Fairy Tales

 

Fairy tales do come true, it can happen to you...

It happened to the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that's been around since 1970 and never before won a World Series.  But they did this October.  

The Brewers had roots as the expansion franchise the Seattle Pilots.  They weren't the first team there to be called the Brewers, but Milwaukee's previous glory was as the home of the Braves, when Hank Aaron played the outfield and in its first years in the 1950s, the team dominated with the lethal pitching combo of Lew Burdette and Warren Spahn.  When the Pittsburgh Pirates won the pennant in 1960 on the way to their first World Series win in decades, they first had to beat out the pesky Milwaukee Braves.  That team had started as the Boston Braves, and in 1965 moved to the bigger city and TV market of Atlanta.  

So this year the Brewers were the unglamorous small market team with no home run kings but a fireballing rookie pitcher, that quietly won a lot of games and then toppled the mighty Dodgers (with their individual star players whose salaries are higher than the entire Brewers payroll) in four games to reach the Series.  And then they beat Tampa Bay in five.

Hooray for the small market team, and may it bode well for another small market team next year--the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Definitely not a small market team but a phenomenon just the same, the Golden State Valkyries won the WNBA championship in just its second year of existence.  They beat the defending champions Las Vegas to get there.  They beat the Atlanta Dream in seven games, and home court advantage was crucial.  The Vals in their short history have never not sold out a home game in the NBA arena the Chase Center, which for their games is known as Ballhalla.  I believe I heard that more than 100,000 people showed up for game 7, so those without the big bucks to get in could watch it together on the screens outside.

Like the Brewers, this is a team without major lauded stars that plays a team game.  Their players are skilled so any one of them can dominate a given game or portion of a game.  Their best offensive player was usually Gabby Williams, and she had an historic seventh game, scoring more points in a half than any player ever had in the playoffs.  She scored 28 points in the second half, a total of 30--especially considering that the score of the game was 68-63.  Her logo 3 will be a perennial highlight.

The relationship of the team members--skilled players that typically were underused or misused and undervalued by other teams they'd played for--to the fans and to the larger community was a big factor in the team's success.  Gabby Williams said it was key to her own 7th game performance, especially after seeing all the lavender banners and signs of support on her drive to Ballhalla.  She said after the game that her major motivation was in response to the community that embraced her all season.

Elsewhere...

Once again, the story of sports is the story of injuries.  At least two NFL teams (the Ravens, the Eagles) have seen their very promising season evaporate when they lost their starting quarterbacks.  The situation is even worse in the NBA, with the highly touted OKC a particular victim.  The Golden State Warriors, trying to deal with not having two of its key players until after the first of the year because of last season's injuries, were dealt a late blow with recurring and mysterious physical problem that made  another starter unavailable.

So they started the season with two ugly losses--one a beatdown by the Lakers, the other an embarrassing comeback by the Grizzlies late in the fourth quarter.  Media pundits declared their demise.  

Since then they have won five games straight, including a back to back, when they kept out veteran players each game.  Their young players are blossoming, particularly the rookie Yaxel Lendenborg, who scored 37 against the Clippers.  In this stretch, the Warriors came back to get revenge on the Lakers with their own big comeback.  They came back again against Phoenix to turn a 17 point deficit in the second half to a victory.  Steph Curry was dazzling throughout, scoring 44 against the Timberwolves, 31 against the Lakers and 34 against the Suns, providing more highlight reel material with (for example) an ankle breaker against Doncic of the Lakers and an amazing series of moves to the basket against the Suns.  What they gonna say now?  

Finals

 After beating the defending champions, the Golden State Valkyries won the first game of the WNBA finals in the friendly confines of Ballhalla.  But they lost the second game at home, then the third at Atlanta.  With their backs against the wall, their coach adjusted their lineup, their shooting came back and they stole the fourth game, taking back home court advantage. 

The fifth game, as is often the case, is crucial. It's coming up fast, on Monday afternoon.  In fact, it is set to start at exactly the same time as the third game of the World Series, with the Milwaukee Brewers having won their last 6 games in a row. These finals have been in direct competition with stronger leagues the entire series so far, as well as games being oddly early in the day for a league finals.  Then there's the embarrassment of Atlanta having only a small place to play the sixth game.  Despite having its biggest TV audience ever for the first game, this league has a ways to go, and to grow up.

I'm rooting for the Vals but these games seem unusually "physical"--i.e. they are beating up on each other more than usual, and I'm sure I'm not even seeing the blatant takedowns that then show up on YouTube. That's not the basketball I want to watch.

Semis

The Indiana Fever and the Golden State Valkyries took their first round WNBA playoff series to three games.  The Fever lost but the Valkyries won, and go on to the semi-finals.

There are lots and lots of questions about that third game between Indiana and Las Vegas, but there seems to me to be one factor that may have been decisive in both games: fatigue.

There is a quick turnaround in this first round of two days. Both the Valkyries and the Wings expended a lot of energy in game 2 in Dallas, scoring 100 or more when the game went into overtime.  After getting thoroughly drubbed in the first game, Dallas had to go all out to win that game.

Back in Ballhalla for game 3, Golden State did not play their best against the Wings.  They went cold and allowed a 20-0 run, which few teams survive.  They were down 16 in the third quarter.  But they are a deep team and Dallas is not.  By the fourth quarter, the Wings were gassed.  In the crucial last few minutes several shots were short, which suggests fatigue.  Golden State had fresher legs and they prevailed in the closing minutes.

You can make a case that something similar happened in Las Vegas.  The Fever--and Caitlin Clark in particular--expended immense energy to dominate game 2 in Indiana.  Just two days later, they had flown to Vegas and were missing shots they usually make.  In particular, Clark and Kelsey Mitchell were missing threes.  Clark, who set all time records in that second game, did not dominate in the third.  A'ja Wilson, the definition of a prima donna, who can bulldoze over opponents and still get the call, prevailed for the Aces.  The Fever's depth is questionable, but in any case they rely on their starters, and they may have been worn down.  The defending champion Aces' experience may have helped them deal with distributing their energies.

Now the Fever go home, where an offseason of changes is likely.  There are many who want the coach's head, and there are questions of whether the Fever can financially afford their mighty trio of Clark, Mitchell and Boston, and at what cost to a deeper bench.

Golden State now hosts those same champion Aces in the semi-finals.  The shock of the first round was New York defeating Minnesota, with the best record this season by far, in two games.  Now the Valkyries are the winningest team left.  The Aces are as experienced as the Vals are not, and they are peaking for the playoffs.  The refs are always a particular wild card in the WNBA.  But if Golden State can get past the Aces, they stand a very good chance of winning the championship in only their second year in the league.

Update: Playing at home, Golden State won their first game against Las Vegas in the semi-final round, 71-60.  It's a big advantage, for most of the time the team that wins the first game in a 5 game series wins it all.  The second game, also at Ballhalla, is on Wednesday.  Gabby Williams was the Valkyries star of the game, but once again their depth wore away at a tired and depleted team.  

Playoffs

 

The WNBA playoffs have begun and both teams I follow are in it.  In many ways they are very different teams.  The Indiana Fever have big stars and personalities.  The Golden State Valkyries seem almost anonymous at times.  The Fever had two players on the FIBA championship US team, the Vals had none (though two played for France.)   The Fever have perhaps the most potent offense in the league, while the Vals have the best defense.  Yet the Fever can defend, especially with steals and blocks, and the Vals shoot 3s at high efficiency.

The Fever can look cohesive and invincible and in the next game look lost.  Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell are wonders to behold.  But though the Vals aren't as glamorous (except in the Bay Area) they have the second best record in the league. They are so deep that after the FIBA break they rattled off 6 wins in a row, 2 of them back-to-backs without their two most productive starters.  They lost one and then came back against LA when their 3s weren't falling to win by a point in the final minutes.  They look ready.

They looked even readier when they blew out Dallas in the first playoff home game in the team's short history.  Leading by 30 points most of the way, they scored over 100 while running their patented smothering defense, spoiling a fine debut by Paige Bueckers.  

Meanwhile, the Fever looked pretty bad against Vegas.  Kelsey Mitchell saw her record-setting consecutive games of 20 or more points broken, while A'ja Wilson scored 38.  In fact no Fever player scored 20, and they lost by 17.  

 The Fever can look overwhelming, but they can be fragile.  Coaching is a question.  Nobody questions the coaching of the Vals, and their game can appear boring--at least until they unleash a fearsome flurry of 3s, or fierce reserve Kaitlyn Chen goes on a tear.  They may be the more resilient team, and at the moment appear more likely to go deep into the playoffs.  But you can never count Caitlin Clark out.  She and Mitchell can each carry a team.

The MLB playoffs are upcoming, and neither team I follow is in them.  The San Francisco Giants have not been much fun; every time I check them out they seem to be fielding an entirely different team.  The Pittsburgh Pirates however have a lively and often impressive team, and seem poised to make some noise next year, well beyond their slightly above .500 this season, especially if Paul Skenes bounces back and they can stay healthier than they did this year. Fueling optimism was how they ended the season, with lots of wins, both in high scoring games with lots of home runs and in tight and low scoring games, when pitching as well as timely hitting and fundamentals are important.

They're developing some stars beyond Skenes, with Oneil Cruz joining the Pirates elite of Barry Bonds and Andrew McCutchen in hitting 20 homers and stealing 20 or more bases for three consecutive seasons.  Brandon Lowe hit 35 homers--first time in awhile that's happened.   The Pirates as a team hit more homers by the All-Star break this season than the entire previous season. Nick Gonzales hit above .300.  And the team stayed in the Wild Card race well into September.  

These Pirates play an exciting style, with speed (stealing bases, beating out bunts, cutting off hits) and variety.  They have good young starting pitching, and their relief pitching improved towards the end of the season.  From the very promising newcomer Konnor Griffin (whose homer won the final game of the season) to the wily veteran Ryan Reynolds, one of several hitters with high RBI percentages, this could well be a team worth watching come next spring.  As for this year's MLB playoffs, I'll pass.

First Half Pirates, Vals and Fever

 It's just past the All-Star break in both Major League Baseball and the WNBA.  For me what's most notable in baseball is that at the halfway point the Pittsburgh Pirates are actually in the hunt for a Wild Card spot.  That's very unusual, the Pirates being a small market team with a small budget, and in recent years a penchant for trading away its best assets, and rarely competitive.  But that's not in itself been what's fascinating about the first half of this season.

It's that these few months have seen one potential star after another rise from the well-regarded Pirates farm system.  Pitcher Paul Skenes was the first phenom a couple of years ago.  From rookie sensation to the best in the league in two years.  Skenes had a rough first half this year, his off the charts velocity waning, though he's always had other pitches and the ability to use them.  But the Pirates have brought up other talented young pitchers.  And then there are the two other instant phenoms. 

In April, the Pirates brought up 19 year old shortstop Konner Griffin.  He is fast, quick and hits for average and with power.  He got a hit and drove in a run in his first game, scored from second on a ground ball single, turned a smooth double play and showed range on the field.  A few days later he hit his first big league homerun, on his 20th birthday.  The Pirates promptly did something totally out of character in recent decades: they signed him to a long term contract.  

Old timers like me were reminded of Pirates great Bill Mazeroski, who also came up to the Pirates at age 19.  He became an immediate star, and played for the Pirates for 15 seasons, most of them as one of the greatest second basemen in history.  He is forever famous for his home run leading off the bottom of the ninth in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, which won the series over the mighty Yankees and sent Pittsburgh (and those of us in nearby towns) into ecstasy.  Mazeroski (who lived in my town of Greensburg and was a member of my childhood Catholic parish) died just before the 2026 season began.  But as another connection, it was Bill Mazeroski's son who scouted and discovered Konner Griffin and brought him to the Pirates infield.

One element that ensured Mazeroski's long term success was his sturdyness.  He was seldom injured and often played nearly every game of at least his first 13 years.  Unfortunately Konner Griffin has suffered two significant injuries already, and is not expected back on the field until September.

But Pirates fans have since had several new players to be thrilled by, the latest and maybe greatest being Esmerlyn Valdez, a power hitting right fielder nicknamed the Magician.  He set a Major League record by hitting 14 home runs in his first 38 games, with 31 RBIs.  Nobody in baseball hit better than he did in that run.  

Valdez joins a lineup that hits an unusual number of home runs for a Pirates team, with Brandon Lowe leading with 23.  Ryan O'Hearn has 17, with 69 RBIs.  Bryan Reynolds is another RBI hitter with 61.  And for the first month or so it looked like mercurial outfielder Oneil Cruz was becoming a more consistent star, until his injury.  He's expected back in August.

Injuries have held the Bucs back a bit, and basically so far they've been a streaky team that usually ends up winning about as many games as they lose.  But on their best days they can be brilliant and are great fun to watch.

In the WNBA, the two teams I follow are both pretty exciting to watch as well.  The Golden State Valkyries continue to astound the league with their winning ways, now as a second year expansion team.  They ended a 9 game winning streak just before the break.  Known for defense, they've added firepower with Gabby Williams.  When Kaitlyn Chen heads for the basket it's a treat to watch her blazing speed.

The Indiana Fever seemed mired in some kind of disorganized funk, not living up to their offensive potential for much of the first half, but really catching fire just before the break, and since.  They've had several 100+ point games in that stretch.  Caitlyn Clark in particular has been showing out, with Kelsey Mitchell again becoming a consistent high scorer and when healthy, Aliyah Boston can still be dominating.  Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull have to be two of the best reserves and role players in the league. While the team is often controversial they are always worth watching. 

NBA Season Conclusion

The story of the 2025-26 NBA season was the story of injuries, right up to the Finals.  Finally, two healthy teams faced each other.  Health is one of the usual deciding factors.  Another is momentum.  Both the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks had it in the playoffs, though the Knicks had it much more strongly.  But that to my mind wasn't the only deciding factor.

First let's review the pundits.  Nearly every day I see at least the headlines of the New York Times' outsourced sports bureau, the Athletic.  It has quickly become--at least arguably--a gold standard in sports coverage.  By the end of the regular season the Athletic named the consensus pick for NBA champion, which had been consistent throughout the year: the Oklahoma City Thunder.

When the Spurs beat the Thunder in seven games in the Western Conference Finals, and the Knicks pulverized the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East, the Athletic solemnly announced the consensus view that the NBA champions would now be the Spurs.

Now that the Knicks have won the Finals in five games, at least one writer for the Athletic is embarrassing himself by calling these Knicks the greatest sports team in New York history, and (though it would follow anyway) the greatest Knicks team, and Jalen Brunson as the greatest Knicks player in history.  Also that this victory was the greatest in history, and will be talked about in a hundred years.

Okay, so the Times is still a hometown newspaper, and everything that happens in New York is by definition the biggest and best and most important.  But let's start with the likelihood that the only thing people in a hundred years will remember about our time is that we knew we were destroying the livable climate and did it anyway. 

But as for greatness, there were a number of Yankees teams clearly better than these Knicks. Jalen Brunson is a talented player and he had a great Finals, but he probably isn't even in the top five of players who wore the Knicks uniform.  The 27 point comeback in the fourth game was special but in the age of the three point shot, not really all that remarkable.

Every playoff series, especially every Finals, is different, it's own world.  These Knicks deserve a lot of credit but they didn't create all the conditions that enabled their victory.  And it seems clear to me that the real difference maker in this series was Mike Brown, the Knicks' coach.

The Spurs have a generational star, a phenomenon of the time.  But they are a young team, without playoff experience.  They have a young coach in his first year, Mitch Johnson, who never played in the NBA and has no experience in NBA playoffs.  The Knicks coach Mike Brown had a checkered career as a head coach for the Lakers, Cavaliers and Kings, but was a chief assistant coach to Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors, and with the Warriors he experienced three Finals on the winning team.  He even experienced one with the Spurs, when he was an assistant there.

Mike Brown knows what winning the Finals takes, and Mitch Johnson did not.  The Spurs losing large leads in crucial games all but tells that story.  The Knicks did not face strong teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but somehow Brown got them ready for the real challenge.  The Knicks were well coached in situations.  And overall they stayed on an even keel, which seems partly due to the personalities of Brunson and Anunoby, for instance, but very likely also to Brown's coaching and demeanor.  

Why isn't it enough to celebrate the Knicks without this silliness?  We are so enamored with the now, except when--as is already happening--we are handicapping next season. 

And so, it's next year--with the draft and the free agents moves ready to tumble out of endless speculation into reality.

Is the Story of Sports the Story of Injuries?

 A lot has happened to the teams I follow in just a few weeks. The Pittsburgh Steelers were ignominiously defeated by the Houston Oilers in their wild card playoff game, and after 16 years at the helm, their Coach Mike Tomlin retired.  The subsequent hiring of veteran Mike McCarthy as head coach was controversial, as is the prospect of Aaron Rodgers returning as quarterback. Not exactly a youth movement.

The San Francisco 49ers won their wild card game by defeating the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, but were blown out in the divisional round by this year's eventual Super Bowl winner, the Seattle Seahawks. Another season of injuries, for one thing, finally caught up to them.

In the NBA, the Golden State Warriors were winning again when a season-ending injury to key player Jimmy Butler threw the season into disarray.  Steph Curry didn't play either for the last several games before the All-Star Game break due to lingering knee pain. 

 As the trade deadline loomed ahead, anticipation was high for a trade of unknown proportion to get Giannis from Milwaukee.  But he stayed put, and instead the Warriors traded Jonathan Kuminga (currently injured) and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for big man Porzingas, who is also dealing with illness and injury but is expected to play after the break.  It seems that these days the story of sports is the story of injuries.

The Dubs also sent Trayce Jackson-Davis to Toronto, where he immediately had the most productive game of his career. Two-way player Pat Spencer was hired for the full time Warriors roster, just after the most productive game he's had so far in his career.

With these changes the Warriors didn't exactly get younger, but they did free up rotation spots for their younger players, like Spencer and Santos.  Even without Curry and Butler, this team played some spirited games, and even scored the biggest fourth quarter comeback for a victory this season.

All of this change for the Warriors was accompanied by a public reappraisal of this season's possibilities--just get in the playoffs and maybe make some noise.  Nobody is saying it's a championship team, especially without Butler (he may miss the first half of next season as well.)  More change may be in the offing after the season, but the rest of the season will likely have an effect on what those changes are, including whether Coach Kerr will come back.  If Porzingas and Steph can stay healthy--a big if--how this new dynamic works or doesn't will probably say a lot about what happens.  

I'm not likely to follow the Steelers and 9ers all that closely through the off-season or even when their season begins,  but I like this Warriors team and how they play, so I'm going to savor the remaining games this spring.  I'm especially looking forward to something nobody talks about--the Golden State Warriors debut of Seth Curry.