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There are certain rivalries that will undoubtedly last forever. Cardinals fans and Cubs fans will be traveling back and forth on I-55 to yell at each other for decades. Giants fans and Dodgers fans will never be best friends. There will be New England parents who will refuse to support their children marrying Yankees fans until the end of time. Some rivalries are eternal.

But other rivals pop up, organically, amidst intense competition, overt familiarity and just good old-fashioned spite. And why wouldn’t they? Everybody wants to win … and they’ve got that one team constantly standing in their way. These rivalries won’t last as long as the Red Sox-Yankees bile will, but in the moment, and over the course of a season, they’re just as fierce.

It’s something that comes to mind right now, in the midst of MLB Network celebrating Rivalry Week, which continues this weekend with broadcasts of three intradivision clashes: Dodgers-Padres (Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET), Yankees-Rays (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET) and Astros-Mariners (Saturday, 9:30 p.m. ET). Meanwhile, the Twins and Guardians also open their series Friday (7:10 p.m. ET) as part of the Apple TV+ doubleheader.

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Here’s a look at the biggest pop-up rivalry in each division today, with all four of those matchups making the list.

AL East: Yankees-Rays

It has been two years since FiveThirtyEight’s Neil Paine proclaimed that the Yankees and Rays were the real rivals in the AL East -- sorry, Red Sox, gotta win more games! -- and the rivalry has only gotten more fierce since then. Kevin Kiermaier may be in Toronto now, but the longtime Ray summed up why the Rays and Yankees are such perfect rivals last year:

“The Yankees, they’ve got the big payroll, the mega-superstars,” Kiermaier said. “And then you’ve got the Rays. The small payroll. Not a whole lot of household names, but a lot of above-average Major Leaguers. And guys who know how to win.”

That’s particularly true this year, with the Rays off to such a blistering start, and the Yankees one game above .500 … but still in last place. Add in the Yankees’ Spring Training facility being located in Tampa, and you’ve got the ideal 2023 rivalry.

AL Central: Guardians-Twins

The way the AL Central has shaken out over the last decade, these are essentially the only two teams who could be rivals. Since the Royals won the division (and the World Series) in 2015, this pair has won six of the seven division titles, with the Guardians winning four and the Twins two. With the division falling apart around them -- the Twins are three games up on the Guardians, and the Tigers are a distant third, five games back -- this may remain the case for a while.

One of the most fun things about rivalries is that they work best when the rivals are similar: We always hate most what most reminds us of ourselves. This is the Twins-Guardians rivalry in a nutshell.

AL West: Astros-Mariners

There is an alternate history out there in which this does not happen:

The Mariners, in their first postseason in 20 years, are one out away from taking home-field advantage from the hated, forever-lurking Astros: All they need to get is that very last out. And then Yordan Alvarez launches that homer into the throngs of screaming Houston fans, and at that point, the Astros were off, well on their way to their second World Series title. The Mariners, with all their young talent, believe their story is just beginning. But they, like everybody else, have to get past the Astros first.

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NL East: Braves-Mets

All right, so this isn’t exactly a new rivalry. Chipper Jones does have a son named Shea, after all. But, with apologies to the Phillies (who, uh, did make the World Series last year), these two teams look loaded and ready to lock horns for the next half-decade.

The Braves have a core group that’s signed for years to come and looks very much primed to win another World Series at some point -- if not more. Meanwhile, the Mets are, suffice it to say, very motivated to do whatever it takes to take the NL East mantle from the Braves and win their first championship since 1986. To see how intense this one can get, look no further than the end of last season, with the Braves sweeping that series from the Mets and claiming the division for the fifth straight year. And they’re just getting started.

NL Central: Brewers-Cardinals

Now, if this is going to remain a rivalry, the Cardinals are probably going to have to get out of last place at some point. But assuming that happens, these two teams are going to tangle like they have essentially this entire century. The Cardinals’ success has been well-documented. But it’s worth remembering how many headaches they’ve provided the Brewers, from 2011 (one of the best Brewers teams ever that ultimately fell to those streaking Cardinals in the NLCS) to last year, when the Brewers vexed the Cardinals all season until the Josh Hader trade sent the team plummeting. One fun thing about this division rivalry: They’ve actually faced each other in the World Series before, in 1982. (The Cardinals won that one, too.)

NL West: Dodgers-Padres

This has to be the biggest one at the moment, right? The Padres have forever been in the shadow of their Southern California neighbors, but something seemed to switch when the Padres became the only major sports franchise left in San Diego, following the departure of the NFL’s Chargers. The Padres’ aggression in trying to take down the Dodgers has only ramped up, and they have beaten the Dodgers at their own game by bringing in every big name imaginable, from Manny Machado to Juan Soto to Xander Bogaerts. It hasn’t worked in the regular season yet, but during last year’s NLDS, the Padres finally broke through. These two are going to be punching each other in the throat for years to come. We’re all just lucky enough to get to watch.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The union representing 11,500 writers of film, television and other entertainment forms are now on strike. It’s the first writers’ strike — and the first Hollywood strike of any kind — in 15 years. Here’s a look at the storylines the fight has spawned.

Hollywood Writers Strike picket lines begin out of New York

WHY ARE THE WRITERS STRIKING?

Streaming and its ripple effects are at the center of the dispute. The guild says that even as series budgets have increased, writers’ share of that money has consistently shrunk.

Streaming services’ use of smaller staffs — known in the industry as “mini rooms” — for shorter stints has made sustained income harder to come by, the guild says. And the number of writers working at guild minimums has gone from about a third to about half in the past decade.

“On TV staffs, more writers are working at minimum regardless of experience, often for fewer weeks,” the guild said in a March report.

The lack of a regular seasonal calendar in streaming has depressed pay further, the report says. And scheduled annual pay bumps under the current contract have fallen well short of increases in inflation.

The weekly minimum for a staff writer on a television series in the 2019-2020 season was $4,546, according to industry trade outlet Variety. They work an average of 29 weeks on a network show for $131,834 annually, or an average of 20 weeks on a streaming show for $90,920. For a writer-producer, the figure is $6,967 per week. Writers of comedy-variety shows for streaming have no minimum protections at all, the guild says.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Hollywood’s studios, streamers and production companies, says the writers’ demands would require that they be kept on staff and paid when there is no work for them. “If writing needs to be done, writers are hired, but these proposals require the employment of writers whether they’re needed for the creative process or not,” the group said in a document outlining its positions.

And the AMPTP says its offers included the first-ever minimums for streaming comedy-variety writers.

The group also said that writers’ healthcare, child care and pension benefits set them far apart from the “gig economy” workers the writers have compared themselves to.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Months of negotiations still left considerable distance between writers and the AMPTP. The Writers Guild of America — whose East and West versions are technically two unions that act as a unit in these negotiations.

Talks, which often extend for hours or days past a contract deadline, instead ended hours before the most recent contract expired Monday night. By that point writers, who voted overwhelmingly to authorize their leaders to call a strike, had already begun making signs for picket lines, Which they promptly put to use Tuesday.

The AMPTP said that it had offered “generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals,” including the highest first-year wage increase in a WGA contract in more than 25 years, and the creation of a new category of rates that would mean a new, higher minimum for mid-level writers. The group said it was prepared to improve its offers, but the union was asking for so much more than companies were willing to offer that it cut off negotiations hours before the contract expired.

WHAT SHOWS WILL BE AFFECTED FIRST?

Late-night talk shows, heavily dependent on same-day, current-events-based comedy writing, were the first to feel the strike’s effect. The shows have been the de facto frontline during previous writers strikes. NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” ABC’s “ Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and CBS’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” all went immediately into hiatus and will air reruns. James Corden’s Thursday night farewell to his “Late Late Show” was well-timed.

“Saturday Night Live,” nearly as dependent on last-minute writing, has already axed this week’s episode with host Pete Davidson. The final two episodes in the season that follow it are in serious jeopardy.

Forthcoming awards shows are keeping plans in place for now, but those could easily fall apart.

HOW WILL THE STRIKE AFFECT SCRIPTED SERIES AND MOVIES?

The strike’s impact on scripted series could take far longer to manifest. Noticeable effects on the movie release calendar could take even longer.

Shows where writers had begun work on forthcoming seasons — including Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” — have now paused the process, and would have to scramble after the strike to stay on schedule.

Production on finished screenplays can proceed as planned (without the benefit of last-minute rewrites). In general, Hollywood’s other unions — including guilds for actors and directors, both of which face expiring deals with AMPTP in the coming months — are forbidden by their contracts to join the current strike and must continue working, though both members and leaders have expressed solidarity with the WGA.

Productions, long aware of the looming deadline, sought to wrap before it arrived. FilmLA, which hands out location permits for the Los Angeles area, say that none have been requested for television dramas or sitcoms this week.

Depending on their media consumption methods, many viewers and moviegoers may not notice the effects of a strike until long after it’s over, if at all. The menus on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video will look no different next week, but because this would be the first writers’ strike of the streaming era, there is no template for how they will look months down the line.

During the last strike, when broadcast and cable networks with well-established seasonal schedules were still predominant, many shows, including “30 Rock,” “CSI,” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” shortened their seasons.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW FOR THE WRITERS?

The full stop to work will mean major economic losses for screenwriters, though many say it’s worth it to fight the day-to-day dwindling of income.

Guild strike rules prevent members from striking new deals, making new pitches, or turning in new scripts. They are allowed to accept payment for any writing that’s already been done.

Those known in the industry as “hyphenates,” including showrunners who act as head writer-producers, performer-writers, and people like Quinta Brunson of “Abbot Elementary” who do all the above, are allowed to do the non-writing parts of their jobs under union rules, though that work may be minimal as they seek solidarity with their writing staffs. (At Monday’s Met Gala, Bruson said “I’m a member of the WGA and support WGA and ... We, us, us getting what we need. ... No one wants a strike, but I hope that we’re able to rectify this, whatever that means”)

HOW PREVIOUS WRITERS STRIKES HAVE PLAYED OUT

Writers have gone on strike six times, more than any group in Hollywood.

The first came in 1960, a Writers Guild walkout that lasted nearly five months. Strikes followed in 1973, 1981, and 1985. The longest work stoppage, lasting exactly five months, came in 1988.

The 2007-2008 strike was resolved after three months. Among the main concessions the writers won were requirements that fledgling streaming shows would have to hire guild writers if their budgets were big enough. It was an early harbinger of nearly every entertainment labor fight in the years that followed.

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This story has been corrected to show that “Yellowjackets” has only stopped the writing process and was not shooting episodes.

LOS ANGELES — It started as a small group of atheists tracking and removing religious signs from public streets in Los Angeles. Now, this network operates in several states across the country, with volunteers documenting and taking down religious material illegally placed on utility poles and overpasses.

Known as the Atheist Street Pirates, the group formed in 2021 as a subset of the Los Angeles-based Atheists United, a nonprofit that’s been in the city for 40 years and seeks to “empower people to express secular values and promote separation of government and religion.”

The street pirates say their goal is to clear city streets of religious propaganda.

Evan Clark, the executive director of Atheists United, created a public Google map database where the street pirates upload photos and locations of the signage they encounter during commutes.

A year ago, the map showed about 70 signs across Los Angeles County, including material taken down by the pirates or others. The map now includes about 1,000 markers for religious signage that has been reported, tracked or removed in Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Illinois and Kentucky. Volunteers focus on religious signs on public land, not paid billboards or signage on church property.

The documented signs on the map include banners designed with American flags declaring “Prayer Changes Things” that were attached to chain link fences and wooden panels visible from Southern California freeways. Bright yellow “JESUS SAVES” signs also appear quite commonly in North Carolina, according to the map.

Through this work, Clark, who identifies as an atheist and humanist, said he has recognized a “larger phenomenon happening, where Christian nationalists, evangelicals and other types of religious fanatics are using our public land illegally for their proselytizing.”

On April 23, Atheists United held an art exhibition in Los Angeles featuring signs and banners that volunteers have removed from across Southern California. Clark said showcasing the signs this way helps to convey the magnitude of the issue.

Dozens of posters with the words “Jesus. The way. The truth. The life” were prominently showcased on a wall during the exhibit. These signs are the most commonly seen in Los Angeles at busy intersections, in public parks and on freeway off-ramps. More than 130 have been removed, according to Atheists United. Some of these signs are stapled and can be easily torn down, but many are placed atop telephone poles and attached with roofing nails. Volunteers have had to use a crowbar and ladder to remove some signs.

The origin of the signs is largely unknown, but Atheists United has learned of an effort led by the street evangelist Brent Farley, a born-again Christian who produces the “JESUS SAVES” posters that have been largely spotted in the South.

In an interview with Axios last year, Farley said he used to be an atheist but eventually “found God” and decided to create and distribute the signs as a way of spreading his newfound faith. “I put signs up wherever I go,” he said.

At the exhibit, Atheists United featured a dozen or so Farley signs that were taken down in the Los Angeles area. Clark said Atheists United has tracked about 250 of the signs on its map.

Ted Nunn, a Texas atheist who learned about Atheist Street Pirates through a news article, manages the map. He marks the locations of religious signs reported by the pirates or by anyone familiar with their work. He confirms the signs and locations by looking through Google Street View.

Nunn, who traveled from Texas for the exhibition, said he’s not against religious people but has a problem with the “influence of religion in the public sphere.”

Dan Barker, a Christian minister turned atheist, understands why people would feel compelled to place this kind of religious signage. He used to do the same, he said.

“I used to think Jesus is going to come any minute now, and it’s either heaven or hell. So maybe there’s some little laws that are broken, but what’s more important than trying to get the message out?” said Barker, who now is a co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s board of directors.

“I think most of these signs are sincere. … The people who put them up really, really believe it, or they wouldn’t go through all that trouble,” added Barker, who attended the art exhibition.

Barker noted the right to free speech, but he said this kind of religious signage — without a permit — does not belong on the “public property that belongs to all of us.” — Religion News Service

LOS ANGELES -- Gavin Stone had about 25 friends and family members at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, all eager to watch him finally make his Major League debut. Back home in Lake City, Ark., a town with fewer than 3,000 people, local shops and restaurants were shut down just to watch the right-hander achieve his lifelong dream.

For Stone, it was just the beginning of what he and the Dodgers hope turns out to be a long and successful career. In his first taste of the Majors, Stone had some ups and downs, allowing five runs (four earned) and striking out one over four innings in the Dodgers’ 10-6 win over the Phillies at Dodger Stadium.

“Awesome,” Stone, the organization’s No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline, said of getting a chance to pitch in the Majors. “Just to have the confidence that [manager Dave Roberts] has shown in me is huge for me and it’s really helped me a lot, going through spring and coming into the season. I’m very thankful for that. For him to give me an opportunity this early in the season was very special.”

• What to expect from Stone in the big leagues

The Dodgers’ defense didn’t give Stone much help in the first inning. Max Muncy botched what would’ve been a routine inning-ending double play. Instead, the Phillies got a run across on a Bryson Stott sacrifice fly.

Stone, however, showed flashes of why he’s such a highly touted prospect, staying composed and getting out of a bases-loaded jam with a Brandon Marsh groundout.

“As a manager, you watch how guys react to things out of their control,” Roberts said. “And he handled it like a pro. That’s a play that Max would make 99 percent of the time, but he didn’t come up with it. But Gavin kept us in that ballgame in that inning. So that was good to see.”

After retiring the side in order in the second, Stone ran into more trouble in the third. Stone gave up back-to-back doubles to Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos, then four consecutive two-out singles. The Phillies scored four runs in the frame.

In the fourth, however, Stone worked around Harper’s one-out single to end his outing with a zero on the board.

"Felt great,” Stone said. “Third inning got away from me a little bit, but other than that, it felt great. Didn't have my best stuff, but going forward, it's a very positive outing for me."

Overall, Stone struggled with his command and didn't have a feel for his signature changeup, a pitch that is rated as one of the best in the Minors. The Dodgers will now decide what they’ll do with Stone moving forward. They could choose to option him back to Triple-A Oklahoma City and continue his development, or they can stay with a six-man rotation one more time through the order, giving Stone another chance next week against the Brewers.

Regardless of what they do and despite some of the results, Wednesday’s start at Dodger Stadium is one Stone will never forget.

“It’s been a crazy ride for me and my family and I’m thankful that they have been a huge support system for me,” Stone said. “But yeah, it's been a crazy ride from 2020 to now. I can’t believe it. Hopefully, I can make it a long career.”

Paramount Global (PARA) CEO Bob Bakish weighed in on the Hollywood writers' strike during the company's quarterly earnings call on Thursday, revealing the longer the strike continues, the bigger the impact it will have on its financials.

"In terms of financial impact, it really ultimately depends on duration of strike," Bakish said. "But at this point, we think it's probably slightly dilutive to revenue, flat on [operating income before appreciation and amortization] and accretive [to cash spend.]"

The executive added Paramount has multiple "levers" it can pull to successfully mitigate the strike's impact — even for an extended duration.

"In terms of those levers, we have a lot [of] content in the can, so with the exception of things like late night, consumers really won't notice anything for a while," he said.

He explained the media giant's leading position in reality and unscripted content, coupled with sports and offshore productions, helps further beef up its content position. "We've been planning for this."

Ultimately, Bakish said he hopes the writers and studios can reach a resolution as quickly as possible given writers are "an essential part of creating content that our audiences enjoy." However, he did warn "there's a pretty big gap today" in the negotiations, describing the situation as "multifaceted."

After failing to reach an agreement with production studios, the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which represents thousands of television and movie writers, called for a strike at midnight on Tuesday, setting off a production shutdown across the industry.

It's the first writers' strike in 15 years following 2007's 100 day stoppage.

In a statement, the WGA said the committee "began this process intent on making a fair deal, but the studios' responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing."

The six-week talks centered on pay concerns brought on by the streaming boom, in addition to other fundamental changes within entertainment like the recent that has prompted media giants from Disney () to Warner Bros. Discovery () to enact mass layoffs and shelve multiple projects.

"We have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world, so we could probably serve our members better than most," Netflix () co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during the company's last month.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslavduring the company's last month, telling reporters, "We've got ourselves ready. We've had a lot of content that's been produced and we are launching a product on May 23. So, we are ready to go guns blazing in terms of our product and our platforms around the world."

The box office should also be safe, according to industry executives: "For films coming out this year, the strike really doesn't have an impact," IMAX () CEO Richard Gelfond told on Monday. "It's a question of how long it goes on for and what happens next year."