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Good morning! At least the weather is nice in Orange County today. Coming up:

Baseball: The Angels are in Hell

Has your team ever had the second-worst farm system in baseball, sat in last place, trailed 7-0 at home against a team that lost 119 games a year ago, and then gone down more when your right fielder missed a fly ball with his glove and volleyed it over the wall with his head for a home run, helping to clinch a series loss against said 119-loss team right before your team drives up the interstate to face its biggest rival, which recently signed away your longtime superstar, the best player ever, and then won back-to-back World Series, with your former star winning consecutive MVPs (don’t worry; he’s now on his way to a third) while your fans begged on their hands and knees for the owner to sell the team?

What? That’s never happened to you? Here’s that GIF again:

However bad you think the Angels are, they’re worse. This is now the bleakest team outlook in the major North American professional sports. Just add it all up:

The team is tied for the worst record in baseball, matching those Rockies at 24-40. They lost to the Dodgers last night on a Freddie Freeman walk-off homer.
Help is not on the way, via a farm system Keith Law ranked 29th out of 30 this year. No Angels prospects appear among Keith’s midseason top 50.
Fans are apoplectic. They are pleading with owner Arte Moreno to consider a sale as the Angels ignore them. (Moreno looked into it a few years ago, then didn’t sell. A tease.)
Mike Trout is being wasted, again. Not that this is new, but the 34-year-old future Hall of Famer is cruising toward his best season since 2022, all for nothing.
The owner’s irrationality means the team may not even sell. Pitchers José Soriano and Reid Detmers would help restock the farm system. But Moreno wouldn’t even trade Shohei Ohtani as his team control was expiring in a lost season in 2023. It’s a dice roll whether the franchise will do the most obvious thing that could help it.
Ohtani is elsewhere in Southern California. You know how that’s gone.

It just doesn’t get worse than this. The Athletic’s Sam Blum knows more about the inner workings of the Angels than just about any person alive. Sam is not a fiction writer, but I asked him to take on a creative writing task: Could he devise a scenario in which the franchise turns in a more positive direction in the next two years?

💬 The one and only way this happens is Arte Moreno selling the team. What gets lost in the Angels’ malaise is that they should be the Dodgers. They should be the Yankees, Mets, Phillies and Cubs. They should be box office, must-see, and dominating in the most desirable location that this sport has to offer. But this team is a years-in-the-making disaster. 

The Angels’ single smartest grift is that, under Moreno, it will never get that bad. They trick their fans annually by making the team just good enough to sprinkle in a little hope. Underneath the surface, the organization lacks the infrastructure, facilities and personnel to get it done. This season, however, is their 2024 White Sox/2025 Rockies year. The veneer has worn off, and everyone can see it for what it is. The record might not get to 120 losses, but you know a truly bad product when you see it.

Franchises in this part of the country will command a massive price. Whoever would buy the Angels, in this particular scenario, would have the financial ability and desire to get a return on the investment.

The Angels are a joke. It all traces back to one man. Fixing it is as simple as replacing him … whenever he’s ready to sell.

It cannot get worse. Actually, I won’t say that.

News to KnowKnicks take a 2-0 lead to MSG

The story here could’ve been different if Victor Wembanyama didn’t first throw a pass off his teammate’s back and then clang a good look at the buzzer, and we’re sure to hear a lot in the coming days about the young Spurs’ readiness. But an implosion narrative doesn’t feel fair: San Antonio had several gritty spells in Game 2, and Wemby was mostly his transcendent self. The fact is the Knicks, even on an off night for Jalen Brunson (7-of-25), were so poised and relentless that they were always in a position to win. A 13-game playoff winning streak is undeniable, and they’re now just two more away from their first title since 1973. Read our writers’ takeaways and Wemby’s reflections on the final 30 seconds.

The Grand Slam of opportunity

An extremely chaotic French Open will wrap up this weekend with little starpower but solid intrigue nonetheless. On the men’s side, it’s “if not now, then when” for world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, who yesterday beat Jakub Menšík to reach his fourth major final. He’ll face Flavio Cobolli, whose semifinal opponent, storybook longshot Matteo Arnaldi, withdrew with a virus. This morning’s women’s final (9 a.m. ET on TNT and HBO Max) meanwhile positions 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva as default favorite against world No. 114 Maja Chwalińska, the lowest-ranked finalist in tournament history. Should be a fun watch. Follow our live blog here.

More News
It’s far from a done deal, but Hammond, Indiana, is the Chicago Bears’ priority location after a vote from the team’s board of directors. Full story here.
Yankees star Aaron Judge spoke about how he got a stress fracture in his rib and his injury return timeline (or lack thereof)
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said there’s no truth to accusations that his conference and the Big Ten are in cahoots to create a Super League.
Maple Leafs adviser Cliff Fletcher made a huge imprint on the NHL during more than 70 years in front offices. Read his obituary here.
Ned Jarrett, a legendary NASCAR driver who became one of its most recognizable voices as a broadcaster, died at age 93.
The U.S. issued visas to Iran’s World Cup team but warned them “not to sneak terrorists” into the country. Welcome!
FIFA meanwhile reversed course again and now will allow fans to bring water bottles inside what will often be sweltering stadiums — at least in the U.S. and Canada.
Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor criminal mischief and domestic violence. Details here.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Watch Guide

Talia Sprague / Imagn Images

📺 Soccer: USMNT vs. Germany
2:30 p.m. ET on TBS and HBO Max
One last friendly before the World Cup opener against Paraguay. It would be a huge lift if the Americans can finally beat a European powerhouse, but they’ll have to do it without crucial defender Chris Richards, whose Cup status remains up in the air.

📺 Belmont Stakes
7:04 p.m. ET on Fox
Triple Crown season concludes here. Read a detailed field analysis. Notable: “There’s a slight chance of rain forecast for Saturday afternoon in Saratoga Springs. Keep your eye on the predictions and handicap accordingly, though this field offers a dearth of off-track options.”

📺 NHL: Hurricanes at Golden Knights
8 p.m. ET on ABC
A 1-1 Stanley Cup Final heads to Vegas. This thing looks like a classic, to my eye. The Hurricanes have so much playoff scar tissue; will we look at Game 2’s overtime winner as the moment the franchise’s fortunes changed? Maybe!

Get tickets to games like this here.

Pulse Picks

Greg O’Keeffe went inside the making of Norway’s amazing World Cup team photo where they all dressed as Vikings. (They even built a historically accurate wooden jetty.)

History says one of these five teams will win the Cup, by the way.

This chicken shawarma recipe is a must-make every week in my household. It feels boring in a good way now because it’s so consistent. — Chris Branch

How is it that a box score said Orioles reliever Andrew Kittredge inherited four runners on base? The inimitable Jayson Stark explained.

Last week I recommended part one of the Reckless Ben vs. Bricks & Minifigs saga. Since then, the YouTuber has released part two that at least appears to show some shocking corruption in a small Utah police department, resulting in his arrest and subsequent flight to Mexico. A GoFundMe has raised $350,000 for the original owner of the Lego collection, and even the CEO of Patreon is involved, refusing to take down the content despite a threat of a lawsuit. (Breaking: Apparently corporate is now waving the white flag?) This is better than any TV show I’ve seen in years. — Levi Weaver

Trader Joe’s chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches remain one of the most dangerous (i.e. scrumptious) things ever put in a frozen section. Sorry. — Chris Sprow

TAFC had some fun in its past two episodes — one picking the best possible XIs in World Cup history and another choosing the top 10 moments from the last 10 Cups. Watch/listen here.

The easiest way to blast music across a room, backyard, or beach blanket? A great portable Bluetooth speaker. We’ve spent the past 12 years testing more than 480 (!) speakers for Wirecutter — this is the best one we’ve found. — Brent Butterworth

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Matt Slater on why World Cup ticket prices are so absurd.

📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.