Alexander: Can these Dodgers subdue the ghosts of Octobers past?

• October 7, 2023

See if this sounds familiar.

The Dodgers win the National League West title easily, again reaching triple-digits in victories. It earns them five days off, and then a series against the second-place NL West team, which they pretty much had their way with during the season.

Nervous yet, Dodger fans?

There are reasons to believe this will not be like 2022, when the Dodgers finished 22 games ahead of the Padres during the regular season and lost to San Diego in four games in an NL Division Series. (Keeping geese out of the stadium, or at least off the field, would be a good start.)

But there are also reasons to worry, and that seldom requires much effort on the part of Dodger fans, even in what has been a tremendously successful 11-season span. Octobers, the decisions made during them and the ultimate results provide fodder for plenty of anxiety, or flat-out fatalism, among the fan base.

We won’t go into all of the gory details through the years. Suffice it to say a good number of them have involved massive overthinking on the part of those in charge, and that means those well above Manager Dave Roberts on the organizational chart.

In this particular case, the makeup of a starting rotation seemingly held together with chewing gum and baling wire over the last few months might lend itself even more to the Dodgers’ traditionally unorthodox strategies in the season’s most important moments.

So before anyone proclaims that they’re a lock to win the franchise’s eighth World Series – and yeah, those thoughts are out there – some caution is in order. This could end spectacularly or it could go down in flames, again.

Consider the opponent. The Arizona Diamondbacks basically got back to the postseason a year ahead of schedule. They were 16 games above .500 on July 1 and three games ahead of the Dodgers in the division, went 7-25 to tumble to third place and lose 15½ games in the standings by Aug. 11, and then won 10 of 13 to get back into the wild card hunt.

Then they swept the 92-win Milwaukee Brewers this week to get to the next round, a testament to either the Diamondbacks’ resilience or the weakness of the NL Central. Or both.

If you really want to dig into historical precedent, consider the 2019 Washington Nationals. They were 19-21 on May 13 of that season and the job of Manager Dave Martinez was in jeopardy. They finished 93-69 and second in the East, rallied in the ninth to beat Milwaukee in the wild card game, took out the Dodgers in Game 5 of an NLDS in The Ravine – we won’t relive those crushing home runs, thank you – and went on to win the World Series.

None of that will be pertinent once Clayton Kershaw throws his first pitch at around 6:20 on Saturday evening in Dodger Stadium, but it’s eerie enough to scare the heck out of the faithful.

The original thought was that the series schedule – with the TV schedule dictating a day off Sunday between Games 1 and 2 and travel days Tuesday and, if necessary, Friday – should be a break for the Dodgers. They’re still sorting through how to deploy a collection of starters that includes a physically compromised Kershaw, rookies Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepiot and Emmet Sheehan and home run machine Lance Lynn, in order to get the games into the hands of what has become an exceptional bullpen over the last three months.

But those days off work for the D-Backs as well, because they can run aces Merrill Kelly (12-8) and Zac Gallen (17-9) out there in four of the five games if needed, none on short rest.

Then again, each is 0-2 against the Dodgers this season, Gallen with a 9.90 ERA and an opponents’ OPS of 1.079 in three starts and Kelly with a 3.98 ERA and a .873 opponents’ OPS in four. When Gallen faced the Dodgers on Aug. 28 at Dodger Stadium, he gave up four homers in 5⅓ innings, all to lefties: Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Jason Heyward and James Outman.

(And for those who haven’t been paying a lot of attention to the D-Backs, no, there will be no Madison Bumgarner sightings this week. He was released by Arizona on April 26, was not signed by anyone else and could be at the end of the line at age 34, with 134 career victories in 15 seasons, 2,070 career strikeouts and three World Series rings, all with San Francisco.)

The overriding point: Little of what happened earlier this season matters now, beyond the idea that a deciding fifth game would be played in Dodger Stadium a week from Saturday if it came to that.

Is this Dodgers team capable of exorcising those ghosts of Octobers past and winning its second championship in four seasons, and its first in a non-COVID season since 1988? Certainly.

This club scored 906 runs in the regular season, second in the majors only to Atlanta’s 947. It’s capable of maintaining that pace even against postseason pitching and has cashed in two-out opportunities at a pace resembling October of 2020. If the pitchers – be it with piggyback usage, an opener-bulk format or even a traditional starter on a good night – can get a lead to the seventh, they’ll hand it to what seems to be as close to a lockdown bullpen as this club has had in a long time. The relievers will benefit from the extra off days, too.

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The players who suffered through that mad celebration last October in San Diego – not only inside Petco Park but throughout the Gaslamp Quarter – remember the feeling. Roberts acknowledged earlier this season that there was a lack of urgency in that series with the Padres, maybe because of the five days off before Game 1 but more likely because they’d won 14 of 19 from the Padres in the regular season.

Significantly, newcomers Heyward, Miguel Rojas and David Peralta have helped create a team chemistry that Roberts said made this his “most joyful” season of managing.

“This is a closer team,” Roberts told reporters Friday at Dodger Stadium, adding: “With what happened last year and how quick the exit was, I still think that looms with a lot of guys.”

We’ll find out in this series if last year’s lessons took hold. Then again, for the Dodgers to get to where they and their fans really want to go, the road gets a lot tougher after this.

Way too soon, in other words, to plan a parade.

[email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

Why the NFL cares about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

• October 7, 2023

By HOWARD FENDRICH | AP National Writer

Eager as the National Football League has been to cater to the recent public fixation with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, it’s certainly not taking any credit for creating the outsized storyline that has emerged around the pop superstar and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.

“Not orchestrated by the NFL,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy assured The Associated Press with a chuckle during a chat on the phone about what is becoming known as “ Tay Tay and Trav,” a topic few seemed to be able to get enough of initially, whether football diehards or Swifties, whether via TV or TikTok.

The protagonists largely have remained mum about their actual status since Swift began attending Kelce’s games 1½ weeks ago, though Kelce did admit after practice Friday in Kansas City that “everybody is having fun with it.”

“You’ve got a lot of people that care about Taylor and for good reason,” he said, without getting into the details of their budding relationship.

FILE – Taylor Swift, right, takes selfies with fans as she arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, in Newark, N.J. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have remained mum about their status since the pop superstar began attending the Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s football games. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

But the sport providing the backdrop, and its TV partners, have not been shy about trying to capitalize on the “situationship” and gain new fans, particularly members of Gen Z and more women — although marketing experts are skeptical there will be much of a bump in the long run.

“There is not going to be a ‘Pre-Taylor Swift Era’ and a ‘Post-Taylor Swift Era’ for the NFL. … It’s a momentary fascination,” said Rebecca Brooks, founder and CEO of Alter Agents, a consulting firm.

“I believe in love and I wish Taylor luck. But … it’s very unlikely people would go to a game to see Taylor and be like, ‘Oh, I had no idea this is what football was about! My gosh! I love it now!’” Brooks said. “Or let’s say they get married: Taylor is going to show up at games and it’s going to become routine.”

Still, naturally, the league wants in on the fun. A team of folks monitoring social media see where it could be part of the phenomenon as various memes and trends took off after Swift watched a game in Kansas City alongside Kelce’s mom on Sept. 24.

FILE – Fans cheer after Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) scored a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have remained mum about their status since the pop superstar began attending the Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s football games. Still, the NFL wants in on the fun, with a team of folks monitoring social media to see where it could be part of the phenomenon as various memes and trends took off. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

“It was a perfect storm of pop culture and sports colliding in a really positive way, with two incredibly passionate fan bases merging together and interacting in ways that they hadn’t before. So for us, it’s fantastic,” said Ian Trombetta, the NFL’s senior vice president of social, influencer and content marketing.

“Hopefully those — especially the young women — that have now gained an interest in not only Travis Kelce, but the NFL more broadly, can stay with us throughout the year and years to come,” Trombetta said.

Not that the NFL thinks there’s a ton of room for improvement: It says 47% of its fans are women, and it’s the No. 1 sport among people ages 8 to 24.

Fans hold signs during an NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023 in East Rutherford, N.J. Eager as the National Football League has been to cater to the recent public fixation with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, it’s certainly not taking any credit for creating the “situationship” between the pop superstar and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end. (AP Photo/Vera Nieuwenhuis)

The league has worked for several years to court women, including by promoting flag football or touting female hires for teams’ coaching staffs, as negative developments turned people off: domestic violence cases involving players; misogyny and sexual harassment during former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder’s tenure; an investigation launched in May by New York and California prosecutors into accusations of sexual harassment and racial discrimination at NFL corporate offices.

“Those are each individual situations,” Trombetta said. “We’ve got amazing women throughout the league … and at the end of the day, we’re proud of where we’re going as a league and the values that we try to uphold each and every day.”

Yet it certainly can’t hurt to have Swift, an icon of female empowerment, bringing people to the party.

FILE – Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) celebrates with fans as he walks off the field after an NFL divisional round playoff football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. Eager as the National Football League has been to cater to the recent public fixation with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, it’s certainly not taking any credit for creating the “situationship” between the pop superstar and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley, File)

A year ago, she became the first artist with songs in each of the top 10 spots on the Billboard 100. Overwhelming demand to see her current tour — which resumes in two weeks — resulted in a Ticketmaster debacle. Her Instagram following of more than 270 million is nearly 10 times the NFL’s 28.4 million; Kelce’s has approached 4 million lately, thanks to a boost from the recent publicity.

This celebrity-athlete pairing is more powerful than many that preceded it. Attribute that to Swift’s broad appeal, not just in the U.S. but globally, and to Kelce’s status as the NFL’s best player at his position and the second-best player, behind quarterback Patrick Mahomes, on the reigning Super Bowl champions. Add the current state of non-stop coverage via cell phones, and the hype surely surpasses Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe (go ahead and Google them, kids), David Beckham and Posh Spice, the now-divorced Tom Brady and Giselle Bundchen, and so on.

This time, there also was a vacuum of viewing choices because of Hollywood strikes.

FILE – Singer Taylor Swift watches during the first half of an NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bears Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have remained mum about their status since the pop superstar began attending the Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s football games. Swift’s broad appeal, not just in the U.S. but globally, and Kelce’s status as the NFL’s best player at his position and the second-best player, behind quarterback Patrick Mahomes, on the reigning Super Bowl champions, along with the current state of non-stop coverage via cell phones, make this celebrity-athlete pairing more powerful than the many preceding it.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

“There’s always a ‘story of the week’ now, and no matter what it is, you have to figure out how to fit into it. It was ‘Barbie’ for a while. It was Beyoncé over the summer,” said marketing guru Joe Favorito, who counts NFL Media among his past clients.

“If you are in professional sports, that’s what you want,” he said. “You want to be not just for the core fans. You want to be for everyone, anywhere, who has to talk about this the next day, because they don’t want to feel like they’re missing out.”

One issue with courting the Gen Z cohort (11 to 26), Brooks said, is that it’s a group more openly concerned with authenticity than earlier generations. So the NFL can be “seen as self-serving,” Brooks said, and “risk looking kind of pathetic and cringy.”

Indeed, the oversaturation already is starting to bother some.

The NFL’s Instagram feed, for example, briefly placed Swift lyrics in its bio and noted the Chiefs are 2-0 with her on hand. Even Kelce and his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason, noted how many times NBC cameras cut to Swift at Sunday night’s game between Kansas City and the New York Jets — sometimes celebrating, sometimes interacting with famous friends and sometimes, well, just standing there.

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“Is the NFL overdoing it?” Jason asked Travis on an episode of their podcast released Wednesday. “What is your honest opinion? Take away your feelings for Taylor.”

That drew a chuckle from Travis, who said it can be fun for viewers when celebrities are shown at games but agreed with his brother’s premise, saying: “They’re overdoing it a little bit, especially my situation.”

On the other hand, as former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson put it: “You ride the horse as long as it’s available. We show (Dallas Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones more than we probably need to during TV broadcasts, so why not show Taylor Swift?”

Pilson noted that NFL TV contracts already worth billions aren’t going to be renegotiated any time soon, but an uptick in ratings could be presented to advertisers to seek higher prices for commercials.

“I’ve been asked the question more than once: `What happens when and if they break up?’” the NFL’s Trombetta said. “I have no idea. But I hope they can stay together as long as possible.”

AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed.

​ Orange County Register 

Galaxy is running out of time following late loss to Seattle

• October 7, 2023

As the minutes dwindled down Wednesday night, the Galaxy figured that one point would be better than nothing, especially considering the location and opponent.

“It was literally one play left to get out of there with something,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said Wednesday.

Just before the final whistle sounded, Seattle had taken advantage of a slight header off of a throw-in leading toward the winning goal in the late stages of stoppage time, handing the Galaxy a 2-1 loss and another gut punch in a season full of them.

“We put in the work and sometimes it’s not about playing good football,” Galaxy defender Kelvin Leerdam said. “Sometimes it’s about energy and fight. I think we’ve done all of that today (Wednesday) and then it hurts in the end if you see it go away like that. It’s just one play. One final play and we didn’t make it.”

The loss leaves the Galaxy (8-12-11, 35 points) six points out of a playoff spot with three games remaining, starting Saturday against Minnesota United FC (5:30 p.m., Apple TV+).

Before the start of the road trip, Vanney said he believed that nine more points would put the team in playoff contention, but that they would still need some help.

The final nine points are now crucial for the Galaxy.

“We’re just super thin on the margins,” he said. “We don’t have any margins. We have to win all three games. And that’s the only hope if everything goes right for us on the other side.”

Considering the Galaxy hasn’t had a three-game winning streak since the 2020 pandemic-shortened season.

“For me, it doesn’t matter who is in front of us,” Leerdam said. “We know what we have to do. We have to win all our games.

“So, I’m not looking at which team we’re playing, where we’re playing. I’m only thinking about winning. I think everybody in the locker room thinks that way.”

The trip to Minnesota is the final road game of the season. The Galaxy will conclude the season with home games against Real Salt Lake (Oct. 14) and FC Dallas (Oct. 21).

“I’m really proud of this group the way they kept fighting, and we’re going to go into Minnesota and work our butts off there and we’re going to go for three points, because we know that’s what keeps us in it.

“But the way to get to three points is to execute every play over the course of the game and not allow ourselves to get burned on one of these plays. Making sure we’re marking our guys and making sure we’re making sound decisions. … Again, I’m proud of this group. I can’t tell you how proud I am of their work. We just haven’t been able to see out some of these draws that we would have liked to be three points and some of these, like tonight, where we would have liked to have been one point.”

INJURY UPDATES

Mark Delgado (concussion symptoms), Eriq Zavaleta (back spasm) and Riqui Puig (ankle) all missed Wednesday’s game.

Vanney said he was “optimistic” that Delgado would be ready for Saturday and “hoped” Puig would be ready. He didn’t have a timetable for Zavaleta.

GALAXY AT MINNESOTA UNITED FC

When: Saturday, 5:30 p.m.

Where: Allianz Field, St. Paul, Minn.

TV/radio: Apple TV+, 1330 AM (delayed, 8:15 p.m.)

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​ Orange County Register 

Former soldier charged with trying to pass secrets to China

• October 7, 2023

By Holmes Lybrand and Hannah Rabinowitz | CNN

A former US Army sergeant who allegedly lived in China for several years was arrested Friday on charges of keeping national defense information and attempting to share it with the Chinese government.

According to court filings, Joseph Daniel Schmidt was an active-duty soldier in the US Army from 2015 to 2020, where he served as a team leader on a Human Intelligence squad – eventually supervising the “collection operations and the production of intelligence reporting, analysis, and the dissemination of intelligence products.” In his role, Schmidt had access to classified intelligence, as well as a top-secret security clearance, prosecutors say.

Schmidt is scheduled to make his initial appearance in a California federal court on Friday, according to a Justice Department news release.

If convicted, the two charges Schmidt faces – attempting to deliver national defense information and retention of national defense information – each carry up to 10 years in prison. No attorney is listed for Schmidt on the public docket.

After transitioning to inactive duty in January 2020, Schmidt allegedly made trips to Beijing and Turkey and searched on Google phrases including “turkey extradition military defection,” “soldier defect,” “chinese embassy,” “iranian embassy,” and “can you be extradited for treason.”

In February 2020, Schmidt sent an email to the Chinese Consulates’ public email address in Turkey, saying that he was looking to move to China and “share information I learned during my career as an interrogator with the Chinese government,” according to court documents.

“I have a current top secret clearance, and would like to talk to someone from the Government to share this information with you if that is possible. My experience includes training in interrogation, running sources as a spy handler, surveillance detection, and other advanced psychological operation strategies,” he allegedly wrote.

Schmidt then created a document titled “Important Information to Share with Chinese Government,” federal investigators said, which the US Army later determined contained classified national defense information.

In March 2020, Schmidt traveled back to China after spending a few days in the US following his Turkey trip, court documents say. He hadn’t returned to the US until Friday, according to the Justice Department, and was arrested at an airport in San Francisco.

While in China, Schmidt allegedly created other documents detailing US Army intelligence practices over training, intelligence collection, interrogations methods as well as a hand-drawn diagram of an Army computer network.

The former Army sergeant allegedly contacted Chinese companies run by the government there to advertise his services and access to sensitive material. In one such email, Schmidt allegedly wanted to “reverse engineer” an encryption key used to access a classified network in the Army “to give to the Chinese government.”

He allegedly wrote in an email to an associate that he was motivated to leave the US after learning “some terrible things about the American government” while serving in the Army.

The arrest comes after several members of the US armed forces have been charged this year with retaining or sharing military information with others, including China.

In August, two US Navy sailors were charged with sharing sensitive military information with the foreign country, one of whom allegedly sent blueprints of a US radar system in Japan, and a National Guardsman was arrested in April after allegedly posting a trove of classified documents on social media.

​ Orange County Register 

McCarthy denies report he is stepping down from Congress

• October 7, 2023

By Melanie Zanona, Pamela Brown and Heley Talbot | CNN

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is denying reports that he is expected to step down from Congress before the end of his term – telling reporters on Friday that he still has “work to do,” after sending signals in private conversations that he could step down early from Congress.

“No, I am not resigning,” he told reporters.

“We are going to keep the majority. I am going to help the people I got here, and we are going to expand it further.”

Earlier Friday, multiple sources familiar with McCarthy’s thinking told CNN that he was expected to step down at some point after the House speaker’s election. And sources said McCarthy has been seriously considering the move.

Pressed on whether he has considered stepping down early, he said, “I look at it every time I have to decide whether I am going to run for reelection or not.”

After the House voted to oust McCarthy, the California Republican did not say whether he would remain in Congress. “I’ll look at that,” he said when asked at a press conference following the vote.

Politico was first to report that McCarthy was considering resigning.

House Republicans are still reeling after McCarthy was ousted from the speakership in a historic vote. Following the vote, McCarthy opted not to run again for the gavel, setting off a race for a new speaker.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and GOP Rep. Jim Jordan have both launched bids to be the next speaker, though it is unclear if House Republicans will be able to coalesce around a candidate given the deep divisions within the conference.

On Friday, McCarthy added that he has talked to both Scalise and Jordan but would not endorse anyone when pressed.

Asked about former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Jordan, McCarthy said: “Only members vote, and I think members sit down and can make their decision.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

​ Orange County Register 

Top girls basketball teams to play H.O.P.E. Showcase at Cypress College this weekend

• October 6, 2023

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Several of Orange County’s best girls basketball teams are participating in the preseason H.O.P.E. Showcase this weekend at Cypress College.

The fifth-year event runs Friday through Sunday, and includes teams such as Buena Park, Canyon, Crean Lutheran, Mater Dei, Orangewood Academy, Portola, Rosary, Sage Hill, San Clemente, San Juan Hills, Santa Margarita, Sonora, Troy and Villa Park.

The showcase also features top non-county teams such as reigning CIF State Open Division champion Etiwanda, Ontario Christian, Santiago of Corona, Bishop Montgomery, La Jolla Country Day, Cathedral Catholic along with well-known squads from Nevada and Northern California.

Some of the intriguing matchups:

San Juan Hills-Ontario Christian on Friday at 7 p.m.

Buena Park-Etiwanda on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Orangewood Academy-La Country Day on Sunday at 4 p.m.

The games begin Friday at 4 p.m. and run through two Sunday games at 9 p.m. Most county teams are playing two games.

Please send girls basketball news to Dan Albano at [email protected] or @ocvarsityguy on X and Instagram

​ Orange County Register 

Baseball caps are more creative than ever — and one store has more than 1,000 on display

• October 6, 2023

The Major League Baseball playoffs are underway, and it’s time to get your ball cap on. In nearly two centuries, the baseball cap has seen a variety of shapes, sizes and designs. It used to be that MLB caps were sold in traditional team colors. Today, fans can support their team with ball caps in a variety of colors and fashions.

A UNIQUE COLLECTIONIvan Ramirez, owner of The Locker Room of Downey, has well over 1,000 ball caps on display, making it one of California’s largest cap retail stores. Here are the most notable, and some exclusive, Los Angeles Dodger baseball caps in his collection:

EL CENTENARIO: Named for the Bicentennial and Mexican coin, a centenario; this was their number one selling hat of all time.

THE HUMILDE: A collaboration with music producer Jimmy Humilde.

L.A. REAL TREE 100: Real tree fabric was hot this season and the store could not keep this in stock.

THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA: Designed to represent Downey, “D” and the year 2020 when the hat craze started.

THE SPIRIT: Inspired by the colors of 76 gas stations, the longest-running sponsor of the Dodgers.

RED AND BLUE 1959 SOMBRERO (Exclusive): Features the discontinued logo of the 1959 All-Star Game that took place in Los Angeles.

MEMORIAL COLISEUM (Exclusive): This hat, as well as the patch of the Coliseum, has been discontinued and is expected to be a collector’s item.

THE JACKIE ROBINSON (Side Patch): This features a side patch of Dodger icon Jackie Robinson. This is a popular hat among fans.

LOOK MOM, NO HANDS: Made in collaboration with motivational speaker Ryan Hudson-Peralta, who was born without hands.

THE BALL CAP THROUGH THE YEARS

1849: The New York Knickerbockers wore the first baseball caps, which were straw hats. A few years later, the team switched to a cap made of merino that featured a crown and a bill, which are two main characteristics of the modern-day cap.

1860: The baseball cap evolved to a longer brim and deeper, button-top crown, first worn by the Brooklyn Excelsiors.

1901-1902: The Detroit Tigers became the first team to put their mascot on its cap.

1903: Spalding unveiled the “Philadelphia” caps with a stitched brim that held the shape better.

1920: Ehrhardt Koch, a German immigrant living in Buffalo, N.Y., founded New Era Cap Co. and produced 60,000 Gatsby hats in the first year

1930s: WIth competition fierce and revenues falling, New Era focused on baseball caps, which were becoming popular. In 1934, the company struck a deal with the Cleveland Indians and produced its first official big league cap. In the years that followed, New Era picked up more teams.

1947: The St. Louis Browns were the first team to use what would eventually be known as the 59Fifty style cap. Because the caps laid flat on the ballplayer’s head, Koch reinforced crown of the cap with buckram so it would stand upright to better display the team logo.

1954: New Era launched 59FIfty and it became the official model for major league baseball caps. Sources vary on the meaning of its name – from the cap’s original catalog number, 5950, to the fabric Koch used to produce the original design.

1970s: The open strap-back cap style came into play, and the below visor color changed from green to gray. Screen-printing during this time was implemented as well, which allowed for additional creativity.

1980: New Era ran an ad in the Sporting News, offering fans the opportunity to purchase authentic baseball caps – the same ones the players wore. The fan market exploded and New Era went from made-to-order to mass production.

1993: New Era became the official cap supplier for all of Major League Baseball and the MLB logo was added to the back of the caps.

1997: When the Yankees went to the World Series, filmmaker Spike Lee had New Era make him a red Yankees cap to match with his red down jacket that had Yankees scripted on it. When his cap was seen on national television, the fashion trend ignited.

Sources: New Era, The Locker Room of Downey, MLB, showplace.com, El Pais, The Guardian, mlb.com, Delmonicohatter.com

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers’ Anthony Davis again adjusting to playing with another big man

• October 6, 2023

EL SEGUNDO — When it comes to positional designations between being a four (power forward) or a five (center), Anthony Davis is still sorting through what to be referred to as going into his 12th NBA season.

“Who knows,” Davis said after Friday’s practice ahead of Saturday’s preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco. “I’m still trying to figure it out.”

How he sees it, there’s a simpler way to describe his “position” without using traditional terminology.

“I am a ‘big man’,” Davis said. “There you go. I am a big that plays basketball.”

And to Coach Darvin Ham, there’s an even more straightforward way to describe Davis’ position.

“To me, I view him as a hell of a basketball player – in the same way I viewed Giannis [Antetokounmpo] when I was in Milwaukee. A.D., he is of that ilk, where you just put him out there and he’s going to figure it out. He has the physical tools and skills to do whatever he wants to do on the basketball court.”

Davis’ ability to toggle between the four and the five is something the Lakers are counting on.

Ham and General Manager Rob Pelinka have said multiple times that they intend to play Davis alongside another big more this season, similar to how Davis did with Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee during the Lakers’ 2019-20 championship season.

Thus the Lakers made the free agency signings of Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood – big men with very different skill sets who could both play alongside Davis.

Even though Davis entered the league in 2012 playing most of his minutes at the four alongside another big man, it’s been a couple of seasons since he’s played the position with regularity.

Davis played 99% of his minutes as the center last season and 76% of his minutes at the five in 2021-22, according to Cleaning The Glass.

He played 91% of his minutes at the four in 2020-21 – when the Lakers had Marc Gasol, Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell on the roster – and spent 60% of his minutes at power forward in 2019-20.

This has made training camp a good time to work on the adjustments playing alongside another big again. Davis said he and Hayes played on the same team in scrimmages “the first couple of days” of camp before he played alongside Wood “for a stint” on Friday.

“They were doing a good job,” Davis said. “I was confused a lot. I was sliding back into the four during some possessions [and I heard], ‘AD, run corner!’ I forgot. So, it was good. Still figuring things out. Talking with the coaches and Jaxson and C-Wood about some things that I did with DeMarcus [Cousins] and Julius [Randle] back in New Orleans. So, it’s been good.”

Davis playing more four should allow him to roam and play “free safety” more defensively, and not have to be directly involved in as many pick and rolls – something he’ll appreciate.

“It feels good to stay out of 100 pick-and-rolls a game,” Davis said. “So I still got a lot to learn from it. I still got a lot to explore. But it’s been good the first couple of days.”

Off the court, the 30-year-old Davis had already been playing a leadership role as the oldest and most experienced player in the big man room compared to Hayes (23 entering his fifth NBA season) and Wood (28 entering his eighth season).

Hayes said he, Davis and Wood had been working out in the mornings together the week leading into the start of camp, with Davis taking them out to eat and inviting them over to his house to help get them settled.

There’s optimism that can help translate to on-court chemistry, too.

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“It’s been awesome,” said Hayes, who added he watched “a ton” of defensive film of Davis when he was with the New Orleans Pelicans. “I feel like we’re two bigs that could play really well together because of the way we both move on the floor and stuff, we can switch one through five. I feel like that’s pretty easy to have when you have two bigs like that. I’ve been working with him for the past week and a half, just trying to get better, just learning from him, because there’s nobody better to learn from than him.”

REAVES SITTING VS. WARRIORS

In addition to LeBron James, third-year guard Austin Reaves also won’t be available Saturday against the Warriors (5:30 p.m. tipoff).

The team is easing Reaves back into things after he played for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup, with the Americans’ last game being on Sept. 10.

“We kicked the training wheels off [Friday] and he responded unbelievably,” Ham said. “Like, the kid looked great. Just his confidence and the way he commands with the ball in his hands, without the ball in his hands, his scrappiness, his IQ, his ability to make shots, get the defense off-balanced. He was doing all of that.”

The game will be broadcast on Spectrum SportsNet, which is airing all six preseason games. All preseason games can also be heard on the team’s flagship radio station, 710 AM, and in Spanish on 1330 AM.

Anthony Davis on the adjustments of playing alongside Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes in training camp practices: pic.twitter.com/RyDwxPd9gx

— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) October 6, 2023

​ Orange County Register