
LeBron James becomes first professional male athlete to have likeness depicted in a Ken doll
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The LeBron doll wears sunglasses, headphones and a blue-and-white letterman's jacket with 'LJ' on the left breast, his number 23 on the right sleeve and Ohio and crown patches on the other. His first name is on the back with 'Just a kid from Akron' underneath. His T-shirt says 'We Are Family,' a nod to the LeBron James Family Foundation. His blue shoes, of course, are Nikes.
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The doll costs $75 and goes on sale Monday.
In an Associated Press-produced video of James seeing the doll for the first time, the 'King' expressed his approval, repeatedly calling the doll "dope,' another word for 'cool.'
While looking it over, he put an 'I Promise' wristband on the doll's wrist and adjusted the strap on its fanny pack.
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'OK, now we ready,' James said. 'I mean, he might need to do a little lifting. Legs look a little skinny. Little fraily little fellow. Nah, that's dope.'
Mattel senior vice president Krista Berger noted that Ken is Barbie's longtime best friend and supporter.
'We are excited to bring fans a new presentation of Ken that celebrates LeBron as a role model, his icon status, lasting impact on culture, and dedication to setting a positive example for the next generation to reach their limitless potential,' Berger said.
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Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Can the Angels' offense be saved? It probably (mostly) depends on Mike Trout
Angels star Mike Trout makes contact during a win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday. If Trout can stay healthy, will he turn around the struggling Angels offense? (Eric Thayer / Associated Press) Ron Washington took a page out of the characterized version of himself from the 2011 film 'Moneyball' when asked about how difficult it would be to revive the Angels' sputtering offense. 'It's hard,' the Angels manager said Friday. 'It's very hard.' Advertisement His response probably sounds familiar to "Moneyball" fans. In the film, the version of Washington, played by actor Brett Jennings, visits Scott Hatteberg — portrayed by Chris Pratt — at his home. Billy Beane — played by Brad Pitt — and Washington try to sell Hatteberg, a free-agent catcher with the yips, on playing first base. 'You don't know how to play first base,' Beane says. 'That's right,' Hatteberg replies. 'It's not that hard, Scott. Tell em, Wash,' Beane quips. 'It's incredibly hard,' Washington responds. Read more: Angels can't pull off sweep, striking out 18 times in loss to Mariners Advertisement Finding ways to improve the Angels' productivity at the plate could prove even more daunting. They have the second-most strikeouts (622) and second-fewest walks (163) in MLB. Washington understands it's a problem, but acknowledges the solution isn't easily attainable. 'Adjustments is something in the game of baseball that's never ending, so we just got to keep making adjustments,' Washington said. 'That's it. If I knew, if anybody knew the adjustment to make to get an offense going, you would never see offense putter. That's baseball. You just got to keep adjusting, readjusting, adjusting, readjusting, adjusting, readjusting, adjusting, readjusting.' The Angels held the third-worst batting average (.229) and fourth-worst on-base percentage (.301) in MLB a year ago. Three months into the 2025 season, they've regressed. The team's batting average stands at .225 heading into Monday and the team's on-base percentage is considerably lower over last year at .287. During the Angels' eight-game winning streak in May, it seemed as if hitting coach Johnny Washington — in his second year with the team — discovered something to help the offense click. They tallied a .291 batting average and averaged almost eight runs a game. Advertisement The Angels then lost five consecutive games and entered Monday having lost nine of their last 14. 'I think it's come down to guys just continuing the process with trying to simplify guys' approaches, keeping it with their strengths, giving these guys the best chance to succeed versus a given pitcher, and continue the game plan,' Johnny Washington said. 'Been doing it all year. There are some youth, but there's a ton of growth taking place. I know it hasn't been pretty at certain times, but it's a great group.' Angels manager Ron Washington talks to Chris Taylor during a win over the Mariners on Friday. (Eric Thayer / Associated Press) In their last two series against Boston and Seattle, there were encouraging signs on offense. The Angels scored five or more runs in four of the six games, and cut down on their strikeout totals, with seven or fewer strikeouts coming in four games. Advertisement Chris Taylor, who struggled at the plate since signing with the team on May 26, began making hard contact — going two for three in two of three games against the Mariners, homering for the first time this season on Saturday. Sunday, however, proved to be much different. In the Angels' 3-2 loss to the Mariners, the lineup struck out a season-high 18 times. 'I think it's kind of just like snapping out of it,' said first baseman Nolan Schanuel on Friday, a day after the Angels returned from a six-game trip in which they averaged more than five runs a game. 'We had a good stretch, got cold for a little bit, and snapped out of it and started to hit again.' Read more: Kyle Hendricks earns win No. 100 and Chris Taylor shines in Angels victory Advertisement Infielder Kevin Newman, who has a team-low .200 on-base percentage and a .186 batting average (minimum 50 at-bats) added: 'We're pretty streaky, probably more streaky than we'd like to be. We'd like to definitely find some consistency, especially here at home.' It's no coincidence that the Angels are finding a little more success at the plate with Mike Trout back in the lineup. Activated off the injured list on May 30, Trout has played as if he wasn't out for a month with a bone bruise in his knee. He hit .476 across six games against Cleveland and Boston and has gotten on base in nearly half of his at-bats this month (.429 on-base percentage). 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'He's been a huge help to our offensive group, to us as coaches and as well to the players" Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.


Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
In 1978, Pat Wells cut an album that didn't make it big. In 2025, songs from it landed on Netflix.
The new show that wanted to incorporate her music is ' Advertisement 'It's a very, like, up-in-the-tower kind of recognition,' Wells, now 71, said recently in a phone interview from her home in Grantham, N.H. It feels like a major upheaval in her life, 'like if you read my tarot cards, they'd say TOWER!' Get Love Letters: The Newsletter A weekly dispatch with all the best relationship content and commentary – plus exclusive content for fans of Love Letters, Dinner With Cupid, weddings, therapy talk, and more. Enter Email Sign Up On the day the series dropped in late May, Wells sat down and binge-watched all five episodes. When she was finished, she thought, there must be some mistake. The songs weren't there. Oh, yes they were, responded Douglas Mcgowan. They were just buried deep in the mix. Mcgowan is the owner of the small California reissue label that made 'Hometown Lady' available to download more than 15 years ago. He found a copy at a Boston-area record shop — Advertisement And that, once again, was that, for more than a decade. About a year ago, he reconnected with Wells and told her he was sending her a check, rounding up to $100, the amount he felt he owed her. 'I'm pretty sure you could count the number of people who paid to download her record on your fingers and toes,' he said recently. Pat Wells grew up in West Newbury, the fourth of five children born to a radiologist and his stay-at-home wife. At 10 or 11, she became interested in learning to play the guitar. She'd close her bedroom door to drown out the commotion in her crowded house, and try to write songs. When she was 16, one of her older sisters encouraged her to sign up to sing at the open mic night at 'Nobody could drink at that table,' Wells recalled. There was a robust circuit of barrooms and stages across the North Shore for songwriters at the time, Wells said. At the Pat Wells plays her guitar at her home in Grantham, N.H. Jim Davis/Jim Davis for the Globe She remembers seeing Tom Rush perform in Salem and Bonnie Raitt in Ipswich, and there were lots of artists — Bill Madison, Kenny Girard, Charlie Bechler — who drew local followings. Younger than most of her peers, she felt supported by the audiences she encountered. Advertisement 'There was something about creating music, having people listen to you and enjoy what you had to say about your life, your friends, the area,' she said. When she picked up some work assisting a piano tuner, she asked to pick his brain. 'You know, I've got all these songs,' she said. 'How do people make records?' The piano tuner happened to know Josiah Spaulding Jr., the songwriter who would later become Spaulding helped organize the band that backed Wells in the studio. They recorded at Century III, then a video editing and post-production company on Boylston Street that took in occasional musical acts on the side. Each day, Wells drove her beat-up Ford F-100 pickup truck across the I-93 bridge into the city. Pat Wells grew up in West Newbury. She now lives in New Hampshire. Jim Davis/Jim Davis for the Globe 'It was a wonderful opportunity to work with studio musicians who were so talented,' she said. 'Joe was able to do that thing that producers do — rise above and take the 50,000-foot view.' 'I thought she was a terrific songwriter,' said Spaulding, who has a home on Plum Island. 'We had a ball, but she basically stopped making music soon after we finished.' Changing tides in the music world worked against any prospects the album may have had, Wells recalled. 'This was when disco was incredibly popular,' she said. 'The A&R guy from Sail would go around with me to the radio stations. The guy would drop the needle, listen for a short time, and say, 'Well, it's not disco.' I mean, der — it's not disco!' Advertisement The songs on 'Hometown Lady' give off echoes of Joan Baez and Janis Ian. 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Jim Davis/Jim Davis for the Globe 'It turns out there was a massive number of incredibly talented people making albums in incredibly restricted circles,' Mcgowan said. 'There was no pipeline for a local artist to get into the mainstream. 'Virtually no one in Pat's position ever broke out of where they were. Only because of the internet have people started to be able to compare notes on their record finds.' It was the internet presence of Advertisement Jen Malone, a onetime Boston-based publicist, served as the music supervisor on 'Sirens.' The producers, she said, were initially hoping for Joni Mitchell songs to accompany scenes in episode three that feature Moore's character, Michaela, a powerful woman of means in the fictional, Nantucket-like town of Port Haven. Julianne Moore as Michaela and Kevin Bacon as Peter Kell in "Sirens." Macall Polay/Netflix/MACALL POLAY/NETFLIX Mitchell's songs weren't in the budget, Malone said in a phone call, so she consulted with a company that sources music options for film and television. When that company suggested Pat Wells, Malone took one listen, 'saw that she was from New England, and I was like, 'Done and done.' 'We love using undiscovered vintage catalog,' she explained. Wells's songs 'are in the background, but they're still very important to the palette of the show. To be a little part of that story and give her that platform, it's a great feeling.' Since the release of 'Sirens,' there's been a new flurry of activity for Wells. Mcgowan just posted 'Hometown Lady' on Spotify for the first time, and in early June he received confirmation that a British label will license another of her songs, 'The Seeker,' for an upcoming compilation of 'music for a fictitious tropical resort.' All of these unexpected developments have inspired Wells to think about picking up her guitar and writing some new music. Her voice may not be quite as angelic as it was in 1978, but 'the folks at church really like it,' she said. 'I tend to go right over the top.' Advertisement After remarrying, she and her second husband adopted several children from Ethiopia. It's important for her, she said, to show her adult children and her grandchildren — she has 11 — that creativity can strike at any time. 'I don't want this to be a story of, 'Oh, my dreams were dashed in 1978,'' she said. 'No. This is something great. Isn't it lovely that somebody heard me and said, 'We'd like to put this on our platform'?' For now, she's enjoying her retirement and the small pleasures of daily life. 'My tenant has a 2-year-old,' Wells said, 'and he was following me around as I was mowing the lawn with his bubbly lawn mower, with his ear protection on. That's wonderful.' James Sullivan can be reached at . James Sullivan can be reached at

Boston Globe
a day ago
- Boston Globe
Free fun this week: Pride after-parties, retro double-features, weekly workouts
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