Sports Illustrated

hocked loogy

ASK KELLY WUNSCH about the four consecutive pitches that changed his life 20 years ago, and the lefthanded former relief pitcher doesn’t hesitate. Fastball away. Changeup. Slider away. Slider away. Strike. Strike. Ball. Strike. Sit down, Barry Bonds. “My parents were in the stands, and I could hear my mom squealing,” says Wunsch, who played six seasons in the major leagues and now is a real estate agent and developer in Austin. Back in spring training in 2000, though, he was just another 27-year-old career minor leaguer, a flamed-out former first-round pick desperately trying to nab a bullpen role with the White Sox. “One inning earlier, I was sitting in the bullpen in Scottsdale, wondering if my career was over. If I didn’t get that call, if I didn’t get to throw to…

change of pace

It’s easy to look at the three-batter minimum and assume that it was proposed as a solution for baseball’s growing pace-of-play problem. But in reality LOOGYs had already been declining on their own for years before the new rule was announced. After peaking in 2015, one-batter appearances by lefthanders have fallen with each passing season. And yet, games continue to get longer: Yes, frequent pitching changes can add dead time, but they’re hardly the main culprit for pace-of-play woes. In other words, the three-batter minimum didn’t doom the LOOGY; it just came to finish the job.…

lefthanded compliment

JESSE OROSCO AVG. VS. LH: .209; VS. RH .230 After a full decade in the majors, Orosco found a second wind in his career as a one-out specialist. His work defined the role in the 1990s. MIKE MYERS AVG. VS. LH: .219; VS. RH .301 With 314 LOOGY appearances from 1995 to year 2007, Myers is the king of the role. There’s no one who did more, and there likely never will be. RANDY CHOATE AVG. VS. LH: .195; VS. RH .290 The LOOGY’s been in decline since Choate’s last game in 2015—and no wonder. He’s the only pitcher with more than 50 LOOGY appearances in one season. FROM LEFT: JOHN IACONO; DAMIAN STROHMEYER; BRAD MANGIN; ISTOCKPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES (TROPHY BASE)…

si’s third-annual nfl draft (beer) guide

BIG DOG’S BREWING CO. SHIMMY AND THE WHALE IPA This golden blond New England IPA from the city’s oldest craft brewer is easy to drink. But at 7% ABV, it’ll hit you harder than Jadeveon Clowney. CRAF THAUS BREWERY SILVER STATE BLONDALE This light and crisp ale from a brewery founded in 2014 has a low IBU (20) and low alcohol (4.8% ABV), meaning you won’t see it a Bills tailgate. ELLIS ISLAND BREWING CO. KOVAL PILSNER This sweet, bready pilsner from a microbrewery in a hotel-casino is like the Patrick Mahomes of beers—bold but approachable, an odds-on crowd-pleaser. LOVELADY BREWING CO. PALEO PORTER Sure to be a hit with football-mad paleontologists (all 12 of them!), this beer was named for local scientists working to excavate dino bones. PT’S BREWING CO. SEAN PATRICK’S IRISH RED REDALE This malty beer with hints of caramel would pair well with grilled hot…

sabrina ionescu

WATCH WNBA DRAFT LEBRON JAMES calls her Queen Sabrina. Steph Curry brought his daughters to one of her recent games. Kobe Bryant was a close friend and mentor. And yet, the legend of Sabrina Ionescu has only just begun. Though projected to be the top pick in last year’s WNBA draft, the Oregon guard returned for her senior season, citing “unfinished business” after her Ducks lost in the Final Four. A year later, she is still considered the consensus choice to go No. 1 to the New York Liberty when the draft is held on April 17 (ESPN 2, 7 p.m.). As her illustrious college career came to a close, Ionescu talked to SI about her decision to come back; becoming the first NCAA player to reach 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists;…

outcry

THIS FIVE-PART DOCUSERIES centers on the case against Greg Kelley, a high school football star from Leander, Texas. He had committed to UT–San Antonio when, in the summer of 2013, he was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a four-year-old boy who attended a daycare run by a family friend, a crime for which Kelley would ultimately be sentenced to 25 years in state prison without parole. The case is filled with familiar true crime tropes: inept lawyers, crooked cops, champions of justice, a growing legion of supporters, Texas rangers (and not the baseball kind), lies, lie-detector tests, appeals, rallies and deaths. But it’s expertly unspooled by director Pat Kondelis, whose understanding and treatment of football in the community gives the story layers and substance. (Kondelis won an Emmy Award for…