Sports

Bowden: 24 reasons I’m thankful for MLB in 2024

Published

1 year ago

November 29, 2024

Bowden: 24 reasons I’m thankful for MLB in 2024

It’s Thanksgiving, so I wanted to give thanks for the 2024 MLB season, which saw the best team in the regular season — the Los Angeles Dodgers — go on to win the World Series, but their impressive run was only one of many things that will stick with me.

Here’s to the people, teams, moments and milestones that made it a special year. These are 24 reasons I’m thankful for MLB this year, and please share your own in the comments section. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

1. Freddie Freeman, who hammered a 10th-inning walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series, giving us yet another lifetime memory to go with the October blasts by Kirk Gibson, David Freese, Carlton Fisk, Joe Carter and company.

2. The MVP seasons of Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. Judge had one of the best individual seasons in history, slashing .322/.458/.701 with a league-leading 58 home runs, 144 RBIs and 10.8 bWAR. Ohtani opened the 50-50 Club in unbelievable fashion, becoming the first player to hit 54 home runs and steal 59 bases in a season, while posting a 190 OPS+ and 9.2 WAR.

3. The Diamondbacks, who started the season by breaking the modern-era record for most runs scored in an inning on Opening Day, with 14 against the Rockies.

Elly De La Cruz, the human highlight reel. (Katie Stratman / Imagn Images)

4. Elly De La Cruz, who became the first player to hit a 450-foot home run and an inside-the-park homer in the same game, on April 8 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

5. Gunnar Henderson, who became the youngest player in major-league history to hit 10 home runs before May 1.

6. Juan Soto, who became the first major leaguer to walk 669 times before he celebrated his 26th birthday, breaking the record held by Mickey Mantle.

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7. Francisco Lindor, who became the first shortstop to hit at least 25 home runs and steal 25 bases in three seasons (2018, ’23, ’24). Oh, and one of those homers broke up a no-hitter in the ninth, tying a game in Toronto the Mets somehow went on to win.

8. This year’s trade deadline. Some called it a “dudline,” but it still delivered: The Dodgers acquired Jack Flaherty, Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech; the Padres landed Tanner Scott; the Royals got Lucas Erceg; the Yankees traded for Jazz Chisholm Jr.; the Astros picked up Yusei Kikuchi. All of those trades were significant in helping their respective teams make the playoffs.

9. The emergence of so many talented young position players, from Jackson Merrill to Jackson Chourio to Colton Cowser to Austin Wells to Wilyer Abreu, among others.

Paul Skenes’ future is bright. (Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)

10. Paul Skenes — who started the All-Star Game in his first season — and Luis Gil, who both wowed on the mound and pitched their way to Rookie of the Year honors.

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11. Speaking of debuts, let’s hear it for new leadership in Baltimore, as David Rubenstein became the Orioles’ principal owner. Hopefully the ownership change will lead to more resources for a fan base that has deserved better.

12. Chris Sale, who had a remarkable comeback season that led to the first Cy Young Award of his career. And Tarik Skubal, another first-time Cy Young winner, who authored the best season of any starting pitcher in the sport.

13. Luis Arraez, who became the first player in major-league history to win three consecutive batting titles with three different teams — the Twins, Marlins and Padres.

14. Emmanuel Clase, who had one of the most dominant seasons ever by a closer, with a 0.61 ERA over 74 games.

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15. The Skenes-Ohtani matchup on June 5: Skenes strikes him out on three pitches in the first, then Ohtani goes yard in his next at-bat. A special moment of stars squaring off.

16. There were four no-hitters to celebrate. Hat tip to Ronel Blanco of the Astros, Dylan Cease of the Padres, Blake Snell of the Giants, and Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge, who threw a combined no-no for the Cubs.

17. I’m thankful that Buster Posey, who came out of retirement after winning three World Series as a player, decided to take on the challenge — and long hours — of running a baseball operations department, for his San Francisco Giants. The game is a better place when former players like him give back.

18. A warm welcome back to future Hall of Fame Manager Terry Francona, who came out of retirement to sign a three-year contract to manage the Cincinnati Reds. It’ll be good to see Tito back in the dugout.

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19. Props to the Kansas City Royals, who won 30 more games this year — improving from 56-106 in 2023 to 86-76 in 2024 — and made the playoffs. A turnaround for the ages.

20. Speaking of turnarounds, a hat tip to two teams that put together signature rallies after subpar starts: the OMG Mets, who took their fans on a wild ride, making the playoffs on the final day of the regular season and then advancing to the NLCS; and the Detroit Tigers, who went from trade-deadline sellers to “pitching chaos” postseason participants, making the playoffs, for the first time in a decade, in dramatic fashion — and winning a series to boot.

21. On the other hand, I’m thankful there is no relegation in MLB, otherwise the White Sox would no longer be part of the big leagues after the worst season I’ve seen in my lifetime. Here’s to turning the page.

Joey Votto called it a career — and what a career it was. (Andy Lyons / Getty Images)

22. Let’s tip our caps to the stars of the game who decided to retire, from Joey Votto to Stephen Strasburg to Cole Hamels to Kevin Kiermaier to Brandon Crawford.

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23. And let’s give a standing O to the city of Oakland, which capped 57 years of major-league baseball in the Coliseum. There were so many things that made baseball in Oakland special and so many superstars in green and gold — from Reggie Jackson to Rickey Henderson to Catfish Hunter to Rollie Fingers to Dennis Eckersley to Vida Blue to Dave Stewart to Mark McGwire — who made their mark on the game.

GO DEEPER

Thank you, Oakland A’s

24. Finally, and most importantly, I’m thankful for the fans of baseball, the very best in the whole wide world!

(Top photo of Freddie Freeman: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)

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Sports

Transgender golfer sues LPGA over policy that protects women’s competitions

Published

11 hours ago

March 21, 2026

Press Room

Transgender golfer sues LPGA over policy that protects women’s competitions

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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson has sued the LPGA and USGA for its policies that prohibit biological males who underwent male puberty from competing in women’s competition.

The LPGA said in a statement it was aware of the lawsuit and would “let that process play out on the proper forum.”

“The LPGA’s gender policy was developed through a thoughtful, expert-informed process and is grounded in protecting the competitive integrity of elite women’s golf,” the statement said.

The USGA and LPGA changed gender policies for events in 2025 and beyond, declaring that players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to be eligible to compete.

The 33-year-old Davidson didn’t transition until after puberty. Davidson competed in a U.S. Open qualifier and LPGA Qualifying School under a different policy in 2024, falling short in both efforts.

Davidson claimed in the lawsuit that the new policy effectively bans transgender women from competing in USGA women’s events or the LPGA because many states prevent children from taking hormones or blocking puberty.

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When the USGA denied Davidson entry into the qualifier, Davidson claimed the Hackensack Golf Club violated the law by saying the USGA controlled all decisions regarding eligibility. Davidson began hormone treatments in Davidson’s early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender-affirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA’s previous gender policy.

Davidson also filed a lawsuit against the women’s golf tour NXXT in December after it changed its policies to prevent biological males from competing against females.

NXXT and its attorneys from America First Legal filed its motion to dismiss in February, and believe the suit will be thrown out.

“We are asking the courts to dismiss the claims, and we’re addressing the matter,” NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon told Fox News Digital.

“This was about simply protecting women’s sports. So the goal was really clarity and competitive integrity, and, as a professional tour, we believe it was our responsibility to define those categories.”

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NXXT was one of the first women’s tours that stepped up to make a policy change. The LPGA then changed its own policy to bring about more restrictions to protect the women’s category in December 2024.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.

Sports

Prep sports roundup: Bishop Alemany takes two of three games vs. Harvard-Westlake

Published

11 hours ago

March 21, 2026

Press Room

Prep sports roundup: Bishop Alemany takes two of three games vs. Harvard-Westlake

Harvard-Westlake doesn’t drop too many series in baseball these days, but if there’s one coach who gives the Wolverines fits, it’s Randy Thompson of Bishop Alemany. The reminder happened years ago when Harvard-Westlake had three future first-round draft picks on the same team in Max Fried, Lucas Giolito and Jack Flaherty, and Alemany defeated that powerful Wolverines team with Giolito on the mound.

On Friday, Alemany (8-3, 4-1 Mission League) completed a week in which it took two of three games from the Wolverines with a 10-4 victory. Apparently success against Harvard-Westlake isn’t just limited to the head coach. Thompson’s son, Brody, hit two home runs and a double and finished with three RBIs. Also hitting two home runs was Chase Stevenson, who had three hits and two RBIs.

Alemany had 16 hits on the day.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 5, Chaminade 4: The Knights (10-0) stayed unbeaten, with Dru Wilson’s RBI single in the sixth breaking a 4-4 tie. Malakye Matsumoto had three hits and three RBIs, including a home run. Lachlan Clark threw four innings of scoreless relief with seven strikeouts and no walks. Andrew Chute had a home run and three RBIs for Chaminade.

Loyola 5, St. Francis 4: Freshman Anthony Adame closed out the win with two innings of stellar relief and three strikeouts in the eight-inning contest. Austin Junk drove in the winning run with a double.

Sierra Canyon 19, Crespi 2: Charlie Cummings had two doubles, a single and three RBIs for Sierra Canyon.

Royal 6, Simi Valley 2: Dustin Dunwoody struck out 16 in six innings for Royal.

Hart 15, Valencia 14: The Hawks survived a four-run rally by Valencia in the seventh to win a wild Foothill League game. Justin Gaisford had a home run and five RBIs for Valencia. Hart received four hits and three RBIs for Matix Frithsmith. Josh Whitson had three hits and four RBIs and Hayden Rhodes hit a three-run home run. The two teams combined for 49 runs and 11 errors in two games. Another game ended in a 10-10 tie.

El Camino Real 6, Chatsworth 3: RJ De La Rosa and Jackson Sellz each had two RBIs to help El Camino Real stay unbeaten in the West Valley League.

Birmingham 8, Granada Hills 2: Carlos Acuna struck out five in six innings, Aidan Martinez struck out three in one inning of relief and Julius Monroe-Truitt had three RBIs for Birmingham.

Cleveland 3, Taft 2: Ezra Preis had two hits and two RBIs for the Cavaliers.

Bell 17, Huntington Park 1: Daniel Garcia had two triples and three RBIs for 12-1 Bell.

Carson 6, Banning 4: The Colts took control of the Marine League race this week. Skylar Vinson had two hits.

St. John Bosco 13, JSerra 0: For the fifth time in seven games, St. John Bosco (7-0), ranked No. 1 by The Times, recorded a shutout. Jack Champlin started and gave up one hit in five innings. Jhett Ohira had three hits and three RBIs. Ohira was seven for 12 in the Braves’ three-game sweep of JSerra.

Corona del Mar 8, Newport Harbor 1: Stevie Jones gave up one run in 6⅔ innings and Ryan Williams and Grant Horsley each had two hits.

La Canada 6, San Marino 0: Joe Bell threw a five-hit shutout and had two hits and three RBIs.

El Dorado 4, Villa Park 2: Brady Abner had the tying triple and Xavi Cadena hit the winning home run.

Corona 19, King 7: Anthony Murphy had a home run, a double and two singles. He also struck out three batters in his one inning of relief. Trey Ebel added two hits and three RBIs.

Norco 7, Corona Centennial 4: Dylan Seward and Jordan Ayala hit home runs for Norco.

Corona Santiago 9, Eastvale Roosevelt 1: Striker Pence hit a two-run home run and Joshua Angulo had two hits and three RBIs for Santiago. Ayden White threw three innings of hitless relief.

Redondo Union 6, Mira Costa 2: Robby Zimmerman struck out eight in 5⅔ innings.

Cypress 7, Mater Dei 5: Austin Gerken hit a three-run home run for Mater Dei, but Drew Slevcove got the save for Cypress.

Los Alamitos 6, Edison 5: A two-run double by Willie Adams keyed the comeback win.

Bishop Amat 7, St. Paul 0: Ashton Chavez, Kevin Martin and Izaac Muniz combined on the shutout. Omar Arretche had three hits for Bishop Amat.

Softball

Norco 14, Corona Centennial 0: Leighton Gray hit two home runs for Norco.

Sports

NFL fans call the league’s streaming strategy a ‘money grab’ as costs spiral out of control

Published

23 hours ago

March 20, 2026

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NFL fans call the league’s streaming strategy a ‘money grab’ as costs spiral out of control

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Football fans are airing their frustrations about the continuing rise in the costs of watching the NFL.

As the league has continued to strike new media deals with different streaming services, fans are left scrambling to figure out not only which channel or streaming service the game is on, but also whether they subscribe to that service. OutKick’s Davey Hudson took to the streets of Nashville and New York City to talk to aggrieved football fans.

“I think it’s frustrating when you just want to watch a game, and you have to figure out what app it’s on. And then you’re paying for multiple apps all the time,” one fan said.

New England Patriots fans look upset as the Patriots lose in the second half of an NFL game against the Chicago Bears at Gillette Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts, on Oct. 24, 2022. (Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

Another fan was blunt, calling the current system of watching games “f—ing stupid.”

“Well, it’s f—king stupid, you have to get five different platforms to watch all of the games that you want to, and still you have to pay on top. It’s ridiculous at this point,” the fan said.

One fan called it a “pain in the a–” to keep track of where and when the games are being streamed.

A different fan called it a “money grab,” citing Netflix as the latest streaming service the NFL brought in to start broadcasting its games.

One fan, who said he is a New York Jets season ticket holder and has the NFL package, lamented that he still does not have access to every game.

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NFL fans walk outside the Super Bowl Experience at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, on Feb. 6, 2026. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

“I can’t tell you how frustrating it is when I feel like I have every service, I have Jets season tickets, I have the NFL package, and then there is still games on top of that that I don’t have access to. It gets very frustrating,” the fan said.

Multiple fans said they pay for at least three, if not four streaming services. Numerous other fans said they pay for five or six different services at this point.

The fan who called the current system “f—king stupid,” said that she thinks that the NFL is taking the long way around to returning to satellite TV.

“Well, I think what’s actually going to happen is we are just taking the long way around going back to like satellite TV, and we are in the last stages of this part of it. It’s all going to conglomerate at one point,” she said.

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Denver Broncos fans cheer during a game against the New England Patriots in the fourth quarter of the Patriots’ 10-7 win in the AFC Championship Game at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, on Jan. 25, 2026. (Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post/Getty Images)

NFL fans who want access to every game need to purchase YouTube TV for “NFL Sunday Ticket,” in addition to the costly subscriptions for all the streaming services the NFL broadcasts on. Those streaming services are Amazon Prime, Peacock and Netflix. The combination of those respective services is over $1,500 a year, and that doesn’t include the fees that come with basic cable packages or high-speed Wi-Fi that is needed to accommodate the platforms.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr said he was concerned that the rising prices of streaming games are maddening for sports fans, and it appears his concerns are valid.

Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.

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Ryan Canfield is a digital production assistant for Fox News Digital.