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Forbes
17-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Life Isn't About Finding Yourself. It's About Creating Yourself.
Older man looking into his future - and the wilderness ahead. A personal tale of self-exploration, invention, and innovation 'Out of mortal imagination comes a dream of something new, something better, something yet to happen in the future…' – Thomas Cahill, historian and author When I was little, and adults asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, career coach and newspaper columnist were definitely not my answers. What little boy ever says that? Besides playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, it was the predictable doctor or president. Or Superman. Yet here I am: career coach and newspaper columnist – and also adjunct professor and corporate consultant (retired from both) – and very happy with it. I do a little of this and little of that, and I make a living. Not so bad, y'know? How did I get here? How will you get there? The question, though, is not what I do; it's how I got here and, parenthetically, why I'm telling you. First, here's why. I was relating my story to a client at a time of life change for her, and she implored me to tell it to more people. I wrestled with that for a long while – and then acceded. Now, here's the the time I was 50 I had been a public school teacher, held various odd jobs, gotten into business, and changed industries five times. I succeeded everywhere I went, albeit on a crooked path. It was not the best built career plan, with one exception: a commitment to personal advancement through efforts to grow businesses. Unemployed: a time to think Then I became unemployed – again. At 50, that's a pretty good time and reason to do some serious soul searching. What would be my next job? Where would I work? What would I do (or continue doing)? As the weeks flew by, this became a more difficult question and more arduous process because I had so many ideas crashing into each other, not to mention three decades of perspective. Would I return to any of those industries? Or seek yet another? Would I make a second attempt at entrepreneurship? (I had started a business in 1984 and ran it for six years.) My Wilderness Experience I struggled. I sought advice and found a mentor. I thought, re-thought, and brainstormed. I engaged in self-debate. I lost a lot of sleep. I was, no doubt, having my 'wilderness experience.' I was eager for resolution but, wisely, not rushing to struggle continued, but then one night … the epiphany! Unable to sleep, I abandoned that attempt at 4:30 on a chilly, rainy Thursday morning in late May. My wife and I had just bought 10 flats of annuals for our garden, and they needed to be planted. What a perfect time to do it! Jumping out of bed, I threw on an old pair of ratty jeans, an older Grateful Dead T-shirt, and my oldest sneakers. Five minutes later I was in the back yard on hands and knees on the wet ground, getting soaked by a soft spring rain, putting in hundreds of multicolored impatiens along the edge of the bed that formed the border of three sides of the yard, which was soon being bathed by dawn's early light. Creative thinking Activity like this is an excellent way to 'vacate the mind,' and get into a creative mode of thought. It is rhythmic, hypnotic. One gets lost in the present, gives up the past and the future, and engages in only the 'here-now' experience; creates a fusion of the person and the world, of the subject and the object, and of reality and possibility; narrows and inhibits the force of consciousness, experiences a loss of ego, sheds fears, and lessens defenses; and becomes spontaneous and expressive. ] As I put in plant after plant, I stopped asking myself if I would go back to one industry or another and – slicing it another way – began to take stock of the fact that in every industry and company in which I worked, I was the primary guy who did the recruiting, hiring, training, managing, mentoring, and … coaching. COACHING!!! That was it! I was a coach – not a sales executive, a general manager, or a business development director. I was a coach. No, 'I am a coach.' Soaking wet, extremely dirty, achy, stiff, and sleepless for over 30 hours at that point but full of a newfound energy, I peeled off my wet clothes, showered, made coffee, donned a clean pair of jeans, a clean Grateful Dead T-shirt, clean sneakers – and got in the car. Gleefully singing along with 'Truckin'' blaring from my speakers, I headed to the county clerk's office, filed the name of my new company, and began my future as I saw it. It's nearly three decades later and, although a struggle at first, I never doubted I'd be successful. I came through my wilderness because I was willing to wander into it. History is rich with stories of those who did that – Abraham, Moses, Columbus, Magellan, Lewis and Clark – knowing there was something out there, unsure exactly what, but willing to find it – and claim it. That's my story. Yours might be different, but remember, I stated the reason for today's article is not to discuss what I do, but how I got here. And no matter what you do, sooner or later, you'll find yourself at the edge of your wilderness And if, in your mortal imagination, you'll see that as an invitation, not an obstacle, you too will realize what I did: that life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
Washington Post
17-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Baseball is a business. Nationals fans must accept it.
In April 1958, my dad sat me down and explained that baseball was a business. My beloved Brooklyn Dodgers had announced that they were moving to the West Coast. He taught me a simple lesson: that teams were owned by rich guys who bought them to get richer. I slumped pathetically on the edge of my bed, my dad's consoling arm around my shoulder.
Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
On Nikola Tesla's 169th birth anniversary, why his rivalry with Thomas Edison is still electrifying
Today marks the 169th anniversary of the birth of Nikola Tesla, the Serbian-American inventor whose name is now synonymous with innovation, electricity and one of the most iconic rivalries in science. His opponent? Thomas Edison, the self-taught American credited with inventing the light bulb and launching the modern electrical age. The tension between the two inventors would erupt into a dramatic feud known as the War of the Currents. 'Well known as a competitor of arch rival Thomas Edison,' Tesla's struggle was both personal and industrial, Marc J. Seifer notes in Transcending the Speed of Light. The late 1870s saw electricity transform New York City, with Edison's incandescent light bulb sparking a frenzy for electric power. His direct current (DC) power station on Pearl Street in lower Manhattan held a near-monopoly, backed by the powerful banker J P Morgan. However, it was also dangerous. Streets were littered with poles and sagging wires which children died from climbing. In Brooklyn, the threat of electric shocks was so routine that the local baseball team was nicknamed the Brooklyn Dodgers. Over and above safety concerns, DC had a fatal flaw: it couldn't travel far without losing energy. 'If we were living in Edison's world, we'd have a large coal-operated generating plant every mile or two, because DC couldn't travel any distance,' writes Jill Jonnes in Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World. 'The brilliance of AC was that you could send it long distances, bring the voltage down via another transformer station, and distribute it as needed out into the surroundings.' DC, the US standard, flowed in one direction, like water moving through a pipe, but couldn't easily adjust voltages. AC on the other hand operated more like waves in the sea, reversing direction and using transformers to convert to different voltages. Though both men were brilliant, their methods were wildly different. Edison believed in trial and error, famously saying that invention was '5 per cent inspiration, 95 per cent perspiration.' Tesla, by contrast, envisioned his machines mentally before ever building them. Edison, without formal schooling, valued practical experience. Tesla, formally educated in Europe, preferred theory and precise design. Tesla once scathingly described Edison's approach in a New York Times article, writing, 'if he had a needle to find in a haystack he would not stop to reason where it was most likely to be, but would proceed at once, with the feverish diligence of a bee, to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search.' However, the two rivals originally started as collaborators. In 1884, Tesla arrived at Edison's office, clutching a letter of recommendation that read, 'my Dear Edison: I know two great men and you are one of them. The other is this young man!' Tesla went on to describe his work on alternating current motors. Edison, uninterested in AC but intrigued by Tesla's skill, hired him to improve his DC generators, allegedly promising $50,000 if he succeeded. Yet, their partnership soured quickly. When Tesla completed the improvements, Edison reneged, saying the $50,000 offer was made in jest. 'When you become a full-fledged American you will appreciate an American joke,' he quipped. From that moment, Tesla was determined to make AC succeed. Tesla, now on his own and digging ditches to survive, was soon discovered by George Westinghouse, a Pittsburgh inventor of railroad air brakes. Westinghouse recognising the potential of Tesla's AC system, bought his patents for $60,000, and agreed to pay royalties of $2.50 per horsepower sold. With Tesla's inventions, Westinghouse took on Edison's General Electric, sparking the Current Wars. Desperate not to lose ground, Edison launched a ferocious propaganda campaign against AC. He warned it was dangerous because of its high voltage and paid Caltech Professor Harold Brown to electrocute animals including dogs, horses, and even an elephant, to terrify the public. Brown also illegally used a Westinghouse generator for the first electric chair execution at Auburn State Prison, where William Kemmler, a convicted ax-murderer, died in 'an awful spectacle, far worse than hanging.' The result was a horrifying death that helped coin the term 'Westinghousing.' Despite Edison's tactics, AC triumphed. In 1888, Tesla demonstrated his AC motor, and Westinghouse hired him to commercialise it. 'Once Tesla solved the problem of creating a motor that could operate using AC, then it was clearly the superior tech,' Jonnes writes. The decisive moment came in 1893, when Westinghouse won the bid to electrify the Chicago World's Fair. Dubbed the White City, the fair dazzled 27 million visitors (25 per cent of America's population) with thousands of electric lights, including 3,000 light on its giant Ferris wheel. 'In a world where electricity was new—where many people still read by the light of gas or oil lamps and walked down pitch-black streets after dark—the sight was astounding,' writes Stephanie Sammartino McPherson in War of the Currents: Thomas Edison vs Nikola Tesla. One Polish immigrant recalled, 'having seen nothing but kerosene lamps for illumination, this was like getting a sudden vision of Heaven.' Author Hamlin Garland urged his parents, 'sell the cookstove if necessary and come. You must see the fair.' Eventually, even Edison had to admit defeat, acknowledging that 'Tesla has solved an extremely difficult problem'—a reference to Tesla's successful AC motor. Still, it came at a price. Years of legal battles and financial strain left Westinghouse nearly bankrupt. To save the company, he asked Tesla to tear up their lucrative royalty contract. Tesla, in a historic act of generosity, agreed. Westinghouse Electric survived but Tesla never recovered financially. When Edison died in 1931, President Herbert Hoover asked Americans to dim their bulbs in tribute, and the New York Daily News declared, 'Thomas Edison—Genius Inventor—Dies at 84.' Tesla's sharp critique in The New York Times stood out. About Edison, Tesla wrote, 'he had no hobby, cared for no sort of amusement of any kind and lived in utter disregard of the most elementary rules of hygiene.' Yet by the time Tesla died alone in 1943, surrounded only by the pigeons he lovingly nursed, his name had faded into obscurity. His New York Times obituary mentioned his eccentricities including his obsession with pigeons, his fear of germs, his belief in a 'death beam' and his optimism of interplanetary communication. Meanwhile, Edison's legacy had been canonised, his name taught in every primary school across the world. However, history has a way of correcting itself. Although Edison won the PR battle during their lives, Tesla's name lives on – notably through Elon Musk's electric car company, but also in the very system that powers our homes and cities. Ironically, DC is also now making a comeback. Computers, solar panels, electric vehicles, and LEDs all run on direct current, and high-voltage DC lines are being used to reduce energy loss in long-distance transmission. Still, the infrastructure Tesla built remains the backbone of modern electricity. And the legacy of the War of the Currents – equal parts science, ego, and spectacle – continues to electrify history.
Los Angeles Times
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Dodgers Dugout: Who is the best Dodgers catcher ever, Roy Campanella or Mike Piazza?
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Good news: Shohei Ohtani could be back on the mound before the All-Star break. More on that in Friday's edition. We are going to break the 'Top 10' series into its own edition of the newsletter each week to keep the newsletters from being too long. Sort of like turning 'War and Peace' into two editions: 'War' and 'Peace.' Here are my picks for the top 10 catchers in Dodgers history, followed by how all of you voted. Numbers listed are with the Dodgers only. Click on the player's name to be taken to the Baseball Reference page with all their stats. 1. Roy Campanella (1948-57, .276/.360/.500, 123 OPS+, 3 MVP awards, 8-time All Star) One of the greatest catchers of all time, Roy Campanella (he did not have a middle name) was born Nov. 19, 1921, in Philadelphia. He loved baseball as a kid and grew up a Phillies fan. They once offered him an invitation to try out but rescinded it when they found out he was Black. Campanella played in the Negro Leagues after high school, and in October 1945 he was the catcher for an all-star team that played five games against a team of major leaguers at Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Dodger manager Chuck Dressen led the major leaguers and was impressed by Campanella. He touted him to Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, who arranged a meeting. Rickey offered Campanella a contract, but he said no because he mistakenly thought Rickey was offering him a contract with the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers, a Negro Leagues team Rickey was rumored to be starting. The next week, Campanella and Jackie Robinson happened to be staying at the same hotel. Robinson told Campanella he had signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was then that Campanella realized what Rickey was offering. He sent Rickey a telegram asking if he could sign with the team. Campanella played for the Dodgers from 1948 until his career was cut short after the 1957 season. In that time, all he did was win three NL MVP awards, make eight All-Star teams, hit 242 homers, have a .500 slugging percentage and play Gold Glove-worthy defense behind the plate. The Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, and Campanella was all set to be the team's starting catcher in Los Angeles. But on Jan. 28, 1958, while driving in New York, Campanella's car hit a patch of ice, ran into a telephone pole and overturned. Campanella broke his neck and was paralyzed. He eventually regained use of his arms but used a wheelchair for the rest of his life before dying of a heart attack on June 26, 1993. 2. Mike Piazza (1992-98, .331/.394/.572, 160 OPS+, 1993 Rookie of the Year, 5-time All Star) The Dodgers chose Piazza in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft, the 1,390th player picked overall. No one picked that low has had a career like Piazza's, but it's a bittersweet one for Dodgers fans. Piazza made his major league debut near the end of the 1992 season and won Rookie of the Year in 1993 after hitting .318 with 35 home runs and 112 RBIs. Amazingly enough, Piazza played only five full seasons with the Dodgers, but what seasons they were. After his 1993 season, he hit .319, .346, .336 and .362 and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting in each of those seasons. His best season was his final full season, 1997, when he hit .362 with 40 homers and 124 RBIs. Piazza's contract was scheduled to run out after the 1998 season, and he was due a large increase in salary. Negotiations turned ugly, and the Dodgers, then owned by Fox, wanted to make a statement. So, on May 15, 1998, they traded the best-hitting catcher in history to the Florida Marlins, along with Todd Zeile, for Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich and Manuel Barrios. 3. Mike Scioscia (1980-92, .259/.344/.356, 99 OPS+, 2-time All Star) Scioscia was with the Dodgers for 13 seasons; he never won a Gold Glove, never led the league in any offensive category and made only two All-Star teams. But what he did can't be understated: He gave you above-average play almost every season for 13 seasons. You never had to worry about the position when Scioscia was there, and he hit one of the most important home runs in Dodgers history when he connected off Dwight Gooden in Game 4 of the 1988 NLCS. Scioscia is the only person in major league history who played at least 10 seasons with only one team and then managed at least 10 seasons with a different team. Tommy Lasorda and Vin Scully each said that Scioscia was the best plate blocker he had ever seen, high praise considering they also saw Steve Yeager, another excellent plate blocker. Most Dodger fans remember when Jack Clark leveled Scioscia while trying to score. Scioscia was knocked unconscious but held onto the ball. You can watch a compilation of Scioscia blocking the plate, including the Clark collision, by clicking here. 4. Will Smith (2019-current, .263/.356/.474, 127 OPS+, 2-time All Star) The book is still being written about Smith, who may very well move to the top of this list when his career is through. I've written a lot about Smith over the years, so let's go with 10 little-known facts instead. —His full name is William Dills Smith. —As a senior in high school (Kentucky Country Day School), he pitched and went 7-1 with an 0.87 ERA. He went undrafted and went to Louisville. —He played for Rancho Cucamonga in 2017 and was named to the California League All-Star team. —His first major league homer was a walk-off home run against the Phillies. —He backed up Austin Barnes before becoming the Dodgers' starting catcher on July 26, 2019. —He is one of four catchers to hit 100 home runs with the Dodgers, along with Campanella, Piazza and Steve Yeager. —Smith is one of three catchers to hit home runs in four consecutive at bats (spread over two days), along with Johnny Bench and Benito Santiago. —His favorite player growing up was David Ortiz. —One of only three catchers to steal a base in an All-Star game, joining Iván Rodríguez and Tony Peña. —Hit only .243 in four minor-league seasons, which shows you can't always judge everything by just stats. 5. Steve Yeager (1972-85, .228/.299/.358, 84 OPS+) Yeager was one of the best defensive catchers in history but had the misfortune of being a direct contemporary of the best defensive catcher in history, Johnny Bench. Otherwise, Yeager would have multiple Gold Gloves. His best season offensively was 1977, when he .256 with 21 doubles and 16 homers. Dodger fans remember how he blocked the plate, becoming an almost impenetrable wall whenever a runner tried to score and Yeager had the ball. He also had a powerful throwing arm. Hall of Famer Lou Brock said that Yeager was the toughest catcher to steal against. In 1976, Yeager was in the on-deck circle with Bill Russell at the plate. Russell's bat shattered as he hit a ground ball and a jagged piece of the bat stabbed Yeager in the throat, piercing his esophagus and narrowly missing his carotid artery. While he was recovering, Yeager and Dodgers trainer Bill Buhler designed a device that hung from the catcher's mask, protecting his throat. For years, most catchers wore a mask that had this device, which Yeager and Buhler patented. Yeager served as technical advisor for the first three 'Major League' movies and appeared in them as third-base coach Duke Temple. 6. John Roseboro (1957-67, .249/.326/.371, 95 OPS+, 2 Gold Gloves, 5-time All Star) Roseboro was the starting catcher on three World Series title teams, and when people mention the great Dodgers pitching staffs of the 1960s, they seldom mention who was catcher for all those great pitchers. It was mainly Roseboro. Roseboro became a catcher when he tried out for his high school team. No one tried out as a catcher, so he volunteered. He wanted to be a football player at Ohio's Central State College, not a baseball player. He became ineligible for football because of poor grades and was working out with the baseball team one day when Dodgers scout Hugh Alexander saw him. Alexander was searching for a left-handed hitting catcher and Roseboro fit the bill. He invited Roseboro to try out with the Dodgers. Five years later, in 1957, Roseboro had moved steadily through the minor-league system as a catcher when he got the call to report to Brooklyn. Only, not as a catcher. They wanted him to play first base because Gil Hodges was injured. So Roseboro's first games as a Dodger were at first base. In the offseason, the Dodgers moved to L.A., and Campanella had the car wreck that ended his career. The Dodgers had three catchers: Roseboro, Rube Walker and Joe Pignatano. Walker was past his prime and retired after starting the season five for 44. Manager Walter Alston named Roseboro, 20, the Dodgers' new starting catcher. Roseboro was the starting catcher through the 1967 season. He was involved in a legendary fight with Juan Marichal, but his career was so much more than that, even though that seems to be what he is remembered for today. Which is a shame. The Dodgers won titles in 1959, 1963 and 1965 with Roseboro in the lineup, and he is a big reason why they won. Roseboro died of a stroke on Aug. 16, 2002. He was 69. One of the speakers at his funeral: Juan Marichal. You could easily move Roseboro to third on this list. Once you get past the top two, the choices could go a lot of different ways, depending on what you view as most important about each player. 7. Babe Phelps (1935-41, .315/.368/.477, 125 OPS+, 3-time All Star) Perhaps the second-best-hitting catcher in Dodgers history, Ernest Gordon Phelps was born April 19, 1908, in Odenton, Md. As most kids did back then, he played baseball every chance he got. The Washington Senators signed him in 1929. He was then a first baseman and outfielder, but was mainly a professional hitter. The Senators brought him to the majors briefly in 1931 and he was such a strong hitter and built like Babe Ruth that his teammates nicknamed him Babe. But, while Ruth was a good fielder, Phelps was not, and the Senators traded him to the Chicago Cubs, who decided to convert him to catcher. It was a strange move, because the Cubs had a great catcher in Gabby Hartnett. After two seasons as Hartnett's backup, his contract was sold to Brooklyn, where he became the backup to Al Lopez. Phelps hit .364 in 47 games, so the Dodgers traded Lopez after the season and named Phelps the starting catcher. He hit .367 in 1936, finishing second to Paul Waner for the batting title. His .367 average is still the highest for a catcher who qualified for the batting title. Phelps remained a strong hitter throughout his Dodgers career, but he put on weight every season too, getting so out of shape that his teammates nicknamed him Blimp. His offense didn't suffer, but his defense did, and he became relatively immobile. He was considered one of the nicest guys in the league and was a fan favorite. Before the 1940 season, the Dodgers made a change that eventually ended Phelps' career: they started traveling by plane, and Phelps was terrified of flying. He made one flight with the team, and then refused to go on another flight, traveling by train throughout the season while the rest of the team flew. The Dodgers acquired Mickey Owen before the 1941 season, and held part of their spring training in Cuba. Phelps refused to fly to Cuba, so the team worked out without him. Owen was named the starting catcher. Then, on June 12, 1941, the team was going to travel ... by train ... to Pittsburgh. Phelps never showed up. Eventually reached by telephone, he said the stress of travel was too much and he was having heart palpitations. He had claimed this before and the Dodgers' team doctor examined him and said he was fine. Thinking he was faking it or a hypochondriac, manager Leo Durocher demanded that Phelps be traded. Finding no takers, the Dodgers suspended him. A couple of months later, the team was in a pennant race and wanted a left-handed bat on the bench. The Dodgers wanted to bring Phelps back, but because of suspension rules at the time, they couldn't without Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis' permission. Landis met with Phelps and refused to reinstate him. The Dodgers lost in the World Series. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates after the season. In 1950, Dodgers fans voted Phelps as the catcher for the all-time Dodgers team, a testament to his popularity. He died in 1992 in Odenton, Md. 8. Russell Martin (2006-10, 2019, .268/.362/.391, 99 OPS+, 1 Gold Glove, 2-time All Star) Martin was a rare catcher who was fast enough to steal bases, including a career-high 21 with the Dodgers in 2007. He was with the team for five seasons, but was hurt for the latter part of the 2010 season and the team let him go as a free agent. They replaced him with Rod Barajas, while Martin signed with the Yankees and put together several solid seasons after that. He returned to L.A. for his final season in the majors, and hit .220 in 83 games, sharing catching duties with Austin Barnes and then-rookie Will Smith. He played in one of the five postseason games against Washington that season, going two for four with a double and a homer. He became a fan favorite in 2019 for pitching four scoreless innings during the season, giving up only two hits and striking out two while throwing a low-80s fastball. Whenever the Dodgers' bullpen had problems that season (see, this season is nothing new), fans would often call for Martin to pitch. He is one of 12 catchers since 1901 to steal at least 100 bases, and his 67 steals is the most by a catcher in Dodgers history. 9. Mickey Owen (1941-45, .258/.319/.315, 80 OPS+, 4-time All Star) Much like Roseboro, Owen is remembered for something (that passed ball in the 1941 World Series) that has overshadowed a solid career. He was a four-time All-Star and during that 1941 season had set a then-record for most consecutive errorless chances handled by a catcher (508). He is also the first player to hit a pinch-hit homer in the All-Star game, which he did in 1942. Arnold Owen (no middle name) was born April 4, 1916, in Nixa, Mo. (By the way, isn't baseball amazing? Here we are, 109 years after a player was born, talking about his career). Owen signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1935 and quickly became known for his defense. He was quickly promoted to the majors, and played 80 games with the Cardinals in 1937. After four seasons of solid defense but subpar hitting, the Cardinals traded him to Brooklyn before the 1941 season for catcher Gus Mancuso and $60,000. Owen was called Mickey because of his resemblance to the great catcher Mickey Cochrane. However, when he came to the Dodgers, manager Leo Durocher refused to call him that, referring to him as Arnold. Owen was considered the best defensive catcher in the NL, and if the Gold Glove had been around, probably would have won at least five. He was drafted into the Navy midway through the 1945 season and while he was in the Navy on April 1, 1946, Jorge Pasquel of the Mexican League announced that he signed Owen to a five-year deal as a player-manager for the Veracruz Blues. Commissioner Happy Chandler announced that any player who jumped would be banned for five years if they tried to return. Owen did not like playing in Mexico and, in 1947, petitioned to return to the majors. Chandler denied the appeal. He eventually dropped the suspensions before the 1949 season. The Dodgers released Owen and he signed with the Cubs. Owen retired after the 1954 season and started a baseball camp for kids in Missouri. He ran the camp until 1985, and the camp remained active until 2005. You would often see ads for it in the Sporting News, nestled among the baseball box scores. Owen died in Mt. Vernon, Mo., of complications from Alzheimer's Disease. He was 89. 10. Joe Ferguson (1970-76, 1978-81, .245/.359/.419, 119 OPS+) The Dodgers had two good, young catchers in the early 1970s, Ferguson and Yeager. They eventually decided to go with Yeager because of his superior defense, but Ferguson was a much better hitter. He also played in the outfield quite a bit for L.A. and his most famous Dodger moment probably came as an outfielder, when he cut in front of Jim Wynn to catch a fly ball and throw out Sal Bando trying to score in the 1974 World Series. You can watch that play by clicking here. Watch how far Ferguson had to run to get to the ball, and watch how well Yeager blocked the plate. Ferguson's other great moment as a Dodger came in 1980. The Dodgers were three games behind the Houston Astros with three to play ... all against the Astros. In the first game, the Dodgers and Astros were tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the 10th. Houston's Ken Forsch went to the mound for his 10th inning of work. On Forsch's first pitch, Ferguson homered to left to give the Dodgers the walk-off win. 'I go up in that situation and I'm looking to hit at least a double,' Ferguson said, 'I've got to drive the ball. It wasn't that Forsch was losing command of his pitches. It was just that he didn't have that little extra. He knows what I can do, because I've done it against him before.' You can watch that home run here. By the way, the winning pitcher in that game: Fernando Valenzuela. Almost 1,486 ballots were sent in. First place received 12 points, second place nine, all the way down to one point for 10th place. Here are your choices: 1. Roy Campanella, 1,209 first-place votes, 15,867 points 2. Mike Piazza, 124 first-place votes, 11,733 points 3. John Roseboro, 82 first-place votes, 8,642 points 4. Mike Scioscia, 33 first-place votes, 8,256 points 5. Will Smith, 13 first-place votes, 7,918 points 6. Steve Yeager, 19 first-place votes, 7,006 points 7. Russell Martin, 5,774 points 8. Joe Ferguson, 2,803 points 9. Mickey Owen, 2,444 points 10. Jeff Torborg,1,512 points The next five: Paul Lo Duca, Yasmani Grandal, A.J. Ellis, Rick Dempsey, Norm Sherry. Who are your top 10 Dodgers first basemen of all time (including Brooklyn)? Email your list to top10firstbasemen@ and let me know. Many of you have asked for a list of players to consider for each position. Here are the 40 strongest first baseman candidates, in alphabetical order. Del Bissonette, Jack Bolling, Ken Boyer, Greg Brock, Dan Brouthers, Enos Cabell, Dolph Camilli, Hee-Seop Choi, Jake Daubert, Frank Dillon, Jack Doyle, Jack Fournier, Dave Foutz, David Freese, Freddie Freeman, Nomar Garciaparra, Steve Garvey, Adrián González, Buddy Hassett, Gil Hodges, Hughie Jennings, Tim Jordan, Eric Karros, Ed Konetchy, Norm Larker, Sam Leslie, George LaChance, James Loney, Dan McGann, Eddie Murray, Dick Nen, Dave Orr, Wes Parker, Bill Phillips, Albert Pujols, Olmedo Sáenz, Ed Stevens, Dick Stuart, Franklin Stubbs, Tommy Tucker. A reminder that players are listed at the position in which they played the most games for the Dodgers, which is why Garciaparra is listed here and not at shortstop. Mike Piazza hits a home run over the left-field roof and out of Dodger Stadium. Watch and listen here. Have a comment or something you'd like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Rail access arrives at Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles took a huge step toward linking airplanes to trains on Friday, as the nation's fifth busiest hub joined the modern travel world and offered car-loving Southern Californians an off-ramp from traffic-clogged freeways. The LAX/Metro Transit Center is set to open at 5 p.m. PT and will connect travelers to the K or C rail lines, which can then whisk them north in the direction of central Los Angeles, south toward beach cities or east along Interstate 105. The breakthrough is an absolute necessity for organizers of the 2028 Olympics if they're going to fulfill their vow of making it a "no car Games." "This is a big day for L.A.," County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement shortly after a ceremonial ride at the new station. Hahn, the MTA chair, used good humor and invoked the memory of an arch conservative to toast this new rail option. "President Reagan once said the nine most terrifying words were, 'I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.' But here in L.A., we know they have always been: 'Hey, can you give me a ride to LAX?'" quipped Hahn, the daughter of late political titan Kenneth Hahn who played a key role in bringing the Brooklyn Dodgers west in 1957. "Well now — for the first time ever — you can say: 'No way. Just take Metro.' ' This option still isn't a 100% tire-free experience. Arriving LAX passengers still have to take a bus shuttle, which is set to run every 10 minutes, from the airport to the new station, which is about two miles east of Terminal 1. The LAX People Mover is being built and targeted for completion by year's end. Once the People Mover is rolling, LAX will have rail service that its peers have offered for decades. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has been rolling passengers in and out of America's busiest airport, Hartsfield–Jackson, since 1988. And travelers going through Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (2014), Denver International Airport (2016), Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (1984) and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (2003) have had rail options for decades. This article was originally published on
