Yahoo Sports AM: Hurricane Helene brings chaos to baseball

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🚨 Headlines

⚾️ Farewell, Oakland: The Warriors left Oakland in 2019. The Raiders left in 2020. Now the A's are saying goodbye. Today they are playing their last home game there.

🏈 NIL feud in Vegas: After leading UNLV to its first 3-0 start in 40 years, quarterback Matthew Sluka leaves the team over a NIL dispute. He claims he was promised money he never received; UNLV says his agent made “financial demands” to keep playing.

💵 History for sale: Shohei Ohtani's 50th home run ball is being auctioned by Goldin. Bidding starts tomorrow at $500,000. There is also a buy it now option for $4.5 million that expires when bidding reaches $3 million.

⚾️ 140 RBIs: Aaron Judge hit his 57th home run on Wednesday and increased his RBI tally to 142, making him the first player since Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard in 2009 to score 140 runs in a season.

🏈 Hunt’s KC return: Six years after being released by the Chiefs, Kareem Hunt is back on the active roster and will play in Sunday's game against the Chargers.

⚾️ Hurricane Helene: Brings chaos

The 2024 MLB season was already heading for a chaotic end considering how close the AL and NL wild-card races are. Now the final days could descend into complete chaos thanks to Hurricane Helene and the league's decision to cancel Game 163.

What happens: Yesterday and today's Braves games against the Mets in Atlanta were postponed in preparation for Helene's landing. The two teams, separated by just one game in the wildcard race, will now play a doubleheader on Monday for the final playoff spot (unless the race is already decided by then).

• It's a nightmare scenario that probably could have been avoided: Both teams had a bye on Monday and seemingly could have played a game to get ahead of the storm.

• Instead, the Mets will have to flee Atlanta during a hurricane to play their final series in Milwaukee, then most likely return to Atlanta for a doubleheader on Monday – one day before the playoffs begin.

Maximum chaos scenario for the Mets… Sunday in Milwaukee, doubleheader on Monday in Atlanta, then a wildcard game on Tuesday in San Diego or Los Angeles. Four games, three days, three different time zones.

Wild Card Races:

• NL: Padres (91-67), Mets (87-70), Diamondbacks (88-71), Braves (86-71)

• A: Orioles (88-70), Tigers (84-74), Royals (84-74), Twins (82-76), Mariners (82-77)

What you should see: The MLB has waived Game 163 in the event of a tie, so there could be a mathematical deadlock if all goes well this weekend.

It's not just baseball… Helene could also disrupt NFL, college football and MLS schedules.

🏀 Clark is sent home, Final Four is decided

Caitlin Clark's historic season ended on Wednesday when the Fever fell to the Sun 87-81. The rookie filled the stat sheet (25-6-9), but so did Alyssa Thomas (19-5-13) as Connecticut completed the 2-0 sweep.

What’s next for Clark? “I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow or the day after,” she said when asked about her offseason plans. “So, maybe play a little golf. That's what I'm going to do until it gets too cold in Indiana. I'm going to be a professional golfer.”

Meanwhile in Minnesota … Napheesa Collier tied the WNBA record for most points in a playoff game (42) to lead the Lynx past the Mercury 101-86 and into the semifinals. Did we just watch Diana Taurasi's last WNBA game?

Last four: The top four seeds have advanced to the best-of-five semifinals, which begin Sunday with (1) New York vs. (4) Las Vegas and (2) Minnesota vs. (3) Connecticut.

📸 The world in photos

Los Angeles – LAFC's first win in six games earned them a trophy. The Black and Gold won their first US Open Cup with a 2-1 overtime victory over Sporting Kansas City.

Chicago — History will have to wait at least one more night after the White Sox beat the Angels in overtime and remain tied with the 1962 Mets with 120 losses.

Munich – The Sabres have arrived in Germany, where they will play a friendly against EHC Red Bull Munich tomorrow. They will then travel to Prague next week for the Global Series season opener against the Devils.

Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy — The historic Eugenio Monti toboggan run, built for the 1956 Olympic Games and featured in the 1981 James Bond film, For your eyes onlywill be rebuilt in preparation for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

🏈 Alabama-Georgia could decide the Heisman race

Heisman Candidate Jalen Milroe (Alabama) and Carson Beck (Georgia) face off in a rematch of last year's SEC title game in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, and the winning QB could become the betting favorite to win the award.

From Nick Bromberg of Yahoo Sports:

September is usually too early to talk about games that will have a major impact on voters' opinions at the end of the season, but the game between No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama is not a typical September game.

Ten months ago, Alabama made it into the College Football Playoffs with a 27-24 win over the Bulldogs. Milroe had the better game of the two quarterbacks (13-23, 192, TD) and decided the game on the ground. Beck ran for one point and was 21 of 29 passes for 243 yards.

Both players were in their first season as starters in 2023, and Beck spent much of the offseason as the favorite for the 2024 Heisman after returning to Athens for another season. Milroe was also at the top of the BetMGM rankings, but he also began the season with a new offense that he had to learn under new head coach Kalen DeBoer. He's had the better season so far.

Betting odds (via BetMGM):

1. Cam Ward, Miami (+375)

2. Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss (+550)

3. Milford, Alabama (+700)

4. Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee (+900)

5. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon (+1000)

6. Quinn Ewers, Texas (+1400)

7. Beck, Georgia (+1600)

8. Travis Hunter, Colorado (+1600)

9. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State (+2000)

10. Will Howard, Ohio State (+2000)

Regard: Why Milroe's legs are the X-factor on Saturday (College Football Power Hour)

📆 September 26, 1982: Silent Sunday

42 years ago today, The NFL players' strike resulted in the league's first work stoppage of the season, as there was no football game on Sunday.

The consequences: Players lost over $9 million in salary that day and teams lost $29 million in television and ticket revenue. When the strike ended 57 days later, half the season was lost and the financial damage amounted to around $450 million.

Why did they go on strike? In March of that year, the NFL signed a five-year, $2 billion broadcast deal with ABC, CBS and NBC, but player salaries, which at the time averaged $100,000, were still largely dependent on gate receipts and merchandise.

• The players' union refused to accept this and demanded higher salaries, free agents and 55% of the league's revenue. The owners, not surprisingly, said “no” and thus began a conflict that lasted for months.

• The strike put pressure on everyone, including the television networks that had just paid billions to broadcast NFL games. They tried to fill those slots with old Super Bowls, D-III college football and the CFL, but none of that brought in much in the way of viewers.

• The union hosted two All-Star games to line the players' pockets a little, but few fans showed up, frustrated by the ongoing dispute. When asked why he played, Redskins running back John Riggins said, “I guess I'd do just about anything for money.”

The game continues: After losses in Weeks 3 through 10, the two sides finally agreed to a deal* that significantly increased the minimum salaries. Each team ultimately played nine regular-season games and the Redskins beat the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII after an expanded 16-team playoff. Riggins was named the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player.

*Déjà vu: This agreement ended up being more of a band-aid than a real solution. When it expired five years later, another work stoppage occurred – the infamous 1987 strike, which saw the use of substitute players for three weeks of the season.

📺 Watchlist: The Presidents Cup

The 15th Presidents Cup starts today (11:30 a.m. ET, Golf/Peacock) at Royal Montreal, where Team USA* will seek its 10th consecutive victory over Team International** (excluding Europe) in the biennial competition.

And this is how it works: The teams will compete in three different match play formats over the next four days: foursomes (best ball) today and Saturday, foursomes (alternate shot) Friday and Saturday, and singles on Sunday. There will be 30 matches in total, with 15.5 points needed to win the title.

More to see:

• 🏈 NFL: Cowboys at Giants (8:15 p.m., Prime)

• ⚾️ MLB: Padres at Dodgers (10:10 p.m., MLB)

• 🏈 NCAAF: Army in the Temple (7:30 p.m., ESPN)

*Team USA: Scottie Scheffler (world number one), Xander Schauffele (2), Collin Morikawa (3), Wyndham Clark (6), Patrick Cantlay (9), Sahith Theegala (11), Keegan Bradley (13), Russell Henley (14) , Sam Burns (19), Brian Harman (22), Tony Finau (23), Max Homa (25)

**Team International: Hideki Matsuyama (7), Adam Scott (18), Sungjae Im (21), Tom Kim (24), Jason Day (33), Byeong Hun An (34), Corey Conners (37), Min Woo Lee ( 40), Taylor Pendrith (44), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (45), Si Woo Kim (49), Mackenzie Hughes (61)

🏈 Stadium Trivia

Temple hosts Army tonight at Lincoln Financial Field, the stadium they share with the Eagles.

Temple is one of five FBS teams that shares a home stadium with an NFL team.

Ask: Can you name the other four?

A notice: Two are in Florida.

Answer below.

🇨🇦 Tweet of the day: Royal Mount Royal

This reminded me of something I think about far too often… The Los Angeles Angels are, in the truest sense of the word, “The Angels Angels.”

Trivia answer: Miami (Dolphins' Hard Rock Stadium), Pittsburgh (Steelers' Acrisure Stadium), USF (Buccaneers' Raymond James Stadium), UNLV (Raiders' Allegiant Stadium)

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