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Newsweek
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Newsweek
Suspended Dodgers MVP Candidate Has Comeback Interest From 'Multiple Teams': Report
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Los Angeles Dodgers have several arms on the mend as they look toward the second half of the season, but one former pitcher preparing for a return is in a different category. Julio Urias, who pitched for the Dodgers for eight years before Major League Baseball suspended him for a second time for violating its domestic violence and sexual assault policy, is preparing to continue his career when he is removed from the restricted list this week. "He still has every intention to continue his career," Urias' agent Scott Boras said, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. "He's getting in shape. Obviously, he'll have options that are open to him." Urias was one of the most effective pitchers in baseball during his career with the Dodgers, which included a 31-start, 2.16 ERA campaign three years ago that earned him votes for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award as well as a third-place finish for the Cy Young Award. PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 08: Starting pitcher Julio Urias #7 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after pitching out of the sixth inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on... PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 08: Starting pitcher Julio Urias #7 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after pitching out of the sixth inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on August 08, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by) More Petersen/Getty But the controversy associated with Urias after his second suspension and the fact that he hasn't pitched in a major league game for two years could stand in the way of a return. In any case, teams are at least checking in on him, per Shaikin. "It is believed that multiple teams have checked in on Urias, but it is uncertain whether a deal would be struck and, if so, (how) he might be able to help a major league team," Shaikin wrote. Urias recorded the final out in the Dodgers' World Series championship five years ago and his former team has a clear need for some pitching reinforcement. But, given his issues off the field, it seems unlikely that he'll fund a reunion with his old team. More MLB: Alex Bregman Breaks Silence on Signing New Red Sox Contract
Los Angeles Times
14-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Agent: Julio Urías has ‘every intention to continue his career'
ATLANTA — The suspension of former Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías ends Wednesday. The next day, Major League Baseball will remove him from its restricted list, and any team that wishes to sign him can do so. Scott Boras, the agent for Urías, said the pitcher — the only player suspended twice for violating baseball's policy on domestic violence and sexual assault — hopes to resume playing. 'He still has every intention to continue his career,' Boras said here Monday. 'He's getting in shape. Obviously, he'll have options that are open to him.' Boras declined to discuss any of those potential options Monday, since the suspension has not yet expired. It is believed that multiple teams have checked in on Urías, but it is uncertain whether a deal would be struck and, if so, he might be able to help a major league team. 'It depends on how teams view the situation and view his skill,' Boras said. Boras said Urías has not pitched this year and would need time to work into major league shape. How much time he needs could determine whether he could help a team later this season or would need to aim for next season. Urías, 28, last pitched for the Dodgers in 2023. He is completing a half-season suspension for domestic violence, levied after a witness video obtained by The Times showed he charged his wife in a September 2023 incident outside BMO Stadium, pulled her hair aside and shoved her against a fence. After the two were separated, the video showed Urias swinging at her with his left hand. Urías was arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence, but the Los Angeles County district attorney's office determined that 'neither the victim's injuries nor the defendant's criminal history justify a felony filing.' The city attorney's office subsequently filed five misdemeanor charges against Urías. He pleaded no contest to one, the other four were dropped, and he agreed to enter a yearlong domestic violence treatment program. He also agreed to complete a similar program in 2019, when he was arrested after an incident in the Beverly Center parking lot. Witnesses said he pushed his fiancee, she said she fell, and no charges were filed. The league subsequently suspended him for 20 games. Under its policy, the league can suspend a player even if no charges are filed. Urías was placed on administrative leave for the final month of the 2023 season, after which his contract with the Dodgers expired and he became a free agent. He has not pitched since then. Urías recorded the final out of the Dodgers' World Series championship in 2020. He led the National League in victories (20) in 2021 and earned-run average (2.16) in 2022.
Los Angeles Times
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
LAX won't say who designed its iconic murals, but the Dodgers will. Why?
What would a baseball team in Los Angeles want from a retired artist and designer in New York? Janet Bennett wasn't sure. Generations of Angelenos are familiar with her signature project. You probably have walked right past it. Those colorful tile mosaics that decorate the long corridors toward baggage claim in five terminals at Los Angeles International Airport? She designed them. You might have seen them in the movies or on television: 'Airplane!,' 'Mad Men' and 'The Graduate,' just for starters. You might have memorized the trivia: When you passed the red tiles, you were halfway down the corridor. 'Red means halfway' was shorthand for locals in the know, just like 'E Ticket' or 'the #19 sandwich.' 'It just says L.A. in so many ways,' said Janet Marie Smith, the Dodgers' executive vice president of planning and development. The Dodgers wanted to get in touch with Bennett because they were about to install a similar tile wall at Dodger Stadium. Smith could not find Bennett, but she reached out to someone who had liked an article about Bennett that had been posted on LinkedIn. Same last name, same spelling. Smith crossed her fingers. Turned out to be a relative of Bennett. The Dodgers sent some sketches of their project and asked Bennett for her thoughts. 'I was a little disappointed I didn't work the project,' Bennett said over the telephone, chuckling, 'but I don't think I could have done it at this stage.' Bennett is 96, happily living one block from Central Park. The LAX project was completed in 1961 — the year before Dodger Stadium opened. What the Dodgers really were offering was the recognition denied to Bennett six decades ago. 'I realized they just wanted my blessing,' Bennett said. 'They wanted the connection. And that was very satisfying.' And, yes, she had some thoughts for the Dodgers. She wrote them a letter by hand, the old-fashioned way. The letter got lost in the old-fashioned mail, but Bennett's daughter had thought to take a picture of the letter, and she sent it to the Dodgers via email. Bennett's advice for the colors of the tiles? 'Don't limit it,' she wrote, 'to the Dodger blue.' On game days, Dodgers players take an elevator to the lowest level of Dodger Stadium. As they exit, they look to their right to see the Dodgers' World Series championship trophies and most valuable player awards, to their left to see the Gold Glove awards. When they turn toward the clubhouse, they see Cy Young and Silver Slugger and manager of the year awards on the right, rookie of the year awards and then the Dodgers' retired numbers on the left. 'It's meant to be uplifting and motivating, and a reminder to everyone — our players included, who take that path — of what a storied franchise this is,' Smith said. The fans in the fanciest seats, the ones you see on television right behind home plate, can take that path too — but only until they reach the double doors, the ones with 'DODGERS CLUBHOUSE' painted above them. Pass through those doors, and you used to see a gray wall decorated with signage pulled from storage — signs from events held at Dodger Stadium long ago, and others commemorating milestone seasons. As part of the clubhouse renovations last winter, Smith and her team imagined how to freshen up that walkway. 'We wanted to try to get it out of its funk of just being a concrete wall,' she said. 'And, once we got tile in our head, how could you not think of the LAX walls?' The Dodgers' clubhouse features a tile wall 'in the hydrotherapy area,' Smith said. The tiles there are all Dodger blue. For the clubhouse walkway, Smith and architect Brenda Levin opted for multiple shades of blue tiles, interspersed with white tiles — a decision reinforced when they received Bennett's suggestion to go beyond Dodger blue. The wall includes more than 714,000 individual tiles, Smith said. 'I think they did an excellent job,' Bennett said. 'They got the rhythm of vertical stripes, which has a very athletic look.' To Smith, a fierce advocate of sports venues reflecting their host cities, the tile wall reflects home. 'In many ways, that is a symbol: not just of L.A., but of 'Welcome to L.A.' ' she said. 'That felt right to us. 'It's not screaming at you. But, if you know, you know. We've always wanted that area to feel like a 'Welcome to L.A.' to our players.' If you know, you know, but the players may not know. Dave Roberts, the Dodgers' manager, said he did not know the story behind the wall until Smith explained it to him. 'It's a great little touch,' Roberts said. Smith said players and team executives have asked about the wall. Many of them did not know about the LAX walls, but she understood why. 'They don't fly commercial,' she said. If you merit an obituary in the newspaper, the first sentence generally includes your claim to fame. In 2007, The Times published an obituary with this first sentence: 'Charles D. Kratka, an interior designer and graphic artist whose Modernist projects included the mosaic walls in tunnels at Los Angeles International Airport, has died.' Said Bennett: 'I just about freaked out.' After Bennett had finished the LAX mosaics, she left town. By the time the airport unveiled them, she said, she was in Latin America. Until she saw that Times obituary, it had not occurred to her that anyone else might have gotten the credit for the LAX project. In the obituary, the airport historian credited Kratka with the design, and so did the director of volunteers at the airport museum. In 2017, so did an official LAX document: 'Completed in 1961, Charles Kratka's mosaic murals have become iconic symbols of Los Angeles International Airport.' At the start of the Jet Age, when airplane travel was a glamorous affair and even passengers in the cheaper seats enjoyed in-flight meals served with silverware, Bennett said the murals were designed to evoke the wonder of a cross-country trip: blue for the ocean at each end of the corridor, and in between green for the forests, and yellows, oranges and browns for farmland, prairies and deserts. Bennett freely admits that Kratka was involved in the project. The city hired Pereira and Luckman as architects for the LAX expansion, and Kratka was the firm's head of interior design. 'He was my boss,' Bennett said. Bennett said the mosaic design was hers, although she said she did not recall whether she had chosen to use glass for the tiles. 'Everything from that point on was mine,' she said. Bennett and her family have pushed for LAX to recognize her as the designer. Airport officials acknowledge Bennett's participation in the project but, amid a search for records from six decades ago and without Kratka to provide his version of events, they believe a conclusive determination would be difficult. And, back in the day, credit was more commonly attributed to a firm rather than to an individual designer. When I asked for a statement saying whom LAX currently credits with the design, an airport spokeswoman said, 'LAX has no official comment.' In 2017, Design Observer investigated and ultimately supported Bennett's claims, citing two primary findings: one, an acclaimed designer of the same era 'vividly recalls Bennett doing the murals,' and, two, Bennett installed similar tile murals for two Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stations in San Francisco. That was good enough for Smith and the Dodgers. At LAX, there is no sign crediting anyone — not Bennett, not Kratka, not Pereira and Luckman, not anyone else — for the murals. However, the Dodgers have given Bennett her due at Dodger Stadium, on a sign directly across from their tile wall. 'This mosaic wall draws inspiration from architect Janet Bennett's iconic mosaic murals at Los Angeles International Airport,' the text begins, 'that transformed a transit space into a work of art.'
France 24
17-06-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Ohtani makes first pitching performance since 2023
The reigning National League Most Valuable Player had not pitched since August 2023 when he played for the Los Angeles Angels. He tore elbow ligaments in his last pitching outing, which required surgery, although he was still able to bat after joining the Dodgers on a 10-year $700 million contract in December 2023. On Monday Ohtani pitched the first inning, taking to the field to a rousing ovation at Dodger Stadium before hurling 28 pitches, 16 of them strikes. Though Ohtani's command fluctuated, there were glimpses of his intimidating velocity, with one pitch topping 100 miles (160 km) per hour. "First of all I'm very grateful for all the staff members and people who supported me throughout the whole process," the 30-year-old from Japan said through an interpreter. "I'm very grateful that I'm back here healthy and pitching again. "I was not quite happy with the results, but there was a lot that I was able to take away from today's game." Ohtani is widely regarded as a modern-day Babe Ruth, a rarity in baseball in that he combines elite hitting and pitching. Last year he became the first player in history to score 50 home runs and nab 50 stolen bases in a season -- a statistical feat once regarded as unthinkable -- before playing a key role in the Dodgers' World Series victory. Ohtani is well on the way to another stellar offensive season this year, scoring 25 home runs to date to help the Dodgers to the top of the National League West division. Yet anticipation about when he may return to pitching has grown steadily, with Ohtani seen testing his throwing arm in recent practise sessions, before manager Dave Roberts confirmed Monday's start on Sunday.
07-06-2025
- Sport
Volpe homers and then forced from game when hit by pitch as Yankees beat Red Sox 9-6
NEW YORK -- Anthony Volpe homered in a five-run first inning, then came out after he was hit by a pitch on the left elbow as the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 on Friday night in the AL rivals' first meeting this year. Volpe was hit by an 88.2 mph pitch from Walker Buehler in the second, then was replaced at the start of the fourth. New York said Volpe was undergoing an X-ray and a CT scan. Aaron Judge had his ninth game with three or more hits, raising his major league-leading average to .397. Before a sellout crowd of 46,783, Jazz Chisholm Jr. had three hits, including a homer in the first, four RBIs and two stolen bases. Paul Goldschmidt also homered for the Yankees, who led 7-0 after the second and 8-1 following the fifth. Every starter had a hit for New York (39-23), which has won nine of 12 and 15 of 20 to move a season-high 16 games over .500. Boston dropped to 30-35 with its ninth loss in 12 games. The Red Sox made a pair of errors, raising their big league-high total to 57. Rafael Devers hit his 29th home run against the Yankees, a two-run drive in the seventh off Brent Headrick. Marcelo Mayer, a 22-year-old who debuted on May 24, hit his first big league homer, a 410-foot solo drive to right-center in the fifth against Will Warren (4-3). In his first time on the Yankee Stadium mound since the final out of the Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series win last year, Buehler (4-4) gave up seven runs — five earned — and seven hits in two innings while throwing 67 pitches. Devin Williams got three outs for his seventh save in eight chances. Chisholm put the Yankees ahead 3-0, reaching for a curveball below the strike zone and driving the ball into the netting above Monument Park. Batters are hitting .326 against Boston in the first inning this season. New York has scored 20 runs in the first, tied for the major league high. ___
