TIL You Can Be Allergic to Batting Gloves

Plus a classic Rickey Henderson story, the photos of the year, and the hypocrisy of old-time college coaches.

Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we break down the intersection of sports and money—with an extra bit of humor and opinion. On Saturdays we hit the biggest stories of the week, and the news that left us scratching our heads….

The Sportico Story of the Week ⚽: Private equity-backed Diamond Baseball Holdings currently owns more than 1/3 of the teams in MLB’s minor leagues, the result of a steady stream of transactions over the past four years. Now the group is eyeing a similar roll-up in lower-tier soccer. I spent weeks reporting out details about the various investment groups that are speaking with MLS and MLS owners about the sale of their MLS Next Pro franchises.

The Non-Sportico Story of the Week 📷: Every year the Associated Press drops its “Sports Photos of the Year,” and every year it’s a banger. I recommend the full list, but here are a few of my favorites.

What Made me Laugh 🤡: In honor of Rickey Henderson, who died this week at age 65, here’s the Hall of Fame outfielder telling a hilarious story about framing—not cashing—the $1 million check that came from the A’s after he was drafted 👇