The deal, announced a few minutes before the Angels’ series finale against the Houston Astros, could mark the beginning of an extensive rebuilding process for the Angels, who entered play Wednesday with an American League-worst 42-66 record and 13 1/2 games behind the Rangers in the AL West.
“We know we have to start shaking up this roster, and today was day one,” Angels interim general manager John Mozeliak said. “Clearly, where the Angels are at right now, we need to do things differently.”
Silseth, 26, was one of the Angels’ top relievers, going 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 47 games this year. O’Hoppe, 26, appeared in 75 games, batting .209 with 23 RBIs.
Arredondo, 19, hit .247 with eight home runs, 15 doubles and 47 RBIs in 86 games for low-A Hickory this season. He signed with the Rangers as an international free agent out of Mexico in 2024.
By almost every measure, Latino communities are bearing the brunt of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, according to a new report.
The League of United Latin American Citizens or LULAC, a Latino civil rights organization, found that court-sanctioned racial profiling has contributed to the disproportionate targeting of Latinos regardless of their immigration status.
“The impact of mass deportation is falling on Latinos as an ethnic group, not on undocumented immigrants as a legal category,” the report read in part. “U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, work-authorized immigrants, and multi-generational American families are absorbing measurable harm: economic, physical, and civic.”
Although other immigrant groups have been targeted, LULAC found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have mostly focused on immigrants from Latin America, particularly workers with no criminal history, who are also more likely to face violence or be placed in detention centers with substandard conditions.
Citing a recent UCLA study, LULAC said from January to October, federal immigration agents arrested more than 187,000 Latinos and deported more than 126,000.
In an email response to The Times, a spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security rejected the report’s findings.
“Allegations that DHS law enforcement engages in ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE,” the spokesperson wrote. “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity.”
“Law enforcement officers use ‘reasonable suspicion’ to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the spokesperson added. “The Supreme Court has already vindicated us on these practices.”
LULAC’s report comes amid recent court filings claiming that federal immigration agents were caught on body camera footage and in text messages using racial slurs when referring to Latinos.
Additionally, Congress recently approved nearly $70 billion in immigration enforcement funding to cover the rest of Trump’s term with at least $38 billion to go to ICE and $26 billion to Customs and Border Protection.
LULAC said in putting the report together it reviewed public data and published studies to provide a fact sheet that paints a broader picture about the impact mass deportations are having on Latinos.
“The people being removed are disproportionately working-age, employed and without criminal records — the demographic core of the workforce in construction, hospitality, agriculture, food processing, and care work,” the report read.
As of July 11, more than 65,000 people were being held in detention and about 70% of the population had no criminal convictions, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data gathering organization.
ICE detention data show that about 40% of detainees were being held for civil immigration violations including visa overstays and work visa violations.
Unless previously deported, living in the country illegally is considered a civil violation rather than a crime and carries penalties such as arrests, fines and deportation proceedings.
The indiscriminate immigration raids that terrorized Latino communities appeared to have worsened after the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in September, according to LULAC’s report.
The Supreme Court justices overturned a district court injunction that barred immigration agents in Los Angeles from roving around Home Depots and car washes, stopping brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking day laborers and others from arrest on immigration charges.
But once the injunction lifted, federal immigration agents descended once more on Latino communities, even stopping U.S. citizens, according to LULAC.
This month, the American Civil Liberties Union reviewed more than 1,200 enforcement incidents across eight states, identifying 155 U.S. citizens who were detained, targeted, or experienced law enforcement misconduct, and 437 incidents involving likely racial profiling. It also identified 214 children affected, including 32 Americans.
LULAC said the immigration raids had an economic impact. Citing a recent UCLA study, it said small business and Latino entrepreneurs in Los Angeles County saw foot traffic drop significantly, losing millions in potential revenue in June 2025.
A spokesperson for LULAC could not immediately be reached for comment.
From Joaquin Ruiz: Dominic Canzone’s go-ahead home run in the eighth spoiled a Tuesday night of leaderboard climbing for Max Muncy and Shohei Ohtani as the Mariners beat the Dodgers 7-6 in the first game at Dodger Stadium since before the All-Star break on July 12.
With one out, Julio Rodríguez on first and the score tied at five, Canzone got all of Alex Vesia’s 82-mph slider, sending it 414 feet to center to help lift Seattle to its first win over the Dodgers in five years and first in Los Angeles since June 28, 2009.
“I mean it’s a pitch that’s had different results,” Vesia said. “Obviously it’s not the best pitch. I would have liked to have it more outside or more down. Kind of just flush it and on to the next one. Clearly need to be better in that situation. I felt like my stuff was good after that.”
Added manager Dave Roberts: “Alex made a really bad pitch, [an] 0-1 slider that was middle-middle, and they were hitting the ball out of the ballpark. So, that’s kind of the tale of the run prevention tonight.”
The Dodgers (67-40), with some much-needed help from dubious Mariners fielding, did have Ohtani on third and Muncy on second as the tying and game-winning runs in the ninth. But Seattle reliever Andrés Muñoz survived, putting an end to the thrilling opener of this three-game series.
Seattle won the offensive slugfest with 10 hits and five home runs to the home team’s 13 hits and two homers.
Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
Angels fall to the Astros
Yordan Alvarez homered and hit a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Houston Astros to a 3-2 win over the Angels on Tuesday night.
Christian Walker added a solo homer while Houston relievers Enyel De Los Santos, Bryan Abreu, Steven Okert and Josh Hader combined for four hitless innings. Okert (4-1) threw a scoreless eighth to earn the win and Hader threw a four-pitch ninth for his 14th save.
The Astros won for the seventh time in eight games to remain two games behind Texas in the American League West. The last-place Angels have lost 17 of 22 games.
From Steve Galluzzo: On a night when a franchise legend had her jersey raised to the rafters, the Sparks played with inspiration and determination but were unable to snap their losing streak, falling to the New York Liberty 113-109 on Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena.
Down 11 with 3:30 left, the Sparks pulled to within 112-109 on Nneka Ogwumike’s three-pointer with 15 seconds left, but Breanna Stewart sank the second of two free throws with 13.9 seconds left to ice it for New York (16-12).
Despite the absence of leading scorer Kelsey Plum, who is averaging 23.9 points a game but has been sidelined with a lower leg injury since the teams’ prior meeting June 25, the Sparks had a balanced attack with six players in double figures.
Rae Burrell led the charge with 24 points, Ogwumike added 21 points and nine assists, Erica Wheeler had 17 points and nine assists, Ariel Atkins had 16, Dearica Hamby had 12 and Cameron Brink had 11 for the Sparks, who squandered a chance to inch a half game in front of Portland for fifth place in the WNBA’s Western Conference. The Fire (11-17) lost to Las Vegas earlier Tuesday.
“I’m proud of my team — we were active and connected,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “We scored 30 points off of 18 turnovers, we made more field goals than them and we had 35 assists, which is a franchise record. We just didn’t get rewarded with a win.”
The USC coach should’ve been used to weathering pressure by that point. After all, his previous four seasons spent coaching the Trojans had been nothing short of a powder keg, filled with ups and downs, as well as a constant undercurrent of tension and uncertainty. But in this particular case, success was out of Riley’s control. He wasn’t even near a football field.
Rather, he was sitting in the audience of a local dance recital, waiting on his two young daughters, Sloan and Stella, who were each making their solo dancing debut with their company.
“This was the first year, stepping out on their own, no one else to rely on,” Riley said. “But they told me, ‘Dad, we’ve got it.’”
Entering his fifth and most pivotal season yet at USC, their father can relate to that sentiment. While the spotlight burns brighter than ever and the collective college football world is spinning 2026 as a make-or-break moment for Riley, the coach had never sounded so confident that his Trojans had turned a corner than he did Tuesday.
“I’ve felt the pressure to win every single year here,” Riley said during Big Ten media days. “What does feel different is that I think our opportunity to do that is greater than what it has been. It just flat out is. The things you need to win, we have more of than we had in the first four years.”
1751 — The first International World Title Prize Fight takes place in Harlston, England. The champion, Jack Slack of England, beats the challenger, M. Petit of France, in 25 minutes.
1934 — Paul Runyan beats Craig Wood on the 38th hole to win the PGA Championship at Park Country Club in Williamsville, N.Y.
1956 — Cathy Cornelius wins a playoff over Barbara McIntyre to win the U.S. Women’s Open.
1957 — At the Polo Grounds in New York, Floyd Patterson TKOs Tommy Jackson at 1:52 of the 10th round to retain the heavyweight title.
1960 — The first American Football League preseason game is played in Buffalo, N.Y. The Boston Patriots, led by quarterback Butch Songin, beat the Bills 28-7 before 16,474 fans at War Memorial Stadium.
1979 — Amy Alcott shoots a 7-under 285 to beat Nancy Lopez in the Peter Jackson Classic, later named The du Maurier Classic. The du Maurier is one of the LPGA Tour’s major championships from 1979-2000.
1986 — The U.S. Football League wins and loses in its lawsuit against the NFL. The jury finds the NFL violated antitrust laws, as the USFL claimed, but awards the USFL only $1 in damages.
1989 — Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor becomes the first person to high jump 8 feet, breaking his world record at the Caribbean Championship in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He surpasses his mark of 7-11½.
1990 — Beth Daniel shoots a 66 to overcome a 5-shot deficit and win the LPGA Championship — her first major title in 12 years on the tour. Daniel beats Rosie Jones by one stroke and pockets $150,000, the largest in LPGA Tour history.
1992 — The U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay team wins the gold medal, with Matt Biondi and Tom Jager becoming the first U.S. male swimmers to win golds in three Olympics.
1996 — Michael Johnson sweeps to victory in an Olympic 400-meter record 43.49 seconds, while Carl Lewis leaps into history in Atlanta. Lewis’ long jump of 27 feet, 10¾ inches earns him his ninth gold medal, equaling the American mark held by swimmer Mark Spitz.
2001 — Copa América Final, Estadio El Campín, Bogotá: Defender Iván Córdoba scores winner as home team Columbia edge Mexico, 1-0.
2008 — Disgraced ex-NBA official Tim Donaghy admits he brought shame on his profession as a federal judge sentenced him to 15 months behind bars for a gambling scandal.
2012 — Kimberly Rhode wins the Olympic gold medal in women’s skeet shooting, becoming the first American to take an individual-sport medal in five consecutive Olympics.
2012 — Dana Vollmer of the U.S. sets a world record to win the 100-meter butterfly at the London Olympics. Vollmer hits the wall in 55.98 seconds to shave 0.08 off the mark set by Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden at the 2009 world championships in Rome.
2015 — Russia’s Natalya Ishchenko wins a record 18th career synchronized swimming gold medal at the world championships at Kazan, Russia.
2021 — Sunisa Lee wins the women’s all-around gymnastics gold medal in Tokyo.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1908 — Rube Waddell struck out 16, sending the St. Louis Browns past the Philadelphia A’s 5-4.
1911 — Joe Wood of the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns with a 5-0 no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader. Wood fanned 12 and allowed three baserunners on two walks and a hit batsman.
1915 — Honus Wagner, 41, became the oldest player to hit a grand slam as Pittsburgh beat Brooklyn 8-2. The grand slam was an inside-the-park homer. Wagner remained the record holder until 1985, when Tony Perez hit one the day before his 43rd birthday.
1928 — The Cleveland Indians scored eight runs in the first inning and nine more in the second and went on to beat the New York Yankees 24-6 at Dunn Field. Johnny Hodapp singled twice in the second and sixth innings.
1936 — The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 22-7 in the first game of a doubleheader, then lost the second game 5-4.
1955 — Smoky Burgess of the Cincinnati Reds hit three home runs and drove in nine runs in a 16-5 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Crosley Field.
1968 — George Culver of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a 6-1 no-hitter against the Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader at Philadelphia.
1983 — Steve Garvey of the San Diego Padres ended his NL record of 1,207 consecutive games played. The streak ended when he dislocated his thumb in a collision with Atlanta pitcher Pascual Perez while trying to score.
2000 — Eddie Taubensee hit a tying homer with two out in the ninth and homered again in the 11th to lead Cincinnati to a 4-3 win over Montreal.
2001 — Craig Monroe homered in his first major league at-bat, and the Texas Rangers beat Tampa Bay 2-0.
2003 — Boston’s Bill Mueller became the first player in major league history to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in a game and connected for three homers in a 14-7 win at Texas.
2006 — Tomas Perez tied a major league record with four doubles, going 5-for-5 and leading the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a 19-6 rout of the New York Yankees.
2010 — Anibal Sanchez pitched a one-hitter, leading the Florida Marlins past the San Francisco Giants 5-0. Sanchez retired his first 13 batters and matched a career high with eight strikeouts.
2018 — The Hall of Fame inducts one of the largest classes in its history. Honored are Vladimir Guerrero, Trevor Hoffman, Chipper Jones, Jack Morris, Jim Thome and Alan Trammell.
2022 — Aaron Judge hits two more homers in leading the Yankees to an 11-5 win over the Royals. He now has 41 on the season, tying the American League record for most before the end of July held by Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Ken Griffey Jr. Judge will set a new record with another homer tomorrow.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Three days ago, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert commented on a sexy selfie that pop singer Madison Beer posted on Instagram: “That’s my girlfriend!!”
On Tuesday morning, Beer posted several photos of the two of them together, along with a caption that provided a significant relationship status update.
“Meet my fiancé,” Beer wrote, much to the delight of the 1.5 million people who liked the post within the first hour.
The engagement announcement comes not quite a year after speculation started about a possible romantic link between the two. Last August, Herbert was photographed interacting with Beer on the set of the video shoot for her song “Angel Wings” at a house in Hancock Park.
The New York Post reported that Beer was seen introducing Herbert to crew members and that the two left the set together. They were spotted together multiple times soon afterward, including holding hands in Los Angeles the day after the Chargers’ seasonopener in Brazil last September.
They shared what is thought to be their first public kiss Oct. 5 on the SoFi Stadium sideline before the Chargers played the Washington Commanders. Since going public with their relationship, the 27-year-old singer and 28-year-old quarterback have been seen at Game 3 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium and sitting courtside at Lakers games at Crypto.com Arena.
In April, Herbert posted a photo of them on Instagram and captioned it, “My world!” Also this spring, he co-starred with Beer in the music video for her song “lovergirl” and received Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh’s blessing to miss portions of voluntary team workouts to join Beer on her world tour.
Beer’s post announcing the engagement features several photos of the couple, including one of Herbert down on one knee and another of him carrying his smiling bride-to-be over his shoulder with her ring on display. They each also posted one of the photos on their Instagram Story with Perry Como’s “And I Love You So” as background music.
No information on the upcoming wedding has been released.
Herbert was selected sixth overall by the Chargers in the 2020 draft. A two-time Pro Bowl selection, he has gone 52-43 as a starter and has passed for 24,820 yards with 163 touchdowns and 58 interceptions.
Beer has been nominated for two Grammy Awards — best immersive audio album for “Silence Between Songs” in 2024 and best dance pop recording for “make you mine” in 2025. Her third studio album, “locket,” was released earlier this year.
Other than “The Odyssey,” the biggest news in Los Angeles film circles last week was the return of the Cinerama Dome.
The iconic theater, which has been closed since March 2020, will be restored and reopened by Sony Pictures Entertainment and its Alamo Drafthouse theater chain. As my colleague Cerys Davies reported, renovations begin next month and will continue until early 2028.
For more than 60 years, the dome has been a landmark on Sunset Boulevard. With its 86-foot-wide curved screen, it has premiered such iconic Hollywood films as 1977’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and made a cameo of its own in 2019’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”
Ever since the dome closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been questions about whether it would return. Filmmakers like “Anora” director Sean Baker and “Baby Driver” director Edgar Wright publicly called for its reopening, while a “Save Your Cinema” preservation campaign led by Benjamin Steinberg kept the geodesic icon in the public eye.
“It was definitely the capital of, like, the movie-going experience in L.A.,” Steinberg told my colleague, adding that he plans to visit the theater two to three times a week when it reopens. “I can’t wait to go back inside the Cinerama Dome and watch movies.”
You’re reading the Wide Shot
Samantha Masunaga delivers the latest news, analysis and insights on everything from streaming wars to production — and what it all means for the future.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
The theater will be operated by Alamo Drafthouse, though Sony says it plans to keep the “Cinerama” name and exterior branding, as well as the dome’s “traditional concession experience” — meaning you won’t be able to order food and drinks to your seat. (Cinephiles recently have criticized the chain for changing its in-seat ordering system to require use of mobile phones in the theater.)
Alongside traditional theatrical showings, the dome also will include some Alamo Drafthouse specials, including repertory screenings, premieres, events and filmmaker series.
Adjacent to the dome, the 14-screen former ArcLight Cinemas will reopen as an Alamo Drafthouse, Sony said, offering dine-in food and beverages, as well as karaoke rooms and “fan celebrations.”
“It’s such a great location,” Ravi Ahuja, chief executive and chairman of Sony Pictures, told me. “It’s historic, people love it and the theater was successful before it closed. It’s one of a kind, which is the kind of experience we’re after.”
The move also highlights the opportunity Sony sees in the experiences business — an increasingly important strategy for Hollywood.
The Alamo Drafthouse acquisition was part of this, as was the studio’s recent $100-million investment and minority stake in Cosm, a virtual reality venue operator that has a location at Inglewood’s Hollywood Park.
The studio also has “Wheel of Fortune Live!,” a touring version of the popular game show, “Jeopardy! Bar League,” which was incubated at Alamo Drafthouse, and events for its streaming service Crunchyroll at anime conventions.
“It’s another leg of the franchise stool,” Ahuja said. “Fans want to engage in person with each other. It’s part of a human need when you have deep fandom around something.”
As the theatrical market waxes and wanes and the television business has become more unpredictable, it makes sense that studios like Sony increasingly look to diversify and attract fans in new ways.
After all, people have a lot of things they can do with their time and money. And after a period of slow returns since the pandemic, they’ve increasingly been coming back to in-person activities. To keep loyal fans in the fold, studios need to give them more ways to interact with the stories and entertainment they love, or they’ll move on.
Betting on the experiences business isn’t new. Walt Disney Co. makes the majority of its operating income not from its theatrical movies or streaming service, but from its theme parks and cruise line division. Last year, Universal opened Epic Universe, a major investment in its Orlando theme park resort that indicates the importance of this business for the company and owner Comcast.
But not every company wants or needs to start a theme park business. For one, it’s expensive. And for a studio like Sony, which doesn’t have a lot of kid-focused franchises, it doesn’t really make sense.
As a result, some are getting into the experiences space in more specific and limited ways, such as studio tours or branded attractions.
For Sony, that’s meant building a business around these in-person offerings that align more with its adult-leaning audiences. Lionsgate has a “John Wick Experience” in Las Vegas, while Warner Bros., among other things, recently debuted “Harry Potter: A Hogwarts Express Adventure” train event at the Southern California Railway Museum in Perris. (Universal licenses Harry Potter from Warner Bros. for inclusion in its parks.)
For most studios without a major theme park presence, this kind of location-based entertainment is still likely a relatively small part of their corporate revenue, potentially less than 1%, said Dennis Spiegel, founder and chief executive of the International Theme Park Services, Inc. consulting firm. But what these experiences do is help lengthen the life of a franchise by keeping licensing revenue flowing and keeping brands relevant between film releases, he said.
“Hollywood increasingly sees it as an essential part of maximizing the lifetime value of its intellectual property,” he wrote in an email. “In many ways, we have seen how these experiences have become as much of a marketing engine as they are a profit center.”
As for the Cinerama Dome, don’t take it as a sign that Sony is looking to build out an exhibition empire. The studio is looking for only special and selective deals like the dome, Ahuja said, and there are no plans to add more L.A. exhibition locations.
Stuff We Wrote
Film shoots
Number of the week
Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” continued its dominance at the box office in its second outing with a three-day domestic haul of $90 million, down only 27% from its debut weekend.
Internationally, the Universal Pictures film raked in $137.6 million for a worldwide total of $652 million.
The big box office performance came as an unauthorized copy of the film leaked online over the weekend. The studio said it “immediately initiated takedown protocols” once it became aware of theillegal posting on X and “will pursue all appropriate remedies to protect our content and intellectual property rights.” The post was viewed more than 2.1 million times before a takedown notice replaced the copy of the film.
What I’m watching
I did not expect Amazon MGM Studios’ “The Sheep Detectives” to deliver a profound message on death and grieving when I sat down to watch it with a friend, but those talking ovine sleuths really got to me.
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Growing up in Inglewood, Andrew Hernandez heard plenty about the Olympics. Since L.A. was awarded the Games almost a decade ago, the 18-year-old watched preparations slowly improve the infrastructure of his hometown. He still never thought he would ever be able to attend.
Until now.
LA28 and the Rams donated 1,000 free tickets to 10 nonprofit organizations Monday, giving local youth such as Hernandez a seat at Olympic flag football or swimming competitions in 2028.
The tickets are the first gifts from LA28’s community ticket program, which launched in November with a $5 million inaugural donation from the Rams. When Rams coach Sean McVay delivered the news to members of the nonprofits at Rams training camp Monday, kids’ jaws dropped as the group broke into applause.
Hernandez, a member of South L.A.-based Brotherhood Crusade, posed in the group behind a giant commemorative Olympic ticket.
“Having grown up in Inglewood, you don’t really have the funds to [go to sporting events],” Hernandez said. “So if it wasn’t for programs like this or the Rams giving out tickets, a person like me, I would have never had imagined I’d be in a stadium watching the game. It’s opened my eyes.”
Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
Dodgers probably won’t get Tarik Skubal
From Maddie Lee: Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is one of the few players who could actually elevate the Dodgers’ roster at the trade deadline. And the Dodgers are one of the few teams that could reasonably part with the prospect capital it would take to acquire the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner.
That doesn’t mean it will come to fruition.
With a week to go before the MLB trade deadline on Aug. 3, the Dodgers don’t appear to be moving toward a trade for Skubal, according to people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly. And it’s unclear whether the Tigers will indeed trade him; rival executives’ expectations appear to be inconsistent.
The Dodgers can never be fully counted out for a big swing, of course. They weren’t expected to sign closer Edwin Díaz or right fielder Kyle Tucker during the offseason, either.
But having a strong farm system supplements big spending. And part of the reasoning behind those indulgent offseason moves was to make a big trade-deadline move unnecessary. So, barring a significant shift either in rotation health or in the market, don’t count on Skubal joining the Dodgers in their quest for a three-peat.
LaMonte Wade Jr. drew a bases-loaded walk that forced home the go-ahead run in a four-run ninth inning, and the Houston Astros came back to beat the Angels 6-4 on Monday night.
The Astros rallied on a hit, two walks, two errors and two hit batters to hand the Angels (42-65) their ninth loss this season when leading after eight innings.
Houston (53-55) trailed 4-0 after three, but Taylor Trammell homered for a second straight game and the fifth time this season to cut it to 4-1 in the fourth
Angels starter Walbert Ureña gave up a run on two hits in six innings and left with a 4-1 lead.
1913 — The United States wins its first Davis Cup since 1902 by beating Britain three matches to two.
1928 — The Summer Olympics open in Amsterdam and the Olympic flame is lit for the first time.
1929 — The Chicago Cardinals become the first NFL team to train out of state, holding camp in Michigan.
1972 — The American Basketball Assn. announces that San Diego will receive a franchise and the NBA’s Buffalo Braves relocate to San Diego and are renamed the San Diego Clippers.
1972 — The Dallas Cowboys beat the College All-Stars in Chicago 20-7.
1984 — The Summer Olympics open in Los Angeles with a record 140 nations competing. The Soviet Union and 13 Communist allies, including Cuba and East Germany, boycott the games.
1987 — Laura Davies shoots a 1-under 71 to defeat Ayako Okamoto and JoAnne Carner in an 18-hole playoff to win the U.S. Women’s Open.
1987 — Angel Cordero Jr. becomes the fourth U.S. jockey to win 6,000 races when he rides Lost Kitty to victory at Monmouth Park, N.J.
1992 — American Mike Barrowman sets a world record in winning the 200-meter breaststroke, and Russian Evgueni Sadovyi becomes the Summer Olympics’ first triple gold medalist, also smashing a world record in the men’s 400-meter freestyle.
2000 — Blaine Wilson, America’s pre-eminent gymnast, wins his fifth straight championship in St. Louis. He becomes the first gymnast to win five straight national titles since George Wheeler did it from 1937-41.
2009 — Germany’s Paul Biedermann hands Michael Phelps his first major individual loss in four years, setting a world record in the 200-meter freestyle at the world championships in Rome. Phelps, a body length behind, loses for the first time in a major international meet since Ian Crocker beat him in the 100 butterfly final at the 2005 worlds.
2011 — Ryan Lochte celebrates the first world record set since high-tech bodysuits were banned 1 1/2 years ago. Lochte edges Michael Phelps in 200-meter individual medley at the world championships at Shanghai.
2013 — Brek Shea scores less than a minute after entering the game as a second-half substitute, giving the United States a 1-0 victory over Panama in the Gold Cup final. It’s the fifth Gold Cup title for the Americans but their first since 2007.
2016 — Mirim Lee shoots a 10-under 62 to match the Women’s British Open record and take a three-stroke lead in the major championship at tree-lined Woburn (England) Golf Club.
2016 — Stephan Jaeger shoots a 12-under 58 in the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic in Hayward, Calif., for the lowest score in major tour play. The German finishes with a 10-foot birdie putt.
2019 — 22-year-old Egan Bernal becomes the first Colombian and Latin American cyclist to win the Tour de France.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1931 — Bob Fothergill of Chicago hit a home run and a triple in an 11-run eighth inning. The White Sox set an American League record with 12 hits in the inning and beat the New York Yankees 14-12.
1940 — King Kong Keller hit three homers to give the New York Yankees a 10-9 win over Chicago in the first game of a doubleheader split.
1951 — Clyde Vollmer of Boston hit a grand slam in the 16th inning, the latest ever hit in a major league game. The Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 8-4.
1971 — Sixteen-time Gold Glove winner Brooks Robinson committed three errors in the sixth inning against the Oakland A’s. Frank Robinson’s three-run homer in the ninth won the game for the Orioles.
1976 — John Odom (five innings) and Francisco Barrios (four innings) combined on a no-hitter, and the Chicago White Sox defeated Oakland 2-1.
1983 — AL President Lee McPhail ruled that George Brett’s “pine tar” home run against New York on July 24 should count. The umpires had disallowed the homer because the pine tar on Brett’s bat exceeded the 18-inch limit. The rest of the game was played Aug. 18 with the Kansas City Royals beating the Yankees, 5-4.
1989 — Atlanta’s Dale Murphy tied two major league records by hitting two homers and driving in six runs in the sixth inning in the Braves’ 10-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Murphy’s two home runs equaled the record shared by 13 others and the six runs batted in matched a record shared by nine players.
1990 — Shawon Dunston tied a major league record with three triples and led the Chicago Cubs to a 10-7 win over the Montreal Expos.
1990 — Cal Ripken’s errorless streak ends at 95 consecutive games, as Baltimore loses to Kansas City, 10-9. The streak is a new major-league record for a shortstop, eclipsing Kevin Elster’s 89-game mark.
1991 — Dennis Martinez pitched a perfect game for the Montreal Expos, who topped Los Angeles 2-0 at Dodger Stadium.
1993 — Ken Griffey Jr. tied a major league record by homering in his eighth consecutive game, but it wasn’t enough for the Seattle Mariners in a 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
1994 — On the night the baseball players set an Aug. 12 strike date, Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers pitched a perfect game for a 4-0 victory over the Angels.
2004 — Troy Percival recorded his 300th save after John Lackey gave up three hits over 8 1-3 innings to help the Angels beat Texas 2-0.
2006 — Houston rookie Luke Scott hit for the cycle and drove in five runs, but the Astros lost to Arizona 8-7.
2018 — Rookie Francisco Arcia had a homer and six RBIs, giving him a major league-record 10 RBIs in two career games, and Angels rolled past Seattle 11-5.
2021 — In the first Olympic baseball game in thirteen years, Japan rallies to defeat the Dominican Republic 4-3.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Growing up in Inglewood, Andrew Hernandez heard plenty about the Olympics. Since L.A. was awarded the Games almost a decade ago, the 18-year-old watched preparations slowly improve the infrastructure of his hometown. He still never thought he would ever be able to attend.
Until now.
LA28 and the Rams donated 1,000 free tickets to 10 nonprofit organizations Monday, giving local youth such as Hernandez a seat at Olympic flag football or swimming competitions in 2028.
The tickets are the first gifts from LA28’s community ticket program, which launched in November with a $5 million inaugural donation from the Rams. When Rams coach Sean McVay delivered the news to members of the nonprofits at Rams training camp Monday, kids’ jaws dropped as the group broke into applause.
Hernandez, a member of South L.A.-based Brotherhood Crusade, posed in the group behind a giant commemorative Olympic ticket.
“Having grown up in Inglewood, you don’t really have the funds to [go to sporting events],” Hernandez said. “So if it wasn’t for programs like this or the Rams giving out tickets, a person like me, I would have never had imagined I’d be in a stadium watching the game. It’s opened my eyes.”
In addition to Brotherhood Crusade, A Place Called Home, After School All-Stars, Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro L.A., Heart of Los Angeles, Project Blue, Social Justice Learning Institute, Swim Up Hill and YMCA of Metro L.A. were selected by the Rams and LA28 for their investment in local youth and their presence in communities near Olympic venues.
“The local organizations receiving these tickets today are groups that we work closely with year-round to uplift and support our neighbors all across the Los Angeles region,” Rams president Kevin Demoff said in a statement. “This investment ensures that the people and nonprofits that commit themselves to Los Angeles are able to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event right in their hometown.”
The Boys & Girls Club Metro L.A. started increasing awareness about the Games about three years ago. Members, ranging from 6 to 18 years old, participated in youth Olympic events and met Olympic and Paralympic athletes. But as excitement for the Games grew, many kids were already saying they couldn’t afford to go. They asked Kim Washington, the club’s vice president of philanthropy and marketing, whether they could at least watch events on TV at the club.
“Having this opportunity to have tickets for these kids and families, it’s going to be beyond their wildest dreams,” said Washington, who volunteered in the opening ceremony at the 1984 L.A. Olympics.
Rams running back Blake Corum, left, signs a T-shirt during an L.A. Olympics ticket donation ceremony at Rams training camp on Monday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Each organization will distribute tickets directly to members. The donated tickets are for two of the most in-demand Olympic sports. Flag football is making its Olympic debut and was among the new sports that sold out through its ticketing availability during the first ticket drop. Swimming, one of the marquee sports of the Summer Games, will take place in SoFi Stadium, which will be transformed into the largest Olympic swimming venue in history.
Paralympic swimmer Jamal Hill founded Swim Up Hill with a goal to teach underprivileged children how to swim. The 2021 bronze medalist primarily works with second to fourth-graders, with a significant number coming from the L.A. Unified School District. Some have already voiced ambitions to become Olympians or Paralympians.
“You see something happen, something that you consider magnificent or magical … it says, ‘Wow, now I want to do this,’” Hill said. “Whether or not you end up doing that, it puts you on a path of just thinking bigger, going above and beyond, having the incentive of self-driven goals that just ultimately build better community members.”
After selling a record 4 million tickets in the first drop this year, Olympic tickets go back on sale this week. Fans who registered for the ticket lottery with a Visa credit card received information Monday about time slots to purchase tickets during the Visa presale that runs July 29-31. Email notifications for time slots in the second drop that begins Aug. 10 and lasts until Aug. 20 will hit inboxes between Aug. 6-7.
When Olympic tickets went on sale in April, fans were shocked and frustrated at high prices, a 24% service fee and limited availability for key events. LA28 has tried to keep tickets affordable, but hearing that nearly half of the tickets are under $200, including the service fee, and 75% are under $400 is still a steep price for many fans. Half of the 1 million tickets priced at $28 were scooped up during the locals presale in April, but more will be made available in the next drop.
Individuals, organizations and community leaders interested in participating in LA28’s community ticket program can access more information at la28.org. The Rams’ initial $5-million donation is expected to fund several more ticket donations to local organizations in the coming months.
Although he grew up near SoFi Stadium, Hernandez, who will be a freshman at San José State in the fall studying civil engineering, had never attended a major live sports event until this year. Through Brotherhood Crusade, he went to a Rams game. It only made him more excited for future opportunities.
“It almost helped me with my goals,” Hernandez said. “I’m like, ‘You know what, I want to be in that space again.’ I want to be able to afford a ticket and go to games. That’s kind of why I want to go to college, want to get an engineering degree, and make sure that maybe I can take my kids one day to a Rams game. The next time the Olympics come back, I can be able to get my own ticket and go.”
On Sunday, in the Rams’ first training camp practice, Stafford was held out as part of the plan to limit his reps, putting all eyes on Simpson and fourth-year pro Stetson Bennett as they began their competition to back up the reigning NFL most valuable player.
But with Jimmy Garoppolo enjoying retirement — probably until an NFL team in desperate need comes calling — the Rams require a capable backup should something befall Stafford, who remains the most important player on a star-studded team favored to win Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.
Nate Scheelhaase, the Rams’ first-year offensive coordinator, praised Bennett and Simpson.
“We require so much of those guys, from what we do with formations with motions, with adjustments that they’re going to make before the ball is even snapped,” Scheelhaase said. “And so, if you can’t get that right, it’s going to be hard to get anything right post snap.
“So that’s the starting point. That’s the foundation.”
Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
Bob Chesney will win at UCLA
From Bill Plaschke: Walking down a hallway at UCLA’s Wasserman Football Center earlier this week, I became a believer.
Bouncing hurriedly in my direction was a bright-eyed kid with a huge smile. I didn’t know him. He didn’t know me.
Yet as he passed, he suddenly stuck out his hand for a fist bump, which I was too stunned to ignore, and so I pounded back while wondering.
The new football coach has infused the completely rebuilt program into a place so energetic, his players run around sharing their inspiration to complete strangers.
From Maddie Lee: Dodgers reliever Will Klein had just induced the Mets’ Marcus Semien to whiff on a high heater. In a 1-1 count, Klein, who had struggled with command, went back to the fastball, knowing he could throw it for a strike.
What Klein wanted to be an outside pitch drifted in, and Semien connected for a three-run home run that sent the Dodgers to an 8-3 loss Sunday at Citi Field.
“Gave him a fastball, and he’s ready for it, and put it out there,” Klein said. “When you’re ahead and you’re dictating things, that’s a pop-up, or they have to think about other stuff when I’m throwing off-speed in the zone. But I haven’t been, and so it’s really easy just throwing a fastball there, even if it’s in a spot that should be harder to hit, if you’re behind and the guy is a good hitter, it’s a lot easier for them to make that commitment and put a barrel to it.”
Despite failing to pull off the sweep, the Dodgers went 6-3 on their East Coast swing and won series against the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Mets.
Mike Trout had his first four-hit game in more than five years, Jorge Soler and Jo Adell homered and the Angels beat the San Francisco Giants 4-3 on Sunday to snap a three-game skid and avoid a series sweep.
Angels starter José Soriano (9-6) allowed an unearned run in five innings. The 27-year-old right-hander gave up three hits, walked three and had five strikeouts. Mitch Farris got the final two outs for his first career save.
San Francisco, which had its four-game home win streak snapped, is the only team in MLB without a series sweep of three-plus games this season.
Maja Lardner scored her first NWSL goal and scored again on a second-half header to give Racing Louisville a 2-1 win over Angel City at BMO Stadium on Sunday.
The rookie opened the scoring in the 24th minute for Louisville (3-10-3) after midfielder Katie O’Kane’s long-range effort bounced through Angel City’s penalty area. Lardner touched the loose ball past goalkeeper Angelina Anderson.
Kayla Fischer sent a lofted ball to Lardner in the 55th minute, which she headed past Anderson.
1920 — Resolute defeats Shamrock IV of Britain to defend the America’s Cup title for the United States.
1937 — The United States wins the Davis Cup by beating Britain four matches to one.
1954 — Chick Harbart beats Walter Burkemo 4 and 3 in the final round to win the PGA championship.
1969 — Betsy Rawls wins the LPGA championship by four strokes over Sue Berning and Carol Mann.
1973 — The Miami Dolphins beat the College All-Stars 14-3 in Chicago.
1986 — Greg LeMond becomes the first American to win the Tour de France. LeMond’s teammate, Bernard Hinault of France, finishes second.
1986 — Pat Bradley sinks a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat hard-charging Japanese veteran Ayako Okamoto in the LPGA-du Maurier tournament. Bradley birdied five of the first six holes and finishes at 6-under 66 for a 72-hole total of 276.
1986 — Speedskater Bonnie Blair sets a U.S. Olympic Festival record for total medals won with 16 and total golds with 10 by taking two titles.
1986 — Bobby Hillin Jr. becomes the youngest winner in the history of NASCAR stock car racing, surviving the Talladega 500 at Alabama International Motor Speedway. Hillin, 22, takes the lead from Tim Richmond eight laps from the end of the 188-lap event.
1992 — Patty Sheehan shoots a 1-over 72 for a two-stroke victory over Juli Inkster in their 18-hole playoff in the U.S. Women’s Open.
1993 — Reggie Lewis, the 27-year-old Boston Celtics star who collapsed during a playoff game on April 29 from a heart ailment, dies after a light workout at the team’s practice facility at Brandeis University.
1996 — Canada’s Donovan Bailey sets the world record to win the 100 meters in 9.84 seconds at the Summer Olympics. The Atlanta Games are later marred by the Centennial Olympic Park bombing that kills Alice Hawthorne, wounds 111 others.
1999 — Tony Hawk is the first skateboarder to land a “900.”
2002 — John Ruiz retains the WBA heavyweight title he won from Evander Holyfield, this time getting off the canvas three times — all after low blows — and lasting long enough for Kirk Johnson to be disqualified.
2005 — Grant Hackett bumps off one of swimmimg’s most enduring world records, eclipsing Ian Thorpe’s mark in the 800-meter freestyle. The 6-foot-6 Hackett claims his second gold and third medal of the World Swimming Championships with a time of 7:38.65, breaking the mark set four years earlier by his countryman Thorpe.
2008 — Carlos Sastre wins the Tour de France in one of the closest finishes in the 105-year-old race. The third Spaniard in a row to win cycling’s premier event, Sastre holds his 65-second lead over Cadel Evans of Australia. As in the last two years, this year’s Tour is plagued by doping.
2013 — Candace Parker scores a record 23 points to lead the West to a 102-98 win over the East and earn MVP honors in the WNBA All-Star game.
2013 — Hunter Mahan withdraws from the RBC Canadian Open after his wife went into labor. Mahan, the tournament leader at 13 under after 36 holes, had yet to tee off for the third round.
2014 — Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali wins the Tour de France, becoming the first Italian to win cycling’s greatest race in 16 years. Nibali is the sixth rider to win all three Grand Tours — France, Italy and Spain— and is the first Italian to win the Tour de France since Marco Pantani in 1998.
2014 — Martina Hingis leads Washington to its fourth straight World TeamTennis title and fifth in six years, beating Olga Govortsova 5-2 in singles in the Kastles’ 25-13 victory over the Springfield Lasers.
2015 — The Arizona Cardinals hire Jen Welter to coach inside linebackers through their upcoming training camp and preseason. The Cardinals say Welter is believed to be the first woman to hold a coaching position of any kind in the NFL.
2021 — Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles withdraws from the women’s team final at the Tokyo Games citing needs to focus on her mental health.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1918 — Brooklyn rookie Henry Heitman completed one of the shortest careers in major league history. Heitman appeared on the mound against the St. Louis Cardinals, gave up four consecutive hits and then left the game, never to play a major league game again.
1930 — Ken Ash of Cincinnati got his last major league victory by throwing one pitch. Ash came into relieve in the fifth inning and got Chicago’s Charlie Grimm to hit into a triple play. Ash was removed for a pinch hitter and the Reds beat the Cubs 6-5.
1946 — Rudy York of Boston hit two grand slams and drove in 10 runs as the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns 13-6.
1950 — Del Ennis of the Philadelphia Phillies drove in seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings of a 13-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Ennis doubled with the bases loaded in the seventh and hit a grand slam in the eighth.
1959 — New York lawyer William Shea announced the formation of the Continental League. New York, Houston, Toronto, Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul were the five cities named and Branch Rickey was named league president.
1978 — Duane Kuiper of Cleveland tied a major league record by becoming the third player in the 20th century to hit two triples in a game. Both came with the bases loaded as the Indians beat the New York Yankees 17-5.
1984 — Montreal’s Pete Rose passed Ty Cobb for the most singles in a career with No. 3,053, against the Philadelphia Phillies.
1986 — Two 300-game winners faced each other, with Don Sutton going six strong innings to outpitch Tom Seaver and give the Angels a 3-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
1996 — The San Diego Padres pounded the Florida Marlins 20-12. Wally Joyner led the way with five RBIs and John Flaherty hit a grand slam. The Padres were the sixth club to score 20 runs in a game this season. The last time that happened was 1929.
2008 — Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler recorded six outs to set a major league record with 27 scoreless innings to begin his career. Ziegler broke the previous mark of 25 innings set by Philadelphia Phillies right-hander George McQuillan in 1907.
2009 — Washington’s Josh Willingham became the 13th player to hit two grand slams in a game, doing so in the Nationals’ 14-6 win at Milwaukee. Willingham’s eight RBIs were the most in Nationals history and tied the franchise mark.
2011 — Ervin Santana pitched the first solo no-hitter for the Angels in nearly 27 years, striking out 10 and leading them over Cleveland 3-1. Santana allowed two runners — an error on the leadoff batter that resulted in a first-inning run and a walk in the eighth.
2011 — The Tampa Bay Rays broke one of baseball’s oldest records when they played their 705th consecutive game with a starting pitcher younger than 30 years old. The Rays lost to Oakland 13-4.
2013 — Tampa Bay Rays rookie Chris Archer helped American League teams pitch a trio of 1-0 games, the first time that’s happened on the same day in nearly a half-century. The last time three AL games ended 1-0 on the same day was Sept. 4, 1965. Archer and Tampa Bay edged New York at Yankee Stadium, Justin Masterson and the Cleveland bullpen blanked Texas and Wade Davis and Royals relievers shut out the Chicago White Sox by the same 1-0 score.
2014 — A huge crowd estimated at 48,000 is on hand for the annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, NY. This year’s class is unusually large and prestigious, featuring three players elected on the first ballot: 300-game winners Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine and slugger Frank Thomas, a member of the 500 home run club. Joining them are three managers who stand at #3, 4 and 5 on the all-time win list in Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre. Maddux, Glavine and Cox all found their greatest success in the great Atlanta Braves teams of the 1990s.
2015 — Alex Rodriguez became the fourth player in major league history to homer as a teen and in his 40s, marking his birthday by lining an opposite-field shot to right against his former team to help the New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 6-2. Ty Cobb, Rusty Staub and Gary Sheffield are the only other players to achieve the feat.
2017 — The Nationals tied a franchise record with eight home runs, including two apiece by Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman, in a 15-2 rout of the Milwaukee Brewers. Washington matched two major league records in a seven-run third inning: Most consecutive home runs (four) and most home runs in an inning (five).
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Betye Saar, a Los Angeles artist who transformed collections of bigoted bric-à-brac — Sambo dolls, ceramic mammies and crude renderings of pickaninnies — into potent works of assemblage that mined the searing history of race in the United States, and whose works influenced generations of artists, has died. She was 99.
Saar died in her sleep — just a few days short of her 100th birthday — in Los Angeles, her longtime gallerist Julie Roberts at Robert Projects said. Saar’s death was confirmed by her publicist Hannah Gottlieb-Graham.
“Betye Saar was one of the greatest artists of our time, and it has been an immense honor to work with her for nearly 20 years,” Roberts said. “Her singular vision transformed the course of contemporary art, and her legacy will continue to inspire generations of artists, scholars, and audiences around the world.”
A diminutive woman with a low-key manner that belied a steely resolve, Saar was known for combing garage sales, flea markets and junk piles for objects that she employed in collages and assemblages large and small. These explored difficult aspects of American history — including slavery and Jim Crow — but also touched on more personal themes of family, memory, magic and spirituality.
“My work has to do with recycling,” she told a documentary crew in the 1970s. “Each item I collect has a certain energy from its previous function that carries over into its new use.”
Artist Betye Saar in her Laurel Canyon home in 2016.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
In a 1984 profile, Times art writer Suzanne Muchnic described Saar as an artist who used found objects in a way that “draws on the power of mystery, the hurt of discrimination and the authenticity of individual vision.”
As Saar’s 100th birthday approached, her work and its groundbreaking importance were celebrated afresh in a slew of articles, including two recent profiles in The Times. As she approached the momentous milestone, Saar appeared more interested in creating new art than in dissecting her legacy. “That’s what art is,” she told The Times in an interview in late June. “Making something where there was nothing.”
Saar first rose to prominence in the 1970s, after crafting a small assemblage — roughly the size of a shoebox — that featured at its center a stereotypical Black mammy figurine bearing a rifle in one hand and a grenade in the other. The piece was first shown at the Rainbow Sign, a community center in Berkeley that was located near the headquarters of the Black Panthers.
The artist had begun her professional life as a designer of greeting cards and home accessories. But 1972’s “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima,” as the assemblage was called, catapulted her into the center of the Black Arts Movement and connected her with a broader tradition of assemblage in California and the art world at large. Three years after its creation, she had a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Decades later, activist Angela Davis credited “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima” with spurring the Black women’s movement.
“It’s like they abolished slavery, but they kept Black people in the kitchen as mammy jars,” Saar said in a 2015 interview. “I had this Aunt Jemima, and I wanted to put a rifle and a grenade under her skirts. I wanted to empower her. I wanted to make her a warrior. I wanted people to know that Black people wouldn’t be enslaved by that.”
In June 2020, in the wake of the uprisings following the murder of George Floyd, Quaker Oats announced that it would retire the Aunt Jemima brand. Saar took to Instagram with an image of her famous work and a message: “She’s liberated! Finally at long last! And it’s about time!”
“Liberation” now resides in the collection of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, not far from where it was first shown.
Betye Saar was born Betye Irene Brown in L.A. on July 30, 1926, the eldest of Jefferson Maze Brown and Beatrice Lillian Parson‘s three children. Her father, with whom she was close, died when Saar was about 5. And shortly thereafter, Parson relocated the family to Pasadena to live with her maternal aunt, Hattie Parson Keys. (Years later, Saar created a series of works in honor of Keys, employing objects that her aunt had left behind — something she would do for other family members as well.)
Saar’s parents weren’t artists, but art was in the air. When she was a child, her mother encouraged her to sew and make crafts. And, in the summers, she spent time at the home of her paternal grandparents in Watts, where she saw Simon Rodia building the Watts Towers and was struck by his use of materials.
“The one I find the most amusing is the corn cob,” she told the podcast “The Modern Art Notes” in 2016. “He had a piece of space with wet cement so he just put the corn cob in there. And I just love the kind of freedom to make the piece. Anything can go in there.”
After graduating from high school, Saar spent two years at Pasadena City College before transferring to UCLA in 1947. She majored in design, figuring that she would become an interior decorator — and, for a time, she did indeed work in that field, teaming up with Curtis Tann to form a cleverly named studio called Brown and Tann. Operating out of Tann’s home, the company produced an array of decorative and functional objects, including bowls, ashtrays and jewelry.
To market their goods, they turned to an informal network of African American artists, staging pop-up exhibitions in people’s homes and in other impromptu locations. In 1951, the pair was featured in Ebony magazine.
It was through that circle that she met a ceramicist of German American descent by the name of Richard Saar. In 1952, they married. The following year, their daughter Lezley was born. Two other daughters followed: Alison in 1956 and Tracye in 1961. (Lezley and Alison are now respected artists in their own right. And, in fact, on more than one occasion, all three women have shown their work together, most recently at the Museum of Art & History in Lancaster in 2018.) In 2024, the Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Gallery installed Saar’s “Seeking Secrets of Destiny” alongside her daughter Alison’s sculpture “The Beckoning.”
Betye Saar, flanked by her daughters, stands before a painted brick wall.
(Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)
In 1962, the Saar family moved to a rambling hillside home in Laurel Canyon, then a very rustic part of L.A. It put them in a hotbed of hippiedom right as the 1960s got rolling.
“Down the road was Frank Zappa,” Saar recalled in one interview. “There weren’t that many houses. We had the long skirts and long hair, and it was very casual. You’d go to a love-in or a concert.”
“We were as hippie-ish as hippie could be, while still being responsible.”
By the late ‘60s, she and Saar had divorced. But she remained in Laurel Canyon, where she would live and work until the end of her life.
Saar came to art almost by accident. In the late 1950s, she enrolled at Cal State Long Beach to pursue a master’s degree so that she could teach. But a stroll through campus led her past the university’s printing department.
“I walked past the print workshop and I was like, ‘Heyyy!’ ” she later recalled.
The master’s degree never happened. Instead, she poured herself into printing.
“I loved making prints,” she recalled. “The move into fine art, it was liberating. It gave me freedom to experiment.”
A pair of other, longer journeys, also proved formative.
There was a trip to Chicago’s Field Museum, where she immersed herself in the institution’s extensive collection of African art, followed by a trip to Haiti in the early 1970s. Saar was drawn to the Caribbean nation because of her interest in voodoo and magic — and the power that these could confer on inanimate objects.
“In the early 1960s I began going to coffee houses and they’d have books on the occult,” she told the New York Times in 1978. “I was attracted to signs and diagrams of alchemy and palmistry, and I began to use them in my prints. I also haunted second-hand and junk stores, and I started to frame my prints in old window frames.”
But it was a visit to an exhibition of the work of Joseph Cornell at the Pasadena Art Museum (now the Norton Simon Musuem) that inspired her to take a three-dimensional turn in her work. Saar was moved by the surreal qualities of the New York artist’s intimately scaled assemblages, which were often presented in small boxes.
“I immediately started collecting stuff after I saw that show,” she told the L.A. Times in 2016. “I started going to yard sales and estate sales.”
During the ‘60s and ‘70s, she took on a series of part-time jobs to provide for her children, designing costumes at a cultural center and teaching at area art schools. These provided her with necessary income, but also allowed her enough time to make work — which she often did at the kitchen table.
“Art comes from the heart and the head,” she once said. “You don’t need to have a separate space in which to make it.”
Plus, art gave Saar a crucial political voice at a time of the civil rights and Black power movements. “If you are a mom with three kids, you can’t go to a march,” she once stated, “but you can make work that deals with your anger.”
“The Weight of Betrayal,” 2015, by Betye Saar.
(Brian Forrest / Roberts Projects)
In her assemblages, she incorporated symbols that channeled dark episodes of U.S. history and African American struggle: the schematics of slave ships, the hackneyed images of vintage kitsch and the cruel sobriquets used by white supremacists to describe Black children.
At first she was apprehensive about using this type of imagery in her work. “Blacks were ashamed of those derogatory images,” she told the New York Times. “I like to think I recycled those images from negative to positive.”
But there was power in those images — and Saar knew just how to harness it.
She would go on to deploy these tropes in myriad ways throughout her career — in particular the stereotypical figure of the Black mammy.
This included one particularly potent work: a glass bottle featuring the visage of a smiling mammy, which she transformed into a Molotov cocktail. The piece, which for decades had been in a private collection, reappeared in the traveling exhibition “We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85,” which went on view at the California African American Museum (CAAM) in 2017.
“Historically, the mammy was the ultimate image of Black female servitude in the American psyche,” wrote historian Steven Nelson in the catalog that accompanied a 2017 exhibition of Saar’s work at the Craft Contemporary (then known as the Craft & Folk Art Museum). “She was kind and giving. She cooked and cleaned and did the laundry. She took care of the children. She was harmless.”
By arming her mammies with revolvers, rifles and bullets, Saar turned a symbol of servility into one of militancy and power.
“Liberation of Aunt Jemima: Cocktail,” 1973, shown at the exhibition “We Wanted a Revolution” at CAAM in 2017.
(Jonathan Dorado, Brooklyn Museum / Betye Saar, Roberts Projects)
Her work also frequently touched on the personal: family, dreams, magic and the body (particularly the Black female body). In the process, she influenced a younger generation of artists, key figures such as Houston Conwill, Senga Nengudi and David Hammons.
“You can really see the impact she had on them,” said Kellie Jones, a scholar and independent curator who organized “Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980” at the Hammer Museum in 2011. “She had this multimedia practice. It was about Africa, but it was about the world. She has works with Mexican milagros, she has titles in Spanish, she at certain points has Asian influence and Haitian influence. She was really looking at the globe. She was a person in the world, and she really modeled that for people like Hammons and Conwill and Nengudi.”
Saar’s work resides in the permanent collections of more than 80 international museums, and in recent years, she was the subject of solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Prada Foundation in Milan and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona (which hosted a retrospective).
In L.A., she had regular exhibitions at her Culver City gallery Roberts Projects, as well as one-woman shows at CAAM and the Craft Contemporary. In 2019, a small but potent show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art explored the ways in which her drawing process factored into her assemblage work. But a full retrospective at one of her hometown’s major museums eluded her.
Saar told The Times that she didn’t let it bother her: “I’ve always done what I did and never felt I was competing with what was going on.”
An installation view of “Mojotech,” 1987, by Betye Saar at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
(Tim Lanterman / Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Roberts Projects)
If anything, she competed only with herself.
Well into her 90s, she continued to get up every day to craft assemblages out of the objects she had amassed in her studio. At 96, she scoured the Huntington Library gardens for a commissioned installation she called a “full-circle” project.
“I used to come to the Huntington with my mother when I was a child. She loved to garden, especially African violets, and she passed that love of plants and nature on to me,” Saar told the New York Times Style Magazine in 2024.
That love is palpable in “Drifting Toward Twilight” and its accompanying documentary, which sees Saar fawning over the orange tint of sloughed bark and the mystical qualities of garden scraps.
“Even in death those things can be really beautiful,” Saar said in the short documentary.
After working with a 17-foot canoe as a centerpiece for the Huntington exhibition, Saar told Curate LA that she felt compelled to return to small-scale pieces. The result was her 2024 Roberts Projects exhibit, “Betye Saar: New Work,” an objet trouvé medley in bronze and gold hues.
“At first, the new works were more nostalgic, with vintage photos and female ephemera, like gloves and such,” Saar said. “Then I brought in the tall ship bookends and African masks, and the works moved in a more ancestral and political direction.”
Even her grandson’s discarded computer parts made a cameo, a testament to Saar’s uncanny ability to mine inspiration from the most mundane objects.
“The worst problem for an artist is having nothing to say,” she once said in an interview. “I just have so many ideas. … Look at things that are important to you, what’s happening in your life. If you have that, you never run out of ideas.”
With her centennial on the horizon, Saar in 2025 formed the Betye Saar Legacy Group, a committee of her trusted curators and collaborators charged with preserving her vast archive and keeping her name fresh in the minds of new generations of artists.
A Saar biography penned by Zoé Whitley, who co-curated “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power,” is expected in 2027.
Saar is survived by her daughters Lezley, Alison (both artists) and Tracye (a writer), and her grandchildren Kyle Leeser, Maddy Inez, Sola Saar, Gen Saar Agustsson, Spencer Saar Cavanaugh, Megan Cavanaugh
Times staff writers Malia Mendez and Jessica Gelt contributed to this report.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It’s time to give some love to the linemen doing the dirty work in high school football. Let’s examine the offensive and defensive linemen to watch.
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
Big men in spotlight
Size certainly helps playing on the offensive line and has become much in demand from college recruiters. The Trinity League is home to an outstanding group of blockers that includes Drew Fielder of Servite, Lucas Rhoa of Orange Lutheran, Jack Schein of JSerra, Elisha Mueller of St. John Bosco and Lex Mailangi of Mater Dei. Fielder is going to USC, Roha to Texas and Mailangi to Oregon.
The extremely big linemen list includes 360-pound Amaziah Siale of Mission Viejo, an LSU commit, 300-pound Jackson Hill of Chaminade, a Notre Dame commit, and 350-pound junior Lincoln Fa’alafi of JSerra. Vincent Shields, a 6-5, 285-pound junior from Murrieta Valley, is gaining traction as an improving blocker and top college prospect.
Sierra Canyon has 6-6, 270-pound junior Lance Ciechanowski. San Pedro’s David Medina isn’t tall but his strength and passion comes through as an All-City player. Birmingham’s Pablo Granados enters his senior season with high expectations to continue his development.
The matchups this fall featuring top blockers against top defensive linemen will be electric. Sierra Canyon’s Marcus Fakatou transferred from Orange Lutheran and reclassified to be a senior. He’s committed to Ohio State. The Trailblazers also have Kasi Currie. Call them the Great Wall of Chatsworth.
Godschoice Eboigbodin of JSerra is 6-5, 260 pounds and still learning the game as a UCLA commit. Elija Harmon of Inglewood is an Oklahoma commit returning from an injury.
Caleb Pasina of St. Bonaventure is a 6-4, 270-pound junior just beginning to show his dominance. Siave Seti of Bishop Amat was All-CIF and all-Mission League as a freshman.
Sione Felila of Oak Hills is 6-3, 290 pounds and had 18 tackles for losses. Isaia Vandermade of Santa Margarita was one of the best players during last season’s Division 1 playoffs. Opponents couldn’t block the USC commit. Hunter Taylor from Mira Costa is an Army commit with lots of agility. Hunter Eligon starred for Division 2 champion Los Alamitos last season and now is at Western. Miles Schirmer of Corona Centennial is a 6-5, 260-pound disruptor.
Oaks Christian has improving Aliseleti Tuihalamaka. Junior edge Elijah Tuua of St. John Bosco will be turned loose to harass quarterbacks. David Nansen of Bellflower is a sophomore coming off a standout freshman season. Jon Ioane of Tustin was heavily recruited and ended up committing to Washington. Elyjah Staples of Marquez, a Cal commit, had nine sacks last season. Kingston Sula of Carson had 16 sacks as a sophomore. Kenneth Webb of King/Drew had nine sacks. Will Gelt of Agoura contributed 11 sacks.
Taft High football player Carter Wallace, who has been deaf since birth, works with interpreter Jo Beth during practice.
(Craig Weston)
Taft High’s Carter Wallace is not letting being deaf serving as a roadblock to prevent him from playing football.
Official high school football practice begins Monday for Southern Section teams with zero week games and in the City Section. There’s a five-day acclimatization period before pads go on. Each player needs 14 days of practice before being able to compete in a game. Scrimmages count as a practice day.
Santa Margarita celebrates after winning the CIF State Football Championship Open Division game in 2025.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
St. John Bosco begins the 2026 season ranked No. 1 in The Times’ preseason high school football rankings. Last year’s No. 1 team, Santa Margarita, begins at No. 4.
The Aug. 21 football opener in Las Vegas between Bishop Gorman and St. John Bosco might as well be called a national championship game, though Bishop Gorman is expected to participate in a postseason competition run by Overtime that began in 2025.
It was 108 degrees earlier this week in Las Vegas and Bishop Gorman coach Brent Browning is predicting 110 degrees with a chance of a thunderstorm or two when St. John Bosco makes the trip.
Bishop Gorman also has a nonleague game with Mater Dei, so the Gaels are trying to win the Trinity League, which they would gladly join if the CIF allowed non-California teams to participate.
Notes . . .
Linebacker Wyatt Bogdan from Laguna Beach has committed to Portland State….
Receiver Nathan Williams of Carson has committed to Idaho State….
Standout St. John Bosco pitcher Julian Garcia signed with the Milwaukee Brewers for $1.5 million. He was a fourth-round draft pick….
Thank you🙏🏾 My philanthropy was sparked when I was 8 years old doing book & toy drives & throughout my high school years with various homeless drives that many of you around the country participated in. I never felt I had to wait to become a big leaguer to help others. @MLB… https://t.co/dVzYLXrLeU
Grace McCabe has been named the first girls lacrosse coach at Harvard-Westlake, which is adding the sport this year along with flag football as the school prepares to open its new sports complex in Studio City….
Spectrum will once again televise Southern Section football games this fall, with Chaparral facing Mission Viejo in the opening game….
Perfect Game announced rosters for its all-star game on Aug. 16 at Citizens Bank Park. P Striker Pence (Corona Santiago), P Andrew Carlson (Trinity Classical), SS Carter Hadnot (Aquinas), P Jordan Ayala (Norco), SS Dylan Seward (Norco), INF Parker Leoff (Huntington Beach) playing…
Former Yucaipa baseball coach Ralph Grajeda is the new head coach at Citrus Valley….
Santa Margarita will play its home football games at Saddleback College this season. It’s a return for the Eagles, who once played all their home games at Saddleback….
Jordan Vogel of Arcadia has committed to St. Mary’s baseball…..
Pitcher Robbie Erspamer of San Clemente has committed to UC San Diego….
Cal Lutheran assistant Alec Iniguez is the new baseball coach at Thousand Oaks….
JSerra’s girls’ basketball program could be facing a Southern Section investigation after possible rules violations were detailed in court documents. Here’s the report. …
Johnny Garcia is the new girls basketball coach at Bishop Alemany….
THE STAGE IS SET.
The 2026 Area Code Games are almost here! The best HS talent in the country steps on the diamond starting July 31.
📍 Underclass: July 31 – Aug 4⁰📍 Upperclass: Aug 5 – Aug 10
The Area Code Games in baseball begin this weekend with underclassmen at Blair Field in Long Beach, followed by upperclassmen next weekend….
Former Newbury Park cross country coach Sean Brosnan has taken over the program at USC….
Rafael Segura is the new lacrosse coach at St. John Bosco….
Delvon Rose is the new boys basketball coach at South Pasadena….
Isabella Dolce, a girls soccer standout at Santa Margarita, has committed to the University of Louisiana Lafayette….
St. Monica basketball coach Allen Caveness has resigned to become head coach at Long Beach Jordan….
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford presented a $10,000 equipment grant to Dominguez High on Sunday to help purchase blocking sleds, uniforms and practice gear, among other items, for the upcoming season….
Encino Little League’s team made up of 11- and 12-year-olds won its opening game of the state championships in Aliso Niguel to advance to the winner’s bracket semifinals Tuesday. The state champion advances to the Western Regional finals tournament in San Bernardino, with a berth in the Little League World Series on the line.
From the archives: Gabe York
Former Orange Lutheran basketball player Gabe York has found a way to become a pro basketball player since going undrafted in 2016 after leaving the University of Arizona. At age 32, he keeps finding opportunities in overseas leagues, the latest being with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Assn.
He has always been known for his shooting prowess. He averaged almost 25 points at Orange Lutheran and had a 43-point performance. Always well liked for giving his all, York keeps finding ways to contribute.
From Globenewswire, a story from 2019 that projected youth sports spending.
From the Los Angeles Times, a story looking into the Hall of Fame induction of former Edison High and Dodger second baseman Jeff Kent.
From Wired, a story on how elite young runners are becoming freakishly fast.
Tweets you might have missed
Youth sports should be about development, having fun. The priority shouldn’t be on winning, which is why so many parents keep switching teams and leagues and paying money to have a trophy. If you develop, you win.
Landon shares his gripes on pay-to-play in America.
“Somebody has to pay for soccer. The problem is, all these youth clubs now are grinding every penny out of every family. I have kids. I can afford to pay for it. My kid has four training jerseys. Why the hell does he need… pic.twitter.com/tmZ7dMcMWr
— Unfiltered Soccer (@UnfilteredSoccr) July 20, 2026
The 15-year TV contract the CIF signed with Spectrum to broadcast state playoffs ends on July 31. Shortly after, a new deal is expected to be announced. I’m not going to speculate who gets the contract, but Play OnSports already owns MaxPreps, GoFan and NFHS Network. It would be…
🇦🇲 Anthony Sarkesian continues to build on an impressive summer.
Gold medalist & FIBA U16 C Division MVP, averaging 21.0 PPG and 14.8 RPG.
The 6’5”-6’6” wing (Chaminade HS/ West Hills, CA | Class of 2029) dropped 22 PTS vs. Kosovo U18 today on 7/7 FG, 4/4 3PT. @cnk10_pic.twitter.com/yVlRt6PWJY
Congrats to rising juniors Ronan Keane and Andrew Schneider of the JSerra Boys Water Polo team, who were selected to the United States Men’s Cadet Water Polo National Team and will compete at the 2026 World Aquatics Men’s U16 Water Polo World Championship in Zagreb, Croatia.
One of the best passing duos in City is Verdugo Hills QB Jered Smith to receiver Aiden Mejia. They’ve been together for four years. pic.twitter.com/1Cgns4lvfT
— Pali Boys Basketball (@PaliBoysHoops) July 25, 2026
6-foot-8 Crew Fotheringham, a 2027 basketball player at Lone Peak in Utah, is the son of former Hart QB Chad Fotheringham and brother of former San Clemente TE Cole Fotheringham. He’d have no problem coming back to SoCal to play college basketball.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
Did you get this newsletter forwarded to you? To sign up and get it in your inbox, click here.
Welcome to UCLA Unlocked, our weekly newsletter featuring all things Bruins athletics. To sign up to get this newsletter delivered every Monday to your inbox, click here.
But Plaschke reported his philosophy has quickly forged deep roots in Westwood, where Chesney’s optimism fits in seamlessly at the school built on John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success. There’s also some very strong Ted Lasso energy brewing, which makes sense since the character is partially inspired by Wooden values.
A weekly newsletter offering big game takeaways, recruiting buzz and everything you need to know about UCLA sports.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
We’ve heard from some UCLA fans were irritated about a potential Plaschke curse after he announced Chesney will make the Bruins winners, but its seems the Bruin faithful are just going to have get used to a growing bandwagon.
The UCLA hype should go national Wednesday, when quarterback Nico Iamaleava, defensive back Cole Martin and linebacker Samuel Omosigho join Chesney during Big Ten football media days.
It’s Chesney’s first chance to meet the national and regional media covering the Big Ten. He is naturally an exceptional public speaker and inevitably will be compared to his predecessor, who went viral for his difficulty the first time he stepped into the Big Ten spotlight.
It’s not a fair comparison, but Chesney is sure to score high marks despite a healthy amount of cynicism among Big Ten blue bloods and whispers throughout the league that UCLA’s high 2027 recruiting ranking is a bit inflated. Perhaps that’s the biggest compliment for UCLA, going from being ignored or laughed at to taking a few jabs over your glowing reviews.
Shortly after UCLA returns from media days, the team will kick off preseason camp. We’ll start to get a closer look at the Bruins’ offseason weight room progress and the team will work to prepare for a deceptively difficult opener at California, another long overlooked team with considerable hype entering the 2026 season.
Betts shines in Canada
Sienna Betts showed she’s ready to step into her older sister Lauren’s formidable shoes during a women’s basketball exhibition game against Canada.
The Bruins lost 69-55 to the Canadian national team Wednesday, but Sienna Betts looked like a formidable focal point of the UCLA attack.
She finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.
Betts got valuable but limited minutes last season as Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic dominated the paint for the national champions.
Canada and UCLA did not have their full rosters available for the tune-up, with Bruins Timea Gardiner, K.K. Bransford, Somto Okafor and Lina Jerkovic missing the game.
The excursion gave a heavily overhauled UCLA roster a chance to face different and formidable competition before setting off on sight-seeing adventures, a team bonding opportunity that likely will mean more to the coaching staff than the final score.
UCLA alums win AUSL title
Bruins alum Jadelyn Allchin won Athletes Unlimited Softball League championship MVP honors after helping lead her team to its second consecutive AUSL title.
UCLA softball great Lisa Fernandez is the Talons’ general manager. Her roster and the entire league is packed with former Bruins who are helping AUSL grow at a rapid rate.
Connor Dullinger offered a great look at the role the Bruins have played in the growth of pro softball and explains why Fernandez is thinking bigger, pushing for global gains so that softball can be a permanent fixture at the Olympics.
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email newsletters editor Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Maja Lardner scored her first NWSL goal and scored again on a second-half header to give Racing Louisville a 2-1 win over Angel City at BMO Stadium on Sunday.
The rookie opened the scoring in the 24th minute for Louisville (3-10-3) after midfielder Katie O’Kane’s long-range effort bounced through Angel City’s penalty area. Lardner touched the loose ball past goalkeeper Angelina Anderson.
Kayla Fischer sent a lofted ball to Lardner in the 55th minute, which she headed past Anderson.
Sveindis Jonsdottir scored for Angel City (7-7-1) in the 80th minute when defender Sophia Mattice sent a long ball forward.
A piece of iconic Los Angeles architecture and one of pop culture’s most recognizable exteriors is on display as the Pasadena home featured as Wayne Manor in TV’s original “Batman” hits the market this month for $32 million — less than a year after it was last sold.
The seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom Jacobean Tudor Revival home on 5 acres of gated land was built in 1928 by the L.A.-based architectural firm Morgan, Walls & Clements. This is the same firm responsible for some of L.A.’s most fantastical and beloved architectural creations including the Wiltern, El Capitan and Mayan theaters. It’s located at 380 S. San Rafael Avenue in Pasadena, in a lush, wooded area above the Arroyo Seco near the Rose Bowl.
The home, which features a stately mahogany main staircase and a genuine butler’s pantry worthy of Alfred Pennyworth, was made famous by the “Batman” TV series, which originally aired on ABC from 1966-68. During that time a man named Norman Preston van Valkenburgh lived there with his family. Film crews shot at the home for three days in 1966, but only external shots ended up being used as stock footage for Wayne Manor.
Over the years fans began to confuse the mansion with another nearby estate — the work of one of the city’s most prominent Africa American architects Paul R. Williams . The home, which The Times cheekily called an “imposter” in a 1989 article, burned down in 2005 while being renovated by its owner, Michael Hammer, grandson of the late oil tycoon Armand Hammer. At that time, crowds of “Batman” fans gathered before the smoldering ashes lamenting the loss only to discover they had the wrong house.
It will take just one super fan with Bruce Wayne-deep pockets to snap up this dreamy estate. Spoiler alert: There is no Bat Cave, but there is a pickleball court, a resort-style pool, a private theater and an Architectural Digest pedigree.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt counting the money in my swear jar and dreaming big. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
You’re reading Essential Arts
Our critics and reporters guide you through events and happenings of L.A.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
Jeff LeBeau, left, and Tim Cummings in the West Coast premiere of Samuel D. Hunter’s “Grangeville” at the Ruskin Group Theatre Arts Center, directed by John Perrin Flynn.
(John Perrin Flynn)
Grangeville The West Coast premiere of Samuel D. Hunter’s two-hander about a pair of estranged brothers concludes its acclaimed run at the Ruskin next weekend. In his review, Times theater critic Charles McNulty wrote that the playwright “turns his characters inside out in a play that powerfully illuminates a subject that has rarely been treated onstage with such unflinching honesty and sensitivity: How does one integrate a past that took everything to escape?” 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 2. Ruskin Group Theatre, 2800 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. app.arts-people.com
Sounds of LA County Country music in Sylmar and Quartz Hill; disco, soul and R&B in South L.A.; regional Mexican music in Florence-Graham and La Puente; deep house, Afrobeats, hip-hop and funk in East Compton; global acoustic in Willowbrook; and live salsa in East L.A. are this week’s offerings in the free summer series from LA County Parks and Nextfest LA. The program continues through August. 6-9 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Thursday. Check website for exact days and locations. soundsoflacounty.com
SATURDAY
Joe Hisaishi presents Music Future Coming off three nights at the Hollywood Bowl, the Japanese composer moves to a more intimate setting to celebrate the work of contemporary composers, including Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner and Max Richter, with the LA Phil New Music Group. 8 p.m. The Ford, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East theford.com
The Hour of the Star Brazilian actor Bruna Fachetti stars in the world premiere of a stage adaptation of the novella by Clarice Lispector about an impoverished woman dreaming of a better life in Rio de Janeiro. The limited, five-performance engagement was conceived and will be directed by Alex Tietre from the English translation by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Lispector biographer Benjamin Moser. 7 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, Thursday, July 31 and Aug. 1. The Broadwater Black Box Theatre, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A. eventbrite.com
SUNDAY
Boris Brejcha performs during the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival .
(Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for Coachella)
Boris Brejcha with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra The masked German DJ makes his global orchestral debut. The techno DJ duo Frieder & Jakob open the show. Be prepared to dance. 7 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com
Murder on the Orient Express Sidney Lumet’s 1974 version of the Agatha Christie mystery, adapted by Paul Dehn, earned six Oscar nominations. Alfred Finney, nominated for leading actor, stars as the meticulous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigating a killing aboard the famous train. Also starring Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam and Ingrid Bergman, who won the Oscar for supporting actress. Part of the Oscar Sundays series. 2 p.m. Academy Museum, David Geffen Theater, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
TUESDAY
Rhapsody in Blue & Shostakovich Marin Alsop conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Anna Clyne’s “Masquerade,” Gershwin’s soaring American classic (with pianist Conrad Tao) and Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. 8 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com
THURSDAY
Peter Finch in ‘Network.’
(TCM)
Network “I’m mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” shouts Peter Finch as news anchor Howard Beale in this 1976 satire directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Paddy Chayefsky. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning four: leading actor, posthumously, for Finch, leading actress for Faye Dunaway, supporting actress for Beatrice Straight, and original screenplay. Fifty years later, it feels as prescient as ever. 2 p.m. Vidiots, Eagle Theatre, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org
Arts anywhere
André De Shields, left, Reeve Carney, center, and the cast of Hadestown perform onstage during the 2019 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall.
(Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
Hadestown: The Musical The hit Broadway show, winner of eight Tonys and a Grammy, comes to movie theaters for a special five-day engagement. “The show travels to the underworld and back again with liquified grace,” wrote Times theater critic Charles McNulty. “Unfurling like a dream, ‘Hadestown’ speaks most eloquently through its sultry jazz score.” With Reeve Carney as Orpheus André De Shields as Hermes, Amber Gray as Persephone, Eva Noblezada as Eurydice and Patrick Page as Hades. Friday through Wednesday, theaters everywhere. bleeckerstreetmedia.com
— Kevin Crust
Culture news and the SoCal scene
The Hollywood Bowl during a summer concert.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The Hollywood Bowl recently debuted its biggest sound system upgrade in decades (featuring AI-powered vocal isolation and immersive, surround-sound), and Times classical music critic Mark Swed weighed in on why audiences should be careful of what they wish for. Still, the jury is out: “It is far too soon to say what ways the fabulous new Bowl sound system, which happens to be AI-endowed, might become friend and/or foe. In the first two L.A. Phil classical concerts, the white speakers brought out wonders and caused problems. But the minimal Bowl rehearsal time allows little opportunity to fine-tune,” Swed writes.
Swed also attended a showing of two of Yoko Ono’s famous performance pieces at REDCAT (in collaboration with the Broad, which is currently showing a major Ono retrospective). Titled “Sky Piece” and “Cut Piece” the music-driven works featured compositions by Ono’s friend and collaborator John Cage (Swed writes about the pair’s complicated relationship in New York during the 1960s). Swed also extols “Cut Piece” as performed bythe artist known as MPA, who sat stoically as the audience lined up to cut patches of her clothing off piece by piece.
Sean Luc Rogers and James Tupper in “F— Strangers” at the Echo Theater Company.
(Cooper Bates)
Times theater critic Charles McNulty headed to Echo Theater Company to see playwright Erik Patterson’s “F— Strangers,” directed by Echo Theater Company founding artistic director Chris Fields. McNulty found the show, which features scene after scene of intimate encounters, “intriguing and frustrating in equal measure.”
“It’s over 8 feet tall, nearly 11 feet wide and travels by 53-foot semitrailer. It’s covered in more than 20,000 beads and weighs almost 1 ton — or about 2,000 pounds,” writes The Times’ Eloise Rollins-Fife in her charming profile of “Gillian,” the chandelier featured in “Phantom of the Opera’s” current North American tour.” “And eight times a week, it’s dropped atop the heads of people who pay for the privilege — just a few feet short of actually hitting anyone.” “Phantom” is currently playing the Hollywood Pantages Theatre before it moves on to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.
Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times
Kihun Yoon, Michael J. Hawk, Nicholas Brownlee and Salmir Pirgu, from left, perform during an L.A. Opera dress rehearsal for Barrie Kosky’s “La Bohéme” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Sept. 12, 2019.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Bernard A. Greenberg, a founding board member and former chairman of L.A. Opera, has died at 95. Throughout his life Greenberg was a devoted opera fan and a champion of establishing a dedicated opera company in the city, which ultimately led to the 1986 creation of L.A. Opera. As a philanthropist, civic leader and arts advocate, Greenberg dedicated more than seven decades to steering L.A. Opera and creating the renowned company that it is today. He served on the board of directors for 40 years and held almost every major leadership position during that time. He and his wife, Lenore, also founded the Bernard A. and Lenore S. Greenberg Opera Fund — an endowment that continues to support some of the company’s most vital work.
“If anyone could be called the founder of LA Opera, it is Bernie Greenberg,” said Keith R. Leonard, Jr., Chairman of LA Opera’s Board of Directors in a statement about Greenberg’s death. “For more than 70 years, he devoted his extraordinary wisdom, leadership and generosity to building this company into the institution that serves our audiences today. Bernie believed deeply that opera could enrich lives and strengthen our community, and he worked tirelessly to make that vision a reality. His legacy is woven into every chapter of our history, and all of us at LA Opera are profoundly grateful for his friendship, his guidance and his unwavering commitment to this company.”
IAMA Theatre Company has announced its 2026-2027 season, including three world premieres, as well as its ninth New Works Festival, featuring a variety of new plays by fresh talent. The season kicks off with “Bobby Robotowitz” by Matt Schatz and directed by Casey Stangl, which will be performed from Oct. 15-Nov. 23 in two secret venues — one on the Westside in October and one on the Eastside in November. (When you buy a ticket you find out the location.) The season will end with IAMA’s first collaboration with Geffen Playhouse: the world premiere of “Closing Costs” by Grace McLeod, which was originally developed during IAMA’s 2024-2025 Emerging Playwrights Lab. For the full season lineup, and to buy tickets, click here.
SAN FRANCISCO — Rafael Devers and Jung Hoo Lee hit three-run homers, Robbie Ray pitched six shutout innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the Angels 9-2 on Saturday.
Devers and Casey Schmitt opened the scoring with RBI singles in the third before Lee lined a sweeper 365 feet into the right-field stands to extend the Giants’ lead to 5-0.
Luis Arraez added a one-run single in the fourth, and Devers extended the lead to 9-0 with his team-leading 22nd homer of the season. The homer was Devers’ third since the All-Star break and second in as many days.
Ray (9-6) struck out five and gave up six hits on just 80 pitches before being lifted. Over his last seven games, the 34-year-old left-hander has thrown 43⅓ innings with a 1.04 ERA and a 4-0 record.
Ryan Johnson (2-5) gave up eight runs on eight hits in 3⅓ innings for the Angels. Catcher Tyler Heineman pitched a hitless inning of relief.
Mike Trout drove in Los Angeles’ first run with a bases-loaded, RBI double play in the seventh. Trout, Zach Neto and Jo Adell were all pulled because of the score. Jose Siri was walked in the ninth inning, capping the scoring.
Up next: Angels’ RHP José Soriano (8-6, 3.43 ERA) faces Giants’ LHP Carson Whisenhunt (2-0, 3.38 ERA) in the series finale Sunday.
Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Noah Goldberg giving you the latest on city and county government.
There’s no exact way to measure the effectiveness of Los Angeles City Council members.
But we analyzed three basic elements — meeting attendance, committee assignments and amount of legislation drafted — to give readers a sense of what their local electeds are up to.
The proposal failed earlier this month after receiving stiff pushback from at least one councilmember, Monica Rodriguez.
“Meeting less for a city of 4 million people I think sends the wrong message. Particularly when you have the best-paid council in the country,” said Rodriguez in an interview on Fox 11 earlier this year (each councilmember makes an annual salary of more than $244,000). “This idea that we would be meeting less I believe runs contrary to what the public is demanding form their council.”
Yet Rodriguez isn’t a stickler for showing up to meetings herself, ranking near the bottom of her colleagues for attendance. Since the start of 2025, Rodriguez has attended about 86% of meetings, missing 25 out of 177 meetings, according to a Times analysis.
Gabriel Avalos, a spokesperson for Rodriguez, implied that other work-related matters kept her from the meetings.
“There’s no distinction for absences related to city business, but she certainly wasn’t absent due to dishes and laundry,” Avalos said.
Only two other councilmembers missed more meetings than Rodriguez — mayoral candidate Nithya Raman, who missed 30 meetings, and Curren Price, who missed 34 while dealing with illnesses.
On the other end of the spectrum, Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who runs the meetings, missed the fewest — just four of the 177 meetings from January 2025 until this month.
Eunisses Hernandez and Ysabel Jurado each attended 169 meetings, or about 96%.
Stella Stahl, a spokesperson for Raman, said that most of the councilmember’s absences were due to her position as the city’s representative on the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The remaining absences, Stahl said in a statement, “were tied to a small number of previously scheduled conferences and speaking engagements relevant to her committee work and district priorities, along with occasional sick days and travel for a funeral.”
You’re reading the L.A. on the Record newsletter
Sign up to make sense of the often unexplained world of L.A. politics.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
Committee assignments
Council members are appointed to committees by the council president. They can sit on additional committees if the president lets them.
These small groups of council members are responsible for reviewing the first drafts of legislation. Committee chairs have the power to move legislation forward — or stall it — by either putting it on the agenda, or not.
The busiest councilmembers are Hugo Soto-Martínez and Adrin Nazarian, who each sit on nine committees, including some temporary “ad-hoc” ones. Councilmember Tim McOsker follows with seven committee assignments.
But the number of committee assignments isn’t necessarily the clearest indication of power. Katy Yaroslavsky serves on only five committees, but she chairs the Budget and Finance Committee, which edits and approves the mayor’s proposed budget before sending it to the full council for one of its most important annual votes.
At the bottom of the list is Price again, who sits on four committees, including as chair of the Committee on Economic Development.
Legislation
Another easy marker is the amount of legislation a council member authors.
At each meeting, dozens of pieces of legislation go before the council — some high-profile, others just to keep the lights on at City Hall (literally).
Rodriguez, despite her relatively low attendance, was at the top of the legislative list over the last year and a half, drafting 199 motions.
A good chunk were motions on whether to support or oppose bills at the state and federal level. Rodriguez also had the most ceremonial street namings of any council member, with 13.
After Rodriguez, McOsker was the second-most prolific author, with 178 pieces of legislation, followed by Traci Park with 163.
At the bottom were Price with 84 and Harris-Dawson with 90.
State of play
— HOMELESSNESS RISING: Homelessness, including those living in shelters and other temporary facilities, went up by 3.4% across the city compared with 2025. Unsheltered homelessness — those living outdoors or in their vehicles — was up 7.9% after two consecutive years of decreases, dealing a fresh blow to Mayor Karen Bass as she runs for reelection.
— DISAPPEARING ACT: Bass’ press relations office communicates through WhatsApp messages that auto-delete every 24 hours, potentially shielding the messages from public records requests, according to three sources familiar with the office.
— PLAY BALL: In 1936, Los Angeles made it a misdemeanor to play baseball, basketball, soccer or any other ball game on a street or sidewalk. Nearly a century later, when kids spend half as much time outside as their parents did, City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield wants to cut the obscure law from the books.
— THE ICE EFFECT: A new study from the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute found that businesses within half a mile of nine ICE enforcement sites had 46,000 fewer customer visits and an estimated $3.16 million in accumulated revenue losses during the two weeks after enforcement activity.
— NEW HONCHO: Los Angeles schools Supt. Andrés E. Chait made a calm official entry into his new job Tuesday, emphasizing rising test scores and “a sense of belonging” that binds school communities.
QUICK HITS
Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program was at San Pedro Street Elementary School in Ysabel Jurado’s district, bringing 34 people indoors.
On the docket next week: The Los Angeles City Council remains on recess next week.
Stay in touch
That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to LAontheRecord@latimes.com. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.
Dear Dave Roberts: I was totally disgusted to see you at the Dodgers’ White House ceremony pandering to Trump. As far as I was concerned, you made a complete fool of yourself. I’m sure many Dodgers fans were equally horrified with your behavior.
Susan Stann Temecula
Today’s visit to the White House was baseball, not politics. It was a boost for MLB, not columnists who try to be political hacks with personal bias. If the hacks or detractors listened to the references it was all about achievement in what the team did to win. The Dodgers are part of the entertainment industry which annually draws maybe a billion fans or more and certainly billions of dollars. The hacks and detractors will not be convinced otherwise but if you line up any 50,000 fans at a game, you will see a positive vote for the privilege of going to the White House. Baseball wins, sports wins, the entertainment industry wins, and America wins. Boo the hacks and the ignorant detractors.
Bill Koury La Cañada
Dave Roberts justifies his appearance with Donald Trump because it is a “baseball tradition” that should be honored.
I didn’t hear him protesting to uphold other baseball traditions such as banning Black players from baseball, not having designated hitters, or starting with a runner on second base in extra innings.
Traditions come and go. It seems Mr. Roberts traded his moral compass for a trip to the White House lawn.
David Griffin Westwood
In my dreams Dave Roberts says, “Nope, not gonna go to the White House. If they want to fire me, let ‘em.” Dream on.
Jay James Pico Rivera
I will suggest the nuclear option. The Dodgers should never again visit the White House. No matter who is president.
From Maddie Lee: The sun beat down on the assembled Dodgers players, coaches and staff members as they waited in silence for the real emcee of the event, President Trump, to emerge from the building behind them.
In front stood rows of chairs — with four-inch yellow cushions on them, as Trump made sure to point out in his closing remarks — and onlookers who had donned blue Dodgers snapbacks.
In fact, the new-look Rose Garden, slabs of white stone replacing grass, became a character of its own, the focal point for the first two minutes of Trump’s speech recognizing the 2025 World Series champions.
“It was always wet,” Trump said after making his grand entrance more than 10 minutes after the Dodgers had taken their place in front of the crowd. “You know, the White House is built on a wetland. … And I decided to do something about it. And this has become an incredible place for dining and for news conferences and for events like this.”
This event was the Dodgers’ second White House visit in as many years, in a new venue. It provided new material, and some active participants, for the Trump show Thursday afternoon.
As he retold the winding story of the Dodgers’ World Series for almost 20 minutes, Trump played to not only the audience, but the players behind him, shaking their hands when they came up in his speech, and the two men flanking him, Dodgers chairman Mark Walter and manager Dave Roberts.
“This was truly a great World Series, right?” Trump said, turning to his right.
Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
USC sued by sports donor
From Ryan Kartje: The L.A. billboard magnate whose name hung over the entrance to USC’s practice football field for a quarter century is suing the school for building a new, $200-million facility on top of it.
Brian Kennedy, a former donor whose company Regency Outdoor Advertising owns billboards all over Los Angeles, claims in the lawsuit that USC breached its contract by demolishing the practice field to build the Bloom Football Performance Center, which is set to open early next month. The arrival of the state-of-the-art facility and erasure of a field that featured the name of Kennedy, according to a complaint obtained by The Times, has caused him “reputational harm,” “embarrassment” and “humiliation.”
“For more than two decades,” the complaint states, “the Field stood as a visible acknowledgment of [Kennedy’s] extraordinary contributions to [USC] and the lasting relationship between [Kennedy] and the University.”
From Gary Klein: The Rams, as is seemingly their custom with a Super Bowl scheduled to be played at SoFi Stadium, made blockbuster trades to improve an already star-studded roster.
Players will report to training camp Saturday at Loyola Marymount as favorites to win Super Bowl LXI in their home stadium in February.
Much, however, can go awry on the way to the NFL’s biggest showcase.
Injuries, subpar performances by Rams players and coaches, and outstanding clutch play by opponents — see the 2025 Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks — could derail the Rams’ presumptive date with destiny.
On Sunday, they will hold the first of 11 training-camp practices before preseason games against the Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints and the Chargers.
Can the Chargers finally have a postseason breakthrough?
From Sam Farmer: A year after racking up more miles than any team in the NFL, the Chargers are homebodies.
For the first time in their 10 seasons in Los Angeles, they will open with back-to-back games on their home field — against Arizona and Las Vegas.
What’s more, one of their away games will be at SoFi Stadium, against the host Rams on Nov. 1.
Who knows if less time in an airplane will make a difference, but a franchise that hasn’t won a postseason game since the 2018 season will look for anything to change that trajectory.
It’s worth noting that Jim Harbaugh got his team to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, and he has a history of turning around franchises in college football and the pros.
And, as they’ll show in training camp, the 2026 Chargers have made some significant changes.
1908 — John Hayes wins the Olympic marathon in a record of 2 hours, 55 minutes, 18.4 seconds. Italian Dorando Pietri is the first athlete to enter the stadium, but collapses several times before being disqualified when officials help him across the line.
1931 — Paavo Nurmi sets the world record at 2 miles in a meet at Helsinki, Finland, with a time of 8:59.6.
1960 — Jay Hebert beats Jim Ferrier by one stroke to win the PGA golf tournament.
1967 — Don January wins a playoff by two strokes over Don Massengale to win the PGA championship.
1970 — The International Lawn Tennis Assn. institutes the nine-point tiebreaker rule.
1976 — John Naber of the United States becomes the first swimmer to break the 2-minute barrier in the 200-meter backstroke at the Olympics in Montreal.
1976 — Mac Wilkins of the United States sets an Olympic record in the discus with a toss of 224 feet in Montreal.
1977 — Hollis Stacy wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship by two strokes over Nancy Lopez.
1998 — Tour de France riders, angered by the drug scandal that has dominated the event, protest by delaying the start of racing for two hours. Armin Meier, a member of the Festina team who was kicked off the tour the previous week, admits to a French radio station that he used a banned drug.
2005 — Lance Armstrong wins his seventh consecutive Tour de France. All of the titles are stripped in 2012 for doping.
2008 — Nancy Lieberman makes a one-game appearance for the Detroit Shock after the 50-year-old Hall-of-Famer signed a seven-day contract earlier in the day. Lieberman, finishes with two assists and two turnovers, surpassing her own record as the oldest player in WNBA history. Lieberman held the record playing at age 39 in 1997 while playing for the Phoenix Mercury.
2009 — Ron Hornaday Jr. holds off a late challenge from Mike Skinner to win the AAA Insurance 200, making him the first driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to win four consecutive races.
2010 — Fourteen-year-old Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., beats Justin Thomas of Goshen, Ky., 4 and 2 to become the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur champion. Liu, who turns 15 next month, is more than six months younger than Tiger Woods when he won the first of his three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur titles in 1991.
2011 — Cadel Evans wins the Tour de France, becoming the first Australian champion in cycling’s greatest race.
2014 — Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice receives a two-game suspension from the NFL after his offseason arrest for domestic violence. The six-year veteran was arrested after a Feb. 15 altercation in Atlantic City, N.J., with then-fiancee Janay Palmer.
2016 — Chris Froome celebrates his third Tour de France title in four years. The British rider finishes safely at the back of the main pack during the final stage, arm-in-arm with his teammates during the mostly ceremonial final stage ending on the Champs-Elysees. Froome, who also won the Tour in 2013 and 2015, becomes the first rider to defend the title since Miguel Indurain won the last of his five straight in 1995. Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven consecutive titles for doping.
2019 — 19-year-old Hungarian swimmer Kristof Milak breaks Michael Phelps’ 10-year-old 200m butterfly record in a time of 1:50.73, 0.78s faster than Phelps.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1909 — Nap Rucker of the Brooklyn Dodgers struck out 16 batters in a 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1931 — In an 8-7 loss to Pittsburgh, Babe Herman of Brooklyn hit for the cycle for the second time in the season.
1947 — Jackie Robinson stole home for the first time in his major league career in the Brooklyn Dodgers’ 4-2 win over Pittsburgh.
1948 — Chicago White Sox outfielder Pat Seerey become the first major leaguer to strike out seven times in a doubleheader.
1949 — Cleveland pitcher Bob Lemon hit two home runs to lead the Indians to a 7-5 victory over the Washington Senators in the opener of a doubleheader.
1968 — Hoyt Wilhelm of the Chicago White Sox passed Cy Young’s major league record when he made his 907th appearance. He retired with 1,070 appearances.
1973 — Bobby Bonds homered and doubled to lead the NL to a 7-1 rout of the AL in the All-Star game at Kansas City.
1983 — The “Pine Tar” home run was hit by the Kansas City Royals’ George Brett off New York pitcher Rich Gossage at Yankee Stadium. Brett’s shot came with two outs in the top of the ninth to give the Royals a 5-4 lead. Brett’s homer was ruled an out because the amount of pine tar exceeded what was allowed. After a protest by the Royals, the final out and the Yankees’ half of the ninth was completed on Aug. 18.
1993 — Anthony Young of the New York Mets extended his record losing streak to 27 games when he walked in the winning run in the 10th inning for a 5-4 loss to the Dodgers.
1999 — In their biggest victory in 46 years, the New York Yankees routed the Cleveland Indians 21-1 as Chili Davis went 5-for-6 with six RBIs.
2010 — Tampa Bay won in Cleveland for the first time in nearly five years. The Rays ended an 18-game losing streak with a 6-3 win against the Indians. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon snapped an 0-21 personal losing streak as the visiting manager that began when he was the Angels interim manager in 1996.
2016 — Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mike Piazza are inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Cooperstown, NY. Griffey obtained the highest percentage of the vote ever — 99.3% — in being elected in his first year of eligibility by the BBWAA, while Piazza made it on his fourth try. A crowd estimated at 50,000, the second-largest ever at Cooperstown, is on hand to witness the event.
2022 — The induction ceremony is held for the Class of 2022 at the Hall of Fame. Three of the seven men inducted — David Ortiz, Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva — are present to receive the honor. The others, all deceased, are represented by relatives — Gil Hodges, Minnie Minoso and Buck O’Neil — while Dave Winfield introduces 19th century black baseball pioneer Bud Fowler. Over 35,000 are present in Cooperstown, NY to witness the ceremony, and Dominican flags and Boston Red Sox gear, in honor of Ortiz, are well in evidence in the crowd.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
WASHINGTON — The Dodgers arrived at the White House on Thursday to celebrate their 2025 World Series championship following an invitation from President Trump.
The ceremony took place in the Rose Garden, with manager Dave Roberts selected to give a speech on behalf of the team.
It was the back-to-back champions’ second visit in as many years, but this trip came with scheduling complications. The timing for a visit didn’t work out when the Dodgers were in town to play the Nationals in April for a day-game laden series. So, they used their single off day on a three-city East Coast trip to make a pit stop in Washington, wedging the visit between games against the Phillies and Mets.
The decision to again visit the White House raised debate among Dodgers fans, who argue Trump’s anti-immigration policies have harmed many of the team’s supporters. But Roberts has continually tried to downplay the political messaging associated with the visit.
Mookie Betts and Kiké Hernández did not join the team for the visit, with Betts telling reporters he preferred to spend the day with his family and Hernandez saying he had a rehab assignment conflict but wouldn’t have joined the team if he was available. Hernández previously offered his support to fans affected by ICE raids in Los Angeles, while Betts said he didn’t want his decision to be viewed as political.
“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,” Roberts said when the trip was finalized this month. “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.”
The visit falls days after Bloomberg reported that two insurance companies controlled by Dodgers chairman Mark Walter, as well as Guggenheim Partners, where Walter is chief executive, are being investigated by federal prosecutors for potential financial improprieties.
No charges have been filed. Representatives from the parent company of the insurance firms as well as from TWC Global — the Walter business empire that controls his sporting investments, including the Dodgers and Lakers — have told reporters they are cooperating with the investigation.
After an 18-month closure prompted by the Palisades fire and subsequent damaging floods, Temescal Gateway Park reopened Friday, restoring access to beloved trails in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Hikers can walk along Temescal Creek, crossing a few charming wooden bridges, or take one of the steep ridge line trails to gape at the ocean as they gasp for air. But the popular Temescal Canyon Trail, which takes hikers to Temescal Falls, remains closed.
In this edition of The Wild, our weekly outdoors newsletter, I will quickly outline what you need to know about returning to Temescal Canyon. My visit Friday was actually my first, but given the serenity I found in this coastal alcove, I will absolutely return. (Note: As of this morning, Google Maps still showed the park was closed; that is inaccurate.)
The Michael J. B. Allen memorial bench sits on a nice overlook in Temescal Canyon.
From the park, you can hike into Topanga and Will Rogers state parks, although some state park trails remain closed. Those include:
People who frequented Temescal Canyon before the Palisades fire will notice the inevitable changes that come after a fire. Trail crews removed several fire-damaged trees, including multiple mature oaks, as dead trees can and do fall unexpectedly, according to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. The agency plans to continue reforestation projects in the park as money becomes available.
You can easily enter the park through its entrance off Sunset Boulevard. Upon entry, you’ll need to pay the $12 day-use fee at one of the machines stationed around the parking lot if you’re parking on the property. (And it’s not something to roll the dice on — I saw at least one couple get ticketed.)
A burned wayfinding sign on the Temescal Ridge Trail, which was left from the Palisades fire.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
I parked under a large coast live oak and headed northwest onto the Temescal Ridge Trail, which is exposed and has minimal shade but offers multiple options for day hikes, including:
A quick out-and-back up Temescal Ridge Trail to one of the route’s popular lookout points.
A 3.1-mile lollipop loop, taking Temescal Ridge Trail about 1.4 miles north to Bienveneda Trail, which loops you back around to the Temescal Ridge Trail at 2.3 miles into your journey.
Or even farther up, as Temescal Ridge Trail leads to other longer trails in the Santa Monica Mountains.
A hiker heads up Tesmescal Ridge Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
I huffed up the trail and was pleased with how quickly I could see the ocean. Several burned trees and shrubs remain, but they’re surrounded by an abundance of plant life coming back, including cliff aster and laurel sumac.
Along the route, I was pleasantly surprised by the exuberance of my fellow hikers. Multiple people stopped me — a fun experience for a reporter — to just share how wonderful they felt being back in the park. “Isn’t this great?” one hiker shouted to me as she headed up the ridge line. A couple from Minnesota told me they’d flown in the day before and were eager to get back to Temescal Canyon, their favorite spot to hike in L.A.
A burned tree with native plants growing up and around it.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
My next stop was along the Sunset Trail, a 0.4-mile trail that runs along Temescal Creek. While I marveled at the gnarled and twisted old oak trees along the trail, I met a 14-year-old Parson Russell terrier named Finnegan. She seemed just as happy to be back as the people I encountered, especially on this shady trail next to running water.
Workers have installed three wooden bridges that cross over the creek, giving this short jaunt a whimsical feel. It ends near the road, and I turned back north, taking the sidewalk past picnic tables and rock shelters in a sycamore grove.
The Sunset Trail along Temescal Creek.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
I would have loved to visit the Temescal Canyon Trail to see Temescal Falls, but as I mentioned, that trail remains closed.
You are reading The Wild newsletter
Sign up to get expert tips on the best of Southern California’s beaches, trails, parks, deserts, forests and mountains in your inbox every Thursday
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
Isabela Noriega, a project manager at the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Agency, said the agency will work with California State Parks officials to begin restoring the route, as only a portion of the trail is within the boundaries of Temescal Gateway Park and the rest is on state land.
“You’ll remember the fires happened Jan. 7, and then we got storms in February,” Noriega said. “So there was a lot of erosion [and] dirt debris that washed out the trails. [It’s] two disasters piling up on top of each other that we’re working to deal with.”
Instead, the third trail option you’ll have is the Rivas Canyon Trail, a fun jaunt up the hillside that features several sets of wooden stairs. You can access the trail at either of its trailheads (see map).
I started at its southern trailhead, which is behind a few buildings and near some machinery and felled trees. From there, I walked north along a wide path shaded by oak trees before taking the first set of stairs up.
One of multiple sets of stairs along the Rivas Canyon Trail.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
You’ll continue up the stairs, the views of the ocean growing better as you gain elevation. I was able to spot four sailboats as I hiked.
Although the trail is well maintained, there was a short stretch that was thick enough with cliff asters to make me grateful I wore pants. There were also a few spots where I paused to lightly stomp because low-lying branches of native shrubs covered the trail. These shady sites are great nap spots for rattlesnakes, which are common to the area.
Burned trees surrounded by native plants growing back after the Palisades fire scorched the hillside.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
About half a mile in, you’ll reach the Michael J. B. Allen memorial bench, built in honor of a UCLA professor and avid hiker. This is a nice spot to take a break and have a snack.
Right after this first bench, the trail is speckled with rocks that reminded me of dinosaur eggs or little bits of the moon. These moments always make me wish I’d paid far more attention in geology class, as I can generally only provide such riveting commentary as “Look at that pretty rock” or “Hey, is that a geode?” (It’s never a geode.)
Stairs lead to the overlook point where there’s a memorial bridge for local trail legends Rob and Mary Ann Webster.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
I continued east to the second memorial bench, built in honor of Ron and Mary Ann Webster, two beloved advocates of the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s often said that, if you’ve hiked in the Santa Monicas, you’ve likely stepped foot on a trail Ron designed.
The view from Rivas Canyon Trail in Temescal Canyon.
(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)
I decided to end my day on the Websters’ bench. The self-care app I use had recommended I spend 15 minutes outside that day reading, and this felt like a fine spot to finish a fascinating piece about how to properly measure a mountain.
I paused, though, first to take in the view.
All around me, there were reminders of both the fire and its aftermath — burned-out trees and plants. But past the hillsides dotted with native plants returning in force, I saw the wooden frames of several houses being rebuilt. It was a reminder that this park’s reopening is another signal that nature, ourselves included, will continue onward.
3 things to do
A stargazer calibrates a telescope to look at the Orion Nebula during a star party hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society in L.A.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
1. Savor s’mores and the stars in Chinatown Los Angeles State Historic Park, a 32-acre expanse of public land in Chinatown, will host a “Park After Dark” event with the L.A. Astronomical Society from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. Telescopes will be set up, and park workers will help guests make s’mores around a community campfire at the park’s roundhouse bridge. Learn more at the park’s Instagram page.
2. Doddle along the dunes in Santa Monica The Santa Monica Helping Hub and the Coastal Alliance will co-host a dune walk from 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday in Santa Monica. Conservation biologist Ashley Oelsen, the alliance’s founder, will lead guests through the dunes and share why the stretch of beach is ecologically significant, serving as important habitat for threatened shorebirds and native coastal plants. Register at eventbrite.com.
3. Bend under the Buck Moon in L.A. We Explore Earth, a local outdoors nonprofit, will host a full-moon hiking experience from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in Elysian Park. Attendees will start meeting at 5:45 p.m. before heading on the hike at 6:25 p.m. After taking the Elysian Park west trail, participants can continue the evening with yoga, live music and stargazing with telescopes. Free, but donations of $5 to $10 are appreciated. Register at eventbrite.com.
The must-read
Crowds hike their way up the Mist Trail, one of the more popular trails in Yosemite National Park.
(William Hale Irwin/For The Times)
I am seemingly always planning my next adventure, including frequently pondering how soon I can return to Yosemite National Park. I last went in August and swam in the Merced River, hiked to Taft Point, saw Tunnel View at sunset and even went skydiving. But this past summer, that itch has felt more like a siren’s call as, like many outdoors lovers, I’ve been saddened by reports of serious overcrowding at one of America’s crown jewels. Over the past few weeks, I spoke to park-goers who’ve been to Yosemite this season, and I asked them: “Is it possible to still have fun there?” The answer, as I wrote in this story, was essentially, “Yes, but only if you plan accordingly.” Thankfully, they shared some tips on how to do that.
Happy adventuring,
P.S.
A bald eagle believed to be Jackie, one half of the celebrity raptor couple in Big Bear, was taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Ojai after being rescued this past weekend. Times staff writer Lila Seidman reported that a team with the San Dimas Raptor Rescue arrived around 1:30 a.m. Saturday in Big Bear Lake and found a weak and tired eagle on the lake’s shoreline. The eagle was then transported to the Ojai Raptor Center, where the reason for her deterioration remains unknown. “Queen Jackie is in the best of care! And will be able to return soon!” one YouTube user wrote Tuesday evening in the livestream’s chat. “Sending all our love & prayers to her and the kiddos and her amazing hubby super Shadow holding it down!”
For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.
When a pitcher purposely throws high and inside, the batter has four choices.
He can stare down the pitcher. He can charge the mound. He can get revenge by walloping the next pitch for a hit.
Or he can ignore the intimidation tactic and continue as if nothing happened.
The last choice is the wimp’s way out, since the batter will lose his teammates’ respect, while opposing pitchers will consider him a pushover and fire more brushback pitches at him.
So how have the Boys in Blue responded in defense of the metropolis they wear on their jerseys and the community that has sustained them for nearly 70 years, making Dem Bums one of the most valuable franchises in baseball?
They’re scheduled to visit the White House today so Trump can use them as a photo op and bask in their 2025 championship.
That’s like staying in the dugout during a bench-clearing brawl after a pitcher plonks a batter, then offering the offender a handshake the next inning.
Winning back-to-back titles and blazing through this season has brought Angelenos much-needed happiness during a terrible stretch for the city — but winning is what the Dodgers are supposed to do. They’re also supposed to do more.
This is the team of pioneers like Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax, Glenn Burke and Fernando Valenzuela. The squad whose mythology insists it’s a franchise apart from the rest of professional sports because the Dodger Way is kinder, braver and more willing to take moral risks that transcend baseball and make society better.
And yet manager Dave Roberts told Times sports columnist Bill Shaikin in February that he would gladly accept another White House invitation “to continue to try to do what tradition says and not try to make political statements, because I am not a politician.”
Well, thank God the Dodgers broke baseball’s longstanding tradition of segregation long before Roberts, who is Black and Japanese American, was born!
Manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on from the dugout during a 2025 game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego, California.
(Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Most of the Blue Crew fans I know — who are mostly Trump haters, by the way — roll their eyes every time a wokoso member of Dodger Nation complains about the team’s White House visits or the failure of players, coaches and executives to speak out more forcefully against Trump’s anti-immigrant campaign. Politics have no place in baseball, my friends and family members will say.
But standing up for L.A. by snubbing Trump or calling out his war against us isn’t political at all.
Angelenos need a champion on the Dodgers to say what needs to be said: The City of Angels is wonderful, and Trump is wrong to target it. If you can’t stand up for the simple belief that we don’t deserve to be Trump’s personal piñata, then you have no place playing for the Dodgers.
Only two players have announced they’re not going to the White House: superstar Mookie Betts and fan favorite Kiké Hernández. The latter, a native of Puerto Rico, endeared himself to the Dodger faithful last year during the height of the immigration raids with an Instagram post that read, “I cannot tolerate watching our community continue to be violated, attacked, abused and separated. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and their human rights.”
This time around, Hernández told the Times that he’s not going so he can focus on a rehabilitation stint in the minors. When pressed by reporter Maddie Lee, he said, “I’d rather take a day off than do team activities.”
Nice way to rhetorically strike out, Kiké.
Betts, meanwhile, said he wants to spend time with his newborn child — as legitimate a reason as any. But then he sat down for a short interview with Fox News.
“I don’t know why the world sees athletes as political figures or these people that can make change,” Betts said. The future Hall of Famer, who like Roberts owes a lot to Robinson for paving the way for him and other Black players, hemmed and hawed as if he didn’t quite believe what he was saying.
Dodgers past and present haven’t been averse to political stands — they just usually happen to be of the conservative variety.
After his retirement, Robinson campaigned for Richard Nixon’s unsuccessful 1960 presidential bid but left the GOP eight years later, accusing Nixon of “prostituting himself to the bigots in the South” to win the presidency.
Other Dodger legends, from former owner Peter O’Malley to Steve Garvey to Tommy Lasorda, were proud, vocal Republicans as well. Reliever Blake Treinen pitched in a game with “Charlie Kirk” written on his hat after the assassination of the far-right commentator — you know, the guy who lambasted L.A.’s response to Trump’s immigration hammer as “open rebellion to American sovereignty and authority … in a corrupt blue city.”
Treinen — who skipped the Dodgers’ 2021 White House visit when Joe Biden occupied the Oval Office — was at it again this year when he and teammate Alex Call declined to wear Pride Night-themed caps, choosing instead to play with the standard-issue one. They followed the example of Dodgers titan Clayton Kershaw, who wore a Pride cap last year but adorned it with a verse from the Book of Genesis commandeered by MAGA Christians to accuse LGBT+ people of appropriating rainbow colors to celebrate their supposedly wicked ways.
Dodgers management didn’t browbeat Treinen and Call, and that’s fine — ballplayers should be entitled to share their personal thoughts, however noxious. I even understand why the team might want to ham it up with Trump this week — that’s what multimillionaires seem to want to do these days, after all.
Federal agents stage outside Gate E of Dodger Stadium on June 19, 2025.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
What offends me most is that Dodgers owner Mark Walter knows what Trump is doing to L.A. is wrong, even if he’ll never publicly say anything.
Last June, the team announced that it had prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from entering the Dodger Stadium parking lot — the feds denied that this happened. The Dodgers also announced they would donate $1.1 million to nonprofits to assist people affected by the immigration raids — a response to community disgust about video of federal agents in front of a Dodger Stadium gate with people who had been detained at a nearby Home Depot.
Soon after, the Dodgers were hit with a federal civil rights complaint, filed by a legal group co-founded by Stephen Miller, accusing them of discrimination because of their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. This year, Walter’s investment firm rid itself of all shares in GEO Group, which runs immigrant detention centers on behalf of the federal government.
Yet now, the Dodgers are going to the White House.
Enjoy the trip, fellas. Hey, maybe one of you will shake Trump’s hand and tell him that multicultural, immigrant, Dodgers-blue Los Angeles is all right.
He held up on a curveball from Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola that clipped the bottom of the strike zone. He fouled off a changeup. And he stayed disciplined as Nola tried to get him to chase a fastball up and two breaking balls in the dirt.
In a full count, Rushing fouled off another changeup. And then, finally, Nola made a mistake.
Rushing hammered the grooved fastball to left-center field, just shy of the Citizens Bank Park concourse.
“It’s pretty obvious I’ve been fighting recently,” Rushing said after the game. “The more you try in this game to fight out of a hole, the deeper you dig yourself in a hole. So I think that’s what it’s been recently. And today it was, obviously, you get a good start to the day, and it’s kind of uphill. Yeah, I wouldn’t say it was anything different. I just trusted myself today.”
It was the Dodgers’ first run during a 9-5 win and Rushing’s first hit in more than two weeks. Over the course of nine hitless games, he went 0-for-19.
Get the latest on L.A.’s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
Angels fall to Cards in series finale
Hunter Dobbins scattered six hits over six innings, JJ Wetherholt hit a home run in the sixth and the St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 1-0 victory over the Angels on Wednesday at Angel Stadium.
Dobbins, recalled from triple-A Memphis for Wednesday’s start, struck out five and walked none to help St. Louis snap a four-game losing streak and end the Angels’ three-game win streak.
Luis Gastelum threw a scoreless seventh, George Soriano had a 1-2-3 eighth and closer Riley O’Brien struck out Oswald Peraza with an 80-mph sweeper and Josh Lowe with a 98-mph sinker with two on in the ninth for his 26th save.
In Japan, fans come up with a song for each player and sing it happily and relentlessly. Nootbaar played in the major leagues, not in the Japanese league, so he was not sure he would get a song until he came up to bat.
“I don’t know how everybody in the stadium knew how to do it,” the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder said Wednesday at Angel Stadium. “Everybody was chanting it. It was pretty awesome.”
In Japan, baseball games are nine innings of songs and chants, drums and noise sticks. No excessively caffeinated in-game hosts. No scolding video commands to make some noise. The joyful sounds are organic, and they come from the fans.
Nootbaar attended Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s last game in Japan and absolutely raved about the energy in the stadium. Does he believe that kind of fan experience would translate to an American ballpark?
“I don’t see why not,” Nootbaar said. “It would probably have to start small, but it would be cool to integrate that.”
We’re starting small, and soon. A minor league team plans to launch in Irvine next year, and the entrepreneur behind it is pitching it as a way to provide fans with a taste of Asian baseball.
“We’re going to really lean into some of the innovation in fan experience that you’ve seen in Korea and Japan,” said Paul Freedman, co-founder of Innovation Baseball Partners.
Sparks fall to Mercury in final game before all-star break
From Joaquin Ruiz: The Sparks and Mercury teetered and tottered, but Phoenix pulled away late to hand Los Angeles an 86-82 loss on Wednesday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena in the two teams’ final game before a much-needed All-Star break.
With the game tied at 60 entering the fourth quarter, Phoenix scored consecutive baskets and never relinquished its advantage. Forward Alyssa Thomas dominated with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists and three steals, while guard Kahleah Copper poured in 21 points on 10-for-16 shooting to lead the Mercury precisely as Sparks coach Lynne Roberts expected.
“Players like [Thomas] and [Copper] … can both take over games,” Roberts said before the game. “Last time we played them, Copper had 41 … she is an absolute talent. I think they run good stuff. I like what [Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts] does.”
Lukas MacNaughton and Marcel Hartel scored four minutes apart late in the first half to break open St. Louis City’s 3-1 victory over the Galaxy on Wednesday night.
Simon Becher scored in the second half after Galaxy defender Emiro Garcés was sent off in the 49th minute with his second yellow card, and St. Louis cruised to its third straight win.
St. Louis, which is unbeaten in six straight since early May, also leapfrogged the Galaxy into the Western Conference’s playoff positions with this victory.
1907 — Australasia beats British Isles 3-2 to win the Davis Cup held at Wimbledon. Australasia wins its first David Cup and ends the four-year reign of the British Isles.
1921 — At the annual Harvard-Yale vs. Cambridge-Oxford meet at Harvard Stadium, Harvard’s Edward Gourdin becomes the first to long jump 25 feet. Harvard lists Gourdin’s jump as 25 feet, 3 inches, but the official listing in U.S. Track and Field is 25-2.
1960 — Betsy Rawls becomes the first woman to win the U.S. Women’s Open golf title four times.
1966 — John Pennel pole vaults 17 feet, 6 1/4 inches for the world record in a meet at Los Angeles. It’s the eighth of nine world records he set in the event in his career and his first since 1963.
1976 — The last NFL All-Star game is held and is shortened when thunderstorms hit Chicago. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the All-Stars 24-0.
1978 — Hollis Stacy wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship for the second straight year.
1989 — Mark Calcavecchia wins the British Open, edging Greg Norman and Wayne Grady in a three-man playoff. Calcavecchia, the first American to win the Open in five years, birdies three of the four holes in the playoff.
1989 — Greg Lemond wins his second Tour de France with the closest finish ever, edging Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds. Lemond starts the day 50 seconds behind Fignon and wins the final stage, a 15-mile race against the clock from Versailles to Paris, in 26:57. Fignon finishes the stage 58 seconds slower.
1995 — John Daly wins the British Open at St. Andrews by four strokes in a four-hole playoff with Italy’s Costantino Rocca. Rocca forces the playoff by sinking a 65-foot putt on the 18th hole.
1995 — Miguel Indurain of Spain wins his record fifth consecutive Tour de France. Indurain joins Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault as the other five-time winners.
2000 — Tiger Woods, at 24, becomes the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam with a record-breaking performance in the British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews. Woods closes with a 3-under 69 for a 19-under 269 total, the lowest score in relation to par at a major championship.
2000 — 87th Tour de France: no winner (Lance Armstrong disqualified).
2006 — Tiger Woods, one month after missing the cut for the first time in a major, becomes the first player since Tom Watson in 1982-83 to win consecutive British Open titles.
2006 — Floyd Landis, pedaling with an injured hip, cruises to victory in the Tour de France, keeping cycling’s most prestigious title in American hands for the eighth straight year.
2009 — Mark Buehrle pitches the 18th perfect game in major league history, a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay.
2012 — Penn State is all but leveled by penalties handed down by the NCAA for its handling of the allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The NCAA imposes an unprecedented $60 million fine, a four-year ban from postseason play and a cut in the number of football scholarships it can award.
2017 — British cyclist Chris Froome wins his fourth Tour de France.
2019 — Nike’s Jordan Brand signs 2019 NBA #1 draft pick Zion Williamson to richest multiyear sponsorship deal for a rookie in history; estimated 7 years for $75 million.
2021 — The Opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games takes place after a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 — The Cleveland Indians announce the team will be re-named the Guardians.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1925 — Lou Gehrig hit the first of his major league record 23 grand slam homers as the New York Yankees posted an 11-7 triumph over the Washington Senators.
1930 — Pie Traynor won both ends of a doubleheader for the Pittsburgh Pirates with home runs. In the first game, Traynor homered in the ninth and in the second game, he connected in the 13th.
1944 — Bill Nicholson of the Chicago Cubs hit four home runs in a doubleheader split with the New York Giants. Nicholson hit a home run in the opener, which the Cubs won 7-4. He hit three straight in the second game, but the Giants won 12-10. In that game, Nicholson was walked with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.
1955 — Bob Cerv and Elston Howard of the New York Yankess hit consecutive pinch-hit home runs to force extra innings against Kansas City. The Athletics won 8-7 in the 11th inning on Hector Lopez’s RBI-single. Trailing 7-5 entering the top of the ninth, Cerv batted for pitcher Tommy Byrne and homered of Alex Kellner. Tom Gorman replaced Kellner and Howard, hitting for Irv Noren, tied the game.
1964 — Bert Campaneris of Kansas City hit two home runs in his first major league game. He homered on the first pitch off Minnesota’s Jim Kaat, and then connected again in the seventh to lift the Athletics to a 4-3 win.
1974 — Write-in starter Steve Garvey of the Los Angeles Dodgers singled and doubled to lead the NL to a 7-2 victory over the AL in the All-Star game at Pittsburgh.
1985 — Oddibe McDowell became the first player in Texas Rangers history to hit for the cycle in an 8-4 win over the Cleveland Indians.
2000 — Ryan Klesko hit a game-tying solo homer in the ninth inning and a two-run shot in the 10th to lift San Diego over Colorado 6-4.
2009 — Mark Buehrle pitched the 18th perfect game in major league history, a 5-0 win over Tampa Bay. It was the first since Randy Johnson’s on May 18, 2004. Buehrle threw 76 of 116 pitches for strikes and fanned six in his second no-hitter — the first coming on April 18, 2007, against Texas.
2011 — The Red Sox extend Seattle’s losing streak to 14 games, tied for the longest in team history, with a 3 – 1 win at Fenway Park which is also Terry Francona’s 1000th as Sox manager. Josh Beckett is the winner.
2014 — Padres OF Cameron Maybin is handed a 25-game suspension for testing positive for amphetamines; he is the first major leaguer suspended for PED use this season.
2016 — Trevor Story hit two home runs to set an NL rookie record for shortstops and Colorado beat Atlanta 8-4. Story had four hits including his 25th and 26th homers to pass his mentor, Troy Tulowitzki, who had 24 for the Rockies in 2007. Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox set the major league record for shortstops with 30 in 1997.
2020 — CommissionerRob Manfred springs a surprise on everyone as he announces a modified postseason format for this year only. There will be eight teams participating from each league: the two teams with the best records in each division, and the ones with the two next best records in the league. The teams will be seeded one to eight. The Wild Card Game will be replaced by a preliminary round with all teams participating, played in best-of-three format, with all games played in the better-ranked team’s ballpark.
2021 — Cleveland baseball team announced the team will be called the Guardians beginning in 2022.
2023 — In Cooperstown, NY, Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen are inducted into the Hall of Fame as the Class of 2023.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
