The Fall Classic

The World Series is the pantheon of sports championships. It takes an Iliad and the Odyssey for any MLB team’s journey to raise the chalice. The first World Series was played in the 1903 classic between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Sox won the best of 9 series 5-3.  The NFL was decades away from its founding and basketball was still played at the YMCA.  The Americans would become the Red Sox and would go on to win five WS titles by 1918 when they traded Babe.  The second curse of baseball mythology was hatched in that transaction.  The Red Sox broke the curse in 2004 and won another three WS in the 2000 teens.

The Sisyphean effort of pushing the rock for 162 games was ingrained in the Yard like a continuous loop documentary via the LA Times sports section.  The Dodger historical grapples in WS history percolates in our intestines each fall. The Azul has lost in the WS 14 times.  The Toronto Blue Jays have never lost in the WS. Our Magic 8 Ball says Future Uncertain. The first two games at Dodger Stadium were emblematic of our strife. Most certainly, either the BJ’s finally lose one or the Dodgers take the overall title for most WS lost.  They are currently tied with the Yankees at 14.  Yard tea leaves request to see two victories on the horizon for our team. Dreams like the foliage, fall to the ground and get bagged.

In 2018, the stars aligned and World Series tickets became available to the Yards. It was the uncursed version of the Red Sox.  They had this kid Mookie Betts playing right field.  Betts would win the AL Batting Title, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger and AL MVP in 2018.  October 26 was a beautiful fall night in Los Angeles.  The Dodgers had already lost the first two games in Bean Town so a lot was at stake that night. Of course, Kenley Jansen blew a 4 out save opportunity with a homerun to the first batter he faced. The Dodgers battled that night for 18 innings.  It was 1-1 through 13 innings before the Sox scored in the top of the 13^th. The Dodgers returned the favor in the bottom half of the inning.  The game would be scoreless until First Baseman Max Muncy homered in the bottom of the 18^th. It would be the last gasp for that version of the Dodgers.

First Son of the Yard has inherited some of our genetic bile as well as managing the season seats.  With the malaise in the bullpen and the injuries the World Series did not seem certain in early August.  Expectation dipped with the reality of attempting to repeat as champions.  Everyone hates the Yankees, but the Dodgers are a close second according to some of our industry insiders.  You know you raised your kid right when he takes you to a WS game, bravo son. Monday October 26 would be game 3 of the 2025 World Series.  We settled into our seats at 4:30 PM PST. The Yard does not need to report on how the Monday game turned out.  A few other outlets released the details before I could get to my MacBook Air. Let Freddie Reign! It was a 2 for 1 sale.  First game balls flying everywhere, Ohtani showing all his $700 million portfolio.  Second game 1-0 with another First baseman walk off homerun.

Being an LA Dodger fan beyond the constant base level anxiety is also knowing when to stay and when to go.  As the game persists, getting out of Dodger Stadium looms in your psyche. Ball one, Fletcher Drive or Stadium Way? Fouled off. Maybe sneak through ChinaTown. Is Phillipe’s open late? Ball two. What is the score again?  Who is warming up? Foul ball down the line stays foul. When Kirk Gibson hit his momentous homerun in 1988, in the corner of the shot are all the redlights heading out the Academy Road gate.  We are pilloried fans and deservedly so, but LA traffic is real.  Both games had a 14-inning stretch.  First game only the Churros and Sodas finally played after the 11^th inning.  Monday night, 25 people were in line for Dodger Dogs when Freddie went to the Yard.  Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes were there at the finish. And so were we!

This is not a David vs. Goliath Series with the big bad overpaid Dodgers beating up on Canada.  Canada has been a bit brow beat since late January by mouths that are loud.  The Blue Jays have the 5^th highest payroll in the MLB.  They have Vlad Jr getting his $500 million Canadian.  This is US vs Canada, and the quiet kids always scared us.

Make the Ryder Cup Great Again!

The Ryder Cup is our favorite biennial event. In 1927, British entrepreneur Samuel Ryder donated the trophy and hatched the competition between US and British professional golfers.  From 1927 until 1979, the US record in Ryder Cup play was 19-2-1.  With the 1981 Ryder Cup, the match had evolved into US versus Europe, The US record since the change is 8-14-1.  It has been an ugly ride, and it seems patently unfair.  Our US golf warriors must now take on practically the entire world to reclaim what is rightfully our championship.  The president has been busy, but golf is his thing.  He is already pissed off at Europe anyways.  These Euros had to pass through US border control to get to Bethpage Black.  Curly Joe Homan has lots of juice, he could have created some travel delays, right?  He should have started with Tommy Touchdown Jesus Fleetwood.  There is an agitator sheen on that one.  And did you see Rory’s behavior at the course? Just because NY fans degraded his wife during his back swing, he doesn’t get to drop F-bombs on national TV. He should have been deported Saturday night. DT, you can make it happen.  Tariff Ryder cup back to just US v. UK.  Not sure how you negotiate that but work it in on one of those Big Bad Deals. Make the Ryder Cup Great Again!  We know, it is all Biden’s fault but do what you can.

The Yard has relocated back to our Las Vegas HQ.  It was a spectacular summer in the Pacific Northwest. The seafood, Orcas and scenery were sensational, but Cal Raleigh became legend.  The Seattle Mariners have had some great teams over the years but never a World Series attendee.  In 2001, the Mariners won 116-46 and lost to the Yankees in the ALCS.  They became the first team ever to win 110+ games and not go to the World Series.  This inglorious record was matched by the Dodgers in 2022. Raleigh had the greatest year in Mariner history eclipsing Junior’s 56 HR with a cool 60. The switch-hitting catcher is a refreshing; throwback player and we judge him to be the MVP.

The MLB playoffs are here minus the New York Mets.  The Yard staff and Brian of the PNW are not fans of the Metropolitans.  F- the Mets is a common refrain. The Yard had forecasted that billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen would not honor his commitment to MLB ownership to not “overspend” on payroll.  The Mets began the 2025 season with their highest payroll of $342 million in team history.  On June 12, 2025, the Mets had the best record in MLB baseball 45-24.  The Yankees were struggling, and the Mets had their moment in the NY sunlight.  Three and a half months later, the Mets slogged to their fate. On the final day of the season, the Mets could still make the playoffs if the Reds lost and they won their final game.  The table was set when the Reds lost early on Sunday.  The Mets could not muster a single run in their 4-0 loss to the freakin Marlins.  The Marlins, who were eliminated from the playoffs in July, loved spoiling the Mets last chance.  The Fish played like it was a game 7.  Steve Cohen continues to reap what he sowed with SAC.  It was ironic to see the Reds celebrating with champagne after their last game loss almost kept them out. Then the Mets punched the Reds ticket for champagne and goggles.  In the end, Juan Soto got what he sowed.  He wanted the other NY Team. Yankees did not miss him one beat.

Clayton Kershaw has been destined for the HOF since high school. He went 13-0 with 139 K’s in 64 innings during his senior season at Dallas Highland Park.  One of the highlights was an all-strikeout perfect game that was shortened to six innings due to the mercy rule.  Kershaw ridiculously had 15 k’s and a grand slam in the five-inning game.  Sophomore year, he had given up being Matt Stafford’s center to concentrate on baseball.  Stafford was still his shortstop that senior season.  Number 22 went on to have the HOF career foretold in the stars. 2025 will be his final season and he let us all know right before his final home start. He told his teammates and then the world.  He never wants the attention on him, just the team.  He has had huge success and pitching nightmares in the playoffs throughout his career.  He had a brilliant regular season this year.  With the Dodgers starting rotation, he gets his starts, but he is not number 1 or 2 anymore. He is still playing if the Dodgers do.  He gets to exit this grand game on his terms. All Hail Clayton.

 

A'ja Wilson is the WNBA’s Michael Jordan if they needed one.  MJ won a title at every level and is always in the greatest ever conversation.  A'ja plays with an aggressive grace and demonic polish that sets her above any bar.  She won in high school and at South Carolina.  She has two WNBA titles, two Olympic Gold Medals, four MVP awards and she is only 29.  In May 2025, Nike would release her signature sneaker, the A’One. The Aces were having a middling season when A'ja lit a fire and willed them to a 16-game win streak to close the season and into the WNBA finals.  The first game is Friday night in Las Vegas.  Go Aces!

Hurricanes and Macchiatos

The 60^th Anniversary of the Sound of Music was last week.  Mary Jo Seber loaded up the Seber siblings into the Chrysler Travel wagon and took us to Graumann’s Chinese Theater to see it. The Oscar winning story is the musical narrative about the Von Trapp Family singers rise to fame under Mary Poppins’ tutelage.  The movie is an all-time classic.  Several news outlets went to Salzburg, Austria where their story originated. Many Austrians were unfamiliar with the story and its global impact.  It could be because there were many Austrians dressed in Nazi uniforms throughout the film. With Uncle Adolph running the show from the Reichstag in Berlin, Austria’s future looked bright in 1944. Passive acquiescence to the Fuhrer was prudent and with a potential Prussian land grab upside. The Rise before the Fall of the Third Reich was still in the rising phase. Austria was betting on the come. Unfathomable stories of paramilitary groups dragging “undesirables” off the streets without rights or due process and throwing them in detention centers occurred daily.  Austrians probably don’t want to properly recall their role as the dark undercurrent in this family classic. What lighthearted movie will morph out of the ICE family singers?

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August 2005, the New Orleans arena where the then New Orleans Hornets played was severely damaged.  The Hornets were forced to relocate their home games from 2005-2007.  The Hornets went 77-87 during this period and averaged over 18,000 fans per home game.  Having the NBA in OKC, was enlightening for the NBA and local businessman Clay Bennett’s ownership team.

In 2001, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz led The Basketball Club of Seattle and their 58 partners to acquire the Seattle NBA team and keep them in the Seattle. Schultz and his minions could not right the ship.  The Supersonics lost millions during Howie’s reign of Macchiato mediocrity.  Starbucks stock roared but the one-time NBA Champion Supersonics were dismal.  In 1979, Dennis Johnson, Jack Sikma and Gus Williams beat the Washington Bullets 4-1 for the City of Seattle’s first professional championship.  Lenny Wilkens was the head coach. By 2005, the Sonics were a Dungeness dumpster. The Puget Sound Penises could not lift the basketball prospects for the Seattle Supersonics. Schultz agreed to sell the team to Bennett’s management team with the good faith understanding of keeping the team in Seattle. The Supersonics drafted Kevin Durant with the 2^nd pick in the draft and the future was a Keyless arena away. Key Arena had to stay, and Seattle would not pay for a new facility, Bennett gleefully paid the penalty and moved the team to OKC.  It was not a happy day in the PNW when OKC won the NBA title in 2025.  There were watch parties for OKC haters all over Seattle.  There was not as much vitriol in 2005 when they left.

Seattle has become a WNBA town.  Sue Bird is a hero and icon to many and deservedly so.  Key Arena finally got redone at a cost of $1.1 billion in 2021.  The only tenant at that time was the Storm. We have our summer AI team computing how that equates in 2006 dollars, but the rejected budget was $350 million.  We have another team working on the 2025 value of an NBA team in the Seattle market.  Schultz sold the Sonics for $350 million.  The Lakers just sold part of the Lakers for $4 billion. Statues honoring basketball stars at NBA arenas have become a thing.  The Lakers have a HOF starting lineup of bronze figures with Chick Hearn at the microphone encircling Crypto. Key Arena with no NBA team unfurled the statute of Lenny Wilkens when he was a player for Seattle.  The WNBA Seattle Storm are the little engine that could, and they have kept the basketball dream alive locally.  Sue Bird will get her statue in August. Clippers have a new stadium and are waiting patiently to honor someone, anyone in their 55-year history. No one ever plays for the Clippers long enough to matter.

 

Bottom of the 9^th: The defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers are having some moments, and they are not shining ones.  The team has been horrific since a torrid Max Muncy went down with a frightening knee injury three weeks ago.  Muncy was the MLB player of June, and the Dodgers have been in a funk since his injury.  Funkmaster General is Mookie Betts.  He was 1 for 38 at one point and Roberts benched him for a game.  He is playing shortstop this season for the first time since Little League or something.  He might never be a Gold Glove SS, but he is serviceable and gets another outfielder batter in the lineup.  His batting struggles might be related to this position change.  Betts came up with two outs in the bottom of the 9^th yesterday with the Dodgers down a run.  We quickly dug an 0-2 hole and somehow squibbed a ball towards third and beat the throw.  The Twins then walked the bases loaded for Freddie Freeman’s winning hit; We hope this moment gets the team and Mookie off the snide.