Former James Madison linebacker Trent Hendrick — who went undrafted in the 2026 NFL draft and participated in rookie minicamps with the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs but never signed with a team — committed to UCLA football Sunday, reuniting with coach Bob Chesney and defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler in Westwood.
The former JMU linebacker exhausted his eligibility after the conclusion of the 2025 season, but Hendrick, along with 15 other football players, was granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday by a Louisiana judge to play a fifth season of college football and enter the transfer portal.
Hendrick had 106 tackles, seven tackles for a loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles last season at James Madison under Chensey’s direction. His play earned him Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors.
James Madison’s Trent Hendrick tackles Washington State’s Maxwell Woods on Nov. 22 in Harrisonburg, Va.
(Brien Aho / Getty Images)
The restraining order follows a Colorado court ruling on July 31 that granted athletes who began their collegiate careers in the 2022-23 season a fifth year of eligibility for the upcoming season. Although the Colorado ruling stated players would not be allowed to enter the transfer portal, and a federal appeal court granted the NCAA a temporary stay on the Colorado court order Friday, pausing the nationwide injunction.
It is unclear whether the Louisiana ruling covering Hendrick’s transfer will be contested.
While Hendrick reportedly considered multiple schools, including local Virginia Tech — the alma mater of his agent Zach Hoban — and Tosh Lupoi-led California, the middle linebacker opted for comfort with scheme and familiarity with the coaching staff at UCLA.
Hendrick represents a significant addition to Hitschler’s defense and should immediately fortify the center of the Bruins’ front seven.
UCLA’s run defense ranked 18th worst in the nation last season, conceding 190.4 yards per game, while JMU’s unit ranked fifth best, allowing just 85.1 yards per contest. Integral to the Dukes’ run-stopping was Hendrick, who not only captained the defense, but spearheaded the run support.
Oklahoma transfer linebacker Sammy Omosigho has handled middle linebacker duties since the start of the spring, but with the addition of Hendrick, Omosigho could slide back to the weakside linebacker slot — a position he is familiar with in his three years in Norman, Okla.
There Omosigho can elevate the team’s run stopping and use his athleticism to cover the middle of the defense sideline-to-sideline.
The addition of Hendrick could make fifth-year linebacker Jalen Woods the odd-man out in the starting defense, pushing the St. John Bosco High product to the second team alongside JMU transfer Drew Spinogatti and senior returner Donavyn Pellot.
Long before he arrived at USC, a couple days shy of his 17th birthday, Ethan “Boobie” Feaster had always been in a hurry to grow up.
He was the baby of the Feaster family, seven years younger than his next youngest sibling. But nothing about his behavior, even as a kid, suggested as much. He was always quiet, calm, determined, seemingly from birth, according to his father, Lee. When Lee Feaster encouraged Boobie at age 8 to write down his goals, and “make ‘em plain,” Boobie took the advice literally. He went straight to his bathroom mirror and copied them down. They’re still written on the bathroom mirror, to this day.
When he was 9, Boobie asked his father to buy him a football poster. Lee came in later to find it attached to the ceiling, above his bed. He asked Boobie why.
“I need it to be the first thing I see when I wake up,” Lee recalled him saying, “and the last thing I see when I go to bed.”
This, needless to say, was not exactly normal behavior for a 9-year-old. But nothing about Boobie Feaster has ever been normal. Least of all the relentless drive that would one day have everyone at USC raving and others around the nation whispering about one of the most anticipated freshman in college football.
Neither is it normal exactly for USC’s offensive-minded coach, Lincoln Riley, to enter into a season so unproven at the receiver position.. With the status of No. 1 receiver Tanook Hines still unclear less than a week out from the season opener, USC will almost certainly have to rely on a group of talented freshman receivers to hit the ground running.
That includes Boobie, who at just 17 years and three months, will be the youngest among them by a wide margin. In fact, he may be the youngest ever to suit up at USC. Feaster is the school’s youngest player dating back to when USC started recording player birth dates.
But talk to those who know Boobie best, and they’ll tell you that age, in his case, is merely a number.
“He’s always been an old soul,” said Kerry Sweeney, the receivers coach at DeSoto High in Texas.
Sweeney met Boobie when he was in the seventh grade. He’d heard about the kid’s stellar football IQ, so he tried to stump him. He asked Feaster, then barely 12, to explain the difference between cover-2 and cover-3 defenses.
Boobie Feaster looks across the field during a youth football game. The USC receiver frequently played against older kids.
(Courtesy of Lee Feaster)
“He knew exactly what it was,” Sweeney said.
What Sweeney didn’t know was that when Lee Feaster, a football coach himself, was studying game film, Boobie was right there with him. He knew a lot more than coverage schemes.
Boobie had also been playing up one — or two even — age levels. In the seventh grade, he started working with a personal receivers coach, David Robinson of D-Rob Sports & Fitness Training. A year later, Robinson had Boobie, as an eighth grader, training with former NFL receivers, such as Dez Bryant, or college receivers on their way to the NFL.
“There was no polish or anything,” Robinson said. “But he was just a natural. Natural speed, natural length, naturally tall.”
But it was his mind that continued to mystify coaches most. Even at a young age, he made sure to concern himself with the minor nuances of the playbook and the receiver position. By the time he debuted as a freshman at DeSoto, coaches already trusted him to run choice routes, which gives the receiver multiple different options based on the defensive alignment.
By the state playoffs that season, Sweeney said that Boobie was already the best receiver on a team that would produce three Division 1 wideouts.
“He was dominating,” Sweeney said, “as a freaking freshman. “
It seemed clear to everyone around him, at that point, that Boobie could handle skipping a season of high school football. So after his sophomore season, Boobie reclassified from the Class of 2027, in which he was recognized as a top-five prospect in the nation, to 2026.
His relationship with USC receivers coach Dennis Simmons was solidified by that point. They’d been introduced when Boobie was in the seventh or eighth grade — and just beginning to blow up on social media. Simmons said he was impressed by Boobie’s maturity.
“He recruited Boobie really hard,” Robinson said. “That relationship is what really kind of jump-started USC as a front-runner.”
USC never relinquished that spot. But Feaster had to wait until he enrolled at USC this summer while the other talented pass-catchers in his class got a head start.
That’s not to say he wasn’t trying to get ahead in other ways.
Boobie Feaster reaches out to catch a pass during his youth training before arriving at USC.
(Courtesy of Lee Feaster)
Lee Feaster said that before his son’s arrival at USC, Boobie was obsessing for months over USC’s playbook. He worked flashcards with Robinson and sometimes made his father line up in the street in front of their house just to commit certain plays and alignments to memory.
“Oh, he knew the playbook,” Lee Feaster said. “He knew it before he got there.”
He’s opening eyes at USC practice. During a preseason scrimmage at the Coliseum last week, Boobie burst through a sliver in USC’s defense and took a tunnel screen to the house, reminding in one play exactly why USC’s coaches thought he was ready to contribute at 17.
“He was game-ready,” wideout Terrell Anderson said, “as soon as he came in.”
How quickly he’ll actually influence a game at USC remains to be seen. The Trojans are expected to play several freshmen against San José State on Saturday, and anyone who knows Boobie will tell you it’s only a matter of time before he contributes. After all, after starting in the slot, Feaster took it upon himself to start learning the outside receiver spot.
When Boobie moved to L.A. in May, his father tagged along, just to make sure he got acclimated. His mother came shortly after that.
And they’re reminded sometimes that Feaster is still just a teenager. That he’s still got a lot of growing to do. His goals are still written on his bathroom mirror, to remind him of that every day.
But if the past is any indication, it shouldn’t be long.
“I believe, like three games in, everyone is going to be saying, ‘Who’s this freshman?” Sweeney said. “Who’s this Boobie Feaster?’”
Denis Bouanga scored late in the second half and LAFC escaped with a 1-1 draw after trailing the Portland Timbers for 75 minutes at BMO Stadium on Saturday night.
David Da Costa took a pass from Kristoffer Velde in the fourth minute and scored his third goal this season to give Portland a 1-0 lead that it carried into the 79th minute.
That’s when Bouanga used assists from Jude Terry and Aaron Long to knot the score with his 11th goal of the season.
Portland forward Vincent Janssen, who entered in the 69th minute, picked up yellow cards in the 89th and third minute of stoppage time to leave the Timbers down a man.
But, James Pantemis finished off a 10-save night for Portland (8-9-4) — including his final one on a shot by Bouanga in the final minute of stoppage time — to keep it tied.
Pantemis had five saves in the first half with four of them coming in the first 22 minutes.
Hugo Lloris turned away one shot for LAFC (10-7-5), which was coming off back-to-back 1-0 losses.
Portland is 4-1-2 in its last seven matches.
The Timbers beat LAFC on their last trip to BMO Stadium and lead the all-time series 7-6-8.
Alek Thomas is used to playing center field at Dodger Stadium.
Over parts of five seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the 26-year-old grew accustomed to being booed in L.A., all while watching baseball’s latest dynasty take shape.
“It’s funny, because they always hated me whenever I came out there in center field,” Thomas said before Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. “I was, like, ‘Come on, guys, I’m Mexican too. You don’t have to yell at me; like, we’re on the same side here.’
“But, obviously … it doesn’t matter where you’re from. ‘If you’re not a Dodgers guy, you’re not my guy.’”
Thomas, whom Arizona designated for assignment 28 games into the season before trading him to the Dodgers in May, is, well, a Dodgers guy now.
He was called up from triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday after center fielder Andy Pages sustained a hand fracture after being hit by a pitch Friday.
“Great buy-in [and] great teammate,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Thomas before the game. “Really good defender. Had a good chat with him earlier. … he’s happy to be back in the big leagues.”
One could imagine how nice it felt for Thomas to hit an RBI single in the fourth inning, in his first game with the Dodgers and the team’s 12th sellout of the season.
“It’s been a little while,” said Thomas, who has spent 55 games in Oklahoma City this year. “So, I’m super glad to be back, and happy to help the team in any way, shape or form.”
Thomas looked solid in his primary role as a defender.
Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal delivers against the Pirates at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
He also showed some hustle, turning a should-be groundout into a two-bagger in the eighth after an error by Pirates first baseman Rafael Flores Jr.
“Andy’s a great player, and speedy recovery for him,” Thomas said. “But I’m gonna try and play my brand of baseball; that’s why the Dodgers got me. So, yeah, I’m just gonna go out there and be myself.”
Tarik Skubal and the Dodgers were themselves, too, after a rough start.
The left-hander gave up three runs and three hits in the first. But Skubal recovered to earn his first win with the Dodgers (79-51), giving up five hits and striking out 11 over seven innings to earn a standing ovation upon his exit.
Teoscar Hernández, who entered with two RBIs over his past 16 games, put the Dodgers on the board with a run-scoring single in the fourth. Six pitches later, Thomas earned his RBI, shrinking the Pirates’ lead to 3-2.
Starter Jared Jones, a Whittier native, lasted four innings for the Pirates (63-68). He gave up two runs on three hits with five strikeouts. Pirates reliever Yohan Ramirez struggled in his place.
Kyle Tucker ended his 0-for-26 drought at home with a go-ahead, two-run single off Ramirez in the fifth.
Relievers Evan Phillips, Jack Dreyer and Tanner Scott combined for two shutout innings. Dreyer struck out Oneil Cruz looking to end the top of the eighth with a runner on third, fighting off the Pirates’ final gasp.
The Dodgers have now taken the three-game series against Pittsburgh and are victors of five straight games for the first time since late May.
Choose your own adventure: would you rather travel vicariously with Sean Duffy or Conan O’Brien as your guide?
“Great American Road Trip,” the reality series from the Department of Transportation starring Secretary Duffy and his family, finally launched this week on YouTube after months of delays. Originally set to premiere in June, ahead of the nation’s 250th celebration, it follows Duffy and his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, a co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” and their nine children as they travel through seven states. While the couple has roots on MTV’s “The Real World,” their new TV venture doesn’t seem destined to have the same cultural impact. The six episodes of the series — as of publication time — have just over 14,000 views combined.
Meanwhile, over on HBO Max, O’Brien is back for more unpredictable cross-cultural exchanges with the return of his travel series. Now in its third season, “Conan O’Brien Must Go” follows the comedian and podcast host around the world as he interacts with fans and provides glimpses of everyday life abroad with his blend of improvisational comedy and an affinity for situations that embrace the absurd. The season kicks off with a trip to India, a major feat considering the show has faced years of permit delays related to a remote segment for “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” that aired in 2004. I spoke with executive producer and director Mike Sweeney about the latest stops in the show’s world tour.
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Plus, our writers recommend two TV dramas that feature formidable women — one is a former city slicker solving mysteries in the Montana wilderness, the other is a detective trying to untangle a missing woman’s case while her personal life is falling apart.
But before I set you on your streaming way, I want to also share our guide to some of Hayden Panettiere’s most notable work. When news broke this week about her sudden death at age 36, it came as an extraordinary shock. Panettiere had been working in front of the camera since she was in diapers, appearing in commercials and, by age 4, making the rounds in the soap opera circuit. Like many millennials, my first exposure to her talent was in Disney’s 2000 sports drama “Remember the Titans,” where she (at age 10) played the spunky, football-loving daughter of a high school assistant coach — and delivered the line that helped signal the prep sport was bigger than Christmas in Virginia. Though her career was cut far too short, she was part of some memorable projects, including “Heroes” and “Nashville,” that are worth revisiting.
Her influence, though, extends beyond her screen work. In her appreciation of Panettiere, culture critic Mary McNamara wrote of the Panettiere’s candidness about her mental health struggles, which included bringing awareness to the realities of postpartum depression: “Panettiere spoke up when she could have remained silent. She called out a truth that has been too long ignored and gave millions of women a chance to ask for help. She might not have saved the world, but she threw a big part of it a lifeline.” — Yvonne Villarreal
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Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times
Tracy Spiridakos as Anna Pigeon and Paulina Alexis as Zoey Bear Child in “Anna Pigeon.”
(Michelle Faye / USA Network)
“Anna Pigeon” (USA Network)
This highly watchable, lightly addictive, woodsy episodic procedural dishes up meat and potatoes entertainment, or perhaps one should say “poutine,” given that almost all the talent involved is Canadian, as is the impressive scenery. Tracy Spiridakos (“Chicago P.D.”), just the right number of hairs out of place, plays Anna, a New York City stage manager turned federal park ranger after a personal tragedy. In Nevada Barr’s series of novels, the heroine works at a new park from book to book; here, we’re in Montana’s Glacier Park (it does run right up to Canada), the setting of the 2001 “Blood Lure,” with Anna apparently ready to stay put as long as the TV series lasts. (The first Pigeon novel, “Track of the Cat,” from 1993, informs the pilot, directed by Leah Thompson, not Canadian.) Missing persons, bank robbers, litterbug campers and an aggressive grouse bring the trouble. And murderers, of course. Community is a theme; there’s a handsome bartender for romance, a rich villain to hiss. There’s a talent show. The cherry on this sundae is Paulina Alexis, Willie Jack from “Reservation Dogs,” as Anna’s sidekick, enlivening the ensemble with her centered, serious, quietly humorous energy. — Robert Lloyd
Eve Myles as Annie Cassidy and David Morrissey as Michael Polly in “Gone.”
(James Pardon / Britbox)
“Gone” (Britbox)
Like many British murder mysteries, “Gone” opens in a picturesque portion of that green and pleasant land, in this case the rugby pitch of a stately boys school outside Bristol. Overseeing the home team is headmaster/rugby coach Michael Polly (David Morrissey) who has the mien and manner of a perpetually disappointed tyrant. When Polly’s wife, Sarah, cannot be found at the home they share with their adult daughter, Alana (Emma Appleton), it’s difficult to tell how he’s feeling, if anything. He certainly will not allow a missing wife to interfere with his task of molding boys into men, not with exams and a Very Important rugby final coming up. When he finally reports her absence to the police, it is pretty clear to everyone, especially Det. Sgt. Annie Cassidy (Eve Myles), that he knows more than he’s telling. But is it British reticence, or something more sinister?
Those accustomed to the speedy lab results and instant deductions of a standard police procedural may find themselves, at least initially, shouting out instructions and demands — how can the forensics report be so scanty? why is [fill in the blank] not brought in for questioning? But the show is, essentially, a psychological drama wrapped in a murder mystery. Anchored by splendidly counterintuitive performances by Morrissey and Myles, “Gone” will wrap up its case over six tense and twisty episodes. But the questions it raises — about the insidious power of abusive relationships, the complexity of human emotions and the peril of considering secrecy as protection — linger long after immediate justice is served. — Mary McNamara
Guest spot
A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching
Conan O’Brien in a segment filmed in Morocco for Season 3 of “Conan O’Brien Must Go.”
(Team Coco / HBO)
As a member of the growing subgenre of celebrity travelogue, Conan O’Brien has cuddled with Javier Bardem in Spain, dressed up as Sigmund Freud in Vienna and faced off against a Muay Thai fighter in Thailand. The new season of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” has the frequent flier funnyman visiting India, the Netherlands, Morocco and the Philippines — meeting his international fans and testing how well his improvisational humor translates. I spoke with his longtime collaborator Mike Sweeney, co-writer and director on every episode, about this season’s locations and O’Brien’s SPF needs. — Y.V.
The series is a chance for Conan to interact with international fans, particularly those that have been on the podcast. Why do you think Conan’s style of humor travels so well?
He’s fearless. I think that helps. He genuinely loves people, and he has to make people laugh. He has to make people laugh all the time in the United States. And then if you put him in another country, he’s going to figure out how to get his laughs over there, even if no one speaks English. It’s literally like being thrown in a room where he’s got to find his oxygen, and he’s gonna find it by getting laughs everywhere he goes. I’m sure the fact we have a camera with us, people are curious. They tend to attract people who want to open up and play around. People can spot him from a mile away. That also helps. That’s another key to a good travel show — have a really tall orange-haired host.
The first episode is set in India. Things start with him trying to get on a crowded commuter train. What were some moments from that episode that stand out to you?
Yes, we wanted to go in the famous Mumbai commuter trains. Boy, the amount of red tape to get permission to even go down on the platform was crazy. We had to do it several months out. But we loved that [segment]. We loved playing street cricket. He had a young man teaching him, named Veer [Pandey], who was very funny and kind of dismissive of Conan, and that’s kind of Conan’s sweet spot.
Some countries have incredible restrictions — you might need permits to talk to people in the street, you’re dealing with curveballs. And a lot of what Conan does is improvised and you don’t want rules to get in the way. How how do you deal with that?
It varies from country to country. You get a feel for it early on and go, “Oh, we need figure things out far in advance here. You’re getting to a very important point, which is: How much red tape is there in each country? India — a ton. We knew that because we almost shot there in 2018 [for “Conan Without Borders”] and it fell through ultimately because of all this red tape. We knew we really had to have a running start with India. But the Philippines, they were pretty cool. Same with the Netherlands. You know what the big issue is nowadays? Drones, where they let you shoot with drones.
Conan O’Brien during a Bollywood segment in his travel series.
(Team Coco / HBO)
What’s it like doing a travel show as the current administration puts stress on international relations? Did you notice any shifts this season on how you were either received or what’s possible to get cleared because you’re an American show?
Not overtly. Nothing was represented as like, “Oh, you want to come shoot here? Well, we’ll teach you a lesson.” I’d say really surprisingly, it was business as usual in terms of getting permissions to shoot. What’s going on in the crazy United States really wouldn’t come up that much because the things we’re doing are apolitical, which is usually how we like to do it. It’s Conan connecting with people and, in a way, be a political statement because it comes down to respecting other cultures and wanting to learn about other cultures and bridging gaps that way.
There was that moment on the commuter train where a passenger rebuffs Conan by saying, “Fake a— liberal media.” And Conan just rolls with it.
Yes, it’s just like, “Oh, they they even have people calling stuff out like that over here.” It was almost like, “OK, I feel at home. Thank you.”
We all saw that Conan, famous for his red pompadour hairstyle, recently made headlines for a slick, oily hairdo, which was the result of a severe scalp sunburn. In the Morocco episode, there’s a sun-heavy segment. Were you worried about his scalp then? How much budget goes to Conan’s SPF needs?
He’s self-regulating because he has to be that way in California. He has to be that way on a cloudy day in Cape Cod. It’s just ingrained in him, his sun protection. I don’t even think about it. It was business as usual for him in Morocco.
What’s a show you’re currently obsessed with or recommending to people?
We loved “Widow’s Bay” [Apple TV], of course. I sound like everyone else, but also Katie Dippold is great. She was an intern at “Conan,” and I’ve seen her a few times over because we kind of lived near each other in Los Feliz. But she’s just delightful. We’re so happy for her, and plus that show was just amazing. And my wife and I dipped back into “Slow Horses.”
I can’t help but recognize the irony that Edwin Díaz is on the IL with neck inflammation. It was very likely caused by the whiplash he’s endured by tracking all of those line drives whizzing past his ear.
Ron Yukelson San Luis Obispo
Regardless of whether Edwin Díaz ever excels again in his closer role, I wonder if anyone else feels like I do about the trumpets and light show hoopla announcing his entrance from the bullpen? I think not only does it add fuel to an already fired-up visiting team, it also is a slap in the face of the other Dodger relievers, who by the way, all currently have performed far better.
Gary Sohl Fountain Valley
Edwin Díaz is auditioning for a spot on the postseason roster and the audition is not going well.
Richard Sherman Margate, Fla.
Kyle Tucker’s sub-.240 batting average and the oft-injured Edwin Díaz cost the Dodgers $83 million this year — more than the entire payrolls of the Marlins and Guardians. No wonder so many fans believe the Dodgers are ruining MLB.
Barry P. Resnick Orange
If Dodgers’ ownership is found to have circumvented the rules, there should be serious consequences. Voiding the fat contracts of Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz — and making them immediate free agents — would send a strong message from the commissioner’s office that such conduct will not be tolerated.
To become a powerhouse in a new sport takes good coaching and good players. JSerra has pulled it off in girls’ flag football.
The Lions have won 36 consecutive games dating to last season, when they went 28-0 and won the Southern Section Division 1 championship.
Lots of credit goes to coach Brian Ong, who started the program in 2023.
Despite losing the Division 1 player of the year, Ava Irwin, to Sierra Canyon, the Lions keep rolling with an 8-0 record this season. Quarterback Kate Meier, who was pretty good last season, is even better this season, and so are her receivers.
The JSerra Girls Flag Football team stretched its season-opening winning streak to eight straight games with a resounding 41-6 triumph over the Edison Chargers in a nonleague battle on Thursday at JSerra Catholic High School.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. There are only 34 games left in the regular season for the Dodgers. How is that possible?
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Well, nothing cures a team’s woes more than playing Colorado. But was it a cure or a placebo?
At which positions are the Dodgers excelling or struggling compared with the rest of MLB this season? One way we can tell is by looking at Wins Above Average at each position. WAA measures how many wins a player gives their team compared with an average major league player. A score of zero means the player is average, a positive score means they are better than average, and a negative score means they are below average.
Let’s look at the top five teams at each position, where the Dodgers rank if not in the top five, and at the last-place team. The number includes all players who played at that position this season.
Left field 1. Seattle, 1.9 2. NY Yankees, 0.9 3. Pittsburgh, 0.8 4. Miami, 0.7 5. Milwaukee, 0.6 20. Dodgers, -0.7 30. Arizona, -1.7
This is mostly Teoscar Hernández, with contributions from Alex Call, Tommy Edman and Ryan Ward.
Center field 1. Chicago Cubs, 5.9 2. Dodgers, 3.8 3. Boston, 3.7 4. Atlanta, 2.1 5. Angels, 1.4 30. Detroit, -1.8
If someone had told you after his miserable 2025 postseason that Andy Pages would be the second-best center fielder in baseball this year, would you have believed them? And the Angels make their only appearance here thanks to Mike Trout.
Right field 1. Boston, 3.6 2. Arizona, 2.7 3. St. Louis, 1.7 3. Chicago Cubs, 1.7 5. Washington, 1.3 22. Dodgers, -1.5 30. Cincinnati, -3.1
The corner outfielders are killing the Dodgers.
DH 1. Houston, 3.1 2. Dodgers, 2.2 3. Tampa Bay, 1.2 4. Philadelphia, 1.1 5. Chicago Cubs, 0.6 30. NY Mets, -1.9
Houston’s (no relation) designated hitter is Yordan Alvarez, traded by the Dodgers as a prospect in 2016 for reliever Josh Fields in probably the worst trade of the Andrew Friedman era.
Relief pitchers 1. San Diego, 3.9 2. NY Yankees, 2.6 3. Philadelphia, 1.9 4. Chicago White Sox, 1.6 5. Atlanta, 1.0 5. Toronto, 1.0 23. Dodgers, -2.5 30. Kansas City, -7.9
So, relief pitching and the corner outfielders are the gaping hole in the equation. But keep in mind, because I fall prey to this also: Every team has problems. We tend to focus on the Dodgers and don’t think about it this way. Every team has holes they are trying to solve before the postseason (or next season) begins. Some teams, like the Angels and Rockies, have holes almost everywhere. But even the best team isn’t perfect. And, yes, I will repeat it again, anything can happen in the postseason.
Remember last season? The Dodgers were 29th in relief pitching at -6.4. They were 29th in left field at -2.4. But they pulled it together and won. No reason they can’t do it again this year. And there’s no reason they can’t get swept in the first round.
Dodgers’ record at this point the last three seasons:
“When you start to struggle and you internalize … you find yourself going dark, and that’s a lonely place,” Roberts said Tuesday, before the Dodgers’ 7-6 win against the Rockies. “So I think that for me, trying to proactively pull conversations out of him, talk about life, talk about baseball, it just kind of opens things up, and I think that it’s freeing.
“He’s a cerebral guy by nature, internalizes a lot. But still, for me, he’s with a new ballclub, he’s scuffling, so I want to get that out of him.”
Tucker dropped a relatively easy fly ball during that game, and Roberts said:
“There’s indecision, and catching a baseball at your ankles kind of speaks to where his head is at right now. It’s not from lack of effort, or care. It’s just right now, I think he’s kind of fighting. So we’ve got to keep supporting him.”
Forgotten Dodger: Zack Wheat
Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson, first baseman Jack Fournier and outfielder Zack Wheat in the dugout in 1921.
(Associated Press)
One of the things the Dodgers don’t do very well is celebrate their rich and diverse history, especially if something happened before 1947. With that in mind, this is the first in an occasional series of items looking at Dodgers that often get overlooked.
Zack Wheat played for the Dodgers from 1909 to 1926 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1959. He is still the all-time Dodgers leader in games played (2,322), hits (2,804), doubles (464), triples (171) and total bases (4,003).
He has yet to make the Dodgers Dugout Dodgers Hall of Fame. Of course, there aren’t a lot of people alive who saw Wheat play, probably hurting him in the voting. Many voters tell me that they can’t judge someone they never saw, but I don’t need to have seen Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tris Speaker or Al Simmons to know they were all-time greats.
Wheat’s best season might have been 1918, when he led the league with a .335 batting average. Or it might have been 1916, when he hit 32 doubles and 13 triples and led the league in slugging. Or it might have been 1922, when he hit .335 with 29 doubles, 12 triples, 16 homers and 112 RBIs. Or it might have been any number of other seasons. He finished with a .317 career batting average.
And don’t think he was only a hitting machine. He was a great defensive outfielder.
Baseball Magazine in 1918: “What Napoloen Lajoie was to infielders, Zack Wheat is to outfielders, the finest mechanical craftsman of them all. He is the easiest, most graceful of outfielders with no close rivals.”
Wheat got married during the 1912 season and his new wife, Daisy, became his agent. In the same Baseball Magazine story, she said, “I made him hold out each year for seven years and each time he got a raise.”
Other things of note about Wheat:
—He has an OPS+ of 130. Among Dodgers with 5,000 plate appearances (Wheat had almost 10,000), that is third all time, behind Duke Snider and Jackie Robinson.
—He is fourth in career WAR among batters, behind Snider, Robinson and Pee Wee Reese.
—To make money during the offseason, Wheat raised mules and sold them to the Army, which used them as pack animals during World War I. It was because of the money he made doing this that he was able to hold out for a better contract each offseason. The most money he earned in one season as a player was $16,000.
—Wheat recommended the Dodgers sign his longtime friend, Casey Stengel. It’s unlikely any other team would have signed him, so Wheat is basically responsible for Stengel’s career.
—Wheat and manager Wilbert Robinson never got along. Longtime Dodgers owner and team president Charles Ebbets died in 1925 and was replaced as team president by Ed McKeever, who named Wheat the manager of the team, making Robinson a front-office executive. McKeever died two weeks later, and, with no team president, the Dodgers’ board of directors named Robinson manager again.
—No longer needing Wheat and thinking he was getting too old, the Dodgers released him before the 1927 season so he could negotiate with any club he wanted to, instead of trading him to a team he didn’t wish to play for. Wheat signed with the Philadelphia A’s and hit .324 in 88 games.
—Wheat was listed as 5-10, 170 pounds, but many thought he was smaller than that. He wore a size 5 shoe and suffered from ankle problems throughout his career. A bruised heel brought an end to his career.
—Wheat didn’t stay in baseball when he retired. When asked why years later, he said, “Nobody asked me to.”
—Wheat was 10th all-time in hits when he retired, with 2,884.
—Wheat became a farmer after retiring, then became a police officer in Kansas City after the Depression caused him to sell his farm.
—While on a police call in 1936, Wheat crashed his car and suffered a fractured skull, broken wrist and 15 broken ribs. He spent five months in the hospital and retired as a police officer. He moved with his family to a lakeside house in Sunrise Beach, Mo., and opened a 46-acre hunting and fishing resort.
—Wheat was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1957. Unfortunately, he wasn’t eligible to be voted in by the Veterans Committee because he hadn’t been retired long enough. So they elected him again in 1959.
—When told he was finally elected for real, Wheat, 70, said, “That makes me feel mighty proud. I feel a little younger, too.”
—In 1971, Wheat was asked if he had any advice for boys who wanted to become major leaguers. “Yes,” he said. “Tell them to learn to chew tobacco.”
—Wheat was once asked his secret for playing so well for so long. He said: “I smoke as much as I want and chew tobacco a good deal of the time. I don’t pay any attention to the rules for keeping in physical condition. I think they are a lot of bunk. The less you worry about the effect of tea and coffee on the lining of your stomach, the longer you will live and the happier you will be.”
—Wheat died of a heart attack in Missouri on March 11, 1972. He was 83 years old.
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
With an ever-present smile, infectious spirit and larger-than-life personality, defensive back Cole Martin is always undeniably himself.
And that was evident when he introduced himself — alongside defensive backs Rodrick Pleasant and Scooter Jackson — to Bob Chesney during the head football coach’s first day in the UCLA facility.
“That’s him from Day One,” Chesney said, noting Martin has never changed the high energy he brought to the program on the day they met.
Martin is no stranger to the Bruins.
The Pasadena native grew up around the program and attended UCLA games at the Rose Bowl, where his dad, Demetrice Martin, was the defensive backs coach from 2012-2017.
“Growing up as a kid running around here, I just want to see this university back on top,” Martin said during UCLA spring workouts.
And while Cole Martin spent his first two seasons at Oregon and Arizona State, the defensive back followed his father back to Westwood ahead of the 2025 season.
During his inaugural year as a Bruin, Martin was one of three players to start all 12 games and ranked fourth on the team in total tackles with 65.
But after a 3-9 season, during which former head coach DeShaun Foster, defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe and offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri departed the program, Cole entered the transfer portal.
And while his father left for Arizona State to become a defensive analyst, Martin, alongside Jackson and Pleasant, ultimately decided to stay after meeting Chesney and hearing his vision.
“California boys, we are all here after coaches parted and we were up here, and Chesney came and we had a conversation with him and we all got together after and we were like, ‘He’s different,’” Martin said. “Being able to have that conversation and be genuine with your brothers who you had a hard season with, and you got a coach that is trying to change the whole trajectory. You have got to believe in somebody, and he’s somebody you can believe in.”
UCLA defensive back Cole Martin lines up on the field during the Bruins’ 2025 spring game.
(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)
After his first meeting with Chesney, Martin withdrew his name from the portal and got to work in Westwood.
While 10 transfers Chesney brought with him from James Madison know his system, Martin has demonstrated a natural understanding of the coach’s values.
Chesney selected Martin to be one of his first ambassadors to regional and national media outlets covering Big Ten football media days in Chicago, joining linebacker Sammy Omosigho and quarterback Nico Iamaleava representing the Bruins. Chesney called Martin an unbelievable leader and said that his energy will give people a window into what his program strives to look like.
“You just felt Cole’s personality and his infectious positivity, and I just said, ‘Man, we need this kid to stay. This kid is what I feel like our team should be like on a day-to-day basis,’ and he’s done a really good job of that,” Chesney said Monday while recalling his first impression of Martin.
Martin said Chesney’s focus on a family culture and competition has helped him thrive in a deep, experienced defensive back group.
“It’s a brotherhood. He does a great job of making sure that everybody buys into building that relationship with your brother next to you, the little things, such as more talking in the locker room, or doing things extra,” Martin said of Chesney. “He’s done a great job at doing that and it feels like a full brotherhood here.”
Chesney said that Cole is recovering from a minor injury during preseason camp, but he refuses to let his absence on the turf affect his impact on the squad.
“He’s been out for a little bit here, working through a muscle thing, but he’s still present,” Chesney said. “You watch him move around; he’s really close right now, and he’ll never stop being himself, which is great.”
Nico Iamaleava became a household name among college football fans.
Not because of his five-star, blue-chip status, leaving Warren High as the second-ranked prospect in the 2023 class and top-ranked recruit out of California.
Not for leading Tennessee to its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance and a 10-3 record — tying for the Volunteers’ second-best finish since 2001.
Instead, Iamaleava is remembered for his tumultuous exit from Knoxville, a parting characterized by head coach Josh Heupel that the program would move on without its starting signal-caller, leading the Long Beach product to UCLA.
More than one year removed after his departure, Iamaleava reflected at preseason media day on his time with the Volunteers, the effect last season had on his mental health and his mindset heading into 2026.
“In Tennessee, I was in a rough mental state as far as being far from home, but that’s what came with me growing and maturing,” Iamaleava said Wednesday. “So coming back home has been a great transition, and I can’t wait to play this year.”
While returning to Southern California brought the Bruins’ starting quarterback closer to his roots and family, the social media ridicule chased him cross-country, targeting not just him, but his parents too.
To combat the animosity centered on his family, Iamaleava focused on his support system, leaning on those around him and strengthening relationships with the people that he loved.
“Mental health is huge, and having a great support system with you definitely helps. I’ve had that with my parents, going to them whenever I need something,” Iamaleava said. “I have brothers that I can go and rely on, and coming back home to my family has been easy. I don’t really focus on the outside noise.”
While the majority of Iamaleava’s criticism stemmed from his departure from Knoxville, it reignited after UCLA started out the season 0-4 and finished the 2025 campaign 3-9 — a program worst since 2018.
Iamaleava could have allowed the disparagement to compound, but the starting signal-caller is using it as fuel for a 2026 season where many have the Bruins painted as a potential dark horse.
“Everybody counted us out. Last year wasn’t a great year for us, so we’re not on anybody’s radar,” Iamaleava said. “That fuels us, and really playing for each other is going to be the main thing.”
Being one of the few returning starters, Iamaleava has embraced a “vet” role, and has subsequently taken the mantle and burden of being the team’s leader.
And despite all of the negative sentiment surrounding Iamaleava and his time at Tennessee, it was with the Volunteers when he learned how to effectively lead and cultivate camaraderie.
“I learned a lot of that in Tennessee. I had a great vet in Joe Milton. He was a great quarterback,” Iamaleava said. “He’s at the Cowboys now, so learning under him, and then my whole O-line from Tennessee, I love them boys, and they helped me a lot too.”
Iamaleava is building on everything — the good and the bad — he learned from his time in Knoxville and his first year in Westwood entering the new season.
And as he enters his senior season with professional football aspirations on the horizon, Iamaleava has learned to not let external voices interfere with his internal confidence.
“I like to let people assume. Not a lot of people know me on a personal level, so it’s kind of hard to really focus on what they have to say,” Iamaleava said. “Those who know me in this locker room, those who know me in the building, those are the people I care about.”
Video obtained by The Times shows Royal High football coach Adam Brubaker kicking a football toward a student and hitting him in the groin area, which has resulted in the school beginning an investigation on the eve of the team opening its season on Friday.
Brubaker is no longer coaching the team, with the existing coaching staff taking over and the team still planning to play Monroe on Friday, according to a Simi Valley Unified School District official.
Brubaker, a former Panorama coach, took over as head coach at Royal in the middle of the 2025 season.
When Junior Dominguez enrolled as a high school freshman at Newbury Park two years ago, he joined the junior varsity football team.
“I had never played a snap of football,” he said. “Not at all.”
Learning how to put on a helmet and how to fasten shoulder pads became his biggest challenge. He’s apparently a quick learner. By season’s end, he was promoted to varsity for the playoffs. Last year, he started at right offensive tackle. Now, Newbury Park is moving the 6-foot-4, 270-pound junior to left tackle.
His coach, Joe Smigiel, is a former offensive lineman who played at Arizona and believes Dominguez is well on his way to earning a college scholarship.
He’s another example of what high school is supposed to be about — trying new things and discovering something you like and are good at.
“I just like the intensity of the game,” Dominguez said. “I’ve noticed I’ve been more aggressive and learning how to succeed.”
Growing up with a mom and dad who work for McDonald’s in management, a young Dominguez got to eat whatever he wanted. He remembers Quarter Pounders being his favorite. If teammates get hungry, he might be lobbied for a trip to McDonald’s.
After games, watch out for the players craving french fries at Newbury Park and knowing someone to seek out who can help.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Eight episodes are currently available to stream on Netflix
Love Is Blind UK has finally returned to screens(Image: Netflix)
Love Is Blind UK bosses have opened up on a history-making moment that viewers never see on the show.
The third instalment of the hit Netflix show has returned to screens this week with the first eight episodes released in one go yesterday (August 19).
Hopeful singles have once again headed to the Love Is Blind dating pods hoping to find ‘the one’ where they will date potential partners. They will only meet face to face for the first time if a couple decides to take their relationship to the next step and become engaged.
The series has proved a hit with Netflix viewers, but there is a wait on their hands before the next batch of episodes will be released (August 26).
As the new release hits screens, executive producer Nazleen Karim and series editor David Cheesman spoke about one thing that viewers did not see and it is an incredible milestone which has made history.
This time around, there was an unprecedented number of engagements as 14 pairs took their relationships to the next step. However, the show only showed six couples’ journey, meaning there was so much more that viewers didn’t get to see play out on screen.
Nazleen said: “When there are more engagements than we can physically follow, we have to make difficult editorial choices. We’re looking for a range of different relationship journeys and stories that together capture the full experience of the experiment.
“Not being selected isn’t a reflection of the strength of a relationship – many couples continue exploring their connection once they leave the Pods.”
David added: “It’s never an easy decision and we wouldn’t want to diminish the love those other couples have formed. We’ve never had as many as 14 engagements which is why we ended up following six couples this time as opposed to five.”
With a combination of “natural drama and love, sexiness, chemistry and humour”, the series is potentially the strongest so far as David confirmed: “Every season brings something different, but this one has some of the most surprising twists, emotional moments and unforgettable characters we’ve seen.”
Hosts Matt and Emma Willis also touched on the monumental engagements as Matt said: “There are clearly a lot of thirsty people in the UK! I think we both got a strong sense that people really were there to get married.
“They weren’t just going in to see what this was all about – they wanted to find a husband or wife. Maybe the RAYE song ‘Where Is My Husband!’ was the inspiration.”
Although the new episodes follow six potential pairs, viewers will need to tune in to see who makes it to the altar, and who, if anyone, continues their marriage in the outside world.
The high school football season begins this weekend with Week 0 games. Let’s examine storylines and questions to be answered:
Will a lineman be the player of the year?
The last time a lineman was The Times’ player of the year was St. John Bosco offensive tackle Wyatt Davis in 2016. The Braves now have Elisha Mueller, a 6-foot-4, 295-pound junior transfer from Servite, as one of their blockers, so don’t be surprised if he emerges as an MVP candidate on a team that can go unbeaten. Sierra Canyon defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou is also an MVP-like lineman.
Can any City Section team beat defending champion Carson?
Call it unlikely. The Colts return versatile quarterback Chris Fields III, who does magical things when you least expect it. There’s linemen to protect him and a nonleague schedule that should have the Colts prepared to run over Marine League teams.
Can Santa Margarita show its 2025 championship in the first year of Carson Palmer as coach was no fluke?
The Eagles don’t have the defensive front from last season that was so dominating and gone to USC is Mr. Big Play, Trent Mosley. Expect the Eagles to put up a good challenge to St. John Bosco in the Trinity League. There’s speed and talent and Steven Fifita is about as good a defensive coordinator as there is. Wait for the young players, led by freshman linebacker Aydan Steen, to come on strong late in season.
Former Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer raises the 2025 Southern Section Division 1 championship plaque in his first year as head coach at Santa Margarita.
(Craig Weston)
Is Long Beach Poly ready for a resurgence?
First-year coach Travon Patterson made one of the best hires for his offensive coordinator, former Cathedral and Warren coach Kevin Pearson. He has two cornerbacks second to none in JuJu Johnson and Donte Wright. The key to the Jackrabbits returning to the top in the Moore League will be whether they can develop their offensive line to be effective.
Who will be the most successful first-year coach?
This is going to be debated all season because so many well-known football programs changed coaches. Servite’s Rick Garretson, Orange Lutheran’s Ray Fenton and JSerra’s Hardy Nickerson have high expectations from their rabid fan base. St. Bernard’s Dean Herrington takes on a rebuilding job. Bishop Alemany’s Dennis Keyes takes over a program that hit rock bottom. Jeff Bailey left Yorba Linda for Beverly Hills, which can go nowhere but up. You’ve heard of Storm Watch. This season will be called Rookie Coach Watch.
How many teams will make the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs?
Don’t look for more than eight. The Southern Section wants competitive equity, and the leading candidates at the end of the season can already be predicted: St. John Bosco, Santa Margarita, Orange Lutheran, Mater Dei, Servite, Corona Centennial, Sierra Canyon and Mission Viejo. Remember last season, with the help of rain, the No. 8 seed, Orange Lutheran, stunned the No. 1 seed, St. John Bosco.
Quarterback Chris Fields III of Carson is a dual threat quarterback who led the Colts to the City Section Open Division title last season.
(Craig Weston)
Does the City Section still have talent?
Absolutely. The recruiters have already discovered defensive end Elyjah Staples from Marquez, linebacker De’Andre Kirkpatrick from Crenshaw, Fieldsand his heavily recruited Carson teammate and defensive back Bennie Saulter. There are others waiting for their chance. Beware of receiver Paul Turner of Birmingham.
Will there be another eligibility scandal?
Count on it if athletic directors and principals don’t take their jobs seriously to give scrutiny to transfer paperwork and make home visits. There were rumors throughout the summer of 2025 about Bishop Montgomery turning the other cheek, and sure enough, they were correct. The school ended up canceling its season after too many players were declared ineligible.
What are the great games to mark on your calendar?
On Thursday, it’s Corona Centennial vs. Servite at Orange Coast College. On Friday, it’s St. John Bosco at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman.
Aug. 28: Inglewood at Westlake, Santa Margarita at Corona Centennial. Sept. 4: Murrieta Valley at Cajon, San Clemente at Chaparral. Sept. 10: Corona del Mar at Newport Harbor. Sept. 11: Corona Centennial vs. Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium, Cathedral at King/Drew. Sept. 18: Orange Lutheran at Sierra Canyon. Sept. 25: Oxnard Pacifica at Sierra Canyon, Servite at Damien.
Coach Jason Negro and St. John Bosco open the season as the No. 1 team in California.
(Craig Weston)
Oct. 1: Murrieta Valley at Chaparral. Oct. 2: San Pedro at Banning, Crean Lutheran at Tustin, Bishop Amat at Gardena Serra. Oct. 9: Sierra Canyon at Gardena Serra, Orange Lutheran at St. John Bosco. Oct. 15: Norco at Corona Centennial. Oct. 16: King/Drew at Crenshaw, Mission Viejo at San Clemente, Santa Margarita at St. John Bosco.
Oct. 23: San Pedro at Carson, Corona Centennial at Chaparral, St. Bonaventure at Oxnard Pacifica, Long Beach Poly at Long Beach Millikan. Oct. 29: Garfield vs. Roosevelt at East L.A. College, Edison at San Clemente, Valencia vs. Hart at College of the Canyons, St. John Bosco vs. Mater Dei at Santa Ana Stadium.
Which coaches might be under the microscope?
First-year coaches at private schools will start feeling pressure if their players don’t deliver results. There’s little patience these days from boosters, parents and fans. Watch the Corona Centennial staff, because someone there is going to one day succeed future Hall of Famer Matt Logan.
What will be the new trend in 2026?
Watching to see how well PlayOn Sports handles its control of high school sports in California. It owns MaxPreps, the NFHS Network, GoFan.co and just won state playoff TV rights from the CIF, replacing Spectrum, who’s 15-year contract ended in June. People are waiting to see if prices increase or quality decreases. And who will hold them accountable? They are the definition of monopoly for high school sports. Competition always brings out the best in businesses, so the lack of that has to be something to monitor.
What are five predictions that will come true?
St. John Bosco will win the Division 1 title (barring rain). Carson will win the City Section Open Division title (barring injury to Fields). Jack Hurst of Laguna Beach will lead Southern California with the most touchdown passes (barring his receivers doing too much surfing). Corona Centennial will exceed 70 points in a single game (barring a running clock in the first half). Lots of teams will forfeit games because of an ineligible player (barring athletic directors being skeptical of every transfer).
“Other than the needle drops, this is probably my favorite part about making ‘Beef,’” says creator Lee Sung Jin of the show’s episodic title cards, which in Season 2 marry historical paintings with abridged quotations from authors and poets. For the finale, which sees its two feuding couples (Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton) swept up in a seemingly inescapable fight for survival, the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s “The Four Seasons” matched with the title “It Will Stay This Way And You Will Obey,” a reference to a passage in Marion Woodman’s “Coming Home to Myself: Reflections for Nurturing a Woman’s Body & Soul.” “It’s almost prisonlike because these very prominent faces of literally nature have created this wall that the title is stuck in. We wanted to express the cycles and how the four seasons come for you no matter what,” Lee says, alluding to the season’s central idea that people often repeat the same destructive habits. “The final shot is homage to the Buddhist concept of samsara. It was important for us to allow the audience to take a moment after all the craziness of the season to think about their own lives, think about society at large … and depending on where you are, come to your own conclusion.”
DENVER — The Dodgers are putting closer Edwin Díaz on the injured list for the second time this season, this time with inflammation on the right side of his neck, manager Dave Roberts said before the game against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
The Dodgers are going to have Dr. Robert Watkins, who specializes in spine injuries, examine at Díaz’s neck in L.A. on Wednesday morning, Roberts said. He’s set to undergo imaging.
“It’s something he felt [Monday] night,” Roberts said before the Dodgers’ 7-6 win against the Rockies on Tuesday. “We don’t know if it’s something that has been there the last, call it, week or whatever but it showed its head last night. So we’re going to address it.”
The move comes after Díaz gave up nine runs and recorded three blown saves in a span of six appearances.
“I know Edwin is — I don’t know if it’s encouraged, but just know that there could be a reason why the stuff is not playing like it has in the past,” Roberts said. “And the neck, obviously, there’s ties with the whole body, the arm, and all that stuff matters. So I’m personally excited to kind of find something that kind of make us understand what’s going on.”
“We’ll know more after seeing Dr. Watkins,” Roberts said, “but given where he’s at, I don’t see a situation where he’d be out for the year.”
Díaz has only made 16 appearances for the Dodgers this season, recording an 11.85 ERA and 6.01 FIP. He spent three months on the IL after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow in late April.
After collecting a save in a 4-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on July 29 in his first appearance back, Díaz was unable to show command in subsequent outings. He blew saves on consecutive days against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 7-8, and then blew a 4-2 lead last Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers — which proved critical for the Dodgers in losing the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Brewers as the division leaders jostle for playoff seeding.
During the Dodgers’ 11-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night, Díaz pitched the ninth inning and gave up three runs and four hits.
With Díaz no longer an option in save situations, left-hander Tanner Scott is set to slide into that role.
“I just wait for the phone to ring, I don’t care when,” Scott said after a four-out save Tuesday. “You get the adrenaline rush when your name’s called and just go out there and pitch.”
On Tuesday, Roberts turned to Scott to get the final out of the eighth inning, with runners on first and second in a two-run game. He induced left-handed pinch hitter Brett Sullivan to ground out to third.
Back out for the ninth he gave up a one-out double to Jake McCarthy’s and a two-out RBI single to Willi Castro. But the run was of no consequence.
“He’s been great,” Roberts said of Scott’s contributions this year, in multiple roles. “Tanner doesn’t complain. He’s always ready, wants to pitch, wants to help his teammates, his team. And certainly, given how last year went, for him to come back and right the ship, he’s been our most consistent reliever by far. I trust him, and I feel like you can use him in any situation.”
The Dodgers also recalled right-hander Emmet Sheehan on Tuesday as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen. Sheehan, optioned to triple A at the trade deadline for a reset, made two starts for Oklahoma City.
“I got the hang of it a little bit last year in the playoffs,” Sheehan said of pitching in relief. “I have the routine that I would have for starting, and that I have for coming out of the bullpen. So comfortable doing either one or whatever they want me to do.”
Ohtani may be ready for next step
Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani appeared to throw two simulated innings in his bullpen session on Tuesday, for a total of about 45-50 pitches.
When Roberts asked how it went, he said Ohtani gave him a thumbs up.
Roberts did not rule out the possibility of Ohtani throwing live batting practice back in Los Angeles as his next step.
“I could see that,” Roberts said.
Serving as the designated hitter Tuesday, Ohtani hit a two-run homer in the third inning. It was his third homer in two games and his 30th of the season. He’s reached the 30 home-run mark in six straight seasons.
“You’ve got to be available, you’ve got to be a high-performer,” Roberts said of the feat. “And Shohei this series is back to being who he is. I like the at-bat quality. I like the swing decisions. And obviously he’s hitting homers out with breaking balls, fastballs, a curveball tonight. When he goes, it certainly adds a lot of energy to our offense.”
Kaia Gerber says she had an exorcism after her parents believed she was “possessed” as a child.
While promoting her new FX series “The Shards” on the podcast “The Mitch Churi Chat Show,” the 24-year-old actor and model recalled her experience working with Ryan Murphy on “American Horror Stories” (co-created by Brad Falchuk).
Gerber played a teenage ghost in the 2021 “Horror Stories” spinoff trapped inside the historic Rosenheim Mansion, also known as the Murder House from the first “American Horror Story” season. Concerned about the spooky Los Angeles estate — which served a convent for nuns for half a century — Gerber said her mother, supermodel Cindy Crawford, gave her holy water to take on set.
“She was like, ‘I don’t want you to get possessed,’” Gerber said. “I was told I was possessed as a child.”
Gerber — who during the interview sat next to her co-star Homer Gere — shared that she was “haunted” her whole life.
“I do feel as though I attract beings from the other dimension, in a very casual and chill way,” said Gerber, who was also a cast member in “American Horror Story: Double Feature” (the 10th season of the FX anthology series) in 2021, where her character was involved in an alien abduction.
When questioned by host Mitch Churi if the actor-model had undergone an exorcism, she revealed that she “actually” did.
“They played a didgeridoo all over me. That’s how they did the exorcism,” Gerber said. “That actually did happen. I’ve never talked about it, but it actually did happen.”
The sacred wind instrument — which is created from a eucalyptus tree trunk or branch naturally hollowed out by termites — was developed a thousand years ago by the Aboriginal community in northern Australia and is often used in cultural ceremonies.
Some didgeridoo instrumentalists believe its low-frequency sound waves can foster a state of health and harmony for those in the Aboriginal community. An online search showed no info on it being used in an exorcism.
Regardless, the “Bottoms” actor revealed to the Australian podcast host she was “all healed” now that she was promoting the ’80s slasher TV series, which is based on the autofictional novel by Bret Easton Ellis centering on privileged high school seniors who are stalked by a killer known as the Trawler.
In response to her spiritual update, Churi said, “that’s the devil speaking, I don’t know who to trust.”
Witney Carson will be dancing for two on the upcoming season of “Dancing With the Stars.”
The professional ballroom dancer revealed her pregnancy Monday on “Good Morning America,” stating that although she’s excited for the experience, it is also “daunting.”
“I’ve never been this far along pregnant and competing on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’” said Carson. “I don’t know if it’s ever been done. So you guys will definitely see a big bump.”
The competitive dancer has two boys — 5-year-old Leo and 3-year-old Jet — with husband Carson McAllister. The two have been married since 2016.
The 32-year-old has competed on 15 seasons of the popular reality dance show. Last year, she took home the top prize alongside Australian conservationist Robert Irwin; in 2014, she took home her first Mirrorball Trophy alongside actor Alfonso Ribeiro.
In the coming season, Carson also revealed that she will hit the dance floor with comedian Guillermo Rodriguez, the Mexican talk show personality best known as a sidekick to Jimmy Kimmel on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“It wasn’t on my bingo card to compete on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and be four months pregnant, but I think that it’s a beautiful thing,” said Carson on “GMA.” “I want to feel empowered. I want to see what my body can do. And hopefully Guillermo could be right there beside me and we can work as a team.”
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the dancer revealed that she was “extremely sick” in her first trimester and “dropped out of things” that she had been contracted to participate in, but after discussing the matter with her husband as well as executive producer Deena Katz, she decided to continue with the competition.
Carson was first in the spotlight in 2012 during the ninth season of the Fox series “So You Think You Can Dance,” then joined the “Dancing With the Stars” troupe in 2013 for the 16th season. This summer, she made a special appearance as a guest judge on the spinoff series “Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro,” where 12 up-and-coming dancers compete for a pro-dancer spot on the popular main series.
Season 35 of “Dancing With the Stars” will premiere with a two-night episode on Sept. 15 and 16.
DENVER — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called right fielder Kyle Tucker into the visiting manager’s office at Chase Field a week and a half ago, just to catch up.
Roberts had run into Tucker’s wife Samantha and their 5-month old baby that morning in Arizona. And he saw it as a good time to check in.
“When you start to struggle and you internalize … you find yourself going dark, and that’s a lonely place,” Roberts said Tuesday, before the Dodgers’ 7-6 win against the Rockies. “So I think that for me, trying to proactively pull conversations out of him, talk about life, talk about baseball, it just kind of opens things up, and I think that it’s freeing.
“He’s a cerebral guy by nature, internalizes a lot. But still, for me, he’s with a new ballclub, he’s scuffling, so I want to get that out of him.”
Scuffling is a mild way of describing Tucker’s struggles this season. He described it as the “first time in [his] life” that he’s had a season with so many offensive false starts. After being named an All-Star in each of his previous four seasons, Tucker is on pace for the worst offensive year since his 2018 debut season with the Astros.
On Tuesday, he finally ended his career-high hitless streak at seven games, with a double up the right-field line in the fourth inning (although he grounded out once and struck out twice in his other plate appearances). He’d gone 26 straight at-bats without a hit.
So much about Tucker’s year has been head-scratching.
Take his plate discipline, for example. Traditionally known for his strike-zone control, Tucker’s chase rate has been up this season. But even when he trimmed it to 21.6% in July (not as low as the last two years but even with his 2023 season), his production at the plate didn’t respond accordingly.
One of the biggest mysteries has been his extreme home/road splits. Entering Tuesday, he had a solid .822 OPS on the road and a paltry .558 OPS at Dodger Stadium.
Asked about the contrast earlier this week, he said he didn’t have a theory.
“If I knew, I’d probably have figured it out by now,” he said. “But that’s just kind of how it’s gone.”
Recently, his woes have followed him into the outfield. The day after he failed to reel in a flyball in the right-field corner at Dodger Stadium, he had a far worse drop Monday at Coors Field.
In the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 11-5 victory against the Rockies, Tucker seemed to camp right under a shallow fly. But as it fell, he twisted and put one knee down before dropping the ball.
“There’s indecision, and catching a baseball at your ankles kind of speaks to where his head is at right now,” Roberts said. “It’s not from lack of effort, or care. It’s just right now, I think he’s kind of fighting. So we’ve got to keep supporting him.”
Tucker isn’t the only player who’s struggling. Mookie Betts has been hot and cold at the plate. Teoscar Hernández hasn’t been slugging the way he’s accustomed to. And before arriving in Colorado, the team was in a collective slump.
Tucker, however, is in the first year of a four-year, $240-million contract. And so far the Dodgers haven’t seen the version of him that elevated the Cubs’ offense in the first half of last year and was a steady part of the Astros’ lineup during a run of sustained success.
“Whether it’s my first year or 10th year with a team, I think it’d be frustrating regardless,” Tucker said. “But it’s not like I’m frustrated just because I’m playing at home or anything. Whether it’s on the road or at home, it would be frustrating, just not helping the team win games.”
He slid into his most recent slump during the Dodgers’ last homestand, but the Colorado altitude didn’t immediately work its magic when the team went back on the road.
During Monday’s SNLA broadcast, analyst Eric Karros suggested sending Tucker to Arizona for a reset.
The less extreme version would be sitting Tucker for several games in a row.
“I’m not at the point where it’s like a three-day, three-game reset situation, something like that,” Roberts said Tuesday afternoon.
He did, however, give Tucker a day off Saturday, saying he saw Tucker’s frustration as he continued to struggle offensively at Dodger Stadium. And Tuesday, he said he hadn’t decided whether to start Tucker against Rockies left-handed starter Kyle Freeland the next day.
“It’s tough because, I mean, I feel like I’ve tried just about everything,” Tucker said. “And every time I feel like I’m turning a corner, I get hit with a roadblock. But, you can’t stop. You just got to keep going, try and at least pick out the positives, and just try and ride with that. Just keep on moving to the next day and hope for something to build.”
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. New ranking of the summer movies I’ve seen this year: 1. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”; 2. “The Odyssey”; 3. “Supergirl”; 4. “Young Washington”; 5. “Disclosure Day”; 6. “Masters of the Universe”; 7. “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” I keep including these just to annoy the one guy who calls me names for not having “Disclosure Day” last. I have to get thrills where I can get them.
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So, the Dodgers lost three of four to the Brewers, who now have clinched the tiebreaker over the Dodgers. They always have to do things the hard way. Some random thoughts about the Dodgers
—It’s time for Edwin Díaz to drop the Timmy Trumpet entrance and just come out like any other pitcher. When you have a 10.66 ERA and it’s August, perhaps it’s time to sneak into the game quietly.
—Dave Roberts had this answer when asked Thursday night, after Díaz blew a save, as to why he is still closer: “Give me another option. I have to have other options. And to be quite honest, none of those [other] guys really are throwing the baseball great. So that’s just kind of the way it is.”
—It is surprising to see Roberts throw the whole bullpen under the bus. But since he asked, here’s an option: Tanner Scott, who since the All-Star break has an 0.87 ERA in 12 games and 10.1 innings. He has three saves and has given up nine hits, six walks and has struck out 12. Not exactly Mariano Rivera, but better than the current guy.
—But here’s the other thing to keep in mind: The Dodgers seem to do this every year. They are going to give Díaz every chance to right the ship before the postseason, because having him in the bullpen would be great if he was pitching well. But, if he’s pitching like this when the postseason begins, he won’t get a lot of innings. Remember last season? Scott was terrible. He last pitched Sept. 26. He didn’t pitch at all in the postseason. Instead, they put Roki Sasaki in the bullpen and he was solid, though not the second coming of Éric Gagné as some seem to think.
—The Dodgers will figure out whom they trust near the end of September, and that will be the bullpen for the postseason. It will include starters and a guy who is just there to eat innings during big losses (think Will Klein last season. Yes, he saved the season in Game 3, but there was a reason he was the last guy out of the bullpen). And it will include the five to six relievers they trust the most. This happens every season, so this should not come as a surprise.
—Yes, it can be frustrating during the regular season. We in the media say “Greatest team ever!” “They could win 120 games!” But that’s never going to happen. The Dodgers are interested in one thing only: Winning the World Series. They have a plan as to how to approach it, and while it annoys some fans, they aren’t going to deviate from that plan. And why should they? They won three World Series, and almost another one in *2017.
*-The Astros cheated in that series.
—A look at some numbers:
Kyle Tucker at Dodger Stadium this year: .189/.286/.272 Tucker everywhere except Dodger Stadium this year: .275/.361/.469
That’s pretty incredible. In 239 career at-bats at Dodger Stadium (206 from this season), he is hitting .205/.307/.318.
The road Tucker is whom they signed, the home Tucker hits like a pitcher. Why? Could be any number of things.
The Dodgers are 14-15 since the All-Star break. Let’s see how the main people are hitting and pitching (through Sunday):
Freddie Freeman, .327/.367/.366 (109 plate appearances) Shohei Ohtani, .278/.336/.509 (119) Alex Call, .278/.350/.389 (20) Hunter Feduccia, .273/.304/.455 (23) Andy Pages, .270/.336/.398 (111) Teoscar Hernández, .267/.298/.422 (94) Miguel Rojas, .258/.314/.355 (35) Dalton Rushing, .250/.325/.472 (40) Mookie Betts, .238/.287/.386 (108) Max Muncy, .214/.298/.512 (94) Tommy Edman, .211/.272/.347 (103) Kyle Tucker, .188/.286/.353 (98) Ben Rortvedt, .182/.182/.182 (11) Kiké Hernández, .087/.125/.087 (24)
Team after the break: .248/.306/.403 Before the break: .262/.343/.434
Runs per game before the break: 5.22 Runs per game after the break: 3.93
They have lost their patience at the plate and their power. Not a good combination for winning games. These numbers will go up slightly though because of Monday’s 11-5 win over the Rockies.
Wrobleski, Stewart and Klein are on the IL, as is Blake Treinen.
Dodgers ERA after the break: 4.12 Before: 3.55
For those who think Roberts doesn’t notice these things, here’s what he had to say after Sunday’s loss:
“This has been cumulative. It’s been a long time since we’ve been consistent offensively. … I just don’t see the consistent plan of attack, one through nine. The results are hard, hitting’s hard, but I do think that fighting and winning pitches, spoiling pitches — that’s care, hunger. And that’s a reason why [when] you look at four and a half months of the season, the Brewers have outscored us. … A team that’s young and hungry. It’s certainly not talent.
“We just haven’t played clean baseball for quite some time, and that speaks to the defense and not converting an out … it’s just not winning baseball. Our pedigree [and] what we typically do is control the zone, grind it, grind at-bats [and] create stress. We’re not doing that.”
Tommy John dies
Former Dodger Tommy John, who had an arm surgery named after him, died Sunday at 83. He took part in this newsletter’s “Ask….” series last year and here are a couple of highlights:
Bud Layne of Parkersburg, W.V., asked: First, I would just like to join the crowd and say that Tommy John belongs in Cooperstown. Hope it is soon, as my time on this earth is growing short at 82 years old, and I am hopeful that the event takes place in my lifetime. My question: Do you think falling short of 300 career victories is the main hindrance of you not being able to join the immortals in Cooperstown? And, if not, what do you think is the reason?
John: I too will be 82 in May of this year. There is no rhyme or reason why I’m not in the Hall of Fame. I have no idea. I had 288 wins. I lost a season and a half which would’ve brought me to more than likely the 300 mark. I had 188 no decisions. I don’t know if it’s because my name is mentioned almost every day or that it is their jealousy that I have a surgery named after me. I have no idea. All I know is I am very proud of my career and the teams that I played for.
Drew Taylor of Huntington Beach asked: What was going through your mind after having your surgery and being told the odds were 100-1 against you returning to pitch, what drove you to defy those odds?
John: All my life starting as a child all I wanted to do was pitch. When I was given the odds, I figured 1% was better than nothing and I had just become a new dad for the first time. I told Dr. [Frank] Jobe if you do your job I will do more than mine. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right doctor and team.
Tony Smith of Los Angeles asked: You played for two of the most emotional managers in history in Tommy Lasorda and Billy Martin. How would you compare the two and did you have a favorite manager in your career?
John: I loved playing for Tommy Lasorda. He loved all the players. Tommy just made the game fun. Billy was a good manager, but he was very high strung. Tommy just enjoyed the game, his team and all the celebrities who came out to celebrate the Dodgers.
—OK, back to your humble host here. Let’s face it: John should be in the Hall of Fame. He won 288 games, pitched in 26 seasons. That alone would be enough. But if you add in the fact that he underwent what was basically experimental surgery, a surgery that saved his career and went on to save the careers of hundreds of pitchers, then he should be in.
Imagine you were in the hospital for something and the surgeon can fix it, but he says, “I have to try a surgery that has never been done before.” I mean, what thoughts went through John’s head? Maybe he’d lose the use of his arm altogether. It couldn’t have been an easy decision. And sure, someone later would have said yes if he said no. But being the first counts for something. We remember Neil Armstrong more than the other brave men who landed on the moon for a reason. He (and Buzz Aldrin) were the first.
John was pitching on July 17, 1974, when he hurt his arm. “Right at the point where my arm is back and bent, something happened,” he told The Times. “It was as if I had left my arm someplace else. It was as if my left arm had just flown off my body, away from the rest of me.” He said he felt no pain, but after blooping two pitches up to the mound, he signaled for Dodgers manager Walter Alston to take him out. He eventually saw Dr. Jobe , and the rest is history. Jobe took a tendon from John’s right arm, threaded it through holes he had drilled in John’s left elbow and hoped it all would work. And it did, with John returning to the mound on April 16, 1976.
John before the surgery: 124-106, 2.97 ERA, 116 ERA+ After the surgery: 164-125, 3.66 ERA, 107 ERA+
On a personal note, I got John’s autograph at the Carson Mall in 1977. I was a big Dodger fan and knew who he was, but was too young to understand the history. There were a bunch of kids in line, and many dads or older brothers who were interested in seeing him (autographs were for 12 and under only). As I got closer to the front of the line, I noticed that John always took an extra moment to ask the kid about himself. He made each child feel important. It’s something I never forgot. And, when I asked him to do the Q&A, he and his wife, Cheryl, could not have been more pleasant. Sincere condolences to his entire family. He will always be a Hall of Famer in my mind, and I hope he is for real at some point.
The postseason
Here’s a look at the NL. Remember, the three division winners plus the next three teams with the best record make the postseason. The two division winners with the best record get a first-round bye.
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Eighth in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, Wesley Ace, Gardena Serra defensive back.
Wesley Ace has no complaints when people underestimate his football ability.
“A couple coaches just walk by,” he said of recruiters showing up at practices and bypassing him.
At 5 feet 9 and 180 pounds, the Gardena Serra High cornerback is used to the skepticism because of his size.
“It’s all good,” he said. “My film speaks for itself. If you’re a baller, you’re a baller.”
And Ace is a fast baller, having run the 100 meters last spring in 10.51 seconds at the school that produced state 100-meter champion Rodrick Pleasant. Ace also has video of him running down the speedy Deshonne Redeaux last season to prevent a touchdown against Oaks Christian. Redeaux is a freshman at USC this season.
Playing the nickel position in Serra’s 4-2-5 defensive alignment, Ace contributed 52 tackles. He’s an aggressive tackler. He’s far stronger than people think, bench-pressing 275 pounds.
He’s been playing tackle football only since eighth grade.
“My whole life, I’ve been playing baseball,” he said.
Then he got bored and switched to football.
“I had to get stronger, faster and learn the rules of the game,” he said.
His first position was defensive end. The coach must have wanted someone to be a pest going after quarterbacks with his lack of size.
“I was so fast, big guys that age couldn’t keep in front of me,” he said.
Ace learned to play defensive back and was most effective last season covering slot receivers. This season he’ll get a chance to show what he can do against taller players as a cornerback. He’s confident his speed and strength will make it a smooth adjustment.
“As a defensive back, you’re going to mess up eventually,” he said. “Speed allows you to recover and get back.”
His father, Wesley Sr., was a standout defensive back at Westchester and San Diego State who never encouraged his son to play football because of head injury concerns. He’s been training him while serving as an assistant principal in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
“My dad always says be everything but big,” Ace said.
Don’t be surprised to see Serra taking advantage of Ace’s speed by letting him return kickoffs and make some plays on offense. Regardless, he finds a way to contribute on defense with his quickness, instincts and fearless attitude. He committed to San José State during the summer.
“For sure, I play with a chip on my shoulder,” he said.
Wednesday: Gabriel Goroyan, Westlake kicker.
Defensive backs to watch
Isala Aisa Wily-Ava, St. John Bosco, 6-2, 195, Sr.: Washington commit has been starting so long he might have grey hair
Wesley Ace, Gardena Serra, 5-9, 180, Sr.: San José State commit ran 10.51 seconds for 100 meters
Myles Baker, Sierra Canyon, 6-2, 205, Sr.: UCLA commit is built like the Rock of Gibraltar
Jordan Hicks, Mission Viejo, 6-1, 180, Jr.: Ambitious, confident and decisive on any field
Jaden Walk-Green, Corona Centennial, 6-0, 195 Sr.: Washington commit had 10 interceptions last season
JuJu Johnson, Long Beach Poly, 5-11, 175, Sr.: UCLA commit is most improved player anywhere
Danny Lang, Mater Dei, 6-1, 165, Sr.: USC commit thrives on hand-to-hand combat with receivers
Jaxson Rex, San Clemente, 6-1, 190, Sr.: Put him anywhere on the field and BYU commit would excel
Gavin Williams, Damien, 6-1, 185, Sr.: USC commit will set highest standard at safety this season
Donte Wright, Long Beach Poly, 6-2, 180, Sr.: Miami commit is physical cornerback with speed
We’d have to say the most challenging thing about us writing “The Comeback” was coming back from the dead after the show was canceled following its first season way back in 2005. Talk about a hiatus.
There are always nerves when you return to do the next season of a series, but when the hiatus lasts 10 years between Season 1 and Season 2, and then another 10 years between the second and this third, final season — that’s a whole other level of “When we last left Valerie …”
But, gratefully, when we get together to write Valerie Cherish and her world again, it’s somehow more exciting than daunting. The nerves fade and the fun starts. The fun along with — of course — the doubts, the surprises, the deadlines, the page count. The comedy and the tragedy (see page count again). We improvise dialogue so much in the writing room that our notes tend to reach into hundreds and hundreds of pages — per episode. That’s a joke … kind of. And on top of all that, this season and this script that we’ve been nominated for writing had a particular challenge.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Between the second and third seasons, one of our most beloved cast members, Robert Michael Morris, died. Robert played the beloved, significant, audience-favorite character Mickey, Valerie’s hairdresser. At first, we couldn’t imagine doing a season without this important person and character … but when we decided to go forward with this season’s story, which deals with the TV industry’s fear of an AI takeover, we knew we had to find a way to deal with Mickey’s absence. We decided that since Robert Michael’s death happened during that second 10-year hiatus, we had to find a way to incorporate that history into the Valerie and Mickey storyline. And because it had never been dealt with by the show on camera, we decided that maybe Valerie hadn’t fully dealt with it as well. That way, the viewers wouldn’t feel like they missed a significant turn in Valerie’s journey. We decided if we could create a story where Valerie hadn’t really grieved Mickey’s passing and had to face it in the episode, then she and (hopefully) the viewers could share the sadness and the love together. And together, they could find a way to accept and release him with respect for the actor and the character and with a bit of triumph for all he meant to Valerie and to all of us on our series.
So, we created a character named Tommy Tomlin — another hairdresser and longtime friend of Mickey’s who Valerie hires to step in and take Mickey’s place and be the hairdresser on her new AI-written sitcom. Well, Tommy can do her hair but, by design, can never replace Mickey, and that conflict between Valerie and Tommy underlines her loss and her denial of Mickey’s passing. Tommy’s presence helps push Valerie to acknowledge Mickey’s absence and moves her to gently face it, finally scatter his ashes and let him go.
It was an emotional story to write and even more emotional to film. Lisa was standing on top of a Warner Bros. soundstage ready to open the box of prop ashes, to allow them to float over “Old Hollywood,” a lure that Mickey loved. But we were filming this scene at sunset, and what comes with the light at that picturesque time of day in Burbank is a strong wind from the surrounding mountains that gets trapped in an impromptu kind of wind tunnel between the soundstages. If Lisa opened the box at the wrong moment, the ashes would fly right back into her face — and in this moment, we were not going for comedy.
I was directing from down on the ground, and I looked up to the heavens and said to Robert Michael Morris, “This is your big moment — please quiet the wind so it can be beautiful and touching and an appropriate goodbye to you and your character.” And — I swear — the wind died down. I called “Action!” and on top of the soundstage, Lisa said her goodbye as Valerie, opened the box and the ashes lifted out, almost magically, and floated out and away into the sunset over the Warner Bros. Studio back lot — just as we imagined in the writing room all those months earlier.
