60 Seasons of MLB

This is the 61st MLB season since I was born.  One of those seasons (1994) did not end with a World Series, so I have lived through 59 World Series.  If you give each team five points for every year it won a World Series in that time, and you give each team one point for every year it lost a World Series in that time, then the all-time standings in my lifetime look like this:

1.  N.Y. Yankees:  40

2.  Los Angeles:  31

3.  St. Louis:  25

4.  Boston:  23

5.  Oakland:  22

6.  Baltimore:  18

T7.  Cincinnati:  17

T7.  San Francisco:  17

T9.  Atlanta:  14

T9.  Philadelphia:  14

T11.  Houston:  13

T11.  N.Y. Mets:  13

T13.  Detroit:  12

T13.  Kansas City:  12

15.  Toronto:  11

T16.  Miami:  10

T16.  Minnesota:  10

T16.  Pittsburgh:  10

19.  Texas:  7

20.  Arizona:  6

T21.  Chi. Cubs:  5

T21.  Chi. White Sox:  5

T21.  California:  5

T21.  Washington:  5

25.  Cleveland:  3

T26.  San Diego:  2

T26.  Tampa Bay:  2

T28.  Colorado:  1

T28.  Milwaukee:  1

30.  Seattle:  0

It's amazing to think that in my lifetime, there have been exactly two World Series played in Chicago -- one for the White Sox (2005), and one for the Cubs (2016).

Soccer Update

We have some drama left in the 2025-26 European soccer season.

Arsenal, seeking its first league title since the 2003-04 season, has led the English Premier League almost the entire year.  But today, Manchester City beat Arsenal 2-1 at Manchester City, and now the top of the EPL looks like this:

1.  Arsenal:  21-5-7 (70 points) (goal differential of 37)

2.  Man City:  20-5-7 (67) (goal differential of 36)

If Man City wins at Burnley on Wednesday, the Sky Blues will take over first place.  And they will be very tough to catch after that.  Still, the title is very much up for grabs.  The British oddsmakers have Man City favored to win the league at odds of 4 to 6, while you can get Arsenal at 6 to 5.

Manchester City is also favored to win the F.A. Cup.  Next weekend, they will play the semi-finals of the F.A. Cup, and here are the matchups:

4/25/26:  Manchester City v. Southampton

4/26/26:  Chelsea v. Leeds United

Here are the odds to win the cup:

Man City:  1 to 2

Chelsea:  11 to 4

Leeds:  9 to 1

Southampton:  20 to 1

On the other hand, Manchester City is out of the Champions' League -- they were beaten by Real Madrid in the Round of 16.  The Champions' League is also down to the semi-finals, and those matchups look like this:

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) v. Bayern Munich (GER)

Atletico Madrid (ESP) v. Arsenal (ENG)

These semi-finals will be two-legged matches played on April 28-29 and May 5-6.  Here are the odds to win the Champions League.  As you can see, it's very much up for grabs as we await the final in Budapest on May 30:

Bayern Munich:  7 to 4

Arsenal:  9 to 4

PSG:  5 to 2

Atletico Madrid:  7 to 1

And finally, we have a thriller in the Scottish Premier League.  With only five games left in the season, Heart of Midlothian is still trying to become the first club outside of Celtic and Rangers to win the Scottish League since 1985.  Here are the standings:

Heart of Midlothian:  21-5-7 (70 points)

Rangers:  19-2-12 (69)

Celtic:  21-8-4 (67)

Here are the odds, with the smart money being put on Rangers:

Rangers:  21 to 20

Celtic:  2 to 1

Hearts:  13 to 5

So there's a lot to play for over the next month and a half -- and then we get the 2026 World Cup, which begins on June 11.  Here are the current favorites to lift the trophy in East Rutherford, N.J. on July 19:

Spain:  +450

France:  +550

England:  +650

Argentina:  +800

Brazil:  +800

Portugal:  +1000

Germany:  +1400

Anyway, if you have any interest in soccer, you should be tuning in from now through the end of the World Cup -- this is all about as good as it gets.

The Swingin' A's

Currently lead the AL West.

Pope Update

Matt Jones after Rob Wright said he was returning to B.Y.U. instead of transferring to UK:

Kentucky will try to get Zoom Diallo wrapped up today.  If that doesn't happen, then I will start to be a bit concerned.

UK had two different recruiting plans based on whether they ended up with Wright or Diallo.  But they have to get one.

The Two Mitches!

1979

I am excited to announce that I get today 1979's Doonesbury.

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-paducah-sun/195483586/

Article from Apr 13, 1979 The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky)

I often don't get the joke in Doonesbury, but today I do, and I think it and I are very clever.

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