I’VE already had a go with Mark Zuckerberg’s snazzy new smart glasses with a screen built in.
I’m out in California at Meta Connect where the company has unveiled the new Meta Ray-Ban Display smart specs – and I got an early demo with the new gadget.
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The Sun’s tech editor Sean Keach has already had a go with the Meta Ray-Ban DisplayCredit: Sean Keach
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Even outside, the display was very easy to see – I even looked up at the bright sky and it was as clear as, well, dayCredit: Sean Keach
If you’re not familiar with Meta Ray-Ban gear, they’re a fairly simple concept.
They’re a pair of eyeglasses with cameras built in (for taking pics), microphones for calling, speakers for listening to music, and an AI assistant to answer your spoken questions. In fact, you can even ask about things you’re looking at – like a statue or a piece of art. Or your own wardrobe, if you want style advice.
Now Meta and Ray-Ban have created a brand new version with a built-in display, and they’ve aptly named it the Meta Ray-Ban Display.
This hi-tech gadget is the company’s first publicly available pair of smart glasses with a screen built in. And honestly, they’re pretty incredible.
Read more on gadget tests
Before I get into the features that I found most impressive, here’s what you actually get.
META RAY-BAN DISPLAY EXPLAINED
These glasses have all the features of a regular pair of Meta Ray-Ban specs.
But the main difference is that there’s a new full-colour hi-res display.
It has impressive clarity: I could easily read small text, see enough detail in images, and colour was bright and vibrant.
Obviously it’s nowhere near the screen experience of a smartphone, or a mixed-reality headset like the Meta Quest 3 or Apple Vision Pro.
But for an overlay on a pair of glasses, it’s pretty wild.
The Sun tests Meta’s Orion holographic smart glasses built to replace phones
More importantly, no one else can see what you’re looking at. There’s no sign to the outside world that you’ve even got display running.
The display will show apps from your phone, like WhatsApp text threads, or Instagram Reels, or a Google Maps navigation window.
And you can also chat to the AI helper and see its responses in plain view – rather than simply relying on an audio reply.
To control what you’re seeing, you don a Meta Neural Band on your wrist.
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The display appears on the right lens – but other people nearby won’t see what you’re viewingCredit: Meta
This picks up on tiny micro-movements, detects the gestures you make, and translates them as controls on the glasses.
So touching your index finger to your thumb is equivalent to a click or tap on a PC or phone.
You can go back by tapping your index finger to your thumb.
And rolling your thumb on your fist lets you scroll up and down, as well as left and right.
It’s very easy and intuitive.
And because it’s using the wristband and not cameras or sensors, you can have your hand off to the side or even behind you and the controls still work. This is pretty special.
So, what are the special tricks that blew me away?
META RAY-BAN DISPLAY HANDS-ON – MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE SPECS
First up is Live Captions.
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You can text on WhatsApp using the glassesCredit: Meta
This will caption the words of someone you’re speaking to in real life.
So as you look at their face, you’ll see their words popping up as text in real time.
This is obviously life-changing for anyone with hearing issues.
But even if you’re just struggling to hear someone in a crowded restaurant, it’s pretty useful.
But that’s not all.
The glasses are directional, so they know where you’re looking.
I was chatting to someone from Meta while another person was nearby having their own conversation.
And my live captions focused in on the Meta person and cut out all of the ambient conversation.
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You can navigate to a location using a virtual mapCredit: Meta
Then when I turned my head to look at the other person next to me, the captions switched to their speech instead.
This all happened in an instant. Incredible.
The next thing I was impressed by isn’t necessarily a life-changing mega-feature.
But it’s pretty neat and I think actually very useful. So it shouldn’t be overlooked.
Recipes.
Yes, you can ask Meta AI how to cook something, and it’ll conjure up the recipe.
Then it’ll hover in front of you in easy steps, and you can swipe along with the thumb gesture.
So you can follow along and cook without having a physical book or laptop there.
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The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses come in black and sand colour optionsCredit: Meta
And if you’re baking, you don’t actually have to touch a book or a device while your hands are covered in flour, or pizza dough, or whatever else. Very convenient.
Next is the Google Maps navigation, which is so plainly handy that it hardly needs me to explain why it’s useful.
Your exact directions will appear on the screen, telling you which way to walk.
And yes, it only works with walking. You can’t use this feature while driving. Safety first.
It’s a neat way to find your way around without having to constantly pull out your phone.
And that means it’s also a nice way to avoid falling prey to those pesky phone-snatchers too.
Video-calling is also on my list of incredible features.
Not that video-calling is anything new, of course.
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You can tap into Meta’s virtual AI for info about what you’re seeing – and even ask for language translationsCredit: Meta
But dialling on WhatsApp and having the person’s face pop-up right in front of my eyes without blocking the outside world felt very sci-fi.
Except it’s not sci-fi, because I did it and it was seamless. It’s not quite teleporting, but it’s pretty close.
And lastly, I want to highlight how simple the controls are.
These are exceptionally easy to use, even if you have very little tech experience.
The Neural Band is very responsive, and even gives you haptic feedbacks – which feel like tiny nudges – to let you know you’ve successfully completed an interaction.
It takes literally 30 seconds to learn the moves, and then just a few minutes more to fully master them.
I had the specs on for about 20 to 30 minutes, and by the end, I was easily controlling the apps with my hands behind my back.
If that all sounds like great fun, you’ll be glad to know that the glasses go on sale in the US at select stores on September 30.
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The Neural Band fits around your wrist and lets you control the glassesCredit: Meta
They’ll cost you $799 for a pair, and that includes the Meta Neural Band and a case too.
If you want one in the UK, Meta says that you’ll have to wait until early 2026.
Rob was seen sneaking a peak at Liz Hurley’s assets that were on display at the NTAsCredit: PA
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Judge Rinder couldn’t help making a cheeky comment about how good Liz lookedCredit: ITV
The TV presenter, 47, posed beside the actress, 60 – both of whom star in Channel 4’s new reality show The Inheritance – on the red carpet at the glitzy event.
While the duo presented the gong for Best Reality Competition, he couldn’t resist another look before telling Liz: “How marvellous it is that you are defying Newton’s Law of Physics. Well done to you!”
The Good Morning Britain star’s cheeky comment went down well, with the audience erupting into laughter.
Here we reveal the other brazen celebs who only had their own breast intentions at heart…
Morning peak
Outspoken Piers Morgan was caught sneaking a peek down Susanna Reid‘s top while presenting GMB back in 2016.
The presenter was admiring her purple dress, which had a cheeky slit down the front.
Piers quickly realised he’d put his foot in it, admitting: “I was just admiring my co-presenter.
“The camera caught me at a difficult moment… I looked over and looked down and before I knew it…”
He wasn’t the only person to appreciate Susanna’s low cut dress that day, with many viewers praising how she looked.
The Kardashians are leading the world’s A-listers flocking to Venice for Jeff Bezos and his bride Lauren Sanchez’s ultra-rich wedding of the century
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Piers Morgan was spotted having a peek down the top of his co-host Susanna ReidCredit: itv
Billionaire blunder
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Mark Zuckerberg was caught on TV staring at Lauren Sanchez’s breasts – right in front of her now-husband Jeff BezosCredit: EPA
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Fans were quick to notice the ogle and make fun of the Facebook founderCredit: Supplied
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 40, landed himself in hot water when he was caught staring at fellow tech billionaire Jeff Bezos‘s fiancée’s chest.
The married social media magnate was snapped ogling Lauren Sanchez at President Trump’s inauguration in January this year – while her partner, 61, was stood right next to her.
Lauren, 55, hit headlines for her racy outfit at the swearing in, and it was later revealed her lingerie-style top was a $1,800 Alexander McQueen satin-trimmed bustier.
Mark – who wed Priscilla Chan, 40, in 2012 – raised more eyebrows less than 24 hours later when he ‘liked’ a photo of Lauren’s cleavage on her Instagram.
Fans were quick to mock the Meta founder, with one asking: “Will Zuck lose his Amazon Prime membership?”
Wedding leer
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Jeremy was caught taking a good look at Jess’s breasts in her wedding bikiniCredit: ITV
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The bride and groom weren’t wearing much for their TV weddingCredit: Rex Features
While making a guest appearance on Good Morning Britain for the ‘wedding’ of Love Island stars Jessica Shears, 32, and Dom Lever, 34, telly host Jeremy Kyle was caught gawping at the bride’s breasts.
Simon was snapped having a good look at Amanda’s bosom in 2010Credit: Dave Hogan
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It didn’t look any less innocent from another angleCredit: Rex Features
Simon Cowell, 65, clearly thought his Britain’s Got Talent co-host had talent(s) when he accompanied her to the British Academy Television Awards in 2010.
Amanda Holden, 54, had opted for a strapless gown, and Simon – who was at the time engaged to make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy, 52 – couldn’t resist a glance at her bust.
The music mogul’s unfortunate moment was caught on camera – from multiple angles.
Though Amanda’s silver and white gown was fairly tame compared to the daring outfits she worn in more recent years.
Ola there!
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James, Lisa and Orla seemed to think the cleavage glance was a great jokeCredit: BackGrid
Dancer James Jordan, 47, was caught having a good look at Lisa Snowden‘s bosom – in a snap captured by his own wife.
The former Strictly Come Dancing professional was cosying up to the telly presenter, 53, at a bash in 2017.
Ola, 42, shared the photo of James gawping at Lisa’s chest on her Instagram story, captioned: “It’s my lovely Lisa Snowdon,” alongside a winking face.
The trio met after Lisa appeared on Strictly back in 2008 when she was partnered with Brendan Cole, 49.
Lady love
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Ellen was snapped having a good inspection of Katy Perry’s breastsCredit: Getty
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The TV host was quick to pull an appreciative face at the singer’s ample cleavageCredit: Getty
It’s not just the famous blokes who appreciate the female form – in these amusing shots TV host Ellen DeGeneres, 67, was caught having a good inspection of Katy Perry’s boobs.
The women were at the Grammy Awards in 2013 when the talk show host was pictured ogling the I Kissed A Girl singer.
Standing arm in arm with her wife Portia de Rossi, 52, Ellen wasn’t shy about sharing her admiration.
Portia appeared to be find her spouse’s antics hilarious, while Ellen tweeted the photo with a birthday message for Katy captioned: “Happy birthday, @KatyPerry! It’s time to bring out the big balloons!”
It didn’t go down too well with fans, with some accusing Ellen of double standards, pointing out if it was a man who made the joke it would be seen as sexist.
Tucci close for comfort
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Stanley was caught taking a peek at Anne’s breasts while promoting their filmCredit: Getty
During filming Anne revealed that her co-star – then married to his now ex-wife Kate Tucci – had become obsessed with her breasts, and he was even spotted having a sly look down her plunging black dress while promoting the film.
Anne joked that Stanley kept elbowing her in the boobs, leading him to reportedly joke that she should stop “flinging those melons around like it’s harvest season”.
The joke doesn’t seem to have bothered either party as they’ve remained bosom buddies and are currently filming The Devil Wears Prada 2.
From Ryan Kartje: When he first started spreading the word about Waymond Jordan, Mike Bennett figured the film would speak for itself. The Escambia High coach had been in the South Florida preps scene long enough to know what he was seeing from his new running back.
“Just watching him run the football for the first time, he was amazing,” Bennett said. He figured scholarship offers would roll in soon enough.
Jordan had similar expectations. Since he first picked up football, at 4 years old, he’d always told himself that he’d play at a big school, on the biggest stage. He’d come to Escambia as a senior with that in mind.
But in 2021, four years before Lincoln Riley and USC would see that same star potential, other college coaches, for whatever reason, weren’t paying much mind.
Given where Jordan stands today — the top running back on one of the nation’s top rushing offenses through two weeks of the college football season — plenty of them probably regret that now.
“Every coach in the country, I sent stuff to,” Bennett said. “I mean, everybody. I sent it out to everybody.”
Some smaller schools monitored Jordans’ senior year at Escambia, keeping a close eye as he rushed for 1,225 yards and 12 touchdowns. A few schools said he could walk-on. But none of them extended a scholarship offer. Jordan couldn’t understand why.
Hutchinson Community College, a junior college in Hutchinson, Kan., was one of the only places to give him an opportunity. Hutchinson was a thousand miles from his hometown of Pensacola, and a world away from the major college football he thought he’d be playing. But the staff there knew Escambia well, and they believed in what they saw in Jordan’s tape.
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NBA
Former NBA and UCLA basketball star Reggie Miller rides along a road in the Gypsum Canyon Wilderness.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
From Kevin Baxter: Early on a muggy Saturday morning, seven dozen riders lined up five and six abreast and aimed their mountain bikes toward a narrow, rocky trail leading away from the 91 Freeway and into the wilderness of Anaheim’s rugged Gypsum Canyon.
In their white helmets and monotone synthetic racing kits, the riders were more an indistinct mob than a collection of individuals. But in the middle of the pack, perched on a pricey, Santa Cruz Blur XL, one cyclist stood out if for no other reason than, at 6-foot-7, Reggie Miller was a foot taller than most of the people around him.
Miller is also, it should be noted, a basketball hall of famer and five-time NBA All-Star who seamlessly transitioned into a career as one of the sport’s most-respected TV analysts. He has earned fame and riches most will never know and competed at a level few have ever achieved.
Yet on the day before his 60th birthday, he was about to pedal his way along 19 miles of treacherous trails, swallowing the dust kicked up by cyclists a third his age. And he couldn’t have been happier because bike racing has not just given Miller a competitive outlet, it’s provided an avenue for addressing issues of importance to him, among them equality, inclusion and social justice.
“You see so many retired football, baseball, basketball players turn to golf. That’s their vice,” he said. “Mine is cycling.”
Except, perhaps, fantasy football players who drafted Adams.
“That’s not in the forefront of my mind,” Adams, chuckling, said this week. “I know they think it is. I’m just out here trying to win games and contribute and make plays when I can.”
Nacua brushed off a cut above his eye that required stitches and caught 10 passes for 130 yards. Adams, making his Rams debut, caught four passes for 51 yards.
Exhausted to the point of collapse and parked in the driveway of his Oakland Hills home, he briefly allowed himself to close his eyes — was it for a minute? An hour? — before jolting awake at 4 a.m. in a foggy panic. Had he just returned from his round-the-clock job with the Oakland Raiders, or was he supposed to be on his way back?
Here he was, a first-round pick from Michigan, a 15-year NFL veteran, and now a coaching grunt for the Silver & Black, ready to do whatever was asked.
“I always remember him with the hair all over his head going everywhere,” recalled receiver Tim Brown. “The veteran guys on the team were saying, ‘Jimmy, you don’t have to do this, bro. There’s other ways you can make money. You don’t have to be in here.’ Because he was literally the guy printing the papers, working the copiers. We were like, ‘All right, if that’s what you want to do with your life then OK.’”
Angels star Mike Trout hits a solo home against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.
(John Froschauer / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Rookie pinch-hitter Harry Ford drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Angels 7-6 on Thursday night to move into a tie with Houston atop the AL West.
It was the second straight walk-off victory in extra innings for the Mariners, who extended their win streak to six games. Leo Rivas hit a two-run homer in the 13th inning Wednesday night to complete a series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Mike Trout launched his 399th career home run for the Angels, tying it 4-4 in the fifth inning after they fell behind 4-0 in the second.
Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, right, tries to shoot over Las Vegas center A’ja Wilson during the Sparks’ loss on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.
(Harry How / Getty Images)
From Anthony De Leon: Being out of postseason contention didn’t make the Sparks’ season finale meaningless.
It was a chance to avoid finishing with a losing record for the first time since 2020. An opportunity to foil the Las Vegas Aces’ push for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs while derailing a 15-game winning streak. And, above all, a matter of pride.
But just as with their season-long goal of reaching the playoffs, the Sparks fell short of their goal, as A’ja Wilson and the Aces dominated in a 103-75 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
From Chuck Schilken: Retired NBA player and former Harvard-Westlake star Jason Collins is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, the NBA said Thursday in a statement released on behalf of Collins and his family.
“Jason and his family welcome your support and prayers and kindly ask for privacy as they dedicate their attention to Jason’s health and well-being,” the league said.
A 46-year-old native of Northridge, Jason Collins and twin brother, Jarron, led Harvard-Westlake to state Division III titles in 1996 and 1997, with the former being named the state Division III player of the year both seasons. His 1,500 career rebounds stood as a CIF state record until 2010, when Hemet West Valley’s Joe Burton finished his career with 1,721 rebounds.
1895 — Defender wins three straight matches from the British challenger Valkyrie II to defend the America’s Cup for the United States.
1936 — Fred Perry becomes the first foreign player to win three U.S. men’s singles titles when he defeats Don Budge, 2-6, 6-2, 8-6, 1-6, 10-8. Alice Marble ends the four-year reign of Helen Jacobs as U.S. women’s singles champion, with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
1955 — Tony Trabert wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships with a victory over Ken Rosewall. Doris Hart wins the women’s title.
1966 — Australia’s Fred Stolle beats countryman John Newcombe to win the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. Stolle wins in four sets, 4-6, 12-10, 6-3, 6-4.
1976 — Jimmy Connors beats Bjorn Borg in four sets to win the U.S. Open.
1979 — Carl Yastrzemski reaches 3,000 hits off of NY Yankee pitcher Jim Beattie.
1981 — Tracy Austin wins her second U.S. Open singles title, edging first-time finalist Martina Navratilova, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6.
1982 — Jimmy Connors wins the U.S. Open, defeating Ivan Lendl, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
1984 — N.Y. Met Dwight Gooden sets rookie strike out record at 251.
1988 — 1st NFL regular-season game played in Phoenix; Dallas beats Arizona.
1995 — The Harlem Globetrotters’ 24-year, 8,829-game winning streak is stopped. It ends in a 91-85 loss to a team led by basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scores 34 points in a competitive, unscripted game in Vienna, Austria.
1998 — Lindsay Davenport captures her first Grand Slam tournament singles title, defeating Martina Hingis, 6-3, 7-5 at the U.S. Open.
1999 — Andre Agassi comes back from two-sets-to-one down to win his second U.S. Open singles title. Agassi, who never loses his serve, defeats Todd Martin, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-2. It’s the first five-set U.S. Open final in 11 years.
2004 — Roger Federer becomes the first man since 1988 to win three majors in a year, thoroughly outclassing Lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 7-6 (3), 6-0 to add the U.S. Open title to those he took at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
2005 — Mark Messier announces on ESPN radio that he will retire from the NHL.
2010 — Houston running back Arian Foster rushes for a franchise-record 231 yards and three touchdowns in the Texans’ 34-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Foster is the first player in NFL history to rush for at least 200 yards and three touchdowns for an opening weekend.
2011 — Tom Brady passes for a team-record 517 yards and four touchdowns, including a 99-yarder to Wes Welker, and the New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins 38-24.
2011 — U.S. Open Men’s Tennis: Novak Djokovic wins his first US title; beats Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1.
2014 — Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree score 24 points each and the Phoenix Mercury, playing without star center Brittney Griner, beat the Chicago Sky 87-82 to complete a three-game sweep of the WNBA Finals for their third championship.
2015 — Kent State dominates Delaware State in the Golden Flashes’ home opener, 45-13, but it’s overshadowed by a single point-after kick in the second quarter by April Goss. Goss, a four-year member of the Kent State team and a former high school soccer player, becomes the second female to score in a Division I game in NCAA history. Katie Hnida kicked a pair of extra points for New Mexico in 2003.
2015 — David Ortiz homers twice to become the 27th player in major league history to reach 500 homers, and Boston beats Tampa Bay 10-4.
2018 — Breanna Stewart leads the Seattle Storm to their third WNBA title, scoring 30 points in a 98-82 victory over the Washington Mystics in Game 3 of the best-of-five series.
2020 — Naomi Osaka of Japan wins her second US Open title beating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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Mark Volman, the singer who co-founded the buoyant 1960s hitmakers the Turtles and was half of the humorous harmony duo Flo & Eddie, has died. He was 78.
Representatives for Volman confirmed the death to Rolling Stone, citing a “brief, unexpected illness.” In 2020, Volman was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, but continued touring and only announced his diagnosis in 2023.
When promoting his memoir “Happy Forever: My Musical Adventures with the Turtles, Frank Zappa, T. Rex, Flo & Eddie, and More” in 2023, Volman went public with his 2020 diagnosis of Lewy body dementia, a disease that results in a decline in cognitive ability, affecting reasoning, memory and movement.
In a People magazine story, Volman accepted his fate: “I got hit by the knowledge that this was going to create a whole new part of my life. And I said, ‘OK, whatever’s going to happen will happen, but I’ll go as far as I can.’”
Volman’s partner in both the Turtles and Flo & Eddie was Howard Kaylan, a high-school friend who turned into a lifelong creative partner. Sharing a taste for sweet melodies, cultural fads and unrepentant silliness, Volman and Kaylan adeptly navigated the cultural changes of the 1960s, steering the Turtles from surf-rock survivors to psychedelic freaks over the course of a decade.
The group’s sweet spot arrived in the second half of the 1960s, when they polished their Southern Californian folk-rock with studio savvy, creating hits — “Happy Together,” “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “Elenore” and “You Showed Me” — that appealed to mainstream listeners — they were the favorite band of Richard Nixon’s daughter Tricia, even playing the White House in 1970 — while winking at hipper audiences.
As they drifted away from the middle of the road, the Turtles could occasionally give the sense that they were too smart for the room; one of their best albums, 1968’s “The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands,” was constructed as a concept album where the group adopted a different guise and musical style for each track.
The Turtles in 1967, clockwise from top left: Al Nichol, Jim Tucker, Mark Volman, Howard Kaylan, Johnny Barbara and Jim Pon.
(Central Press / Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
Volman and Kaylan capitalized on this quirk when they rechristened themselves as Flo & Eddie, a moniker they devised after a bitter legal battle with their former record label left them without the right to perform either as the Turtles or using their own names. During this period, Frank Zappa invited Flo & Eddie to join his Mothers of Invention, giving the duo a boost that led to an enduring career.
Flo & Eddie specialized in providing harmonic support to high profile acts: they toured with Alice Cooper, sang on T. Rex’s landmark glam album “Electric Warrior” and were recruited to sing on Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” when the Boss was looking for Beach Boys-like harmonies. On their own, Volman and Kaylan also honed their comedic shtick as recording artists, later taking their act to radio and, once they reacquired the rights to the Turtles moniker, on the road, playing the oldies circuit into the 2010s.
Unlike many other oldies acts, Volman and Kaylan possessed sharp business skills, acquired after their messy fallout with their record label, White Whale. Once they regained their master tapes, they licensed their catalog to reissue labels and kept a vigilant eye on how their recordings were disseminated in the marketplace.
On realizing that the Turtles’ “You Showed Me” provided a pivotal sample on De La Soul‘s 1989 debut album, “3 Feet High and Rising,” the duo sued the rap pioneers for $2.5 million in exemplary and punitive damages. The matter was settled out of court in favor of Volman and Kaylan; while the terms were not publicly disclosed, they reportedly were awarded $1.7 million in damages. The lawsuit and its fallout effectively ended the golden age of sampling in hip-hop.
Mark Volman during the 10th anniversary of the Happy Together tour at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in 2019.
(Scott Dudelson / Getty Images)
Born in Los Angeles on April 19, 1947, Volman grew up in a musical household in the neighborhood of Westchester. Even when he was young, relatives were struck by his exuberant personality. His aunt Ann Becker recalled in “Happy Forever”: “I can remember my mother shaking her head and saying, ‘That boy is so smart — he shouldn’t be so silly.’”
By the time he enrolled at Westchester High — his classmates included comedian Phil Hartman and Manson Family member Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme — Volman had gravitated toward irreverence.
Meeting New York transplant Kaylan in choir, Volman soon became part of the Crossfires, playing saxophone alongside his new friend in the surf-rock combo. The Crossfires had two singles to their name before they signed to the fledgling White Whale Records in 1965. Already in the process of abandoning surf for folk-rock — Volman and Kaylan swapped their saxes for lead vocals — the group’s members accepted their new label’s suggestion to rename themselves; they rejected the stylized spelling of the Tyrtles in favor of the Turtles.
Taking a cue from the Byrds’ hit version of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man,” the Turtles released a revved-up cover of Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe” that squarely hit the zeitgeist, climbing into the Billboard Top 10 in summer 1965. Volman later remembered, “I graduated from high school in February 1965 and was on tour in June with a Top 10 record and on the Dick Clark Show.”
A couple of spirited sequels, “Let Me Be” and “You Baby,” kept the band in the Top 40 into 1966 but the Turtles’ hot streak quickly cooled, as a series of singles — including “Outside Chance,” written by White Whale staffer Warren Zevon — barely scraped the charts. “Happy Together,” a song rejected by a number of pop groups, revived the group’s fortunes, thanks in part to a sterling arrangement masterminded by new bassist Chip Douglas.
“Happy Together” topped the charts and would become one of the standards of its era, appearing often in commercials and films. In 1967, it propelled the Turtles back to the upper reaches of the charts, a place they’d stay through 1969, as they accumulated such hits as “She’d Rather Be With Me” and “Elenore.”
By far the biggest act on the small-scale White Whale, the Turtles were subjected to pressure by the label to record more commercial material, yet Volman and Kaylan kept pushing the band to make hip music. When the label suggested firing the rest of the Turtles, the singers arranged for the remaining three members to share songwriting credits on “The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands,” the first album they released after the success of “Happy Together.” On their final album, “Turtle Soup,” the Turtles hired Ray Davies as their producer; it was his first production outside his main band, the Kinks.
Tensions between the Turtles and White Whale escalated in 1970, leading the group to disband. In turn, the label exercised a clause in the band‘s recording contract that prevented the members from performing either “individually or collectively,” effectively barring Volman and Kaylan from continuing to work either as a group or as themselves. The pair decided to call themselves the Phlorescent Leech & Eddie, a name that would swiftly be shortened to Flo & Eddie; Volman was the former, Kaylan the latter.
Zappa brought the duo into his Mothers of Invention ensemble not long after the implosion of the Turtles. They stayed with him through an eventful year that included a concert in Montreux, Switzerland, that ended with the venue engulfed in fire; Deep Purple memorialized the event in “Smoke on the Water.”
Alice Cooper, second from left, with Mark Volman (drinking beverage) and bandmates in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1972.
(Jorgen Angel / Redferns / Getty Images)
Beginning with 1972’s “The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie,” Flo & Eddie released a series of increasingly facetious albums throughout the 1970s, but they had greater success singing harmonies for T. Rex and Cooper. “Hungry Heart,” Springsteen’s first Top 10 hit, served as a curtain call for this period of Flo & Eddie’s career. Soon, the duo put their days as recording artists to rest. While they still would contribute original music to animated television shows, including specials focusing on “Strawberry Shortcake” and “The Care Bears” series, the duo stopped writing and recording new Flo & Eddie music.
The move coincided with the duo finally winning back the rights to their names. Volman and Kalyan began this process in 1974, when they acquired the Turtles’ master recordings when White Whale assets were up for auction.
A decade later, they were able to tour as The Turtles … featuring Flo & Eddie, a billing they’d retain into the 2010s, until Kaylan retired from the road in 2018. With Ron Dante filling in for Kaylan, Volman continued performing as the Turtles as part of their regular Happy Together package tours.
Although Flo & Eddie embraced their status on the oldies circuit, they hadn’t faded entirely from modern music. When De La Soul sampled “You Showed Me” for their track “Transmitting Live From Mars” in 1989, the trio failed to clear the rights prior to release, so Volman and Kaylan sued the group, winning a large settlement that established a precedent for sample clearance in hip-hop.
The duo launched another major lawsuit in 2013 when they filed suit against Sirius XM for failing to pay sound recording royalties in California, New York and Florida. A California judge ruled in the duo’s favor in 2014, while a Florida judge ruled for Sirius XM in 2015. Although a settlement was reached in 2016, Sirius XM would win subsequent legal appeals in Florida and California.
Volman went back to school in 1992, pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. After earning a master’s degree in screenwriting in 1999 at Loyola Marymount, Volman soon moved into teaching, eventually becoming an associate professor at the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.
Volman is survived by his daughters, Sarina Marie and Hallie Rae, both from his marriage to Patricia Lee.
Champion quizzer Mark Labbett, who is best known for showcasing his knowledge on The Chase, has recently struck up a connection with beautician Deanne, and it shows no signs of stopping now.
In the latest episode, the pair were invited to a brunch where they had to tell the others what they thought of each other. Mark said: “We thought we’d get on, it’s been great and we are just seeing how it goes!” Both parties confirmed they would like to go on another date with one another.
Paul claimed that Mark was ’emotionally unintelligent’ (Image: Channel 4)
But things took a sour turn when Mark, 60, turned to the dating experts Paul C. Brunson, Anna Williamson and Dr. Tara Suwinyattichaiporn to claim that he had known better than them all along.
He said: “We have just enjoyed each other’s company and sometimes there’s a little bit of overthinking it. We’ve not been the master strategists that you are, but, let’s face it, we’re smarter than you!”
Paul did not take kindly to the comment and things turned tense as he shot back: “Do you know why you always insult us? Because your emotional intelligence is on zero.”
Mark hit back sarcastically: “Sorry, but I’m nice to the people that count!” Paul would not let it drop and said: “When you get nervous, you insult people,” and Mark joked: “No just you!” and tried to say that it was some kind of ‘teaching response’.
Mark said he was only prepared to be ‘nice to the people that count’ as he gestured towards Deanne (Image: Channel 4)
Paul continued to lay into Mark but as the TV quizzer checked his watch to indicate boredom, Paul raged: “What you did right there, that’s contempt. You wanna be a teacher? Try being a damn student first!”
Things seemed to simmer down a bit when Mark, who previously dated TV presenter Hayley Palmer before she claimed he had split up with her on the phone, and prior to that was married to his second cousin Katie, 34, apologised for what he said.
In a confessional, Mark said: “I’ve upset Paul. I didn’t mean to but I don’t like talking about my feelings, especially in front of a lot of people.”
Back at the brunch, Mark eventually said: “I’m sorry,” but Paul demanded to know whether his apology was ‘genuine’. Mark said: “It is!” and the pair agreed to put it behind them.
DESPITE years as one of the most famous party boys in London and New York, don’t expect to see Mark Ronson hitting it hard for his 50th.
The Uptown Funk hitmaker is celebrating the landmark birthday today but is opting for a low-key family occasion instead of a blow-out bash.
Mark, who is gearing up to release his book Night People on September 16, explained: “I feel like because my whole life has been a party, not necessarily a party for me, but DJing a party for others and being in the party and all that s***, I have no desire to.
“Everybody’s like, ‘You’ve gotta do something big!’
“And my 40th, I kind of went all out.
“I had this big party with 60 friends or maybe more in the countryside.
“We all got on a tour bus and I DJ’d at Festival No6 in Wales.
“And then it was just three days of partying.”
But things are different for Mark these days, after he settled down and became a dad to two daughters.
He added: “Now I have absolutely no desire to do that.
“I just want to be with my family.”
Mark Ronson reveals he identifies as sapiosexual – meaning he’s ‘attracted to intelligence’ not gender
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Mark Ronson won’t be hitting it hard for his 50thCredit: Splash News
SHAKIRA’S MEX ON THE BEACH
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Shakira poses on a beach to launch her new haircare brand IsimaCredit: shakira/Instagram
SHAKIRA shore looks good as she poses on a beach to launch her new haircare brand Isima.
She shared the bikini pic from Mexico, where she is on her mammoth Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran world tour.
Shakira will play out the remainder of her gigs in South America before finally finishing in Argentina on December 9.
HAILEY LEGS IT TO NEW YORK
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Hailey Bieber wowed in mesh basketball shorts with heels and an oversized leather jacket in New YorkCredit: Getty
HAILEY BIEBER looked like she was fresh from shooting hoops as she headed out in New York.
The supermodel wore mesh basketball shorts with heels and an oversized leather jacket.
Hailey has just signed a fresh deal with fashion house DKNY to be the face of its new autumn campaign alongside Candice Swanepoel.
She said: “DKNY channels everything I love about New York: It’s energized, unique and full of inspiration.
“There is a balance of structure and ease that makes everything so wearable.
“I gravitate towards elevated classics that I can throw on but still feel intentional.”
I gravitate towards anything in the washing pile that looks clean and not too creased.
HEAD OUT ON TOUR
RADIOHEAD have announced a run of 20 huge shows across five cities in Europe.
The band’s only UK gigs will be at London’s O2 Arena on November 21, 22, 24 and 25.
Fans can register for tickets by heading to radiohead.com from tomorrow.
Ed Sheeran has also announced a string of intimate gigs across the UK.
For a chance to access pre-sale tickets, you need to order his new album, Play, on Amazon Music before 7pm on Sunday.
ILL CELINE SCRAPPED EURO GIG
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Superstar Celine Dion had to cancel her Eurovision final appearanceCredit: Getty
CELINE DION was forced to cancel her appearance during the final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland after struggling with her health.
The My Heart Will Go On singer had kept the surprise appearance under wraps.
But it ended up being one of music’s worst-kept secrets, with Eurovision presenter Graham Norton referencing a possible appearance live on air.
Celine, who has stiff person syndrome, had been due to perform Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, the song she won the competition with for Switzerland in 1988.
French newspaper Le Parisien has now claimed Celine was in Basel for the event but suffered a medical episode and was forced to cancel her performance.
The revelation comes after her Prime Video documentary last year, in which she talked about living with stiff person syndrome, which is a neurological disorder that causes muscle stiffness and cramps.
She was diagnosed with the rare disease in 2022 and has shared her experience to raise awareness.
Celine said: “I barely could walk at one point and I was missing very much living.
“My kids started to notice.
“I was like, ‘OK, they already lost a parent. I don’t want them to be scared’.
“I let them know, ‘You lost your dad, but Mum has a condition and it’s different. I’m not going to die. It’s something that I’m going to learn to live with.’”
Celine, you are a warrior.
GAGA’S ALL DOLLED UP IN VID
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Singer Lady Gaga becomes a broken doll for her latest videoCredit: YouTube
LADY GAGA transforms into a broken doll for her new video The Dead Dance.
She wears a tattered dress while strutting through a rain forest littered with creepy broken dolls.
Gaga debuted the video last night, with more than 74,000 fans tuning into the YouTube reveal.
The song is in the new series of Netflix’s Addams Family spin-off, Wednesday.
She also updated streaming platforms last night to add two tracks to her album Mayhem – Kill For Love and Can’t Stop The High.
Slide over, Steve Garvey. It appears another former Major League Baseball slugger with Southland ties will run for political office.
Mark Teixeira, who batted a robust .358 in a two-month stint with the Angels in 2008 before signing a longterm lucrative contract with the New York Yankees, announced his campaign for Texas’ 21st Congressional District in the U.S. House on Wednesday.
Teixeira, an avowed conservative who has lived in or near Dallas much of his adult life, said he is “ready to help defend President Trump’s America First agenda, Texas families, and individual liberty.”
Garvey is also a Republican, and he lost in a landslide to Democrat Adam Schiff for California’s open seat in the U.S. Senate last November. Despite being a beloved former Dodgers great, Garvey, 75, held few public events and struggled to gain traction with voters in a state that has not elected a Republican to statewide office in nearly two decades.
Unlike Garvey, Teixeira, 45, is running in a heavily Republican district that Chip Roy won by 26% of the vote in November. Teixeira’s announcement follows Roy’s decision not to seek re-election because he is running for the office of the Texas Attorney General.
Teixeira, a former first baseman, played 14 seasons for four MLB teams — the Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Angels and Yankees. He retired after the 2016 season with 409 career home runs.
The Angels acquired him from the Braves in a trade late in the 2008 season, and he helped them to the only 100-win season in franchise history by hitting 13 home runs and driving in 43 runs while batting .358 in 54 games.
Teixeira also performed well in the American League Division Series, batting .467 with a .550 on-base percentage, although the Angels fell in four games to the Boston Red Sox. He was a free agent after the season and Angels owner Arte Moreno offered him $160 million over eight years before retracting the offer two weeks later.
Several other teams made similar if not more lucrative offers, and Teixeira signed with the Yankees for $180 million over eight years. The slugging switch-hitter helped New York to the 2009 World Series championship, leading the AL with 39 homers and 122 runs batted in.
The Yankees defeated the Angels in the AL Championship Series before beating the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. The following season, Teixeira spoke highly of the Angels despite leaving Anaheim for the greener pastures of New York.
“I hope there are no hard feelings between Arte and myself,” Teixeira told The Times’ Mike DiGiovanna. “I loved that organization. Arte, [Manager Mike] Scioscia, it’s first class, top to bottom. But your wife and kids being happy is more important than your personal desires.”
Jude McAtamney, Charlie Smyth and Mark McNamee have missed out on making the final roster for their respective NFL teams, leaving them open to be picked up by another franchise.
Former Gaelic footballers McAtamney, Smyth and McNamee were waived by the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers.
McAtamney lost out to veteran Graham Gano as the New York Giants finalised their 53-man roster for the new season, which begins next week.
The County Derry man handled all kicking duties in the pre-season victories over the New York Jets and New England Patriots, kicking 10 extra points and a field goal between both games, while playing in the second half of the pre-season opener against the Buffalo Bills.
Last season, McAtamney was called from the practice squad into the Giants team for the regular season game against the Washington Commanders when Gano sustained an injury and the New York franchise may wish to recall him to the practice squad for the coming season if his pre-season form does not attract an offer from another team.
County Down’s Smyth missed out on the New Orleans Saints’ final roster for the second season with Blake Grupe again selected at number one.
Smyth, however, is eligible to return to the practice squad in the international player exemption slot.
A SUPERSTAR Cheltenham Festival-winning horse has been blocked from a £175,000 race – amid a row over his handicap mark.
A Dream To Share won the Champion Bumper in 2023 and looked like being the sport’s next big name for legendary owner JP McManus.
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A Dream To Share is favourite for the Cesarewitch handicap at Newmarket – but is currently blocked from runningCredit: Getty
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Billionaire owner McManus is appealing the refusal to give his Cheltenham Festival winner a rating so he can run in the £175,000 raceCredit: Getty
But he failed to win a race in his next season over hurdles and only recently returned to the winner’s enclosure with a 1m7f victory on the Flat at Leopardstown in June.
Iconic owner McManus entered the horse, who is trained in Ireland by John Kiely, for the Cesarewitch handicap at Newmarket on October 11.
He was made 7-1 favourite for the 2m2f marathon on the Flat with BetVictor while other firms made him joint-favourite.
But, as things stand, the seven-year-old gelding with almost £200,000 in winnings is not allowed to run because the Irish handicapper has twice refused to give him a mark, according to the Nick Luck Daily podcast.
McManus has apparently appealed the decision with the Irish and British boards.
But the BHA have declined the appeal on the grounds of reciprocity with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board.
The most recent appeal to be turned away came last week.
It is believed those acting for McManus claimed enough time had passed between A Dream To Share’s most recent run on June 19 and now for a mark to be awarded.
Especially as several of the horses he beat, including runner-up Royal Hollow, had subsequently raced enough for the handicapper to be able to judge A Dream To Share accurately.
Interestingly, respected journalist Dave Yates said on the podcast that a mark of 104 had been ‘offered’ to A Dream To Share.
But still, nothing official has been granted meaning, as it stands, the favourite for the big race cannot run.
A Dream To Share won the hearts of punters at the 2023 Cheltenham Festival when schoolboy John Gleeson rode him to victory.
McManus bought the horse just a month before from Claire Gleeson, wife of ITV Racing pundit Brian, dad of John.
John said after the win: “Mr McManus was very generous. He said I would definitely keep the ride here today.
“There was no pressure from him. It’s brilliant. I’m very grateful.
“I’ve been going to John Kiely for as long as I can remember.
“I ride out this horse every day before I go to school so it is very special.”
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Chinese military to showcase advanced fighter planes, missile systems on 80th anniversary of end of World War II.
China will stage a massive military parade next month in the heart of Beijing to commemorate 80 years since the end of World War II, and to showcase new Chinese weaponry that will be “displayed to the outside world for the first time”, state media report.
Hundreds of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers as well as ground forces with the latest military equipment, will be featured in the parade, Chinese military officials said at a news conference on Wednesday.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said the military parade and “joint armament formations… will be organised in a manner reflecting their functions in real combat”, and will include air, land and sea combat groups.
“The military parade will feature new fourth-generation equipment as the core, including advanced tanks, carrier-based aircraft and fighter jets, organised into operational modules to demonstrate Chinese military’s system-based combat capability,” China’s state-affiliated Global Times media outlet reported.
“All the weaponry and equipment on display in this military parade are domestically produced active-duty main battle equipment. This event showcases a concentrated display of the new generation of weaponry and equipment of the Chinese military,” the Global Times added.
Military vehicles carrying Wing Loong, a Chinese-made medium altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, travel past Tiananmen Gate during a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing, on September 3, 2015 [Andy Wong/pool/Reuters]
The September 3 event will be the second parade since 2015 to mark the formal surrender of Japanese forces in 1945.
Foreign military attaches and security analysts told the Reuters news agency that they were expecting China’s military to display a host of new weaponry and equipment at the parade, including military trucks fitted with devices to take out drones, new tanks and early warning aircraft to protect China’s aircraft carriers.
The United States and its allies will be closely watching the display of military might, particularly for China’s expanding arsenal of missiles, especially antiship missile systems and weapons with hypersonic capabilities.
The “Victory Day” parade, involving 45 contingents of troops, will take about 70 minutes to file past President President Xi Jinping in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The Chinese leader will be accompanied by a number of invited foreign leaders and dignitaries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also attended the last anniversary parade in 2015.
Chinese authorities have stepped up security in downtown Beijing since early August, when the first large-scale parade rehearsal was held, setting up checkpoints, diverting road traffic and shutting shopping malls and office buildings.
From Kevin Baxter: The half-empty Dodger clubhouse was so quiet you could hear a winning streak snap Monday. But amid the silence there was one conversation that spoke volumes.
After a 4-3 walk-off loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies — a loss set up by two poor plays from right fielder Teoscar Hernández — Mookie Betts met with manager Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, in Roberts’ office.
Betts, the Dodgers shortstop, is a six-time Gold Glove winner in right field. Hernández is not. On Monday, Hernández threw to the wrong base in the third inning, allowing the Rockies to score their second run, and in the ninth he was unable to hold Ezequiel Tovar’s bloop double. Two pitches later, Warming Bernabel bounced a single up to middle, scoring Tovar to end the game.
The Betts conversation afterward was private. But the circumstances that led to it were not. Clearly the bullpen is not the Dodgers’ only problem.
“He’s got to get better out there. There’s just no way to put it,” Roberts said of Hernández. “It’s not a lack of effort. But, you know, we’ve just got to kind of get better. We do.”
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ANGELS
Gavin Lux hit an early two-run homer and the Cincinnati Reds used three leadoff triples to beat the Angels 4-1 on Monday night.
TJ Friedl had a leadoff single in the first inning off Victor Mederos, making his second career start, and Lux followed with his fifth homer for a 2-0 lead.
Elly De La Cruz led off the fifth with his fourth triple this season before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Austin Hays to make it 3-1. Hays tripled in the third but was stranded.
Scott Barlow replaced Luis Mey with two on and two outs in the eighth and struck out Jo Adell swinging to keep it 4-1. Barlow fanned three more in the ninth for his first save this season.
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Great Depression threatened the 1932 Olympics. A pandemic raged during the 2021 Tokyo Games. Parisians planned a “poop protest” in the Seine before the 2024 Games.
From natural disasters, construction woes or unpopular opinion, every Olympics has faced threats in the planning process.
Yet nearly every time, the city, ready or not, still hosted the Games.
With less than three years before the L.A. Olympics, calls on social media for the city to withdraw or cancel have intensified. Wildfires devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena in January. L.A. had to balance a $1-billion deficit. Immigration raids have put communities on edge while President Trump has threatened further military intervention.
But Olympic preparations press forward. So invested in the success of the 2028 Games, the International Olympic Committee allowed venue naming rights for the first time in history. LA28, the private group responsible for organizing the Games, has contracted more than 70% of its $2.5-billion sponsorship goal, with more deals coming.
Stafford, sidelined since the start of training camp because of a back issue, practiced Monday for the first time.
That qualified as an unexpected and momentous development for the Rams as they prepare for their Sept. 7 opener against the Houston Texans at SoFi Stadium.
Stafford, 37, went through individual and team drills with the first-team offense. The 17th-year pro was a full participant, but he did not speak to reporters afterward.
From Ryan Kartje: When they chose to continue their college careers, both USC offensive lineman DJ Wingfield and UCLA wide receiver Kaedin Robinson thought the courts and NCAA had cleared the way for them to play a fifth season of football.
USC had told Wingfield as much, offering him $210,000 in NIL to join the Trojans’ offensive line. UCLA, meanwhile, offered Robinson $450,000 to be one of the Bruins’ top wideouts.
But after first seeing their waivers rejected in the spring, then suing the NCAA this summer, a U.S. District Court judge has now shut the door on either Wingfield or Robinson suiting up this fall.
1909 — The first race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Twelve-thousand spectators watch Austrian engineer Louis Schwitzer win a five-mile race with an average speed of 57.4 miles per hour. The track’s surface of crushed rock and tar breaks up in a number of places and causes the deaths of two drivers, two mechanics and two spectators.
1934 — Helen Hull Jacobs wins the women’s title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships.
1981 — Renaldo Nehemiah sets the world record in the 110 hurdles with a time of 12.93 seconds in a meet at Zurich, Switzerland.
1984 — Lee Trevino beats Gary Player and Lanny Wadkins by four strokes to take the PGA championship at Shoal Creek, Alabama.
1993 — Sergei Bubka wins his fourth consecutive pole vault title at the World Track and Field championships at Stuttgart, Germany.
1995 — Mike Tyson starts his comeback, knocking out Peter McNeeley in 89 seconds at Las Vegas. McNeeley’s manager Vinnie Vecchione jumps into the ring to stop the fight after his boxer is knocked down twice in the first round.
2001 — Michael Schumacher gets his fourth Formula One championship and matches Alain Prost’s series record of 51 victories by winning the Hungarian Grand Prix.
2004 — American swimmer Michael Phelps wraps up the 200/400m individual medley double at the Athens Olympics when he wins the 200m (1:57.14 OR) ahead of teammate Ryan Lochte.
2016 — Usain Bolt scores another sweep, winning three gold medals in his third consecutive Olympics. At the Rio de Janeiro Games, Bolt turns a close 4×100 relay race against Japan and the United States into a typical, Bolt-like runaway, helping Jamaica cross the line in 37.27 seconds. Allyson Felix wins an unprecedented fifth gold medal in women’s track and field, running the second leg of the 4×100-meter relay team.
2018 — Novak Đoković beats Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Cincinnati Masters to become the first player to win all 9 Masters 1,000 tennis tournaments since the series started in 1990.
2018 — Jockey Drayden Van Dyke wins a record-tying seven races at Del Mar, including the $200,000 Del Mar Mile. He ties Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza for most wins in a single day in the seaside track’s history. Van Dyke’s only loss in eight mounts comes when he finishes second in the sixth race.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1909 — The Philadelphia Phillies were rained out for the 10th consecutive day, a major league record.
1913 — The Chicago Cubs tagged Grover Alexander for nine straight hits and six runs for a 10-4 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies.
1921 — Detroit’s Ty Cobb got his 3,000th career hit at age 34, the youngest player to reach that plateau. The milestone hit was a single off Elmer Myers of the Boston Red Sox.
1934 — Moose Solters of the Boston Red Sox hit for the cycle in an 8-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park.
1951 — Eddie Gaedel, a 65-pound midget who was 3-foot-7, made his first and only plate appearance as a pinch-hitter for Frank Saucier of the St. Louis Browns. Gaedel wearing No. 1/8 was walked on four pitches by Detroit Tigers pitcher Bob Cain and then was taken out for pinch-runner Jim Delsing. The gimmick by Browns owner Bill Veeck was completely legal, but later outlawed.
1957 — New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham announced that the team’s board of directors had voted 8-1 in favor of moving to San Francisco. The Giants would start the 1958 season in Seals Stadium.
1965 — Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Cubs 1-0, in 10 innings in the first game of a doubleheader at Chicago. Leo Cardenas homered in the 10th for the Reds.
1969 — Ken Holtzman of the Cubs blanked the Atlanta Braves with a 3-0 no-hitter at Wrigley Field. Ron Santo’s three-run homer in the first inning provided the Cubs’ offense.
1990 — Bobby Thigpen recorded his 40th save as the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers 4-2. Thigpen became the eighth — and fastest — to accomplish this feat.
1992 — Bret Boone made history when he became part of the first three-generation family to play in major league baseball. Boone is the grandson of Ray Boone, who played from 1948-60, and son of Bob Boone, from 1972-90. Bret, 23, completed the triangle when he started at second base for the Seattle Mariners against Baltimore.
2007 — Johan Santana finished with a franchise-record 17 strikeouts in eight innings to help Minnesota edge Texas 1-0.
2009 — Florida reached 10 hits for the 15th straight game in a 6-3 loss at Houston, matching the longest streak since the St. Louis Browns had one that long in 1937. The Marlins were held to four hits the next game.
2011 — LaGrange, Ky., starter Griffin McLarty struck out 12 and hit a homer in a 1-0 victory over the hometown favorites from Clinton County in the Little League World Series at South Williamsport, Pa. The game drew 41,848 fans, breaking the record of 40,000 set in the 1989 and 1990 championship games.
2016 — Jose Altuve homered and had five RBIs, and the Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles 15-8 despite allowing four home runs in the first inning. The Orioles became the first team in the modern era (since 1900) to open a game with four home runs before making an out. Adam Jones hit Collin McHugh’s first pitch into the seats in left field and Hyun Soo Kim singled before Manny Machado, Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo homered in succession.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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From Jack Harris: It was a sight that’s been all too rare this season, coming precisely when the Dodgers needed it most.
Mookie Betts, bat in hand, game on the line. A swing as smooth as it was strong, his two-handed finish sending the ball out of sight.
For so much of this year, the Dodgers have been picking Betts up amid a career-worst season at the plate.
On Sunday afternoon, with a rivalry game and division lead hanging in the balance, he returned the favor with his biggest moment in what felt like ages.
After once leading by four, then watching the San Diego Padres claw back to tie the score, the Dodgers completed a weekend series sweep on Betts’ go-ahead home run in the eighth.
The no-doubt, 394-foot, stadium-shaking blast sent the Dodgers to a 5-4 win and gave them a two-game lead in the National League West; and had Betts skipping around the bases with a swagger that has been missing for much of the campaign.
“It’s been a long time,” Betts said — since he had delivered such a clutch hit, looked so much like his old self at the dish, and trusted a swing that has frustrated him since the earliest days of the season.
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ANGELS
Jo Adell hit a three-run homer in the first inning and kicked off a six-run tenth with an RBI single as the Angels beat the Athletics 11-5 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.
Kenley Jansen (5-2) struck out two in a scoreless ninth to give him 1,268 for his career, the fourth-most strikeouts by a reliever in major league history.
In the 10th, automatic runner Mike Trout advanced to third on a passed ball, Taylor Ward walked and Adell lined a single to center against Michael Kelly (2-2) to make it 6-5. Christian Moore drove in his third run of the game with a grounder and Luis Rengifo followed with a two-run triple off Ben Bowden. Bryce Tedosio added a sacrifice fly and Zach Neto capped the scoring with a 436-foot homer to left-center, his 21st.
From Ben Bolch: There were some breakdowns before UCLA broke training camp.
Don’t worry, these were the poignant, bring-everyone-together kind.
As part of coach DeShaun Foster’s efforts to connect a team featuring 55 new players and eight new assistant coaches, everyone participated in a series of brotherhood meetings over the last two weeks at the team hotel in Costa Mesa.
Coaches stood before the entire team, sharing anecdotes about their experiences in the game. Players told their stories in more intimate position-group settings run by a coach from a different position.
“A lot of tears,” Foster said Saturday before his team’s final camp session. “So I just like that the players were being vulnerable and letting their guard down because they saw the coaches do it. So, you know, I just think that really brought us together and we’re gonna see if it worked.”
From Ira Gorawara: Kristen Nuss was covered in sand, dulling her neon two-piece swimsuit. A white lei hung around her neck as she attempted to balance her champion’s plaque awkwardly in one hand.
“This thing is heavy,” she said, “my arm is getting sore.”
Despite her and partner Taryn Brasher repeating as AVP Manhattan Beach Open champions — grinding out a 15-21, 21-18, 15-13 victory over former USC standouts Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon — on Sunday, the weight of both the hardware and the title wasn’t lost on Nuss.
“This is Wimbledon,” Nuss said. “It’s the granddaddy of them all. My mom always said she wanted me to play at Wimbledon. … This is definitely one of the most coveted trophies right here.”
From Jad El Reda: Her name was etched in the memory of millions thanks to her role as Gabrielle Solís in “Desperate Housewives,” a series that established Eva Longoria as one of the most influential Latina actresses in Hollywood.
She went on to become a producer, director, entrepreneur, activist and, in recent years, an investor in the world of sports, where she has earned the nickname “La Patrona” — or “The Boss” in English — which easily could be the title of a Mexican soap opera.
After more than two decades of credits and awards earned in the entertainment industry, Longoria has shifted her focus. Today, her role as “La Patrona” of Liga MX team Club Necaxa draws on her family’s roots, her passion for storytelling and her commitment to giving Mexico visibility in the world.
Her involvement was not limited to serving on Necaxa’s board of directors as a celebrity investor. From the beginning, she knew she wanted to tell a story. Inspired by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ “Welcome to Wrexham” docuseries, she decided to produce the the docuseries “Necaxa,” which premiered on Aug. 7 on FX. Cameras take viewers behind the scenes, follow along on road trips and offer an intimate look at the soccer team.
Few could have imagined a Mexican American actress would become the leading front office voice for a historic Mexican soccer club, whose home stadium — Estadio Victoria — is located in the city of Aguascalientes in north-central Mexico.
Sonia Citron tied her career high with five three-pointers and finished with 24 points, Kiki Iriafen added 18 points and 10 rebounds and the Washington Mystics beat the Sparks 95-86 on Sunday.
Iriafen has 12 double-doubles this season and set a franchise rookie record for most games (six) with at least 15 points and 10-plus rebounds.
Shakira Austin had 14 points and Jade Melbourne, who fouled out with less than two minutes left, scored 11 for Washington (16-18).
1923 — Helen Mills, 17, ends Molla Bjurstedt Mallory’s domination of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships and starts her own with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
1958 — Floyd Patterson knocks out Roy Harris in the 13th round at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles to retain his world heavyweight title.
1964 — The International Olympic Committee bans South Africa from competing in the Summer Olympics because of its apartheid policies.
1994 — South Africa is introduced for the first time in 36 years during the opening ceremonies of the 15th Commonwealth Games held in Victoria, British Columbia. South Africa had been banned from the Games since 1958 because of its apartheid policies.
1995 — Thirteen-year-old Dominique Moceanu becomes the youngest to win the National Gymnastics Championships senior women’s all-around title in New Orleans.
2004 — Paul Hamm wins the men’s gymnastics all-around Olympic gold medal by the closest margin ever in the event. Controversy follows after it was discovered a scoring error that may have cost Yang Tae-young of South Korea the men’s all-around title. Yang, who finished with a bronze, is wrongly docked a tenth of a point on his second-to-last routine, the parallel bars. He finishes third, 0.049 points behind Hamm, who becomes the first American man to win gymnastics’ biggest prize.
2008 — A day after winning an Olympic gold medal in Beijing, Rafael Nadal officially unseats Roger Federer to become the world’s No. 1 tennis player when the ATP rankings are released. Federer had been atop the rankings for 235 weeks.
2013 — For the first time in Solheim Cup history, the Europeans leave America with the trophy. Caroline Hedwall becomes the first player in the 23-year history of the event to win all five matches. She finishes with a 1-up victory over Michelle Wie and gives Europe the 14 points it needed to retain the cup.
2013 — Usain Bolt is perfect again with three gold medals. The Jamaican great becomes the most successful athlete in the 30-year history of the world championships. The 4×100-meter relay gold erases the memories of the 100 title he missed out on in South Korea two years ago because of a false start. Bolt, who already won the 100 and 200 meters, gets his second such sprint triple at the world championships, matching the two he achieved at the Olympics.
2016 — Jamaica’s Usain Bolt completes an unprecedented third consecutive sweep of the 100 and 200-meter sprints, elevating his status as the most decorated male sprinter in Olympic history. He wins the 200-meter race with a time of 19.78 seconds to defeat Andre de Grasse of Canada. American Ashton Eaton defends his Olympic decathlon title, equaling the games record with a surge on the last lap of the 1,500 meters — the last event in the two-day competition. Helen Maroulis defeats Japan’s Saori Yoshida 4-1 in the 53-kilogram freestyle final to win the first-ever gold medal for a United States women’s wrestler.
2018 — Accelerate cruises to a record 12 1/2-length victory in the $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar, becoming just the third horse to sweep all three of Southern California’s major races for older horses in the same year.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1915 — Boston opened Braves Field with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
1931 — New York’s Lou Gehrig played in his 1,000th consecutive game. Gehrig went hitless in the 5-4 loss to Detroit.
1948 — Brooklyn’s Rex Barney pitched a one-hitter for a 1-0 win over Robin Roberts and the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park.
1956 — The Cincinnati Reds hit eight home runs and the Milwaukee Braves added two to set a National League record for home runs by two clubs in a nine-inning night game. Bob Thurman’s three homers and double led the Reds in the 13-4 rout.
1960 — Lew Burdette of the Milwaukee Braves pitched a no-hitter, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0. Burdette faced the minimum 27 batters.
1965 — Hank Aaron of Milwaukee hit Curt Simmons’ pitch on top of the pavilion roof at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis for an apparent home run. However, umpire Chris Pelekoudas called him out for being out of the batter’s box when he connected. Nevertheless, the Braves won the game 5-3.
1967 — California’s Jack Hamilton hit Tony Conigliaro on his left cheekbone with a fastball in the fourth inning of a 3-2 loss to Boston. Conigliaro was carried unconscious from the field and missed the remainder of the 1967 season and the entire 1968 season. The 22-year-old already had more than 100 home runs.
1977 — Don Sutton of the Dodgers pitched his fifth one-hitter to tie the National League record. Sutton gave up a two-out single in the eighth inning to San Francisco’s Marc Hill. The Dodgers won 7-0.
1995 — Tom Henke became the seventh pitcher to reach 300 career saves, surviving a rally by the Atlanta Braves in the ninth inning of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 4-3 victory.
2000 — Darin Erstad of the Angels made a spectacular, game-saving catch in the 10th inning and followed it with a homer in the 11th as the Angels defeated the New York Yankees 9-8.
2006 — Alfonso Soriano became the third player in major league history to have at least four seasons of 30 homers and 30 stolen bases, and the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4.
2007 — Micah Owings went 4-for-5, including a pair of mammoth homers, drove in six runs and scored four times while pitching three-hit ball through seven innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves 12-6.
2011 — Mike Jacobs became the first player suspended by Major League Baseball for a positive HGH test under the sport’s minor league drug testing procedures. The 30-year-old minor league first baseman, who was in the big leagues from 2005-10, received a 50-game suspension for taking the banned performance-enhancing substance and was subsequently released by the Colorado Rockies.
2017 — Manny Machado capped a three-homer night with a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied past the Angels 9-7 in a game that featured 10 home runs.
2018 — New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom pitched his first complete game of the season and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.71 with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
2019 — Zack Grenke records the 200th win of his career as the Astros defeat the Athletics 4-1.
2021 — Shohei Ohtani continues to do it all by himself on the field. Today, he becomes the first hitter in the majors to reach 40 homers this season, and also improves his record on the mound to 8-1 as he pitches 8 full innings for the first time of his career. The Angels defeat the Tigers, 3-1.
2021 — Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman hit for the cycle for the second time in his career as they beat the Miami Marlins 11-9.
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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Four years have passed since Hanifa Girowal fled Afghanistan on a US evacuation flight. But every August, her mind returns to the same place.
Like many Afghans evacuated amid the August 15 Taliban takeover of Kabul, Girowal, who worked in human rights under the former Afghan government, still remains stuck in “legal limbo” in the United States. She is steadfastly pursuing a more stable status in the US, even as the political landscape surrounding her, and thousands of other Afghans in similar situations, shifts.
“I somehow feel like I’m still stuck in August 2021 and all the other Augusts in between, I can’t remember anything about them,” Girowal told Al Jazeera.
She often recalls the mad dash amid a crush of bodies at the crowded Kabul International Airport: people shot in front of her, a week of hiding, a flight to Qatar, then Germany and then finally, the US state of Virginia.
Followed by the early days of trying to begin a new life from the fragments of the old.
“Everything just comes up again to the surface, and it’s like reliving that trauma we went through, and we have been trying to heal from since that day,” she said.
The struggle may have become familiar, but her disquiet has been heightened since US President Donald Trump took office on January 20. His hardline immigration policies have touched nearly every immigrant community in the US, underscoring vulnerabilities for anyone on a precarious legal status.
There is a feeling that anything could happen, from one day to the next.
“I have an approved asylum case, which gives a certain level of protection, but we still don’t know the future of certain policies on immigration,” Girowal said. “I am very much fearful that I can be subjected to deportation at any time.”
Unheeded warnings
Four years after the US withdrawal, much remains unclear about how Trump’s policies will affect Afghans who are already in the US, estimated to total about 180,000.
They arrived through a tangle of different avenues, including 75,000 flown in on evacuation flights in the immediate aftermath of the withdrawal, as the administration of US President Joe Biden undertook what it dubbed “Operation Allies Welcome“. Thousands more have since sought asylum by making treacherous journeys across the world to traverse the US southern border.
Some have relocated via so-called Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), reserved for individuals who worked directly with the US military in Afghanistan, under a notoriously backlogged programme.
Others have been resettled through a special State Department programme, known as Priority 1 (P1) and Priority 2 (P2), launched by the administration of President Biden, meant for Afghans who face persecution for having worked in various capacities on behalf of the US government or with a US-based organisation in Afghanistan.
Adam Bates, a supervisory policy counsel at the International Refugee Assistance Programme, explained that some of those pathways, most notably the SIV and refugee programmes, provide a clear course towards US residency and, eventually, citizenship.
But, he clarified, others do not – a fact that advocates have warned leaves members of the population subject to perpetual uncertainty and political whims.
“A lot of the advocacy to the Biden administration officials was about finding more permanent legal pathways for Afghans,” Bates told Al Jazeera. “That was with one eye towards the potential of giving the Trump administration this opportunity to really double down and target this community.”
Pressure on Afghans in the US
During Trump’s new term, his administration has taken several concrete – and at times contradictory – moves that affect Afghans living in the US.
It ended “temporary protected status” (TPS) for Afghans already in the country at the time of the Taliban takeover, arguing the country shows “an improved security situation” and “stabilising economy”, a claim contradicted by several human rights reports.
At the same time, the Trump administration added Afghanistan to a new travel ban list, restricting visas for Afghans, saying such admissions broadly run counter to US “foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism”.
These actions underscore that “the situation in Afghanistan seems to be whatever it needs to be, from the Trump administration’s perspective,” according to Bates.
Trump has offered his contradictory messaging, criticising the Biden administration on the campaign trail for its handling of the withdrawal, and as recently as July, pledging to “save” evacuated Afghans subject to deportation from the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, the administration terminated a special status for those who entered the US via the CBP One app in April, potentially affecting thousands of Afghans who entered via the southern border.
Advocates warn that many more Afghans may soon be facing another legal cliff. After being evacuated in 2021, tens of thousands of Afghans were granted humanitarian parole, a temporary status that allowed them to legally live and work in the US for two years, with an extension granted in 2023. That programme is soon set to end.
While many granted the status have since sought other legal avenues, most often applying for asylum or SIVs, an unknown number could be rendered undocumented and subject to deportation when the extension ends. Legislation creating a clearer pathway to citizenship has languished in Congress for years.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not publicly released how many evacuated Afghans remain in the US on humanitarian parole, and did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for the data.
Evacuated Afghans’ unease has been compounded by Trump’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement, which has increasingly seen those without criminal histories targeted for deportations and permanent residents targeted for their political advocacy.
“It’s just an escalation across the board and a compounding of fear and instability in this community,” Bates said. “It’s hard to make life decisions if you aren’t sure what’s going to happen tomorrow or next week or in a year”.
‘Pulled the rug out’
Meanwhile, for the thousands of Afghans continuing to seek safety in the US from abroad, pathways have been severely constricted or have become completely blocked.
The Trump administration has paused asylum claims at the US southern border, citing a national emergency. It has almost completely suspended the US Refugee Program (USRAP), allowing only a trickle of new refugees in amid an ongoing legal challenge by rights groups.
Advocates say the special P1 and P2 programme created for Afghan refugees appears to have been completely halted under Trump. The administration has not published refugee admission numbers since taking office, and did not reply to Al Jazeera’s request for data.
“It feels as if we have pulled the rug out from many of our Afghan allies through these policy changes that strip legal protection for many Afghans in the US and limit pathways for Afghans who are still abroad to come to the US safely,” Kristyn Peck, the chief executive officer of the Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, told Al Jazeera.
She noted that the SIV pipeline has continued to operate under Trump, although there have been some limitations, including requiring those approved for relocation to pay for their own travel.
Meanwhile, resettlement agencies like Lutheran have been forced to seriously curtail their operations following a stop-work order from the administration on January 24. As of March, Peck said, the organisation has been forced to let go of about 120 of its staff.
Susan Antolin, the executive director of Women for Afghan Women, a non-profit organisation that offers mental health, legal and social support to Afghans in the US, said organisations like hers are also bracing for sustained uncertainty.
“We are diversifying our funding and trying very hard, as so many other organisations are, to find other avenues to bring in that funding to continue to support our programmes,” she told Al Jazeera. “As organisations that deal with this kind of work, we have to step up. We have to do 10 times more, or 100 times more, of the work.”
‘No more a priority for the world’
The unstable situation in the US reflects a broader global trend.
The Taliban government, despite promising reforms in a push for international recognition, has continued to be accused of widespread human rights abuses and revenge killings. Still, it has upgraded diplomatic ties with several governments in recent years, and in July, Russia became the first country to formally recognise the group as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
At the same time, the governments of Pakistan and Iran have accelerated expulsions of Afghans back to Afghanistan, with more than 1.4 million Afghans either being expelled or leaving Iran alone from January to July of 2025, according to UNHCR.
The Reuters news agency also reported in July that the UAE had notified Washington that it had begun returning evacuated Afghans.
Germany, too, has begun deporting Afghans back to Afghanistan, in July, it conducted its second deportation flight since the Taliban came to power, despite continuing not to recognise or maintain diplomatic ties with the group.
The collective moves send a clear message, evacuee Girowal said: “We know that Afghanistan is no more a priority for the world.”
Still, she said she has not abandoned hope that the US under Trump’s leadership will “not forget its allies”.
“I know the resilience of our own Afghan community. We are trained to be resilient wherever we are and fight back as much as we can,” she said.
A storybook ending. A cathartic late-game breakthrough. The kind of dramatic, momentum-shifting triumph to finally give the Dodgers some much-needed life.
In the top of the ninth inning at Angel Stadium on Tuesday night, Shohei Ohtani lifted the team to the verge of a narrative-changing victory, breaking a tie score with the kind of swing that could have catapulted them into the season’s closing stretch.
With former Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen on the mound, and a split crowd in Anaheim rising to its feet, Ohtani blasted a go-ahead home run deep to right field. He flipped his bat and emphatically smacked his hands together. He screamed toward a euphoric Dodgers dugout that was going raucously wild.
“Big hit right there,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Obviously, you felt it in the dugout.”
What the Dodgers felt next, however, might last much longer.
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SPARKS
From Ira Gorawara: Almost hidden in a mocha pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, and wearing those same fire-red Air Jordans from his Aug. 4 return to Los Angeles, Clippers royalty Chris Paul adorned the Sparks’ bench.
And though the 20-year veteran barely lifted a palm — leaving the cheering to his wife and daughter — Paul’s court savvy still seemed to seep across the hardwood, finding its way to the Sparks’ Kelsey Plum.
Plum, who can very well be the tale of any Sparks game, but “chooses to win,” as coach Lynne Roberts says, seemed to be scoring and assisting at will through a coast-to-coast battle against the New York Liberty, a tug-of-war that stayed taut until the rope finally slipped from the Sparks’ grasp, 105-97.
About three minutes before halftime, Brink sat on the bench while trainers wrapped her left ankle during a Sparks timeout. She never joined the team’s halftime huddle as play resumed after the break, and when she finally emerged at the 6:17 mark in the third quarter, she watched the rest of the game from her seat.
From Eduard Cauich: Jaime Jaquez Jr., who is preparing for his third season in the NBA with the Miami Heat, and his sister Gabriela Jaquez, a standout player for the UCLA Bruins and the Mexican national basketball team, set aside their own workouts to lead others through some familiar drills.
The siblings recently hosted a summer camp for about 180 participants ages 6 to 16 at the Sports Academy facilities in Thousand Oaks. The three-hour camp aimed to promote basketball skills, discipline and a passion for the sport among children and teens. Some participants traveled from other states to attend the camp.
“It’s good to come back and give something back to the community, especially in a place where we grew up. Being able to do this is special,” said Jaime, who grew up in Camarillo, shone for four years at UCLA and has represented Mexico in international tournaments.
As a rookie, Ladd McConkey studied Allen’s practice film on his team-issued iPad, trying to absorb lessons from one of the league’s best route runners — the very player whose rookie records for receptions and receiving yards McConkey would eventually surpass.
“You sit in team meetings, pull up your iPad and just watch,” McConkey said. “Watching his one-on-one stuff from previous years, when he was here. I’m going to check this out, see what he’s got.”
Now, the 33-year-old Allen and 23-year-old McConkey are inseparable on the field. Throughout practice, McConkey picks the veteran’s brain — something he says “would be dumb if I didn’t.”
From Kevin Baxter: The Galaxy are the worst team in Major League Soccer. That’s not subjective opinion, it’s objective fact. Just look at the MLS standings, where the Galaxy are dead last after Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders, a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score would indicate.
But the Galaxy are also one of the four best teams in Major League Soccer. That, too, is not subjective opinion but objective fact because, after an unbeaten run through Leagues Cup group play, the Galaxy are one of just four MLS teams to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.
How can both things be true simultaneously? That’s a good question — and one that can be only be answered subjectively.
“It takes time for a group to come together and a team to find out who they are,” Galaxy general manager Will Kuntz offered. “We had to discover ourselves a little bit.”
1919 — Upset scores a win against Man o’ War in the Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga. The defeat is Big Red’s only loss in 21 starts.
1933 — Gene Sarazen wins the PGA Championship by defeating Willie Goggin 5 and 4 in the final round.
1935 — The first roller derby begins in Chicago by promoter Leo Seltzer.
1987 — Jackie Joyner-Kersee equals the world record in the women’s long jump — 24 feet, 5½ inches — in the Pan American Games at Indianapolis. She matches the mark set in 1986 by Heike Dreschler of East Germany.
1995 — Cuba’s Ana Quirot, severely burned in a 1993 kitchen accident, wins the 800 meters at the world championships at Gothenburg, Sweden.
1995 — Steve Elkington shoots a final-round 64 and birdies the first playoff hole to beat Colin Montgomerie and win the PGA Championship. The 64 is the lowest final round by a PGA Championship winner.
1997 — Wilson Kipketer topples Sebastian Coe’s 16-year-old record in the 800 meters, finishing in 1 minute, 41.24 seconds in Zurich, Switzerland. Haile Gebrselassie also shatters his own 5,000 record with a time of 12 minutes, 41.86 seconds.
2002 — Natalie Coughlin breaks the 100-meter backstroke world record, timed in 59.58 seconds at the U.S. national championships. She is the first American to hold the world record since Catherine Ferguson in 1966.
2008 — Michael Phelps swims into history as the winningest Olympic athlete with his 10th and 11th career gold medals and five world records in five events at the Beijing Games. He wins the 200-meter butterfly and swims leadoff for the U.S. 800 freestyle relay team.
2016 — The U.S. women’s 4×100-meter medley relay team of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer and Simone Manuel — winners at the Rio Games — delivers the nation’s 1,000th gold medal in Summer Olympics history.
2016—Michael Phelps closes the Rio Olympics with a gold medal in the butterfly leg of the 4×100 medley relay. Phelps finishes his career with 28 medals, having won five golds and a silver at these games.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1910 — The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates played to an 8-8 tie. Each team had 38 at-bats, 13 hits, 12 assists, two errors, five strikeouts, three walks, one hit batsman and one passed ball.
1921 — George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns became the first batter in American League history to hit for the cycle twice. Sisler went 5-for-5 and drove in three runs in a 7-5, 10-inning win over the Detroit Tigers.
1921 — John “Mule” Watson of the Boston Braves pitched two complete-game victories over the Philadelphia Phillies.
1931 — Tony Cuccinello of the Cincinnati Reds had six hits in six at-bats in the first game of a doubleheader at Boston. Cuccinello had a triple, two doubles and three singles to knock in five runs as the Reds won 17-3. Cuccinello hit a three-run homer in the eighth of the nightcap to give the Reds a 4-2 win.
1939 — The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics 21-0 to equal the major-league record for lopsided shutouts. Every batter in the Yankees lineup hit safely. Joe DiMaggio and Babe Dahlgren had two home runs apiece, each hitting an inside-the-parker. Pitcher Red Ruffing had four hits and drove in three runs.
1948 — Satchel Paige, 42, pitched his first major league complete game against the Chicago White Sox. Paige gave up five hits en route to 5-0 Cleveland victory.
1957 — Milwaukee pitcher Lew Burdette hit his first two home runs to lead the Braves to a 12-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
1969 — Jim Palmer of the Orioles, plagued by arm trouble the year before, threw an 8-0 no-hitter against the Oakland A’s in Baltimore.
1979 — St. Louis’ Lou Brock reached 3,000 hits with an infield hit off Chicago Cubs pitcher Dennis Lamp. St. Louis won 3-2.
2004 — Kansas City rookies Abraham Nunez and John Buck hit grand slams to lead the Royals past the Oakland Athletics 10-3.
2005 — New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera blew his first save since April 6 in a 7-5 win over Texas. Rivera had converted a career-best 31 consecutive saves before allowing Kevin Mench’s two-run, tying single in the ninth.
2013 — Paul Goldschmidt hit the first pitch of the 11th inning for a game-ending home run after leading off the ninth with a tying homer, to help Arizona beat Baltimore 4-3 with a winning blast for the second straight night.
2015 — The Toronto Blue Jays won their 11th straight game, beating the Oakland Athletics 4-2. The AL East leaders also won 11 in a row in June, becoming the first team with winning streaks of at least 11 since Cleveland in 1954.
2016 — Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge became the first teammates to hit home runs in the first at-bats of their major league debuts in the same game, sparking the New York Yankees to an 8-4 win over Tampa Bay.
2018 — Ronald Acuna Jr. hit leadoff homers in both games of a doubleheader for the Atlanta Braves.
2020 — Mookie Betts hits three home runs for the sixth time in his career in an 11-2 win over the Padres. The three home run game ties Betts with Johnny Mize and Sammy Sosa for the most all-time although Betts reached the total in 813 games while Mize needed 1,884 and Sosa 2,364.
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 [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
From Jack Harris: On the first day of spring training, at a Camelback Ranch facility adorned with ever-present reminders of the team’s 2024 World Series title, a Dodgers staff member took in the scene, then chuckled while reflecting on the club’s trek to a championship.
“Last year was not a fun year,” the staff member said. “At least, not until the end.”
Indeed, in the afterglow of the franchise’s first full-season title in more than three decades, the turbulent path getting there became easy to forget.
Last season’s Dodgers dealt with a wave of injuries to the pitching staff, inconsistencies in the lineup, and the club’s lowest full regular-season win total (98) in six years.
Fast-forward six months, and this year’s Dodgers find themselves in a similar place.
They are again navigating absences on the mound and in the bullpen over the last several weeks. Their offense has gone from leading the majors in scoring over the first half of the season, to suddenly sputtering over the last month and a half.
And after a 7-4 loss to the Angels on Monday, in the opener of a three-game Freeway Series at Angel Stadium, they are on pace for only 92 victories with a 68-51 record, clinging to what has dwindled to just a one-game lead in the National League West over the San Diego Padres.
Instead, the 37-year-old quarterback with a back issue was in a shiny metal Airstream-like trailer that sat next to the field and was emblazoned with the Ammortal logo. The chamber offers “absolute state of the art in restoration and rejuvenation,” according to the company’s website.
“It wasn’t anything specifically related to his back that he was doing in there,” coach Sean McVay said.
Hmm…
Stafford’s back, specifically what McVay has described as an aggravated disc, has been the overarching story for a Rams team that will be regarded as a Super Bowl contender if the 17-year pro is physically sound enough to lead them.
From Steve Henson: The pay is nonexistent, but the perk could be viewing games in the U.S., Mexico and Canada for free during the FIFA World Cup next summer.
FIFA launched the application process for the World Cup volunteers Monday. How many are needed? A staggering 65,000 across the 16 cities that will host the expanded 48-team format over 39 days beginning June 11, the largest volunteer program FIFA has ever attempted.
“Volunteers are the heart, soul and smile of FIFA tournaments,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said. “They get to show off their local pride, gain a behind-the-scenes view of the tournament and make memories and friendships that can last a lifetime, while supporting a historic event.
“We hope interested individuals will join us as we welcome the world to North America in 2026.”
Volunteers in the past ranged from students to seniors. No experience is required but applicants must be at least 18 years old. Interested individuals can apply at fifaworldcup.com/volunteers.
1876 — Madeleine wins two straight heats over Canada’s Countess of Dufferin to defend the America’s Cup.
1936 — Rosalind, driven by Ben White, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats.
1937 — Shirley Hanover, driven by Henry Thomas, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats.
1942 — The Ambassador, driven by Ben White, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in the third heat.
1953 — Helicopter, driven by Harry Harvey, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in the third heat.
1978 — Cold Comfort, driven by 23-year-old Peter Haughton, ties the International Trot mark of 2:31 3-5 at Roosevelt Raceway which makes Haughton the youngest driver to win the International.
1990 — Wayne Grady of Australia sheds his runner-up image with a 3-stroke victory over Fred Couples in the PGA Championship.
1995 — Ernie Els sets a PGA record with the lowest three-day score in a major. Els, with a 197, holds a three-stroke lead in the PGA Championship.
2000 — Evander Holyfield scores a 12-round unanimous decision over John Ruiz in Las Vegas to win the vacant WBA heavyweight title.
2007 — Tiger Woods captures the PGA Championship to win at least one major for the third straight season and run his career total to 13. Woods closes with a 1-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Woody Austin.
2008 — American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins his 3rd of 8 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics when he takes the 200m freestyle in world record 1:42.96.
2011 — Tiger Woods misses the cut at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. With one final bogey for a 3-over 73, Woods finishes out of the top 100 for the first time ever in a major. He is 15 shots behind Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley.
2012 — The U.S. men’s basketball team defend its title by fighting off another huge challenge from Spain, pulling away in the final minutes for a 107-100 victory and its second straight Olympic championship. The victory by the men’s basketball team gives the United States its 46th gold medal in London, the most ever by Americans in a “road” Olympics.
2012 — Rory McIlroy breaks the PGA Championship record for margin of victory that Jack Nicklaus set in 1980. McIlroy sinks one last birdie from 25 feet on the 18th hole to give him a 6-under 66 for an eight-shot victory. McIlroy closes out a remarkable week by playing bogey-free over the final 23 holes of a demanding Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C.
2016 — Katie Ledecky caps off one of the greatest performances in Olympic history with her fourth gold medal and second world record, shattering her own mark in the 800-meter freestyle. Ledecky is the first woman since Debbie Meyer swept the three longer freestyle events at the same Olympics. Meyer took the 200, 400 and 800 at the 1968 Mexico Games.
2017 — Usain Bolt ends his stellar career in excruciating pain. The Jamaican great crumples to the track with a left-leg injury while chasing a final gold medal for the Jamaican 4×100-meter relay team at the world championships in London. Having to make up lots of ground on the anchor leg, Bolt suddenly screams and stumbles as he comes down with the first injury he has experienced at a major competition.
2018 — Brooks Koepka wins his first PGA Championship, playing poised and mistake-free golf down the stretch amid ear-splitting roars for Tiger Woods and a late charge from revitalized Adam Scott. Koepka becomes the fifth player to win the U.S. Open and the PGA in the same year.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1948 — In the second game of a doubleheader, the Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns 26-3 with a 29-hit barrage. The Indians set a major league record as 14 players hit safely.
1964 — Mickey Mantle hit a home run both left- and right-handed in a 7-3 win over the Chicago White Sox. It was the 10th time in his career, a major league record.
1966 — Art Shamsky of the Cincinnati Reds connected for three home runs in a 14-11, 13-inning loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Crosley Field. Two of the homers came in the 10th and 11th innings.
1970 — Curt Flood lost his $41-million antitrust suit against baseball.
1974 — Nolan Ryan of the Angels set an American League record by striking out 19 in a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. Ryan, who walked two, bettered the 18 strikeouts set by Bob Feller in 1938 and tied the major league record set by Steve Carlton in 1969 and Tom Seaver in 1970.
1984 — Perhaps one of the ugliest brawl-filled games in major league history took place in Atlanta. Atlanta’s Pascual Perez hit San Diego’s Alan Wiggins in the back with the first pitch of the game. It escalated as the Padres pitchers retaliated by throwing at Perez all four times he came to the plate. The game had two bench-clearing brawls, the second of which included several fans and 19 ejections including both managers and both replacement managers. The Braves beat the Padres 5-3. San Diego manager Dick Williams would be suspended for 10 days and fined $10,000 while Atlanta manager Joe Torre and five players each received three-game suspensions.
1986 — Don Baylor of the Boston Red Sox set an AL record when he was hit by a pitch for the 25th time for the season, breaking the record he had shared with Bill Freehan (1968) and Norm Elberfield (1911). Kansas City’s Bud Black was the pitcher as the Royals completed a doubleheader sweep with a 6-5 victory.
1988 — The Boston Red Sox set an AL record with their 23rd straight victory at home, beating the Detroit Tigers 9-4. Boston surpassed the league mark of 22 set by the 1931 Philadelphia Athletics.
1994 — Major league baseball players went on strike for the sport’s eighth work stoppage since 1972.
1998 — Alex Rodriguez becomes the fourth youngest player to 100 home runs in a 11-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
2010 — Casey McGehee set a franchise record with his ninth straight hit, going 4 for 4 and leading the Milwaukee Brewers to an 8-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. McGehee had a solo homer, a two-run double, an RBI single and another single.
2015 — Clayton Kershaw tied Sandy Koufax’s franchise record of six straight 200-strikeout seasons while tossing eight scoreless innings, and Los Angeles defeated Washington 3-0. Kershaw struck out the side in the second to equal the mark set by Koufax from 1961-66.
2015 — Hisashi Iwakuma of the Seattle Mariners throws a no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the Orioles. Iwakuma becomes the second Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter following Hideo Nomo.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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Despite this, his arrival in Wisconsin was delayed as he waited to be granted a visa, which he received last week, leading to him landing in the US the night before the game.
“I landed at about 11pm [the night before the game],” he told reporters after the game.
“The Packers and the immigration lawyers have been great with me in just getting it done, it’s not an easy thing to get a visa. It felt like a long time, but it was only two weeks. It was really quick and I’m really grateful to be here.
“It feels like it’s the beginning, it’s a good moment for me and my family.”
Elsewhere, Derry native Jude McAtamney kicked a 43-yard field goal and an extra point in the New York Giants’ 34-25 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.
From Anthony De Leon: Rashawn Slater, the Chargers’ star left tackle who became the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history last month, sustained a torn patellar tendon in practice and will undergo season-ending surgery, the team announced Thursday.
Slater went down in team drills after going up against edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu. As Slater planted his left foot, he collapsed to the ground and immediately grabbed his leg.
A quiet hush fell over the Chargers’ facility while Slater stayed down for several minutes before trainers and teammates helped him onto a cart. Slater appeared visibly distraught — throwing his helmet, slamming his hand on the cart and burying his face in his hands. Several teammates walked over to console him before he left the field.
Two trainers supported him as he entered the team facility. He was unable to put any weight on his left leg.
But not at SoFi Stadium, where the Rams will play the Dallas Cowboys in a preseason game.
Coach Sean McVay said Thursday that the back issue that has sidelined Stafford since the start of training camp was related to an aggravated disc, and that Stafford recently received an epidural from spine specialist Dr. Robert Watkins.
Stafford will go through a workout at the Rams’ Woodland Hill facility Saturday morning.
From Ira Gorawara: When Julie Vanloo drew her second traveling violation before halftime, the crowd’s disapproval rose in unison.
On the floor, with tempers simmering on the Sparks’ bench, a delay-of-game whistle drew another round of jeers from the Crypto.com Arena crowd.
The calls weren’t the only sources of frustration for the Sparks — the team also was trailing the last-place Connecticut Sun by 10 points.
Still, the flare-up might have been what the Sparks needed to rally to a 102-91 victory over the Sun to earn their eighth win in nine games.
“Since the beginning of the season, I’ve been optimistic about what this team would look like and why I want to be here and why I want to continue to be here,” Dearica Hamby said. “[This team is] one of the fastest teams I’ve been with. … We’re not done yet, we’ve got a lot more to accomplish.”
From Ben Bolch: UCLA’s defense, the biggest unknown on the team a year ago, is facing even more questions.
A slew of players moved on to the NFL. No full-time starters return. Success will depend on several players with promising pedigrees but limited college production becoming playmakers.
As he stepped off a team bus Wednesday afternoon in Costa Mesa amid the warmest day of training camp, the temperature reaching 82 degrees before warmup stretches, Key Lawrence did not appear to feel any sort of heat, literal or figurative. The transfer safety who has made previous college stops at Tennessee, Oklahoma and Mississippi was humming a tune, savoring every moment of this new opportunity.
From Eric Sondheimer: The Little League team from Honolulu has a chance to become a three-time world champion.
Winners of the Little League World Series in 2018 and 2022, the team from Hawaii earned a spot in this year’s World Series on Thursday night with a 4-1 win over Fullerton Golden Hill in San Bernardino. They will travel to Williamsport, Pa., where the World Series begins on Wednesday.
Golden Hill’s only two losses came from Honolulu, including a 1-0 loss to start the tournament. It was the first time in the league’s 69-year history that a team had advanced to the West Region final.
Pitcher Bronson Fermahin took advantage of his team scoring three runs in the first two innings by throwing lots of strikes. He had eight strikeouts through the first four innings and finished with 11 in 5 ⅔ innings before Golden Hill pushed across a run with two outs in the sixth.
1902 — The United States, led by William Larned, beats Britain three matches to two to capture the Davis Cup.
1903 — Britain wins the Davis Cup by beating the United States 4-1.
1936 — At the Berlin Olympics, the United States finishes 1-2-3 in the men’s decathlon. Glenn Morris sets a world record with 7,900 points, followed by Robert Clark and Jack Parker.
1981 — Shiaway St. Pat, driven by Ray Remmen, wins the first Hambletonian Stakes run at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. in four heats.
1982 — Ray Floyd, who shot a record 63 in the opening round, wins the PGA championship by three shots over Lanny Wadkins.
1984 — Carl Lewis sets the Olympic record in the 200 meters with a 19.80 clocking.
1987 — Mack Lobell, driven by John Campbell, wins the Hambletonian in straight heats with a record-smashing performance. Mack Lobell wins the second heat, and the race, by 6¼ lengths over Napoletano in 1:53 3-5, a fifth of a second off the world all-age trotting record set by Prakas in 1985.
1992 — The Dream Team picks up its gold medal and Carl Lewis anchors a world-record 400-meter relay, winning his eighth gold medal in three Olympics. The U.S. basketball team beats Croatia 117-85, with the 32-point margin of victory the smallest of the Games. In the 400, Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell and Lewis set a world record of 37.40 seconds. Steve Lewis anchors another world-record as the Americans won the 1,600 relay by nearly half the length of a football field. The team of Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Michael Johnson and Lewis ran the 1,600 in 2:55.74.
2006 — Roger Goodell is chosen as the NFL’s next commissioner. Favored for months to get the job, he is unanimously elected by the league’s 32 owners on the fifth ballot.
2010 — Sparks forward Tina Thompson scores 23 points to become the WNBA’s all-time scoring leader in a 92-83 loss to the San Antonio Silver Stars. She surpasses Lisa Leslie’s career total of 6,263 points. Thompson is the last of the original WNBA players.
2012 — Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States become the first three-time gold medalists in Olympic beach volleyball history. The duo beat Jennifer Kessy and April Ross 21-16, 21-16 in the all-American final, extending their Olympic winning streak to 21 matches.
2012 — Brittney Reese wins the long jump, becoming the first U.S. woman to win the Olympic long jump since Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1988. Caster Semenya makes her Olympic debut three years after being forced to undergo gender tests, finishing second in her 800 heat.
2015 — Katie Ledecky ends her world swimming championships in spectacular style, lowering her own world record by 3.61 seconds in the 800-meter freestyle for her fifth gold medal. The 18-year-old American completes a sweep of the 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyles in Kazan, Russia. She was the anchor leg on the victorious 4×200 free relay, too.
2018 — The NCAA Board of Governors and Division I Board of Directors adopt a “series of significant policy and legislative changes” as part of an effort to “fundamentally” change the NCAA’s structure. The NCAA changes eligibility rules, allowing top prospects to hire agents in high school and giving college players more leeway to return after declaring for NBA draft.
2021 — USA women’s basketball team wins it’s record extending 7th consecutive Olympic gold medal with 90-75 win over Japan in Tokyo; guards Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi each win their 5th straight gold.
2021 — USA Women’s volleyball defeats Brazil in straight sets to win the gold medal. It’s the first olympic gold medal in USA Women’s volleyball history. The win gives the United States 39 gold medals, breaking a tie with China on the final day of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1903 — A week after pitching his first doubleheader triumph, Joe “Iron Man” McGinnity of the New York Giants scored a double victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers 6-1 and 4-3. In the second game, he stole home.
1915 — Philadelphia’s Gavy Cravath hit four doubles and drove in eight runs in a 14-7 victory over the Reds at Cincinnati.
1920 — Howard Ehmke of the Detroit Tigers pitched the fastest 1-0 game in American League history — 1 hour, 13 minutes, for a victory against the New York Yankees.
1931 — Bob Burke of the Washington Senators pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox.
1954 — The Brooklyn Dodgers pounded the Cincinnati Reds 20-7 at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers scored 13 runs in the eighth inning after two were out.
1973 — Designated hitter Orlando Cepeda hit four doubles as the Boston Red Sox posted a 9-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
1985 — Baseball, after a two-day walkout, resumed playing with 18 games scheduled, including five doubleheaders.
1988 — The first night game scheduled in the 74-year history of Chicago’s Wrigley Field’s was postponed with the Cubs leading the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 after heavy rains started in the bottom of the fourth inning. Philadelphia’s Phil Bradley led off the game with a home run, but all numbers were wiped out when the rain came.
1992 — Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley had his consecutive save record snapped at 40. His consecutive save records — 36 straight to start a season, and 40 straight over two seasons — ended trying to protect a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals. Eckersley gave up a two-out, two-run single to Gregg Jefferies to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. But the Athletics came back to win the game in the ninth, 5-3.
1997 — Randy Johnson struck out 19, matching the major league record for left-handers he had tied earlier this season, as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Chicago White Sox 5-0.
1998 — Paul Molitor stole his 500th base in Minnesota’s 6-3 loss to Baltimore become the fifth player with 3,000 hits and 500 steals. Molitor joined Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins and Lou Brock.
2000 — Darren Dreifort of the Dodgers hit two homers and was the winning pitcher in a 7-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
2001 — Damion Easley went 6-for-6 with a home run and three RBIs as Detroit pounded Texas 19-6.
2014 — Bartolo Colon records the 200th win of his career in the Mets’ 5-4 win over the Phillies.
2016 — Brandon Crawford became the first major league player in 41 years to get seven hits in a game, putting the San Francisco Giants ahead to stay with an RBI single in the 14th inning of an 8-7 victory over the Miami Marlins. Crawford tripled, doubled and had five singles in eight at-bats.
2018 — Milwaukee’s Jesus Aguilar, Travis Shaw and Eric Thames hit consecutive first-inning homers to spoil the debut of San Diego’s Brett Kennedy in the Brewers 8-4 win over the Padres.
2018 — Jacob deGrom struck out 10 over six innings, received rare significant run support and earned his first win in nearly two months as the New York Mets blanked the Cincinnati Reds 8-0. Brandon Nimmo tied a team record with three doubles and drove in three runs as the Mets won for the 22nd time in their last 66 games. DeGrom (6-7) ended a seven-start winless streak, allowing four hits in a 100-pitch outing and lowering his major league-leading ERA to 1.77.
Compiled by the Associated Press
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From Kevin Baxter: Only one player in the last 110 years has tried to do what the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani is doing this season, which is to pitch and hit successfully at the big-league level.
Babe Ruth twice won more than 20 games and led the American League in ERA and starts before the Red Sox, then the Yankees, decided pitching was distracting from Ruth’s hitting and put him out to pasture in right field.
Over the next three seasons, Ruth broke the major league record for home runs three times.
The Dodgers and Ohtani insist he’ll remain a two-way player for the time being, but recent performances suggests both the Red Sox and Yankees may have been on to something when they took Ruth off the mound.
Ohtani made his eighth start of the year Wednesday and it was his best as a Dodger, with the right-hander giving up just a tainted run on two hits and striking out a season-high eight in four innings. Perhaps more important, he also slugged his first home run in 10 games in the third inning of a 5-3 matinee loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
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ANGELS
Junior Caminero hit his 29th and 30th homers, Christopher Morel had a go-ahead shot and six Tampa Bay pitchers combined to strike out 16 in the Rays’ 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
Caminero hit a career-long 447-foot shot with a man on in the first, and had a solo homer in the third. Morel was 0 for 6 with six strikeouts in the series before hitting his solo homer in the seventh.
It was Caminero’s third two-homer game this season and he reached 101 RBIs for his career.
From Kevin Baxter: A woman will umpire a major league game for the first time Saturday when Jen Pawol works the bases during Saturday’s doubleheader between the Atlanta Braves and visiting Miami Marlins at Truist Park.
For Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, that announcement Wednesday brought one response: It’s about time.
“That’s great. I’ll be watching,” he said of Pawol, who will work behind the plate Sunday. “It’s good for the game. It’s fantastic.”
The NHL is the only major U.S. pro sport that hasn’t used female officials. The NBA was the first league to break the gender barrier, with Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner calling games in 1997. MLS followed a year later with Sandra Hunter and Nancy Lay-McCormick refereeing separate games on the same day. The NFL’s first woman official was line judge Shannon Eastin, who made her debut in 2012.
Like Ohtani, Son Heung-min has been the most popular athlete in his home country by a wide margin for close to a decade. Like Ohtani, Son has a pleasant disposition that has endeared him to people from a wide range of backgrounds.
Son was introduced as the latest addition to LAFC at a news conference on Wednesday at BMO Stadium, and he was everything he was made out to be.
He came across as sincere.
He was warm.
He was funny.
“I’m here to win,” Son said. “I will perform and definitely show you some exciting …
“Are we calling it football or soccer?”
None of this means Son will turn LAFC into the Dodgers overnight, of course. By this point, Major League Soccer and its teams understand that profile players aren’t transformative figures as much as they are building blocks. Son will be the newest, and perhaps most solid, block that will be stacked on the foundation established by the club’s first designated player, the now-retired Carlos Vela.
1952 — Bion Shively, 74, drives Sharp Note to victory in the third heat of the Hambletonian Stakes.
1982 — Speed Bowl wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats with 25-year-old Tom Haughton in the sulky, the youngest to win the Hambletonian.
1983 — Norway’s Grete Waitz takes the women’s marathon in the first world track and field championships at Helsinki, Finland.
1992 — Sergei Bubka, the world record-holder and defending Olympic champion, fails to clear a height in the pole vault.
2005 — Justin Gatlin dominates the 100 meters at the track and field championships in Helsinki. The Olympic champion wins in 9.88 seconds, finishing 0.17 seconds ahead of Michael Frater of Jamaica. The margin of victory is the largest in the 10 world championships held since the meet’s inception in 1983.
2012 — Aly Raisman becomes the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold on floor. She picks up a bronze on balance beam on the final day of gymnastics at the London Olympics and just misses a medal in the all-around.
2016 — Jim Furyk becomes the first golfer to shoot a 58 in PGA Tour history. Three years after Furyk became the sixth player on tour with a 59, he takes it even lower in the Travelers Championship with a 12-under 58 in the final round.
2016 — American swimmer Katie Ledecky sets a new world record with a time of 3:56.46 to win the gold medal in the women’s 400m freestyle at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
2021 — Kevin Durant with 29 points leads USA to his third and the team’s 4th consecutive Olympic men’s basketball gold medal with an 87-82 win over France in Tokyo.
2021 — Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra wins his country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1907 — Walter Johnson won the first of his 417 victories, leading the Washington Senators past the Cleveland Indians 7-2.
1922 — Ken Williams of the St. Louis Browns hit two home runs in the sixth inning of rout over the Washington Senators.
1923 — Cleveland’s Frank Bower went 6-for-6 with a double and five singles as the Indians routed the Washington Senators 22-2.
1956 — The largest crowd in minor league history, 57,000, saw 50-year-old Satchel Paige of Miami beat Columbus in an International League game at the Orange Bowl.
1963 — Jim Hickman of the New York Mets hit for the cycle in a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at the Polo Grounds. Hickman’s cycle came in single-double-triple-homer order.
1985 — The strike by the Major League Baseball Players Association ended with the announcement of a tentative agreement. The season resumed Aug. 8.
1999 — Wade Boggs became the first player to homer for his 3,000th hit, with a two-run shot in Tampa Bay’s 15-10 loss to Cleveland. Boggs already had a pair of RBI singles when he homered off Chris Haney in the sixth inning.
2004 — Greg Maddux became the 22nd pitcher in major league history to reach 300 victories, leading the Chicago Cubs to an 8-4 victory over San Francisco.
2007 — San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hit home run No. 756 to break Hank Aaron’s storied record with one out in the fifth inning, hitting a full-count, 84-mph fastball from Washington’s Mike Bacsik. Noticeably absent were Commissioner Bud Selig and Aaron. The Nationals won 8-6.
2016 — Ichiro Suzuki tripled off the wall for his 3,000th hit in the major leagues, becoming the 30th player to reach the milestone as the Miami Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 10-7.
2016 — Manny Machado became the second player in major league history to homer in the first, second and third innings, driving in a career-high seven runs in a 10-2 victory over Chicago.
2018 — Bartolo Colon of Texas became the winningest pitcher from Latin America in the Rangers’ 11-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners. After six tries, the 45-year-old right-hander got his 246th career victory and finally broke the tie with Nicaragua’s Dennis Martinez. Colon gave up four runs and eight hits in seven innings and improved his record to 6-10.
2021 — Host nation Japan wins its first ever gold medal in Olympic baseball by defeating the United States 2-0.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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From Jack Harris: It might be a cliché this time of year, how injured players who return after the trade deadline can serve as de facto deadline acquisitions themselves.
Immediately after Muncy went down with a knee injury in early July, the club’s lineup entered a deep midseason slump. Its actual deadline acquisitions, which included only one hitter in outfielder Alex Call, had underwhelmed the fan base.
Thus, when Muncy returned to action Monday night, the Dodgers were desperately hoping the veteran slugger could provide a spark.
Twenty-four hours later, he did it with two thunderous swings.
In the Dodgers’ 12-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, Muncy officially christened his comeback with a four-for-five, four-RBI performance that included a pair of no-doubt home runs off Miles Mikolas — picking up almost exactly where he left off before suffering a July 2 knee injury that he feared would end his season.
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ANGELS
Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer and Jake Mangum had a two-run single during the Tampa Bay Rays’ seven-run fourth inning in a 7-3 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night.
Yandy Díaz scored a run and drove in another during the decisive inning in Tampa Bay’s third win in 13 games.
Ryan Pepiot (7-9) yielded five hits and two earned runs while pitching into the sixth inning for Tampa Bay, breaking his five-start winless streak.
From Ira Gorawara: The Indiana Fever arrived in Los Angeles draped in momentum: Five straight wins, a knack for winning without Caitlin Clark and betting lines tilting their way. Their tear was proof they could keep pace even with their franchise centerpiece in street clothes.
But another storyline might’ve been tucked beneath Indiana’s.
The Sparks had ripped off six wins in their previous seven outings, probably fueled by the rare luxury of having every piece of their roster back for the first time in more than a year. And by night’s end at Crypto.com Arena, they had won seven of eight, the Sparks grinding out a 100-91 victory.
“Tonight was a great step in the right direction,” guard Kelsey Plum said. “That’s an incredible team, and they’re as hot as anyone. … They got everything it takes to make a run for a championship. So for us to come out and have that level of intensity, I was really proud.”
Keenan Allen, who racked up more than 10,000 receiving yards during an 11-season stint with the Chargers before being traded away in a salary-cap move, agreed to a deal with the team Tuesday.
“Obviously, we know how good he’s been throughout his career,” Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz said, “and he’s out there on the market still, and [it was the] chance to bring someone of his caliber back we know can help us win games.”
From Gary Klein: Kyren Williams spent Tuesday morning meeting with his agent and the Rams to work out the final details of a contract extension.
The Rams running back finished the day dashing, darting and diving on the field during a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys.
“Life is good,” Williams said after the workout. “Life is good.”
It’s certainly richer.
Williams, a fourth-year pro, received a three-year extension. Terms of the deal were not announced but Williams is guaranteed about $23 million, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because the contract has not been processed.
From Kevin Baxter: LAFC’s signing of South Korean national team captain Son Heung-min appears to be one of those rare acquisitions that checks every box and helps everybody. Not only is it one of the most significant signings in MLS history, but it instantly makes LAFC better while boosting the World Cup hopes of the Korean national team and the profile of Korean soccer in the U.S.
But in few places will the influence of the signing, which is expected to be completed Tuesday, be felt more directly than in Southern California’s Korean community, the largest in the U.S.
“The Korean community has been buzzing ever since rumors of Son Heung-min’s potential move to LAFC began to spread,” said Kyeongjun Kim, a writer with the Korean Daily, the largest Korean-language media outlet in the U.S. “The fact that a player of his caliber is coming to L.A. is monumental event.
From Jad El Reda: Don’t call him a traveler. Chad Baker-Mazara said that his journey through four universities allowed him to land in the place he had been looking for since the beginning of his college basketball adventure.
Baker-Mazara, 25, arrived at USC in May. The veteran is hoping to help lead young players in the locker room and on the court after joining his fifth team since 2020.
He began his journey with at Duquesne in 2020-21, then moved on to San Diego State for the 2021-22 season in search of a better fit on the roster. He fell behind academically in San Diego and was dismissed from the team when he couldn’t catch up on classwork. Baker-Mazara then traveled to the East Coast to play for Northwest Florida State College during the 2022-23 season while getting back on track academically before landing a spot on the Auburn roster during the 2023-25 seasons.
It has been a unique journey, but he is confident that he will write the most important chapter of his basketball career with the Trojans during the upcoming season.
1958 — Glen Davis of Columbus, Ohio, sets a world record in the 400 hurdles with a time of 49.2 in Budapest, Hungary.
1966 — Muhammad Ali knocks out Brian London in the third round to retain his world heavyweight title.
1972 — South African Gary Player wins his second PGA golf championship with a two-stroke victory over Jim Jamieson and Tommy Aaron.
1978 — John Mahaffey beats Tom Watson and Jerry Pate on the second playoff hole to win the PGA Championship.
1984 — American athlete Carl Lewis wins long jump (8.54m), his second of 4 gold medals at Los Angeles Olympics.
1991 — Debbie Doom of the U.S. pitches her second consecutive perfect game in women’s softball at the Pan American Games. Doom threw a perfect game at the Netherlands Antilles in the opener and matches that performance against Nicaragua, winning 8-0.
1992 — Carl Lewis leads a U.S. sweep in the long jump in the Olympics with a mark of 28 feet, 5 1-2 inches on his first attempt. Mike Powell takes the silver and Joe Greene the bronze. Kevin Young demolishes one of track’s oldest records with a time of 46.78 seconds in the 400 hurdles. Bruce Baumgartner becomes the first American wrestler to win medals in three straight Olympics, taking the gold in the 286-pound freestyle division.
1994 — Jeff Gordon wins the Brickyard 400, the first stock car race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
1995 — Canada’s Donovan Bailey wins the 100 meters at World Track and Field Championships in Goteborg, Sweden, marking the first time since 1976 an American fails to win a medal in the event at a major meet.
2001 — Two-time champion Marion Jones is disqualified and has her string of 42 consecutive 100m final victories snapped by Zhanna Pintusevich-Block of Ukraine at the World Athletics Championships in Edmonton, Canada.
2006 — Tiger Woods (30) becomes the youngest player with 50 PGA Tour wins after a 3 stroke victory over Jim Furyk in the Buick Open.
2006 — Floyd Landis is fired by his team and the Tour de France no longer considers him its champion after his second doping sample tested positive for higher-than-allowable levels of testosterone.
2006 — Sherri Steinhauer wins the Women’s British Open for the third time, and the first since it became a major.
2008 — Sammy Villegas, a former University of Toledo basketball player, is charged with point shaving. Villegas is accused of shaving points during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.
2008 — Kim Terrell-Kearney wins the first pro championship match featuring two Black bowlers, beating Trisha Reid 216-189 in the U.S. Bowling Congress’ U.S. Women’s Open. Terrell-Kearney collects her second U.S. Women’s Open title and third career major title.
2010 — Tyson Gay upsets the defending world and Olympic champion Usain Bolt in a race between the two fastest runners in history. Gay beats the Jamaican at the DN Galan meet in 9.84 seconds at the same stadium where Bolt last lost a race two years ago. Bolt finishes second in 9.97.
2015 — Ryan Lochte becomes the first man to win the 200-meter individual medley four consecutive times at the world swimming championships. Lochte comes home strong on the freestyle lap and touches first in 1:55.81 in Kazan, Russia.
2017 — I.K. Kim won the Women’s British Open, hanging on with a 1-under 71 for a two-shot victory over Jodi Ewart Shadoff and her first major championship.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1908 — John Lush threw a six-inning, rain-shortened no-hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0. It was Lush’s second no-hitter against the Dodgers.
1933 — Pinky Higgins of the Philadelphia Athletics hit for the cycle and drove in five runs in a 12-8 win over the Washington Senators.
1952 — Satchel Paige, 46, became the oldest pitcher in major league history to pitch a complete game or a shutout when he beat Virgil Trucks and the Detroit Tigers 1-0 in 12 innings.
1972 — Hank Aaron hit his 660th and 661st career home runs to break Babe Ruth’s record for most home runs with one club. The 661st came in the 10th inning to give the Atlanta Braves a 4-3 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds.
1981 — As a result of a seven-week strike, major league baseball players approved a split-season format. The New York Yankees, Oakland A’s, Philadelphia Phillies and Dodgers were declared the first-half champions and automatically qualified for the divisional series.
1985 — The Major League Baseball Players’ Association went on strike.
1986 — The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles 13-11 in a record-setting battle of grand slams. Texas’ Toby Harrah hit a grand slam in the second inning before Larry Sheets and Jim Dwyer connected for grand slams in Baltimore’s nine-run fourth.
1988 — Rich Gossage registered his 300th career save, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-4.
1999 — Tony Gwynn went 4-for-5, singling in his first at-bat to become the 22nd major leaguer to reach 3,000 hits, as the San Diego Padres beat the Montreal Expos 12-10.
2001 — Boston’s Scott Hatteberg performed the ultimate baseball opposite. Hatteberg hit a grand slam one at-bat after lining into a triple play as the Red Sox defeated the Texas Rangers 10-7. Hatteberg lined into a triple play in the fourth inning and in the sixth he hit his second career grand slam to move Boston ahead for good.
2002 — At 32, Robb Nen became the youngest player to record 300 saves, as San Francisco beat the Chicago Cubs 11-10. Nen became the 16th member of the 300-save club.
2007 — St. Louis tied a major league record with 10 straight hits in a 10-run fifth inning, with pitcher Braden Looper and Aaron Miles getting two apiece in a 10-5 victory over San Diego.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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Aug. 5 (UPI) — Remembrances in Japan, the United States and elsewhere mark the 80th anniversaries of the only instances of atomic weapons being used in military conflict and against civilian populations.
The nature of global conflict changed permanently when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on different Japanese cities three days apart in August 1945, with combined casualty figures estimated at more than 200,000 by the end of that year.
Kunihiko Iida, 83, is among the remaining survivors and a volunteer guide at Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park, according to Korean JoongAng Daily.
He leads tours of the memorial’s exhibits and shares his own experience regarding the horrors wrought by one of the world’s two most powerful weapons that ever have been used in military conflict.
Survivors tell their stories
Iida was 3 years old and inside his family’s home that was located about a half mile from the bomb blast’s hypocenter when it detonated.
He says the blast felt as though he were thrown from a building and covered him in debris and pieces of broken glass.
Iida tried to scream, “Mommy, help!” but the words would not come out of his mouth.
Instead, his grandfather found him, and his 25-year-old mother and 4-year-old sister died within a month after each developed skin conditions, bleeding noses and exhaustion.
Iida said he developed similar symptoms, but he slowly regained his health over several years.
Iida first visited Hiroshima’s peace park when he was 60 after his aging aunt asked him to go there with her.
The park is located within the atomic bomb’s hypocenter, and Iida became a park volunteer a few years later.
“The only path to peace is nuclear weapons’ abolishment,” Iida told the Korean JoongAng Daily. “There is no other way.”
Another survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, Fumiko Doi, 86, was a 6-year-old passenger on a train that was stopped about 3 miles from the Hiroshima bomb’s hypocenter.
She saw the bomb’s bright flash and ducked as broken glass rained down upon passengers, some of whom protected her with their bodies.
Those on the street had burned hair, charcoal-black faces and tattered clothing, she said.
None of her family members died during the initial blast, but her mother and three brothers died from cancer, and her two sisters had long-term health problems.
Doi’s father was a local official and helped collect bodies from the blast, which led to him developing radiation symptoms.
Doi now lives in Fukuoka and travels to anti-war rallies to speak against nuclear weapons.
“Some people have forgotten about the atomic bombings. That’s sad,” she told the Korea JoongAng Daily.
“If one hits Japan, we will be destroyed,” she continued. “If more are used around the world, that’s the end of the Earth.”
She said the potential for a global calamity is why she continues to speak out against the development and use of nuclear weapons.
Memorial services for atomic bombing victims
Many Koreans who were in Hiroshima also were killed or became ill due to the atomic bombing.
A memorial ceremony held on Saturday at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park commemorated the Koreans who survived the bombing.
About 110 people, including many survivors and the families of bombing victims, attended to offer flowers and silent prayers, according to Nippon.com.
The Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims also enables visitors to attend memorial services and view exhibits that depict the atomic bombing and its aftermath.
Visitors also can register the names of victims from the bombing, which numbered 198,748 names as of Aug. 9, 2024.
Nagasaki is located about 750 miles and Hiroshima is about 500 miles from Tokyo in southwestern Japan.
Remembrance events also are scheduled for the two atomic bombings in locations across the United States.
Two days that changed the world
A B-29 Superfortress bomber named “Enola Gay” by its crew unleashed the “Little Boy” atomic bomb that was made from enriched uranium-235 on Aug. 6, 1945, and indiscriminately killed an estimated 140,000 of the city’s 350,000 residents.
The Little Boy bomb killed about half of all who were located within three-quarters of a mile of the blast’s hypocenter and between 80% and 100% of those located within its hypocenter, according to the city of Hiroshima.
When the Japanese emperor did not surrender unconditionally following the Hiroshima bombing, the B-29 Superfortress named “Bockscar” dropped an enriched plutonium-239 bomb called “Fat Man” on Nagasaki and its population of 200,000 on Aug. 9.
That bomb killed an estimated 40,000 and injured another 60,000 Japanese and others upon detonation, but the number of those killed rose to about 70,000 by the year’s end, according to The Manhattan Project.
An estimated 100,000 Japanese survived the attacks, which ended World War II and spared Japan and the United States from an otherwise inevitable invasion of Japan’s home islands.
About a third of Americans surveyed said the atomic bombings were justified, while about an equal amount said they were not, according to the Pew Research Center.
Another third of those surveyed said they are unsure.
South Korean residents in Japan offer flowers for Korean atomic bomb victims at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park to mark the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing in Japan on August 5, 2025. Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo
