity and stuff. You can see it when young people make stuff to look retro … when things get so high fidelity, we’re almost losing a little element, so I think these festivals kind of seek to bring some of that back in a way that everybody can get into.

With “Until the Sun Explodes,” Sublime’s first album in three decades, Jakob Nowell, Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson rediscover their studio chemistry, jamming new songs that feel instantly familiar onstage.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

You guys also have the timeless iconography of the Sublime sun logo. The title of the album is “Until the Sun Explodes.” Does that title have any particular meaning to you?

Nowell: It’s almost just another way of saying “forever,” like “Oh baby I’m gonna love you till the sun blows up.” That’s gonna happen in billions of years, if at all. The fact that [Sublime’s] lasted this long and has this many fans is evidence to me that we wanna be here forever. I think that’s what everybody wants for themselves.

Jake, you’ve taken steps to advance your own aspirations and music with your label, Sunburnt Records, how does that fit into where Sublime is right now?

I was inspired by the whole Skunk Records thing [Sublime’s first label], Evan Zinger with [his lifestyle brand] SRH, and just all the local brands I grew up with when I was a kid. So just trying to do a cool, chill local thing that has that vibe of putting on small shows and kind of getting to use this new notoriety to be like, man, I have so many friends in these small bands like Strange Case and Eight Ball, and other bands up and down Southern California. Let’s put on shows and sneak them on a Sunburnt Stage at [Sublime Fest] and if people really like that Sublime sound here’s a bunch of kids who are carrying the torch like Slightly Stoopid did when they started out. Mike Watt always said “start your own band!” So the more we can inspire people to do that and be some small part of that, it’s a dream come true.

Do you feel like this version of Sublime is something Brad would be proud of?

Gaugh: We all kind of brought our own element to the music orignally. So we just kind of followed that recipe. Jake’s his own person, he’s got his own influences, and we just kind of stick with that idea. Jake brings in his feelings, and Eric brings in his and we sat there and recorded this song, and then as we were recording it, we’re coming up with ideas. It’s like, “Oh wait, we should do this here, slow that down there, stop here,” it’s all a conglomeration of ideas, everyone does their part, brings in their own spices and we mix it in a pot like gumbo.

Shrek’s abs are more defined than some might expect. Or is it that the shade of his green skin makes them appear more chiseled under bright lights? Maybe it’s just disorienting because no one anticipated gawking at his torso inside the historic downtown Los Angeles venue founded by Hollywood legends Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith.

These are thoughts that swirl in one’s head while attending this year’s Las Culturistas Culture Awards ceremony, held on a recent Saturday night at the United Theater. An offshoot of the popular podcast that actor-comedians Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang have hosted since 2016, the award show aims to celebrate the year’s biggest pop culture moments and plays like a fever dream more dazzling and deliciously random than a late-night scroll session on TikTok.

After launching in 2022 as a live event outdoors at Lincoln Center, the guerrilla awards show reached TV screens for the first time last year. This year’s ceremony, which will air June 17 on Bravo and stream on Peacock, coincides with the podcast’s 10th anniversary and features a kaleidoscopic array of attendees, including screen veterans like Lisa Kudrow and Will Ferrell, reality TV favorites like “Summer House’s” Ciara Miller and “The Real Housewives of Dubai’s” Chanel Ayan, and anthropomorphic icons like Miss Piggy and a certain green ogre. And the prizes? It’s the only place you can find categories like “Real Housewives Award for Best Way to Start a Confrontation,” “Pornhub Category We Would Never Click On” and “Hilary Duff Award for Millennial Excellence.”

Over lunch at the NBCUniversal lot in Universal City, Rogers and Yang discussed the show’s evolution. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Matt Rogers, left foreground, and Bowen Yang perform a musical number inspired by “Heated Rivalry” during this year’s Las Culturistas Culture Awards.

(Monty Brinton / Bravo)

I will probably regret starting our conversation this way, but we all have our blind spots and, to thoroughly prepare for this interview, I watched “Shrek” for the first time last night.

Yang: Oh great! The first one?

Rogers: How’d you feel?

I get it now.

Rogers: Get what, that he is attractive or …?

I’m not quite there yet. You guys reference the film a lot on your podcast and Shrek has also been a figure on the awards show, including this year. I was hoping you’d explain Shrek as a heartthrob to me as if we’re in a pop culture class. When did this idea really take shape?

Yang: Over at least a couple years, to my knowledge, there’s been this online meme culture around Shrek, where it’s like, “Oh my God, Shrek is like a sex king,” but now it’s even spilled over into like dating life. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this, but there’s a verb called Shreking in dating, where it has to do with women dating a guy that’s below their league because he will be nice to them; he will be a Shrek to their Fiona. That’s an interesting thing — you date someone slightly in another zone than you, so that you can be like, “Well, that’s my Shrek,” but meanwhile, there’s the tension between that and Shrek being someone that people are actually attracted to. This just speaks to the enduring power of Shrek as a pop culture icon.

Rogers: I think what it is, is he has an amazing accent. It’s a very powerful thing. He’s independent, he’s self-sufficient, he’s a movie star.

Yang: He said it at the awards. I mean, he’s a rich celebrity.

Rogers: We saw the real Shrek at the awards and he looks pretty f—ing good to me.

Yang: He looked good to me. I don’t know what these Gen Zers are talking about with this Shrek being below your league.

What are the calls with publicists like now to get their clients to participate?

Yang: Last year was a communication puzzle to solve. We were like, “OK, we have to really convey this the right way.” We thought, perhaps naively, now that we’ve done it, now that there’s a proof of concept, it’s going to be much clearer. I think it was clearer, but there was still that degree of, “oh, this is …” — not to like give ourselves too much credit, but this is a concentric circle outside of what is very established in the form of an award show. You’ve got publicists who are like, “Well, we would love for our client to win an award.” And you’re like, “No, that’s not really the point.”

Rogers: Presenting is just as good as winning, just as good as performing. But I think it’s weird that we have been so late to stumble on what the show really is, which is it’s a variety show. And, so, in wrapping your head around it that way, it’s actually pretty easy to get across. It just has the drag of an award show, and that’s our way in.

But I do understand the publicist hesitation because I will say, in a world where it’s your job to protect your client, you’re putting them in a situation that is like, “OK, they’re going to an award show — that’s something this town takes very seriously.” So, it’s an ask to be like, “Hey, can you come take the piss out of this concept that you’re then probably gonna spend eight months of the year trying to actually achieve?” I would be lying if I said that we didn’t want one day to win one of those awards. It’s an acknowledgment of your work, but in that, Bowen and I think the No. 1 thing that’s the funniest thing in the world is people who take themselves that seriously. It’s a healthy mix of appreciation for this thing that was actually a big element of the culture that made us say culture was for us, which was watching award shows when we were kids, and also the reality that we now know as people that are in the industry of what they really are, which is they’re just shows. We’re not condemning them, we’re having fun with it.

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1. Scenes from the 2025 Las Culturistas Culture Awards: Jeff Goldblum, left, accepting the award for Most Amazing Impact in Film for his appearance in “Jurassic Park,” alongside presenter Patti Harrison. (Griffin Nagel / Bravo) 2. Allison Janney was a guest of honor, receiving the Lifetime of Culture award. (Jordan Strauss / Bravo)

Have you been asked to tweak the name of a category or punch it up even more?

Yang: Last week was the window when our producers could be very honest with us and say if something may not be working. Back to the Shrek [bit in this year’s show], actually, that ended up being much dirtier and bluer than it was on stage.

Really? I already knew I wouldn’t be able to include the award category because of Times standards. So the actual bit was raunchier?

Yang: It was even raunchier. It went for it.

Rogers: But it’s also a testament to how much freedom they give us to make our show. If they were concerned at all about us desecrating the image of Shrek, we certainly did not feel that way. I am really shocked and grateful that we get to do something that it feels like we’re getting away with something.

Take me back in time with young Bowen and young Matt. What do you remember about your enthusiasm for award shows growing up?

Yang: It was watching Billy Crystal at the Oscars do song and dance numbers, zing these things in for a laugh that we’re referencing the year, being in these video packages where he was in the movies. That it was live television and just this pageantry of people congratulating themselves, congratulating each other. I would tune in live every single year to all the award shows and I would follow the host changes. I remember Whoopi’s first year [hosting the Oscars]; I remember Ellen’s first year. I was really obsessive. It opened the door for all these things that I currently love, and that I’ve somehow had a fortunate experience in, which is live television, song and dance numbers — everything that Billy Crystal was doing. It keyed me in on how show business works, down to production elements and how filmmaking comes together.

Rogers: I just remember, I looked at the screen and I was like, “Oh, that’s where I belong. I belong with them. I don’t belong out here.” I was one of those Gold Derby kids — I would be on the forums; I still sometimes look at the odds and rankings and stuff. It was like gay sports, particularly with the best actress and best supporting actress races. And then obviously the Grammys, and all of that. One year I was watching, I think it was the People’s Choice Awards or the American Music Awards or something, and Shania Twain lost to LeAnn Rimes, and I cried for a day. I took it so seriously and my mother turned to me and said, “You need to stop.” But you couldn’t tell me it didn’t matter at the time. [Reporter’s note: Twain lost the favorite country new artist award to Rimes at the 1997 American Music Awards.]

As the profile of Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers’ variety-style award show has risen, getting stars on board is an interesting puzzle: “You’ve got publicists who are like, ‘Well, we would love for our client to win an award,’” Yang says. “And you’re like, ‘No, that’s not really the point.’”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

What do you remember about your first experience at a major awards show?

Rogers: He was nominated as writer for “SNL” and took me as his date. We were sitting there — the “Queer Eye” guys were sitting like three rows behind us.

Yang: We watched Phoebe Waller-Bridge sweep with “Fleabag.”

Rogers: We watched Michelle Williams win for “Fosse/Verdon.” It was funny because we had gone to the bar and were double-fisting drinks back to the seats and I said to Bowen, “Oh my God, I’m like the Busy Philipps to your Michelle Williams.”

Yang: And who shows up behind us?

Rogers: Busy Philipps taps on our shoulders and goes, “You guys are killing it with those drinks.” And I’m like, she doesn’t even know I’m her. Cut to minutes later, Michelle walking up and giving a banger of a speech.

Yang: That was like our first brush with it. Even now we go to these, and we’re like, this is really something; it’s incredible. We were at the Oscars last year, front row, witnessing all of it go down, witnessing the moment where upsets would happen, feeling the vibe in the room shift. The benefit of our show is that the vibe is pretty high throughout; it does not decline as soon as there are losers in the room.

Las Culturistas Culture Awards took place in late May and is being telecast roughly two weeks later. Do you see it ever going the live route?

Yang: We don’t know. That is my not so secret dream, is to do it live one day. There’s just something about doing it live — and it occurs to me now that I’ve been very lucky and fortunate to have have my reps in. There’s just something so wonderful about it being this event where everyone is tuning in, enjoying it the same time you are. That is really something special.

Rogers: If he’s down, I’m down.

I’m sure this changes each year, but who’s your dream person to snag for an appearance?

Rogers: I would say the people that make it very apparent that they have sketch comedy and impression skills, and maybe you wouldn’t necessarily know that they do until they show that.

Yang: Ariana Grande.

Rogers: Our dream was for Ariana to come do an original character. We actually floated to her the idea — there was going to be like a Banksy reveal of MsMojo, and it was going to be revealed that it was Ariana Grande was MsMojo. But she actually was in rehearsals for the Eternal Sunshine World Tour. Little did we know she also was recording “Petal.” She was a bit too busy to play MsMojo, I guess, this time.

Yang: These two are forever paired in my head, but it’s because she’s another sketch performer: Cher. And sometimes the dream guests are not big names, it’s the people that we came up with in comedy. And actually one of the consumer research reports that we got back before we started writing this year’s show was that the thing that people loved about the Culture Awards was this crossover of reality talent, A-listers and Oscar winners, and comedy people — that mix, those three [types of] people mingling together is what the viewers want.

Rogers: I’m just so proud in every single way of the diverse array of talent that we were able to bring together. I looked out in the audience and it was just a party of so many friends and people we’ve met in the business — people that I didn’t even get to meet that night, but I was just gagged they’re there, especially in the edit, which you’ll see. This is Bowen’s first year in the edit, he had to miss it last year, but that’s what’s so cool about going through the footage, is you’re like, “Oh my God, there’s someone I’ve loved my entire life next to my cousin.” We were saying to each other that it ended up being like a weird love letter to our younger selves, having Mandy Moore and singing “Only Hope” with her and doing the “Pokémon” theme song and getting to hang out with Pikachu.

Do you worry about it ever getting too big?

Rogers: If it ever gets to a point where it couldn’t be funny, that wouldn’t work. We want it to always stay true to what it is, which is it’s our comedy special together. As long as it doesn’t feel like it’s selling out — and I can understand people watching it and being like, “Oh, they obviously had to have Nintendo characters because it’s NBCUniversal or obviously they had to include “Summer House” — none of that is true.

Yang: There’s no mandate.

Rogers: This is genuinely what we would want the show to be, and so as long as it’s that, we’re good.

So what’s your “I don’t think so, honey” on awards shows?

Rogers: I don’t think so, honey — 10 nominees for best picture at the Oscars. Why?

Yang: Totally. Tea.

Rogers: I actually think it helps things that are weirder win because it’s too many. And the way that they ranked choices. I’m a popular-vote person anyway.

Yang: I need us to really get on the same page about play-off music. Sometimes people are encouraged to go on, sometimes we turn against that. Let’s stop innovating, let’s stop trying to break the mold on them. Let’s just respect that as much as we can, unless it’s egregious.

And it’s always a bit within the show.

Yang: This is what I was about to get to. The hosts now are always trying to bitify that; it’s more of a practical thing to keep the show moving. Don’t try to put a hat on top of a hat by making it a comedic moment too. We’ve never really played with that trope, even though we could, and maybe should. For now, my attitude towards play-off music is, these people might not ever be on this stage again.

How soon do you start planning the next one?

Rogers: Hopefully, they give us the green light.

Ana Gasteyer, left, Jamie Lee Curtis and Patti Harrison at the 2025 Las Culturistas Culture Awards.

(Jordan Strauss / Bravo)

How did you go about deciding which categories would return this year and which you invent along the way?

Yang: We did an audit this year of all the categories from the last few years of doing this.

Rogers: Less made it back last year.

Yang: I think maybe about 30 max previous categories [returned] — that’s a decent ratio, 70-30 is nice. From there, we just kind of molded the clay on the table a little bit. We have the benefit of making this a recursive reinvented show every year; the categories itself are the premise, it’s the micro-premise within the segment or the element. The jokes are the nominees. Why not create new opportunities at every turn.

“Las Culturistas” expanded into a video podcast last year. How do you feel about this evolution we’re seeing to the format?

Rogers: It’s not that when I’m on camera with Bowen doing the podcast, like, “Oh, I wish I could be more relaxed,” I just wish the whole industry hadn’t gone this way because I feel like when you’re on camera, you can’t help but be a little bit more self-conscious, and that is going to come through in the podcast product. If I had my druthers, none of them would be on film. I can understand that it helps a lot and I can note a marked difference in the amount of times I get recognized now that we are on social media. It absolutely “helped” our podcast get bigger. That being said, I don’t think it was a good thing for podcasting that they all became TV shows.

Yang: It changes the register and the tone by nature. You cannot help but be motivated by different things, by the appearance of it, by the presentation of it, beyond what it was, which is just radio, which is a really important American form.

As two people who grew up being connoisseurs of pop culture, what is it like to be on the other side of it, to feel the intensity of it — I’m talking about what happened with the Jasmine Crockett comments — to become part of the conversation? What lesson came from that?

Yang: We are experiencing something in an acute way that I think everyone is experiencing, which is we are seeing ourselves in the third person. Everyone is kind of modulating their behavior based on how they are appearing out of body. It’s the way we all move through the world now, which can be snapshot and projected very widely out into the world for whatever reason.

Rogers: When you’re talking candidly, you can never know what piece of what you’re saying is going to be the piece that gets scrutinized again and again and again and again by what feels like the entire internet. And if you did, you would, of course, be more specific, and you would be able to really clearly say why you are saying what you are saying. We have had learning experiences with that, and so what we can do going forward is be more clear about the things that we do believe and stand by. That is something that even 10 years in the game we are learning how to do.

Yang: And I think on a very large scale, what is going to happen is that we are all going to adjust for the fact that we have behaviorally changed because of this idea that we’re seeing ourselves in the third person constantly. For me, personally, I’ve had to wrestle with this idea after being on “SNL” for seven years and having to evaluate myself and having an audience evaluate me every week. I’ve changed behaviorally; I need to get over this fear of being seen. I need to get better about listening to my own voice.

Rogers: The internet is a very weird place and the thing is, it deliberately ignores nuance. It willfully tries to make something seem lowest common denominator, so that there can be a community based around that thing. And that is not good for the world. It’s not good for discourse. It’s not good for our politics. It’s really bad for our politics. Until we can all get on the same page about the ways in which we are willfully misunderstanding each other and calling it discourse, it won’t get better.

Yang: The misunderstandings are about people’s tones, and not necessarily about the things that people are pointing toward.

An eerie silence descended upon Dodger Stadium as the swatted ball soared toward the right field corner.

What was this? Who was this?

This wasn’t a crowd-roaring drive by a future Hall of Famer. This wasn’t a Ravine-rattling shot by a perennial All-Star.

This was rare. This was weird. This was a long fly by a long-shot outfielder ending a long minor-league journey with his first appearance at Dodger Stadium.

The ball flew and flew and, suddenly, this was a home run. A home run? Who was that again?

The stunned crowd erupted.

And Ryan Ward danced.

Yeah, the sunny 28-year-old did the Freddie Freeman Hop as he rounded second base in a wonderful show of giddy celebration by a guy who’s earned it.

“Kind of a blackout, if I’m going to be honest with you,” Ward said. “Hit it and kind of just went numb.”

Feel free to go numb with him. With his fourth-inning solo blast in Sunday’s 9-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, this not-exactly-a-kid-anymore was the once-in-a-lifetime story.

After seven minor league seasons, his first major-league home run.

After 156 minor-league homers, his first big-league dinger.

After years of trudging through Great Lakes and Ogden and Tulsa and Oklahoma City, his first big fly at 1000 Vin Scully Ave.

In fact, it was his first game at Dodger Stadium, period, and he soaked in the atmosphere with the same wide-eyed wonder as all those little leaguers who marched around the field before the game.

”When I went out to left field, kind of just looking around, taking it in, just realizing how special it was, just have fun with it, enjoy it all,” he said.

The Dodgers’ series win against a team that will challenge them in October was especially a blast for the “others,” the role players who wind up being so important, with Ward and Alex Freeland homering while Alex Call hit a two-run single.

“Everybody in this locker room is a superstar,” Freeland said. “A lot of us get overlooked just because we have guys like Shohei and Freddie. Everybody in this clubhouse can ball.”

Nobody was as excited to just be in the clubhouse as Ward, who is one of the little-known casualties of the Dodgers’ success, a decent hitter from their farm system who has never gotten a chance because the Dodgers don’t have a need for just-decent hitters.

”When I went out to left field, kind of just looking around, taking it in, just realizing how special it was, just have fun with it, enjoy it all,” Ryan Ward said after hitting a solo home run Sunday.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

When it comes to position players, with the exception of the former prospect Andy Pages, they buy stars, they trade for stars, they hoard stars, and they rarely give a long look to anybody who isn’t guaranteed to be a star.

It is in this environment that Ward has surely asked himself, what does he have to do?

He was drafted out of Rhode Island’s Bryant University in 2019 and by 2021 he was showing home-run power with 27 jacks at class-A Great Lakes. Every year he climbed the minor league ladder, and every year he grew stronger, with 34 homers and 104 RBIs two years ago, and 36 homers with 122 RBIs last year when he was named Pacific Coast League MVP.

How long has he been in the bush leagues? He is triple-A Oklahoma City’s career leader in home runs.

But he was prone to slumps, and oversized swings, and average defensive skills, and last season at Oklahoma City his strikeouts equaled his RBIs.

So he never got even a major-league sniff, leading him to spend his winters working a snow plow with his father to stay in shape, yet he never complained.

“Even talking to Freeland today on the bench, and he made a note that Ryan was probably the most positive guy down there in triple A, and that speaks to his character,” said manager Dave Roberts. “And if there’s anyone that has the right to be salty and frustrated, it’s him, but he was professional about it, and he was an easy one to recall and get him here.”

This finally happened late last month when Ward was recalled to briefly fill a hole when Freddie Freeman went on paternity leave. He played two games in Colorado, had a couple of hits, and was sent back down.

This weekend, he was recalled again to replace Teoscar Hernández, who was placed on the injured list with a strained left hamstring. Ward was jammed in the lineup Sunday, struck out against Phillies’ rookie Andrew Painter in the second inning, then made contact on a 1-and-0 pitch and sent it whirling into the right-field bullpen.

“Watching it go over the fence was really cool,” he said.

Ryan Ward celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a home run in the fourth inning against the Phillies.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

Watching the ball returned to his locker in a glass cube was perhaps just as cool. And then celebrating afterward by getting doused with all sorts of stuff by his thrilled teammates? Off the charts.

“I’m probably gonna smell for a little bit,” he said.

Smell of what?

“You name it.”

Considering Ward hit his homer in the fourth inning, you’re probably wondering how he performed the rest of the game. Well, um, there was no rest of the game. He was almost immediately benched again for Call.

And the struggle continues.

“Keep trying to grind your game as much as you can and just kind of force the door down,” he said.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

When Craig Ferguson left CBS’ “The Late Late Show” in December 2014, fulfilling a pledge made public the previous April, it was assumed by some that it had something to do with not being offered the chair being vacated by his illustrious lead-in, David Letterman. (Stephen Colbert, you may be aware, was named the new “Late Show” host.) Others simply couldn’t believe anyone would just walk away from such a job, which Ferguson had held for two weeks shy of 10 years, because, even in the less prestigious 12:30 time slot it seemed like a prize — but mostly because he was so good at it.

“That’s one of the odd things about that particular genre of television,” he told me in 2016. “The minute I started at 12:30, the question became when and do you want and how are you going to get 11:30? But I never wanted 12:30, never mind 11:30. Why is that a thing?”

Ferguson went on to other things. He’s hosted game shows (currently the CW’s “Scrabble,” with puckish energy); toured as a stand-up (he’s on the road into June); hosted a history-themed panel show, “Craig Ferguson: Join or Die”; launched “Joy, a Podcast,” which is as close as he’s come to the confessional freestyling of “The Late Late Show”; and published “Riding the Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations.”

His latest show, premiering Saturday on CNN, is “American on Purpose,” which shares a title with his first memoir, a reference to the Scottish-born Ferguson becoming an American citizen. Timed generally to the 250th anniversary of the United States, it finds Ferguson in a five-episode crazy quilt of observations, interviews, inquiries, stunts, games and documentary vignettes forming a comical, but not unserious, somewhat wayward look at American ideas and ideals — freedom of speech, capitalism, patriotism, individualism and immigration. It’s a vision wide enough to include monster trucks, lowriders, underground comedy, Miami street art, Texas barbecue and haggis tacos, dreamed up by Ferguson and executed by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson.

Ferguson, a Scotsman, having haggis tacos on “American on Purpose.”

(CNN)

“You know me,” Ferguson said when we spoke over video call recently. “Less format is better for me always.”

His caveat to the producers was that he wouldn’t “make an anti-American show. I wouldn’t make a show pointing out everything that’s wrong. I feel that’s a market that’s heavily catered to. I’m not a f—ing idiot, I’m not making propaganda, I won’t make a jingoistic show. But I want to make a show which is celebratory,” Ferguson says. “And I want to be clear that the show I make for CNN will be the same as if I was making it for Fox News. It has to be my point of view, which is upbeat without being dumb — I hope. I feel like we got pretty close.” This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

A good friend of mine, an Englishman, recently became an American citizen and had only wonderful things to say about the naturalization ceremony, the diversity of his fellow new Americans, and the graciousness of the people conducting it. What was your experience?

My ceremony was in Pomona fairgrounds in 2008. And I think it was 2,000 of us; I think it was 1,999 new Mexican Americans and one new Scottish American. And it was f—ing wonderful. And it is moving. I kind of wish it for my friends who are born here, American citizens, because you have to remove your everyday, “Oh my God, did you see the news today” cynicism, and remember what this place is about — freedom, second chances, third chances, escape, representation, individualism, different ideas coexisting in one country, wildly different points of view somehow managing to get along. That is f—ing beautiful. What I still feel as an immigrant American is a certain gratitude that doesn’t leave you. I’m not blind to the faults of the United States. Show me a country that doesn’t have faults. We talk about the bloody past. Show me a country that doesn’t have a bloody past. Humans have a bloody past. I’m not saying there’s nothing wrong, but I’m not looking at that in this show. I’m looking at what makes me feel great about this place, and it is a great place, an aspirational place. To my mind, we are still the big foam finger number one. I don’t think there’s anyone can touch us for … unusualness. We’re really unusual.

It’s a very optimistic show. Is that how you feel personally about the future of the country, and humanity?

Like most people, I have my moods. I got a real boost of optimism [hanging out] with very clever academics who kind of guard the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. And you say to them, “People say the country’s never been this divided.” They always laugh. They laugh at the idea it’s never been as bad as this, the rhetoric has never been this hateful. They’re like, “It’s always been like this. It’s always been an argument. The whole point of this place is that it is an argument.” The guys who started this country, some of them hated each other with just as much venom and outrage and indignance as political players hate each other today. I find that quite encouraging. Like I said, I’m not blind to the fact that there are issues and faults and deep things to worry about. But that’s not what this show’s about. It’s as if I was a musician, and I decided to write a happy song. People say, “Why aren’t you sad?” I’m like, “Well, I get that sometimes, but this song is a happy song, this is a rock song. I’ll do a power ballad later on.” It’s not terrible to to do something upbeat every now and again.

What did you discover in the course of making the show?

There were many things, actually. In L.A., I did a kind of run around with the guys who make the lowrider cars, and the community and the story of how that came about are really fascinating, a kind of parallel run of the rise of the automobile in America, but how it was taken on by the Mexican culture. Another that really stuck with me was in the Everglades, when I was with the Gladesman there, finding out that a large percentage of them [were descended from] displaced Scottish peasants, cleared out of the Highlands to make room for sheep for the landowners; they went to Canada, and they drifted all the way down to the southern tip of the United States. These guys there could trace their ancestry back to 100 miles from where I grew up. Americans would be kicked out of most of the countries of the world. So it makes us awesome. I mean, 40% of this country can trace themselves through Ellis Island, through that administration building in New York. That’s insane.

Ferguson at Venice Beach in a segment on the show.

(CNN)

When did you get interested in history?

In Scotland, we’re surrounded by it all the time. There’s a lot of stuff still lying around from a long time ago. American history became interesting to me because it was so attached to Scotland. The Scottish Enlightenment is really kind of the origin story of the Declaration of Independence. Knowing that the philosophy that was coming out of Edinburgh in the 1700s was directly feeding into what these guys were doing, it felt like the continuation of a certain strain of Scottish history. It didn’t end with “Highlander” or “Shrek.”

There’s a road movie element to the series. Do you take trips around the country on your own time?

All the time. I don’t think you can know the United States unless you’ve driven across it at least a couple of times. If you can take a car from New Orleans to Northeastern Maine, Florida to Washington state, it’s worth doing. One of the things that was in the engine for me when I started this [series] was, I’ve seen over the years a lot of — probably more in Britain than in America — lazy kind of pseudo-intellectual documentaries where somebody will say, “Well, you know, the thing about America is…” Well, which America are you talking about? And they will go and get some guy that lives on his boat in Fort Lauderdale with a hat that’s got “Who Farted?” written on it and tell you that’s America. That guy’s there and he’s awesome, but it’s not the whole story. You know what I mean? It’s like saying “Well, you know, Hitler was a vegetarian.” That’s true, he was. But it’s not really the whole f—ing story, is it?