The Sports Report: Cody Bellinger draws Mike Trout comparisons

Hello everyone. My name is Houston Mitchell and let’s get right to the news.

Dodgers

Cody Bellinger has been amazing for the Dodgers this season. Before Wednesday night’s game with the Mets, he was hitting .382/.449/.770 with 20 home runs and 51 RBIs, good for an astounding OPS+ of 223, which means he is 123% better than the average NL hitter. He leads the majors in all of those categories except home runs, where he is second to Christan Yelich, who has 21. He had a key hit in the Dodgers’ thrilling 9-8 comeback win over the Mets on Wednesday.

“Honestly, I think this is the tip of the iceberg,” manager Dave Roberts said about Bellinger in this story by Andy McCullough.. “He’s a young player. He’s very athletic. There’s nothing on the field he can’t do.”

On Tuesday, Bellinger became the first Dodger since Gil Hodges in 1955 to hit 20 homers in the first 55 games of a season. (By the way, why isn’t Gil Hodges in the Hall of Fame?) Bellinger leads the sport in batting average (.382), on-base percentage (.469) and slugging percentage (.770).

Just listen to Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel, who spent many seasons with the Angels, and Mike Trout.

“He’s at the same level at how I saw Trout go about his business every day,” Ebel said. “Trouty’s prepared, same as Cody. Brings it on the field every day. Wants to be in the lineup every day. Plays the game hard every day.

“There’s a similarity there, where the talent level is really good: Elite speed, elite arm, the power is elite. The tools and the numbers are there. Trouty has, obviously, been doing this for a few more years.”

Clippers

The Clippers’ wish to build a basketball arena in Inglewood has caused some problems. As Nathan Fenno writes,

“The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office found that the Inglewood City Council violated state law in connection with a special meeting in June 2017 to approve an agreement with a Clippers-controlled company to explore building an arena in the city, but the D.A. declined to take any action.

“In a two-page letter sent to council members earlier this month and obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Deputy Dist. Atty. Bjorn Dodd wrote that the meeting agenda violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meetings law, by not providing a sufficient description of the matter to be discussed.

“Violations relating to the agenda description of an item of business could render the action by the city council null and void,” the letter said. “However, because the complaint was received after the time limits to remedy the violation, no action will be taken at this time.”

“The City Council approved the agreement with Murphy’s Bowl LLC a second time in July 2017 after complaints about the notice given for the first meeting. The agreement was approved a third time in August 2017 to narrow the possible area for the project and make clear eminent domain wouldn’t be used on an “occupied residence or church.”

“The lone agenda item for the first special meeting was vague, mentioning only a vote on an exclusive negotiating agreement between Inglewood, two city-run agencies and Murphy’s Bowl LLC. The company is controlled by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.

“Notably omitted from the agenda description was any information of the location and scope of the contemplated development project,” the letter said.

“It added: “The public does not bear the burden to inspect related documents to glean the essential nature of what the city council will consider.”

“Documents attached to the agenda item on Inglewood’s website didn’t mention the Clippers but detailed the plan to build a privately financed arena along West Century Boulevard on 22 acres of empty, city-owned land and some parcels controlled by private parties.

“The special meeting — with public notice time reduced from the customary 72 hours to 24 hours — resulted in a unanimous vote approving the three-year agreement.

“It should be noted that the deficiency of the agenda description appears to have been part of concerted efforts between representatives of the city and the Murphy’s Bowl LLC to limit the notice given to the public,” the letter said. “Furthermore, the generic name of Murphy’s Bowl LLC was used intentionally to obfuscate the identity of the proposed project and those associated with it. Although these tactics were not violations per se of the Brown Act, they indicated concerted efforts to act contrary to the spirit of the Brown Act. Although the evidence is not sufficient to prove that any member of the city council participated in these efforts to obfuscate, the city council bears the ultimate responsibility to comply with the Brown Act.”

Angels

Cesar Puello hasn’t played much in the majors since he was signed out of the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old in 2007. He has spent all but 18 games of his career in the minors. But that 18th game was special.

In the lineup because Mike Trout was recovering from fouling a ball off his foot, Puello made the most of his chance in the Angels’ 11-inning, 12-7 win over the Oakland Athletics. He went three for six and hit his first career home run in his first big league game since Oct. 1, 2017.

“I’m just thankful to God,” Puello said in Spanish. “I’m happy to have helped the team win.”

UCLA softball

Blake Richardson on the UCLA softball team, which is headed to the College World Series:

“After every game, coach Kelly Inouye-Perez gathers the UCLA softball team for the same conversation.

“Once the Bruins are huddled together, Inouye-Perez asks them: “What can we be better at?” The players take ownership of their mistakes, and then the conversation shifts.

“Tell me some of the little things that we did well,” Inouye-Perez says.

“One by one, the Bruins speak. They praise how a pitcher responded after giving up a hit, how the dugout’s energy fired up the offense, how the defense communicated, how batters delivered with two outs.

“The conversation reinforces a lesson Inouye-Perez got from John Wooden, UCLA’s legendary basketball coach.

“Focus on the process — not the outcome.

“It’s a difficult sport, ’cause we fail a lot,” Inouye-Perez says. “But I always remind them … your ability to respond to adversity will define you.”

“The approach has led the Bruins to a 51-6 record and a spot in the Women’s College World Series. No. 2 UCLA faces No. 7 Minnesota (46-12) today in its opener.

“The Bruins, co-champions of the Pac-12 Conference, haven’t lost consecutive games all season. Inouye-Perez says that is “100%” because of their mind-set.

“Inouye-Perez does not dwell on failures; she reminds the team that a loss can be a good thing if the Bruins learn from it.

“There is no failure until your season’s over,” Inouye-Perez says. “When your season is over … if you’re not the last team standing, then you came up short. But there is no failure in the process. It’s about the process.”

Stanley Cup Final

All times Pacific

at Boston 4, St. Louis 2

St. Louis 3, at Boston 2 (OT) (Read game story here)

Saturday, 5 p.m., Boston at St. Louis, NBCSN

Monday, 5 p.m., Boston at St. Louis, NBC

Thur., June 6, 5 p.m., St. Louis at Boston, NBC

*Sun., June 9, 5 p.m., Boston at St. Louis, NBC

*Wed. June 12, 5 p.m., St. Louis at Boston, NBC

*-if necessary

NBA Finals

All times Pacific

Tonight, Golden State at Toronto, 6 p.m., ABC

Sunday, Golden State at Toronto, 5 p.m., ABC

Wednesday, Toronto at Golden State, 6 p.m., ABC

Fri., June 7, Toronto at Golden State, 6 p.m., ABC

*Mon., June 10, Golden State at Toronto, 6 p.m., ABC

*Thur., June 13, Toronto at Golden State, 6 p.m., ABC

*Sun, June 16, Golden State at Toronto, 5 p.m., ABC

*-if necessary

Sports Podcast

Soccer writer Kevin Baxter joins the “Arrive Early, Leave Late” podcast at LAFC’s practice facility at Cal State Los Angeles to talk about the state of the sport in L.A. and beyond.

Topics of discussion include the upcoming Women’s World Cup, LAFC and the 3252 fans, the Galaxy, the Gold Cup and more. In addition, LAFC forward Christian Ramirez stops by for an interview and Baxter answers readers’ questions.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking here.

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Soccer newsletter, written by Kevin Baxter. Subscribe here.

Odds and ends

USC won’t renew the contract of baseball coach Dan Hubbs…. LeBron James’ sons leaving Crossroads for Sierra Canyon…. SoFi is in talks for naming rights to NFL stadium in Inglewood…. MLS and Liga MX are partnering for a new tournament called the Leagues Cup…. Galaxy win at Kansas City for first time since 2007…. For Warriors’ Draymond Green and Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, emotion is key in NBA Finals…. Andy Ruiz carries his Mexican heritage into the ring against Anthony Joshua…. Women’s lightweight champion will return to police job after title fight against Katie Taylor…. Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, the Fortnite guy, wants to be known as more than that

Today’s local major sports schedule

(All times Pacific)

New York Mets at Dodgers, 7 p.m., SportsNet LA, KTLA Ch. 5, AM 570

Angels at Seattle, 7 p.m., FSW, KLAA 830

Born on this date

1943: NFL player Gale Sayers

1949: Basketball coach P.J. Carlesimo

1955: Pro wrestler Jake “the Snake” Roberts

1972: Baseball player Manny Ramirez

1980: Soccer player Steven Gerrard

Died on this date

1975: Runner Steve Prefontaine, 24

2012: NBA player Jack Twyman, 78

And finally

Gale Sayers comes in at No. 22 in NFL Films’ list of the top 100 players in NFL history. Watch their video tribute here.

That concludes the newsletter for today. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, please email us here. If you want to subscribe, click here.