The Sports Report: The moment Mookie Betts knew he wouldn’t win the Home Run Derby

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Jack Harris: It took Mookie Betts five swings to know it was over.

The Dodgers superstar had entered Monday night’s Home Run Derby aiming simply to not finish last.

The only problem: He quickly realized he didn’t know how to hit home runs, not on-demand against batting practice pitches anyway.

“It sounds crazy,” Betts laughed. “But I just don’t know how to do it.”

Indeed, on a night Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won the Derby with 72 total home runs over three rounds, Betts only managed to hit 11 in his first (and all but certain last) time participating in the event.

That was six fewer than any of the other seven competitors at T-Mobile Park, and 15 less than Betts’ first-round opponent, Guerrero Jr., who cranked 26 of them before Betts got to the plate.

“Twenty-six was reachable,” Betts said. “But, it’s reachable for someone who knows how to hit home runs.”

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NL WEST STANDINGS

Dodgers, 51-38
Arizona, 52-39
San Francisco, 49-41, 2.5 GB
San Diego, 43-47, 8.5 GB
Colorado, 34-57, 18 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS

Miami, 53-39
Arizona, 52-39
San Francisco, 49-41
Philadelphia, 48-41, 0.5 GB
Milwaukee, 49-42, 0.5 GB
San Diego, 43-47, 6 GB
Chicago, 42-47, 6.5 GB
New York, 42-48, 7 GB
Pittsburgh, 41-49, 8 GB

ANGELS

From Steve Henson: Shortly after coming to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic as a teenage pitcher in the Colorado Rockies organization, Carlos Estévez learned he had the same name as a famous actor because fans would call him “Wild Thing” even though he didn’t walk many batters.

“When I started a Twitter account, I had to put in parentheses, ‘Not Charlie Sheen,’ ” he said.

Sheen’s birth name is Carlos Estévez. He changed it to follow in the footsteps of his father, Martin Sheen, whose birth name was Ramon Antonio Gerard Estévez.

A lifelong baseball fan, Charlie Sheen was tickled that a pro player shared his name and he has followed Estévez ’s career through the minors, through six seasons as a Rockies reliever and this season as the Angels’ All-Star closer.

Hernández: Shohei Ohtani’s intensifying desire to win stronger than any Angels curse?

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AL WEST STANDINGS

Texas, 52-39
Houston, 50-41, 2 GB
Seattle, 45-44, 6 GB
Angels, 45-46, 7 GB
Oakland, 25-67, 27.5 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

Baltimore, 54-35
Toronto, 50-41
Houston, 50-41
New York, 49-42, 1 GB
Boston, 48-43, 2 GB
Seattle, 45-44, 4 GB
Angels, 45-46, 5 GB
Minnesota, 45-46, 5 GB

BASEBALL

From Bill Shaikin: “The A’s saved my life.”

Dontrelle Willis told me that the other day, not by raising his voice, but by looking me straight in the eye. He wanted to make sure I understood the gravity of what he was saying.

Willis is a two-time All-Star, a World Series champion, and now a Dodgers broadcaster. None of that would have been possible, he says, without the team that plays in Oakland, the city where he was born.

“If I didn’t have the A’s, and the Coliseum, I wouldn’t know what I’d be doing,” he said. “The A’s, and Dave Stewart, they’re the reason I picked up a baseball. That’s what I mean about the organization being able to save my life.

“And, to be honest with you, it saved a lot of boys’ lives.”

Not every East Bay kid who picked up a baseball would be able to throw it with the skill Willis and Stewart had. Almost all of them would not.

But they could all dream, they could all play ball after school, and they could all head down to the Coliseum to see the major leaguers — including the likes of Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan and Frank Robinson, hometown heroes who blossomed into baseball legends.

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LAKERS

From Dan Woike: They say no one knows what time it is in Las Vegas, casino floors and high-end clubs devoid of clocks and windows. Late nights blur into early mornings as people go from one good time to the next.

Considering that, it’s kind of a funny place to ask people around the NBA to be patient.

Summer league veterans know the on-court play is fairly immaterial — the great performances and big disappointments not exactly predictive of how a prospect will turn out. The live five-on-five games help scouts and executives sort out some back-of-roster decisions and can give them insight into the players they just drafted, but the real value happens in the stands, on the concourses, in the back hallways — and later, at the bars — where these people gather to talk.

For a reporter, it’s a dream — important people from all 30 organizations available to offer insight on whatever questions there are to ask. Through the first weekend in Vegas, we’ve asked more than a dozen different people — general managers, player personnel folks, college and NBA scouts, former players, agents and coaches about the Lakers’ summer. All gave their assessments under condition of anonymity. Here’s what we’ve heard:

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SOCCER

From Helene Elliott: The shrieks and cheers that had filled the air all day followed members of the U.S. women’s World Cup team as they left the field at PayPal Park on Sunday with a sendoff victory over Wales and a confidence boost, two key items on their preflight checklist.

They had a few basic objectives in their final game before they open World Cup play July 21 against Vietnam in Auckland, New Zealand. “No injuries, and focusing on some details,” said Bellflower’s Savannah DeMelo, who earned her first national team cap with a dynamic performance as a second-half substitute in the Americans’ 2-0 victory over Wales.

“I think we did that, and I think we’re going into the tournament with a good win.”

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TRACK AND FIELD

From Andrew Greif: Late Sunday afternoon, a few minutes after Gabby Thomas ran this year’s fastest 200-meter time in the world during the semifinals at the U.S. track and field championships, she was scrolling through her phone when she realized her time had already been eclipsed.

Thomas read that in Kingston, Jamaica, Shericka Jackson had just wrested the world lead away with a time of 21.71, 0.15 faster than the American.

“I was like, they can’t let us have anything!” Thomas said.

By night’s end, motivated by what she said was Jackson’s race, Thomas reclaimed that mark by winning the U.S. title in 21.60 seconds. It was a lifetime best and also the fourth-fastest wind-legal performance in history. And she did so with command, pulling away from runner-up Sha’Carri Richardson over the final 100 meters.

The rivalry sets up one of the most anticipated races of the world championships in Hungary on Aug. 19-27. The 200-meter final at the world championships is Aug. 25. It could be the race of the meet.

Here’s what else was learned at the U.S. championships:

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SPORTS ON TV

Local teams on TV today:
All times Pacific

None

5 p.m., Fox, MLB All-Star Game

The rest of today’s sports on TV listings can be found here.

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1914 — Babe Ruth makes his major league pitching debut for the Boston Red Sox against Cleveland, getting the 4-3 victory over the Indians.

1950 — Red Schoendienst hits a home run in the 14th inning to give the NL a 4-3 victory in the All-Star game.

1967 — Tony Perez homers in the 15th inning off Catfish Hunter to give the National League a 2-1 win in the longest game in All-Star history.

1981 — Britain’s Sebastian Coe breaks his own world record in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:12.18 in a meet in Oslo, Norway. Seven runners shatter the 3-minute, 51-second barrier in the mile led by Steve Ovett at 3:49.25. Steve Scott finishes third and sets an American record in 3:49.68.

1982 — FIFA World Cup Final, Madrid, Spain: Italy beats West Germany, 3-1 in front of 90,000.

1985 — Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros becomes the first pitcher in major league history to reach 4,000 strikeouts when he fans New York’s Danny Heep in the sixth inning.

2010 — FIFA World Cup Final, Soccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa: Andrés Iniesta scores an extra time winner as Spain beats the Netherlands, 1-0 for first World Cup title.

2011 — So Yeon Ryu wins the U.S. Women’s Open, defeating Hee Kyung Seo by three shots in a three-hole playoff. Ryu becomes the fifth South Korean to win the Open and the fourth in the last seven years.

2012 — Future Basketball Hall of Fame guard Steve Nash is traded by the Phoenix Suns to the Lakers.

2015 — Serena Williams wins her sixth title at the All England Club, beating Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-4, 6-4 in the women’s final. For Williams, it’s her second “Serena Slam” — holding all four major titles at the same time. Overall, it’s the 21st major title for Williams, one shy of Graf’s Open era record.

2021 — Novak Dokovic beats Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, to win Wimbledon. The win is Dokovic’s 20th Grand Slam title.

—Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally...

Tony Perez recalls the home run that won the 1967 All-Star Game. Watch and listen here.