Kansas City #Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes plans to attend Kansas City #Royals postseason games at Kauffman Stadium | @EdEastonJr
Last Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs’ 26-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints had tough competition in terms of attention and viewers in the city. The Major League Baseball postseason is underway, and the Kansas City Royals are battling the New York Yankees in the American League Division series.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes discussed the Royals’ grabbing the crowd’s attention during his postgame press conference.
“I really wanted to focus on the game and look after it and maybe get a scoreboard kind of shot of it, and they gave us a couple of those. You could feel that that stuff was going good,” said Mahomes. “There was kind of a lull there, kind of, I think, towards the end of the game, and I was like, ‘They’re not showing the score. The (New York) Yankees came back.’ The Royals picked it up and got the win, and it was extremely exciting to see the fanbase because, obviously, we know that the fans at (GEHA Field at) Arrowhead (Stadium) are going to be loud and (cause a) ruckus and be really into the game, but I haven’t gotten to experience that stadium in Kauffman (Stadium) – sold out playoffs and that stuff and so it was cool to see that kind of combine.”
The Royals were victorious on Monday, tying the series at one game each. Two games this week are scheduled in Kauffman Stadium. The defending Super Bowl MVP plans to attend a game but has family first on his mind.
“That’s the plan; I have to just – it’s (the) bye week,” said Mahomes. “so Brittany’s (Mahomes) vacation and me getting to the Royals game will feud for sure.”
Chiefs Kingdom should be on the lookout for Mahomes and maybe some other Chiefs players in attendance for games three and four.
Kansas City #Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes sends message to Derek Jeter ahead of #Royals vs. #Yankees ALDS | @EdEastonJr
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is focused on his next opponent this Monday night against the New Orleans Saints. He closely monitors his other team, the Kansas City Royals, as they clinched a spot in the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees.
Mahomes spoke to reporters on Thursday, sharing his excitement for the team he serves as an owner for as they progress in this year’s MLB postseason.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s awesome. I mean, it’s great for the city. I’ve heard all the stories about how awesome the environment was the last time they were in the playoffs, and they’re getting to go up against a great, great baseball team in the Yankees, a historic baseball team.” said Mahomes. “So I’m just excited for these guys when they’re hungry. They’re playing great baseball right now, and to be at the K sold out crowd, hopefully, and get to see that October baseball there is going to be special.”
A reporter at the press conference mentioned Yankees great and baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, who knows Mahomes well, is rumored to be looking for tickets to watch games at Kauffman Stadium.
“Yeah, man, I’ll let him be there because when we hopefully win, I’ll get to talk trash.” Said Mahomes. “I know he’s a big Yankees fan. I think if the Yankees lost this series, he might have to move cities. So let’s see if we can do that for him.”
Chiefs Wire Senior Writer Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Jeter recently about Mahomes’ leadership from one captain to another. The series kicks off this Saturday at Yankee Stadium and will move to Kansas City next Wednesday.
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.
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?!?!?
(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
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.
“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.”
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
Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
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.
Did you know that Giancarlo Stanton received an offer from Pete Carroll and USC? He never did play for the Trojans.
Giancarlo Michael Stanton of the New York Yankees is one of the best power hitters of the past 20 years, but I always wonder what could have been if he had chosen to play football at USC instead of signing his MLB draft contract in 2007.
In the fall of 2006, USC head coach Pete Carroll and assistant Steve Sarkisian learned of a senior wide receiver and defensive back at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, who went by the name of Mike Stanton.
Stanton was drafted in the second round—No. 76 overall—by the Marlins in 2007.
“My high school football coaches worked with NFL guys,” Stanton said, citing former USC and Raiders running back Justin Fargas. “They watched me play against current NFL guys and believed I could have made it. I picked baseball over football because of the opportunity. I wanted to stick to one sport full-time for the first time in my life.”
Stanton ended up signing a 13-year deal worth $325 million. He eventually got traded to the New York Yankees in 2018 after winning the NL MVP award in 2017.
His quarterback in high school, Dayne Crist, played at Notre Dame, Kansas and the Baltimore Ravens. Crist called Stanton one of the most athletic players he has ever seen at any level.
During his senior year at wide receiver, Giancarlo Michael Stanton caught 29 passes for 745 yards and 11 touchdowns with an average of more than 25 yards per catch.
On the defensive side of the ball, Stanton played strong safety at 6’4 and 210 pounds. He totaled 50 tackles and five interceptions. He also was a punter, making him a three-phase player.
Stanton went up against notable opponents in high school: Christian Fauria, Marc Tyler, Richard Sherman and Jimmy Clausen. He was able to hold his own.
We all wonder what could have been for Stanton if he chose to play football at USC for coach Carroll, Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin for the Trojans.
I think Stanton would have changed positions. He grew into a larger frame at 6’5 and 245 pounds. He ended up filling out nicely. He probably would have moved to tight end in the 2007 class with Rhett Ellison on a USC team that already featured tight ends Fred Davis and Anthony McCoy.
Giancarlo Stanton made the right choice. He has carved out a very productive career with the Marlins and Yankees. Yet, he would have been a solid tight end for the Trojans and at least had a cup of tea in the NFL. He might have had a ceiling as a starter and played multiple years, like USC tight end Fred Davis.
USC has so many what ifs, but this one has always been interesting to me. If Stanton invested his full time in football, what truly could have become of his career?
In high school Giancarlo Stanton turned down an offer from USC to play football. He instead signed with the Marlins because of the opportunity. pic.twitter.com/0Jg31g26L4
— All American Prospects (@aaprospectss) April 6, 2024
Here are the 10 highest-picked baseball prospects right out of high school from the first round of the draft.
The 2023 MLB draft began last night in Seattle at Lumen Field, the home stadium of the NFL’s Seahawks. Unlike the NFL draft or the NBA draft, MLB teams are allowed to pick players right out of high school and then bring them up slowly—or, sometimes, rapidly—through their respective farm systems.
Here are the 10 highest-picked baseball prospects right out of high school from the first round of the draft.
Yankees catcher Jose Trevino has apparently reached out to the team to offer his support.
By the time any athlete reaches the highest level of their given sport, you can bet that they’ve suffered their share of heartbreaking defeats.
Well, it doesn’t get much more challenging than what the Hornell High School (NY) varsity baseball went through a couple of weeks ago, losing the state championship game on May 27 to Palmyra-Macedon High on a dropped third strike, followed by a premature celebration during a live play.
It’s an excruciating way to end a season, but the team is at least getting some love from a major leaguer.
Yankees catcher Jose Trevino has reportedly reached out to the team to offer his support, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Trevino said he felt bad for the players and also talked about how important high school baseball was for his career.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for high school baseball. It’s very important to me…. I just felt bad for the kid, for his teammates, thinking they had won the championship. I won two state championships in high school. I know the satisfaction of winning and going through a whole year with the guys you grew up with around your town. That means a lot. I just know how much it would have meant for them to win.”
Trevino has invited the Hornell players to a home game at Yankee Stadium later this season.
Which teams to watch when Shohei Ohtani isn’t batting or on the mound
Spring training is winding down, final roster cuts are being made and Opening Day is practically here for the 2023 Major League Baseball season.
Which means it’s once again time to renew those MLBTV subscriptions and curse at the league’s horrible blackout restrictions. But which teams should you pay attention to that are available in your region?
Allow us to help with the 2023 MLB Watchability Rankings. A complete list of all 30 teams to help you decide which games are worth your time and which are perfect for a midday nap.
Why? This at-bat from the Pirates’ outfielder Tucupita Marcano shows us exactly what the deal is.
He may have just had the quickest strikeout in MLB history against the Yankees’ Wandy Peralta. Not only did it take just 3 pitches to strike Marcano out, but those pitches also all came within a few seconds of each other.
All it took was 8 seconds for Marcano to fall down 0-2 in the count.
The pace was jarring for me sitting at home watching this on my laptop. It felt like watching someone repeatedly tap X while playing MLB: The Show where you can move forward quickly.
So, of course, Marcano probably wasn’t completely prepared for the speed Peralta was moving at. He didn’t seem to be, anyway.
Pitchers are going to catch batters off guard with some of these pitches all season long. There’s not a lot of pausing between pitches anymore — batters have to stay at the ready. If they don’t, they’ll end up like Marcano did here.
Again, this is going to take some time to get used to. We’ll see how batters adjust throughout the season.
One could argue that it’s a bad decision on his part, but it’s his decision. He wanted to remain in New York and they opened up the checkbook making it pretty easy for him to do so.
It seems like a no-brainer signing Judge to this massive deal now. He smashed 62 home runs last season on his way to winning the American League MVP trophy. That dude is an absolute baller.
So what does he do? He bets on himself. And it pays off in a major way to the tune of an extra two years on the deal, another $146.5 million and the highest average annual value in Major League Baseball at $40 million.
Judge’s deal, which is pending a physical, gives him the highest average annual value for a position player in major-league history, shattering Mike Trout’s previous mark of $35.5 million by almost $5 million. The deal is two years longer and worth $146.5 million more than the seven-year, $213.5 million extension offer Judge rejected from the Yankees at the end of spring training.
This is what betting on yourself looks like. It’s all about leverage. Not only did Judge have a phenomenal season last year, but he also had suitors in his pocket already in the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants.
He even flew to San Diego at the last minute to make a decision, which put enough pressure on the Yankees to bump up their initial offer to $360 million.
Aaron Judge flew into San Diego at the last minute to decide among three teams: the New York Yankees, the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres. The Yankees bumped their offer to nine years and $360 million, and in the end, Judge decided he wanted to remain a Yankee.
That’s what leverage looks like, folks. And that’s how you use it. Judge wanted to be a Yankee in the end. He got his wish and he got that cash. That’s a win.
Betting on yourself can go terribly sometimes. Things might not work out. But when they do? Whew boy, they work well.
Sean McDonough is not here for the Aaron Judge cut-ins.
Since last Saturday, the college football world has been at odds with ESPN’s coverage of Aaron Judge’s quest to become the home run leader in Yankee and American League history. Games on ESPN and ABC had to deal with cut-ins for Judge at-bats last weekend, including when Wake Forest drove the length of the field for a touchdown against Clemson.
The frustration multiplied as Judge went homer-less in each at-bat, drawing walks and striking out.
This week, fans were mentally prepared for more cut-ins — and audio! — that they didn’t ask for or search out. Mother Nature delayed the pesky interruptions (albeit briefly), leading to the perfect, sarcastic response from ESPN commentator Sean McDonough during the broadcast of No. 7 Kentucky at No. 14 Ole Miss.
“Oh. What a shame.” McDonough stated dryly. If that seems a little excessive, keep in mind that McDonough was also on the call for Clemson-Wake Forest, so the irritation is compounding as they try and do their job without being interrupted. He wasn’t too happy with it last weekend, either.
No denying it’s a big moment for Judge, but if people wanted to watch baseball, they’d watch baseball.
