Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and Professional Wrestling are his primary interests but he is also interested in golf, hockey, and football
February 2, 2024
It is WrestleMania season yet again, the most exciting time of the year for the majority of wrestling fans. Of course, that means it is also ‘Rumble season!’
They 2024 Royal Rumble took place Saturday, January 27, 2024 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, so I’m here to give you the rundown on what you missed.
The show kicked off with the seventh annual Women’s Royal Rumble match. To the surprise of no one, this match ruled and in my opinion was the best match of the evening.
The #2 entrant into the match was the returning Naomi who had been released by the WWE in 2022 and spent her 2023 making her name in Impact (now Total Nonstop Action) Wrestling. She received an amazing ovation from the crowd and looks to start anew following her rumble performance.
Entrant #5 was the current TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace. Grace splits her time between professional wrestling and the world of bodybuilding and showed off her raw power throughout the match.
Fun Jordynne Grace fact: she won the TNA Knockouts World Championship from Naomi on the 13th of January this year!
The next big entrant was Biancia Belair at #10. Belair is always in title contention which made her a very viable pick to win.
Following Belair’s entry into the match, there was a decent section of the match dedicated to filling up the ring. While there were some stars such as Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler, most of the other entries were mid-carders like Xia Li and Michin.
At #28 was the long-awaited arrival of AEW’s (All Elite Wrestling) homegrown star, Jade Cargill. Months ago, we saw Cargill introduced to a WWE audience but since then hadn’t gotten to see her in a ring outside of the AEW bubble.
Cargill looked much like her AEW self which was a relief to All Elite fans like me. Cargill looks like a star and carries herself like one so I’m looking forward to her WrestleMania debut.
The returning Liv Morgan was the final entrant at #30 and she garnered a huge reaction from the Florida crowd. Morgan’s return was cut short by the eventual winner Bayley.
This rumble victory has been a long time in the making for Bayley as one of the company’s top stars for well over five years. She is finally going to get her WrestleMania main event, but who she will be facing is still up in the air.
Following the Women’s Royal Rumble was the WWE Universal Championship four-way match between the champion Roman Reigns and challengers LA Knight, AJ Styles and Randy Orton.
If you’ve been following WWE for any period of time, you know how this match went. It wasn’t a bad match, but it certainly wasn’t a good match.
It was another standard Reigns’ championship match. Let the challengers fight, Roman comes in to hit some moves and ends up in a bad spot, and then Roman’s cousin Solo Sikoa comes in for the save and Roman keeps his title.
Nothing special but it wasn’t offensively bad either. I cannot wait for Roman to (hopefully) lose the belt at WrestleMania.
After this we got a fun contest over the United States Championship between champion Logan Paul and challenger Kevin Owens.
This was a super good match. It really irritates me that Logan Paul is such a good professional wrestler in his very limited experience with the business.
This was a great back and forth contest and was probably Paul’s most violent matchup to date. Towards the end of the match, Paul went to hit Owens with brass knuckles, but Owens caught the punch and put the knucks’ on and dropped Logan with a punch of his own.
After the punch Kevin Owens went for the pin on Logan but just before the referee counted the three, he saw Owens still had the brass knuckles on and called for a disqualification and allowed Logan to escape with his belt.
This, although it was meant to be a cooldown match before the Men’s Royal Rumble, was my favorite of the night.
Now for the main event, the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble match. I think this continued their trend over the past few years of having very predictable rumbles.
Sure, the matches are always a fun live watch, but the hour plus long contest is usually only there to fill time before the two wrestlers expected to win are the last two in the ring. They just haven’t done much for me in a while.
The #4 entrant was yet another AEW star making their return to WWE in Andrade, who had a decent showing despite not making a lot of commotion.
The purpose of this match was so that we could get the showdown between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes in the final two. Once it got down to the final two, Punk and Rhodes had a little match to build suspense for the finish.
It is clear that CM Punk can’t go at a high level anymore in the ring. Rhodes had to completely carry Punk through the final stretch in the match before finally dumping him over the top rope.
With Cody Rhodes’ win again this year, he joins eight other wrestlers as the only ones to ever win multiple rumbles. It only makes sense for him to again challenge Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 40 and FINALLY finish his story of winning the Universal Championship.
All in all, this was an ok event. Two good matches and two matches that made me go ‘meh’. But nonetheless, we are on the road to WrestleMania and have a fun month ahead of us!
Caption: CJ Stroud drops pack to pass in a game against the Saints
By Carsen Hageman
Carsen Hageman is from Liberty Center, Ohio and is a Senior at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. Professional & collegiate football are his main interests. Upon graduation in the spring, he hopes to pursue a career in professional and college football.
November 25, 2023
Surprises
Caption: Jared Goff throws a pass during a recent game against the Ravens
Lions
The Detroit Lions have surprised everyone this season. It all started with upsetting the defending champion KC Chiefs on the opening weekend of the season. Now, they have an 8-3 record and are currently the 2nd seed in the NFC playoffs. Armed with a top 10 statistical defense, a top 5 offensive line, and offensive weapons like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs, the Lions look poised to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Caption: Christian McCaffrey celebrates after scoring a touchdown.
2. Christian McCaffrey
While his record-setting touchdown streak just ended, McCaffrey’s performance this year garnered early MVP attention. That talk has since subsided, but he is still arguably the top running back in the league and has been the workhorse behind the 49ers’ success this season. With a lack of a true deep threat at wide receiver, McCaffrey is the guy defenses key in on when playing the 49ers. Despite this focus, he leads the NFL in rushing yards.
Caption: Chiefs’ defenders celebrate.
3. Kansas City Chiefs’ Defense
It is no surprise that any team with Patrick Mahomes is doing well. But unlike previous seasons, the Chiefs’ Defense has been a large part of their success this season. Statistically, they are currently the 4th best defense in the league. With a 7-3 record, the reigning champs look primed for another long postseason run.
With outstanding performance after outstanding performance recently, Stroud has officially entered the MVP conversation. It is almost unthinkable that he is a rookie and putting up consecutive great performances. As a rookie, he is 2nd in the NFL in passing yards. For a team that held the second pick in last year’s draft, the Texans look like a sneaky good team as the AFC playoff picture heats up. They look to earn a wild card and make a Super Bowl run with Stroud at the center of their playoff push.
Disappointments
Caption: Head Coach Matt Eberflus and players react to a play.
Chicago Bears
The Bears, a team with all the hype heading into the season, have disappointed in almost every respect this year. Preseason expectations had them challenging for a division title and making a postseason run. Now, their QB Justin Fields has been hurt most of the year, their defense has struggled all year by giving up 20+ points in all but 2 games, and they have not had consistent production from their weapons. With the likelihood that they will be in contention for a top draft pick, some are questioning if they should pick a quarterback.
Caption: Patriots’ QBs Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe talk with Offensive Coordinator Bill O’Brien.
2. New England Patriots
With recent disappointing draft classes and poor coaching, the Patriots have been a mess this season. Perhaps the biggest story has been the lack of development of Mac Jones, their first-round pick from the 2021 draft. He has looked average at best over the past three seasons and has not looked good in general this season. It is because of draft misses like these that rumors of Bill Belichick’s departure have been swirling during their tumultuous season.
Caption: Giants’ QB Tommy DeVito gets sacked.
3. New York Giants
About everything that could have gone wrong for the Giants this season has gone wrong. As a Giants’ fan myself, I personally have watched as this season has unfolded. Starting with a 40-0 Sunday Night Football route by the Cowboys, it has all gone downhill for a team that won a playoff game last season. With injuries to about every key offensive player, their offense has looked inept most of the season. Now with a 3-8 record, they are in contention for a top draft pick. With a top 5 pick all but locked in, it looks likely the Giants will draft a quarterback after not even a full season has passed since they guaranteed Daniel Jones an $82 million contract this spring.
Caption: Raiders’ running back Josh Jacobs stiff-arms a Patriots’ defender.
4. Las Vegas Raiders
This season might not be a total wash since an in season coaching change appears to be the spark this team needed. Interim coach Antonio Pierce has guided the Raiders to a 2-1 record since Josh McDaniels’ departure and has this team playing harder than they ever did with McDaniels as their head coach. It is unfortunate that it took such a drastic move to get this team playing better. In the offseason, they looked like a team that could steal a playoff spot with newly acquired Quarterback Jimmy Garappolo, Davante Adams, and an improving defense.
Caption: Panthers’ QB Bryce Young prepares to pass.
5. Carolina Panthers
While preseason expectations did not have the Panthers making the playoffs, I don’t think anyone had the Panthers looking this bad. The biggest storyline for this team has been Bryce Young. With the Panthers trading for the first pick in the 2023 draft, they could choose from the cream of the crop of available quarterbacks. With the first pick, they choose Bryce Young out of Alabama. Young has looked like one of the worst in this class. The Alabama product has recorded 8 passing touchdowns with 7 interceptions and 29 sacks. By comparison, the No. 2 draft pick CJ Stroud has 15 passing touchdowns with 2 interceptions and 19 sacks. Without a first round selection in this year’s draft things are looking bleak for the Panthers. They could also head into next season with a new coach with rumors of Frank Reich’s job status in question.
Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.
November 19, 2023
Baseball season has come to an end yet again and now is time to look forward to what may be at the start of next season with some free agents! This is one of the most star-studded free agent classes of recent memory, so I am expecting some fireworks and some interesting looking teams come next April.
Criteria: I am only selecting the free agents I wanted to talk about so unfortunately, I won’t be doing deep dives on Drew Rucinski.
Catcher:Gary Sanchez – After having a few weird years with the Yankees and Twins, Sanchez made a huge impact this year with the Padres. He helped ace Blake Snell to have one of the best seasons of his career from behind the plate and helped bring a little more fight to the already pretty stacked Padres. He didn’t provide a lot of help in the batter’s box BUT as an elite defensive catcher and with the ace of the staff asking to be caught by him, I imagine Sanchez will stay in San Diego.
First Base: Rhys Hoskins – Following a disappointing NLCS loss to the Diamondbacks, Hoskins is in an odd spot. The rumors around MLB are that Bryce Harper is planning on being full time at first base from 2024 onward which makes it look like Hoskins will be finding a new home this offseason. I think a great spot for him would be San Francisco. He could take over for Wilmer Flores and free him up to become a utility player yet again and help be a piece to the puzzle the Giants are trying to put together.
Honorable Mention: Joey Votto – The Reds announced that they wouldn’t be renewing Votto’s deal (largest in team history) after a cool 19 years in the organization. I’m still very hopeful that the Reds sign him to a one-year deal so that he can retire as a Red. But if he has to leave, I wouldn’t mind him signing with his hometown Toronto Blue Jays or even possibly a playoff contender so that he can finally play meaningful October baseball again.
Second Base: Looking through the list of free agent second basemen was pretty disappointing. The biggest names were Elvis Andrus and Whit Merrifield (both 35). Don’t get me wrong, great players but I don’t see either of them making a huge impact when they find new teams.
Shortstop:Amed Rosario – One of the best and youngest names on the free agent list Rosario is a career .272 batter with a glove that is next to a sure thing. He had spent multiple seasons with both the Mets and Guardians before he was shipped to the Dodgers late last season before the playoffs. I think that he will end up resigning with the Dodgers as they can probably get him for just over $10 million a year.
Third Base: Matt Chapman – Coming off of an offensively disappointing year where he was still able to secure his fourth Rawlings Gold Glove, Chapman will probably be commanding a relatively high yearly salary. While his offense is much more hit or miss than Nolan Arenado, his defense in the hot corner is undeniable. Under the right circumstances, Chapman could easily be an MVP contender. He has turned down a sizable deal from Toronto already so I don’t anticipate him to be back next year, but I think he would be a great fit with the Giants much like Hoskins. With the Giants looking to be big spenders this offseason, I think two new stars to anchor their infield is more than believable.
Outfield:Lourdes Gurriel Jr. – After a World Series run with Arizona, I would be very very shocked to see the youngest Gurriel brother anywhere but with the snakes in 2024. He has been a beacon of consistency and clutch as he proved this postseason. This will more than likely cost Arizona a decent bit of change but I think it would be well worth it for their future.
Cody Bellinger – After winning National League comeback player of the year, Bellinger looks to be back to his 2019 MVP winning ways. One of the least surprising free agents of the entire class, Bellinger excelled in Wrigley and if it weren’t for possibly the biggest free agent of all time (spoiler) also being available, I would say he’s a shoo in to come back. But I still find it hard to believe he will go anywhere else after finding this success. However, for the sake of predicting something other than him resigning, I could see him ending up in pinstripes as a Yankee in 2024.
Teoscar Hernández – Two seasons removed from his last All-Star appearance, Teoscar looks to have regressed a little over the past couple years. This is not to say he is no longer a good player, but he simply isn’t hitting almost .300 and doesn’t seem to have as much pop as he formerly did. Now, I really like Teoscar, he has all the tools and seems to be universally liked by his teammates! He absolutely should get picked up by someone, and I predict that he will go to Colorado. Plenty of room to roam in the outfield, and the elevation ought to help bring some of the ever-valuable pop back to his game.
Pitchers:Aaron Nola – The ace of the almost National League champs surely set himself up well to finally get paid this season. He had his fifth consecutive full (162 game) season of 200+ strikeouts and was able to contain offenses in the postseason that were very dangerous. As much as I wanted to see him stay in Philly, I thought they missed their chance to ink a long-term deal with him last offseason. I thought Nola would be walking and likely to another contender as a great fit in Seattle. He and Luis Castillo would be a terrifying 1-2 punch. It turns out, he just inked a 7-year deal with the Phillies.
Blake Snell – After possibly his best season to date, Snell will likely be commanding a lot of money with his second career Cy Young. This will certainly limit the teams that are available to go after him, I could easily see Snell getting the eye of a New York team like the Mets. My only concern with him is that the majority of his success this season came after the acquisition of Gary Sanchez. I would almost be willing to bet that if the Padres are open to re-signing both of them, they will stay together.
Sonny Gray – Following his first All-Star appearance since 2019, Gray showed some dominance; despite his 8-8 record he allowed a league leading 0.4 home runs per 9 innings. I think his direction will be super dependent on the direction the Twins are wanting to take. If they feel that they can compete for a championship next year and looking forward, I imagine he would come back. But if Minnesota is looking to dismantle and rebuild, I think Gray would make a lot of sense for St. Louis as a veteran pitcher as the Cardinals have lost a lot of veteran presence over the past few seasons.
Who we all came to hear about:Shohei Ohtani – I mean, its Ohtani. Coming off his second unanimous MVP season in the last three years, the only thing we are able to have a conversation about is how long and where he will go. I think he will be first, looking for a long-term deal, but that will cost substantially more money. I anticipate Shohei getting more than $40 million a year as he is both an elite pitcher and hitter AND is coming off arguably the best baseball season ever played. From everything I have seen and heard, I expect him to (unfortunately for the Reds fan in me) land with the Chicago Cubs. They were finalists in the Shohei sweepstakes the first time around, and now that he has some MLB service under his belt and is more comfortable in the states, I think his only limitation is himself.
Caption: Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers meet in the 2023 World Series.
By Ryan Harless
Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.
October 25, 2023
The World Series is finally here. Starting this Friday, the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks will be facing off in a best of seven series to determine the new champions of Major League Baseball. Neither team I predicted to be here made it which is what I love about postseason baseball. The Texas Rangers were a wildcard team and the Diamondbacks won only 84 games this season and here they are, the last 2 teams standing.
This is the first time in postseason history that both world series competitors clinched their berth by winning back-to-back away games (in very hostile environments at that). The Rangers took a 2-0 series lead after winning the first two games in Houston before losing three in a row in Arlington to make the series 3-2 in favor of the Astros. In the last two games, the Rangers outscored the Astros 20-6, dropping the final two games of the series and sending Texas to the World Series.
The Diamondbacks advanced by beating the dominant Phillies in another seven-game series. The D-backs beat the Milwaukee Brewers and L.A. Dodgers en route to the NLCS. In this series, the Phillies took a 2-0 lead after winning the first two games at home. Arizona got back on their feet to tie the series at 2-2 by winning back-to-back games in AZ when everyone counted them out. After dropping the 5th game in the series and making it 3-2 in favor of Philly, the matchup headed back to Pennsylvania. With their backs against the wall, the Diamondbacks outscored the Phillies 9-3 in the last two games to win the NLCS and head to the World Series.
Many people have been complaining about this postseason saying that giving the division leaders extra time off hurt their readiness to play. Personally, I think that’s maybe the worst take of all time. Baseball has the absolute best system set up in order to make sure the best team wins the championship at the end of the season. 162 regular season games and then the possibility of 22 postseason games (including wildcard + max length series). 184 games to determine the best all around team. You must have a coaching staff that manages all the players well, doesn’t overexert anyone, and leverages situations correctly. It is not just the talent on the teams that matter but also the coaching and the fans.
We are going to get to see two teams with a lot to prove battle it out in the Fall Classic this year.
Caption: Playoff Picture as it stands October 7, 2023
By Ryan Harless
Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.
October 7, 2023
It’s finally time for playoff baseball, my favorite time of the whole year. The MLB implemented a new playoff format this season that was supposed to give us a good bit more baseball to watch, but all four of the Wild Card series were two game sweeps with very little drama all around. But now we have moved into the Division Series where all matchups are a best of five. Here’s your guide to what I think will happen in this round of the playoffs.
Texas Rangers vs. Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles have been a true success story this season, winning the American League East for the first time in almost a decade (2014). And in even rarer fashion, have won their division with the same manager who guided their rebuild. The Texas Rangers got here after a truly dominant season where the only in-division competition was the juggernaut Astros (we’ll get to them later). The Rangers decimated the Tampa Bay Rays in their Wild Card series outscoring Tampa 11-1 over two games.
This Rangers team can absolutely swing the bats and with Corey Seager, the statistically best shortstop in the game, staying hot, they will be a true force to be reckoned with. That being said, Baltimore has been one of the most fun teams to watch all season long with their super young core of rising stars. In this series, I feel that the Rangers veteran pitching will truly separate them from Baltimore and allow them to take the series and head to the American League Championship Series. I predict that Texas will win this series in 5 exciting games.
Minnesota Twins vs. Houston Astros
Minnesota defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in decisive fashion in their series with their pitching being relatively dominant throughout the two games. Houston made it to this point by continuing to have a chokehold on the American League West winning the division six of the last seven seasons.
I really like Minnesota and think that they are in a great spot for the future with their pitching being as dominant as it has been. However, this is the Houston Astros, and it is October. If you’ve followed baseball at all for the last few years, you know that Houston turns into something different once the calendar turns over and Fall takes hold. As much as I would love to say that I see the Twins taking this series and going on to the ALCS, I can’t in good faith bet against the Astros in the playoffs. I think the Astros will take this series in 4 games, I think Minnesota may win the first game and then get swept after kicking Houston into gear.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves
The Phillies earned the opportunity to take down the dynasty Braves after knocking off the Miami Marlins in their Wild Card matchup. The Atlanta Braves got here by winning 104 games and scoring almost 1,000 runs this season. What can you say about Atlanta that hasn’t already been said? They tied the record set by the 2019 Minnesota Twins for homers in a season by hitting 307 which is averaging 1.895 homers a game over a 162-game season. They had 7 of the starting 9 hit 20+ homers and 5 of those 7 hit more than 30. They have 4 batters with over 100 RBI; oh, and Ronald Acuna Jr. is slashing .337/.416/.596 with 41 homers, 73 stolen bases, and 80 walks. Also don’t forget about their ace Spencer Strider who set a new franchise record for strikeouts in a season with 281 though 186.2 innings.
This is not to say that the Phillies haven’t had a great season. But I just cannot understate how brilliant it has been to watch this Braves team. I expect Atlanta to take this series in 5 games, but I think the Braves will end up outscoring Philadelphia by quite a few runs in the series.
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Both National League matchups in the Division Series are also Division rivals which I think is a SUPER cool touch to this postseason. In the case of this series, I think it makes it more unpredictable. Arizona got here after finishing second in the National League West division to LA, and then beat the Brewers 2-0 in the Wild Card round. Going into the Wild Card round, I anticipated the Brewers to make a playoff run so watching Arizona take them out, gives me a lot more hope for them in this series. The Dodgers are here after winning 100 games and handily taking their division.
I am honestly looking for Arizona to shock the West and continue their unbeaten streak in the playoffs and sweep the Dodgers in three close games.
Of course, baseball is baseball, and it is incredibly tough to predict the outcome of games ESPECIALLY when it’s playoff time. Only time will tell who takes these games and moves on to their respective Championship Series. But I do know, when they come around, I’ll be back to predict their outcomes and see how I did with my predictions!
Caption: Luis Castillo pitching for Seattle this season.
By Ryan Harless
Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.
September 30, 2023
In my previous articles, I reviewed my picks for who would be the breakout star for each team for the 2023 MLB season. I got through three divisions in that one leaving me the other half of the league to discuss. Let’s see how I did.
American League East
Red Sox: Starting off the second half of my reviews are the Boston Red Sox. Boston had a mixed bag of talent entering this season. Some young stars as well as a few established names like Rafael Devers, even after losing shortstop Xander Bogarts in free agency. I chose Triston Casas to be Boston’s breakout star this season and I think he was a good pick. I predicted he would slash .270/.380/.450 with 18-20 homers as well as 80+ RBI. As of today, Casas is slashing .263/.367/.490 with 24 homers and 65 RBI through 132 games. I think he has been able to make a big impact on Boston this year and should be there for years to come.
Orioles: The Baltimore Orioles had a huge crop of talent to choose from that could have been their breakout star. If you’ve followed the Orioles this season, you know the young stars like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Kyle Bradish have all had amazing seasons putting up 4+ WAR around the board. Unfortunately for me, I thought that Grayson Rodriguez would put up great numbers. I predicted that he would go 10-6 with a 2.80 ERA and be getting votes for AL Rookie of the Year. So far this year, Grayson is 7-4 with a 4.35 ERA. A far cry from what I had anticipated, but as is the case with a lot of young pitchers, it takes a few season for them to truly hone their craft and begin to dominate.
Rays: The Rays were another team that gave me lots of options. Thank goodness I didn’t choose Wander Franco. I also considered choosing Shane Baz, but instead I went with Pete Fairbanks, expecting him to be the full time closer for Tampa. I expected him to throw at least 60 innings with a 2.50 ERA and 30+ saves. As of today Fairbanks has thrown 45.1 innings through 49 games, an ERA of 2.58 and 25 saves. I think this pick was another success, he has almost hit the saves mark I set in almost 20 fewer innings than I anticipated and has kept his ERA very close to 2.50.
Blue Jays: For Toronto, I selected an unorthodox pick in the catcher/outfielder combo, Daulton Varsho. He was traded to the Jays in the off-season and I expected him to have a breakout year alongside the other second-generation stars the Blue Jays have (Vladdy, Bichette, and Biggio). Daulton’s father Gary was an outfielder in the MLB for eight seasons and was a coach and manager around the league for another eight. I expected Daulton to bat .265 with 30 homers and at least 25 stolen bases. Looking back, expecting him to be in the 30-30 club was a bit wishful. But Varsho had a decent season, batting .220 with 20 homers and 16 stolen bases. While his average fell a bit flat, his homers and stolen bases give me a good outlook for Varsho’s future in the league.
Yankees: I predicted that Oswald Peraza would have a breakout year for New York and make himself a spot in the Yankee middle infield for many years to come. I expected a slash line of .275/.350/.400 with 50 RBI and no fewer than 25 stolen bases. Peraza had quite a disappointing year, only playing in 47 games to date (a long ways from the 80+ I expected) and is slashing .195/.273/.551 with 14 RBI and only 4 stolen bases.
National League East
Nationals: The Nationals have been bad this year. There’s no other way to say it. But, I looked for starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore to be a high spot for the club to look to. I predicted Gore would throw 150 innings with 200 K’s and an ERA around 3.40. Gore has struggled with going deep in games as well as recently being placed on the 15 day injured list. This season he has thrown 136.1 innings striking out 151 batters along the way with a 4.42 ERA. His K/9 rate has me feeling good about my prediction going forward as I believe Gore just needs more experience at the MLB level to figure out how to lower his ERA.
Marlins: For Miami, I predicted their breakout star to be someone who has struck fear into my heart for over a year with his impossible-to-hit-against card in MLB The Show 22, Edward Cabrera. I expected Cabrera to be a part of a nasty Marlins rotation that never completely came to fruition with 150+ innings, a 14-6 record and an ERA of 3.00. Unfortunately, Cabrera has struggled like most young pitchers do and has a 7-7 record with a 4.24 ERA in only 99.2 innings. He has really had troubles going late into games but I expect that to improve with age.
Phillies: The Phillies have had a great season and at the moment are looking forward to making a playoff run as they have already clinched a spot. I looked for outfielder Brandon Marsh to have his breakout season with them. I predicted Marsh to bat .270 with 130+ hits and to keep his fielding percentage elite. As of now Marsh is batting .276 with 110 hits, and while his fielding has suffered a bit to the tune of 5 errors this season. Nonetheless, Marsh is having a heck of a season and I look for him to become an all-star in the very near future.
Mets: The Mets spent a ton of money this off-season just to be fighting to stay out of last place in September. But, I predicted that one of their new imports, Kodai Senga would have a dominant first season in the MLB and he proved me right. I expected Senga to throw 100 innings with 125 strikeouts and a 2.75 ERA and as of today Senga has thrown 166.1 innings, struck out 202 and held an ERA of 2.98. Senga has probably been my best prediction in this whole series putting up absolute ace-level numbers this season. I think signing him was the best move the Mets made all off-season.
Braves: The Braves are annoyingly good and are going to continue being that way for the foreseeable future, which is unfortunate news for any fan of a team in the National League not from Atlanta. I predicted their 2022 Rookie of the Year winner to continue having a great start to his career and be their breakout star in Michael Harris II and again he did not disappoint. I looked for Harris II to slash .300/.400/.500 with 25 homers and at least 20 bags swiped. So far this season he is slashing .292/.330/.806 with 18 homers and 20 stolen bases on the dot. Now while he hasn’t had quite as good a year as I anticipated, he has been an incredibly valuable piece of one of the most dominant teams of all time in the 2023 Braves.
American League West
Athletics: Oakland, where to start. First and foremost, from every baseball fan we are sorry. I predicted starting pitcher Paul Blackburn to be the breakout star for Oakland this season, looking for him to make 25 starts and go 12-8 with a 3.50 ERA. As of today, Blackburn is 4-7 with a 4.43 ERA through 20 starts. In a season marred with letdowns for the A’s, this was no different.
Rangers: The Texas Rangers have had a great year and have been battling the Astros for first place in the AL West all year long. I predicted catcher Jonah Heim to continue making a name for himself as a premier catcher in the American League. My predictions for Heim in my previous article were that he would play 130 games, have a 30% caught stealing percentage and a 3+ WAR. This season Heim has had a 30% caught stealing percentage, played in 125 games and has a 2.8 WAR. Not to pat myself on the back, but *pat pat pat pat* I think I nailed this one.
Angels: The Angels have been an exciting team to watch as they have had arguably two of the greatest players of all time on the same team – Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. Unfortunately, again, for the team, this was another disappointing season as they look to miss the playoffs. At the beginning of the season, I predicted that Jo Adell would have a breakout season for the Halos. I expected Adell to slash .250/.300/.350 with 18 homers as well as 50 RBI and 20 stolen bases. To date, Adell has a slash line of .208/.263/.581 with 6 RBI and zero stolen bases. Adell has been sidelined for most of the season with an oblique injury which has really dampened his ability to get stats, but as you can see his slash line had him on pace for a really productive season.
Mariners: For Seattle, I predicted that a former Cincinnati Reds player would finally make waves and get his flowers for being as dominant as he has been. Luis Castillo was my selection to breakout for the M’s. I expected Castillo to go 15-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 180 innings, have 200 strikeouts, and win the AL Cy Young award. While his season hasn’t been quite up to those standards, he has had an amazing year nonetheless, going 14-8 with a 3.20 ERA, 194.1 innings and 215 punch-outs. Really the only aspect of my prediction that he didn’t meet was the record and even that is a flawed stat for starting pitchers. He still has a really good chance at winning a Cy Young Award this year.
Astros: The Astros have had another very good season and actually have some competition in their division for the first time in a while as they are currently pushing to keep their wild card spot. The Rangers have a 2.5 game lead over Houston in the division but I still expect the Astros to cause problems in the postseason. I predicted that Chas McCormick would be their breakout player. He is a very good hitter who has proven that he can send the ball to all areas of the field on top of the fact that he has a handy glove in the field. I expected Chas to slash .275/.360/.390 with 8-10 homers and 120 hits and he actually exceeded my expectations. Today he is slashing .278/.359/.499 with 22 homers and 110 hits. He has had a great season and gave me another correct prediction to add to my count.
This has been a hectic baseball season and it’s only going to ramp up for the postseason. I am happy to announce that of the 15 teams here, I believe 8 of my predictions were correct! Adding that to my total from the first half of this retrospective (7), that leaves me with 15/30 correct predictions! And as we all know, if you can bat .300 in the MLB that’s a great career.
Caption: The ‘Battle of the Sexes’ at the Houston Astrodome featured Bobby Riggs (L) and Billie Jean King (R). The author called the center service line and is seated to the right of King.
By Nancy E. Spencer
Nancy E. Spencer is Professor Emerita in Sport Management and taught in the SM program for 25 years. Before joining the faculty of BGSU’s SM program, Dr. Spencer taught and played tennis professionally. She is currently writing a book on Professional Women’s Tennis, with portions of this article appearing in the Introduction.
In 1973, I was an Assistant Teaching Professional at the H.E.B. (Howard E. Butt) Tennis Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Several weeks before the match, I received a phone call from Tim Heckler, a teaching pro in Houston and President-elect of the Texas Professional Tennis Association (TPTA). As consultant/director for the King vs. Riggs match, Tim was putting together a crew to umpire and call lines for the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ at the Astrodome. He wanted to secure an equal number of male and female line judges and asked if I would call lines for the match. Initially, I was noncommittal, since I was still reeling from the outcome of an earlier male vs. female match played on Mother’s Day, 1973. That match had featured Bobby Riggs vs. the Australian Margaret Court, although she was not Riggs’ original choice to play such a match.
After Billie Jean King earned more than $100,000 in 1971, Riggs had begun to pester her about playing a winner-take-all match (Lichtenstein, 1974). He was convinced that the best senior man could easily defeat the best woman and it irked him that a woman could make so much money. King was the perfect foil – the outspoken women’s libber pitted against the self-proclaimed male chauvinist pig. When King rejected Riggs’ repeated challenges, he turned to Margaret Court (then the No. 1 ranked woman), who believed she could make an easy $35,000 by playing him. Unfortunately, Court did not realize until it was too late that Riggs was hustling her. After Riggs won easily (6-2, 6-1), the match became known as the “Mother’s Day Massacre.”
Court’s lopsided loss was infuriating to Billie Jean King and other women on the nascent Virginia Slims’ tour. But Margaret’s loss to Bobby was also demoralizing to me and countless other women teaching pros since the outcome undermined our legitimacy. Roberto Chavez, a college player at the University of Corpus Christi, boasted that he could beat me playing left-handed. Of course, he was right-handed… and he was right. After losing to Roberto and witnessing Margaret’s loss, I was none too eager to invest my hopes and/or time in another male vs. female spectacle that could further erode my self-confidence as a teaching professional.
I shared my hesitation with Tim, who countered by telling me the benefits of calling lines. Each linesperson would receive two free tickets to the match plus a pass to go anywhere in the Astrodome. Houston was a 4-hour drive, not that far in light of the geographical expanse of Texas. I reasoned that I could visit friends if I made the trip and agreed to the gig. Later, I wrote to my family, reporting that I had purchased an “outfit with brown-checked pants and brown blouse that was comfortable and just right for being a lineswoman.”
On September 20, I left for Houston before noon, a day that was especially hot – even by Texas standards! Halfway to Houston, I stopped at a dusty gas station where the attendant filled the tank of my 1964 red Plymouth Fury. It cost less than $5 to fill the tank, thanks to the ‘gas wars’ of the early seventies that lowered the price at one point to less than 20 cents a gallon. The attendant asked who I thought would win the ‘big match’ that night. Did he know I would be calling lines? Once again, I was noncommittal, but said I hoped Billie Jean would win.
The linespersons needed to be at the Astrodome by 4:30 p.m. When I arrived, Billie Jean was warming up before a smattering of spectators. In my letter home, I wrote, “We had a meeting of linesmen and women to go over details. They told us that Riggs had agreed not to have any linesmen removed, but Billie Jean hadn’t agreed… so they would comply if she requested” to have someone removed.
Around 6:00 p.m., there was a ‘Pro-celebrity’ Mixed Doubles exhibition featuring singer Andy Williams and his former wife Claudine Longet vs. the game show host Merv Griffin and Sandra Giles. An actor in the mold of Marilyn Monroe, Giles was “Bobby’s starlet girlfriend” (Lichtenstein, 1974, p. 232). I noted that the celebrities “were really nervous and not such experienced players but they… lobbed a lot and moved well in covering the court.” The set lasted just 20 minutes, with Williams and Longet winning 6-1. I called the center service line, but there were no calls for me to make in the exhibition, so “I wasn’t exactly ‘warmed up.’”
We had about 40 minutes after the mixed doubles before we needed to return to our assigned seats, so I spoke with the three other lineswomen. I already knew Betsy Blaney, an assistant pro at Brookhaven Tennis Club in Dallas (Betsy’s article is posted at this link on Maxwell Media Watch). I had played her that spring in the Maureen Connolly Brinker tournament on the USLTA Pro Tour in Dallas, where she beat me 6-4 in the third set. Another lineswoman named Dee Dee Dally had long dark hair and glasses; she traveled on the spring circuit as “a volunteer linesperson” whose expenses were sometimes paid. The fourth woman, Jean, was a friend of Riggs from San Diego, and she said he was not as bad as he sounded. We admitted to each other that we were nervous, knowing that some 40 million people were expected to tune in to the live broadcast on TV.
Before King and Riggs entered the court, the University of Houston band played, accompanied by dancing clowns. I described the ambiance as “quite a carnival atmosphere.” The ‘carnival-like atmosphere’ was “accompanied by horns, dancers and outrageous costumes in a spectacle worthy of an end-of-times bonanza.” There were plenty of celebrities and movie stars surrounding the court, including George Foreman, Jim Brown, Glen Campbell, JoAnne Pflug, Stefanie Powers, Robert Stack, and Ron Ely (a.k.a., Tarzan). A woman from Corpus Christi who attended the match later gave me copies of her photos that revealed even more celebrities who attended – the recently-wed Lee Majors, the ‘six-million-dollar-man,’ and Farrah Fawcett, who had played tennis at Corpus Christi Ray High School.
Caption: Billie Jean King escorted onto the court by two of the Rice University athletes.
Coverage of the match described the atmosphere as something “right out of a Cecil B. DeMille movie,” more like a circus than a sporting event. Before the match began, the two protagonists entered the court with a flourish – “Mrs. King came first on a Cleopatra-style gold litter that was held aloft by four muscular track-and-field athletes from nearby Rice University.” Among the toga-clad carriers was “Dave Roberts, one of the world’s finest pole vaulters.”
Caption: Bobby Riggs holding Sugar Daddy before gifting it to Billie Jean King.
Meanwhile, six professional models (dubbed “Bobby’s Bosom Buddies”) wearing tight red and gold outfits transported Bobby Riggs onto the court in a rickshaw with gold wheels (Amdur, 1973). During courtside introductions, Riggs presented King “with a two-foot Sugar Daddy and made a tongue-in-cheek reference to suckers,” while King gifted Riggs with “a squealing baby pig,” a tribute to Riggs’ touting himself as a “Male Chauvinist Pig” (Roberts, 2005, p. 119).
The match between King and Riggs was far different from the one-sided ‘Mother’s Day Affair.’ Billie Jean refused to let Bobby intimidate her. Although I thought Riggs looked helpless from the start, I still was not sure that King would win decisively, especially since Jean had said Riggs might let her win the first set just to make it more interesting. When he double-faulted on set point in the first set, I thought that might be happening.
During the match, I made 5 or 6 line-calls, including 2 serves that hit lines. I can still envision one of Billie Jean’s serves that Bobby questioned after I made my call. King must have served with slice, because for a split-second, I thought it was going to be wide to the left of the deuce court, but the spin made it curve enough to catch the center service line. When the chair umpire looked to me for confirmation, I put my hands out to show that the serve was good. Riggs immediately spun around and looked at me incredulously, questioning my call. Again, I put my hands out parallel to the court to signal that it was good. He shook his head, clearly disagreeing with my call. I was sure that my heart palpitations were loud enough for people seated behind me to hear.
Fast-forward to 1998, when ESPN aired footage of the Battle of the Sexes. It was the 25th anniversary of the famous match and ESPN’s coverage. It was the first time I had seen the match and it coincided with my first year of teaching the History & Philosophy of Sport class at BGSU. Not only did I get to show the students primary evidence of an event most had never heard of, but also I could give them my first-hand account of being there. I still remember a question that a student, Greg Berkmeier, posed: “Was the match rigged?” I was stunned that someone would even ask! I said then, and again in 2013, when Don Van Natta, Jr. asked me the same question in an interview, that I firmly believed it was not rigged. Based upon his research for ESPN, Van Natta argued that Riggs threw the match.
Later, I came across a quote that provided further evidence to support my initial impression. It was made by one of Bobby’s good friends, Jack Kramer, who wrote in his autobiography, “Billie Jean beat him fair and square” (Kramer & Deford, 1979, p. 87). I can see no reason why someone who hyped the match and put his reputation on the line would proceed to throw the match. If anything, I wondered why no one asked if Margaret Court had thrown the Mother’s Day match against Riggs!
If you never saw the match, or you want to see it again, after all these years, you can see the match in its entirety by clicking here. Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 20, 2023, is the 50th anniversary of the celebrated match.
Caption: Billie Jean King lifts trophy for winning the storied Battle of the Sexes over Bobby Riggs, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
References
Amdur, N. (1973, September 21). Mrs. King defeats Riggs, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, amid a circus atmosphere. The New York Times, pp. 1, 31.
Lichtenstein, G. (1974). A long way, baby: Behind the scenes in women’s pro tennis. New York, NY: William Morrow & Company.
Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.
September 17, 2023
Around six months ago, I wrote a series of articles detailing who I believed would be the breakout star for each team in Major League Baseball. Well, here we are in September and the regular season is coming to a swift conclusion. But before we get into the fun and grittiness of playoff baseball, I wanted to look back at those breakout stars I predicted and see how well I did.
National League Central
Pirates: My first pick aged much like milk left outside in the middle of the summer. Only nine games into his 2023 season, Oneil Cruz broke his left fibula causing him to miss the rest of the season. While there were talks about him coming back for a few games at the end of the season, the Pirates decided to keep him shut down so that he can continue to regain his strength and come in to Spring Training 2024 at 100%. Ke’Bryan Hayes probably would have been a better pick for the Pirates as he led the team with a 3.5 WAR.
Reds: My second pick was only marginally better in that Hunter Greene managed to play a few more games than Cruz. Greene was also struck by the injury bug this year, being put in the IL in early June and only returning last month. The Reds, while being a very pleasant surprise, suffered multiple big injuries to their pitching staff which led them to lose more games than they should have. Cincinnati brought up multiple prospects who made massive impacts that I could have chosen. Matt McClain or Elly De La Cruz would have been better choices.
Cubs: I chose Nick Madrigal as my breakout star for Chicago this season, and while he wasn’t the best pick, I think I could have made worse decisions. Madrigal has played 90 games so far and is batting .263 whereas I predicted .280 if he played a full season. This was another team with a lot of surprises. Cody Bellinger has returned to his MVP form, and they may have found their middle infielder of the future in Nico Hoerner.
Brewers: For the Brew Crew, I chose Rowdy Tellez to be their breakout star… BOY was I wrong. In 94 games, Tellez is batting .213 with only 13 homers and 44 RBI. Those numbers placed him far behind the .240 pace with 40 homers and 100 RBI that I so boldly predicted. He is striking out more than twice as much as he is walking which doesn’t bode well when trying to put the ball in play. Their best player has been Corbin Burnes, which is almost to be expected from their ace, as they continue to dominate the NL Central.
Cardinals: I’m pretty sure I got this one right. My selection for the Cardinals breakout star was Lars Nootbaar and I think he lived up to my expectations. He had the second highest WAR on the team only behind Paul Goldschmidt by .1. I predicted he would bat .260 with 20 homers and 80 RBI and as of today he is batting .271 with 13 HR and 67 RBI. I’m happy with that choice.
American League Central
Royals: My pick for the Royals breakout star was Maikel Garcia. This was another pick that I feel pretty good about. He was fifth in WAR on the team, and I predicted that he would bat .270 with 120 hits and 60+ RBI. As of today, he is batting .273 with 113 hits and 49 RBI. I do believe that he will be a part of the Royals infield for many years to come if he is able to keep producing at this level.
Tigers: I selected Akill Baddoo to be the breakout star for Detroit this season. This was a team that had lots of promising young talent from all sides of the ball which made this an especially hard decision. I predicted that Baddoo would bat .280+ with 25 homers and possibly 20 stolen bases, but after a very hot start to the season he cooled off substantially and hasn’t hit any of those marks. Currently he is hitting .223 with 10 homers and 12 stolen bases. A much better choice as the Tigers’ breakout star would have been their young star, Spencer Torkelson.
Twins: For the Minnesota Twins, I chose pitcher Pablo Lopez to be their breakout star. At 27, Pablo was one of the oldest players on this list and had the most big-league experience as well. Nonetheless, he looked primed for a breakout year and that was exactly what we got. I predicted that Lopez would go 16-8 with an ERA of around 3.00. As of today, he is sitting at 10-8 with a 3.58 ERA. So, while he wasn’t able to get quite enough run support to get to 16 wins, he has been a great pitcher for Minnesota. He also got the first All-Star nod of his career this season, so I’m counting this one as a win.
White Sox: The Chicago White Sox were another team with a lot of young talent to choose from when deciding on a breakout performance, and I chose another pitcher in Michael Kopech. I have been a huge fan of his ever since I heard his name in 2017 but injuries have really derailed his career thus far. I predicted that he would have north of 15 wins with a sub 2.75 ERA and 200+ strikeouts (as long as he threw around 200 innings). This was another one that I entirely missed. As of today, Kopech is 5-12 with a 5.47 ERA. The only thing I will take credit for getting right is his K/9IP stat as he has 133 punch-outs through 128.1 innings.
Guardians: For the Guards, I chose Steven Kwan to be their breakout star. I anticipated that he would follow up on his great rookie year and bat over .300 with 175+ hits and 20+ stolen bases. Kwan hasn’t quite lived up to my expectations although he has had a good year regardless. Kwan is batting .275 with 163 hits and 20 stolen bases on the dot.
National League West
Rockies: The Colorado Rockies were a tough team to choose from, there is some promising talent but ultimately it has been another disappointing year for Rockies fans. My prediction for their breakout star was Brendan Rodgers. A former first round pick in 2015, Rodgers has been bitten by the injury bug throughout his career and this year was no different. Only playing in 30 games thus far, Rodgers has been on the shelf for the majority of the season. I predicted him to slash .290/.350/.460 with 20 homers, bring in another Gold Glove, and even receive MVP votes. Through his 30 games played, he is only batting .218.
Diamondbacks: Arizona is another team with lots of young talent to choose from. I landed on Gabriel Moreno as my choice. I anticipated him to split time behind the plate as he has done, and I predicted a .290/.360/.400 slash line and 100 games played. Right now, he has played 98 games and is slashing .276/.325/.407. He is having a great season all around and probably would have been the best bet for breakout Diamondback if not for Rookie of the Year shoo-in Corbin Carroll.
Giants: For San Francisco, I chose a pitcher with some experience similar to that of Pablo Lopez. Entering his fifth year of big-league baseball, Logan Webb was my pick to break out for the Giants. I predicted that he would throw 200+ innings, keep an ERA around 3.00, and punch-out around 140 batters. Right now, Webb has thrown 201 innings and has 183 strikeouts with a 3.31 ERA. He is having another great season, and this is another prediction I would consider a win.
Padres: For the Padres breakout star, I predicted Brent Honeywell Jr. would have his star making season. Unfortunately, that never came to fruition. Honeywell has been relegated to pitching out of the bullpen and is actually no longer even with San Diego as he was sent to the White Sox in a trade. So far this season Honeywell has thrown 52.1 innings with a 4.82 ERA and 45 strikeouts. This was one of the most disappointing picks I made but I think that he can still become a very effective major league pitcher.
Dodgers: I made a relatively easy pick with the Dodgers, choosing their dominant closer from last year Brusdar Graterol. I expected him to throw around 75 innings with 40+ saves and an ERA of around 2.50. Graterol has shown no signs of slowing down from his brilliant last season and is currently at 62.1 innings pitched with only 7 saves, BUT his ERA on the season is a miniscule 1.30 and he is having another phenomenal year.
Looking back at the first half of my predictions, I think I’m 7 for 15 which is a lot better than I had anticipated. In the coming days, I will be wrapping up my retrospective for my 2023 MLB predictions!
Caption: Bobby Riggs hits a backhand while linesperson Betsy Blaney looks on.
By Betsy Blaney
Betsy Blaney is retired and lives in Lubbock, Texas. She spent about 20 years as a tennis professional before becoming a journalist. She worked for The Associated Press and the Lubbock affiliate of NPR during her 29 years in journalism. Now she teaches tennis to kids, plays a lot of Pickleball and volunteers with a local hospice.
September 16, 2023
I was a ball girl for her in the 60s.
I (remarkably) called lines for her in the 70s.
I played her and her partner in doubles in the 1980s.
And, as a newspaper and wire service journalist, I wrote two first-person anniversary pieces (in the 1990s and the 2000s) from my unique, on-court vantage point for her triumph over Bobby Riggs.*
It’s an understatement to say that Billie Jean King has been a steady part of my life’s timeline as a tennis player and a journalist. My serve and volley game is a direct result of watching her play in Milwaukee in the early years of my tennis playing.
No one I knew foresaw the long-lasting implications of the Battle of the Sexes match in Houston’s Astrodome on Sept. 20, 1973.
I sure didn’t. I was a somewhat meek 19-year-old – living in Dallas and learning how to teach tennis – who lucked into calling lines on the historic match. And I will always remember her circling back near my chair to tell me I’d blown a call on Riggs’ serve. It wasn’t a pretty admonishment.
The influence she’s had in my life, in the lives of millions of women – athletes of all sports and just generally – can’t be quantified.
As the match anniversary approaches, it’s important to remember she is also responsible for women receiving equal prize money at the four Grand Slam tournaments. The first Grand Slam was the 1973 US Open, which recently honored her and 50 years of her efforts to elevate women in all arenas.
I had the great good fortune of taking in the entire fortnight of Wimbledon this year. I was nearby the media building one day and spotted Billie Jean. I approached her, shook her hand as I re-introduced myself to her. She remembered the supposed blown call and our two interviews for the anniversary pieces. I just wanted to wish her a happy 80th birthday in November. She wished me the same for my 70th next spring.
It was a nice bookend to how our paths have crossed since I ran after tennis balls as she played the Virginia Slims tournament in Milwaukee 60 years ago.
*Note: Another article entitled Line Judge Turned Reporter, by Brooke Sjoberg, appeared in the Texas Standard: The National Daily News Show of Texas on September 20, 2018.
Caption: 19-year-old Coco Gauff captures first Grand Slam title at 2023 U.S. Open
By Nancy E. Spencer
Nancy E. Spencer is Professor Emerita in Sport Management, having taught in the SM program for 25 years. After competing and teaching tennis professionally for over 25 years, she went to graduate school at the University of Illinois to become a sport sociologist. Her research focuses on professional women’s tennis.
September 11, 2023 [updated: September 12, 2023]
Five years after playing in her first professional tournament, 19-year-old Coco Gauff had the tournament of a lifetime at the 2023 U.S. Open, where she won her first Grand Slam title. She became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam tournament since Serena Williams did so in 1999. She credited Venus and Serena for inspiring her – showing her that a Black player could reach the top. After winning the match, she reminisced about attending the U.S. Open when she was 8-years old.
How did she go from being that excited dancing little 8-year old girl to a 19-year old Grand Slam winner? Read on.
It was Coco’s father who took her to the U.S. Open when she was 8, and she credited him for being there, coaching her until recently when she added Pere Riba as her coach and Brad Gilbert as a consultant.
In 2017, at age 13, Gauff signed a contract with Team 8 to play professionally. Team 8 was a sport agency founded by Tony Godsick (husband of former U.S. player Mary Joe Fernandez) and his former client Roger Federer. The 20-year-old newcomer Ben Shelton is another player who signed as a client with the agency. Coco had to wait until she was 14 to play in her first event, the $25,000 Osprey tournament near her home in Florida. There she won three qualifying matches to advance to the main draw, where she got her first win as a pro by beating Moldavian Alexandra Perper, 6-2, 6-3.
Caption: Coco Gauff turns pro after winning 2018 Orange Bowl title.
In 2019, I caught my first glimpse of Coco at the U.S. Open, thanks to my Illinois friend and fellow grad student, Jessie Daw who had an extra ticket. The player I most wanted to see was Coco, who had won her first match at Wimbledon against none other than Venus Williams earlier that summer. My favorite photo from the 2019 Open shows Naomi Osaka hugging Coco after beating her 6-3, 6-0 in the third round. While Coco’s lopsided loss left her in tears, Naomi hugged her, told her it was okay to cry, and invited her to join in the post-match interview with Mary Joe Fernandez. That moment has since gone viral.
August 31, 2019 – Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka speak after their match at the 2019 US Open. (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/USTA)
In Coco’s first year as a pro, her talent and determination suggested that she could become the new face of American women’s tennis.
Besides her string of victories, Coco brought something else to the 2023 US Open – a new perspective on life that enabled her to deal with the pressure of expectations. On a sign at the entry way to Arthur Ashe Stadium there is a quote that says: ‘Pressure is a privilege;’ it is the title of a book by Billie Jean King.
Coco would need her new outlook to persevere through her draw at the U.S. Open. In the first round, she outlasted her German opponent, Laura Siegemund, in a match that Coco later described as “slow!’ Siegemund regularly used the full 25 seconds on the serve clock before serving. Gauff eventually addressed the official in the chair, saying that it wasn’t fair that Siegemund often went beyond 25 seconds without a warning from the umpire. It was the first time that I can remember Coco voicing a complaint to an official during a match. Given the partisan nature of the US Open crowd, fans began cheering Laura’s errors. After the match, Siegemund criticized the crowd for their partisanship.
In her next 6 matches, Gauff would be pushed to 3 sets by Elise Mertens (3rd round), Caroline Wozniacki (4th round) and Aryna Sabalenka (final). She also had to endure a 50-minute delay in her semifinal against Karolina Muchova when 4 protesters wearing shirts that read “End fossil fuels” were escorted out of the stadium. Three protesters left without further incident. It took longer for the fourth person who had glued their bare feet to the concrete, meaning that “NYPD and medical personnel were needed in order to safely remove this individual from the stadium.”
Entering the final, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka was the clear favorite and was about to become the World No. 1 since Iga Swiatek lost earlier in the tournament. But Coco seemed to have momentum going into the match. In the first set, Sabalenka came out firing on all cylinders, outhitting her young opponent and making few unforced errors. Aryna is arguably the hardest hitter on the women’s tour and brings an intimidating presence to her play. However, Coco later disclosed that she had practiced against an American player, Chris Eubanks, who had advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals earlier in the summer. She acknowledged that he helped her to deal with Sabalenka’s pace. But Sabalenka’s power, placements, and consistency were too much for Gauff in the first set, which Sabalenka won 6-2.
After going down 2-0 in the second set, Gauff slowly climbed back into the match. As she began retrieving more of her opponent’s hard-hit placements, Sabalenka started pressing and making more errors. Coco won 6 of the next 7 games to take the second set, 6-3. The match would go to a third and Coco was beginning to feel the momentum with the crowd enthusiastically supporting her.
In the third set, Gauff showed her determination and concentration by pulling out to a 4-0 lead before Sabalenka could get a game. Even then, Coco kept the pressure on to take the set 6-2 and win the match on her first match point. Afterwards Coco laid on the court, in obvious relief and joy, before rising to embrace her opponent at the net, and celebrating her hard-fought victory with her parents, coaches and fans.
When Billie Jean King presented her with the trophy for winning the 2023 US Open Women’s Singles championship and the $3 million first prize, Coco was quick to credit King for her efforts to bring equal pay to women at the 1973 US Open.
As the adage from the seventies goes, it seems we “have come a long way, baby!”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 09: Former American tennis player Billie Jean King presents the winners trophy to Coco Gauff of the United States during the ceremony after Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in their Women’s Singles Final match on Day Thirteen of the 2023 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 09, 2023 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
*Notes: Thanks to commenters Jessie Daw who pointed out that the shot clock allows 25 seconds instead of 30 seconds, and to Jessie, Sharyl Ginther, and Montana Miller for noting that one protester had glued their feet instead of their shoes to the concrete.
Maxwell Media Watch 