Welcome to Another Wild Week

Table of Contents

• ⚾️ FIRST PITCH — Tyler Skaggs

• 🟢 THE GOOD — Shohei Ohtani

• 🧨 THE BAD — Doug Eddings

• 🧨 THE UGLY — Call ICE? Seriously?

• 🍣 ONE FOR THE ROAD — Humpy Wins!

⚾️ FIRST PITCH — Tyler Skaggs

The World Series begins next week.
A Dodgers repeat — or will the Mariners or Blue Jays shock the world?

But away from the spotlight, in an Orange County courtroom, a different kind of story is unfolding. One that has nothing to do with lineups or matchups — and everything to do with loss.

This week, the wrongful-death trial involving the late Tyler Skaggs began.

Skaggs pitched seven seasons in the majors, with stints in Arizona and Anaheim.
In 2019, he was found dead in a Texas hotel room while the Angels were preparing to play the Rangers.

He was just 27.

An autopsy revealed a toxic mix of fentanyl, oxycodone, and alcohol — a deadly blend that has claimed far too many lives, inside and outside the game.

It later came out that Eric Kay, the team’s director of communications, had been supplying drugs to players.

Kay was later convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison — but the story didn’t end there.

Now, the Skaggs family is suing the Los Angeles Angels, claiming the organization knew about Kay’s drug problems and did nothing.

They argue the team “put Tyler directly in harm’s way,” ignoring warning signs about Kay’s addiction.

The Angels insist they knew nothing of Skaggs’ drug use and wish he had sought help.
The family is seeking $118 million — the estimated loss of career earnings plus punitive damages.

It all comes down to one question: Who bears responsibility?
The team that may have looked the other way — or the player who made choices that cost him his life?

There’s no easy answer.
A young pitcher with talent, heart, and a promising future — gone way too soon.

And as the World Series rolls in, it’s a reminder that for every player we celebrate under the lights, there are others fighting battles we never see.

🟢  THE GOOD — Shohei Ohtani

It was perhaps the greatest individual performance in baseball history.

Shohei Ohtani didn’t just beat the Brewers — he owned them.

Last night, with the Dodgers one win away from the World Series, Ohtani took the mound and immediately set the tone — walked the first batter… then struck out the side.

Bottom half? He homered to right. Dodgers up, and it was on!

On the mound, he was untouchable — ten strikeouts, just two hits through six innings.
At the plate? Legendary.

In the fourth, a 469-foot missile to right. Home run number two.
In the seventh, another bomb — his third of the night.

At some point, it stopped feeling like an NLCS game and started feeling like Little League — one player completely dominating.

Friday night, Shohei Ohtani didn’t just play baseball — he broke it.

I mean, throwing a shutout AND hitting three home runs.

You can’t script it. You can’t simulate it.
You just sit back, shake your head, and realize you’re watching something the sport’s never seen.

It wasn’t Little League.
It was Shohei League.

🧨 THE BAD — Doug Eddings

Same story. Different October.

Baseball fans were losing it this week after veteran ump Doug Eddings turned Game 2 of the ALCS into a strike-zone roulette wheel.

According to @UmpireAuditor, Eddings missed 24 calls — the worst-officiated playoff game since October 7, 2022….Also called by Eddings.

On average, MLB umps miss about 12 calls per game.
So congrats, Doug — you doubled it.

How bad was it? First inning, Randy Arozarena takes a pitch right down Broadway — freezes, nods, and starts walking back to the dugout. Then he realizes… no call.
Strike three magically became “ball two.”

Here’s the thing — this is the postseason. Just like the players, the umpires are supposed to be the best of the best.

But I’ve yet to read anywhere that Doug Eddings ranks among the elites.
In fact, one report even rated him among the 10 worst umpires in baseball — yet he keeps landing these plump postseason assignments.

There’s simply too much at stake to allow 24 missed calls in a single game.

Luckily, in 2026 the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) arrives.
And bad calls like these? They won’t just get noticed. They’ll get exposed.
And rectified.

🧨 THE UGLY — Call ICE? Seriously?

Things turned ugly in Milwaukee this week.
NLCS, Game 2 — Dodgers vs. Brewers.

We’ve all seen the back-and-forth banter from time to time between opposing fans.

Usually it’s harmless fun. This one crossed the line.

The incident, caught on video, shows a Brewers fan — Shannon Kobylarczyk — yelling “Let’s call ICE!” at a Latino Dodgers fan after some spirited chirping in the stands.

The Dodgers fan, Ricardo Fosado, fired back:

“Call ICE. Call them. You (expletive) idiot.”

Turns out, he’s a U.S. citizen — and a veteran of two wars.

Kobylarczyk has since lost her job and resigned from the Make-A-Wish Wisconsin board.

The clip shows Fosado recording the crowd — egging things on a bit after the Dodgers took the lead.

That’s when Kobylarczyk confronts him, first taking a shot at his drink choice — then getting personal.

“Let’s call ICE.”

Moments later, security escorted Fosado and a friend from the section.

Look — fans jaw at each other. It’s part of the game.
But these are serious times.

The ballpark is supposed to be an escape —
a place to get away from the madness of the world for a few hours.

Leave the ugliness outside the gates.

The Brewers announced Friday that Kobylarczyk and Fosado have banned from the stadium for life.

🍣 ONE FOR THE ROAD — Humpy Wins!

If you’re into divine intervention, you’ll love this one.

Humpy the Salmon — Seattle’s slow, clumsy, life-jacket-wearing mascot — is a loser no more. And now the Mariners are just one game away from the city’s first World Series.

Let’s take you back to last week’s Game 5.
Tigers vs. Mariners. Winner moves on. Loser goes home.

It’s the 15th inning. The crowd’s flat. The bullpen’s gassed.

And out waddles Humpy — eternal underdog, fan favorite, and 0-for-167 lifetime in The Salmon Run, the team’s in-game mascot race.

Every home game, four salmon — Silver, Sockeye, King, and Humpy — flop down the warning track in front of 47,000 fans. And every time, Humpy finishes last.

The lovable loser in a sea of disappointment — fitting for a franchise that’s spent decades trying to outrun its struggles.

But on this October night, everything changed.

Silver trips. Sockeye stumbles. King wipes out. And suddenly, Humpy’s free — flopping toward glory.

When that orange life vest crossed the finish line first, T-Mobile Park erupted.
Nobody could believe it.

Down on the field, Humpy thrust his fins to the sky — a goofy, glorious underdog moment that somehow recharged an exhausted ballpark.

Moments later, the Mariners won on Jorge Polanco’s base hit.
Mariners to the ALCS.

Seattle hasn’t seen a lot of magic moments.

But that night, for one delirious minute, a clumsy fish in yellow floaties became the soul of the city.

Was it destiny? Maybe. Was it ridiculous? Absolutely.

But in baseball — and in life — sometimes the miracle shows up wearing a life jacket.

So don’t question it. Just ride the wave. 🌊
Only in Seattle.