Welcome back to Keeping Score, our Friday column that highlights the personalities, teams and games that sports fans are talking about — by the numbers.
$170 million
Amount short sellers have bet against Atlanta Braves stock with a potential MLB lockout looming
The shorts are starting to circle the Atlanta Braves as many analysts believe that labor negotiations between Major League Baseball and the players union will disrupt the 2027 season.
The Braves are one of the few publicly traded teams because most teams are privately held. That makes the Braves a good indicator of how investors are thinking about sports franchises in general, and baseball in particular. The stock has increased 34% this year.
But short sellers see trouble ahead. Short interest has tripled over the last 12 months, amounting to a $170 million bet against the Braves, as both owners and players brace for an extended work disruption when the players’ current deal expires in December. The 1994 strike, which led to the cancellation of the World Series, cost the owners an estimated $580 million (about $1.3 billion in today's dollars).
134
Consecutive years that Liverpool Football Club has had a local player on the team
One of the more remarkable streaks in sports could come to an end in the 2026-2027 Premier League season. For the first time in the club’s history, Liverpool does not have a native Liverpool player — or a Scouser as the locals say — on the roster after Curtis Jones’ departure to Inter Milan. Scousers who’ve played for Liverpool include Steven Gerrard, Phil Thompson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jamie Carragher. Local boy Wayne Rooney, however, played for rival Everton.
40,000
Baseball-themed miters that the Chicago White Sox gave to fans on ‘Pope Night’
Pope Leo XIV is the first American pope and certainly the biggest sports fan to ever lead the Holy See, with a special passion for his hometown Chicago White Sox and his alma mater Villanova’s basketball team. Earlier this month, the White Sox celebrated Pope Leo’s fandom on Pope Night, when the team handed out 40,000 White Sox miters. (A miter is the tall, pointed ceremonial hat worn by bishops and the Pope.)
This week, Father Tom McCarthy visited the Vatican from Chicago and delivered a special White Sox miter to a grateful Pope Leo. It may help to have friends in high places; the White Sox are currently in first place in the American League Central.
Also, the New York Yankees submitted their own nomination for best fan promotion of the season this week as fans lined up early for the Yankees’ third George Costanza bobblehead night.
260
Yards that Euro Tour golfer Shaun Norris was from the hole when he made an albatross at the Nexo Championship
From the fairway of the par-5 fourth hole at Trump International Golf Club in Scotland, Shaun Norris took a smooth swing with a fairway metal and his ball headed straight for the hole, taking a few bounces and then rolling in.
Norris was so far away that initially he wasn't sure what happened. Then his playing partner and caddie started giving him high fives. "Well, I couldn't hit it any better than that," the easy-going South African said after carding a '2' on the hole. He finished the tournament T7.
An albatross is much rarer than a hole in one, for the simple reason that it requires two great (and long) shots. Former USGA head of handicapping Dean Knuth estimated the odds of a recreational golfer making an albatross at 1,000,000 to 1. According to the Hole in One registry, the odds of making a hole in one are about 12,000 to 1.
5
Hits by Kinley Rasmus at the Little League World Series, the most ever by a girl
The Dodgers have Shohei Ohtani. Phenix City, Ala., has Kinley Rasmus. She starred on the mound and at the plate in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., this week. In five games, she pitched twice, notching 14 strikeouts, and she had 5 hits and 14 RBIs. Her strikeout total ties Mo’ne Davis for the most ever strikeouts by a girl in the LLWS, and her 5 hits are the most ever.
Rasmus, daughter of former MLB pitcher Cory Rasmus, is the 25th girl to ever compete in the tournament. Her dad also played Little League for Phenix City, Ala., and made it to the LLWS final in 1999.
23
Miles from Soldier Field in Chicago to Hammond, Ind., potential site of the Bears’ new stadium
The Chicago Bears will definitely be moving out of the city, but where they'll be going is still TBD. The Bears have a standing offer to build a stadium in Hammond, Ind., just south of the Illinois border, but the Bears also could move to Arlington Heights, Ill., where the team owns property. Arlington Heights is 6 farther away from Soldier Field than Hammond.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell revealed this week that he met with Illinois lawmakers as the state legislature considers potential incentives to keep the Bears in Illinois.
“We want to make sure that Arlington Heights and Illinois have an opportunity, as well as Indiana, to put their best foot forward,” Goodell said.
Soldier Field opened on Chicago's South Side in 1924 and has been the home of the Bears since 1971. It is the oldest stadium in the NFL.
336,573
New Yorkers who applied for 1,000 discounted US Open tickets
New York area tennis fans have been alarmed at the rise in US Open ticket prices on the secondary market, with a grounds pass, the Open’s general admission ticket with no guaranteed seat, selling for more than $350. So when Mayor Zohran Mamdani secured 1,000 US Open tickets for $100 each from tournament organizers, more than 300,000 New Yorkers entered the online lottery. Earlier this summer, the sports fan mayor held a similar online lottery for access to 1,000 World Cup tickets for $50.
$3.35 million
Winning auction bid for Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' ball
Diego Maradona's two goals for Argentina against England in the 1986 World Cup remain two of the most talked about goals ever: the Hand of God goal and the Goal of the Century. So when Heritage Auctions put the Adidas Azteca ball from that game up for bid, auction organizers estimated a $10 million windfall. The winning bidder may have gotten a bargain at $3.35 million. The jersey that Maradona wore in that legendary World Cup game sold at Sotheby’s in 2022 for just under $9.3 million.
40
Club championships that President Donald Trump claims to have won at his own golf clubs
He never gets tired of winning. President Donald Trump has been racking up victories on his golf courses this month. On Aug. 2, Trump posted that he won the senior and super senior age flights at his Trump Bedminster Golf Club championship. Last week, the president played in the “caddies' day” tournament at his Westchester course, and he won that, too, leaving a $25,000 tip for the course's caddies to split.
The three wins bring Trump's win total at his own golf clubs to 40. By comparison, Walter Hagen had 44 PGA Tour wins and Tom Watson had 39. Sam Snead and Tiger Woods are the all-time leaders at 82 Tour wins.
6
Number of top 100 ATP tennis players who still play a one-handed backhand
Ever since the first Wimbledon in 1877, every Grand Slam has featured at least one male semifinalist who plays a one-handed backhand. That record is likely to fall at the US Open in Queens, NY, as none of the top 10-ranked men in the field play a one-handed backhand.
Roger Federer brought his own, still-potent, one-handed backhand to a US Open exhibition this week. Federer said that he roots for one-handers and that he hopes the record survives, noting that he was playing later with Lorenzo Musetti, the highest-ranked man in the field who plays a one-handed backhand.
“That's why I'm maybe practicing with Musetti this afternoon in an hour, making sure he's ready,” Federer said. 🎾
Help Spread the Word
If you enjoyed this edition of Box Score, please pass it along to a friend and encourage them to sign up at boxscoresports.com. Have a great weekend!
