Media Today

[Rick Plant]

9 wins, 9 romps. Baseball has never seen a team start like these Rays

With a second straight 11-0 win, the Rays have completed the best nine-game stretch to start an MLB season.



ST. PETERSBURG — Remember this. Remember this now while the joy is fresh, and the memories are clear. Remember this before injuries, better competition and the reality of baseball ruin the vibe.

You have never seen anything like what the Rays have done in the first nine games of the season. I know this is true because Major League Baseball has never seen anything like what the Rays have done.

It’s not just that Tampa Bay is the first team in 20 years to open a season with nine consecutive wins. It’s the way the Rays have won. Emphatically. Uproariously. Entertainingly.

Each of the 12 previous teams to start a season 9-0 had close calls along the way. Six of them had extra-inning games. Eleven of them had a one-run game. None of them was even close to an average margin of victory of 6.3 runs per game.

“Unbelievable,” starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen said.

The Rays have hit 24 home runs and scored 75 runs. None of those other teams came close to matching that. The Rays have allowed 18 runs to score. Only two of those other teams managed to do better. It’s not any one thing. It’s everything.

“It’s insane,” reliever Jason Adam said.

Even if you dismiss the oddity of Tampa Bay doing this during the first two weeks of the regular season, it is still an unnatural number of beatdowns in a row. It’s been 84 years since a team won nine consecutive games by four or more runs at any point in a season.

“Everything is clicking,” manager Kevin Cash said.



Look, everyone in the clubhouse knows this is not sustainable. Everyone knows the schedule makers deserve an assist for offering nine consecutive games against Detroit, Washington and Oakland. But everyone in there also knows there is a unique blend of skill and depth on this Rays roster.

“When you’re rolling as a team, you just keep it going. You don’t question anything,” said second baseman Brandon Lowe, who has four walks, three hits, six runs and eight RBIs in his last nine plate appearances.

“You just show up and take care of business. It really just feels like we’re playing our game. This is exactly what we figured was going to happen when we got everybody back healthy.”

You figured this would happen?

“We knew we were gonna be good,” he said.

Yes, the Rays are good. They may even be great, although we are a long, long way from determining that.

The point is there are exceptional teams in every sport in every season, but the Rays are also inordinately entertaining. They can, of course, hit and pitch. But they also play great defense. And they are fearless on the bases. But they are also young and vibrant and appreciative of their opportunities.

By now, you may have seen or heard of the hustle of Harold Ramirez in Sunday’s 11-0 victory against Oakland. On a routine ground ball in the fourth inning, Ramirez busted it down the first-base line for a single when A’s third baseman Jace Peterson took an extra beat to glance at the runner going to second.

Two outs later, Christian Bethancourt hit a grounder to short that looked like an inning-ending forceout. Except first base coach Chris Prieto had told Ramirez to get an extra-long lead because Oakland wasn’t holding him on, and the husky Ramirez again hustled into a base ahead of the throw.

Moments later, Lowe hit a grand slam. That was four extra runs because Ramirez refused to give up.

“We all play for each other, and I think that’s what makes this team so good,” said first baseman Luke Raley. “We blew that game open with B-Lowe’s grand slam, but that never happens without Harold’s hustle. That’s how we’re going to play. We have a bunch of guys willing to work hard for the guy behind them. So I wouldn’t say we’re shocked. Our (pitching) staff is good, our bats are going, we’ve got a good team.”

But isn’t it crazy to outscore three different opponents by a combined 75-18?

“Yeah, it’s crazy. So let’s stay that way,” Raley said.

For the record, the Rays have a combined slugging percentage of .588 and an on-base percentage of .374. The starting rotation has an ERA of 1.90 with 60 strikeouts in 52 innings.

The only area of the team that hasn’t been seriously tested is the bullpen. That’s the way it goes when you’ve been tied or had the lead in 93.9 percent of the innings you’ve played. The Rays are the only unbeaten team in the majors but, incongruously, they’re the only team without a save.

So who is going to get the first save opportunity for Tampa Bay in 2023?

“I guess it will be Pete (Fairbanks),” said Adam. “But it’s like he’s been on vacation.”

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2023/04/09/unbeaten-rays-win-streak-mlb-best-brandon-lowe/

[Rick Plant]

Louisville bank employee livestreamed attack that killed 5

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Louisville bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at his workplace Monday morning, killing five people — including a close friend of Kentucky’s governor — while livestreaming the attack on Instagram, authorities said.

Police arrived as shots were still being fired inside Old National Bank and killed the shooter in an exchange of gunfire, Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said. The city’s mayor, Craig Greenberg, called the attack “an evil act of targeted violence.”

The shooting, the 15th mass killing in the country this year, comes just two weeks after a former student killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) to the south. That state’s governor and his wife also had friends killed in that shooting.

In Louisville, the chief identified the shooter as 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, who she said was livestreaming during the attack.

“That’s tragic to know that that incident was out there and captured,” she said.

Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, said in a statement that it had “quickly removed the livestream of this tragic incident this morning.”

Social media companies have imposed tougher rules over the past few years to prohibit violent and extremist content. They have set up systems to remove posts and streams that violate those restrictions, but shocking material like the Louisville shooting continues to slip through the cracks, prompting lawmakers and other critics to lash out at the technology industry for slipshod safeguards and moderation policies.

A man who fled the building during the shooting told WHAS-TV that the shooter opened fire with a long rifle in a conference room in the back of the building’s first floor.

“Whoever was next to me got shot — blood is on me from it,” he told the news station, pointing to his shirt. He said he fled to a break room and shut the door.

Nine people, including two police officers, were treated for injuries, University of Louisville Hospital spokeswoman Heather Fountaine said in an email. One of the wounded, identified as 57-year-old Deana Eckert, later died, police said Monday night.

One of the wounded officers, 26-year-old Nickolas Wilt, graduated from the police academy on March 31. He was in critical condition after being shot in the head and having surgery, the police chief said. At least three patients had been discharged.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he lost one of his closest friends in the shooting.

“Tommy Elliott helped me build my law career, helped me become governor, gave me advice on being a good dad,” said Beshear, his voice shaking with emotion. “He’s one of the people I talked to most in the world, and very rarely were we talking about my job. He was an incredible friend.”

Also killed in the shooting were Josh Barrick, Jim Tutt and Juliana Farmer, police said.

“These are irreplaceable, amazing individuals that a terrible act of violence tore from all of us,” the governor said.

Beshear spoke as the investigation in Louisville continued and police searched for a motive. Crime scene investigators could be seen marking and photographing numerous bullet holes in the windows near the front door of the bank, not far from Waterfront Park and minor league ballpark Louisville Slugger Field.

As part of the investigation, police descended on the neighborhood where the suspect lived, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of the downtown shooting. The street was blocked as federal and local officers talked to residents. One home was cordoned off with caution tape. Kami Cooper, who lives in the neighborhood, said she didn’t recall ever meeting the suspect but said it’s an unnerving feeling to have lived on the same street as someone who could do such a thing.

“I’m almost speechless. You see it on the news but not at home,” Cooper said. “It’s unbelievable, it could happen here, somebody on my street.”

Deputy Police Chief Paul Humphrey said the actions of responding police officers undoubtedly saved lives.

“This is a tragic event,” he said. “But it was the heroic response of officers that made sure that no more people were more seriously injured than what happened.”

Just a few hours later and blocks away, an unrelated shooting killed one man and wounded a woman outside a community college, police said.

The 15 mass shootings this year are the most during the first 100 days of a calendar year since 2009, when 16 had occurred by April 10, according to a mass killings database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. The pace slowed later in 2009, with 32 mass killings recorded that year.

Going back to 2006, the first year for which data has been compiled, the years with the most mass killings were 2019 and 2022, with 45 and 42 mass killings recorded during the entire calendar year.

It was the second time that Beshear was personally touched by a mass tragedy since becoming governor.

In late 2021, one of the towns devastated by tornadoes that tore through Kentucky was Dawson Springs, the hometown of Beshear’s father, former two-term Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear. Andy Beshear frequently visited Dawson Springs as a boy and has talked emotionally about his father’s hometown.

https://apnews.com/article/downtown-louisville-shooting-dc7b45a9c5d2b384a16d653864f8b735

[Rick Plant]

Rays 'keep it rolling,' become 1st MLB team to open 10-0 since 1987
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/36153014/rays-keep-rolling-become-1st-mlb-team-open-10-0-1987

Inside the Tampa Bay Rays' historic unbeaten start
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/36146855/inside-tampa-bay-rays-historic-unbeaten-start-2023-mlb-season

MLB Power Rankings Week 1: Who's No. 1 one week into the season?
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/36083297/mlb-power-rankings-2023-no-1-braves-astros-yankees

[Rick Plant]

Christine McVie’s Cause of Death Revealed

The legendary Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter died in November at age 79.



Following the death of Fleetwood Mac legend Christine McVie in November at age 79, her cause of death was revealed on Thursday (April 6).

The star died of a stroke, with a secondary cause of death listed as cancer, according to her death certificate obtained by People and first reported by The Blast. McVie suffered an ischemic stroke, which happens due to decreased blood flow to particular areas of the brain, according to the National Institute of Health. She also reportedly had “metastatic malignancy of unknown primary origin,” which indicates that cancer cells were found in her body but medical professionals were unable to determine where the cells spread from, according to the National Cancer Institute.

McVie died on November 30 at age 79. The late icon’s family shared the news via a statement posted to Facebook, which noted that she passed away at a hospital “following a short illness.”

"She was in the company of her family,” the statement continued. “We kindly ask that you respect the family’s privacy at this extremely painful time, and we would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally.”

Fleetwood Mac also shared a band statement, in which they wrote, “She was truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure. She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life. We were so lucky to have a life with her.”

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/christine-mcvie-cause-of-death-1235299358/

[Rick Plant]

Rays improve to 11-0 after dominant win over Red Sox



ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The streaking Tampa Bay Rays are running out of superlatives to describe baseball’s best start in more than three decades.

Remarkable, incredible, unbelievable — even crazy — are words players have used to describe the dominant, all-around team effort that has carried them to an 11-0 record that’s the toast of the big leagues two weeks into the season.

The Rays, who have made the playoffs each of the past four years, expected to be good.

But no one could have envisioned them joining the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, 1982 Atlanta Braves, 1981 Oakland Athletics, 1966 Cleveland Indians, 1962 Pittsburgh Pirates and 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers as the only clubs to begin seasons with double-digit win streaks.

Of those teams, only the Dodgers won the World Series.

“Pretty exciting. Doing it the way we have, every facet of our game is really performing, producing and contributing,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Normally it doesn’t work out that way.”

Through Tuesday night’s 7-2 victory against the Boston Red Sox, the Rays have swatted a majors-leading 29 homers and outscored opponents 83-20 for baseball’s fastest getaway since the ’87 Brewers won 13 in a row to tie the ’82 Braves for the longest win streak to start a season.

Tampa Bay won its first nine games by four runs or more, the longest such streak at any point in a season since the New York Yankees rattled off 10 in a row in 1939.

“Truthfully, I don’t think we’ve talked about it. We’re just here to play our brand of baseball. … We just have fun with each other, and go out there and have a blast,” ace Shane McClanahan said.

"It’s fun to be in this clubhouse regardless of the streak, to be honest with you,” McClanahan added. “I’ll tell you the truth, that’s the last thing we’re concerned about. … Part of what we do is no matter what, we have the same mentality out there.”

In addition to swinging torrid bats, the pitching and defense have been superb, too, with No. 3 and No. 4 starters Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen each winning twice and posting 13 scoreless innings over their first two outings.

McClanahan, a first-time All-Star a year ago, is 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA through three starts, while offseason acquisition Zach Eflin (2-0, 3.27) has been impressive after signing a $40 million, three-year contract — the largest the budget-minded Rays have ever awarded in free agency. Eflin was placed on the injured list Tuesday with back tightness.

That group has thrived even without star right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who has been sidelined by a left oblique strain since spring training.

Eflin and rookie reliever Kevin Kelly were the only new faces on the opening-day roster, so it’s not surprising that pieces have come together quickly.

"This is incredible baseball that we’re playing,” said second baseman Brandon Lowe, whose eighth-inning homer beat Boston 1-0 on Monday night. “We gotta keep it up.”

That won’t be easy, especially in the rugged AL East, where the defending division champion Yankees and young, talented Toronto Blue Jays once again are expected to contend for playoff berths.

Tampa Bay won its first nine games against the last-place Tigers, Nationals and A’s, who were a combined 8-22 entering Tuesday night.

Regardless of the competition, though, winning 10 in a row at any point in a season is difficult to do.

Offensively, Lowe and 22-year-old shortstop Wander Franco are off to strong starts after being hampered by injuries for much of 2022.

Randy Arozarena, Harold Ramirez, Yandy Díaz, Manuel Margot and Josh Lowe have been key contributors, too, as the Rays thrive on timely production throughout a lineup that lost defensive whiz Kevin Kiermaier, first baseman Ji-Man Choi and catcher Mike Zunino from last season.

Brandon Lowe noted the offense is producing much the way the Rays felt it could once all the key components recovered from injuries.

“It’s just nice to see it all come together,” Lowe said.

"They’re doing something that hasn’t been done in quite some time. We should be proud of that,” Cash said. “The good thing about this club is, they win, they enjoy it and … they’re ready (to play) the next day. They hold themselves to a high standard and want to be ready to go.”

The Rays also know it’s early.

“It feels nice to get in here and celebrate. … But, you know, we are, what, 16% done with the season, something like that,” reliever Pete Fairbanks said.

Three of the six previous teams to begin at least 10-0 missed the postseason, so the hot start is certainly no guarantee of October success.

“So, there’s a lot of baseball to play, and I don’t think we should ride too high or get too low after anything that’s happening in the first 10 days of March and April,” Fairbanks added. “But it is a lot of fun to go out there and see what the guys on the offensive side are doing and then to watch our (pitchers) roll out our stuff.”

https://nypost.com/2023/04/12/rays-improve-to-11-0-after-dominant-win-over-red-sox/

[Rick Plant]

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes heading for prison



Fallen US biotech star Elizabeth Holmes is to begin serving prison time this month after a judge denied her request to remain free while appealing her fraud conviction.

In a ruling Monday night denying a motion by Holmes, US District Court Judge Edward Davila wrote that it is unlikely her appeal will succeed.

"The court does not find that she has raised a substantial question of law or fact that is likely to result in reversal or an order for a new trial of all counts," wrote Davila, who presided over Holmes's trial.

Holmes was sentenced to just over 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with her Silicon Valley start-up Theranos.

She is scheduled to begin serving her time in prison on April 27.

She was convicted of four felony fraud counts in January of 2022 for persuading investors that she had developed a revolutionary medical device, until the company flamed out after an investigation by The Wall Street Journal.

The closely watched case became an indictment of Silicon Valley.

The 39-year-old became a star of Silicon Valley when she said her start-up was perfecting an easy-to-use test kit that could carry out a wide range of medical diagnostics with just a few drops of blood.

Holmes had a child shortly before her trial and has had a second since her conviction.

A top aide and ex-boyfriend to the Theranos chief was convicted at a separate trial and is also slated to serve time in prison.

Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for his role in what prosecutors argued was a massive fraud perpetuated on Theranos investors and patients.

© 2023 AFP

[Rick Plant]

European space mission takes search for alien life to Jupiter's icy moons



Could vast, long-hidden oceans be teeming with alien life in our very own Solar System?

A new chapter in humanity's search for extraterrestrial life opens on Thursday as Europe's JUICE spacecraft blasts off on a mission to investigate the icy moons of Jupiter.

First discovered by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei more than 400 years ago, these ice-covered moons are so far from the Sun that they were long dismissed as possible candidates to host life in our backyard.

Until recently, the Solar System's habitable zone was thought to "end at Mars", French astrophysicist Athena Coustenis, one of the scientific leads of the European Space Agency (ESA)'s JUICE mission, told AFP.

But NASA's Galileo probe to Jupiter in 1995 and the more recent Cassini spacecraft's trip to Saturn caused scientists to broaden their horizons.

The gas giant planets themselves were correctly ruled out, but their icy moons – particularly Jupiter's Europa and Ganymede, and Saturn's Enceladus and Titan – offered fresh hope of nearby life.

Under their icy surfaces are thought to be huge oceans of liquid water – a crucial ingredient for life as we know it.

Nicolas Altobelli, a JUICE project scientist at ESA, said it would be "the first time that we explore habitats beyond the frost line" between Mars and Jupiter.

Beyond that line, temperatures plummet and "liquid water can no longer exist on the surface", Altobelli told AFP earlier this year.

'Gigantic' ocean

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission launches from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Thursday on an eight-year odyssey through space.

By July 2031 it will have entered Jupiter's orbit, from which it will probe Ganymede, Europa and fellow icy moon Callisto.

Then, in 2034, JUICE will enter the orbit of Ganymede, the first time a spacecraft has done so around a moon other than our own.

As well as being the largest moon in the Solar System, Ganymede is also the only one that has its own magnetic field, which protects it from dangerous radiation.

This is just one of several signs that Ganymede's hidden ocean could provide a stable environment for life.

Unlike similar missions to Mars, which focus on finding signs of ancient life long since extinguished, scientists hope Jupiter's icy moons will still be home to living organisms, even if only tiny or single-celled.

Such habitability requires a power source. Lacking energy from the Sun, the moons could instead take advantage of the gravity that Jupiter exerts on its satellites.

The force creates a process called tidal heating, which warms the interior of the moons and keeps their water liquid.

Ganymede's "gigantic" liquid ocean is trapped between two thick layers of ice dozens of kilometers beneath the surface, said Carole Larigauderie, JUICE project head at French space agency CNES.

"On Earth, we still find life forms at the bottom of the abyss," she added.

Tiny microbes such as bacteria and archaea have been found to be able to survive on Earth without sunlight, raising hopes that life elsewhere will be able to do the same.

As well as water and energy, life needs nutrients.

"The big question is therefore whether Ganymede's ocean contains" the necessary chemical elements, Coustenis said.

The ocean would need to be able to absorb the nutrients from anything that fell on the moon's surface, for example, which would eventually dissolve into the water, she added.

Not alone

JUICE's array of instruments will probe Ganymede's ocean to determine its depth, distance from the surface and – hopefully – its composition.

The ESA's 1.6 billion euro ($1.7 billion) probe will spend eight months orbiting Ganymede, getting as close as 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the moon, all while sheltered from radiation.

It will not be the only spacecraft lurking around Jupiter.

NASA's Europa Clipper mission is scheduled to launch in October next year. It will take a quicker path to Jupiter, arriving at Europa in 2030.

If one – or more – of Jupiter's moons ticks all the boxes to host life, the "logical next step" would be to send a mission to land on the surface, said Cyril Cavel, JUICE project manager at manufacturer Airbus.

Although there are no plans for such a mission, which could definitively prove the existence of life outside of Earth, "that's part of the dream," he said.

© 2023 AFP


     
One in five Americans have a family member killed by guns: survey



One in five American adults have a family member who was killed by a gun -- including by suicide -- and a similar percentage said they've been threatened with one, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Gun-related violence -- including mass shootings, suicides and accidents -- has become so common in the United States that 84 percent of US adults say they have taken precautions to protect themselves and their families from the danger of being shot, according to health research group KFF, which released the survey.

More than one third of those surveyed said they have avoided large crowds due to the possibility of gun violence. Some 29 percent have bought firearms to protect themselves and their families.

The data was released one day after the latest mass shooting to hit the country, at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, left five dead. Governor Andy Beshear said one of the victims was "an incredible friend" of his.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg detailed how he was shot at during his election campaign last year.

On March 27, three children and three adults were shot dead at a primary school in Nashville, Tennessee.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, 11,631 people have been killed by guns so far in 2023, including 4,965 by homicide, accidents and incidents of defensive gun use, and 6,666 by suicide.

In 2022, the organization said, 20,249 people died in homicidal, accidental or defensive shootings. More than 24,000 used guns to kill themselves.

KFF said 41 percent of American adults live in households where there is a gun present -- and in 44 percent of those homes, the weapon is kept in an unlocked location.

Black and Hispanic Americans reported far more experiences knowing someone who was shot, and generally feeling threatened by gun violence, than white Americans did.

Three out of 10 Black adults had personally seen someone being shot, the survey said, more than twice the rate for white adults.

KFF's data was based on a survey of 1,271 adults taken during mid-March.

© Agence France-Presse



U.S. ski season extended as record snowpack dents Western drought



Record snowfall across much of the western United States has not only helped to alleviate drought -- it has also brought a massive boon for the region's ski resorts, with many hoping to keep their lifts running deep into summer.

Sitting more than 10,500 feet (3,200 meters) above sea level, Colorado's Arapahoe Basin has long been famous for its long seasons. The resort's frozen pistes were the state's first to open last fall, and typically don't close until June.

"I bet you, here, we might make it into July. I hope so," said local ski enthusiast Ian Burkle, 52.

"We always aim for July 4. If you can ski up here on the fourth, it's always great. It's been a couple years since that."

But this year, with mountains across California, Utah and Colorado reporting staggering snowfall, "A-Basin" has plenty of competition for spring skiing, in what is shaping up to be a bumper-sized season across the West.

While Colorado can thank consistent, steady snowfall and low temperatures for its positive ski and snowboard outlook, California's Mammoth Mountain has recorded its snowiest ever winter, with 704 inches (nearly 18 meters) and counting.

That shatters the previous record of 668 inches.

"It's going to be a legendary spring up here and we'll be open daily through at least July!" the resort wrote on Instagram.

Utah passed its statewide record for snowpack on March 24, according to the federal government's Natural Resources Conservation Service, with a number of ski resorts there pushing back their closing dates too.

One Utah resort, Little Cottonwood Canyon, even had to close for a day because of too much snow, which posed an avalanche risk.

It is all a stark contrast with Europe's Alps, where "extreme" warm winter weather left many hopeful skiers frustrated by the sight of brown hillsides with just slivers of snow in January.

Katherine Fuller, spokeswoman for Arapahoe, said the resort has received heightened interest from overseas travel agencies "reaching out and seeing how to put together that last-minute US ski trip."

Of course, the wild swings and variations point to worrying long-term trends.

Human-caused global warming exacerbates existing weather patterns, making the wet spells wetter and the dry spells drier.

And for many skiers interviewed by AFP, the excitement over snow conditions pales in comparison to the implications for the US West's decades-long drought.

"Having quality water and making sure it gets to the right spot, and there's enough for crops and everything is pretty important," said Jared Brower, from Denver.

"Skiing is a nice thing to do, but being able to eat is kinda more important in the long term, probably!"

But still, the chance to keep skiing is "awesome," said Fuller.

"It's kind of a party scene. The weather's beautiful. There's nothing like skiing in a t-shirt from the top of the mountain in late spring, even early summer."

© 2023 AFP