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Free Agent Notes: Avila, Kintzler, Tillman, Chooch
Though he's coming off a huge season split between the Tigers and Cubs, catcher Alex Avila said on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today that he's open to a backup role on a contending team (Twitter link). Avila explains that his "number one" priority is signing with a team that has an opportunity to reach the postseason, rather than guaranteeing himself a starting job on a team that is less of a clear-cut contender. Set to turn 31 in January, Avila batted .264/.387/.447 with 14 homers in 376 plate appearances this past season. He also ranked second in the Majors in hard-contact rate (min. 300 PAs) and tied for 18th in average exit velocity (min. 100 batted balls). The Nationals, D-backs and Rockies are among the expected contenders that could add a new starting catcher, while several playoff clubs could look to augment their backup catching option.
A few more notes on some free agents…
Brandon Kintzler also made an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today and revealed that he's been in touch with a number of clubs but has yet to receive a firm offer (Twitter link). The Nationals and Twins have both reportedly expressed interest in retaining Kintzler, and the pitcher himself revealed that his wife would love for him to sign in Arizona, though Kintzler didn't specifically state that the D-backs had reached out to him. Moreover, while the former Twins closer would surely prefer a multi-year pact, he also expressed that he'd be comfortable betting on himself on a one-year deal if need be. "I feel like I'm not a guy who can be picky," said Kintzler, a former 40th-round pick who played independent ball from 2006-09. "A few years ago, I was a minor league free agent just trying to get a job."
In need of a fifth starter, the Tigers have had preliminary talks with right-hander Chris Tillman, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The longtime Orioles righty is coming off the worst season of his career and represents a nice rebound option that the rebuilding Tigers could look to as a potential summer trade chip if he can regain his form. Tillman, 30 next April, had the start of his season delayed by shoulder problems and pitched to a ghastly 7.84 ERA with 6.1 K/9, 4.9 BB/9 and 2.32 HR/9 in 93 innings when healthy. While those numbers are tough to look at, the former second-rounder was Baltimore's most consistent starter from 2012-16, when he pitched 844 2/3 innings of 3.81 ERA ball. From 2013-16, Tillman averaged 32 starts and 190 innings per season with a 3.91 ERA. MLBTR ranked him 47th on our top 50 free agent list, pegging him for a one-year, $10MM contract in Detroit.
Carlos Ruiz will turn 39 years old in January, but he's still hoping to return for another season in 2018, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. "Chooch" spent the 2017 season in Seattle, where he batted .216/.313/.352 with three homer sin 145 plate appearances. He threw out a respectable 7 of 30 potential base thieves (23 percent) in his limited time behind the dish but also drew quite poor framing marks from Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner. That said, Ruiz maintained a solid 9.7 percent walk rate and has been lauded for his leadership and presence in the clubhouse over the years. For a club eyeing a more affordable backup option than Avila, he'd certainly make some sense.
Alex Avila Brandon Kintzler Carlos Ruiz Chris Tillman Detroit Tigers
Dodgers, Mariners Swap Carlos Ruiz, Vidal Nuno
NOV. 8: MLB Network's Jon Morosi reports that Ruiz's contract was altered a bit as part of the deal (Twitter link). Ruiz had $500K worth of incentives added to the package, so he'll now receive $100K for reaching 85, 90, 95, 100 and 105 starts in 2017. That meshes with a recent tweet from ESPN's Jayson Stark in which Stark indicated that the Mariners anticipate Ruiz playing more regularly than a traditional backup.
NOV. 7: The clubs have announced the swap of Ruiz for Nuno, making it official.
NOV. 6, 10:48pm: The Dodgers are likely to receive left-hander Vidal Nuno, per Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). The 29-year-old threw 58 2/3 innings in 55 appearances (one start) with the Mariners in 2016 and logged a 3.53 ERA, 7.82 K/9 and 1.69 BB/9. Nuno previously racked up a combined 38 starts in 66 appearances with the Yankees, Diamondbacks and Mariners from 2014-15. He's now eligible for arbitraion for the first time, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $1.1MM salary for 2017.
8:19pm: The Mariners will acquire catcher Carlos Ruiz from the Dodgers, according to FanRag's Jon Heyman (Twitter link). In return, the Dodgers will receive a pitcher from the Mariners' 40-man roster, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link).
[Related: Updated Mariners Depth Chart]
Ruiz, who agreed to waive his no-trade clause, will make $4.5MM next season under a club option that the Mariners will exercise. He's now set to join his third team since August, when the Phillies shipped him to the Dodgers for fellow catcher A.J. Ellis. Ruiz had been with the Phillies organization since signing as an amateur free agent in 1998.
Ruiz was among the majors' best all-around catchers at times during his Phillies tenure, which began in 2006. While those days are behind Ruiz, he'll still provide solid insurance behind Mike Zunino in Seattle. Ruiz is coming off a season in which he hit a respectable .264/.365/.348 in 233 plate appearances and threw out a National League-best 42 percent of base stealers. Baseball Prospectus awarded positive throwing and blocking grades to Ruiz in 2016, though neither BP nor StatCorner thought much of his pitch-framing work. Nevertheless, he's likely an upgrade over previous No. 2 catcher Chris Iannetta, whom the Mariners parted with Thursday, and is clearly preferable to in-house option Jesus Sucre.
For the Dodgers, moving on from Ruiz will open the door for Austin Barnes to serve as Yasmani Grandal's primary backup. Barnes, 26, has just 74 major league PAs to his name, but he has raked as a minor league hitter in both the Marlins and Dodgers organizations. Los Angeles acquired Barnes in December 2014 as part of a seven-player trade that saw second baseman Dee Gordon head to Miami.
Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Dodgers Newsstand Seattle Mariners Transactions Vidal Nuno
Pat Neshek, Fernando Rodney, Carlos Ruiz Available In Trades
By Steve Adams | October 31, 2016 at 12:56pm CDT
While most of the baseball world has its focus on Game 6 of the World Series in Cleveland tomorrow night, there are still of course trade talks going on behind the scenes, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that three players who are currently available on the trade market are Astros right-hander Pat Neshek, Marlins right-hander Fernando Rodney and Dodgers catcher Carlos Ruiz. Each of the three players has a club option, and their teams appear open to trading them in the days immediately following the postseason before option decisions are made. Fan Rag's Jon Heyman wrote last night that teams are already showing interest in Ruiz, who could be moved even if his option is picked up by the Dodgers. (In that scenario, Austin Barnes would get the nod as the backup to Yasmani Grandal.)
Neshek, 36, has a $6.5MM club option on his deal that comes with a $500K buyout. He's coming off a 3.06 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 33.3 percent ground-ball rate in 47 innings out of the Houston bullpen this season — solid across-the-board numbers that are largely similar to the numbers he posted during his first season with the Astros in 2015. However, Neshek's role was diminished in 2016, as manager A.J. Hinch frequently shielded him from facing left-handed opponents.
Hinch's reasoning is easy to see; Neshek has held opposing right-handers to a woeful .193/.235/.336 batting line across the past two seasons, but lefties have knocked him around at a .256/.328/.516 clip. The problem was more glaring in 2016, when lefties had little trouble squaring up against Neshek's sidearm delivery and slashed .250/.321/.646 against him. Neshek faced 130 right-handed batters and just 55 lefties in 2016, so he's probably looked at as more of a righty specialist by many clubs, though he did hold left-handed opponents to a .541 OPS as recently as 2014. Getting him at one year and $6.5MM may be more preferable to some teams than exploring the free-agent market and issuing a multi-year deal to one of the many setup men available.
Rodney, who will turn 40 next March, has a more affordable $4.5MM club option but is coming off a worse season on the mound. The veteran righty opened the year as the Padres' closer and posted a preposterous 0.31 ERA through his first 28 2/3 innings with San Diego. Along the way, he averaged 10.4 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 to go along with an enormous 59 percent ground-ball rate, but his season crumbled upon being traded to the Marlins. Rodney still averaged 10 strikeouts per nine innings and posted a solid-but-diminished 52 percent ground-ball rate in Miami, but his BB/9 rate spiked to 6.8 and he was tagged for a 5.89 ERA in 36 2/3 innings with the Fish. There's a $400K buyout on his option that the Marlins would pay him if they're unable to find a trade partner. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has recently reported that the Marlins don't have any intentions of exercising the option, so if another club values Rodney at $4.5MM on a one-year commitment, they could probably have him for a minimal cost.
As for Ruiz, the 37-year-old (38 in January) spent his entire career with the Phillies before an August trade saw him trade in his red pinstripes for Dodger blue. His contract contains a $4.5MM option for the 2017 season that comes with a $500K buyout for the Dodgers. While he didn't have a great season at the plate, Ruiz did bat a very respectable .264/.365/.348 with three homers in 233 plate appearances. He also threw out an NL-best 42 percent of opposing base-stealers, though Baseball Prospectus wasn't much of a fan of his work when it came to framing pitches. Nonetheless, Ruiz is revered as a clubhouse presence and for his work with pitchers, and he hit .271/.407/.386 against lefties this year, suggesting that he could be plenty effective as a backup who sees many of his starts against opposing southpaws. A one-year commitment at $4.5MM is hardly an exorbitant commitment, though it might be a bit steeper than many clubs would prefer to pay for a backup catcher.
Carlos Ruiz Fernando Rodney Houston Astros Los Angeles Dodgers Miami Marlins Pat Neshek
Phillies Acquire Joey Curletta To Complete Carlos Ruiz Trade
The Phillies announced today that they've acquired outfield prospect Joey Curletta from the Dodgers to complete last month's Carlos Ruiz trade. The trade, then, will officially go in the books as Ruiz to the Dodgers in exchange for A.J. Ellis, Curletta and right-hander Tommy Bergjans.
Curletta, 22, was a sixth-round pick by the Dodgers out of Mountain Point High School in Phoenix, Ariz. back in 2012. He's split the season between Class-A Advanced and Double-A for the second straight year, though his numbers in 2016 are superior to the ones he logged as a 21-year-old at those same levels in 2015. Curletta has batted .251/.323/.463 with 17 homers, 17 doubles and five triples in 409 plate appearances this season, though his 30 percent strikeout rate is indicative of the fact that there's still plenty of room for growth in the right-handed hitter's approach at the plate.
Curletta didn't rank among the Dodgers' top 30 prospects, though Baseball America has previously written that his two best tools are his raw power and his throwing arm. The 6'4″, 245-pounder has been described by BA as a "physical monster" in the past and has been limited to the corner outfield (primarily right field), where his strong arm profiles rather well.
J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group was the first to report that Curletta was headed to the Phils to complete the trade (Twitter link).
A.J. Ellis Carlos Ruiz Joey Curletta Los Angeles Dodgers Newsstand Philadelphia Phillies Transactions
Players That Have Cleared Revocable Waivers
By Steve Adams | August 31, 2016 at 12:00am CDT
The first three two and a half weeks of August yielded only a few minor trades, featuring pickups by the Mariners (Arquimedes Caminero and Pat Venditte), a swap of veteran infielders (Erick Aybar and Mike Aviles) and the Marlins adding some left-handed depth to their 'pen (Hunter Cervenka). Since that time, several names have changed hands, though, including Carlos Ruiz, A.J. Ellis, Dioner Navarro, Jeff Francoeur, Daniel Nava, Marc Rzepczynski and Erick Aybar. A trade sending veteran outfielder Coco Crisp to the Indians should be announced on Wednesday as well.
Before diving into the names, a few items bear repeating. The majority of Major League players will be placed on trade waivers this month, with most instances going unreported. There are undoubtedly players (quite a few of them, most likely) who have already cleared waivers but have not been reported to have done so. Players can be traded into September, as well, but only those traded on or before Aug. 31 will be eligible for the postseason with their new teams, so there's some urgency for contending clubs to complete deals by month's end. And, of course, for those who aren't familiar with the inner-workings of waiver trades, MLBTR published a full explanation of how August trades work earlier this month. Onto the known names…
Ryan Braun (link): Although Braun has slashed an excellent .315/.377/.551 with 24 homers and 14 steals through 454 plate appearances this season, his pricey contract enabled him to slip through waivers. Braun, 32, is owed $76MM through 2021, and any team acquiring him would likely need Milwaukee to pick up a sizable chunk of his contract, according to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. That doesn't seem to bode well for the possibility of a trade this month.
Ervin Santana (link): Santana, 33, is due $13.5MM per year through 2018, which makes him a fairly expensive investment, but he's in the midst of another fine season. The righty has been among the few bright spots for the last-place Twins, having recorded a 3.54 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 2.38 BB/9 in 147 1/3 innings. Given that he cleared waivers, the Twins might have to eat some of Santana's contract if they wish to move him for a decent return. However, Minnesota reportedly needed to be "overwhelmed" to deal Santana in July, and it's doubtful their bullish opinion of him has changed since then.
Ryan Howard (link): It seems as if any possibility of a Howard trade has gone out the window with his time with the Phillies drawing to an increasingly pleasant end. But he does still deliver more pure power than most hitters — albeit almost exclusively against righties — with 19 long balls in less than half a season worth of plate appearances.
Matt Wieters (link): Not only is Wieters expensive ($15.8MM salary this year), but he's also underperforming both offensively and defensively. Thus, with fellow backstops Kurt Suzuki and Brian McCann having already cleared waivers, it's no surprise that Wieters did, too. Regardless of his struggles, Wieters is the starting catcher for a playoff contender with no better in-house option in place, making a trade involving the impending free agent all the more unlikely.
Scott Kazmir (link): Kazmir is owed $16MM in each of the next two seasons, but he has the ability to opt out of his deal after this year. Kazmir's run prevention (4.41 ERA) has been a letdown in 132 2/3 innings this season, although he has recorded an outstanding K/9 (9.02) to go with a 3.32 BB/9 and a superb 15.2 percent infield fly rate. The positives weren't enough for anyone to claim Kazmir, though, and it's doubtful the injury-riddled Dodgers will move out a healthy starter in the middle of a playoff race.
James Shields (link): The right-hander was previously a high-end option that every team would've loved to slot into its rotation. At 34, he's now pitching like a DFA candidate. The White Sox, who acquired Shields from the Padres earlier this year, owe him $10MM per season through 2018. Thanks largely to a plummeting strikeout rate and a propensity for allowing HRs, Shields has run up a 7.62 ERA in 69 2/3 innings with Chicago. Overall, he has a 5.98 ERA in 137 frames this year. While Shields is on track for a 10th straight 30-start season, there's no point in trading for someone who isn't at least keeping his team in games every fifth day.
Nick Markakis (link): The negatives seem to outweigh the positives with Markakis, who's on a $10.5MM salary through 2018 and doesn't bring the offensive value to the table that he used to. Since leaving Baltimore for Atlanta last year, the right fielder has hit .285/.360/.384 with a mere 12 HRs in 1,200-plus plate trips. The average and on-base percentage are clearly pluses. Fact is, though, a corner outfielder who has little power, doesn't grade well defensively and isn't all that cheap isn't too appealing.
Mitch Moreland (link): Moreland is amid his third straight 20-homer season and isn't overly expensive ($5.7MM salary) in the last year of his contract, so it wouldn't have been shocking had someone claimed him. Instead, the lifetime .251/.316/.481 hitter got through waivers and looks likely to remain with World Series-contending Texas for the rest of the season.
Matt Kemp (link): Once an MVP-level player, the 31-year-old Kemp has fallen off thanks to defensive issues and a decline at the plate. As a roughly league-average hitter on a $21.5MM salary through 2019, he was fully expected to go unclaimed had the Braves placed him on waivers. They did, and that's exactly what happened. Atlanta's on the hook for $18MM per year of Kemp's money for the duration of his contract. The Padres, his previous team, make up the difference. For any deal to happen, the Braves would likely have to eat a hefty portion of that cash.
Joakim Soria (link): The 32-year-old Soria has become increasingly homer prone and displaying some concerning control issues in 2016, so it's not surprising that no team risked claiming the remaining $19.72MM that he is owed through the completion of the 2018 season. Soria's 92.8 mph average fastball is actually a career-high, and his strikeouts and ground-ball rate both remain sound, so perhaps he could be moved if Kansas City were to eat some of the remainder on that deal.
Eric O'Flaherty (link): Once a powerhouse out of the Braves' bullpen, O'Flaherty's second stint with Atlanta hasn't gone nearly as well. He's never fully regained his form after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2013, and his ERA in 2016 rested just shy of 7.00 when word of his clearing waivers broke. His $1.75MM salary wouldn't be prohibitive were he pitching well, but even opposing lefties have roughed up O'Flaherty this season, and he's been positively obliterated by right-handed opponents.
Kurt Suzuki (link): The Twins' catcher was reported to have cleared waivers just yesterday. Unlike a number of players that clear waivers in the month of August, Suzuki is relatively affordable, making it something of a surprise that no teams placed a claim on him. While he's not regarded as a highly skilled defensive backstop, he's hitting .281/.321/.431, which is quite a step up from the league-average catcher (.242/.311/.380). He doesn't walk much, but he's also very tough to strike out (12.9%), and he was owed just $1.54MM through season's end when he reportedly cleared on Aug. 16.
Brian McCann (link): It's no surprise that McCann cleared waivers, as he's owed a hefty $34MM beyond the 2016 campaign. McCann's offensive production has wilted a bit in recent weeks, and while his .232/.333/.404 batting line and 15 homers are still solid marks for a catcher, it's tough to imagine the Yankees moving him without absorbing a fair amount of the money that remains on his contract. Also standing in the way of a potential deal is the fact that teams looking for catching help beyond this year have a fair number of choices on the upcoming free agent market.
One final note: outfielder Jeff Francoeur (link) and catcher Carlos Ruiz (link) were both reported to have cleared waivers as well, but each has already been traded to a new team, with Francoeur going to the Marlins and Ruiz going to the Dodgers.
Atlanta Braves Baltimore Orioles Brian McCann Carlos Ruiz Chicago White Sox Eric O'Flaherty James Shields Jeff Francoeur Joakim Soria Kansas City Royals Kurt Suzuki Los Angeles Dodgers Matt Kemp Matt Wieters Minnesota Twins Mitch Moreland New York Yankees Nick Markakis Philadelphia Phillies Ryan Howard Scott Kazmir Texas Rangers
Reactions To And Effects Of The Carlos Ruiz Trade
By charliewilmoth | August 27, 2016 at 12:17pm CDT
Here are a few reactions to the Phillies and Dodgers' recent catcher swap, in which Carlos Ruiz headed to Los Angeles while A.J. Ellis, pitcher Tommy Bergjans and a player to be named or cash went to Philadelphia.
The Phillies have two good catching prospects in Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp, but GM Matt Klentak says it was still important that they receive the veteran Ellis in the deal, as Philly.com's Matt Gelb writes. (Alfaro was recently promoted to the Majors, but is expected to return to the minors once Ellis arrives.) "It was important as this team parts ways with Carlos, who has been such an important leader for so long, that we add a player with a tremendous reputation as a leader and worker," says Klentak. "We were adamant A.J. be in it." Ellis is expected to back up Cameron Rupp in Philadelphia.
Ruiz could have used his no-trade clause to block the deal, and he didn't want to leave the Phillies, the team that signed him all the way back in 1998. But he says the possibility of competing for a championship was too tempting to pass up, as MLB.com's Todd Zolecki writes. "My heart and everything was in Philly," says Ruiz. "It was tough to make that decision. It's sad to leave, but another part of me is happy, because I've got an opportunity to go to the postseason and the playoffs and have a chance to go back to the World Series."
From the Dodgers' perspective, Ellis' inclusion in the deal is confusing, writes Dave Cameron of Fangraphs. With September callups approaching, one would think the Dodgers could have kept Ellis and still traded for Ruiz, assembling some other package that would have worked for the Phillies (Klentak's protestation above notwithstanding). Instead, they traded Ellis, who doesn't hit well but has a terrific clubhouse reputation, in a deal that appears to be a marginal upgrade — Ruiz, after all, will be a backup who will only get so many plate appearances down the stretch. If the Dodgers don't succeed this year, it will be easy to blame their failures on Ellis' departure, whether or not that's fair.
A.J. Ellis Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Dodgers Philadelphia Phillies
Dodgers Acquire Carlos Ruiz, Send A.J. Ellis To Phillies
By Jeff Todd | August 25, 2016 at 4:15pm CDT
The Dodgers have added another Phillies stalwart, bringing in veteran catcher Carlos Ruiz via trade. In an interesting twist, Los Angeles will send its own long-time backstop, A.J. Ellis, back to Philly in the swap.
The Phillies will also pick up some other assets in the deal. Young righty Tommy Bergjans is on his way to Philadelphia, along with a player to be named later or cash considerations.
There's a financial element to the deal, too. Ruiz's $8.5MM salary still has about $1.85MM left to go on the year, while there's a little less than $1MM owed Ellis in his final season of arbitration eligibility (which was costing the team $4.5MM). The Dodgers will presumably also be obligated to pay Ruiz a $500K buyout on his $4.5MM club option for 2017 — unless the team elects to pick it up.
Ruiz had spent all of his 17 professional seasons with the Philadelphia organization, including the last eleven at the major league level. The trade leaves Ryan Howard as the lone remaining member of the Phillies' 2008 World Series-winning roster.
Now, Ruiz will join long-time Phillies teammates Chase Utley and Joe Blanton in Los Angeles in search of another playoff run. Ruiz will obviously still play a reserve role, befitting his age and the excellent play of Dodgers starter Yasmani Grandal. But the Dodgers will part with Ellis to facilitate the addition, ending his own 14-year tenure with the organization (with parts of nine campaigns in the bigs).
[RELATED: Updated Dodgers & Phillies Depth Charts]
In terms of 2016 on-field results, it's not hard to see the reasoning for the move from L.A.'s perspective — even if it comes with some risk given Ellis's vaunted clubhouse status and relationship with ace Clayton Kershaw. The NL West-leading Dodgers have watched the 35-year-old Ellis limp to a .194/.285/.252 batting line over 161 plate appearances, marking the second time in the last three years that he has put up well-below-average offensive numbers.
Ruiz, meanwhile, is every bit the respected leader that Ellis is. But he has also been far more productive in what is his age-37 campaign, slashing a sturdy .261/.368/.352 while striking out just 28 times against 24 walks. (Ellis, it should be noted, also still delivers impeccable plate discipline.)
All told, a swap of reserve backstops hardly constitutes the most impactful mid-season move we've seen as contending teams re-shape their rosters for the stretch run. But it's a unique trade involving two players who were among the most familiar faces in their respective organizations, and may conceivably carry implications that aren't immediately evident on the stat sheet.
Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer first reported the trade (via Twitter).
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Carlos Ruiz Los Angeles Dodgers Newsstand Philadelphia Phillies Transactions
Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Howard Clear Revocable Waivers
Phillies veterans Carlos Ruiz and Ryan Howard have both cleared revocable waivers, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (via Twitter). Both can now be freely traded without restriction, though only one week remains for players to be dealt while remaining eligible for the post-season rosters of their new clubs.
The news is hardly surprising, and it's not altogether clear that either player holds much chance of being moved. The pair constitutes the last remaining players from the organization's recent golden years, and neither has ever played for another major league team. Both are obviously well past their prime but remain expensive, and each possesses full no-trade protection via ten-and-five rights.
Two teams, however, are said to be "mulling" a move to add Ruiz, who is earning $8.5MM and is owed a $500K buyout on a $4.5MM club option next year. He is actually playing fairly well this year — particularly given that it is his age-37 season — in reserve action. In 193 plate appearances, Ruiz has put up a crafty .261/.368/.352 batting line, making up for his lack of power with a rather remarkable ratio of 28 strikeouts against 24 walks.
Meanwhile, says Stark, there's no indication whatsoever that Howard will be moved — as had been previously reported. He is not only playing on a $25MM salary this year, but will still take home a $10MM buyout on a 2017 club option. The 36-year-old slugger is a limited player at this stage, though he is still capable of hitting right-handed pitching and has popped 19 long balls in 286 plate appearances. Howard is putting on a Philly swan song at the moment, as he has banged out five home runs and delivered a .378/.425/.838 slash in the month of August.
Carlos Ruiz Philadelphia Phillies Ryan Howard Transactions
GM Matt Klentak On Phillies' Quiet Trade Deadline
By Jason Martinez | August 1, 2016 at 6:24pm CDT
There's no question that the Phillies are rebuilding, with some of their better prospects—see J.P. Crawford, Nick Williams and Jake Thompson—closing in on the Major Leagues. As a result, there was an expectation that general manager Matt Klentak would, at the least, trade away free agents-to-be Jeremy Hellickson and David Hernandez, both of whom are having strong seasons, and veteran catcher Carlos Ruiz, who has a $4.5MM club option in 2017. But the first-year general manager came up empty during his first trade deadline.
As Klentak explained on a conference call earlier today, he was open-minded to making a deal and had dialogue with quite a few teams on a number of their players.
"We had offers out to other teams that, if accepted, we would have done," Klentak said. "At the end of the day, there was nothing we felt made sense for the organization at this time."
Citing a focus on appropriately balancing the present and the future, Klentak believes that Ruiz and Hellickson are playing a key role in the development of their younger players.
"We want to make sure our young players are being mentored by the right veterans," Klentak explained. "Chooch has had a great career with the Phillies, and we value what he means to the organization and to the younger players. We like what he brings to this team."
With regard to the 29-year-old Hellickson, who was acquired from the Diamondbacks last winter, Klentak stressed the importance of having a reliable innings-eater with many of the Phillies' young pitchers beginning to approach innings totals that they haven't reached in their careers.
"The reason we went out and acquired him last offseason is to provide stability to our rotation and mentor our young pitchers," Klentak said. "I think he's been outstanding in that role."
While Klentak said that they have not determined whether Hellickson will be given a qualifying offer, which is estimated to be $16.7MM, they are mindful that a new Collective Bargaining Agreement could be in place by the offseason. With a very supportive ownership group and few future commitments, however, he wouldn't rule it out. He also didn't rule out the possibility of an August trade, although there are more hurdles to clear that would make it complicated.
As far as opening up playing time for young prospects, Klentak said that he never looked at the trade deadline as the platform that would allow them to play. The important thing, he said, is to call them up when they're ready and never have to send them back because they're not ready.
"[The lack of trades] doesn't set back the timeline for any promotion," he says. "We will promote them when they're ready. If we need to create room, we will do so. There's a decent chance we'll see another somewhat notable promotion of a first-time big-leaguer before the season's up."
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Carlos Ruiz David Hernandez Jeremy Hellickson MLBTR Originals Philadelphia Phillies
East Notes: Sox, Buchholz, Braves, Teheran, Phillies
By Connor Byrne | June 26, 2016 at 6:17pm CDT
In his latest rough outing, Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits and five walks Sunday in a 6-2 loss to the Rangers. Afterward, manager John Farrell was noncommittal about Buchholz making his next start, per Scott Lauber of ESPN.com, though he conceded that the team might not have a better option. As their depth chart shows, Triple-A possibilities include Roenis Elias, Henry Owens and Joe Kelly, though each has fared terribly in the majors this year. Buchholz, who has spent some time in the bullpen this season, has logged a 5.90 ERA, 6.13 K/9, 4.24 BB/9 and 41.2 percent ground-ball rate through 76 1/3 innings. Those numbers are all markedly worse than the 31-year-old's career totals and especially the terrific production he put up in 2015.
More from Boston and a couple NL East cities:
The Red Sox are scanning the trade market for help, but there are only five teams that have declared themselves sellers thus far as the Aug. 1 deadline nears, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Sunday. "It's still a little early," stated Dombrowski, who added that the Red Sox are "scuffling for positional players at this point." (Twitter links via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald). Injuries have sapped the Sox of depth in left field, where Brock Holt, Blake Swihart and Chris Young are all on the disabled list.
Red-hot Braves starter Julio Teheran has drawn interest from starter-needy Boston, but Atlanta might be better off retaining the 25-year-old than trading him, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution argues. O'Brien points to Teheran's age, ultra-palatable contract and the lack of quality starters set to hit free agency during the upcoming offseason as reasons for the rebuilding Braves to go forth with the right-hander, who has thrown 23 straight innings without allowing a run and has lowered his ERA to a stingy 2.46 through 106 frames. Teheran has also recorded career-best strikeout and walk rates per nine innings (8.41 and 2.04, respectively) to this point. ERA estimators like FIP (3.68), xFIP (4.00) and SIERA (3.72) aren't quite buying his results, but Teheran has consistently outperformed those figures throughout his career.
Phillies manager Pete Mackanin admitted Saturday that he's in a bind with his team's catchers, Carlos Ruiz and Cameron Rupp. "That's the hard part of about this job. You have to give up something to get something, and right now we need offense. At least right now, Cam offers more offense," Mackanin told Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "However, is it more important to guide the young pitcher and bring him along with some veteran experience?" With his .270/.306/.483 batting line and seven home runs in 183 plate appearances, the 27-year-old Rupp has been a bright spot in a toothless Phillies offense, though his 48:6 K:BB ratio doesn't bode well going forward. However, while Mackanin's worried about Rupp's ability (or lack thereof) to aid his pitching staff, the backstop has graded well in the pitch-framing department this year. That's not true of the 37-year-old Ruiz, who has also contributed to Philly's offensive woes with a .219/.311/.333 line in 119 trips to the plate. Nevertheless, Mackanin is bullish on Ruiz's game-calling abilities, notes Gelb.
Mackanin had center fielder Odubel Herrera shag fly balls in right field prior to the Phillies' game Saturday, but that doesn't mean a position change is coming. "If he reads something into it, good," said Mackanin (via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). "Maybe he'll think that he needs to do better. There's nothing imminent. There's no plans for me to move him out of there." Notably, Herrera ranks last among qualified center fielders this year in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-7) and also grades poorly in Ultimate Zone Rating, but he has combated his fielding woes with a stellar .299/.392/.427 offensive showing and eight home runs through 319 PAs, also adding 41 walks against 58 strikeouts.
Atlanta Braves Boston Red Sox Cameron Rupp Carlos Ruiz Clay Buchholz Julio Teheran Odubel Herrera Philadelphia Phillies
Minor MLB Transactions: 1/16/20
White Sox Sign Bryan Mitchell To Minors Deal
Diamondbacks Claim Pat Valaika
Bruce Bochy Not Planning To Pursue Managerial Opportunities At This Time


Here's a great video based on the general idea evoked by a 1940s era advertisement for Coca Cola. The locomotive they used is the Nickel Plate Berkshire steam locomotive number 765 that LSRHS members had the opportunity to take an excursion on earlier this year.
The look and sound of number 765 hits all the right emotional buttons. Nicely done!


A question often asked of the Heritage Centre research team is what is the significance of the horse statues that grace the parapets of the building on the corner of Church and Macquarie Streets, Parramatta. Two horses sit atop the building, one on the Macquarie Street side, the other on the corner. Both statues appear to be Arabian horses and hold their right foreleg high in a "Spanish walk" style pose. Many mistakenly assume that the building is the former White Horse Hotel. In fact the White Horse Hotel was located on the north-west corner of George and Church Streets.
The Horse Parapet building was constructed in 1881 for Cyrus Edgar Fuller owner of the Cumberland Mercury newspaper. In 1871 Fuller married Sarah Mason, daughter of Edward Mason, the founder of the Parramatta Chronicle, one of Parramatta's earliest newspapers. Fuller purchased the Parramatta Mercury from William Mason, son of Edward Mason, around 1875 and renamed the paper the Cumberland Mercury. Fuller also ran a stationery, publishing and printing business in Parramatta. After the building was constructed Fuller moved his business to the new premises in July 1881. According to a number of early newspaper reports Fuller was considered a "progressive businessman" but by 1892 was declared bankrupt. During the bankruptcy proceedings Fuller's affection for horses and horse racing, in particular trotting, became evident and it may be this connection to horses that inspired Fuller to add the horse statues to the building.
It appears that Fuller never recovered from the bankruptcy and in 1911 he was found dead in a 'humpy' in Berowra – living alone, separated from his wife and children. The coroner attributed the death to natural causes.
We would like to hear from others who may have a theory of the relevance of the horses.
I am shore the horses were on the white horse hotel I lived in Parramatta 1951- 1970 my wife agrees with me maybe they relocated them at one time?
We are quite sure that the horses have been on this building since it was built. Certainly early images from the late 1800s show the horses on top of the building at Church and Macquarie Streets.
I am also sure the white horses were built where they stand now. My late father left behind notes on family ancestors and I quote: "My grandfather James Smith was a plasterer. He and his father (Andrew Smith) erected the white horses above the shops in Church Street Parramatta, where they still stand".
On Tuesday evening a daughter of Mr J Smith, plasterer, of Phillip-street, Parramatta, was bitten by a vicious horse which bad been straying around the neighbourhood of the bottom of Smith-street for some days. Tho horse made a charge at the girl and bit her on the shoulder, knocking her down and inflicting a wound with its teeth. Fortunately a man witnessed the strange assault, and frightened the horse off. The girl has suffered greatly from shock.
Was this person your aunty or mother?
Thanks very much for finding this article Peter. That was definitely my James Smith, who lived in Phillip Street Parramatta according to the 1903-04 electoral rolls. The little girl was not my Mum or Aunty as James was my father's grandfather. Four of James's six children were girls and all six kids were born between 1879 and 1888. My paternal grandmother Mary was the last born 'baby'. Unfortunately my father and all his generation have now died so I have nobody to ask about this story and I never heard it mentioned. James died in 1940, aged 79, at 61 Argyle Street Parramatta.
I have been in discussions with Lindy Froud and we believe that our great grandfather James worked with his father-in-law John Jones on the project as James' father, Andrew, never came to Australia but stayed in the USA. We believe that James was the only one to leave the USA and come to Australia c1876. John Jones was also a plasterer.


As a new wave of talent emerges from the Republic of Ireland, Jamaican born artist Dre Kannon previously known as 'Croweezy' strides in his own lane as one of the front-runners in his genre while introducing his Dancehall sound to new territories. Leaving Kingston at the age of 10 Dre long discovered his love for the arts writing poems and stories as a teen to winning competitions in local competitions and participating in local talent shows. In 2011 Dre Kannon took his music on the road touring with Rap Ireland and joining chart-topping urban group N-Dubz for their Irish tour. As an independent recording artist, Dre Kannon used his acquired knowledge and ear for music to inspire, manage, develop and motivate other aspiring artists.
As one of the 1st artist to fully independently fund and publish his own career his work has been featured on national radio, newspapers, TV and new media platforms who continue to push the new culture not to leave out managing an artist who competed on the Voice of Ireland and h Jamaicans are a minority in Ireland and according to Dre it was one of the most difficult things to do trying to usher in a sound that is new and different to the Irish market but its seemingly working these days for the Dancehall artist now getting track of the week for his raw Dancehall single (Lick 2 Shots) 2019 by District Magazine, an urban media platform based in Ireland.
Growing up in Ireland was not easy Dre Kannon claims as racism was rampant and even walking home got dangerous especially being the only black student in the school and in his generation growing up in the town of New Ross, Co. Wexford. "Instead of letting the racism and prejudice get to me I used that energy to work on my craft vowing to never let go of my culture no matter how deep it gets.
Taking my music seriously actually saved me from making certain bad decisions and kept me in line and gave me a platform to express whatever I was feeling." Kannon uses his music and his platform to spread awareness on the issue of racism and prejudice which affected him and thousands of migrants who faced oppression and discrimination in their daily lives while pushing the Irish music scene to the world through means of online publishing hoping to ultimately inspire change and unity among all communities in the Republic.


A full service 79 room resort. We offer 3 restaurants, General Store/gas station, gift shops, bar, Boat rentals, 2 marinas, 2 campgrounds, public coin operated showers and laundry, guided fishing and Scenic Snake River Float Trips.
We arrived at the tail end of a freak September snowstorm. Clouds and sunset made some magic.
Besides the Lakefront retreat which other accommodations are easy to walk to?
Are toiletries like soap shampoo and conditioner supplied in all rooms or do you provide your own??
They do have soap, shampoo, and conditioner dispensers. Used my own shampoo/conditioner so cannot comment on quality. Fantastic place!
Are there hair dryers in the bathrooms or do we have to bring one with?
Do 4th graders get any discount on float trips etc? I read this somewhere and will have the America beautiful pass. Thanks.
Is the lakefront retreat the only accommodation with a sofa bed ?
"Ask for a cabin that faces the river!"
"Cabin 177 was spotless, brand new granite and tile work, with water/mountain view."


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Slightly Ignorant
Ilana Masad Writes
The "Why" of it
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Thank you Kit, Miss Rosemary and Brownpaperbag Girl!
Plinth People
Trafalgar Square is probably one of the most famous places in London. Every movie or TV show that shows a montage of London scenery includes it. The square is bordered by four plinths, three of which are regularly occupied by the same statues. This summer, however, the fourth plinth is being used differently. The full info can be found here: http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/
Basically, every hour of every day for the duration of the summer, a different person will occupy the empty plinth. The people are allowed to do whatever they wish, except, I assume, for blatant sexual performances or violence. Mr. B. F. and I made Trafalgar Square a hub during our visit to London. We kept going back, sometimes up to four times a day, so we could see what the current Plinth Person was doing.
Our first wasn't very exciting. She was sitting up on the plinth in a folding chair, and sketching. She didn't interact with the crowd, not even for a moment. I'm sure that she enjoyed the experience of sketching from such a spot, a place that there would be no reason for her to access at any other time, but the crowd around her wasn't a part of her experience. There were quite a few Plinth People who were there in this way – writing in notebooks or on computers – but I shan't elaborate about them, because I cannot speak of what sort of experiences they had.
The first Plinth Person we enjoyed seeing we referred to as The Lady in Pink. She was, indeed, dressed all in pink, holding a glass of pink champagne and standing on a pink rug she'd spread across the plinth. She was throwing pink paper airplanes into the crowd, and occasionally she'd toast the crowd and take a sip of her champagne. Then she started throwing candy, and the children went wild for it. We managed to find a couple of the empty candy wrappers – that's how we figured out that this lady's message was optimism. She'd written heartwarming compliments and phrases on her paper airplanes and tied encouraging little notes to the candies. My favorite was this: Someone is proud of you right now. Lovely!
The next interesting Plinth Person we got to see was a young man, early twenties probably, who was holding a megaphone and giving a history lesson. He'd brought notes with him, and was reading to the crowd, explaining some battle or another. He soon finished, and asked if the crowd wanted more. Some people, including us, cheered and whooped. He began then to tell us about Trafalgar Square itself; he told us about how it was a gathering place used for everything from protesting wars to mourning Micheal Jackson. He also explained that it was built to restrain such gatherings – the fountain in the middle, for instance, was a good way to break a crowd up and leave some movable space, also thus restricting just how many people could occupy the square.
Another of the fun Plinth People we saw was part of a whole group. She was young as well, presumable a student, and she was holding a sign which we could see from far off: FREE HUGS. We wandered closer, wondering how on earth she'd be able to give free hugs when she was on the plinth, secluded, with no way for anyone to reach her. As we drew near, we figured it out – she was simply the advertisement. A small platoon of her cronies stood underneath the plinth holding identical signs, and these were the ones who were giving the hugs away. I claimed one.
Our shared favorite, however, was a man we saw in the evening, around ten PM. He seemed to be in his thirties, but his hair was already all white. He was singing nursery rhymes – both aloud, and in sign language. He was teaching the crowd sign language in the simplest way possible – through Five Little Ducks and Old McDonald Had A Farm. It was wondrous. There were some women who stood there and sang along with him constantly, never missing a line, figuring out, as we did, what each gesture the man made was and understanding the words that went with the gestures.
If anyone is going to be in London by the end of the summer, I recommend frequent stops at Trafalgar Square. You'll see some incredible things.
July 25, 2009 slightlyignorant	antony gormley, art, artist, blogging, deaf, england, experience, free, fun, history, hugs, language, life, london, message, nusery rhyme, one and other, optimism, people, person, pink, sign, silly, song, student, teach, teacher, trafalgar square, trip, vacation, writing	8 Comments
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Teens Are Getting the Message About Safe Sex
By Charlie Gaeta | Jun 26, 2017 08:58 AM EDT
Teen pregnancies are down dramatically since 1988. A new study shows that today's teens are more responsible about sex than decades past.
Donald Trump's American Health Care Act Prompted Women To Stock Up On Birth Control [VIDEO]
By Abbie Kraft | Mar 31, 2017 07:48 AM EDT
Women stocked up on birth control after it was announced that they can no longer get one within the next three months.
Woman Who Lied About Taking Birth Control Sued By Child's Father
By Hannah Grace | Mar 04, 2017 07:54 AM EST
Though the man is already paying child support and wants to have a relationship with the child, he still wants the woman to compensate him for the emotional, professional and financial impact of the birth.
Women Can Now Have Access To A Year Supply Of Birth Control Pills
By Abbie Kraft | Feb 26, 2017 06:51 PM EST
Women from Virgina can now have a year supply of birth control pills.
Access to Birth Control May Get Harder Under Trump Presidency
By Mara Tee | Jan 16, 2017 06:45 PM EST
Birth control may be more expensive when Donald Trump repeals the implementation of Obamacare. Women today have voiced out their concerns and are looking for alternatives that will last until the last year of his presidency.
Fertility App Looms As Better Alternative To Birth Control Pills
By Brian McNeil | Apr 16, 2016 07:22 AM EDT
Accidental pregnancy is something that people have a hard time figuring out, though resorting to contraceptive pills is advised.
FDA issues Black Box Warning for Bayer's birth control implant Essure
By Cheri Cheng | Mar 01, 2016 11:44 AM EST
The FDA has recommended Bayer AG to include a black box warning and to conduct a post-market safety study for its contraceptive product, Essure.
Report Claims FDA most likely Underestimated Number of Fetal Deaths from Essure
By Cheri Cheng | Feb 18, 2016 10:40 AM EST
A new analysis is claiming that the FDA most likely underestimated the number of fetal deaths from Bayer's Essure.
Pregnant Women Advised To Refrain Alcohol Drinking While Being In Birth Control Program
By Jenn Loro | Feb 05, 2016 12:12 PM EST
In a vaguely-worded report, sexually active women of reproductive age are advised to quit drinking to avoid having babies with fetal alcohol syndrome.
Reversible Birth Control Options for Men Are Coming!
By Jenn Loro | Jan 08, 2016 09:01 AM EST
Scientific leaps in medical research and development would finally give men the reversible birth control options without risking permanent infertility brought about traditional vasectomies.
Oregon Allows OTC Prescription Of Birth Control Pills, California To Follow Suit
The new law came into effect on January 1. Women will have to share their medical history with qualified pharmacists who can choose to refuse pills.
Abortions Are Down 4% From Previous Year To Reach Historic Low, CDC
By R. Siva Kumar | Nov 27, 2015 05:00 PM EST
In 2012, about 699,000 abortions were reported to the Centers for Disease Control, with 31,000 fewer abortions than previous year.
New Laws in Two States will Allow Pharmacists to Prescribe Birth Control
By Cheri Cheng | Nov 23, 2015 01:01 PM EST
New laws in California and Oregon will significantly change how women access birth control.
At Least 100 Women are involved in a Lawsuit over Mislabeled Birth Control Packages
113 women have filed a joint lawsuit against Qualitest Pharmaceuticals over allegedly mislabeled birth control packages.
Gates Foundation will help Make $1 Birth-Control Available to Poor Nations
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has teamed up with a pharmaceutical company as well as other aid groups to make birth-control more accessible to women living in poor, developing nations.


Our award winning regional newsletter, "The Runabout", is published three times a year, and is filled with articles from the Region's members—and not just articles about Star Trek! We talk about all genres of sci-fi as well as real world science, and what our chapters have been up to in general. It's filled with fiction and mission reports as well as regional news. Originally titled "The Commonwealth", the newsletter was renamed at the end of 2014, as it was felt that the old title didn't reflect who we were as a region.
On this page, you can browse through past issues of the newsletter, under both names, as far back as 2013. Just click the image of the issue you want to read for a PDF download. The most recent issue, however, is always reserved for fully paid up members of Region 20.
New issues are published at the end of March, July and November.
If you have something you'd like to be included in The Runabout, click HERE for the email link!
We strive to include at least one article from each chapter in every issue, so get submitting, we love reading about what everyone in the region is up to!
*N.B. We acknowledge all authors as the originator of their work but reserve the right to edit or abridge where necessary.


Here we are again, talking about pitcher wins. As the baseball landscape changes wildly, with short relievers now starting sometimes, with "starting pitchers" going fewer and fewer innings, with managers worrying about a pitcher going three or (gasp) four times through the same lineup, with complete games becoming unicorns, there is continuing talk that baseball should #killthewin.
What you might not know -- what I didn't know -- is that the win has been close to death a few times through the years. The win has always survived. It has come back stronger than ever. And even now, in our advanced statistical age -- when we can measure the spin of the ball, when we can break down the movement of every player at every instant, when the very idea of giving a single pitcher a victory or defeat feels so outdated and illogical -- well, the win will live on.
Meet Henry Chadwick. You might know the name: He was often called "The Father of Baseball." Chadwick was born and raised in England, where he developed a passionate love for cricket. He came upon baseball shortly before the Civil War and fell in love -- not so much with the game itself but with what the game might become, what he himself could make of the game. Chadwick was one of the first writers to see America's spirit in baseball.
Chadwick spent the rest of his life writing about ways to improve baseball, to make it more scientific, to make it less rowdy and corrupt and more gentlemanly. Mostly though, he wrote about statistics. Chadwick believed in the power of statistics. We can thank him, above everyone else, for making baseball almost certainly the most precisely recorded game in the history of the world.
We can also thank Chadwick for the pitcher win.
Chadwick was more or less alone on the win at first. The majority of people in the late 1800s believed that pitchers should be judged by the number of earned runs they allowed. He had a real problem with that. For one thing, Chadwick had a very strict view of what constituted an actual earned run (he loathed stolen bases, for instance, and thought they represented defensive lapses). For another, he believed that runs allowed did not matter as much as winning. It was all about winning.
In other words, Chadwick was fighting in the late 19th century the same fight that baseball fans would have in bars, on talk radio and on Twitter.
Chadwick began recording the pitcher win in 1884. Nobody bought it, but he didn't stop. Chadwick tinkered with it and recorded pitcher wins in '85. Still nobody bought it. People asked: Why should the pitcher get credit for a team victory?
"It seems to place the whole game upon the shoulders of the pitcher and I don't believe it will ever become popular even with so learned a gentleman was Mr. Chadwick to father it. Certain it is that many an execrable pitcher game is won by heavy hitting at the right moment after the pitcher had done his best to lose it."
Think about that: Written in 1888. Brian Kenny couldn't tweet that any better.
Despite all these doubts, the win just kept coughing and wheezing forward. Nobody even knew the rules -- Chadwick seemed to be keeping those to himself -- but still pitcher win-loss records became a prominent statistic, baseball's version of batting average. That's not a joke about the rules of the win, by the way. A baseball writer named Frank J. Williams found official scorers using eleven different ways to count a pitcher's win during the dead-ball era.
The confusion led to all sorts of crazy problems later, including the now-famous Christy Mathewson-Pete Alexander mess. It was assumed that Mathewson retired with 372 games in his career, the National League record. Well, Pete Alexander -- you might remember him as Grover Cleveland Alexander -- won his 373rd game in 1929, when he was 42 years old. He did not win again, but that was OK. It was enough. Alexander had set the NL record for wins.
Only he hadn't. Everybody had simply forgotten to count a game Mathewson won in 1902. He actually had 373 victories. Baseball added that win back in '46. Alexander died in '50; he lived long enough to chase the record, break the record and then see his record taken away because of sloppy accounting.
In any case, the win could have been crushed at any point during this time. Ban Johnson, the powerful founder and president of the American League, tried to crush it. He had no use for how people were quantifying wins -- there was a Walter Johnson mess that is too complicated to go into here -- so he had the league simply stop releasing any record of wins and losses beginning in 1913.
That could have killed the win, but it didn't. It was too late. By 1913, Chadwick had won the day. Baseball fans furiously complained. Johnson was an obstinate cuss; he didn't give in. The AL did not release its official wins and losses for seven seasons. But with fans screaming bloody murder, baseball guides and newspapers had no choice but to keep their own unofficial win-loss totals. People had to know which pitchers won the most games. Soon, the AL gave in.
There have been other mutinies against the win. The save was invented by the sportswriter Jerome Holtzman mainly because he was outraged over reliever Roy Face's 18-1 record in 1959. The win seemed an entirely corrupted statistic to him, so Holtzman invented and passionately promoted another corrupted statistic that would fundamentally change the game. Irony. Now, there are #killthesave hashtags, too.
So what about the pitcher win in 2018? With teams using all sorts of new pitching strategies -- Tampa Bay's choice to start a one-inning reliever at various times being the hottest at the moment -- the win becomes less and less tenable. We have no idea what starting and relief pitching will look like in two years or five years or 10 years, but we do know it is likely to have starters throwing even fewer innings. As our generation's Chadwick, the baseball writer Bill James says, "The trend of using more and more pitchers in a game is constant through the history of baseball. I see no reason to believe that this trend will reverse."
The more pitchers per game, the less logical it seems to give any one of them a win. We all can see that. Major League teams and many baseball fans long ago stopped concerning themselves with wins and instead focused their attention on more telling stats.
But here's the thing: The pitcher win will survive anyway. It always has survived. It's such an ingrained part of the game, such a huge part of baseball's history, that people are not going to just give it up. The 20-win pitcher? The 300-game winner? These are a part of baseball. Oh, the win will keep on keeping on. Maybe the rules will be altered. The official pitcher win rule, which now states that a starter has to go five innings to get the win, was changed in 1950. Maybe that will be changed again. Maybe there will be a point system invented to determine who gets the win.
But the win will survive. The win is harder to kill than James Bond.


text:
The Flower Throwers
Brigitte Gabriel ACT!(s) For Israel
Leave a comment Posted by johnnyspooner on March 10, 2013
Gabrielle's ACT! For America (or The American Congress For Truth) are part of the same stable of professional Islamophobes that are funded by the Zionist Aubrey Chernick's Fairbrook Foundation. Fellow beneficiaries include a who's who of the anti-Islam propaganda industry's pseudo-experts including Frank Gaffney, Robert Spencer, David Horowitz and Daniel Pipes. The intent here is to show that these propagandists all speak with the same shrill voice all serve the same Zionist/Neocon agenda which involves demonising and dehumanising Islam and Muslims to manipulate public opinion into supporting or at least turning a blind eye to the unjust and neverending cycle of imperialist wars against Muslim nations and people. This piece that focuses on Brigitte Gabriel of The American Congress For Truth is no more than an example of their agenda-driven propaganda.
Part 1: Gabrielle In Israel
Brigitte Gabriel the only child of a successful Lebanese businessman and Government administrator cut her teeth in the world of anti-Islam propaganda rather fittingly in 1984 in Israel. According to her bio she was the host of "World News" on the Middle East Television (METV) Network. METV and it's sister radio station "The Voice of Hope" were establised by right-wing Christian Evangelist George Otis and the TV wing was later passed onto the Christian-Zionist leader Pat Robertson.
Both channels were hosted in territory controlled by Israel's proxy militia the South Lebanon Army (SLA) who operated out of South Lebanon which was under the command of Saad Haddad who took to the airwaves at the "Voice of Hope" — which was to become known as "Voice of Death" by Hadadd's victims — to terrorize those in his firing line that there homes were about to be shelled
The SLA were Lebanese mercenaries who collaborated with their occupier, Israel, to provide a buffer inside Lebanese territory between Israel and Lebanon. According to eye-witnesses they were involved in many atrocities including in Sabra and Shatila and ran a notorious torture-prison in Khiam.
Sabra and Shatila Victims
Thomas Friedman the New York Times Foreign correspondent reported from the scene of the massacre of hundreds of Palestinian refuguees:
But there is ample circumstantial evidence that members of the Israeli-armed and trained militia of Maj. Saad Haddad and members of the Christian Phalangist militia – also known as the Lebanese Forces -were in the camps. Whether or not they were there under orders from Major Haddad or the Phalangist militiary and political leadership is not clear. The possibility of breakaway elements being involved cannot be ruled out at this point.
METV and Voice of Hope
The Ministry's founder George Otis describes it's founding:
In the mid 70's, High Adventure Ministries' founder, George Otis, had the opportunity to meet with many of the top political and military leaders in and around Israel. One unusual meeting involved Major Saad Haddad, the "George Washington" of southern Lebanon. While discussing ways he could help the Major in his ongoing battle against the vicious attacks from the PLO, a vision was birthed in George's heart. The Major was wishing for a small radio transmitter to enable him to communicate with his beleaguered people to bring them hope… in the midst of all the devastation and death. Here is part of that conversation between George Otis and Major Haddad:
"Yes, I see what you mean. A little radio station could certainly be a great help to your people. But tell me Major, if we could somehow get the money together to do this, would you object if it weren't a little radio station, but maybe a real big one?
The Major looked puzzled, "Why? What do you have in mind?"
"Well, how far is it from here to Jerusalem?"
"About a hundred miles."
"And Damascus?"
"Less than thirty miles over that mountain, Mount Hermon."
"What about Beirut?"
"Maybe thirty-four miles," he paused. "I think I am beginning to understand your thinking."
"Major Haddad, your people are not the only ones here in the Middle East who are discouraged and troubled by the wars that seem to rage so endlessly in their midst. I'm thinking we could do something to give hope to your people, and, at the same time, convey a message – a Christian message – to all the people of this region… to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and to Israel. How about it?"
With that came the first little hint of a smile of gladness across Saad Haddad's theretofore solemn face.
It was that divine meeting, and momentous handshake, that started the vision for a revolutionary new Christian radio station on the border of Israel and Lebanon. It was the birth of the Voice of Hope to so many who desperately needed it, in the war-torn Middle East.
Hezbollah liberated South Lebanon in 2000 leaving their mercenaries in the SLA to fend for themselves. Some fled to Israel, Hadadd's daughter is now a scientist in Israel, METV now broadcast from Cyprus while Brigitte Gabriel ended up in the United States.
– Part 2: Gabrielle In The US
ACT! For America were heavily involved in disseminating Clarion's anti-Islam hate film "The Third Jihad". They sent out an action alert to it's members encouraging them to arrange screenings in their localities.
The New York Times revealed that The Third Jihad was played on a continuous loop to almost 1,500 NYPD trainees for over a year. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly even appeared as an "expert" in the film. Under Kelly's leadership the NYPD set up a "demographics unit" that illegally spied on Muslims because they were Muslim for six years – and yet didn't generate a single lead. Frank Gaffney, President of The Center for Security Policy (CSP )who also sits on the advisory board at Clarion honored Ray Kelly in 2007.
Another cross-over between the CSP and Clarion is Nina Cunningam. Cunningham sits on the board at Clarion and is a Director at Gaffney's CSP as well as being a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC). The RJC teamed up with the Christian Zionist John Hagee's Christians United For Israel (CUFI) to distribute Clarion's earlier hatemongering film "Obsession. It was included as an insert into CUFI's Executive Director David Brog's book Standing With Israel.
CUFI's links to Clarion don't stop there. Ilan Sharon their "Jewish Liason Director " and former IDF Officer helped produce both Obsession and The Third Jihad according to the CUFI site. The primary Producer of the Clarion Fund's films has been it's CEO and President Raphael Shore a dual citizen Canadian-Israeli who lives in Jerusalem. Shore was the Director of both Aish International and the Hasbara Fellowship – both projects of Aish Hatorah.
Aish Hatorah, are an Orthodox Jewish charity who have been describe by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic as "just about the most fundamentalist movement in Judaism today". They have undeniable links to The Clarion Fund as mapped out in detail in The Tampa Bay Times and later Eli Clifton at lobelog.com.
Aish HaTorah, the Israeli orthodox Jewish group which has denied having any formal links to the Clarion Fund. But Aish and Clarion once shared an address in New York; Clarion's executive director, Raphael Shore, has worked as a full-time employee of Aish HaTorah and sits on the board of Imagination Productions; Rabbi Henry Harris and Rebecca Kabat incorporated the Clarion Fund, along with Raphael Shore, and served as employees of Aish HaTorah; Shore's twin brother, Ephraim Shore was the executive director of Aish HaTorah in Miami and Toronto; and Clarion's spokesperson, Gregory Ross, was an Aish HaTorah fundraiser.
The Clarion Fund's latest effort at Neocon/Zionist propaganda posing as serious film making was a 2011 production called Iranium which pushed for war with Iran. Among the list of "supporting organisations" on it's official website we find (amongst others) again Aish, The Center For Security Policy, The Republican Jewish Coalition, The CUFI's Minnesotans Against Terrorism, The Hasbara Fellowships and Family Security Matters. and Brigitte Gabriel's ACT! For America.
Gabriel's direct involvement to Clarion's "supporting organisations" extends farther than ACT!. She is a registered speaker for Aish International's The Hasbara Fellowship. She flatly rejected this truth during a 2007 lecture given to a military college and recorded on C-Span, denying even having any knowledge of the organisitaion she is a member of.
She is also a "contributing editor" at Family Security Matters who Media Matters exposed as being a front group for Frank Gaffney's Neocon think-tank the Center For Security Policy.
The phone number listed on the official FSM website was answered by the offices of the CSP.
Another source of income for Gabriel is her association with the Jewish National Fund (JNF) who list her as a speaker.
The Jewish writer Sylvia Schwarz who has researched the JNF explains.
The Jewish National Fund is an organization founded in 1901 to procure land in Palestine for the benefit of Jews only. Having purchased some land at the beginning of its existence, the JNF proceeded to acquire it through expulsion of indigenous inhabitants of Palestine and expropriation of their land. It continues this practice today, grabbing thousands of dunums (a dunum is 1,000 square meters) of land, forcing the Palestinian owners into homelessness and destroying their history. The goal of the JNF has not changed since its founding.
It remains an organization to procure and hold land in perpetuity for Jews only. Thus the JNF is a tool of ethnic cleansing, which can only be accomplished if the fund's actions and their consequences are withheld from the world.
Perhaps not quite as troubling as the time she was reported as a "former Muslim" by an interviewer
Concerns about the Muslim background of Democratic United States Presidential candidate, United States Senator Barack Obama, have been expressed by a best selling author, who is herself a former Muslim.
It must surely be a cause of stress for Gabriel to be labelled an "Arab" in her JNF bio considering that in her 2007 CUFI speech she outrageously proclaimed to her excitable audience that Arabs are "evil" and "have no souls".
There is also the distinct possibility that Brigitte Gabriel was once of AIPAC. A 2007 Counterpunch article quotes an "AIPAC staffer" by the name of "Rachael Cohen" giving Gabrielle's usual spiel about Hezbollah, Israel and terrorism. "Rachael Cohen" is one of Gabrielle's many aliases.
"We need to get this base built as quickly as possible as a forward thrust point against Al Qaeda and other (read Hezbollah) terrorists", according to AIPAC staffer Rachael Cohen. Asked if Israel will offer training and advisors to the Lebanese army, Ms. Cohen replied, "we will see what we will see, Lebanon, smezzanon its not about them, its about stopping the terrorists stupid!"
A final affiliation though no less murky of Gabriel's is her association with The United States Committee For a Free Lebanon where she sits on the "advisory board" The groups Founder and CEO is a Lebanese Maronite-Christian banker called .Ziad Abdelnour, an ally of Daniel Pipes who had this to say in a 2007 Counterpunch interview:
When we went to Iraq whether there were weapons of mass destruction or not, the key is — we won. And Saddam is out! Whatever we want, will happen. Iran? We will not let Iran become a nuclear power. We'll find a way, we'll find an excuse- to get rid of Iran. And I don't care what the excuse is. There is no room for rogue states in the world. Whether we lie about it, or invent something, or we don't… I don't care. The end justifies the means. What's right? Might is right, might is right. That's it. Might is right.
Gabrielle wrote an impassioned piece entitled "Thank You Israel!" on behalf of the group in 2006 urging Israel to carry on it's bombing as Israel was carrying out the Daiya Doctrine in Lebanon systematically destroying the Lebanese civilian infrastructure
– Part 3: Gabrielle and the Filmmakers
Gabrielle's involvement with anti-Islam propaganda films is not limited to the series of Clarion Fund films. She is also intertwined with some of the characters involved in The Innocence of Muslims.
Morris Sadek with Brigitte Gabriel
Along With Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer she was one of the chief organisers of the "Ground-Zero" Mosque rallies. These protests featured heavily those involved with the film. It's Producer Joseph Nasralla was warmly embraced by Robert Spencer as Spencer welcomed him to the podium. A promoter of the film and likely the translator for the Arabic version was an Extremist Coptic-Christian called Morris Sadek. . A blog post on his site indicates he is a member of Gabrielle's ACT! For America. Sadek was personally invited to the "stop the Mosque" protests and given orders on how to behave there by Pamela Geller – Instead he donned a cowboy hat, grabbed his crucifix and screamed like a bigoted lunatic.
Sadek was also at the fore of the "Ground Zero" protests of another of the Innocence of Muslims promoters – the Quran burning Pastor from Florida Terry Jones.
Gabrielle's Act! For America also allied with another of the men behind The Innocence of Muslims, the extremist Christian Steve Klein. Klein, an employee of Joseph Nasralla founded an anti-Islam group called Concerned Citizens For The First Amendment. This group allied with Gabriel's ACT! For America to organise the protest of an Islamic charity event in Anaheim.
We have confirmed that chapters from Act for America, Bikers for Christ, and Concerned Citizens for the First Amendment will be participating, along with other individuals and organizations.
If possible the Anaheim protests somehow outdid the New York protests in terms of pure hatred and bigotry as they hurled abuse at the young Muslim families as they made their way to the entrance.
These shameful events were documented by CAIR
← Brigitte Gabriel ACT!(s) For Israel – Part 3: Gabrielle and the Filmmakers	New York Muslims protest police surveillance →
Murdoch, Scaife and CIA Propaganda
Video: If you voted for Hamas, Israel has a right to kill you, says president of NY Board of Rabbis
How To Destroy Peace before it starts.
How a Group of Christians Smearing Muslims Benefits the Jewish State
Origins of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, 1949-1950
Allen West
Breivik
Brian Crozier
Christian Coalition
Citizens For National Security
Congress for Cultural Freedom
Council For National Policy (CNP)
Democratic International
Dick De Vos
Encounter Magazine
Fairbrook Foundation
Forum World Features
Guy Rodgers
Innocence of Muslims
Islamophobia Chart
Islamophobia Network
Jack Abramoff
Jack Wheeler
Morris Sadek
NYPD Entrapment
Peter Leitner
Ralph Reed
Ron Banerjee
Scaife
Steve Klein
William A. Saxton
Zionisim


This puts too much emphasis on grading.
Schools need to set the example for students that learning trumps grading. Anything that reinforces the hyper-focus on grading that tends to motivate students will be detrimental to our goal of keeping our focus on learning. This includes polices that create one-size-fits-all grading practices.
Policy is not as valuable as professional development.
There is no way to create a policy that addresses all possible scenarios. However, a faculty that is well-grounded in Assessment FOR Learning philosophy can create its own logistical answers to the situations that arise.
Our friends at @CVULearns in Vermont have put together a wonderful argument for why focusing on Standards Based LEARNING is significantly more important that focusing on Standards Based GRADING. All I can say is "Amen!"


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North West »
Congleton »
Alsager »
ST7 2RU
Area Information for Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU
Lawton Road in Alsager is in the North West region of England. The postcode is within the Alsager ward/electoral division, which is in the constituency of Congleton. This page combines information for the address Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU, and the neighbourhood in which it resides. If you wish, you can also view information for the whole of ST7 here. For more details on the exact area these statistics cover, please see the map below and click "Show Census Area Covered" immediately below the map.
Local Authority Cheshire East
Ward Alsager
Constituency Congleton
Region North West
Our information is available for almost all UK postcodes. Why not take a look at some of these other postcodes in the immediate vicinity of Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU:
Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2AF
Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2AA
Lea Way, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2NF
Ashmores Lane, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2LN
Sandbach Road South, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2LW
Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2AE
The information on housing, people, culture, employment and education that is displayed about Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU is based on the last census performed in the UK in 2011. They are performed once every 10 years. Please note: census information may include figures for adjacent streets and postcodes. The figures are therefore representative of the local area, not a specific street address or row of houses. The census collection is designed so that each group of postcodes should contain at least 100 people (50 in Scotland). This is done to preserve the anonymity of the people in that area, as some postcodes cover a very small area, sometimes a single building. You can see the area covered by the census statistics by clicking "Show Census Area Covered" below the map above.
There have been no house sales reported to the Land Registry in this postcode since January 1st 1995.
This area contains a mixture of housing types, as detailed below. No single type of dwelling accounts for more than 50% of the dwellings. Please note that the figures may include adjacent streets - see the Summary tab for an explanation and map of the area that these figures cover.
Flat (Purpose-Built) 47
Three People 6
Four People 9
Across the UK as a whole, the gender split is roughly equal at 49% male, 51% female. This address in Congleton constituency is broadly in line with those figures, with 43% male.
In the immediate vicinity of ST7 2RU the number widowed residents is high - 18% of the area's population. This may be indicative of an older population, and these areas often contain more women than men as a result.
Married 74
Good 79
This address (Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent) can be considered less ethnically diverse than the UK average. As whole, the UK population claims itself as approximately 86% white, with residents of this area being 97% so.
Mixed Ethnicity 3
Note that an individual may hold one or more passports. The data may include people living in adjacent addresses to ST7 2RU
Not Stated 5
This address within the Alsager ward showed a higher than average concentration of retired residents - 27% of the resident population. On average, around 13.8% of census respondents were retired. While the UK has an aging population, less residents over 65 are choosing to retire than previously. Between the 2001 and 2011 census, the number of economically active 65-74 year olds almost doubled to 8.7% - an increase of some 413,000 people.
HealthInc. Social Work 6
Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU is within the Alsager policing neighbourhood, under the Cheshire Constabulary force area. For non-urgent queries, contact 101. For emergency assistance, please contact 999. In November 2021, 5 crimes were reported within half a mile of ST7 2RU.
View Latest Crime in ST7 2RU
Crime: Click here to view 5 crimes committed near Lawton Road
Neighbourhood Team Address Alsager
Force Website: https://cheshire.police.uk/
Below are the details of the closest services to Alsager. All distances are straightline distances, please consult the map of the facility to check the exact location. You can also view these details on our interactive services map for ST7 2RU.
Listed here are the 15 closest railway stations to Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU. The nearest railway station is Alsager, approximately 530 yards away.
Alsager 530 yards
Sandbach 5.3 miles
Crewe 5.4 miles
Holmes Chapel 7.4 miles
Goostrey 8.8 miles
Nantwich 9.3 miles
Longton 11 miles
Winsford 11 miles
Wedgwood 12 miles
Barlaston 12 miles
Chelford (Cheshire) 13 miles
Listed here are the 10 closest primary schools to Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU. The nearest is Alsager Highfields Community Primary School, approximately 230 yards away.
Alsager Highfields Community Primary School 230 yards
St Gabriel's Catholic Primary School 680 yards
Excalibur Primary School 0.6 miles
Pikemere School 0.9 miles
Cranberry Academy 0.9 miles
Rode Heath Primary School 1.3 miles
St Saviour's CofE Academy 1.9 miles
The Reginald Mitchell Primary School 2 miles
Scholar Green Primary School 2.3 miles
Springhead Primary School 2.6 miles
Listed here are the 10 closest secondary schools to Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU. The nearest is Alsager School, approximately 0.7 miles away.
Alsager School 0.7 miles
The King's CofE Academy 2.5 miles
Kidsgrove Secondary School 2.9 miles
Sir Thomas Boughey Academy 3.9 miles
Sandbach School 4.3 miles
Chesterton Community Sports College 4.5 miles
Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College 4.5 miles
Ormiston Horizon Academy 4.7 miles
St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy 4.8 miles
Co-op Academy Stoke-On-Trent 5 miles
Listed here are the 10 closest GPs (General Practitioners) to Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU. The nearest is Merepark Medical Centre, approximately 410 yards away. Please consult the NHS Choices website to check if the facility is currently accepting new NHS patients.
Merepark Medical Centre 410 yards
The Cedars Medical Centre 410 yards
Rode Heath Surgery 1.4 miles
R J Mitchell Surgery 1.9 miles
Greenmoss Medical Centre 2.3 miles
Talke Clinic 2.7 miles
Dr C J Harbidge and Partners 2.9 miles
Dr Robinson & Partners 2.9 miles
Audley Health Centre 2.9 miles
Goldenhill Medical Centre 3.6 miles
Listed here are the 10 closest dentists to Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU. The nearest is Lawton Dental Practice, approximately < 50 yards away. Please consult the NHS Choices website to check if the facility is currently accepting new NHS patients.
Lawton Dental Practice < 50 yards
Alsager Dental Care 490 yards
Mereside Dental Practice 580 yards
Butt Lane Dental Surgery 1.9 miles
Kidsgrove Bank Dental Surgery 2.7 miles
Kidsgrove Dental Practice 2.7 miles
Audley Dental Practice 3 miles
A.S Devine The Dental Surgery 3.7 miles
mydentist, Crewe Road, Haslington 3.8 miles
Crown Bank 4.2 miles
Listed here are the 10 closest hospitals to Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU. The nearest is Airs -Bradwell Hospital, approximately 4.5 miles away.
Airs -Bradwell Hospital 4.5 miles
Bradwell Hospital 4.8 miles
Congleton War Memorial 5.9 miles
Congleton War Memorial Hospital 5.9 miles
Cygnet Nield House 7 miles
Leighton Hospital 7.3 miles
Listed here are the 10 closest opticians to Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU. The nearest is M Broad Opticians, approximately < 50 yards away.
M Broad Opticians < 50 yards
Scrivens Ltd 140 yards
T J Hopkins half a mile
Thompson Opticians 2.6 miles
S W Cotton Optometrist 2.7 miles
Paul Rowlands Opticians 4.1 miles
Boots Opticians 4.2 miles
Boots-Sandbach 4.2 miles
Steven D Morris Opticians 4.2 miles
Bramwells Opticians 4.2 miles

Local Area Information About Lawton Road, Alsager, Stoke-On-Trent, ST7 2RU


14/11/2017 · c. Next, you build your design. Make sure the design is at least 100000' x 100000' otherwise you will have a very small track. (100000' x 100000' is around a 20 sec lap) Once you build your design on one of the programs above you will need to do these exact things, (Just a reminder, this tutorial below will be for Sketchup, so if you use... Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Find Better Builds. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe—taking into account characters and parts that share the same stats—there are 8064 unique build combinations.
You can unlock one other Racer, Kart, Tire, and Glider for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Gold Set. To unlock Gold Mario: Earn First Place in all of the 200cc Cups. Gold Mario replaces Metal Mario when done.... Also: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Shortcuts For Every Course: A Guide to All 48 Tracks. Weirdly, Nintendo has opted to make this option the default control method for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and doesn't indicate that it can't be turned off in the game itself, with there being no settings options on the main menu.
The best kart in Mario Kart 8 In my opinion, the best karts are the Sport Coupe, Mach 8, Super Glide and the Gold Kart. These Kart offer the best speed and are quite easy to use.
For starters, of course, everyone's going to need a car in order to make Mario Kart costumes. Luckily, we have the just the video game car for you! Luckily, we have the just the video game car for you!
5/07/2017 · It's only been two months since Mario Kart 8 has been released, but over two million copies have already been sold! While the game is vastly popular, only a very, very small percentage of these two million people will actually jump into the competitive scene of this game.
Fortnite Playground Limited Time Mode allowed the players to create a Mario Kart racing ground in the game and there are a number of other builds from the gamers.


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THE MOST IMPORTANT PROFESSIONAL SHOWCASE OF MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS IN THE BALEARIC ISLANDS FOCUSES ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY.
Presentation of the poster and complete programme of Fira B! 2022
There are almost a hundred concerts and performances open to the general public:
Link to Fira B! promo video: https://youtu.be/4i6OKuv97F4
Miguel Company, the Councillor for European Funds, Art and Culture, Catalina Solivellas, Director General of Culture and Pere Malondra, Director of the Institute for Balearic Studies, presented this Tuesday the complete programme of Fira B! 2022, the biggest showcase of music and the performing arts in the Balearic Islands.
"The Govern is dedicating a week to culture. And, above all, home-grown culture, with 70% of the acts coming from the islands. FiraB! not only unites the professional and cultural sectors but also the islands themselves," said Company, who highlighted the fact that the FiraB! schedule nicely balances well established companies and musicians with newer acts just setting out on their professional path. "We really believe in this crossover. We mustn't lose sight of the fact that Fira B! Is a professional showcase and this year - registration is currently still open - there are more than 350 promoters, national and international professionals who will enjoy the selection and help local artists from the cultural sector of the Balearic Islands to reach a wider international audience," stated the councillor.
Fira B! 2022, which this year takes place between 27 September and 2nd October, has at its heart the relationship between sustainability and culture. "We'd like to emphasise that the programme includes Espai 17, a project developed by Débora Marqués and Virgínia Seguí, of the Sant Lluís Town Council, as a way of applying the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) efficiently in the cultural sector," explained Pere Malondra. "We're very happy with the number of applications received: 312 from the world of music and 241 from the performing arts. It reflects the growing interest in this event, which is key to the islands' culture," added the director of the Institute for Balearic Studies.
There are a total of 81 events programmed under the FiraB! umbrella, all of which are open to the general public, including concerts and performing arts shows. The Marco Mezquida Trio, who apply sustainability criteria to all their productions, will be performing on the opening night.
The closing event will be a performance of Escalar un gegant, a Teatre Principal and Cultural-ment production.
This year, for the first time, the performing arts and music categories have been separated, with regard to both performances and the professional conferences and workshops.
Concerts are taking place on the 27, 28 and 29 September. There are 55 concerts scheduled on 3 stages close to one another; Ses Voltes, the Museu de Mallorca and the Teatre Municipal Xesc Forteza. Out of a total of 312 applications received, 35 were selected by an international jury to perform at FiraB! The remaining concerts are the result of negotiations between national and international fairs and festivals with artists from France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Romania, Estonia and Canada taking part. This year's FiraB! sees a series of collaborations and exchanges between national and European festivals such as the Vic Showcase of Live Music; Kultur LX from Luxembourg; InJazz from the Netherlands, and C/OPop from Germany, amongst others. Other performances include acts taken from the catalogue put together by the Plataforma Jazz España from performances at their own festivals, some from the Balearic Islands, and one from Jazz España prizewinner, Lucia Fumero.
The Plataforma Jazz España (PJE) Congress and Assembly is also taking place under the FiraB! Umbrella. PJE is the organiser of the major jazz festivals in Spain and, along with providing over a dozen jazz promoters from Spain, will showcase the performance of the Lucia Fumero trio, one of this year's prizewinning line-ups. The three Balearic artists featured in the PJE catalogue will be performing as well as the 15 most relevant Spanish acts from 2021, according to associates Pere Bujuso, Muriel Grossman and Toni Vaquer.
From the 29 September to 2 October there are 26 performing arts shows taking place at the Teatre Principal (Palma), the Teatre Municipal Xesc Forteza, the Teatre Mar i Terra, the Misericòrdia, the Casal Solleric, and at Can Balaguer, thanks to the collaboration of Palma Town Council and the Council of Mallorca. This year there is a new development; plays are being staged by local theatre companies, amongst them Trui Theatre, Teatre Sans (Estudi Zero), Iguana Theatre (Teatre de Mar), Espai el Tub (Produccions Ferro) performing in their home spaces. They'll be presenting the history and evolution of the spaces directly before the performances. Along with the local companies, there will be companies from other autonomous regions such as Catalunya, Valencia, the Basque Country and the Canary Islands.
This year's Fira B! relies on the help of some strategic partners in the world of performing arts such as
Sala Beckett and Fira Tàrrega, who formed part of the assessment committee, and the Coordinadora de Fires d'Arts Escéniques (COFAE), part of the International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts (IETM).
Fira B! will also be the setting for the realisation of collaboration and exchanges between like-minded bodies
and other representatives of the sector such as the Extremadura Centre for Performing arts and Music (CEMART), the Valencian Institute of Culture, the Etxepare Institute and the Canary Islands General Direction of Culture.
Please find the FiraB! 2022 complete artistic programme here:
http://www.firab.org/ca/programacion/
The majority of performances are open to the general public, although we should remind you that FiraB! Is a professional event showcasing music and the performing arts. Its principal aim is to help new artists from the Balearic Islands reach a wider audience and to advance a network of professionals from the world of music and performing arts, from the Balearic Islands and at regional and country level.
As such, one of the central pillars of FiraB! is the FiraB! Pro days which, this year, are focusing on the relationship between culture and sustainability. They are being held at the Teatre Mar i Terra (music industry professionals) and Can Balaguer (Performing Arts professionals). They are open to all professionals in the world of music and performing arts; promoters, artists, distributors or any other type of professional in either sector. The programme includes numerous presentations and round tables where we'll be reflecting on the music industry and performing arts field in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) along with workshops, networking events, meetings and other activities to advance interaction between all participants.
Please find the FiraB! Pro complete schedule of events here:
Registration: http://pro.firab.org


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CID Entertainment provides Ultimate Event Experiences for fans like you looking to enhance the way you enjoy your passion. Whether it's a concert, music festival or event you want to see, we provide a full range of services, from VIP ticketing to travel packages - all with premium guest service. Don't just attend an event. Experience it.


text:
Q: How to create custom font face to use font awesome's asterisk icon Actually my requirement is to display asterisk in place of dots in input type password. I am trying to replace the dot icon in the default input type password to '*'. I am using a font face rule in order to do this. But Struck how to add URLs for Asterisk icon in font awesome. Could anyone please help me out with this?
Below is my code.

<!DOCTYPE html>

  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="./demo.css">

      Type in the password input: //Using input type password. But want to display Asterisk in place of dots which is by default.
      <input type="password">

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Published by Lottie Wakefield, at Monday, November 12th , 2018 - 13:43:00 PM, in Interior & Exterior category.
Published by Emerson Sackville, at Monday, November 12th , 2018 - 12:54:44 PM, in House & Home Design category.
Published by Esme Normanson, at Monday, November 12th , 2018 - 13:40:28 PM, in Inspiration House category.


Executive director of the US Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) Cindy Fornelli told The Accountant that, while she supports the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's (PCAOB) attempts to expand the auditor report, elements of the proposal need to be looked at.
The PCAOB proposals largely focus on adding "critical audit matters" (CAMs) into the auditor's report. CAMs are issues addressed in the audit which involved the most difficult, subjective or complex auditor judgement.
Fornelli's main criticism is that the PCAOB's implementation critical audit matters are so broad that she is concerned it will result in hundreds of critical audit matters, leading to disclosure overload.
To explain these concerns she described what according to her a common practice in the US is: "you want more disclosure? Here, we'll give you reams of paper".
The CAQ has found dissatisfaction at the sheer quantity of information present in management reports. The problem here was that disclosures made are rarely removed from future reports, but are often added to, leading to an ever increasing amount of information.
"I would hate to make the same mistake with the auditor's report," Fornelli said.
Concerns over the current form of CAMs were also noted at a PCAOB public meeting at the start of April.
At this meeting EY Americas vice-chair Kevin Reilly said the PCAOB proposal required "significant revision to, and clarification of, the manner in which the CAM disclosure concept is expected to be applied in practice."
To resolve these concerns, the CAQ has looked for ways to increase disclosure, while narrowing the definition of CAMs.
"Our approach is to narrow the CAMs to those things the auditor discusses with the audit committee. That is a good first screen to make it rise to the level where it would be important to an investor," she said.
The situation is a complicated one, and another suggestion has been a gradual move away from paper reports towards electronic reports, something Fornelli described as "scary."
On the one hand, she pointed to people in their twenties, who barely use paper, but on the other hand said "we have to consider those who aren't so computer literate, or don't even have a computer. So where do you make that switch over?"
Overall, Fornelli predicted a gradual, slow evolution to more and more computer based disclosure.
Another proposal the PCAOB has suggested is adding the name of the engagement partner to the auditor's report. And while Fornelli is not against the naming of the engagement partner per se, she did point out that adding this information to the auditor's report could become a legal issue.
She noted "In order to name the partner in the auditor's report you would have to get the companies permission and consent. So it's an administrative hassle."
Instead, Fornelli suggested putting the names somewhere else, to escape what she described as an "administrative hurdle."
She also acknowledged that, for some, the naming of the audit partner could be an emotional issue, as by having their names in the report; partners would be opening themselves up for personal attacks.