Phil Nevin out as manager of the Los Angeles Angels.
ESPN calls this a firing, while other sources say they “declined the option on his contract”. That to me is functionally indistinguishable from a firing, but maybe it makes some sort of difference to someone.
Lucy Morgan, Florida journalist. She wasn’t someone I had heard of before, but the obit (which I encourage you to read) makes her sound fascinating.
She specialized in uncovering political corruption. In 1973, she went to jail because she refused to reveal her source for grand jury proceedings.
She shared a Pulitzer (with Jack Reed) for exposing the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.
She also exposed the sheriff of Gulf County, who got sent to prison for extorting oral sex from female inmates.
…
…
Russ Francis, former tight end for the Patriots and 49ers, was killed in a plane crash on Sunday. Also killed was Richard McSpadden, a vice-president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).
It appears they were taking off from Lake Placid Airport and there was some sort of problem. Reports say they tried to make it back to the airport but couldn’t.
Mr. Francis, in additional to a successful NFL career (first round NFL draft pick, three time Pro Bowl player) was also an avid pilot. He’d recently bought an interest in Lake Placid Airways, a local charter and scenic flight service.
Mr. McSpadden, in addition to being an AOPA VP, was a former commander and flight leader for the Thunderbirds.
Tim Wakefield, former Boston Red Sox pitcher (and a past winner of the Roberto Clemente Award). Cancer got him at 57.
Chris Snow, of the Calgary Flames. He was diagnosed with ALS in 2019, and passed away after a “catastrophic brain injury”.
How did our high hopes for the MLB season turn out?
Well, the Oakland Athletics finished at the bottom, 50-112, .309 winning percentage. That’s bad, but it isn’t quite historically bad: Wikipedia’s list cuts off at .300.
Kansas City finished slightly better: 56-106, .346.
Colorado: 59-103, .364.
And the White Sox: 61-101, .377 winning percentage.
Another one down, another one down, another one rides the bus bites the dust…
Buck Showalter out as manager of the Mets.
I was initially a little confused by this: was it a firing, or a retirement, but later articles make it clear it was a “forced resignation”.
ESPN:
Also ESPN:
New York is 74-87 and 29½ games behind National League East champion Atlanta.
Lawrence asked me last night which of the remaining teams I favored to go 0-17.
My answer: da Bears and Carolina. I don’t believe the Vikings are that bad, and Denver at least has a coach who’s won a Superbowl.
How did that work out for me? Actually, pretty well.
NFL teams that still have a chance to go 0-17:
da Bears
Carolina
da Bears play Washington on Thursday this week, while Carolina plays Detroit at noon next Sunday. Right now, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network favors Washington (but not overwhelmingly) and Detroit (overwhelmingly). I’ll be joining FotB pigpen51 in rooting for the Lions, and the entire civilized world in rooting for an asteroid strike on FedEx Field.
The baseball season’s ending, and we all know what’s coming: the ceremonial throwing out of managers.
The San Francisco Giants started today: Gabe Kapler out. SF Chronicle.
The big problem seems to be that the Giants pretty much fell apart:
Sort of on the margin for sports firings (and from ESPN, who I have a high barrier for), but I’ll allow it: an oral history of Lane Kiffin’s legendary “tarmac firing” (which really wasn’t) from USC.
I’m allowing this because there’s a couple of quotes that struck me:
Kiffin
It’s 5 a.m. The sun’s getting ready to come up. I’m sitting in the backyard, and I said to my wife, “When I go to bed, I don’t want to wake up.” She’s got a little more perspective, and she said, “You have three children upstairs. Don’t ever say that again.”
Men: marry that kind of woman.
Kiffin
I saw a podcast the other day on the rapper Macklemore, and he’s talking about, he’s winning the Grammy. He’s on stage. He’s got everything. And he’s not fulfilled. And later, he’s in rehab. He’s making coffee in the morning for people. He’s serving others. And he says, “I felt more fulfilled doing that than when I was on stage.”
Dianne Feinstein. NYT. LAT. WP.
This doesn’t quite qualify as an obit, but I don’t have any place else to put it (other than a separate entry, which I’d rather not do) and I feel like it is close enough for government work. The Las Vegas Police department has made an arrest in a 27-year old cold case.
But:
The other point that I think should be made: an arrest is one thing. A conviction is another. More from the tabloid of record.
Edited to add: A two-pack (see what I did there?) of additional coverage from the NYT and the LAT.
“Dwight, shouldn’t you be linking to the actual Las Vegas newspapers?” Well, yes, except: the Las Vegas newspapers are generally not great. Though they have had some good columnists working for them in the past…but for the record, here’s the Review-Journal coverage.
Also not quite an obit, but within this blog’s area of coverage:
This is just a very preliminary report from the NTSB: we probably won’t get the full report for two years or more. And no, I’m not noting it because moose. RoadRich can argue with me in the comments if he knows more, but I believe this is one of the biggest killers of pilots out there, especially pilots of small aircraft: trying to take off with an overloaded aircraft, or an aircraft out of balance.
I’m aware of Dianne Feinstein’s death. At this point, it’s breaking news, and I don’t want to blog much until this shakes out.
There will probably be more later on today.
I should have put this in this week’s update, but I didn’t think to check the schedule until after I posted.
Denver (0-3) plays da Bears (0-3) at noon on Sunday.
Minnesota (0-3) plays Carolina (0-3) at noon on Sunday.
This means a few things:
1. I will probably try to post the loser update on Sunday afternoon after the games end, assuming I’m not napping.
2. We’re going to have two 0-4 teams. Unless there’s a tie, which I would not rule out.
3. It looks like Sunday is the last day of the MLB regular season, so I will probably post a special loser update on Monday for that.
Sir Michael Gambon, British actor. The NYT is still in “A complete obituary will appear shortly.” mode.
This isn’t a normal flaming hyenas watch, as the subject isn’t quite a politician. But I think the exceptional circumstances justify this.
Jose Torres used to be a politician. At one point in his life, he was the mayor of Patterson, New Jersey. Fortunately, he was convicted of using city workers and city money to renovate a warehouse being leased by his daughter and nephew.
He spent 13 months in the joint. But that’s not why he’s a flaming hyena.
Would you like to guess what happened next?
If you guessed “he tried to run for office again” take two gold stars and advance to the next blue square. Last year, he filed to run for mayor.
But it gets better.
Yes! Not only did he try to violate the order, he actually sued when he was told he was violating the order.
Mr. Torres is now facing a criminal contempt of court charge.
“It takes remarkable brashness to flout a state court order and then attempt to strong-arm the city clerk, via civil litigation, into allowing an impermissible campaign to proceed,” [State Attorney General Matthew] Platkin said.
“That is bold. And, according to the grand jury, it is also indictable.”
I’m not sure “brashness” is the word I’d use. I think I’d call it “stupidity”. But oddly, it’s only the second most stupid thing I’ve seen this week.
(I’m still trying to decide if I want to link to the most stupid thing I’ve seen this week. It does relate to some of this blog’s areas of coverage – cocaine and aircraft. But the details are pretty R-rated, and I actually sort of feel bad for the subject.)