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How a former MLB pitcher helped Orioles rookie Grayson Rodriguez learn his ‘disgusting’ changeup

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

As pitchers, Josh Tomlin and Grayson Rodriguez have almost nothing in common.Tomlin was drafted in the 19th round and spent his 12-year major league career outsmarting hitters while throwing 88 mph. Rodriguez, meanwhile, was selected in the first round and rose to become one of the sport’s top pitching prospects by overpowering hitters with a high-90s mph fastball.But when Rodriguez was told by the Orioles to learn a changeup after the 2018 season — his first in the organization — he had Tomlin to turn to. The two right-handers from East Texas both spend their offseasons training at the same facility, and that winter became the genesis for a changeup that, when it’s working, might be Rodriguez’s best pitch.“No doubt,” Tomlin said about whether Rodriguez’s changeup, with more consistency, could be his best pitch. “I’ve told Grayson this all the time: I can show you a heap of guys who throw 100 mph who get their brains beat a...

Japan gets ready to shoot down N. Korea spy satellite debris

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s defense chief on Saturday ordered troops to activate missile interceptors and get ready to shoot down fragments from a North Korean satellite that may fall on the Japanese territory. North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un said earlier this week that its first military spy satellite that will be launched at an unspecified date. North Korea has test-fired about 100 missiles since early last year, saying it was responding to joint U.S.-South Korean military drills that it calls an invasion rehearsal. Several of the missiles flew over Japan or landed off the northern Japanese coast. Last week, North Korea test-launched a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Saturday instructed troops to ready PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles in southwestern Japan, including Okinawa and nearby islands, in an area believed to be under a flight path of a North Korean rocket that will carry the satellite. He also ordered the...

Horoscopes April 22, 2023: Jack Nicholson, the possibilities are endless

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Amber Heard, 37; Sherri Shepherd, 56; Byron Allen, 62; Jack Nicholson, 86.Happy Birthday: Being set in your ways will keep you on the right track. Put your energy into expansion, getting things done on time and showing enthusiasm that encourages others to pitch in and help. You’ll come full circle and recognize what you enjoy doing most. The possibilities are endless this year, but so is the risk of injury or illness if you don’t take precautions. Your numbers are 4, 12, 20, 27, 33, 39, 44.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Overreacting will slow you down. Look for the positive and the good in everything and everyone; it will help you maintain control and reach your target market. Use physical attributes and skills to reach your goal and beat your competition. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take advantage of what’s available and proceed with clarity. Use intelligence and resilience to get others to listen, join forces and help you reach your...

Ask Amy: The other shopper stole a grocery bag. Should I have told on him?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Dear Amy: I live in Southern California. The state is encouraging people to bring reusable bags to the store, but if you don’t have your own bags, you can purchase a plastic bag from the store for a dime.The store I go to has an employee watching over the self-checkout. They will provide bags to those who need to buy them.Today I was using the self-checkout register. I had my own bag.A man next to me reached into the employee’s kiosk area and took a plastic bag for his groceries. The store employee didn’t see what he’d done. She did ask if he needed a bag, and he said no.My question for you is, should I have told the employee what I’d witnessed?Someone I told my story to said that it was only a dime so it’s not a huge deal. My response was that stealing is stealing no matter the amount involved.I didn’t report what I’d seen, but it is bothering me.Torn in Southern CaliforniaDear Torn: At my supermarket self-checkout, right before you pay you are asked how many store-provided b...

Harriette Cole: My co-workers were ignoring me because I’m tall

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

DEAR HARRIETTE: I feel like I’m having a case of déjà vu. I am a tall person. I don’t really think about it much, but recently I was in a professional setting with a group of co-workers who were all nearly a foot shorter than me. When we were all standing around talking, it was awkward. They were talking to each other and basically ignoring me.I felt like I was in high school again as the odd girl out. I haven’t had that feeling in years, so it really threw me off. But I know I’m not imagining it. There were about six of them. They were clustered together talking, and I was not part of the group.I am going to be working with them at my new job, and I want to find a way to bridge the height difference. What do you recommend?The Tallest OneDEAR THE TALLEST ONE: As someone who has been in your situation before, I can tell you that it can be uncomfortable and you can get past it.First, embrace your height. It is God’s gift to you, just as theirs is God̵...

Steamy Sunshine and Isolated Storms this Weekend

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

A weakening front will move through Florida this weekend, leading to an uptick in shower and thunderstorm activity across much of the state. Ahead of this front in South Florida, there will be more moisture present allowing for areas of rain while winds will flow out of the south, driving high temperatures near 90F on both Saturday and Sunday.Expect mostly dry and sunny conditions to begin the day Saturday with temperatures quickly warming up into the mid to upper 80s by the early afternoon. By this point in time, a few showers and storms are expected to begin to develop inland and some of this activity will slowly work toward the metro and the coast. Therefore, after 2pm expect the chance for showers and storms at any time through the evening hours. Thankfully, this activity appears to be rather isolated instead of widespread.On Sunday, the weakening front will be knocking on our door, located across the lake region during the morning hours. Winds will be more out of the southeast ...

Battenfeld: 80-year-old Biden will announce with ‘finish the job’ as slogan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

With the ominous sounding slogan of “finish the job,” Joe Biden plans to announce his re-election campaign next week as nearly half of Democratic voters in key states want him to step aside.The reality is that Democrats are stuck with the 80-year-old president in 2024, unless you count Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s vanity campaign – which his own family has disavowed.And Republicans are likely going to have 76-year-old Donald Trump as their nominee, meaning that 2024 will be a rematch of 2020 – only both will be four years older and shakier.Biden is saddled with a 52% disapproval rating and will be 86 if he finishes a second term, making him by far the oldest president in history. But the mainstream media continues to gloss over questions about his fitness for office.In Ireland last week, Biden struggled to answer a simple question from a child.“What’s the top step to success?” the child asked.“What’s the top what?” Biden responded, then had to get his son Hunter to explain the question.Bi...

Boston councilors clash over nonprofits not paying their ‘fair share’ of city taxes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Whether the city’s wealthiest nonprofits with tax-exempt status are paying their “fair share” to support the communities they do business in has members of the City Council divided.Assessing Department Commissioner Nicholas Ariniello said Friday that the 47 nonprofits participating in the city’s payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, program are not meeting the full payment requested by the city.In fiscal year 2022, collective payments from these private institutions — which mainly consist of colleges, hospitals and cultural centers with tax-exempt property in excess of $15 million — were 75%, or roughly $92.4 million of the requested $123.5 million, Ariniello said.Under the program, these nonprofits make voluntary payments, which amount to roughly 25% of what they would have paid in real estate taxes and are meant to “help to offset the burden placed on Boston taxpayers to fund city services for all property owners,” according to the city website.Property taxes represent 7...

ASK IRA: Are Heat asking too much in requiring Jimmy Butler to be a heavyweight champ?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Q: Is anyone else seeing what I’m seeing about small ball being the wrong choice? Jimmy Butler is a small forward. It’s not fair to him to always have to play undersized. Of course he can play power forward. That doesn’t make him a power forward. We are letting him down. – V.R.A: Which is interesting, because Jimmy Butler read the room at his initial media session ahead of training camp and stressed that he would not be the Heat’s starting power forward in the wake of the offseason loss of P.J. Tucker to the 76ers in free agency. And then it became clear that Jimmy, indeed, was as good as it would get as a two-way presence at the position. It’s one thing to ask added minutes from Jimmy in the playoffs. It’s another to ask him to move up in weight class. Jimmy’s goal should be an NBA title, not a heavyweight championship.Q: As I stated since the 2020 Finals, we’re always one big short. Should’ve been working on the big-big l...

Lucas: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make debates must-see TV

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Like father, like son?Well, maybe but not quite.Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement for president is not expected to do to President Biden what his father — Sen. Robert F. Kennedy — did to President Lyndon B. Johnson.And that was to knock LBJ out of the box.Two weeks after New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy announced that he was running for president in March 1968 against fellow Democrat President Johnson, Johnson declined to seek re-election.Johnson, who was plagued by the Vietnam War, had earlier been softened up by initial Democrat challenger U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota.McCarthy, a vocal anti-Vietnam War candidate, came close to defeating Johnson in the March 12   New Hampshire Democrat primary. In a strong second-place finish, McCarthy showed LBJ’s vulnerability.Sen. Kennedy then dropped in, and Johnson dropped out.Kennedy, favored to win the Democrat Party nomination, was fatally shot June 5, 1968, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California Dem...