Sports
No team has repeated in a quarter century. Are the Dodgers different?
WHEN THE LOW point arrived last year, on Sept. 15 in Atlanta, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts broke character and challenged some of his players in a meeting many of them later identified as a fulcrum in their championship run.
This year, he attempted to strike a more positive tone.
It was Sept. 6. The Dodgers had just been walked off in Baltimore, immediately after being swept in Pittsburgh, and though they were still 15 games above .500, a sense of uneasiness lingered. Their division lead was slim, consistency remained elusive and spirits were noticeably down. Roberts saw an opportunity to take stock.
“He was talking to us about the importance of what was in front of us,” Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas said in Spanish. “At that time, there were like seven, eight weeks left because we only had three weeks left in the regular season, and he wanted all of us, collectively, to think about what we were still capable of doing, and the opportunity we still had to win another championship.”
Later that night, Yoshinobu Yamamoto got within an out of no-hitting the Baltimore Orioles, then he surrendered a home run to Jackson Holliday and watched the bullpen implode after his exit, allowing three additional runs in what became the Dodgers’ most demoralizing loss of the season. The next morning, though, music blared inside Camden Yards’ visiting clubhouse. Players were upbeat, vibes were positive.
The Dodgers won behind an effective Clayton Kershaw later that afternoon, then reeled off 16 wins over their next 21 games — including back-to-back emphatic victories over the Cincinnati Reds in the first round of the playoffs.
It took a day, but Roberts’ message had seemingly landed.
“We needed some positivity,” Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez said, “to remove all of the negativity that we were feeling in that moment.”
As they approach a highly anticipated National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers once again look like one of the deepest, most fearsome teams in the sport.
But the journey there was arduous.
A Dodgers team many outsiders pegged as a candidate to break the regular-season-wins record of 116 ultimately won only 93, its fewest total in seven years. Defending a championship, a task no team has successfully pulled off in a quarter-century, has proven to be a lot more difficult than many Dodger players anticipated. But they’ve maintained a belief that their best selves would arrive when it mattered most. And whether it’s a product of health, focus, or because the right message hit them at the right time, they believe it’s here now.
“We’re coming together at the right time,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said amid a champagne-soaked celebration Wednesday night, “and that’s all that really matters.”
BUSTER POSEY’S San Francisco Giants became the most dominant team in the first half of the 2010s, during which they won three championships. They won every other year — on even years, famously — but could not pull off the repeat the Dodgers are chasing. To this day, Posey, now the Giants’ president of baseball operations, can’t pinpoint why.
“I wish I could,” Posey said, “because if I knew what that one thing was, I would’ve tried to correct it the second, third time through.”
Major League Baseball has not had a repeat champion since the New York Yankees won their third consecutive title in 2000, a 24-year drought that stands as the longest ever among the four major North American professional sports, according to ESPN Research. In that span, the NBA had a team win back-to-back championships on four different occasions. The NHL? Three. The NFL, whose playoff rounds all consist of one game? Two.
MLB’s drought has occurred in its wild-card era, which began in 1995 and has expanded since.
“The baseball playoffs are really difficult,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “You obviously have to be really good. You also have to have some really good fortune. The number of rounds and the fact that the very best team in the league wins around 60% of their games, the very worst team wins around 40% — now you take the upper-echelon in the playoffs, and the way baseball games can play out, good fortune is a real part of determining the outcomes.”
The Dodgers, now 11 wins shy of a second consecutive title, will hope for some of that good fortune this month. They’ve already encountered some of the pitfalls that come with winning a championship, including the one Posey experienced most vividly: the toll of playing deep into October.
“That month of postseason baseball — it’s more like two or three months of regular-season baseball, just because of the intensity of it,” Posey said.
The Dodgers played through Oct. 30 last year — and then they began this season March 18, nine days before almost everybody else, 5,500 miles away in Tokyo.
“At the time, you don’t see it,” Hernández said, “but when the next season starts, that’s when you start feeling your body not responding the way it should be. And it’s because you don’t get as much time to get ready, to prepare for next season. This one has been so hard, I got to be honest, because — we win last year, and we don’t even have the little extra time that everybody gets because we have to go to Japan. So, you have to push yourself to get ready a month early so you can be ready for those games. Those are games that count for the season. So, working hard when your body is not even close to 100%, I think that’s the reason. I think that’s why you see, after a team wins, next year you see a lot of players getting hurt.”
The Dodgers had the second-most amount of money from player salaries on the injured list this season, behind only the Yankees, the team they defeated in the World Series, according to Spotrac. The Dodgers sent an NL-leading 29 players to the IL, a list that included Freddie Freeman, who underwent offseason surgery on the injured ankle he played through last October, and several other members of their starting lineup — Will Smith, Max Muncy, Tommy Edman and Hernández.
The bullpen that carried the Dodgers through last fall might have paid the heaviest price. Several of those who played a prominent role last October — Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips — either struggled, were hurt or did not pitch. It might not have been the sole reason for the bullpen’s struggles — a combined 4.94 ERA from free agent signees Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates played just as big a role — but it certainly didn’t help.
“I don’t know if there’s any carryover thing,” Treinen said Sept. 16 after suffering his third consecutive loss. “I don’t believe in that. We just have a job, and it’s been weird.”
IN FEBRUARY, ROJAS made headlines by saying that the 2025 Dodgers could challenge the wins record and added they might win 120 games at full health. An 8-0 start — after an offseason in which the front office added Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Michael Conforto, Hyeseong Kim, Scott and Yates to what was arguably the sport’s best roster already — only ratcheted up the expectations.
The Dodgers managed a 53-32 record through the end of June — but then, they went 10-14 in July, dropped seven of their first 12 games in August and saw a seven-game lead in the National League West turn into a one-game deficit.
From July 1 to Aug. 14, the Dodgers’ offense ranked 20th in OPS and 24th in runs per game. The rotation began to round into form, but the bullpen sported the majors’ highest walk rate and put up a 1.43 WHIP in that stretch, fifth highest.
The Dodgers swept the San Diego Padres at home in mid-August, regaining some control of the division, but then Los Angeles split a series against the last-place Colorado Rockies and lost one in San Diego. The Dodgers swept the Reds, then lost two of three to the Arizona Diamondbacks, dropped three in a row to the Pirates and suffered those back-to-back walk-off losses to the Orioles.
Consistency eluded the Dodgers at a time when it felt as if every opponent was aiming for them.
Before rejoining the Dodgers ahead of the 2023 season, Rojas spent eight years with the Miami Marlins, who were continually out of the playoff race in September and found extra motivation when facing the best teams down the stretch. Those matchups functioned as their World Series.
“I think that’s the problem for those teams after winning a World Series — you’re going to have a target on your back,” Rojas said. “And it’s going to take a lot of effort for your main guys to step up every single day. And then, at the end of the regular season, you’re going to be kind of exhausted from the battle of every single day. And I think that’s why when teams get to the playoffs, they probably fall short.”
Travis d’Arnaud, now a catcher for the Los Angeles Angels, felt the same way while playing for the defending-champion Atlanta Braves in 2022. There was “a little bit more emotion” in games that otherwise didn’t mean much, he said. Teams seemed to bunt more frequently, play their infield in early and consistently line up their best relievers. Often, they’d face a starting pitcher who typically threw in the low-90s but suddenly started firing mid- to upper-90s fastballs.
“It’s just a different intensity,” said A.J. Pierzynski, the catcher for the Chicago White Sox teams that won it all in 2005 and failed to repeat in 2006. “It’s hard to quantify unless you’re playing in the games, but there’s a different intensity if you’re playing.”
BEFORE A SEASON-ENDING sweep of the Seattle Mariners, the 2025 Dodgers were dangerously close to finishing with the fewest full-season wins total of any team Friedman has overseen in these past 11 years. Friedman acknowledged that recently but added a caveat: “I’d also say that going into October, I think it’ll be the most talented team.”
It’s a belief that has fueled the Dodgers.
With Snell and Glasnow healthy, Yamamoto dialing up what was already an NL Cy Young-caliber season and Shohei Ohtani fully stretched out, the Dodgers went into the playoffs believing their rotation could carry them the way their bullpen did a year earlier. Their confidence was validated immediately. Snell allowed two baserunners through the first six innings of Game 1 of the wild-card round Tuesday night, and Yamamoto went 6⅔ innings without allowing an earned run 24 hours later.
“For us, it’s going to be our starting pitching,” Muncy said. “They’re going to set the tone.”
But an offense that has been without Smith, currently nursing a hairline fracture in his right hand, has also been clicking for a while. The Dodgers trailed only the Phillies in slugging percentage over the last three weeks of the regular season. In the Dodgers’ first two playoff games, 10 players combined to produce 28 hits. Six of them came from Mookie Betts, who began the season with an illness that caused him to lose close to 20 pounds and held a .670 OPS — 24 points below the league average — as recently as Aug. 6. Since then, he’s slashing .326/.384/.529.
His trajectory has resembled that of his team.
“We had a lot of struggles, really all year,” Betts said. “But I think we all view that as just a test to see how we would respond. And so now we’re starting to use those tests that we went through earlier to respond now and be ready now. And anything that comes our way, it can’t be worse than what we’ve already gone through.”
The Dodgers still don’t know if their bullpen will be good enough to take them through October — though Sasaki’s ninth inning Wednesday night, when he flummoxed the Reds with triple-digit fastballs and devastating splitters, certainly provided some hope — but they believe in their collective ability to navigate it.
They believe this roster is better and deeper than the championship-winning one from last fall. And, as Rojas said, they believe they “know how to flip the switch when it matters most.”
“It’s been a long year,” Muncy said. “At this point, seven months ago, we were on the other side of the world. We’ve been through a lot this year, and to end up in the spot we’re in right now — we’re in a great spot. We’re in the postseason. That’s all that matters. That’s what we’ve been saying all year. Anything can happen once you’re in October.”
Less than two months remain until WrestleMania 42 from Las Vegas in April, and this Saturday marks a critical stop along the way. Chicago’s United Center will host the 16th WWE Elimination Chamber premium live event (7 p.m. ET on ESPN Unlimited), where the WrestleMania card will continue to be constructed.
The show will feature both men’s and women’s Elimination Chamber matches, during which six wrestlers, surrounded by a steel cage structure, work to pin or submit their opponents until one winner is left standing. That wrestler receives a championship opportunity at WrestleMania. CM Punk will also defend his World Heavyweight Championship in his hometown against Finn Bálor. And the Becky Lynch vs. AJ Lee saga continues with the Women’s Intercontinental Championship on the line.
Here are the notes, stats and Elimination Chamber history to know heading into Saturday’s event.
Men’s Elimination Chamber
Participants: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, LA Knight, Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams and Jey Uso
1:04
Cody Rhodes: ‘I need to officially point at the WrestleMania sign’
Cody Rhodes previews the Elimination Chamber against Randy Orton, LA Knight, Je’Von Evans and Trick Williams, readying to punch his ticket to WrestleMania.
• The first Elimination Chamber match occurred 23 years ago at Survivor Series in 2002. Shawn Michaels won the match to become world heavyweight champion.
• There have been 36 men’s and women’s Elimination Chamber matches combined, 11 of which have produced new champions.
• Triple H and John Cena share the distinction of most Elimination Chamber victories with four each. Daniel Bryan is next with three. Cena is the most recent Elimination Chamber winner, having won the men’s match in 2025. He turned heel and claimed his record-setting 17th championship the following month at WrestleMania 41.
• This will be a record-setting 10th Elimination Chamber match for Orton. Chris Jericho and Cena sit two back of Orton in the record book with eight entrants. If Orton records two eliminations in Saturday’s match, he will tie Jericho for the most all time (10). Orton is the only participant in the match with an Elimination Chamber win. He won in 2014 and retained the world title on his way to the WrestleMania 30 main event.
• Rhodes has lost three consecutive PLE matches, dating back to Crown Jewel in October 2025. It is Rhodes’ longest PLE losing streak since he returned to the WWE at WrestleMania 38 in 2022. On Saturday, Rhodes will make his first Elimination Chamber appearance since his WWE return, but not his first ever. In his first WWE stint, he took part in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match, won by Bryan in 2012.
• Uso won five straight WWE PLE matches from November 2024 to August 2025 — including his World Heavyweight Championship win at WrestleMania 41. Since then, he’s on a four-match PLE losing streak for the first time since 2020-21.
• Knight is looking for a change in luck at the Elimination Chamber. It has been more than a year since Knight has won a PLE match. Since Crown Jewel in November 2024, he has lost seven consecutive PLE bouts.
Women’s Elimination Chamber
Participants: Alexa Bliss, Tiffany Stratton, Rhea Ripley, Asuka, Kiana James and Raquel Rodriguez
• The first women’s Elimination Chamber match occurred in 2018. Bliss won the match and retained her “Raw” women’s championship. This will be the eighth women’s Elimination Chamber match in history.
• The only superstar with multiple women’s Elimination Chamber wins is Bianca Belair (2022 and 2025). Bliss or Asuka could join her on that list this weekend.
• Stratton is aiming to avoid her third straight WWE PLE loss after Liv Morgan eliminated her to win the Royal Rumble and Stephanie Vaquer defeated her to win the 2025 Crown Jewel Championship. Stratton hasn’t experienced a three-loss skid in PLE matches since her first three on the main roster in early 2024.
• Asuka has not won a match at a PLE event since Elimination Chamber in 2024, when the Kabuki Warriors defeated Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championship.
• Rodriguez could earn her first career singles victory at a WWE PLE this weekend. Rodriguez, who holds the women’s record for tag title reigns with six, has accumulated only tag team victories in her WWE PLE career.
• Will anyone run the table in this match? Only one wrestler, Shayna Baszler in 2020, has ever recorded every elimination in an Elimination Chamber match.
World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk vs. Finn Bálor
1:24
Previewing CM Punk vs. Finn Balor at Elimination Chamber
Arda Ocal previews a huge match for the world heavyweight title between CM Punk and Finn Balor at Elimination Chamber in Chicago.
• The winner of this match is destined for a WrestleMania collision with Roman Reigns. Bálor defeated Reigns on his first night on the WWE main roster — the July 25, 2016, edition of “Raw.”
• This will be CM Punk’s first PLE match in Chicago since he took down Jericho at Payback in 2013. Overall, he has wrestled in six WWE PLE matches from Chicago and has a 4-2 record. One of Punk’s two UFC fights also occurred in Chicago.
• Punk is in the midst of an impressive run. He has not lost a match in more than two months. During that stretch, he successfully has retained the World Heavyweight Championship in three television matches against Bron Breakker, AJ Styles and his Elimination Chamber opponent, Bálor.
• It has been two years since Bálor last won a PLE match. In fact, his last such win occurred at the 2024 Elimination Chamber. At that event, he and Damian Priest successfully defended their tag titles against Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate.
Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch vs. AJ Lee
1:05
Best moments of WWE Elimination Chamber history
Relive some of the top moments of Elimination Chamber history as we gear up for Saturday’s event.
• Lee will compete in her first championship match in more than 11 years. Her last title bout occurred in December 2014, when she battled Nikki Bella at Tables, Ladders and Chairs … and Stairs for the Divas Championship.
• Lynch is 3-0 at Elimination Chamber. Her last such win occurred in 2024, when she won the women’s Elimination Chamber match.
• Lee will make her second career Chicago PLE appearance after she defeated Kaitlyn to win the Divas Championship at Payback in 2013.
Cristiano Ronaldo has acquired a 25% ownership stake in Spanish second division club UD Almeria.
The financial terms of the transaction, done through the Portugal captain’s CR7 Sports Investments company, have not been disclosed but the deal is considered a long-term strategic investment from Ronaldo.
“I have long had the ambition to contribute to football beyond the pitch,” Ronaldo said in a statement.
“UD Almería is a Spanish club with a strong foundation and clear growth potential. I wish to work with the team leading the club to support it in its new phase of growth.”
UD Almeria were taken over by a Saudi Investment group in May 2025.
Ronaldo, who turned 41 on Feb. 5, has in the past expressed his desire to own a football club once he retired.
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The former Real Madrid star last summer extended his contract with Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr through June 2027 and is expected to captain Portugal this summer in what will be a record sixth World Cup.
UD Almeria president Mohamed al Khereiji is thrilled to have the five-time Ballon d’Or winner on board.
“He is considered the best on the pitch,” Al Khereiji said. “He knows the Spanish leagues very well and understands the potential of what we are building here both in terms of the team and the youth academy.”
Relegated to the second division in April 2024, Almeria are on course to gain promotion to Spain’s top fight this season. They are third in Spain’s second tier, two points adrift of leaders Racing Santander after 27 games.
Real Madrid have their eye on Arsenal‘s Gabriel Magalhães, and Chelsea remain keen on Aston Villa‘s Morgan Rogers.
Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.
Transfers home page | Men’s winter grades | Women’s grades
TRENDING RUMORS
– Real Madrid have made an enquiry about Arsenal center back Gabriel Magalhães, according to TeamTalk. The Premier League leaders quickly informedMadrid that the 28-year-old is not available at any price. Gabriel signed a long-term contract extension last summer. Having also secured deals to extend the stays of Bukayo Saka and William Saliba, Arsenal are reportedly determined to show that even a club as big as Madrid can’t take their top players.
– Chelsea remain confident that they can sign Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers despite the Villans stating that only an extraordinary offer would tempt them into even considering letting him go, reports TeamTalk. That figure will likely have to be over the £100 million Villa received from Manchester City for Jack Grealish in 2021. Chelsea have held a long-term interest in the 23-year-old, with their co-director of recruitment, Joe Shields, the person who originally took Rogers to City while leading the Citizens’ youth signings.
– Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are likely to face competition from Inter Milan to sign Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka in the summer, reports CF Bayern Insider. Bayer Leverkusen are also keen on the 31-year-old, who will be a free agent with his contract in Bavaria expiring at the end of this season. Arsenal had tried to sign Goretzka in January, but the Germany international had already given Bayern his word that he would stay until the end of the campaign.
– Manchester United are closely monitoring the situation of Villarreal midfielder Pape Gueye, as reported by Footmercato. The 27-year-old’s reputation has grown since he scored the winner against Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations final, and he is also a key player for Villarreal. The World Cup offers Gueye another opportunity to impress on a big stage, yet he has already attracted plenty of interest, particularly from United who are looking to replace Casemiro following the announcement that the Brazilian will be leaving Old Trafford.
– Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford have all made checks on Eintracht Frankfurt right-back Nnamdi Collins, according to TeamTalk. Arsenal, in particular, are impressed by the 22-year-old and see similarities to Ben White, although Frankfurt have a strong negotiating position as Collins’ contract runs until 2030. Fellow Frankfurt full-back Nathaniel Brown has also been heavily scouted with Manchester United having looked at the 22-year-old.
EXPERT TAKE
ESPN’s Barcelona correspondent Sam Marsden takes a look at the club’s key transfer questions, including which striker they should sign:
Barça should sign a Kylian Mbappé or a Harry Kane, but they also should sign a center back, a fullback and a holding midfielder, probably another winger as well, so where will they streamline their spending? I would lean toward a center back.
But if it’s a striker, Julián Álvarez is well-liked within the club’s hierarchy. However, his recent form — no goals in 11 games before scoring against Barça last week — has raised doubts. Also, the fee Atlético would want for him is prohibitive — Barça sources have told ESPN they want well over €100 million. There is also no guarantee he would score more than Ferran Torres, who actually has five more league goals than Álvarez this season in 300 fewer minutes.
In that sense, Dusan Vlahovic could work as a free shot considering he will be out of contract this summer at Juventus, even if he would not excite supporters. Given how the market is and how much can change, I would advise Barça to sit tight for now and prioritise other areas until they can afford a proper investment in a striker.
OTHER RUMORS
1:26
Moreno: PSG could get exposed in Champions League knockouts
Alejandro Moreno reacts to PSG’s progression to the Champions League knockouts after a 5-4 aggregate win over Monaco.
– Brighton could drop their valuation for Carlos Beleba from over £100 million to around £70 million amid interest from Manchester United. (TEAMtalk)
– Casemiro wants to continue playing in Europe when he leaves Manchester United, with Italy being flagged as a possible destination for the midfielder. (The Sun)
– Manchester City and Arsenal are closely monitoring versatile Brighton midfielder Jack Hinshelwood. (Caught Offside)
– Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United have all closely watched 18-year-old Ajax midfielder Sean Steur in recent weeks. (TEAMtalk)
– Marcus Thuram could leave Inter Milan during the summer transfer window. (Nicolo Schira)
– Several foreign clubs have approached Marc Casado, but the midfielder is getting closer to extending his contract with Barcelona. (Nicolo Schira)
– Atletico Madrid have included Borussia Dortmund striker Fabio Silva on their shortlist of possible replacements for Julián Alvarez if the 26-year-old leaves in the summer. (Rudy Galetti)
– Tottenham want to move for Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson in the summer as they prepare to lose Guglielmo Vicario. (Football Insider)
– Crystal Palace view signing a replacement for Marc Guéhi as a priority during the summer transfer window. (The Standard)
– Premier League and top European clubs are tracking Brentford goalkeeper Matthew Cox‘s impressive form on loan at Shrewsbury Town. (Football Insider)
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