With the stench of smoke permeating Yankee Stadium and wafting through its walkways, Major League Baseball postponed games in New York and Philadelphia on Wednesday night because of poor air quality caused by Canadian wildfires.
A National Women’s Soccer League game in New Jersey and an indoor WNBA game set for Brooklyn were also called off Wednesday amid hazy conditions that have raised alarms from health authorities.
The New York Yankees’ game against the Chicago White Sox was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader today, and the Philadelphia Phillies’ game against the Detroit Tigers was reset for today, originally a day off for both teams.
“These postponements were determined following conversations throughout the day with medical and weather experts and all of the impacted clubs regarding clearly hazardous air quality conditions in both cities,” MLB said in a statement.
The National Weather Service issued an air quality alert for New York City, saying: “the New York State Department of Health recommends that individuals consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects.” In Philadelphia, the NWS issued a Code Red.
The Yankees and White Sox played through a lesser haze on Tuesday night.
“It was business as usual for me coming in. I got in around 12, 12:30, and didn’t really think too much of it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I actually walked outside about 2 o’clock and was like — like everyone else, like — whoa.”
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol thought MLB made the right decision postponing the game.
“These are health issues, right? So this has got to be it. We’ve been through everything — snow, rain, hail. I don’t think I’ve been through something like this,” he said. “Today at one point, it was pretty bad out there. We walked out of the dugout and it was kind of orange. They did the right thing. They got all the information.”
In Philadelphia, the Phillies beat the Tigers 1-0 on Tuesday night in a game played in hazy conditions with the smell of smoke in the air. Afterward, manager Rob Thomson and his Phillies players said the conditions didn’t affect them.
About a half-hour before Wednesday’s postponement, Thomson said he thought the game would be played. But the Philadelphia skyline could not be seen from the ballpark in the afternoon, and the smoky smell remained.
The WNBA called off a game between the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty, saying the decision was made to “protect the health and safety of our fans, teams and community.” A makeup date wasn’t immediately announced.
The NWSL postponed Orlando’s match at Gotham in Harrison, N.J., from Wednesday night to Aug. 9.
FIFA fulfills vow for Women’s World Cup
Every player at the Women’s World Cup will be paid at least $30,000 by FIFA, and the 23 players in the title-winning team will each get $270,000.
The details confirmed by FIFA fulfils a promise made in March to financially reward the 732 players taking part in the July 20-Aug. 20 tournament hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
It means more than half of FIFA’s total prize money fund of $110 million must be paid to the players in the 32 team squads.
Players from the 16 teams which do not advance from the group stage are still guaranteed to get $30,000 — more than the annual salary many get from their clubs.
The $110 million pool is more than three times the $30 million prize fund FIFA paid out at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France.
Colts’ Rodgers sits out in wake of probe
Indianapolis Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers Sr. did not practice with his teammates, two days after the team said it was aware of an NFL investigation into gambling allegations about one of its players.
Neither the Colts nor the league have publicly identified Rodgers as the target of the investigation.
On Monday, Rodgers issued a statement on Twitter saying he made an “error in judgment.” The post came hours after media reports linked him to the investigation.
• Atlanta Falcons running back and return specialist Avery Williams is expected to miss the 2023 season after suffering a knee injury in a non-contact drill.
Former USC player charged with rape
Former USC football player Joshua Jackson Jr. was arrested and charged with raping two women.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced the charges against Jackson, who played for the Trojans in 2021 as a defensive back.
Jackson. 21. was charged with one felony count of forcible sexual penetration and three felony counts of forcible rape. He is accused of raping a UCLA student in the summer of 2020, and of raping a USC student three months ago.
Jackson entered the transfer portal in April after not playing for USC last season. He was recruited by former coach Clay Helton’s staff, and he started two games during the 2021 season under interim head coach Donte Williams.
Jackson is expected to be arraigned this week.
Oklahoma captures Game 1 in WCWS
Jordy Bahl threw a two-hitter and struck out 10, and Oklahoma defeated Florida State 5-0 to inch closer to a third straight national title.
The top-seeded Sooners (60-1) took a 1-0 lead in the Women’s College World Series best-of-3 championship series and can clinch their seventh national title today.
• Arkansas’ Carey McLeod swept the indoor and outdoor long jump titles and Arizona’s Jordan Geist did the same in the shot put at the outdoor track and field championships in Austin, Texas.
Arkansas took first and second in the long jump behind McLeod’s 8.26-meter jump on his first try, followed by teammate Wayne Pinnock. Geist won the shot put on his last collegiate throw, reaching 21.06 meters.
South Alabama junior pole vaulter Kyle Rademeyer cleared his only attempt at 5.70 meters to win the event.
Tzuriel Pedrigo won his second NCAA title in three years with a javelin throw of 79.79 meters to set LSU’s program record.
Stanford’s Ky Robinson and Charles Hicks finished first and second, respectively, in the 10,000 meters.
Ed Carpenter Racing fires driver Daly
Ed Carpenter Racing said it has ended its relationship with driver Conor Daly effective immediately and will announce a new driver for the No. 20 Chevrolet by IndyCar’s next race.
• NASCAR issued more penalties for illegal modifications to its Next Gen car, this time against Legacy Motor Club and driver Eric Jones. NASCAR said the team modified the greenhouse on their No. 43 car and fined crew chief Dave Elenz $75,000 and suspended him one race.