From his time in Negro Leagues as a teenager to his epic run of success with the Giants, Willie Mays was always student and ambassador of America’s Pasttime

Mays’ performance on the field has him in the conversation as one of the best players ever. 24 All Star Games, 12 Gold Gloves, two MVP awards, and 660 homers leave him in the most rare of air. 

In short, putting his legacy into words is almost impossible, so we let his actions tell his story. 

And the stories you will hear about Willie are that he was the one player from Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle to Reggie Jackson and Ken Griffey Jr. that left every major leaguer simply star struck by his otherworldly skills and his graceful presence.

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With all of the air in the WNBA room being sucked up by loud takes on Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and what their rivalry means to America, it’s easy to forget that we’re about a month and a half into the season.

So today ESPN women’s basketball writer Michael Voepel takes us around the league to fill us in on what we’ve been missing.

Tonight’s Commissioner Cup final between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx is one of the stories that has gotten lost in the shuffle. 

Ironically, we haven’t been talking much about what’s happening on the court with the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky.

And A’ja Wilson is doing it again, looking like a pretty solid bet to take home her third MVP award.

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By the end of tonight, the world will know if the Edmonton Oilers will be the first Canadian team to hoist the Stanley Cup in more than three decades. 

Despite an initial 3-0 lead by the Florida Panthers, the Oilers have pushed forward and forced a Game 7. 

Our own Emily Kaplan is here to tell us how both these teams got to the finals, why key players like Connor McDavid and Stuart Skinner have been crucial to the Oilers’ comeback, and what tonight’s outcome could mean for all of hockey. 

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The 2024 Olympics are almost upon us. Trials are taking place around the world to determine who will represent their countries in Paris. And next week, all eyes will be on USA gymnastics trials in Minneapolis – as 16 women compete for one of five coveted spots on Team USA. 

Olympic superstar gymnast Simone Biles is looking to make it to her 3rd Olympics, but alongside her are 15 other women with just as much a shot to make the team as her. 

So today, our Olympics expert D’Arcy Maine joins us to break down how we got to trials and why this Olympic team might be the hardest to make in the history of the sport.

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The Copa América is South America’s fiercely competitive international soccer tournament, historically dominated by Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. But this summer, the games are happening in the United States, and the Americans have been invited to compete along with other North and Central American teams.

So, as this unprecedented tournament gets underway Thursday night, our soccer savant Luis Miguel Echegaray explains how it all landed in the states to begin with, why it will be a major measuring stick for the American squad, and whether Argentina’s Lionel Messi has anything left to prove.

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The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants will meet in a special ballgame at Birmingham, Alabama’s historic Rickwood Field tomorrow. That ballpark is 114 years old, the oldest professional field in America, and was the home to two teams named The Barons: one black and one white.

And what happened on that field: a community gathering to cheer both squads, and the nation’s first integrated baseball game was a reflection of what happened in the city during the Civil Rights struggle.

Today we are joined by Roy Wood Jr. Comedian, Daily Show veteran, baseball fan - who grew up in the shadow of Rickwood Field. He explains: what the city was like during his life, how ready Birmingham is for its spotlight, and how the lessons he learned on the diamond still carry weight in his life today.

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The Indianapolis 500 is a sacred tradition in the racing community. But so is the Coca Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race. And both of these events just happen to fall on the same day. So when a brave driver decides to tackle all 1100 of these miles — a challenge affectionately known as the Memorial Day Double – the eyes of the race world fall on them. 

This year, NASCAR champion and IndyCar rookie of the year Kyle Larson took his shot, battling: the logistics; the tracks; and, most of all, Mother Nature. And our good friend Ryan McGee was there to chronicle the attempt.

So today, McGee shares the history of folks trying to tackle The Double, and explains how the people who dare to get behind the wheel are built differently from the rest of us.

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It’s difficult to identify a true contemporary to Jerry West. 

He’s the man who spent 14 consecutive years as an All Star for the Los Angeles Lakers. The guy who helped engineer and sustain not one, but two dynasties with the team. A figure whose silhouette literally loomed above the league as the NBA’s logo.

So when the news broke last week of his death, at the age of 86, it marked the passing of a giant.

Today, Jeremy Schaap memorializes the great Laker. He explains West’s West Virginia origins, explores his life and legacy with the Lakers and across the NBA, and tells us how, in spite of all of his great accomplishments, the harshest critic of Jerry West was always Jerry West.

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Yankees vs. Red Sox. It’s one of the fiercest rivalries in all of sports and includes names like: Derek Jeter, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Bucky Dent, and of course Babe Ruth.

But these days Major League Baseball has become so obsessed with data, that it feels like the human element can fall by the wayside.

So, ahead of their three game weekend series, culminating with a matchup on Sunday Night Baseball, Jeff Passan joins the show to explain just what this rivalry is like in 2024.

And to tell us why things have been uncharacteristically quiet these days in Fenway Park.

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The first month of the WNBA season has been full of compelling on-court storylines. The Connecticut Sun look ready to contend for a title. The defending champion Las Vegas Aces have struggled to find their footing with veteran Chelsea Gray injured. 

But all of that is getting crowded out by one big distraction –– a debate over whether or not the league is being fair to its megastar rookie, Cailtin Clark. Chennedy Carter’s hard foul on Clark last week is the match that lit the flame, but the firestorm had been brewing long before that. 

So today, Elle Duncan, host of ESPN’s women’s basketball coverage, is here to help understand how we got here, unpack what’s really going on in this conversation, and gauge if and when we can get back to actual basketball. 

Check out ‘The Elle Duncan Show’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. 

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