A Baltimore paperboy sold newspapers on the cities and streetcars of Baltimore in 1914, likely for one or two cents each. Along the way, he collected baseball cards of Baltimore Orioles players included in that day’s paper.

He treasured them — particularly one of George Herman Ruth, a 19-year-old pitcher for the minor league Orioles — for years, eventually passing them on to his son. That Ruth card is now one of only a handful still around. And soon, it will be auctioned for the first time since it was issued 109 years ago.

It’s expected to fetch at least several million dollars and could potentially compete for the title of priciest baseball card ever, a record currently held by a Mickey Mantle rookie card sold for $12.6 million last year.

Archibald Davis, the paperboy who was 16 years old at the time, grew up to play semiprofessional baseball and later passed the cards down. Glenn Davis, Archibald’s grandson, remembered playing with them as he grew up in Towson in the 1950s and 1960s.

“Certainly, had we known how valuable they would become, we would have handled them with more care,” Glenn wrote in an email to The Baltimore Sun.

After a century of ownership, including many years in which the card was on loan at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore, the Davis family sold the cards to a private collector in 2021. That collector is now auctioning it off beginning Friday in what is expected to draw eye-popping bids as one of the most expensive cards ever sold.

First off, the 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth card is rare. Issued in both red and blue, there are only 10 known to exist in either color. For comparison, there are at least 50 examples of the T206 Honus Wagner card, one of the most iconic and valuable cards of all time.

Secondly, the card is the first collectible of Ruth as a baseball player, issued before he’d ever played a Major League Baseball game. At the time, he was playing for his hometown team and listed as a “pitcher,” the position he first played for the Boston Red Sox before becoming a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees, changing baseball and becoming one of the country’s first athlete celebrities.

Before the two-week, online-only auction begins, the card will be displayed in Baltimore once more: The Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum hosted a showing of the card Wednesday.

The card is the centerpiece of Robert Edward Auctions’ fall catalog. The auction house will start the bidding at $2.5 million, but it expects the card to fetch much more than that, likely becoming at least the second-most expensive card ever auctioned.

The Mantle rookie card, which was in mint condition and has the benefit of being auctioned just last year, is the only card to ever sell for more than $7.5 million. Brian Dwyer, the auction house’s president, thinks the Ruth card could reach or surpass $10 million because of its rarity and its unique provenance, having spent a century with one family. It could be many years, he projected, before another one of these 1914 cards is for sale.

“We believe that it has the potential to threaten the all-time record,” Dwyer told The Sun.

The Ruth card is not in mint condition, but Ruth’s esteemed place in sports history could make it tantalizing for wealthy sports collectors, a hobby that has skyrocketed in popularity — and in dollars spent — in recent years.

Before the past few years, a card being sold for millions was rare. Now, it’s becoming more commonplace.

“This is definitely rarefied air,” Dwyer said. “But if you look at all of the examples of cards that have commanded six, seven, 12 million dollars, none of them, in our opinion, has the significance of this Babe Ruth rookie card.”

The simple card features just Ruth’s last name on the front. When the card was issued, he was in the midst of acquiring his nickname, “Babe,” for his youthfulness.

On the back, it advertises the 1914 Orioles’ schedule against other International League teams — such as the Buffalo Bison, the Jersey City Skeeters and the Montreal Royals (the team Jackie Robinson would integrate decades later before breaking MLB’s color barrier).

The 2 5/8 inch-by-3 5/8 inch red card has spent much of the past quarter century on display at the museum near Camden Yards, first lent there by the Davis family in the 1990s. The Davis family decided to sell the card in 2021 and — despite an estranged relative challenging the family’s ownership, Glenn Davis said — moved forward with a sale.

The new owner, whose identity the auction house is keeping anonymous, agreed to keep the card on display at the museum until earlier this year.

The card is now in the care of Robert Edward Auctions in a secure, undisclosed location — “It is heavily fortified, we’ll put it that way,” Dwyer said — and will be until Dec. 3, when the auction ends and a new buyer will own the century-old keepsake. In addition to the Ruth card, the other 14 cards collected by Archibald Davis in 1914 will be auctioned in separate lots.

The museum has had one of the few other examples of the card, a blue one, on display since July (thanks to a loan from a different collector) and on Wednesday, the one up for auction, a red one, will accompany it at the museum.

“We’re going to bring the Babe back to Baltimore and give collectors the opportunity to see both the red and the blue example together,” Dwyer said, “so two of the 10 known will be together for a two-hour period.”

Katie Dick, the museum’s director of external affairs called it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

The card must remain behind layers of high-security glass, secured with motion detectors. When traveling, the multimillion-dollar card — the same one Glenn Davis casually played with as a boy in Towson — has its own cadre of professional guards.

“This card has to have its own security detail,” Dwyer said. “This card has to travel with armed security. If you think about any movie you’ve seen where there’s armored cars and armored guards, this is worthy of that type of protection.”

People interested in seeing the card can do so by paying the normal admissions fee ($13 for adults, $11 for seniors/veterans, $7 for kids) to the museum. Also on display now is an exhibit featuring the late Brooks Robinson, which has one of his gloves, one of the first examples of a batting helmet, worn by him, plus his first contract with the Orioles from 1955.

Wednesday could be one of the card’s last public appearances for some time. But whichever deep-pocketed individual is able to next lay claim to the card, Glenn Davis hopes they’ll consider making the card accessible to others, as his family did.

“We hope that the future owner will consider having them available for public display,” he wrote. “They are beautiful and amazing historical sports artifacts. Something to be treasured by those who love the sport of baseball.”

©2023 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

When the Spartans play San Diego State Saturday night at Spartan Stadium, they will be honoring seniors who were part one of Brennan’s first recruiting classes and pivotal to this season’s turnaround.

“It’s an emotional day for the guys who actually are realizing it’s their last game at (Spartan) stadium,” Brennan said. “The guys we’re talking about are really special guys that have been very impactful on and off the field. I hope there’s just a lot of people here to celebrate the seniors that are playing their last game.”

Among the 17 seniors are running back Kairee Robinson, quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, offensive lineman Jaime Navarro and Anthony Pardue, twin defensive backs Tre and Andrew Jenkins, safety Chase Williams and defensive lineman Noah Lavulo.

Many of the seniors have been with Brennan since they were freshman in 2018, a class that has defined Brennan’s tenure at SJSU.

That class included Robinson, Navarro, Pardue and the Jenkins twins. They all were essential pieces to the team that won the Mountain West championship in 2020 and helped SJSU earn a bowl game appearance in 2022.

The countdown to the last home game of their college careers has been in the minds of Tre and Andrew Jenkins since the season started..

“We kind of knew that going into the season that for all the seniors, we know it’s our last season,” Andrew said. “So we already had those conversations with our best friends, me and Tre have been having those tough conversations to know that we got to enjoy these moments.”

After starting the season 1-5, the Spartans have won four straight to move into a three-way tie for third place in the Mountain West.

SJSU (5-5, 4-2 MW) trails Air Force and UNLV (both 5-1 in conference) with two regular season games remaining, so a few things need to break their way, but there suddenly is a path for the team to get back to the conference championship game for the second time in four years..

The Spartans have leaned on their senior playmakers to get them to this point. Robinson, Andrew Jenkins, Navarro and Lavulo are all having career years.

Robinson has rushed for 919 yards and 15 touchdowns. He recently broke the SJSU record for consecutive games with a rushing touchdown held by Tyler Ervin in 2015, and is tied for the single-season rushing touchdown record with Johnny Johnson (1988) and Deonce Whitaker (2000).

Lavulo has been a standout on the defensive line, totaling 35 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks — all career highs.

“I think playing better football right now is a collective effort and everybody is all in on it,” Brennan said. “That’s why it’s really fun to be a part of it and to just see how hard the players are working and how much they care.”

Robinson says the only thing that has mattered this season is getting to the conference title game.

“I haven’t tried to think about it too much,” Robinson said of his record-breaking personal accomplishments. “I’m just focused on getting an opportunity to make it to the conference championship and focusing on this year and this moment.”

Seats are already filling up at Spartan Stadium in anticipation for senior day. The Jenkins twins reserved 30 seats and are looking for more. Robinson said there will be a whole section reserved for all of his relatives.

“It’s going to be a big crew for sure,” Robinson said. “All from Antioch.”

As emotional as Saturday’s game will be, the end might not be so near for SJSU’s seniors. There will still be one more regular season game and the potential for the Mountain West championship game and a bowl game still out there.

“I still think their legacy is still being written,” Brennan said. “We still have a lot of football to play. Maybe ask me that question. In two weeks.”

Elsewhere, teams will play semifinals in hopes of reaching next week’s section championship games.

The biggest of the games Friday are De La Salle against San Ramon Valley for the North Coast Section Open Division title at Dublin High and Serra facing Wilcox for the Central Coast Section Open Division championship at San Jose City College.

But there should be plenty more drama throughout the Bay Area.

Los Gatos at St. Ignatius in the CCS and California at Pittsburg in the NCS fall into the must-see column, as does Cardinal Newman at Las Lomas and Christopher at Menlo School, the latter four a combined 44-4 on the season.

The Bay Area News Group will have complete coverage throughout. If you have not already, please sign up for a digital subscription. Your contributions keep us going.

Here are this weekend’s top matchups and schedule:

NCS Open/Division I

Open championship game

No. 2 San Ramon Valley (10-1) vs. No. 1 De La Salle (9-2) at Dublin HS, Friday, 7 p.m.: The first game this season between these schools was an all-time classic, won by De La Salle 33-27 in overtime on a walk-off touchdown run by Derrick Blanche. Both teams have not lost since then but San Ramon Valley almost did last week. The Wolves survived in overtime against Campolindo 38-31, but only after the seventh-seeded Cougars erased a 21-0 deficit in the first quarter to take a seven-point lead in the fourth. De La Salle has won 30 consecutive NCS championships and 39 overall. The Spartans have not lost to an NCS opponent in 32 years, improving their record over that span to 269-0-1 with an opening-round victory last week over James Logan. SRV was bumped up to the NCS’s top division this season after winning the section’s Division II championship last year. SRV QB Luke Baker passed for 204 yards and three TDs last month against DLS but was most effective scrambling out of the pocket. Despite being sacked five times, he ran for 179 yards. As he did last week, RB Matthew Garibaldi could take some of the workload from Baker. The junior had a big game rushing and receiving in the win over Campo. The winner Friday advances to a NorCal regional. The runner-up will play California or Pittsburg for the NCS’s D-I title and a second regional berth next week. – Darren Sabedra

Division I semifinal

No. 4 California (7-4) at No. 3 Pittsburg (11-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: The winner will play the De La Salle-San Ramon Valley runner-up for the NCS’s Division I title next week. PIttsburg rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit in its 38-35 regular season victory over California. The Pirates defeated Amador Valley 41-14 in the first round of the playoffs last week as junior quarterback Marley Alcantara threw 44- and 85-yard touchdown passes to Makari Kenion in the second half to pull away from the Pleasanton school. The Pirates defense, led by junior safety Jadyn Hudson and pass rusher Jewelous Walls, has not allowed more than 20 points in any of its last six games. California showed in the first game against Pittsburg that it could score against the Pirates. Quarterback Jayden Macedo and receivers Nick Fox and Chase McGill are capable of putting up points in a hurry. California rallied from a 17-3 deficit in the second quarter against Clayton Valley Charter in the first round. CalPreps.com’s computer predicts Pittsburg to win 34-21. – Joseph Dycus

CCS Open/Division I

Open championship game

No. 7 Wilcox (8-3) vs. No. 1 Serra (11-0) at San Jose City College, Friday, 7 p.m.: Serra is the section’s most dominant team, maybe its most dominant team of all time. The Padres have won all but two games this season by no fewer than 28 points and have outscored opponents 456-91. They beat Folsom and De La Salle to open the year and powered through the West Catholic Athletic League with only one somewhat close call, a 24-13 victory at Valley Christian on Oct. 27. The Padres are aggressive and well-coached on defense – with seniors such as Jabari Mann, Joseph Bey and Danny Niu leading the way – and explosive on offense behind the likes of Oklahoma State-bound quarterback Maealiuaki Smith. Serra has won 10 consecutive CCS playoff games, including a 27-14 victory over Wilcox in 2019. Wilcox reached the Open final by stunning second-seeded St. Francis 52-28 last week. The victory bought the Chargers at least two more games because of the CCS’s new playoff format. The Open Division runner-up now plays for the section’s D-I title the following week. For Wilcox to have any shot to keep the score close against Serra, its veer option will have to be flawless both in yards and time consumption. Last week, Elijah Walker ran for four TDs and scored on a kickoff return. Calpreps.com’s computer says Serra wins 42-12. – Darren Sabedra

Division I semifinal

No. 4 Los Gatos (9-2) at No. 3 St. Ignatius (8-4), Friday, 7 p.m.: Los Gatos “broke the curse” and defeated West Catholic Athletic League opponent in the first round of the playoffs last week with its 28-14 victory over Archbishop Riordan. That was a role reversal from the past two years when the storied South Bay public school lost to Bellarmine and Archbishop Mitty in dramatic finishes. Senior quarterback A.J Minyard, running back Boxer Kopcsak-Yeung and linebacker Henry Masters keyed a 14-0 second half that helped Los Gatos pull away from Riordan. Los Gatos will aim to do it again when it travels to San Francisco to face another WCAL school, St. Ignatius. SI edged out Valley Christian to advance past the first round. Soren Hummel threw a five-yard touchdown pass back over the middle to Monroe Barnum with 7.8 seconds for the winner. Like Los Gatos, St. Ignatius also has an effective running game, keyed by offensive lineman John Mills and running back Jarious Hogan. The winner will advance to play the Serra-Wilcox runner-up for the CCS’s Division I championship next week. CalPreps.com’s computer predicts Los Gatos will win 27-17 in the programs’ first matchup since 2006. – Joseph Dycus

CCS Division II

Semifinals

No. 8 Christopher (10-1) at No. 5 Menlo School (10-1), Saturday, 1 p.m.: Three of the top four seeds in this division are out. Among them were the two teams with the worst records in the eight-team bracket. Menlo sacked unbeaten No. 4 seed Live Oak and Christopher surprised top seed Archbishop Mitty 32-28, rallying from a 28-19 deficit with two touchdowns in the game’s final five minutes. Menlo’s 30-28 triumph over Live Oak was just as dramatic. Andres Gonzalez Combera kicked a 21-yard field goal with three seconds left. Christopher comes into Saturday’s contest against the Knights as the slight favorite, according to the calpreps.com computer. The Cougars do have an edge in marquee talent with explosive receiver Amari Bluford, who began Christopher’s comeback against Mitty with a 95-yard kickoff return. RB William Rizqallah then scored the winning touchdown with 42 seconds to go on a 7-yard run. Bluford and Rizqallah are attracting some college attention, as is MLB Evan Vernon, who has 117 tackles. Junior QB Jaxen Robinson is flying under the radar, but he goes 6-5, 220, and has thrown for 1,871 yards and 20 TDs. Menlo is led by dual-purpose QB Mikey McGrath, who has passed for 1,563 yards and rushed for 641 more. He has accounted for 27 touchdowns. Sophomore Jack Freehill also sees his share of playing time. He has thrown for 790 yards. Both teams slightly favor the pass over the run. Menlo has a trio of solid receivers in Brady Jung, Harry Housser and Nicholas Scacco. Jung is the favorite target with 48 catches for 861 yards. College scouting services are checking him out. David Mhatre, with seven sacks, will need to be kept in check by the Christopher offensive line. – Mike Lefkow  

NCS Division III

Semifinals

No. 3 Cardinal Newman (10-1) at No. 2 Las Lomas (10-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: If Las Lomas coach Doug Longero had been asked in September if his team would be playing Friday night, it’s likely his answer would have been no. The Knights are a young team, with a roster that numbers less than 10 seniors. But the schedule provided time for the Knights to develop. Their first two games were at home. They had to play a non-league contest against eventual Diablo Athletic League Valley champion Alhambra, but the Knights, who are in the DAL Foothill, led 28-7 in the second quarter. The toughest part of the season didn’t occur until back-to-back games against Campolindo and Acalanes last month. The Knights split, with Acalanes handing them their only defeat. Another key for Las Lomas was going 4-0 in games decided by a touchdown or less. Sophomore QB Dylan Thomas has been a big part of Las Lomas’ growth with 1,802 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. Junior WR Roman Mercado has 55 catches for 975 yards and 11 TDs. He also has four interceptions. One senior making a huge contribution is Sava Pourides. He has run for 712 yards and nine scores and also leads the defense with 79 tackles. The Knights struggled past Ukiah 17-7 in the first round of the playoffs while Cardinal Newman walloped American Canyon 49-14. Lately, 5-8 junior Wyatt Knechtle appears to be getting more and more time at quarterback. The key to the offense is 6-4, 200-pound RB Zachary Homan, who has 1,959 yards and 32 touchdowns. He has gone over 100 yards in nine games, including 273 against American Canyon. Cardinal Newman is physical up front, where DE Jesse Myers and NG Kahlio Vaetoe have combined for 15 sacks. – Mike Lefkow  

CCS Division IV

Semifinals

No. 5 Leigh (8-3) at No. 1 Palo Alto (6-5), Friday, 7 p.m.: Palo Alto is seeking its second consecutive appearance in a CCS championship game after routing Seaside 55-21 in the opening round last week. The Vikings won the Division V title last season. Leigh advanced to the semifinals with a 21-20 victory on the road over North Salinas. The Longhorns have not reached a CCS final since 2000. Palo Alto has heated up offensively since a midseason drought in which the Vikings were held scoreless in three consecutive games by Los Gatos, Menlo-Atherton and Menlo School. They have averaged 43.7 points in the past three weeks, all victories. Jeremiah Madrigal ran for four touchdowns and Jason Auzenne added two against Seaside. Leigh qualified for the playoffs in its final regular season game with a win over Westmont. In last week’s victory over North Salinas, Charlie Lyon passed for two TDs and Shayan Shariat ran for one to lead the Longhorns. Leigh and Palo Alto have met just once in the MaxPreps era (2004-present). Palo Alto won 48-0. Calpreps.com’s computer projects it to be much closer this time. It says Palo Alto wins 21-14. – Darren Sabedra

No. 3 Branham (9-2) at No. 2 Mountain View (5-6), Friday, 7 p.m.: The first team to 40 points could win this game featuring two potent offenses. Branham defeated Mountain View 66-45 in a CCS Division IV semifinal last year. Last week, Branham routed Greenfield 41-14 behind another big game from quarterback Jack Lewis. He has thrown for 31 touchdowns and run for another 10 this season. Running back Elias Antillon rushed for a 53-yard touchdown against Greenfield and is also a capable receiver. Branham might need defensive lineman Francis Mone to dominate the line of scrimmage for a second week in a row to beat Mountain View. Arturo Hernandez, a powerful senior running back, rushed for 174 yards and a touchdown in Mountain View’s 49-21 rout against Burlingame last week. Receiver Lex Silver is also a threat. He caught three passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns last week. The winner will play Palo Alto or Leigh for the championship next week. CalPreps has Mountain View winning Friday, 38-35. – Joseph Dycus

NCS Division V

Semifinals

No. 4 Alhambra (8-3) at No. 1 Miramonte (7-3), Friday, 7 p.m.: Alhambra won the DAL Valley with a 4-0 record, outscoring its opponents by an average of 42 points. Miramonte finished fourth in the DAL Foothill, losing by an average of 34 points in its three defeats. So how will this semifinal matchup shake out on Friday night? The calpreps.com computer is picking Miramonte by 13 points. What this game could come down to is how the favored Matadors handle Alhambra QB Beau Blau. The 6-0, 165-pound senior has passed for 1,760 yards, run for 1,237 more and accounted for 42 touchdowns. Contain him, and Miramonte can begin planning ahead for next week. But if Blau is allowed to run free, anything can happen. Bulldogs coach Alan Hern said Blau is beginning to get some attention from the junior colleges and lower division four-year schools. Blau does get some help. Receiver Luke Beatty has 36 catches for 771 yards and 13 touchdowns. Miramonte also has a dual-threat QB in sophomore Carson Blair. He has 1,247 passing yards and has run for 364 yards. His three top receivers won’t be easy for Alhambra to contain. Finn McManus, Jack Quinnild and Andrew Bjornson. all stand at least 6-2, and have caught at least 22 passes for well over 300 yards apiece. Only McManus graduates. Miramonte has won seven in a row and 11 of the last 12 against the Bulldogs dating back to 2010. None of those games were decided by less than two touchdowns. – Mike Lefkow 

Schedule

Central Coast Section

Open/Division I

Open championship game

No. 7 Wilcox (8-3) vs. No. 1 Serra (11-0) at San Jose City College, Friday, 7 p.m.

Division I semifinal

No. 4 Los Gatos (9-2) at No. 3 St. Ignatius (7-4), Friday, 7 p.m.

Note: The first-round winners in the top half of the bracket will play for the Open Division championship in Week 2 of the playoffs. The loser of the Open Division championship will play the winner of the bottom half of the bracket for the Division I championship in Week 3 of the playoffs.

Division II

Semifinals

No. 6 Monterey (8-3) at No. 2 Soquel (9-2), Friday, 7 p.m.

No. 8 Christopher (10-1) at No. 5 Menlo (10-1), Saturday, 1 p.m.

Division III

Semifinals

No. 7 Alisal (10-1) at No. 6 Scotts Valley (10-1), Saturday, time TBA

No. 4 Palma (4-7) at No. 1 Menlo-Atherton (5-6), Friday, 7 p.m.

Division IV

Semifinals

No. 3 Branham (9-2) at No. 2 Mountain View (5-6), Friday, 7 p.m.

No. 5 Leigh (8-3) at No. 1 Palo Alto (6-5), Friday, 7 p.m.

Division V

Semifinals

No. 7 Leland (4-7) at No. 3 South San Francisco (10-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

No. 4 Santa Teresa (5-6) at No. 1 Woodside (7-4), Friday, 7 p.m.

North Coast Section

Open/Division I

Open championship game

No. 2 San Ramon Valley (10-1) vs. No. 1 De La Salle (9-2) at Dublin HS, Friday, 7 p.m.

Division I semifinal

No. 5 California (7-4) at No. 3 Pittsburg (11-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

Note: The first-round winners in the top half of the bracket will play for the Open Division championship in Week 2 of the playoffs. The loser of the Open Division championship will play the winner of the bottom half of the bracket for the Division I championship in Week 3 of the playoffs.

Division II

Semifinals 

No. 5 Heritage (5-6) at No. 1 El Cerrito (9-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

No. 6 Rancho Cotate (7-4) at No. 2 Windsor (8-1-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

Division III

Semifinals

No. 5 Tamalpais (8-3) at Marin Catholic (10-1), Saturday, 1 p.m.

No. 3 Cardinal Newman (10-1) at No. 2 Las Lomas (10-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

Division IV

Semifinals

No. 4 Maria Carrillo (6-5) at No. 1 San Marin (11-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

No. 3 Vallejo (8-3) at No. 2 Acalanes (7-4), Friday, 7 p.m.

Division V

Semifinals

No. 4 Alhambra (8-3) at No. 1 Miramonte (7-3), Friday, 7 p.m.

No. 3 Analy (7-4) at No. 2 St. Bernard’s (8-3), Saturday, 1 p.m.

Division VI

Semifinals

No. 4 Fortuna (8-3) at No. 1 St. Vincent de Paul (9-2), Saturday, 1 p.m.

No. 3 Salesian (9-2) at No. 2 Moreau Catholic (6-5), Friday, 7 p.m.

Division VII

Semifinals

No. 5 Ferndale (7-4) at No. 1 Clear Lake (9-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

No. 3 Kelseyville (8-3) at No. 2 Willits (8-3), Friday, 7 p.m.

Oakland Section

Semifinal

Oakland Tech (5-5) at Castlemont (6-4), Friday, 7 p.m.

“It’s gonna be a little strange,” Taylor said. “I think once the game gets going, it’ll feel pretty normal to go into a kind of competition mode, but yeah, it’ll be a different experience for sure.”

Taylor was Cal’s quarterback from 1986-89 and started two Big Games, which resulted in a tie in 1988 and a loss in 1989. He graduated as the program’s all-time leading passer with 8,126 yards.

He soon turned to coaching, and had stints coaching receivers, quarterbacks and tight ends at Cal from 1996-99, even serving as the team’s recruiting coordinator in 1999. When he stepped away from coaching, he worked as an analyst on Cal radio broadcasts from 2005-11.

“Just being a part of Cal for so long and having such a love for the university and what it’s given me, I’ll always have a lot of gratitude for the university, the program there, and I always will love Cal,” Taylor said. “Now being on the other side of it, this is my family – the Stanford Cardinal – and excited to be able to go into a battle.”

Taylor’s playing career featured two of the most memorable games in the rivalry, which has been played 125 times on the football field. As a freshman, Taylor was sidelined with a broken jaw when 1-9 Cal upset 16th-ranked Stanford in the final game for coach Joe Kapp, who knew he was being fired after the season. Taylor’s junior year, when he made his first start against the Cardinal, Stanford’s Tuan Van Le blocked a 20-yard field goal at the end to preserve a 19-19 tie – the last tie in Big Game history.

“I remember neither team really knew what to do,” Taylor said about the tie. “Because typically, your memories of The Big Game my freshman year is Joe Kapp being carried off the field, it was a huge upset and everybody’s on the field and you celebrate and you run around with the Axe and it’s just great energy. And if you lose the game you saunter off, and you’re not really that excited. So once we all realized it was a tie and there was going to be no celebration for either team, we just kind of walked off and left. It was very strange.”

But Taylor had another strong memory from the tie game, and it wasn’t something that happened between the lines. He remembered looking at the south endzone and seeing a scuffle between the mascots, Oski the Bear and the Stanford Tree.

“It was a legitimate fight,” Taylor said. “They were trying to hurt each other. It was in between series and I remember Oski trying to tear the Tree apart and I remember Oski pointed his finger – one of those four fingers he has – at the Tree, like ‘This isn’t over,’ you know? I’m like, this is bizarre. I was living in a cartoon world or something.”

And now Taylor will experience the rivalry from the other sideline.

“Obviously every game is really important, but there’s a different energy around the Bay Area, and people are a little bit more interested in this game,” Taylor said. “There’s no other rivalry like Cal-Stanford where I think the universities have so much respect for each other and what they stand for, and being obviously so close in proximity, and we’ve had wild games that have taken place here. People on the national stage still remember The Play. So it’s exciting to be a part of it.”

All 30 owners of Major League Baseball voted Thursday morning in favor of approving the Oakland A’s relocation to Las Vegas.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is scheduled to meet with reporters later this morning after the vote’s completion at the owners’ meetings in Arlington, Texas.

The owners’ approval — it required 23 votes to pass — was the final step for A’s owner John Fisher as he looks to move his club 550 miles southeast, leaving the Bay Area behind after the team’s nearly-60-year run in Oakland.

If completed, it will mark the second relocation for an MLB team in the last 52 years, and the first since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C. to become the Nationals in 2005.

Las Vegas would become the fourth home for the A’s since the franchise began playing in Philadelphia in 1901. The A’s moved to Kansas City in 1955, then to Oakland to begin play in 1968. No other MLB franchise has had four different cities to call home.

“We are disappointed by the outcome of this vote,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said in a statement. “But we do not see this as the end of the road. We all know there’s a long way to go before shovels in the ground and that there are a number of unresolved issues surrounding this move.

“I have also made it clear to the commissioner that the A’s branding and name should stay in Oakland and we will continue to work to pursue expansion opportunities. Baseball has a home in Oakland even if the A’s ownership relocates.”

It remains undetermined when the A’s will leave Oakland, however.

The A’s proposed ballpark in Las Vegas wouldn’t open until 2028. The club secured $380 million in public funding from the Nevada legislature in June, and it is believed the A’s were finally able to provide their own private financing plan to reach the estimated $1.5 billion cost for a new retractable-roof stadium. But the A’s have not yet explained where they will play until the stadium is ready.

Club president Dave Kaval has publicly stated that the three most likely options would be to extend their lease in the Coliseum, share Oracle Park with the San Francisco Giants or borrow the A’s Triple-A stadium in Vegas, where the 10,000-seat ballpark would require renovations before it could earn the approval of the MLB Players Association.

If the A’s complete the move, it will put an end to the club’s years-long effort to get a new stadium built in the Bay Area.

It was back in 2001 that city officials began publicly discussing efforts for a new ballpark for the A’s. Over the next decade, ideas were tossed around about new ballparks in Oakland, Fremont and San Jose, but none came to fruition. When the A’s turned their attention inwards and thought about rebuilding on the Coliseum site, those efforts failed, too. They missed again when trying to build on land owned by Laney College.

Then there was the Howard Terminal project, a $12-billion plan to build a ballpark as well as both commercial and residential real estate on the waterfront.

Renderings were released and last September, an 82-page preliminary document plan was shared between the A’s and the city, according to the document released by Thao this summer.

Thao has said that the city raised more money than the A’s asked for to help fund the new stadium and off-site infrastructure. It didn’t matter. In April, the A’s announced that they were done negotiating with Oakland and had agreed on a deal to move the team to Las Vegas.

Kaval later explained to The Nevada Independent that the A’s didn’t think the Howard Terminal project would be complete for another 15 years. Thao responded by saying a stadium could’ve been fast-tracked with construction beginning in 18 months, while “a whole grand scheme” could’ve begun construction in two years.

The disconnection was crystal clear in July, when Thao flew to Seattle to have a secret meeting with Manfred, hoping she could convince him that the city did its part to get a stadium deal done. But over and over, Manfred and the other owners have contended that Oakland hasn’t been a realistic possibility.

Without a lease extension, the A’s will have one more season in 2024 to finish their relationship with the Coliseum, their home since 1968.

Thao has said she won’t extend the agreement without some guarantee from MLB that Oakland would receive an expansion franchise. It’s not unusual for a city to get a replacement team after losing its original club to relocation. MLB is hoping to add two expansion teams as soon as the A’s and the Tampa Bay Rays get new stadiums.

Manfred has not yet made any public remarks about the viability of Oakland as an expansion site.

An ownership group led by former A’s pitcher Dave Stewart is seen as a favorite to land an expansion team in Nashville, while Portland, Salt Lake City, Charlotte and Montreal are other cities said to be in contention.

There is no known ownership group trying to lead expansion efforts in Oakland, but Warriors owner Joe Lacob told the San Francisco Chronicle last year that he has had a standing offer to buy the A’s for a decade. Fisher has shown no desire to sell the team.

Stewart thinks time is running out if Oakland is going to be a viable expansion city.

“Expansion is moving,” he told the Bay Area News Group in September. “It’s not going to wait for a group out of Oakland to show themselves in 2025. It’s my belief by 2025, expansion will be down the road and Oakland will have missed out.”

For A’s fans hoping the team is forced to rethink its departure, the only hope remaining should rest in the hands of a Nevada teachers’ union.

“Schools over Stadiums,” a political arm of the teachers’ union, is pursuing two separate paths to restrict public funding from reaching the A’s. Tuesday, the union announced it was pursuing litigation against the Nevada legislature. The teachers argue that any bill increasing taxes must be passed with a two-thirds supermajority vote, but this bill did not reach that threshold. The teachers believe the bill is unconstitutional.

The union is also pursuing a petition that could create a referendum on the ballot next November, giving taxpayers a say in whether or not they’d like to fund Fisher’s stadium. If the teachers can find a way to stop the funding, it could delay the move to Las Vegas long enough to put the A’s in a bind.

A long shot, it might be. But at this point, it’s all that’s left for local baseball fans who aren’t ready to say goodbye.

The 49ers are at their best as front-runners. Get a lead, then dictate the pace while gradually squeezing the life out of their opponent like a boa constrictor. They’ve been that way for a few years now, but have taken it to an extreme with a 6-3 record in 2023.

When the 49ers forced a three-and-out on defense on the first series, then drove 57 yards in four plays culminated by an ill-advised but ultimately successful 13-yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy to Brandon Aiyuk, it was their sixth opening-possession touchdown in nine games.

Throw in a first-drive field goal against the New York Giants, and the 49ers have scored 45 points on their first drive while giving up just 13. In their three-game losing streak, the 49ers had a first-drive touchdown against Cleveland but ended up losing 19-17, lost a fumble by Christian McCaffrey on their first possession against Minnesota and went three-and-out while Cincinnati scored a touchdown in a 31-17 loss preceding the bye.

To 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, possessions are like his children — he doesn’t value one above the other.

“Anytime you don’t score on a drive, you’re always feeling real frustrated,” Shanahan said. “You want to start out great and do it on the first as much as possible, but I’ve never sat there and made a big emphasis to our team about that being more important than any other one.”

In first drives over nine games, Purdy is 26 of 31 for 295 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Three of those five incompletions came in succession against the Giants in Week 3, a drive when they settled for a field goal the first time they had the ball.

When informed Wednesday he had just two incompletions on opening drives other than against the Giants and a 145.9 paser rating (158.3 is perfect), Purdy paused for a moment in front of his locker.

“Wow. That’s crazy,” Purdy said. “I didn’t know that. We just go out and execute the plays. I had no idea.”

McCaffrey, who has 26 carries for 161 yards and two touchdowns on opening drives to go along with five receptions for 51 yards and another score, takes a snap-by-snap approach.

“Obviously Kyle’s really good at calling plays,” McCaffrey said. “Has been for a long time. For us, each play has a life of its own. That’s the way I look at it. You can’t really predict a whole lot in this league and you’ve just got to trust the play-caller — who’s really good at what he does. You can’t mess up.”

The 49ers served notice in Week 1 they were to be reckoned with at the outset, following up a defensive three-and-out against Pittsburgh with a 54-yard touchdown drive with Purdy hitting Aiyuk from eight yards out.

Their two other most convincing wins of the season, 40-12 against Dallas and a 34-3 win over Jacksonville, began with opening-drive touchdowns and a defensive stop.

Opponents are aware what they’re in for if the 49ers get rolling early.

“We did all the stuff we talked about not doing during the week,” Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence said postgame Sunday. “We start with a three-and-out, gave them momentum, and they went and scored. That’s just not how you want to start a game against a team like this. They’re really good, especially playing with a lead.”

The six opening-drive touchdowns match last year’s total over 20 games including the playoffs. Including field goals, the 49ers outscored teams 53-48 last season after each team had a possession. They had five touchdowns and a 41-30 margin in 2021 in 19 games, with the high-water mark under Shanahan being seven touchdowns and a 64-34 margin in 2019 when they advanced to the Super Bowl.

So being at six opening touchdowns and a field goal in seven games with a 32-point margin is pretty heady stuff.

“Obviously you want to set the tone for the game, but at the same time, it’s usually plays we’ve run in practice and we know those plays a little better than ones we hadn’t run multiple times,” center Jake Brendel said.

Without knowing first-hand, Brendel suggested negative runs, sacks and penalties were virtually non-existent on the first possession.

“We probably never went backwards, and that just comes down to being dialed in, knowing the snap count and having the operation at 100 percent,” Brendel said.

Sure enough, the 49ers haven’t had a penalty on offense in any of their first drives and just one 4-yard sack of Purdy in Week 3 when they settled for a field goal.

Defensively, the 49ers have opened with three-and-outs four times, had two interceptions, given up two field goals and the lone touchdown against Cincinnati.

While linebacker Fred Warner is all for getting off to a good start, he stressed the 49ers need to win in other ways as well.

“I’m sure it’s something other teams talk about because they know if we get going hot from the start that it’s going to be hard to stop us once we get rolling,” Warner said. “I want to see who we are when we don’t get the stop on the first drive. It’s all about finding a way to win. We’ve got to make sure we’re on it,not only from the start, but especially the finish.”

49ers’ first possession on offense (scored 45 points)

Week 1 at Pittsburgh: Aiyuk 8-yard pass from Purdy (Moody kick), 54 yards, seven plays

Week 2 at L.A. Rams: McCaffrey 14-yard run (Moody kick), 75 yards, 11 plays

Week 3 vs. N.Y. Giants: Moody 28-yard FG, 64 yards, 15 plays

Week 4 vs. Arizona: McCaffery 1 run (Moody kick), 62 yards, eight plays

Week 5 vs. Dallas: Kittle 19-yard pass from Purdy (Moody kick), 75 yards, seven plays

Week 6: at Cleveland: McCaffrey 13-yard pass from Purdy (Moody kick), 84 yards, five plays

Week 7 at Minnesota: Lost fumble at Vikings 12-yard line

Week 8 vs. Cincinnati: Three-and-out

Week 10 at Jacksonville: Aiyuk 13-yard pass from Purdy (Moody kick)

49ers’ first series on defense (allowed 13 points)

Week 1 at Pittsburgh: Three-and-out

Week 2 at L.A. Rams: Maher 43-yard FG, 50 yards, 11 plays

Week 3 vs. N.Y. Giants: Gano 44-yard FG, 49 yards, 12 plays

Week 4 vs. Arizona: Three-and-out

Week 5 vs. Dallas: Three-and-out

Week 6 at Cleveland: Interception, Warner

Week 7 at Minnesota: Interception, Ward

Week 8 vs. Cincinnati: Boyd 7-yard pass from Burrow (McPherson kick), 85 yards, 11 plays

Week 10 at Jacksonville: Three-and-out

Chris Allen: San Jose CC, No. 14, 170 yards, 6-hybrid

Matt Arba: Deep Cliff GC, No. 3, 114 yards, 8-iron

Bill Ayres: San Jose CC, No. 7, 116 yards, sand wedge

Tami DeFiore: Deep Cliff GC, No. 8, 79 yards, 9-iron

Peggy Heath: Deep Cliff GC, No. 8, 79 yards, pitching wedge

Gary Hubbard: Spring Valley GC, No. 7, 160 yards, (club not reported)

Donna Lee: Deep Cliff GC, No. 8, 79 yards, 9-iron

Kohl G. Phillip: Deep Cliff GC, No. 10, 131 yards, 8-iron

Justin Polk: San Jose CC, No. 7, 156 yards, 9-iron

Ernesto Vallin: Deep Cliff GC, No. 10, 140 yards, 8-iron

Green will miss the Warriors’ next two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder, then games against the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs. He should return for an in-season tournament game against the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 28.

The NBA’s punishment is in line with what the league established as something of a repeat-offender rule for Green during the playoffs last season after his entanglement with Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis that led to a one-game suspension. Green’s punishment is harsher because of his history with the league.

“The length of the suspension is based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts,” NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars said in the league statement announcing the suspension.

Klay Thompson, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert were each fined $25,000 for their involvement in the skirmish.

Green was ejected two minutes into Tuesday’s game along with Klay Thompson and Timberwolves’ forward Jaden McDaniels, who got into an altercation after a handsy box-out and McDaniels ripped Thompson’s jersey. Both teams, coaches and security got involved to separate the two, and Green caught Rudy Gobert pulling Thompson away from the scuffle by the neck and grabbed Gobert in a headlock to pull him away.

In a pool report, game officials said Gobert was acting as a “peacemaker,” which absolved him of a foul called against him in real time.

“It’s kind of funny because before the game, I was telling myself that Steph is not playing, so I know Draymond is going to try and get ejected,” Gobert told reporters after the game. “Because every time Steph doesn’t play, he doesn’t want to play — it’s his guy Steph. He’ll do anything he can to get ejected.”

Steve Kerr defended Green and Thompson.

“There is no way Klay should have been ejected,” he said. “That’s ridiculous … as far as the Draymond part, Rudy had his hands on Klay’s neck. That’s why Draymond went after Rudy.”

A voter’s ballot would reveal their values.

Should the award reward run-prevention above all else? What’s to be said for shouldering a heavier load, especially in this day and age? And where does pure dominance in the areas most in a pitcher’s control — that don’t necessarily translate to a low ERA — factor in?

Ideally, there would be a pitcher who encapsulates all of these qualities, and that’s how you get unanimous winners. But, as Mike Petriello incisively outlined for MLB.com in September, there were no Justin Verlanders or Sandy Alcantaras in this race.

There were the workhorses: Logan Webb, Zac Gallen and Zack Wheeler; the strikeout artist, Spencer Strider; and the ERA leader, Blake Snell. A tier below, Kodai Senga and Justin Steele were deservedly in the conversation with lower ERAs than all but Snell but ultimately fell short by throwing fewer innings than the aforementioned five.

Once I received my voting assignment around the end of August, I dreaded the day when I would have to turn my ballot. When it came time to select my top five, though, it was an easier decision than I expected, thanks to Snell’s strong finish and a philosophy behind my thought process.

You can find the final results and all 30 ballots via the BBWAA, but here’s how I voted:

1. Blake Snell

2. Logan Webb

3. Spencer Strider

4. Zac Gallen

5. Zack Wheeler

Absent a runaway winner, I wanted to reward the pitchers who excelled in their facets of the game.

Snell led the National League with a 2.25 ERA, but he also walked the most batters — the first time that has ever happened — a failure of a pitcher’s most fundamental requirement that, for a time, I thought would disqualify him from the top spot on my ballot. His command issues prolonged his innings, shortened his outings and put more stress on the Padres’ bullpen, finishing 36 innings — or about six starts — behind Webb’s MLB-leading 216.

But Snell was so dominant in the innings he was in the game, it didn’t matter.

Surveying the Giants’ clubhouse, Snell was the most common answer I got for the filthiest pitcher they faced this season. Opposing hitters batted a paltry .180 against him, while only Strider (36.8%) struck them out at a higher rate than Snell (31.5%), allowing him to strand 86.7% of all those free base runners, the most in the league.

Snell was simply the best at the most important part of the game. His ERA was a full point lower than Webb’s (3.25) and he would have had to allow 33 earned runs over the 36 innings separating them in workload to even that gap.

Webb, on the other hand, was more reliable and arguably even more important to his team. The Giants’ piecemeal pitching doesn’t work without Webb taking the load off their overworked bullpen every fifth day. Officially, Webb finished fourth in the NL in ERA, while no other Giants pitchers even threw enough innings to qualify.

The only other pitcher who worked deep into games as often and effectively was Gerrit Cole, the runaway winner in the American League. Webb’s 24 quality starts (6+ IP, 3 or fewer ER) were tied with Cole and three more than runner-up in the NL (Wheeler), while he led all of baseball with 12 ultra-quality starts (7+ IP, 2 or fewer ER), three more than the next-closest in the NL (Gallen).

Those numbers aren’t reflected in his 11-13 record, thanks to receiving the least run support in the majors, but they weren’t overlooked by then-manager Gabe Kapler.

“I think what he’s done is probably the most challenging part of everything a pitcher does, which is to be durable and dependable, pitch deep into games and cover innings for a team,” Kapler said late in the season.

“I think innings is a huge factor in this. I don’t think Cy Young should be just about rate stats. I think it definitely has to include counting stats. And probably the most notable counting stat should  be innings because you’re covering those for your team, and that makes you valuable to your team.”

If there was one area where Webb fell short, he was very often good but rarely great.

As someone who observed nearly all of his 32 starts, Webb lacked the dominant performances that define a Cy Young season.

Meanwhile, Strider, the finest purveyor of swings and misses on either side of the Mississippi, is arguably the game’s most electric starting pitcher. On the all-time single-season leaderboard, Strider’s strikeout rate ranks right below two of the greatest pitching seasons in history, 2001 Randy Johnson and 1999 Pedro Martinez.

The two Hall of Famers, however, weren’t just elite at generating swings and misses; they also prevented runs. Strider finished with a 3.86 ERA, which would have been the highest mark for any Cy Young winner in history. He was, however, so much better than anyone else at missing bats in an era that values the strikeout above all else, that the ballot would have felt empty without him.

The most difficult, and least consequential, choice was how to rank Gallen and Wheeler, who easily beat out Steele and Senga for the final spots by throwing considerably more innings, in total, and taking down more impactful ones as their teams hunted down playoff spots in September.

Wheeler was the most valuable pitcher in the majors, according to FanGraphs WAR, but Gallen beat him out in innings pitched (210 vs. 192) and ERA (3.47 vs. 3.61).

And ultimately, the Cy Young is a results-based award, not a predictor of future performance.

Multiple A’s fan groups spent the summer calling attention to the plight of their team, which Fisher intends to move to Las Vegas. A vote on the proposal is expected Thursday at a meeting of Major League Baseball owners in Arlington, Texas.

Jorge Leon, Jared Isham and Gabriel Cullen, leaders of a fan group called the Oakland 68s, decided to go the extra 1,700 miles. They crashed the scene, booking a hotel room at the site of the meetings to avoid being chased off by security.

And it was there, in the hotel bar, that they encountered Fisher, the reclusive A’s owner, on Tuesday night.

Interestingly, it was Greg Johnson, the Giants’ chairman of the board of directors, who the 68s credit with helping set up their unexpected confab with Fisher.

“He first went over and warned him about us,” Cullen said. “The first thing we see Greg go over and kind of like stop him. And then we see Fisher turn his head around this big pillar, look at us and then pull back. Then he kind of walked away, so we were like, ‘Ok, he’s probably not going to come over.’

“Then he came back, shook our hands and talked to us for 10-15 minutes.”

During that 15-minute conversation, Fisher told the group he’d been trying for 18 years to get a new ballpark for the A’s in the Bay Area. And even if the team and Oakland had a deal, he said, a new ballpark wouldn’t be completed until 2031.

Fisher,  who bought the team in 2005, thanked the 68s for their passion. He also told them: “It’s been a lot worse for me than you.”

The exchange, first reported by USA Today and confirmed Wednesday morning by Leon, Isham and Cullen, became another viral moment in the A’s saga on the level of this summer’s Reverse Boycott and “Sell The Team” chants.

Efforts to reach Fisher for comment were unsuccessful, as they have been for the entirety of his 18 years of ownership.

The group had a second encounter with Fisher on Tuesday night, when they saw him having dinner at the hotel restaurant.

“I yelled out, ‘Do the right thing!’ I was telling him the whole night, do the right thing,” said Leon, the president of the 68s.

Fisher didn’t respond directly to Leon, but according to the San Francisco Chronicle, Fisher told someone in his dinner party: “I am doing the right thing.”

The 68s learned of Fisher’s comment later in the night. They said they appreciated meeting with Fisher, but were not surprised by his stance.

“I feel like he lives in his own little world, and so he thinks that he’s coming off as genuine. But he’s not. He’s tone deaf,” Leon said.

The trio gained social media traction in the morning when a plane they chartered buzzed the site of the meetings with a banner that read: “A’s belong in Oakland – #VoteNo.”

They rubbed shoulders and pitched the “STAY” in Oakland message they wore on their green t-shirts with multiple team owners — and whoever would listen — for more than 12 hours.

The 68s said their message was mostly well received in the lobbies, bars and restaurants they patrolled most of Tuesday. They also distributed Oakland A’s “gift” boxes to owners with a DVD and other items explaining why the A’s belong in Oakland.

Leon said the owners weren’t surprised to see them.

“When I spoke with John Fisher and said I was with the 68s, he said, ‘Yeah, I’m well aware,'” Leon said. “We know we are in their heads.

“Even if he didn’t talk to us, the trip still would have been worth it. The point was being visible and that we’re not going to go away easy.”