This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. I hope you’ve had an excellent weekend.
Aaron Judge certainly did. He hit his 50th and 51st homers of the season on Sunday, extending his homer lead over Shohei Ohtani (41) to ten.
Judge is having an incredible year. The stats tell the tale themselves. At the pace he’s currently at, he’ll probably be the AL’s MVP. His .333 batting average is only second to Bobby Witt (.347). His 1.201 OPS leads the Majors by quite a bit. The next closest player is his teammate, Juan Soto (1.035). Nobody is closing these gaps anytime soon.
At this point, you can’t really compare him to his peers. You can only compare him to himself and the legends before him.
He’s on pace to hit 63 homers this season, according to ESPN, which would break his own AL homerun record at 62. There’s more. With another 50-homer season, Judge is one of five players to hit 50 or more dingers in at least three seasons.
The other four? Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Aaron Rodriguez. That’s not just impressive — it’s legendary stuff.
You can make other arguments for the best baseball player this year. Shohei Ohtani’s 40-40 season is historic in its own right. And Bobby Witt is actually ahead of Judge in wins above replacement this season.
But what Judge is doing right now isn’t just about this year. It’s all-time stuff. He’s further cementing himself as one of baseball’s immortals and it’s super fun to watch.
A walk-off…bunt?!?!?
Florida beat Chinese Taipei in the Little League World Series on Sunday 2-1, but they did it in a way you’d never expect.
It was a walk-off BUNT, folks. Not a homer. Not a sac fly. But a bunt! I don’t think I’ve ever seen this at any level of baseball, softball or anything else that has to do with a ball and a bat. This is insane.
Our Mary Clarke with the breakdown:
“With the runner on second thanks to the extra inning, Hunter Alexander put down a bunt in an attempt to move the runner to third. Chinese Taipei fielded it cleanly, but in the ensuing throw to first, no one was covering the base! The error allowed the runner on second to score the winning run, which caused Florida’s bench to erupt in celebration.”
FLORIDA WINS THE LLBWS ‼️
CHAOS ON THE FINAL PLAY TO WIN IT 🤯 pic.twitter.com/HoqU8mlqRr
— ESPN (@espn) August 25, 2024
Just a wild play. My heart breaks for Chinese Taipei. I’m also ecstatic for Florida. What a win. What a way to do it.
The ups and downs of the LLWS, folks. I wish all those kids could win. Alas.
The rookies are winning
The tally of rookie quarterbacks starting for week 1 might be growing soon.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo hopped on the local radio station this morning in New England and all but named Drake Maye the team’s starting QB after an impressive performance against the Commanders on Sunday.
“What I will say this is a true competition and I would say, at this current point, Drake has outplayed Jacoby [Brissett]. Now, in saying that, we have to take in the full body of work, going all the way back to the spring and beginning of training camp,” Mayo said.
The official decision on the Patriots’ starting quarterback will come in the next few days. It certainly sounds like Maye here. Brissett’s shoulder injury is a complication that might make the decision a bit easier. But we’ll have to wait and see.
If Maye does get the nod, that would give us four rookie starters for Week 1 so far, including Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix.
READ MORE: NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds
Quick hits: Don’t poke the bear … Speaking of Bears, Chicago can’t break Caleb … and more
— A’ja Wilson is not to be messed with. The Chicago Sky found out the hard way after her game-winner. Here’s Robert Zeglinski with more.
— Christian D’Andrea says Caleb Williams might be the one QB the Bears cannot ruin. Let’s hope he’s right.
— Magic Johnson absolutely cooked Anthony Edwards. Here’s Robert again with more.
— Jim Harbaugh wishing he could be stuck on an elevator with his players is such a Jim Harbaugh thing. Here’s Charles Curtis with more.
— Caitlin Clark is adding to her list of dimes this season. Here’s Cory Woodroof with more.
— Michelle Martinelli has more on this scary moment for Daniel Suarez in NASCAR over the weekend.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. We appreciate you. Let’s do this again tomorrow. Until next time. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️