NAMES & FACES

Fred Washington

The operator of the Cubs’ handoperated scoreboard has been surrounded by numbers and cities for decades. Seasons full of ones and twos and zeros. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Milwaukee, too. When his Cubs scored three runs in the first, Washington put the crooked number in the right spot. When the Cardinals jumped all over the Pirates, Washington told the story, column by column. Washington, 66, is retiring after the season. “It’s a lot of laughter. It’s a lot of joy up here,” he said, “except when the Cubs lose.” Washington had jobs with the Chicago Police Department, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and in railroads before he was hired by the Cubs in 1984 for a security position. He moved to the grounds crew and eventually the scoreboard crew in 1990.

Nneka Ogwumike

The WNBA star made the decisive shot in the final seconds of the Los Angeles Sparks’ titleclinching victory over the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday, but another basket of hers with 1:14 remaining in the game shouldn’t have counted. The league acknowledged a mistake by its officials, saying her shot “should not have counted due to a shotclock violation, and that the referees improperly failed to review the play under the instant replay rules.” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve was angry, saying the league needed to do more than just apologize and “send a memo.”