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ARLINGTON, Texas — The Rangers have hired Skip Schumaker as their manager, agreeing Friday night on a four-year contract with the former National League Manager of the Year.

Schumaker’s deal was announced after Chris Young, the team’s president of baseball operations, acknowledged earlier in the day that the Rangers were focused on an internal candidate in their search to replace Bruce Bochy. Schumaker had been in a senior advisory role with the Rangers since November.

Schumaker, 45, was the 2023 NL Manager of the Year when the Miami Marlins went 84-78 and made the fourth postseason appearance in club history. That was the same year Texas, with Bochy in his debut, won its first World Series championship.

“While I attained a good understanding of the organization through my front office role this past season, the conversations with Chris Young, [GM] Ross Fenstermaker, and others this week have only intensified my interest in this opportunity,” Schumaker said in a statement. “I can’t wait to begin the work for 2026.”

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The Rangers and the 70-year-old Bochy, a four-time World Series champion who was baseball’s winningest active manager, agreed Monday to end his managerial stint as his three-year contract ended. That was the day after Texas finished 81-81 for its second non-winning record since its championship.

The Marlins slipped to 62-100 in 2024 after changes in the front office and with a roster decimated by trades and injuries. Schumaker and the Marlins agreed that he wouldn’t return for the 2025 season.

Texas then hired Schumaker in November, a move viewed by many as making him the heir apparent to Bochy.

“We are thrilled to announce this promotion and have Skip leading this club in the dugout,” Young said in a statement. “Over his past year as a senior advisor to our baseball operations group, Skip has proven to be driven, passionate and thorough in everything he does. He has a winning spirit and energy, and we are fortunate that someone so highly regarded in the industry has agreed to become our manager.”

The Rangers became the first of eight major league teams to fill a managerial vacancy. Young declined to say earlier in the day if any other teams had requested permission to speak with Schumaker.

Before going to Miami, Schumaker was a bench coach in St. Louis, where he played for the Cardinals during their 2011 World Series win over the Rangers. He played 11 big league seasons with St. Louis (2005-12), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2013) and Cincinnati (2014-15).

Schumaker will take over a Rangers team that for the first time in franchise history this year led the majors in ERA (3.47) and will bring back starting pitchers Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Leiter. The Rangers also set a single-season MLB record with its .99112 fielding percentage, bettering the 2013 Baltimore Orioles’ mark of .99104.

But the Rangers ranked 26th in the majors with a .234 batting average and 22nd with 684 runs scored.

“It was a little bit bittersweet. It was painful to really see some of the things that we did so well, and then also there was optimism to know that we did so many things so well and came up short,” Young said earlier Friday. “But there’s a lot to look forward to moving forward, and I think there’s a lot of optimism I have that this is going to get corrected quickly. I mean, we’re not talking about a 20-game jump here to make the playoffs.”

Fenstermaker said that though Schumaker lives on the West Coast, he had been very involved with the team in his advisory role.

“He’d spend time with us and many different folks in the front office, add his perspective, his wisdom. He was around and available a lot,” Fenstermaker said. “We probably talked to him every few days, if not daily, throughout the course of the year and bounce ideas off him and get his perspective.”

Bochy has been offered an advisory role in the Rangers’ front office. He also could be in line for such a position with the San Francisco Giants, though he isn’t a candidate for the managerial opening of the team he led to World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

With 2,252 wins, Bochy is sixth among major league managers, with the five ahead of him all in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy is keeping a permanent version of the uniform patch players wore in honor of late play-by-play announcer Bob Uecker during the 2025 MLB season.

Murphy told reporters Friday he had gotten the patch tattooed on his arm (h/t Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

The tattoo was done by Scottsdale artist Justin Gorelik, Murphy told reporters.

Murphy and the Brewers are currently preparing for Game 1 of the NLDS, which starts Saturday at 2:08 p.m. ET against the visiting Chicago Cubs.

Uecker played six seasons in MLB before later gaining fame as a late-night TV star. The former catcher began working the Brewers radio broadcast in 1971 and became the voice of the franchise over the next 54 years. He died in January at age 90.

The uniform patch, unveiled by the Brewers ahead of the 2025 campaign, featured Uecker’s signature over a baseball surrounded by a ring of plaid representing his trademark sportscoats.

The Brewers also honored the broadcaster by painting his signature on the field and having all players wear Uecker jerseys during a celebration of his life in August.

Last season, Uecker joined Murphy and the Brewers in the clubhouse to celebrate the Chicago Cubs loss that clinched the Brewers’ NL Central title.

“We were doing our show and I watched it with him. What’s better than that? Awesome,” Murphy told reporters last September.

This season, with Uecker gone, Murphy celebrated the Brewers becoming the first team in MLB to clinch a spot in the 2025 postseason by reading a letter to his clubhouse that he had written in the style of the late broadcaster.

The day Murphy showed his tattoo to reporters coincided with the one-year anniversary of Uecker’s final radio call for the Brewers, Rosiak noted. That took place last October during a Wild Card loss to the New York Mets.

The Brewers will hope to put together a longer postseason run in Uecker’s honor this fall, starting with Saturday’s NLDS opener against the Cubs.

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Skip Schumaker will take over for Bruce Bochy as the next manager of the Texas Rangers, the club announced Friday.

Schumaker’s contract will span four years.

“We are thrilled to announce this promotion and have Skip leading this club in the dugout,” said Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young. “Over his past year as a senior advisor to our baseball operations group, Skip has proven to be driven, passionate and thorough in everything he does. He has a winning spirit and energy, and we are fortunate that someone so highly regarded in the industry has agreed to become our manager.

“We have enjoyed getting to know Skip and his family since he joined the organization last year, and we look forward to welcoming his wife Lindsey and the entire Schumaker family to the Metroplex.”

Heyman added that “multiple other teams” were interested in hiring Schumaker.

The news comes four days after the Rangers announced Bochy would transition to an advisory role in the front office ahead of the 2026 season.

Schumaker was hired as a senior advisor to Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young ahead of the 2025 season.

He previously spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons as manager of the Miami Marlins.

Schumaker spent most of his 11-year MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals, also playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers before closing out his playing career with the Cincinnati Reds in 2015.

He later worked as first base coach and associate manager for the San Diego Padres, then returned to St. Louis as a bench coach prior to his hiring by the Marlins.

Schumaker led the Marlins to an 84-78 record during his debut managerial season, earning the NL Manager of the Year award after leading the club to its first playoff berth in three seasons.

The club marked a 62-100 record in 2024 during Schumaker’s second season, at the end of which he stepped away due to a death in his family shortly before the Marlins announced he would not be returning for a third year.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported at the time that Schumaker remained “extremely well-regarded in the industry” and was expected to be a managerial candidate for the Cincinnati Reds or Chicago White Sox ahead of the 2025 season.

Schumaker instead joined the Rangers in his advisory role ahead of the final year of Bochy’s previous contract with the team. The move came just after Will Venable, who was previously seen as a candidate to eventually replace Bochy, was named head coach of the White Sox.

Young told reporters earlier Friday the Rangers were “focused” on an internal managerial candidate and had not considered anyone from outside the organization.

Schumaker’s hiring left six teams currently looking to address coaching vacancies. The Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals remain in need of a manager as of Friday night.

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The Texas Rangers are hiring Skip Schumaker as their next manager, replacing World Series winner Bruce Bochy, the club announced Friday. Schumaker has reportedly agreed to a four-year deal.

The hire is hardly a surprising one. Schumaker spent the 2025 season as a special advisor to Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young. Back when that hire was announced, there was speculation that the 45-year-old’s real job was manager-in-waiting for the 70-year-old Bochy, and that is now coming to pass.

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It was reported by the Associated Press earlier Friday that Schumaker was the central focus of the Rangers’ managerial search.

Bochy and the Rangers “mutually” parted ways soon after a disappointing 2025 regular season, with the club noting that Bochy was offered an advisor role in the front office. It’s unclear if Bochy will take them up on that, find a job with a different team or retire again.

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An 11-year MLB veteran as a player, Schumaker spent time on the coaching staffs of the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals before landing the Miami Marlins managerial job after the 2022 season. He quickly earned respect as he led the usually moribund franchise to a surprise wild-card berth in his first season.

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The 2024 season was more trying for the Marlins, who went 62-98 and finished last in the NL East. Schumaker then made a surprise resignation after that season and immediately became one of the most attractive options on the manager market, though he ultimately took the Rangers job after the only other two teams looking for a skipper — the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox — opted for different names.

Schumaker now takes over a Rangers clubhouse that has fallen off a bit since a breakthrough 2023 World Series title. The team went 78-84 in 2024 and 81-81 in 2025 as it struggled with injuries up and down the roster. It enters the offseason with clear needs for its pitching staff, having already spent plenty of money in recent winters.

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There is still definitely talent in the organization, though, from veterans (Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom, Marcus Semien, Nate Eovaldi) to youngsters (Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter, top prospect Sebastian Walcott). It will be on Schumaker to keep them all on the right track as Texas tries to compete in an AL West that features a fading Houston Astros team and the upstart Seattle Mariners.

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ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers†search for Bruce Bochyâ€s replacement is centered on Skip Schumaker, a former NL Manager of the Year who has worked in their organization for the past year.

“We have a lead candidate internally that weâ€re focused on,†Chris Young, the teamâ€s president of baseball operations, said Friday.

Young acknowledged that he had begun what he would consider a formal interview process, and that there were not yet any external candidates.

“At this point, we havenâ€t focused there yet,†he said. “Our hope is that we donâ€t have to.â€

Schumaker, a special advisor for the Rangers, was the 2023 NL Manager of the Year when Miami went 84-78 and made the fourth postseason appearance in club history. That was the same year Texas, with Bochy in his debut there, won its first World Series championship.

The Rangers and the 70-year-old Bochy, a four-time World Series champion who was baseballâ€s winningest active manager, mutually agreed Monday to end his managerial stint. That was the day after Texas finished 81-81 for its second non-winning record since its championship. Bochy was at the end of his three-year contract.

The Marlins slipped to 62-100 in 2024 after changes in the front office and a roster decimated by trades and injuries. Schumaker and the team mutually agreed that he wouldnâ€t return for this season.

Texas hired Schumaker last November, a move viewed by many as making him the heir apparent for Bochy. Schumaker remains under contract with the organization through the end of October.

There are seven other MLB teams also looking for new managers. Young wouldnâ€t say if any other teams had requested permission to speak with the 45-year-old Shumaker about their openings.

When asked if there was worry about Schumaker in relation to those other openings, Young said: “Iâ€m not overly concerned at this point.â€

Before going to Miami, Schumaker was a bench coach for St. Louis, where he played for the Cardinals during their 2011 World Series win over Texas. He played 11 big league seasons with St. Louis (2005-12), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2013) and Cincinnati (2014-15).

Rangers general manager Ross Fenstermaker said while Schumaker lives on the West Coast, he has been very involved with the team in his advisory role.

“Heâ€d spend time with us and many different folks in the front office, add his perspective, his wisdom. He was around and available a lot,†Fenstermaker said. “We probably talked to him every few days, if not daily, throughout the course of the year and bounce ideas off him and get his perspective.â€

Bochy has been offered an advisory role in the Rangers front office. He also could be in line for such a position with the San Francisco Giants, though he isnâ€t a candidate for the managerial opening of the team he led to three World Series titles from 2010-14.

With 2,252 wins, Bochy is sixth among all managers, with the five ahead of him all in the Hall of Fame.

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LOS ANGELES — Donâ€t expect the Cincinnati Reds to pitch around Shohei Ohtani in Game 2 of their wild-card series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Manager Terry Francona has too much respect for the former league MVPs who bat second and third in the Dodgers†lineup.

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Asked before Wednesday’s game if heâ€d consider intentionally walking Ohtani, Francona scoffed and said, “Youâ€re kidding, right? Have you heard of Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman?â€

Francona described Ohtani as “a really dangerous hitter†but also pointed out that the two-way star struck out 187 times during the regular season, third-most in the National League.

“Thatâ€s where we have to get to,†Francona said. “You start walking people in that lineup, and youâ€re asking for trouble.â€

The Reds attacked Ohtani in their 10-5 Game 1 loss to the Dodgers on Tuesday — and while the superstar struck out three times, he also made them pay with a pair of home runs.

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He opened the bottom of the first inning by turning on a 100-mph inside fastball from Reds fireballer Hunter Greene and rocketing a screaming line drive over the right-field wall. Then in the sixth inning, with chants of M-V-P raining down from the upper deck, Ohtani blasted a 454-foot moon shot high into the right-center-field bleachers.

Ohtani piled up 55 home runs and 102 RBI during another MVP-caliber regular season, but even so, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts raved Tuesday about Ohtaniâ€s ability to raise his level in the postseason.

“His focus gets more keen, and the at-bat quality is better,†Roberts said. “Thatâ€s a reason why he signed to be with this ball club, this organization, to play in games like this, to showcase his otherworldly talent. I expect really fun things this postseason out of Shohei.â€

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Before the wild-card series began, Francona also spoke glowingly of Ohtani, calling him a “generational player.â€

“You don’t want to let him get those arms extended,†he said Monday. “You make a mistake, and it goes a long way, a long way.â€

But as much respect as Francona has for Ohtani, he wonâ€t give the Dodgers’ slugger the Barry Bonds treatment.

Said Francona on Wednesday: “I think it would be a very poor decision.â€

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Sep 30, 2025, 05:02 PM ET

HOUSTON — Instead of getting ready for a playoff game Tuesday, Houston Astros manager Joe Espada and general manager Dana Brown were fielding questions about their job security and what went wrong this season.

“I am the GM of the Astros,” Brown said in response to a question about his contract status. “And that’s what I would expect to be tomorrow and the next day and the next day.”

Brown was then asked about the future of Espada, who just completed his second season as manager.

“Look, I’ve made it very clear that Joe is the manager,” Brown said. “Joe is under contract.”

Out of the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the Astros already are looking for ways to ensure that their postseason absence is a one-year aberration. Missing out this season ends a remarkable run in which they made seven straight trips to the AL Championship Series from 2017-23, before losing in the AL Wild Card Series last year. During that stretch, they won four pennants and the World Series in 2017 and 2022.

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This season was marred by injuries, most notably to star slugger Yordan Alvarez, who was limited to 48 games because of a broken hand and an ankle injury. Houston’s other significant injury in the lineup was to third baseman Isaac Paredes, who missed about two months with a hamstring problem.

Those injuries were a significant blow to a team that lost two of its top players this offseason when third baseman Alex Bregman signed in free agency with the Boston Red Sox and outfielder Kyle Tucker was traded to the Chicago Cubs.

“Make no mistake, when you take pillars out of your lineup, it’s gonna affect your team, it’s going to affect some of their at-bats,” Brown said. “When Yordan Alvarez is in the lineup, you have to pitch guys around him differently. So, I think the absence of Yordan really affected us big-time.”

Along with missing Alvarez and Paredes, the Astros dealt with injuries to their pitching staff, with Ronel Blanco having Tommy John surgery in May and Spencer Arrighetti missing four months after breaking his thumb in a freak accident. The bullpen was dealt a major blow when six-time All-Star closer Josh Hader sustained a shoulder injury that kept him out the last two months of the season.

Despite this, the Astros were still in position to win the AL West for a fifth straight season and were tied with Seattle for the lead late in the year. A sweep by the Mariners at home from Sept. 19-21 all but ended that chance, but they remained in contention for a wild-card spot. Then they lost three of their next four games to the Athletics and Angels and were eliminated on the second-to-last day of the season.

“This is going to put a chip on our shoulders,” Espada said. “We are a postseason team. We are built to play in October and it was disappointing that we’re not playing today. I’m not happy about it, but also we are learning from things that we could have done better, how can we improve our club and our players are hungry to get back to spring training and playing.”

Espada said he’s in the process of evaluating everything right now, including his staff moving forward. He said that evaluation extends to himself as he looks for ways to do more next season.

“I would not be helping this organization if I’m not holding myself accountable,” he said. “Because at the end of the day I’m the manager of this team and I’m responsible for what goes on in that clubhouse. So, I care about that deeply. I care about the organization and I care about putting the best product on the field, because our fans expect us to win, and I take that very seriously.”

The Astros will look to upgrade their rotation this offseason after focusing on bolstering their offense at the trade deadline by bringing Carlos Correa back and adding Jesus Sanchez and Ramon Urias. Brown said they’ll have talks with right-hander Framber Valdez, who is a free agent after spending his entire eight-year career with the Astros. But regardless of what happens with him, Brown said they plan to be in the market to add guys to their rotation.

Though Brown said he would look at all avenues to try to improve the team, he feels pretty good about the guys who already are here.

“Right now, our roster is put together very well,” he said. “I think we have a really good team. If we stay healthy, we will for sure be back in the dance in October.”

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“Manchester City had 32.8% possession in their 1-1 draw at Arsenal last month, the lowest of Pep Guardiolaâ€s career,†begins Graham Murphy. “Do any managers have a higher lowest-possession figure in the English top flight?â€

That figure of 32.8% was the lowest for Guardiola in a league game, as mentioned in last weekâ€s column. We canâ€t compare him to every Premier League manager, mainly because possession stats were only recorded from the 2003-04 season onwards. Instead, we asked our friends at Opta to deliver the statistical goods on selected managers, past and present.

At least five have a higher lowest-possession figure, though two of them – Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger – are subject to that 2003-04 caveat. For the last decade of Fergusonâ€s career, the lowest possession that a Manchester United team had in a Premier League game was 39.4% against Arsenal at Old Trafford in May 2009. United needed a draw to seal their 18th league title; a 0-0 draw got the job done.

Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates with Nani after the 0-0 draw against Arsenal that clinched the Premier League title in 2008-09. Photograph: John Peters/Manchester United/Getty Images

Ferguson is top of our list, a nose ahead of one of his successors: Louis van Gaal, who was often accused of prioritising possession over penetration in his two years at Old Trafford. An exception was Unitedâ€s first away win under Van Gaal, a 2-1 victory at the Emirates in November 2014 when they had a modest 38.6% possession.

There are a couple of recurring themes on this list: the first is that each managerâ€s lowest possession often came in a victory or at least a draw. The other is the involvement of Arsenal and one of the Manchester clubs. Arsenalâ€s lowest possession under Wenger (from 2003-04 onwards) came againstManchester City at the Etihad in January 2015, when Arsenal won 2-0 with 35.3% of the ball, finding a less-is-more template for dealing with the toughest away games.

The other two managers with a higher figure than Guardiola, Arne Slot and Enzo Maresca, are only in their second Premier League season and thus have a much smaller simple size. But both recorded their lowest percentage possession during a win – Slot against Guardiolaâ€s Manchester City in February, Maresca against Slotâ€s Liverpool in May.

Hereâ€s the top eight, in table form:

Highest low-possession marks

And selected others:

28.8% Unai Emery, Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea, April 2024

24.2% José Mourinho, Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham, December 2020

19.6% Mikel Arteta, Manchester City 5-0 Arsenal, August 2021

18.0% Eddie Howe, Bournemouth 0-1 Manchester City, March 2019

Drawn-out campaigns

“Motherwell have drawn their first five league games, apparently a Scottish record,â€points out John McAlpine. “Whatâ€s the record for consecutive league draws, both from the start of the season and overall?â€

Motherwellâ€s attempt to make the record books ended with a disappointing 2-0 victory over Aberdeen last Saturday, giving them a Scottish Premiership record of P6 W1 D5 L0 Pts 8. We say attempt because, as Chris Roe points out, five consecutive draws at the start of the season isnâ€t a record across the four main Scottish leagues: Dumbarton started their 2024-25 League One campaign with six draws in a row. (And, as Mad Mac writes, Motherwell also started 1975-76 with five league draws.)

Motherwell denying themselves a record against Aberdeen. Photograph: Raymond Davies/ProSports/Shutterstock

Chris and his magic database also spat out two English teams whose new-season optimism was dulled by six successive draws: Stockport County in 1973-74 (Fourth Division) and Leicester City in 1976-77 (First Division).

The record for consecutive draws at any stage of a season in Englandâ€s top four divisions appears to be eight in a row. Thatâ€s shared by seven teams, starting with Torquay United in 1969-70 and continuing through to Swansea City in 2008-09.

Real Zaragoza managed nine in a row in Spainâ€s Segunda Division in 2021-22, a run matched by Woking in the 2002-03 Football Conference. Wokingâ€s season was a sequence spotterâ€s wildest dream. Between November and February, the Cards had a win-loss-win-loss run that lasted for 12 games; then, after a couple more defeats to mix things up, they drew nine games in a row. Hereâ€s the full sequence from 23 November 2002 to the end of the season, with the Knowledge-tastic bits in bold: WLWLWLWLWLWLLLDDDDDDDDDW.

We did find one example of a team drawing 10 league games in a row. This came from an unanswered Knowledge question from Sean DeLoughry in November 2005.

Dundalk have now notched up an impressive 10 draws in a row in the Irish first division. Is this a record for the most consecutive draws?

Sean, apologies for the slight delay in getting back to you, but we think it might be.

Some people are on the pitch …

“Last week, St Mirrenâ€s fans celebrated their Scottish League Cup quarter-final win at Kilmarnock with a pitch invasion. Has there ever been such a large-scale pitch invasion so early in the season?†wonders Rohan Back.

The answer may depend on your interpretation of the phrase “large scaleâ€, but we reckon this is worthy offering from Ken Foster. “In the 2023-24 National League, promotion favourites Oldham equalised at Chesterfield in added time for a 1-1 draw. Hundreds of Oldham fans invaded the pitch and the game never kicked off again. That was in the fourth match of the season on 19 August.â€

Supporters of both clubs fought on the pitch and Oldham were eventually fined £5,000 by the FA. Chesterfield eventually got over losing two points at the last. “We won the league,†continues Ken, “and finished 35 points ahead of Oldham.â€

Knowledge archive

“Last weekâ€s Knowledge touched on the subject of football magazines recording hard shots, long throws and other niche feats,†we wrote in 2020. “Alex Murphy may have witnessed the longest throw ever for a magazine series he worked on in the 1990s.

“I donâ€t know if Shoot! covered the subject as well, but the magazine I worked on as features editor – Total Football – had a long-running obsession with long throw-ins,†wrote Alex. “One day we trotted down to St Andrewâ€s with a photographer and a 50m tape measure and invited Birmingham City and Wales midfielder, Andy Legg, to attempt a new world record. Despite suffering from an ankle knock, and amid complaints about the wet surface, Legg hurled a football the entire width of the pitch.

“The feat was officially witnessed by myself and Blues midfield ace Paul Tait (he of the infamous ‘Shit on the Villa†T-shirt) and our signed affidavits were accepted by a surprisingly lax and unquestioning Guinness Book of Records. Leggâ€s feat was duly recorded in the following yearâ€s volume. I recall with shame that our headline on the feature was: ‘What a tosser!â€

“A few months later we invited legendary Tranmere Rovers thrower-inner, Dave Challinor to take on Leggâ€s mark. He did it with ease, and took his place in the next edition of the book. Alas, the carefully chosen headline on this feature announced: ‘What an even bigger tosser!†We were young and foolish.â€

Since then Challinor has lost his world record, which is currently held by American flip-thrower Michael Lewis, who hurled a ball 59.17 metres in Frisco, Texas in April 2019 (thatâ€s well over the halfway line). Here he is showing off his skills in 2015.

Can you help?

“Long throws are all the rage these days,†begins Ed Warren. “Who, if anyone, pioneered the use of the long throw into the six-yard box?â€

“Sitting through Brentford v Manchester United on Saturday, it became clear that regardless of personnel, Ruben Amorim will not shift from his 3-4-2-1 even if the pope were to force him,†notes Paul Vickers. “This got me thinking: has there ever been a case of players actively defying a managerâ€s instructions, not by downing tools and giving up, but by taking up self-devised, alternative tactics and positions that they consider better suited to their abilities and the needs of the team? And what was the outcome of any such defiant player self-management in terms of the immediate result and then the subsequent fate of the manager and the players?â€

“Saturdayâ€s win at Accrington, combined with results elsewhere, ensured that Walsall finished September and began October at the top of League Two,†explains Darren Fellows. “This means theyâ€ve topped League Two in January, February, March, April, September and October. Has there been another club to have led the same division (over two consecutive seasons) for at least six separate months?â€

“Yeni Malatyaspor lost 45 consecutive matches across all competitions before finally holding on for a draw on Sunday. Has any professional club ever had a longer loss streak?†asks Ben Nem.

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Sep 30, 2025, 05:00 PM ET

Athletics general manager David Forst received a new contract for next season, when he will continue steering the club through transition in California’s capital region while waiting for a planned relocation to Las Vegas in 2028.

“I will be back in 2026,” Forst said Tuesday during an end-of-the-season video call.

The A’s finished 76-86 playing their first year in West Sacramento, California, getting seven more wins than in a 69-93 finish in 2024, their final season in Oakland.

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“We had a lot of success to be very proud of in 2025,” Forst said.

Forst, 49, has been general manager since 2015 and with the A’s organization since 2000. He has overseen much transition for a low-budget franchise that is trying to build with more longer contracts ahead of the move to Las Vegas.

Forst said he has had regular conversations with ownership about continuing that model of “locking guys up.”

“We feel really good about the foundation,” he said.

Last year featured angry, heartbroken fans, small crowds and even reverse boycotts during which tens of thousands flocked to the team’s former home, the Oakland Coliseum. Chants of “Sell the team!” were commonplace as fans urged owner John Fisher to sell rather than relocate the team to West Sacramento for three seasons as a new ballpark is built in Las Vegas.

Forst is a 1998 graduate of Harvard who was the longtime right-hand man of then-executive Billy Beane during the A’s “Moneyball” analytics movement that caught on elsewhere.

“I’m as optimistic about this team, this organization, this system and the talent in the system as I have been in a long time,” Forst said.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Ron Washington will not return for a third season as the Los Angeles Angels manager, The Athletic reported.

The Angels hadnâ€t publicly announced their decision Tuesday on Washington, who missed roughly half of the current season after undergoing quadruple bypass heart surgery. Interim manager Ray Montgomery also wonâ€t be the Angels†next manager, according to the report.

The 73-year-old Washington was the oldest manager in the majors during his two seasons with the Angels, who hired him in November 2023. Los Angeles had the worst season in franchise history in 2024, going 63-99 after the free-agency departure of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

The Angels went 72-90 this season and finished last in the AL West for the second straight season under Washington and Montgomery, the bench coach who stepped up in late June after Washington was sidelined by his health issues. Washington was back around the Angels in uniform at the close of the season, but he didnâ€t resume managerial duties.

Washington repeatedly said he hoped to return as manager next season, but owner Arte Moreno has decided to make yet another change to a franchise that has endured 10 consecutive losing seasons and 11 straight non-playoff seasons — both the longest active streaks in the majors.

Washington had success during his tenure as Texas Rangers manager from 2007-14, reaching two World Series while making three playoff appearances and posting five straight winning seasons. He moved on to coaching roles in Oakland and Atlanta, and he won a World Series ring with the Braves in 2021.

But he couldnâ€t save the long-struggling Angels despite remaining popular with his players and Orange County fans. The Halos will have their fifth full-time manager in eight seasons since the departure of Mike Scioscia, who managed the club for 19 years and won its only World Series title in 2002.

After years of free spending on veteran players by Moreno, the Angels have built the start of a young core with shortstop Zach Neto, catcher Logan Oâ€Hoppe, outfielder Jo Adell and first baseman Nolan Schanuel. That rising talent hasnâ€t led to an improvement in the standings.

The Angels also paid $38.5 million this season to third baseman Anthony Rendon, who didnâ€t play in 2025 due to a lingering hip injury. Rendon, who hasnâ€t played more than 58 games in any of his six seasons with Los Angeles, still has one year left on one of the most disastrous free-agent contracts in major league history.

Four MLB teams have moved on from their managers since the regular season ended Sunday. San Francisco fired Bob Melvin and Minnesota fired Rocco Baldelli on Monday before Bruce Bochy and the Texas Rangers mutually decided Bochy wonâ€t return to the dugout.

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