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San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
What are the best outcomes possible for Giants in their first Buster Posey season?
For the San Francisco Giants, the rest of this season and the near future comes down to the old question posed in 1965 by the Lovin' Spoonful: Do you believe in magic? The Giants can't look for hope from the cold numbers. The computers don't like this team's chances the rest of this year. Baseball-Reference's analytics show the Giants with an 8.6% chance to make the playoffs. In the last 30 days, their odds have taken a 35.5% dive, biggest in the National League, second-largest swoon in MLB beyond the plummeting Rays. Teams that are sellers at the trading deadline are supposed to surrender their playoff hopes, and the Giants cooperated, at least analytically. So you have to look beyond the numbers to find hope, and as any Giants follower knows, if you're looking for rays of sunshine, chat with Mike Krukow. 'To me, this feels like '86,' Krukow said in a brief conversation Monday. 'We knew we were putting stuff together. After losing 196 (combined losses the previous two seasons), we won 83, and carried it right into '87, we just knew it was working, and we went into the World Series in '89. That's what it feels like now.' What happened in '86 was that the Giants got a spiritual infusion in their first full season with Roger 'Humm Baby' Craig after he took over as manager at the tail end of the previous campaign. That was the hope in the current Giants organization, and in the clubhouse and in the grandstands, when Buster Posey took over as president of baseball ops after last season — that he would bring some magic, the kind of cosmic stuff that resulted in World Series titles in 2010, '12 and '14. Buster's magic factor as an executive is still an unknown. On paper, this is not a great Giants team, and that's likely to be the case next season, too. To succeed, the Giants will have to do what Olympic rowers call 'catch your swing,' which is when everyone pulls together so perfectly and the boat seems to leap out of the water. It's probably not fair to expect that to happen before next season, but you never know. Krukow pointed out that a trade deadline selloff can be a kick in the pants to the guys who survive the mini purge. 'You are vulnerable when you go through a deadline and watch some of your main players walk out the door,' Krukow said. 'How you respond to that as a team determines if you have any chemistry at all for the rest of the season.' Friday, the day after the deadline, was a rousing win for the Giants. That showed, to Krukow anyway, that the players heard Posey's unspoken message. 'There's no greater motivation for a professional athlete than to know you need to produce to stay, and you need a kick in the ass to remind you.' Beyond that, maybe the players are getting a vibe from Posey that he believes in them, and he is willing to proceed boldly, as he expects them to do. Looking for rays of hope? Here are a few: • Jung Hoo Lee has been underwhelming this season, but he went 8-for-12 in the series win over the Mets. It's possible that Lee is heeding the coaches' urging to do less pulling and make more contact. Coincidence that the mini surge happened just after the deadline? Maybe Lee is motivated — let's say inspired — by the arrival of call-up Grant McCray in right field. McCray is a legit center fielder, and he's got a bit of swagger. In Sacramento this season, McCray stole 26 bases in 29 attempts. The Giants have been encouraging Lee to run more — hey, he is the Grandson of the Wind — and he stole a bag Saturday. The Giants need to run more, and maybe Lee and McCray will bring that. Lee has played less than half a season in the big leagues. In Korea, he faced mostly slow stuff and is still adjusting to nightly 98 mph gas. The Rays' shortstop, Ha-Seong Kim, hit .202 as an MLB rookie after he came over from Korea in 2021, adjusted to the power pitching, and hit .251 his second season. Lee has a much higher ceiling. Kim was a .300 hitter in Korea; Lee hit .349 his last full season in the KBL and was a career .340 hitter there (and a career .491 slugger). • Also intriguing is Jesus Rodriguez, the catcher obtained from the Yankees. He's 23 and is hitting .315 in his first season at Triple-A. Giants catchers are hitting a collective .202/.262/.295 this season (through Sunday). Could Rodriguez wind up in an offense/defense platoon of sorts with Patrick Bailey, maybe even later this season? What's clear is that Posey and manager Bob Melvin can't sit back now. They have to decide whether to go kid-heavy the rest of the season, taking a good look at youngsters, or, if the Giants surge in the next couple weeks, making the most of a renewed, if long shot, run at a wild-card berth. Whatever the Giants do, this season and next, will demonstrate whether Posey is merely another baseball-savvy, hard-working player personnel boss, or if he has something special. When he was a player, Posey made the team better. It was hard work and talent, but it was also magic. Should the Giants believe in magic?
Irish Examiner
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Katie Taylor, the undisputed champion and the underdog
For a woman who has already walked into a hostile bearpit and emerged with a scalp, the conditions in New York are unlikely to prove intimidating. Nevertheless, the odds are against Katie Taylor. The latest evidence of that came atop the Empire State Building as fight week got underway on Tuesday. YouTuber-turned-boxer and promoter Jake Paul positioned himself behind the face-off and his fighter, Amanda Serrano, holding the super lightweight straps that are on the line. Nakisa Bidarian, the co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, stood nearby clapping while reminding everyone that the showdown was set to take place on Friday night. This is an MVP show. They are the ones who brought streaming giant Netflix along, they organised this all-female boxing card with a remarkable 17 titles up for grabs across five bouts. Their first year signing was Serrano. The investment in that star and their long-term plan to let her shine was always going to lead to a night like Friday at the famed Madison Square Garden. When the trilogy was first announced, Taylor was installed as the favourite, having edged the last two fights. That has since flipped. Serrano's advantage comes with her punch volume and power, something she is adamant wasn't accurately recognised by the judges previously. Later at the Oculus at World Trade Center, two enormous inflatable figurines of Taylor and Serrano loomed above the open workout ring. Outside lightning and torrential rain attacked the city of dreams. The temperature indoors anywhere without full-throttle air conditioning was sweltering. The Lovin' Spoonful were onto something. Hot town, summer in the city. Katie Taylor at Open Workouts, Oculus World Trade Center, New York City, USA. Pic: ©INPHO/Gary Carr Taylor made the walk first to the tune of Dreams by The Cranberries. That was a deliberate decision. 'I am just so excited to be headlining such a huge, iconic moment like this,' she said. 'I didn't think it was going to get any bigger than the last fight but here we are, headlining an all-female card in such an iconic venue, Madison Square Garden, this is the stuff of dreams.' There were various endearing moments to emphasise that. Taylor brought four young fans into the ring with her. One opted to shadowbox beside her before leaning into the mic to declare her affection: 'I love Katie.' Another performed some Irish dancing while her friend, dressed head to toe in Donegal green and gold, clasped the corner of the tricolour. Serrano came after and looked at home. Earlier, fellow Puerto Rican boxers Krystal Rosado and Elise Soto had taken part in officially sanctioned bouts in the ring. They returned with Serrano, until eventually a five-strong army were all ducking and swinging at the same time. The seven-division world champion held her arms out to acknowledge this legacy. Earlier this year, the 36-year-old signed a lifetime agreement with MVP that will last for the rest of her professional boxing career and then continue in retirement. It has already been agreed she will become chairwoman of MVP's women's boxing initiatives. Despite the justified criticism of what was an absolute circus co-main event last time in Texas, MVP do deserve credit for the stage they have set this week. The undercard includes their new signee, former undisputed champion and current WBC interim world champion Chantelle Cameron (20-1, 8 KOs) who takes on Canada's Jessica 'The Cobra' Camara (14-4-1, 3 KOs) in a 10-round women's WBC interim super lightweight championship bout. Cameron is the only fighter to have defeated Taylor in the pro ranks. After the rematch, she split with Eddie Hearn, taking issue with his celebrations in Dublin. There is no doubt she would relish the prospect of settling that score in a winner-takes-all trilogy and it now looks far more likely than it ever did in the aftermath of the 2023 3Arena clash. Alycia Baumgardner is another recent MVP signing. She meets Jennifer Miranda in an undisputed super featherweight bout on the card and has her sights set on the main event winner. In total fighters from nine countries are involved. A whole host of tickets were still available early in the week, varying from $50.00 for the back of the bleachers to $2,500 for the 'Diamond VIP package.' It is a show that Serrano is proud to headline. She wants to lead the way. 'Listen, the struggle that me, my team, my sister, Jordan (Maldonado), I don't want these girls to go through what we went through,' she said at the public workout. 'The struggle was real. We were getting paid 50 dollars, 100 dollars. It was pretty sad. Obviously, we were doing the same thing and fighting just as hard but not getting what we deserve.' Not that she is letting the buzz distract from the task at hand. "I am all in. I am dialled in. Can't wait for Friday night or Saturday night when I am back in Puerto Rico celebrating.' A chance to make up for two close calls, a night of coronation and celebration for MVP and a proud champion from Bray who will be more than happy to spoil the party.
The Guardian
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Paul Kelly's Post at 40: the album in which a future star found his voice
In 1984, Paul Kelly packed up his few belongings, borrowed his father-in-law's Holden and made the 13-hour drive from Melbourne to Sydney. He had barely a dollar in his pocket and no place to lay his head. Don Walker, who was taking a breather from the music business after the breakup of Cold Chisel, offered him a temporary refuge in his Kings Cross double-storey terrace. He had a white grand piano in the front room. Not quite 30, Kelly wasn't even on his last chance. In industry terms, he was done. He'd made two failed records with his band the Dots, long since disavowed. Michael Gudinski dropped him from Mushroom and washed his hands. Still, the grand piano called. Inspired by a Lovin' Spoonful song, Never Going Back, and Robert Johnson's From Four Until Late, a sad goodbye-to-all-that song tumbled out on the keys. It was From St Kilda to Kings Cross. Kelly played it to Walker when he came home. 'You've got your own thing now,' Walker told him gruffly. For Kelly, it was a watershed. 'I'd found my own little patch of ground, was hoeing a row nobody else was,' he reflected in his memoir, How to Make Gravy. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning The song would open his third album, Post, released 40 years ago this month. The album didn't chart. But it recouped its smell-of-an-oily-rag recording costs, paid off Kelly's debts and provided the launchpad for everything that followed. After dossing with Walker, Kelly moved in with Dragon's keyboard player, Paul Hewson. Hewson had songwriting fingerprints on that band's big early hits, April Sun in Cuba and the notorious Are You Old Enough? Hewson and Kelly swapped songs and stories. Both addicts, they occasionally went out and scored. Kelly was unsteady on his feet, but his confidence was growing. Guitarist Steve Connolly and drummer Michael Barclay soon followed him to Sydney. Barclay wouldn't end up playing drums on Post, though. The songs were spare and haunted, supported only by Barclay's high-harmony singing and Connolly's beautifully understated leads. Usually, he just added minor embellishments to the vocal melody. The trio gained a residency at the Strawberry Hills hotel in Surry Hills. The Sydney rock scene was obsessed with the ghost of Radio Birdman; all raised fists and leather jackets. Standing in front of such an audience with an acoustic guitar and no drummer took some nerve. Many of the songs on Post dealt with addiction and its consequences. On the first side were Incident on South Dowling, White Train and Blues for Skip, a lyrical description of writer's block featuring a shiver-inducing lead break from Connolly. The second side further blurred the line between art and autobiography. There was Adelaide, an ironic kiss-off to Kelly's old home town (which annoyed his family), and Standing on the Street of Early Sorrows, a song to an adolescent crush named Julie. There was also (You Can Put Your Shoes) Under My Bed, which rhymed 'spastic' and 'fantastic'. A music publisher in Nashville thought the song had potential, in the hands of the right country singer, if only Kelly could change that line. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion He never did. Not because he thought it sounded any better back then than it does now – it just stuck. 'You get a lot of bad or boring rhymes pass through your mind while you're writing and you do your best to weed them out, but sometimes an awkward one muscles its way in, hunkers down under the song-skin and won't be removed for love or money,' he wrote in his memoir. And there was the final track, Little Decisions, a homily that celebrated the virtue of putting one foot in front of the other in hard times. Kelly's voice was simultaneously at its world-weariest and warmest: Work a little harder Keep your mind on death Get your things in order Take a deeper breath Shortly after recording was complete, Paul Hewson left Dragon, then at the height of their success courtesy of the album Body and the Beat and its massive single, Rain. He died of an overdose on 9 January 1985. Without a deal, Kelly began shopping Post around. Michelle Higgins, Gudinski's trusted PR at Mushroom, locked herself in the Sebel Townhouse on Mushroom's credit card until her boss re-signed him. Gudinski relented, releasing Post on a Mushroom subsidiary, White. The album's title alluded to the series of farewells embedded in the songs: to St Kilda, to Adelaide, to the Dots, to drugs (though that would take a while longer), to Kelly's first marriage, and to Hewson, to whom the album was dedicated. On release, Post was a stiff. Kelly's then-manager, Stuart Coupe, wrote in his book Shake Some Action that Gudinski's reticence seemed to have been vindicated: 'To all intents and purposes, Paul Kelly had delivered his third commercial dud.' But word spread, and better times were ahead. Connolly and Barclay would form the core of Kelly's new band, the Coloured Girls (later renamed the Messengers). With them, he would re-record full-band versions of four Post songs for his next album: the sprawling Gossip. That album would take Kelly from the margins to the mainstream. Post, though, was the essential backstory. It's the album on which Kelly found his voice – the one that established him as arguably the foremost Australian singer-songwriter of his generation.
New York Times
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
9 Spellbinding Songs About Magic
Image Lady Gaga debuted her madcap video for 'Abracadabra' in a Mastercard commercial during the Grammy Awards on Sunday night. If you've noticed anyone walking around with their paws up, speaking in tongues and raving about the floor being on fire, allow me to explain: In an ad Sunday night during the Grammy Awards, Lady Gaga debuted a new single. It's called 'Abracadabra,' and it's a gloriously nostalgic return to form, reminiscent of the infectious gibberish hook of 'Bad Romance' and the go-for-broke electro-sleaze she perfected on 'The Fame Monster' and 'Born This Way.' Rejoice, ye elder millennials: A star has been reborn. As I've been strutting around all week with 'abracadabra, abra-cadaaaabra' on an endless loop in my head, I've been thinking about how many great songs throughout pop music reference magic — as a tried-and-true metaphor for the mysteries of love, or just as a thematic excuse to get a little weird. (For Gaga, it's a little bit of both, but always with emphasis on the latter.) The '60s gave us spellbinding classics like the Lovin' Spoonful's 'Do You Believe in Magic?' and the Drifters' 'This Magic Moment.' But 'Abracadabra' is just the latest proof that pop still has magic on the mind: In the last year or so, there have been not one but two Top 20 hits called 'Houdini.' (Though never forget that Kate Bush beat them both to it.) Since a definitive playlist of every song ever to conjure magic would be incredibly long and contain quite a few overindulgent duds, this collection reflects my own tastes. Which is to say that it omits Eminem's 'Houdini,' as well as the song it samples, that other 'Abracadabra,' by the Steve Miller Band. Personal preference! But it does feature enchanting tunes from Electric Light Orchestra, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and, of course, Gaga's latest incantation. Like a poem said by a lady in red, Lindsay Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
