Good morning, all! I hope your week is off to a terrific start.
It might have been the Hail Mary of all Hail Mary passes. The football world is still spinning following Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels last second TD strike to Noah Brown on Sunday.
As the clock wound down to zero, the Commanders were on the verge of losing to the Chicago Bears. Trailing 15-12 - in a battle between Daniels and Caleb Williams, two first round QB draft picks from the 2024 draft - Daniels unleashed a pass for the ages.
Daniels’ 52-yard bomb was tipped into the hands of Brown, as time expired, giving the Commanders a miracle, 18-15 victory. Making the play even more delicious for the first place Commanders, Bears’ CB Tyrique Stevenson was supposed to cover Brown but was late to his assignment, because he was taunting the fans on his way down the field. One of those fans recorded the taunt and posted it to his X account.
Stevenson apologized for his actions, which drew criticism from all corners, including Bill Belichick.
“Obviously this is a ridiculous play by Tyrique Stevenson. He has no idea what is going on and it was terrible.” -Belichick
Meanwhile, the 6-2 Commanders are in first place by one-half game over the Eagles in the NFC East. It could be an interesting race between those two clubs.
Quiz
Only one player is still alive, who played in the Major Leagues under Connie Mack, when he managed the Philadelphia Athletics. Name him? (Answer below)
Ratings have MLB smiling
As expected, ratings are soaring for the World Series between the two teams from the two largest television markets, the Yankees and Dodgers. The first two games have each attracted nearly 30-million viewers, counting 15.9 million in Japan for Game 2, where 12 percent of the country was tuned in.
They paid taxes back then too
Long before free agency and high player contracts, teams had even more incentive to win the World Series, because the players really needed the money. In some cases, the winning share for a player on a World Series winner was equal to one-third of his annual salary. But they paid taxes too, as evidenced from this story 60 years ago in the NY Daily News. Joe Trimble wrote how the shares for the winners and losers in the 1964 World Series were divided, with a hefty chunk being taken by Uncle Sam.
Quiz answer
Bobby Shantz, 99, is the last living player with ties to manager Connie Mack. A native of Pottstown, PA, Shantz was a left hander, who pitched 16 years in the majors, including six in Philadelphia with the A’s and four for the Yankees. In 1952 he went 24-7, with a 2.48 ERA and 27 complete games, winning the AL-MVP award.
As always, thank you for subscribing to the newsletter and have a great week.
DAN