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Cal Raleigh officially stands alone among catchers in MLB history.

The Seattle Mariners superstar clubbed his 49th home run of the season on Sunday. As such, he now holds the record for most home runs by a catcher in a single season in MLB history, overtaking a record previously held by Royals star Salvador Perez. No player who has been behind the plate for at least 75% of their games has hit more home runs in one campaign.

Raleigh entered play Sunday with 47 home runs. By the time the second inning ended, he'd already smacked two pitches into the seats and made MLB history. Now, he'll look to become the first catcher to ever hit 50 home runs in a season, too.

Raleigh's record-setting home run sent T-Mobile Park into a tizzy, as fans rose to their feet to celebrate their catcher's historic accomplishment. The broadcast was fired up, too, delivering a hearty call of the moment.

Raleigh hadn't hit a home run in any of his previous five games, but he delivered twice in two innings on Sunday to secure the record. An awesome moment for an incredibly deserving player.

Most Home Runs by Catcher in Single Season

Now that Raleigh stands alone with 49 home runs in a season, we'll take a look at some of the players he's passed. Perez's 48-home run season in 2021 stood as the record until Sunday. Prior to that, Johnny Bench held the record for most homers by a catcher in a season with 45, which he achieved in 1970. Javy Lopez hit 43 home runs in 2003, and the only other catchers with 40 or more homers in a season are Todd Hundley, Roy Campanella and Mike Piazza.

India are looking at Rana for the No. 8 spot in ODIs, and backing Washington for his adaptability, said Gambhir

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2025

Yashasvi Jaiswal became the sixth Indian man to score a century in all three formats•Getty Images

India coach Gautam Gambhir sees big things ahead in Yashasvi Jaiswal’s career after the opener made his first ODI century on Saturday.Jaiswal is a regular in India’s Test team but has only played four ODIs. He got his chance against South Africa, with regular opener and captain Shubman Gill out injured.”In [the] one-day format, you need to know the template you want to play,” Gambhir said after India beat South Africa by nine wickets. “When you come into white-ball cricket from red-ball cricket, you think you have to bat aggressively. But you don’t need to bat aggressively in one-day cricket, because you can split it into 30 overs and 20 overs.Related

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“If you play 30 overs like one-day cricket – and the quality that Jaiswal has, if he can bat till 30 overs – there is no doubt he will be close to a hundred. Even after that, you have 20 overs left, which you can look at as a T20 match. It is only about finding a template. This was just Jaiswal’s fourth game. The moment he figures out which tempo he needs to bat in one-day cricket, the sky is the limit.”Jaiswal batted through the innings: first in the company of Rohit Sharma, with whom he put on 155 runs, and then with Virat Kohli, with whom his second-wicket, unconquered partnership of 116 ushered India to victory. Earlier in the series, another non-regular member of the ODI squad, Ruturaj Gaikwad, stepped up to score a hundred as well. He scored it from No. 4, even though he is a specialist top-order batter.Ruturaj Gaikwad got to his maiden hundred in the second ODI•BCCI

“Someone like Rutu, who’s batted out of position… He’s a quality player, we all know. We wanted to give him an opportunity in this series because of the kind of form he was in with India A. And he actually grabbed that opportunity with both hands, getting a hundred in the second game. And when we were under pressure actually – we were 40 for 2 – and then getting that kind of a hundred was proper quality.”Both players are likely to slip out of contention though, with Gill already fit to start India’s T20I series against South Africa, and Shreyas Iyer recovering well from his spleen injury.”Look, we try and give [new players] opportunities wherever we can. Because we still want a reasonable group… probably around 20-25 players in that group before the World Cup.”But once your captain and vice-captain [Iyer in ODIs] is back, obviously they are your starters. But yes, what they [Jaiswal and Gaikwad] had to do [with their opportunities], they have done that. And hopefully whenever it is possible, we will try and give them opportunities.”And more importantly, I think they need to keep themselves motivated because they should be ready whenever they get that opportunity. “Harshit Rana has been earmarked as India’s No. 8•BCCI

India have been trying to gain depth in their ODI XI, so that they can score at a high tempo through the innings, and are looking at Harshit Rana as an option to lengthen their batting line-up.”That’s one of the reasons why we are trying to probably develop someone like Harshit, who can actually bat at 8 and contribute with a bat at No. 8. That’s how we need to find the balance, because come South Africa in two years’ time, we would be needing three proper seamers as well.”And if he can continue to develop as a bowling allrounder, it’s going to give us a massive boost. Because obviously with Jasprit Bumrah coming back, and what we saw of Arshdeep [Singh], Prasidh [Krishna] and Harshit in this series, [it] was incredible.”All these three guys do not have a lot of experience under their belts, especially in the 50-over format… They’ve hardly played less than 15 ODIs, all these three bowlers, but they’ve done a fabulous job. So I feel that if we can develop someone like Harshit at No. 8, who can contribute with the bat, I think it is going to give us the right balance as well… Let’s see. I think it’s still a long way.”India have also been using Washington Sundar in various roles in both red- and white-ball cricket. Gambhir touched on that: “I’ve always believed in white-ball cricket, batting orders are very overrated. Except the opening combination, I think it is very, very overrated. Yes, [in] Test cricket obviously you’ve got to have a fixed batting order. But again, you’re talking about someone who’s got a hundred at Manchester, you’ve got someone who’s got a fifty at Oval, who averages what, 40-plus in Test cricket.”And sometimes, you’ve got to look at the balance as well. I know it’s tough on someone like Washi, but then I think he’s done an incredible job – whether he’s batted at No. 3, he’s batted at No. 5, he’s batted at No. 7, 8. And that’s the kind of character he is, and that’s the kind of character we want in that dressing room, who are willing to do everything for the team with a smile on his face, which me as a batter knows how tough it is.”We’ve asked him to bat in Manchester at No. 5, he got a 100. We asked him the next game to bat at No. 8, he got a 50. And at Eden Gardens, he contributed at No. 3. Again, he contributed at No. 8 in Guwahati. So I feel we need characters like that, who are willing to put everything for the team. And I’m sure he’s going to continue doing that and we’ve got to keep developing him, because he’s got a massive future ahead for Indian cricket.”

أعلنت رابطة البريميرليج عن الفائز بجائزة رجل مباراة مانشستر سيتي وليدز يونايتد في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، والتي أقيمت مساء السبت.

واستقبل مانشستر سيتي خصمه ليدز يونايتد على ملعب “الاتحاد” ضمن مباريات الجولة الثالثة عشر للدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز “البريميرليج”.

وحقق مانشستر سيتي الفوز على ليدز بثلاثية لهدفين، حيث جاء هدف الفوز عن طريق فيل فودين بالوقت المحتسب بدلاً من الضائع.

وتم اختيار فيل فودين من قبل الجماهير عبر الموقع الرسمي للدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، ليحصل على جائزة رجل مباراة مانشستر سيتي وليدز.

وقدم فودين أداءً مميزًا خلال المباراة، وقد أحرز الهدف الأول لصالح مانشستر سيتي في الدقيقة 2، وهدف الفوز في الدقيقة الأولى من الوقت المحتسب بدلاً من الضائع.

وحصل فودين على نسبة تصويت بلغت 71%، يليه زميله في مانشستر سيتي، نيكو أوريلي بنسبة 13%، ثم كالفيرت لوين بنسبة 5%.

Aston Villa's Europa League clash with Young Boys was disrupted by ugly scenes on Thursday night at Villa Park. Donyell Malen was hit on the head by an object thrown from the crowd after scoring his side's opening goal of the match, while the game had to be halted for several minutes just before half-time after violence broke out in the stands among the away supporters.

Getty Images SportUgly scenes at Villa Park

Malen headed Aston Villa into the lead on 27 minutes but was pelted with missiles from the crowd as he celebrated his goal. One of objects hit Malen on the head and appeared to have caused a cut. The Dutch star bagged another goal just before half-time which brought more ugly scenes and caused the game to be stopped for several minutes as trouble broke out in the away end. Television footage showed seats being ripped up and fans clashing with police. Young Boys captain Loris Benito was seen running over to the stands to plead with fans to behave, with the game eventually restarting after a five-minute delay.

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Malen in great form for Villa

Malen's goals continue his fine form for Aston Villa. He now has six goals so far this season for Unai Emery's side, three of those have come in the Europa League and the other three in the Premier League. Emery had hailed Malen before the game, telling reporters: "Everything he's achieving now you can see it before in the training session. He is helping the team in the structure we have, tactically to do our tasks. He is very important for us."

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Getty Images SportAston Villa enjoying Europa League life

Aston Villa have certainly been enjoying life in the Europa League this season. Emery's side came into Thursday's game having won three of their four matches in the tournament so far. After taking on Young Boys, Villa wrap up their group phase with fixtures against Basel, Fenerbahce and RB Salzburg.

Williamson, Devon Conway, Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson and Tim Seifert sign casual playing agreements with NZC for 2025-26

Alex Malcolm15-Sep-2025

Kane Williamson will miss the upcoming T20I series against Australia•ICC via Getty Images

Kane Williamson will miss the upcoming T20I series against Australia but is committed to playing in the T20 World Cup after signing a casual playing agreement with New Zealand Cricket (NZC) alongside Devon Conway, Finn Allen, Lockie Ferguson and Tim Seifert.The five players were not among the 20 centrally contracted New Zealand players announced in June for the 2025-26 season but have signed casual agreements in order to have some flexibility between playing for New Zealand, remaining within the high-performance system, and taking up franchise opportunities overseas.Allen, Seifert and Ferguson have existing BBL contracts that will see them play in Australia while the New Zealand Super Smash is taking place. New Zealand women’s captain Sophie Devine has signed a similar agreement for 2025-26 as she intends to retire from ODI cricket after the upcoming World Cup in India but remains available for T20Is.Related

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Williamson did not play in New Zealand’s most recent Test series against Zimbabwe and also missed the T20I tri-series that preceded it. Instead he played in the T20 Blast for Middlesex, and two County Championship games, as well as the Hundred for London Spirit.NZC stated that to be eligible for the casual playing agreement, players were required to commit themselves to the T20 World Cup campaign which included home series against Australia, England and the West Indies ahead of the tournament in India and Sri Lanka in February and March. It had previously been confirmed that Allen would miss the Australia matches, to be played from October 1-4 in Mount Maunganui, after undergoing foot surgery.An exception has been made for Williamson who has made himself unavailable for the series.NZC CEO Scott Weenink said the casual agreements were sensible arrangements in a T20 World Cup year.”With such a pinnacle event on the horizon we wanted to ensure our best T20 players were ready and available to push for inclusion,” he said. “The casual agreements are a commitment from the players to NZC and the Black Caps, and in return NZC will offer our full support to these players as part of our high-performance system.”The message from the players is that playing for the Black Caps is hugely important to them and I’m pleased we’ve been able to agree terms to have them casually contracted for the coming season.”Rob [Walter] and the team have a massive period of cricket ahead, home and away, and I know myself along with all of our fans can’t wait to follow and support.”New Zealand’s squad to face Australia will be named later this week.

Baseball fans were not having it with Dave Roberts's latest quote.

On Monday afternoon on the eve of Game 3 of the Los Angeles Dodgers' NLDS matchup with the San Diego Padres, Roberts made an odd statement.

The Dodgers manager was asked about reports of Padres third baseman Manny Machado tossing a ball into the L.A. dugout during a contentious Game 2 on Sunday night. Roberts claimed he saw video that showed Machado throwing a ball at him that was stopped by a net. He said he thought there was "intent behind it."

Video is below.

For his part, after the game, Machado claimed he was throwing the ball over to the ball boy, something he does often.

Roberts then followed up his claim about Machado by saying, "That team over there, they like the villain-type kind of role."

That's an odd thing to say the night after Dodgers fans threw things at Padres players on multiple occasions during their 10–2 win over L.A. in Game 2. Also, it's rich to hear someone associated with a team that spent roughly $1.2 billion over the offseason discuss another team embracing a "villain-type kind of role."

MLB fans weren't on board with Roberts's statement.

Yeah, not sure that characterization is going to go over well with people after what happened Sunday night.

Hampshire crash and burn in reply as visitors secure points by convincing margin

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay17-Jun-2025

Dom Sibley made 70 off 46 balls•Dave Vokes/Hampshire Cricket

Dom Sibley continued Surrey’s dominance at Utilita Bowl in the Men’s Vitality Blast with a crushing 70 against Hampshire Hawks.Former England Test opener Sibley’s breezy 46-ball knock provided the backbone for his side’s commanding victory on the south coast – Surrey’s sixth straight T20 win on the ground.Opening partner Will Jacks and Sam Curran whacked quick-fire runs to back Sibley up as Surrey reached 193. Despite short explosive cameos from South African duo Dewald Brevis and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, two wickets apiece for the returning Reece Topley, Chris Jordan and Mitchell Santner, and 3 for 18 for Nathan Smith, gave the visitors a one-sided win.Having been put into bat, Jacks and Sibley seemed to amass runs without massive swings of the bat, with Sibley’s two sixes over midwicket anomalies in a 59-run powerplay.Jacks’ sweet timing had brought him 41 in a blink-of-an-eye 24 balls but Benny Howell’s introduction began a squeeze. Howell and Liam Dawson stopped the flow of runs with their off-pace deliveries, with Howell getting Jacks slapping to point and Jason Roy run out via a one-motion dive by James Vince.Sibley continued to turn over the strike, along with the odd boundary, as he found a tempo and stuck to it, reaching his ninth T20 fifty in 32 balls.He eventually fell for an impressive 70, but that only began the Surrey fireworks – with 51 runs coming from the last four overs. Sam Curran baseball-swatted Chris Wood and then swivelled James Fuller for sixes, and when he was out his brother Tom fired an outrageous six over extra cover.In the second half of the innings, Surrey only allowed 10 dot balls, with power-hitting interspersing smart running.In Hampshire’s reply, Pretorius almost monopolised the strike in the first three-and-a-half overs, but when he hit the ball, it stayed hit. His third-ball wristy flick off his pads cleared the ropes with ease, before one of three fours cannoned off the non-striker’s stumps and into the padding in next to no time.But Jacks stopped him in his tracks, when a reverse sweep went wrong, before Vince – who had only faced eight balls in 4.5 overs – spliced to mid-on.Toby Albert was caught behind by a tumbling Laurie Evans, but Brevis blew some life back into the innings with a six straight into a cameraman and then an audacious back-foot hammer for another maximum. But scoreboard pressure saw more and more desperate rash shots, and each seemed to be paired with a catch.Brevis, Joe Weatherley, Fuller, Dawson, Howell, and John Turner all took to the sky, while Wood was castled.

Leeds United had one of the biggest annual wage bills in the Championship but are now back in the Premier League. The Whites, after a busy summer transfer window, now have an annual payroll of £59,306,000, with the average player earning more than £2m per season at Elland Road.

So, we at Football FanCast have ranked every Leeds United player in the first-team squad in order from highest to lowest in terms of wages for the 2025/26 season, with the help of Capology.

Disclaimer – only the club and the players themselves truly know their wages, so take each of these figures as you will.

1

Dominic Calvert-Lewin

£100,000

£5,200,000

2

Jack Harrison

£90,000

£4,680,000

3

Sean Longstaff

£80,000

£4,160,000

4

Daniel James

£75,000

£3,900,000

5

Noah Okafor

£72,500

£3,770,000

=6

Pascal Struijk

£50,000

£2,600,000

=6

Lucas Perri

£50,000

£2,600,000

=7

Anton Stach

£45,000

£2,340,000

=7

Brenden Aaronson

£45,000

£2,340,000

=7

Jaka Bijol

£45,000

£2,340,000

=7

Sebastiaan Bornauw

£45,000

£2,340,000

=11

Ethan Ampadu

£40,000

£2,080,000

=11

Joe Rodon

£40,000

£2,080,000

=11

Wilfried Gnonto

£40,000

£2,080,000

=11

Joel Piroe

£40,000

£2,080,000

=15

Lukas Nmecha

£35,000

£1,820,000

=15

James Justin

£35,000

£1,820,000

=17

Karl Darlow

£30,000

£1,560,000

=17

Jayden Bogle

£30,000

£1,560,000

=17

Illan Meslier

£30,000

£1,560,000

=20

Ao Tanaka

£25,000

£1,300,000

=20

Sam Byram

£20,000

£1,040,000

22

Ilia Gruev

£15,000

£780,000

23

Alex Cairns

£10,000

£520,000

24

Sam Chambers

£8,000

£416,000

Here are the top 10 Leeds United earners… 10 Jaka Bijol £45,000 per week

Another new centre-back on £45,000 per week is Jaka Bijol, who cost more than Sebastiaan Bornauw. Leeds paid Serie A side Udinese an initial £15m for the Slovenia international.

Bijol is under contract at Elland Road until 2030.

9 Brenden Aaronson £45,000 per week

Attacking midfielder Brenden Aaronson is one of Leeds’ most expensive signings of all time, however, he’s had his struggles in Yorkshire.

After returning from a loan spell in Germany in 2024, the USA international helped Leeds win promotion back to the Premier League and his deal expires in 2027.

8 Anton Stach £45,000 per week

Central midfielder Anton Stach cost Leeds more than £17m from Hoffenheim following their return to the Premier League and signed a four-year contract with the Whites.

Already becoming a fan favourite, Stach is the last of four players to collect £2.34m a year.

7 Lucas Perri £50,000 per week

Following Illan Meslier’s poor performances in 2024/25, Leeds moved to sign a new first choice goalkeeper in Brazilian shot-stopper Lucas Perri.

Costing just under £14m from French side Lyon, Perri stands at 6ft 6 and is under contract until 2029.

6 Pascal Struijk £50,000 per week

Pascal Struijk has had his injury issues in recent seasons, but when fully fit, appears to be a part of Daniel Farke’s strongest XI.

The defender joined Leeds’ U21 ranks back in 2020 from Ajax and progressed into the first-team setup under Marcelo Bielsa. He’s made over 150 appearances for the Whites.

5 Noah Okafor £72,500 per week

Leeds’ most expensive signing of the summer was versatile forward Noah Okafor, who cost around £18m from AC Milan.

The Swiss attacker actually played against the Whites in pre-season weeks before moving to Elland Road and scored his first goal for the club in a 3-1 win at Wolves.

4 Daniel James £75,000 per week

Signed from rivals Manchester United in 2021, Daniel James struggled to get going at Elland Road and was even sent out on loan to Fulham a year later.

However, following Leeds’ relegation to the Championship, James has found a home in Yorkshire and starred in the Championship, resulting in a new deal being signed in 2025.

3 Sean Longstaff £80,000 per week

Sean Longstaff cost Leeds £12m from Newcastle over the summer and arrived with plenty of Premier League experience with the Magpies.

Earning more than £4m per season at Elland Road, Longstaff’s current Leeds contract expires in 2029.

2 Jack Harrison £90,000 per week

After two seasons on loan at Everton, Jack Harrison returned to Leeds in the summer and is once again a part of the first-team picture at Elland Road.

The winger, who made his move to Leeds permanent back in 2021 under Bielsa, is under contract with the Whites until 2028 after signing his latest deal in 2023.

1 Dominic Calvert-Lewin £100,000 per week

Top of the charts as Leeds’ top earner for 2025/26 is Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who arrived at Elland Road on a free transfer following his Everton exit.

The centre-forward snubbed an offer from a Champions League side in order to sign for Leeds, and with no fee involved, the Whites were able to offer him £5.2m per season until 2028.

أعلن نادي ليفربول الإنجليزي تشكيل الفريق لمواجهة كريستال بالاس، في إطار مباريات بطولة كأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية لموسم 2025-2026.

ويستقبل ليفربول خصمه كريستال بالاس بملعب “آنفيلد”، في الجولة السادسة عشر لبطولة كأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية “كأس كاراباو”.

ليفربول تعرض مؤخرًا للهزيمة أمام كريستال بالاس في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز “البريميرليج” للموسم الجاري، بهدفين مقابل هدف.

كما سبق وخسر فريق آرني سلوت أمام كريستال بالاس، لقب كأس الدرع الخيرية في أغسطس الماضي، بركلات الترجيح.

ويغيب النجم المصري محمد صلاح عن تشكيل الفريق الأساسي، وكذلك لا يتواجد على مقاعد البدلاء، فضلاً عن غياب عدة نجوم مثل فيرجيل فان دايك قائد الفريق.

اقرأ أيضًا | بايرن ميونخ ينافس ليفربول على صفقة ويسبقه بخطوة تشكيل ليفربول اليوم أمام كريستال بالاس

حراسة المرمى: وودمان.

خط الدفاع: جوميز، إندو، كيركيز، روبرتسون.

خط الوسط: أليكسيس ماك أليستر، فيديريكو كييزا، نيوني، رامزي.

خط الهجوم: موريسون، نجوموها.

البدلاء: بيتشي، جوردون، كوني دوهيرتي، بينينجتون، فيجيروا، نالو، بيلينج، لاكي، لافي.

With just three days left to salvage their transfer window, Aston Villa are now reportedly closing in on signing a Champions League-winning star who knows all about Premier League football.

Whilst PSR has limited Aston Villa all summer long, there’s still every chance that they could complete some late business. The sale of Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle United should have at least freed up some funds to welcome some reinforcements of their own, and there’s no denying that Unai Emery needs it.

The new Rogers: Aston Villa open talks to sign "exceptional" £30m star

Aston Villa are looking to sign a new attacker before Monday’s deadline

By
Joe Nuttall

Aug 28, 2025

So far, with two games played, the Villans are yet to win a game. After drawing 0-0 with Newcastle on the opening day, the Midlands club suffered a 1-0 defeat against Brentford to hand Keith Andrews his first victory in charge of the Bees. With Crystal Palace up next in what is historically a tough game for Emery’s side, those at Villa Park should be desperate for fresh faces.

Just who arrives is the big question. Whilst Emery is a clear admirer of Nicolas Jackson, it looks like the out-of-favour Chelsea striker is off to Bayern Munich rather than a Premier League rival. Meanwhile, there’s also plenty of competition in the race to sign Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher and Villa are reportedly among those ready to send an offer to the Spanish club.

Emery is well aware that there’s still work to be done in the window too, having told reporters last week: “The club are working hard to get our structure as strong as possible with the players in the squad, trying to get two players for each position. There is still work to do, maybe even some players leaving more and we will have to sign and complete the squad with some players.”

It’s work that will go right up until the deadline and could even include the arrival of a familiar face in the Midlands.

Aston Villa submit first Asensio offer

As reported by Sacha Tavolieri, Aston Villa have now submitted an opening offer to sign Marco Asensio and are closing in on a deal to sign the Paris Saint-Germain winger worth just €15m (£13m). The Villans are reportedly “confident” that the Spaniard will seal his return for the first time since a successful loan spell at the club last season.

When Asensio arrived last season, he handed Aston Villa the spark that they were beginning to lack alongside fellow loanee Marcus Rashford. There was, therefore, understandable disappointment when the latter sealed a move to Barcelona and it looked as though the PSG star was destined for other things.

Marco Asensio the former wonderkid	Year
Segunda División Player of the Month	2014
UEFA European U19 Championship Golden Player	2015
La Liga Breakthrough Player	2015-16
UEFA European U21 Championship Silver Boot	2017
UEFA European U21 Championship Team of the Tournament	2017
UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI	2017

In a last-gasp move, however, a player who former Tottenham Hotspur man Andros Townsend called a “special talent” looks likely to join back up with his Aston Villa teammates on a permanent basis.