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Why Chicago Cubs manager David Ross continues to stick with Ian Happ in the No. 3 spot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:35 GMT

Nearly every iteration of the Chicago Cubs lineup over the last seven weeks has featured the same player in the No. 3 spot.Left fielder Ian Happ has been a staple in the middle of the order for manager David Ross as the Cubs (67-61) fought their way back to .500 and are currently third in the National League wild-card position after Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Happ’s offensive numbers are more in line with his 2021 season than the stellar 2022 performance that earned him his first All-Star Game honor and a Gold Glove award.Through the ups and downs of Happ’s offensive production, Ross has stuck with him in the three-spot. Happ has batted third in 100 of his 123 starts, including in 40 of his last 42. During that stretch, dating to July 6, he is hitting .214 with a .315 on-base percentage while slugging .428. Since then as a team, the Cubs lead the majors in runs, rank fourth in wOBA and slugging percentage, and tied for fifth in wRC+.Ross cited mul...

2 wounded in shooting at Guaranteed Rate Field during White Sox game

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:35 GMT

A shooting injured two women in the outfield seating area at Guaranteed Rate Field during Friday night’s White Sox game, Chicago police reported.A police spokesperson on social media said late Friday that the department would soon provide information on a “shooting incident,” and a news release was made available early Saturday.“This evening during the Chicago White Sox vs Oakland Athletics game at Guaranteed Rate Field, a 42-year-old female victim sustained one gunshot wound to the leg. A 26-year-old female victim also sustained a graze wound to the abdomen,” the statement read. “The 42-year-old female was transported to University of Chicago Medical Center where she is listed in fair condition. The 26-year-old female refused medical attention.”Police said they responded and coordinated with White Sox security but did not believe the situation presented an “active threat.”“This information is still preliminary as Area One ...

Kyle Bradish blossoming into Orioles’ much-needed ace: ‘He’s a No. 1′

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:35 GMT

When Aaron Hicks joined the Orioles after several years with the New York Yankees, the veteran outfielder was grateful for the opportunity a new organization would give him. He was also thankful he no longer had to step in the batter’s box against Kyle Bradish.“He looked at Bradish,” Baltimore catcher James McCann recalled, “and he’s like, ‘That’s the guy that I don’t want to face. There’s a lot of good arms on this team, but that’s the guy.’“The weapons he has to put you away with, it’s safe to say he’s a No. 1.”The Orioles fell short in their pursuits of an ace this offseason and at the trade deadline, but it turns out they did acquire a top-of-the-rotation starter — in 2019.Bradish was considered the centerpiece among the four minor league pitchers Baltimore acquired in the December 2019 deal that sent starting pitcher Dylan Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels. But there were doubts in the...

Bob Raissman: How does the YES Network go about promoting this ‘disaster’ of a Yankees team?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:35 GMT

The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network has been blessed.Since YES launched in 2002, the Bombers have only missed the playoffs four times (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016). That statistic does not yet include what has become The Fiasco of 2023. The after-shock of this miserable Yankees season will be felt well into winter.Every business under the organization’s umbrella will have to deal with the fallout and ramifications of a season recently described by general manager Brian Cashman as “a disaster.”Including YES.If the rest of this season continues at disastrous levels, what exactly does YES have to sell going into 2024? Considering Hal Steinbrenner has decided to pop the pinstriped hood and look under it before making any moves, YES (and the Yankees for that matter) cannot even sell “hope.”Unless, of course, YES wants to go with a slogan like: “Watch Yankees’ baseball, only on YES. It can’t be any worse than last season. Can it?”W...

Editorial: The South Siders are considering pulling up stakes and heading out of town. Et tu, White Sox?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:35 GMT

For those with time to waste, the ongoing series of “joint statements” attributed to Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren offer a summertime diversion.Consider this gem from June: “Today we met and discussed our shared values and commitment to the city of Chicago, the importance of deep roots and the need for equitable community investment throughout the city.”Take that in for a moment: A team moving to Arlington Heights, at least until Arlington Heights taxpayers resisted being taken to the financial cleaners, has the gall to talk, and then talk some more, about the importance of “shared values” and “deep roots.” Unbelievable.Are you seriously thinking of staying, Bears? Then spit it out. And tell Arlington Heights what’s up.But even while all that hypocritical nonsense still has to play out through “productive conversations,” yada, yada, we now have to worry afresh about the Chicago White S...

FIFA suspends Spainish soccer boss Luis Rubiales for 90 days after World Cup final kiss

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:35 GMT

FIFA suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales from office on Saturday while its disciplinary committee investigates his conduct at the Women’s World Cup final, which included kissing a player without her consent.FIFA said Rubiales is removed from soccer duties for 90 days “pending the disciplinary proceedings opened” against him Thursday.Rubiales refused to resign from his soccer presidency Friday at an emergency meeting where he had been expected to leave under intense pressure from the Spanish government, women players plus soccer clubs and officials.More to come

FIFA suspends Spain soccer federation president Luis Rubiales for 90 days after World Cup final kiss

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:35 GMT

ZURICH (AP) — FIFA suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales from office on Saturday while its disciplinary committee investigates his conduct at the Women’s World Cup final, which included kissing a player without her consent.FIFA said Rubiales is removed from soccer duties for 90 days “pending the disciplinary proceedings opened” against him Thursday.Rubiales refused to resign from his soccer presidency Friday at an emergency meeting where he had been expected to leave under intense pressure from the Spanish government, women players plus soccer clubs and officials.___AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cupThe Associated Press

Russia’s Wagner mercenaries face uncertainty after the presumed death of their leader in plane crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:35 GMT

The Wagner Group’s presence extends from the ancient battlegrounds of Syria to the deserts of sub-Saharan Africa, projecting the Kremlin’s global influence with mercenaries accused of using brutal force and profiting from seized mineral riches.But that was under Yevgeny Prigozhin, who in what may have been his final recruitment video, appeared in military fatigues and held an assault rifle from an unidentified dry and dusty plain as he boasted that Wagner was “making Russia even greater on all continents and Africa even more free.”A private jet carrying Prigozhin and his top lieutenants crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday, two months after he led an armed rebellion that challenged the authority of Russian President Vladimir Putin. There is wide speculation that the mercenary leader, who is presumed dead, was targeted for assassination because of his uprising, although the Kremlin has denied involvement.The crash has raised questions about the future of PrigozhinR...

Former Canadian Olympic skater Alexandra Paul killed in car crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:35 GMT

Skate Canada is paying tribute to a former Canadian Olympic figure skater who died in a collision involving seven vehicles in Melancthon Township, north of Shelburne, Ont., earlier this week.Provincial police say Alexandra Paul, who was 31, was in a vehicle with her baby boy just after 3 p.m. on August 22 when a transport truck entered a construction zone on Country Road 124 and crashed into the lineup of stopped cars.Police say her baby was taken to a children’s hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.A 67-year-old man was airlifted to a trauma centre in Toronto with serious injuries while a 45-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man were taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Skate Canada says Paul and her partner and husband, Mitchell Islam, won multiple international medals, claimed three Canadian Championship medals and competed at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.Skate Canada says Paul was a true role model for aspiring skaters, demonstr...

Broadband subsidy program that millions use will expire next year if Congress doesn’t act

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:35 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the features that President Joe Biden cited in his plan to bring internet to every home and business in the United States by 2030 was affordability. But an important federal program established to keep broadband costs down for low-income households is set to expire next year.The Affordable Connectivity Program has not reached everyone who is eligible. According to an Associated Press analysis of enrollment and census data, less than than 40% of eligible households have utilized the program, which provides monthly subsidies of $30, and in some cases, up to $75, to help pay for internet connections.Still, the program has been a lifeline for Kimberlyn Barton-Reyes, who is paraplegic and visually impaired. Barton-Reyes did not have to wait for an in-person appointment when a seizure-alert system disconnected from her electric wheelchair in November. The company that services her chair assessed the problem remotely, ordered the parts she needed and got the chair...