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26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Home run leader Cal Raleigh gets day off for Seattle against the Brewers
SEATTLE (AP) — Major league home run leader Cal Raleigh was rested for the Seattle Mariners' game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. Mitch Garver started at catcher, batting sixth, and Jorge Polanco was Seattle's designated hitter batting fourth. Raleigh hit his 39th home run Tuesday night in the Mariners' 1-0 victory over the Brewers. It was his 132nd home run for Seattle, moving him into a tie with Ken Griffey Jr. for most homers by a player in his first five seasons with the Mariners. Raleigh homered twice on July 11 in Detroit to reach 38, which was the second-most in history before the All-Star break, before going on to win this year's Home Run Derby. ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Big Ten commish makes it clear: When it comes to College Football Playoff expansion, his No. 1 priority is inventory
Remember all the thrilling games of the 2024-25 College Football Playoff? Texas' two-overtime victory against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl! Notre Dame's walkoff field goal to defeat Penn State in the Orange Bowl! And … and … hey, how about that Peach Bowl? The sad truth about the debut of the expanded College Football Playoff was that from a competitive standpoint, it was pretty much a wet firework. Only two of the 11 games — those two above — finished with a one-possession margin of victory. Five of the games were decided by a margin of two touchdowns or more, and three were 20-plus-point blowouts. (Thanks for stopping by, SMU, Tennessee and Oregon.) More, in other words, didn't come anywhere near better. Yes, these were college football playoff games … but more importantly, they were inventory created to meet demand. And if people are going to buy as much of the product as you put on the shelves, what's the incentive to limit that product? Why worry about quality when quantity is your overall goal? College power conference leaders know this, which is why they're angling so hard for representation in the CFP's bracket — now at 12, almost certain to expand to 16. If — no, let's be honest, when — that expansion comes, most conferences favor a 5+11 bracket. That would comprise five conference champions, 11 at-large teams, and would seem to be as meritocratic as possible: Play well and you're in. (Win those winnable games, Alabama.) But meritocracy isn't the endgame here, aristocracy is. And so now you have Tony Petitti, Big Ten commissioner, backing a '4-4-2-2-1-3' idea, which would give the Big Ten and the SEC four automatic bids apiece, the Big 12 and the ACC two apiece, and the remaining conferences a single bid, with three more at-larges. (It's like one of those ridiculous old word problems — 'If the Big Ten gets four automatic berths in the playoffs, and the SEC gets four automatic berths … how can they screw the ACC and the Big 12 out of three more?') 'At the end of the day, I think there's been a lot of concern about how [the playoff selections] are made. I focus on that piece,' Petitti explained. 'How are we differentiating from teams that don't have head-to-head play, teams that don't play common schedules across leagues that do different things? I think that's a really hard, tall order.' It's quite the rhetorical trick Pettiti is playing there, saying that because his conference is so big, you can't adequately determine strength by head-to-head matchups alone. And whose fault is that? It wasn't the selection committee that expanded the Big 'Ten' to 18 teams. Petitti isn't interested in creating a more equitable playoff, or in creating the conditions for better competition. He wants to pack the bracket with his schools, damn the optics or the on-field results. (Worth noting: the talent dropped off fast in the Big Ten after the top four last year. Would Iowa or Illinois, with their 6-3 conference records, be more deserving of an at-large spot than a whole range of other options? No.) Petitti understands that there are spots that need to be filled — both now and in the 16-team playoff to come — and he wants those guaranteed for his conference, not subject to the whims of a playoff selection committee. But guaranteed bids are the very antithesis of 'settle it on the field,' and run counter to literally every 'you gotta earn it!' mantra preached by every coach from the beginning of time. It's no surprise why the ACC and Big 12 hate the idea, and it's also no surprise what's driving the Big Ten's push to claim as much inventory as possible. We're not exactly breaking news here to note that money trumps tradition at every single level of college sports now. Tradition only has value for universities, and especially for broadcast partners, to the extent it can be monetized. Yes, it's wonderful that you can hum along to your alma mater's fight song … but maybe you can kick in a few bucks to the ol' athletic capital campaign while you're at it? That rivalry you enjoyed your entire life … well, your rival just didn't have deep enough pockets to join a new conference. Shame to lose that, really, but how about a replacement conference game against a school from halfway across the country? That's almost as good, right? Tradition has no place in the College Football Playoff. This is about inventory, plain and simple, and every business wants to create enough inventory to meet demand. Except here, instead of cereal boxes on a grocery shelf or burgers on a restaurant warming tray, the inventory in question is college football playoff games. Broadcasters want more inventory because each playoff game is a highly monetizable asset. Universities want more inventory because each nationally televised game means more exposure, more alumni goodwill, more broadcast dollars. Fans might want more inventory because … well, more football is good football, right? Yeah, not so much. Sure, there's always the chance that a Cinderella will knock out a Goliath, to mix literary metaphors, but given the wide variance between college football haves and have-lesses, the more likely outcome is what we saw last year: the big dogs carving right through the happy-to-be-here teams. You know the best way to ensure competitive playoff games? Narrow the field down to the best four and let them have at it. Wild idea, right? We're never going back there, meaning college football fans are now living a truth that plagues everything from pizza to music to Marvel movies: As quantity goes up, quality goes down.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rangers activate RHP Jon Gray for first time since fractured forearm in spring training
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas Rangers right-hander Jon Gray was activated from the injured list Wednesday after being out since getting struck by a line drive that fractured his right forearm during a spring training game in mid-March. Gray could start or pitch out of the bullpen for the Rangers. The 33-year-old Gray is in the final season of a $56 million, four-year deal signed in 2021, and is 21-21 while starting 72 of his 76 games since then. Reliever Luke Jackson was designated for assignment to make room on both the 26-man active roster and the 40-man roster before the Rangers played the finale of a three-game series against the Athletics. Gray was 5-6 with a 4.47 ERA in an injury-marred 2024, when he spent time on the injured list because of a strained groin before his season was cut short by a bothersome right foot issue. Colorado took him with the third overall pick in the 2013 amateur draft and he spent his first seven big league seasons with the Rockies. He was struck by a 106.4 mph comebacker off the bat of Rockies slugger Michael Toglia in a spring training game on March 14. The Rangers signed Gray in the same offseason that they added World Series MVP shortstop Corey Seager on a $325 million, 10-year contract, and second baseman Marcus Semien got a $175 million, seven-year deal. Jackson was 2-5 with nine saves and a 4.11 ERA in 39 appearances this season. The right-hander had only one save since April 25. ___ AP MLB:
