MLB Mid-Season Assessment
MLB Mid-Season Assessment
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By David A. Avila
That team from Chavez Ravine continues to lead all Major League Baseball with a total of 61 wins.
Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers winners of back-to-back World Series are in front again but this year is different.
Are they a sure-thing for 2026?
One thing severely lacking has been a suitable replacement for baseball’s best catcher Will Smith who is out with injury. Earlier this year they released Matt Barnes whose hitting was not great but whose advanced skills behind the plate were ignored.
Today, the Dodgers are paying the price as rookie backup catcher Dalton Rushing has proven to be a good hitter but sorely lacks skills behind the plate and in guiding pitchers. It’s not an easy skill to acquire. Barnes had mastered those skills but Rushing just cant get the hang of linking up with pitchers.
Need proof?
The Dodgers got swept by Arizona to close out the first half before the All Star Game.
Look at the ERA’s of pitchers like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto with Smith catching and those with Rushing as the backstop. No comparison, the numbers don’t lie. Under Smith the Dodgers wield a 3.02 ERA. With Rushing its 3.69 ERA.
Dave Lopes R.I.P
Dave Lopes, the long-time second baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 1970s, died on Wednesday. He was 80 years old.
Though not very tall, Lopes had those thick thighs and could hit the high gear of speed faster than most as his 557 career stolen bases will attest.
The speedy Dodger second baseman was part of the Major League Baseball record-setting infield that stayed together for 883 games. Once Lopes became the regular second baseman for the team it began to win ball games and supplant the power Cincinnati Reds.
Speed was long a mainstay for the Dodgers ever since Branch Rickey, the Hall of Fame general manager, got involved with the team while in Brooklyn. It was Rickey who brought in Jackie Robinson to break the color barrier in 1947. Robinson also added his speed and from that point on Dodger teams always had a speed burner on its roster.
Ryan "KingRy" Garcia Wins World Title in Las Vegas
Ryan "KingRy" Garcia Wins World Title in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS-Within two minutes of the fight Ryan “KingRy” Garcia demonstrated why many predicted world title capabilities as he pummeled champion Mario Barrios with speedy blows that sent him to the canvas and titillated the crowd into a frenzy before eventually winning the WBC welterweight title by unanimous decision.
Speed kills.
Garcia (25-2, 20 Kos) finally captured the WBC world title by defeating veteran Barrios (29-3-2, 18 Kos) who had previously successfully defended ownership three times until Saturday Feb. 21, at T-Mobile Arena.
The world title was finally Garcias at last.
David "Monster" Benavidez KOs Zurdo Ramirez in Vegas
David "Monster" Benavidez KOs Zurdo Ramirez in Vegas
David “The Monster” Benavidez arrived in Las Vegas and took over the city along with two cruiserweight world titles after destroying the talented Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in an all-Mexico battle in the casino city.
Never before had cruiserweights headlined a Cinco de Mayo card in Las Vegas.
Benavidez (32-0, 26 Kos) displayed his awesome speed and power in dismantling a very good champion in Ramirez (48-2, 30 Kos) in front of more than 12,000 rabid fans at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday May 2.
Both were familiar with each other from sparring more than 200 rounds against each other. But sparring and fighting are different. And though both are friends this is prizefighting.
“I have no problem fighting a friend,” Benavidez had warned.
Pound for Pound Men 2026
Pound for Pound Men 2026
By Uppercut Magazine staff
It was a rare but significant Cinco de Mayo weekend as two of the best fighters pound for pound went into action against fellow pound for pound foes.
The results of those two fights that took place in Tokyo and Las Vegas change the landscape of the top 12 pound for pound listings.
In Tokyo, Naoye “Monster” Inoue fought off the attacks of Junto Nakatani to keep the super bantamweight titles and remain at the top of the list as the best fighter pound for pound. It was perhaps the greatest showdown in Japan’s rich boxing history.
Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, two fighters of Mexican heritage decided the cruiserweight world championship. David Benavidez, a former super middleweight and light heavyweight champion moved up to challenge and defeat Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez by knockout. Both were considered among the top 12 fighters pound for pound.
Benavidez emerged as the decisive champion and substantiated that he indeed is one of the best pugilists at any weight division with a dominant performance against Ramirez.
Women's Pound for Pound Best 2026
Women's Pound for Pound Best 2026
Unlike the men’s version, the female rankings of the best fighter’s pound for pound does not radically change.
Claressa Shields is like death and taxes and remains at the top whether as a welterweight, super welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiserweight or heavyweight she rules them all.
Don’t even argue the point.
While experts and fans can argue who ranks second, third or etc. you cannot argue about where Shields fits because the double Olympic gold medalist rarely loses a round. Yes, she was knocked down so she barely lost that round. But other than that, it is difficult to find any more blemishes on Shields skills.
After Shields entered the professional boxing world, women’s boxing quickly began to improve due to the contributions of the amateur world. Shields, Katie Taylor and Mikaela Mayer are excellent examples of the contributions from the women’s amateur boxing world. More are coming like Lauren Price, Reina Tellez and Caroline DuBois.
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