For a while last night, folks watching the Dodgers/Blue Jays Game 3 of the World Series might have thought that someone had figured out how to stop time. Only once in the history of baseball has a World Series game taken 18 innings to declare a winner – – and in that one other time in 2018, the Dodgers were involved as well. In the bottom of the 18th inning Freddie Freeman sent everyone to bed with a walk-off home run giving the Dodgers a 6-5 win in Game 3 and a Series lead of two games to one.
While Freeman is the “hero of the game” for his game winning shot, Shohei Ohtani more quietly achieved another exalted status in the game. Ohtani had 4 hits in the game – – two doubles and two home runs; only once in the history of baseball has a player had 4 extra base hits in a World Series game and that happened in 1906. It’s been a while … Oh, by the way, Ohtani also drew 5 walks in the game.
The Blue Jays used 9 pitchers in the game; the Dodgers trotted out 10 hurlers. Jays’ pitchers threw 298 pitches; the Dodgers’ pitchers served up 312. The Series schedule calls for Games 4 and 5 to be played in LA with no rest days inserted. Both pitching staffs will be earning their keep in this Series. Iin case you are wondering, neither of the pitchers listed as starters in Game 4 tonight (Shane Bieber for the Jays and Shohei Ohtani for the Dodgers) threw any of those myriad pitches last night. Both bullpens are hoping that both starters can log at least 7 innings tonight.
Moving on … The UFL will look very different in 2026; three of the 8 teams in the league have been disbanded and there will be three new cities added. The teams that are no more were:
- Memphis Showboats
- Michigan Panthers
- San Antonio Brahmas
The Showboats’ demise was almost a foregone conclusion with or without a major overhaul of the league structure. At the end of the last UFL season the Showboats’ average home attendance was less than 4000 fans per game; I don’t care how the league structures its player salary ladder, 4000 fans per game will not feed the bulldog.
In place of teams representing those parts of the country, the new teams will be:
- Columbus Aviators
- Louisville Kings
- Orlando Storm
And in addition to relocating 37.5% of the teams in the league, the UFL will “rebrand” two Texas-based teams:
- The Arlington Renegades will become the Dallas Renegades
- The Houston Roughnecks will become the Houston Gamblers
One can look at these changes as normal evolutionary steps that new leagues need to experience in order to take root and flourish; alternatively, one can look at these changes as desperation moves attempting to keep the UFL out of bankruptcy court. The league says that the rebrandings here seek to exploit areas with “stronger sports infrastructure and fan engagement”. That sounds like a well-crafted announcement of league strategy, but maybe there is something about the new locales that makes sense. All three new cities have smaller stadiums that are modern and have “fan amenities”.
The smaller size will avoid the “bad optics” of a UFL game taking place in a 50,000-seat facility with an attendance of 10,000. Even though that attendance figure is significantly above what the Showboats played in front of, that crowd would rattle around in a “major stadium” like a BB in a boxcar. For example:
- Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus seats 27,000
- Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville seats 15,304
- Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando seats 25,000
All three of these facilities are also home to soccer teams so the sightlines for football will be natural ones.
There is one other UFL change for 2026. No longer will the eight teams be broken up into conferences of 4 teams each. Rather the league will determine its playoff teams simply by “best record”. The UFL playoffs have 4 teams that play in semi-final games and a single final game slated for 13 June 2026. Frankly, that modification makes a lot of sense to me in a league with only 8 teams.
Finally, consider this from Oscar Wilde:
“I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.”
But don’t get mw wrong, I love sports………