los angeles times

Kyle Busch dies

From Chuck Schilken: Kyle Busch, a two-time champion of the NASCAR Cup Series and the association’s winningest driver in history, has died at age 41.

“We are saddened and heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion and one of our sport’s greatest and fiercest drivers,” NASCAR said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “We extend our deepest condolences to the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and the entire motorsports community.”

No cause of death has been disclosed.

Earlier on Thursday, Busch’s family posted a statement on the driver’s X account saying that Busch had been hospitalized with a “severe illness” and would not be participating in this weekend’s NASCAR events at Charlotte Motor Speedway — including the Coca-Cola 600, a race Busch won in 2018.

Busch raced in NASCAR’s top division for 22 full-time seasons, winning the Cup Series championship in 2015 and 2019 and the series regular-season championship in 2018 and 2019. He won 63 Cup Series races, 69 in the Truck Series and 102 in the XFinity Series, making him the winningest driver in NASCAR’s top three series combined.

Continue reading here

Matthew Stafford agrees to extension with Rams

From Gary Klein: Quarterback Matthew Stafford, the reigning NFL most valuable player, is now under contract with the Rams through the 2027 season.

Stafford signed a contract extension Thursday, the team announced. Terms of the deal were not released but it is a one-year extension worth $55 million, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because the contract has not been posted.

Stafford, 38, is scheduled to carry a salary-cap number of $48.3 million this season, according to Overthecap.com.

With Stafford, receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams and a defense featuring edge rusher Jared Verse and recently acquired All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, the Rams are regarded as a favorite to play in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.

Whether Stafford, a 17-year veteran, plays in 2027 remains to be seen.

Continue reading here

Angels lose to the Athletics

From Joaquin Ruiz: The Angels led for five innings before crumbling late en route to a 10-inning, 3-2 loss to the Athletics on Thursday night at Angel Stadium, all in front of a sparse crowd featuring fiery “sell-the-team” chants from shirtless fans in the upper deck.

With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 10th, the A’s Zack Gelof hit into a fielder’s choice groundout off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn.

Angels second baseman Adam Frazier had trouble getting the ball out of his glove after catching shortstop Zach Neto’s throw. That allowed Nick Kurtz to reach home as the go-ahead run.

Gelof was initially called out, but the A’s won the challenge — and ultimately the game 3-2.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Dearica Hamby leads Sparks over Phoenix

Dearica Hamby scored 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and the Sparks rode a big second quarter to a 97-88 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday night.

The Sparks outscored the Mercury 35-19 in the second to take a 60-43 at the half, a franchise record for points at halftime. The Sparks were 11 of 16 in the second quarter, including five of seven on three-pointers, and didn’t miss from the foul line.

Kelsey Plum had 16 points and seven assists for the Sparks (2-3), who were playing their first road game. Nneka Ogwumike, and reserves Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell all scored 12 points and Ariel Atkins had 11.

Continue reading here

Sparks box score

WNBA standings

Ducks’ Troy Terry to have hip surgery

Anaheim Ducks forward Troy Terry needs hip surgery that could endanger his availability at the start of next season.

Terry has a chronic hip impingement, the Ducks revealed Thursday in their postseason injury report. Anaheim’s first postseason since 2018 ended last week in the second round with a six-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Ducks haven’t finalized a date for Terry’s hip surgery or a definite time frame for his recovery.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1877 — Baden-Baden, ridden by C. Holloway, catches Leonard just before turning into the stretch and wins the Kentucky Derby by two lengths.

1885 — Tecumseh, ridden by Jimmy McLaughlin, wins the Preakness Stakes by two lengths over Wickham.

1902 — Mastermam, ridden by John Bullman, wins the Belmont Stakes by two lengths over Renald.

1906 — Whimsical, the favorite ridden by Walter Miller, wins the Preakness Stakes by four lengths over Content.

1954 — Hasty Road, ridden by Johnny Adams, edges favored Correlation by a neck to win the Preakness Stakes.

1963 — European Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: José Altafini scores twice as AC Milan edge Benfica, 2-1 for first title to an Italian club.

1975 — Artis Gilmore scores 28 points and grabs 31 rebounds to lead the Kentucky Colonels to a 110-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers for the ABA championship.

1988 — Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins trades bucket for bucket with Boston’s Larry Bird in the fourth quarter of Game 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals until the Celtics escape with a 118-116 victory. Wilkins finishes with 47 points and Bird has 34 — with 20 of his points scored in the fourth quarter. The teams shoot a combined 58.8% from the field, the second-highest mark in playoff history.

1988 — LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, Jack Nicklaus GC: Sherri Turner birdies final 2 holes to win her only major title, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Amy Alcott.

1991 — NFL Owners agree to add 2 teams in 1994.

1993 — Riddick Bowe successfully defends his IBF and WBA heavyweight titles with a second-round knockout of Jesse Ferguson at RFK Stadium in Washington.

1994 — Toronto NBA franchise unveils name “Raptors” and logo.

1996 — 4th UEFA Champions League Final: Juventus beats Ajax (1-1, 4-2 on penalties) at Rome.

1997 — The Chicago Bulls win the lowest-scoring playoff game in NBA history, a 75-68 victory over the Miami Heat. The 143 combined points were two fewer than the previous postseason low set by Syracuse and Fort Wayne in 1955.

2003 — Annika Sorenstam becomes the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event in 58 years when she shoots a 71 in the first round of the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. Sorenstam misses the cut the next day by four shots.

2004 — English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (71,350): Manchester United beats Millwall, 3-0; Ruud van Nistelrooy scores 2 and Cristiano Ronaldo 1 in Red Devils’ 11th title win.

2005 — Paula Creamer, 18, makes a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Sybase Classic by one stroke and become the second-youngest first-time winner on the LPGA Tour.

2006 — Pat Summitt becomes the newest millionaire coach — and the first in women’s basketball. Tennessee raises Summitt’s salary to $1.125 million for next season and extends her contract six years.

2009 — Dara Torres sets an American record in the 50-meter butterfly at the Texas Senior Circuit No. 2 meet at Texas A&M. The 42-year-old, breezes to victory in the 50 fly, touching the wall in 25.72 seconds to beat her record time of 25.84 seconds from the morning preliminaries. Both her times beat Jenny Thompson’s American record of 26.00 seconds, set in Barcelona in 2003.

2010 — UEFA Champions League Final, Madrid: Internazionale beats Bayern Munich, 2-0; Inter’s 3rd title and first treble (Italian Serie A & Cup).

2016 — The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Greystone G&CC: Germany’s Berhard Langer wins sixth of 13 Champions Tour majors by 6 strokes from Olin Browne.

2021 — 30-year-old Scottish light-welterweight boxer Josh Taylor becomes Britain’s first undisputed world champion in the four-belt era by beating Jose Ramirez by unanimous decision in Las Vegas.

2022 — PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Southern Hills CC: 2017 champion Justin Thomas beats Will Zalatoris by 1 stroke in a 3-hole playoff after 54-hole leader Mito Pereira double bogeys the 72nd hole.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1933 — Joe Sewell of the New York Yankees struck out for the first time this season, during a 3-0 win over Cleveland. Sewell would strike out only three more times in 524 at-bats.

1942 — Ted Williams is sworn into the U.S. Navy, but will remain with the Red Sox until he is called for active duty.

1957 — The Boston Red Sox hit four home runs in the sixth inning of an 11-0 win over Cleveland. Gene Mauch, Ted Williams, Dick Gernert and Frank Malzone connected. All the homers came on the first 16 pitches from Cal McLish.

1958 — Ted Williams hits his 16th career grand slam to provide the Red Sox with the margin in an 8-5 win over the A’s. Ted’s 4th-inning blast, off Jack Urban, ties him with Babe Ruth for second place on the career slam list.

1959 — Baltimore’s Hoyt Wilhelm pitched a one-hitter against the New York Yankees for a 5-0 win. Jerry Lumpe’s single in the eighth spoiled the no-hit bid.

1963 — Mickey Mantle hit a pitch from Kansas City’s Bill Fischer off the right-field facade at Yankee Stadium in an 8-7 victory over the A’s.

1968 — Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit three home runs, a double and a single in a 13-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Stargell’s double just missed going out, as it bounced off the railing of the left-field bleachers.

1976 — St. Louis’ Reggie Smith hit three home runs — two right-handed and one left-handed — and drove in five runs in a 7-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Smith’s third homer came with two out in the ninth and broke a 6-6 tie.

1977 — Boston and Milwaukee hit a combined 11 home runs in a 14-10 Red Sox victory at Fenway Park, tying a major league record. The Red Sox connected for six and the Brewers hit five in the first game of a doubleheader.

1983 — Cliff Johnson of the Toronto Blue Jays hit his 18th career pinch homer. The homer, off Baltimore’s Tippy Martinez, tied Johnson with Jerry Lynch on the career pinch home run list.

1990 — Andre Dawson sets a major-league record when he is intentionally walked five times during a 16-inning, 2-1 Cubs win over the Reds.

1998 — The Mets acquire catcher Mike Piazza from the Marlins in exchange for OF Preston Wilson, P Ed Yarnall and a player to be named. Piazza has barely spent a week with Florida after a trade from the Dodgers.

1998 — Brian Cox went 6-for-6, including a grand slam in a 10-run third inning, as Florida State rolled past Delaware 27-6 in the NCAA Atlantic II Regional. Freshman Matt Diaz hit three home runs for the Seminoles.

2000 — Milwaukee beat Houston in the first game of a doubleheader, 10-9, coming back from a 9-2 deficit to tie the score with seven runs in the bottom half of the ninth inning. The Brewers won the game in the 10th on a home run by Jose Hernandez.

2001 — The Twins score 8 runs in the 3rd inning to give Brad Radke an 8-0 lead, then hold on to edge the Mariners, 12-11. The M’s will use the momentum to win their next 15 and set a franchise record.

2008 — Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 200th home run as a member of the Cincinnati Reds. He becomes the fourth player in major league history to hit 300 for one team and 200 with another. Preceding him are Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Jimmie Foxx.

2008 — Boston’s J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell hit grand slams to help Daisuke Matsuzaka remain unbeaten as the Red Sox posted an 11-8 win over the Kansas City Royals.

2009 — Michael Cuddyer hit for the cycle and matched his career high with five RBIs as Minnesota defeated Milwaukee 11-3. Cuddyer hit a three-run homer in the first inning, doubled in the third and singled in the fourth before completing the cycle by tripling on a broken-bat liner into the left-field corner in the sixth.

2012 — C.J. Wilson and Ernesto Frieri combined on a one-hitter to give the Angels a 4-0 win over Oakland. Cliff Pennington had the only hit — a one-out single in the fifth — for Oakland.

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.

On the eve of the City Section championship baseball game at Dodger Stadium, let’s explore a sometimes forgotten character trait: Patience.

When JJ Saffie walks onto hallowed ground Saturday as a starting left fielder for 10-time City champion El Camino Real High in the Open Division championship game against Birmingham, he will be finishing a journey few want to travel these days.

He spent three years on the junior varsity team waiting and grinding before getting his chance to start on varsity this season.

“Very patient,” he said. “Freshman year, played frosh-soph, called up for a few JV games. Sophomore year, on and off starter on JVs. Junior year is when it started clicking for me. I found my bat, I found the style I like to play, I started hitting real good.”

He was part of an outstanding JV team his junior year, called up as a pinch runner for the playoffs. He developed power and a knack for hitting balls over El Camino Real’s left-field fence during batting practice.

“I’ve hit two windows and six cars,” said the 18-year-old, who likes to cause mayhem for insurance companies.

El Camino Real celebrates a 4-3 win over Granada Hills to earn a trip to Dodger Stadium on Saturday.

(Craig Weston)

He’s hit two home runs this season and become a key player for the Royals.

Now he gets to start at Dodger Stadium, a moment every high school baseball player in the City Section dreams of reaching.

“I’m a big believer in good things will come to those who are patient,” he said. “I knew I needed to be patient, work on my game and eventually success would come my way and I’d have my opportunities and here’s my opportunity. I’m trying to prove that Saturday.”

El Camino Real needed a two-run single by RJ De La Rosa in the bottom of the sixth inning on Wednesday to defeat Granada Hills 4-3 in the semifinals at Cal State Northridge.

“I saw my pitch,” De La Rosa said. “I wanted to take advantage. It was the bottom of the sixth. The team needed me most and I pulled through. It was an amazing moment. These boys are my brothers. I will fight for them. I will do everything for them. I can’t wait to make some memories at Dodger Stadium.”

For Saffie, staying and fighting to get better rather than running away from a challenge is a great lesson for others.

“I had a few people tell me to transfer,” he said. “But my sister came here, my dad. I want to prove myself at this school.”

Top-seeded Birmingham will have junior Nathan Soto starting on the mound in the 1 p.m. game. It’s a big assignment and he’ll be working on his mental part of the game.

“It’s just another game,” he said after the Patriots’ 4-1 semifinal win over Carson. “I think it’s everyone’s dream to pitch there, but you have to keep it as a normal game.”

Pitcher Carlos Acuna grinded out a complete game in Birmingham’s 4-1 win over Carson to send the Patriots to Dodger Stadium.

(Craig Weston)

Birmingham can thank Carlos Acuna for putting together a sophomore season to remember. His pitching season is done. He finished with an 11-0 record after a complete-game win against Carson.

“It’s an amazing season he’s having,” coach Matt Mowry said.

In six of the seven innings on Wednesday, Carson got the leadoff batter aboard, forcing Acuna to work extra hard while throwing 102 pitches.

“He was on the edge of coming out,” Mowry said.

Acuna wouldn’t let him.

“I love this team,” Acuna said. “I want to play one last game.”

He’ll start on Saturday at second or third base in a game matching two of the most successful programs in City baseball history. El Camino Real is seeking a record 11th title. Birmingham wants its ninth title.

The 10 a.m. game at Dodger Stadium has Verdugo Hills taking on Taft in the Division I final.

Fans will come for the sun, the hot dogs, the fun of cheering on someone they know or enjoying a moment of distraction at Los Angeles’ most sacred stadium.

Just remember those are teenagers out there who’ve sacrificed and spent years working toward this moment. There’s no losers when you get to play at Dodger Stadium as a high school kid.

For Saffie, it validates his belief in trusting the process and trusting himself. He didn’t run when the going got tough. He persevered and learned a valuable lesson: patience still pays off.

I stood last week in the middle of a highway, marveling as construction workers used large excavators to repair the collapsed roadway.

I was walking a segment of Angeles Crest Highway that closed about five months ago when winter storms pummeled the roadway, ripping off hunks of pavement and collapsing large sections of the road. I wanted to survey the damage and also enjoy a car-free highway in the beautiful backcountry.

In this edition of The Wild, The Times’ weekly outdoors newsletter, I will share what I observed and include details about how you can repeat my trip. I’d say it is a rare opportunity, but it’s starting to feel, especially as human-caused climate change worsens, like Angeles Crest Highway is closed more often than it’s open.

Angeles Crest Highway, completed in 1956 (in part by prison labor), is a 66-mile curvy road that climbs from around 1,300 feet to nearly 8,000 feet, taking travelers from La Cañada Flintridge to the mountain town of Wrightwood. A large segment, 55 miles, received federal distinction in 1990 as a National Scenic Byway.

In case, like me, you’ve lost the plot of the many recent closures and reopenings of Angeles Crest Highway, here’s a brief refresher.

• Winter 2022/spring 2023: Winter and early spring storms, including atmospheric rivers, blow out multiple sections of the roadway, prompting several closures, including: from near Mt. Wilson Red Box Road to Upper Big Tujunga Road; from Upper Big Tujunga Road to Islip Saddle; and from Islip Saddle to Vincent Gap.
• October 2023: A 20-mile stretch from Upper Big Tujunga to Islip Saddle reopens; road remains closed from Mt. Wilson Red Box Road to Upper Big Tujunga, requiring drivers to take a detour to reach a newly open section; segment from Islip Saddle to Vincent Gap remains closed.
• July 2024: Mt. Wilson Red Box Road to Upper Big Tujunga reopens, ending the need for a detour.
• August 2025: Islip Saddle to Vincent Gap reopens.

A portion of Angeles Crest Highway where the curved shoulder broke off.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

The hiking community celebrated when that final 10-mile stretch from Islip Saddle to Vincent Gulch reopened. The closure blocked access to Dawson Saddle and made the drive to Vincent Gulch to hike the Mt. Baden-Powell trail much longer, as you had to take multiple freeways to maneuver from L.A. around the San Gabriels.

For the first time in three years, all of Angeles Crest Highway was open — for about five months.

Grape soda lupine, left, Grinnell’s beardtongue, snow plant and western wallflower.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Last December, Southern California experienced another round of a damaging atmospheric river. “More than 10 inches of rain fell in parts of the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County during a 48-hour period,” The Times reported.

Soon, photos emerged of washed-out segments of Angeles Crest Highway, and the California Department of Transportation announced that, yet again, the highway was closed, this time from 3.3 miles east of Newcomb’s Ranch to State Route 138.

Curious to see the damage for myself, I headed up the highway last week to walk a segment of the closure. My plan was to park at the large lot at the 6,000-foot snow play area and then walk along Angeles Crest Highway for about 4½ miles to Buckhorn Campground, a forested enclave where I’ve spent many nights staring up at the stars.

After having lunch at Buckhorn, I planned to backtrack to Cloudburst Summit where I would take the Pacific Crest Trail back to where I parked. The total trip is just shy of nine miles and gains about 1,200 feet in elevation.

The closed gate near the 6,000-foot snow play area in Angeles National Forest.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

I walked from the lot past the closed gate, appreciating several grape soda lupine, one of my favorite native wildflowers, blooming along the hillside.

I was alone on the empty highway, a scene that was stunningly gorgeous and eerily dystopian. For the first three-fourths of a mile, the road appeared to be in good condition. But then, I trudged around a bend and observed the first segment of collapsed roadway on my trip.

For anyone considering cycling this route, I am happy to report that CalTrans and its contractors have done a nice job creating dirt and rock berms around the damaged portions of road that I observed. I mention that in case, like me, you watched the 1991 TV series “Land of the Lost” and developed an illogical fear of dropping through a crack in the road and unknowingly discovering a time portal to the Jurassic period.

I continued past this first damaged section, listening to the dark-eyed junco and mountain chickadee, laughing as the chipmunks scampered to and fro.

An excavator works to repair a segment of Angeles Crest Highway.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Soon, at 1.2 miles, I encountered construction workers driving excavators to move earth and repair a drainage area where it appeared water had rushed down the steep mountains and blasted the road away. As you hike or bike, please respect instructions from construction workers and also make sure they see you before you try to pass them.

Just a fifth of a mile farther, and I saw more portions of the roadway that had collapsed, although these sections were smaller than the area the heavy machine operators were trying to repair.

As you hike along, you’ll likely realize that the pavement warms up quickly. It’s important to either start this journey early in the day or on a cooler day — and pack plenty of water.

At about 1.75 miles in, you will reach a junction where the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650-mile route that spans from Mexico to Canada, intersects with the roadway. You can turn and head back to your car here if you’d like by taking the PCT. You’ll initially walk west before the trail starts moving southward.

I continued eastward on the highway, pausing at times to appreciate the vista points that you can only observe for a few seconds in a car. At one turnout, I paused to smell the delicious bark of a Jeffrey pine, which has an aroma similar to butterscotch or vanilla.

A view of the San Gabriel Mountains and desert beyond.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

For about a mile-and-a-half, there’s minimal damage, enough of a break to briefly forget why the road is closed. But as you near the Buckhorn Campground entrance, you’ll find serious damage, including where the Mt. Waterman ski lifts used to take travelers up the mountain.

I turned off the highway onto the Buckhorn Campground road, finding it to be in fairly good condition — until you get to the creek crossing. A massive chunk of the road is just gone, washed away presumably by water charging down the steep hillsides. This is the only technically tricky part of the hike, and you’ll want to take good care to discern the best path here. There are a lot of branches and boulders that aren’t stable and could be napping spots for rattlesnakes.

Past here, you’ll find rocks and other debris scattered along the roadway. As I neared the campground, I noticed a Stellar’s jay observing me. Maybe it misses the days when all it had to do for food was wait for clumsy campers to drop bits of sandwiches and trail mix that it could swoop down and enjoy.

A washed-out segment of the road that leads to Buckhorn Campground in Angeles National Forest.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

I sat atop a picnic table at Buckhorn, comforted that the campsites and tall old pines that I’ve camped under multiple times were still there. Although much of the campground remains intact, some campsites near the creek were washed away. I’ve always wanted to camp there. This is why you shouldn’t put off adventure!

After enjoying lunch and chatting with a few PCT hikers, including one who was lost and grateful for my map, I headed back down the highway. Just over a mile in, you’ll turn left near Cloudburst Summit onto the PCT. Your feet will thank you from this break from pavement.

As I trudged along, the quiet monotony of the day allowed me to make oh-so-brilliant observations to myself, like, “Wildflowers are like spring’s Christmas lights,” a note I left for my future self to remember. I bet you’re glad I wrote that down.

Grape soda lupine blooms along the Pacific Crest Trail in Angeles National Forest.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

I was pleased to see so many wildflowers still in bloom along the trail, including several grape soda lupine plants, the alienlike snow plants and a bit of Grinnell’s beardtongue.

Returning to my car, I thought about how much I enjoyed the walk but also how special Highway 2 is, regardless of how you traverse it.

There is no timeline of when the road will reopen. The analysis from CalTrans of what it will take to repair Highway 2 is grim.

“To date, Caltrans crews have identified approximately 40 locations requiring repair, though this number may increase as assessments continue. In several areas, portions of the highway were washed out and remain temporarily inaccessible,” according to the CalTrans website.

A damaged segment of Angeles Crest Highway near the Buckhorn Campground entrance.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to remain optimistic that we won’t see a growing number of closures along Angeles Crest Highway.

Highway 2 seems to face similar challenges to its coastal cousin, California’s Highway 1, which is increasingly plagued by storms exacerbated by human-caused climate change.

My colleague Grace Toohey spoke to an expert about Highway 1, who made a point that’s unfortunately equally applicable to the plight of Highway 2.

“If our storm and other conditions were normal, we would expect closures and losses at some points,” said Michael Beck, director of UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience. “The challenge is that we’re now clear that the events that are going to cause impacts — these particularly extreme events — are getting more common. … Climate change is here and now, it’s no longer a problem of the future.”

3 things to do

Hikers head up Icehouse Canyon Trail.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Editor’s note: Because of recent wildfires, events might be canceled on short notice. Check event pages before heading out.

1. Eliminate trail obstacles near Mt. Baldy
The San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuilders need volunteers on Sunday to help clear fallen trees and remove overgrown brush along the Chapman Trail in Icehouse Canyon near the Mt. Baldy community. Volunteers will meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Glendora Park and Ride before heading to the worksite. Volunteers will hike between four miles and seven miles with an elevation gain of up to 2,000 feet. Register at meetup.com.

2. Mosey past movie scenes near Calabasas
Retired park ranger Mike Malone will guide a three-mile moderate hike from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday through Malibu Creek State Park, highlighting locations where the park served as a backdrop for film and TV productions. Malone will also share history about when the park was owned by 20th Century Fox from 1946 to 1974. Hikers should meet at 10 a.m. at the park’s main trailhead by the restrooms. Learn more at parks.ca.gov.

3. Hike along historical routes in Chatsworth
A docent at Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park will host a 3½-mile hike from 8 to 11 a.m. Monday through the Santa Susana Mountains. Hikers will learn about the park’s ancient quarry, Indigenous culture and the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach route. Hikers will meet at the Andora trailhead in Chatsworth. Learn more and register at meetup.com.

The must-read

A trash interceptor made by the Dutch nonprofit the Ocean Cleanup grabs trash from Ballona Creek that could otherwise end up in the Pacific Ocean. Since its installation in 2022, the interceptor has collected more than 200 tons of trash.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

It can be peaceful to take a stroll along the San Gabriel or Los Angeles rivers amid the cottonwood trees, willows and herons. But it’d be impossible not to notice the garbage too. For years, our local rivers have suffered at the hands of humans and the heaps of waste we produce. That could change. “By the 2028 Olympics, a coalition of city, county, state and private partners hopes to change that by deploying trash-intercepting devices in the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers, officials announced [last] Wednesday,” Times staff writer Lila Seidman wrote. “The plan is to prevent hundreds of tons of garbage from getting to the ocean.” Could our rivers be clean that soon?

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Will Southern California’s roving wolf ever find a mate? I can’t be the only one stressing about this. BEY03F, affectionately called “bae” or “Valentine” by some, has been making headlines since early this year when she became the first wolf to enter L.A. County in more than 100 years. She has since traversed hundreds of miles and through multiple counties, with her latest travels bringing her to Sequoia National Park. This again marks the first time in a century that a wolf was documented there. BEY03F keeps making history because humans wiped out her canine kin. Will she ever find a connection that helps her repair some of the harm done?

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.

CITY SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

Semifinals

At Cal State Northridge

OPEN DIVISION

#2 El Camino Real 4, #8 Granada Hills 3

#1 Birmingham 4, #4 Carson 1

At Stengel Field

DIVISION I

#10 Taft 2, #3 Venice 0

#13 Verdugo Hills 2, #1 Sylmar 1

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE

FINALS

At East LA College

DIVISION II

#6 South East vs. #5 LA Roosevelt, 5:30 p.m.

At Fremont

DIVISION III

#9 LA Hamilton vs. #7 Fremont, 2:30 p.m.

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

FINALS

At Dodger Stadium

OPEN DIVISION

#2 El Camino Real vs. #1 Birmingham, 1 p.m.

DIVISION I

#10 Taft vs. #1 Verdugo Hills

Dodgers beat the Padres

From Maddie Lee: The crack of the bat reverberated throughout Petco Park. The crowd let out a collective, “Oh.” And Shohei Ohtani started his trot around the bases.

Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill made a valiant effort to bring back the home run. But after leaping and stretching his torso over the top of the wall, the ball fell just out of his reach.

Ohtani, hitting while pitching for the first time in almost four weeks, had homered on the first pitch of the game. Then, helping the Dodgers to a 4-0 win and series victory against the Padres on Wednesday, Ohtani threw five shutout innings and gave up just three hits.

“The goal as a pitcher is to not give up the first run,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “So I was able to not do that and happy that we were able to score first.”

He lowered his ERA to 0.73, which is the best mark of any pitcher who has started a game this season. It’s also the sixth-lowest ERA through the first eight starts of a season (excluding openers) that a pitcher has recorded in the live-ball era (since 1920), according to MLB.com. Fernando Valenzuela, with an 0.50 ERA through eight starts in 1981, leads the pack.

Continue reading here

Shaikin: From the Big Apple, sour grapes toward the voice of the Dodgers

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels lose to the Athletics

Jeff McNeil hit a tying homer in the ninth inning and Tyler Soderstrom had an RBI single in the 10th to rally the Athletics past the Angels 6-5 on Wednesday night.

The Angels loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 10th but left-hander Hogan Harris got Jorge Soler to ground out, sending the Angels to their 23rd loss in 29 games.

A’s reliever Scott Barlow (1-0) threw a scoreless ninth for the win. Angels right-hander Chase Silseth (1-1) took the loss after giving up an unearned run in the 10th.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

UCLA men’s basketball adds four players

Forwards Filip Jovic of Auburn and Sergej Macura of Mississippi State as well as guards Jaylen Petty of Texas Tech and Azavier Robinson of Butler have joined UCLA through the transfer portal, coach Mick Cronin said Wednesday.

Jovic averaged 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in all 37 games for Auburn last season, helping the Tigers win the NIT title. Macura averaged 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds in 28 games for Mississippi State last season.

Petty averaged 9.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 33 games as a freshman at Texas Tech. Robinson averaged 6.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 22 games as a freshman at Butler.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1881 — A small group of tennis club members meets at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City to form the world’s first national governing body for tennis: the United States National Lawn Tennis Assn. The new organization is created to standardize tennis rules and regulations and to encourage and develop the sport.

1891 — Australian boxer Peter Jackson and future world heavyweight champion Jim Corbett fight a No Contest in 61 rounds at California Athletic Club, San Francisco.

1932 — 1st Curtis Cup for Women’s team amateur golf: U.S. wins, 5½-3½ at Wentworth Club (Wentworth, England).

1966 — Muhammad Ali TKOs Henry Cooper in six for heavyweight boxing title.

1966 — Kauai King, the Kentucky Derby winner ridden by Don Brumfield, wins the Preakness Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths over Stupendous.

1971 — Chelsea win 11th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Real Madrid 2-1 in Athens (replay).

1977 — Heavily favored Seattle Slew, ridden by Jean Cruguet, wins the Preakness Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths over Iron Constitution, a 31-1 shot.

1979 — The Montreal Canadiens win their 21st Stanley Cup by beating the New York Rangers 4-1 in Game 5.

1981 — The New York Islanders win the Stanley Cup in five games with a 5-1 triumph over the Minnesota North Stars.

1988 — Risen Star, ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, spoils Winning Colors’ bid to become the first filly to win the Triple Crown by capturing the Preakness Stakes.

1989 — LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, Jack Nicklaus GC: Nancy Lopez wins for the third time, by three strokes over Ayako Okamoto of Japan.

1995 — The Penske Racing Team is shut out of the 33-car Indianapolis 500 field when two-time winners Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi fail to qualify. Unser is the first Indianapolis 500 winner to fail to qualify the next year.

2005 — Afleet Alex, ridden by Jeremy Rose, regains his footing and his drive after being cut off by Scrappy T in a frightening collision and breezes home to win the Preakness Stakes. Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo finishes third.

2005 — English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (71,876): Arsenal beats Manchester United, 5-4 on penalties after 0–0 (a.e.t.); Gunners’ 10th title.

2006 — Detroit holds Cleveland to the lowest point total in a Game 7 in NBA history and advances to its fourth straight Eastern Conference final with a 79-61 win over the Cavaliers.

2006 — The Swedish ice hockey team Tre Kronor takes gold in the World Championship, becoming the first nation to hold both the World and Olympic titles separately in the same year.

2008 — UEFA Champions League Final, Moscow: Manchester United beats Chelsea, 6-5 on penalties after scores tied at 1-1 after extra time; first all-English final in the competition’s history.

2009 — Evgeni Malkin scores three goals — two in the third period — for his first NHL playoff hat trick and leads Pittsburgh to a 7-4 win over Carolina and a 2-0 advantage in the NHL Eastern Conference finals. Teammate Sidney Crosby scores the first goal of the game for a record-tying sixth goal to start a playoff game. Bobby Hull of the Blackhawks (1962) and Edmonton’s Fernando Pisani in 2006 also had six game-opening goals in a playoff year.

2011 — Shackleford wins the Preakness, holding off a late charge from Animal Kingdom to win as a 12-1 underdog. Ridden by Jesus Lopez Castanon and trained by Dale Romans, Shackleford wins by three-quarters of a length in 1:56.21.

2011 — Bernard Hopkins, at age 46, becomes the oldest fighter to win a major world championship, taking the WBC light-heavyweight title from Jean Pascal in Montreal. He takes the WBC, IBO and The Ring magazine titles from the 28-year-old Pascal (26-2-1), the Canadian fighter who was making his fifth defense. Hopkins (52-5-2) broke the age record set by George Foreman in a heavyweight title victory over Michael Moorer in 1994.

2016 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Manchester United beats Crystal Palace, 2-1 (a.e.t.); Jesse Lingard scores 110′ winner.

2016 — On same card, American boxer Jermell Charlo KOs John Jackson in 8th to claim vacant WBC super welterweight title, and Jermall Charlo beats Austin Trout on points to retain IBF version; first twins to hold world championships in same weight division.

2017 — The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Greystone G&CC: Defending champion Berhard Langer wins by five strokes over Scott Parel and Scott McCarron.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1926 — Earl Sheely of the Chicago White Sox hit three doubles and a home run against the Boston Red Sox. Sheely doubled in each of his last three at-bats the previous day to give him seven consecutive extra-base hits, tying a major league record. The six doubles in the two games also tied a major league record.

1930 — Babe Ruth hits three consecutive home runs in the first game of a doubleheader against the A’s.

1943 — In the fastest nine-inning night game in American League history, the Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators 1-0, in 1 hour, 29 minutes.

1948 — Joe DiMaggio had two home runs, a triple, double and single to lead the New York Yankees to a 13-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

1952 — Duke Snider’s home run highlighted a 15-run first inning in the Dodgers’ 19-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds in Brooklyn. Snider, Pee Wee Reese and Billy Cox each made three plate appearances in the first inning.

1986 — Rafael Ramirez of Atlanta had four doubles in seven at-bats as the Braves beat the Chicago Cubs 9-8 in 13 innings.

1996 — Larry Walker drove in a career-high six runs, hitting a pair of two-run homers, a triple and a double in the Colorado Rockies’ 12-10 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. His 13 total bases set a club record.

1996 — At Fenway Park, Seattle pounds out 19 hits to beat Boston, 13-7. Ken Griffey, Jr. becomes the 7th-youngest player to collect 200 homers when he connects in the M’s six-run 4th inning. Jay Buhner hits a two-run shot in the inning, the 5th game in a row he’s connected, and Edgar Martinez adds four hits in the game.

1997 — Roger Clemens earned his 200th victory, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-1 win over the New York Yankees.

2000 — For the first time in baseball history, there were six grand slams in a single day. Garret Anderson of the Angels hit the record-breaker off Kansas City’s Chris Fussell. J.T. Snow of San Francisco, Brian Hunter of Philadelphia, Jason Giambi of Oakland, and Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green of the Dodgers connected with the bases loaded before Anderson. The old mark of five was set in 1999.

2002 — The Diamondbacks set down the Giants, 9-4, behind Randy Johnson. Johnson notches the 3,500th strikeout of his big league career in the contest.

2004 — In his return to Texas, Alex Rodriguez is roundly booed by fans at the Ballpark in Arlington. The fans continue to show their displeasure as the Yankees third baseman drives a 2-1 pitch over the fence during his 1st-inning at-bat.

2004 — Jose Cruz Jr. went 4-for-4 with a homer and three doubles, leading Tampa Bay to a 5-3 victory over Cleveland.

2005 — The Texas Rangers set two club records in an 18-3 rout of the Houston Astros. Texas got home runs from Rod Barajas, Hank Blalock, Laynce Nix and Mark Teixeira in an eight-run, four-homer second inning. Texas slugged a team-record eight homers total on the day, also receiving blasts from Kevin Mench, Richard Hidalgo and two from David Dellucci.

2009 — Albert Pujols of St. Louis hit a homer in the first inning that knocked out the “I” on the Big Mac Land sign located in Busch Stadium’s left field. The Cardinals won 3-1.

2009 — Joe Mauer hit a grand slam, two doubles and drove in a career-high six runs as Minnesota routed the Chicago White Sox 20-1.

2010 — Dan Haren doubled twice, drove in three runs and pitched eight strong innings, offsetting Edwin Encarnacion’s three home runs for Toronto, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Blue Jays 8-6. Haren gave up four runs and nine hits and two of Encarnacion’s three homers.

2013 — Mike Trout hit for the cycle and drove in five runs to lead the Angels in a 12-0 rout of Seattle Mariners.

2015 — The Brewers’ Will Smith is ejected for having rosin and sunscreen on his forearm in the 7th inning of Milwaukee’s 10-1 loss to the Braves. Smith explains that he simply forgot to wipe off his arm before leaving the bullpen when called into the game. He will receive an eight-game suspension as well.

2018 — Baseball has a new phenom as 19-year-old Juan Soto of the Nationals, making his first start ever in the outfield after striking out as a pinch-hitter in his debut the day before, crushes the first pitch he sees from Robbie Erlin of the Padres for a three-run homer. He goes 2-for-4 in 10-2 win by Washington. He is the first teenager to homer since teammate Bryce Harper did so in his rookie year in 2012.

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.

The Sports Report Hall of Fame, NFL edition

Those of you who read the Dodgers Dugout newsletter know that for the last few years, we have done a Dodgers Dugout Hall of Fame, asking readers to vote for former Dodgers who they believe should be in this more fan-oriented Hall of Fame. Clayton Kershaw was the most recent inductee, bringing the total to 17 Hall of Famers.

Which got me thinking (always a dangerous thing), what if we had a Sports Report Hall of Fame, as selected by the readers?

The way it works: Each Thursday over the next few weeks, you will see a list of candidates. A different category each week.

This week, the category is L.A. Rams/Chargers/Raiders. You can vote for up to eight players. You don’t have to vote for eight, you can vote for any number up to and including eight. Your vote should depend on what the person did on and off the field only as a member of the L.A. Rams, Chargers or Raiders. The rest of his career doesn’t count. And remember this is a Los Angeles-based Hall of Fame, so there might be some people considerably worthy of being in the Sports Report Hall of Fame who fall short of the actual Hall of Fame for their sport.

Whoever is named on at least 75% of the ballots will be elected. The five people receiving the fewest votes will be dropped from future ballots for at least the next two years. A person must be retired to appear on the ballot. And since this is L.A. based, people who spent the majority of their career with the St. Louis Rams or San Diego Chargers or Oakland/Vegas Raiders aren’t eligible. Sorry, Kurt Warner.

How do you vote? For this week’s ballot, click here. Results will be announced soon after balloting in all caregories has concluded.

I’m sure there’s a person or two you think should have been on the ballot. Send that player’s name to me and they might be included in next year’s ballot.

So, without further ado, here is the ballot of the Rams/Chargers/Raiders category

Marcus Allen—We are only counting his time with the Raiders here. He will also appear on the USC ballot. A key member of the L.A. Raiders Super Bowl team and a great running back.

Al Davis—Former owner of the Raiders.

Eric Dickerson—Greatest running back in Rams history. Set the season rushing yards record.

Aaron Donald—One of the greatest defensive players in history, leading L.A. Rams to only Super Bowl win. Retired in his prime.

Tom Fears—Split end for the Rams from 1948-1956. First Mexican-born player to be selected in the NFL draft. Integral part of the Rams’ first NFL championship since moving to L.A. Once had the season receptions record for the NFL.

Tom Flores—Coached the L.A. Raiders to their only Super Bowl title. Was 56-32 with the L.A. Raiders.

Georgia Frontiere—One of the only female majority owners in NFL history. Moved the Rams to St. Louis.

Mike Haynes—One of the greatest cornerbacks of all time, starred in the L.A. Raiders’ Super Bowl victory with one interception, two pass breakups and one tackle.

Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch—Great receiver, set the then-NFL record with 1,495 receiving yards in 1951, when the Rams won the NFL title. Later was Rams GM and drafted Roman Gabriel, Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen.

Deacon Jones—Greatest defensive player in NFL history? Finished with an unofficial 173.5 sacks which would still be third all-time.

Chuck Knox—Coached the Rams to five straight NFC West titles, but could never reach the Super Bowl. Resigned after the fifth straight division title season. Came back to coach again from 1992-94 but wasn’t as successful.

Howie Long—Was with the team during their entire tenure in L.A. Defensive end was a key member of L.A. Raiders’ Super Bowl title team.

Merlin Olsen—Don’t let his acting career as Jonathan Garvey and Father Murphy fool you, Olsen was a valued member of the “Fearsome Foursome.” Olsen played for the Rams from 1962 to 1976. He missed only two games in his 15-season career, was named the NFL’s Rookie of the Year in 1962 and was first-team All-Pro in 1964, and 1966 through 1970.

Jim Plunkett—In 1983, Plunkett went from backup to starting quarterback and led the Raiders to a Super Bowl victory. He and Eli Manning are the only eligible quarterbacks with two Super Bowl wins as a starter not to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Carroll Rosenbloom—Longtime Rams owner. Team won seven straight NFL West titles while he was owner. Moved the team from L.A. to Anaheim, though the move didn’t happen until after his death in 1979.

Jackie Slater—Played his entire 20-season career with the Rams, 19 of those seasons in L.A. He was considered one of the most consistent members of the best offensive line in the NFL and was recognized for his “work ethic and leadership skills” when he was inducted to the Hall of Fame. Named offensive lineman of the year four times.

Norm Van Brocklin—Platooned at quarterback with Bob Waterfield in the early 1950s. The 1950 Rams averaged 38.8 per game, which is still a record. Van Brocklin and Waterfield finished 1–2 in passer rating as well. They were co-quarterback on the 1951 NFL title team as well. In the opening game of the 1951 season, Waterfield was injured, and Van Brocklin passed for an NFL record 554 yards, which is still the NFL record, 75 years later.

Bob Waterfield—You can read Van Brocklin’s note and apply it to Waterfield as well. Except, Waterfield also played defense and had 20 interceptions with the Rams. He also was a kicker, with 315 extra points and 60 field goals and averaged 42.4 yards as a punter. Other than that, he didn’t do much.

Jack Youngblood—Played in the Super Bowl with a broken leg. Holds Rams records for: most consecutive games played (201); most career sacks in the playoffs (8 1/2); most playoff starts (17); most career safeties (two); second in career sacks (151 1/2); second in most career blocked kicks (eight).

To vote, click here. You can vote for up to eight. Those named on at least 75% of ballots are elected.

I have reopened balloting for the other two categories we have presented so far.

To vote in the baseball ballot, click here.

To vote in the basketball ballot, click here.

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.

SAN DIEGO — The crack of the bat reverberated throughout Petco Park. The crowd let out a collective, “Oh.” And Shohei Ohtani started his trot around the bases.

Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill made a valiant effort to bring back the home run. But after leaping and stretching his entire torso over the top of the wall, the ball fell just out of his reach.

Ohtani, hitting while pitching for the first time in almost four weeks, had homered on the first pitch of the game.

Manager Dave Roberts has held Ohtani out of the batting order for each of his last three starts on the mound, in what’s become a start-by-start decision. But Wednesday, he handled pitching and hitting duties, with immediate positive feedback.

“Obviously it’s a big series, and with the way he’s swinging the bat, I feel it gives us the best chance to win,” Roberts said before the game. “And last week, giving him a couple days off to reset, I thought that was beneficial. We’re on the heels of an off day [Thursday]. So I think all that in total, it just made sense to have him hit today.”

Roberts has also witnessed a “recharged” Ohtani on this trip, as evident on the basepaths and in the batter’s box.

Roberts and Ohtani differ in how much they credit his offensive turnaround to the two-day break from hitting that Roberts gave the two-way phenom last week, versus the progress he was already showing. But Ohtani entered Wednesday with four doubles and 10 hits total in five games against the Angels and Padres.

“I think he’s getting there,” Roberts said before the game. “I wouldn’t say he’s back; I think he’s getting there.”

When Meow Wolf’s Los Angeles location opens later this year, one of its biggest residents will be a 20-foot-tall, 1,000-pound amoeba-like creature named WoWoW.

Created by the L.A.-based multimedia collective Everything Is Terrible, WoWoW is alternately described as a “cosmic entity” and a “cartoony, root vegetable floating alien god.” The multi-eyed organism will serve as the centerpiece of “the N.E.S.T.,” an EIT-designed section of Meow Wolf’s new 26,000-square-foot immersive exhibition space.

In-progress detail of Everything Is Terrible’s WoWoW sculpture for the forthcoming Meow Wolf Los Angeles, shown with multi-color eye lighting.

(Photo by Allyson Lupovich / Meow Wolf)

That acronym has yet to be explained, and is cloaked in Meow Wolf’s intentionally mysterious messaging about its latest incarnation, which is set in an old Cinemark movie theater in West L.A. and will tackle the ephemeral joys and hardships of Hollywood’s dream factory. The L.A. location will be the Santa Fe, N.M.-based immersive art and entertainment company’s fifth outpost after Denver, Las Vegas, Houston and the Dallas suburbs.

The L.A. space boasts 45 local collaborating artists including Gabriela Ruiz, David Altmejd and more. Each is building their own unique installation featuring a variety of sculptures, dioramas and new media.

Everything Is Terrible is one of Meow Wolf’s most prolific partners, creating a variety of psychedelic characters for various installations over the years. The collective dreamed up the N.E.S.T. about two years ago as a way of paying tribute to maximalist roadside attractions like Wisconsin’s House on the Rock or New Mexico’s Tinkertown Museum. It also tells the story of the Noothies, a made-up community of former below-the-line film workers who stumbled upon a god — and a hidden truth about the nature of reality.

The installation presents a paradox by being a Hollywood idea that is completely un-Hollywood. It may wink at the industry’s unseen heroes, but who can afford to make art for art’s sake in the entertainment industry anymore? That seeming contradiction makes it a very Everything Is Terrible idea.

Founded nearly 20 years ago by a group of friends who met at Ohio University, Everything Is Terrible was launched as a found-footage website that created wild and singular art pieces using thrifted VHS tapes. It found viral success with videos about cat massage, and a dancing dinosaur who warns kids about the dangers of pedophilia, as well as its lauded quest to amass as many VHS copies of “Jerry Maguire” as humanly possible. (The group has about 45,000 at the moment, all stuffed in boxes and waiting to be unleashed on the world — perhaps as a pyramid in the desert or maybe featured in some sort of coffee table book.)

“I think our outlook on life has become, ‘look at the worlds that these people created,’” says EIT co-founder Dimitri Simakis. “No one asked them to do this. Someone just wanted to do a kids puppet show in some garage in North Carolina and now they’ve created a simulacra.”

That’s also what the collective is doing with its Meow Wolf exhibit, adds Nic Maier, another EIT member. “It’s what we’ve done for the last 20 years, really. We’re just a bunch of kooks who got together to obsessively make things in celebration of life and in appreciation of each other’s time.”

The marriage of Everything Is Terrible and Meow Wolf is a match made in heaven. The groups first met in 2009, bonded by a shared commitment to interactive art experiences that twist reality using an ornate handmade aesthetic.

A few years later, Maier was hired to work on what would become Meow Wolf’s first large-scale installation, Santa Fe’s “House of Eternal Return.” As he spent hours sculpting large, foam trees for the group, he says he fell in love.

A mystical, neon-colored forest in Meow Wolf’s Santa Fe, N.M., exhibition, “The House of Eternal Return.”

(Meow Wolf)

“We always joke that ever since then, EIT has been a barnacle on the side of the Meow Wolf ship, just hanging on but also occasionally hopping in to contribute,” Maier says.

When Meow Wolf announced it was opening two new spaces, in Las Vegas and Denver, it called on EIT for ideas. Simakis and Maier threw out a few pitches for Denver and one landed: a McDonald’s-like retro freak-out known as Pizza Pals Play Zone, which went on to become one of the attraction’s most talked about, photographed and beloved spaces.

“Pizza Pals Play Zone is super character dense,” says Han Sayles, Meow Wolf’s director of artist collaboration. “It’s just one of those spaces that feels like Meow Wolf. There’s hundreds of different pieces of media framed all around, featuring all of these different characters they created. They even made a bible … that had the narrative backstory of every single character and every deliverable they wanted for that room.”

Pizza Pals Playzone, created by Everything Is Terrible, at Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station in Denver.

(Jess Gallo / Meow Wolf)

When Meow Wolf’s Los Angeles project became a possibility, Sayles says Everything Is Terrible was one of the first groups she pitched as a potential contributor. EIT ended up being offered a custom project, in which the group used Meow Wolf’s extensive production facilities and resources to create their vision for the space, weighing in on everything from the shape of their room to the merch it might inspire in the Meow Wolf gift shop.

“We had a super trusting relationship with them,” Sayles says. “We recruited them as partners and negotiated a deal without knowing what they were going to put in the room. Both Nic and Dimitri have such a beautiful, strong sense of the exact genre of whimsy that we go for and they always deliver super deeply, so we knew it would be amazing.”

Sayles says she also thought the group’s experience of Los Angeles would lend itself well to the overall theme of the venue. Shakti Howeth, a creative director at Meow Wolf, agrees, saying that while Meow Wolf attractions are typically pretty otherworldly, they’re always built around an overarching story.

At Meow Wolf’s “Omega Mart,” in Las Vegas, guests first enter a satiric take on a grocery store, where portals lead to otherworldly art exhibitions.

(Christopher DeVargas / Meow Wolf)

The N.E.S.T., Howeth teases, will relate to some of the L.A. attraction’s character groups and themes, as well as its overall story. How audiences first encounter WoWoW and the N.E.S.T. will depend on which door they use to enter the room. From there, the points of visual interest will compound upon each other.

“We’re just incorporating all the things we love,” says Maier, noting that includes roadside attractions, folk art and anything “outsider.”

“It involves everything from the importance of dirt and worms to video games to experimental film to worker uprisings to entering literal other dimensions where you can meet what might be God, all within a [553]-square-foot space,” Simakis adds. “There have been times when we’ve been in the N.E.S.T. and thought we crammed in too much … but then you realize it has to be like that, because we’re trying to tell the whole story of the universe in just that room.”

For example, Maier spent much of the last two years building 45 beautifully weird costumes for the attraction, only two of which will be physically in the N.E.S.T. The other 43, he explains, are there for “world-building” and to make the story feel lived in. Everything in the space will have been created by Everything Is Terrible and Meow Wolf, including what seems like real found footage.

Simakis calls the group’s vision for the space “unrelenting joy mixed with benevolent chaos,” as well as “a beautiful folk art museum that’s also a space rave.” He likens what the group is doing to “building a puzzle out of thousands of other puzzles, gluing it together to make a new thing.”

“It’s like we’re making a movie that’s not a movie,” Simakis adds. “It’s a video game. It’s a living space. It’s all of these things, but you get to walk around in it.”

If that’s confusing, it’s because it’s meant to be — at least a little. How each visitor absorbs or receives the space will be entirely up to them. And while that could be a bit terrifying for some artists, to pour everything into a piece only to have the public possibly misinterpret or even ignore it, Maier and Simakis say they’re open to whatever comes.

“Millions of people are going to potentially walk through our space, so it has to be really special,” Simakis says. “We’ve also thought about all the different ways people could enjoy it, whether they’re a baby or a stoner or someone who’s just really into immersive entertainment or escape rooms. Even if you just go to take selfies, great. We’re pro-that. But also, if you want to keep going back or you want to spend hours there, I promise we’ve made it worth your while.”

Meow Wolf L.A. opens later this year. You can catch both Meow Wolf and Everything Is Terrible in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Art Parade on June 20, marching in some of Maier’s 45 costumes from the N.E.S.T.

Dodgers beat the Padres

From Maddie Lee: Andy Pages’ game-winning at-bat was one of the “greatest” teammate Freddie Freeman has ever seen in person. Manager Dave Roberts commended his “will and determination.” Even Padres closer Mason Miller, the pitcher on the other side, tipped his cap: “Outstanding job by him.”

The Dodgers’ 5-4 comeback victory was sealed with a nine-pitch battle between Pages and Miller. And the Dodgers’ young All-Star candidate beat the best closer in baseball.

“I never thought he was going to strike me out or dominate me,” Pages said through an interpreter. “I was 100% certain I was going to move the ball forward.”

Forward and in the air to right field for the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.

The Dodgers (30-19) evened the series, pulled back into the top spot in the division standings, and handed Miller his first loss as a Padre.

Continue reading here

Shaikin: Pitching injuries are piling up again for Dodgers. Can the starting rotation hold up?

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Angels walloped by the Athletics

Nick Kurtz had three hits and five RBIs, Brent Rooker and Zack Gelof homered and drove in three runs apiece as the Athletics beat the Angels 14-6 on Tuesday night.

The Athletics scored 12 of their runs with two out.

Kurtz, the reigning American League rookie of the year, sparked a six-run third inning with an RBI single, keyed a two-run sixth with a two-run single and added a two-run double in a four-run eighth.

Reliever Justin Sterner (2-3) escaped a first-and-third, two-out jam in the fourth and earned the win for the AL West-leading A’s, who snapped a three-game skid.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

Billie Jean King graduates

From Steve Henson: Long before Billie Jean King won dozens of Grand Slam tennis titles, founded the Women’s Tennis Assn., became part owner of the Dodgers and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she enrolled in what was then called Los Angeles State College.

Three years later in 1964, King left without a degree to devote full attention to her burgeoning tennis career.

Failing to earn the degree bothered her, and King would correct anyone who said she had graduated.

“I said, ‘Don’t ever say ‘graduated.’ I haven’t earned it — yet,’” she said.

“Yet” became a reality Monday when King, 82, received her bachelor’s degree in history from the same school she attended more than 60 years ago — now called Cal State Los Angeles — walking across the Shrine Auditorium stage with the rest of the Class of 2026.

Continue reading here

This day in sports history

1897 — British Open Men’s Golf, Royal Liverpool GC: English amateur Harold Hilton wins 2nd Open title by 1 stroke from Scot James Braid.

1900 — The second modern Olympic games open in Paris.

1941 — Ten days after his Preakness victory, Whirlaway races against older horses for the first time and defeats four rivals in the Henry of Navarre Purse at Belmont Park in New York.

1950 — Heavily favored Hill Prince, ridden by Bill Boland, wins the Preakness Stakes by five lengths over Middleground.

1964 — Buster Mathis beats future world heavyweight champion Joe Frazer on points at trials in Flushing, NY to qualify for US Olympic boxing team; Mathis injures thumb, replaced by Frazier who wins gold medal.

1967 — Damascus, ridden by Willie Shoemaker, wins the Preakness Stakes by 2¼ lengths over In Reality.

1972 — Bee Bee Bee, a 19-1 long shot ridden by Eldon Nelson, wins the Preakness Stakes by 1½ lengths over No Le Hace.

1972 — Indiana’s Roger Brown scores 32 points to lead the Pacers to 108-105 to win over the New York Nets and the ABA championship.

1978 — Affirmed, ridden by Steve Cauthen, continues the battle with Alydar and wins the Preakness Stakes by a neck.

1983 — American heavyweight boxer Larry Holmes beats countryman Tim Witherspoon by split decision to retain his WBC title at the Dunes Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.

1985 — Larry Holmes beats Carl Williams in 15 for heavyweight boxing title.

1990 — Monica Seles ends Steffi Graf’s 66-match winning streak and takes the German Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Graf’s streak is the second longest in the modern era of tennis. Martina Navratilova won 74 straight matches in 1984.

1990 — The 18th triple dead heat in modern thoroughbred history takes place in the ninth race at Arlington International Racecourse. All Worked Up, Marshua’s Affair and Survival are timed in 1:24 4-5 over seven furlongs.

1991 — Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan is named NBA’s MVP.

1992 — 36th European Cup: Barcelona beats Sampdoria 1-0 at London.

1998 — 6th UEFA Champions League Final: Real Madrid beats Juventus 1-0 at Amsterdam.

2000 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (78,217): Chelsea beats Aston Villa, 1-0; Roberto Di Matteo scores 73′ winner.

2005 — Nextel Cup rookie Kyle Busch becomes the youngest winner in Craftsman Truck Series history, holding off Terry Cook and Ted Musgrave in a three-lap closing sprint at the Quaker Steak & Lube 200.

2006 — Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro breaks down at the start of the Preakness, galloping a few hundred yards while his eight rivals pass him. Bernardini wins the $1 million race, beating Sweetnorthernsaint by 5 1-4 lengths.

2007 — Roger Federer ends Rafael Nadal’s 81-match winning streak on clay with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 win in the final of the Hamburg Masters. It’s Federer’s first clay-court title in two years.

2015 — NASCAR 2016 Hall of Fame inductees: Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte and Jerry Cook.

2017 — Cloud Computing, ridden by Javier Castellano, runs down Classic Empire in the final strides to win the Preakness by a head. The 13-1 long shot runs 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.98 and pays $28.80 to win. Derby winner Always Dreaming and Classic Empire duel throughout most of the race before Classic Empire jumps in front midway on the far turn.

2018 — Sweden beats Switzerland 3-2 in a shootout for the gold medal at the world ice hockey championship in Copenhagen, Denmark.

2018 — The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Greystone G &CC: Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez wins by 3 from American trio Joe Durant, Steve Stricker & Gene Sauers.

2018 — The Vegas Golden Knights punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final beating the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on the road to win the Western Conference finals 4-1. The Golden Knights become the second expansion team in the NHL, NBA, NFL or MLB since 1960 to reach a championship series in their first season. The other team was the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1919 — Babe Ruth won a game on the mound and at the plate. He hit his first career grand slam as the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns 6-4.

1925 — The Cleveland Indians scored six runs in the last of the ninth to beat the New York Yankees 10-9. Tris Speaker scored the winning run from first on a single.

1932 — Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit four doubles in one game.

1941 — Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox won his 20th consecutive game at home, the longest home park streak in the major leagues. Boston beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2.

1947 — The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves 4-3 in a game that featured 22 hits — all singles. The Pirates had 12 singles, the Braves 10.

1948 — Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees hits for the cycle and collects six RBI in a 13-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. DiMaggio hits two home runs, a triple, a double and a single, and narrowly misses another extra-base hit when Chicago left fielder Ralph Hodgin makes a spectacular catch at the wall.

1953 — In the 13th game of the season, the Milwaukee Braves surpassed their 1952 attendance of 281,278, when they were in Boston.

1959 — The Detroit Tigers beat the Yankees, 13-6, to place New York in last place for the first time in 19 years.

1962 — Chicago Cubs rookie Ken Hubbs had eight singles in eight trips to the plate. The Cubs swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4 and 11-2.

1978 — Willie Stargell hit a 535-foot homer off Montreal’s Wayne Twitchell — the longest home run in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium — to highlight the Pirates’ 6-0 victory. It was also Stargell’s 407th career homer, tying him with Duke Snider on the career list.

1983 — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton passes Walter Johnson to move into second place on the all-time strikeout list. Carlton’s four strikeouts put him at 3,511, just 10 behind Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros.

1984 — Boston’s Roger Clemens earned his first major league victory. The Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4.

1988 — Mike Schmidt belts the 535th home run of his career during 1st inning off Padres starting pitcher Andy Hawkins, moving Schmidt past Jimmie Foxx into sole possession of 8th place on the all-time home run list.

1991 — Jeff Reardon got his 300th save and Steve Lyons and Jack Clark homered as the Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0.

1999 — Robin Ventura became the first major leaguer to hit grand slams in both games of a doubleheader, leading the New York Mets to a sweep over Milwaukee, 11-10 and 10-1. He had two slams in a game for the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 4, 1995.

2001 — Barry Bonds hit two homers in the San Francisco Giants’ 11-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves, giving him a total of five in two games, becoming the 23rd player in history to do so.

2006 — Barry Bonds tied Babe Ruth for second place on the career home run list during San Francisco’s 4-2, 10-inning victory over the Oakland Athletics.

2009 — Boston center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury tied a major league record with 12 putouts by an outfielder in a nine-inning game, previously done by Earl Clark of the Boston Braves in 1929 and Lyman Bostock of the Minnesota Twins in 1977. He accomplished the feat in the Red Sox’s 8-3 win over Toronto.

2009 — Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera hit consecutive home runs for the New York Yankees in an 11-4 victory over Baltimore. All three solo shots to right field came in the second inning off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie — with two strikes.

2011 — The Chicago Cubs make their first visit to Fenway Park since the 1918 World Series.

2018 — Rookie Jordan Hicks of the Cardinals ties Aroldis Chapman’s record for the fastest pitch ever recorded by pumping a couple of fastballs at 105 mph while facing Odubel Herrera of the Phillies. The first one goes for a ball, and Herrera manages to foul off the second before striking out on a pitched timed at 103.7 mph.

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.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba was sent a trophy for Offensive Player of the Year that contained multiple typos.

But, hey, at least they got his name right.

The Seattle Seahawks receiver posted a video to his Instagram Story on Monday in which he displays the award from the NFL and Associated Press with an engraving that appears to read “2025 Defensive Player Of TheYear.”

“It’s getting disrespectful, guys,” Smith-Njigba says before pointing to the word that indicates the wrong side of the football on which he plays. “DEE-fense? Come on, bro.”

He then pointed to the two words that were merged together without a space at the end.

“One word?” he said. “Man.”

In a statement emailed to The Times, the NFL owned up to spelling the word “Offensive” wrong but said it was actually spelled “Oefensive” and the font made the first letter appear to be a D. On the trophy, the first letter of that word does appear the same as the one in “Of.”

“The league made the mistake. We sincerely apologize to Jaxon for the error and are in the process of creating and shipping him a new trophy,” the NFL wrote.

“Of course, like the teams he played against this year, we know how great an offensive player he is. We just had a problem spelling it.”

The third-year player out of Ohio State made a second straight Pro Bowl last season for the eventual Super Bowl champion Seahawks, with 119 receptions for a league-high 1,793 yards (eighth best all-time) and 10 touchdowns.

This offseason, he was rewarded with a four-year, $168-million extension that made him the highest-paid receiver in NFL history.

Comedian Druski mispronounced Smith-Njigba’s name several times when announcing him as the Offensive Player of the Year during the NFL Honors ceremony in February.

Former Biden Cabinet member Xavier Becerra remains the top Democrat in the California governor’s race despite being targeted by a barrage of negative political ads and enduring sharp attacks from his rival candidates during recent debates, according to a new poll released Tuesday by the state Democratic Party.

Billionaire Tom Steyer, a Democrat who is shattering self-funding records for statewide office, has been flooding the television airwaves, internet and social media with ads ripping Becerra’s long record in public office, as well as for accepting campaign donations from oil giant Chevron. But, thus far, that has not been enough for Steyer to overtake Becerra.

The survey found that 21% of likely voters backed Becerra, who also served in Congress and as California’s attorney general, while 15% backed Steyer. Among the other top Democrats: Former Orange County congresswoman Katie Porter received 7%; San José Mayor Matt Mahan came in at 4%; and state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa registered at 1%.

Becerra on Tuesday said he believes he has climbed in the polls because voters are now paying attention to the race.

“They’re really looking closely at who’s out there, and I think I’ve been one of the beneficiaries of folks looking for a place that they can feel comfortable, where they can trust,” Becerra told reporters after a campaign event in South Los Angeles. “I think more and more as people look at the candidates, they’re going to start to crystallize behind somebody who won’t need training wheels, as I say, when they get into the governor’s office and can hit the ground running, day one.”

He said he thinks Steyer’s attacks aren’t working because Californians are skeptical of the billionaire.

“He’s spending like no one before, and he’s hitting like no one before, and so far, it hasn’t made a difference,” Becerra said. “We continue to surge, even after weeks of his barrage of lies and attacks…. California voters are not anxious to have someone who wants to buy the office.”

Leading all candidates in the race was Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, who was supported by 22% of likely voters. His top GOP challenger, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, was backed by 10%, the poll showed.

While Hilton and Becerra right now appear to be the likeliest candidates to finish in the top two in California’s June 2 primary, which is required to advance to the November general election, there still remains plenty of time for political fortunes and voter support to rise or fall. Ballots were mailed to the state’s 23.1 million registered voters and early voting sites opened earlier this month, but most Californians have not sent them in thus far.

For Becerra, the strong poll results indicate an astounding turnaround for a campaign that appeared all but dead just weeks ago. In early April, the California Democratic Party tracking poll showed Becerra with support from just 4% of likely voters. That changed after then-Northern California Rep. Eric Swalwell, who had been the front-running Democrat in the race, withdrew from the campaign and resigned from Congress after he was accused of sexual assault and misconduct.

The California Democratic Party launched a series of tracking polls in March after leaders and allies grew increasingly concerned that Republicans would win the top two spots in the primary, shutting the party out of the November general election. This prospect, while statistically possible given the crowded field of candidates running for governor, has grown increasingly less likely as California voters finally focused on the contest to lead the nation’s most populous state and the world’s fourth-largest economy.

Under California’s top-two primary system, only the candidates who finish in first and second place in the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their political party or affiliation.

The poll of 1,200 likely voters took place between May 14 and 16 and has a margin of error of 2.83% in either direction.

Last week, news organizations and Disney bloggers learned that the Mouse House had filed building permits with the city of Anaheim related to a parking structure at Disneyland Resort.

That immediately sparked rumors about a third park — a long-held dream of Walt Disney Co. fans who want to see more rides, themed areas and Mickey-related shopping destinations.

But that will remain a dream — at least for the foreseeable future.

Anaheim city officials confirmed as much in an internal email about one of the news articles, noting to City Council members and the mayor that the permits were, in fact, for minor parking lot improvements within the existing Toy Story parking structure off Harbor Boulevard.

The email, which was reviewed by The Times, said the improvements were not related to an already-approved expansion of Disneyland Resort, or “what could ultimately be developed on the property in the future.”

A Disneyland spokesperson told me the permits are related to painting and striping at the Toy Story parking structure. So much for a third theme park.

It’s not the first time there’s been a hullabaloo about an additional park at Disneyland Resort.

In the early 1990s, there were serious talks about a Disneyland expansion called Westcot Center, a West Coast version of Walt Disney World’s Epcot in Florida. The plan at one point was to include three hotels, a public plaza and a number of retail, dining and entertainment options all around a central lake. At one point, both Anaheim and Long Beach were vying to be chosen as the site.

But that all collapsed in the mid-’90s amid financial concerns. Disney later built California Adventure, and briefly teased the idea of a third theme park complex with both a water park and amusement park that could complement the two-park resort. But that but never came to fruition.

The idea came up yet again about 10 years ago at an annual shareholders meeting in San Francisco, when former Chief Executive Bob Iger batted down speculation about a third park.

“We have plans at Disneyland for an expansion that we have not announced but those plans at the present do not include a third gate,” he said at the time.

More on that expansion later, but the truth is Disney simply doesn’t have enough land in Anaheim to build out a third theme park. I spoke with Len Testa, president of theme park travel site TouringPlans.com, who laid out the issues for me.

A third park would probably need a minimum of 80 to 120 acres of land to accommodate big new rides, as well as necessary behind-the-scenes facilities like employee break rooms and other back-of-the-house infrastructure.

“They’re landlocked,” he said. “And to acquire that land now in any way that would keep the campus centralized and avoid the logistics of a far-flung transportation network, that would be prohibitively expensive.”

That’s not to say that Disneyland Resort isn’t expanding on the land it does have.

Two years ago, Anaheim approved expansion plans for a project known as DisneylandForward, which will allow the company to build new attractions alongside shops, restaurants and hotels.

Development plans include a bigger Avengers campus with two new rides, as well as a “Coco” ride and “Avatar”-themed area in California Adventure, as well as a new parking structure.

Although it’s not a park, adding new lands and rides is “mission critical” for Disneyland Resort, Testa told me. After all, to drive attendance, you need to regularly open new attractions.

And these new rides can’t just be any old rides — they have to be “epic, mammoth blockbusters” that no one’s seen before, which takes time, space and money, he said.

Disneyland Paris is a good example. The European tourism resort saw a notable boost in attendance after it opened a World of “Frozen”-themed land in March.

“When you have that type of expansion and you can fill the park, you feel very, very good about that,” Disney Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said last week at the MoffettNathanson media, internet and communications conference. “When we leverage our [intellectual property] and take that IP and build big new attractions, not little things … it’s these big new things that actually tend to just really bring in the consumers.”

That’s also key when you consider Disney’s growing competition from Universal Studios, which recently opened Epic Universe in Orlando and siphoned off some attendance from Walt Disney World.

And while the company’s TV and film business is vital, its theme parks still throw off most of the cash — new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro recently called the parks the “physical centerpiece of the company.” And of course, they retain a deep link to Disney’s heritage.

As Walt himself noted, Disneyland is a “living” entity that would “never be finished.”

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

Lionsgate’s musical biopic “Michael” retook the top spot at the box office last weekend with a haul of $26.1 million in the U.S. and Canada.

The film, which chronicles the early career of singer Michael Jackson, has had remarkable staying power atop the charts since it debuted in late April. The film’s weekend revenue was down only 31% in North America compared with the previous weekend.

Overall, “Michael” has now made an estimated $703.9 million in worldwide box office revenue, with $421.1 million coming from international markets.

What I’m watching

Now that WNBA season is in full swing, I’ve been watching my L.A. Sparks and caught the game against the Toronto Tempo on Sunday. It was a rough game, but here’s hoping the Sparks can start turning things around, and quickly.

Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where we’re not in Cancun just yet.

I fortunately have gotten some much-needed sleep during the week since the Lakers were eliminated, but NBA news never rests, especially during this pivotal offseason that could reshape the entire roster.

With almost half of the roster spots in flux, we’ll start with one player who we know will be back next season.

Luka Doncic fourth in MVP voting

He led the league in scoring but Luka Doncic finished a distant fourth in the most valuable player voting, which was announced Sunday before Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

While Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his second consecutive MVP in a landslide, Doncic didn’t receive a first-place vote. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 939 total points and 83 first-place votes. Nikola Jokic was second (634 total points, 10 first-place votes) and Victor Wembanyama was third (569 points, five first-place votes). Doncic, who had 250 total points, only had one second-place vote, and even fifth-place finisher Cade Cunningham had two first-place votes that contributed to his 117-point total.

This MVP discussion was one of the most competitive in recent memory. A fourth-place finish, especially without a single first-place nod, doesn’t quite do justice to how productive Doncic’s season was. He averaged 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Despite playing without Doncic for the last month, the Lakers maintained a top-four seed in the competitive Western Conference and won 50 games for the second consecutive year. It was just the fourth time in the last 20 years that the league’s scoring champion didn’t receive a first-place MVP vote.

Some of the MVP race comes down to campaigning. Wembanyama, along with stellar play, repeatedly made his case during interviews. Doncic brushed off any chances to do the same.

Doncic preferred to let his play speak, but the message didn’t quite get through. During one of the most magical Marches in league history, Doncic dropped from second in NBA.com’s MVP ladder to fourth.

The season-ending hamstring injury on April 2 didn’t give him a chance to restate his case.

The more disappointing effect of the injury was that Doncic was not close to returning in time for the postseason, where he watched from the sideline as the Lakers got swept by the Thunder.

“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said last week in his exit interview immediately after the season-ending loss. “I know some people wanted me back, but obviously I wasn’t close to clearing. … If I could be out there, I would be, 100%. Everybody in that room knows that. But it was very tough. Like I said, this is the best time to play basketball. I was sad not to be able to help my team.”

Doncic said he will not play for the Slovenian national team this summer while he prioritizes time with his daughters and recovering. His second daughter Olivia was born in December, and Doncic, who missed two games to be present for the birth, quietly managed a custody battle during the season after he and his former fiancee split.

The last 15 months have been tumultuous for Doncic, but he grew as a leader for the Lakers, coach JJ Redick said, specifically in his dedication to building off-court relationships with teammates after the shocking trade that brought him to L.A. left him in a daze for months.

“I don’t think we got the best version of Luka, the person, [last year],” Redick said. “He was great, but he was phenomenal this year as a teammate and a leader. And obviously, as a player, the guy had a tier one season relative to the rest of the league.”

Still first in the Lakers’ hearts

Will Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton be back with the Lakers next season?

(Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images)

Doncic took his role as a leader so seriously last season that it started during free agency when he placed recruiting calls to Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton. With both players facing player options to return, Doncic didn’t commit to trying to woo anyone back.

“We’ll see,” Doncic said. “Can’t tell you nothing.”

Most of the Lakers’ roster could change next season, but Doncic is still at the center of every decision. General manager Rob Pelinka said it’s an “ongoing collaborative process” with Doncic regarding any offseason moves.

Pelinka said the roster will be “retrofitted” around Doncic. It wasn’t that long ago that a superstar still in his prime fell in the franchise’s lap, which shook up every existing blueprint. The new archetype are three-and-D players and rim-running centers.

Ayton was supposed to be a solution at center when he signed last year. When asked how he is approaching his player option, Ayton said after the season-ending game that he hadn’t made a decision yet, but that he had enjoyed his time with the organization thus far.

“It’s purple and gold, that’s about it,” said Ayton, who was the No. 1 pick in the same draft in which Doncic went third. “Just being honored and happy to be on this platform. And another chance, and all of that. There’s great players I learned [from] here.”

Ayton flashed his potential. He was a force during the first-round playoff win over Houston. The Lakers needed him in that series and he delivered. But he also acknowledged that it was “a very humbling experience” being on a team that did not need him to score, instead asking him to primarily rebound and defend the rim with consistency.

Considering that Ayton is coming off career-lows in points (12.5), rebounds (eight) and minutes (27.2) per game, it might be hard for him to command a better salary than the $8.1-million option he has on the table.

Smart can opt into $5.4 million. The 32-year-old could decline the player option with hopes of securing a long-term contract, whether with the Lakers or elsewhere, after he proved he could still be an effective defensive spark plug and offensive shot-maker. Had a late-season right ankle injury not lingered so long, Smart, who played only 62 regular-season games, could have been in the conversation for an all-defensive team nod.

The Lakers need strong defensive players around Doncic and Austin Reaves if the duo reunite as the team’s backcourt of the future. The chemistry on and off the court between the guards was one of the highlights of the season and a reason to be hopeful that it could work in the future.

Doncic called playing with Reaves and LeBron James “an unbelievable experience.” Pelinka said at his end-of-season news conference that Reaves has expressed interest in returning to the Lakers. James’ future is more uncertain: Pelinka said the team will give James space to decide on his own, although he “would love” to have the NBA’s all-time leading scorer back.

Favorite thing I ate this week

Pho with rare beef and beef balls from Pho Show in Culver City.

(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)

I was playing hurt the last few days of the season. I sniffled, sneezed and hand-sanitized my way through Game 4 and the end-of-season news conference with Pelinka and Redick then scooped up the ultimate sick day dinner: pho.

The pho tai bo vien (rare beef and beef ball pho) from Culver City’s Pho Show didn’t heal me completely, but it sure helped. I basically slept for three straight days after the Lakers’ season ended. Now between the remaining playoff games across the league, I’ll be catching up on TV shows, reuniting with the friends I neglected for months and enjoying my rent.

In case you missed it

Letters to Sports: Another split decision on future of LeBron James and the Lakers

Lakers continue retooling of organization with plans for more hires

Lakers want LeBron James and Austin Reaves to return next season

‘I don’t know.’ LeBron James unsure if he’ll return for 24th season or retire

Until next time…

As always, pass along your thoughts to me at thucnhi.nguyen@latimes.com, and please consider subscribing if you like our work!

On the second weekend of May, Gustavo Dudamel gave the New York Philharmonic a salsa shock. He gleefully brought the startled players together with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, an uptown salsa and jazz band, for concerts at Lincoln Center and Washington Heights. The city‘s classical music fans treated it as a cultural breakthrough; Dudamel is expected to transform the orchestra as a cultural institution when he returns in the fall as its music and artistic director.

A day later he was back in Los Angeles to begin rehearsals at a Walt Disney Concert Hall that had been fantastically transformed by Frank Gehry for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s staging of “Die Walküre.” Transformation — be it cultural, orchestral, personal — has marked Dudamel’s 17 years as music (and more recently artistic) director of the L.A. Phil, which is now coming to an end with his three weeks of concerts in Disney to close the season June 7, followed by a celebratory weekend at the Hollywood Bowl in late August.

But meeting with Dudamel in his dressing room after a “Walküre” rehearsal (the opera begins Tuesday night at Disney and runs for six nights, an act a night, the full opera performed twice) , he says as he has said before, he does not think of this as a culmination, merely the beginning of a new adventure. He’s apartment shopping in New York. But he is keeping his house in Los Angeles.

He’s also departing with two very long new titles as “Die Walküre” premieres: the Diane and M. David Paul Artistic Cultural Laureate of the L.A. Phil and Jane and Michael Eisner Founding Director and Conductor Laureate of Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA).

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Feb. 22.

(David Butow / For The Times)

“We are talking about projects,” he says. “Look, I’m coming back for two weeks in December,” when he will lead Beethoven programs. He returns in the spring. The Bowl will always be a second home.

“I’m living here and I’m not living here,” he explains. “The connection will always be here.”

The energy in New York is, he continues, “super exciting.” And what excites him the most is how comfortable he feels with the very real differences between L.A. and New York.

“As a Latino from Venezuela,” he says, “I have an immediate connection with the New York that is home of salsa. When I was in the womb I was hearing salsa.” His father, Oscar Dudamel, is a trombonist and salsa musician.

But he adds that mariachi, ubiquitous in Mexico and L.A., is also an integral part of Venezuelan culture. “What I have to say is that I am blessed. I’m blessed that both cities are now part of my life.”

Bringing ‘crazy’ ideas to Los Angeles

L.A., of course, has been the major part of his adult life. At 24, an unknown, he made his dazzling U.S. debut in 2005 leading the L.A. Phil at the Hollywood Bowl. Four years later, he became the orchestra’s music director and caught the world’s attention.

There is no doubt that Dudamel’s extraordinary talents would have meant a major career wherever he landed. But, here, he inherited the world’s most culturally open major orchestra, where fresh thinking and new music thrive. Disney Hall allowed him the extraordinary freedom to dream. Being back at Disney, Dudamel admits, is very emotional, especially conducting “Walküre” with Gehry’s sets of billowy, sumptuous clouds and fanciful white papery horses.

“Frank is here with us,” Dudamel exclaims about the architect, who died in December and with whom he had become close. Conducting Wagner’s opera, in many ways, sums up Dudamel’s ambitions, the way he has connected with more sides of L.A.’s cultural landscape than possibly any other artist.

In L.A., Dudamel grew as an artist and a person, he says, through his relationship with an orchestra that is uniquely flexible and a welcoming community. This allowed Dudamel to be what he likes to call “crazy.”

“I remember the first time I came here. I didn’t have a chance to do or see anything,” he says of his Bowl debut. “So, I remember driving from the airport to Sunset Boulevard, where my hotel was, and I didn’t understand anything. But immediately it was the connection with the orchestra.”

Frank Gehry designed the sets for a Jan. 18, 2024, performance of Wagner’s opera, “Das Rheingold,” with Gustavo Dudamel leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Flash forward 20 years from 2005 to 2025. In what seemed like a truly crazy idea, he brought the L.A. Phil to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where he led a varied set of classical favorites and appearances with pop stars, for 150,000 people shouting “L.A. Phil! L.A Phil.” Among the highlights was “Ride of the Valkyries,” the English title of “Walküre.”

The symbolism of doing “Walküre” is, for Dudamel, unmistakable. Wagner’s four-part “Ring” cycle, of which “Die Walküre” is the second opera, strongly influenced the “Star Wars” films Dudamel grew up with. The saga’s composer John Williams is another L.A. legend who became for Dudamel like family. Williams has, in fact, written a fanfare, “Bravo Gustavo!” that Dudamel will premiere on June 4 in a concert in which he celebrates the musicians of the L.A. Phil.

The “Walküre” production, moreover, further expresses his desire to remain connected with L.A. When asked whether he still plans to complete the “Ring” cycle with the L.A. Phil, which he began two seasons ago with “Das Rheingold,” he says, “completely.”

It’s a radical notion, to say nothing of an extraordinarily expensive and time-consuming challenge for any orchestra given to a former music director, but Dudamel has never been one to take no for an answer. “At my last conversation with Frank,” he recalls, “I said I was coming to talk about ‘Siegfried’ [the next opera in the cycle], and he said, ‘You are crazy.’”

“That was Frank. He freaked out about the operas every time I talked to him about them. And then he came up with fabulous ideas.

“You know I never dreamed about coming to the L.A. Phil. I was happy in Venezuela and guest conducting elsewhere. But when I met Frank and John [Williams], I knew I had come to the right place.”

One reason Dudamel was happy in Venezuela was his position as music director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, part of El Sistema, the country’s famed music education program. He brought a version of that to Los Angeles with YOLA, which offers free musical education to students. Bringing young people together to learn — and not just to play music but to listen to each other — has grown increasingly essential to him.

Gustavo Dudamel has fun with John Williams at the Hollywood Bowl as he conducts the L.A. Phil during “Maestro of the Movies: John Williams with the LA Phil” on July 9, 2023.

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

On Thursday evening, USC awarded Dudamel an honorary doctorate during its graduation ceremonies at the Coliseum, where Dudamel also gave the commencement speech.

“I will never tire of repeating this: music, art and beauty are universal rights,” he told the graduates, urging them to go out into the world listening to others, seeing others, paying attention to everything. These are the practices he has long championed as the essential need for youth orchestras.

This was, in fact, almost precisely what he said when he first arrived in L.A. “I was very young, but I grew up with these ideas,” he told me.

“You have to say to the students, ‘Stop! Let’s pause. Just listen.’”

“It’s a way to really connect with what surrounds you, but also connect with yourself. That’s the beauty of all the layers of listening we do as musicians. I now think that is our main tool. In the end it’s not listening only to sounds. It’s listening as connecting with others.”

Practicing what he preaches

As Dudamel plans for his next chapter, he indicates that the advice he gives students is what he is also saying to himself.

YOLA students perform on stage during a “Gracias Gustavo Community Block Party” at the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center in Inglewood on Oct. 11, 2025.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

What L.A. gave him, he concludes, is a greater depth of his own listening. There was the guidance of Deborah Borda, who, as the orchestra’s president and CEO, hired and mentored him. There were the opera productions with Peter Sellars, who made him look deeply inside himself. There were the communities to discover and with which to collaborate.

New York, he insists, will be a further continuation of this process. “There are a lot of things to do. As I did here, that will be not only conducting but spending a big amount of time doing other things. I will have to listen to the community. Every place is different.”

And every place needs to be, for Dudamel, connected. He began his last season in Disney in the fall with the world premiere of Ellen Reid’s “Earth Between Oceans,” a bicoastal co-commission between the L.A. Phil and the New York Philharmonic, sonically evoking the environmental difference between L.A. and New York. He recently repeated it with his new orchestra in David Geffen Hall in New York.

In L.A., Reid’s score felt like a vast, moving, spiritual soundscape of our fires’ fury as well as our coastal fancy. At Geffen, it became a gripping showpiece, like attempting to zoom in a Ferrari through Manhattan streets, were they ever empty — the thrill of taking it all in.

Dudamel says his favorite place in New York so far is the orchestra’s archives. Becoming absorbed in the history of America’s oldest orchestra gives him new ideas. He wants simultaneously the old, the new and the many.

He also insists on ever more connections. ”We are making, many, many projects together,” he says of the L.A. Phil and the New York Philharmonic. That includes bringing the two orchestras together in a further experiment in listening.

“That‘s very important to me, one of my dreams. And it’s not difficult,” he says. “We have plans and it’s beautiful. We have to do that.”

Dodgers lose to the Padres

From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers entered the late innings Monday in an unenviable position: trailing the Padres, whose biggest strength is their bullpen.

“When they have a lead they don’t relinquish it too often,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 1-0 loss Monday. “You know the numbers — when they’re ahead in the seventh inning they don’t lose. You do have to be a little more aggressive and capitalize when you do get those chances.”

Including Monday, the Padres are 20-2 when leading after six innings, 21-1 when leading after seven, and they have a perfect 22-0 record when leading after eight.

Even when Padres closer Mason Miller got off to an uncharacteristically wild start in the ninth inning Monday, the Dodgers failed to capitalize.

He walked Freddie Freeman and Kyle Tucker on nine pitches. And the next three batters — Will Smith, Max Muncy and Andy Pages — all have proven their ability to do damage in clutch moments.

But it was Miller on the mound, a rare reliever who could actually challenge for the Cy Young Award.

“In this kind of series, you know you’re going to have close games,” Freeman said after the game. “And we just couldn’t get it done.”

Continue reading here

Dodgers give injury updates on Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Brusdar Graterol

Why Dodgers’ 2017 pitch to Shohei Ohtani remains relevant: ‘Acquiesce and accommodate’

Dodgers box score

MLB standings

Justin Turner finds new life with the Tijuana Toros

From Bill Shaikin: Justin Turner did not wear the correct jersey one day, and now he would pay for his sin.

His teammates formed two lines, one facing the other. Turner snaked through the gauntlet, as his teammates playfully slapped and shoved him around.

Turner is 41, an All-Star and World Series champion, one of the most beloved players in Dodgers history. Yet there he was on a gloomy Saturday afternoon in a 50-year-old stadium in Tijuana, subjecting himself to a mashup of a kangaroo court and a hazing ritual, three hours before he would play in a uniform with six advertisements on the jersey and four more on the pants.

“Justin doesn’t have to be here,” said former major leaguer Roberto Kelly, the manager of the Tijuana Toros. “He doesn’t need this to continue his life.”

For the first time in 17 years, Turner is not playing in the major leagues. No team wanted him.

In Tijuana, whether he decides to end his career here or elsewhere, he has nurtured a special bond with his son and emerged as an improbable tourist attraction for Dodgers fans.

Continue reading here

Angels spoil no-hitter, get walk-off win

Adam Frazier singled, leading off the ninth inning for the first hit against Athletics starter J.T. Ginn, and Zach Neto followed with a two-run homer that gave the Angels a 2-1 victory Monday night.

Neto drove a 2-0 sinker 413 feet to center field, stunning Ginn and the A’s while ending a six-game losing streak for the Angels. It was their third walk-off win this season.

Ginn (2-2) struck out 10 and issued one walk on 105 pitches. He also hit Neto with a pitch in the sixth.

Continue reading here

Angels box score

MLB standings

This day in sports history

1909 — In his first title defense Jack Johnson fights ‘Philadelphia’ Jack O’Brien to a no decision in 6 rounds in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to retain his world heavyweight crown.

1923 — Zev, a 19-1 long shot ridden by Earl Sande, wins the Kentucky Derby by 1½ lengths over Martingale.

1935 — NFL adopts an annual college draft to begin in 1936.

1965 — West Ham United of England win 5th European Cup Winner’s Cup against 1860 München of West Germany 2-0 in London.

1973 — Secretariat, ridden by Ron Turcotte, rallies from last with a powerful move on the clubhouse turn to win the Preakness Stakes by 2½ lengths over Sham. There is controversy over the timing of the race as original teletimer time was 1:55 for the 1 3/16-mile race. Pimlico amends it to 1:54 2/5, two days later.

1974 — The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins 1-0 to win the Stanley Cup in six games.

1979 — Spectacular Bid, ridden by Ron Franklin, wins the Preakness Stakes by an easy 5½ lengths over Golden Act.

1984 — Stanley Cup Final, Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, AL: Wayne Gretzky scores twice as Edmonton Oilers beat NY Islanders, 5-2 for a 4-1 series win; Oilers first SC title.

1990 — Hobart wins its 11th straight NCAA Division III lacrosse championship, beating Washington College of Maryland 18-6. The Statesmen, winners of every final since the tournament’s inception in 1980, are 100-3 in Division III in that time.

1991 — Willy T. Ribbs becomes the first Black driver to make the lineup for the Indianapolis 500.

2001 — Manchester United lose 3-1 to Tottenham at White Hart Lane but win English Premier League title for the 3rd consecutive season.

2004 — NHL Western Conference Final: Calgary Flames beat San Jose Sharks, 4 games to 2.

2007 — Curlin, ridden by Robby Albarado, nips Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense by putting his head in front on the final stride, winning the Preakness Stakes in a riveting finish. The winning time was a blazing 1:53.46, equaling the stakes record of 1:53 2/5.

2007 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,826): Chelsea beats Manchester United, 1 – 0 (a.e.t.); Didier Drogba scores 116′ winner for Blues’ 4th title.

2007 — NHL Eastern Conference Final: Ottawa Senators beat Buffalo Sabres, 4 games to 1.

2008 — NHL Western Conference Final: Detroit Red Wings beat Dallas Stars, 4 games to 2.

2012 — I’ll Have Another overtakes Bodemeister down the stretch to win the Preakness. Like the Kentucky Derby, I’ll Have Another races from behind to beat pacesetter Bodemeister, who also finished second in the Derby. I’ll Have Another, ridden by Mario Gutierrez, covers the 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.94.

2012 — UEFA Champions League Final, Munich: Chelsea beats Bayern Munich, 4-3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time; Blues’ first title.

2014 — Lucy Li becomes the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open by winning the sectional qualifier at Half Moon Bay in California. The 11-year-old Li shoots rounds of 74 and 68 on the par-72 Old Course and surpasses Lexi Thompson as the youngest competitor in a U.S. Women’s Open when she tees off at Pinehurst on June 19. Thompson was 12 when she qualified for the 2007 Open.

2015 — The NFL announces it is moving back extra-point kicks and allowing defenses to score on conversion turnovers. The owners approve the proposal to snap the ball from the 15-yard line on PATs to make them more challenging.

2017 — LeBron James scores 30 points, Kevin Love had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers steamroll the Boston Celtics 130-86 to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals and tie an NBA record with their 13th straight playoff victory.

2018 — Justify holds off several hard-charging challengers and win the Preakness Stakes on a sloppy, slippery track. Ridden by Mike Smith, the 2-5 favorite wins by a half-length after completing the race in 1:55.93. Bravazo edges Tenfold for second. Trainer Bob Baffert ties D. Wayne Lukas’ record with his 14th Triple Crown victory and matches 19th-century trainer R.W. Walden with his seventh Preakness title.

2018 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Chelsea beats Manchester United, 1-0; Belgian international Eden Hazard scores 22′ penalty.

2019 — PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Bethpage State Park: Defending champion Brooks Koepka leads wire-to-wire; wins despite 5 bogeys on last 8 holes by 2 strokes from world #1 Dustin Johnson.

Compiled by the Associated Press

This day in baseball history

1910 — Cy Young won the 500th game of his career as the Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 5-4, in 11 innings.

1910 — Boston beat the Pirates 6-3 for the first time in 26 tries.

1933 — For the first time in major league history, brothers on opposite teams hit home runs in the same game. Boston Red Sox catcher Rick Ferrell homers off his brother Wes Ferrell in the 2nd inning, but the Cleveland Indians pitcher returns the favor as he homers in the 3rd on a pitch called by his sibling. It is the only time that the Ferrell brothers homer in the same game.

1942 — Paul Waner of the Boston Braves got his 3,000th career hit off Pittsburgh’s Rip Sewell in a 7-6, 11-inning loss to the Pirates.

1956 — Pittsburgh’s Dale Long hit a ninth-inning homer against the Chicago Cubs. It was Long’s first of eight straight games with a homer.

1962 — Stan Musial of St. Louis became the NL career hits leader. The 41-year-old got a ninth inning single for his 3,431st hit and moved past Honus Wagner. The Cardinals beat the Dodgers, 8-1.

1968 — After hitting 10 home runs in six games, Frank Howard of the Washington Senators was stopped by pitcher Earl Wilson of Detroit, which won the game 5-4.

1976 — Carl Yastrzemski has the only three-homer game of his illustrious career, going deep three times in a 4-for-4 day in a 9-2 Red Sox win over the Tigers. He victimizes three different pitchers: Dave Roberts, Steve Grilli and John Hiller.

1979 — After a bitter six-week strike, the major league umpires return to work. During the work stoppage, the men in blue were replaced by amateur and minor league arbiters.

1981 — Pittsburgh’s Jim Bibby gave up a leadoff single to Terry Harper of the Atlanta Braves, then retired the next 27 batters for a 5-0 one-hitter. Bibby also hit two doubles.

1998 — Mark McGwire hit three two-run homers against Philadelphia. It was the second time this season and fourth time in his career McGwire hit three homers in a game. McGwire became the 12th player to have two three-homer games in a season.

2000 — Jason Kendall hit for the cycle and drove in a career-high five runs, leading Pittsburgh to a 13-1 rout of St. Louis. Kendall had a two-run homer in the first inning, an RBI single in the second, a double in the third and a two-run triple in the eighth.

2004 — Atlanta’s 45-year-old Julio Franco broke his own record for the oldest player to hit a pinch-hit homer. Franco, who had a pinch-hit homer two weeks earlier against San Diego, hit a two-out, two-run homer to tie the score at 4 in the eighth. The Braves lost 6-4 in 11 innings to the Diamondbacks.

2008 — Boston’s Jon Lester shut down Kansas City 7-0 for the first no-hitter in the majors this season. The 24-year-old lefty, who survived cancer to pitch the World Series clincher for the Red Sox last fall, allowed two baserunners, walking Billy Butler in the second inning and Esteban German to open the ninth. Jason Varitek catches his fourth no-hitter, tying Ray Schalk for the major league record; one of Schalk’s no-hitters was later removed from the official records, making Varitek the first backstop to have four official no-hitters to his name.

2009 — Washington became the fourth team in major league history to score at least five runs in each game of a six-game losing streak. The Nationals lost 8-5 in 10 innings to Pittsburgh after they rallied to tie the score with a run in the ninth, but another letdown from a bullpen with a collective 1-14 record allowed them to join the 1929 Pirates, 2004 Cincinnati Reds and 2005 Texas Rangers.

2010 — CF Angel Pagan hits the first inside-the-park homer in the history of Nationals Park.

2011 — After sitting on the bench for most of the season so far, veteran 1B Jason Giambi has the first three-homer game of his career in the Rockies’ 7 – 1 win over Philadelphia. He hits homers in his first three at-bats, driving in all 7 of his team’s runs, but fails in his last two at-bats to become only the 16th player to hit four dingers in one game. Giambi entered the game hitting .115 with 1 homer and 4 RBI; at 40, he is the second-oldest player to hit three home runs in a game, after Stan Musial who was 41 when he accomplished the feat on July 8, 1962.

2018 — The Rays have been experimenting with “bullpen days” all season, when the starting pitcher is not expected to go deep into the game, going all out for 3 or 4 innings before handing the ball over to another reliever, but today they take it even further. Short reliever Sergio Romo starts today’s game against the Angels, his first start in the majors after 588 appearances out of the bullpen, and is only asked to pitch one inning before handing the ball over to Ryan Yarbrough. The plan works perfectly as Romo strikes out the three men he faces — Zack Cozart, Mike Trout and Justin Upton, all righthanders — then hands the ball over to lefty Yarbrough in the 2nd. Yarbrough pitches scoreless ball until allowing a run in the 8th as Tampa Bay wins, 5-3. It is the first time a starting pitcher leaves after a perfect 1st inning since Ernie Shore had done so on October 5, 1915. Manager Kevin Cash is so pleased with how the scheme goes that he picks Romo to start the next day’s game as well.

2021 — Corey Kluber of the Yankees is the latest pitcher to join this season’s no-hitter parade, pulling off the feat with a 2-0 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field. It is already the 6th 9-inning no-hitter this year, and comes one day after Spencer Turnbull of the Tigers had pitched the previous one.

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.

On a Thursday night in West Hollywood, a sleek, multi-level townhome is filled with stylish guests holding fragrance vials the way partygoers cling to cocktails. They raise scents to their noses as they mingle and float through the space.

In one nook, two well-known faces in the fragrance community, Tishni Weerasinghe (@thatbrownperfumegirl) and Chase Chapman (@thescentchase), host stations with their favorite home scents — pre-bedtime spritzes to everyday comforts for working from home — as a small group leans in, asking questions and noting which scents resonate. Inhaling the blend of white musk, floral notes and amber of Rouat Al Musk by Lattafa, a $16 fragrance from Weerasinghe’s collection, attendees oooh and nod in enthusiastic approval.

In another corner, guests try fragrance pairings, scents expertly paired with drinks, letting the aroma and flavors mingle through their senses. Outside on the rooftop, the crowd spills into smaller conversations over refreshments and city views.

Sarah Bowen, co-founder of the Smellers Club, sniffs a fragrance.

This is the Smellers Club. To an outsider, it might seem like a gathering centered around a niche fixation, but within this world, fragrance is much more expansive. Here, it’s a bridge between people, a tool for self-expression, a way to understand your own taste and increasingly, a reason to connect. The night’s gathering is taking place in the home of Daniel Scott and Ronn Richardson, the duo behind the fine home fragrance line Space.

Some guests are simply scent-curious, while others have deep roots in the world of fragrance. One attendee, Jess Blaise, the co-founder of Haitian Spotlight LA, credits her Haitian heritage and the fragrance rituals modeled by her mother for her connection to scent. She recently purchased a bottle of Carnal Flower by Frederic Malle for her personal collection, a luxe tuberose known for its white floral profile and appeal among niche collectors. Of her culture, she explains, “Part of your presentation — of dressing up — is your scent.”

The gathering was hosted in the home of Daniel Scott, left, and Ronn Richardson, co-founders of the home fragrance brand Space. Space offers a range of luxury home fragrances and candles.

Across Los Angeles, fragrance clubs are transforming what was once a solo ritual into something communal. From rooftop gatherings in West Hollywood to casual park meetups further east, these hangouts tap into a growing desire for laid-back, low-stimulation ways to spend time together, offering an alternative to the usual rotation of restaurants, bars and crowded nights out.

Reverie of Scent turns a small nook of Elysian Park into a mini fragrance lounge on Saturday mornings once a month. Founded in November 2025 by Marian Botrous, with support from her husband, Errol, and her sister, Marlene, the club started with just four members at the first meetup. By their sixth gathering this past April, attendance had quintupled, with a mix of regulars and newcomers at every session.

“It’s a huge world,” Botrous says of perfume. “Exploring it together makes it more interesting.”

Fragrance lovers hang out on the rooftop at Smellers Club’s West Hollywood gathering.

At her picnic-like gatherings, attendees show up with blankets, snacks and scents to swap or discuss. With 2-milliliter samples running up to $12, “collecting new scents gets expensive fast,” Bostrous says. “Our meetups make it accessible and fun.”

There’s a mix of casual socializing and structured discussion — conversations have explored the motivations behind wearing fragrance, from seduction to personal comfort, as well as the cultural impact of certain perfumes, like Chanel No. 5 and its connection to Marilyn Monroe and old-school luxury glamour. At one meetup, a member brought in a fragrance called Scentless Apprentice, inspired by the novel “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” by Patrick Süskind (which Kurt Cobain loved so much that he wrote the Nirvana song “Scentless Apprentice”).

Artist Megan Lindeman, who founded Silverlake Scent Club in August 2025, is also bringing people together to explore scent as a shared social experience. Lindeman says she was inspired by Los Angeles’ broader scent culture and a curiosity about what it would feel like to center smell in a communal setting. The group meets monthly in her Silver Lake backyard, where attendees explore fragrance as both material and memory.

Black Girl Perfume Club was founded in 2023 by Taylyn Washington-Harmon, launching online before expanding into in-person meetups. Across Substack, Instagram and IRL gatherings, it brings together fragrance lovers and newcomers eager to deepen their understanding in an interactive way. “I started the club back when fragrance’s popularity was still pretty niche, and now seeing it move into the mainstream is really exciting,” says Washington-Harmon. As interest grows, she hopes more people will also explore the range of artistry produced by Black-owned fragrance lines.

Back at the house in West Hollywood, people continue to vibe at the event led by Sarah Bowens and Jon Kidd, Los Angeles natives and the duo behind the Smellers Club, launched in January. They’re siblings-in-law who grew up together in the church and are quick to note that their respective partners, Zana and Zion, are unofficial team members and rock-star supporters.

Jess Blaise tests out a scent by Selnu.

Between the both of them, Kidd brings the “fraghead” energy — a name for fragrance devotees who bring a passion and certain fluency of fragrance culture. Bowens, who comes from an events background, heads curation and considers herself more in the beginning stages of her fragrance journey.

When they first started hosting these events, Bowens wasn’t sure how captivating they’d be. “I was like, can people really sit here for hours and talk about fragrance?” she says. She got her answer quickly, watching guests chat, laugh and dive into lively conversations for hours.

Kidd points to wine and book clubs as “event muses” for the Smellers Club. “At a certain point, it stops being about the books or the wine — and for us, even the fragrances,” he says. “It becomes about the people.”

Chase Chapman sets up scents from his personal collection of fragrances for guests to discover at the Smellers Club gathering.

As people navigate adulthood and personal growth cycles, challenging habits and shedding old identities, there are a few underlying questions: Who am I, really? What do I actually like? And what feels good and in alignment with being at ease? Fragrance communities can be a surprisingly grounding place to explore these existential meditations. Bowens, for example, was recently drawn to strawberry-forward Fruits of Love by Dossier, which surprised her since she considered herself someone who didn’t like fruity scents. Such realizations are familiar in the community: You can miss out on something satisfying simply because it doesn’t match your predefined tastes.

Farah Elawamry, a fragrance-focused content creator known as Farah’s Thoughts, has examined fragrance marketing and its ties to rigid gender norms, explaining that “the iris note is always given to women’s fragrances and orris is always given to the masculine fragrance genre, and they’re literally the same note — one is the root, one is the flower.” Once you start diving into the history and psychology of fragrances, she says “you begin to question what you actually like versus what marketing people are telling you to enjoy.”

Compared with the typical nightlife scene in Los Angeles, attendee Shaunt Kludjian says gatherings like these feel more intentional. “This turned out to be better than the clubs in L.A.” he says. “Everyone’s just vibing and connecting over scent.” Kludjian is founder of the Los Angeles candle company Whiff and came to the event to network. Frustrated by traditional candle formats, he launched a line of portable candles packaged in small, tuna-like tins designed to make “home follow you wherever you go.”

As Kidd looks around and watches strangers become friends over a sniff of musk or jasmine, he reflects on part of the magic of the Smellers Club and other fragrance communities.

“Fragrance is a portal to your memory,” he says. “So by coming to something curated that’s a wonderful night, you’re ingraining a memory.”

What started as a question of what smells good has become something else — small moments of recognition between many people who, just hours earlier, had been total strangers. Maybe that’s the point. The bottles will get put away. Everyone will return to their separate corners of the city. But the feeling of being seen, of finding your people — even briefly — sticks with you long after the scents dissipate.

Taylor Tinsley has pitched 203 innings and accounted for 30 of UCLA’s 50 wins this season.

As one of three star veterans on a team featuring younger and less experienced talent, Tinsley has embraced a heavy workload and the inevitable miscues that can go along with it.

She opened NCAA tournament play surrendering 10 runs and relied on her teammates to rally for a walk-off win, but Tinsley rebounded with grace while earning back-to-back victories that propelled UCLA to a regional win.

Tinsley is quick to deflect praise to her teammates, especially record-setting hitters Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery.

UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez struggled to contain her emotions when asked about the influence Tinsley had on the program after Sunday’s win, so Grant filled in.

“Everything Taylor said about us as a team, we try to reciprocate it back to her,” Grant said. “We know what she is doing for us. She is sacrificing everything for this team, and especially on offense, we try to give back as much as possible.”

Tinsley, who has led the Bruins in ERA for three consecutive seasons, earned back-to-back All-Big Ten honors and helped lead UCLA to the Women’s College World Series last season.

She has spent four years at UCLA competing alongside hyper-competitive, intense athletes such as Maya Brady, niece of NFL legend Tom Brady, and more light-hearted players, including Woolery and Grant, who bring joy and laughter to their work. All her teammates, of course, expect to win.

“This year, our team is fun and relaxed; we like to be goofy, ” Tinsley said.

Tinsley credits the team for her success on the mound. She said one of her proudest moments was watching Grant and Woolery break UCLA and NCAA hitting records. Taylor, Grant and Woolery were selected in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft.

Before they turn pro, the seniors are trying to win a national championship.

“I definitely think we’ve left our mark on this program in general,” Tinsley said. “We entered as freshmen with a legendary senior class. We had Megan Framo, Aaliyah Jordan, and I even got to play with Maya Brady for two years, so I learned a lot from them.”

The alumni, some of whom attended the Bruins’ NCAA regional-clinching win over South Carolina on Sunday, still have an influence on her today.

Inouye-Perez said Tinsley has put the program on her back since her sophomore year. She inspires her teammates, including freshman pitcher Natalie Cable.

The pitchers are still learning, but their coach is pleased with their commitment to improving and learning from Tinsley.

“I am very fortunate that they have a positive attitude and work hard every day and are ready to do whatever they can to help the team,” Inouye-Perez said of the pitching rotation.

After Friday’s walk-off win over California Baptist, Inouye-Perez trusted Tinsley to shake off one very bad inning to pitch on Saturday and Sunday against South Carolina and she delivered.

Now the Bruins will host Central Florida, which upset regional host Florida State, for a super regional series starting Friday with a ticket to the Women’s College World Series on the line.

Tinsley said her training prepared her to let go of Friday’s game and play her best the rest of the weekend.

“It comes with pitching. Just taking one pitch at a time,” Tinsley said. “We are focused on where our feet are and not worried about the past or future.”

Baseball wraps up record-setting regular season

The No. 1 UCLA baseball team earned a 6-1 win over Washington on Saturday during the Bruins’ regular-season finale at Husky Ballpark, sealing a 2-1 series victory.

UCLA (48-6, 28-2 Big Ten) set a school record for regular-season wins, surpassing the 2019 team’s 47 victories.

The Bruins won every regular-season series and were the only team in the country to win at least two of three games every weekend. UCLA also set a school record for most conference wins.

Top MLB draft prospect Roch Cholowsky led UCLA with 21 home runs, while Will Gasparino smashed 19 and Mulivai Levu added 16. Roman Martin, meanwhile, led the Bruins with a .340 batting average.

Logan Reddemann (8-0), Michael Barnett (6-0) and Wylan Moss (5-1) pitched the most innings and contributed heavily to UCLA’s success.

The Bruins clinched the Big Ten tournament No. 1 seed and will open play Friday in Omaha, Neb.

Rice and Jaquez are thriving in WNBA

The Tempo’s Kiki Rice drives past the Sparks’ Kelsey Plum at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.

(Harry How / Getty Images)

All six of UCLA’s WNBA draft picks made opening day rosters and they’ve all earned game minutes.

Chicago Sky’s Gabriela Jaquez and Toronto Tempo’s Kiki Rice are off to the hottest starts.

After Marisa Ingemi wrote about Rice’s strong start with Toronto (2-2), Rice started her first game and helped the Tempo defeat the Sparks. Rice scored a season-high 19 points with five rebounds, two assists and no turnovers.

Jaquez, however, had the bigger game Sunday. She is the only former Bruin to start every contest for her WNBA team so far this season. She had 20 points, eight rebounds, one assist and one steal in 32 minutes during the Sky’s (3-1) 86-71 road win over the potent Minnesota Lynx (2-2).

She earned player of the game honors and was recognized by coach Tyler Marsh in the postgame locker room.

“Her teammates love her, the coaching staff loves her,” Marsh said of Jaquez. “It’s very hard for me to take her off the court, even when she’s gasping for air. She just finds ways to be effective on both ends of the floor.”

In case you missed it

UCLA softball pummels South Carolina to advance to NCAA super regional

‘We got really lucky:’ Toronto Tempo say UCLA star Kiki Rice has not disappointed

UCLA softball rolls past South Carolina, Megan Grant extends NCAA home-run record lead

UCLA surrenders 10 runs in an inning, rallies to win NCAA regional opener on walk-off

UCLA rewards national title-winning coach Cori Close with contract extension

Inside the Rose Bowl’s $30 million makeover: Will it help the stadium stay relevant?

UCLA senior Megan Grant breaks NCAA home-run record but Bruins fall in Big Ten title game

UCLA senior Megan Grant ties NCAA softball home run record; Bruins reach title game

Have something Bruin?

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.

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. Jason Collins, who combined with his brother, Jarron, to bring San Fernando Valley high school basketball to an unprecedented level during their days at Harvard-Westlake in the 1990s, died at the age of 47 because of brain cancer. Here are some recollections.

Legacy of Collins twins

In 1997, Jarron (left) and Jason Colllins.

(Los Angeles Times)

I’ve written so many stories on the Collins twins, Jason and Jarron, that I seriously considered writing a book about the family after their days at Harvard-Westlake in the 1990s. Their mother always told me the secret to their success was “greens and genes.”

With great sadness, when word was released last week that Jason had passed from his brief fight with brain cancer at the age of 47, I needed time to accept the news. I knew it was coming but the outcome remains unacceptable. He and his family sought every possible consultation and treatment. Unfortunately, a cure for glioblastoma remains undiscovered.

Rather than dwell on the tragedy of an illness taking away someone so young, I intend to celebrate his courage and the family’s courage. When Sports Illustrated put him on its cover in 2013 and quoted him, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay,” the world of sports changed.

Except he and his brother had already changed high school basketball in Southern California forever. Their arrival at Harvard-Westlake as freshmen in 1994 put the Wolverines on the basketball map and eventually led to what the Wolverines are today — one of the best programs in California.

They were the twin towers who grew to 7-feet and 6-11. They won two state titles and had a combined record of 123-10. One of their teammates was backup center Jason Segel, who’d become one of the best comedy actors in the world and received attention for his dunks.

Here’s a story from their freshman season in 1994, turning around a team that had gone 5-20 before their arrival. In 1995, Jason was named to the All-Southern Section super team that included Schea Cotton and Paul Pierce, two legendary high school players. On that same team was Doug Gottlieb, who’d go on to a media and coaching career.

They played at Stanford and in the NBA. They were good people guided by parents who taught them to be respectful and help others. Because of their size, they could never hide from the spotlight or walk around a campus without being noticed. It was tremendous pressure on two teenagers, but they had each other to lean on.

The years went by, and incredibly, Jarron now has two high school age daughters and a seventh-grade son playing basketball at Harvard-Westlake. Jarron has been an NBA assistant but insisted on his family staying in Southern California.

It was a privilege to see them develop before anyone knew their name and watch them mature and make a difference in little ways and big ways. Jason is gone, but Jarron and his children will keep Jason’s memory alive with their own contributions.

Baseball

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, St. John Bosco, Harvard-Westlake and Orange Lutheran all earned spots in Friday’s Southern Section Division 1 baseball quarterfinals by going 2-0 in the new pool play tournament. The four other spots will be decided Tuesday in elimination games: Sierra Canyon at Cypress, Norco at Ayala, Corona at Corona Santiago and Huntington Beach at La Mirada.

Notre Dame plays winner of Corona-Corona Santiago. St. John Bosco plays winner of Huntington Beach-La Mirada. Harvard-Westlake faces winner of Sierra Canyon-Cypress. Orange Lutheran plays winner of Norco-Ayala.

Among the best individual performances in Division 1, James Tronstein went three for three with his 10th home run, drove in two runs and scored three runs in Harvard-Westlake’s win over Huntington Beach. Brady Murrietta of Orange Lutheran hit three home runs in a win over Corona. Jacob Madrid of Notre Dame hit his 12th home run in a win over top-seeded Norco. Here’s a report.

The City Section will hold an Open Division semifinal doubleheader Wednesday at Cal State Northridge, with El Camino Real playing Granada Hills at 2 p.m., followed by Birmingham taking on Carson at 5:30 p.m. The winners advance to play at Dodger Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. Here’s a report.

Two schools in the City Section, Jefferson and King/Drew, were forced to forfeit playoff victories when it was discovered pitchers exceeded the maximum allowed pitches in a game.

Softball

Kelsey Luderer is all smiles after a fourth-inning home run helped propel Sherman Oaks Notre Dame to a 6-3 win over Anaheim Canyon in a Division 1 playoff opener.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame entered the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs as a 91-1 longshot. At least coach Justin Siegel was having fun about a 91-1 longshot winning the 1913 Kentucky Derby, The Knights won twice last week over Anaheim Canyon and Oaks Christian to advance to a tough Wednesday quarterfinal matchup against defending champion and No. 2-seeded Norco.

The big surprise was La Habra beating top-seeded Murrieta Mesa 6-4. And how about Orange Lutheran defeating Chino Hills 17-14.

Here are Saturday’s scores.

Here are the City Section playoff pairings.

Track

Corona Santiago senior Braelyn Combe won her third straight 1600 meter title at the Southern Section finals on Saturday, May 16, 2026.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

From Braelyn Combe of Corona Santiago breaking records in the girls’ 1,600 to Servite’s outstanding 4×100 relay team, there were lots of top performances at the Southern Section track and field championship.

JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame set a school and Division 3 record by clearing 7-1 in the high jump. There were top performances in the boys 100, 400 and girls distance races.

Here’s a report on the finals.

The Masters Meet, which involves qualifying for next week’s state championships, will be held Saturday at Moorpark High.

The City Section championships will be held Thursday at Birmingham. There’s been a considerable drop in top talent this season, but hurdler Jayden Rendon of Carson is one to watch in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

Lacrosse

Loyola won its second consecutive Division 1 boys lacrosse championship with a 14-6 win over Santa Margarita.

Here’s the report. Mira Costa upset top-seeded Santa Margarita to win the girls title.

Going on without Dad

Sophomore outfielder JJ Rodriguez of Birmingham is back playing after the death of his father, Anthony, last month.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Sophomore JJ Rodriguez of Birmingham lost his father last month and turned to his baseball family for assistance after the death. Here’s a look at how coaches and teammates came to his support.

Volleyball

Mira Costa’s Mateo Fuerbringer spikes the ball over Loyola’s JP Wardy and Xander Tangri in the first set of the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs on May 15, 2026.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

From start to finish, Mira Costa showed it was the best boys volleyball team in the Southern Section, winning the Division 1 championship over rival Loyola on Friday. Here’s the report.

Chatsworth defeated West Valley League rival Granada Hills to win the City Section Open Division title. Here’s the report.

Tennis

Harvard-Westlake won the Southern Section Division 1 tennis title on Friday.

(Harvard-Westlake)

Harvard-Westlake ended the four-year reign of Irvine University as Division 1 tennis champions with a 10-8 victory in the final. Here’s the report.

The state playoffs begin this week. Here’s the schedule.

Pride in her son

Kaden Tennyson (right), a Riverside Notre Dame shotputter, with his mother, Janet, who has been battling cancer.

(Tennyson family)

The mother of shotputter Kaden Tennyson from Riverside Notre Dame is so proud of her son that she wrote a letter detailing her pride while she dealt with cancer.

Here’s the family story.

Notes…

Santa Margarita’s boys’ swimming team has won the state championship….

Defensive back Gavin Williams of Damien has committed to USC…

Junior Kylee Yeh of Mira Costa has committed to Hawaii for women’s basketball. Senior teammate Jada Martin has committed to UC Merced….

Standout center Braiden McKenna from Los Alamitos has committed to UC Davis for football….

Former Norwalk, San Diego State and NFL running back Rashaad Penny is the new football coach at Long Beach Jordan….

Vince Peralta has resigned as softball coach at La Habra….

Junior water polo standout Liv Taub of Laguna Beach has committed to UC Santa Barbara….

St. John Bosco won its own passing tournament championship over Edison and Bishop Amat won the Charter Oak tournament over Tustin. San Juan Hills won at Dana Hills.

From the archives: Easton Hawk

Easton Hawk during his sophomore season pitching for Granada Hills

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Easton Hawk, a former Granada Hills pitcher, has become one of the key pieces to the rise of UCLA’s top-ranked baseball team this season.

Hawk has 14 saves and a 1.62 ERA in his second season serving as a closer. He did some relief pitching at Granada Hills but was primarily a starter. His ability to throw strikes with good velocity has made him an effective pitcher when a save opportunity is at hand. He hasn’t given up any earned run in his last 22 innings.

Here’s a story from 2023 of Hawk getting into shape for Granada Hills.

Recommendations

From SI.com, a story on a high school football coach in Texas is under investigation for alleged misconduct.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on how the mother of AB Hernandez is ready for any protests this spring.

From the Boston Globe, a story remembering the life of former Harvard-Westlake star Jason Collins.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

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.

Over the last five years, there has been a significant shift in how fashion and sports intersect, both on and off the court, with athletes’ influence extending beyond the court and into culture at large. Why now? And how has athlete style evolved?

These were some of the questions that three prominent athlete stylists — Brittany Hampton, Courtney Mays and Dex Robinson — unpacked last week at the panel “Game Changers: Where Sport Meets Style.” Moderated by Image contributor Darian Symoné Harvin and co-organized with the Only Agency, the event took place at the private members club Gravitas, a hub for folks at the intersection of sports, business and luxury in Beverly Hills. Gathered in the swanky yet intimate upstairs bar and events room, guests sat in plush chairs and sipped pink vodka cocktails and flipped through Image’s May sports and arts issue ahead of it hitting the newsstands. An also-plush takeaway? Stress balls in the shape of footballs, courtesy of the Only Agency.

The evening could’ve kept going — Hampton, Mays and Robinson had so much to say about an industry that is still widely misunderstood and filled with gatekeeping. The below edited version of the conversation gives you a glimpse into the demanding yet deeply fulfilling world of styling athletes.

Darian Symoné Harvin: Athletes often are not sample size. How do you source clothes and work with brands? Are they supportive? Anything you would tell brands if you could?

Courtney Mays: Size inclusivity is a huge thing. Because, especially when you’re talking about the W[NBA], you’re talking about women who are sometimes a men’s size 13 shoe, who are sometimes a 36-inch inseam. And although we’re using this platform to talk about larger issues, sometimes the larger issue is: I’m here and I’m a plus-size woman. Sometimes you have to use your presence to talk about those things, if you’re not verbally saying that, [and] you have to get the brands to stand behind you.

“We’re making sure that that Old Navy looks like Bottega,” said Courtney Mays, “so that at the end of the day you feel like the superstar that you are. We’re really curating the moment.”

Brittany Hampton: It’s also important for everyone that’s in the room to know that stylists can’t always get the ask that you guys may be asking for. If I have a seven-foot athlete, which I do have on my roster, and he’s, you know, he’s massive — he wears a 16-and-a-half shoe. There may only be a few brands [with his size]. There are going to be certain things that I may even have to pull out of his own closet. And then it still means, “Well, why do we have to give you that budget for that?” And it’s like, well, because I had to have an assistant go get that piece from his closet, have it dry-cleaned, have it picked up, then have it delivered to set. It’s still a process, there’s value in the work that we put in. We’re trying our hardest.

DSH: From a tunnel walk to a press run to a campaign, how do you break down your budget and your fee?

Dex Robinson: Each stylist approaches fees and pricing a different way, right? Also depends on how you were groomed or how you came into the situation. I was an assistant for years before I ever said I was a stylist, and even then I kind of treaded lightly before I was like, “I am a lead stylist.” I was someone’s assistant, and that’s when I asked all the questions that I needed to ask about what my fees would be. I knew the structures, I knew the things, so I wasn’t asking my peers, “Oh, how do I charge for this?”

BH: I do want to jump in and state for the people in the room that may or may not know we’re speaking in terms of expenses. The current budgets that they are talking about are particular to clothing expenses. That does not allot to our fees. We have labor that is very imperative, labor that goes into us doing market research, that goes into us having assistance across cities most of the time. I live in Los Angeles. None of my clients live in Los Angeles. So let’s say my client is currently in the playoffs and lives in Cleveland, but I’m pulling from both New York and Los Angeles, then we’re meeting in Cleveland to have a fitting with him, and that all takes a tailor of this, of that, etc. Now, having tunnel looks is one thing, but then also having a campaign is something completely different. We also then have to be very strategic about brands that we’re pulling from. And we are using our own cards!

CM: A lot of times, we are giving our own money down to say, “I’m taking this half a million dollars’ worth of wardrobe out of your store, and I’m promising you that I’m going to bring it back in a certain amount of time.”

DR: It’s a more lengthy exercise to get people to let you borrow clothes versus [when] the [clients] just pay for this stuff and I don’t have to worry about it after. I would much rather let them have it in their wardrobe and I figure out what to do with it after. And I’m not like, “Oh, you wore this one time,” and just throw this out. No, we gonna cut the arms off of this. We gonna turn this into some shorts.

When asked for one piece of advice for aspiring stylists, Dax Robinson encouraged people to first do their research. “Being fashionable does not make you a stylist … it takes years of perfecting a craft to become a stylist.”

But then to pull from a [showroom], that’s a whole ‘nother situation. That’s not really a money exchange, that’s more of a publicity exchange. And again, it’s still based off your name or your client.

CM: That’s when it’s important to get the shot. We live in a social media world. When we work with brands and we work with designers, we work with PR firms — what they’re looking for is that image. Not only the tunnel walk, but maybe it’s the walk out of the hotel or that paparazzi shot.

So we’re also partnering with photographers, saying, “Hey, our clients are going to the opening of LACMA. We need to capture the moments before.” Just like all the celebrities, they go to the SAG Awards, whatever, and they have these beautiful editorial shots before they even hit the red carpet. Why? Because they invested in a photographer to come to their home, to their hotel room, and say, “Let’s use 15 minutes before you walk out the door, get this BTS, get this shot, and we’re going to make it look beautiful.” Because we want to build the relationships with the brands of the clothing that we’re wearing.

DSH: What I love about what you’re saying is that it’s not only the tunnel, it’s not only the press run, it’s not only the campaign. It’s like, how are you creating this world around who the athlete is? To me, that’s exciting. It’s when you get into the creativity.

Let’s say that you receive a cold email from someone who wants to work with you. What kinds of questions do they ask that lets you know that they’re informed or they mean business? What lets you know, “Oh, they’ve done their homework a little bit, and they’re not just going to toss me around as a possibility”?

BH: We are brand architects, and because you guys are reaching out to us about a particular client, our job is not to just create a character, right? We don’t just create characters. We work with athletes. We understand that we have to know that athlete before they even walk in the room, and we have to understand their identity, understand their brand, and then build that with you [the brands] before we can even do the job right. There’s nothing more that I love than being on a call with a full production team for a full hour for a commercial. Because we actually want to know: One, what’s going into that player. Two, what they look like. Three, what they’re going to be doing, if there’s a double or if they’re going to be active — our talent is very performative, they’re performance-based first, and so we have to remember that when we’re dressing them.

Brittany Hampton on the role stylists play beyond the tunnel walk: “We’re not just bringing them a rack of clothes. We’re truly there to help build their identity and then who they’re about to become.”

CM: I feel like those conversations need to happen at the onset of working with a new client, with the agent, with the manager, with the assistant so that you can understand what the broader goal is for that client. A lot of times when people hire stylists, whether it’s per project or for a longer stint, a season, I think it’s like, “Oh, they just need clothes.” Like, I just had a job. [Her team] was like, “It’s the opening of the WNBA season. She needs clothes tomorrow.” Like an idiot, I took it: I really want to work with this girl. I’m gonna just send her a box. And I knew that was the dumbest thing I could have ever done, because I’ve never met her in person. I didn’t have the right sizes, and I think it ruined the relationship, because I didn’t have any context. So the fact that I couldn’t execute in 24 hours is sticking with me. I should have said no, because that is not my job — to go shop for you at the mall. My job is to really have a conversation about what your goals are, what your fit is, what brands do you love, what do you want to do when this basketball thing is over? I think that part and those conversations are important.

BH: It’s also important to have emotional intelligence. As we are the people that work with athletes on a consistent basis, we have to understand their bodies, but we also have to understand that they win games, they lose games. And half the time we are picking up their energy. We’re not just bringing them a rack of clothes. We’re truly there to help build their identity and then who they’re about to become. Sometimes you don’t get that lucky and get to have someone for that long, but the relationship building and creating that trust is something that’s so important, which is why those factors matter, like hiring someone maybe a month in advance and setting up those calls between the client and the stylist. Even if we just get on the call and we just want to shoot the shit and we’re like, “What colors do you like? What size do you like? What are brands that you love? Who do you look up to in terms of fashion?” Because some of these kids like it, and some of them absolutely don’t know.

DR: Well, that [direct relationship] might not be the reality depending on how big your client is sometimes, too. I’ve worked with people where they had to have that middleman for a little bit until they felt comfortable. So it wasn’t a situation where you could do that direct situation until they were ready. It’s also a different situation for me as a male, because guys don’t like being around other guys, so that’s why [women] dominated [the styling landscape] for years. Think about it. Like, as a guy, your mom is your first stylist. And then when you get a shorty you may say, “Yo, babe, I look nice. I’m good.” Guys really feel confident with a woman saying, “You look nice.” Not, “Yo, bro.” And then, even for me, a lot of the bigger guys I worked with, it was really their wives that was like, “You know what? My man can’t dress. I need you to come in.”

CM: That’s still the case. It’s somebody’s girlfriend or wife or agent. Like, “Please help.”

DSH: I want to talk about the people who you all work with when you are on set. I’m thinking particularly about glam. I’m curious about the makeup, hairstyle and grooming conversation that you are having, and why it matters.

“What you’re saying is that there’s a level of love that you have to put into it, and it’s not just about the clothes, but about the person,” reflected moderator Darian Symoné Harvin. “What do you like off the court? Where do you want to be? Where do you want to show up, right?”

CM: I feel like the stylist always becomes the creative director. We’re the hype man. We’re the one that’s talking to the hairstylist to say, “OK, she’s wearing this dress, we got to do XYZ, LMNOP.” We’re talking to the hairstylist. We’re talking to the photographer. We’re saying, “OK, we need a green backdrop instead of a yellow.” And I feel like that’s why we’re asking for certain rates; it’s not just me going to Old Navy to get y’all some jeans. And even if I am, because sometimes [Old Navy is] cute, we’re tailoring it. We’re making sure that that Old Navy looks like Bottega, so that at the end of the day you feel like the superstar that you are. We’re really curating the moment.

DSH: What advice would you give if you were sitting across a coffee table with a stylist who says, “I want to get into styling athletes”? What’s the one honest piece of advice you would give them?

BH: We can’t do everything. There are hundreds and hundreds of athletes across the board, and although we all came from a world of gatekeeping, it’s just not that anymore. Like we all have to share relationships. We have to continue to boost one another up. There’s been jobs where I’m like, “I can’t take that. Can you take that? Would you want that? This could be a good girl for you.”

DR: I think that a lot of people think because they’re fashionable, that means they should be a stylist. And I think being fashionable is just that. Being fashionable does not make you a stylist. I think it takes a sharpened eye. I think it takes understanding skill and proportion. I think it takes years of perfecting a craft to become a stylist. I think that people should just do research. I think that people should assist people. I think that when you come into a space and you don’t assist people, [maybe] you can easily attain a client, but retaining them is going to be hard, and I think that’s a difference, right? I wish a lot of the younger people that came into the space were more open to being a student first and not trying to become a professor.

CM: I also think that what we do is such an intimate thing. We’re getting people dressed. We’re in their homes, we’re in their hotel rooms. We’re with their families. Come as your authentic self and know that you have to do your best professionally — but also there’s a level of love that you have to put into it, and it’s not just about the clothes, but about the person, and about their goals and their aspirations. Make sure that you become a part of those conversations in a real, authentic way.

BH: It’s not just transactional. This is truly our passion. And we want to continue to work and just push for every person that comes after us.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who serves the 4th District, makes her way across an empty, unnamed backlot, presenting her case to be the city’s next mayor.

“Studio lots like this one used to be filled with people, costumers, electricians, set medics, caterers, thousands of Angelenos making a living,” she says in the video posted on social media. “Now these lots are quiet. Since 2018, shooting days in the city have fallen by half.”

After telling voters this issue is “personal” (her husband is a TV writer and producer), criticizing Mayor Karen Bass’ leadership on the matter and outlining her own plans, Raman proclaims, “I’m running for mayor to make sure Los Angeles stays the film and TV capital of the world.”

Placing the concerns of the entertainment industry at the center of the city’s mayoral race would have been unthinkable even in the last election cycle. But the production crisis, which has rocked Hollywood and pummeled its workforce, has reached a critical juncture. The state of L.A.’s signature industry is now a political flashpoint alongside affordability, crime and homelessness in the upcoming election.

A person films an interaction between mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt and another person on his cellphone during a “Community Meet and Greet” event out of a house for sale on Long Ridge Avenue in a residential neighborhood of Sherman Oaks on Saturday.

(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)

In campaign ads, interviews and the recent televised debate, the top three contenders: incumbent Mayor Bass, former reality TV villain Spencer Pratt and Raman, have made the ongoing production slump a pivotal topic, highlighting their plans to revitalize the industry while deploying the issue to undercut one another.

For decades, elected officials have not had to focus on the film and TV business, let alone turn it into a campaign issue. It was simply a given that local production would continue to play a dominant role in the city’s economy as it has for more than a century.

But the cumulative effects of consolidation, runaway production to tax-friendly states and countries and the end of the streaming boom has caused Los Angeles to lose billions in economic activity, shed some 57,000 jobs over the last four years and led to the closing of more than 80 film and television production service businesses across the city since 2022.

“For us, ‘save Hollywood’ is more than a slogan and more than headline. It is what needs to be done,” said Pamala Buzick Kim, one of the co-founders of Stay in LA, a grassroots campaign aimed at increasing film and television production in Los Angeles.

To be sure, the biggest driver of where studios and producers film are state and federal tax credits, over which the city has no control.

But Buzick Kim and others argue that “there is lots the mayor can do, hand-in-hand with the City Council.”

Mayor Karen Bass, center, walks with Avance Democratic Club President Nilza Serrano, to the right of Bass, during Avance’s politics and tacos event at Ernest E. Debs Regional Park in Los Angeles on Saturday.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

For starters, say filmmakers and advocates, much can be done to tackle the city’s sclerotic bureaucracy, onerous regulations and a slow and costly permitting process that has pushed filmmakers to flee to friendlier and cheaper locales.

While steps have been put in place recently, including a pilot program offering reduced-cost filming permits for shoots that demonstrate a “low impact” to the surrounding community, many complain such steps have come too little and too late.

Scott Niner, president and owner of Dangling Carrot Creative, checks on woodwork being produced at his shop in North Hollywood.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

“The industry is in collapse and people have been talking about fixing things for years, but all we get are incremental little changes,” said Ed Lippman, a location manager of 34 years who lives in Sherman Oaks and has worked on such shows as “ER” and “The X-Files” and movies including “Galaxy Quest.” “And if the city is not being business-friendly, the business will go elsewhere.”

Compounding the problem, the Los Angeles area has more than 100 jurisdictions, many of which have their own set of rules and regulations regarding filming.

“There needs to be universal standards,” said Travis Beck, a location manager for commercials, small films and music videos. “Burbank is different from Glendale, which is different from Pasadena.”

The recent kerfuffle over filming “Baywatch,” the lifeguard reboot at Venice Beach, underscored both the efforts to bring production back to L.A. — enticed by a $21-million tax credit — and the complex, baffling red tape required to film here.

When shooting began in March, the production encountered a number of hiccups, including that it needed nearly double the parking space it had received a permit for, which was not part of the original approvals.

An anonymous crew member claimed on Facebook that government restrictions had forced production to relocate from Venice Beach. Production staff denied they had relocated. However, the incident prompted a backlash, becoming a rallying cry over L.A.’s burdensome filming bureaucracy.

The “Baywatch” team quickly met with city and county officials and resolved the issue, securing an agreement for a 20% parking discount from the city, and the mayoral candidates used it as an opportunity to score political points.

Pratt slammed the city’s permitting problems.

“LA turned its back on Hollywood — now the golden goose needs CPR,” he wrote on his Substack.

Bass highlighted her administration’s leadership on the matter.

“The City of Los Angeles will always clear bureaucratic barriers, making it easier and more affordable to film in the entertainment capital of the world,” she wrote on X last month.

On April 21, the mayor unveiled programs to offer productions 20% discounts on city-owned parking lots and other equipment, reduced filming fees at places like the Griffith Observatory and reopened the Central Library for filming. Last August, she appointed Steve Kang, president of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, as the city’s film liaison.

Raman has pledged her support for expanding the state’s $750-million tax incentive program, streamlining permitting and lowering fees and eliminating those for small productions. She has also said she will establish a dedicated city film office with a liaison who understands production.

Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman speaks to a crowd at the “Families for Nithya” event at Vineyard Recreation Center in Los Angeles on Saturday.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

“Los Angeles is losing Hollywood,” Raman said in a statement. “Not because productions want to leave, but because we’ve made it too hard for them to stay.”

On his Substack and various podcast interviews, Pratt has promised to slash location fees in half, speed up permit approvals, reduce on-set city staff for the majority of productions and waive all fees for shoots with budgets under $2 million.

All three candidates have attacked one another over their approach to Hollywood.

Pratt and Raman have said Bass moved too slowly to address spiraling production and retain film jobs, saying she enacted measures only recently as the mayoral race was heating up.

Speaking on the Monks & Merrill podcast, Pratt criticized Bass’ moves to cut costs to film at the Griffith Observatory, saying, “Who needs that shot right now with the homeless poop all around it?”

The incumbent mayor has defended her administration’s record with the entertainment industry.

Bass and Pratt have taken Raman to task, calling her out for what they say is her lack of advocacy during her time on the City Council.

“She feels very strongly about it. But never offered one motion on the industry, and when motions came up on the industry she either recused herself, or got up and walked out,” said Bass during a debate this month.

Citing a potential conflict of interest over her husband’s work in television, Raman refrained from voting on several motions related to Hollywood.

Many working in the industry would like to see full-throttled support coming from the mayor’s office that will get results. They note how New York City has successfully promoted itself as a leading film destination over the years. (Kang, the city’s chief film liaison, said the city is working on a similar marketing campaign to promote filming that will launch by early fall.)

“For all the talk about, ‘We need to support and bring back filming,’ if they just did basics like lowering the fees and simplifying the process … that would actually help people and get things produced,” said Chris Fuentes, 66, who worked for 30 years as a location manager until he retired last year.

“We’ve heard a lot of great things, but not all things are possible in the mayor’s remit,” said Buzick Kim, noting that tax incentives are a state and federal issue.

Still, she said, “the mayor must understand that Hollywood needs to be made a priority and to find and create inspired thinking to make things easier and cheaper.”

Kang agrees, but says there are limits to what the mayor can achieve.

“We definitely can do a lot to really open up the entertainment industry, but at the same time, we recognize the larger impact needs to come from Sacramento and Washington, D.C., because L.A. just does not have the resources to compete with other jurisdictions in providing millions of dollars in tax incentives,” he said.

For most working in the industry, they just want city leadership that will execute on more than just talking points.

“This is the birthplace of cinema,” Beck said. “It shouldn’t be so hard to film here.”

SEATTLE — Gabriel Pec had a goal and an assist to back goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski and the Galaxy beat Seattle 2-0 on Saturday night, ending the Sounders’ 22-match unbeaten streak at home as well as a nine-match unbeaten run this season.

Greg Vanney led Los Angeles to its first victory in Seattle since July 9, 2016 — Bruce Arena’s final season as the Galaxy’s coach.

Pec used assists from Marco Reus and defender Miki Yamane in the 23rd minute to score his fifth goal of the season, giving the Galaxy a 1-0 lead that stood through halftime. It was his fourth goal in the last three matches and his 27th in 75 career appearances.

Reus’ assist was his fifth this season, while Yamane collected his first.

Pec and Edwin Cerrillo set up Matheus Nascimento’s first goal this season two minutes into stoppage time to clinch the victory. Cerrillo entered in the 89th minute before snagging his first assist and Pec’s helper was his fourth.

Marcinkowski stopped six shots for the Galaxy (5-5-4). It was his first clean sheet in his 10th start this season.

Andrew Thomas finished without a save for Seattle (7-2-3), whose only other loss came in its road opener at Real Salt Lake on Feb. 28.

The Galaxy extended the league’s longest current streak with at least one goal scored to 23.

Seattle was the last team to shut out the Galaxy, doing so with a 4-0 road win on Aug. 10 last season.

The Sounders were coming off a 3-2 victory over Arena’s San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday, while the Galaxy lost to Sporting Kansas City — whose only other victory to that point came against the Galaxy on the road.

The Galaxy lead the all-time series with the Sounders 16-11-15, including a 5-8-8 record in Seattle.

The Sounders fall to 4-1-1 at home and the Galaxy improve to 3-3-2 on the road.

Up next

Galaxy: Host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday.

Seattle: Visits LAFC on May 24.

Lake Balboa resident Jose Meraz is looking for a mayor who will turn L.A. around, cleaning up streets that he says are “filled with garbage.”

Schoolteacher Tracey Schroeder, a Republican candidate for state Assembly, is unhappy about crime, open-air drug use and the slow rebuilding effort in the wake of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes.

Greg Whitley, a resident of Reseda, said he’s frustrated with homelessness and the influx of what he called “criminal illegal aliens.”

“I live with the Spanish community. Great people,” he said. “But these illegals that come here for criminal reasons, they’re making them look bad, and they don’t like it.”

All three showed up outside a five-bedroom home in Sherman Oaks on Saturday, looking to speak with reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, now waging an insurgent campaign for Los Angeles mayor in the June 2 election.

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, left, poses with a supporter during a community meet-and-greet event Saturday at a home on Longridge Avenue in a residential neighborhood of Sherman Oaks.

(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)

Standing in the entry to the home’s two-car garage, the onetime star of “The Hills” spent more than two hours shaking hands, giving hugs and posing for photos with his admirers, who waited in line under punishing San Fernando Valley sunshine.

Pratt used social media to invite the public to the campaign event, which took place in the district represented by one of his mayoral opponents, City Councilmember Nithya Raman.

He did not deliver any speeches outside the property, which is listed for rent on Zillow for $15,950 per month. He and a member of his security personnel said he was not taking interviews.

Pratt has been running in voter surveys behind Mayor Karen Bass, who is running for reelection, sometimes swapping places with Raman for second and third. He turned in a strong debate performance this month and has been outpacing his rivals in fundraising, according to the most recent disclosure reports.

While running for office, Pratt has blamed Bass for the 2025 wildfire that destroyed much of Pacific Palisades, including his home. He has railed against the city’s handling of homelessness, saying he would pursue a “treatment first” approach toward people with drug addiction who are living on the street.

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, back to the camera, speaks with supporters Saturday during a community meet-and-greet event.

(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)

Pratt said recently that he wants to increase Los Angeles Police Department staffing to 12,500 officers over the next decade, up from about 8,600. Speaking with one supporter on Saturday, he said the city needs to “make sure all the laws are being enforced.”

“Plenty of functioning cities enforce their laws,” he said.

That message resonated with many of the people in line.

“He is advocating for the safety and security of our families — specifically, for mothers to be able to walk their kids to school,” said Saba Lahar, a resident of Sherman Oaks, moments after talking to the candidate.

Pratt fans dropped off ballots, picked up lawn signs and stopped to pick up coffee drinks from the Hustle N Dough doughnut truck parked out front.

Some showed up even though they cannot cast ballots in L.A.

Ruben Jr., no last name given takes a picture of his father during mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt’s community meet-and-greet Saturday in Sherman Oaks.

(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)

Brian Rodda, who runs a walking food tour company, described himself as “an unsatisfied Angeleno” even though he lives in West Hollywood, which is not part of the city of L.A.

“Sadly, because I do live in West Hollywood, I cannot vote for him,” he said. “But I certainly think we need a change.”