A's catcher MacIver gets go-ahead hit, throws out runner to end game in big league debut at age 28

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Willie MacIver hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning of his major league debut. Minutes later, the 28-year-old catcher threw out a runner trying to steal second for the final out that ended the Athletics' 11-game losing streak.

“I woke up hoping for a Gatorade bath at the end of the game and, man, I’ve never felt such a good feeling with such cold water,” he said after the A’s beat Philadelphia 5-4 on Sunday and stopped the Phillies' nine-game win streak.

MacIver was among five players brought up from the minors on Friday. He started Sunday in place of Shea Langeliers in the day game after a night game.

“This is part of the talk that we had in spring training, it was going to take the whole army that was in the room,” said manager Mark Kotsay, who watched the end from the clubhouse following his first ejection this season.

MacIver, hitting .389 with two homers and 30 RBIs at Triple-A Las Vegas, grounded out in the second and fourth against Jesús Luzardo, then struck out in the sixth.

After Trea Turner homered in the eighth off Hogan Harris for a 4-3 lead, another Friday call-ups sparked the rally.

Logan Davidson walked and scored on Lawrence Butler's triple against Matt Strahm. MacIver fouled off a fastball, then drove a cutter into center field to bring home the go-ahead run.

“I'm always upset about walks,” Strahm said. “I just feel like I've had too many too close together.”

A day after blowing a ninth-inning lead, Mason Miller allowed a two-out single in the ninth to Alec Bohm. Johan Rojas pinch ran and MacIver, who had been in the minors since 2018, threw to shortstop Jacob Wilson, who tagged the sliding Rojas on an elbow.

“I had family here, friends, teammates, ex-teammates,” MacIver said. “It’s a dream come true. I can’t even put it into words.”

Rojas at 29.9 feet per second has the fifth-highest sprint speed in the majors among players with 10 or more opportunities, according to Statcast.

MacIver was selected by Colorado in the ninth round of the 2018 amateur draft from the University of Washington. He played in the 2021 Futures Game with Bobby Witt Jr., Julio Rodríguez and Spencer Torkelson.

MacIver became a minor league free agent last November and signed a minor league contract with the Athletics a month later.

“I’m so grateful for my family and for my support system,” he said. “They’ve been everything to me and I obviously wouldn’t be here without them and like I can’t thank them enough. ... The fact that they could be here and see my first hit and how that game ended, man, it’s awesome.”

Davidson started at first a day after Nick Kurtz left the game because of a left hip issue. He had two hits and two RBIs a day after a forgettable debut.

Davidson entered as a pinch runner for Kurtz in the 10th inning. He was thrown out at the plate, called for obstruction and ended a 9-6 loss by striking out.

“There’s a lot of confidence that I have in this kid,” Kotsay said. “I’ve invested a lot of time, we’ve had a lot of conversations through the last two seasons about what it was going to take for him to be a big leaguer and he has not backed down from anything that I’ve given him and to see the reward come today and just his first start and contributing and having such an impact to the win, was awesome.”

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Athletics pitcher Mason Miller points to catcher Willie MacIver after winning a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis)

Athletics pitcher Hogan Harris, left, and catcher Willie MacIver, right, walk to the dugout during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis)

Athletics catcher Willie MacIver, left, high-fives pitcher Mason Miller, right, after winning a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis)

Athletics catcher Willie MacIver throws the ball to the pitcher during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis)

Athletics pitcher Mason Miller points to catcher Willie MacIver after winning a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, May 25, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis)

Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, has died. He was 94.

Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” Hall worked to stop pucks at a time when players at his position were bare-faced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall’s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall’s son, Pat, said Hall died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.

A pioneer of the butterfly style of goaltending of dropping to his knees, Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St. Louis when the Blues reached the final before losing to Montreal. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.

His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924-30.

“Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable — especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.”

Counting the postseason, Hall started 552 games in a row.

Hall won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.

Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league's top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and '67. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.

Hall was in net when Boston's Bobby Orr scored in overtime to win the Cup for the Bruins in 1970, a goal that's among the most famous in hockey history because of the flying through the air celebration that followed. He played one more season with St. Louis before retiring in 1971.

“His influence extended far beyond the crease," Blues chairman Tom Stillman said. “From the very beginning, he brought credibility, excellence, and heart to a new team and a new NHL market.”

A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall was a seven-time first-team NHL All-Star who had 407 wins and 84 shutouts in 906 regular-season games. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, and his No. 1 was retired by Chicago in 1988.

Hall was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league's first 100 years.

Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz called Hall an innovator and “one of the greatest and most influential goaltenders in the history of our sport and a cornerstone of our franchise.”

“We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions to hockey and to our club, and we will honor his memory today and always,” Wirtz said.

The Blackhawks paid tribute to Hall and former coach and general manager Bob Pulford with a moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game against St. Louis. Pulford died Monday.

A Hall highlight video was shown on the center-ice videoboard. The lights were turned off for the moment of silence, except for a spotlight on the No. 1 banner for Hall that hangs in the rafters at the United Center.

Fellow Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the league's leader in wins with 691 and games played with 1,266, posted a photo of the last time he saw Hall along with a remembrance of him.

“Glenn Hall was a legend, and I was a big fan of his,” Brodeur said on social media. “He set the standard for every goaltender who followed. His toughness and consistency defined what it meant to play.”

AP Sports Writer Jay Cohen in Chicago contributed to this report.

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FILE - Glenn Hall, second from left, stands with fellow former Chicago Blackhawks players Stan Mikita, former general manager Tommy Ivan, Bobby Hull, Bill Wirtz and Tony Esposito during a pre-game ceremony at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Ill., April 14, 1994. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell, File)

FILE - St. Louis Blues goalie Glenn Hall, top right, is pinned to his net waiting to make a save on a Montreal Canadians shot as Blues' Noel Picard (4) tries to block the puck while Canadiens' John Ferguson (22) and Ralph Backstorm wait for a rebound in the third period of their NHL hockey Stanley Cup game, May 5, 1968. (AP Photo/Fred Waters, File)