Sports
MLB stars praise ABS for more than just accuracy
Jul 7, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez (28) gestures for an ABS challenge during his at bat against the Philadelphia Phillies in the eighth inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images PHILADELPHIA — In the 1992 movie Mr. Baseball, aging slugger Jack Elliot (portrayed by Tom Selleck) lived by a simple mantra: “Baseball is a game. And games are supposed to be fun.”
On the big screen, that belief ultimately helped the fictional Elliot overcome his own bad habits and imperfections.
Twenty-four years later in real life, it is one reason that big leaguers like Toronto Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease appreciate the first season of MLB’s Automated Ball-Strike challenge system.
“I think it’s entertaining,” Cease said at Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game press conference. “I like it when it goes my way, and I don’t like it when it doesn’t. I think it’s entertaining, and it’s just one of those where I’ve kind of just accepted it is what it is, and I thought it’s been kind of nice.”
At the unofficial halfway mark of the first season of ABS implementation, Cease’s sentiments were echoed by most players attending the Summer Classic.
It wasn’t just that they appreciated what the system added in terms of correcting mistakes. They also acknowledged the new competitive wrinkles it added that perhaps hadn’t been appreciated beforehand.
For starters, each team’s two incorrect challenges per game have become precious commodities. Lose them and your team is at a decided disadvantage.
That happens more often than you might think. There has been an average of roughly 4.2 challenges per game through the season’s first half, and only 53.3% of those have been successful.
“You can really see a difference when you’re out of challenges,” Los Angeles Angels slugger Mike Trout said. “It changes the whole game. We talk about it all the time. When we lose challenges in the game, it’s a game-changer.”
The system has also supported the idea that catchers have the best view for determining the strike zone, succeeding at 58.7% of their challenges, while batters have succeeded 47.8% of the time and pitchers only 36.6% of the time.
That intuitively makes sense given each player’s point of view. But it can sometimes require emotional management when a pitcher believes he caught the zone only for a catcher to keep the challenge in his pocket.
“It’s just something at the end of the day, it just goes back to the trust that pitchers put in their catchers,” Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers said. “They know that we’re there for them at the end of the day. We want them to be successful.”
Meanwhile, the fears among some umpires that the new technology would stain their profession simply haven’t materialized.
Only two men in the blue — CB Bucknor and Andy Fletcher — have seen more than two-thirds of their challenged calls overturned. And Bucknor has been sidelined with health issues since the very early part of the season.
“They want to do as good as possible, too,” Langeliers said. “In my personal experiences, the umpires have been really good (with it).”
The system isn’t perfect. Perhaps its largest unintended impact has been changing the entire concept of the strike zone. Once defined in part by where a batter stands in the box, it now depends only on the location of home plate and the batter’s pre-measured dimensions.
That can lead to some odd situations, where a pitch catches the back or front corner of the plate but would’ve been a ball when it crosses the hitter’s plane. But that might be a relatively small price to pay for getting the big calls right most of the time, said Blue Jays and American League manager John Schneider after he raised exactly that point.
“That’s me nitpicking,” Schneider confessed. “I think that it’s done what it was intended to do so far. And I’m sure there’ll be tweaks along the way, like anything in the league.”
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
Sports
Kaitlyn Chen scoring outburst helps Valkyries down Fever
Golden State Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton (5) guards Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, during the first half of a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Reserve Kaitlyn Chen scored 12 of her 14 points in the third quarter, as the Golden State Valkyries won their eighth straight, 88-75 over the Indiana Fever on Wednesday night in Indianapolis.
Gabby Williams had 16 points, while backups Tiffany Hayes recorded 13 and Janelle Salaun added 12 for the Valkyries (18-7), who shot 52% while completing a 5-0 road stretch.
Kelsey Mitchell had 20 points, Aliyah Boston scored 15 and Caitlin Clark added 13 for the Fever (14-10), who shot 40% and committed 16 turnovers.
Golden State led 42-30 after Cecilia Zandalasini (10 points) scored the first basket of the second half. However, Indiana recorded the next nine points, including four straight by Clark.
The Fever took their first lead, 47-46, after Sophie Cunningham (10 points) hit two free throws, with 2:31 remaining in the third quarter.
Then, Chen, who entered averaging 7.2 points and played 10 minutes, took over.
She posted 10 points while Golden State scored 12 of the final 16 of the third. Her three-point play in the final 2 seconds gave the Valkyries a 58-51 edge entering the final period.
Salaun knocked down a 3-pointer to open the fourth, and Chen followed with a driving layup to give the Valkyries a 63-51 lead.
Golden State led 80-65 late. Indiana scored the next eight points, highlighted by two 3-pointers from Mitchell, but got no closer.
The Valkyries led 20-18 after one quarter, but Indiana got within 24-23 before a basket from Hayes and 3-pointer from Kayla Thornton (11 points) put the visitors ahead by six.
Meanwhile, Clark’s first bucket of the contest came at the 4:43 mark of the second quarter, when she drove to the basket to get the Fever within 31-27. However, she appeared to be hobbled after drawing contact with Golden State’s Kia Stokes, but no foul, on the play.
Clark showed her frustration when she was whistled for a foul shortly after, then exited and didn’t return before halftime.
Following Clark’s basket, the Valkyries scored nine of the game’s next 11 points — seven coming from Williams — to lead 40-29 before Indiana’s Monique Billings made a free throw to make it a 10-point contest at the break.
Golden State scored the first eight points of the game, and built a 12-2 lead. However, Mitchell had nine points, and the Fever held a 11-6 rebounding advantage to trail by two at the end of the first quarter.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jalen Brunson honored three times at 2026 ESPY Awards
Jul 15, 2026; New York, NY, USA; Jalen Brunson and Ali Brunson arrive on the red carpet before the 2026 ESPY Awards at Lincoln Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Jalen Brunson was on center stage in New York again Wednesday, this time for a trio of ovations at the 2026 ESPY Awards.
Hosted by Marcello Hernandez of “Saturday Night Live” fame Wednesday evening at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York, the show kicked off with Brunson winning the first major award of the evening, before he capped things with another award a couple of hours later and then joined his teammates on stage for the final award of the evening.
Brunson won “Best Championship Performance” and then “Best Athlete – Men’s Sports” for guiding the New York Knicks — the ESPY’s “Best Team” — to their first NBA championship since 1973. Brunson averaged 32.6 points per game in the Finals, to go along with 4.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals. That came after a regular season where he averaged 26.0 points, 6.8 assists and 0.8 steals for the 53-29 Knicks.
During his first acceptance speech, Brunson shouted out his family before thanking his coaches and teammates.
“I am forever indebted to them, thank you,” Brunson said.
Later in the evening, Jim Abbott, the former Major League Baseball pitcher who played in the majors for a decade despite being born without a right hand, won the “Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.”
“I was born missing my right hand, and I never wanted to make a big deal about that,” Abbott said. “Being born this way, I knew what it was like to be different, I knew what it was like to be on the outside looking in and I knew what it was like to be on a team.
“Of all the great blessings sports has given me, that sense of belonging is the best.”
Alyssa Liu won “Best Breakthrough Athlete” following her gold medal for figure skating at the Winter Olympics. “I had some really rough times in (the sport), and I took two years off, and so it really feels like I did break through in my own way, and for my sport,” Liu said.
Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry took home the “Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian” award. His charity “Eat, Learn, Play” has helped feed children and provide them playgrounds to play on in the Oakland area.
“When you hear Ali’s name, you think about greatness,” Curry said. “This award being connected to his legacy is incredibly humbling.”
After crediting volunteers, teachers, and all those involved in the program, Curry implored other athletes to give back to their communities.
“Don’t ever forget you have a platform, you have a voice, you have everything you need to make a true impact, and I encourage you to find your Oakland.”
The “Best College Athletes” were Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza and UCLA basketball player Lauren Betts, the latter of whom spoke about the importance of mental health in her acceptance speech.
“Your mental health is not separate from your success,” Betts said. “It is the foundation of everything that you do.
“The strongest people aren’t the ones who never struggle; they’re the ones who have the courage to let someone walk through the struggle with them.”
The “Pat Tilman Award for Service” went to Scott Ruskan, a former cross country athlete at Rider University who helped rescue 165 Texas flood survivors last July as a member of the Coast Guard.
“There were a lot of heroes that day who aren’t getting an ESPY Award,” Ruskan said. “It took a complete army of people to get (the rescue) done.”
Other 2026 ESPY Awards:
Best Athlete – Women’s Sports: A’ja Wilson
Arthur Ashe Award for Courage: Jason Collins
Best Single-Game Performance: Shohei Ohtani
Best Play: OG Anunoby
Best Record-Breaking Performance: Myles Garrett
Best High School Athletes: Maddie DiMaria, Grady Emerson
–Field Level Media
Sports
Four teams ousted on first day of LoL competition at Esports World Cup
FURIA, Team Secret, Movistar KOI and LYON were all eliminated from contention with a pair of group-play losses on the first day of League of Legends competition at the Esports World Cup in Paris on Wednesday.
FURIA was eliminated from Group A with losses to G2 Esports and Dplus. Team Secret was eliminated from Group B with losses to Sentinels and Karmine Corp. Movistar KOI was ousted from Group C after defeats against Billbill Gaming and GAM Esports. LYON exited from Group D after losing to JD Gaming and MIBR.LOS.
The $2 million competition sees 16 teams divided into four groups of four teams each. All non-elimination matches are one-off matches while all elimination matches are best-of-three. Group play concludes on Thursday with two more matches in each of group.
The top two teams from each group advance to the single-elimination playoffs, which will be held Friday through Sunday. All playoff matches will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final, with the winning team taking home $600,000 and 1,000 Esports World Cup club points. The MVP will earn an additional $25,000.
In Group A action, G2 Esports beat FURIA in 24 minutes on red and AG.AL beat Dplus in 36 minutes on red. Dplus then swept FURIA 2-0 in the elimination match, winning in 31 minutes on red and 28 minutes on blue.
In Group B, Sentinels beat Team Secret in 35 minutes on blue while Gen.G bested Karmine Corp in 28 minutes on blue. In the elimination match, Karmine Corp won the deciding game in 35 minutes on red after they won the opener before Secret charged back with a 38-minute win on red.
Bilibili Gaming and T1 won their Group C openers, with Bilibili doing so in 33 minutes on blue against Movistar KOI and T1 coming out on top in 33 minutes on red over GAM Esports. GAM then rallied to win the elimination match, triumphing in 35 minutes on red and 34 minutes on blue after Movistar won the opening game in 36 minutes on red.
In Group D, Hanwha Life took care of MIBR.LOS in 19 minutes on red and JD Gaming opened with a 31-minute defeat of LYON on blue. In the elimination match, MIBR.LOS swept LYON with a 38-minute win on red and a 31-minute victory on blue.
Thursday schedule
Group A
G2 Esports vs. AG.AL (advancement match)
Dplus vs. G2/AG loser (advancement/elimination match)
Group B
Sentinels vs. Gen.G (advancement match)
Karmine Corp vs. Sentinels/Gen.G loser (advancement/elimination match)
Group C
Bilibili Gaming vs. T1 (advancement match)
GAM Esports vs. Bilibili/T1 loser (advancement/elimination match)
Group D
Hanwha Life vs. JD Gaming (advancement match)
MIBR.LOS vs. Hanwha/JD Gaming loser (advancement/elimination match)
Esports World Cup League of Legends prize pool (money, EWC club points)
1. $600,000, 1,000 — TBD
2. $340,000, 750 — TBD
3. $220,000, 500 — TBD
4. $140,000, 300 — TBD
5-8. $90,000, 200 — TBD
9-12. $55,000, 0 — TBD
13-16. $30,000, 0 — FURIA, Team Secret, Movistar KOI, LYON
–Field Level Media
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Kaitlyn Chen scoring outburst helps Valkyries down Fever
