Home

LeBron James is playing at a very high level, so the idea of him retiring in the near future is something most fans have not thought about. The four-time MVP hasn’t given it much thought, either.

LeBron just turned 37. After he recorded a triple-double with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over the Houston Rockets, he was asked if he has any idea how much longer he might play. He acknowledged that he is “on the other side of the hill” in his career, but James said he hasn’t thought much about retirement because he’s playing at such a high level.

“I’m still playing at such a high level, I haven’t given it too much thought,” James said. “But I’m in Year 19 and I’m not gonna do another 19. So I’m definitely not halfway in my career. I’m on the other side of the hill. So, we’ll see where the game takes me.”

“We’ll see where my body takes me and my mind. As long as my mind stays fresh and my body stays with that, I can play the game. But, in the end, the game will tell you. Your body will tell you. Your mind will tell you.”

The true test may come in October, but for now, the Mets are kings of New York.

Starling Marte hit a walk-off single against Wandy Peralta in the ninth inning Wednesday, leading the Mets to a 3-2 victory and a two-game series sweep of the Yankees at Citi Field. The series marked the first time in history the Mets and Yankees both entered a regular-season Subway Series in sole possession of first place.

The winning rally began when Eduardo Escobar hit a leadoff double and moved to third on Tomás Nido’s sacrifice bunt. Following a Brandon Nimmo infield hit, Marte lined a single into left field to walk it off.

Max Scherzer gave the Mets seven scoreless innings on his 38th birthday, twice striking out Aaron Judge with two men on base (and joining Oakland’s Frankie Montas as the only pitchers to whiff Judge three times in a game this season). But after Scherzer departed, the Mets — with a short bullpen — turned to starting pitcher David Peterson, who allowed a game-tying homer to Gleyber Torres on his fifth pitch.

Seth Lugo entered from there and retired five of the six batters he faced, including Judge, who finished 0-for-5.

Ric Flair is a bachelor again.

The Nature Boy that he and his wife, Wendy Barlow are splitting up.

“After taking some time apart, Wendy and I have decided to go our separate ways,” Flair said. “ But I will love and cherish all of our memories together forever.”

Barlow and Flair, who married in 2018, originally met in 1993 when both were working in WCW. For a short time, she was his valet.

Flair, 72, has been married five times.

This past August, he sought his release from WWE and it was granted. The split seemed amicable, but then he accused the company of trying to erase his legacy.

Even though this Mets team is undeniably different from its recent predecessors, with more realistic postseason aspirations, the fog of past seasons can be difficult to disperse. So when the Yankees strutted into Citi Field on Tuesday and immediately hammered consecutive homers over the fence, the Bronx portion of a sold-out crowd made its confidence known.

It was loud and it was antagonistic, until the Mets did something they’ve done so infrequently over the decades-long run of this rivalry: They punched back.

Four of the first six Mets batters clubbed extra-base hits in the bottom of the first inning, including a solo homer from Starling Marte and a go-ahead two-run shot by Eduardo Escobar. The resulting lead held through the middle innings and onto the end game, when Edwin Díaz nailed down the final four outs of a 6-3 win over the Yankees.

“I’ve never played in a Major League playoff game before,” first baseman Pete Alonso said, “but if I had to guess, that’s what it would be like.”

After C.J. Mosely made the claim that it’s “playoffs or bust” for the Jets earlier in the offseason, wide receiver Braxton Berrios has come out echoing an even stronger sentiment.

It’s easy to understand why there is so much hype within New York’s  locker room. The Jets higher-ups have invested heavily into building a successful young core. The last two years the offense added Zach Wilson, Garrett Wilson, Elijah Moore, and Breece Hall on the offensive side through the draft. 

On the defensive side, they drafted Sauce Gardner and Jermaine Johnson. They have also brought in numerous free-agent acquisitions.

Braxton Berrios, who signed with the Jets for two years at $12 million this offseason, is all in on the youthful revival of the team.

“We have a lot to do,” Berrios said. “We have all the tools to be able to do that, absolutely.” 

The New York Mets bats awoke in an 8-5 victory over the Padres. The bonus for Buck Showalter’s crew was a Braves loss earlier in the day, allowing the Mets to extend their NL East lead to 1 ½ games. 

Alonso blasted a three-run homer as part of a sixth inning in which the Mets scored five times. In the seventh, Alonso just missed another homer — it went for an RBI double that completed his night of reaching base three times. The four RBIs gave Alonso 82 for the season, moving him one ahead of Aaron Judge for the MLB lead. 

“Our team is extremely good and we can win in a bunch of different ways. Tonight it was a great offensive and pitching job,” Alonso said.

Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco delivered five shutout innings, but it wasn’t easy for him: he allowed eight base runners and threw 92 pitches. But the right-hander got the Padres to hit into double plays in the third and fourth innings after escaping a bases-loaded jam in the first. 

The choppy (but effective) outing gave Carrasco an 11-inning scoreless streak over his last two starts. Over his last four starts, Carrasco has pitched to a 1.21 ERA. This extended a team record to 14 straight games in which a Mets starting pitcher allowed two runs or fewer.

On another hot, steamy day in Baltimore, the conditions were no match for Nestor Cortes. 

The lefty delivered another sterling performance in his first start since making his All-Star debut, tossing six scoreless innings in the Yankees’ 6-0 win over the Orioles and left to a standing ovation from the sizable contingent of Yankees fans at Camden Yards. 

Before the game, when asked about how the heat might impact Cortes, Aaron Boone said of the 27-year-old who grew up in Hialeah, Fla., “Nestor will be fine.” 

He was better than that in a game which gave the Yankees another series win after going through a stretch when they lost eight of 12. 

“There’s gonna be ups and downs in a season,’’ Cortes said. “If this is our bad part, I’ll take it. We’re grinding and I think people should expect the same thing in the second half that they saw in the first half.” 

The Yankees scored three runs in the third. Aaron Judge delivered yet another long homer, and Jose Trevino added a career-high four hits. 

Longtime WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon officially announced his retirement in a post shared on his verified Twitter account.

“At 77, time for me to retire,” McMahon tweeted. “Thank you, WWE Universe. Then. Now. Forever. Together.” 

McMahon’s decision comes one month after his announcement to voluntarily step down from his responsibilities amid an ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct and would be replaced by his daughter, Stephanie, on an interim basis.

The announcement also comes after his son-in-law, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque announced he would will resume his executive position as WWE’s EVP of talent relations effective immediately.

Max Scherzer’s return from nearly seven weeks on the injured list went about as well as the Mets could have scripted Tuesday night.

But in a case of mistaken identity, Scherzer’s teammates evidently thought he was Jacob deGrom.

That meant giving him nothing in terms of run support, nullifying the zeroes Scherzer placed on the scoreboard against the Reds.

Mike Moustakas hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth that accounted for the Reds only run in the Mets’ 1-0 loss at Great American Ball Park.

Seth Lugo, pitching for a second straight night, loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth before Moustakas ended it with a drive to medium center field. Buck Showalter later indicated he went with Lugo because Adam Ottavino, who last pitched Sunday, was unavailable.

“It’s frustrating to waste a good outing by a lot of pitchers,” said Showalter, whose Mets saw their NL East lead on the Braves shrivel to 2 ½ games.

Scherzer was brilliant over 79 pitches that encompassed six shutout innings in which he allowed two hits and struck out 11. He finished strong, retiring the last eight batters he faced, six of them by strikeout. Scherzer wanted to go deeper but understood Showalter’s decision to remove him.

Returning to the ballpark he grew up going to, Giancarlo Stanton made himself right at home by nearly sending a ball to the neighborhood from which he hails.

The Yankees slugger clobbered a 457-foot moonshot for a two-run home run that helped the American League knock off the National League 3-2 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Stanton’s blast, which tied the game at two in the fourth inning, earned him the All-Star Game MVP, making him only the third Yankee to win the award (joining Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera).

“Just having my pops here was special,” said Stanton, who grew up in nearby Tujunga. “He took me to games here when I was growing up to watch players like everyone that was playing out there today.”

Byron Buxton followed Stanton with a home run of his own, the back-to-back shots giving the AL the lead and sending them to their ninth straight win in the Midsummer Classic.