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2023 Season Preview: Mets look to become NL powerhouse in Year 3 of Steve Cohen era

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:31:14 GMT

The 2023 season could be a crucial turning point in Mets history.They have the highest payroll in baseball with $370 million committed before taxes. They have a roster littered with elite talent and the ability to take more on should they need to. Steve Cohen, who quite possibly might be the most popular owner in baseball right now, was high on the “vibes” at spring training.Some might even say they were Amazin’.The Mets are even favored by some Las Vegas oddsmakers to win the World Series.In year No. 3 of the Cohen era, the Mets have shed their lovable loser identity and instead are poised to become a National League power, looking to improve on a 101-win 2022 campaign.But the enthusiasm has been curbed in recent weeks. The Mets will be without closer Edwin Diaz for the season, who tore his patellar on his right knee while celebrating a win with Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic.Typical Mets, right? They lost the best closer in baseball just months aft...

Column: Unsolicited advice for Chicago managers David Ross and Pedro Grifol? Just win.

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:31:14 GMT

David Ross watched Pedro Grifol play at Florida State back when the current Chicago Cubs manager was growing up in Tallahassee and working in the stands at the Seminoles ballpark selling Cokes.“He was the guy I watched,” Ross said of the new White Sox manager. “A big fan of Pedro … Not that we go way back, but I go way back watching Pedro on a baseball field.”Though he’s only in his fourth season, Ross already has outlasted two Sox managers in Rick Renteria and Tony La Russa, plus an interim manager in Miguel Cairo. But when I asked him what advice he would have for Grifol in his first year in Chicago, Ross pleaded the fifth.“Oh, I’m not here to give anybody advice on managing,” Ross replied. “Enjoy the city. It’s a great city. He’s been in coaching a lot longer than I have. He could probably give me more advice than I could give him.”Rest assured both managers will be offered unsolicited advice from their...

‘Damn Yankees’ lands on Marriott stage

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:31:14 GMT

Joe Boyd will do anything to help his favorite baseball team, the Washington Senators, win the pennant. That includes making a devilish deal in the multi-Tony Award-winning Broadway classic, “Damn Yankees” April 12-June 4 at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.Performances of the musical by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop (book), and Richard Adler and Jerry Ross (music and lyrics) are 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. most Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sundays, with select performances at 1 p.m. on Thursdays.“He’s a big dreamer,” said Andrew Alstat, who plays Joe Boyd, who becomes baseball superstar Joe Hardy. “He dreams of being a baseball star and he does whatever he needs to do to get there. So he makes this little deal with the devil. It’s very much a grass-is-always-greener situation. He’s quickly realizing when he’s in the shoes of Joe Hardy and that this is not ne...

Bolsonaro returns to Brazil after 3-month stint in Florida

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:31:14 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Former President Jair Bolsonaro arrived back in Brazil on Thursday after a three-month stay in Florida, seeking a new role on the political scene as authorities in the capital braced for the far-right populist’s return. Hundreds of supporters dressed in yellow and green chanted for him as they waited in the capital city of Brasilia, where the far-right leader is the subject of several investigations. The Federal District’s security secretariat mobilized hundreds of police officers and the Esplanade of Ministries was closed to prevent gatherings. Bolsonaro left Brazil just before the end of his presidential term. In so doing, he broke with tradition by declining to hand the presidential sash to his successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who won the October election with the narrowest finish since Brazil’s return to democracy over three decades earlier.While in the U.S., Bolsonaro mostly kept a low profile, although he delivered several speeches to Brazilian exp...

Fiery train derailment in Minnesota prompts evacuations

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:31:14 GMT

A train hauling ethanol and corn syrup derailed and caught fire in Minnesota early Thursday and nearby residents were ordered to evacuate their homes, authorities said.The BNSF train derailed in the town of Raymond, roughly 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of Minneapolis, about 1 a.m., according to a statement from Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Tollefson.The Associated Press left a message seeking comment from BNSF officials.The train “had numerous rail cars derail” and several caught fire, Tollefson said. Homes in an area 1/2 mile (0.8 kilometers) around the site were evacuated, according to Tollefson, and residents were taken to a shelter in nearby Prinsburg.Railroad safety has been in the spotlight nationally ever since last month’s fiery derailment of a Norfolk Southern train near East Palestine, Ohio. Roughly half of that town of about 5,000 people near the Pennsylvania border had to be evacuated after officials decided to release and burn toxic chemicals.Federal regulator...

EU chief urges caution in tech trade with China

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:31:14 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union must be prepared to develop measures to protect trade and investment that China might exploit for its own security and military purposes, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Thursday.Speaking before a trip to China planned for next week, von der Leyen said that it’s important to stop “sensitive technologies” that could be used in security crackdowns or to restrict human rights from falling into Beijing’s hands.“China’s changing policies may require us to develop new defensive tools for some critical sectors,” she said. “Where dual-use purposes cannot be excluded or human rights might be implicated, there will need to be a clear line on whether investments or exports are in our own security interests.”The commission, the EU’s executive branch, manages international trade on behalf of the 27 member countries and defends their interests at the World Trade Organization.Von der Leyen said that the EU should focus its defen...

Taiwan’s president speaks to her island’s safety on US stop

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:31:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taiwan’s president addressed members of New York’s Taiwanese community in a U.S. stopover on her way to Central America as she seeks to rally allies of the self-ruled island amid tensions with China.Pro-China demonstrators waving the Chinese flag rallied against President Tsai Ing-wen’s events in New York. One protester held a sign whose slogan declared the Taiwanese leader a “big traitor of China.”In a speech Wednesday night to fellow Taiwanese in New York, Tsai thanked the United States for its security assistance and urged Taiwanese unity.“The safer Taiwan is, the safer the world will be,” she said, and pledged Taiwan would work with its democratic partners to remain on the path of democracy.Tsai arrived in New York on Wednesday and was expected to spend Thursday in closed events in the city. Taiwan is carefully calibrating Tsai’s stops in the United States and forgoing official meetings with senior U.S. leaders in Washington in an effort to li...

Candlelight walk to be held Thursday night in honour of teen fatally stabbed at TTC station

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:31:14 GMT

A candlelight walk will be held in the High Park area on Thursday night to honour Gabriel Magalhaes, the teen fatally stabbed at Keele Subway Station over the weekend.The walk is being organized by the “Keele Street Public School” class of 2020. The event will begin at 8 p.m. at the Bloor Street gates of High Park, where the 16-year-old grew up.Police had said Magalhaes was sitting on a bench at the station on Saturday night when he was approached. A 22-year-old man of no fixed address was later arrested and charged with one count of first-degree murder. The teen’s death came as the TTC has been dealing with a series of high-profile cases of violence.“My coworker, who so tragically lost her beloved son this past weekend, has extended an invitation to join his family on a candlelight walk to honour him,” said a family friend.Court documents from Newfoundland and Labrador provincial court show Jordan O’Brien-Tobin, 22, is wanted on an outstanding wa...

In Germany, Charles III set to make organic ‘king cheese’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:31:14 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — After schmoozing with Berlin’s political elite in the morning, King Charles III plans to head to the German countryside for a down-to-earth afternoon visit at an organic farm, where Britain’s monarch will help make an orange-colored cheese with a crown imprint.“We heard that the king is a great lover of cheese,” Katja von Maltzan, who with her husband runs the Brodowin farm 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Germany’s capital.“We took that as an opportunity to make our own creation for him,” the farmer told German news agency dpa.The Brodowin King is a Tilsiter-style cheese infused with carrot juice to give “it a little sweetness and an orange color, like British cheddar,” she said. Charles’ visit underlines his interest and commitment to environmental causes. His three-day visit to Germany — his first foreign trip as Britain’s monarch — also included a reception dedicated to building a more sustainable world.During the reception ...

Japanese surfer nears 90 and talks of catching waves at 100

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:31:14 GMT

FUJISAWA, Japan (AP) — A busy company owner for the early part of his life, Seiichi Sano began anew at 80 by climbing Mt. Fuji. Apparently not challenged enough by Japan’s highest peak, he almost immediately took up surfing.Sano turns 90 later this year, and after being recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest male to surf, he’s ready for other tests.“Maybe I’ll try bouldering,” he said, suggesting he might do it first in a gym. “Outside it might be a bit dangerous.”He ruled out bungee-jumping. “Too scary,” he said.Or maybe he’ll just stick with what he knows.“I think it would be interesting to try to surf until I’m 100,” Sano said. “I think I take better care of myself when I have goals like this. Even now, I take better care of myself than I did before.”Sano lives about 20 minutes from Yokohama and gets out most weekends on the black-sand beach near Enoshima, the small island that hosted sailing for the recent Tokyo Olympics, and was the har...