Sports
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.
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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)
Sports
ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd
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LAS VEGAS – Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.
While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.
The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”
Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.
WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME
Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)
Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”
Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.
“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”
Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
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On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.
Sports
After 55 years as a broadcaster in L.A., Randy Rosenbloom is leaving town
It’s time to reveal memories, laughs and crazy times from Randy Rosenbloom’s 55 years as a TV/radio broadcaster in Los Angeles. He’s hopping in a car next Sunday with his wife, saying goodbye to a North Hollywood house that’s been in his family since 1952 and driving 3,300 miles to his new home in Greenville, S.C.
“When I walk out, I’ll probably break down,” he said.
He graduated from North Hollywood High in 1969. He got his first paid job in 1971 calling Hart basketball games for NBC Cable Newhall for $10 a game. It began an adventure of a lifetime.
“I never knew if I overachieved or underachieved. I just did what I loved,” he said.
Randy Rosenbloom (left) used to work with former UCLA coach John Wooden for TV games.
(Randy Rosenbloom)
John Wooden, Jerry Tarkanian and Jim Harrick were among his expert commentators when he did play by play for college basketball games. He called volleyball at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games for NBC and rowing in 2004. He’s worked more than 100 championship high school events. He did play by play for the first and only Reebok Bowl at Angel Stadium in 1994 won by Bishop Amat over Sylmar, 35-14.
“There were about 5,000, 6,000 people there and I remember thinking nobody watched the game. We ended up with a 5.7 TV rating on Channel 13 in Los Angeles, which is higher than most Lakers games.”
He conducted interviews with NFL Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Johnny Unitas and boxing greats Robert Duran, Thomas Hearn and Sugar Ray Leonard. He’s worked with baseball greats Steve Garvey and Doug DeCinces. He called games with former USC coach Rod Dedeaux. He was in the radio booth for Bret Saberhagen’s 1982 no-hitter in the City Section championship game at Dodger Stadium. He was a nightly sportscaster for KADY in Ventura.
Randy Rosenbloom, left, with his volleyball broadcast partners, Kirk Kilgour and Bill Walton.
(Randy Rosenbloom)
He was the voice of Fresno State football and basketball. He also did Nevada Las Vegas football and basketball games. He called bowl games and Little League games. He was a public address announcer for basketball at the 1984 Olympic Games with Michael Jordan the star and did the P.A. for Toluca Little League.
Nothing was too small or too big for him.
“I loved everything,” he said.
He called at least 10 East L.A. Classic football games between Garfield and Roosevelt. He was there when Narbonne and San Pedro tied 21-21 in the 2008 City championship game at the Coliseum on a San Pedro touchdown with one second left.
Probably his most notable tale came when he was doing radio play-by-play at a 1998 college bowl game in Montgomery, Ala.
“I look down and a giant tarantula is crawling up my pants,” he said. “My color man took all the press notes, wadded them up and hit the tarantula like swinging a bat.”
Did Rosenbloom tell the audience what was happening?
“I stayed calm,” he said.
Then there was the time he was in the press box at Sam Boyd Stadium and a bat flew in and attached itself to the wooden press box right next to him before flying away after he said, “UNLV wins.”
Recently, he’s been putting together high school TV packages for LA36 and calling travel ball basketball games. He’ll still keep doing a radio gambling show from his new home, but he’s cutting ties to Los Angeles to move closer to grandchildren.
“I’m retiring from Los Angeles. I’m leaving the market,” he said.
Hopefully he’ll continue via Zoom to do a weekly podcast with me for The Times.
He’s a true professional who’s versatility and work ethic made him a reliable hire from the age of 18 through his current age of 74.
He’s a member of the City Section Hall of Fame and the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He once threw the shot put 51 feet, 7 1/2 inches, which is his claim to fame at North Hollywood High.
One time an ESPN graphic before a show spelled his name “Rosenbloom” then changed it to “Rosenblum” for postgame. It was worth a good laugh.
He always adjusts, improvises and ad-libs. He expects to enjoy his time in South Carolina, but he better watch out for tarantulas. They seem to like him.
Sports
Becky Lynch enters exclusive WWE club with Women’s Intercontinental Championship win at WrestleMania 42
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LAS VEGAS – Becky Lynch entered an atmosphere no other WWE women’s superstar has ever reached as she won the Women’s Intercontinental Championship over AJ Lee on Saturday night at WrestleMania 42.
Lynch became the first person to hold the Women’s Intercontinental Championship three times after she pinned Lee. She first won the title against Lyra Valkyria in June 2025 and then again against Maxxine Dupri in November.
Becky Lynch celebrates with the belt after defeating AJ Lee during their women’s Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
She dropped the belt to Lee at the Elimination Chamber, sparking a monthslong feud with her.
Lee gave Lynch the chance at the title in the weeks prior to WrestleMania 42. But it appeared Lee played right into Lynch’s plans. Despite arguing with referee Jessica Carr for most of the match, Lynch was able to tactfully tear down a rope buckle and use it to her advantage.
Lynch hit Lee with a Manhandle Slam and pinned her for the win.
WWE STARS REVEAL WHAT MAKES WRESTLEMANIA SO SPECIAL: ‘IT’S THE SUPER BOWL OF PRO WRESTLING’
AJ Lee reacts after losing to Becky Lynch in their Women’s Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
It’s the second straight year Lynch will leave Las Vegas as champion. She returned to WWE at WrestleMania 41, teaming with Valkyria, to win the women’s tag titles. She will now leave Allegiant Stadium as the women’s intercontinental champion.
Lynch is now a seven-time women’s champion, three-time women’s intercontinental champion and two-time tag team champion.
Becky Lynch withstands AJ Lee during their Women’s Intercontinental Championship match on night one of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 18, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Lee’s reign as champion ended really before it could really begin. WrestleMania 42 was her first appearance at the event in 11 years. It’s unclear where Lee will go from here.
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