A look at some of the world’s major soccer-related crowd disasters.
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Major League Baseball’s postseason has a little more heft this year. The playoffs are here, with the first games played on Friday. The postseason begins with a field of 12 teams and includes a best-of-three format for the opening wild-card round. That's up from 10 teams last season. The playoffs include a best-of-three format for the opening wild-card round. The three games will be scheduled on consecutive days from Friday through Sunday at the higher seed’s field. The first team that gets two wins advances. After that, the playoffs will be business as usual. The division series will be best-of-five, while the league championship series and World Series will be best-of-seven.
The owner of a sports memorabilia auction house says he has offered $2 million to the fan who caught Aaron Judge’s American League-record 62nd home run. JP Cohen, president of Memory Lane Inc. in Tustin, California, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he has texted and emailed Cory Youmans, who caught Judge’s milestone shot Tuesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Cohen says Youmans has not yet replied. Youmans grabbed the historic souvenir on the fly as it sailed into the front row of section 31 in left field.
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
Dallas baseball fan Cory Youmans made the catch of a lifetime, snagging the ball that New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit for his American League-record 62nd home run. Youmans caught the prized souvenir on the fly Tuesday night at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. Youmans, who works in the financial world, said he hasn't decided what he'll do with ball. Youmans was at the second game of a doubleheader between the Yankees and Rangers when Judge led off with a home run. Soon after a local TV station posted a brief interview with the lucky fan, Bri Amaranthus tweeted: “THIS IS MY HUSBAND.” Amaranthus works in local media and is an alum of ABC’s “The Bachelor.”
Aaron Judge has hit his 62nd home run of the season to break Roger Maris’ American League record. Judge hit a 1-1 slider from Texas right-hander Jesús Tinoco into the first row of seats in left field when leading off the second game of New York’s day-night doubleheader on Tuesday. The 30-year-old Judge had homered only once in his past 13 games. That was when he hit No. 61 in Toronto last Wednesday to match Maris. While Maris’ 61 for the Yankees in 1961 had been exceeded six times previously, all were tainted by the stench of steroids. That includes Barry Bonds' 73 for the the San Francisco Giants in 2001, though he has denied knowingly using performing-enhancing drugs.
The entire Major League Baseball playoff picture is now set. The four matchups in the wild-card round were locked in Tuesday night, right before the last day of the regular season. Every series starts Friday and is a best two of three. Plus, the higher seed will host every game. In the National League, the San Diego Padres visit the New York Mets while the Philadelphia Phillies play at the St. Louis Cardinals. In the American League, the Seattle Mariners visit the Toronto Blue Jays while the Tampa Bay Rays play at the Cleveland Guardians. The postseason was expanded from 10 teams last year to 12 this season.
Yankees star Aaron Judge hits 62nd home run to break Roger Maris’ 61-year-old American League record
Yankees star Aaron Judge hits 62nd home run to break Roger Maris’ 61-year-old American League record.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul was the victim of a 2017 attack when his neighbor slammed into him outside his Kentucky home. Earlier that year, Paul took cover when a gunman opened fire while GOP members of Congress practiced for a charity baseball game. Now, Paul has falsely conflated those events with his opponent in his reelection bid. The social media video attacks Democrat Charles Booker. The video was released Monday, before a campaign forum Paul declined to take part in. It says Booker associated with “radical left” people who condone and perpetrate violence. Booker calls it “dangerous and dishonest rhetoric."
After a century and a half of Major League Baseball, something quietly extraordinary happened this year. The umpires began talking to the world. On April 5, umpire Ted Barrett said 20 words into a microphone. Suddenly the umpire, one of baseball’s most mysterious and remote figures became a little more human. A rule change at the beginning of the season designed to explain on-field call challenges and outcomes introduced umpires’ voices to ballpark speakers, to the fans in their seats and to the world at home for the first time. Major League Baseball's historian says it's about time, because more things on the field require explanation.
Aaron Nola took a perfect game into the seventh inning and Kyle Schwarber homered twice as the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their first playoff berth in 11 years with a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros Monday night. Philadelphia’s postseason drought was the longest active one in the majors after the Seattle Mariners clinched their first playoff berth in 21 years Friday night.
Dicky Kurniawan felt the sharp sting in his eyes as Indonesian police fired tear gas into the football stadium. From his seat near an exit, he said he watched the melee unfold Saturday night as angry fans poured into the field to demand answers after host Arema FC suffered its first defeat ever on its home turf. The mob threw bottles and other objects, and the violence spread outside the stadium, where police cars were overturned and torched. As the tear gas spread through the stadium, Kurniawan grabbed his girlfriend and — like everyone else — dashed to the exits. The mass rush led to a stampede that killed 125 and injured hundreds. From his hospital bed, Kurniawan says he was fortunate to survive.
An Indonesian police chief and nine elite officers have been removed from their posts and 18 others are being investigated for responsibility in the firing of tear gas inside a soccer stadium that set off a stampede, killing at least 125 people. At least 17 children are among the dead and seven are being treated in hospitals. Most of the deaths occurred when riot police fired tear gas to prevent fans from protesting their home team's loss. It triggered a crush of spectators making a panicked run for the exits. Most of the victims were trampled or suffocated. The disaster Saturday night was among the deadliest ever at a sporting event.
Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers took his players to Charleston, South Carolina, as a team bonding experience. He also wanted to use it as an educational tool. Rivers and the Sixers organized field trips to the Old Slave Mart Museum, often staffed by individuals who trace their history to the enslaved people of Charleston, and to the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture. Citadel President Gen. Glenn Walters and retired professor and historian Bernard Powers both spoke to the team. Rivers has become an agent of change in the NBA and found his voice as an activist.
Johnny Gaudreau leaving Calgary for Columbus headlined a busy offseason of player movement around the NHL. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper left Colorado for Washington after backstopping the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup. The champs also lost center Nazem Kadri to free agency when he signed with the Flames. Florida got Matthew Tkachuk from the Flames in the biggest trade of the summer that sent Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar to Calgary. And Ottawa made some noise by acquiring goalie Cam Talbot and winger Alex DeBrincat and signing longtime Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux.
Gaining the right to host next year’s Under-20 World Cup was a major milestone in Indonesia’s soccer development that raised hopes of a turnaround to long-standing problems that have blighted the sport in this country of 277 million people. The death of at least 125 people at a league game between host Arema FC of East Java’s Malang city and Persebaya Surabaya on Saturday is a tragic reminder that Indonesia is one of the most dangerous countries in which to attend a game. The domestic league amid an investigation. Soccer is passionately supported in Indonesia but the country's progress in the sport has been constrained by years of corruption, violence and mismanagement.
The San Diego Padres are going back to the playoffs for the first time in a full season since 2006, a spot that they clinched during the seventh inning of a 2-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. The Padres were batting when the Miami Marlins beat the Milwaukee Brewers in 12 innings. The sellout crowd of 41,407 at Petco Park stood and cheered the sealed wild-card spot. The Padres trailed 2-0 at the time but Kim Ha-seong homered a few minutes later. The Padres had a chance to win in the ninth when they put two runners on with two outs against Liam Hendriks but pinch-hitter Jorge Alfaro, who has five walk-off plate appearances this year, grounded out.
Police firing tear gas after an Indonesian soccer match in an attempt to stop violence triggered a disastrous crush of fans. At least 125 people died, most of them trampled or suffocated. It happened in East Java province after Persebaya Surabaya beat Arema Malang 3-2 on Saturday night. It was among the deadliest disasters ever at a sporting event.
Chase Elliott raced his way into the next round of the playoffs with a victory Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway in the first clean race yet of this year’s postseason. Elliott was fifth on the final restart with two laps remaining and claimed control of the outside lane to stalk leader Ryan Blaney. The 2020 Cup champion surged ahead with a push from Erik Jones on the final lap, threw a block on Blaney’s attempt to reclaim the lead and then beat Blaney to the finish line by .046 seconds. Elliott is the first driver through five playoff races to automatically advance into the next round with a victory. The first four races were won by drivers not eligible for the championship in a chaotic start to the 10-race postseason.
Jimmy Carter, already the longest-living U.S. president in history, turned 98 on Saturday. It's another milestone for the 39th president and day to spend with family and friends in Plains, the tiny Georgia town where he and his wife, 95-year-old Rosalynn, were born. And the Carter Center, founded by the Carters in 1982, is marking 40 years of promoting democracy and advancing public health internationally. A grandson of the former president, Jason Carter, describes his grandfather as content with his life and legacy. The younger Carter says the former president had planned a relatively quiet day that included watching his favorite baseball team, the Atlanta Braves, play the New York Mets.
Popular Japanese professional wrestler and lawmaker Antonio Inoki, who faced a world boxing champion Muhammad Ali in a mixed martial arts match in 1976, has died. He was 79. He made more than 30 trips to North Korea during his time as a lawmaker in hopes of forging peace and friendship. The New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co. says Inoki, who was battling an illness, died earlier Saturday. Born as Kanji Inoki in 1943 in Yokohama, just outside Tokyo, he moved to Brazil with his family when he was 13 and worked at a coffee plantation. Inoki made his pro-wrestling debut in 1960 and gave himself a ring name Antonio Inoki two years later.
The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Ian has risen to 17 as Florida authorities confirmed several drownings and other fatalities Friday afternoon. According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the deaths included a 22-year-old woman who was ejected from an ATV rollover Friday because of a road washout in Manatee County and a 71-year-old man who died of head injuries when he fell off a roof while putting up rain shutters on Wednesday. Many of the other deaths were drownings. The death toll was expected to increase substantially once emergency officials have an opportunity to search many areas hardest hit by the storm. Three people in Cuba were killed earlier in the week as the storm made its way north.
University of Central Florida students living at an apartment complex near the Orlando campus retrieved possessions Friday from their water logged units. Andee Holbert, her sister and their dog left their apartment Thursday before the water reached their heads. They returned Friday to retrieve wet clothes in garbage bags and whatever other possessions they could salvage, loading them onto their father’s pickup truck. “We still had power, which is terrifying, and the lights were still on,” said Holbert, a nursing student. Deandra Smith, also a nursing student, stayed in her third floor apartment with her dog after being asleep while others evacuated. On Friday, other students helped get her to dry land by pushing her through the flooded parking lot on a pontoon.
Prayer is not a fundamental part of most sports’ fans playbooks. But some still give it a shot anyway. A new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research provides fresh details on those who believe in the power of prayer. Among professional sports fans, 23% say they have prayed about the outcome of a sporting event. Religious background is a factor: 35% of evangelical fans saying they have done so, compared with 21% of fans of other religious faiths. About 3 in 10 Americans say they feel God plays a role in determining which team goes home the victor.
The former president of El Salvador’s soccer federation has been sentenced to 16 months in prison in the long-running FIFA corruption scandal. Sixty-six-year-old Reynaldo Vasquez told a judge in New York City on Thursday that he felt “great shame” over his role in a bribery scheme that involved media and marketing rights for games played by the Salvadoran national soccer team. The judge said Vasquez deserved prison time for his efforts “to line his and his co-defendants pockets.” His term could be reduced if he gets credit for time behind bars in El Salvador.