Olympian Asher Hong rolls to second national title at the U.S. gymnastics championships
The 21-year-old Hong, part of the five-man team that earned bronze at the Paris Olympics last summer, posted a two-day total of 170.020 to win easily despite a rare miscue on the high bar during the first rotation on Saturday.
Not that it mattered. Hong became the 13th man to win multiple national titles with ease. The 2023 champion entered with a massive lead of over four points thanks to six steady routines Thursday.
Hong finished with the top scores on floor exercise, vault and still rings, events where the rising Stanford senior's power easily translates.
The real race was for second, where Frederick Richard 's two-day total of 162.555 was just enough to slip by Fuzzy Benas at 162.310. Richard managed to finish runner-up despite voluntarily taking 0.6 points in deductions for wearing a nonconforming uniform on parallel bars, high bar, pommel horse and rings.
Rather than don the stirrup pants that have long been the norm, Richard wore gray shorts with matching leggings underneath, a small sacrifice the 21-year-old says he's willing to make while competing at domestic elite meets in hopes of making the sport a little 'cooler' to potential fans.
Colt Walker was fourth in the final meet before the world championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, in October.
Two-time national champion Brody Malone, who skipped floor exercise and vault to put a little less stress on his surgically repaired right knee, placed first on parallel bars, second on rings and third on pommel horse to put him in a strong position to return to worlds for the first time since 2022.
Stephen Nedoroscik, the pommel horse specialist who became a viral sensation while winning two bronze medals in Paris, was fifth in his return to competition following a lengthy post-Olympic break that included a stint on 'Dancing With the Stars.'
While Hong, Richard, Malone and Nedoroscik are pressing on, the fifth member of the 2024 Olympic team — Paul Juda — announced his retirement Saturday night.
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I want him to give me his best approach at the plate every day, and we've given him a lot. We're playing him every day, and he just can't have lapses at the plate.' Managers generally refrain from employing such tactics with established veterans. Managers in large markets might be even more reluctant to call out players. As New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman said Friday, 'I think leaders, managers, coaches are more inclined to try to support and help players that are going through a lot as they try to navigate their struggles. Struggles are part of the game. It's just louder in a bigger market.' In any case, the danger with making too much of the Brewers is that, for nearly two months, no one talked about Uecker Magic or anything of the sort. On May 3, after the Brewers fell to 16-18 with a 6-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs, Murphy lamented, 'It seems like we've misplaced our edge a little bit.' For nearly seven weeks, the Brewers failed to register a comeback victory. During their 14-game winning streak, they came from behind eight times, including an 8-1 deficit against the Reds on Friday night. They were in position for another comeback win Sunday when William Contreras hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning, but their bullpen could not hold the lead. Have the Brewers benefited from good luck? Of course they have. Through May 24, their batting average on balls in play was .283, below league average. From May 25 through Saturday, their BABIP was .322, the highest in the majors by 11 points. And their overall batting average, slugging percentage and weighted on-base average all exceeded their expected numbers by rates that ranked first or second in the league. Advertisement Offensive regression, then, is inevitable. One rival official said even 70 games – nearly half a season – is not enough for him to believe in the Brewers' formula. But in nearly two seasons under Murphy, little in their identity has changed. In both years, the Brewers have ranked first in FanGraphs' base-running metric. In both, they have been top five in both defensive efficiency and Statcast's new team-level fielding metric. In both, they flashed occasional power, but still ranked in the bottom half of the league in homers. But last year's club, which won 93 games before falling to the New York Mets in the wild-card round, was not as good as this one. Through Saturday, the Brewers had dramatically improved their strikeout rate (from 18th last season to fifth this year) and contact rate (from 11th to fifth). They also had widened the gap to the next-best base-running team by improving their extra-base taken percentage from last season (from 13th to second) and reducing their outs on the bases (from the fourth highest to tied for the second lowest). 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Another early knockout would lead to another series of questions about whether the Brewers did enough before the deadline, and whether they spend enough in general. Advocates of a salary cap – read, the owners – also would cite a rapid elimination as further testament that a small-market team can't win the World Series, ignoring that the 2015 Kansas City Royals did win it, that the 2020 Tampa Bay Rays participated in it and the 2024 Cleveland Guardians came within two wins of making their second Series appearance in nine years. Advertisement The current economic system is far from perfect, leaving small-market teams at too great a disadvantage, but how to correct it is a conversation for another day. Even if the Brewers fall in an expanded and increasingly random postseason, it will not detract from what they have accomplished, and the lessons they are imparting – or should be imparting – upon the entire sport. Since losing center fielder Jackson Chourio to a strained right hamstring, the Brewers are 14-1. Since promoting trade acquisition Andrew Vaughn to replace Rhys Hoskins, who remains on the IL with a sprained left thumb, they're 28-5. In addition to hitting nine homers in 113 at-bats,Vaughn further established his Brewers bonafides last Monday, executing a suicide squeeze for his first-ever sacrifice hit, pro or college. The Brewers entered Sunday tied for fifth in sacrifice bunts and sixth in sacrifice flies, and also were second in stolen bases. They scrap. They drive opponents to distraction. They beat teams in any number of ways. 'I think we need to take a page out of the Brewers' book,' Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Bryan Reynolds said Wednesday. 'They just do everything right. They base run, they take the extra base, they put the ball in play, swing at strikes. I think we could benefit a lot from trying to have the same kind of game style.' It's not just the small-market teams that could benefit, it's every team. Here's to the little things that make baseball beautiful. Here's to baseball's version of David using slingshots on the sport's Goliaths. Here's to the Brewers, however long they continue the fun. (Top photo of Caleb Durbin celebrating a home run with Brewers teammates: Jason Mowry / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
