Everything Sports, Explained
Elly De La Cruz has officially joined Major League Baseball’s 30-30 club. The Cincinnati Reds shortstop recorded his 30th stolen base of the 2026 season against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 25, giving him at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season for the first time in his career. … Read more
The Chicago White Sox completed one of the most dramatic turnarounds in MLB history in 2026, clinching a playoff berth just one year after finishing 60-102 and two years after setting the modern-era record with 121 losses. Chicago beat the Kansas City Royals 9-1 on September 24 to secure its first postseason appearance since 2021. … Read more
Shohei Ohtani is back in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup, but fans should not expect to see him on the mound during the 2026 playoffs. The Dodgers activated Ohtani from the injured list on September 23 after he spent two weeks recovering from lingering problems with his left knee and right biceps. He returned as … Read more
Ben Rice has joined one of the most exclusive power-hitting groups in New York Yankees history — and set a particularly unusual franchise mark in the process. Rice hit his 40th and 41st home runs of the 2026 season against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 23, becoming only the second player ever drafted by … Read more
Baseball’s Triple Crown is one of the sport’s rarest statistical accomplishments. A hitter wins the traditional Triple Crown by leading his league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in during the same season. There is also a pitching Triple Crown, which requires a pitcher to lead his league in wins, ERA and strikeouts. … Read more
Losing 100 games once is a disastrous Major League Baseball season. Doing it in consecutive years puts a franchise into a much smaller and more infamous group. The Colorado Rockies became the newest member of that group on September 22, 2026 — and reached an even rarer level of futility. Colorado’s 7-2 loss to the … Read more
The Boston Red Sox looked like one of baseball’s biggest disappointments for nearly half of the 2026 season. They started 10-17, fired World Series-winning manager Alex Cora in April and eventually fell to 32-46 — 14 games below .500 — by late June. Then the entire season changed. Under interim manager Chad Tracy, Boston swept … Read more
Chad Tracy went from managing Boston’s Triple-A affiliate to becoming the 49th manager in Red Sox history in less than five months, completing one of the most dramatic in-season promotions and turnarounds in recent franchise history. Boston originally promoted Tracy from Triple-A Worcester on an interim basis after firing Alex Cora in April 2026 with … Read more
Barry Bonds’ connection to the BALCO steroid scandal became one of the defining controversies of baseball’s steroid era, following the San Francisco Giants star through his pursuit of Major League Baseball’s most prestigious home-run records and ultimately into federal court. Bonds acknowledged using substances supplied by his personal trainer that prosecutors identified as performance-enhancing drugs, … Read more
San Francisco Giants rookie Bryce Eldridge appears likely to miss the remainder of the 2026 MLB season after suffering a concussion in an unusual accident at the team’s hotel in Los Angeles. Eldridge initially suffered a cut to his head after striking a low ceiling or archway at the hotel. The Giants initially hoped the … Read more