Bob Carter has been named coach of the New Zealand Women's team with a contract that will take him up to the end of 2021 Women's World Cup on home soil.

Carter, who has twice been assistant coach to the men's team, replaces Haidee Tiffen, who stood down from the tour of Australia earlier this year following a review that was put in place after New Zealand's disappointing T20 World Cup, before deciding not to reapply for her position.

Carter initially took temporary charge of the team on the Australia tour. He will now work on preparing for the home season, which involves a visit by South Africa ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia.

"I see a lot of potential in this particular group of cricketers,'' Carter said. "We have a good blend of youth and experience that we can build from and I feel very positive about this next chapter of White Ferns cricket.

"It's an exciting time to come on board with two big world tournaments on the horizon. We have a number of senior players who have been performing at the top of the international game and remain committed to working hard in bringing success. With two ICC World Cups coming up and the women's game growing at all levels, it's a great time to be involved."

NZ's head of high performance Bryan Stronach said that a number of candidates had been interviewed for the position with the process involving representatives from the players.

"We're delighted to have Bob signed on and working with our top female cricketers," he said. "The recent Women's MOU has been a good development for the women's game but with the added funding and support comes an added professional responsibility. The players have endorsed Bob as a coach and enjoyed working with him in Australia."

Australia Women 308 for 4 (Healy 122, Lanning 121) beat West Indies Women 130 (Taylor 70*, Perry 3-17) by 178 runs

Australia began their tour of the West Indies in fine style as Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy flayed centuries as part of a 225-run stand to set up a crushing 178-run victory in Antigua.

Lanning's was her 13th ODI century - the fastest player, male or female, to reach that landmark, in 76 innings, ahead of Hashim Amla's 83 - while Healy made her second as the pair dominated the majority of Australia's innings following the shock of losing Rachael Haynes first ball.

Healy was the first to her landmark off 95 balls with Lanning reaching three figures from 137 deliveries with a six off Stafanie Taylor. In all, Lanning struck four sixes with one of them landing in the swimming pool at the Coolidge Ground. Australia's eventual margin of victory was their largest by runs against West Indies.

The stand of 225 in 38 overs, in oppressively hot conditions, was Australia's second highest for any wicket in ODIs, behind the 244 added by Karen Rolton and Lisa Sthalekar against Ireland in 2005. Both players were given lives in what was a ragged display from West Indies.

"It was a tricky wicket, never really coming through at any great pace so was tricky to adapt to and you never really felt in," Healy said. "It was very hot, very different coming straight from the UK over here, but I enjoyed it - sweat out a few beers I've had in the last month and a bit celebrating the Ashes.

"It was probably one of the more scratchy innings I've played, never really felt in, and probably hit a few in the air that I didn't want to. Hopefully next game I can rectify it, but there's a hundred on the board and wouldn't change it for anything."

When Healy departed, Ellyse Perry chipped in with an unbeaten 33 off 31 balls - Australia's innings saw steady progression throughout with the five 10-over splits bringing 55, 51, 62, 66 and 74 runs.

There was precious little for West Indies to take from the innings after the early high of Shamilia Connell having Haynes caught behind although she and Afy Fletcher kept their economy rates under six an over in their allocation of 10 overs.

Perry, getting the new ball to swing, then played a leading role in blowing away West Indies' top order which was missing the suspended Hayley Matthews who had been withdrawn from the ODI squad hours before the match started for breaching the code of conduct.

Both openers, Natasha McLean and Stacey-Ann King, fell for ducks as did Kyshona Knight as West Indies stumbled to 8 for 3 at the end of the second over and Perry's third wicket, trapping Reniece Boyce lbw, compounded the problems.

Taylor, who offered the majority of what resistance there was, with 70 off 114 balls, and Chinelle Henry briefly rallied before the latter drove a return catch to legspinner Georgia Wareham who claimed her second wicket when Lanning added to her stellar day by grabbing a stunning catch, full-stretch to her right, at slip to remove debutant Shabika Gajnabi.

Taylor showed her team-mates what was possible but was left stranded when Connell pulled to mid-on with Kycia Knight unable to bat. The only area where Australia slipped was conceding 26 wides.

Innings Afghanistan 342 all out (Rahmat 102, Afghan 92, Rashid 51, Taijul 4-116) v Bangladesh

Afghanistan lasted 90 minutes in the second morning in Chattogram, after Bangladesh bowled them out for 342 runs in 117 overs. There was enough time for the captain Rashid Khan to blast a quickfire half-century to boost their scoring. Thanks to his late runs, Afghanistan added 71 runs in the morning session, useful enough to hand the home side a proper challenge chasing the score. But their bowlers gave them some momentum by getting among the wickets early in the day.

Bangladesh found success in the fourth over of the morning when Asghar Afghan top edged him for 92. He added just four runs to his overnight total, and although this is his highest Test score, a century was very much in the offing. He had struck three fours and two sixes in his 174-ball knock.

Taijul Islam, who removed Afghan, then produced a beautiful delivery to knock out Afsar Zazai, getting the ball to spin from leg-stump and hitting his off-stump. Zazai could add just six runs to his overnight score, getting out on 41 off 115 balls.

Debutant Qais Ahmed became Shakib Al Hasan's first wicket in the match, before Yamin Ahmadzai was caught at slip for a duck.

Rashid, who survived a lbw review on 32 after Taijul was found to have overstepped, farmed the strike with the tail-enders to hit three sixes and two fours. Mehidy Hasan finally dismissed him with a sharp return catch as Rashid attempted to pinch a single off the last ball of the 117th over.

Taijul finished with a four-wicket haul while Shakib and Nayeem Hasan took two each.

On the first day, Afghanistan reached 271 for 5 with Rahmat Shah's historic century being the main highlight. He shared a 120-run third wicket stand with Asghar Afghan who reached his second Test fifty, as Bangladesh's spinners strived hard to bowl them out.

NEW YORK -- By no means was Serena Williams perfect at the start of her US Open semifinal.

She faced three break points in the opening game and managed to pull it out. She trailed 40-love in the second, then came through again. Another trio of break points arrived later in that initial set. Once more, Williams was up to the task. Soon enough, she was on her way to yet another final at Flushing Meadows -- and yet another shot at Grand Slam singles trophy No. 24.

Williams turned in an increasingly impressive performance for a 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 5-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night, reaching her fourth final in the past six major tournaments.

"To be in yet another final, it seems, honestly, crazy,'' said Williams, a six-time US Open champion who will face 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu of Canada on Saturday. "But I don't really expect too much less.''

Nor does anyone else at this point.

"That's why she is who she is. You are playing in front of the best tennis player in the world,'' Svitolina said. "If you don't take it, she just grabs it. And there's no chance to take it back.''

Since returning to the tour last season after more than a year away while having a baby, she was the runner-up at Wimbledon twice, losing to Angelique Kerber in 2018 and to Simona Halep in July, and was also the runner-up, of course, a year ago at the US Open, losing to Naomi Osaka.

That one in New York was, and forever will be, overshadowed by Williams' extended argument with chair umpire Carlos Ramos, who docked her a point, then a game -- and was barred by the U.S. Tennis Association from officiating any matches she or her older sister, Venus, played in this year's tournament.

Asked whether she prefers to find motivation from that final against Osaka or would rather forget it, Williams stared straight ahead and replied, "I mean, it hasn't really crossed my mind.''

The 15th-seeded Andreescu reached her first major title match in only her fourth appearance at a Slam by eliminating No. 13 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 7-6 (3), 7-5.

"If someone told me a year ago that I would be in the finals of the US Open this year, I would have told them, 'You're crazy,''' said Andreescu, who took her semifinal's last five games after trailing 5-2.

She is the first player to get this far in her debut in New York since Venus Williams was the runner-up in 1997.

"It's just surreal,'' Andreescu said about the prospect of facing Serena Williams next. "Like, I really don't know what to say.''

So much of what the younger Williams does nowadays must be seen through the prism of tennis history, and that is certainly the case in this instance. Her 101st career match win at Flushing Meadows tied Chris Evert's tournament record.

"It's just impressive, I guess,'' Williams said. "I don't think about it. I just come out here and do what I can.''

By getting to the final, Williams set a mark for longest gap between first career Grand Slam title match and most recent such appearance: It's almost exactly 20 full years since she won the 1999 US Open as a teenager.

Most importantly, if she can beat Andreescu, Williams will equal Margaret Court with 24 Grand Slam singles titles, more than anyone else in a sport that dates to the 1800s.

"I watched her win most of her Grand Slam titles. I think she's fighting for her 24th on Saturday. I'm sure she's going to bring her A game,'' Andreescu said. "I'm going to try to bring my A game, too. Hopefully, I guess, may the best player win.''

At the start of the first semifinal, it was the 24-year-old Svitolina who was steadier. She earned those three chances to break from the get-go -- but failed to convert. Let the second game slip through her fingers, too. In all, Svitolina held eight game points across that opening pair, and was left with nothing to show for it. Quickly, it was 3-0 for Williams.

"I don't think she played amazing today,'' Svitolina said, "but she played [at a] very high level at the beginning, where you had to make a difference.''

Williams' assessment?

"Today was solid,'' she said. "It definitely wasn't my best tennis.''

Still, she launched serves at up to 119 mph and saved every break point she faced. She smacked three return winners in one game alone. She held a 10-3 edge in points that lasted nine or more strokes. She finished with a 34-11 advantage in winners. She showed no lingering effect from a rolled ankle earlier in the tournament.

As if for good measure, Williams even threw in a serve-and-volley approach while facing break point in the first set -- and, naturally, it worked, thanks to a swinging putaway.

"Don't expect that again,'' Williams said, joking that this was going through her mind: "What am I doing at the net?! Let me get back to the baseline!"

Maybe Svitolina, whose one upset of Williams in five previous matchups came at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was too passive, content to stay back and try to chase down everything sent her way.

Wasn't the proper strategy. At least not against this opponent, in this match, on this day.

"On the important moments, she steps up, always steps up,'' Svitolina said, "always brings her best game.''

That's usually the case for Williams, even as her 38th birthday approaches in three weeks. It just wasn't in the three most significant matches of her return so far: three Grand Slam finals, three losses.

She'll try again Saturday. One more for 24.

"Obviously, there's a lot of things that I've learned in the past,'' Williams said, "but I just have to go out there [and], above all, most of all, just stay relaxed."

CHICAGO -- The Green Bay Packers might not have to rely on quarterback Aaron Rodgers as much anymore.

At the very least, they can survive until Rodgers and first-year head coach Matt LaFleur get things rolling -- and not have to do it against a defense as fierce as the one the Chicago Bears fielded in Thursday night’s NFL opener.

That’s because for the first time since perhaps the Super Bowl season of 2010, the Packers can match teams defense for defense. Unless, of course, the Bears’ offense is as bad as the one that got booed off Soldier Field after several drives in the Packers' 10-3 victory over the defending NFC North champs.

“It gives us a lot of confidence because for so long everybody says we don’t have a defense and we’re the liability of the team,” said defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who stayed in the locker room longer than any player after the game to savor the performance. “For us to come out and put on a performance like that, it was great for our confidence going into next week.”

Not that this is a Super Bowl-contending team yet, but it has the makings of a top-10 defense -- something the Packers haven’t had since the championship-winning group ranked fifth. But it looks like the money that general manager Brian Gutekunst dished out in free agency was well spent.

His most expensive signing -- Za'Darius Smith ($20 million signing bonus) -- set the tone with a sack, a tackle for loss and six quarterback pressures.

His next-most expensive signing -- Preston Smith ($16 million to sign) -- came up with three pressures and 1.5 sacks in the second half, including the game-clincher with 1 minute, 2 seconds left.

And former Bears safety Adrian Amos ($11 million to sign) had an interception in the end zone with 1:58 to play.

“We didn’t do them a whole lot of favors with our own performance on offense,” Rodgers said. “I mean, every time we needed something, a stop, they came up with some really big plays. Great for Adrian coming back to the team that drafted him to get a pick in the end zone there. But a lot of credit to the front. I thought we put a lot of pressure on ‘em. It looked like obviously both the Smiths, they were in the mix a bunch. It was just a dominating performance. It gives you a lot of confidence when you play like that on offense and win a game by a touchdown.”

It was early in the preseason when it was suggested the defense could carry the Packers in the early going while LaFleur and Rodgers work through the installation of a new offense. LaFleur is the first Packers head coach to win in his head coaching debut against the Bears since Vince Lombardi in 1959.

He has his defense to thank for that.

“It seemed like they were all over the place,” LaFleur said. “It felt like we were getting pretty good pressure, I thought the coverage was on point, and that’s a great credit not only to those players but to our coaching staff as well. Mike Pettine and our staff on defense designed a great gameplan and certainly were able to get some free runners tonight.”

After Rodgers made sure he secured the game ball to give to LaFleur, he sought out second-year defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.

“With Mike and his staff and what the defensive guys did tonight was spectacular,” Rodgers said. “So, he was the first one I wanted to go to because we put them in some tough spots.”

The question now is how long it will take Rodgers to catch up?

The Packers had minus-12 total yards of offense in the first quarter -- their fewest total yards in any quarter since Sept. 18, 1994 (third quarter), according to ESPN Stats & Information research, against the Philadelphia Eagles with Brett Favre as the starting QB. It was the first time under Rodgers that the Packers had negative yards gained through the first three drives of a game. And then Rodgers made one Rodgers-like play -- a 47-yard bomb to Marquez Valdes-Scantling that, according to NFL Next Gen stats traveled 53.5 yards in the air for his fourth-longest completion through the air in the last three seasons.

The Packers totaled 213 yards and converted just 2-of-12 third downs.

Just don’t tell Rodgers that he should have played in the preseason.

He warned that, no matter what happened in the opener, there would be “a lot of room to grow regardless of our performance” and that there will be “a lot of room for growth within the scheme as we go on in the season."

Or maybe Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears offense is just that bad. But the hope for the Packers is their defense is that good and Aaron Rodgers & Co. will catch up.

Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura will miss Japan's final two FIBA World Cup games because of knee discomfort and general fatigue, it was announced.

"While everyone had hoped for Rui to finish the World Cup with Team Japan, the Wizards and Japan Basketball believe it is best for Rui to not play the final two games and have a short period of rest before he must start NBA training camp with the Wizards which begins only three weeks from now," the Japanese Basketball Association said in a statement released through the Wizards.

Hachimura's departure from Japan comes after he was held to four points on 2-for-8 shooting in a 98-45 loss to the U.S. on Thursday. Japan plays New Zealand on Saturday and wraps up with Montenegro on Monday.

Hachimura was the No. 9 overall pick by the Wizards in June's NBA draft.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Injured Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Blake Snell is scheduled to make his first rehab start Saturday in a playoff game with Triple-A Durham.

Last year's AL Cy Young Award winner has been out since July 22 because of bone chips in his throwing elbow that required surgery.

"I'm excited," Snell said Thursday. "I'm going to get to pitch again."

Snell had a 25-pitch bullpen session Wednesday and expects to throw an inning or 20 pitches Saturday. He is 6-7 with a 4.28 ERA in 20 starts.

Another Tampa Bay starter, right-hander Tyler Glasnow (6-1, 1.86 ERA), who has been sidelined since mid-May with a strained right forearm, is expected to either rejoin the Rays or pitch in his third minor league game this weekend.

The Rays entered Thursday night's game against Toronto on top of the AL wild-card standings in a tight race with Cleveland and Oakland.

Also, infielder Eric Sogard said he was available off the bench after he had his helmet and glasses knocked off by a pitch from Baltimore's Paul Fry on Tuesday. The ball struck his shoulder first, then his helmet and nose.

Sogard has a black eye and said his nose was a little sore.

First baseman Ji-Man Choi, who was hurt Tuesday when he was hit in the face by the glove of Baltimore third baseman Rio Ruiz while sliding to complete a triple, was in Thursday's lineup.

PITTSBURGH -- Brian Moran waited 10 years to make his major league debut. As he began pitching to his younger brother Colin, he realized he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Brian struck out Colin, becoming the first player in big league history to make his debut while facing his brother on the mound, in the Marlins' 10-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

"It's incredible," Brian said. "I think the last three days have been some of the most exciting, moving days that I've experienced. I don't think you could dream up a cooler situation. I'm so excited I got to share it with my family. I got to get out on a big league mound."

Brian (1-0) entered in the fourth inning with the Marlins trailing 5-2. After Bryan Reynolds led off with a groundout, Colin stepped to the plate having doubled in each of his first two at-bats.

The 30-year-old Brian fell behind 3-1 before throwing back-to-back sliders, the second one at 71.7 mph, to strike out Colin looking. The 26-year-old Colin shouted toward the mound on his way back to the dugout.

"He's been my inspiration my whole life," Colin said. "He's never given up. That's kind of been the theme of his career. I would've given up, probably. A lesser man would have given up with the road he's had to go through."

Moran hit Josh Bell with a pitch and then got Melky Cabrera to fly out in his only inning of work.

The Marlins rallied for four runs in the fifth, allowing Brian to get the win. Colin finished 2-for-4.

"I felt bad for the dad. And happy," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "It's a special moment. It really is a very special moment. The parents have to be so proud, so pleased."

They became the first siblings to face each other in a pitcher-batter scenario with one of the brothers making his major league debut, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau.

"It's just fun to see that," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "Knowing what these guys have probably been through as brothers growing up. It's kind of fun for, I'm sure, that family, but it was really the right spot in the game. It worked out where it was a left-handed section for us in the right part of the game."

The older Moran was 2-3 with a 3.15 ERA in 43 appearances for Triple-A New Orleans this season. He made his professional debut in Seattle's farm system with rookie-level Pulaski in 2009.

"There's a certain element of it being meant to be," said Brian, who blew a kiss to his wife, Jackie, as he came off the field. "It's been everything and more. It's worth the wait, and I couldn't be more excited."

In the fifth, Miami went ahead 6-5 and chased Dario Agrazal (4-4), who surrendered six runs, five earned, in 4 1/3 innings.

Isan Diaz tied it with a two-run single before two errors allowed Jorge Alfaro to score. A ground ball from Harold Ramirez got through Pittsburgh's Moran at third base and catcher Elias Diaz dropped a throw from Kevin Newman while attempting to tag Alfaro.

Reynolds homered twice, once in a five-run first inning and again in the ninth, giving the rookie 16 this season. Josh Bell hit his 36th homer in the ninth.

Facing Moran in the fourth, Reynolds quickly cleared the way for the brother vs. brother matchup, swinging at a first-pitch slider that jammed him.

"I was just trying to get out of there early," Reynolds said. "I was just being courteous."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Pirates: OF Starling Marte did not play for a second straight game. Manager Clint Hurdle did not clarify if sitting Marte was injury-related. ... RHP Alex McRae was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis. ... RHP Mitch Keller was expected to throw a bullpen session Thursday after sustaining a right wrist contusion Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Marlins: RHP Pablo Lopez (5-7, 4.89 ERA) will look to avoid a third straight loss when he takes the mound against Kansas City on Friday. He has allowed a combined 10 runs in eight innings through his past two starts.

Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (9-12, 4.67) will try to win consecutive starts for the first time in more than two months when he faces St. Louis on Friday. He last won back-to-back starts on June 21 against San Diego and June 27 against Houston.

This article is about a team record that was set by a team long after it had ceased to be a team. It might well never be broken. Or it might be under attack right now, by a Yankees team that's 95% retired, or by one that's 75% retired, or by one that's 40% retired, or by one that's -- somewhat shockingly -- not a Yankees team at all.

This record began to come together after the 1926 season, with some minor accusations of game-fixing against Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker. The fallout was that both players, aging greats who'd been with their respective teams for more than a decade, retired. Then, having not been found guilty, they were reinstated as free agents. Cobb signed with the Philadelphia A's. Speaker signed with Washington, but he was released after one season and then he signed with the A's, too. Around the same time, the great second baseman Eddie Collins was released by the White Sox, and for his waning days he returned to play and coach for the team with which he began his career: The A's. If we'd had WAR at the time, Cobb, Speaker and Collins would have ranked first, second and fourth in major league history to that point.

So it was that a Philadelphia A's fan who bought a ticket to a July 4, 1928, doubleheader would have seen Cobb and Speaker, who still rank as two of the six greatest position players in history, by WAR. The ticket-buyer would have also seen the 20-year-old sensation Jimmie Foxx, who would go on to produce the 25th-highest WAR among hitters. Al Simmons, 77th in history, batted cleanup in both games, and Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane (205th) caught both. One of the pitchers he caught was Lefty Grove, sixth all time in WAR among pitchers. Another was Jack Quinn, 66th. Our fan would have had to be satisfied with seeing Collins coaching third base, since Collins didn't get into either game that day. On top of all this, the manager was Connie Mack, the winningest manager in history.

If you wanted to see the greatest collection of baseball history on one team, you'd go watch those 1928 A's. It wasn't the best team -- though the 1929-1931 A's are in that conversation -- but it was the greatest collection of greatness, as measured by total career WAR on one roster. Collectively, the 1928 A's produced 1,138 WAR in their careers -- the years they'd already played and the years they would go on to play. Roughly speaking, it was as if a rookie Mike Trout was on a team with late-career Barry Bonds, late-career Alex Rodriguez, late-career Albert Pujols, mid-career Greg Maddux, mid-career Edgar Martinez, early-career Joe Mauer -- plus seven other players who played at least 15 years in the majors, and a few besides them who were named All-Stars or earned MVP votes in their careers.

For the rest of the 20th century, no team could come close, according to Dan Hirsch at Baseball-Reference, who provided the querying for this article. The 1927 A's, the year before Speaker joined, were the only other team that cleared 1,000 WAR, at 1,000.3. The 1933 Yankees (944 career WAR) were the closest distinct competitor, with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and seven other lower-tier Hall of Famers. Those Yankees were finally surpassed by the 1979 Yankees (985), with Reggie Jackson leading 10 players who had 40-WAR careers. And those Yankees were displaced in the No. 2 spot by the 1996 Yankees, led by Wade Boggs, Derek Jeter and Tim Raines. And then the 2000 Yankees, with Roger Clemens, became the first non-A's team to pass 1,000 WAR, before Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter retired and closed the books on that historic club.

That's a lot of Yankees. But the greatest Yankees teams were arguably still to come; in fact, might still be to come.

There are four clubs who might be said to be actively pursuing this record, in a sense:

1. The 2005 Yankees, who -- at 1,103 WAR -- currently stand as the second-greatest collection of baseball greatness ever

The key acquisition: Randy Johnson (acquired the previous offseason)
The key debut: Robinson Cano
The other main stars: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Mariano Rivera
Famous players you'll never associate with that team: Ruben Sierra, Al Leiter
Total All-Stars (at any point in the players' careers): 23

They are so close -- just 35 behind the 1928 A's -- and, six months ago, I might have let myself dream. Two Yankees from that club are still active, almost 15 years later: Cano and Melky Cabrera. Cano was, as recently as last year, still a very valuable major leaguer, and not long ago he was an MVP candidate. Cabrera was still a league-average hitter and just 34 years old. (He ranks sixth among active players in career hits, if you can believe it.)

But each player has been worse than replacement level this year, dragging the 2005 Yankees backward by almost two wins and obliterating hopes of each player aging gracefully for another half-decade (or more) of value. The second-best collection of baseball stars in history is worth commemorating, and 97% as much stardom as the 1928 Philadelphia A's is oh-so-close. But those final 35 WAR have become, almost certainly, insurmountable.

Rough estimate of WAR still to come: 5 (for a total of 1,108)

2. The 2012 Yankees, who -- at 1,026 WAR -- currently stand as the third-greatest collection of baseball greatness ever

The key acquisitions: Ichiro Suzuki (midseason trade), Andy Pettitte (coming out of retirement)
The key debut: None, really. Adam Warren has 7 career WAR
The other main stars: This was the second-to-last year Cano, Rodriguez and Jeter played infield together, and Rivera's penultimate season. CC Sabathia was the ace and Andruw Jones the platoon DH with 400 career homers
Famous player you'll never associate with that team: Derek Lowe, Eric Chavez
Total All-Stars: 20

Unlike the 2005 club, there are enough active players left that we can sort of dream of future WAR: Cano, Russell Martin, Curtis Granderson, Eduardo Nunez, Brett Gardner, Steve Pearce, Francisco Cervelli, Ivan Nova, Sabathia, David Phelps, Warren and David Robertson. (Chris Stewart is in Triple-A.)

But that's more a long list of names than a long tail of future WAR. That group has produced only 5 wins this year, with Gardner and Nova still producing but Nunez, Pearce and Granderson sledgehammering the total. Sabathia might not pitch again, Cervelli nearly quit catching, and after a couple of drinks, I could probably be convinced Martin is a more valuable pitcher than he is a hitter right now.

That makes them very unlikely to pass the 2005 Yankees, let alone the 1928 A's. With 10 lottery tickets in a sport as unpredictable as baseball, it's hard to rule out anything. But the best bet for the mid-30s players who remain is probably not late-career resurgence; it's probably Baseball-Reference tweaking its WAR model.

Rough estimate of WAR still to come: 30 (for a total of 1,056)

3. The 2016 Yankees, who -- at 688.7 career WAR -- currently stand as the 235th-greatest collection of baseball greatness ever

The key acquisition: Aroldis Chapman
The key debut: Aaron Judge
The other main stars: Carlos Beltran, Sabathia, and in their final seasons, A-Rod and Mark Teixeira. The ascendant stars were Gary Sanchez and Luis Severino, who had each debuted in 2015
Famous players you'll never associate with that team: Kirby Yates, Billy Butler
Total All-Stars: 19

700 WAR is a long way from 1,100 WAR. But unlike the previous two contenders, these Yankees weren't primarily an accumulation of veteran stars. They were, in a lot of ways, more like the 1928 A's: a good team that was transitioning into an exceptional one, with two different generations of stars overlapping.

Besides Judge, Sanchez and Severino -- whose collective upsides provide most of the hope that these Yankees could ultimately pass the A's -- are a dozen or so players who are active, productive major leaguers in their late 20s or early 30s: Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Dellin Betances, Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, Chad Green, Nathan Eovaldi, Donovan Solano, Starlin Castro, Andrew Miller, Chapman and Yates.

Based on those players' 10-year projections at Baseball Prospectus -- projections that were made before this season began, and that we're only roughly eyeballing for these purposes -- there's probably 200 more WAR to come from this roster. That would get these 2012 Yankees into the top 25 all time, but nowhere close to the A's (or the best Yankees collections). Jeter retired one year too early; Gleyber Torres debuted two years too late.

But these Yankees do still have youth on their side. In baseball, nothing is promised once a player passes a certain age, but the corollary is that nothing can be ruled out before he reaches a certain age. There's still, theoretically, time for Judge, Sanchez and Severino to become Foxx, Simmons and Grove.

Rough estimate of WAR still to come: 200 (for a total of 889)

4. The 2017 Dodgers, who -- at 561.5 career WAR -- currently stand as the 746th-greatest collection of baseball greatness ever

The key acquisition: Yu Darvish
The key debuts: Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Alex Verdugo
The other stars: Clayton Kershaw, Chase Utley, Adrian Gonzalez, Corey Seager
Famous players you'll never associate with that team: Curtis Granderson, Sergio Romo
Total All-Stars: 19

The Dodgers are the only 2017 team in the top 1,000 all time, and a big share of their collective WAR is already retired just two years later in Utley, Gonzalez and Ethier. Granderson's retirement appears imminent. Kershaw, the heavyweight on the roster -- the player most likely to join the ranks of Grove and Speaker in WAR triple digits -- is still very good, but also clearly decelerating.

But the Who's Left list is incredible: Not only the three players who debuted that year, but Seager and Darvish, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Yasmani Grandal, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Julio Urias, Alex Wood, Justin Turner, Ross Stripling and Chris Taylor. The 2017 Dodgers have produced 46 WAR this year; the 2016 Yankees, by contrast, have produced only 28.

Rough estimate of WAR still to come: 365 (for a total of 927)

If the 2017 Dodgers follow through on that estimate, they'll challenge the 1972 Dodgers (Frank Robinson, Don Sutton, Maury Wills, etc.) as the greatest collection of baseball greatness in the franchise's history. But they'd trail a long line of great Yankees teams, from distinct time periods. Of the 20 "greatest" teams ever, 16 are Yankees; of the top 100, 40 are Yankees. Essentially every Yankees team since they acquired Babe Ruth has been in the top 1,000, with three brief exceptions: the World War II years, the years immediately preceding George Steinbrenner's 1973 purchase of the team, and the late-'80s/early-'90s doldrums.

And yet none of those scores of Yankees teams has toppled the A's, and it's hard to figure whether a challenge is more or less likely now than it once was. The case for it being more likely is that teams churn through far more players over the course of a season than they once did:

• 1928 A's: 29

• 2005 Yankees: 51

• 2012 Yankees: 45

• 2016 Yankees: 53

• 2017 Dodgers: 52

Each of those 52 Dodgers represents an entire career, comprising all the years before and all the years after the season in question. They're simply more likely to cover more total seasons than 29 players are.

But here's the case for it being less likely now: Teams are rarely built these days to simultaneously include both accomplished superstars and future superstars. Rather, teams go through teardown-and-rebuild cycles, trading away their Lefty Grove equivalents, refusing to sign the Ty Cobb equivalents, while hoarding the Jimmie Foxx equivalents. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio might well go on to produce three Hall of Fame careers. But the Blue Jays called those three up only once the team had emptied its roster of nearly any other accomplished big leaguers. You're probably less likely to see a 20-year-old future Hall of Famer, a 28-year-old future Hall of Famer, and a 40-year-old future Hall of Famer on the same roster than you were in 1928.

That makes sense. This thing we've been talking about -- most career WAR, past and present, collected on one roster; a sort of baseball equivalent of Awesome People Hanging Out Together -- isn't the objective for teams. Their objective is to win, and that usually means collecting a lot of "right now" talent that can be good right now, or else a lot of "in three years" talent that can be amazingly good in three years. This record is less for them. It's more for the fan who buys a ticket to a doubleheader and, in one afternoon, sees enough baseball history to fill a scrapbook someday.

Thanks to reader Mike, who inspired this inquiry by noticing that the 2014 Tigers had Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera in their primes, along with Ian Kinsler, David Price, Torii Hunter and young versions of J.D. Martinez and Eugenio Suarez, a spectacular collection of stars in various stages. Those Tigers rank 395th all time. Thanks also to Dan Hirsch and the Baseball-Reference Play Index.

Defending wheelchair doubles champions Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid reached the US Open final with a straight-sets win over the top seeds in New York.

Britain's Hewett, 21, and Reid, 27, beat French pair Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer 6-0 6-3.

They wrapped up the first set in just 23 minutes but needed until the eighth game of the second to go a break up.

Hewett and Reid will go for a third title at Flushing Meadows together having won in 2017 and 2018.

"We've put a lot of work in over the last three or four months to improve a few things in our game," said Reid.

"It's great when it all comes together."

Hewett and Reid will play Gustavo Fernandez and Shingo Kunieda in Saturday's final while both will start their singles campaigns on Friday.