A's see smallest crowd in 44years on Monday.
The A's, playing in front of the smallest home crowd in nearly 44 years, continued their ignominious path to unwanted Major League Baseball history with a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.
Just 2,064 fans were at the Coliseum as Oakland remained on pace to finish with the third-worst regular season since MLB began in 1876. The announced crowd was the A's smallest for a home game fans were allowed to attend since drawing 1,037 against Texas on Sept. 19, 1979.
Oakland lost its third straight game and seventh in its last eight as its MLB-worst record dropped to 9-34. The A's are now on pace to go 34-128 — there has only been one team to finish with more than 120 defeats in a season, the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (20-134), the worst team in history. Only the abysmal Spiders and the 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys (23-113) had a worse winning percentage over a full season than Oakland's .209 winning percentage.
MLB
MARLINS STAR OUTFIELDER JAZZ CHISHOLM JR. HEADED TO THE INJURED LIST >> Marlins centerfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. was put on the 10day injured list because of a right toe turf injury.
A first-year outfielder, Chisholm collided with the center-field wall while attempting to catch a drive hit by Henry Ramos in Miami's 6-5 loss against Cincinnati on Saturday. Chisholm remained down on the warning track for a couple of minutes before he reached his feet and limped off the field.
“Not what you want from your star centerfielder,” Marlins manager Schumaker said before Tuesday's series opener against Washington. “We put a lot on his plate early in the year and in spring training, and he's done nothing but grow in that position.”
Chisholm has seven homers and began Tuesday tied for second in the NL with 14 steals. He homered in consecutive games against the Reds before his injury.
WNBA
WNBA SUSPENDS HAMMON 2 GAMES FOR PLAYER'S ALLEGATION SHE WAS BULLIED FOR BEING PREGNANT >> The WNBA suspended Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon, one of the league's marquee figures, for two games after former Aces player Dearica Hamby said she had been bullied and manipulated for being pregnant.
Hammon, who in her first season last year led the Aces to the WNBA championship, was suspended without pay after a monthslong investigation into Hamby's allegations. The WNBA said Hammon violated league and team “respect in the workplace” policies.
The league also rescinded the Aces' first-round pick in the 2025 draft for a different issue — a violation of league rules regarding impermissible player benefits involving Hamby, who was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks on Jan. 21.
Soccer
INTER BEATS CITY RIVAL MILAN 1-0 TO REACH 1ST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL IN MORE THAN A DECADE >> Inter Milan reached its first Champions League final in more than a decade with a 1-0 victory against city rival AC Milan.
Inter had a 2-0 lead from the first leg of the semifinal and Lautaro Martinez's 74thminute goal ended any hopes for Milan to stage a comeback. The Nerazzurri won the so-called “Euroderby” 3-0 on aggregate to progress to its first final since it won the league, Italian Cup and Champions League under José Mourinho in 2010.
And it was the same formidable attacking partnership that led Inter to the Serie A title two years ago that proved decisive again, as Romelu Lukaku set up Martínez for the only goal.
BALOGUN OPTS TO PLAY FOR US INSTEAD OF ENGLAND >> Promising striker Folarin Balogun has opted to play for the U.S. national team rather than England.
FIFA said in a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday that it approved a request to change Balogun's national team affiliation from England, which he had represented at the under-21 level.
The 21-year-old Balogun, who has 19 goals in the French league this season while on loan at Reims from Arsenal, was born in New York and grew up in London. He had also been eligible to play for Nigeria through family ties.
NEW PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S SOCCER LEAGUE TO LAUNCH IN US IN 2024 >> A new league will be kicking off in August 2024 with 10 to 12 teams that will play at the same level as the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.
The USL Super League announced that it will apply with U.S. Soccer for sanctioning at the top level. The Super League had originally been seeking second-division status.
The league announced eight planned franchises and ownership groups Tuesday. The host cities include: Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas/Fort Worth; Lexington, Kentucky; Phoenix; Spokane, Washington; Tampa Bay, Florida; Tucson, Arizona, and Washington, D.C. The additional franchises will be announced at a later date.
Unlike the NWSL, which plays a spring to fall schedule, the Super League will follow the international calendar, playing from the fall to the summer.
Olympics
GOLD-MEDAL FIGURE SKATER HUGHES RUNNING FOR NY CONGRESSIONAL SEAT >> Sarah Hughes, who won a gold medal in figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics, has filed to run for Congress in New York, joining several other Democrats seeking to unseat Long Island Republican Anthony D'Esposito.
Hughes, 38, will make a formal campaign announcement of her campaign for New York's 4th Congressional District “in the next few weeks,” spokesperson Max Kramer said Tuesday.
Hughes was just 16 when she scored her upset win over teammate Michelle Kwan at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Late Monday
NHL PLAYOFFS >> Roope Hintz and 19-year-old Wyatt Johnston scored goals and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final with a 2-1 win over the Seattle Kraken in Game 7.
Dallas moves on to play first-year Stars coach Pete DeBoer's former team, the Vegas Golden Knights. Game 1 of the West final is Friday night in Las Vegas.
DeBoer improved to 7-0 in Game 7s, this being the fourth different team he led to a win in the finale of a best-of-seven series that went the distance. Darryl Sutter and Scott Bowman are the only other coaches to do that.
It was the fourth time in five seasons the Stars got a Game 7 — the others were all away from home. They hadn't won a Game 7 at home since 2000, when they made the Stanley Cup Final.*