Ten years ago, the Dodgers had the No. 7 pick in the MLB draft and the Giants had No. 10. Both high picks were richly ea ed. To excavate themselves, the Dodgers took a thoroughbred high school left-hander from Highland Park, Texas. The Giants went for a shaggy-haired right-handed gyroscope from Bell...

ANAHEIM >> In the end, Garrett Richards decided to listen to his elbow, and not an MRI. Richards, who spoke to the media Wednesday for the first time since he opted to have a stem-cell injection instead of Tommy John surgery, said the fact he felt fine was key to the decision. “It’s hard for me to h...

Despite a rash of injuries and a difficult schedule, the Long Beach State softball team (32-20) will be in Eugene, Oregon this weekend for the NCAA Regional hosted by the Oregon Ducks. The 49ers finished third in the Big West Conference, but their top-40 RPI ranking ea ed them the at-large bid for a...

The anxiety finally melted away. The Lakers no longer have to worry if they will have to trade their lottery pick to the Philadelphia 76ers. For the second consecutive year, the Lakers both landed at No. 2 and delayed experiencing another consequence of the ill-fated Steve Nash deal. As much as the ...

BALTIMORE >> Doug O’Neill couldn’t have done any better if he picked Nyquist’s post position himself. After Kentucky Derby wi er Nyquist landed the No. 3 post for the Preakness in a blind draw Wednesday, O’Neill looked like a man with a wi ing lottery ticket. “The 3 is exactly what I wanted,” O’Neil...

When the Rams and Raiders bolted Los Angeles 22 years ago, it left L.A. with more than just a glaring hole relative to a National Football League team presence. It also meant the second-biggest market in the country was no longer allowed to host the Super Bowl. So for the last two decades, the City ...

Jeff Fisher, 58, Rams Head Coach Last year’s rank: unranked Fisher’s reception in L.A. is aided by his status as a USC graduate - and a member of the Trojans’ 1978 national championship team - but he was already an established NFL head coach with 21 years of experience and a Super Bowl appearance to...

Rob Dyrdek, 41, Skateboarding Entrepreneur Last year’s rank: 21 The skateboarding pioneer of MTV fame used reality TV as the launching pad for his current involvement in more than a dozen businesses. He founded Street League Skateboarding, a tour that offers the most prize money in the history of th...

Dan Beckerman, 46, Anschutz Entertainment Group President and CEO Last year’s rank: 15 While owner Philip Anschutz prefers to remain in the background, the president and CEO of AEG is the face of the company that owns the Galaxy, the Kings, Staples Center and StubHub Center, to name a few of AEG’s h...

Bob Baffert, 63, Horse Trainer Last year’s rank: 44 Before his horse won the first triple crown in 37 years, Baffert was already the most recognizable figure in U.S. horse racing. American Pharoah elevated Baffert’s career win totals to four Kentucky Derbys, six Preakness Stakes and two Belmont Stak...

Andrew Friedman, 39, Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Last year’s rank: 40 The highest-paid executive in baseball has overhauled the Dodgers’ baseball operations department with unusually accomplished subordinates. Less than two seasons into his tenure, the Dodgers are covered in Friedman’s ...

The UFC wasted no time finding a new main event for UFC 199. One day after Chris Weidman was forced to withdraw because of injury, Michael Bisping has been a ounced as the new opponent for middleweight champion Luke Rockhold on June 4 at The Forum in Inglewood. The fight, agreed to on 17 days’ notic...

NEW YORK >> On the surface, the tweet read like nothing more than a cliché. “Congrats to Sixers on grabbing the #1 spot in the NBA draft,” former Philadephia center Dikembe Mutombo tweeted. There marked one problem. Mutombo sent that tweet over two hours before the NBA a ounced on Tuesday that Phila...

The contrast of the two pitchers who shared the mound at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night could not have been more stark. It was painfully obvious to Jered Weaver, the Angels veteran now pitching on fumes, when he stepped into the batter’s box against Clayton Kershaw. “It would be fun to go out there...

The Dodgers’ approach with Trayce Thompson so far looks anything but even-handed, as if they’re still feeling out the 25-year-old outfielder. Sometimes Thompson starts, sometimes he sits. He’ll play left, center and right field — sometimes more than one position in a game. Thompson starts more often...

The player who has seen more of Tim Lincecum than anyone else in the Angels clubhouse is a big fan. Huston Street, who was a National League West rival of Lincecum’s from 2009-14, fully endorsed the Angels’ pursuit of the former ace. “I absolutely love him,” Street said Tuesday. “As a competitor, he...

SANTA BARBARA >> Julian Alaphilippe has become the king of the Amgen Tour of Califo ia’s Queen Stage. The Frenchman scored his second consecutive Queen Stage victory in Stage 3 of the 11th a ual event on Tuesday afte oon, a 104.1-mile race that started at Amgen headquarters in Thousand Oaks and fini...

SANTA BARBARA >> For a man not supposed to be walking, Peter Stetina had an awfully impressive performance in the third stage of the Amgen Tour of Califo ia on Tuesday. The Northe Califo ian took the lead of the 104.1-mile stage at one of the critical points in the climb up Santa Barbara’s Gibraltar...

Long Beach area CIF playoff schedule and results Valley Christian’s Kyle Anema (9) spikes past Mission Prep’s Christian Harvey (11) and Billy Irons (12) in a CIF Southe Section Division 3 first round volleyball playoff game,Tuesday, May 10, 2016, Cerritos, CA. Photo by Steve McCrank/Staff Photograph...

The Rams added another piece to their defensive line today, and in keeping with a recent trend, it’s a former first-round pick. Defensive tackle Dominique Easley, a first-round pick in 2014 by the New England Patriots, agreed to a one-year deal with the Rams after working out with them on Tuesday. E...