These Travelers Plot Their Airport Starbucks Run Down to the Minute
Hal Hershfelt's savvy moves on the soccer field earned her a coveted call up to the U.S. Women's soccer team. Her mad Starbucks skills earn raves at the airport.
The 23-year-old Washington Spirit midfielder knows exactly when to hit 'order' on the coffee chain's mobile app so that her iced shaken espresso, and some teammates' drinks, are waiting at the outlet closest to their gate. At Washington Dulles International, the professional team's home airport, Hershfelt says the magic moment is on the walk to the tram after security.
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New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
College football's forgotten rivalry: Revisiting Washington's 2000 upset over mighty Miami
It's impossible to find two power-conference college football programs farther apart geographically than Miami and Washington. They have faced each other only three times, but the Hurricanes and Huskies have a unique bond. Before they ever squared off, they split the 1991 national title, with 12-0 Miami crowned by the AP poll and 12-0 Washington getting the nod from the coaches poll. Advertisement Then, in 1994, Washington traveled to Miami as a 14-point underdog and snapped the Hurricanes' NCAA-record 58-game home winning streak. The Huskies' 38-20 win became known as 'The Whammy in Miami.' What no one could've imagined when No. 4 Miami visited No. 15 Washington in 2000 was the impact that game would have on both programs, particularly the Hurricanes, who were looking for revenge but maybe got something bigger from the showdown in Seattle. Marques Tuiasosopo, Washington QB, 1997-2000: I don't think either side liked sharing the national title. Then, they go to Miami and beat them and end their record home winning streak. From our side of things, we knew they still wanted to make amends for that, and they still had that chip on their shoulder from 1990. It was a big deal. Larry Tripplett, Washington, DT, 1997-2001: I remember the speech (UW defensive line) coach (Randy) Hart gave before that game. I think it was the Thursday before the game. He talked about the history of Husky football and the tradition. He was coaching back when they had the Whammy in Miami and showed the video of that. I remember feeling like this game was much more than just a game, that it meant a lot for Husky history, that I wasn't just playing for myself, I was playing for the guys who were in that Whammy in Miami and all the guys who ever wore the purple and gold. Rick Neuheisel, Washington coach, 1999-2002: Miami was so star-studded. You needed to know where (safety) Ed Reed was at all times. Their corners were fabulous. Their receivers were Reggie Wayne and Santana Moss, and (Jeremy) Shockey was the tight end. Their third-string running back was Clinton Portis. James Jackson was the starter. They had Najeh Davenport, and (Willis) McGahee was the guy who didn't get to play. They were phenomenal. Advertisement Brent Myers, Washington OL coach, 2000-02: They jumped off the film when we watched them, especially (linebacker) Dan Morgan. Tuiasosopo: We knew it was gonna be tough, but we thought we were good too. I don't think anyone knew who we were, though. We knew we had to put up a fight. We knew we were gonna have to scratch and claw and be more physical. Tripplett: Our meeting room was in the tunnel, so when they were coming out pregame, they were barking and yelling and totally disrespectful. This was told to me, and I don't know if it was actually true, but I'd heard that some of their players had urinated on the middle of our field. The amount of disrespect and swag that they came in there with was off the charts. Tuiasosopo: They tried to intimidate us. They knew we liked to do a lot of barking. I remember in the pregame, walking down the tunnel, and a couple of their guys were walking up and they would just yelp, like a whupped dog. I just thought, OK, these guys don't know what they're walking into. They were making fun of us, and we didn't like it. That kind of set our jaw a little bit. That pissed us off. We knew they didn't respect us. Tripplett: They were very arrogant, but they had every right to feel very confident. But I know this, that before that game, you could look in our guys' eyes, Tui, Jeremiah Pharms, Pat Conniff — we all had this look like, no words needed to be said. We just knew what we were about to do. I felt that way. One of the beautiful things about football is the team aspect, and we all came together. One other similarity between the two programs: They each had iconic home stadiums known for raucous atmospheres. Husky Stadium, with its overhanging roof on each side of the field, held the highest recorded decibel record for a college stadium for over 30 years. It was set in 1992 against Nebraska at 133.6, a record that stood until 2023 when Tennessee's Neyland Stadium registered 137 dBs against Georgia. But to the players on the field on Sept. 9, 2000, Husky Stadium — or any other football stadium — never sounded any louder. And considering the Canes quarterback, Ken Dorsey, was making his first start on the road, that made a big difference. Advertisement Tripplett: It was deafening. Dude, it was so crazy loud. I felt as if Miami was really shell-shocked as far as how loud it was and how aggressively we were playing. Joaquin Gonzalez, Miami, offensive tackle, 1997-2001: It's the loudest place I've ever played, college and pros. The two overhangs on either side of the stadium, it was just this bellowing and a resonating sound. If you look at the first part of the film, the offensive line was late off the ball. Bryant McKinnie and I were late off the ball quite a bit early on, even though we had practiced a silent count and all of that. It was hard to even get the play calling in from (QB Ken) Dorsey. The very next year, we opened up at Penn State against a record-setting crowd (109,313), and we didn't freaking bat an eye. That place was pretty freaking loud, but not as loud as that (Husky Stadium). Mike Rumph, Miami, cornerback, 1998-2001: We had never been to the West Coast before. We all were like, in awe, like, 'Holy s—, we're on West Coast.' We're like, 'All those f—ing mountains in the background.' We never seen no mountains and no hills. They got Mount Rainier, like a f—ing snow cap in the backdrop. So, not saying we weren't focused, but we were really impressed with the fact that we're on the West Coast, and we had never been there before. We weren't fully locked in. Gonzalez: I didn't expect the game to be as difficult as it was. Not from a football standpoint, but from all of the other stuff, having to travel the six hours and the time change. The impact of traveling out there, the stadium conditions in terms of the noise and stuff. You live and you learn. Tuiasosopo: Husky Stadium was electric that day. When our defense was on the field, it was like an earthquake. Rumph: It's my top five loudest places, honestly. And I played against the Seattle Seahawks as a Niner. Tripplett: I probably had a very ignorant confidence. When I played in Husky Stadium, I used to feel like Superman. I'm gonna be honest, I felt invincible there, so I was not intimidated by them at all. That's just the ignorance of youth I guess. Advertisement Rich Alexis, Washington, running back, 2000-03: Neuheisel was just cool. He was just being Neuheisel. Very encouraging. Just smiling. He's got a pretty smile, nice hair, he was just ready. He felt confident. I don't know why. He probably knew something we didn't know. We took his lead, and then everybody was just calm and cool. Because if the coach would have spazzed out or freaked out, I think everybody would have got that message too. But that day, he was just chill. Miami's defense handled Washington on its first series, but the Huskies responded by forcing a turnover on the ensuing punt return. Tuiasosopo: One of our guys puts his helmet on the ball, and Santana Moss coughed it up. Then, we went down and scored. We were gonna need plays like that, and it happened. Alexis: There was a bad rep about the West Coast teams — that we were soft, weren't physical enough. That fumble on the punt return set the tone. Washington was determined to lean on its seasoned offensive line and Tuiasosopo, its star QB. A year earlier, Tuiasosopo had run for 207 yards and passed for 302 against Stanford. Miami coach Butch Davis compared him to former Syracuse first-round pick Donovan McNabb, who had gashed the Canes in 1998 for 99 rushing yards to lead an attack that ran for 318 yards in a 66-13 victory for the Orangemen. The Huskies and offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson also had a few surprises prepared for the Canes' vaunted defense. Tuiasosopo: Coach Gilbertson made sure that we had a wrinkle to take advantage of. We put that weakside mid-line option in. I think we held that back for them. Myers: We were an I-option offense. They weren't overly multiple on defense. They were so athletic, they didn't have to play many defenses. Greg Schiano was their DC. Miami's had always been known as a 4-3, quarters team, but Schiano had some good third-down blitz packages. He's a really good defensive coach. But they didn't face many option teams. Back then, Syracuse was an option team, a little like us. We studied them quite a bit. The Huskies weren't running all over Miami, but Tuiasosopo was moving the ball. He led them on a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that he capped off with a 12-yard run on an option keeper that featured three broken tackles. He later connected with Washington's standout tight end Jerramy Stevens for a 23-yard TD pass to give the Huskies a 21-3 halftime lead. Advertisement Myers: We did a lot of motion from the backfield to empty and threw the ball on them because we knew what they would check to. Our empty passing game was really effective in that game. We knew they would check to two-deep, so we threw option routes to Jerramy Stevens and Joe Collier and Willie Hurst, our tailback, who would be a slot receiver in our formation. It was very effective for us. I didn't recall seeing Miami play against much empty back in those days. Neuheisel: We hit a touchdown on an unbalanced scheme, and we had post-post-wheel and hit the wheel. It was good stuff. Rumph: They kept running the speed option. They found the wrinkle. They ran the speed option weak against us, and we couldn't figure it out because they kept pulling the guard with the twist. We were one man short a lot. I remember that adjustment. Tripplett: Tui was doing Tui Magic. He just makes stuff happen. And he was our leader. He was the type of leader that everybody on the team would run through a wall for. That year, we just knew as long as Tui was out there, we had a chance to win, and it proved to be true because we had some crazy comebacks that year. Alexis: The guy just had swagger about him. Just calm, cool. It doesn't matter what the moment was like. He would just be himself, calm, cool, just a born leader out there. He'd make sure everybody was not nervous. He was like that consistently all year. Those Samoan boys are different, man. Rumph: He was a real good quarterback. He could run, he could throw. He was physical. Gonzalez: We basically played like s— for a half. Santana fumbled, Dorsey fumbled. One of our other running backs fumbled as well. We had a field goal blocked. We definitely didn't start great. Miami woke up in the second half. The Canes scored their first of three third-quarter touchdowns on a 21-yard pass from Dorsey to Wayne, but the Huskies answered when Neuheisel inserted Alexis, a true freshman running back from South Florida, and called an option play with the ball at midfield. Alexis: I didn't even know if I was gonna get in the game or not, but Neuheisel told me he wanted to just throw me in the game so my parents could see that I'm doing well. He threw me in the game, and I'm looking at Dan Morgan. I'm like, dang, everybody I looked up to was against me. Advertisement I wanted to be a Hurricane all along. It came down to Miami and Washington. Neuheisel told me if I came out there, I'd play running back. He needed a big running back. Miami was already loaded at running back. You got James Jackson and Clinton Portis. Me and Willis McGahee were in the same recruiting class. Greg Schiano wanted me to play safety. The only thing I knew how to do is just run the football. Myers: We called 43-veer. That meant offensive tackle Elliot Silvers was to release inside and veer through to the first backer in the box, which would be the weakside backer, and they had taken their defensive ends and put them head up on the tackles. On the second or third series, we went to that arc option part of the scheme (reading Miami's defensive end) so that we could get their defensive end to tackle (fullback) Pat Conniff. And, if he didn't, then Conniff was to get the ball in the option, and we wouldn't end up pitching the ball. Elliot is a really, really smart kid. Their guy was really squeezing down. Elliot and (guard) Chad Ward said to me, 'Coach, we need to arc this stuff because we can't get through.' We ended up optioning the safety, the corner was being blocked and we went right down the sideline. It was awesome. Tuiasosopo: The option kept them on their heels and off-guard. It was gonna be a quick pitch. I got nailed. I was lying on the ground, but I saw him get around the corner and make that first guy miss, and I looked at their end who was on top of me and I smiled. 'That's a touchdown!' Alexis: I really didn't think he was going to pitch it. I went to the left with him, till he dove in with a quick dive, and he just pitched it to me, and I just took off. I couldn't believe I made the touchdown. I mean, I was just in shock. You watch the replay, I froze. I didn't know what to do. I was holding onto the ball. I didn't even know how to celebrate. I just ran by Mike (Rumph), the late Al Blades, I saw all these guys, and I couldn't believe I just scored. I was just so overwhelmed with joy. Washington led 27-9 with a little over six minutes remaining in the third quarter, but Miami started to heat up offensively as Portis broke some big plays and Morgan recovered a Tuiasosopo fumble to set up another UM touchdown to make it 27-22 with 3:50 left in the third. Washington, though, never wilted and kept responding. On defense, Tripplett was a menace. He had two sacks, blocked a field goal and recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter. Miami had one last chance to rally, getting the ball back with 20 seconds left at their own 20 down 34-29, but Dorsey couldn't rescue the Canes. Neuheisel: We ended up beating them because we played some slight of hand with some option and had some decent concepts to trick them in the red zone. We were able to run the ball against them some, which not very many people could. Gonzalez: I think if we have probably eight to 10 more seconds at the end of that game, we win it. There was a moment in that game where things kind of just started clicking. Advertisement Rumph: They had like 800 recruits there, and their head coach looks at us as we're leaving the field, and he goes, 'You don't want to go play there. You want to play here. You don't want to go to Miami. Play here.' I vividly remember that. And as we exited through that tunnel, their players were barking at us. We were actually trying to fight them a little bit, but they were barking. Gonzalez: It was just a s—-y situation to start the season. When you start off the season, you have all of these hopes and aspirations for all of these big things that you're going to do. You never want to start off, in any sport — no matter if you're playing Pee Wee or whatever — you never want to start off 1-1. More so in college sports at that time, one loss in any part of your season meant that you weren't a contender anymore for the national championship. You fast forward to the end of the year, and we get screwed, even after beating Florida State head to head. Because of us, really, that's why they changed the BCS. Miami finished the regular season 10-1 with wins over No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Virginia Tech (by 20 points), but those were the Canes' only wins over ranked opponents. Washington also went 10-1, with its lone loss coming at Oregon, three weeks after beating UM. The Huskies also had just two Top 25 victories, with their other win over No. 23 Oregon State. The Noles ended up getting the title shot against No. 1 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, even though the Canes were ranked No. 2 in the coaches and AP polls. They were ranked third in the BCS. Delvin Brown, Miami, DB, 1997-2000: What happened that year that people don't remember is Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech had a game that was canceled because of lightning. Lee Corso's car got struck by lightning, and because Virginia Tech didn't play Georgia Tech, our strength of schedule was actually weak. If we would have had a stronger strength of schedule, even despite our loss to Washington, we would have played in the national championship game. The good news is we still got to put a spanking on Florida (in the Sugar Bowl) that year. That was the year we fought them on Bourbon Street. Alex Brown ended up being a first-round pick for Chicago. We beat him up in the bar. He was in the postgame with a black eye. Gonzalez: I remember walking out this white painted tunnel with pictures of Washington greats all around, in pain with my f—ing ribs, and just f—ing sitting there and saying, 'All this f—ing work wasted.' But I think that sparked the fire in us. To get slapped in the f—ing face the way that we did by Washington, it could have been very easy for us to go the other way. How did that become the turning point? It's hard for me to kind of verbalize. I just think that we had all worked so hard that we weren't going to let that define us. We really busted our ass that summer. UM had always had the offseason workouts. The test for stamina was always 16 110s. That's what you had to run to make sure that you were ready for the season. If you didn't, you had to run it every day until you passed it. But that offseason was the first offseason that the guys on the team said, 'No, 16, is not good enough. We gotta run 20 110s now.' Then, my senior year, we said, 'It's not 20 anymore. It's 24 110s.' Davis left the Canes after the season to become the Cleveland Browns coach. Offensive coordinator Larry Coker was promoted after Miami's veteran leaders, who had opted to stay in Coral Gables, lobbied the school's AD, Paul Dee, to make that move for continuity's sake. The Canes opened the 2001 season at Penn State and destroyed the Nittany Lions, 33-7. They pounded Rutgers 61-0 with the rematch against Washington, who had beaten No. 11 Michigan, up next. But then 9/11 happened. Like most games that weekend, it was postponed. The game was tentatively rescheduled for Thanksgiving weekend, when both schools had open dates. Advertisement Neuheisel: We had just beaten Washington State. We were beat up. We were 8-2. I told (Washington AD) Barbara (Hedges), 'Barbara, just tell them that we'll do it another year. We don't need to go.' She said, 'Oh, we have to.' I said, 'No, we don't. Other people have turned it down. We'll play 'em another year.' We went and got waxed. Myers: I can remember sitting in the staff room and Rick was adamant about not playing that game because we didn't need to. A lot of people around the country weren't replaying that game they'd missed early in the season because of 9/11. Rick was not happy about it. In addition to beating Michigan, Washington had defeated No. 10 Stanford and No. 9 Washington State. Miami had blown out No. 13 Florida State on the road and beat No. 15 Syracuse 59-0. The Canes — and their fans — were primed for the Huskies. Myers: As soon as we got down there to the Orange Bowl parking lot, they were throwing oranges at our bus. The fans were ready for us. That was crazy. Tripplett: They were throwing oranges at us. Little kids were giving us the finger. They were really pissed at us. On the second play of the game, Miami linebacker Jonathan Vilma intercepted Washington QB Cody Pickett. Miami needed one play, a Portis run, to score its first touchdown. In the next series, UW went on a 15-play drive. Alexis broke a 31-yard run up the middle to the 2, but the Canes stiffened and stuffed four successive runs. Myers: From then on, we didn't move the ball hardly at all. It was like we poked the bear. They just bludgeoned us after that. We couldn't move the big man from the Patriots, (Vince) Wilfork, at all. Gonzalez: We beat them up and down every f—ing which way, and every facet, every metric that you could imagine in the f—ing game. And I remember that the athletic director for Washington said that they would never play us again. I do remember Larry Coker calling a timeout only to allow the seniors to come out of the game because we're already winning by a lot. And I do have a beautiful picture of me and (offensive lineman Martin) Bibla in the center of the Orange Bowl with our helmets up, walking off the field in the middle of the fourth quarter, whatever it was. Advertisement But I do remember at some point in that game, I don't know when that was in the second or the third quarter, I remember standing up on top of the bench and calling the whole team together and (saying), 'Don't you ever f—ing forget what these guys did to us last year. You f—ing shove it down their f—ing throat and you f—ing make them feel the f—ing pain that we felt last year.' Those were the exact words that I used. I remember that. My hands are shaking. I'm ready to f—ing run through a f—ing wall right now. I remember telling the guys that.' Miami led Washington 37-0 at halftime and won 65-7. Pickett fumbled twice and was sacked four times. The Canes intercepted six passes. Miami went on to win the national title, with the 2001 team regarded as one of the greatest in college football history. Tripplett: I don't know if they felt this way or not, that cross-country flight is a beast. That was a challenge. I'm not using that as an excuse, but it definitely plays a role, and I wonder if it played a role at their end as well. They had a different mindset. They were trying to beat us down, and that's exactly what they did. We were not ready. We had Cody Pickett, he was young. Reggie Williams was a freshman. This was not the Tui-led Huskies in that game. Rumph: Damien Lewis, Dan Morgan, feel bad for those guys. I mean, the 2000 team was probably just as good or better than the 2001 team. But we lost that game. Tripplett: I remember when I got into the league, I played with Reggie Wayne (with the Colts), and I'd joke that they were basically an all-star team. They had so many first-rounders (15) and the only first-rounder we had was our tight end, Jerramy Stevens. Many of the players in the 2000 and 2001 Miami-Washington games now have sons who are college recruits themselves. Miami head coach Mario Cristobal was a grad assistant on the UM staff in 2000 when the Canes lost but wasn't on staff when Miami got its revenge in 2001 because he'd taken the O-line job at Rutgers when Schiano became the Scarlet Knights head coach. One of Cristobal's big recruits in the 2026 class is a South Florida kid whose family knows all about the Washington-Miami rivalry — running back Javian Mallory, the nephew of Rich Alexis. Alexis: It was a full circle moment because we had a lot of people amongst our family who are Canes at heart. Now, you got one that's actually going to be a Cane. We got one, at least. (Top photos of Rick Neuheisel, Reggie Wayne: Otto Greule Jr. / Allsport)
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
After hitting ‘rock bottom,' Braves can still salvage their season – if they snap out of it
The Atlanta Braves are 27-34, 11 games back in the NL East, 1 1/2 games behind rebuilding Washington and only 3 1/2 ahead of lowly Miami. After their latest misstep, a blown six-run lead in the ninth inning Thursday against Arizona, their broadcaster and Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine said, 'If you were looking for rock bottom, this might be it.' Advertisement The tendency, in this age of overreaction, is to project the Braves as trade-deadline sellers and start listing potential landing spots for designated hitter Marcell Ozuna. But through the same date a year ago, the New York Mets were 27-35 and the Houston Astros 28-35, records nearly identical to the Braves' current mark. Both teams finished with nearly 90 wins and reached the postseason. If the Braves fail to ignite, it will be fair to question whether they lost too much of their fabric with the free-agent departures of first baseman Freddie Freeman, shortstop Dansby Swanson and left-hander Max Fried over a four-year span. Whether president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos created too comfortable an environment by awarding so many players extensions. Whether Anthopoulos last offseason should have done more to address his offense and bullpen. But more than 100 games remain. As poorly as the Braves are playing, the recoveries of the 2024 Mets and Astros are testaments to the dangers of passing judgment on a team too soon. So, for that matter, is the example of the 2021 World Series champion Braves, who at this stage of the season were 29-32. The 162-game marathon, combined with an expanded playoff format, allows teams to recover from a bad month or even three. The Braves are unlikely to even consider selling unless they are buried at the All-Star break. Their replacement of third-base coach Matt Tuiasosopo with former manager Fredi Gonzalez on Monday was not a warning shot at manager Brian Snitker, who has led the team to seven straight postseason appearances and is in his 49th year with the organization. No, it was simply a response to two seasons of Tuiasosopo making poor decisions. A change team officials deemed necessary. Snitker isn't blameless. The Braves aren't going to fire him after all he has achieved, but this sure looks like his last season. On Thursday alone, he could have stuck longer with right-hander Grant Holmes rather than start the bullpen carousel by lifting him after 3 1/3 innings. Still, the Braves took their six-run lead into the ninth. At some point, their disappointing performance is on the players, from center fielder Michael Harris II to second baseman Ozzie Albies to closer Raisel Iglesias. Advertisement By this time a year ago, the Mets already had started their turnaround. The Astros got going about two weeks later. But not every club reaches its desired destination. Another projected contender last season, the Texas Rangers, showed how some teams never recover from faulty starts, missing the playoffs one year after winning the World Series. The Braves, if they don't snap out of it, could be this year's Rangers. Their plus-6 run differential indicates their record should be above .500, yet they are seven games under. They have played a major-league-high 25 one-run games, and are only 9-16 in those contests. Even with the deadline offering an opportunity for improvement, an opportunity Anthopoulos seized to catapult his club to a championship in 2021, the strength of the NL this season adds to the degree of difficulty. The Braves need more from their offense, which, before their 10-run eruption Thursday, was tied with the Marlins for 22nd in runs per game. They also need to fix their bullpen, which underwent another shakeup after Thursday's shocking ninth-inning collapse — Daysbel Hernández to the injured list, Scott Blewett designated for assignment and Craig Kimbrel and Dylan Dodd up from Triple A. Yet, for all the Braves' middle-inning maneuvering, the biggest problem remains closer Raisel Iglesias, whose .956 opponents' OPS essentially means he is turning every hitter into Pete Alonso. Not even the highly anticipated returns of right-hander Spencer Strider and right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. altered the Braves' trajectory. Strider is trying to regain his form after missing all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery and nearly a month this season with a strained right hamstring. Acuña, coming off nearly a yearlong absence due to a torn ACL in his left knee, is performing better than the Braves could have expected, batting .333 with four home runs and a 1.056 OPS. Yet the team is 3-9 since his return. Bad breaks are part of this. The loss of right-hander Reynaldo López to shoulder inflammation after one start. The offseason knee surgery that might sideline setup man Joe Jiménez all season. The 80-game suspension to left fielder Jurickson Profar for testing positive for PEDs. Advertisement Well, all teams deal with injuries. The $42 million investment in Profar, based on his outlier campaign in 2024, was always going to be a gamble. And even the regressions of Harris (.590 OPS) and Albies (.658) reflect the volatility in individual performance that is part of the game. The Braves never expected catcher Drake Baldwin and outfielder Eli White to make such positive contributions, either. Early in the offseason, Anthopoulos orchestrated a series of moves to create payroll flexibility, trading designated hitter Jorge Soler, allowing catcher Travis d'Arnaud to depart as a free agent and restructuring the contracts of López and reliever Aaron Bummer. The Braves later lost Fried, right-hander Charlie Morton and reliever A.J. Minter to free agency as well. Profar turned out to be Anthopoulos' only significant addition. And the team, under its Liberty Media ownership, wound up with a lower payroll. Fried might win a Cy Young Award, but the Braves never were going to sign him to the $218 million contract he received from the New York Yankees, and their rotation isn't a problem. Anthopoulos non-tendered Griffin Canning, the pitcher he acquired from the Los Angeles Angels for Soler, and the Mets turned Canning into a potential All-Star. But none of the other players Anthopoulos lost is haunting him. His plan just isn't unfolding the way he envisioned. The way the Braves are constructed, an offense that set records in 2023 should be capable of succeeding with light-hitting Nick Allen at shortstop, just as the Astros once thrived with Martín Maldonado at catcher. A better version of outfielder Jarred Kelenic, an Anthopoulos acquisition from last offseason who earned a demotion at Triple A, surely would help. But the Braves shouldn't need to rely on him, either. Some seasons are like this. Some years it doesn't just work out. The Braves are talented enough to bounce back like they did in 2021, and like the Mets and Astros did last season. But at some point, they've got to show it. And they sure aren't showing it yet. (Top photo of Brian Snitker: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Indiana Pacers Come Back from Behind and Take First NBA Finals Game Against Oklahoma City Thunder
The Indiana Pacers come back from behind and take the first NBA Finals game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. #IndianaPacers #Pacers #OKCThunder #NBA #NBAFinals Learn more about your ad choices. Visit FOX News Radio
