NEW YORK − The electronic board in the New York Yankees clubhouse Tuesday night revealed their strategy in this World Series for everyone to see.

“Win Tomorrow Fly Thursday.’

The Yankees plan to be on that flight to Los Angeles after trouncing the Dodgers, 11-4, and staying alive in the World Series, with their players reiterating the mantra made famous by Kevin Millar of the Boston Red Sox in 2004.

“Don’t Let Us Win Tonight.’

It was the year the Red Sox became the first and only baseball team in postseason history to be down 3 games to 0 and come back and win the series against the Yankees in the ALCS, leading to their first World Series title since 1918.

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The documentary of that historic comeback was just released on Netflix.

“I’d like to make another one,’ Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo grinned.

Who would ever have imagined with their bitter history that the Yankees are using the Red Sox as their inspiration, trying to go where no World Series team has gone before?

“The one thing about us,’ Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm said, “is we love history. We love to make history. So, we’re trying to do something that’s never been done.

“I want my name in that history book.’

The first chapter was written with the Yankees finally looking like the Bronx Bombers, hitting three home runs off three different Dodger pitchers, surviving yet another historic home run by Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, with a confidence finally exuding from their clubhouse.

“I feel like we’re getting into our groove,’’ Chisholm said. “We’re starting to swing the bats well. That’s what we’ve been trying to do this whole playoffs, and it hasn’t been like that. It’s been like three or four guys going off, and now the whole team is in it.’’

The Yankees’ offense delivered in every facet, hitting three homers, including Anthony Volpe’s grand slam, stealing five bases, hitting three doubles while scoring 11 runs. It’s a feat no team has accomplished since at least 1898, according to OptaSTATS.

“We know we’re a really good team, and today is a reminder why we’ve gotten this far and are in the World Series,’’ said Chisholm, who had a single, walk and stolen base. “We’re still laughing and saying that, ‘We got this, bro.’

“This (stuff) isn’t going to be easy, but this is what we’re made for. … If anyone can do it, this is the team to do it.’’

There have been 25 teams in World Series history who trailed 3 games to 0. Teams were swept 21 times. Three teams forced a Game 5. No team trailing 3-0 has ever forced a Game 6.

Now, it’s 3 games to 1, with Rizzo on the last team to pull it off with the Chicago Cubs in 2016 over Cleveland.

“We just reminded ourselves that we’ve won three games in a row that year plenty of times,’’ Rizzo said. “So, we can do it again. And we did.’’

The Yankees looked like they were going to go down meekly again when Freeman silenced the sellout crowd before they could grab their popcorn, hitting a two-run homer off starter Luis Gil in the first inning. It was his fourth home run of the Series, and the sixth consecutive World Series game that he has homered, dating back to 2021, an all-time record.

Yet, instead of getting demoralized, the Yankees shrugged.

“It’s already happened in every game,’’ Chisholm said. “So I don’t feel like it’s going to hurt us any way. It’s becoming a routine to him, right? But at the same time, for us, two runs is never like a lot to us.

“This is a team that only needs two batters to do it, and I feel like everybody can do it, one through nine.’’

The guy that did it, reviving the Yankees’ season, happened to be the 23-year-old kid who grew up in New Jersey as a Yankee fan while idolizing Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter. He still has pictures of himself as an 8-year-old at the Yankees’ 2009 World Series parade.

This night, he put his name in Yankee folklore becoming the first player to hit a go-ahead grand slam with his team facing elimination. He also joined Hall of Famer Eddie Collins in 1910 as the only players to have at least two extra-base hits and two stolen bases in a World Series game.

The Yankees, who had been abysmal in the clutch all series, going 4-for-23 with runners in scoring position, were trailing 2-1 when Volpe stepped to the plate with two outs in the third inning. Dodgers veteran reliever Daniel Hudson started Volpe off with a 89-mph slider. Volpe sent it into the left-center-field seats. The sellout crowd absolutely erupted.

“It’s like you finally got to see the top blow off Yankee Stadium,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “in a World Series game.’’

While the fans danced in their seats, Chisholm jumped into the air, the Yankees hugged one another in the dugout, and Volpe momentarily lost consciousness.

“I think I pretty much blacked out as soon as I saw it go over the fence,’’ Volpe said. “I think everyone had confidence in everyone in the lineup that someone was going to get the big hit. We’ve been having such good at-bats and putting such good swings on the ball, that we just felt like it was only a matter of time.’’

By the time the game ended, with Volpe hitting a double, stealing two bases, and making a dazzling defensive play in the ninth inning, the sellout crowd of 49,354 stood on their feet, chanting his name.

He was asked where that ranked among the biggest thrills of his life?

“Number one,’’ he said. “Definitely number one.’’

Really, Volpe says, just the idea that he’s even playing for the Yankees, in a World Series, at Yankee Stadium, is almost beyond comprehension.

It still hasn’t hit him that he is living out the same dream he envisioned every night of his life, not only becoming a World Series hero, but being interviewed after the game by his idol, Derek Jeter on the FOX set.

“It is pretty crazy to think about,’’ Volpe said. “It’s my dream, but it was all my friends’ dreams, all my cousins’ dreams, probably my sister’s dream too. But winning the World Series was first and foremost by far. Nothing else compares.’’

Volpe’s home run was like an instant magical elixir, with the entire Yankee team exhaling. Before the Yankees knew it, everyone came out of their slump. MVP Aaron Judge, who was hitting .140 with 20 strikeouts this postseason, went one for three and reached base three times without striking out. Catcher Austin Wells, who was in a 4-43 slump, hit a double and a homer. Second baseman Gleyber Torres hit a three-run homer.

But the star of the show was Volpe, taking a page out of Hollywood, with a Yankee fan becoming a true Yankee hero with all of his friends and family in the stands.

“I can’t even imagine honestly,’’ Wells said. “Just his whole family going way back to being Yankee fans, him being at the parade in ’09, growing up a Yankees fan, now being the shortstop, hitting a grand slam in the World Series in a must-win game.

“I mean, it doesn’t get any better than that. That’s pretty cool.’’

Now, the Yankees are hoping to take their newfound offense back to Los Angeles, with ace Gerrit Cole on the mound Wednesday for Game 5. He gave up just one run in six innings in Game 1 before Freeman’s historic walkoff grand slam in the 10th inning. They also will have their closer, Luke Weaver, available since the Yankees were able to take him out after the eighth inning when they scored five runs.

“For us to get Weaver out of the game and have him available,’’ Rizzo said, “hopefully will be a big storyline.’’

The way the Yankees figure it, they now have the toughest part out of the way in their bid for history.

They won their first game.

“I’ve heard Kevin Millar’s speech plenty of times,’’ Rizzo said. “We plan to take that momentum, take that flight to LA, and it will be special.

“I can’t wait.’’

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Police are investigating why Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was never arrested after he was found with a concealed weapon during a traffic stop, according to a report by WXYZ.

The traffic stop reportedly took place after midnight on Oct. 8, only two weeks before his two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Officers stopped a car driven by Williams’ brother for speeding near Connor and Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, police told Channel 7. During the encounter, his brother informed police that two guns were in the vehicle — one was registered to him and was in the backseat, while the other, registered to Williams, was found under the football player’s seat.

While Williams’ brother had a concealed pistol license (CPL), Williams himself did not.

Williams was then told by police that he was going to be taken into custody for carrying a concealed weapon. Body camera footage showed Williams repeatedly identifying himself, saying, “I play for the Lions, bro,” but the officer maintained that Williams’ status would not affect his arrest decision.

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After being handcuffed and placed in a patrol car, a supervisor was called to the scene. When a sergeant arrived, he quickly recognized Williams and then made some phone calls with higher-ranking officials.

At first it looked like Williams was going to be taken to jail, but after further discussions, the sergeant was evidently directed to release him from custody.

“You’re a (expletive) hero. Thank you so much,” the sergeant can be heard saying while on the phone in the footage obtained by Channel 7. Williams was freed, his gun was returned and a police report was not written.

In light of the incident, the Detroit Police Department submitted a warrant request to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for Williams, who now could face a charge of carrying a concealed weapon in a motor vehicle, according to the WXYZ report.

Williams’ attorney stated that both men were cooperative during the traffic stop and emphasized that the firearms were legally registered, according to the report. The Lions issued a statement acknowledging the incident and confirming that they are keeping the league informed as the investigation unfolds.

‘Jameson made us aware immediately that he was a passenger in a routine traffic stop on October 8th. We discussed the incident with him and have kept the league informed of what we know,’ the Detroit Lions said in a statement to WXYZ. ‘We understand he was released without incident or citation. It is now our understanding that the Detroit Police Department is revisiting the matter. Jameson has hired an attorney, and we will not be commenting further out of respect for the legal process.’

Three days after Boise State decided to forfeit a women’s volleyball game due to the reported presence of a transgender player on the opposing team, San Jose State athletic director Jeff Konya emailed his counterpart Jeremiah Dickey asking for Boise State to repay at least $1,250 in estimated revenue lost due to the cancellation.

After emphasizing that San Jose State had complied with all NCAA and Mountain West conference rules regarding transgender athletes, Konya wrote: “(F)rom a practical matter, your institution’s arbitrary decision not to play an otherwise eligible team has resulted in harm to SJSU financially and our institution brand.” 

The $1,250 figure, Konya wrote, was largely tied to what San Jose State would expect to bring in that day for concessions and parking. 

“I would ask to be made whole at the very least,” he wrote.

Spokespeople for both San Jose State and Boise State told USA TODAY Sports that Dickey did not respond to the email and Boise State did not make any restitution.  

The email to Dickey was one of dozens obtained through public records requests that shed light on the timeline and fallout of Boise State’s decision, escalating an issue that has become contentious in the Mountain West as three other teams in the conference – Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada – have followed suit in refusing to play San Jose State. 

The forfeits have helped lift the Spartans to a 7-3 conference record, putting them in strong position to qualify for the six-team conference tournament and perhaps the NCAA tournament if they win the league’s automatic bid. 

The player, whom USA TODAY Sports will not name because neither she nor the school has commented on or confirmed her gender identity, remains on San Jose State’s team. The player has played at San Jose State for two seasons without incident and another school prior to that. And the controversy is poised to come to a head once again as the postseason approaches at the end of November.

A Mountain West official said the league’s volleyball handbook has a deadline of Nov. 22 for schools to commit to playing in the conference tournament. All four teams who forfeited to the Spartans remain in contention for the Mountain West tournament. 

Much of the furor over San Jose State stems from a Title IX lawsuit filed in Georgia challenging NCAA rules that allow transgender participation on women’s teams regardless of the strict protocols on testosterone testing that have been put in place by organizations like USA Volleyball and adopted by the NCAA.

San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser joined the lawsuit, claiming she only learned her teammate and roommate was transgender after an April article published by the Web site Reduxx outed the player in question. 

Most Wyoming players wanted to play San Jose State but were overruled

Since then, activist groups have pressured Mountain West schools and players on those teams not to play San Jose State as a statement against trans participation in sports, an issue that has been elevated particularly during election season by Republican politicians and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. 

In the case of Wyoming, USA TODAY Sports found, most players on the team wanted to play but were overruled due to political pressure and threats from the state legislature to cut university funding. 

Conversations with those same activist groups were part of Boise’s decision-making timeline before announcing the forfeit, documents show.

It appears, according to those documents, that the notion of forfeiting became a serious consideration about a week before Boise State’s two-game road trip that would take the team from Fresno State on Thursday, Sept. 26, to San Jose State on the following Saturday. 

On Saturday, Sept. 21, Dickey wrote to senior women’s administrator Christina Van Tol and members of the volleyball staff proposing a Zoom meeting with the team on either Monday or Tuesday before the team left for the road trip on Wednesday. 

The head coach, Shawn Garus, responded and noted the priority to “make sure all players get the same message” while making them aware of the NCAA rule and the likelihood that they would be contacted about the topic. 

Activist groups met with Boise State leaders two days before cancellation

Van Tol suggested that school officials explain the rules and then allow players to take an anonymous survey to offer feedback on whether they have concerns about playing San Jose State. 

“I think what is important to understand is that student-athletes may have feelings about the topic that they want to share, but maybe not in the group setting,” she wrote. “I think the goal is to allow them to share whether or not they have hesitation or issues with playing against the SJSU player.” 

It is unclear what happened in the meeting. 

But on Sept. 25 – two days before the cancellation was announced – university officials had a conference call with Doreen Denny from Concerned Women for America, Marshi Smith from the Independent Council on Women’s Sports and Idaho state representative Barbara Ehardt, the former head basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton who sponsored the first bill adopted by a state legislature banning transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“The purpose of the meeting was educational – to convey the same information and concerns the Independent Council on Women’s Sports and Concerned Women for America state chapters have expressed in letters to Mountain West universities, to provide awareness of legal attestations in a related lawsuit against the NCAA and to discuss the responsibilities of universities to their athletes and the relevance of Title IX regulations and obligations,” Denny wrote in an email to USA TODAY Sports. 

The participants on the call from Boise State’s side were university general counsel Matt Wilde, senior counsel for government relations Jennifer White and Dickey, the athletics director. 

USA TODAY Sports asked Boise State whether Dickey spoke with any LGBTQ advocacy groups, either on or off-campus, who might have presented a different or more favorable view of trans participation in sports. A Boise State spokesman said he did not but declined to explain why.

That kind of dichotomy – University officials highly responsive to those who were in favor of forfeiting, while showing less interest in those with a different view – was evident throughout the tranche of emails Boise State provided to USA TODAY Sports. Garus personally responded to more than a dozen emails praising the school for its decision and thanked people for their support. 

In one case, a man from Minnesota who said he had no connection to the university, wrote to Boise State offering to make a tax-deductible donation because “I don’t think that a women’s team should have to forfeit to a team that has a male on it.” 

Six minutes after that email was received on Sept. 30, senior associate of athletics director Cody Gougler responded, writing: “We appreciate your desire to philanthropically support our volleyball program” and followed with another email later that night thanking him again for the support. Justin Rogers, an assistant athletics director, got involved within the hour, sending a link for sport-specific giving with instructions on how to ensure the donation went to women’s volleyball. 

A Boise State spokesman told USA TODAY Sports it was unclear how many donations have been made or lost due to the forfeit decision.

However, the documents provided by Boise State show conversations among school’s internal communications and public relations apparatus were monitoring the response, with Dickey noting at one point that most of the correspondence he received was positive. 

“I am responding to those who come my way. Have only received 3 negative emails so far,” he wrote on the evening of Sept. 28 to three of his staff members. “More positive. We will find a way forward!” 

He reiterated that message in an exchange with school president Marlene Tromp that same day after an email that circulated among Boise State officials from a student who wrote: “As a queer student at Boise State I have never felt completely accepted or safe on campus…I have seen efforts from the University to support and celebrate diverse students, but this decision has brought about skepticism on our Institution’s stance on diversity. I believe Boise State has a fervent obligation to engage in opportunities that support marginalized and minority students, even at other institutions!” 

After Dickey wrote to Tromp that, “We haven’t received many negative emails…majority positive,” she responded the following afternoon that “I have received several truly heartbroken messages from students.”

As more of those messages came in, however, Tromp wrote to associate vice president Lauren Griswold from the communications department and dean of students Chris Wuthrich that she suspected they were part of a “click and send” email campaign.

“Can your team discover it?” she asked Griswold.

Tromp, who does not appear to have been directly involved in the forfeit decision, did not reply to the emails. Instead, it was Wuthrich’s job to respond. 

His form email said Boise State “welcomes and unequivocally supports our transgender students” and that “recent media reports have highlighted a complex issue in college athletics.” He also provided phone numbers and internet links for LGBTQIA+ students if they needed support services or counseling. 

Happy birthday, Will Venable, who turned 42 years old on Tuesday during Game 4 of the World Series.

The Chicago White Sox have reached an agreement to hire Venable, who spent the last two seasons on Bruce Bochy’s staff as the associate manager of the Texas Rangers, according to multiple reports.

This is Venable’s first managerial stint, who last played in the big leagues in 2016. He was part of the interview process before the White Sox ultimately hired Pedro Grifol before the 2023 season.

Venable takes over a White Sox team that finished the 2024 season with the worst record in Major League Baseball’s modern era, going 41-121. It broke the 62-year-old record held by the 1962 New York Mets, who lost 120 games during their inaugural season.

In August, the White Sox fired Grifol, who led the White Sox to a 61-101 record in his first season. But, after a miserable start to the 2024 campaign and a 21-game losing streak, the White Sox finally cut ties with Grifol. Grady Sizemore served as the team’s interim manager for the remainder of the 2024 season. 

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NEW YORK − Anthony Volpe grew up in New Jersey, wanting to be like Derek Jeter, and was there as an 8-year-old kid throwing toilet paper in the crowd at the New York Yankees’ 2009 ticker-tape parade.

Well, the Yankees still have an awful long way to go before they even think about a World Series celebration, Volpe at least gave them life Tuesday night, hitting a grand slam that saved their season in the Yankees’ 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Yankees still trail the Dodgers 3 games to 1 in the World Series. But, no team trailing 3-0 has even forced a Game 6.

Yet, they at least have a pulse and a glimmer of hope they can pull off a miracle.

“Hopefully we can go be this amazing story,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Game 3, “and shock the world.’’

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It was Volpe who provided the first chapter with his grand slam in the fourth inning, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead, the Yankees’ first lead since Game 1 of the World Series. It was as if the home run finally allowed the Yankees to relax. Before they knew it, rookie catcher Austin Wells hit a solo homer in the sixth and Gleyber Torres broke it open with a three-run homer in the eighth.

But no hit was more important than Volpe’s slam, finally reminding the Yankees they still are the Bronx Bombers.

Volpe, who made a baserunning blunder in the third inning that could have cost the Yankees a run, stepped to the plate in the third inning with the Yankees in the process of blowing yet another golden opportunity to score. Anthony Rizzo popped up to shortstop Tommy Edman for the second out, and the Yankees were just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Volpe, who dreamed of moments like these idolizing Jeter, watched Dodger reliever Daniel Hudson start him off with a first-pitch 89-mph slider. Volpe sent it 390 feet away, landing into the first row of the left-center-field seats. The sellout crowd of 49,354 at Yankee Stadium erupted, the Yankees hugged one another in the dugout, and Volpe floated around the bases.

“This is why you play the game, for moments and games like this,’’ Volpe said.

And, of course, dreams like this.

“After the ALCS, my mom was trying to like pinch me and help me realize it,” Volpe said. “It’s been a wild ride up to this point.”

While Freddie Freeman once again homered for the Dodgers, setting a World Series record by homering in his sixth consecutive game dating back to 2021 when he was with Atlanta, it was Volpe who has provided the Yankees offense this night. He reached base three times Tuesday with a grand slam, double, walk and two stolen bases, and has a .407 on-base percentage.

“I think he’s grown a lot this postseason,’’ Boone said. “Not surprised by the mental toughness he’s shown. And hopefully this is also a little bit of springboard for him growing on the offensive side of the ball too.

“We’ve seen really consistent at-bats from him. I think that’s all part of the growing process. His defense has been there since Day One since he got to the big leagues. The offense, I feel like we’re going to look up in a couple of years and see a really, really strong offensive player.

“It doesn’t always happen in a meteoric rise for some people, but I feel like he’s moving the needle in a really good way, and I feel like this playoff is showing that a little bit.’’

The Yankees, who will start ace Gerrit Cole for Game 5 on Wednesday (8:08 p.m., ET FOX), believe that if he pitches another gem like Game 1 (6 innings, 4 hits, 1 run), they can get the Series back to Los Angeles where they’ll have Carlos Rodon going up against Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The way Boone figures it, they’ve got the makeup and character to at least provide a little suspense to this series.

“We’ve certainly faced our share of adversity this year,’’ Boone said, “and those guys have never flinched in good times, in bad times. This is my seventh year now, we’ve had a lot of what I would think good, strong, close clubhouses (but) this one takes the cake. These guys play for one another.

“It’s remarkable to see how close they are, how much they trust one another, how much they pull for one another. It served them well as we’ve gone through highs and lows of the season, and hopefully it will serve them the rest of this series.’’

While they painfully realize no team in World Series history has ever recovered from a 3-0 deficit, as much as it pains them to say it, the Boston Red Sox are their role models, the only team in postseason history to overcome a 3-0 deficit when they came back to beat the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.

“We’ve got to pull some inspiration from somewhere,” Rizzo said. “It’s happened before.”

It’s the reason why Rizzo delivered a brief team speech before Game 3 to his teammates, telling them that he wasn’t ready for this season to end, saying it could be the last time they’re ever together.

Stealing the words of Kevin Millar of the ’04 Red Sox, “Don’t let us win tonight.’’

“We’ve got Gerrit Cole lurking,’’ Rizzo said. “We’ve got a pissed off Rodon for Game 6 if we can get out there. And Game 7 is always a crap shoot. There’s a documentary out right now on Game 7, right?’’

For at least a night, the dream lives on.

“I think we try to just remind ourselves that anything can happen,’’ Cole said. “We’ve been telling ourselves a lot …there’s a lot of baseball left.’’

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There was a fallout from Week 9 in college football with coaches and coordinators being fired. Another loser in the weekend was LSU, which stumbled against Texas A&M and now faces little margin of error to make the playoff and likely will have another disappointing season under Brian Kelly.

The biggest game of Week 10 is one of the biggest of the season. No. 3 Penn State is hosting No. 4 Ohio State with both teams in desperate need of a victory for their College Football Playoff and national title hopes.

For the Nittany Lions, the questions are about James Franklin’s ability to win big games and the health of starting quarterback Drew Allar. For the Buckeyes, they would effectively be out of Big Ten title contention and left fighting for their postseason lives in a season where Ryan Day was expected to deliver more.

Dan Wolken and Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports discuss these topics and more in this week’s version of the College Football Fix.

BOWL PROJECTIONS: Oregon now No. 1, two SEC teams join playoff

PLAYOFF CHAOS: How each conference could be headed for wild finish

CALM DOWN: Playoff chaos possibilities lead Week 9 overreactions

HIGHS AND LOWS: Winners and losers from Week 9 in college football

MISERY INDEX: Kentucky faces Mark Stoops dilemma after latest loss