Yahoo Sports AM: Hurricane Helene brings baseball chaos

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🚨 Headlines

⚾️ Farewell, Oakland: The Warriors left Oakland in 2019. The Raiders left in 2020. Now the A’s are saying goodbye. They play their final home game there today.

🏈 NIL feud in Vegas: After leading UNLV to its first 3-0 start in 40 years, QB Matthew Sluka is ditching the team over an NIL dispute. He claims he was promised money he never received; UNLV says his agent made “financial demands” to continue playing.

💵 History for sale: Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball will be sold at auction by Goldin, with bids starting tomorrow at $500,000. There’s also a $4.5 million buy-it-now option, which disappears if bidding reaches $3 million.

⚾️ 140 RBIs: Aaron Judge hit his 57th home run on Wednesday, while upping his RBI tally to 142. That makes him the first player to drive in 140 runs in a season since Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard in 2009.

🏈 Hunt’s KC return: Six years after he was cut by the Chiefs, Kareem Hunt is back on their active roster and will play in Sunday’s game against the Chargers.

⚾️ Hurricane Helene: Bring on the chaos

The 2024 MLB season was already headed for a chaotic finish given how tight the AL and NL Wild Card races are. Now, thanks to Hurricane Helene and the league’s decision to ditch “Game 163,” the final days could descend into complete chaos.

What’s happening: Yesterday’s and today’s Braves-Mets games in Atlanta were postponed in preparation for Helene’s landfall, so the two teams separated by just one game in the wild card race will now play a doubleheader on Monday with the final playoff spot on the line (unless the race is already settled by then).

• It’s a nightmare scenario that probably should have been avoided: Both teams were off Monday and seemingly could have played a game to get ahead of the storm.

• Instead, the Mets must escape Atlanta during a hurricane for their final series in Milwaukee, then most likely return to Atlanta for a doubleheader on Monday — a day before the playoffs begin.

Max chaos scenario for the Mets… Sunday in Milwaukee, doubleheader Monday in Atlanta, then a wild card game Tuesday in San Diego or Los Angeles. Four games, three days, three different time zones.

Wild Card races:

• NL: Padres (91-67), Mets (87-70), Diamondbacks (88-71), Braves (86-71)

• AL: Orioles (88-70), Tigers (84-74), Royals (84-74), Twins (82-76), Mariners (82-77)

What to watch: MLB has done away with “Game 163” in the case of any ties, so there could be a mathematic logjam if this weekend plays out just right.

It’s not just baseball… Helene could wreak havoc on the NFL, college football and MLS schedules, too.

🏀 Clark sent packing, Final Four set

Caitlin Clark’s historic season came to a close on Wednesday, with the Fever falling 87-81 to the Sun. The rookie filled the stat sheet (25-6-9), but so did Alyssa Thomas (19-5-13) as Connecticut completed the 2-0 sweep.

What’s next for Clark? “I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow or what I’m going to do the next day,” she said when asked about her offseason plans. “So, maybe play some golf. That’s what I’m gonna do until it becomes too cold in Indiana. I’ll become a professional golfer.”

Meanwhile, in Minnesota… Napheesa Collier tied the WNBA record for points in a playoff game (42) to lead the Lynx past the Mercury, 101-86, and into the semis. Did we just watch Diana Taurasi’s final WNBA game?

Final Four: The top four seeds have advanced to the best-of-five semifinals, which begin Sunday with (1) New York vs. (4) Las Vegas and (2) Minnesota vs. (3) Connecticut.

📸 The world in photos

Los Angeles — LAFC’s first win in six matches earned them a trophy. The Black and Gold won their first U.S. Open Cup with a 2-1 extra-time victory over Sporting Kansas City.

Chicago — History will have to wait at least one more night after the White Sox beat the Angels in extra innings to remain tied with the ’62 Mets at 120 losses.

Munich — The Sabres have arrived in Germany, where they’ll play an exhibition game tomorrow against EHC Red Bull Munich. Then they’re off to Prague for next week’s Global Series season-opener against the Devils.

Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy — The historic Eugenio Monti sliding track, which was built for the 1956 Olympics and featured in the 1981 James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only, is being redeveloped ahead of the 2026 Winter Games.

🏈 Alabama-Georgia could swing the Heisman race

Heisman contenders Jalen Milroe (Alabama) and Carson Beck (Georgia) meet on Saturday in Tuscaloosa in a rematch of last year’s SEC title game, and whichever QB wins could become the betting favorite to win the award.

From Yahoo Sports’ Nick Bromberg:

September is typically too early to start talking about games that will have a significant impact on voters’ minds at the end of the season. But No. 2 Georgia’s trip to No. 4 Alabama is no typical September game.

10 months ago, Alabama got into the College Football Playoff at the Bulldogs’ expense with a 27-24 win. Milroe had the better game of the two QBs (13-23, 192, TD) and iced the game on the ground. Beck rushed for a score and was 21-of-29 for 243 yards.

Both players were in their first seasons as starters in 2023, and Beck spent much of the offseason as the favorite for the 2024 Heisman after he returned to Athens for another season. Milroe was at the top of the BetMGM board too, but he was also entering the season with a new offense to learn under new head coach Kalen DeBoer. So far, he has had the better season.

Betting odds (via BetMGM):

1. Cam Ward, Miami (+375)

2. Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss (+550)

3. Milroe, Alabama (+700)

4. Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee (+900)

5. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon (+1000)

6. Quinn Ewers, Texas (+1400)

7. Beck, Georgia (+1600)

8. Travis Hunter, Colorado (+1600)

9. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State (+2000)

10. Will Howard, Ohio State (+2000)

Watch: Why Milroe’s legs are the X-Factor on Saturday (College Football Power Hour)

📆 Sept. 26, 1982: Silent Sunday

42 years ago today, the NFL players’ strike caused the league’s first-ever in-season work stoppage as Sunday came and went without a football game.

The fallout: Players forfeited over $9 million in salary that day and teams lost $29 million in TV and ticket revenues. By the time the strike ended 57 days later, half the season was lost and the total financial toll reached roughly $450 million.

Why’d they go on strike? In March of that year, the NFL signed a five-year, $2 billion broadcast deal with ABC, CBS and NBC. But player salaries, which averaged $100,000 at the time, were still mostly tied to gate receipts and merchandise.

• The players’ union wasn’t having that, and demanded higher wages, free agency and 55% of league revenue. The owners unsurprisingly said “no,” and thus began a months-long standoff.

• The strike put pressure on everyone, including the TV networks who’d just paid billions to broadcast NFL games. They tried filling those slots with old Super Bowls, D-III college football and the CFL, but nothing garnered much viewership.

• The union put on two All-Star Games to try filling players’ pockets a bit, but few fans showed up as they had grown frustrated by the ongoing dispute. When asked why he played, Redskins running back John Riggins said, “I guess I’ll do just about anything for money.”

Play resumes: After losing Weeks 3-10, the two sides finally reached a deal* that significantly increased minimum salaries. Each team ultimately played nine regular-season games, and the Redskins beat the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII after an expanded 16-team playoff. Riggins won Super Bowl MVP.

*Déjà vu: This agreement ended up being more of a band-aid than a true solution. When it expired five years later, there was yet another work stoppage — the infamous 1987 strike that saw replacement players used for three weeks of the season.

📺 Watchlist: The Presidents Cup

The 15th Presidents Cup begins today (11:30am ET, Golf/Peacock) at Royal Montreal, where Team USA* seeks its 10th straight win over Team International** (minus Europe) in the biennial competition.

How it works: Teams will compete in three different match-play formats over the next four days, with four-ball (best ball) today and Saturday, foursomes (alternate shot) Friday and Saturday, and singles on Sunday. There are 30 matches total, with 15.5 points needed to clinch the title.

More to watch:

• 🏈 NFL: Cowboys at Giants (8:15pm, Prime)

• ⚾️ MLB: Padres at Dodgers (10:10pm, MLB)

• 🏈 NCAAF: Army at Temple (7:30pm, ESPN)

*Team USA: Scottie Scheffler (world No. 1), Xander Schauffele (2), Collin Morikawa (3), Wyndham Clark (6), Patrick Cantlay (9), Sahith Theegala (11), Keegan Bradley (13), Russell Henley (14), Sam Burns (19), Brian Harman (22), Tony Finau (23), Max Homa (25)

**Team International: Hideki Matsuyama (7), Adam Scott (18), Sungjae Im (21), Tom Kim (24), Jason Day (33), Byeong Hun An (34), Corey Conners (37), Min Woo Lee (40), Taylor Pendrith (44), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (45), Si Woo Kim (49), Mackenzie Hughes (61)

🏈 Stadium trivia

Temple hosts Army tonight at Lincoln Financial Field, the stadium they share with the Eagles.

Temple is one of five FBS teams that shares a home stadium with an NFL team.

Question: Can you name the other four?

Hint: Two are in Florida.

Answer at the bottom.

🇨🇦 Tweet du jour: Royal Mount Royal

This reminded me of something I think about way too often… The Los Angeles Angels are literally “The The Angels Angels.”

Trivia answer: Miami (Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium), Pittsburgh (Steelers’ Acrisure Stadium), USF (Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium), UNLV (Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium)

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