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MLB Weird & Wild What We Missed: Pirates blunder, Blue Jays rock and an all-time Orioles out
So … did you miss us? We wouldn't want you to think that July isn't as Weird and Wild as all the other months in the baseball year. It's just a busy month. But now that we have all that other stuff — the Home Run Derby, the All-Star Game, Cooperstown, the trade deadline and the rest of our assorted July housekeeping — out of the way, we're back, to recap all the Weirdness and Wildness you may have missed since our last regular-season edition. Advertisement A team scored nine runs in the first inning … and lost? … Did you hear about the rookie who did something Babe Ruth, Henry Aaron and Rickey Henderson never did? … And what about the three guys, all with the same name, who combined for an out at the plate that will go down in history (just not the history they expected)? We looked so deeply into that one, the Baseball Reference computers almost spontaneously combusted! So it's time for a big What We Missed edition of the Weird and Wild column, beginning with … Is it OK if we start with the adventures of the Pirates, the most upside-down team in baseball? Let's recap their three-game series at Coors Field last weekend: Friday — score nine runs in the top of the first (that seems good) … and lose (17-16)! Saturday — get a three-homer game from their sweet-swinging first baseman, Liover Peguero (that also seems good) … and lose (8-5)! Sunday — give up back-to-back-back homers (that seems bad) … but win (of course)! That seems almost impossible. But do you watch the Pirates much? Just in the intermission between regular-season Weird and Wild columns, they also … • Threw a shutout in all three games of a series (against the Cardinals) and then … in the very next series … got shut out themselves in all three games of a series (against Seattle). • Played another three-game series in which they got swept by the worst team in the American League (the White Sox), followed … immediately thereafter … by a three-game series in which they did the sweeping of the team with the best record in the American League (the Tigers). So is it even possible to make sense of them? I doubt it. But if it is, I knew just the man to do it. It's the great Rich Donnelly, longtime (now-retired) Pirates coach, who still lives in Pirates country in beautiful Steubenville, Ohio. But it turns out even he couldn't help. Advertisement 'I've been watching ball, and I've been in ball, all my life,' Donnelly told me. 'And I've never seen a team like this. Every morning I go down to the sports bar. I don't drink, but I go to listen to all the Pirates fans. And I tell them: If you bet on the Pirates every game, you need to go see a psychiatrist … because if you bet on them every game, then tomorrow morning, when they give out the bread in downtown Steubenville to the poor people, you'd be in that line.' WEIRD AND WILD: 'Because they'd be in Chapter 11?' DONNELLY: 'Yeah, Chapter 11. Or Chapter 12.' Well, we don't know much about Chapter 12 around here. But it has to be worse than Chapter 11. So if you're a Pirates fan and you're familiar with Chapter 12, let us know in the comments section what it looks like in there! All right, now let's talk about the next series at Coors after that visit by the Pirates because, well, Holy Loperfido, what just happened? The short answer is, the Blue Jays just scored 45 runs in three games in that series, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — while the home team only scored six. But if that's all you know about this series, you've come to the right place. Here we go. A series of unfortunate events! Let's start here. According to my friends from STATS Perform, there have been 54,762 series of three games or more since 1901. That's in the American League, National League and Federal League. But how many of them have been like this one? Right. Zero! It's as cold as the Rockies! And while we're on that subject, STATS reports, there have been 709 series of three games or more played at Coors Field, the wackiest ballpark of modern times, since it opened in 1995. Remember, Vin Scully once said: 'You don't need an official scorer at Coors Field. You need a certified public accountant.' But if you thought you'd seen it all at this place, you know what we just learned? Nope! Advertisement Playing the hits! Did you know that 17 of the 30 teams in MLB haven't gotten 21 hits in any game they've played this season? I only ask because the Blue Jays just averaged 21 hits a game in that series. And how many other teams since 1901 have gotten 63 hits (or more) over a three-game series? That would be nada. Of course. Born to run! Did you know that 12 of the 30 teams also haven't scored 15 runs in any game this season? And yes, the Blue Jays just averaged 15 runs a game in that series. Perhaps you think lots of teams have done that at Coors. In reality, however, no teams had ever done that at Coors. But that was then. This fact no longer applies. Viva la differential! The Blue Jays won the first game, 15-1. It wasn't even their biggest blowout of the series. They won the final game, 20-1. You don't see that much! According to STATS, the only other team in the last seven decades to win two games by 14 runs or more in the same series was Doug Glanville's 1999 Phillies, who whomped Ben Davis' '99 Padres, 18-2 and 15-1, on Aug. 24-25. But the last American League team to do that? Ha. That was Slammin' Sammy White's 1953 Red Sox, who beat up on Ray Boone's '53 Tigers, 17-1 and 23-3, at Fenway Park that June. Viva la differential, part two! So add it all up, and the Jays' run differential, just for this series, was plus-39! Sixteen teams in baseball haven't won any game by 13 runs (or more) this season. And the Blue Jays just won three games in one series by an average of 13 runs. Not to suggest that's a lot … but to find the last team with a bigger run differential than that in a three-game series, you'd have to travel back to the early days of the Teddy Roosevelt administration … when Cozy Dolan's 1901 Brooklyn Superbas pounded Heinie Peitz's '01 Reds to the tune of 25-6, 16-2 and 9-2 in a dramatic set that September. (Hat tip: Elias Sports Bureau.) How 'bout the extra-curriculars! This is mind-blowing. On the way to outhitting the Rockettes, 63-20, the Blue Jays outhomered the home team, 13-1, and had a slight advantage in extra-base hits, by which I mean 32 to four! Advertisement That seemed like a lot. So I asked STATS if any other team in the modern era had ever smoked that many homers and extra-base hits in one series, while allowing that few. You know how many teams have done that? Just one, naturally … the 2025 Blue Jays. Finally, we'd like to thank Austin Nola! For what, you ask? For making these notes possible. What else? The Rockies' catcher pitched the ninth inning of the last game of this series … and served up eight hits and eight runs in that one inning. Just so everyone in the Nola family is clear on this, the most hits and runs ever allowed by Austin's brother, Aaron, in any of the 1,700-plus innings he's pitched is six (of each), last Sept. 24 against the Mets. Austin told reporters after the game he had a sneaky feeling a little abuse was coming shortly from his brother when he got a glimpse of that box score. 'I'm sure I'm going to get a text from him,' Austin said. 'I'll just blame it on Colorado or something.' You know how long I've been wanting to write about The Nick Kurtz Game? Since Home Run No. 4 landed, of course. And that was two weeks ago in Houston. So here it is, the Greatest Offensive Game of This (or Maybe Any) Century: 6-for-6 4 homers 5 extra-base hits 8 RBIs 6 runs scored 19 total bases You don't think that game was an all-timer? Maybe this will change your mind. I was in Cooperstown the next day, chatting with Mike Schmidt and Jim Leyland, whereupon Schmidt said, 'Hey Jim, did you see that Nick Kurtz Game?' Then he began describing all four home runs, in remarkable detail. And just hearing a man who once hit four in a game himself get that stoked about someone else having a game like that told me all I needed to know. This. Was. A. Thing. Even among the all-time greats. So how Weird and Wild a thing was it? Let me tell you. Advertisement You know who never hit four home runs in any game? How about Babe Ruth, just to pick a random name. You know who never got six hits in any game? Let's throw Ichiro (Once Got 262 Hits in a Season) Suzuki out there. You know who never drove in eight runs in any game? I think I'll drop a Henry (More RBIs than Anybody Who Ever Lived) Aaron on you here. You know who never scored six runs in any game? Yep, I'm going there. Rickey (Most Runs in History) Henderson never did that. But Nick Kurtz did all of that — in one game … in the 66th big-league game of his life, for the West Sacramento A's. He could play another 6,666 and never do it again. So do I even care that, according to Baseball Reference's Katie Sharp, Kurtz was the first man in history to bash his fourth home run of a game off a position player (Cooper Hummel)? I do not! That's because I can't stop thinking about stuff like this: All-Star Game starter Javy Báez in the whole month of July: 2 HR, 5 RBIs, 6 runs Nick Kurtz in one game that didn't even last three hours: 4 HR, 8 RBIs, 6 runs Just out of curiosity, I googled the magic word, interference, before I wrote this section. A lot of variations came up that didn't seem to have anything to do with baseball. Quantum interference … wave interference … pass interference … election interference. I learned more than I wanted to know about all of them. But catcher's interference? That's apparently way less common and way less important. Really? Tell it to the Phillies and Red Sox — because from July 21-23, they played what we'll always remember as The Catcher's Interference Series. Game One of that series ended this way, courtesy of still-confused catching perpetrator Carlos Narváez: The Phillies just won a walkoff Catcher's Interference. You probably haven't seen this before — Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) July 22, 2025 That wildness went down in the 10th inning. Then, in the very next inning these two teams played — the first inning the next day — an even more nutso episode of Catcher's Interference Theater busted out. Bryce Harper essentially stole home, but it was technically catcher's interference — Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 22, 2025 What the heck! So that's two catcher's interferences against the Red Sox, both of which led to runs crossing the plate, in two days. And I'm guessing you have some questions. First, in case you were thinking, hey, walk-off catcher's interference must not happen much, that's some excellent thinking. The Elias Sports Bureau reported that this was just the second game in the last 105 years to end on a walk-off catcher's interference. The other one was Aug. 1, 1971 — more than half a century ago — and the catcher was Johnny Bench. Advertisement Except that play was nothing like this play, because all Bench did was step in front of the plate to catch the pitch because Manny Mota was somehow trying to steal home with the bases loaded. And that's a balk you almost never see — except that the day after the walk-off, Narvaez reenacted it! Baseball is so bizarre. So I went back to 1920 because that's about how far back reliable public play-by-play data goes. In all that time, how many runs would you guess the Phillies scored on catcher's interference calls — in more than a century, remember? How about one. And to find that last instance on Baseball Reference, I had to go back to 1965. Meanwhile the Red Sox had allowed only one run on catcher's interference in those 105 years. And then … two runs scored like that in back-to-back innings? You've just seen the perfect summation of why there is such a thing as a Weird and Wild column. But wait! We have a bonus addendum here! Is it OK if I circle back to the first catcher's interference because it was the culmination of one of the goofiest extra innings ever. This is how the Red Sox and Phillies conspired to concoct the game-winning rally in the 10th inning: Zombie runner. Four-pitch walk. Wild pitch. Intentional walk. You know what happened next. So that's no balls put in play … followed by a walk-off catcher's interference … to score a (zombie) runner who did not even bat in that inning … during which the team that won only truly swung at one pitch … and I'm going to argue that swing wasn't even on the pitch that drew the catcher's interference, because that was barely a checked swing. So seriously, how wacky is … Baseball! If you read this column regularly, you know there's nothing that gets our hearts pumping more than a good old-fashioned suspended game. So let's hear it for those 2025 Reds. Do they get suspended more than Manny Ramirez? It seems like it. Advertisement The Reds have now played three suspended games just in the last two months. One was at a Fenway (on July 1). The other was at a Speedway (in waterlogged Bristol, Tenn.), last Saturday. Ken Rosenthal could tell you all about that one. … Or we could do that! How weird and wild was it? Ha. Here goes. History will always tell us … that the just-traded Miguel Andujar's first game with the Reds was a home game on Saturday, Aug. 2 … even though he never set foot in the batter's box that day and never set foot in Cincinnati that day, for that matter! History will also try to convince Hurston Waldrep … that the Braves rookie's first career win came in an Aug. 2 game in Tennessee even though he spent every minute of his day Aug. 2 in Georgia (as a member of the Gwinnett Stripers Triple-A team) before he was summoned for an emergency crack-of-dawn commute, to pitch the resumption of that game on what we could have sworn was Aug. 3. Then there was Eli White … whose only two-homer game of the last four seasons came at a racetrack, not a ballpark — in a game in which both balls sure looked as if they left his bat on Sunday … which won't stop every box score in our land from claiming they mysteriously came down Saturday. And baseball's brand new Tennessee Waltz … will always be literally waltzing on very strange air … because everything I just described happened on Sunday, Aug. 3 … but the historians will still try to convince us that Major League Baseball has only been played on one day in AL/NL history … and you know which day that was? Not Aug. 3! You know what happens when they play baseball games for a month? Box scores happen! Then stuff appears in those box scores that needs to be in columns like this. So here's some of that stuff, just because I know you need to know, even if you aren't aware you need to know it. Michael Wacha, July 5 — The Royals' box-score craftsman started against Arizona in this game. He was symmetrical if not quite dominant: 4 IP 4 H 4 R 4 ER 4 BB 4 K So what's up with that? From the start of the live-ball era in 1920 to this year, only five pitchers in history had spun off one of those 4-4-4-4-4-4 lottery tickets. And now, naturally, we've seen two of them just this year. (Zac Gallen had one on Opening Day.) Because baseball! Advertisement Corbin Martin, July 21 — If we're going to talk symmetry, why not talk historic symmetry, with this classic from our new favorite Orioles reliever in a game at Cleveland: 1 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 1 K 1 HBP 1 balk 1 HR So what's up with that? Are you a fan of box-scorigamis? We've got one! This is the only box score in the entire Baseball Reference database with all nine of those 'ones'! Antonio Senzatela, Aug. 1 — How much mileage can we possibly get out of that Pirates-Rockies series? Thanks for asking. We're not done — because Senzatela was the Rockies' starting pitcher in the opener of that series … and never made it through the first inning: 2/3 IP 7 H 8 R 8 ER 2 BB 0 K So what's up with that? According to Baseball Reference, Senzatela is the 86th pitcher since earned runs became an official stat (1913) to cough up eight of them and not get through the first inning. The previous 85 teams with a starting pitcher who did that didn't fare too hot. By which I mean they went 1-84. But Senzatela's Rockies came all the way back to win, 17-16. So make that 2-84! Hayden Birdsong, July 21 — Speaking of not making it out of the first, here's how Birdsong's start for the Giants went in this game against the Braves: 0 IP 1 H 5 R 5 ER 3 BB 0 K 1 HBP So what's up with that? You don't see many starts like this! Six batters faced … zero outs … walks to at least four of them … and at least five of them score. In fact, to find the last starting pitcher to spin off a line like this, you have to take a time machine back to Sept. 22, 1993, to a start that was memorable for a very different reason: It was Nolan Ryan's last start! At least he could blame his torn elbow ligament! (Hat tip: Baseball never runs out of plot lines that should have been written by Quentin Tarantino. Every day, there's another I Never Saw That Before special appearing before our eyes. So here come a few of my favorites from the last month. Tigers 7, Guardians 2 in 10 unlikely innings (July 6) — How'd this game make the list? Think how hard it is to win a game in which your team A) gets exactly one hit in the first nine innings and B) is still trailing with two outs in the ninth! But the Tigers somehow did that. Advertisement First, they scraped together an impossible game-tying rally: hit by pitch, stolen base, ground ball, game-tying wild pitch by Emmanuel Clase with Cleveland one strike away. Then they won it with a six-run 10th! My friends at STATS dug into this one. Want to guess how many other teams in the last half-century have won a game like that (one hit through nine innings, trailing with two outs in the ninth)? Yep. That would be none! Yankees 5, Rays 4 in 11 bizarre innings (July 30) — How'd the Yankees win this game? I have no idea. They trailed in the eighth inning. They trailed in the ninth inning. They trailed in the 10th inning. They finally won in the 11th inning, on a walk-off hit by a guy (Ryan McMahon) who hadn't even been a Yankee a week earlier. So how impossible was this plot line? According to STATS, just one team in the modern era has erased a deficit in the eighth inning, erased another in the ninth, erased yet another in the 10th, then won in the 11th. And that team would be … the Yankees, in this game. Padres 7, Mets 6 (July 28) — The Jose Iglesias revenge game! The ex-Mets utility crooner scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth against the Mets, after a Mark Vientos slam and a stunning Ronny Mauricio game-tyer had brought New York back. The Padres' director of scoreboard ops, Jeff Praught, laid the challenge on me after this game: Go find another game in which any team did what the Padres did — give up a grand slam and a separate game-tying homer in the ninth inning, but still win … without needing extra innings. Baseball Reference research whiz Katie Sharp went to work on this one — and found only four other teams in the entire Baseball Reference database that had pulled this off: the 2004 A's, 1998 Rangers, 1971 Giants and 1970 Expos. My favorite game in that bunch: a wild Expos comeback against the Roberto Clemente/Willie Stargell Pirates — finished off with a walk-off three-run bomb, with two outs in the ninth, by the legendary John Boccabella! Advertisement Reds 12, Braves 11 in 10 nutty innings (July 31) — Before the Reds and Braves headed for Tennessee, they played this ridiculous game. So why was it so ridiculous? Because it was still only 1-1 in the eighth. And then … Atlanta scored eight in the top of the eighth … but then served up eight runs, on eight straight hits, to the Reds (before they made an out) in the bottom of the eighth! Ever played that card game Crazy Eights? This was the first AL/NL game ever in which both teams scored eight runs (or more) in (yup) the eighth. Marlins 13, Yankees 12 (last Friday) — Let's ask a different question than we asked about that previous Yankees game: How'd the Yankees lose this game? It took some doing! They scored 12 runs … and they lost (which broke a 234-game winning streak when they scored 12-plus). They had a six-run lead … and they lost (for the first time since Aug. 13, 2023 … in their previous game in Miami). … And after blowing that six-run lead, they took a two-run lead on three straight hits with two outs and nobody on in the ninth … but they still lost … on this spectacular Agustín Ramírez walk-off single that never even made it beyond the dirt! AGUSTÍN RAMIREZ HITS A WEAK GROUNDER IN FRONT OF HOME PLATE AND THERE'S NOTHING AUSTIN WELLS CAN DO AS XAVIER EDWARDS COMES IN TO GIVE THE MARLINS AN INCREDIBLE 13-12 WIN OVER THE YANKEES — MLB Walk Offs & Game Winning Plays (@MLBWalk_Offs) August 2, 2025 It may have looked like the shortest walk-off hit you've ever seen. But Sports Info Solutions says it actually traveled 18 feet. I'll take the under. But if we buy that, it makes this only the third-shortest walk-off hit in the two decades SIS has been keeping track. The record holder? It's this 9-foot rocket by Alex Bregman on July 10, 2018. (Hat tips: Mark Simon, James Smyth, Jay Cuda.) 1. The Rays lost a 22-8 game! That was June 27 in Baltimore. You know what their record was in their next 30 games? How 'bout 8-22! 2. There's no home run swing-off jinx! And how do we know this? Because all four players who homered in the swing-off that ended the All-Star Game – Brent Rooker, Randy Arozarena, Kyle Stowers and Kyle Schwarber – then homered in the first game after the All-Star break! Advertisement 3. The Phillies hit for the home run cycle (in order)! That happened Monday, in a 13-3 pounding of the Orioles — meaning they bombed a solo homer, two-run homer, three-run homer and grand slam in that order that night. So how rare is that? Only four other teams have ever done it, Katie Sharp reports. You know the difference between the Phillies and those other four teams? The Phillies were the first team ever to hit no doubles and no triples in a game — but still go home-run cycling, in order! 4. More Phillies innovation (not a good thing)! On the other hand, it isn't easy to lose a game on a walk-off, lead-flipping, inside-the park homer by a catcher — but the Phillies did that, too, courtesy of an epic Patrick Bailey inside-the-park walk-off on July 8 (the first by a catcher in 99 years)! It also isn't easy to lose a game in which you hit five homers, hold a five-run lead and strike out 15 on the mound — but the Phillies lost one of those, too, to the Red Sox, on July 23! 5. Spencer Strider vs. Justin Verlander! You'd pay to watch those guys dominate, right? Oops! They matched up in Atlanta on July 23— and combined to spin off a messy 71-pitch first inning … complete with five walks, one hit and (miraculously) no runs. This sport started keeping track of pitch counts in 1988. You know how many other 71-pitch (or more) innings we've seen since then that somehow resulted in no runs? None would be an excellent guess! (Hat tip: C.J. Nitkowski.) 6. And you know what Shohei Ohtani did? Lots of stuff! Heck, this guy did so much stuff, I could have devoted a whole column just to him. But here's the thing I can't stop thinking about: From July 19-23, he homered in five games in a row — and he pitched in one of them. That was in a July 21 game against Minnesota, in which he allowed a homer (to Byron Buxton) in the top of the first and then hit a homer in the bottom of the first. Not to give you the impression you don't see humans do both of those things in the first inning much … but the last time it happened, it was in maybe the craziest game ever played — the legendary 23-22 game between the Phillies and Cubs in 1979. Randy Lerch homered in the top of the first that day. Then he got one out in the bottom of the first. In other words, he was weird and he was wild — but he was no Shohei Ohtani! Finally, I know I need to learn to focus more on what's important in life. But I get distracted sometimes — by baseball's never-ending name games! Advertisement The Orioles traded at the deadline for a pitcher named Palmer (Twine Palmer, to be exact). Why did that excite me? Because no Palmers have thrown a pitch for the Orioles since May 12, 1984 (Jim's last game). A guy named Clemens pitched against the Red Sox! That was Kody, of course, on July 30. And why did that also excite me? Because nobody named Clemens has pitched against the Red Sox since Sept. 16, 2007 (which was Roger's last career start). The shot heard 'round Vladivostok was hit Wednesday at Coors Field … when a guy named Vladimir (Guerrero) went deep off a guy named Victor Vodnik. So why did that excite me? Because I can't stop thinking that this might be the only American highlight you'll see all season on a scoreboard of the Russian Baseball Federation. But none of them can top this! Hey, pay attention out there. What we're about to discuss may not have been the greatest, most dramatic or most picturesque relay throw of all time. But it's probably the highlight of this whole column, so you'd better read every word of this. Jackson to Jackson to Jackson. The relay play you didn't know you needed. — Joe Papparotto (@JoePappa) August 3, 2025 Got all that, Jackson? Sunday at Wrigley Field, the Orioles recorded a Weird and Wild classic out at the plate — on a relay from Jeremiah Jackson in right, to Jackson Holliday at second, to the catcher, also a man named Jackson (Alex). So that's Jackson to Jackson to Jackson if you're scoring. And even if you're not, I'd like to propose that the play be accompanied by a soundtrack by Jackson Browne on the Orioles' 2025 highlight video. It would go something like this. The Cubs were … Running into the sun But they were running behind I should really stop now, but sorry. Can't do it. That's because I gave the great Kenny Jackelen of Baseball Reference, an impossible assignment: Find me the last out at the plate like that — involving three players with the same name. First name or last name. Any name. Didn't have to be three Jacksons. I'm not even picky. Advertisement Kenny then wore out his hard drive for two days trying to find this answer. At one point, after many hours watching a spinning hourglass on his screen, Kenny finally had to break the sad news to me: This was way too complicated and way too time-intensive, and it was time to give up. So of course, I let him off the hook. The whole idea was bonkers. What was I even thinking? And then, somehow, as I was typing this column Thursday, he interrupted all the other, far less monumental stuff I was writing about, to announce: He found it! Yes, he figured out how to search for (this gives me chills) every known putout involving three players with the same name — any name — but I'll spare you the names of the men who came up with outs at other bases, because they weren't the same as this. So here's the important part: Only one other time, in the entire Baseball Reference database, is there a record of any out being turned by any three players with a variation of the same name, with one of them being a catcher. That one happened on Aug. 1, 2002, when the Marlins got an out that included Mike Lowell, Mike Mordecai and their catcher, Mike Redmond. Which seemed cool enough, but hang on one minute, because … That wasn't this! That one turned out to be a dropped third strike. So Redmond started that sequence, not ended it. So there was no out at the plate. And a non-Mike member of that infield (Derrek Lee) also got mixed up in this play. So forget that one. We're down to this momentous question: How many other outs — just at the plate — have ever involved three players with the same name? Kenny Jackelen devoted two days of his life to finding that answer. That's all my fault. But because he did, now we know. That would be none! Wow. How can you not love … Baseball! (Top photo the scoreboard after the Blue Jays defeated the Rockies 20-1 on Aug. 6: Justin Edmonds / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
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More WNBA games interrupted by sex toys thrown onto the court
The WNBA is still struggling with a string of sex-toy disturbances. In the past week and a half, sex toys have been thrown on court during games in Atlanta on July 29, Chicago on Aug. 1, Los Angeles on Aug. 5 and Chicago again on Thursday night, with the most recent object hitting the court in the closing seconds of the Atlanta Dream's victory over the Sky. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The sex toy that landed on the court in Los Angeles nearly hit Fever guard Sophie Cunningham during Indiana's game against the Sparks. Sex toys were also thrown at games in New York and Phoenix last Tuesday but didn't reach the court. Police say another toy was thrown at a game in Atlanta on Aug. 1, although it's unclear if that one reached the court. The distractions have created unexpected challenges for the league, the teams and the players, but also for arena security. Here's what to know. A man was arrested Saturday in College Park, Georgia, after he was accused of throwing a sex toy onto the court during the Atlanta Dream's July 29 matchup with the Golden State Valkyries, according to a police report. The report said he threw another sex toy during the Dream's Aug. 1 game against the Phoenix Mercury, but that instance did not seem to result in a delay of play. He is charged with disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing, public indecency and indecent exposure. All four charges are misdemeanors in the state of Georgia, meaning that if he is convicted, the punishment for each can be a fine of up to $1,000 or jail time of up to 12 months. A misdemeanor for public indecency and indecent exposure may also require registration on the state's sex offender list. The report said the man told police 'this was supposed to be a joke and the joke (was) supposed to go viral.'` Another man in Phoenix was arrested after police say he threw a sex toy in the crowd at a Mercury game on Tuesday. Police say the 18-year-old pulled the sex toy from his sweater pocket and threw it toward seats in front of him, striking a spectator in the back. The man later told police it was a prank that had been trending on social media and that he bought the toy a day earlier to take to the game. He was later tackled by a volunteer at the arena who had witnessed the incident and began following him as the man tried to leave the arena. Police say the man was arrested on suspicion of assault, disorderly conduct and publicly displaying explicit sexual material. The New York Liberty told The Associated Press on Thursday night that there is an ongoing investigation into the throwing in New York and the team is cooperating with law enforcement. The types of sex toys being thrown onto the court generally do not include metal elements, meaning that arena metal detectors are not able to sense them. When carried on a spectator's body, they become even more difficult to detect. Arena security teams face challenges in catching these items, according to Ty Richmond, the president of the event services division at Allied Universal Security, a company that provides security services to certain NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB and MLS arenas across the country. 'Not all stadiums are using a screening process that's consistent and can detect (the sex toys) because of what it would require — pat down searches, opening the bags, prohibiting bags,' he said. 'The conflict of expediency, of getting fans into the arena and into the venue, which is an important issue, and security and safety.' The limits of arena security make legal action one of the strongest deterrents for this kind of behavior, Richmond said. 'The decision to prosecute and show examples of how people are being handled is very important,' he said. 'Without a doubt, I think it will make a difference. The application of it is important, and publicizing that is important.' There have not been any arrests made yet for the in Los Angeles and Chicago. In a statement to the AP, the Sparks said they are 'working with arena personnel to identify the individual responsible and ensure appropriate action is taken.' The WNBA has said that any spectators throwing objects onto the court will face a minimum one-year ban and prosecution from law enforcement. As the disturbances pile up, those on the court have become increasingly frustrated. 'Everyone is trying to make sure the W is not a joke and it's taken seriously, and then that happens,' Cunningham said on her podcast after nearly being hit by one of the sex toys on Tuesday. 'I'm like, 'How are we ever going to get taken seriously?'' No other professional sports leagues have faced sex toy disturbances like this. It has started a conversation online about the perpetrators' choices to throw them during games in a women's league and a league with a high-profile amount of lesbian and queer players. 'This has been going on for centuries, the sexualization of women. This is the latest version of that. It's not funny. It should not be the butt of jokes,' said Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve Thursday. 'The sexualization of women is what's used to hold women down, and this is no different.' Despite the criminal behavior leading to arrests, at least one crypto-based predictions market is offering trades essentially allowing users to wager on whether sex toys will be thrown at future WNBA games. Players have also been sounding off on social media, echoing concerns about arena security protocols. Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison posted on X last week, saying 'ARENA SECURITY?! Hello??! Please do better. It's not funny. Never was funny. Throwing ANYTHING on the court is so dangerous.' [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
