Monday, July 20

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Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler.

Here’s the Michael Jordan baseball story you might not know.

Jordan’s foray into Minor League Baseball with the White Sox, between his legendary runs with the Bulls, is the most famous sports side quest of all time. Everyone knows that story. 

But how about the story of the first sports autograph MJ ever signed? 

It’s not a signed basketball. 

It is — at least, as far as we know — a page of the 1975 North Carolina Dixie Youth Baseball State Tournament program. Jordan was 12 years old when he signed it.

That autographed baseball program just sold for $35,250 at auction during All-Star Week in Philadelphia. As the earliest known athletics-related Jordan auto — and one that’s from baseball instead of basketball — it’s quite the unique piece of memorabilia.  

Our Manny Randhawa has the story behind the signature. It’s the story of how Jordan played in that tournament and nearly led his team to a Dixie Youth Baseball World Series championship … and how that “nearly” part might have played a role in steering Jordan toward the sport in which he would eventually become an unrivaled superstar.

See, baseball was Jordan’s first love when he was growing up in Wilmington, N.C. When he was 12 years old, he was selected to participate in the Dixie Youth Baseball State Tournament, which was to be held in Kings Mountain, about a four-hour drive away.

Jordan and his childhood friend, Reggie Murrill, stayed with a host family for the tournament, the Mitchems. Jordan’s Cape Fear team won the tournament to advance to the 1975 Dixie Youth Baseball World Series. Before the boys left town, Frank and Nina Mitchem had a request: They wanted Mike and Reggie to autograph the tournament program for them. 

They obliged — and that signed program is the one that just fetched five figures. 

As for Jordan and the Mitchems — he had such a good time staying with them that he went back to visit them every summer for more than a decade, even after he became one of the most famous basketball players in the world.  

But why didn’t he stick with baseball? There are plenty of people who think Jordan could’ve made it to the Major Leagues. 

Well, Jordan was so good in the Dixie Youth Baseball World Series that he was named “Mr. Baseball” for North Carolina. But his team lost despite Jordan’s stellar play — and that might have played a role in moving Jordan from the diamond to the hardwood, where one individual could have an outsized impact on the outcome.

The whole thing is a very cool story — including how the Jordan-autographed youth baseball program was re-discovered after many years sitting in the Mitchem home. We highly recommend you read the full article here >> 

 

BASEBALL DEBATE TO SETTLE? USE THIS

There’s nothing like a good sports debate over which player is better. And we’re here to help settle those debates. 

We just launched a new Player Comparison Tool on Baseball Savant that lets you look at players head to head in a whole bunch of different stats. 

Here are just a few of the things that it can do: 

• Break down the awards races, like NL Rookie of the Year   

• Show how players have improved, like Cardinals All-Star and Home Run Derby champ Jordan Walker 

• Highlight team needs at the Trade Deadline, like the Cubs and their starting rotation

• Get to the bottom of what’s changed about a player, like Paul Skenes and his fastball velocity

• Help decide arguments like “Who should play on the left side of the Yankees infield?”

You get to pick which players and which stats you’re comparing, so go play around with the tool now >> 

GAMES OF THE NIGHT

Here are four games to watch tonight. 

Dodgers at Phillies (7:10 p.m. ET, ESPN)

We’ve got a great doubleheader on ESPN tonight. The first game is a must-see NLDS rematch between two powerhouse teams. Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez is on the mound against Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers — and remember, Sánchez dominated them in the postseason last year. But L.A. got the last laugh, knocking out the Phils on their way to the World Series. 

Cardinals at Angels (10:10 p.m. ET, ESPN)

In the second game of the night on ESPN, a Cardinals team led by first-time All-Star Jordan Walker faces an Angels team led by 12-time All-Star Mike Trout. The Cards are in the thick of a tight NL Wild Card race — they’re in a virtual three-way tie with the Marlins and Pirates for the third and final playoff spot. 

Orioles at Red Sox (7:10 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) 

The two hottest teams in baseball — and two division rivals — are squaring off. The Red Sox are on another level right now, riding a 13-game winning streak that’s the longest in the Majors this season and one of the longest in franchise history. But the Orioles have also won seven games in a row entering tonight’s series opener. Both teams are back in the AL playoff picture — the Sox now own the third Wild Card spot, and the O’s are just two games out.  

Mets at Brewers (7:40 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) 

It’s Freddy Peralta’s return to Milwaukee — and he faces the electric young pitcher who took over as the Brewers’ ace in his place, Jacob Misiorowski. It’s a marquee pitching matchup. Miz is the NL Cy Young favorite, leading MLB with a 1.62 ERA and 167 strikeouts, while Peralta was a two-time All-Star for the Brewers before he was traded to the Mets this past offseason. 

As Misiorowski said: “That will be fun. I want the best for Freddy. He’s an awesome guy. I love Freddy. But he’s on the other team, so you’ve got to kick his [butt]. That’s my job.” 

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Here’s the news and notes from around the Majors this weekend. 

• The Red Sox have surged back into postseason contention with their 13-game winning streak. Their playoff odds have rocketed up to 59%, when they were just 13% at the start of July. MLB.com Red Sox beat reporter Ian Browne takes a look at the keys to the team turning its season around.

• A pitcher got a hit! And we’re not even talking about Shohei Ohtani. The Braves’ Victor Mederos got a chance to bat at the end of a blowout win over the Rangers — with a position player pitching, Texas catcher Kyle Higashioka — and he smacked a two-run single to left field. Mederos is only the second career pitcher to get a hit since the universal DH went into effect in 2022 (the other is Ryne Nelson). 

• The Dodgers got two big-time pitching performances in their series win over the Yankees. One was by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who got back to his postseason ways by throwing a complete game to beat the Bronx Bombers (and outduel Cam Schlittler in the process). The other one was a big surprise: Roki Sasaki was as electric as he’s ever been in the Majors, hitting triple digits with his fastball 21 times and topping out at 101.8 mph in Friday’s series opener.

• The reigning Cy Young winners were back at the peak of their powers in their first starts of the second half. First, Tarik Skubal shut down the Angels on Saturday with seven scoreless innings and nine strikeouts. Then Paul Skenes reasserted himself as one of baseball’s best pitchers with a seven-inning, one-run, eight-strikeout gem to beat the Guardians yesterday.

• The Brewers cooled off the Marlins with a three-game sweep, capped off by William Contreras’ walk-off home run (and monster bat flip) in yesterday’s finale. The surprising Marlins are still in the thick of the playoff picture, but they’ve now lost six games in a row. 

FIELD OF DREAMS UNIS UNVEILED

The uniforms for the 2026 MLB at Field of Dreams game dropped today. Here’s the first look at the retro jerseys the Phillies and Twins will sport for the game in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13.

The Phillies’ gray road uniforms are inspired by the same unis the team wore from 1939-41. They display a red “Phillies” script that slants upward across the chest. The word has a navy blue outline, and there is red and navy blue striping around the collar, the sleeves, running down through the middle of the jersey and along the side of their gray pants.

The Twins’ home jerseys are inspired by their original duds from the 1960s. The white jersey has navy blue pinstripes and no trim. The “Twins” navy blue script across the chest has a red outline, and the tail of the final letter underlines the script in the team’s familiar style. The number on the back of the jersey is also navy blue and outlined in red.

See more here >> 

 

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