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Friday, March 31, 2023

FRIDAY FRIARS / MLB VOTERS PICK PADRES TO WIN 2023 WORLD SERIES

MLB Reporters Pick Padres to Win 2023 World Series

GUEST BLOG/ By Manny Randhawa and Dylan Svoboday
—Yesterday was opening day in the Major Leagues. Perfect time to make bold predictions. MLB media types asked 87 MLB.com voters to weigh in on which teams they foresee winning the divisions, the Wild Card spots, the league pennants and, ultimately, which club will emerge as the World Series champion in 2023: 

American League 

AL East Winner: Yankees

Although he’ll start the season on the injured list due to a left elbow strain, the addition of Carlos Rodón to a starting rotation already featuring Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes makes the Yankees even more of a force to be reckoned with in the ultra-competitive AL East. Add to that a lineup anchored by reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, with pop up and down the batting order, and you have a team that has its eyes on much more than a division crown. 

AL Central Winner: Guardians 

The Guardians will look to make it two straight division crowns. Our voters have Cleveland atop the AL Central again behind a strong pitching staff and an offense that won’t slug all that much but will use its high-contact/low-strikeout approach to score enough runs to back its stellar arms. With Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie (who was shut down from throwing for at least two weeks to start the season) headlining the starting rotation, lockdown closer Emmanuel Clase coming off an MLB-leading 42 saves and a 1.36 ERA at the back of the bullpen, and perennial MVP candidate José Ramírez in the middle of the lineup, Cleveland will be tough to top in the Central. 

AL West Winner: Astros 

Until they are dethroned, the Astros remain the class of the AL West. There’s no reason to think they won’t be able to make it six division titles in seven years. But, like the Yankees, it’s World Series championship or bust in Houston. The club’s veteran leader, Jose Altuve, will open the season on the IL after a pitch from Daniel Bard fractured his right thumb during the World Baseball Classic. 

But the Astros’ lineup has plenty of power to handle his absence, led by 2022 AL MVP finalist Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Jeremy Peña and newcomer José Abreu. 

AL Wild Cards: Mariners, Blue Jays and Rays 

Seattle Mariners. After finally reaching the postseason for the first time in 21 years, the Mariners will try to make it back-to-back playoff appearances, and our voters certainly think they can do it. Led by reigning AL Rookie of the Year Julio Rodríguez, who became the fastest player to reach 25 homers and 25 steals in his career last year, Seattle is hoping not only to qualify for the postseason this fall, but to move beyond the AL Division Series after being swept by the Astros there in 2022. The starting rotation features All-Star right-hander Luis Castillo and former Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, as well as rising youngsters Logan Gilbert and George Kirby. And with the acquisition of slugging outfielder Teoscar Hernández to complement J-Rod, plus Eugenio Suárez, Ty France and Cal Raleigh in the lineup, the offense has been bolstered in preparation for the 2023 campaign. 

Toronto Blue Jays:  The Blue Jays remain one of the most exciting teams in baseball because of their dynamic lineup, which features Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and George Springer, along with recent additions Brandon Belt, Whit Merrifield and Daulton Varsho. On the pitching side of the ledger, Toronto boasts two of the best starters in the game, with 2022 AL Cy Young Award finalist Alek Manoah and veteran right-hander Kevin Gausman at the top of the rotation, not to mention free-agent addition Chris Bassitt, who is coming off a strong season with the Mets. 

The Jays will be looking to avenge their early exit from the postseason last fall, when they were swept by the Mariners in the AL Wild Card Series. This year, like Seattle, Toronto hopes for much more than just a playoff berth, seeking the franchise’s first postseason victory since 2016. 

 Tampa Bay Rays:  Don't forget about the Rays -- it’s easy for them to get lost in the AL East shuffle, but just because they haven’t reached the World Series since that 2020 run doesn’t mean they’re off the radar. Not with one of the most exciting young players in the game, Wander Franco, looking to play a full season for the first time in the Majors, as well as the club’s uncanny ability to eclipse expectations. Despite winning 100 games and their second straight division title in 2021, the Rays couldn’t get past the Red Sox in the ALDS, and last fall, Tampa Bay lost to Cleveland in the AL Wild Card Series. 

But with Franco, Randy Arozarena -- whose electric play in the World Baseball Classic may have given us a prelude of what’s to come -- and breakout left-hander Shane McClanahan leading a pitching staff that has traditionally been a strength for the club, you can’t put a ceiling on what Tampa Bay can accomplish in 2023. 

 AL champion: Astros 

 If there’s one thing we know about the Astros, it’s that their roster is deep, talented and experienced. Houston has won the AL West in five of the last six years, and it’s been in the World Series in four of those years, winning twice -- in 2017, and again last year. Teams that win it all often have a mix of battle-tested veterans and young players who aren’t afraid of the big stage -- the Astros have those ingredients in abundance, with the old guard of Altuve and Bregman teaming up with fearless young stars Alvarez, Tucker and Peña. Will Houston make it five AL pennants in seven years? Our voters certainly think so. 

 National League 

 NL East: Braves 

 The Braves are looking to extend their dominance over the NL East with a sixth straight division crown this year, and on paper, they look even better than they did a season ago. This offseason, Atlanta traded for A’s catcher Sean Murphy, who, along with Travis d’Arnaud, will form perhaps the best backstop tandem in all of baseball. The Braves are hoping to get more from superstar outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., after his production took a step back last season while he worked his way back from a torn ACL. If he can round back into his pre-2022 form, Acuña, Matt Olson and Austin Riley give the Braves three legitimate MVP candidates heading into the season. The Mets and Phillies have closed the gap with the Braves in the extremely competitive NL East, but it’s still Atlanta’s division to win. 

 NL Central: Cardinals 

 After winning the NL Central last season, the Cardinals went out and got even better by bringing in Willson Contreras, one of the best hitting catchers in baseball. Contreras will join Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in the heart of St. Louis’ lineup, which figures to be one of the scariest in the Senior Circuit. The Cardinals also gave their top prospect, Jordan Walker, an Opening Day roster spot after a dominant spring showing. The Cardinals’ offense should score plenty of runs, but there are questions about their starting pitching. Adam Wainwright will turn 42 on Aug. 30 and is starting the season on the injured list. Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery and Steven Matz have all dealt with injuries in recent years. But if they can get good health from their starters, St. Louis should be able to hold off the rest of the Central. 

 NL West: Padres 

 The Padres had perhaps the best offseason in the league, and our experts are predicting that it’ll help them nudge past the Dodgers in the NL West. San Diego signed Xander Bogaerts away from the Red Sox, adding to their collection of superstar position players that includes Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Manny Machado, who signed an 11-year, $350M extension in late February. Despite starting the season with Joe Musgrove (foot) on the IL, San Diego’s starting rotation is much deeper than it was in 2022 after adding Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo and Nick Martinez this offseason. With the Dodgers electing to stay out of the top of the free-agent market this past winter, the Padres have become the favorites to come out of the NL West for the first time in years. 

 NL Wild Cards: Dodgers, Phillies, Mets 

 Dodgers 

Our experts are expecting the same six teams to make the postseason in the National League this season. Despite winning a franchise-record 111 games last season, the Dodgers are taking a slight step back this year in the eyes of our panel after losing Trea Turner, Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger. The injury bug hasn’t been kind to Los Angeles either – Gavin Lux will be out for the season after tearing his ACL in the spring and Tony Gonsolin is expected to miss some time early on with an ankle sprain. Still, the Dodgers' track record and remaining pieces will likely keep them in the playoff hunt. 

 Phillies 

 After a World Series run, the Phillies made a huge splash by bringing in Trea Turner this winter. Philadelphia is returning much of its 2022 roster, but injuries have also set them back as the 2023 season gets going. Bryce Harper had Tommy John surgery and isn’t expected back until midseason, while Rhys Hoskins' 2023 season likely ended when he tore his left ACL in a Spring Training game. They still have the pieces to make the postseason, but a division title will be an uphill battle. 

 Mets 

Speaking of injuries, the Mets have suffered their fair share as well. Edwin Díaz is expected to miss the season after tearing his patellar tendon while celebrating Puerto Rico's victory against the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. José Quintana (rib) won’t return until at least July. But the additions of Justin Verlander and Kodai Senga, among others, will keep them in the Wild Card hunt – even if the division looks a bit tougher than it did a couple of months ago. 

NL champion: Padres 

 San Diego hasn’t been to the Fall Classic since 1998. This year’s team has arguably as good of a chance as any since then to win the National League crown. 

World Series Champion: Padres 

 Our experts expect San Diego’s big moves to pay off – big time. The Padres’ front office has proven it will do whatever it takes to put a winning product on the field. Petco Park will be rocking this season with all the star power on the roster. 

About the Writers: Manny Randhawa is a reporter for MLB.com based in Denver. Follow him on Twitter at @MannyOnMLB. Dylan Svoboda is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @dylanksvoboda.

Thursday, March 30, 2023

THE FOODIST / CHECKING THE MENU AT MAJOR LEAGUE’S BEST HOME PLATES/ PETCO PARK, SAN DIEGO.


FAN FAVS
Looking for a big taste of San Diego? Petco Park has a huge menu from a variety of local restaurant favorites. Also, there is a delicious selection of in park restaurants. 

 Seaside Market’s Petco kiosks offer a huge local favorite—the Cardiff Tri-Tip nacho explosion. Tri-tip nachos are served with a cheese sauce, a big portion of chopped up tri-tip with a drizzle of BBQ sauce, sour cream and sprinkled green onions. If you’re not there for the nachos but still looking for tri-tip steak, then try the tri-tip sandwich. Sections 110, 124, 129 

 


A Petco Park pick is the classic cheeseburger (above) from San Diego’s legendary Hodad’s. You have the option to make it single or double, plus opt for a side of fries or onion rings. Section 230, 300, 325 

 Negihama Sushi is local and available fresh at Petco on a grab and go basis. Sister restaurant of the Uni Sushi in Mission Valley. Located in the Section 102 Mercado. 

 Upper Deck Western Metal Building “The Loft” serves hot dogs, sausages, nachos, a full bar and beer. 

 CALI/MEX Zone. Few ballparks exist this close to the U.S. Mexican border. Here’s a taste of what we’re taco-ing about. Puesto Mexican known for its al pastor burrito—yum! Section, 107, 119, 120. Carnitas’ Snack Shack, a San Diego legend. Section 128, 228. Fish tacos were invented along the San Diego and Baja beaches. Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill is known for its fish tacos. Section 117.

Old Faithful. Randy Jones BBQ at sections 101, 119, Gallagher Square, 204, 303, 306, 321. San Diego’s take on cheesesteaks Gagllione Bros. Section 319. 

 

NEW. The real deal from North Park's Grand Ole BBQ y Asado (Section 113).

WHAT’S NEW Local flavor continues to be what Petco Park is all about. New San Diego-based vendors in 2023 include Alpine Beer Company (section 311) for local beer on tap and North Park's millennial secret Grand Ole BBQ y Asado sausages (section 113), Kona Big Wave Patio (section 227), joining last year’s new entries: Sambazon (109), Jack in the Box (yes it is local, founded in 1951 by a San Diegan now at section 323), Holy Paleta frozen pops from Bonita (112), San Diego’s Finest Hot Chicken (316) and Cucina Stella (103). 

 


Also new this season is Elote Mexican Street corn. This deliciousness (pictured, above) is to be found on the field level behind home plate. Section 110. 

KIDS STUFF. Tykes of all ages love Pizza Port big slice of pizza with a 22oz. fountain soda or a big Dasini bottled water. Sections 311, 320 Mr. Softee. Soft serve ice cream available in a cone, cup or baseball helmet located throughout Petco Park. Sections 311, 320, 215, 104, 115, 121 

 BIG KIDS STUFF. Bring your ID. Craft Beers of San Diego section 303, 328 and Belle Glos Wine Market in the Mercado Section 102. Prize winning Pizza Port pizza and craft beer at Section 103; Draft by Ballast Point (105); Pacifico Porch (134); Cutwater Spirits, a San Diego distillery cocktails and rum section 101. Budweiser (everywhere); Beer Bat Steins (everywhere). 

 WHERE HAVE ALL THE VENDORS GONE? OK, there are no stadium vendors hawking the aisles. Sorry, no peanuts or other food groups being vended in the aisles this year. 

 BUT WE DO HAVE A GREAT FOOD FINDER. CLICK HERE to line up your taste buds with the right Petco Park concessions. Trust us with no aisle vendors you need this “where-to-find” list compiled by Padres Insider webpage. 

And for dessert Mr. Softee's in kiosks all over Petco Park


AMERICANA / BASEBALL OPENING DAY TODAY

Petco Park home of the San Diego Padres Baseball Club

Major League Baseball announced games times for the 2023 season, including Opening Day on March 30. All 30 teams – 15 games – are scheduled to play on Opening Day, which would be the first time since 1968 that every team is playing its first game on the same day. 

 The defending World Series champion Houston Astros open the season at home against the Chicago White Sox, while other Opening Day highlights include the New York Yankees hosting the San Francisco Giants, and Cleveland Guardians visiting the Seattle Mariners. The San Diego Padres welcome the Colorado Rockies to Petco Park (see photo above).

 The league introduced a new, balanced schedule for 2023 with every team playing 52 divisional games (down from 76), 46 interleague games (up from 20) and 64 intraleague games (down from 44). 

 Here's the full schedule for the first day of Major League Baseball's 2023 season: 

 March 30 /Eastern Standard Time

 Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals – 1:05 p.m. ET 

 San Francisco Giants at New York Yankees – 1:05 p.m 

 Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox – 2:10 p.m. 

 Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Cubs – 2:20 p.m. 

 Detroit Tigers at Tampa Bay Rays – 3:10 p.m. 

 Philadelphia Phillies at Texas Rangers – 4:05 p.m. 

 Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds – 4:10 p.m. 

 Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres – 4:10 p.m. 

 Toronto Blue Jays at St. Louis Cardinals – 4:10 p.m. 

 Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals – 4:10 p.m. 

 New York Mets at Miami Marlins – 4:10 p.m. 

 Chicago White Sox at Houston Astros – 7:08 p.m. 

 Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics – 10:07 p.m. 

 Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers – 10:10 p.m. 

 Cleveland Guardians at Seattle Mariners – 10:10 p.m. 

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Fun at Fanfest

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Alex Morgan, World Cup, Olympic and pro soccer star with the San Diego Wave takes in a Padres game. 

Academy award winning actress Emma Stone is a fellow fan!






AMERICANA / OPENING DAY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL LINEUPS

 

OPENING DAY 2023 SEASON

O
pening Day is upon us as we speak. Yes, it’s March 30 the day all baseball fans have been waiting for since the World Series ended in October. And, of course, with Day One comes the celebration of a new Major League season. One of the biggest questions surrounding each of the 30 MLB clubs heading into Thursday's season opener is: What will the very first starting lineup of the regular season look like?

For the first season in a long while all 30 MLB teams will open the season on the same day--TODAY!

With the help of each MLB.com beat writer, here's a look at the projected Opening Day starting lineup for each team: 

National League West 

Padres

Xander Bogaerts, SS Juan Soto, LF Manny Machado, 3B Jake Cronenworth, 1B Matt Carpenter, DH Ha-Seong Kim, 2B Trent Grisham, CF Austin Nola, C David Dahl, RF SP: Blake Snell, LHP CL: Josh Hader, LHP 

The Padres are still awaiting the return of Fernando Tatis Jr. In the meantime, they'll platoon at DH and in right field. Facing Rockies righty German Marquez, Carpenter starts over Nelson Cruz and Dahl starts over Jose Azocar. -- AJ Cassavell 

 Dodgers: 

Mookie Betts, RF Freddie Freeman, 1B Will Smith, C Max Muncy, 3B J.D. Martinez, DH David Peralta, LF Miguel Vargas, 2B James Outman, CF Miguel Rojas, SS SP: Julio Ur√≠as, LHP CL: Evan Phillips, RHP From Betts to Martinez, there's a very good chance that's how the Dodgers stack up their lineup at the top. The bottom of the order could look a little different, but this allows the Dodgers to stay neutral in the lineup. -- Juan Toribio 

 D-backs: 

Corbin Carroll, CF Ketel Marte, 2B Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF Christian Walker, 1B Evan Longoria, 3B Gabriel Moreno, C Kyle Lewis, DH Nick Ahmed, SS Jake McCarthy, RF SP: Zac Gallen, RHP CL: Scott McGough/Miguel Castro, RHP Alek Thomas will get a majority of the playing time in center field with Carroll in left, and Josh Rojas will get the bulk of the playing time at third base. But against Dodgers lefty Julio Urias, it would not be a surprise to see manager Torey Lovullo try to get more right-handed bats in there. -- Steve Gilbert 

 Giants: 

LaMonte Wade Jr., 1B Michael Conforto, RF David Villar, 3B Joc Pederson, DH Thairo Estrada, 2B Brandon Crawford, SS Mike Yastrzemski, CF Blake Sabol, LF Joey Bart, C SP: Logan Webb, RHP CL: Camilo Doval, RHP With Mitch Haniger (Grade 1 left oblique strain) and Austin Slater (left hamstring strain) both iffy for Opening Day, the Giants seem likely to carry Sabol, a Rule 5 Draft pick who can split time between catcher and the outfield. -- Maria Guardado 

 Rockies: 

Jurickson Profar, LF Kris Bryant, RF Ryan McMahon, 2B C.J. Cron, 1B Charlie Blackmon, DH Elehuris Montero, 3B Elias Diaz, C Yonathan Daza, CF Ezequiel Tovar, SS SP: German Marquez, RHP CL: Daniel Bard, RHP The late spring addition of Profar gives the lineup a proven bat at the top -- and Profar has a chance to go against his old club in the opener at San Diego's Petco Park. -- Thomas Harding 

 National League Central 

Brewers: 

Christian Yelich, LF Willy Adames, SS Jesse Winker, DH William Contreras, C Rowdy Tellez, 1B Luis Urias, 2B Brian Anderson, 3B Garrett Mitchell, CF Joey Wiemer, RF SP: Corbin Burnes, RHP CL: Devin Williams, RHP The Brewers have great starting pitching and will go as far as their bullpen and lineup can carry them. -- Adam McCalvy 

 Cardinals: 

Brendan Donovan, 2B Tyler O'Neill, CF Paul Goldschmidt, 1B Nolan Arenado, 3B Willson Contreras, C Nolan Gorman, DH Jordan Walker, LF Lars Nootbaar, RF Tommy Edman, SS SP: Miles Mikolas, RHP CL: Ryan Helsley, RHP If O'Neill and platoon outfielder Dylan Carlson have big bounce-back seasons, Goldschmidt and Arenado continue to resemble the best 1-2 punch in baseball and top prospect Jordan Walker flashes his five-tool arsenal, the Cardinals might have the NL's deepest and most dynamic offense. But will they pitch well enough? -- John Denton 

 Cubs: 

Nico Hoerner, 2B Dansby Swanson, SS Ian Happ, LF Cody Bellinger, CF Trey Mancini RF Edwin Rios DH Patrick Wisdom, 3B Eric Hosmer, 1B Tucker Barnhart, C SP: Marcus Stroman, RHP CL: Michael Fulmer, RHP This version of the revamped Cubs' nine features six free agents reeled in over a busy winter, while the bullpen will be anchored by veteran free-agent additions Fulmer and Brad Boxberger without the "closer" label officially applied to either. -- Jordan Bastian 

 Pirates: 

Oneil Cruz, SS Bryan Reynolds, CF Carlos Santana, DH Andrew McCutchen, RF Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B Jack Suwinski, LF Ji-Man Choi, 1B Rodolfo Castro, 2B Austin Hedges, C SP: Mitch Keller, RHP CL: David Bednar, RHP The Pirates feature their most intriguing blend of young talent and established veterans in years, and if all goes well, they could add even more youth to their lineup by the end of the summer. -- Justice delos Santos 

 Reds: 

Jonathan India, 2B Jake Fraley, DH Wil Myers, RF Tyler Stephenson, C Spencer Steer, 3B TJ Friedl, LF Jason Vosler, 1B Jose Barrero, SS Will Benson, CF SP: Hunter Greene, RHP CL: Alexis D√≠az, RHP. As he works his way back from August left shoulder surgery, Votto will start the season on the IL, leaving Vosler to get the nod at first base. -- Mark Sheldon 

 National League East 

Braves: 

Ronald Acuna Jr., RF Matt Olson, 1B Austin Riley, 3B Marcell Ozuna, DH Ozzie Albies, 2B Michael Harris II, CF Sean Murphy, C Eddie Rosario, LF Orlando Arcia, SS SP: Max Fried, LHP CL: A.J. Minter, RHP. The Padres are the only NL team that can come close to rivaling Atlanta's top-of-the-lineup power potential. -- Mark Bowman 

 Marlins: 

Luis Arraez, 2B Jorge Soler, DH Jazz Chisholm Jr., CF Garrett Cooper, 1B Avisal Garcia, RF Jesus Sanchez, LF Jean Segura, SS Joey Wendle, 3B Jacob Stallings, C SP: Sandy Alcantara, RHP CL: Matt Barnes, RHP/A.J. Puk, LHP Newcomer Arraez, the 2022 AL batting champion, fits in nicely at the top of the order for a club that didn't have a traditional table-setter last season. As of now, Miami seems content mixing and matching in late-inning situations. -- Christina De Nicola 

 Mets: 

Brandon Nimmo, CF Starling Marte, RF Francisco Lindor, SS Pete Alonso, 1B Jeff McNeil, 2B Mark Canha, LF Daniel Vogelbach, DH Eduardo Escobar, 3B Omar Narvarez, C SP: Max Scherzer, RHP CL: David Robertson, RHP. This is essentially the same lineup the Mets used in the playoffs last season, with free-agent acquisition Narvaez splitting catching duties with incumbent Tomas Nido. -- Anthony DiComo 

 Nationals: 

Lane Thomas, RF Dominic Smith, 1B Joey Meneses, DH Corey Dickerson, LF Jeimer Candelario, 3B Luis Garcia, 2B Keibert Ruiz, C CJ Abrams, SS Victor Robles, CF SP: Patrick Corbin, LHP CL: Kyle Finnegan, RHP. The Nationals are looking to be athletic with a focus on extra-base hits, and the leadoff hitter could vary throughout the season as they do so. -- Jessica Camerato 

 Phillies: 

Trea Turner, SS Kyle Schwarber, LF J.T. Realmuto, C Darick Hall, 1B Nick Castellanos, RF Bryson Stott, 2B Alec Bohm, 3B Brandon Marsh, CF Josh Harrison, DH SP: Aaron Nola, RHP CL: Seranthony Dominguez, RHP. Don't be surprised if the lineup looks completely different on Opening Day, other than Turner in the leadoff spot. Phillies manager Rob Thomson can go different ways, especially with Rhys Hoskins lost for the season. -- Todd Zolecki 

American League East 

Blue Jays: 

RF George Springer SS Bo Bichette 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. DH Brandon Belt C Alejandro Kirk LF Daulton Varsho 3B Matt Chapman 2B Whit Merrifield CF Kevin Kiermaier SP: RHP Alek Manoah, RHP CL: RHP Jordan Romano, RHP. This lineup will change almost daily, with Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio and Danny Jansen all earning regular reps while giving manager John Schneider some very useful bench options from game to game. -- Keegan Matheson 

 Orioles: 

Cedric Mullins, CF Adley Rutschman, C Ryan Mountcastle, 1B Anthony Santander, RF Gunnar Henderson, 3B Austin Hays, LF Adam Frazier, 2B Jorge Mateo, SS Kyle Stowers, DH SP: Kyle Gibson, RHP CL: Felix Bautista, RHP. The O's will rotate the DH spot around this season, but it makes sense to use it to get Kyle Stowers' left-handed bat in the lineup on Opening Day, when the Red Sox will send right-hander Corey Kluber to the hill. -- Jake Rill 

 Rays: 

Yandy Diaz, 1B Wander Franco, SS Randy Arozarena, LF Brandon Lowe, 2B Harold Ramerez, DH Isaac Paredes, 3B Manuel Margot, RF Christian Bethancourt, C Jose Siri, CF SP: Shane McClanahan, LHP CL: Pete Fairbanks, RHP. The Rays used 158 different batting orders each of the last two years, and few teams use their entire roster like Tampa Bay, so expect plenty of mixing and matching all season long. Manager Kevin Cash will use his relievers based on matchups, with Fairbanks and Jason Adam getting the most high-leverage work. -- Adam Berry 

 Red Sox: 

Alex Verdugo, RF Rafael Devers, 3B Justin Turner, DH Masataka Yoshida, LF Adam Duvall, CF Triston Casas, 1B Christian Arroyo, 2B Reese McGuire, C Kiki Hernandez, SS SP: Corey Kluber, RHP CL: Kenley Jansen, RHP. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he won't go with a set leadoff hitter, at least early in the season, but Verdugo will get the nod against righties out of the gate. -- Ian Browne 

 Yankees: 

DJ LeMahieu, DH Aaron Judge, CF Anthony Rizzo, 1B Giancarlo Stanton, RF Josh Donaldson, 3B Gleyber Torres, 2B Aaron Hicks, LF Anthony Volpe, SS Jose Trevino, C SP: Gerrit Cole, RHP CL: Clay Holmes, RHP.  Harrison Bader is not expected to return to center field until at least late April, which will prompt manager Aaron Boone to be creative with his outfield alignment. Judge could see starts at all three positions. Volpe has outperformed Oswald Peraza and Isiah Kiner-Falefa this spring, but it remains to be seen if he'll get the nod at shortstop for Opening Day. -- Bryan Hoch 

 AL Central 

Guardians: 

Steven Kwan, LF Amed Rosario, SS Jose Ramirez, 3B Josh Bell, DH Josh Naylor, 1B Oscar Gonzalez, RF Andres Giminez, 2B Mike Zunino, C Myles Straw, CF SP: Shane Bieber, RHP CL: Emmanuel Clase, RHP. The only question is whether the Guardians will have Bell or Naylor at first base. The other will DH. Outside of that, the club has very few questions when it comes to its starting lineup. -- Mandy Bell Royals: Bobby Witt Jr., SS MJ Melendez, LF Salvador Perez, C Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B Franmil Reyes, DH Michael Massey, 2B Hunter Dozier, 3B Jackie Bradley Jr., RF Kyle Isbel, CF SP: Zack Greinke, RHP CL: Scott Barlow, RHP The bottom of the lineup is flexible, as manager Matt Quatraro will utilize his bench often, and it still isn't confirmed whether Bradley (or Reyes, also a non-roster invitee) is going to make the team -- or at which position. Edward Olivares could also start in the corner outfield on Opening Day. -- Anne Rogers Tigers: Matt Vierling, LF Riley Greene, CF Javier B√°ez, SS Austin Meadows, RF Spencer Torkelson, 1B Miguel Cabrera, DH Eric Haase, C Jonathan Schoop, 3B Cesar Hernandez, 2B SP: Matthew Boyd, RHP CL: Alex Lange/Jos√© Cisnero, RHP Expect this lineup to change often, with a likely platoon in left field and a potential three-man platoon at second and third base. -- Jordan Beck Twins: Joey Gallo, 1B Carlos Correa, SS Byron Buxton, DH Max Kepler, RF Jose Miranda, 3B Trevor Larnach, LF Christian Vazquez, C Nick Gordon, 2B Michael A. Taylor, CF SP: Pablo Lopez, RHP CL: Jhoan Duran, RHP There's some question as to whether Miranda will be ready to play third base in time for Opening Day; if not, expect Kyle Farmer to man the hot corner. -- Do-Hyoung Park White Sox: Tim Anderson, SS Luis Robert Jr., CF Andrew Benintendi, LF Eloy Jiminez, DH Yoan Moncada, 3B Andrew Vaughn, 1B Yasmani Grandal, C Oscar Colas, RF Elvis Andrus, 2B SP: Dylan Cease, RHP CL: Multiple relievers Vaughn is working with lower back stiffness, but the team doesn't seem concerned about his Opening Day readiness. Liam Hendriks continues his treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, so manager Pedro Grifol intends to go closer by committee in Hendriks' absence, without specifically using that phrase. -- Scott Merkin AL West Angels: Taylor Ward, LF Mike Trout, CF Shohei Ohtani, DH Anthony Rendon, 3B Hunter Renfroe, RF Brandon Drury, 1B Luis Rengifo, 2B Max Stassi, C David Fletcher, SS SP: Shohei Ohtani, RHP CL: Carlos Estevez, RHP The Angels face a lefty on Opening Day, so regular first baseman Jared Walsh isn't expected to be in the lineup. Gio Urshela will also see plenty of time around the infield. The closer spot isn't set after Estevez struggled this spring. -- Rhett Bollinger Astros: Jeremy Pena, SS Alex Bregman, 3B Yordan Alvarez, DH Kyle Tucker, RF Jose Abreu, 1B Chas McCormick, LF David Hensley, 2B Jake Meyers, CF Martin Maldonado, C SP: Framber Valdez, LHP CL: Ryan Pressly, RHP Injuries to second baseman Jose Altuve (broken thumb) and left fielder Michael Brantley (recovering from shoulder surgery) have opened a couple of slots in the lineup, and that's assuming Tucker (sprained ankle) and Alvarez (hand soreness) will be ready to go. -- Brian McTaggart Athletics: Tony Kemp, 2B Aledmys Diaz, SS Seth Brown, LF Jesus Aguilar, DH Jace Peterson, 3B Ramen Laureano, RF Shea Langeliers, C Ryan Noda, 1B Esteury Ruiz, CF SP: Kyle Muller, LHP CL: Domingo Acevedo, RHP Versatility will be a theme for the A's this season, with left-right platoon situations likely at first base, second base and the corner outfield spots. -- Martin Gallegos Mariners: Julio Rodriguez, CF Kolten Wong, 2B Ty France, 1B Teoscar Hernandez, RF Cal Raleigh, C Eugenio Suarez, 3B Jarred Kelenic, LF Cooper Hummel, DH J.P. Crawford, SS SP: Luis Castillo, RHP CL: Andres Munoz, RHP The Mariners used 129 different lineups last year, and that diversity will probably continue as the club deploys its deepest roster since manager Scott Servais arrived in 2016. -- Daniel Kramer Rangers: Marcus Semien, 2B Corey Seager, SS Nathaniel Lowe, 1B Adolis Garcia, RF Robbie Grossman, LF Josh Jung, 3B Mitch Garver, DH Jonah Heim, C Bubba Thompson, CF SP: Jacob deGrom, RHP CL: Jonathan Hernandez, RHP An oblique injury will likely keep center fielder Leody Taveras from starting on Opening Day, but the rest of the lineup falls perfectly behind the core four of Semien, Seager, Lowe and Garcia. -- Kennedi Landry 

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

SATURDAY SUDS / NORTH PARK BEER FEST AHEAD.



 TICKETS: Click Here. 

DESIGN OF OUR TIMES / BRIT LANDS 2023 PRITZKER PRIZE FOR ARCHITECTURE

 


Sir David Chipperfield (above) has been named the 2023 Laurate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The Pritzker jury said has been prolific in his more than four decades of work and is "radical in his restraint." 

The 2023 Pritzker Prize ceremony will be held in Athens, Greece in May. As the 52nd laureate, Chipperfield, 69, joins the Pritzker's honorary list of winners, which in recent years included Francis Kéré (2022), Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal of Lacaton and Vassal (who collectively won the 2021 prize), Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects (who collectively won the 2020 prize), Arata Isozaki (2019), Balkrishna Doshi (2018), RCR Arquitectes co-founders Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta (2017), Alejandro Aravena (2016), the late Frei Otto (2015), Shigeru Ban (2014), Toyo Ito (2013), and Wang Shu (2012). 

 Selected work: 

 James-Simon-Galerie, Berlin 

The Neues Museum, Berlin. 

 The Hepworth Wakefield Art Museum, Wakefield, UK 






Tuesday, March 28, 2023

TO YOUR HEALTH / COMPARE SHORT BREATHING EXERCISES WITH MINDFUL MEDITATION

 


Cyclic sighing appears to be particularly effective among different breathing exercises and better than mindfulness meditation, a study says. 

 Editor’s Note; On occasion, the Washington Post newspaper offers free articles on the Internet. Here is one that is truly universal. 

 GUEST BLOG / By Richard Sima, published in the Washington Post.—Most of us don’t think about our breathing, but if we put our minds to it, it can make us feel better. 

“Respiration is the perfect interaction between conscious and unconscious,” said Angelo Gemignani, psychiatrist and neuroscience professor at the University of Pisa. Breathing is a way for both the mind and body to work together to help regulate our emotions. 

 A study in Cell Reports Medicine showed that just five minutes of breathwork each day for about a month could improve mood and reduce anxiety — and these benefits may be larger than from mindfulness meditation for the same amount of time. 

“We’re always busy doing instead of being,” said David Spiegel, an author of the study. “And it’s a good idea to just take a few minutes to collect yourself, commune with your body and help it prepare to deal with whatever you want to deal with.” 

The mental health benefits of breathwork 

In a randomized controlled study of 108 adults, the researchers compared three different breathwork exercises, in which participants deliberately guided their breathing in various ways, and mindfulness meditation, in which people observed their breathing but didn’t try to control it. The participants did the breathwork at home, following video instructions. 

One group of participants was told to practice cyclic sighing. Participants were instructed to slowly inhale through the nose to expand the lungs, and inhale again to maximally fill the lungs. Then they were asked to slowly and fully exhale the breath through the mouth. 

A second group focused on box breathing, which is spending the same amount of time slowly inhaling, holding the breath, exhaling and holding, before repeating the sequence. 

A third group practiced cyclic hyperventilation, which “emphasizes inhalation rather than exhalation. It’s kind of the mirror image of the cyclic sighing exercise,” said Spiegel, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and director of the Center on Stress and Health at Stanford University. 

They took one deep inhalation through the nose, exhaled passively and then let the air “fall out from the mouth,” he said. Every 30 cycles, they would hold the breath after passive exhalation for 15 seconds. 

The fourth group performed mindfulness meditation, which emphasized being aware of breathing and their body — as opposed to actively controlling their breathing. 

After 28 days, participants in both the mindfulness meditation and breathwork groups reported having more positive feelings and fewer negative ones compared with before they began their respective practices. Participants in both groups also reported reduced feelings of anxiety. 

“That’s not bad for five minutes a day,” Spiegel said. “It seems that practicing some control over your respiration is a kind of entry into one way of controlling your autonomic activity.” 

The positive effects of breathwork took time to kick in: The more days the participants spent doing their breathing exercises, the better they felt each successive day. 

Cyclic sighing appeared to be particularly effective among the different breathing exercises. Participants in this group reported even greater positive mood improvements compared with participants who practiced mindfulness meditation. 

The key to mindfulness meditation, however, is to practice it as a daily life routine for an extended period of time, said Gemignani, who was not involved in the study and who provides longer breathwork and meditation interventions to his patients. “I think five minutes are too short for inducing benefits for subjects.” 

What breathing exercises can do for the body and brain 

When we feel anxious, we tend to breathe faster. 

Breathwork exercises allow us to consciously slow down our breathing. And research shows it can not only affect mood but also physiology by inducing a more relaxed physical state. 

One recent meta-analysis conducted by Gemignani and his colleagues suggests that slow breathing practices can affect our autonomic system, which regulates key physiological processes such as heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. Specifically, these techniques seem to shift the balance away from the amped-up fight-or-flight sympathetic mode toward the more relaxed rest-and-digest parasympathetic system. 

“One hypothesis is that just taking control of your breathing, and particularly in ways that would trigger self-soothing parasympathetic activity, is likely to improve mood and reduce your overall level of arousal,” Spiegel said. 

In the new study, the cyclic sighers had a greater reduction in their respiration rate — how often they breathed — compared with the mindfulness meditators, although there were no differences in heart rate. Interestingly, the more the respiration rate decreased in cyclic sighers, the more their positive emotions increased, suggesting that the participants who had the largest physiological changes may show the greatest benefit in mood. 

Breathwork may also enforce our sense of agency, Spiegel said. 

“We like being in a situation where we can control not only what’s happening in the world, but what’s happening in our body, what we call interoception,” he said. “So it feels good to know that you can do things that will help your body respond and feel more comfortable.” 

Breathing in through the nose — which is employed in many breathwork practices — can also have a surprisingly large effect on the brain, Gemignani said. 

Slow inhalation through the nose can trigger neural oscillations in the olfactory system, which may synchronize and slow down activity in wide swaths of the cortex and other brain regions such as the hippocampus and amygdala. This slowing down of activity may be important for the positive mood effects of breathwork. 

Spiegel said he plans to conduct follow-up neuroimaging research on how breathing practices may change the brain in the long term. 

How to breathe better and happier 

Breathing exercises are easier and more accessible than many meditative practices. Here are some tips to help you get started: 

Figure out which practices work best for you. 

This study’s results suggest cyclic sighing is superior, but the best breathing technique may depend on the individual. Try out the three types of breathing techniques and see what feels right for you, Gemignani said. “The choice is only in the mind, the body, the brain of the single subjects,” he said. 

Start small and build a routine. 

Try just five minutes and see how you feel when doing your preferred breathing exercise, Spiegel said. “It’s not so hard to make it part of your daily routine if it’s only five minutes of your time.” You can also perform the breathing exercises for longer than five minutes, which may enhance the benefits. 

Use it where and when you need it. 

The beauty of breathing exercises is that you can employ them wherever you can breathe and whenever you need to destress and self-soothe. Gemignani said he performs box breathing when walking down the street or even while swimming. 

“I think what the study shows is that a small, safe, easy-to-use intervention can have big effects,” Spiegel said. So when you are feeling anxious or down, remember to take a breath.

More info and a daily newsletter Email BrainMatters@Washpost.com. 

Monday, March 27, 2023

MEDIA MONDAY / FUN COMMERCIAL WITH GREAT MUSIC, CELEBS & A WHOLE LOT OF PRODUCTION TALENT


Boring commercials may have had their day. Gone are the expected drive around the countryside auto commercials. 

 Say hello to highly creative, top talent, indy-run commercials like “Tache.” Say hello to actress turned new advertising director phenom Olivia Wilde and what and her team was able to create in 30 seconds. 

 “Tache” Client: Amazon Prime Agency: Wieden+Kennedy London Production: Anonymous Content Director: Olivia Wilde Synopsis: “Tache” follows a young woman (unidentified) as she encounters unwanted facial hair for the first time. 

Ms. Wilde
Initially dismayed, she tries to remove it until she realizes that her icons have mustaches too. From Eddie Murphy in Coming 2 America to Frida Kahlo and Freddie Mercury, she learns to triumphantly embrace and love the way she looks. With this newfound confidence, she uses Prime to buy a Freddie Mercury themed brilliant yellow outfit, and play music that makes her feel uniquely herself. 

 Watch Commercial: Click here.  

Background song: The song featured in the Amazon Prime “girl with mustache” commercial is Cool Cat by Queen, from their 1982 album Hot Space. Meaning that Freddy Mercury is also present in the background music, in a song that maybe not everyone knows: a charismatic take that asks everyone just to embrace themselves, turning their particularities in a unique style. 

 Click here for song

Anonymous actress in director Olivia Wilde's "Tache" commercial.

Amazon Prime commercial


Sunday, March 26, 2023

IT'S SPRING AT LAST / MIKE PRIDE REMEMBERS ROBERT FROST’S “NEW HAMPSHIRE” VIA DAVID THOMAS WATSON MCCORD'S LOST 1923 REVIEW

 Robert Frost (The New Yorker) 

GUEST BLOG / By Mike Pride, editor emeritus of the Concord Monitor and retired administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes
--“When I retired as editor of the Concord Monitor a decade ago, the publisher gave me a gift I still treasure. It is a first edition of "New Hampshire," Robert Frost’s 1923 poetry collection. The long title poem is full of wry observations about the state, but if it is remembered at all, it is for a snooty quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The God who made New Hampshire / Taunted the lofty land with little men.” 

 Folded inside the back cover of the book was a contemporary review of New Hampshire by someone with the initials D.T.C. McC. After reading the review, I researched the writer. When I didn’t find the review on the internet, I decided to write a column including the entire review, thus rescuing it from obscurity. 

 “D.T.W. McC.” turned out to be David Thomas Watson McCord, who was just shy of his 26th birthday when the Boston Evening Transcript published the review on Dec. 8, 1923. He had been in the Harvard class of 1921 and earned his master’s in chemistry there the following year. For 38 years he was executive director of the Harvard Fund, retiring in 1963. 

 McCord’s obituary — he died in 1997 at the age of 99 — recounted that after living in Princeton, N.J., as a boy, he moved to Oregon at age 12 to live on a remote farm with his uncle. It was there, on the edge of the wilderness, that he began to learn to write. “Poetry is rhythm,” he observed of that time, “just as the planet Earth is rhythm; the best writing, poetry or prose — no matter what the message it conveys — depends on a very sure and subtle rhythm.” 

 In 1956, Harvard celebrated his achievements with its first honorary degree of doctor of humane letters. 

THE FOLLOWING: Here is McCord’s 1923 review of Frost’s "New Hampshire": 

 It becomes more and more apparent that Robert Frost is New England’s most authentic poet, and by authentic poet we mean the most sincere, foursquare and forthright who has tried to lay a finger on the slow and positive pulse of the New England north of Boston and sound the secret of its heart. 

 He is of the hills of New Hampshire — “Taunted,” perhaps, as Emerson says, “with little men,” and he knows them as well as Yeats knows Ireland or Swinburne knew the North Sea; and as for the “little men,” he can speak quite well, for he knows them too. 

 “I called the fireman with a careful voice and bade him leave the pan and stoke the arch,” he wrote in a sonnet (from New Hampshire) all about Spring and a sugar orchard; and here we discover four words which are something of a touchstone to the bulk of his poetry. “With a careful voice” — that indeed is Robert Frost, careful in execution, careful in diction, careful, sometimes to the point of tediousness, in the detail of a picture. 

 To this matter of care and quiet plodding Mr. Frost owes much of his success. One can hardly believe him capable of very strong emotion, yet he has recollected much of it — and that in the darkest of tranquility. His poetry has evolved slowly, each creation measured with the practiced eye that goes afield in search of just the right stone for the chimney corner, and one fancies him polishing and re-polishing, but never to brilliance, with the patience of Malherbe (French poet, 1555-1628). In his creative mood we may think of him as leaning across a stone wall in the hush of a summer afternoon and talking intimate-fashion: 

 You know Orion always comes up sideways, 

Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains, 

And rising on his hands, he looks in on me 

Busy outdoors by lantern-light with something 

I should have done by daylight, and indeed, 

After the ground is frozen, I should have done 

Before it froze, and a gust flings a handful 

Of waste leaves at my smoky lantern chimney 

To make fun of my way of doing things, 

Or else fun of Orion for having caught me . . . (from “The Star Splitter”) 

With this preamble we come to Mr. Frost’s new book, "New Hampshire, a Poem with Notes and Grace Notes," illustrated with three splendid wood engravings by J.J. Lankes. 

 Perhaps the subtitle is misleading. The “notes” are nothing less than poems of moderate length, each fastening a vital tendril upon individual lines or parts of the central poem, and the “grace notes,” which will be the first read and the most admired, are brief lyrics, small shatter fragments of clear beauty, the not too remote supplements of their larger-bodied brothers. 

 There is a great homogeneity to it all — New Hampshire, “one of the two best States in the Union. Vermont’s the other”; New Hampshire, that possesses, or once possessed, a specimen of everything: a Daniel Webster, a bit of gold, a trace of radium, a reformer, a witch, but not much of anything in commercial quantities except poems; New Hampshire, where the level of intelligence is such that a Warren farmer, come suddenly upon you, may say ten words about Bryant and mid-Victorians. Here is what outsiders think of it, there is what the poet thinks of it; now some meditation on a fallen meteorite, an estimate of the farmyard grindstone, a delineation of two witches, a pathetic poem about a deserted house and a box of books, and so on. 

 Homogeneity, yes. But can all such stuff be part and parcel of poetry? Indeed it can. Mr. Frost has set his main theme in the blank verse which he fashions so adroitly. He has packed it with thought, both sober and witty, with homely imagery and the rich flavor of White Mountain speech, and made it to wind along like a rough and pleasant path among the hills. 

 It has been said that Mr. Frost apparently polishes his work, but never to brilliance. When one reads the pages of his new book, finding such glorious titles as “A Star in a Stone-Boat,” “Our Singing Strength” or “The Star Splitter,” one may easily expect the pinion sweep of Mr. (Edward Arlington) Robinson. To do that is to be disappointed. Mr. Frost sails on an even keel, and his polishing has gone to make fruitless the simplicity and naturalness of the lines, not to give them the ethereal quality one may see with Mr. Robinson in “The Man against the Sky,” but with almost everything that Robert Frost has done one shuffles through the autumn leaves upon a lonely road — and enjoys it immensely. 

 Mr. Frost has ideas and originality, both of which are most apparent in New Hampshire. His greatest defect is too much sameness of form. In all of the longer pieces there is the swing of blank verse, and often twenty lines of a poem may be read before one is aware of rhyme; a fact, however, wholly untrue of the grace notes. His method of relief is humor: 

 And weren’t there special cemetery flowers, 

That, once grief sets to growing, grief may rest: The flowers will go on with grief awhile, And no one seem neglecting or neglected. A good deal of a philosopher, Mr. Frost digs down into the heart of New Hampshire life and deracinates with extreme cleverness and subtlety its changing aspects. Yet his old loves have not been lost, and those who turn to a new volume of (John) Masefield for the salt water ballad that may be there will find here another “swinging birch” poem and much that is akin to “Mending Wall.” -- D.T.W. McC.  


Nothing Gold Can Stay
Robert Frost

from "New Hampshire"

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Saturday, March 25, 2023

COFFEE BEANS & BEINGS / KEEPING UP WITH ROASTER NEWSLETTERS, Part 2

Drop Coffee owners Joanna Alm and Stephen Leighton.  

Latest newsletter from DROP COFFEE ROASTERS, Stockholm, Sweden 

Click Here.  



Friday, March 24, 2023

1PIX=1K WORDS / AZTECS REJOICE


THE SWAT TEAM!

FUTURE FRIDAY / GOOGLE ASKS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FEEDBACK


 The tech world is totally immersed in the use of Artificial Intelligence. And, the future holds no limits to what AI can do. The other day Google asked for volunteers from the public to work with its new “Bard” collaborator. Bard is still in its development stages and Google is asking for feedback. Access remains limited. For waiting list info: CLICK HERE. 

Bard image courtesy of the Talon, the student magazine at Graded—the American School of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Nice!

Thursday, March 23, 2023

THE FOODIST / FISHING FOR COMPLIMENTS

 


By Thomas Shess
--For umpteen decades, the west side of the 3700 block of 30th Street in San Diego’s historic North Park neighborhood has been occupied by a row of small architecturally dull shops. 

For several decades many of the one-story shops were consolidated into a create a bigger space that housed a used appliance store. Other spaces--not used to sell stoves and refrigerators--were occupied over the years by a variety of tenants: used computer store, art supplies emporium, and a real estate office. Nothing to write home about. 

Then came North Park’s renaissance beginning in 2010 when retailers eager to cash in on North Park’s emergence as the craft beer center of Southern California began to lease space in and around 30th and University. With an increase in craft beer tourism other retail real estate began to be invaded by welcomed new businesses. Cool became synonymous with vintage North Park. 

A drapery store became Pigment, a stylish gift store emporium, a religious book store became Mike Hess Brewery and Armstrong’s thrift store blossomed into the beloved Caffe Calabria. And, the check cashing joint at 30th and University became Encantro, a popular open-air style café. Even the aforementioned small strip along 3700 block of 30th showed signs of good gentrification. And soon enough the appliance store that took up perhaps four spaces began shrinking. 

 

Capps & 30th in May 1958.  In 2023, the 3700 block of 30th is undergoing a revitalization.  The corner shop (see photo below) will soon open as a French style bakery/cafe.  Up the street to the right is where you'll find Mabel's Gone Fishing restaurant. 

An enterprising couple opened Subterranean Coffee house across the street from Verbatim Books (a former credit dentist). A well-designed pastry shop at 30th & Capp has grabbed the corner spot (it will open soon) and Subterranean has expanded into another space. And, finally to the point, two spaces have been resurrected into a restaurant and wine shop. 

 But the biggest news event on the block has been the success of Mabel’s Gone Fishing, the Euro-sized restaurant that in less than a year of operation has put a shine on the 3700 block. The Mabel’s team, led by Chelsea Coleman and Rae Gurne recently earned attention from the Michelin travel guide folks by being added to the 2023 Michelin Guide California. 

 Mabel’s and the next door Bodega Rosette wine shop form a delicious team with The Rose Restaurant in South Park. Also owned by Coleman and Gurne. As a result of Mabel’s success, walk in seating is very limited. 

 Call ahead and be prepared to wait a week or more for a seat. That’s what happens when a Michelin quality establishment moves into North Park. Speaking of cuisine, Mabel’s culinary brain trust has been influenced by Spanish seafood and gin. The menu like the planet changes daily. 

Capps & 30th Street March 2023.



Wednesday, March 22, 2023

AMERICANA / THE DA THAT’S AFTER TRUMP OVER HUSH MONEY SCANDAL

 

What to know about Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney 

GUEST BLOG / By The Associated Press--Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (ABOVE) participates in a news conference in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. Bragg is standing firm against former President Donald Trump’s increasingly hostile rhetoric, telling his staff that the office won’t be intimidated or deterred as it nears a decision on charging the former president. 

A New York grand jury investigating hush payments made on Donald Trump’s behalf during the 2016 presidential campaign has refocused attention on the Manhattan district attorney steering the case. Alvin Bragg’s decision to convene the grand jury early this year could lead to the first criminal charge against a former U.S. president. 

Here’s what you need to know about Bragg: 

WHO IS THE MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY? Alvin Bragg became Manhattan’s first Black district attorney in 2022, following his election in November 2021. 

AS DISTRICT ATTORNEY, WHAT IS BRAGG’S JOB? The office prosecutes nearly all criminal cases in Manhattan, staffed by about 500 lawyers. The district attorney also is a key political figure, overseeing cases that often involve defendants with immense wealth, fame and influence. Manhattan district attorney is one of the most high-profile prosecution jobs in the world, dramatized on TV shows like “Law & Order” and “Blue Bloods.” Robert M. Morgenthau, who held the job for 35 years, was the model for the fictional character Adam Schiff on “Law & Order,” one of the series’ original leads played by actor Steven Hill. The office has a budget of about $150 million and has used a separate $800 million forfeiture fund bankrolled by Wall Street settlements for grants to criminal justice and community organizations and big initiatives, such as testing backlogged rape kits. 

ARE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ELECTED? Bragg is one of five elected district attorneys in New York City — one for each of the city’s five boroughs. Bragg won a tough Democratic primary and then the general election to become Manhattan’s district attorney. He took over for retiring District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Bragg is just the fourth elected district attorney in Manhattan in the last eight decades. Frank Hogan served for 31 years. Robert Morgenthau was in office for 34 years, until he was 90. Vance retired at the end of 2021 after 12 years. 

 WHAT IS BRAGG’S LEGAL BACKGROUND? Bragg’s career includes time as a federal prosecutor, an assistant attorney general for the state of New York and a civil rights attorney who represented Eric Garner’s mother as she pressured New York City officials for more accountability against the officers and commanders involved in her son’s 2014 death by a police chokehold. Bragg’s campaign included promises to change the culture of the office and allied him with other progressive prosecutors aiming to eliminate cash bail.Shortly after taking office, he released a public memo promising the district attorney would no longer prosecute some low-level misdemeanor crimes. Bragg, who grew up in Harlem, graduated from Harvard Law School. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT BRAGG’S INVOLVEMENT WITH A POSSIBLE TRUMP INDICTMENT? Bragg inherited a yearslong grand jury investigation into hush money paid on Trump’s behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign. A New York grand jury is investigating hush money payments made in 2016 to two women who alleged sexual encounters with former president Donald Trump. 

AP’s Mike Balsamo explains more.After taking office, Bragg slowed down his office’s move toward an indictment against Trump and said he had concerns about the strength of the case. That sparked a public protest by two prosecutors who were leading the investigation and resigned. But Bragg convened a new grand jury early this year after successfully convicting Trump’s family company for tax fraud. 

He called that result a “strong demarcation line” for proceeding with other parts of the probe. In general, the grand jury process is seen as extremely favorable to prosecutors. Proceedings are closed to the public and there is no judge. Prosecutors call and question witnesses and grand jurors — people drawn from the community — can ask questions. Grand jurors can either agree there is enough evidence to issue an indictment, find there is not enough evidence or tell the prosecutor to file lesser charges. 

STAY TUNED.

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

TRAVEL TUESDAY / LOTS TO DO & SEE AT AMERICA’S NEWEST NATIONAL PARK

 

World War II Home Front Shipbuilders

WELCOME TO ROSIE THE RIVETER/WWII HOME FRONT NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK 

 On the morning of December 7, 1941, military forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the United States Naval Fleet and ground bases at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On December 8, 1941, one day after the "Day of Infamy," the United States declared war against the Empire of Japan and on December 11, 1941, Japan's ally, Germany, declared war on the United States. 

 Ten million Americans, mostly young working age men, would serve in the military during WWII, out of an overall United States population of 113 million. While an unprecedented number of young men would serve in World War II, the country would drastically increase its war production on the Home Front, serving not only the needs of the armed forces of the United States but her allies as well - what President Franklin Roosevelt called "The Arsenal of Democracy." The combination of so many serving in the military, during a period of necessary and drastic increases in production, led to unprecedented social changes on the American Home Front. 

Modern day visitor
During World War II six million women entered the workforce. "Rosie the Riveter" and her "We Can Do It" motto came to symbolize all women Home Front workers. A shortage of white male workers led to active recruitment, by the United States Government, to war industry jobs. Initially white middle class women were recruited, followed by minority men, and finally minority women. Integration of women and minorities into the workforce was initially met with resistance, however, the new opportunities for women and minorities "cracked open" the door to equal rights and would have profound impacts on the Civil Rights Movement and Women's Movement during the following decades. 

 The World War II period resulted in the largest number of people migrating within the United States, in the history of the country. Individuals and families relocated to industrial centers for good paying war jobs, and out of a sense of patriotic duty. Many industrial centers became "boom towns," growing at phenomenal rates. 

 One example, the City of Richmond, California (northeast across the Bay from San Francisco), grew from a population of under 24,000 to more than 100,000 during the war. Workers from around the nation had to intermingle with each other, overcome differences, and form a cohesive identity in order to meet war demands. Following World War II, many migrants decided to stay in their new homes, forever changing the cultural landscape of the United States. 

 Home Front workers faced many challenges and many of which would lead to change. Working conditions on the Home Front were difficult and dangerous. Between the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 and the D-Day Invasion of Europe in June of 1944, there were more Home Front industrial casualties than military casualties. This high number of industrial casualties would lead to improved workplace safety and regulations, as well as better access to affordable health care. Another challenge faced by working women on the Home Front was childcare, as mothers comprised a significant portion of the work force. This led to the establishment of child development centers and the professional field of early childhood development. 

 In addition to Home Front workers, everyone was expected to be an active participant in the war effort. Rationing was a way of life as twenty commodities were rationed and people were asked to, "Use it up –Wear it out –Make it do –or Do without." Materials vital to the war effort were collected, often by youth groups, and recycled. Many Americans supported the war effort by purchasing war bonds. Women replaced men in sports leagues, orchestras, and community institutions. Americans grew 60% of the produce they consumed in "Victory Gardens". The war effort on the United States Home Front was a total effort. 

 Front of visitor center. Brick building with entrance door and park sign. NPS Photo/Luther Bailey 

 Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park was established in Richmond, California in the year 2000, to tell this national story. The Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond produced 747 ships during World War II, the most productive shipyards in history. 

 In addition, Richmond had a total of 55 war industries. Richmond also has a large number of intact historical building from the period and the Richmond Museum Association, one of the parks cooperative partners, operates the SS Red Oak Victory, the last remaining Victory Ship built in the Richmond Shipyards. 

 The Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park Visitor Education Center provides educational and interactive exhibits. People of all ages can learn about this important time and place in history and how it impacted our daily lives. This relatively new National Park was established in 2000. 

 The park staff is currently working with the City of Richmond, Contra Costa County and other park partners to preserve the historic World War II resources in Richmond. Some historic sites are open to the public, while others are only viewable from the outside. Please be sure stop by the Visitor Education Center, first, in order to watch our films, learn about local history and pick up a map that will provide guidance to park sites throughout the city of Richmond, California. 

Rosie the Riveter Visitor Education Center is located at 1414 Harbour Way South, suite 3000 in Richmond, CA. The center provides interactive and educational exhibits as well as a variety of park films, which show in our theater on a regular schedule. Entry to the visitor center and the viewing the films are free. 

 


Rosie the Riveter Memorial 

The Rosie the Riveter Memorial (above) began as a public art project for the City of Richmond in the 1990's. During the creation of the memorial, the National Park Service was invited to participate, and this partnership led to the founding of the National Park in Richmond.

Designed by visual artist Susan Schwartzenberg and landscape architect/environmental sculptor Cheryl Barton, the Rosie the Riveter Memorial: Honoring American Women's Labor During WWII is the first in the nation to honor and describe this important chapter of American history. Chairwoman Donna Powers led the campaign to establish the Memorial and the sculpture was commissioned by the City of Richmond and the Richmond Redevelopment Agency. 

 The principal component is a walkway, the length of a ship's keel, which slopes toward the San Francisco Bay and aligns with the Golden Gate Bridge. The path is inscribed with a timeline about the home front and quotes from women workers sandblasted into white granite. Sculptural elements of stainless steel encountered on the walkway are drawn from ship's blueprints and suggest the unfinished forms of hull, stack and stern under construction. Two gardens - one of rockrose and one of dune grass - occupy the location of the ship's fore and aft hatches. Porcelain enamel panels on the hull and stack reproduce memorabilia and letters gathered from former shipyard workers during the course of the Memorial project, along with photographs of women at work in jobs across the nation. 

 The panels, quotes and timeline illustrate the complex opportunities, challenges and hardships faced by women during the war years, including gender discrimination, hazardous working conditions, food rationing, and shortages of housing and childcare. 

 Donna Powers was inspired to create the Memorial by two women in her family. Her mother-in-law Ruth Powers was a teacher at the Richmond shipyards daycare centers and her great aunt Clarissa Hicks was a riveter at Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Their wonderful stories led her to ask other women around Richmond what their jobs and lives were like during WWII, and the project grew under the leadership of historian and cultural planner Donna Graves. 

Memorial Address: Marina Park - Regatta Blvd., Richmond, CA 

 Driving Directions: I-580 Marina Bay Parkway exit south to right on Regatta Blvd., Marina Park is on left. 

Walking Directions: The memorial can be reached from the park's visitor center by walking along the Bay Trail. It is about a 1.05-mile distance along a scenic walk. 

 


SS Red Oak Victory Ship
 

The SS Red Oak Victory Ship is the last surviving ship built in the Kaiser Shipyards, and is owned by the non-profit Richmond Museum Association is located west of the visitor center. Today, the Red Oak Victory remains a monument to the men and women who worked in war related industries as part of the World War II Home Front. 

In 1998, the ship was saved from the Naval Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay by a courageous group of men and women and has been under restoration since that time. 

When visiting, take the time to talk to the volunteers on boards the ship. If you are lucky enough to find one who actually served on Merchant Marine vessels during the war, find out what that life was like - ask them how they felt to be on board ships built by women. 

 The SS Red Oak Victory is open to the public on Sundays, 10am- 4pm. (Access to the ship requires negotiating a gangway (stairs), and going up or down other stairs once on board. The ship is not ADA accessible.) 

For directions, admission fees, special events, and additional information visit www.redoakvictory.us. For questions, contact the ship at: info@redoakvictory.us. 




Downtown Richmond, CA 1940s style mural inside the Visitor Center