SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
I wait all week to say, and now it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: Baseball playoffs percolate. Rafa says he'll retire. And the WNBA finals scintillate. Michele Steele of ESPN joins us. Michele, thanks so much for being with us.
MICHELE STEELE: Good morning, Scott.
SIMON: The LA Dodgers, 2-zip over the San Diego Padres last night. They'll face the New York Mets in the NLCS.
STEELE: Yep.
SIMON: And of course, in the American League, this afternoon, the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians play Game 5. Excuse me - Cleveland rocks - the winner to face the Yankees. People are already beginning to talk about Subway Series.
STEELE: Oh, yeah. Maybe Eric Adams will throw out the first pitch.
SIMON: Oh. Oh, you've been saving that one. Yeah.
STEELE: Yeah. I worked on it all morning, Scott. But that's not likely. What is likely, at least 25% likely - I've done some back-of-the-envelope math already this morning - 25% chance that we get a Yankees-Mets World Series, and that hasn't happened in a while. Last time was 2000 - Mets fans, cover your ears.
SIMON: Yes.
STEELE: The Yankees beat the Mets in five games, your MVP back then was No. 2, Derek Jeter. But really the Mets-Dodgers here...
SIMON: Heard of him. Heard of him. Baseball exec now. Yeah.
STEELE: Yes, yes. I think it's just kismet that the Mets are facing the Dodgers this time, because the Mets had a players-only meeting early in the season in May to get the team back on track after being swept by - yes - the Dodgers. So now they meet again in the NLCS, so coming full circle for the Mets.
SIMON: I want to take a moment to remember Luis Tiant, great pitcher for Cleveland and the Boston Red Sox, who left us this week at the age of 83 - a great player, but a real ambassador for baseball, wasn't he?
STEELE: Absolutely. He was a fixture down at spring training in Fort Myers. And that's where I met him when I was covering the Grapefruit League about eight years ago, and you couldn't miss him. He still had the handlebar mustache. Now, it had gone white by that point, but he was in full Red Sox regalia, Scott. And he just had time for everybody. You know, he never made the hall of fame, but he was always a fan favorite. He pitched the Sox to the brink of a championship in '75. So remembering El Tiante today.
SIMON: Yeah. Great guy. Rafael Nadal - of course, maybe the greatest tennis player, male tennis player, of all time - announced his retirement this week. Boy. And it also closes the door on an era, doesn't it?
STEELE: Yeah, that door's closing. It's sad. He was one of the Big Three, right? With Federer and Djokovic. And now there's just one. Nadal says his last tournament is going to be the Davis Cup in November, at least the Spain portion of it in Malaga. And injuries have really, really characterized his last couple of seasons. So this isn't a shock. But it's sad, nonetheless, for tennis fans and for Nadal fans. He finishes with the second-most number of major titles behind Novak Djokovic.
SIMON: Wow.
STEELE: Yeah.
SIMON: WNBA finals - let me ask you. Minnesota Lynx made a remarkable comeback to beat the New York Liberty in Game 1. What do you foresee for the rest of this series?
STEELE: I like Minnesota in this one, Scott. You know, people were talking about the New York Liberty all season long after they lost in the championship series last year to the Aces. But after the Lynx made that ridiculous comeback - I think there was a less than 1% chance of them winning with just a few minutes to go in that Game 1 - I think that's the kind of game that can kind of damage the mindset of your opponent for the rest of the series. And, of course, the Liberty are the sharper team offensively, but you know what they say about defense and winning championships, and the Lynx are the best defensive team left. I think the Liberty are giving the Lynx everything they've got, but I don't know how you bet against Minnesota in this series.
SIMON: OK, Michele Steele of ESPN. Thanks so much for being with us, and before you leave us, Cleveland rocks. Thanks so much.
STEELE: They'll take that to heart tonight.
SIMON: Yeah, thanks so much, Michele. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
