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Lynch said that Cain would joke with him and his friends at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., sign photos, baseballs, anything else they wanted. But the cool thing to do, Lynch said, was to get the entire Bowman set signed. And one Sunday morning, while eating breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts with his mother, he had an e... |
"He kind of had a big old smile on his face. He ended up signing the card for me, and for a couple of my buddies. He said, ‘Man, I love these marble frosted donuts, so I can’t turn you down.’" |
Cain vaguely remembered the exchange, saying with a chuckle, "I’m almost sure it happened." Ford, an outfielder with the Giants’ Triple-A Sacramento affiliate, offered more of a confirmation, saying, "I remember getting some donuts in Jupiter. He definitely gave me and LoCain some." |
Funny thing, though, about Lynch — he grew up to be an actual player, the first baseman at Southern Mississippi. |
And last Friday, the Yankees selected him in the ninth round of baseball’s amateur draft, making him the 278th pick overall. |
"That’s unreal," Cain said. "A guy that was asking for autographs got drafted. That’s crazy, unbelievable." |
Roger Dean is home to both the Cardinals’ and Marlins’ affiliates; the park offered twice the fun, just as in the spring. Lynch said that a season ticket for their combined 140 games cost about $150 in those days, and the boys would get them as Christmas presents. |
"The Florida State League isn’t exactly the highest-attended minor league," Lynch said. "You really would get to meet and hang out with all these guys — pre-game, rain delays, they’d be just hanging out, like normal people. |
Jay Bruce, Joba Chamberlain, Jeff Samardzija and Francisco Cervelli all passed through the Florida State League at the time. Albert Pujols, then with the Cardinals, and Miguel Cabrera, then with the Marlins, trained in Jupiter in the spring. Lynch said he collected more than 100 Cabrera autographs — and more than 20,00... |
It was during this period that he met Kusnick, who was just starting out as an agent, representing Cain and others. Kusnick, it turned out, also was a collector; he actually had sold autographs before he was an agent. He, too, had 100 Cabreras and more than 20,000 total signatures — including those of the late Hall of ... |
"Those games can get long, especially when you’re watching 140 of ’em over an entire summer," Lynch said. "We’d sit in the stands with 50 or 75 other fans. (Kusnick) would talk about when he used to get autographs. We would share stories about us getting autographs. |
"He was kind of like, ‘If any of you guys ever make it, hit me up, we can work together.’ That was every one of our dreams, a bunch of little nerdy card collectors, 13-14-15 years old." |
Collecting, you see, wasn’t Lynch’s only boyhood passion. When he wasn’t chasing down autographs, he played the game, too. |
Motte stayed in touch with Lynch, later visiting him at Southern Mississippi, where Motte’s wife, Caitlin, had been director of operations for the women’s basketball team. |
A guy that was asking for autographs got drafted. That’s crazy, unbelievable. |
For some reason, Kusnick also had kept Lynch’s number on his cell phone — not under "Tim Lynch," but under, "Tim Autograph Collector." |
Lynch shows off one of his autographed Nelson Cruz cards. |
"I said, ‘This is the opportunity I was offered, what do you think?’" Lynch said. "At first he was like, ‘No way.’ He couldn’t believe it. When you think of an autograph-card collector, you don’t exactly think of the most athletic person in the world. Us collectors have that stereotype. |
"Professional baseball, we probably talked about for five minutes. The next thing you know, we’re having a 45-minute conversation. ‘What is your most recent autograph?’ There was more talk about that than any baseball stuff." |
Kusnick advised Lynch not to sign with the Dodgers — it was already late in the minor-league season, and Kusnick reasoned that Lynch likely would get the same opportunity or better if he had a good senior year at Southern Mississippi. |
I’d be happy to sign for him. I love to hear about players who love the game the way he does. |
"I’ve never prepped for a draft on 48 hours’ notice," Kusnick said. "I had nothing to do with his draft process beyond maybe talking to two scouts." |
Lynch had his first day of work as a professional baseball player Wednesday, participating in a simulated game at the Yankees’ training complex in Tampa, Fla. |
Lynch’s first question to Kusnick after the Yankees drafted him was if he could perhaps now get the autograph of the one superstar who eluded him during all of his years chasing autographs in Jupiter — Alex Rodriguez. |
"I’d be happy to sign for him," Rodriguez said. "I love to hear about players who love the game the way he does." |
Come to the Country...1.5 acre tract with a brick 3 bedroom 1.5 bath home located off HWY 1 North. This home is approximately 1 mile north of I-49 with easy access. The property is fully fenced and has lots of shade trees and 2 storage buildings. Nice screened porch on the back of the house. Roof was replaced in 2018. |
In a nod to the popularity and necessity of such offerings, the government will expand access to this specialized training. |
The Education Department on Wednesday unveiled a pilot program that will allow some students to use federal financial-aid dollars to pay for short-term certificate programs and massively open online courses (MOOCs). As some form of higher education becomes an increasingly critical job requirement, these courses are bec... |
Money isn’t the only issue. The programs aren’t overseen by standard accrediting agencies because it can be difficult to assess their quality. |
But that doesn’t mean that such programs can’t offer a viable path to a successful career. As Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce noted in a 2012 report on nondegree programs, certificates can be the most cost-effective means of obtaining higher education because they typically take just a ye... |
On average, a man who earns a certificate will earn more than 40 percent of men with associate’s degrees and 24 percent of men with bachelor’s degrees. (The figures are slightly lower for women.) Men who hold computer/information services certificates earn an average of $72,498 a year, which is higher than 72 percent o... |
With that in mind, the administration has created what it’s dubbing the EQUIP (Educational Quality Through Innovative Partnerships) program. Essentially, the program will give colleges that offer financial aid the ability to partner with nontraditional providers. Right now, colleges are largely prevented from partnerin... |
The idea has some people concerned, though. Robert Shireman, who served as deputy undersecretary in the Education Department and who now works as a senior fellow at the left-leaning Century Foundation, wrote in September about coding bootcamps: “It is worth remembering that the for-profit college scandal, which is stil... |
It will be up to a college’s accrediting agency to determine whether partner programs fall within a school’s accreditation. Third-party quality-assurance entities will be charged with evaluating how well the programs perform. |
Judith Eaton, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, an association representing 3,000 colleges and universities that recognizes 60 accrediting organizations, wrote in an email to Next America that the program will be “a challenge” to implement. |
The department will specifically be looking at whether these partnerships expand higher-education access for low-income students of color, and they'll be looking at student outcomes, things like employment and earnings. The administration has for several years sought to tie student outcomes to college rankings and acce... |
As a pilot process, the initial scope of EQUIP will be limited, and it’s impossible to know exactly how the partnerships will look. MOOCs often enroll more than 40,000 students, but smaller certificate programs sometimes serve just a few dozen. How much aid students receive will vary, and since pilot participants have ... |
The department’s goals in announcing the program are part of a broader effort to help students who, for a variety of reasons, choose not to or cannot attend a four-year college. Over the last several years, the department has moved to expand access to Pell grants for low-income students and touted competency-based educ... |
There’s never a bad time to read about food, but fall is definitely the best. And this year the season is chock-full of glorious offerings. Dig in. |
Keys to Good Cooking (Penguin) is written by the big daddy of food science (which sounds boring but is actually riveting), Harold McGee. McGee teaches readers to understand the scientific processes behind cooking, and does so in ways that are immediately applicable. This book will teach you how food and cooking work, p... |
Other titles to watch out for: "Tartine Bread" by Chad Robertson (Chronicle Books); "Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That?" by Ina Garten (Crown Publishing); "When French Women Cook" by Madeleine Kamman (Ten Speed Press); "Meat" by James Peterson (Ten Speed Press); "The Essential New York Times Cookbook" by Amanda Hesse... |
Rachel Meier is a New Yorker living in exile in San Francisco, where she works (and reads) at The Booksmith bookstore. |
It's no secret that putting an electric drivetrain into a classic automobile is a good idea. Some people just execute that mission better than others. Case in point: a 1949 Mercury Coupe EV that is making its debut at the 2018 SEMA show in Las Vegas this week. |
The conversion was done by ICON, which has done a number of EV conversions under the "Derelict" brand. The idea with these new/old EVs is to keep the exterior looking, well, old, while updating the powertrain to the latest and greatest. In this case, that means two electric motors that produce 470 pound-feet of torque ... |
In keeping with the old-school look, ICON didn't just hide all the new stuff under the hood. Instead, if you open the car up, you'll see the electronics (battery controllers and some of the Tesla modules) arranged in a "traditional V-8 array with a polished and media-blasted finish for a decidedly vintage aesthetic." |
According to ICON co-founder and lead designer Jonathan Ward, the idea with the classic conversion was to bring some heart and soul to electric vehicles. "Why is the aftermarket EV-conversion industry so slow to evolve and provide comprehensive systems and solutions? Why can't you have the best of both worlds: the styl... |
You can see the Mercury EV in person at SEMA this week in the Optima Battery booth. |
TRUCKEE, Calif. – Below are select incidents from the Truckee Police Department’s press log for Nov. 12-26, along with previously unreported incidents. |
• A reporting party claimed a previous friend threatened her over some relationship issues. Officers took a report for documentation only. |
• Officers took a report of illegal dumping and related suspicious activity that may be related to scrap metal thefts in the area. The incident occurred on West River Street. |
• A reporting party called and wished to make a documentation report regarding a conversation she had with her ex-husband. |
• A reporting party located an old wallet under his house on Stuart Ct and turned the wallet in to police. |
• A report was forwarded to Nevada County Probation Department regarding a juvenile, whose behavior was uncontrollable toward one of his parents. |
• A verbal argument between two grandmothers over child custody issues turned into a physical confrontation between the two grandmothers. One of the grandmothers had left the scene prior to officer’s arrival. The other grandmother had minor scrapes from the confrontation. The incident occurred on Olympic Drive. |
• Two juveniles were found to be in possession of alcohol on school grounds. Charges were forwarded to juvenile probation. |
• Subject purchased items and brought them to a nonprofit school on Palisades Drive. When subject stopped working at the nonprofit school, she had her husband go and retrieve the items. The reporting party wanted to see receipts before subject removed the items from the nonprofit school. |
• A vehicle was stolen the previous night or in the morning of November 16 out of the parking lot on Estates Drive. The vehicle was entered into the system and the case is pending further leads. |
• Officers arrested a male subject for no bail warrant out of Nevada County. |
• A juvenile was detained and arrested by loss prevention officer for shoplifting on Donner Pass Road. The juvenile was cited and released to parents. |
• A local business located on River Park Place was unlawfully entered and cash was stolen from the cash register. The owner of the business suspects her son might be responsible for the theft. The case is pending. |
• A reporting party attempted to contact her elderly neighbor who suffers from medical problems. The victim did not come to the door which prompted the reporting party to contact police dispatch. Fire personnel and law enforcement entered the residence and found the victim deceased from an apparent medical episode. The... |
• Victim reported an unknown suspect entered his unlocked vehicle and dumped raw sewage into the passenger compartment. The incident occurred on Surrey Place in Glenshire. The case is pending additional evidence or suspect information. |
• Anonymous reporting party called in saying there was a male subject with a rope in his hand on Highway 89 South. Officers located a male who was found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia and admitted to injecting methamphetamine earlier in the day. He admitted to being the anonymous reporting party and making t... |
• Officers a verbal argument between husband and wife on Royal Way. |
• A subject was contacted and suspected of being under the influence of a controlled substance. He was subsequently arrested. |
• Officers conducted a probation search of a local probationer’s residence. During the search a glass pipe commonly used for smoking methamphetamine was located in the subject’s pocket. The subject provided a urine sample which tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine. The subject was arrested and booked into Ne... |
• Officers reported theft of property from unlocked vehicle on Bernese Lane. |
• An unknown suspect removed several items from two vehicles parked in the driveway on Bernese Lane. |
• Officers took a report of theft of property from unlocked vehicle parked on Bernese Lane. |
• Officers reported theft of property from unlocked vehicle on Schussing Way. |
• An unknown suspect burglarized an apartment on Estate Drive and stole the television from the living room. There is ongoing investigation. |
• A female left her vehicle unsecured on Jeffery Pine Road. The following morning she noticed someone had “rifled” through her vehicle and stole $38 in cash. |
• A snowblower was stolen from driveway on Rainbow Drive. The case was closed due to lack of suspect leads. |
• Two subjects shot handguns from a balcony in town limits. A report was taken and sent to District Attorney for review. |
• Suspect and victim are married. The suspect pushed the victim, causing victim to cut her wrist on a piece of glass. Officers arrested the suspect for domestic violence. The victim was transported to the hospital by family member. |
• Officers took a report of a verbal argument between ex-spouses on Zurich Place. |
• Male subject lost his wallet somewhere in Truckee. The wallet was reported as lost property. |
• Officers responded to a 911 call regarding a kidnapping in progress on Alder Creek Road. The suspect who made the 911 call was found to be under the influence of a narcotic and was arrested. There was no evidence showing that kidnapping had taken place. |
Oath Keepers holding the line on the alt right side (William Gagan). |
The Multnomah County Republican Party voted this week to use far-right milita groups as private security at events. |
The resolution is the brainchild of party chairman James Buchal, who last month suggested to The Guardian that the GOP could use Oath Keepers and Three Percenters, two paramilitary groups, as security guards to protect them from antifascist protesters, or antifa. |
UPDATE, 1:15 pm: "We are an all-volunteer organization with no money," Buchal tells WW. "So if we are going to get security services, we are going to get them from volunteers. And people who are going to volunteer to provide security services to Republicans are generally going to be people who share the view that the g... |
WW reported last week that Buchal has been fundraising by warning of "threats of Leftist violence" making it difficult for Republicans to hold events in Portland. |
His last fundraising letter repeated his plan to hire Oath Keepers as security guards. “Organized bands of masked thugs who call conservatives fascists or Nazis are rising rapidly within the city,” he wrote. |
Related: White Supremacists Are Brawling with Masked Leftists in the Portland Streets. Homeland Security is Watching. |
On Monday, the party approved the resolution to hire Oath Keepers as security. The Portland Mercury first reported on the vote this morning. |
"Proposed Resolution of Chairman Buchal: Resolve that the MCRP may utilize volunteers from the Oregon Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, and other security groups. To provide security where such volunteers are certified to provide private security service by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. K... |
The director of Iowa’s Department of Economic Development is pushing for new tax credits for large Iowa employers that were hit by this spring’s flooding. "At the next Economic Development Board meeting in October we’re going to ask them to change some the rules in kind of an aggressive fashion that would allow compani... |
The state’s current economic development programs restrict tax credits to new or expanding companies. Tramontina says unless the rules are changed, the state may continue to lose companies like Norwood Souvenir. The company announced Friday it is closing its plant in Cedar Rapids that employs 200. "We’ve come to the co... |
Tramontina made his comments Tuesday after the "Rebuild Iowa Commission" reconvened to discuss longterm recovery issues. Commission member Bill Bywater of Iowa City says Norwood Souvenir’s decision to close in Cedar Rapids is a big blow. "In Cedar Rapids there’s like 600 companies that have been effected by the flood w... |
The Rebuild Iowa Commission issued a report in September, addressing short-term needs in storm-ravaged areas of the state. It’s now meeting to discuss long-term ideas and issue report in mid-November. |
Potter County Judge Arthur Ware hasn’t let emergency brain surgery slow him down much. |
On Nov. 20, Amarillo doctors operated to relieve bleeding on Ware’s brain. He suffered a head injury in a fall while vacationing in Hawaii, leading to the emergency surgery. |
The relief was rapid, and by Nov. 21, he was able to choose Mercy Murguia to fill the commissioner seat left vacant by the death of Commissioner Manny Perez in October. |
Even Ware himself said he was surprised to be back so soon to the job he’s held for 20 years. |
Murguia was among the finalists Ware identified after reviewing 11 applications, Kelly said. Ware was scheduled to return to Amarillo to attend candidate interviews to be conducted with the help of Kelly and assistant Potter County attorney David Kemp. |
“Arthur was not going to be able to ask questions like he’d want to,” Kelly said. |
However, Kelly and Kemp did the interviews and reported the results to Ware in the hospital, where he made the final selection. |
One week later Ware was back at work “every day,” he said firmly. |
Ware’s speech therapy necessitated by his stroke in August 2010 continues. No additional therapy is needed as a result of his fall. |
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