Venice Women’s League holds inaugural basketball games

• June 19, 2023

VENICE BEACH — At the south end of one of the most popular beaches in the country is a breeding ground for some of the best hoopers in the Los Angeles area.

The Venice Beach Basketball Courts are home to the popular summer basketball league, Veniceball, and on Sunday, the league opened its door to a new group of players.

The newly created Venice Women’s League held its first ever games featuring top basketball prospects in the area as well as some of the most popular women’s basketball influencers on social media.

The Venice Women’s League aims to bring the best basketball players to the beach while also serving as a way to grow the game of women’s basketball in Los Angeles.

“What I love about this league is it gives women an opportunity to have an all-female space in a space that men have just really dominated,” said Venice Women’s League commissioner Jerica Williams. “I’m just excited that it’s happening in L.A.”

Veniceball started off as a local basketball tournament in 2006, held at the Venice Beach Basketball Courts. The mix of waterfront scenery along with the thousands of locals and tourists walking down the beach shore made for a perfect place to hold competitive basketball in the summer.

The league was a breeding ground for local streetball players who wanted to showcase their handle and high-flying dunks. But as the league evolved, the games became more competitive which attracted professional players who wanted to get a run in.

“In year 1, the AND1 scene was real heavy, so cats were trying to do all the tricks just to get highlights,” said J.C. “Mouthpiece” Thompson, Veniceball’s long-time play-by-play announcer. “We weren’t getting along, so I said ‘if you can’t get highlights with your regular hooping, we don’t need you.’ So I tried to make this league a little bit more legitimate in the basketball community in order to get respected.”

The popularity of Veniceball led to the creation of a women’s side of the league that was started this year. Current Veniceball founder Nico Naismith along with Williams helped get the league off the ground.

The Venice Women’s League held its first draft on Saturday and the league is already stacked with players with big followings on social media.

One of those players is M.J. Johnson, a former Sacramento State point guard who’s garnered over 1 million followers combined on her social media platforms.

Known as the “Queen of Venice Beach,” she previously was one of the only women to compete in the Veniceball league in the past couple of seasons. Now, she is one of the faces of the Venice Women’s League.

“I think (the league) helps give women exposure and it allows us to showcase our talents,” Johnson said. “It allows us to have fun as a family and as a collective.”

League organizer Tobias Dimarco said that the deep talent pool of basketball players was one of the biggest factors in creating the league.

“I think it’s long overdue. For seven years running, we’ve been running a co-ed league where men and women play together,” Dimarco said. “The women’s game is here and it’s past time that they have their own stage to play here at Venice Beach.”

The Venice Women’s League currently has six teams. The end of the season will conclude with a championship game on Aug. 27.

Williams said she expects to see more household names pop in throughout the season.

“We’re gonna have women continue to pop in, as the summer goes. People come to LA to train. College athletes, pro athletes, overseas players that come to train in LA and so we’re gonna give them an opportunity to come and play in the league,” Williams said. “How many times do you get to walk by the beach and see a full five-on-five women’s game? I think it’s just really cool for young boys and girls to see.”

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USMNT beats Canada to win CONCACAF Nations League on goals by Balogun, Richards

• June 19, 2023

LAS VEGAS — Folarin Balogun and Chris Richards scored their first international goals, both off assists from Gio Reyna, and the United States beat Canada 2-0 on Sunday night for the Americans’ second straight CONCACAF Nations League title.

Richards scored in the 12th minute from a corner kick and Balogun, who debuted in Thursday’s 3-0 win over Mexico after choosing to play the U.S. over England, doubled the lead in the 34th.

The Americans were again led by interim coach B.J. Callaghan, who took over May 30 and also will run the team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup starting next weekend. Gregg Berhalter, brought back as coach Friday 5 1/2 months after his contract was allowed to expire, won’t be on the sidelines until September exhibitions.

While the U.S. extended its home unbeaten streak against Canada to 22 games dating to 1957, Canada remained without a title since the 2000 Gold Cup.

Reyna sparked both goals, then left at halftime with a calf injury and was replaced by Luca de a Torre. Reyna’s lack of hustle in training at the World Cup and his family’s angry response created the controversy that let to Berhalter’s January departure.

Reyna’s corner kick found an unmarked Richards, who bounced a header from 7 yards to the left of goalkeeper Milan Borjan for his first goal in 10 international appearances.

The Americans had not scored from a corner kick since Jordan Morris’ goal at El Salvador on June 14 last year after Weston McKennie’s initial effort was saved and de La Torre crossed to Morris.

Reyna fed Balogun for the second goal. The forward held off Scott Kennedy with his right arm to slot past Borjan.

Callaghan made three changes from Thursday, inserting central defender Walker Zimmerman for Miles Robinson and midfielder Brendon Aaronson and right back Joe Scally for Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest, both suspended after getting red cards against El Tri.

Notes: The game was streamed on Paramount+ while the CBS Sports Network broadcast the Canadian Football League and sprint cars. … Mexico beat Panama 1-0 in the third-place match on Jesús Gallardo’s fourth-minute goal. Aníbal Godoy’s apparent equalizer on a 55th-minute bicycle kick was disallowed in a video review for offside, and 76th-minute penalty kick awarded to Mexico by Jamaican referee Daneon Parchment also was reversed in a video review.

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Wyndham Clark maintains poise, wins U.S. Open as Los Angeles Country Club

• June 19, 2023

LOS ANGELES — As Wyndham Clark’s late mother Lisa was battling breast cancer, she made her son promise he would always “play big.”

Clark would have made his mom proud during Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, producing big shot after big shot over the final nine holes, en route to becoming just the fourth player in U.S. Open history to win the tournament after making the cut for the first time. Clark’s even par 70 on Sunday left him at 10-under 270, one shot better than runner-up Rory McIlroy who also shot 70 over the final day. Scottie Scheffler finished third at 7-under 273. Murrieta native Rickie Fowler, who started the day tied for the lead with Clark, was 5 over on Sunday, finishing in a tie for fifth.

While Sunday was Father’s Day, Clark’s thoughts during and after the round were on his late mother.

“I felt like my mom was watching over me,” Clark said as he fought back tears. “You know, my mom was — she was so positive and such a motivator. She’d be crying tears of joy. She called me winner when I was little, so she would just say, `I love you, Winner.’ She had that mantra of play big. I was a mama’s boy, so there would be a lot of hugging and crying together. But I know she’d be very proud of me. I miss her, and it’s obviously great to think about her, and being here in LA (where she lived for several years) and winning something like this makes me think of her even more.”

Clark demonstrated tremendous resiliency throughout the round. On the par-5, eighth hole, his approach shot came up just short and ended up buried in a bush beside the green. Unable to see the ball, he swung and whiffed on his first shot. Keeping his composure, he knocked his next shot on the green and two-putted for bogey.

“In that moment my mind started going fast, but the good thing is I’ve done things like that in the past. I’ve learned from a lot of mistakes I’ve made, and so has my caddie, John. He said we’re fine. It’s no big deal. We got my wits about me and I got that up-and-down. Obviously that’s momentum. Even though I made a bogey it didn’t kill me and kept me in the tournament. That was a huge point in the round.”

Clark made a huge up and down out of the rough on the following hole to save par, allowing him to maintain his lead heading to the back nine.

After making a birdie on the par-5, 14th hole, Clark had a three-shot lead but consecutive bogeys on 15 and 16 cut the lead to a single shot with two holes left to play.

“Although I made a couple bogeys and it seemed like maybe the rails were coming off, I was inside pretty calm,” Clark said. “I hit some great shots coming down on 17 and 18. I felt like I kept my emotions in check as much as I could until the green on 18. I’m really pleased with myself with how I performed.”

Sunday’s win was Clark’s second victory in just over a month. In May he won the Wells Fargo Championship, ending a streak of 133 PGA starts without a victory.

Finding success after years of frustration and disappointment allowed Clark to believe those around him, like his caddie and his family, who told him that greater things were going to happen for him. His newly found confidence led to a string of strong performances heading into the U.S. Open, including contending in Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament.

“I honestly think I should have won the Memorial Tournament,” Clark said. “Viktor (Hovland) played great, but I was right there in contention and had a chance and kind of fumbled at the end. In the back of my mind, I said, well, what if this is saving me for something greater. Obviously I didn’t know it was going to be a U.S. Open, but I just had that attitude and belief that something better was going to happen.”

His performance over the course of the four rounds at LACC this week proved Clark was right. He came within a stroke of joining a handful of U.S. Open winners who posted four rounds in the 60s. Clark, who was both the Big 12 Freshman of the Year at Oklahoma State and the Pac-12 Player of the Year after transferring to Oregon, got to the PGA Tour pretty quickly but because of a lack of success, he felt like he was underperforming.

“I’ve had many times where I’ve gone home and was yelling in my car and punching things and just so mad that I’m like, why can’t I do what my peers are doing that I know I can play with and against and beat,” Clark said. “I’ve probably had three to four really defining moments in my career since college, but I’m really glad that I stuck it through. And God has a plan for me, and it’s obviously far greater than I ever could have imagined. Being here now, I just feel so blessed. It’s honestly surreal to look back and think about the journey the last seven to ten years.”

For McIlroy, Sunday’s final round was the latest in a long line of opportunities that the four-time major winner has had to claim another major and has come up short.

The world’s No. 3 ranked player was solid throughout the round, but was unable to convert on multiple birdie opportunities that could have allowed him to take control of the tournament.

“The last real two chances I’ve had at majors I feel like have been pretty similar performances, like St Andrews last year and then here,” McIlroy said. “Not doing a lot wrong, but I didn’t make a birdie since the first hole today. Just trying to be a little more, I guess, efficient with my opportunities and my looks. Again, overall when you’re in contention going into the final round of a U.S. Open, I played the way I wanted to play. There was just a couple of shots, two or three shots over the course of the round that I’d like to have back.”

Following Thursday’s opening round where scores were uncharacteristically low due to the overcast skies and moisture in the air, the final three days saw the LACC course toughen up and provide the kind of challenges that are expected at a U.S. Open venue.

While there were some players who didn’t feel the setup was up to U.S. Open standards, the majority of the players who competed in the tournament felt like the course provided a fair and challenging test of golf.

“It’s quite a good setup,” said Padraig Harrington. “I think it’s an excellent setup. We were going out there today wondering would there be a bit of bite in it, would there be a bit of fight back. But it was a good setup. I think the one thing you’ve got to — if you produce a golf course in good condition, like these are probably the best greens we’ve ever putted on in a major. I’m telling you, these are just a pure bent surface which is beautiful to putt on. If you produce good greens, you’re going to get good scoring.”

While Clark was thinking about his mom during and after the round, he also said he looked forward to sharing the victory with his father, who was back home watching on television.

“This is a pretty emotional tournament for both John (his caddie) and I, because John lost his dad only a couple years ago, and obviously being Father’s Day, I hope this brings joy in his dad’s eyes and obviously to John,” Clark said. “Happy Father’s Day to my dad. He’s unfortunately not here, but I love him, and I can’t wait to celebrate with him.”

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Alexander: A breakthrough for U.S. Open champ Wyndham Clark

• June 19, 2023

LOS ANGELES – The final day of a U.S. Open can be a matter of survival, as the course conditions become more challenging and the mental gremlins wreak their havoc.

But Wyndham Clark, five weeks removed from his first PGA Tour victory, is now a major champion because he was consistent, because he held off the mental gremlins and because … well, you may not yet know a lot about him, but he is a young man with a pretty healthy belief in himself.

“You know, I feel like I belong on this stage,” said the 29-year-old Clark, who has been a PGA Tour member since 2019 but won his first tournament May 7, the Wells Fargo Championshiip in Charlotte. “And even two, three years ago when people didn’t know who I was, I felt like I could still play and compete against the best players in the world. I felt like I’ve shown that this year.

“I’ve come up close, and obviously everyone sees the person that hoists the trophy, but I’ve been trending in the right direction for a long time now. I’ve made a lot of cuts. I’ve had a handful of top 10s and top 20s, and I feel like I’ve been on a great trajectory to get to this place. Obviously it’s gone faster than I thought as far as just starting to do some stuff mentally that I’ve never done before, but I feel like I’m one of the best players in the world. Obviously this just shows what I believe can happen.”

Maybe the end of Saturday’s round was a precursor. Rickie Fowler surrendered the lead when Clark birdied and he missed a 5-foot birdie putt. That gave Clark a share of the lead going into the final day, and he stayed atop the leaderboard all day long, playing consistently enough to outlast Rory McIlroy by a shot.

He appears to have a secret weapon when it comes to battling those mental gremlins. Mental coach Julie Elion, who has worked with Phil Mickelson and Max Homa among others, began working with Clark in January, and maybe it’s coincidence but probably it isn’t: Clark has seven top 10 finishes in the 15 tournaments since the first of the year.

It certainly helped Sunday, when Clark was paired with Fowler in the final round and heard plenty of cheers for the Murrieta native.

“(Eilon) goes, ‘Every time you hear someone chant ‘Rickie,’ think of your goals and get cocky and go show them who you are,”  he said. “I did that. It was like 100 plus times today I reminded myself of the goals. Now maybe they’ll be chanting my name in the future.

“We were talking (before the round) about anything but golf actually. We were talking about traveling. We were talking about the beautiful homes out here. She was just trying to keep it light. It’s huge in a major championship because you can kind of get really tunnel vision, and it’s great to sometimes just look up and see what’s going on and be like, hey, this is just like any other day. I’ve done this a thousand times.

“She has a great calmness and presence about her that just makes me calm and relaxed. I’m just so glad that my caddie (John Ellis) and agent (Rob Mougey) in November said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this lady that we think you should work with.’ I was a little reluctant to do it, and I’m just so glad that she was brought into my life, and what these honestly six months, it’s crazy to see how much I’ve improved and how much she’s helped me.”

Actually, playing in the same twosome with Fowler Saturday and Sunday wasn’t a bad thing at all. Both played college golf at Oklahoma State, although Clark eventually transferred to Oregon.

“He’s still a Cowboy,” Fowler said. “We had a good time the last two days. I feel like we both enjoy going out and chatting throughout the round and keeping it fairly … light, but it’s still a major in the final group the last two days.”

They are friendly enough, actually, that after a money game between the two in March – with Fowler making darned near every putt and Clark not making enough of them – Clark asked to use his putter on the practice green. He liked it so much he ordered one for himself, right down to the exact specifications, and he used it this week to average 28.47 putts per round.

Clark is also unique in that he doesn’t currently have a swing coach.

“A lot of people say I have a good swing,” he said. “I believe I have a good swing. My first few years on tour it actually really bothered me because people would say, ‘Oh, you have such a great swing,’ and I didn’t know where the ball was going, and that was really frustrating for me. I worked with some great coaches, and they were very good at what they do, but I didn’t know where the ball was going and I didn’t own it.

“So when I decided to go on my own – I do work a little bit with my caddie, but typically it’s on my own – I learned about my game and my swing, and that’s what I did when I was younger. I knew how to hit shots and I got away from that when I was with a coach. … I felt like I’ve kept my swing in those parameters to where regardless I can play good golf if I’m hitting a little draw or a little cut, and my stats have improved immensely by doing that.”

Did we say he has a healthy belief in himself? He talked about how he felt he should have won the Memorial two weeks ago –  he tied for 12th – and, “in the back of my mind I said, ‘Well, what if this is saving me for something greater?

“Obviously,  I didn’t know it was going to be a U.S. Open,” he added. “But I just had that attitude and belief that something better was going to happen.”

It did. The proof, in the form of a trophy, was right next to him during the champion’s press conference.

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Dodgers swept by Giants, sink to third in the West

• June 19, 2023

LOS ANGELES ― The Dodgers went into the weekend with the third-best record in the National League. They ended it with the third-best record in their own division.

In between, they suffered an embarrassing three-game sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants. Sunday’s 7-3 loss before an announced crowd of 52,307 at Dodger Stadium marked a new low on a few fronts.

The Dodgers (39-33) have fallen from first place to third in the National League West in the span of two weeks. Their 4-game deficit behind the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks (43-28) is their largest of the season.

The Giants (39-32) secured their first sweep at Dodger Stadium in a series of three or more games since August 20-22, 2012.

“It’s not the ideal situation right now,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “It’s hard to even put into words. Every day we come in with the right attitude. … And every day it’s another loss right now. It’s one of these trying points in the season where you have to grind, keep coming every single day to show up, and expect to win. Our team is way too good to go through this stretch.”

Friday’s 11-inning loss was a close game. The Dodgers’ 15-0 loss Saturday was not. Sunday’s game was the worst start of Tony Gonsolin’s career.

The right-hander was granted six days of rest between his two previous starts because of a vague soreness he felt after pitching against the Cincinnati Reds on June 6. It helped. Gonsolin threw six shutout innings against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

Manager Dave Roberts said Gonsolin was not “out of the woods” after experiencing similar soreness following that game. Because their bullpen had thrown more than 14 innings over the previous three games, a bullpen game was not an option Sunday. And rather than recall a pitcher from the minor leagues and start Gonsolin on Tuesday in Anaheim, the Dodgers trusted the ball to Gonsolin on regular rest.

For three innings, that looked like the wise choice. Despite subpar velocity ― his fastball was sitting 90-91 mph in the first inning, less than his season average of 92.3 ― Gonsolin held the Giants without a hit until the fourth inning. Quickly, a sacrifice fly by Thairo Estrada and an RBI single by Mike Yastrzemski put the Dodgers in a 2-0 hole.

In the bottom of the fourth, David Peralta walked, went to second base on a JD Martinez single, and scored on a James Outman single to bring the Dodgers within 2-1. The two teams traded runs in the fifth inning. In the sixth inning, the wheels fell off.

Gonsolin walked Estrada, who stole second base. Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts made an outstanding stop on a ground ball to his left and threw Estrada out at third base. But Gonsolin allowed back-to-back doubles by Yastrzemski and Luis Matos, before Matos scored on a Blake Sabol single.

Gonsolin struck out Casey Schmitt on a 93.5 mph fastball ― ironically, his fastest pitch of the game. It was also his last. Victor Gonzalez took over and allowed another run before the inning ended. The Giants’ seventh run was charged to Gonsolin’s ledger. He had never allowed more than six runs in a major league start.

“My execution just really suffered after that third inning,” Gonsolin said. “Balls were left up in the zone, they got some soft hits that fell down, and some hard hits that also fell. Overall the execution wasn’t there.”

The Dodgers made the game interesting in the end. They loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth against Giants pitcher Scott Alexander, who was then removed with hamstring tightness.

That prompted Giants manager Gabe Kapler to summon his closer, Camilo Doval. Will Smith took Doval’s first pitch off his left arm, forcing in Jonny DeLuca with the Dodgers’ third run. Doval came back to strike out Peralta and retire Martinez on a flyout to right field to end the game.

Smith, Peralta and James Outman each had two of the Dodgers’ nine hits. The Dodgers out-hit the Giants, 9 to 8, but repeatedly failed to execute in important situations. They went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. One runner was thrown out at home on a routine ground ball to second base.

The Dodgers are 5-10 in June, losing four games in the standings in the process.

“If you look back at this two-week stretch, there’s a lot of things we’re not doing well,” Roberts said. “We’re not playing clean baseball, fundamental baseball. I think it’s going back to, not just trying to win, but focus on the little things: catching the baseball, minimize walks, throwing to the right base, not getting thrown out on the bases . Executing a pickoff play ― those are the things that are coming back to haunt us. Typically we’re much better at that.”

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Santa Anita ‘might look at’ adding synthetic surface, GM says

• June 19, 2023

ARCADIA — The debate is on after 12 horses died at Churchill Downs in a six-week span this spring. Bring back synthetic tracks or stick with the traditional dirt surfaces?

According to Santa Anita senior vice president and general manager Nate Newby, Santa Anita officials are always looking at options to improve the product but there are no plans to convert to an artificial surface anytime soon.

“Our dirt track has been very safe, but it’s something we’ll always look at,” Newby said as Santa Anita concluded its 28-day Hollywood Meet and its nearly six-month combined season on Sunday. “Obviously, one of our focuses the last couple of years has been on turf racing. Those fields are bigger and they’re popular at the (betting) windows, driving more handle.

“We’re looking at a couple of ideas to really focus on turf racing, and I think having a synthetic track, even as a training track, is something we might look at to just give the guys some extra options for training and help recruit some more turf horses from around the country and internationally as well.”

Santa Anita faced some challenges this year, most notably caused by Mother Nature. Newby said from December to this past storm, the track was hit by close to 40 inches of rain, causing eight cancellations, some of which were not made up.

“At least the last 15 years that’s the most rain (we’ve had),” Newby said. “When you lose a weekend (day) and replace it with a weekday or a Monday, it’s not apples to apples. You just get back as much as you can. It’s almost like (only) a half day back.”

The wet weather means the track will be flat compared to last year in average daily handle and a bit down in overall handle, Newby said.

“We had to make some adjustments,” he said. “It’s a different set of rules we play by now. Safety is our top priority so sometimes shifting days and canceling cards (is necessary). There’s a cost to that. But Santa Anita Derby day was really strong, so we’ve had some highlights as well. It was kind of a mix of ups and downs this season.”

The pluses included a record opening day, highlighted by the biggest on-track crowd (41,446) in seven years and a record betting handle. Santa Anita Derby day was also a big success.

Field size was included among the minuses. Through last weekend, Santa Anita averaged 7.2 horses per race, up slightly over last year’s 7.1.

“That’s definitely one of the things we’re focused on, trying to improve, and how to recruit more horses and barns to come to California,” Newby said. “We’re working with the Del Mar team to jointly recruit to California together. With it being a Breeders’ Cup year (at Santa Anita), we think that’s a really good opportunity. Obviously, the focus later in the year will be on Santa Anita, and that helps in recruitment as well.”

On-track attendance was capped when Del Mar hosted its two Breeders’ Cups. Santa Anita has never capped attendance when it has hosted the event — a record 10 times — but Newby said no decision has been made yet about this year’s event on Nov. 3-4.

“The Breeders’ Cup folks are coming out next month for more meetings and we’re going to look at how ticket sales are tracking,” Newby said. “A lot of it just depends on what we end up doing in the infield. Tickets are selling really well, especially the premium stuff.”

PLANETARIO WINS

Planetario gave Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella his second victory in the $100,000 Grade III turf marathon, 30 years after 1993 Horse of the Year Kotashaan won the 1-3/4-mile race.

The 5-year-old Brazilian-bred won by 4 1/2 lengths under Hector Berrios, running the distance in 2:48.08 as the 5-2 second choice. Even-money favorite Offlee Naughty finished second, a nose in front of 21-1 longshot Rimprotector, but was no match for the winner.

Once one of the premier turf races in the nation, the San Juan has been downgraded from a Grade I to a Grade III stakes over the years. It once attracted some of the top turf horses in the country, but those days are gone.

“This is what racing should be about,” Mandella said. “Thoroughbred racing should be something like this, and to not push this race and not build it up bigger is a mistake in my mind.”

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Dodgers’ Julio Urías and Daniel Hudson set target for return

• June 18, 2023

LOS ANGELES ― The light at the end of the tunnel for the Dodgers’ beleaguered pitching staff is getting closer, and now they can circle it on the calendar. Julio Urías and Daniel Hudson are set to rejoin the team during its three-game series in Kansas City from June 30 to July 2, manager Dave Roberts said Sunday.

Urías, 5-4 with a 4.39 ERA, has been on the injured list since May 20 with a left hamstring strain. The Dodgers have struggled during his absence, posting a 5.60 ERA ― 29th in MLB ― entering Sunday’s game against the San Francisco Giants.

Roberts said Urías will throw live batting practice Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, then make a minor league rehab start before rejoining the active roster.

Hudson hasn’t appeared in a major league game since March 2022 while recovering from surgery on his left knee. Before undergoing the season-ending procedure on his anterior cruciate ligament, Hudson was among the Dodgers’ most reliable relief pitchers.

The 36-year-old right-hander recently began a minor league rehabilitation assignment. He has made five scoreless appearances for the Dodgers’ Arizona Complex League team, and is expected to transfer his rehab to Triple-A Oklahoma City no sooner than Tuesday.

SYNDERGAARD UPDATE

Noah Syndergaard resumed throwing from flat ground Sunday. The right-hander went on the 15-day injured list with a finger blister June 8. There is no timetable for his return.

In 12 starts prior to the injury, Syndergaard was 1-4 with a 7.16 ERA. The Dodgers’ bullpen has struggled arguably as much as its rotation in recent weeks. Their 5.11 ERA (through Saturday) is 29th in MLB.

Last year, Syndergaard made three relief appearances for the Philadelphia Phillies between September and October, but the Dodgers have no intention at the moment of bringing him back as a relief pitcher.

“I don’t see that happening,” Roberts said. “I know last year in Philadelphia he pitched in the ’pen a little bit. For us, get him back, ramp him up, and see where we’re at as far as a starter.”

The Dodgers signed Syndergaard to a one-year, $13 million contract in December.

ALSO

Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to start for the Dodgers on Tuesday in Anaheim, where he will be opposed by the Angels’ Reid Detmers. … Roberts does not know who will start Wednesday, with the possibility of a bullpen game likely since the Dodgers have off-days Monday and Thursday. Shohei Ohtani will start for the Angels. … Infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor (knee) was unavailable Sunday as he recovers from a cortisone shot. He will be re-evaluated Tuesday.

UP NEXT

The Dodgers have an off-day Monday.

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Laguna Woods honors ‘Greatest Generation’ of veterans

• June 18, 2023

Michael Brigandi was 18, not long out of high school, when he was drafted into the Army in February 1944.

Four months later, he found himself in England, waiting for transport to Utah Beach in Normandy. That wait took four days, for reasons unknown to him.

“When you’re 18 or 19 years old, all you’re worried about is getting back home,”  he said.

Brigandi was with the 234th Engineer Combat Battalion, whose mission was to build bridges and roads, dig foxholes and “anything else that needed to be done” after the Allied invasion of Western Europe on D-Day, June 6, 1944, during World War II.

“The first bridge we built we were under mortar fire by the Germans,” he recalled. “But they got taken care of by our artillery.”

Brigandi survived, he said, because his company followed the 2nd Armored Division inland.

“We didn’t see anybody around anywhere,” he said. “The tank guys cleared the way for us.”

Eddie Hoffman also survived the war, but he came face-to-face with the horrors of Auschwitz: At age 14, he watched, he said, as his entire family perished in the Nazi concentration camp in Poland.

The Nazis then shipped Hoffman to camps around Europe. In May 1945, he was at a camp in Austria when it was liberated by Gen. George Patton’s 3rd Army.

As a young man, Hoffman emigrated to America and was drafted into the U.S. military – the 3rd Army. He served in Korea and Japan.

“I loved the Army and felt allegiance to the country and the 3rd Army that liberated and gave me a new life,” he said.

Brigandi, Hoffman and nine other Laguna Woods residents and members of the “Greatest Generation” of veterans were honored at an American Legion Post 257 dinner meeting May 25 in Clubhouse 1.

The meeting started off on a solemn note after Commander Dennis Powell welcomed those in attendance – the veterans, Legionnaires, and members of the American Legion 257 Auxiliary, female family members of Legion veterans.

Pat Burr, president of the Auxiliary, gave the bugle call “To the Colors,” honoring the nation, and Chaplain Alan Clark presented the opening prayer.

Burr then led the POW/MIA ceremony in front of a Missing Man Table set up inside the clubhouse.

It is a small round table laden with symbolism: a single red rose as a reminder of the missing and their loved ones who keep the faith, a lemon slice for the bitter fate of those captured and missing in a foreign land, a pinch of salt for the tears of the missing and their families, an inverted glass showing the inability of those missing to share in the toast, an empty chair at the table, and more.

The mood in the room changed after dinner, when each veteran was introduced and asked to share their most vivid memory of the war. A sense of reverence prevailed as guests listened to the 10 men and one woman who endured the war, lived to talk about it and are still alive even as the number of World War II veterans rapidly dwindles.

But it was clear that many of the veterans didn’t take themselves quite as seriously as the guests did. Laughter broke out as the vets shared humorous memories, often poked in the ribs by their wives, prodded to “tell them about the time you …”

Gilbert Rowland was in the Army Air Corps. Since he was a teenager, he said, he was “nutty about learning how to fly.” He finally got to do it at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas.

Rowland told the story about having quite a bumpy landing. In fact, his biplane bumped down on the ground several times. When he was finally able to bring the plane to a stop, his superior told him, “You only get credit for one landing.”

Jerry Schur enlisted in the Navy in 1944 at age 17 and was promptly sent to college for one year in Wisconsin to learn how to fix radars. But when he was done, two things happened in rapid succession, he recalled: FDR died (April 12, 1945) and Germany surrendered (May 7, 1945).

Schur was on only one ship, he said: He took a tour of his brother’s vessel when it was docked in San Francisco.

Joe Toifel also was in the Navy and also got in at the tail end of the war, he said, in time to “decommission a couple ships.” But he recalled that in high school he worked on making .50-caliber machine gun bullets that were used in the war.

Roland Davis recalled his Army career as being “like having an office job in Hawaii.” He graduated from high school in 1944 and got into a college program for engineers at Camp Roberts, near San Luis Obispo, before being shipped off to Hawaii.

“If I learned anything, I did learn to type in high school,” he said, so the military put him in an anti-aircraft office.

Davis didn’t see combat, but he did a lot of training, he said. His most vivid memory is of training on Oahu in a stream with water up to his neck and holding his rifle above his head.

Charles Luce joined the Army Air Corps at 18 and was sent to gunnery school in Greensboro, North Carolina. He recalled being “small enough to fit in the belly of a B-17 – even though you’re not supposed to be in the belly for landing.”

Because he had lost the eardrum in his right ear, he was sent to England for radar school and eventually learned computer programming.

Lillian Davis, 101, was the only female World War II veteran in attendance. She had a more sobering memory to share.

She joined the Army at age 21, was trained in physical therapy, and spent the bulk of her military career helping service members who were wounded in the war – first amputees, then those who had brain injuries.

Also among the veterans were Charlie Claxton, who served in the Navy in the North Atlantic and the Pacific, and Elmer Shapiro, 102, who served in the Army.

Don Goldberg was called into the Navy in 1944 at age 17. He spoke about his father, who fought in World War I and was wounded in combat.

Goldberg himself served on two destroyers in the North Atlantic.

“I was never shot at,” he said, “and I never shot at anybody else.”

​ Orange County Register