[Posted Sunday p.m. prior to late sports action.]
Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.
MLB Postseason Quiz: Name the top ten in postseason games played…five of them either played all of their games with the Yankees or played a majority of their games with New York. All modern era…answer below.
MLB
—Going back to the wild card round, there was some exciting action, and outstanding pitching performances. As always happens come the postseason…pitching wins.
Last Tuesday, the Red Sox defeated the Yankees at the Stadium 3-1, as Max Fried went 6 1/3, no runs, but was removed after retiring the leadoff batter, and as the local sports radio commentators said the next morning, it’s not as if Fried fought to stay in the game after 102 pitches. The Yankee bullpen, starting with Luke Weaver, then blew it…what had been a 1-0 Yankee lead in the seventh turned into 3-1.
But in the bottom of the ninth, Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman got out of a bases-loaded, no outs jam…Giancarlo Stanton struck out, Jazz Chisholm flied out to shallow right, and Trent Grisham whiffed on a 101-mph fastball.
For Boston, Garrett Crochet went 7 2/3, one run, 11 strikeouts and 117 pitches.
Wednesday, the Yanks then won a nailbiter, 4-3, Jazz Chisholm scoring from first on an Austin Wells single in the bottom of the eighth, David Bednar closing it out for New York in the ninth.
Which brought us to Game 3 on Thursday, and the Yanks sent out rookie Cam Schlittler, the 24-year-old rookie impressing in his 14 starts the second half of the season, pitching to a 2.96 ERA. They were hoping to get five innings from him…just keep the team in the game…and all he did was go out and give the Yankees and their fans a performance for the ages.
Eight innings, no runs, 5 hits, no walks, and 12 strikeouts, as New York won it 4-0.
Before this masterpiece, no pitcher in baseball history had ever thrown eight-plus innings with 12-plus strikeouts, zero runs allowed and zero walks in a postseason game. He was the first Yankees rookie to ever strike out 12 batters in a playoff game.
–The Tigers won their first game against Cleveland 2-1, Tuesday, as Tarik Skubal showed off his Cy Young skills, 7 2/3, one run, 14 Ks and 107 pitches.
Wednesday, the Guardians bounced back 6-1.
But Thursday, the Tigers took the series with a 6-3 win.
–The Cubs took their series against the Padres with two 3-1 victories, including Thursday, while the Padres’ lone win was a 3-0 shutout Wednesday. This sets up a juicy NLDS matchup featuring the manager Craig Counsel who jilted Milwaukee for a division rival…only to see his old team become the best team in baseball.
[I do have to add that on Wednesday, Padres reliever Mason Miller struck out five batters over the seventh and eighth innings of San Diego’s 3-0 win. And on his second strikeout of the day, he sat down the Cubs’ Carson Kelly with a 104.5 mph fastball, which, per MLB, is the fastest pitch ever recorded in the playoffs since pitch tracking began in 2008.]
Sorry Bobby C., out in San Diego. It’s wait ‘til next year.
–And out in Los Angeles, the Dodgers whipped the Reds in two…10-5 and 8-4.
In the first game, Blake Snell gave L.A. seven innings, 2 runs, while Teoscar Hernandez and Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs each.
Wednesday, the Reds jumped off to a 2-0 lead on an embarrassing outfield muff by Hernandez, but that was it, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto went 6 2/3, zero earned. Mookie Betts had 4 hits, 3 doubles, and 3 RBIs.
–Well, it was on to the division round.
Chicago at Milwaukee; Yankees at Toronto; L.A. at Philadelphia; and Detroit at Seattle.
In the opener, the Brewers buried the Cubs early, 9-1 after just two innings, getting to starter Matthew Boyd and reliever Michael Soroka. But the Brewers were aided by an error by Chicago second baseman Nico Hoerner with four of the Milwaukee runs being unearned…Brewers win it 9-3.
The Yankees then took on the Blue Jays and it was 2-1 Toronto heading to the bottom of the seventh when the aforementioned Luke Weaver came in for the Yanks and for the second straight time in the playoffs, failed to get any of the three batters he faced out, Toronto scoring four in the seventh and four in the eighth, a 10-1 win.
In Philadelphia, Shohei Ohtani was on the mound and gave up three runs in the second, but overall went six innings, 9 strikeouts. L.A. scored two in the top of the sixth off Cristopher Sanchez, and then in the seventh, Teoscar Hernandez belted what would be the game-winning 3-run homer off Philly reliever Matt Strahm for the 5-3 victory.
The Dodgers got the final outs from Tyler Glasnow, Alex Vesia and Roki Sasaki; Vesia bailing out Glasnow in the bottom of the eighth, getting pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa to fly out to center with the bases loaded and two outs.
In the nightcap, the Tigers edged the Mariners 3-2 in 11, the two teams combining to use 15 pitchers. Seattle’s Cal Raleigh had three hits but they were all singles.
—Sunday, Toronto had a 12-0 lead, bottom of the fifth…Vlad Guerrero Jr. with a grand slam, Yankee starter Max Fried yielding 7 earned in 3 innings.
But the story equally was Blue Jays rookie starter Trey Yesavage out of Pottsville, PA, who had no-hit New York through 5 innings, 11 strikeouts!
And Toronto taking him out top of the sixth, 5 1/3, no hits, 78 pitches. Totally understandable.
I think this game is in hand…and so I go to post. [12-2 in the sixth…for the record as I close this out.]
–The Texas Rangers replaced Bruce Bochy with Skip Schumaker. Schumaker was the N.L. manger of the year with the Marlins, leading the team to an 84-78 record and rare playoff appearance in 2023. But he and Miami parted ways after they went 62-100 in 2024.
The 45-year-old spent this season as a special assistant with the Rangers.
—Brian Snitker is not returning as Braves manager in 2026, ending his nearly decade-long stint in the role after the team’s first losing season since 2017. He will remain with the organization in an advisory role.
Snitker, who turns 70 on Oct. 17 and was at the end of his contract, had said in recent weeks that he was undecided about whether he wanted to continue managing.
Snitker, who the Braves announced would be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2026, spent 49 years in the organization, starting out as a minor league catcher, and finally spending the past 10 seasons as a major league manager after first taking over in 2016 as interim manager when Fredi Gonzalez was fired.
Snitker was 811-668 as manager and guided the team to six consecutive division titles through 2023 and a World Series championship in 2021 – the first title for the Braves since they won in 1995 under Bobby Cox.
The Braves were a preseason World Series pick this year by many pundits, but began the season with an 0-7 West Coast trip and lost 13 of their first 18. They never recovered and finished 76-86.
–And the Mets, after deciding to bring back manager Carlos Mendoza, basically dumped the entire coaching staff except for first base coach Antoan Richardson, the stolen base savant, who was largely responsible for Juan Soto’s breakout season on the base paths, barely missing a 40-40 season with 38 steals when his career high had been 12.
College Football Review
We had a few upsets in the Top Ten, but from the top…lots of top 25 teams idle….
No. 1 Ohio State (5-0) defeated Minnesota (3-2) 42-3, as quarterback Julian Sayin continues to grow as a starter, 23/27, 326, 3-0; Carnell Tate catching nine for 183 yards and a TD.
3 Miami (5-0) raced off to a 28-3 lead after three quarters before hanging on against 18 Florida State (3-2) in Tallahassee, 28-22. Carson Beck threw four touchdown passes for Miami.
5 Oklahoma (5-0) whipped Kent State (1-4), 44-0, but the Golden Flashes beat the spread (46.5). Michael Hawknis Jr., subbing for the injured John Mateer at QB, threw three touchdown passes and ran for another for the Sooners.
6 Texas A&M (5-0) defeated Mississippi State (4-2) 31-9.
But out in Los Angeles (Pasadena, actually), No. 7 Penn State (3-2) suffered a total humiliation, falling to previously winless UCLA (1-4) 42-37, after the Bruins built a 27-7 halftime lead. Tennessee transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava threw for two touchdowns and rushed 16 times for 128 yards and three scores as he carried UCLA to a shocking victory.
The great game analyst Gary Danielson was beside himself at the end of the game as Penn State didn’t rush the UCLA punter, allowing him to dance around in the end zone, killing precious seconds, before taking the safety.
Another awful coaching job by the Nittany Lions’ James Franklin, and there are calls for him to be fired. Penn State doesn’t deserve to be ranked this week.
Also in danger of falling out of the top 25 is 9 Texas (3-2), losing at Florida (2-3) 29-21, as Arch Manning was far from stellar (again), 16/29, 263, 2-2, the Longhorns with zero running game.
No. 10 Alabama (4-1) is cruising after their opening loss to Florida State, 30-14, over 16 Vanderbilt (5-1). Ty Simpson had another big game at QB for Bama, 340 yards and two touchdowns, while Jam Miller rushed for 136 yards and a score. Vandy quarterback Diego Pavia had two costly turnovers inside the red zone.
11 Texas Tech (5-0) beat Houston (4-1) 35-11.
12 Georgia (4-1) defeated Kentucky (2-3) 35-14.
14 Iowa State (5-1) suffered its first loss at Cincinnati (4-1) 38-30, a huge win for the Bearcats who had jumped out to a 31-7 lead and staved off a rally by the Cyclones.
20 Michigan (4-1) beat Wisconsin (2-3) 24-10.
21 Notre Dame (3-2) will continue to move up, 28-7 over Boise State (3-2) as the great running back tandem of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price combined for 186 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.
22 Illinois (5-1) got a superb passing effort from Luke Altmyer, 19/22, 390, 1-0 (Hank Beatty with five receptions for 186 yards and a score) in beating Purdue (2-3) 43-27.
And 24 Virginia (5-1) picked up a huge road win at Louisville (4-1) 30-27 in overtime. The Cavaliers only had 237 yards of offense but had a fumble return for a touchdown as well as a pick-six.
In other games, Clemson (2-3) whipped North Carolina (2-3) 38-10 in Chapel Hill, another humiliating defeat for coach Bill Belichick, who has been outscored against Power Four competition, 120-33. Clemson’s Cade Klubnik looked like the Heisman contender he was supposed to be this season, 22/24, 254, 4-0, the Tigers overall with 399 yards passing. The Tar Heels are awful.
Pitt (3-2) mauled Boston College (1-4), a shocking season thus far for the Eagles.
Duke (4-2) continues to play better, 45-21 at Cal (4-2).
And then there was Wake Forest at Virginia Tech (2-4), and whaddya know but the Demon Deacons (3-2) had their first big win for new coach Jake Dickert, 30-23, despite our quarterback, Robby Ashford, overthrowing one receiver after another, and star running back Demond Claiborne again having to leave the game early due to an injury, this time his knee.
The Deacs had about six false start penalties, but the Hokies committed some egregious 15-yard penalties with automatic first downs attached at absolutely critical parts of the ballgame and Wake took advantage of them. A gritty, gritty effort. [And Ashford did perform in the clutch when he had to, despite being all banged up.]
—And now the new AP Poll! The preseason AP Nos. 1 and 2, Texas and Penn State, are out!
- Ohio State (41) 5-0
2. Miami (21) 5-0
3. Oregon (5) 5-0
4. Ole Miss 5-0
5. Texas A&M 5-0
6. Oklahoma 5-0
7. Indiana 5-0
8. Alabama 4-1
9. Texas Tech 5-0
10. Georgia 4-1
11. LSU 4-1
12. Tennessee 4-1
13. Georgia Tech 5-0
14. Missouri 5-0
15. Michigan 4-1
16. Notre Dame 3-2
17. Illinois 5-1
18. BYU 5-0
19. Virginia 5-1
20. Vanderbilt 5-1
21. Arizona State 4-1
22. Iowa State 5-1
23. Memphis 6-0
24. South Florida 4-1
25. Florida State 3-2
Again, no Texas…no Penn State. Cincinnati is No. 26 if you carry out the votes.
Next week…1 Ohio State at 17 Illinois; 7 Indiana at 3 Oregon; and 8 Alabama at 14 Missouri.
NFL
–Going back to Thursday night, the Rams (3-2) suffered a tough loss at the hands of the 49ers (4-1), 26-23 in overtime. The two teams had exchanged late field goals in the fourth quarter, and then the Niners Eddy Piniero, who had blasted a 59-yard field goal with 2:52 to play to give San Francisco a temporary 23-20 lead, kicked the deciding 41-yarder in OT.
But it was a few coaching issues, decisions made, and abysmal execution that did in the Rams, including Coach Sean McVay going for it on fourth-and-1 in overtime, just two yards away from the end zone, down by 3.
It’s not that people questioned the going for it, rather than settle for a tie. It was the play-call…a handoff straight up the gut to Kyren Williams, who got stonewalled short.
Williams had a particularly tough night. He was inches from a go-ahead touchdown just a minute left in regulation. He fumbled it. Earlier he had a huge drop.
Matthew Stafford was very good for L.A., 30/47, 389, 3-0, 111.0, but Mac Jones, again subbing for the injured Brock Purdy, was 33/49, 342, 2-0, 100.0, Kendrick Bourne with 10 receptions for 142 yards.
—Sunday…the Browns took on the Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, and this week, Cleveland benched Joe Flacco in favor of rookie Dillon Gabriel, not Shedeur Sanders.
And Gabriel was solid, 19/33, 190, 2-0, 94.3, but Minnesota’s Carson Wentz drove the Vikings 80 yards in the final three minutes, culminating in a gorgeous 12-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison with just 0:25 to play, Vikes win it 21-17, and Minnesota goes to 3-2, Cleveland 1-4…a bitter loss for the Brownies.
–The Jets took on the Cowboys at MetLife without the services of key running back Braelon Allen, out 8-12 weeks with a knee injury, leaving Breece Hall as the lone back and he had 113 rushing, 42 receiving, but a critical early fumble inside the Dallas 10-yard line, Dak Prescott (4 TD passes) drove the Cowboys (2-2-1) 91 yards and Dallas went on to win it, 37-22; Javonte Williams with 135 rushing for Jerry’s Kids.
The Jets, now 0-5, are the first team in NFL history to start off with that record and have zero takeaways.
As a loyal to the end (of life) Jets fan, I watched this…and it is rather, err, hard to do. I was on the verge of committing hari-kari, but my late friend Johnny Mac had the sword down in Myrtle Beach and I can hardly ask his wife to express it to me.
–I did also watch some of the Giants at New Orleans, and the Saints won their first (1-4), beating New York (1-4) 26-14. Jaxson Dart did some nice things at QB for the Giants, but he also committed 3 turnovers, New York five in all, and that spells defeat, boys and girls.
–I was following the Eagles (4-1) hosting Denver (3-2) simply online until the final minutes and when I saw Saquon Barkley with six carries, I thought he was hurt, and then I saw a third reception pop up, but that was it, and the Broncos staged a massive fourth-quarter comeback with 18 points to take it 21-17.
The Eagles, for some reason, rushed it just 11 times!
–The Texans (2-3) took advantage of a Ravens (1-4) team without Lamar Jackson and pummeled them 44-10 in Baltimore; C.J. Stroud with four touchdown passes for Houston, the Texans picking off Cooper Rush three times and holding the Ravens to just 207 yards of offense.
Baltimore was one of the preseason picks to win the Super Bowl. Without Lamar, the season is already over. [The Ravens’ ‘D’ is also without a number of key players due to injury.]
—Indianapolis and Daniel Jones are a rather shocking 4-1 after whipping the Raiders (1-4) 40-6, Geno Smith with two more interceptions, 9 this year, for Vegas.
–I have little to say on the situation surrounding former quarterback and now Fox Sports broadcaster Mark Sanchez, who was stabbed early Saturday morning, with Fox Sports saying in a statement he “is currently recovering in the hospital in stable condition.”
But here’s what we know.
Sanchez was in Indianapolis to cover Sunday’s game between the Colts and Raiders as part of Fox’s broadcast team and attended the Colts’ practice Friday.
But then Indianapolis police released a statement on X about a “physical disturbance” at around 12:30 a.m., after which a “man with the apparent stab wounds” was taken to a hospital and remained in stable condition. The police did not name Sanchez.
The other man received treatment for lacerations, police said. Detectives had reviewed video footage of the confrontation, which police said occurred in the popular downtown nightlife Wholesale District next to the Indiana statehouse.
Hours later, police then said Sanchez had been arrested “at the hospital for battery with injury, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication.”
NFL analyst Brady Quinn covered the game in Sanchez’s absence.
Golf Balls / More on the Ryder Cup
—Six critical events in the Fall Season for the PGA Tour and trying to keep your card and/or qualify for a few signature events. And this week was the annual Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss.
And the winner was Steven Fisk, a 28-year-old, his first Tour win, moving from 135-65 on the points list! I watched the ending…these moments are always great.
–The blowback from last weekend’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black and the unruly fans continued this week. The CEO of the PGA of America issued a heartfelt apology Wednesday to the European team’s players and families.
Derek Sprague acknowledged incidents such as Rory McIlroy’s wife nearly getting hit with a cup of beer, stating that the organization had coordinated with New York State Police and other agencies to manage crowd control. While security was tightened on Sunday, Sprague admitted the damage had already been done.
“There’s no place for that at the Ryder Cup, no place for it in the game of golf, and we are not happy with what happened last week,” Sprague said. “I haven’t spoken to Rory or Erica, but I do plan on sending them an email with my heartfelt apologies.”
Sprague was working to repair the damage the organization’s image suffered after PGA of America President Don Rea took a different approach on Sunday in a BBC interview where he downplayed the severity of the crowd’s behavior.
“Well, you have 50,000 people there that are really excited, and heck, you can go to a youth soccer game and get some people who say the wrong things,” Rea said. When asked about the abuse directed at McIlroy, he responded, “I haven’t heard some of that. I’m sure it happened…Rory understands things like that are going to happen.”
Adding fuel to the fire, the emcee on the first tee Saturday – comedian and actress Heather McMahan – was caught on video encouraging the crowd with a vulgar chant aimed at McIlroy. She later stepped down from her role and issued an apology.
Ryder Cup icon Tom Watson apologized on behalf of his fellow Americans on Monday for insulting chants and verbal attacks from fans at Bethpage, saying he was embarrassed by the behavior.
“I’d like to congratulate @RyderCupEurope on their victory. Your team play the first few days was sensational,” Watson, who was a two-time captain for the American team in 1993 and 2014 and participated in four Ryder Cups during his career, wrote on X. “More importantly, I’d like to apologize for the rude and mean-spirited behavior from our American crowd at Bethpage. As a former player, Captain and as an American, I am ashamed of what happened.”
Meanwhile, back to Rory and his comments after Sunday’s round blasting the fans… “I don’t mind them having a go at us. Like, that’s to be expected. I mean, that’s what an away Ryder Cup is. Whenever they are still doing it while you are over the ball and trying to hit your shot, that’s the tough thing.
“You know, look, in between shots, say whatever you want to me. That’s totally fine. But just let us – you gave us the respect to let us hit shots and give us the same chance that the Americans have, I guess.”
But Paul Azinger rightfully criticized Rory for throwing out his endless F-bombs in reply to the harassment.
—LIV Golf Ltd., the United Kingdom-based entity which manages the upstart golf league’s activities outside of the United States, lost $590.1 million in 2024.
It represents the latest high, or low, for the already heavily loss-making business and meant losses in the UK business across the first three-and-a-half years of operation hit $1.4 billion
Those losses, as shown in LIV Golf Ltd’s 2024 accounts, come as LIV revenues remain small compared to the significant sums paid to attract golfers away from the more established PGA and DP World Tours, operated in the U.S. and Europe respectively.
Non-U.S. revenues hit $87.5 million for LIV in 2024, up 75 percent on 2023 yet still a long way below the $745 million paid out in costs. This is all for the seven tournaments held outside the U.S.
For the 16 non-U.S. events hosted across the 2022, 2023 and 2024 leagues, with prize pots of $25m each, that alone is $400 million.
This is before considering the huge sums paid to bring players to the new league in the first place.
Premier League
In weekend action…Saturday…Tottenham had a good road win at Leeds, 2-1; Arsenal beat West Ham 2-0; Manchester United shutout Sunderland 2-0; and Chelsea had a huge win over Liverpool 2-1.
For the Reds it was their second loss in a row and Arsenal took over the top spot in the table.
Sunday, Manchester City beat Brentford 1-0, as Erling Haaland scored his ninth goal in seven matches. [18 in 11 this season for club and country.]
—Next year’s World Cup tickets for group matches in the United States, excluding U.S. men’s national team games, are priced as follows:
Category 1: $410-$620
Category 2: $310-$465
Category 3: $140-$215
Category 4: $60-$105
Category 1 in some of the stadiums isn’t necessarily in the lower bowl…you might still be placed in the second deck.
The vast majority of tickets for the final at MetLife Stadium are $2,790 or $4,210…that’s for the upper-deck!
FIFA had tightly guarded ticket prices until Wednesday. In early September, it announced that the cheapest tickets would start at $60, but as The Athletic found, there were few available at that level when they went on sale.
Stuff
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/4/80: #1 “Another One Bites The Dust” (Queen) #2 “All Out Of Love” (Air Supply) #3 “Upside Down” (Diana Ross)…and…#4 “Give Me The Night” (George Benson) #5 “Drivin’ My Life Away” (Eddie Rabbitt) #6 “Late In The Evening” (Paul Simon) #7 “Woman In Love” (Barbra Streisand) #8 “I’m Alright” (Kenny Loggins) #9 “Lookin’ For Love” (Johnny Lee) #10 “Xanadu” (Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra…C- week…)
MLB Postseason Quiz Answer: Top ten postseason games played….
- Derek Jeter…158
2. Jorge Posada…125
3. Bernie Williams…121
4. David Justice…112 (some with the Yanks)
5. Manny Ramirez…111
6. Jose Altuve…105
7. Yadier Molina…104
8. Alex Bregman…102*
9. Tino Martinez…99 (81 of 99 with Yanks)
10. Mariano Rivera…99
*Bregman’s total includes his three with Boston in the wild card this season.
Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.
***Friends, I lost my business partner this week at the age of 51, a shocking death. As I noted in my Week in Review column, he was a very senior Wall Street executive who first started following me 25 years ago. For me, it is devastating, including to the business. If you have never contributed to StocksandNews, please consider doing so now.
The Editor
