Yahoo Sports AM: Hurricane Helene causes chaos in baseball

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🚨 Headlines

⚾️ Goodbye, Oakland: The Warriors left Oakland in 2019. The Raiders left in 2020. Now the A’s are saying goodbye. They’ll 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 leaving the team over a NIL dispute, claiming he was promised money he never received; UNLV says his agent made “financial demands” to keep playing.

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

⚾️ 140 RBIs: Aaron Judge hit his 57th home run on Wednesday to increase his RBI total to 142, becoming the first player to drive in 140 runs in a season since Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard in 2009.

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

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⚾️ 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 drop “Game 163,” the final days could descend into complete chaos.

What’s happening: Yesterday and today’s Braves-Mets games in Atlanta have been postponed in preparation for Helene’s landing. The two teams, who are 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 matchup is decided by then).

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

• Instead, the Mets will have to flee Atlanta during a hurricane for their final series in Milwaukee, then likely return to Atlanta for a doubleheader on Monday, the day before the playoffs begin.

Maximum 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:

• EN: 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 see: MLB has eliminated Game 163 in the event of a tie, so there could be an arithmetic stalemate if this weekend goes well.

It’s not just baseball… Helene could also disrupt the schedules of the NFL, college football and MLS.

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🏀 Clark sent off, Final Four set

Caitlin Clark’s Historic Season came to an end on Wednesday, with the Fever falling 87-81 to the Sun. The rookie filled up 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 the day after,” she said when asked about her off-season plans. “So maybe play some golf. I’m going to do that until it gets too cold in Indiana. I’m going to be 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, to the semifinals. Did we just watch Diana Taurasi’s final WNBA game?

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

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📸 The world in pictures

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

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

Munich — The Sabres have arrived in Germany, where they will play a friendly against EHC Red Bull Munich tomorrow, before heading to Prague for next week’s Global Series season opener against the Devils.

Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy — The historic Eugenio Monti slide, built for the 1956 Olympic Games and featured in the 1981 James Bond film, For your eyes onlyis being redeveloped in preparation for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

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🏈 Alabama-Georgia Could Sway Heisman Race

Candidates for the Heisman Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Georgia’s Carson Beck will meet Saturday in Tuscaloosa in a rematch of last year’s SEC Finals. The winning QB could be the favorite to win the award.

From Nick Bromberg of Yahoo Sports:

September is usually too early to start talking about games that will have a significant impact on voters’ minds at the end of the season. But the trip from No. 2 Georgia to No. 4 Alabama is not a typical September game.

Ten months ago, Alabama crashed to the College Football Playoff with a 27-24 win over the Bulldogs. Milroe had the better game of the two QBs (13-23, 192, TD) and decided 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, with Beck spending much of the offseason as the favorite for the 2024 Heisman after returning to Athens for another season. Milroe was also at the top of the BetMGM board, but he also entered the season with a new offense to learn under new head coach Kalen DeBoer. He’s had the better season so far.

Betting Odds (via BetMGM):

1. Camwijk, 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 Saturday’s X-Factor (College Football Power Hour)

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📆 September 26, 1982: Silent Sunday

42 years ago today, The NFL players’ strike marked the league’s first work stoppage of the season, as no football game was played on Sunday.

The consequences: Players lost more than $9 million in salary that day, and teams lost $29 million in TV and ticket revenue. By the time the strike ended 57 days later, half the season had been lost and the total financial toll was about $450 million.

Why did they go on strike? In March of that year, the NFL signed a five-year, $2 billion broadcast contract with ABC, CBS and NBC. But player salaries, which averaged $100,000 at the time, were still largely tied to ticket prices and merchandise.

• The players’ union wasn’t having it, demanding higher wages, free agency and 55% of the league’s revenues. The owners, unsurprisingly, said “no,” and so began a months-long stalemate.

• The strike put pressure on everyone, including the TV networks that had just paid billions to air NFL games. They tried to fill those slots with old Super Bowls, D-III college football and the CFL, but nothing drew significant viewers.

• The union held two All-Star Games to fill the players’ pockets a little, but few fans showed up because they were 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.”

The game resumes: After losing Weeks 3-10, the two sides finally reached a deal* that significantly increased the minimum wage. Each team ended up playing nine regular-season games, and the Redskins defeated the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII after an expanded 16-team playoff. Riggins won Super Bowl MVP.

*Déjà vu: This agreement proved to be more of a band-aid than a real solution. When the agreement expired five years later, there was another work stoppage: the infamous strike of 1987, in which substitute players were used for three weeks of the season.

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📺 Watchlist: The Presidents Cup

The 15th Presidents Cup starts today (11:30 a.m. ET, Golf/Peacock) at Royal Montreal, where Team USA* is aiming for its 10th consecutive victory 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 will be 30 matches in total, with 15.5 points needed to clinch the title.

More to see:

• 🏈 NFL games: Cowboys at Giants (8:15 p.m., Prime)

• ⚾️ MLB competition: Padres at Dodgers (10:10 p.m., MLB)

• 🏈 NCAAF Competition: Army at Temple (7:30 p.m., 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)

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🏈 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.

Ask: Can you name the other four?

Tip: Two of them are located in Florida.

Answer below.

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🇨🇦 Tweet of the day: Royal Mount Royal

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

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

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