Dodgers plan Ohtani promotions
From Staff and Wire Reports
The Dodgers are featuring four promotional giveaways around Shohei Ohtani this season, including a pair of bobblehead nights.
Ohtani bobbleheads will be given to the first 40,000 fans for a May 16 game against Cincinnati and an Ohtani hat at the July 22 contest against San Francisco, the Dodgers said Wednesday. Another bobblehead night will be Aug. 28 against Baltimore, and Ohtani shirts are the item on Sept. 21 against Colorado.
Ohtani agreed to a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December.
Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a bobblehead night on June 13 against Texas after agreeing to a $325 million, 12-year contract.
Other featured bobbleheads include Freddie Freeman, Brusdar Graterol (April 13), Walker Buehler (April 20), Will Smith (May 18), Mookie Betts (May 21), Tyler Glasnow (June 1), Bobby Miller (July 3) and Jason Heyward (July 6).
■ Donations poured in Wednesday to replace a destroyed statue of Jackie Robinson on what would have been the 105th birthday of the first player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier.
The total raised just through one online fundraiser surpassed $140,000, which is far in excess of the estimated $75,000 value of the bronze statue that was cut from its base last week at a park in Wichita, Kansas. Police are searching for those responsible.
Only the statue’s feet were left at Mcadams Park, where about 600 children play in a youth baseball league called League 42, which is named after Robinson’ s uniform number with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he broke the major leagues’ color barrier in 1947.
Fire crews found burned remnants of the statue Tuesday while responding to a trash can fire at another park about 7 miles away. A truck believed to be used in the theft previously was found abandoned, and police said the theft was captured on surveillance video.
Bob Lutz, executive director of the Little League nonprofit that commissioned the sculpture, said the money raised also could enhance some of its programming and facilities. In April, the group opened the Leslie Rudd Learning Center, which includes an indoor baseball facility and a learning lab.
One of the largest donations is a $10,000 pledge from an anonymous former Major League Baseball player who won a World Series.
Source: Seahawks hire Ravens DC as head coach
The Seattle Seahawks are hiring Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald as their new head coach, a person informed of the decision told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the Seahawks haven’t announced the hiring.
Macdonald, 36, will become the youngest head coach in the league and half the age of the man he’s replacing — Pete Carroll who was let go after 14 seasons in charge in Seattle.
Macdonald spent the past two years running Baltimore’s defense, including this past season when the Ravens finished with the NFL’S best regular-season record and reached the AFC championship game before losing to Kansas City.
This will be the first head coaching position at any level for Macdonald. But he’s been surrounded by successful coaches as he moved up the ranks, starting with an extended run on the staff of John Harbaugh in Baltimore before spending a season on now-chargers’ coach Jim Harbaugh’s staff in college at Michigan.
Galaxy acquire Brazilian attacker Gabriel Pec
The Galaxy have landed one of their key offensive attacking targets in forward Gabriel Pec.
Pec, previously of Vasco Da Gama in Brazil, joins the Galaxy as a Young Designated Player, signing a five-year contract through the end of the 2028 season.
Pec, 22, has scored 26 goals with 14 assists in 178 appearances for Vasco da Gama. During the 2023 Brazilian Serie A, he scored eight goals with four assists.
“He’s (Pec) has been a key contributor for one of the biggest clubs in Brazil’s Série A and we are beyond excited that he is choosing to join the Galaxy as the next step in his burgeoning career,” Galaxy General Manager Will Kuntz said.
Pec is currently with the Brazilian U-23 team in a qualifying tournament for the upcoming Olympic Games. Brazil’s next game is Thursday against Venezuela.
“We didn’t necessarily have a clear path to get him right off the start, so it was something that had to evolve and once it became an option, we started to push really hard,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “He’s a left-footed winger, very powerful, dynamic, works from the outside in and he’s looking to get behind the opposition, he’s looking to get to the front of the goal, he’s looking to get to the end line.”
— Damian Calhoun
■ LAFC has acquired Mexican defender Omar Campos on a permanent transfer, the club announced this week. The acquisition, guaranteed through 2027 with a club option for 2028, makes the sought-after left back, the anticipated replacement for Diego Palacios following his recent free agent departure to Brazil. Joining Major League Soccer as part of the U22 Initiative, Campos, 21, began as a youth for Club Santos Laguna in 2015 prior to joining its senior team six years later at the age of 18.
— Josh Gross
NBA expanding two-round draft to two-day format
The NBA draft is moving to a two-day format for the first time, the league announced Wednesday. Round 1 of the draft this year will be on Wednesday, June 26 at Barclays Center in New York. Round 2 will follow on June 27 at ESPN’S Seaport District Studios in New York.