Doc Holliday had a huckleberry in Tombstone and so do the Dodgers, the San Diego Padres. There was constant chatter out of San Diego in 2024. Manny the Mouth and Fernando the Juiced were tearing up the league and the Dodgers demise was forecasted. The Dodgers overcame the 2-1 Series deficit and went on to win the 2024 WS and then again in 2025. San Diego has not recovered, and the Chargers are not coming back to heal that winter pain. Thursday July 2, the Pads hit three homeruns in the first two innings taking a 6-0 lead in Los Angeles. They ended up getting pummeled 12-7. Friday night, they took a 3-0 lead into the 8th before Teoscar hit the game winning Grand Slam. Saturday night Yamamoto struck out 10 in seven innings in a 3-0 defeat. For a modest $21 million, Machado has hit 18 home runs, played a solid 3rd base while batting .188. Tatis hitting .290 with 5 HR’s for his $20million. The All-Star break is approaching, and the Friars $213 million payroll is 14 games out and fading. Machado is 34 and never happy. Tatis is 27 and steroids tainted. Neither are clubhouse leaders just the highest paid. The Giants were our nemesis. They are barely ahead of the Rockies and well past their expiration date. Arizona was all the rage when they went to the 2023 WS. They have not made the playoffs since. Now they are just another middling team in Arizona. The Padres had offered promise to their title starved ciudad. They were false prophets.
The King James era began its decay on February 2, 2025, when the Lakers traded for Luka Doncic. The Yard wrote one of our best pieces going deep undercover on Google revealing details of this historic transaction. One key detail was that Lebron was not consulted regarding the trade. James had exerted his influence over the organization since the 2020 title. The King came and he delivered the Laker nation their 17th title. He broke the NBA all-time scoring record as a Laker surpassing Laker Kareem. Kareem has a statue in front of the Lakers home court, whatever it is now called. Lebron never will. He was an interloper in Laker history, not a legend in Laker lore.
The news was national headlines that Lebron was leaving Los Angeles. James announced he was not coming back, and pundits bemoaned the Lakers’ loss. The Lakers had no intention of re-signing him for another year. He had worn out his welcome with the Buss family and Rob Pelinka. When the Lakers were trying to find their next superstar, it was Lebron. After the 2020 title, James inserted himself in personnel decisions and Jeanie and Rob let him. He advocated for Russell Westbrook as the missing piece to another title. Laker fans know how that went and there has not been another title since 2020. The Lakers had to draft Bronny James because Lebron wanted to play with his son. The Lakers traded for Luka to replace the King as the face of the franchise. There was a science project this past year to see if maybe they could share the ball. Luka got the three-year $165 million deal, and James was exit stage left.
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