September 28, 2023 News and Notes

• Wednesday Baseball:
• AL
• Baltimore and Tampa both win.  Baltimore's lead is 2.5, Magic Number 2 for not only the AL East but AL #1 seed and home field throughout the American League playoffs.
• Texas wins, Houston beats Seattle.  Texas by 2 1/2 over Houston, 4 over Seattle.
• Toronto loses 6-0 to the Yankees.  Yankees will finish at least .500.
• Wild Card:  BAL/TB loser is #4 seed.  TOR 87-71, HOU 87-72, SEA 85-73 1 1/2 out of the playoffs.
• NL
• Atlanta wins, and with a 4-3 record over the Dodgers, clinches the #1 seed in the National League, Dodgers are the #2.
• Magic Number for Best Record In Baseball is 2.
  
• Milwaukee has clinched the NL Central and will be the #3 seed.
• Philadelphia has clinched the #4 seed.
• 5/6:  ARI 84-74, MIA and the Cubs are both 82-76, but the Cubs lose tiebreakers to all the other WC-relevant teams, so the Cubs are out right now.  CIN is 81-78 (1 1/2 out, Tragic Number 3).  The Giants are eliminated, the Padres Tragic Number is 1.
• Judicial sources in Spain are now adding referee-bribery charges to Barcelona -- over seven million Euros paid to a top referee official over the period 2001-2018.  That would be no less than the end of at least Barca, and a significant scaling-back of the Spanish league -- that basically entails about the entire period of Barca's dominance over Spanish and world club soccer.   
• The Ryder Cup is this weekend in Italy -- the Europeans are the favorites.
• Terry Francona is retiring at the end of the season.  Unfortunately, his beloved scooter, which he used to get to home games, didn't make it.  The first time thieves stole it, he was able to get it back.  The second time, they stripped it for parts.
• And for those wondering (my anonymous friend is probably going to stone me for this...):  Yes, Taylor Swift's calendar is clear for Super Bowl LVIII.  She finishes up three nights at the Tokyo Dome on February 10th, 2024 -- doesn't have another show until Australia on the 16th.
• Super Bowl LVIII is in Las Vegas on the 11th.  The evening of the 10th in Japan would be very early morning on the 10th Las Vegas time.