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Monday, July 27, 2015

Happy Birthday Arod fan sign in Texas


















7/27/15, "Looks like we're not alone in wishing a happy 40th birthday!
twitter, NY Yankees at Texas Rangers 

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Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Rain-delayed baseball games, social justice, among possible exhibits at Climate Museum planned for NY City. Visitors will be invited to contribute to imagined CO2 solutions by for example taking a semester off college-AP

7/20/15, "State board grants provisional charter for NY Climate Museum," AP, Jim Fitzgerald

"The plan for a museum in the city that would focus on climate and climate change, with exhibits that could relate to health, social justice and rain-delayed baseball games, moved a step forward Monday, officials said.

The state Board of Regents, meeting in Albany, approved a five-year provisional charter for the museum, Regents spokesman Tom Dunn said.

The vote means "there is absolutely going to be a museum," said Miranda Massie, executive director of the Climate Museum Launch Project. She said the museum is now "empowered to hold collections in trust for the public."

Supporters say it would be the nation's first climate museum.

The idea for the museum came to Massie, a former public-interest lawyer, after Superstorm Sandy, she said.


"It seemed like such an obvious thing for us as a city and a people to have," she said. "We have a museum of Tibetan art, a museum of mathematics."

The emphasis will be on solutions, not death and destruction, Massie said.

"Our point is to get people active and engaged on climate in a way that recognizes that if we come together we can solve the problem," she said.

Museum-goers will be encouraged to contribute to solutions, Massie said, "from half an hour of making phone calls to taking a semester off college to reduce the carbon footprint of a middle school."

"We have to act quickly and we have to keep it up for the long term," she said.

Massie acknowledges that not everyone accepts climate change as a fact but says all are welcome. "You can be skeptical, but if you come in with an open mind you can be a part of a climate-engaged population," she said.

It may be five or six years before a grand opening at some new building in Manhattan or Brooklyn, but Massie said the museum will be in front of the public much earlier with pop-up exhibits and education programs. An "interim museum" could be in place in 2½ years, she said.

"All of that will test ideas and build momentum," she said.

Also on the short-term agenda is a design competition for the eventual museum space, even before a site has been found.

But the next step after Monday's Regents approval is some fundraising, she said." via Free Republic



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Monday, July 20, 2015

Record rains in California July 19, 2015, first Los Angeles Angels rainout in 20 years, first San Diego Padres rainout since 2006

"Saturday’s rainfall broke records in at least 11 locations, including five places that had the most rain ever recorded on any day in July."... 

San Diego Padres tarp, 7/19

7/19/15, Remote part of I-10 collapses amid heavy rains in California," AP, A. Dalton, T. Abdollah, Los Angeles

"An elevated section of Interstate 10 collapsed Sunday amid heavy rains in a remote desert area of California, cutting off traffic between the state and Arizona and leaving a driver injured.

A bridge that carries the eastbound interstate about 15 feet above a normally dry wash about 50 miles west of the Arizona state snapped and ended up in the flooding water below, the California Highway Patrol said, blocking all traffic headed toward Arizona.

The westbound section of the freeway remained intact, but traffic was being stopped while it was inspected for safety, and a pair of small nearby highways that could possibly serve as detours were also closed.

One driver had to be rescued from a pickup truck that crashed in the collapse and was taken to a hospital with moderate injuries, the Riverside County Fire Department said. A passenger from the truck was able to get out without help and wasn’t hurt.

“The 10 is a dire situation,” California transportation spokeswoman Terri Kasinga told the Riverside Press-Enterprise....

The rains came amid a second day of showers and thunderstorms in southern and central California that were setting rainfall records in what is usually a dry month.

Rain fell Sunday afternoon in parts of Los Angeles County’s mountains, the valley north and inland urban areas to the east. The city also was expected to get a late repeat of Saturday’s scattered showers and occasional downpours as remnants of tropical storm Dolores brought warm, muggy conditions northward.

“We have a chance of some more heavy rain in LA County this evening, thunderstorms, lightning, possibly some localized street flooding,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sirard.
.............
The showers forced the Los Angeles Angels’ first rainout in 20 years and the San Diego Padres’ first rainout since 2006.

Saturday’s rainfall broke records in at least 11 locations, including five places that had the most rain ever recorded on any day in July, Sirard said.

July is typically the driest month of the year in Southern California. Because of that, Saturday’s 0.36 inch of rain in downtown Los Angeles exceeded the 0.24 inch recorded July 14, 1886, which had been the wettest July day in nearly 130 years.

The record is especially significant, Sirard said, because downtown Los Angeles has the longest recording climate station, dating back to July 1, 1877.

Saturday’s storm brought flash floods and power outages and turned Los Angeles County’s typically packed coast into empty stretches of sand when the threat of lightning forced authorities to close 70 miles of beaches.

AJ Lester of the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Lifeguard Division said he has been in touch with weather officials and was tracking rain reports.

Signs warned beachgoers to avoid storm drain flows into the ocean because of Saturday’s sometimes heavy rain. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recommends people avoid swimming within 100 yards of a storm drain for 72 hours after heavy rain.

“All storm drains flowed out yesterday, but it hasn’t rained much this year, so that doesn’t bode well for the water quality,” Lester said Sunday.

Warnings were also in place for high surf and strong rip currents on all south-facing beaches, including Venice, Santa Monica, Malibu, Zuma, Newport and Huntington, Lester said.

Meanwhile, the summer storm has helped firefighters advance on two wildfires that broke out Friday. Muggy, moist conditions were expected to persist through Monday." via Drudge

Image above from San Diego Padres twitter, 7/19/15


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Friday, July 17, 2015

When asked how he could've been as a closer, Pedro said, “I won’t tell you I could be Mariano Rivera because Mariano was the best I’ve ever seen doing that” NY Post, 7/17/15

7/17/15, "Pedro Martinez: ‘60 percent’ of major leaguers used PEDs," NY Post, Dan Martin

"Pedro Martinez will be in Cooperstown this month to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he knows one of the teammates who helped him build his legacy — Manny Ramirez — is unlikely to follow him there.

The former Red Sox slugger, who also tormented pitchers with the Indians, was suspended 50 games in 2009 for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy. But Martinez, on a Thursday conference call, made sure to mention he wasn’t singling out Ramirez.

It wasn’t just Manny,” Martinez said of the use of performance-enhancing drugs. “Probably 60 percent of baseball was doing that.

Martinez said Ramirez, now a coach with the Cubs, would be forced to pay the “consequences” for his actions.

“It’s unfortunate for the Dominican Republic, it’s unfortunate for his career and actually for himself,” Martinez said. “Because Manny probably loves the game more than anybody else that you can think of.

Not that he’s complaining about unfair competition. In fact, Martinez seems to relish having pitched during what is deemed the height of the steroids era.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Martinez said. “There’s no crying.” But he expects the ramifications, as far as entry into Cooperstown, to continue.

“Manny has a great attitude,” Martinez said. “He’s very well-liked by a lot of people. He’s a great teammate. He has so many things going in his favor, but he’s going to have to carry the consequences that many more have had to carry. I don’t condone anybody doing anything bad as far as cheating the game.”

Martinez had high praise for someone who almost certainly will get the call in a few years, Mariano Rivera.

Asked if he could have been as good a closer as Rivera based on the results he had coming out of the bullpen with the Dodgers in 1993, Martinez demurred.

I won’t tell you I could be Mariano Rivera because Mariano was the best I’ve ever seen doing that,” Martinez said, then pointed out he had some success in the role with Los Angeles that season, picking up two of his three career saves.

“I’ll never know,” Martinez said." Mariano Rivera, Baseball-Reference

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Tuesday, July 14, 2015

American flag at 2015 MLB All Star game in Cincinnati

















7/14/15, "Still amazing each time I see it." Eric Karabell ESPN twitter. 2015 MLB All Star game

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Todd Frazier, from the Jersey shore to MLB



7/13/15, " Jul 13 Media: say someday he'll write a book on his path from Jersey to MLB." Reds twitter

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Saturday, July 04, 2015

Brian McCann brings late night fireworks with 12th inning walk-off home run, 7/3/15, Newsday back page



















Sat., 7/4/15, Newsday back page, "McCann's 3-run walk-off blast lifts Yanks in 12th...Late-night FIREWORKS!" Final 7-5 Yankees over Rays

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Teammates greet Brian McCann at home plate in the bottom of the 12th


















7/3/15, "New York Yankees' Brian McCann, right, jumps into a crowd of teammates who greet him at home plate after McCann hit a three-run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the 12th inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 3, 2015, in New York," AP. Final 7-5 Yankees over Rays

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Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Reds fans have snow cones during 7th inning stretch

















7/1/15, " 5h5 hours ago A 7th inning stretch means a snow cone break on this warm, sunny day! lead 2-1 over the Twins." VoteReds Twitter. Final 2-1 Reds over Twins

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