CHICAGO — Pete Crow-Armstrong is 23 years old, but on Friday the speedy Cubs center fielder turned a record-setting 30-something.
Crow-Armstrong hit his 30th homer in Chicago’s 12-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, making him the first player in franchise history to hit 30 home runs, steal 30 bases and hit 30 doubles in a season, and the record sixth player in the majors this season with 30 homers and 30 steals.
The left-handed-hitting All-Star joined Sammy Sosa as the second Cub to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases. Sosa did it in 1993 and 1995.
Crow-Armstrong, in his third major league third season, seemed to still be processing the feat after the win.
“I think it just means that I’ve improved over the last few years,” he said. “I think that’s what I’m selfishly most proud of is, in my own development, is just seeing a bit of a progression each year that I’ve been playing pro ball.”
“I would just say a nice culmination of some years and many more to come.”
Crow-Armstrong hit a high curve from Miles Mikolas 396 feet into the right-center bleachers for a two-run shot that gave Chicago a 3-0 lead with two outs in the fourth.
The outfielder also has 35 stolen bases and 37 doubles. But his drive Friday was just his second homer in his past 29 games and third in his past 55.
Crow-Armstrong has slumped at the plate in the second half, even as his defensive play has sparkled. His batting average was .273 on Aug. 1, but has slipped to .245.
“Yeah, it’s been a tale of two halves, for sure,” Crow-Armstrong said. “But yeah, it’s being able to go home and be honest with myself and analyzing how the second half has been.”
Chicago’s second victory in eight games reduced its magic number to clinch the top NL wild card — and home-field advantage — to one over San Diego. The teams will meet in the opening round starting next Tuesday.
“Whatever the stats are, I just want to go play playoff baseball at this point,” Crow-Armstrong said. “[Rather] than talk about other stuff honestly, I just want to win more ballgames.”
But 30 is a big number. Even for the fan who brought Crow-Armstrong’s home run ball back to him in exchange for an in-person meeting outside the clubhouse and a cache of souvenirs.
“The guy who got it, it was his first Cub game in, he said like 30 years,” Crow-Armstrong said. “So that was neat.”
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Blues forward Jordan Kyrou was a healthy scratch for Thursday night’s game at Buffalo as St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery tries to spark improvement from his struggling team.
The Blues are 1-6-2 in their past nine games and entered Thursday in 15th place in the Western Conference with a 4-9-2 record. St. Louis followed a 3-2 win at home against Edmonton with a 6-1 road loss at Washington on Wednesday night.
Montgomery held a mandatory morning skate before playing in the second game of a back-to-back Thursday in Buffalo.
“If you have competitive fire in your belly, struggles like this provide opportunities to grow stronger together when you face these again,” Montgomery said after the practice.
Kyrou is tied for second on the Blues with eight points in 14 games and has led the team in goals in each of the past three seasons. Kyrou has not recorded a point in his past five games. This is the first time in five seasons that the 27-year-old winger has been a healthy scratch. He has 154 goals and 340 points in 430 NHL games.
Alexandre Texier replaced Kyrou at right wing on the Blues’ top line.
BATON ROUGE, La. — Former LSU coach Brian Kelly shared a statement on social media to fans Thursday, a little more than a week after he was fired in the fourth season of his 10-year, $100 million contract.
“The journey began with great expectations with my own vision of how to get there,” Kelly said. “Sometimes the journey does not end the way we hope.
“But when I think of our time together, I will remember and appreciate what we did accomplish. … The roar of Death Valley when we beat Alabama. The losses will always hurt, but I will remember all the wins.”
Kelly was 34-14 with the Tigers over three-plus seasons, helping them reach the 2022 Southeastern Conference title game. They didn’t qualify for the College Football Playoff in his first three seasons and were virtually eliminated from contention with his last loss.
LSU has won three national titles this century — in 2003, 2007 and 2019. The most recent came under Kelly’s predecessor, Ed Orgeron.
Kelly called it a privilege to coach exceptional student-athletes, among them 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and 39 SEC Academic Honor Roll players in 2024.
Associate head coach Frank Wilson is the team’s interim coach for the rest of the season.
The Tigers (5-3, 2-3 SEC) host No. 7 Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC) on Saturday in their first game since Kelly was fired.
“As everyone heads on their way to see the Tigers play, I wish Coach Wilson, the coaches and our players the best this weekend,” Kelly said.
LSU ousted Kelly and athletic director Scott Woodward amid criticism from Gov. Jeff Landry.
The day of Kelly’s firing, Landry said he hosted a meeting in the governor’s mansion on the evening of Oct. 26 “to discuss the legalities of the contract.” Landry had said he was concerned his state would be on the hook to pay for Kelly’s buyout, which is about $54 million.
Days after Kelly’s firing, Landry told reporters that Woodward would not select the next coach. The next day, LSU cut ties with Woodward.
The 64-year-old Kelly has gone 200-76 in Division I since being hired by Central Michigan in 2004. He was 113-40 at Notre Dame and had 34-6 mark at Cincinnati. Kelly was 118-35-2 at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, winning two Division II national titles during a run of three straight trips to the championship game.
Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell will return to lead the Badgers in 2026, athletic director Chris McIntosh announced on Thursday.
With the Badgers 2-6 overall and winless in Big Ten play, McIntosh is informing the Wisconsin team on Thursday that Fickell will return as head coach next year. The return will come with changes, which include increased investment in the roster and program, along with an ongoing analysis of every facet of the program.
“Chancellor [Jennifer] Mnookin and I are aligned on significantly elevating investment in our program to compete at highest level,” McIntosh told ESPN. “We are willing to make an investment in infrastructure and staff. As important is our ability to retain and recruit players in a revenue share and NIL era.”
In three seasons at Wisconsin, Fickell has gone 15-19. Along with supporting Fickell, McIntosh pledges to support the program more financially to return the Badgers to contention in the Big Ten.
“If Wisconsin is going to be as competitive as we expect, the support has to be as competitive,” McIntosh said. “There’s no getting around it. Our people, our fans are passionate about Wisconsin football. I’d have it no other way. A successful football program is important to university, the state and our lettermen.”
Fickell’s deal runs through the 2031 season. If he were to have been fired this year, he’d have been owed more than $25 million. (The one-year extension in the offseason did not impact the size of Fickell’s buyout.)
“This season has caused us all to have to look from within,” McIntosh said. “Luke has had to do that. I’ve had to do that. He has a willingness to be better. So do I, and so does Wisconsin from an institutional perspective.”
There’s optimism at Wisconsin that with college football settling into the revenue share and NIL era, the school will be better positioned because of the school’s traditional success in attracting corporate partnerships. Those can translate to NIL deals, in addition to the revenue share available to all schools.
“Our intention is to be, in terms of our investment, on par with those that we intend to compete with,” McIntosh said. “Our expectations are to compete at the highest level in the Big Ten and beyond.”
Wisconsin has lost six straight games. The Badgers host No. 23 Washington on Saturday afternoon and finish the year at No. 2 Indiana, home against Illinois and at Minnesota. The 37-0 loss to Iowa at home earlier in the year marked the program’s first home shutout since 1980.
Fickell’s tenure — and this season in particular — has been hallmarked by major injuries at quarterback. This season’s starting quarterback, Billy Edwards, got injured early in the season opener and hasn’t contributed significantly since.
Overall, the quarterback health can be summed up by Fickell’s team having the intended first-string quarterback play the entire game in just 11 of 34 games. The Badgers have endured consistent injury issues this year, including being down eight projected starters at Oregon.
That has left Wisconsin playing backup Danny O’Neil and third-stringer Hunter Simmons, and the Badgers have the No. 17 passing offense in the 18-team Big Ten (only Iowa is worse.) That lineup has gone up against a schedule with four teams ranked in the top 10 and seven of the top 25 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.
McIntosh said the same traits that made Fickell a celebrated hire remain.
“He has the vision and fire to do it,” McIntosh said. “The same things that made Luke Fickell a unanimously great hire in 2022 remain. He’s a winner, program builder and developer of talent, and he understands the Big Ten.”
Fickell won an average of 10.6 games per season in his final five years at Cincinnati. That included leading the Bearcats to the four-team College Football Playoff in 2021, the first team from outside a power conference to reach the College Football Playoff.
Fickell also brought extensive Big Ten experience, as he had spent 15 years coaching at Ohio State. That included a stint as interim coach in 2011 and his work as co-defensive coordinator on Ohio State’s 2014 national title team.
He’ll get a chance to reset the trajectory at Wisconsin in 2026.
“We all acknowledge this is short of expectations,” McIntosh said. “We have identified the ways in which we need to be successful, and we have a plan to be successful. We are executing that plan.”
