SAN ANTONIO, Texas — As long as the New York Yankees’ championship drought persists, the fifth inning of Game 5 in the 2024 World Series will be a symbol of their humiliation. In stunning fashion, the Yankees embarrassed themselves on baseball’s grandest stage.

Aaron Judge dropped a routine line drive, Anthony Volpe misfired a short throw to third base, and Gerrit Cole failed to cover first. Each of those moments contributed to the Yankees blowing a 5-0 lead and ultimately losing the World Series in five games to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But it wasn’t just Game 5. In Game 1, a series of misplays — small yet critical — could have altered the outcome in the Yankees’ favor had they executed more efficiently. Throughout the World Series, they also committed several base-running blunders. The Yankees were roundly criticized for their lack of fundamentals, and Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly didn’t mince words, mocking the Yankees by suggesting their sloppy play was a known weakness. He even quipped that the Yankees were the eighth- or ninth-best team in the postseason and claimed Dodgers’ scouting reports indicated that putting the ball in play would force mistakes from New York’s defense.

“I acknowledge that we played poorly in the World Series,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said at MLB’s general managers’ meetings Tuesday. “We all saw that. Unfortunately, our A-game didn’t show up when it mattered most.”

Cashman said Kelly’s comments were overblown and he felt the reliever was making a personal attack against the Yankees. When he was with the Boston Red Sox, Kelly was involved in a brawl with the Yankees after plunking Tyler Austin with a pitch in 2018. Cashman said he had conversations with members of the Dodgers organization who said Kelly’s comments were more indicative of how a small segment of their club felt rather than the organization at large.

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— Baseball Isn’t Boring (@BBisntBoring) November 4, 2024

Still, the Yankees’ sloppiness was a consistent issue throughout the year. Privately, as the postseason approached, several high-ranking executives expressed concerns about the team’s defensive lapses and base-running mistakes, particularly in the second half of the season.

Despite these shortcomings, the Yankees’ overall defensive metrics were still respectable. They finished 10th in outs above average, ahead of the Dodgers, who ranked 18th. The Yankees also placed 12th in defensive runs saved and 10th in FanGraphs’ defensive runs above average. Though the critical mistakes are the ones that will be remembered the most, this wasn’t a team that regularly kicked the ball around the field, as some have suggested in the aftermath of the World Series.

“The question posed is if the Dodgers are exceptionally excelling in all categories at every position. They’re the world champs and get all the credit, but I don’t think it’s a fair representation at the same time,” Cashman said. “I think it’s more fair to say that we just played poorly in that series and underperformed. I think we underperformed more so than ‘(we were) lucky to get into the World Series, and how did we even get there?’ We had a good team. Unfortunately, we just didn’t play our best when it counted the most.”

Base running, not defense, was the Yankees’ most glaring weakness throughout the season. They ranked dead last in FanGraphs’ base-running runs above average metric and in Statcast’s comprehensive base-running metric. They were also tied for last in team sprint speed. The root cause of their struggles on the basepaths is clear: Nearly every regular is slow. Aside from Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Volpe, the other seven members of their regular starting lineup posted sprint speeds below the 50th percentile. It’s difficult to excel at base running when the majority of your lineup lacks speed.

What might surprise some fans, however, is that the Yankees’ director of speed development and base running, Matt Talarico, is interviewing for three MLB coaching jobs, according to Cashman. Talarico, who works with the major-league and minor-league staff, has had success developing speed in the Yankees’ minor-league affiliates. Their Triple-A and Double-A teams finished in the top three in stolen bases this season.

“I think we’re considered one of the best in the business with our base-running program,” Cashman said. “It’s not representative, clearly, with what you saw with the major-league club. It certainly is an emphasis for us.

“If we’re so bad, then why are so many teams asking for permission to talk to our base-running expert that does our major leagues and our minor leagues?”

The Yankees could lose Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres to free agency; each is considered a below-average base runner. Though the team has made it clear that re-signing Soto is a top priority, replacing the other three with more agile players could immediately improve the Yankees’ base running in 2025. Cashman mentioned Caleb Durbin as a potential internal candidate to take over second base next season if they decide not to re-sign Torres. Durbin, who is on pace to break the Arizona Fall League record for stolen bases, could bring much-needed speed to the lineup.

Despite not being the most fundamentally sound team in baseball, the Yankees still made it to the World Series. Of course, the goal is to win it all — and their fundamental mistakes certainly hurt them in their quest for a title. However, Cashman remains adamant that poor fundamentals were not the primary reason for their downfall.

“We had a struggle with our base running this year. We were a bad defensive team, without a doubt, at times this year. And when you add it all together, we were a really good baseball team that earned the right to win the American League East and make it all the way to the World Series,” Cashman said. “We’re really super proud about it.”

(Photo of Aaron Judge making an error in Game 5 of the World Series: Wendell Cruz / Imagn Images)

Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch was ejected from Sunday’s rivalry matchup against the Green Bay Packers, and he decided to flip the double-bird to the Lambeau Field crowd on his way out. 

Having time to reflect on the situation, Branch regrets doing so. 

“That’s not something I want to show or want people to notice me as that,” Branch told reporters, via ESPN. “That was just the heat of the moment for me, and I apologize to everyone who seen that and that won’t happen again.”’

Branch was ejected due to a hit to the helmet of Packers receiver Bo Melton on an incomplete pass from quarterback Jordan Love. 

After the league reviewed the hit in its video replay headquarters, they alerted officials in Lambeau that Branch’s hit was deemed severe enough for immediate ejection. 

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Branch argued with officials after the ejection, and he added an extra 15 yards for another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for flipping the bird to fans. 

“I most definitely agree with the call. My target was obviously high, but that was never my intentions to aim for the head,” Branch said. “Moving forward I do have to move my target down.”

Detroit Lions defensive back Brian Branch (32) talks with field judge Jonah Monroe (120) and field judge Karina Tovar (91) after being disqualified from the game during the second quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. (Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images)

Lions head coach Dan Campbell believed Branch’s punishment was due to the game being nationally televised as “America’s Game of the Week.”

“He’s got to get used to that,” Campbell said. “When you play in primetime games, New York’s gonna look at all these. They don’t care about the 1 o’clock games. They do those primetime games. So understand the situation.”

Perry Fewell, the NFL senior vice president of officiating, told a pool reporter that multiple angles of the hit were reviewed and there was the belief Branch could’ve taken an alternate route to hit Melton. 

“He clearly had the opportunity to avoid the head and neck area,” Fewell said. 

Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch talks to assistant linebackers coach Shaun Dion Hamilton after being disqualified by the referee during the first half against Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (IMAGN)

The Lions were still able to beat the Packers, 24-14, to move to 7-1 and remain atop the NFC North standings. If Green Bay beat Detroit at home, they would’ve assumed the top spot in the division.

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Paul George got the basketball on the wing and those same Clippers fans that cheered and adored him during the five years when he was one of their own … booed him.

The boos from the sparse crowd at the Intuit Dome rained down on George all game because he now was a Philadelphia 76er. The fans even booed George when the Clippers showed a tribute video on the Halo Board of his highlights while with L.A. during a timeout in the first quarter.

George had shunned the Clippers’ final offer of three years and $150 million and instead took a four-year deal from the 76ers for $212 million. George had wanted a no-trade clause as part of his deal with the Clippers, but they were unwilling to do that.

He was back in town for the first time Wednesday night since departing and the fans let him know how they felt about him leaving a team they had hoped he (and Kawhi Leonard) would help lead to an NBA title.

Before the game, George slapped hands with his former teammates sitting on the bench and hugged Coach Tyronn Lue. Then he was treated unruly by his former team in the Clippers’ 110-98 victory over the 76ers.

George, who had 18 points and seven rebounds, didn’t understand why he was booed by the fans.

“I mean, you know, it’s stupid,” George said. “I mean, I was a free agent. I mean, I was a free agent. It wasn’t something that I demanded a trade or went against the team here. Like, I was a free agent. The team presented something that was team-friendly, and I did what was best for me in that situation. So, there were some cheers. I appreciate them. Those were the ones that I played hard for. The boos. I didn’t get it. I still don’t get it when I got to Indy. But it is what it is. It’s sports. That’s what’s in sports. Yeah, I look forward to next year being here and more boos.”

It was George’s second game of the season, having missed the first five games with his new team because of a left knee injury. His old running mate, Leonard, missed his eighth straight game with right knee inflammation.

But the two of them had made the Clippers relevant in NBA circles, the highlight coming when George led them to the Western Conference finals in 2021, the first time in franchise history they had reached that level.

“It was great. They booed him,” Lue, smiling, said about the crowd’s reaction to George. “They tried to get him out of his game even though he didn’t miss too many shots. But now they can cheer for him tomorrow.”

It was the Clippers’ first double-digit win of the season and their second straight win at home.

And again, they were led by Norman Powell, who had 26 points on eight-for-10 shooting and six-for-eight on three-pointers. It was his seventh consecutive game scoring 20-plus points in a game. He also had six assists and was on point with his defense, which was another signal that Powell is developing into an all-around player for the Clippers.

“I’m not really happy about my play,” Powell said. “I just think that I can always get better in areas. I’m not talking to the coaches after the game or in timeouts about the shot I made or a defensive play I made. It’s the blown assignments or the turnovers that I have and just trying to better, trying to be a complete player.”