CHICAGO (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers infielder Caleb Durbin was able to thrill — and upset — a group of family and friends at Wrigley Field with one swing of the bat on Thursday.
The 25-year-old rookie from the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois, hit a two-run homer in the second inning that put Milwaukee ahead en route to an 8-7 win over the Cubs. He connected in his second game at the North Side ballpark and fifth in Chicago, following three against the White Sox earlier this season.
While Durbin's relatives and old high school pals were rooting for him, many also were pulling for the Cubs.
“They joke around, like ‘Hey come on now,’ " Durbin said. “But yeah, it's a lot of fun knowing that I have family and friends that are, you know, pretty diehard Cubs fans who are here.”
Durbin's drive off Jameson Taillon reached the left-center bleachers and gave the Brewers a 4-2 lead.
Durbin has played in 54 games this season, 50 at third base. He's hitting .216 with three homers and 24 RBIs after taking a backdoor route to the major leagues.
Durbin was on the baseball, football and wrestling teams at Lake Forest High School, then went on to play NCAA Division III baseball at Washington University in St. Louis. At 5-foot-7 and 183 pounds, he has a wrestler's build — and tenacity.
“He’s sure as hell low enough to the ground," manager Pat Murphy said. "Makes sense. I didn’t think he was a long jumper.”
Over his last 23 games Durbin his batting .269, boosting his average from .169 on May 20.
"He's getting comfortable and he's getting confident," Murphy said. "He knows what he has to do and he's just a tenacious competitor, and no situation is going to be too big for him. He's resilient. He's relentless.”
Durbin said Washington University's baseball program is underrated, but made it to the NCAA Division III baseball tournament in 2021 when he was a junior.
“The top D3 programs are good baseball, maybe not the same as top D1 programs, but we were a competitive team,” Durbin said. “Then I was able to get a chance post-college to keep playing.”
Durbin worked his way up from the bottom of the minor leagues, eventually reaching Triple-A in 2024. Drafted by Atlanta in 2021, he was traded to the Yankees in 2022. Durbin came to the Brewers along with left-hander Nestor Cortes in a December 2024 deal that sent closer Devin Williams to New York.
“I was just trying to chip away to get a shot at the bigs,” Durbin said. “And then you get to the big leagues and it's the same thing, you're chipping away to win.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Milwaukee Brewers' Caleb Durbin is greeted in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run against the Chicago Cubs during the second inning of a baseball game Thursday, June 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.
Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.
“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.
"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.
Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.
Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.
Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.
At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.
Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.
Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.
After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.
“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”
Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.
Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.
His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.
“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”
Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.
FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
