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⚾ Good morning to all but especially to …
CAL RALEIGH
Who says catchers can’t win the Homer Run Derby? Certainly not Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh, who became the first player at that position to win the event in MLB history.
In his quest for history, Raleigh blasted 54 home runs, including a combined 37 in the final two rounds. In the semifinals, Raleigh cruised past Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz, who blasted a 513-foot homer earlier in the night. The final round against Junior Caminero was a little closer, but Raleigh had enough cushion for an 18-15 win.
Raleigh made history as a catcher, but his Home Run Derby victory was special for more reasons than that. Raleigh had his father, Todd, pitching to him and his brother, Todd Jr., behind the plate. And the hardware included a title belt handed to him by former WWE champion Cody Rhodes.
Here are a few more notes on the “Big Dumper” and his dinger-filled night at Truist Park.
- First favorite to win the HR Derby since Bryce Harper in 2018.
- Joins Ken Griffey Jr. (3x) as the only Mariners to win the event.
- Raleigh’s win ties Mariners with Yankees for most HR Derby wins at four.
- Most home runs (38) by any HR Derby winner going into All-Star break.
Raleigh’s night almost ended before the second round even started In the first round, he tied A’s star Brent Rooker with 17 home runs, and it came down to a game of inches inch. Raleigh’s longest home run went just 0.96 inches farther than Rooker’s for the tiebreaker.
A banner day for Raleigh wasn’t limited to jacking home runs out of the park. Hours before his monster night at the plate, Raleigh was named to Team USA for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Although Raleigh was the star of the show, there were plenty of other memorable moments, including a kid robbing Caminero of a home run in the championship round and Jazz Chisholm Jr. turning in the worst round of the clock era.
Mike Axisa ranked the top five best moments from a fun night in Atlanta.
😃 Honorable mentions
🏀 And not such a good morning for…
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PAUL GEORGE AND THE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
If the 76ers are hoping for a bounce-back year following a 24-58 campaign, they need a healthier version of Paul George in 2024-25. Unfortunately for them, George has undergone an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee.
The team announced that George, 35, injured his knee during an offseason workout, and Philly gave no indication he would be ready to go by opening night. The Sixers simply said George would be “re-evaluated” at the start of training camp.
Last season, George missed 41 games with a laundry list of ailments, and he wasn’t at his best when he was on the floor. George’s 16.2 points per game were the lowest since 2014-15, when he played just six games with the Indiana Pacers.
Perhaps the worst part of all this for the 76ers is the amount of money they still have invested in George, who has three more years left on his contract worth a total of $162.2 million.
Between Paul’s injury woes and Joel Embiid playing just 19 games, the 76ers crumbled. The silver lining was that they landed the No. 3 overall pick in the NBA Draft last month and selected VJ Edgecombe out of Baylor. Edgecombe has already flashed some skill in Summer League play, so there’s a bit of hope for Philly fans.
😩 Not so honorable mentions
💰 Garrett Wilson signs $130 million extension with Jets
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Garrett Wilson has gotten very familiar with the color green. Not only does he wear it every Sunday in the fall, but he just added a lot of it to his bank account.
Going into his fourth season with the Jets, Wilson has reportedly signed a four-year contract extension worth $130 million. That’s what eclipsing 80 receptions and 1,000 yards in each of your first three seasons — something only four other players have ever done — will get you.
Wilson has more than earned his massive extension, and the numbers are pretty staggering:
- $90 million is guaranteed, the fourth-most among WRs
- $32.5 million per season is the fifth-highest among WRs
- First time ever a WR has signed for more than $31 million per year after just three seasons.
Between Zach Wilson and an aging Aaron Rodgers, Wilson has managed to be extremely productive in spite of suspect quarterback play. Perhaps Justin Fields can unlock another level to Wilson this season.
With Wilson now signed, the Jets will have to make contract decisions on the rest of that 2022 draft class over the next year. Tyler Sullivan called his shot about which of the remaining six will receive extensions as well as talking about New York shoring up its core.
- Sullivan: “This deal comes off the heels of the Jets picking up Wilson’s fifth-year option earlier this offseason, a move that the club also did to lock in fellow draft classmates, cornerback Sauce Garner and pass rusher Jermaine Johnson II. Both players are currently contractually tied to the organization through the 2026 season under the option, but will likely be looking for extensions of their own similar to Wilson. On top of that trio of first-round picks, the Jets also had some success on Day 2, specifically with the selection of running back Breece Hall at No. 36 overall in the second round.”
🏈 Some soar, others sink in 2025 NFL coach rankings
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Oh, how quickly our perceptions of NFL coaches can change. Sometimes, all it takes is one season, and there were some big changes in the 2025 edition of our NFL coach rankings.
In the process of ranking all 32 coaches, our experts filtered them into three tiers.
Tier 3: Unproven or underwhelming
Tier 2: Serviceable veterans
Tier 1: Cream of the crop
In some way, it might be better to be in Tier 3 than Tier 2. At least the unproven coaches have the potential to become something more. I’m not sure any coach wants to be described as a “serviceable veteran.”
Just ask Mike McDaniel, who finds himself in Tier 2 at No. 20, which was a nine-spot drop from last year’s ranking. Cody Benjamin says the shine on McDaniel has started to wear off as the offense has begun to fizzle.
- Benjamin: “Not long ago hailed as the whiz kid responsible for unlocking Tua Tagovailoa, McDaniel has lately struggled to keep Miami disciplined. He’s undoubtedly invested in his troops, and proven capable of steering an explosive offensive attack, but now it’s formidability — not just fireworks — that he needs to unearth, lest the Dolphins keep treading water.”
On the other side of that coin, Nick Sirianni flew up our rankings from No. 15 to No. 4 after leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory. Any doubters that Sirianni might have had after the 2023 season? They’re nowhere to be found now.
- Benjamin: “His brash antics to close a pitiful 2023 collapse were enough to have Eagles fans reasonably pondering whether he’d totally failed an all-star assembly. Then he put his head down and became the behind-the-scenes glue for a remarkable rebound with a historically dominant finish.”
🏀 Alyssa Thomas leads Mercury to top spot in WNBA Power Rankings
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Another week of WNBA action is in the books, and that means another round of Power Rankings from our Jack Maloney.
Alyssa Thomas‘ MVP-caliber play may have vaulted the Mercury to the top spot, but it was a team toward the bottom that might have been the most disappointing. After a 5-2 stretch, the Wings looked like they had turned a corner. That was, until they got bludgeoned in three straight games.
- Maloney: “The Wings’ mid-season turnaround came to a sharp halt this week with three defeats by a combined 60 points. Arike Ogunbowale‘s return from a thumb injury that had kept her out for over two weeks was forgettable. She went 0 of 10 from the field in their loss to the Fever and has now scored in single digits six times this season.”
Be sure to check out Jack’s full WNBA Power Rankings as the Fever continued their roller coaster season and the Mystics got hot.
📺 What we’re watching Tuesday
🏀 NBA Las Vegas Summer League: Here’s how to watch
⚾ MLB All-Star Game, 8 p.m. on Fox
🏀 Fever at Sun, 8 p.m on ESPN
