[Posted Sunday PM after golf, sort of, but prior to late baseball action….]
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NHL Quiz: 1) The NHL expanded from six to 12 teams for the 1967-68 season. Name the six additions. 2) The NHL then added another two teams for the 1970-71 campaign. Name them. Answers below.
NBA Playoffs
We had Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals Saturday night in Oklahoma City.
Ahead of this, Tuesday, the Thunder took a 3-2 series lead, besting the Spurs 127-114, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points, including 16-of-17 from the free throw line, while Isaiah Hartenstein chipped in with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Victor Wembanyama had an off night, 4-of-15 from the field, 0-for-5 from 3.
But Thursday in San Antonio, the Spurs returned the favor, 118-91, Wemby with 28 points and 10 rebounds, Rutgers’ Dylan Harper with 18 points off the bench.
So, it was on to Saturday. Who will show up…who will etch their names in franchise history and never have to buy another drink?
It’s San Antonio, led by Wemby’s 22 points and 7 rebounds in a 111-103 win. No repeat champion.
SGA had 35 for the Thunder, but OKC was 12-of-35 from three, the Spurs 17-of-40.
And now San Antonio faces the New York Knicks, who have won 11 straight, their 12 total playoff wins by 273 points. They have two losses by two total points.
Their 19.35 playoff point differential is by far the biggest ever.
But Knicks fans learned Thursday that center Mitchell Robinson, critical to the team’s success, broke his right pinkie finger and underwent surgery on it, though as of today, the team was hopeful he could still play in Game 1, Wednesday.
All of us fans when we learned did the same thing…stare at our pinkie, and picture trying to shoot and rebound with it being broken.
If Robinson can play effectively for just 12 minutes a game, and Karl-Anthony Towns can stay out of foul trouble, we’re OK. Otherwise, we’re probably not.
The last time the Knicks made the NBA Finals, 1999, it was against the Tim Duncan-led Spurs.
MLB
—Friday night in Sacramento, the Yanks whipped the slumping A’s, 8-2, Carlos Rodon with six innings, one run for New York, Ben Rice with four hits and a homer, his average back up to .303.
Nick Kurtz had a solo homer for the A’s. Last Tuesday, in a 4-1 loss to Seattle, Kurtz saw his on-base streak end at 48 as he went 0-for-4, striking out three times.
Saturday night, the A’s prevailed 6-4, with going Kurtz 3-for-4, and a 2-run homer.
Sunday, the Yankees scored 13 runs…13… in the third inning and as I go to post, it is 13-3 in the bottom of the fifth.
Going back again to last Tuesday, I have to note that in the Yanks 15-1 win over the Royals in Kansas City, New York had 24 hits, their most in a game since July 2011.
But what made this kind of astounding is that it was the first time in franchise history that every player in the starting lineup got at least two hits. I just couldn’t believe in all their storied history, it was the first. [Amed Rosario had four of the hits, including two home runs.]
Wednesday, in a 7-0 Yankee win over the Royals, Gerrit Cole threw 6 2/3, no walks, 10 strikeouts, in just his second start back from Tommy John surgery.
–The Mets hosted the Marlins this weekend and on Friday, after giving up two, 4-run leads, the Metsies finally prevailed 9-7 in ten on a walk-off 2-run homer from MJ Melendez.
Saturday, New York (25-33) won its third straight, 6-1, as Christian Scott finally got his first major-league win after failing in his first 15 starts to do so, Scott with five innings, one run, 8 strikeouts. Miami fell to 26-33.
And the Mets completed the sweep today…10-1, Juan Soto with a grand slam, Nolan McLean, after two ugly starts, good enough for the win, and what the heck, we’re 26-33.
–Going back to last Wednesday, Shohei Ohtani threw six innings of no-hit ball, but yielded a run, in a 4-1 win over the Rockies. Ohtani is now 5-2, 0.82 ERA. He has yet to give up more than two runs in any of his nine starts as he guns for his first Cy Young Award.
Ohtani also homered in the first.
But L.A. lost Teoscar Hernandez to a strained left hamstring and he was placed on the IL, joining Kike Hernandez, who will be out for at least six to eight weeks with a “significant tear” of his left oblique.
Teoscar had 7 homers and 31 RBIs, while Kike had just returned from the injured list and now goes back on it.
Also Wednesday, Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez extended his now-franchise-record scoreless innings streak to 44 2/3, going seven in a 3-0 win over the Padres, Sanchez now 6-2, 1.47. He broke Grover Alexander’s team-record of 41 scoreless innings set back in 1911.
Sanchez is now in the conversation for the longest consecutive scoreless innings streak, Orel Hershiser’s 59-inning stretch at the end of the 1988 season for the Dodgers.
Sanchez and Hershiser are also the only pitchers since 1913 to pitch a scoreless calendar month of at least 30 innings, with Hershiser pulling it off in September 1988.
So, entering the weekend, the Dodgers had won 12 of 14 to retake control of the NL West at 36-20. They then took on the Phillies (29-27) Friday night in Chavez Ravine, and the Dodgers managed only six hits, though four of them were home runs, all off Philadelphia star Zack Wheeler (4-1, 2.27) as L.A. won it 4-2. Justin Wrobleski pitched seven strong, one hit, one run (Kyle Schwarber’s 22nd homer of the season), to move to 7-2, 2.87.
Ohtani went 3-for-4 with his tenth home run.
Saturday, the Phillies (30-28) prevailed, 4-3, scoring three off Tanner Scott in the top of the eighth, snapping L.A.’s six-game winning streak, the Dodgers 37-21.
—L.A. remains 4 ½ ahead of San Diego (32-25) in the NL West, the Padres falling to the Nationals in D.C. yesterday, 9-4, though Fernando Tatis finally hit his first home of the season, a 451-foot bomb.
Tatis has five 20-homer seasons in his career and hit 42 in 2021, but had not gone deep in 240 plate appearances before this game – the longest drought in the major leagues.
–The shocking White Sox (31-27) won their first on Saturday without slugger Munetaka Murakami, 7-1 over Detroit. Murakami, 20 home runs, will be out four to six weeks with a hamstring injury.
–Last Wednesday the Cubs snapped their 10-game losing streak as Ian Happ had a homer and 5-RBI night in a win over the Pirates.
Chicago was just the second team to have two 10-game winning streaks and a 10-game losing streak in the same season, the other the 2017 Dodgers.
—Wake Forest’s Chase Burns went 5 2/3, 2 runs, 8 strikeouts last Tuesday night for the win, the Reds beating the Mets in New York, 7-2, Burns now 7-1, 1.96.
[In the NCAA Baseball Tournament first-round action this weekend, the Deacs flamed out. We haven’t had any real pitching for three years, Burns the lone exception in 2024.]
—Thursday, Chris Sale got the win in the Braves’ 10-2 win over one of his former teams, the Red Sox, Sale 8-3, 2.01.
–But also Thursday, Paul Skenes suffered his third straight defeat, 7-2 to the Cubs, though in 5 1/3, Skenes yielded just one earned run, the victim of shoddy fielding, while striking out 10, Skenes falling to 6-5, 2.89.
–I do have to note another game today, Sunday…Milwaukee’s exciting Jacob Misiorowski threw seven innings of shutout ball, no walks, 8 strikeouts, in a 2-0 win at Houston…Misiorowski now 6-2, 1.65. Man, the Cy Young race is going to be unreal.
–We note the passing of Bob Horner, a former overall No. 1 pick who went straight to the big leagues from Arizona State and once hit four home runs in a game. He was 68.
Horner was drafted in 1978 by the Atlanta Braves and made his big-league debut about a week later on June 16 at the age of 20 against the Pirates. Horner homered that day off future Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven.
Horner hit .266 in 89 games with 23 home runs and 63 RBIs and was named NL Rookie of the Year, beating out future Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith.
On July 6, 1986, Horner blasted four home runs at Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium during the Braves’ 11-8 loss to the Montreal Expos.
But Horner was plagued by injuries throughout his career – he appeared in 120 games or more in just five of his 10 big-league seasons, though he still managed 218 home runs. He made his only All-Star team in 1982, when he slammed 32 homers with 97 RBIs to help lead the Braves to the NL West division title.
Horner played nine of his ten seasons in Atlanta, and near the end, played in Japan in 1987 with the Yakult Swallows, hitting 31 home runs and batting .327 in 93 games.
–Saving the worst for last, major-league owners submitted their first formal proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement when the current one expires next December, and it was even worse than what the players expected.
“Yesterday, the MLBPA presented a comprehensive package of proposals designed to improve compensation for players at all levels, and to incentivize and reward competition on the field,” interim union chief Bruce Meyer said in a statement. “The owners responded today with a demand for a salary cap system, something generations of players have fought against. The last time the owners made such an explicit push for a cap – over 30 years ago – it led to the longest work stoppage in MLB history.
“For generations, our members have fought against cap systems because they harm players at all levels, erode or eliminate contractual guarantees, pit player against player, lead to more work stoppages, not less, and get worse for players over time.”
In other words, the MLB’s proposal was a complete non-starter.
As Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY noted:
“The union anticipated that MLB would offer to significantly raise the minimum salary, maybe not to $1.5 million as they are seeking in 2027, but at least increased from $780,000. They expected free agency to possibly be lowered from six years to five years, as they desire, for players 30 years or older. They thought that the salary arbitration pool would be expanded.
“No. No. And no.
“There was nothing, well, at least in this initial proposal.
“MLB proposed a $245.3 million salary cap, which would cause eight teams to lower their payroll, and in return, offered a $171.2 million salary floor, which would cause 12 teams to increase their payroll.
“The players would immediately gain $38 million in the return.”
The two sides will talk again, presumably in a few weeks, with meetings occurring more frequently later in the fall, but no one expects an agreement when the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 1. And then we’ll have a lockout, and much of the conversation around the Christmas dinner table, at least among sports fans, will center on this topic, and then we’ll see what happens in January and February.
No real baseball fan expects a solution until at least April and May have flown by and we’ll see if we can salvage half of the 2027 season.
It will end up being how many missed paychecks before the players blink, because they do not want to accept a salary cap, and some very strong influential voices, like Bryce Harper’s, will prevail, at least for a while.
MLB is telling the players that if they don’t agree to a salary cap, they won’t come close to getting their fair share of the financial pie, and are offering 50% of all baseball revenue.
MLB says their middle class is getting squeezed, with their data showing that 10% of its highest-paid players receive 60% of the total payroll, compared to 51% in the NFL, 41% in the NBA and 31% in the NHL.
An MLB spokesperson, Glen Caplin, counters: “Fans overwhelmingly support a salary cap and floor like in the other leagues because they don’t believe a $446 million spending gap from top to bottom is a fair fight. Our salary cap and floor proposal levels the playing field while sharing baseball revenue with the players 50/50 as we grow the game together.”
As Nightengale adds:
“The union calls it a cop-out, arguing that competitive balance isn’t a problem considering that small-market clubs like the Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians are currently leading their respective divisions, with the Brewers winning an MLB-best 97 games last season.”
Enjoy the rest of this season. Come the end of the World Series, that’s gonna be it for a while.
Golf Balls
–This week they held the Charles Schwab Challenge, Colonial Country Club, Ft. Worth, Texas, and after two rounds….
Jordan Smith -10
Michael Thorbjornsen -9
Ryan Gerard -9
Brian Harman -9
Hideki Matsuyama -9
And the likes of J.J. Spaun, Akshay Bhatia, Alex Smalley and Russell Henley at -8.
After 54 holes….
Eric Cole -12
Ryan Gerard -11
Mac Meissner -10
J.J. Spaun -10
Alex Smalley -9
Russell Henley -9
Hideki Matsuyama -9
In the final round, I was fixated on the Mets game (cuz I still can’t stop watching after nearly 60 years) so I picked up the golf (while following online) with about six holes to go, and, boy, Ben Griffin, who was in the clubhouse one back of the lead after a 65, was handed the mike and, while I’ve seen it before, Griffin has a job as a broadcaster anytime he wants. Play another three years, pick up a couple $million, and head to the booth for 20 years.
But it was incredibly complicated heading to the final holes, Cole on 18, -12, in the lead, looking for his first win…but Russell Henley birdies 18 to get to -12 as well.
Cole pars…And we’re heading to a playoff, Henley with five career wins on tour.
I have to move on. I’ll have the result in my Add-on.
—Bryson DeChambeau is adamant he’ll use his star power to help LIV Golf raise investments after acknowledging that the decision from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to withdraw funding after 2026 came as a “surprise.
In an interview this week, DeChambeau said: “We were surprised that they pulled out as quickly as they did. We didn’t really see that coming. But that’s OK. One door closes, another opens… I think we all have optimism that there is a business plan that makes sense for team golf.
“I’m very optimistic with the business plan of team golf compared to other models, in my opinion.”
Name two people on the planet who care about LIV’s team concept…time’s up.
We’ll see Bryson next at Shinnecock, as the two-time U.S. Open champion seeks another title.
—Stanford won its third NCAA Women’s Golf Championship in five years this week.
French Open
–The French Open had lost a lot of juice with the withdrawal of Carlos Alcaraz to a wrist injury (which will also keep him out of Wimbledon), but that left the field clear for Jannik Sinner to complete the career grand slam.
But on Thursday, Sinner fell victim to the brutal Paris heatwave (eight straight days of 90-degree temps and humidity), stunningly losing to Juan Manual Cerundolo – the 56th-ranked player in the world – after being up 6-3, 6-2, and 5-1 in the third – one game from victory. Sinner then lost 18 straight points and ultimately dropped the final three sets, 5-7, 1-6, 1-6, while dealing with cramping issues.
“I struggled, starting to feel very dizzy, very low on energy,” Sinner said after.
The four-time Grand Slam winner did say, “It was warm but not crazy warm. I feel like it was quite OK to play… It was just me today, but it happens.”
Well, Sinner’s loss then opened the door for Novak Djokovic, the 39-year-old gunning for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title.
And Djokovic on Friday was up 6-4, 6-4 against Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca, only to fall by losing the final three sets, 3-6, 5-7, 5-7.
Novak just faded in the heat, showing his age.
—Saturday, Coco Gauff was denied a second consecutive French Open title, stunned in the third round by No. 28 seed Anastasia Potapova in a dramatic three-set battle, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6.
Sunday, in a fourth round upset, 15 Marta Kostyuk took out 4-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1.
Monday, 1 Aryna Sabalenka faces off against 16 Naomi Osaka in a fourth-round contest.
Champions League
—Paris Saint-Germain won back-to-back Champions League trophies on Saturday in Budapest, beating Arsenal on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulation and extra time.
I love a penalty kick ending (granted, I’m one of the few who does) because it does provide the ultimate in drama, and Arsenal came up short as first, Eze missed his spot kick, stupidly stutter-stepping, hesitating before his effort went wide, and then on the final of the first five kicks, Arsenal defender Gabriel fired his penalty over the bar (after stutter-stepping) to hand PSG a 4-3 shootout victory.
PSG goalie David Raya saved from Nuno Mendes to keep Arsenal level before the final PK muff.
But seriously, the only two out of the ten to attempt the PK and freakin’ stutter-stepped, missed.
So, the Premier League title holder comes up short in the ultimate club championship.
—Liverpool fired manager Arne Slot on Saturday, just a year after he won the Premier League title.
Fenway Sports Group, the club’s American ownership, said it made a “difficult” decision after Liverpool finished fifth and trophy-less in a disappointing title defense.
Slot replaced club icon Jurgen Klopp in the summer of 2024 and led Liverpool to a record-tying 20th English league title.
Liverpool spent an unprecedented $570 million to strengthen the squad for his second season, but most of the expensive signings underwhelmed. And then a very public fallout with legendary winger Mohamed Salah didn’t help.
Stanley Cup
—Friday, the Carolina Hurricanes whipped the Montreal Canadiens in Raleigh, 6-1, to take the series 4-1, and now face the Vegas Golden Knights for the Stanley Cup, Game 1 in Raleigh on Tuesday.
—Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup winner with three teams (Montreal, New Jersey and Colorado) and one of the all-time great postseason performers, died by suicide this week at the age of 60.
It came just days after he carried the torch in Montreal’s Bell Centre before the Canadiens took on the Hurricanes in Game 3.
Lemieux won the first of his Cups with the Habs in 1986, then two with the Devils, and one with the Avalanche.
“A clutch player on the ice and greatly appreciated by Devils’ fans off it, Claude’s impact in bringing the first-ever Stanley Cup to New Jersey will forever be remembered as one of the paramount performances in team history,” the Devils said in a statement. “Widely respected throughout the NFL, both as a trusted agent and a valued colleague, Claude leaves behind a lasting legacy within our game that he gave so much to.”
Lemieux was a famed agitator, hardly a beloved figure (hated, actually), unless you were his teammate or, as a fan, he was on your team. While he posted 379 goals and 786 points in 1,215 NHL games, he notched 80 goals and 158 points in 234 playoff matches, and was playoff MVP in 1995 for the Devils, scoring 13 goals in 20 postseason games.
After retiring from pro hockey in 2009, Lemieux went on to become a certified player agent.
—Dennis Hull died Saturday. He was 81.
The five-time All-Star left winger was the brother of Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, scoring 298 of his 303 career goals in Chicago. He was also a member of Team Canada when they beat the Soviet Union in the 1972 Summit Series.
Stuff
—Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) announced plans Wednesday for a bipartisan college sports bill, the latest development in a multi-year effort by college sports leaders to have Congress pass legislation attempting to stabilize the industry and curb the flood of legal challenges against the NCAA and power conferences.
Cruz and Cantwell, the chair and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, respectively, worked for months toward a comprehensive bill that could potentially garner enough bipartisan support to reach 60 votes in the Senate. Senators Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) quickly signed on as co-sponsors.
Named the Protect College Sports Act, it’s still a long way from being ratified and will face significant steps and hurdles in the coming months, including likely resistance from the Big Ten and SEC, a polarized Congress and political climate, and this fall’s midterm elections functioning as a de facto deadline.
But it’s a solid bill and a good step. It permit athletes only one immediate transfer as undergraduates (maintaining freedom of movement for graduate students) and requires them to sit out a season of eligibility for multiple transfers, and it establishes a five-year eligibility window that prohibits professional athletes from competing at the college level. The NCAA was already expected to vote on an age-based eligibility model next month that would allow college players to compete for up to five seasons, starting the academic year after they turn 19 or graduate high school.
—At least three people died after a vehicle collided with an elephant in a national park in Uganda, officials said.
Police said four other people were injured in the incident in Murchison Falls National Park in the northwest of the country last Sunday evening.
The vehicle was carrying seven officials from the Uganda Revenue Authority.
Car accidents are common in Uganda and incidents involving wildlife and humans are also on the rise, as expanding communities encroach on protected wildlife areas.
Officials did not provide information on the elephant’s condition, though I saw one report that was kind of depressing (no actual final conclusion, but sad).
Elephant is No. 2 on the All-Species List. ‘Man’ about 420.
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/1/74: #1 “The Streak” (Ray Stevens…everyone was doing it in high school in my day…) #2 “Band On The Run” (Paul McCartney & Wings) #3 “Dancing Machine” (The Jackson 5)…and…#4 “You Make Me Feel Brand New” (The Stylistics) #5 “The Entertainer” (Marvin Hamlisch) #6 “Midnight At The Oasis” (Maria Muldaur) #7 “Sundown” (Gordon Lightfoot) #8 “Help Me” (Joni Mitchell) #9 “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” (Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods…effective anti-war song…) #10 “Oh Very Young” (Cat Stevens…interesting week, with some classics…B+…)
NHL Quiz Answers: 1) The league went from six (Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, New York, Boston) to 12 teams in 1967-68, adding Philadelphia, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Oakland. 2) In 1970-71, they added Buffalo and Vancouver.
Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tues.
