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New York Times
17-02-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Tigers' Colt Keith has a new position and high expectations in Year 2
LAKELAND, Fla. — It was early November, nine days before Colt Keith's wedding, when he and his fiancée got a call. Keith's truck, a Dodge Ram TRX, had been stolen. The thieves smashed a window, hacked a key fob and drove off. Keith filed the insurance claim. Got married. Then moved to Arizona from Mississippi to begin his offseason training in anticipation of his second year in the majors with the Detroit Tigers. The days ticked by. No sign of the truck. Keith ordered a new one, this time a Ford Raptor. More than a month later, they got another call. The old truck had been found at a tow yard in New Orleans. Thieves had taken Keith's wallet and some cash. His custom TaylorMade golf clubs and his baseball gear were left inside, untouched. The vehicle was returned. Advertisement 'I ended up having two trucks,' Keith said. 'I just sold the old one.' The saga was stressful. But marriage and a new truck were far from the only changes for Keith over the winter. In late December, the day before the Tigers signed Gleyber Torres, president of baseball operations Scott Harris made a phone call. Keith answered. After more than a year of grinding to improve at second base — and making real strides — Keith learned the Tigers wanted to sign Torres. Harris asked Keith about moving to first base. 'I was like, 'Yeah,'' Keith said. 'Whatever helps get us back to the playoffs and makes us a better team, I was down to do.' Keith's first hurdle in the position change? He did not own a first baseman's mitt. Keith soon dived into the world of first basemen. He watched video of players he admired. He studied others he thought he could fashion himself after. He soon ordered the same model Rawlings glove that Christian Walker uses. Walker won three Gold Gloves with the Arizona Diamondbacks before signing a three-year deal with the Houston Astros this winter. 'Pretty sure he's a good glove to have,' Keith said, 'and help get me off on the right foot.' Keith's position change alters the complexion of the Tigers' infield and will be one of the most important storylines in spring training. Keith played third base for most of his time in the minors. He was worth minus-8 defensive runs saved at second base last season but did improve significantly by year's end. Still, his physique always foreshadowed an eventual move to first. And contrary to what some might think, first base is not a position where you can hide. In the words of Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, its importance is underrated defensively. Even plus athletes can sometimes struggle with the intricacies and footwork of the position. The Tigers expect there to be growing pains this spring — times Keith ranges too far to his right or overstrides and lets an off-target throw get by. They want to get those instances out of the way now. Advertisement 'I think the biggest (challenge) is timing,' Hinch said. 'Obviously we've got to figure out his range. He's got to figure out how to maneuver around the base and then just be an athlete. There are a ton of techniques that he's gonna work on, whether it's balls in the dirt, whether it's that guys don't throw perfect four-seams straight across the diamond, or the interaction with the runner.' Here is the video of Colt Keith at first base America has been waiting for — Cody Stavenhagen (@CodyStavenhagen) February 15, 2025 There were more changes in Keith's professional life. Already strong and chiseled, Keith was comfortable adding even more muscle with the move to first. At the plate, the overall numbers from his rookie year don't quite do his season justice. His start was brutal — he hit .171 through his first 36 games. But from May 17 on, he hit .286. He adopted a toe-tap that helped his timing, and for much of the summer, his bat was scorching. Still, Keith never quite got the most out of his power. He had a tendency to get 'stuck' on his back leg and fail to generate forward momentum in his swing. This is one reason his average exit velocity of 87.8 mph ranked in the bottom quarter of MLB hitters. Keith finished the season with 13 home runs, including only two from July 28 through the end of the season. 'I had a really bad negative move in my load,' Keith said. 'That would cause me to be late, come in and out of the zone, rip the ball to the pull side. It resulted in a lot of grounders to the right side and also flares to left field.' Keith called his lower-half mechanics 'all over' last season. As he looked to improve, he looked toward other major-league players for examples of what he wanted his swing to look like. He settled on none other than Walker. That meant less toe-tap and more of a subtle leg kick. Advertisement 'He talks about his feels being 'coil and move forward,' downhill toward the baseball,' Keith said. 'That's kind of what I'm going for right now. I think my power will go up if I'm moving forward.' Funny enough, Walker is a player who could have made sense for the Tigers in free agency. Signing Walker, though, would have required at least a three-year commitment to a 34-year-old first baseman. Because Walker received a qualifying offer, it also would have meant forfeiting a draft pick. Those are among the reasons the Tigers instead chose to sign Torres, even when it meant moving Keith — who signed a six-year, pre-debut contract extension last winter — off second base. 'Obviously Scott trusted in me,' Keith said. 'I trust Scott with the team. He's got that job for a reason. I was just focused on myself, getting better with my swing, trying to correct the wrongs I made last year and get better.' Whether Keith really becomes a burgeoning Walker clone remains to be seen. But his evolution is already in progress. Keith spent his winter in Arizona, where he took groundballs with Tigers hitting coach Keith Beauregard. Now in spring training, Keith is drilling first base with infield coach Joey Cora. Keith will still take groundballs at second base later in camp, and Harris has said just because Keith is playing first base in 2025 doesn't guarantee he'll be there forever. Right now, though, first base is the main focus. 'There's a few habits I need to break,' Keith said. 'Like fielding the ball with two hands. The first base is a one-hand dominant position. Getting used to that. Also getting used to how big the glove is. And the footwork: Go, find the bag with your foot … OK, the throw is wide, so I can scoot this far, still be on the bag. Stuff like that is tough. But I'm getting the hang of it pretty quick.' Advertisement No longer a rookie, Keith is also evolving behind closed doors. Serious and driven, Keith kept to himself most of last season. It was rare to see him goofing off with teammates or cutting up in the clubhouse. But he partook in the postseason celebrations. He's developed a friendship with Tigers utilityman Zach McKinstry. He's slowly loosening up and showing more personality. 'I've seen him a couple times this winter,' Hinch said. 'He's just a lot more comfortable in this entire environment now. He has a lot more experience. I think he's settled into this team.' If the Tigers want to again exceed expectations in 2025, they will depend on young players such as Keith to continue taking steps forward. There's real potential in his bat, and based on how he hit for much of the summer, it requires little imagination to see Keith outperforming the .261 average, .323 on-base percentage and 16 home runs FanGraphs is projecting. So new truck, new position, altered mechanics and increased comfort. It's quite the backdrop for Keith's second year in the big leagues.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Yahoo
LI man sentenced to up to 25 years in wrong-way DWI crash that killed 2 teens
A Long Island businessman who admitted to being drunk and high on drugs in a wrong-way crash that killed two teens nearly two years ago has been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. Amandeep Singh, of Roslyn, pleaded guilty last month to aggravated vehicular manslaughter and related charges in the deaths of eighth graders Ethan Falkowitz and Drew Hassenbein on May 2, 2023. On Friday, Judge Helene Gugerty sentenced him to 8 ⅓ to 25 years in prison. During the hearing, family members delivered emotional impact statements, urging the judge to give Singh the maximum sentence. 'Instead of picking up my son at school, I had to pick him up at the morgue. Instead of watching him use his tennis racket like a magic wand, I had to bury it with him,' Hassenbein's father said, according to the Long Island Press. 'You stole my heart and soul,' said Falkowitz's mother. Singh, a father of two, said he 'would never hurt a child intentionally and yet [he] did,' ABC NY reported. 'I apologize from the bottom of my heart for your loss,' he said when addressing the victims' families. The two teens, described by local media as tennis 'prodigies,' and 'stars,' were driving home from celebrating a high school tennis match win on the night of May 3, 2023, when Singh crashed his pickup truck into their car on North Broadway in Jericho. Prosecutors say the 36-year-old construction executive was driving his 2021 Dodge Ram TRX at approximately 95 miles per hour while intoxicated and high on cocaine when he crossed over the road and continued south in the northbound lane. He then crashed his 2021 Dodge Ram TRX into an Alfa Romeo with four kids inside. Falkowitz and Hassenbein were killed instantly. The two other teens were rushed to an area hospital with multiple injuries. Singh fled the scene but was arrested a short time later. He was found hiding near a dumpster in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center, according to the Nassau County District Attorney's Office.
