In a banner year for first-year players, the competition is going to be hot and heavy all summer to see who takes home the hardware — and our latest Rookie of the Year poll reflects that, with extremely close races in both leagues.
The Giants usually have a young fan signal the start of the game with a hearty, “Play ball!” But last night, that honor went to 31-year-old Osiel Mendoza, who is battling ALS.
Javier Sanoja’s stolen base in the World Baseball Final led to Venezuela’s winning run against Team USA. Only two people knew it was coming, and the manager wasn’t one of them. “I didn’t have the green light for that,” Sanoja said.
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Don’t tell my boss, but I’m going to go take a nap. I had a very late night last night soaking up the NBA Finals atmosphere in New York.
I don’t get many chances to just be a sports fan. Writing a sports newsletter five days a week means that if I’m watching a game, more often than not I’m also thinking about how I might write about it the next day. I watched Game 1 of the NBA Finals on my couch, occasionally jotting down notes on my phone. But for Game 3, I wanted to be a fan.
I’d say that I’m a lapsed Knicks fan. I’ve lived my entire life in the New York area and grew up rooting for the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Rangers (in that order). I remember sitting in the last row of Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks play Yao Ming’s Rockets on Super Bowl Sunday as a 13-year-old in 2006, probably wearing the Allan Houston jersey I owned at the time. I spent two years living with two massive Knicks fans from Brooklyn when I went to college in the Bronx, and we’d watch the Carmelo Anthony-era Knicks most nights. But being a national sportswriter means I have to pay attention to teams outside of New York, and so following the Knicks became less of a priority.
But with the Knicks in the NBA Finals for the first time since I became a basketball fan, I knew I had to experience a game the way millions of people in the New York metro area have—not making notes about the box score in my living room, but living and dying with every shot.
I decided to meet up with a couple of friends (including one of those aforementioned former roommates) at a bar in Midtown. I live about an hour outside the city, so I knew that going into Manhattan would make writing this newsletter the following morning a struggle—I got home at 1:30 a.m. and started writing at 6:30—but I wouldn’t have done anything differently.CONTINUE DAN’S COLUMN ON SI
Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium is now ready to host the World Cup after extensive preparations, ranging from installing a new grass pitch to covering up roughly 1,500 corporate logos. I got an inside look at it all for the latest Stadium Wonders episode. (I also got to go up on the stadium’s cutting-edge, eight-petal retractable roof.)
Gilberto Manzano kicks off our Super Bowl LXI road map series with Jacksonville, a team on the rise with a young general manager and head coach, and talent on both sides of the ball.
Don’t dismiss the recent observations from a .169-hitting Manny Machado as just an anti-analytics rant, Verducci says. Older hitters are finding it more difficult to get a hit than ever before.
5. I didn’t get a picture, but I saw a guy wearing an Allonzo Trier Knicks jersey. Don’t worry if you don’t know who that is. He was an undrafted free agent whose NBA career lasted 88 games across two seasons.
3. Angels first baseman Trey Mancini’s RBI single in his first MLB plate appearance since July 2023. The former Orioles, Astros and Cubs player went 3-for-4 in his first game since being called up from Triple A.
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A Night Prayer
Jesus Christ, my God, I adore You and thank You for all the graces You have given me this day. I offer You my sleep and all the moments of this night. I place myself and all my loved ones, wherever they may be, in Your sacred side and under the mantle of Our Blessed Mother. Let Your holy angels stand watch and keep us in peace. Amen.
Quote of the Day
“I embrace the Cross of my Jesus. I will carry it like Him in pain and ignominy. I wait at His hands, triumph and glory in the hereafter.” -Blessed Anna Maria Taigi
Today’s Meditation
There are certain sins we seldom or never mention in our Confessions, either because our conscience is too easy or elastic or perhaps because we do not really desire to amend. Pride is one of these sins. There are but few who accuse themselves of it, but those who really wish to amend their lives should make it a special subject of their examine and Confession, in order to learn to hate it and repent of it and to make firm resolutions of amendment in the future.
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The daily examination of conscience is an ancient Catholic practice. It’s very simple, and it’s designed to help us identify our sins and weaknesses so that we can improve and grow stronger in the spiritual life, while providing an excellent ongoing preparation for regular Confession. It consists of taking a few minutes at the end of the day to prayerfully review our actions in the light of God’s commandments, followed by the Act of Contrition.
Reflect on the victories and losses
Actively reflecting on the high and low points of the day can help you live more intentionally and bring a renewed sense of resolve into the following day.
Review your actions, words, and thoughts today. Did you actively guard yourself against temptation? Where did sin creep in?
In what moments did you practice virtue and moral courage?
Were you attuned to the Holy Spirit’s promptings today? Where did you feel His inspiration?
Ask Him for the graces necessary to follow His Will more purposefully tomorrow.
Act of Contrition
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.
Practice gratitude
It is God’s love that has brought you into existence and to this exact moment. Practice looking for His hand in your day.
Where did you feel His loving gaze upon you today?
What people or moments helped you see God in your life?
Thank God for all these moments!
Ask Him to help you recognize His blessings and providence tomorrow.
Renew your commitment to Christ
Remember: our Faith is founded upon a Person—Christ! Renew your personal love and devotion to Him.
Thank God for the gift of His Son Jesus and our call to be His disciples.
Tell the Lord of your desire to know Christ more personally.
If possible, set an intention for your day tomorrow. Ask Our Lord to guide you in this act.
Pray a Hail Mary, Our Father, or another beloved prayer.
Rest with God
The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. — Psalm 50:1
(15) And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: (16) Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. King James VersionChange email Bible version
Pentecost is unique among the holy days because it is the only annual feast determined by counting. All the other festivals God commands us to keep on certain dates on the Hebrew calendar, but we must count for Pentecost. Whether we count fifty days or seven weeks or seven Sabbaths from the day of the wavesheaf offering, we must still go through the exercise of measuring the time to keep the feast properly. Why?
God does nothing without a purpose, and His purposes always include giving His people additional instruction for their ultimately eternal benefit. Counting to Pentecost is no exception. Even a cursory examination will expose several fascinating avenues of study.
First, God commands us to count. Counting is a means of calculating sequential items, events, and measurements. The Bible equates counting to numbering and measuring, and it becomes a metaphor for judging and evaluating. When we understand what the period from the wavesheaf offering to Pentecost represents, the extended meanings come into play.
Passover symbolizes our redemption from this world and the forgiveness of our sins. Unleavened Bread typifies our lifelong task of coming out of sin and putting on the new man in sincerity and truth. We begin to count on wavesheaf day, which occurs during this period, and the fifty days extend to Pentecost, a festival that prefigures the harvest of God’s firstfruits. The fifty days, then, represent the period of a Christian’s conversion, the time between his calling and his resurrection to eternal life.
Thus, God wants us to count, number, or measure the time of our conversion. This should bring several well-known verses to mind. For instance, Paul considers us wise if we are “redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). He cautions the Romans, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). In both instances, he is advising Christians to measure and make use of our time carefully.
A few Old Testament verses may be even more on point. David writes in Psalm 39:4, “LORD, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am.” If we understand just how short our time is, we also realize how weak and insignificant we are next to God and eternity. It forces us to rely upon Him and strive to improve. This is the kind of attitude that God desires in us and will enhance our growth in character.
Moses, too, makes use of this imagery in Psalm 90:12: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Properly evaluating our lifetimes builds wisdom in us, and wisdom—the godly use of knowledge and understanding—will make our behavior pleasing to God. Wisdom will help us to prioritize our time properly so we can devote ourselves to what is truly important.
Second, God has us count fifty days. What is significant about the number fifty? Fifty is the round number of years human beings live in a normal adult life (compare Numbers 1:3; Psalm 90:10). Fifty years, then, represents the period during which we live, grow, overcome, bear fruit, and prove our devotion to God through trials, tests, blessings, curses, and life’s other varied experiences. Fifty years corresponds to the span of our conversion.
Biblically, the number fifty has its closest association with two things: the Tabernacle/Temple (in some of its measurements) and the Jubilee. The apostles describe God’s church as a temple, and Christians are individual “living stones” within it (I Corinthians 3:9, 16-17; Ephesians 2:19-22; I Peter 2:5). The fifty days thus symbolize the time it takes to complete the work of building a habitation for God.
Every fiftieth year in ancient Israel, the Jubilee was decreed on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:8-9), which, among other things, represents unity, being at one, with God. The Jubilee was a year of liberty, when all debts were cancelled and inheritances reverted to their original families (verse 10), foreshadowing “the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). It was also a year of rest (Leviticus 25:11), when no crops were sown or reaped, a foretaste of God’s rest (Hebrews 4:4-10). Under this type, the fiftieth day of the count, Pentecost, represents the harvest of Christians into God’s Kingdom by the resurrection.
1. God commands it, and 2. It teaches us to realize and use carefully the ever-shrinking time we have to come “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
In His wisdom, God has us annually take stock of our procession through time so that we will devote ourselves to making the most of it. In doing so, we can gauge our progress toward God’s Kingdom.
One Minute With GodGod Starts and Finishes your Day with Love Evening Bible Reading1 THESSALONIANS 2:1-12
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our visit to you was not in vain; but though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philip’pi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the face of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from error or uncleanness, nor is it made with guile; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to…
The Mille Miglia begins this week in Italy, and Historic Festival 44 is joining the celebration with Italian style, Alfa Romeo passion, and stories worth telling. Lime Rock Park welcomes remarkable cars and special guests with real Mille Miglia experience — a fitting salute to Italy’s legendary thousand-mile road race as we celebrate Alfa Romeo, our Featured Marque. Molto bene.
Alfa Romeo and the Magic of the Mille Miglia
One of the most important Alfa Romeos in the world is coming to Historic Festival 44.
Lime Rock Park is honored to welcome 12 extraordinary cars from the Revs Institute, including the legendary Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B — the car Alfisti know simply as the “Two-Nine.”
No sports car of the 1930s was more feared. Built from Alfa Romeo’s Grand Prix bloodline, the 8C 2900B was created for one purpose: to win the Mille Miglia.
And win it did. In 1936, three Alfa Romeo 8C 2900s entered the Mille Miglia and swept the podium, finishing first, second, and third. Alfa Romeo built only a little more than thirty road-going 8C 2900Bs between 1937 and 1939, which is why seeing one at Historic Festival 44 is so extraordinary.
The Revs Institute car has a remarkable story of its own. Displayed on the Alfa Romeo stand at the 1938 Paris Automobile Salon, it later survived World War II after its owner, Angelo Biemmi, hid it on his estate in Iseo. Then came its greatest chapter: the 1947 Mille Miglia.
Starting 149th out of 153 cars, the nine-year-old Alfa faced newer competition from Maserati, Ferrari, and Cisitalia. Then the rains came. Through brutal weather and impossible conditions, the 8C 2900B charged across Italy and won, holding off a heroic drive by Tazio Nuvolari.
It was the fourth Mille Miglia victory for the 8C 2900 and the eleventh and final Mille Miglia win for Alfa Romeo.
See this extraordinary Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B at Historic Festival 44 as part of a special Revs Institute paddock display featuring 12 remarkable cars.Get Tickets To Historic Festival 44 Here
Historic Festival 44 will celebrate Alfa Romeo in grand style, with a tented paddock display featuring over 20 world-class Alfas, plus a major Alfa presence at Sunday in the Park Concours and the Gathering of the Marques.
Alfa Romeo, Nuvolari, and a Le Mans Legend
Peter Sachs’ 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Corto Spider is a world-class, supercharged straight-eight from the golden age of European road racing, clothed by Zagato and tied to one of the great stories in Le Mans history.
In 1933, this Alfa Romeo was driven at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by Tazio Nuvolari and Raymond Sommer. Nuvolari, making his only appearance at Le Mans, helped build a commanding lead before the car was slowed by damage and a leaking fuel tank. The leak was patched with chewing gum, and Nuvolari charged back into the fight.
After 24 hours, the Alfa Romeo crossed the line first, winning by just 10 seconds in one of the closest finishes in Le Mans history.
Its story has continued at Lime Rock Park. In 2014, Sachs’ Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 won Best of Show at Sunday in the Park, with Sir Stirling Moss and Lady Susie Moss presenting the award. In 2026, it was awarded Best of Show at the Greenwich Concours, further confirming its place among the world’s most celebrated automobiles.
See Peter Sachs’ 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Corto Spider at Historic Festival 44, where it will be displayed at Sunday in the Park as Lime Rock Park celebrates Alfa Romeo as our Featured Marque.Get Tickets To Historic Festival 44 Here
The Mille Miglia, Through Donald Osborne’s Eyes
Donald Osborne knows the Mille Miglia not simply as a historian, commentator, and lifelong Italian car enthusiast, but as a participant. He has driven the event four times, including in a 1956 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint.
“For any of us who are captivated by the time machine aspect of historic cars, the Mille Miglia is as close as you can get to truly re-living the past,” Osborne said. “While it is certainly not the wild blast through half of Italy it was between 1927 and 1957, it is still very much an epic event. Thirteen-hour days at the wheel of what is, at its newest, a 70-year-old car is a challenge for any entrant. And, the experience of a lifetime!”
If you know someone who shares your passion for vintage racing and Lime Rock Park, invite them to stay connected by signing up for our newsletter and following us on Facebook and Instagram. Sign up here.
Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler.
This is the second season of the AUSL. The league is full of softball’s biggest stars, and it has a whole new look. After a barnstorming-style inaugural year in 2025, the AUSL will now have a more traditional look in 2026 and beyond, with teams in six cities.
The AUSL is a women’s softball league that launched in 2025, evolving from the existing Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball Championship Season. It’s an opportunity for the world’s best softball players to compete professionally.
What are the teams?
The six teams in the AUSL for 2026 are the Carolina Blaze, Chicago Bandits, Oklahoma City Spark, Portland Cascade, Texas Volts and Utah Talons.
The Blaze host the Cascade at Smith Family Stadium in Durham at 5 p.m. ET(CBS Sports Network).
The Spark host the Volts at Tom Heath Field in Oklahoma City at 7 p.m. ET(ESPN2).
The defending-champion Talons host the Bandits at Dumke Family Softball Stadium in Salt Lake City at 9 p.m. ET(also on ESPN2).
Who are the players to know?
Bandits infielder Erin Coffel was the AUSL’s MVP and Hitter of the Year in 2025, with a league-leading 1.435 OPS.
The Talons’ Georgina Corrick was the Pitcher of the Year after going 6-0 with a 2.24 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings.
Blaze infielder Ana Gold was the Rookie of the Year, batting .373 with a .667 slugging percentage.
Talons shortstop Hannah Flippen was the Defensive Player of the Year.
Rookies to watch in 2026 include:
Blaze pitcher Karlyn Pickens, the No. 1 AUSL Draft pick out of Tennessee, who threw the fastest NCAA pitch on record at 79.4 mph and was a back-to-back SEC Pitcher of the Year.
Volts pitcher NiJaree Canady, the No. 2 pick and reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Year out of Texas Tech
Spark lefty Maya Johnson, the first mid-major player drafted into the AUSL after a standout career for Belmont in the Missouri Valley Conference
How long is the season?
The regular season is 25 games for each of the six teams, with more traditional two- or three-game series than last year’s barnstorming-style schedule.
The 2026 regular season runs from today through July 20, and the postseason begins July 23.
Where can I find the full schedule?
Here is the link to the full 2026 AUSL schedule, which includes ticket and broadcast info. Every game will be televised or streamed in some capacity.
What about the rosters?
The 16-player rosters for each team are available at theausl.com.
With the A’s set to relocate to a new ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip for the 2028 season, the team is getting a taste of the city’s glitz and glamor in a special six-game series in Vegas this week.
The games are being played at Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the A’s Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators, about 13 miles west of where the team’s new stadium will be.
To celebrate the occasion, Las Vegas has enlisted a star-studded cast of entertainers regularly showcased on the famed Strip for guest appearances throughout the week.
The Las Vegas pageantry was on full display in the opener of what’s being dubbed the “Las Vegas Series.” The pregame festivities included ceremonial first pitches from DJ Pauly D, of reality TV show “Jersey Shore” fame, and Nick Carter, lead singer of the Backstreet Boys.
Belting out the A’s starting lineup was iconic ring announcer Bruce Buffer, whose voice is typically reserved for the most high-profile UFC fights in Sin City. Legendary A’s pitcher and Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers — who is also going on nearly three decades as a Las Vegas resident — delivered a “Play Ball!” to kick off the ballgame.
It’s the first time MLB regular-season games are being played in Las Vegas since 1996, when the A’s played their first six home games at Cashman Field in Las Vegas due to renovations that were taking place at Oakland Coliseum.
We’ve got a marquee showdown tonight in Pittsburgh: Paul Skenes vs. Shohei Ohtani. Reigning Cy Young winner vs. reigning MVP.
Sadly, it’s not Ohtani’s pitching day (that’s tomorrow, in what should also be an electric matchup against flamethrower Jared Jones), but we’ll settle for Skenes on the rubber vs. Ohtani in the batter’s box.
Skenes takes the mound against Ohtani and the NL West-leading Dodgers at 6:40 p.m. ET (MLB.TV).
Entering his 14th start of the season, the Pirates ace is 6-5 with a 2.83 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 70 innings. But he hasn’t looked quite like himself of late. Pittsburgh has lost each of Skenes’ last four starts. Skenes’ last victory was May 12 against the Rockies.
Ohtani, on the other hand, is just rounding into form at the plate (to say nothing of his dominant season on the mound). He’s batting .302 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs and leads the National League with a .939 OPS.
Skenes has been strong against the Dodgers in his career, and against Ohtani. He’s 3-1 in four starts against L.A. with a 2.70 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings.
And he’s held Ohtani to two hits in 11 at-bats (a .182 average) with six strikeouts. But Ohtani does have one home run off Skenes, taking him deep on a 100 mph fastball in their first head-to-head matchup in 2024.
GAMES OF THE NIGHT
Besides Skenes vs. Ohtani, here are a couple of other games worth watching tonight.
The Yankees emptied the tank to pull off an extra-inning win in yesterday’s series opener between these two AL playoff contenders. Now they have ace Gerrit Cole on the mound looking to put it all together in his fourth start back from Tommy John surgery. It’s Cole’s second straight game against the Guardians, and they got him last time, hitting three homers off Cole to hand him the loss.
Speaking of aces returning from injury … we’ve got two more in this matchup: Zack Wheeler vs. Dylan Cease. Wheeler has been on a roll for the Phillies since his return from thoracic outlet decompression surgery — he’s 5-1 with a 2.31 ERA and 48 strikeouts in eight starts. On the other side, this is Cease’s first start off the injured list for Toronto after a left hamstring strain kept him out the last few weeks.
SKENES GOES BACK TO LITTLE LEAGUE
Even with today’s start against the World Series champs looming, Paul Skenes wasn’t too busy to surprise a bunch of local Little Leaguers and make their day.
Skenes was driving down Perry Highway in Wexford, Pa., yesterday evening when he saw the lights on at Vestal Field, home of the Ingomar Franklin Park Little League.
That turned into two hours of Skenes playing catch with the kids, signing autographs and taking photos.
That’s the type of thing those young players will remember forever.
“To the kids here in Pittsburgh, he’s the biggest thing in baseball by far. He is baseball,” said Ingomar Franklin Park Little League president Chris Greco, whose 10-year-old son Anthony was at the park and “flabbergasted” at meeting his idol.
Afterwards, some of the coaches offered Skenes a beer for his time. A tempting offer, but Skenes had to decline.
“Oh no, I can’t,” Skenes told them. “I’m pitching against the Dodgers tomorrow.”
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