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Good morning! Jimmer Fredette is so back.
Rings: Shirts will say ‘Rangers in 5′
There was a moment last night when it felt like the Diamondbacks had a shot. In the ninth inning, Arizona — the grittiest survivor of these MLB playoffs — was down just 1-0 after having threatened all night. Just one more run could extend the season another inning. Then this happened:
THE BALL GOES UNDER ALEK THOMAS’ GLOVE AND THE RANGERS BREAK IT OPEN❗️
🎥 @MLBONFOX | #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/GTLt8cilj5
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 2, 2023
Two runs score. Oof. 3-0 now. Three batters later, Marcus Semien hammers a four-seam fastball into the night for a two-run homer. 5-0. It was over, just like that.
The Texas Rangers are World Series champions for the first time in franchise history, having just completed one of the more impressive and surprising title runs in recent memory. Two thoughts:
- Bruce Bochy is a wonder. Already a three-time World Series champion from his days as the Giants’ manager, he pushed these Rangers to a ring in his first season after a three-year break. Texas went 13-4 in the postseason and 11-0 in road games. Bochy is one of just six managers in MLB history to win four rings (Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel lead with seven each).
- Corey Seager was incredible. So was Semien. Both signed with the Rangers before the 2022 season and drew jeers for flocking to a team that’d gone 60-102 the year before. Two years later, Seager is World Series MVP (again, having also done so for the 2020 Dodgers), and both are champs. Fact: Seager is the second player in MLB history to win World Series MVPs with two teams. Joining Reggie Jackson on an all-time list: not bad.
And the fun part for all of us? Texas proves plenty of teams can win the title next year. Eleven teams finished within five games of the 90-72 Rangers this year, and this team became the ninth different outfit to win a ring in the last 10 years, with only Houston doubling up. I’ll be bolder and say there are 20 that could win it in 2024. That’s just a good product.
The Braves are already 2024 favorites because of course they are. Also, Marc Carig and Stephen Nesbitt ranked which of the five remaining title-less franchises is most likely to win its first ring.
Sadly, the Rangers did not get to party in the pool. Boo.
News to Know
Knight dead at 83
Legendary (and tempestuous) college basketball coach Bob Knight died Wednesday at 83 years old, his family announced. Knight is undoubtedly one of the best coaches in NCAA history, having won 902 games and three national titles. But his fiery attitude, which sometimes led to coarse behavior, complicates his legacy. Seth Davis has a wonderful and comprehensive obituary today that’s worth your time.
A loan?
The San Diego Padres recently took out a $50 million loan to cover payroll, sources told The Athletic, in order to address some “short-term cash flow issues.” Yikes. Some experts say it’s not a big deal, and the loan’s size actually shows the financial health of the organization. Others are worried. Read the whole saga here.
Senators fire GM
Pierre Dorion is out in Ottawa, sources told The Athletic’s Ian Mendes, hours after one of the more bizarre gaffes you’ll see: The team had to forfeit a first-round pick for their role in a nullified trade. Honestly a wild story. See all the details here.
More news
Bad Vibes: A lingering malaise in Las Vegas
It’s been about 28 hours since the Las Vegas Raiders fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. I can’t shake how bad this situation is. And it’s not really clear how the Raiders emerge from it anytime soon.
Let’s chat about it:
- One thing is clear from Vic Tafur’s excellent postmortem yesterday (the definitive account of how this all went down): McDaniels and Ziegler never seemed to actually know what they were doing. Both made bombastic mistakes at every turn, spending gobs of money. They overpaid Chandler Jones, overpaid Davante Adams, let Derek Carr walk for nothing and gave Jimmy Garoppolo — who’s been bad this year — $33 million guaranteed. “Football is a mysterious game sometimes,” McDaniels said after a loss to the Bears this season.
- It’s also natural to wonder if Raiders owner Mark Davis knows what he’s doing. He inherited franchise leadership in 2011 and has since employed eight head coaches (including interim Antonio Pierce) and four general managers. What’s the common denominator in all the turnover here? Davis, who, to be fair, also owns the reigning back-to-back WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces. (And to his credit, he was very frank in an exclusive interview with The Athletic’s Tashan Reed, which is worth a closer look.)
- Further: Does that insecurity scare off candidates? There are plenty of hot names to consider, but it’s extremely plausible to imagine more than one of them passing on the Raiders’ job to wait for a better opportunity. If that happens, alarm bells start ringing.
Amid all this, there’s little idea of what to do at quarterback now or in the future. Raise your hand if you’ve heard of Aidan O’Connell, who will start in place of Garoppolo this weekend for a 3-5 team bad enough to get its coach fired but good enough to avoid the No. 1 pick conversation — for now.
Pulse Picks
Macklin Celebrini has a great name and great mentors: the Golden State Warriors? Thomas Drance has a story about the elite hockey prospect with a … unique upbringing. Personally I would love if Steve Nash was simply “Uncle Steve” to me.
Speaking of NFL firings: Who’s next? Mike Jones looks at five other head coaches on the hot seat. My money is on Chicago’s Matt Eberflus.
Did you notice the NFL VP of officiating joining the “Monday Night Football” broadcast this week? It was a small detail, but as Kalyn Kahler writes, it felt like a historic moment. Let her explain.
I loved this: Russell Westbrook is finally back to himself again after a tough stretch with the Lakers. Law Murray writes about the right fit, and how the once cast-off superstar is thriving with the Clippers.
The Big 12 announced its new football scheduling model. No divisions or pod scheduling, and only four protected rivalries, but it somehow makes sense. Max Olson breaks it down here.
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