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  • William Weinbaum

Jul 24, 2023, 06:45 AM ET

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Baseball Hall of Famer George Brett is his jovial self, laughing and smiling while reflecting on his rage 40 years ago today in the infamous yet celebrated Pine Tar Game against the New York Yankees.

On July 24, 1983, with two outs in the ninth inning and his visiting Kansas City Royals trailing, Brett hit a two-run home run off fellow future Hall of Famer Rich “Goose” Gossage, vaulting the Royals into a 5-4 lead. New York manager Billy Martin immediately challenged the homer on the grounds that the pine tar on Brett’s bat covered more than the allowable 18 inches.

After the umpires huddled and measured the bat’s pine tar against the 17-inch width of home plate, rookie ump Tim McClelland invalidated Brett’s blast, pointed the bat at the Royals’ dugout and called Brett out, unleashing the ire of the Royals’ third baseman, who stormed back onto the field. The chaotic scene, vivid for the ages, painted a new perception of Brett and altered the annals of baseball.

Security confiscated the bat from the Royals after K.C. pitcher Gaylord Perry had taken it from McClelland. It was delivered to the office of American League president Lee MacPhail. Four days after Brett had circled the bases, MacPhail upheld Kansas City’s protest, overturned the on-field decision, reinstated the homer, negated the Yankees’ 4-3 win and ordered the game replayed from the moment of the controversy. MacPhail said that although the umpires’ interpretation of Rule 1.10 (b) was “technically defensible,” it was “not in accord with the intent or spirit of the rules.” The rulebook provision was meant to avoid dirtying too many baseballs, not to affect the outcome of a play or game.

On Aug. 18 in the Bronx, it took 12 minutes for the Royals and Yankees to replay the end of the game from the moment of controversy, in front of about 1,200 fans (nearly 34,000 had attended July 24). The Royals won 5-4 without Brett, as MacPhail had retroactively ejected Brett for his outburst. That offseason, Major League Baseball changed the rule, memorializing the explosive events as a unique chapter in the sport’s history.

Brett, who played for the Royals during his entire MLB career from 1973 to 1993, is the only man to win batting titles in three decades. He was an All-Star for 13 consecutive seasons, won the AL Most Valuable Player Award in 1980 and was a World Series champion and Gold Glove winner in 1985. The lefty’s .390 batting average in 1980 remains the second highest (behind Tony Gwynn’s .394 in 1994) since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Now in his 31st season as the Royals’ vice president of baseball operations, Brett was a first-ballot Hall of Fame electee in 1999.

Brett, 70, in Cooperstown for the annual induction weekend, spoke Friday about the pine tar episode, his unforgettable tirade and how the bat ended up in the museum here that displays his and Gossage’s Hall of Fame plaques. Here are excerpts from that conversation, which has been edited for clarity and length.

How would you complete a sentence that starts with ‘July 24, 1983?’

July 24, 1983, I remember distinctly I was in the Bronx and it was a Sunday day game. We were playing the team that I despise the most, the New York Yankees, and they despise me. And I’m forever known as the “pine tar guy.” Goose and I have had a lot of laughs over that ever since he got in the Hall of Fame. I never said one word to Goose Gossage playing against him, playing with him and All-Star Games — never said one word. And then we met on a golf course and played golf, and now we’re best buds. I love him.

What were you known for before that day?

Nineteen-eighty was the summer that I almost hit .400 and obviously a lot of stress, and we finally beat the Yankees in the ’80 playoffs. All of a sudden, after beating the Yankees, I didn’t feel good. I felt a really bad pain inside me, basically, and it turned out I had internal and external hemorrhoids. And it seemed like everywhere I went after that, getting loose before your at-bat, all the idiots that would be sitting by the on-deck circle would make jokes. You never turn around. I just ignored it. But then, July 24, 1983, came around and then I was the pine tar guy. Seriously, what would you rather be remembered for? Hitting a home run off Goose Gossage in the ninth inning to win a ballgame, or being the guy with hemorrhoids in the World Series?

How many times have you seen the video of that day and what do you take from it when you do see it?

I see it quite a bit. I don’t pull it up on YouTube, I don’t do that. I’m not one of those guys who’ll watch it over and over again, but just by chance, watching TV and seeing clips of it, I’ve probably seen it 100 times. Showed it to my kids a whole bunch of times when they were young. I wanted to see the look on their faces when I got mad, and I told them you better never make me this mad, and they never did.

When you watch that video, what regretful memories do you have?

The one thing I regret is I wish I wouldn’t have waved my hands that much when I was running out. It’s funny, some of the Royals’ minor league affiliates will do a bobble head and draw fans in, and they had George Brett bobblehead night one day in Lexington, Kentucky — one of our A-League teams back in the days — and instead of the bobble head moving around, the arms went up and down. I thought that was kind of good. But no, I have no regrets at all. None whatsoever. I mean, I played to win. I would do whatever it took to win a ballgame, and then when you do something as heroic as what I did, two outs in the ninth inning, hit a home run off Goose Gossage, a Hall of Fame pitcher, and you think you’ve won the game and all of a sudden they say you cheated — obviously, I didn’t cheat. Didn’t feel like I had to cheat, I thought I was a pretty good player. But for them to take that away was frustrating. Ironically, a teammate of mine, [Hall of Famer] Gaylord Perry, who liked memorabilia, thought it’d be cool to steal the bat from the umpire, so he steals it.

What do you think of where the bat is now?

It’s right where it belongs, it belongs in the Hall of Fame. At one time, I did sell it. I was getting all these offers from people to buy it. Barry Halper, collector, part owner of the New York Yankees, I sold it to him for $25,000. About two weeks later, I came to my senses and I said, “No, Barry, I can’t do that. Here’s your $25,000 back.” I got the bat back and I gave it to the Hall of Fame. It’s a piece of baseball history and it’s gonna stay in here the rest of its life. One thing I do regret is I used that bat again. I cleaned it all up. The bat was a really good bat. It was an eight- or nine-grainer, the least amount of grain on the bat is usually where the heart of the wood is. And I’d used that bat for probably a month. Lee MacPhail shipped it back to us, we were in Detroit when I got the bat back, playing the Tigers. And the first thing I did is I got some rubbing alcohol and I cleaned off the bat to 18 inches and drew a red line around the bat. I used it for two or three days again and Gaylord comes up to me and says, “George, you can’t use that bat, it’s too valuable. If you break it, it’s not worth anything.” So I took it out of play and that’s when I got rid of it. But I wish I would have kept the bat in its original state. I think it would be better for everybody to see what it was. I think the rule is 18 inches and my pine tar, I think, was 23. So it’s 5 inches over the limit. But here’s the kicker, I used a bat that was unfinished, it was raw ash — a lot of people put enamel finish on it or some type of shellac or something. I just used raw wood. And so the pine tar itself, I don’t think was up that high. It just kind of grew in the grain because there was no protection, there was no varnish on the bat or anything like that. So it was black going up there, up to the end of the bat. But it really wasn’t pine tar, it was just kind of growing into the wood.

Let’s go back to the game itself. What do you remember about the situation and your emotions when you hit the home run, right up until the home run was — at least for the moment — nullified?

They had a guy come in, [Dale] Murray, who had a good sinker, threw a really heavy ball. And he was cruising along, pitched three innings, did a great job. And then U.L. Washington got a base hit off him and they brought Goose in to face me. And I would rather face a guy that threw like Goose. I had a lot of at bats off Goose. I don’t think he ever threw me a slider. I don’t think he ever threw a changeup in his life. And when he faced Hal McRae, Amos Otis and those guys, he would throw sliders, but he always threw me fastballs. And I just said, “Hey, you know, you got to just look fastball.” And so I looked fastball and the next thing you know, hit a home run. I was excited, ran around the bases, gave us the lead in the top of the ninth inning, there was two outs. And the next thing you know, I’m crossing home plate and I saw Billy Martin out there, and I’m going, “What the hell’s he doing out there?” By the time I get to the dugout, I’m sitting there next to Vida Blue, I think, and Frank White was sitting close to me. And Frank said, “You know, they might call you out for using too much pine tar.” And I said, “I’ve never heard of that before. Too much pine tar. What do you mean?” He said, “Well, they called John Mayberry out on that.” (Editor’s note: In a 1975 game, Mayberry’s bat was inspected for excess pine tar after he hit two home runs for the Royals, but the umpires didn’t penalize him and an Angels protest was denied by MacPhail.) And I go, “Well, if they call me out for using too much pine tar, I’ll run out and kill one of those SOBs.” And sure enough, as soon as I said that, Tim McClelland walks over and points at me and says, “You’re out.” I mean, obviously, I wasn’t gonna hit him. I looked like a madman coming out. I think everything kind of got a little more dramatic than it should have. Because [umpire] Joe Brinkman got behind me and started pulling me back, and I was trying to get away and he had a chokehold on me and just pulling me backwards and backwards and I was just trying to get free from him. I wasn’t going after Tim McClelland. I mean, as Timmy would always say, “George, what were you gonna do to me? I’m 6’5″ [he was listed at 6’6″], I’ve got shin guards on, I’ve got a bat in one hand, a mask in the other. What are you gonna do to me?” I said, “Timmy, I was just going to come out and yell at you, I wasn’t going to hit you. You would’ve kicked my ass.” But it’s something that we all joke about. I remember getting telegrams from back in the day, 1983. I got a telegram from Joe Brinkman, the day that Lee MacPhail overruled it. He said, “Congratulations on your home run, can’t wait to see you again.” And ironically enough, Tim McClelland was umpiring behind home plate in Detroit when I got my bat back. And Tim says, “Hey, you want me to check your bat?” And I said, “Timmy, let’s just let this pass, OK?” But yeah, it was great. It was a good moment. Baseball players are always remembered for something, you know. And if I’m going to be remembered for hitting a home run and showing my emotions and my desire to win, that’s good, that’s a good thing.

What did you learn about how the Yankees even thought to do that [challenge the home run]?

Well, two weeks prior to that we were playing the Yankees in Kansas City. I was using the same bat. And [Yankees third baseman] Graig Nettles always tells the story that we (the Yankees) knew it was illegal two weeks ago, but he (Brett) never got a hit in the seventh, eighth or ninth inning to change the outcome of the game. You might get a base hit with two outs and nobody on in the first inning or base hit with nobody on in the fifth inning. They’re not going to challenge that. So they waited for the right time, and the right time was in New York in Yankee Stadium in the ninth inning when I did something dramatic — and that’s when they called me out on it.

Royals general manager John Schuerholz decided to appeal. What do you know about the process and decision?

Obviously, I love the decision when Schuerholz and Dean Taylor, our assistant GM, protested the call by the umpire. Lee MacPhail ruled in the Royals’ favor. I don’t know what was in the letter, but John’s a pretty bright guy, and they got it overturned. We had to go back on an off day. I was kicked out of the game. I was still gonna go to the game, but the manager then, Dick Howser, said don’t even go the stadium, it’ll be a circus. So me and the son of [famed actor] Don Ameche, Larry — he was a TWA rep, we always chartered TWA jets back then — we went to some restaurant in New Jersey, an Italian restaurant, and watched the game on a little 10-inch TV. And went back to the airport, the guys had to go there after finishing the game, and next thing you know we were flying to Baltimore.

What do you think this anniversary should mean?

I don’t know. Ironically enough, the Royals are in Yankee Stadium [over the weekend], which I think is great. I think every July 24th, they should play there. What does it mean? I don’t know. Put it this way, if I didn’t have the pine tar on my bat, we wouldn’t be doing this interview right now. I’d be on the golf course and maybe still sleeping, who knows. If it happened in Cleveland back then, if it happened in Oakland back then, would we be doing this? But it’s New York City, you know, and that’s the whole deal. New York’s a big deal. I seemed to always play well in New York. It was just something that I’m proud of. Sometimes you gotta remind the younger generation that I was the guy that did that, but it’s cool.

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Who has the edge for MVP, Cy Young and more? MLB Awards Watch at the All-Star break

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July 16, 2025

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Who has the edge for MVP, Cy Young and more? MLB Awards Watch at the All-Star break

  • Bradford DoolittleJul 16, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

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      • MLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com
      • Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com
      • Been with ESPN since 2013

Judge. Ohtani. Skubal. Wheeler.

A little more than halfway home, four of baseball’s titans have established themselves as the front-runners in the major awards races, at least according to ESPN BET. A lot can happen between now and the balloting late in the season, but when you have established stars and perennial awards favorites atop the leaderboard, their competitors can’t count on any kind of a drop-off.

In other words: Barring a major injury to Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Tarik Skubal or Zack Wheeler, it’s going to take a strong second half by anyone hoping to overtake them. It can happen, and if any of these races tighten up, it’ll be something to behold.

Awards Watch agrees with many of the assessments made by the betting markets, but if the season ended today, there would be a few disagreements, according to AXE. That doesn’t mean the voters would fall in line with the numbers, but the debate would be robust.

As we check in with our midseason Awards Watch, let’s see how things stack up for the favorites.

Most Valuable Player

American League

Front-runner: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (162 AXE)

Next nine: 2. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (148); 3. Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (138); 4. Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros (134); 5. Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins (133); 6. Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians (130); 7. Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox (129); 8. (tie) Randy Arozarena, Mariners, J.P. Crawford, Mariners (124); 10. Julio Rodriguez, Mariners (122).

Leader trend: Judge has retained a comfortable lead in this category all season. Raleigh drew fairly close in late June, but the gap has since widened again. That’s not Raleigh’s fault; it’s just Judge being Judge. At the time of our last Awards Watch, Judge had a 1.234 OPS. Since then, he has managed a meager 1.141. Yeah, that’s still pretty good.

The shape of Judge’s numbers has changed a bit. When we convened in late May, he was hitting .395, and he has posted a mortal .297 average since. But he has picked things up in the slugging category. Last time, he was mashing homers at the rate of 54 per 162 games. Since, that number is 66. Raleigh might be having the greatest catcher season of all time, and it’s possible that if there is any kind of Judge fatigue among the voters, that could impact the ballot. But what isn’t likely is any kind of prolonged drop-off by Judge.

Biggest mover: Buxton wasn’t in the top 10 last time out, but he has entered the top five based on several weeks of elite production and good health. During an 11-year career marked as much by injury as spectacular play, the first half featured Buxton at his best and most available, putting him on pace for his first 30/30 season at age 31. It keeps getting better: Since the last Awards Watch, Buxton has a 1.025 OPS with rates of 48 homers and 39 steals per 162 games.

Keep an eye on: Last time, there were two Red Sox in the top 10. Both have dropped out, with Alex Bregman hitting the IL and Rafael Devers hitting the airport for a flight to join his new team in San Francisco. But Boston is still represented by the overlooked Rafaela. No, he isn’t going to overtake Judge in the MVP race, but one of baseball’s most unique players deserves a little run.

After splitting time between shortstop and center field in 2024, Rafaela has played almost exclusively on the grass this season, and his defensive metrics have been off the charts. That’s driving this ranking, but Rafaela also has made tremendous strides at the plate. After entering the season with a career OPS+ of 83, he has upped that number to 118 in 2025 and is on pace for a 20/20 campaign.

National League

Front-runner: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (144 AXE)

Next nine: 2. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs (143); 3. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres (136); 4. Kyle Tucker, Cubs (135); 5. James Wood, Washington Nationals (134); 6. Will Smith, Dodgers (131); 7. (tie) Pete Alonso, New York Mets, Juan Soto, Mets (129); 9. Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds (128); 10. Francisco Lindor, Mets (127).

Leader trend: Crow-Armstrong just won’t go away. He has lurked behind Ohtani on the AXE leaderboard for most of the season, but a quiet series from Ohtani in Milwaukee paired with another outburst from Crow-Armstrong flipped the top spot. Ohtani is still the favorite — the leaderboard flipped again over the weekend and, besides, he’s Ohtani — but at this point, we have to come to grips with the reality that Crow-Armstrong can mount a legitimate challenge.

Like Rafaela, Crow-Armstrong’s defensive metrics are top of the charts and, in fact, those two are in a duel for the MLB lead in defensive runs saved metrics among outfielders. But Crow-Armstrong’s bat continues to fuel his rise to superstar status. He entered the break on pace for 42 homers and 46 steals.

Ironically, if the offensive numbers between Ohtani and Crow-Armstrong are tight, it could come down to very different forms of run prevention. Crow-Armstrong is at 15 defensive runs saved as a center fielder. Meanwhile, Ohtani is at three runs above average during his nine innings on the mound. As the pitching side of Ohtani’s record grows, that gap might narrow considerably.

If that happens and it comes down to a straight-up comparison at the plate, it’s going to be tough for Crow-Armstrong, whose 140 OPS+ currently is dwarfed by Ohtani’s 174.

Biggest mover: Wood continues to cement his arrival as a right-now star player, and his pace has been accelerating even after an excellent start. Despite a subdued week before the break, Wood has a .908 OPS and 162-game rates of 42 homers, 127 RBIs, 19 steals and 100 runs since the last Awards Watch. Overall, he has a .381 OBP and is on pace for 100 walks, so those numbers aren’t driven by a short-term power surge. At 22, Wood simply is already an all-around offensive force.

Keep an eye on: Tucker overtook Crow-Armstrong for the No. 2 slot (and the Cubs’ team lead) in AXE late in June, before Crow-Armstrong reasserted himself. But Tucker’s production is metronomic: His AXE at the last Awards Watch was 130, and he is now at 135. Tucker has an .839 OPS at Wrigley Field as compared to .905 on the road, where 12 of his 17 homers have been hit. But if warmer weather and outward-blowing winds become consistent in Chicago, a Tucker power surge could be in the offing. If that happens, look out.

Cy Young

American League

Front-runner: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers (151 AXE)

Next nine: 2. Garrett Crochet, Red Sox (149); 3. (tie) Framber Valdez, Astros, Joe Ryan, Twins (138); 5. Hunter Brown, Astros (137); 6. Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers (136); 7. Kris Bubic, Royals (134); 8. Max Fried, Yankees (133); 9. Jacob deGrom, Rangers (132); 10. Bryan Woo, Mariners (126).

Leader trend: Skubal was fourth in AXE among AL pitchers last time out, though he was still the clear front-runner to repeat as AL Cy Young. A few more weeks have brought AXE in line with reality, as Skubal has gone to that magical place few pitchers ever reach.

Skubal’s blastoff actually began when we posted the last Awards Watch, as he was coming off a complete-game, two-hit shutout against Cleveland. Perhaps the most impressive part of that outing is that he recorded 13 strikeouts on just 94 pitches. Well, since then, Skubal did the same thing to Minnesota: 13 whiffs on 93 pitches on June 29.

In eight outings following the last Watch, Skubal has gone 5-1 with a 1.89 ERA, thrown at least seven innings five times and posted an absurd ratio of 61 strikeouts to nine walks. This race isn’t over, but it’s clearly Skubal’s to win.

Biggest mover: DeGrom missed the top 10 last time, but since then, he has shown every indication of ramping back up to his historic level of stifling run prevention. He’s doing it a little differently than he did in his Mets heyday, emphasizing pitch efficiency to a greater extent.

DeGrom’s 26% strikeout rate is his lowest in nearly a decade, and he has reached double digits in whiffs just once this season. But he has a sparkling 2.32 ERA and has been at 2.20 over eight starts since the last Awards Watch. He had a string of five straight starts when he threw at least six innings, reaching seven twice, all without hitting the 90-pitch mark.

Keep an eye on: Crochet has been coming on like gangbusters, as has the team around him. He finished his first half with a complete-game, three-hit shutout of Tampa Bay, closing the AXE gap between him and Skubal. Crochet leads the AL in innings pitched (129⅓), strikeouts (160) and ERA+ (185). We’ve seen Skubal do this for a full season; now, it’s up to Crochet to prove he can match the reigning Cy Young winner start for start in what’s shaping up as a great race.

National League

Front-runner: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates (150 AXE)

Next nine: 2. Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies (148); 3. Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies (143); 4. MacKenzie Gore, Nationals (135); 5. Nick Pivetta, Padres (133); 6. Ranger Suarez, Phillies (132); 7. (tie) Andrew Abbott, Reds, Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers (131); 9. Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants (130); 10. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers (128)

Leader trend: The numbers between Wheeler and Skenes are so close, it’s hard not to fixate on the disparity in the win-loss columns: Wheeler is 9-3, while the criminally under-supported Skenes is 4-8. Recently, I re-pitched the notion of a revised win-loss record based on game scores, so that’s worth taking a fresh look at to see if the difference in the traditional records is misleading.

Well, it is and it isn’t. Skenes has suffered a string of hard-luck game score losses of late and now sits at 11-9 by that method. Wheeler, meanwhile, is an MLB-best 16-3. Wheeler also has a solid edge in average game score at 65.2, as compared to 63.2 for Skenes. For now, Wheeler has the edge.

Will it last? Consider another byproduct of that game score work: pitcher temperature. You win a game score matchup, the temp goes up. You lose, it goes down. Each starter begins his career at the average temperature of 72 degrees, and it goes back and forth from there. The hottest starter in baseball by this method: Wheeler, at 127.2 degrees. Because of his recent bad run, Skenes has cooled to 68.7 degrees.

Biggest mover: For now, Sanchez has seized the spot just behind Wheeler, which of course makes him a mere No. 2 in his own rotation. Sanchez was overlooked when the NL All-Star rosters were released, and it was a true oversight. Like Wheeler, Sanchez has been fiery hot, with a string of excellent outings since the last Awards Watch. Over nine starts during that span, Sanchez has 1.77 ERA and 2.11 FIP, while pitching seven innings or more six times.

Keep an eye on: Let’s just stick with our Phillies theme and keep our eyes on their whole rotation. Wheeler (second), Sanchez (third) and Suarez (sixth) are entrenched in the top 10. Meanwhile, Jesus Luzardo (126 AXE), who led this category last time out, just missed giving the Phillies four rotation members in the top 10. Philadelphia leads the majors in average game score and is second in the NL (behind Cincinnati) in game score win-loss percentage.

Rookie of the Year

American League

Front-runner: Jacob Wilson, Athletics (121 AXE)

Next nine: 2. Carlos Narvaez, Red Sox (120); 3. Cam Smith, Astros (116); 4. Noah Cameron, Royals (115); 5. Nick Kurtz, Athletics (108); 6. Jake Mangum, Tampa Bay Rays (107); 7. (tie) Mike Vasil, Chicago White Sox, Will Warren, Yankees, Jasson Dominguez, Yankees (106); 10. Roman Anthony, Red Sox (105)

Leader trend: Wilson has come back to the pack on the AXE leaderboard, perhaps inevitably after his remarkable start to the season. He was hitting .348 at the last Awards Watch then went out and pushed that number to .372 on June 8. Since then, Wilson has hit just .222 and has just three extra-base hits over 24 games. Wilson’s quick beginning turned enough heads to get him voted as the AL’s starting shortstop in the All-Star Game. But he has been replaced by Smith as the AL Rookie of the Year favorite at ESPN BET.

Biggest mover: Smith has mashed his way into prominence, but he’s proving to be a well-rounded young hitter despite just 32 games of minor league experience. Alas, his surprising .277 batting average is driven by a .378 BABIP that doesn’t seem likely to hold up. However, Smith has just seven homers, and if his game power starts to match his raw power, he can easily replace any loss in average with a gain in slugging.

Keep an eye on: Kurtz has been picking up the pace, especially in the power category, manifesting what was his calling card prior to reaching the majors. Kurtz hit the IL with a hip injury on the day the last Awards Watch went out. He had just started to drive the ball before getting hurt, and he has gone right on slugging since he came back. After homering just once over his first 23 games, Kurtz has since gone deep 16 times in 35 contests while slugging .713 in the process.

National League

Front-runner: Caleb Durbin, Brewers (113 AXE)

Next nine: 2. (tie) Chad Patrick, Brewers, Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves (112); 4. (tie) Hyeseong Kim, Dodgers, Isaac Collins, Brewers (109); 6. (tie) Jack Dreyer, Dodgers, Brad Lord, Nationals (105); 8. (tie) Liam Hicks, Miami Marlins, Lake Bachar, Marlins, Yohel Pozo, St. Louis Cardinals (104)

Leader trend: The race remains tepid. One of those players tied for second — Patrick, the leader in this category last time out — is back in Triple A, joining Logan Henderson (not listed here, but who ranks 11th) in the rotation at Nashville. It’s not because of failures on their part, though, it’s just because Milwaukee is so flush with starting pitching. Speaking of which …

Biggest mover: Jacob Misiorowski had yet to debut when we last convened, but he has since become a must-watch big league starter and, amazingly, an All-Star.

He won his first three starts while posting a 1.13 ERA, then put up his first stinker in a loss to the Mets. He followed that with a head-turning six innings of dominance against the defending champion Dodgers, whiffing 12 L.A. batters and beating future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. The end result: Misiorowski has become ESPN BET’s new front-runner for top NL rookie.

Keep an eye on: Kim has been as good as advertised for the Dodgers, matching the elite defense and baserunning we knew he had with a surprising 137 OPS+ over 119 plate appearances. Now, in the wake of Max Muncy‘s knee injury, Kim should be more of a lineup fixture, at least for a few weeks.

Manager of the Year

American League

Front-runner: A.J. Hinch, Tigers (112 EARL)

Next four: 2. Joe Espada, Astros (109); 3. Ron Washington, Los Angeles Angels (108); 4. John Schneider, Toronto Blue Jays (107); 5. Dan Wilson, Mariners (103)

Overview: It’s bittersweet to see Washington on the leaderboard now that we know he won’t be back this season because of a health issue. That leaves a pretty good battle between Hinch and Espada, his bench coach with the Astros. The Tigers’ historic pace with such a young team has Hinch in front. But Houston’s surge despite injuries and underperformances is the kind of thing that will catch a voter’s eye.

National League

Front-runner: Pat Murphy, Brewers (108 EARL)

Next four: 2. (tie) Oliver Marmol, Cardinals; Bob Melvin, Giants (106); 4. (tie) Craig Counsell, Cubs; Clayton McCullough, Marlins (105)

Overview: This is a hard race to read. Marmol is a classic candidate, guiding a low-expectation team to a good record and playoff contention. But the Cardinals might be on the verge of dropping back. Meanwhile, the Brewers have become the NL’s hottest team, nudging Murphy, last year’s NL Manager of the Year, into the lead at the break. But in both manager categories, these stories are very far from being written.

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MLB betting: Top storylines for the season’s second half

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7 hours ago

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July 16, 2025

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MLB betting: Top storylines for the season's second half

Coming off his second American League MVP season in 2024, New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge opened as the favorite to repeat for the award. He has only helped his argument by posting the AL’s best average (.355) as well as its second-most home runs (35) and RBIs (81) at the All-Star break. However, as excellent as his season has been, a stunning breakout campaign from Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is closing the gap in the odds.

Judge currently shows -600 odds to win the AL MVP in 2025, a major improvement from his leading +300 at the start of the season, according to ESPN BET lines. However, Raleigh now has the second-best odds +325, a remarkable shortening from his opening 100-1 price.

Judge’s short odds all season — which reached an incredible -1,000 in mid-May — dictated that he was never going to be an attractive option for bettors, with BetMGM reporting 5.2% of the bettors backing him for the award, fifth best in the market.

Raleigh, on the other hand, made a slow progression up the odds board, allowing bettors to take advantage of his long plus-pricing for some time. Caesars Sportsbook baseball lead Eric Biggio said many of the sportsbook’s customers grabbed the Mariners backstop at 90-1 back in early May. Judge’s excellence actually helped keep Raleigh at a long price, according to another bookmaker, since Judge’s extremely short price needed to be balanced.

BetMGM said Raleigh holds a leading 33% of the handle for AL MVP, the book’s largest liability in the market. His laidback attitude, Home Run Derby win and amusing nickname could continue to fuel his MVP narrative … and make trouble for sportsbooks.

“As much as I like him, as much as I enjoy rooting for the Big Dumper, he’s a pretty big liability for us,” Biggio told ESPN. “We’ve got some pretty big tickets on Raleigh to win the MVP and for the home run leader.”

The latter market is also an intriguing one: Even as Raleigh (38) holds a three-homer lead over Judge, the Yankees slugger is still the solid favorite to sock the most dingers this season, showing -140 odds to Raleigh’s +130 at ESPN BET. Los Angeles Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani holds +800 odds to accompany his 32 home runs.

“If Raleigh wins either one of those two awards, we’re not going to be in as good of shape with him as we are with those other two guys,” DraftKings Sportsbook director Johnny Avello told ESPN.

Ohtani is also the solid favorite for National League MVP at -700, but Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is putting some degree of pressure on him at +750. BetMGM reports PCA as its biggest liability in that market.

World Series favorites

Ahead of the 2025 season, the Dodgers were an astounding +160 to win the National League pennant and +275 to win the World Series, per ESPN BET lines — the shortest odds to win MLB’s championship since the 2003 Yankees. At the All-Star break, not a whole lot has changed, with L.A. now a +140 favorite to take the NL crown and a +240 favorite for the World Series.

Things have not gone as expected on the American League side, however. After opening the season at +1200 to win the AL and +3000 to take the World Series, the Detroit Tigers now display the best record in baseball, bringing their pennant odds to a favorite’s +250 and their championship odds to +700, tied with the Yankees for second best.

The underdog story resonated with the betting public, who began backing the Tigers at the first indications that they could make some noise not only in the AL Central, but in the league at large. Biggio said Detroit is Caesars’ second-largest liability, behind only the San Francisco Giants.

“We had some longer prices, and the public spotted it early that they’re a legit squad,” he said. “So some big prices on the Tigers to win it all, and they are for real.”

“They’ve become a popular futures selection, now our second-most bet World Series winner by total bets, and third-most popular pick by handle,” ESPN BET’s VP of sportsbook strategy and growth Adam Landeka said via email. “Given their relatively longer price earlier in the season, we already know we’ll be a fan of almost any team the Tigers face in the postseason.”

While Detroit’s concern will be coaching its relatively inexperienced core to a postseason run, L.A.’s will be staying healthy. Bookmakers remark that the Dodgers’ ability to keep winning games despite several significant injuries is a testament to their depth, thus keeping them a favorite in the long run.

Young arms

The eyes of the baseball world turned to Milwaukee for a seemingly random matinee game June 25. It was the first head-to-head matchup between Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes and Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski, two of the brightest future pitching stars in baseball. It would prove to be significant for at least one of them.

Prior to his MLB debut on June 12, Misirowski was +2500 to win NL Rookie of the Year. That day he moved to +1000, then to +175 after his second start, before finally becoming the odds-on favorite at -120 after getting the better of Skenes, according to ESPN BET’s Landeka. At the break, “The Miz” is -220 to take home the award. Sportsbooks were able to stay on top of his rapid ascendancy, limiting their liability.

“We were able to move this guy pretty quickly,” Avello said. “That’s one that didn’t get hit, could have had some good value there. We’re in pretty good shape with him actually.”

Skenes, meanwhile, is having another remarkable season after taking home ROY honors last year, but his disappointing record (4-8) for a dismal Pirates team could be keeping him from being the NL Cy Young favorite. He currently shows -105 odds at ESPN BET, trailing Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler at -130.

It’s largely a two-man race — Wheeler’s teammate, Cristopher Sanchez, is next closest in the odds at +2000 — but sportsbooks aren’t too worried about liability given the short prices on Skenes and Wheeler all season.

“We’ve seen comparable action on both, but as it stands now Skenes would be a better result for us,” Landeka said.

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NHL schedule release: Bruins, Penguins, Maple Leafs and more lead top reveals

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July 16, 2025

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NHL schedule release: Bruins, Penguins, Maple Leafs and more lead top reveals

The 2025-26 NHL season is slowly approaching and teams checked another offseason box on Wednesday by revealing their schedules for the upcoming campaign.

Creativity abounded as squads looked to show off their upcoming calendar in distinctive ways. The Boston Bruins enlisted comedian Bill Burr to help unveil their schedule. The Pittsburgh Penguins went with a hospital theme. Dogs were brought in to help out the Toronto Maple Leafs with their reveal.

Headlined by those and more, here’s a look at the social media schedule release posts from each NHL team.

Boston Bruins

Pittsburgh Penguins

Toronto Maple Leafs

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