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Pandemic MLB exhibition games have make-it-up-as-you-go feel
by Island Times July 21, 2020 July 21, 2020
Los Angeles Dodgers' Cody Bellinger (35) is met at home plate after hitting a grand slam during the first inning of an exhibition baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday, July 19, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A seventh-inning stretch without fans at Yankee Stadium was far from the oddest happening on the second day of summer exhibitions in the majors.
The first inning ended at Dodger Stadium without Los Angeles making a single out Sunday night, a game went to the 10th inning in Philadelphia even with the Orioles leading the Phillies 4-1, and the Yankees hit in the bottom of the ninth with a 6-0 lead over the Mets.
It's not quite baseball like you're used to seeing. Then again, we'd never seen baseball amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most peculiar situation occurred during the first exhibition between Arizona and the Dodgers, with the game having an intrasquad feel.
Diamondbacks starter Taylor Widener got off to rough opening when he walked the first two batters and then gave up a single to Justin Turner that loaded the bases. Cody Bellinger followed with a grand slam to make it 4-0.
Corey Seager then walked and was heading to first base when he learned the inning was over. Widener had thrown 25 pitches in the first, but he stayed in the game and allowed six runs in four innings overall.
"Basically, we just came to an agreement between teams that if a pitcher gets past a 25-pitch threshold In an inning we can choose to roll it over so we can build that pitcher up and not put him in harm's way," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
The Dodgers won the game 9-2.
That wasn't the only oddity among the four exhibitions played during the day.
In Philadelphia, the Orioles appeared to have wrapped up a victory over the Phillies when the teams headed out for the 10th to give Trevor Kelley a chance to throw an inning as he tunes up for the regular season.
Kelley ended up giving up a homer to Ryan Mountcastle before the game ended after 9 1/2 innings.
In New York, the Yankees had put together a win over the Mets behind two homers from Aaron Judge, and one each from Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez and Luke Voit.
But the Mets still went out to the field for the meaningless bottom of the ninth inning. Seth Lugo pitched a second inning and retired the Yankees in order.
Earlier in the game, the teams took the traditional break in the seventh inning for fans to stretch to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" even though none were there. They also played "God Bless America" over the loudspeaker.
The Mets took three buses for the short ride from Queens in order to socially distance.
Things were mostly normal in Chicago, where the White Sox beat the Cubs 7-3 at Wrigley Field.
BACK IN CENTER
The defending World Series champion Washington Nationals were happy to have starting center Victor Robles back in camp.
Robles had his first official workout with the team on Sunday after being quarantined for two weeks because he came into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
"It was definitely very difficult, the fact that I really wasn't able to work much on my swing," Robles said through an interpreter. "But I appreciate that the team did a good job of taking me a lot of things that I could use within the apartment, even baseballs and whatnot, to try to stay as ready as I could physically."
Robles spent much of his time in quarantine in his hotel room watching Netflix and listening to music. But he was also able to work with some weights the team gave him and do some running in the parking lot to stay in shape.
He was pleased with his at-bats on Sunday, was able to run the bases and feels it's realistic he'll be ready to play Thursday.
"I think I have the ability and the youth that helps me get ready quickly," he said. "I think the team brought enough things for me to work on to where I feel like I'm definitely going to be able to be ready for opening day, if possible."
DJ'S DEBUT
All-Star second baseman DJ LeMahieu was in the Yankees' lineup for the first time since recovering from COVID-19. LeMahieu hit leadoff, going 0 for 2 and playing three innings in the field.
"I thought he looked good," manager Aaron Boone said. "Smoked the ball his first time. Kind of typical DJ."
Judge made his summer exhibition debut and homered on an 0-2 fastball from Corey Oswalt in the first inning and in the sixth off Drew Smith.
That backed five dominant and efficient innings by Jordan Montgomery, who cemented his rotation spot.
"It finally felt like a real game," said Montgomery, who made two appearances last September after returning from Tommy John surgery. "I was excited to get out there with our guys behind me."
Masahiro Tanaka threw his second bullpen since getting hit in the head by Stanton's line drive in a simulated game early this month. The session went well and Tanaka will probably face hitters Tuesday, Boone said, but it's unclear when the right-hander might be ready for his first regular-season start.
Right-hander Luis Cessa returned to the Yankees after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Mets catcher Wilson Ramos is away from the team to deal with a personal matter — the club is not explaining any absences in detail. In a related move, New York added veteran backstop René Rivera to the 40-man roster. Reserve first baseman Matt Adams was released.
Jacob deGrom threw a simulated game back at Citi Field. His fastball registered 98-100 mph and he struck out nine of 14 hitters who took an at-bat, according to manager Luis Rojas.
"We got some good reports," Rojas said. "Jake was Jake."
The two-time Cy Young Award winner is on track to start the season opener Friday at home against Atlanta. He left an intrasquad game after one inning last week because of back stiffness, but an MRI came back clean.
YoenisCéspedes started in left field for the first time and played three uneventful innings on defense, but right-handed reliever Robert Gsellman is slowed by triceps tightness.
PIRATES PROSPECT
Pirates third base prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes is out indefinitely while dealing with the novel coronavirus.
Manager Derek Shelton announced Hayes' illness on Sunday after the 23-year-old Hayes — the son of former longtime MLB third baseman Charlie Hayes — gave the team clearance to do so.
The diagnosis blunts the momentum that Hayes, considered the top infield prospect within the organization, built during spring training. The Pirates expected Hayes, a three-time Gold Glove winner while in the minors, to make his MLB debut this season while splitting time with Colin Moran. But now he must wait in isolation waiting for his clearance to return to the team.
"Any time we lose development time, it's challenging for us," Shelton said. "As we've talked about numerous times, not just for (Hayes) but for all of our prospects, this is a big year for us. We have to be very thoughtful of how much work we get them and try to get them as much work as possible. Any time we lose prospect time, it's challenging."
FOR OPENERS
Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire confirmed that Matthew Boyd will start Detroit's opener in Cincinnati on Friday night.
Boyd was set to pitch the season opener in March and his family members booked flights to Cleveland for the occasion. He knows this version won't have quite the fanfare but still views it as an honor.
"I know it's going to look different this year, without getting to share it with the fans in person, but I'm sure it'll be pretty special on TV with everything that they'll do," he said.
MIGRATING JAYS
The Blue Jays are still searching for a home stadium this season after Canada's government barred Toronto from playing in its home stadium amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Pitcher Anthony Bass said Sunday the players have told general manager Ross Atkins they'd prefer to play in a big league stadium if possible.
"I just said, 'Look, we want to play in a major league ballpark. We feel that's the best opportunity for us,' and he agreed and said, 'I listened to you guys loud and clear and that's what we're going to do for you because that's what the team wants,'" Bass said.
The team has considered playing home games at its training facility in Dunedin, Florida, which is among the states that are virus hotspots, or Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York, which is home to Toronto's Triple-A affiliate and just across the Niagara River from Canada.
BRAUN SITS
Brewers outfielder/first baseman Ryan Braun hasn't played in any of the team's five intrasquad games, raising at least some concern about his availability for Friday's season opener with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
"I'm still confident he's going to be fine," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "But it's Sunday. We've got three days of games left after today. He's got to get on the field soon, yes."
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Praying for Empty Churches in Europe to Be Filled [Photo Gallery]
By Carrie Borden
By: Carrie Borden	February 11, 2019
Editor's note: The proliferation of empty churches in Europe shows no signs of abating. Over the past twenty years, more than five hundred Catholic churches have closed in Germany—of those a third were demolished and the others sold for development. But it's not just Catholics feeling the pain of secularization; it's Protestants too.
Thomas Begrich, head of finances for the Evangelical Church of Germany, commented in Der Spiegel that of the 340 Protestant churches closed between 1990 and 2000, forty-six were demolished. He predicts that it may be necessary to give up an additional 1,000 church buildings. While church buildings in Europe testify to the historical influence of Christianity throughout the continent, their emptiness speaks to the eclipse of Christian faith in the hearts and minds of Europeans today. Most urgently, empty churches testify to the need for a vibrant Christian witness.
Tourists visit St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria. All photos by Carrie Borden.
When Church Becomes a Tourist Destination
From left to right: Church of Our Lady, Dresden, Germany; St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, Austria; St. Francis of Assisi Church, Vienna. All photos by Carrie Borden.
Vienna, Austria, where I live, is traditionally a Catholic country, and the official religion is Christianity. Although mass is still observed in many churches, very few people attend on a regular basis. Because the study of religion is required in schools, most Austrian children still go through the confirmation process, but once confirmed, they rarely darken the door of a church again. While 91 percent of Western Europeans surveyed report having been baptized (almost all as infants), only 22 percent attend church at least once a month.
The Abbey Church of Dürnstein along the Danube in Lower Austria.
In European cities, and even in the smallest villages, there are countless beautiful churches. The design and artistry of these places of worship and community pointed to God, to the lives of the saints, and to stories from the Bible.
Votive Church in Vienna, Austria.
But many Austrian churches were commissioned not only as places of worship but primarily as a sign of the wealth and power of the ruling family—the Hapsburg Monarchy—a dynasty that produced rulers who often presided over the Holy Roman Empire from the fifteenth century until its dissolution in 1806. The Catholicism of the Hapsburg Monarchy was steeped in tradition and married to political power, but it had little to do with real faith.
Vienna Cathedral is sometimes used for art exhibits.
Today, at least in the cities, churches and cathedrals are mostly tourist sites where travelers capture cool shots for Instagram posts. Many churches have become theaters, restaurants, residences, or serve some other purpose. They may be used for concerts, art exhibits, or shops for tourists. Other churches are abandoned and in decay.
Creative uses abound for empty churches in Europe. In Spain, the stunning conversion of a one-hundred-year-old church into a skate park was funded by corporate sponsors like Red Bull. Many more have been converted into apartments, cafes, bars, or nightclubs. In Hamburg, Germany, a former Lutheran church building was converted into an Islamic center. Some empty churches are razed to the ground.
Why Is Christianity Dying Where It Once Thrived?
St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany.
A host of studies have been done to try to understand the decline of Christianity in Europe. It's not easy to get to the bottom of why Christianity is dying in the soil where it once thrived. Some point to the rise of liberal theology and textual criticism of the Bible that undermined Christian faith. Philosophical movements like the Enlightenment as well as the widespread acceptance of the theory of evolution further eroded confidence in Scripture as the source of truth. Or it's possible to reach back further still to the traumas of religious conflicts like the 30 Years' War in which Catholic and Protestant armies were pitted against each other in savage battles that stole an estimated eight million lives.
St. Rupert's Church, Vienna.
Most of the Austrians I've talked to say Christianity is declining because most Europeans don't see it as relevant in today's world. They resent having to pay a church tax. They cite many instances of sexual abuse by priests and other leaders in the church. They don't feel like there is any sense of connection and community at the church, just a bunch of rules and traditions. Young people here lose interest in attending church and reject the beliefs of their parents.
Greek Orthodox Church in Vienna, Austria.
Another reason for the decline of Catholicism and Protestantism in Austria may be immigration. In the same period that those two groups saw their numbers decrease, Orthodox churches have grown due to the influx of Eastern Europeans.
Praying for the Rebirth and Revival of the Church in Europe
Votive Church, Vienna.
Many of our American friends have asked us why we are serving in Europe, a land known for its rich history as the center of medieval Christendom. The sad truth is that many Europeans, like so many in our own country, have abandoned the truth that there is a God and that Jesus is the only way to have a relationship with him. Some reports suggest that 3.3 percent of Austrians identify as evangelical. But the research IMB has gathered, along with data from other mission organizations, indicates that less than half a percent of the population in Austria has a personal relationship with Christ Jesus as Lord.
Our prayer is that God will quicken the hearts of Europeans to once again look to him for life and hope eternal. We invite you to pray with us.
Pray that Europeans will awaken to the spiritual truth of the gospel that has been long buried by secularism, humanism, and materialism.
Pray that European churches will become places where people experience the riches of the body of Christ living out true biblical community.
Pray that Europeans will begin to understand the difference between traditional church practice and true faith in a personal Lord Jesus.
Carrie Borden has been serving as a church planter with her husband, Lance Borden, in Vienna, Austria, for more than twenty years.
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Anna Rose | September 4 2017
From the Spotlight to Community: How the Arts Can Be a Catalyst for Faith
Dr. Malcolm B. Yarnell | January 21 2019
How Art Can Become a Bridge to the Gospel
Carson West | November 24 2017
Some Unreached People Are Easier to Meet Than You Think

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Paul H. Baldwin Sr., 92, of Newark, Del., formerly of Rochester, passed away Tuesday, April 22, 2008, in the Christiana Medical Center, Wilmington, Del.
Born July 14, 1915, in Rochester, a son of the late George A. Sr. and Elizabeth Speyerer Baldwin, he was a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel. A member of the Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Rochester, he was a 1933 graduate of Rochester High School and furthered his education with Geneva College, Carnegie Tech and the University of Pittsburgh. He worked with the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company from 1937 to 1941.
He was an Air Force veteran of Word War II, having served as a chief instructor of radar observers. His career continued with the Air Force in research and development with computers, lasers and ballistic missile defense. Paul retired after 23 years of service as a Lieutenant Colonel. He then became a physics professor with the University of Pittsburgh for 10 years after which he entered his third career as a statistician with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Paul also enjoyed square dancing and attended several national square dance conventions. He was preceded in death by his wife, Helen Bentel Baldwin, in 1977, and two brothers, George A. Baldwin Jr. and Richard S. Baldwin.
Surviving are a daughter, Christine E. Baldwin, and a son and daughter-in-law, Paul H. Baldwin Jr. and his wife, Patr, all of Newark, Del. Friends are invited to attend a service of committal at Sylvania Hills Mausoleum Chapel on Monday at 10 a.m. His pastor, the Rev. Gregory S. Clagg, will officiate.


Several Indian officials — including a minister — could be under the scanner after a New-Jersey based construction management company was charged for bribing officials to win two major water developmental projects in Goa and in Guwahati. While the name of the Indian officials are yet to be disclosed by the US Department of Justice, the bribe amount is reported to be just under $1 million dollars (about Rs 6 crore rupees in the current exchange rate).
Executives of the American firm — Louis Berger International Inc — allegedly bribed Indian officials to secure the Goa project, paying around $976,630. Two of its former executives - Richard Hirsch (61) of Philippines, and James McClung (59) of the UAE - pleaded guilty to the bribery charges. The sentencing hearings for Hirsch and McClung are scheduled for November 5 this year. McClung previously served as senior vice president responsible for the firm's operations in India and in Vietnam.
The company has agreed to pay $17.1 million criminal fine to resolve charges that it bribed officials in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Kuwait to secure government construction management contracts.
Reports suggested that these bribes were discovered during an internal investigation done by the company, which then reported it to the authorities.
The company took responsibility of the actions of its former managers in an official statement.
The Indian and Japanese government joined hands for a five-year project to improve Goa's water supply and sewerage by expanding, rehabilitating, and building water and sewerage facilities.
Louis Berger was part of a consortium for the project that included two Japanese firms and an Indian partner.
On August 26, 2010, "a consortium partner prepared a payment tracking schedule stating that the company had paid $976,630 in bribes in connection with the Goa project to date," federal prosecutors told a court in New Jersey.
On August 17, 2010, a consortium partner sent an e-mail to James McClung, stating, "As discussed I enclose the details as provided by [third-party intermediary]. I have also added the details of amounts paid to [the Company] as of date by [the consortium partner] in the same sheet."
The attachment included an entry, "Paid by [an agent of the company] to minister on behalf of agent," said federal prosecutors.
According to court documents, the company, through its employees and agents, together with others, used terms like "commitment fee," "counterpart per diem," "marketing fee" and "field operations expenses" as code words to conceal the true nature of the bribe payments and utilised cash disbursement forms and invoices which did not truthfully describe the services provided of the purpose of the payment.
Louis Berger has offices in India since 1998, currently in Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.
"Along with several consortium partners, the company won two water development projects in Goa and Guwahati. The company paid bribes to win both of these contracts," federal prosecutors alleged.
According to court documents, the company through its employees and agents and its consortium partners kept track of the bribe payment by a circulating spreadsheet among themselves showing the proportionate share of each bribe that they had paid to the foreign officials overseeing their work on the Goa and Guwahati projects.
According to reports, Louis Berger is in charge of the technical monitoring of a water supply project that is still in process in Guwahati, and is likely to be completed next year. The project aims to provide round-the-clock water supply to residents in the city, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is financially assisting the implementation. Louis Berger here is a consultant for the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA).


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Q: input from textbox as output with native GWT? In my project i have different images with a textbox included , which can be dragged and dropped on a boundaryPanel. The user can enter a text in the dropped image and click a button, which opens a popup.
Depending on the input, i want to generate a output in this popup:
SET INSERT a.{variabletext},b.{variabletext},...
I have no idea, how to solve that with native GWT. Can anybody help me?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


For newbies (like myself), notice how this lets us get three differently sized versions of each image file automatically.
And, again for us newbies, EPiServer now automatically renders the various correct sizes of the image.
Must specify a palette when using an indexed pixel format.
Any suggestion as to how to keep the existing image format would be greatly appreciated.
The fact that the images are converted to PNGs is a major issue, as John states. Uploading a JPG file will sometimes result in resized PNGs that are more than twice as large in file size, pretty much removing the point of resizing them in the first place. Any thoughts on how that can be fixed?
Thanks, John. I did read something along those lines on my hunt for solutions today, but I was hesitant to dive in to it. The fact that you solved it inspired me, though, so I guess I'll have to give it a try if time allows. We're basically looking for exactly what you describe in the forum topic you linked.
In an ideal world, it would also be possible to crop from the centre too force a given width and height, but I'm not going to get in to that as a EPiServer first-timer. 😉 What I'm ultimately after is to get as close to possible to WordPress' custom image sizes, powerful as they are. I really think EPiServer is lacking in this area. I did give Parrot (https://github.com/PeachFront/Parrot) a quick try today but for one I couldn't get it to actually crop anything, and besides, while it does send the images as JPGs, they're still friggin huge in size. Also, it doesn't feel right to specify exact sizes in query parameters, for obvious reasons.


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Women's Basketball: George Washington 74 Ohio 57
From our friends at GW Athletics...
Women's Basketball Takes Ohio in a Runaway, 74-57
Nya Robertson and Jayla Thornton combine for 47 points in dominant victory
Back at home on Friday night after playing three times zones away in its last three contests, the George Washington women's basketball team quickly adapted back to familiar surroundings and snapped a mini two-game skid with a resounding 74-57 win over the Ohio University Bobcats.
Pressed into the starting role for the first time this season, senior point guard Aurea Gingras facilitated easy offense to get the Buff and Blue out to a quick start. Her four first-quarter assists, just one off a career high for a full game in just 10 minutes of play, keyed an attack that dropped 23 points in the opening stanza, 14 of which came off the scorching hands of Jayla Thornton. GW then extended a 23-17 lead after one into a 38-28 margin at the break, and didn't look back in the second half.
Thornton finished with 23 points, no stranger to prolific scoring nights as the grad student and Syracuse-transfer previously lit up DC with more than 1,000 points scored at Howard before her days with the Orange. With Thornton dropping bombs from long range (7-of-13 3pt. FGs), senior forward Mayowa Taiwo took care of business on the interior. Taiwo's massive game-high 17 rebounds in a double-double showing powered a team-rebounding effort that outdid the Bobcats 48-22 on the glass. That discrepancy included a 14-3 edge on the offensive boards, which GDUB parlayed into a 14-2 advantage in second chance points in the 17-point win.
The home team led nearly wire-to-wire, save for an opening free throw from Ohio before Thornton got started. The lead grew to 14 early in the third quarter and again at the break entering the fourth, with GW leading 59-45 going into the final 10 minutes.
Thornton's night wasn't done early, as a fourth quarter-opening triple gave her 23 points, and when first-year Nya Robertson drained a triple of her own to follow, the lead hit 20 and it was easy skating from there. Robertson entered halftime with two points, yet exploded for 22 in the second, as the sixth-year Thornton and rookie Robertson staged their own basketball version of Irving Berlin's Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better, with Robertson finishing with a game-high 24.
A trip to TCU shows next on GW's schedule as the team hits Robertson's home state to clash with the Horned Frogs Monday night at 7:30. George Washington returns home through the holidays for a three-game home stand starting next Friday night, December 9th, vs. Manhattan at 6pm on ESPN+.
Click here for today's box score.
Labels: Basketball, GW Athletics, Sports
Location: 600 22nd St NW, Washington, DC 20052, USA


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Camille Lerouge Athletic Director honoured for year round dedication
From Red Deer Catholic Schools
We would like to congratulate Dan Cormier, Athletic Director at École Camille J. Lerouge School on winning a Commendation Award through the Health and Physical Council (HPEC).
This award is given to teachers' who have outstanding contributions to health and/or physical education.
Cormier is very involved in the school community. He coaches a variety of different sports, including badminton, basketball and track/field. Also, Cormier is the lead organizer of the ski club in the winter, cross country running in the spring and the school-wide aquathon in the fall.
"Dan Cormier is constantly thinking of new ways to keep our students active and have them find success in school and in life. We are so blessed to have him be part of our school community," said Principal, Dorice de Champlain, at École Camille J. Lerouge School.
For more information, please visit http://www.hpec.ab.ca/hpec-certificates-of-commendation-awards17
Related Topics:Dan CormierEcole Camile J Lerouge SchoolRed Deer Catholic Regional Schools
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