| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker ·Jul 13, 2021 | | 👋 Good morning! I got early access to the second season of "Ted Lasso," and it's somehow just as good as the first. Episode 1 comes out July 23. Get excited! 📆 Today's event: I'm interviewing U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone at 2pm ET today. Should be fun. Join us. Today's word count: 1,534 words (6 minutes). Let's sports... | | | | | | 1 big thing: ⚾️ All-Star Game filled with first-timers |  | | | Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios | | | | Tonight in Denver is all about the debutants, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. What's happening: After a one-year hiatus, the 91st edition of the MLB All-Star Game (8pm ET, Fox) will feature a historic number of first-timers. - 40 of the game's 79 All-Stars have never been here before — the most ever.
- 22 of those 40 have played at least six seasons, and two — Nathan Eovaldi (10) and Eduardo Escobar (11) — went 10-plus years before getting the nod. Congrats, fellas.
Starting lineups: Shohei Ohtani and Max Scherzer are the starting pitchers, while Ohtani is also batting leadoff (!!!). - AL: 1. Ohtani, DH (LAA); 2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B (TOR); 3. Xander Bogaerts, SS (BOS); 4. Aaron Judge, RF (NYY); 5. Rafael Devers, 3B (BOS); 6. Marcus Semien, 2B (TOR); 7. Salvador Pérez, C (KC); 8. Teoscar Hernández, LF (TOR); 9. Cedric Mullins, CF (BAL)
- NL: 1. Fernando Tatís Jr., SS (SD); 2. Max Muncy, DH (LAD); 3. Nolan Arenado, 3B (STL); 4. Freddie Freeman, 1B (ATL); 5. Nick Castellanos, RF (CIN); 6. Jesse Winker, LF (CIN); 7. J.T. Realmuto, C (PHI); 8. Bryan Reynolds, CF (PIT); 9. Adam Frazier, 2B (PIT)
Game notes: - AL hot streak: The junior circuit has won seven straight to take a 45-43 lead over the NL (also two ties). The dominance goes back to 1988 — the AL is 25-6 with a tie since then.
- Missing stars: 15 players — including big names like Mike Trout, Jacob deGrom, Mookie Betts, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Buster Posey — are missing the game due to injuries and opt outs.
- Global game: There are 25 internationally-born players on the roster, led by the Dominican Republic (8) and Venezuela (6), per ESPN. The rest: Japan (3), Cuba (2), Puerto Rico (2), Aruba (1), Australia (1), Canada (1) and Curaçao (1).
Go deeper: |     | | | | | | 2. 🎓 Texas crowned king of college sports |  Data: NACDA; Table: Axios Visuals The longest championship streak in college sports came to an end this month. Driving the news: Texas won the Learfield IMG Directors' Cup for the 2020-21 academic year, marking the first time in 27 years that Stanford didn't finish atop the standings. - The Cardinal didn't drop far, finishing No. 2 and just 56.25 points behind the Longhorns.
- The only other school to win the Directors' Cup since it began in 1993-94 is North Carolina, which claimed the inaugural title.
How it works: The Directors' Cup formula ranks every school on national finish in 19 sports, four of which are mandatory counters: men's and women's basketball, baseball and women's volleyball. For schools with more than 19 sports, the remaining best 15 are used. Full standings. | | | | | | | | 3. 🎾 Djokovic's side hustle: Leading the PTPA |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Tennis' biggest stars garner all the headlines, and most of the money, so it's easy to forget just how many in the sport aren't living such a privileged and glamorous life, Jeff writes. Driving the news: Novak Djokovic's Wimbledon title on Sunday made him the first tennis player to surpass $150 million in career earnings — but even a fraction of that sum is unreachable for 99% of his peers. - Hoping to change that, he and world No. 61 Vasek Pospisil recently reintroduced the Professional Tennis Players Association.
- The goal: Amplify players' voices and secure a larger share of tour revenue. While most major sports leagues share roughly 50% of their revenue with players, tennis players get less than 20%.
The backdrop: The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA) were founded 50 years ago as player advocacy groups, but have since transformed into entities that funnel far more money to tournaments than players. - "There's so much money in tennis," Pospisil said. "The pie is huge; the piece we're getting is tiny. ... If you are not in the top 100, you are basically not making any money."
- Wild stat: Australian Chris O'Connell, ranked in the top 150, won more matches in 2019 than any other man or woman on the pro tour. His earnings that year? About $15,000 after expenses.
The state of play: In August, Djokovic and Pospisil resigned their posts as leaders of the ATP Player Council and launched the PTPA, which is adamant that it's not a union, though its goals are in line with one. - Of note: The PTPA claims to represent both men and women, but its focus thus far — publicly, at least — has been on the men's side.
What to watch: The PTPA's biggest hurdle is the ATP, which believes tennis will be weakened if its players are divided (Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, among others, declined to join the PTPA). - Next on the ATP's agenda is voting on its new 30-year economic plan. Next on the PTPA's agenda is delaying that vote.
Go deeper: A few tennis pros make a fortune. Most barely scrape by. (NYT Mag) | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Reach new audiences with Axios Local | | |  | | | | Axios Local is expanding and will soon be available in 14 cities across the country. If you're a marketer or business owner looking to reach engaged readers in their own backyards while supporting local journalism, we'd love to speak with you. Click here to learn more about advertising with Axios Local. | | | | | | 4. 🇺🇸 Photos across America | | Photo: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images DENVER — Re-Pete! Mets slugger Pete Alonso edged cancer survivor Trey Mancini in the final round to win his second straight Home Run Derby. Extremely fun event this year. Really enjoyed it. Photo: Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images LAS VEGAS — Entering the weekend, Team USA was 54-2 in exhibition games since pros debuted in 1992. They've now doubled those losses in three days, losing to Australia Monday after falling to Nigeria Saturday. Photo: Mike Carlson/Getty Images TAMPA — The Lightning partied so hard at their victory boat parade that they dented the Stanley Cup. | | | | | | | | 5. 🌍 Photos around the world | | Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images MANCHESTER, England — A mural of Marcus Rashford was defaced after he missed a penalty kick in the Euro final. By Monday, the graffiti had been patched up with positive messages like "Hero" and "Proud." Photo: Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images TOKYO — The Olympic Village, which features 21 residential towers and 3,600 rooms, officially opens to athletes today ahead of the Tokyo Games. Photo: Tom Shaw/R&A via Getty Images SANDWICH, England — The 149th Open begins Thursday at Royal St. George's Golf Club. looks like this local resident will have a nice view. | | | | | | | | 6. 🚲 Chart du jour: Tour stage wins by country |  Data: Tour de France; Chart: Axios Visuals Sepp Kuss won the 15th stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, becoming the first American in 10 years to win a Tour de France stage. Where it stands: Monday was the final rest day. Stage 16 begins today with defending champion Tadej Pogačar wearing the yellow jersey. | | | | | | | | 7. ⚡️ Lightning round |  Logos: KBO; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios ⚾️ KBO shuts down: The Korea Baseball Organization, which garnered global attention when it was one of the few leagues to play and host fans at the start of the pandemic, has suspended its season amid a COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea. 🥇 Felix covering costs: Allyson Felix has teamed up with her sponsor, Gap's Athleta, to launch a $200,000 child care fund to support professional mom-athletes competing in 2021. ⚾ Steinmetz makes history: 17-year-old pitcher Jacob Steinmetz — taken by the Diamondbacks in the third round — is believed to be the first practicing Orthodox Jew to be selected in the MLB draft. 💵 ESPN+ ups cost: Starting on Aug. 13, the price of an ESPN+ subscription will rise to $6.99/month and $69.99/year, up from $5.99/month and $59.99/year. ♟ Good read: The dark side of chess (NYT) | | | | | | | | 8. 📆 July 12, 1971: All-Star Game for the ages |  | | | L-R: Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew and Reggie Jackson were three of 22 future Hall of Famers on the field that night. Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images | | | | 50 years ago today, the AL beat the NL, 6-4, in an All-Star Game that featured perhaps the greatest collection of baseball talent ever assembled. "I was 23, it was my fourth All-Star Game, but still, these were my idols. They were gods. You get to play with your heroes. ... When they came to the plate, it was a once-in-a-lifetime feeling." — Johnny Bench, who caught the whole game By the numbers: A whopping 22 players that took the field that night in Detroit ended up in Cooperstown. - AL (9): Rod Carew, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, Al Kaline, Harmon Killebrew, Jim Palmer, Luis Aparicio
- NL (13): Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Johnny Bench, Willie Stargell, Lou Brock, Tom Seaver, Joe Torre, Ron Santo, Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal, Steve Carlton, Ferguson Jenkins.
Game notes: - Starters make history: Dock Ellis and Vida Blue were the first — and still only — opposing All-Star starters who were both Black.
- Signature moment: Reggie Jackson's towering home run. "It if hadn't hit the electrical box, it would have gone out of the stadium," said Jim Palmer.
Go deeper: The night when "all your baseball cards came to life" (ESPN) | | | | | | | | 9. ⚾️ MLB All-Star trivia |  | | | Coors Field, site of tonight's MLB All-Star Game. Photo: Kyle Cooper/Colorado Rockies/Getty Images | | | | Question: Who holds the record for most MLB All-Star appearances? - Willie Mays
- Hank Aaron
- Babe Ruth
- Cal Ripken Jr.
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. 📆 Live interview: U.S. Soccer president |  | | | Cindy Parlow Cone. Photo: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images | | | | "Future of Sports" — our virtual event series in partnership with the Aspen Institute — is back, and you're all invited. - When: Today, 2–3pm ET
- Topic: The Future of U.S. Soccer
- Who: I'll be interviewing Cindy Parlow Cone, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. An audience Q&A will follow.
The big picture: This is a big summer for the U.S. men's and women's national teams, and Cindy joins us on the eve of the Tokyo Olympics to discuss everything from equal pay to youth participation. - The U.S. co-hosts the World Cup in 2026, which presents a huge growth opportunity for the sport.
- How do we make sure the story that's told about U.S. Soccer in four years is a positive one? What needs to happen between now and then? We'll explore those questions and more.
Register for today's event (it's free!) | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Reach new audiences with Axios Local | | | | | | | | Axios Local is expanding and will soon be available in 14 cities across the country. If you're a marketer or business owner looking to reach engaged readers in their own backyards while supporting local journalism, we'd love to speak with you. Click here to learn more about advertising with Axios Local. | | | | Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Come hang out" Baker Trivia answer: Hank Aaron (25 appearances) 🙏 Thanks for reading. Don't forget to refer friends (axios.com/referral) and follow us on Twitter: @thekendallbaker and @jeffreytracy. |  | | It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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