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What to watch for as the Chicago White Sox begin the 2023 season Thursday against the Houston Astros: ‘We’re eager to get going’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:42:18 GMT

Oscar Colás and Gavin Sheets crushed a number of pitches during batting practice.Yoán Moncada got in the necessary drills, including fielding and baserunning.Luis Robert Jr. and Eloy Jiménez tracked down fly balls.Those were some of the sights Wednesday as the Chicago White Sox worked out Wednesday at Minute Maid Park ahead of Thursday’s season opener against the Houston Astros.The Sox enter the season with new manager Pedro Grifol and are aiming to bounce back after finishing at .500 in 2022.“Our expectations are extremely high, and that doesn’t change based on whether we’re sitting here now coming off a year where we underachieved or a year ago when everybody throughout baseball is picking us to run away with the division and potentially make some noise deep into October,” general manager Rick Hahn said after the workout.“We are going to be in a much better position to control what we can control on a daily basis and we’re e...

Magic’s emphasis on attacking the paint put to the test in loss to Grizzlies

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:42:18 GMT

At this point in the season, the Orlando Magic’s offensive desires are clear.They want to attack the rim with the hopes those paint touches will lead to efficient shots: free throws, layups/floaters or kick-out passes for feet-set 3s.These desires were put to the test in Tuesday’s 113-108 road loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, who have one of the league’s stingiest paint defenses.The Grizzlies won the matchup in large part because they blocked off the paint, disrupted Orlando’s shot near the rim and forced the Magic to take jumpers.The Magic’s 36 points in the paint were their fewest since they scored a season-low 32 in their Jan. 27 loss to the Miami Heat.Orlando, which shoots 57.7% inside the paint, shot 50% Tuesday.The Magic, who averaged 30.6 3-point attempts before Tuesday, took a season-high 49, only making 14 (28.6%).Orlando’s high volume of 3-point attempts was partially skewed by the Magic looking for 3s late to reduce the deficit. The Magic...

Day’Ron Sharpe emerging as true backup center for Nets

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:42:18 GMT

Day’Ron Sharpe is playing his best basketball.The second-year big man out of North Carolina and No. 29 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft has broken into head coach Jacque Vaughn’s Nets rotation — a pleasant development for a young player who had been glued to the bench earlier in the season.Entering Wednesday night’s matchup against the Houston Rockets, Sharpe had appeared in 41 of 75 possible games in Brooklyn. Yet as of Wednesday, the 6-10 big man played important — and impressive — minutes in each of the Nets’ last five games.Sharpe is averaging 9.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 17.4 minutes in the month of March and posted a career-high 20 points to go with 11 rebounds in Brooklyn’s Mar. 21 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.For reference, he is averaging just under five points and five rebounds on the season in its entirety.Starting center Nic Claxton said he has seen “a mental shift” in Sharpe’s approach ...

Here’s what’s new on the menu at Camden Yards, including a hyperlocal crab chip and three foot-long hot dogs

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:42:18 GMT

Could this be the season that the Orioles’ yearslong rebuilding efforts pay off big? The team’s chances for a postseason run are finally legitimate after a strong 2022 showing and with a roster full of young, exciting talent.Baltimore fans will have a lot to chew on this season, both on the field and in the stands where ballpark snacks are upping their game, too.Visitors to Oriole Park at Camden Yards will find a mix of returning favorites and new menu items this year at the stadium, which opens April 6 for opening day against the New York Yankees.Behind the scenes, the team struck a new concessions deal at the start of the year, signing Chicago-based Levy as the ballpark’s new hospitality operator. The partnership ended a long-standing contract with Delaware North, the Buffalo, New York-based company that had been in charge of food and beverage sales at Camden Yards since 2010.Some of the stadium’s most recognizable vendors, such as Boog’s Barbeque and...

Where does the Patriots’ roster stand heading into the NFL Draft?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:42:18 GMT

NFL free agency is over.The owners meetings are finished.The scouting combine is a speck in the rearview.The last major event on the NFL offseason calendar is the draft, during which the Patriots will address their remaining needs in the short and long-term.Until then, here’s a position-by-position look at where the Pats stand after working to improve their roster the last two-plus months.QuarterbackMac Jones, Bailey ZappeAnalysis: Bill Belichick hasn’t committed to Jones as his long-term starter for six months, but it’s still difficult to see Zappe, a less experienced passer with lesser tools who functioned within a simplified system against lesser opponents last year, overtake him. Now that Jones has again been paired with an experienced offensive play-caller and quarterbacks coach in Bill O’Brien, it should be all systems go. His expected Year 2 leap may ultimately just come a season later than expected.Running backRhamondre Stevenson, James Robinson, Ty M...

Red Sox notebook: 2023 season gets going Thursday

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:42:18 GMT

After a long, cold, bitter winter, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.The sun is shining, the buds are opening on the trees, the temperatures are uh, still pretty frigid, but baseball is back.Welcome to Red Sox Opening Day 2023.LogisticsOn Thursday, Fenway’s gates will open at 12:10 p.m., and Opening Day ceremonies begin at 1:30 p.m.Michelle Brooks-Thompson will sing the National Anthem. Two F-15C’s from the 104th Fighter Wing and two F-35A’s from the 158th Fighter Wing will do the flyover.First pitch is at 2:10 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on NESN.The Red Sox have the day off on Frida, but fans can head west on the Mass Pike to Worcester. Triple-A WooSox Opening Day kicks off at 4:05 p.m.The starterCorey Kluber gets the ball for Game 1 of 2023.The two-time Cy Young award-winner and three-time All-Star has a career 3.31 ERA, 3.09 FIP, and 1.112 WHIP across 12 seasons and 1,586 2/3 regular-season innings. He’s the active career leader in walks/nine (2.0)...

California may end travel ban to states with anti-LGBTQ laws

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:42:18 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When North Carolina in 2016 banned transgender people from using the bathroom of their gender identity in public buildings, California retaliated by banning state-funded travel to that state and any other state with laws it deemed discriminatory against LGBTQ people.But seven years later, California now bans state-funded travel to nearly half of the country following a surge of anti-LGBTQ legislation in mostly Republican-led states. The prohibition means sports teams at public colleges and universities have had to find other ways to pay for road games in states like Arizona and Utah. And it has complicated some of the state’s other policy goals, like using state money to pay for people who live in other states to travel to California for abortions.Wednesday, state Senate leader Toni Atkins announced legislation that would end the ban and replace it with an advertising campaign in those states that promotes acceptance and inclusion for the LGBTQ community.“I...

Syria says Israeli strikes near Damascus wound 2 soldiers

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:42:18 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian state media said Israel staged airstrikes in the Damascus area early Thursday, wounding two soldiers and causing material damage.Loud explosions were heard over the Syrian capital around 1:30 a.m., and the SANA state news agency said Syrian air defenses were “confronting hostile targets.” SANA, quoting an unidentifed military official, said some missiles were shot down by the air defenses. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges specific operations.Israel says it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.An Israeli airstrike last week targeting the airport at the northern city of Aleppo put it out of commission for two days.Along with airports, Israel has also targeted seaports in ...

Social issues dominate in Women’s Hall of Fame’s new class

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:42:18 GMT

SENECA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A new group of National Women’s Hall of Fame inductees includes social justice pioneers, groundbreaking physicians and women who have championed Jewish feminist theology and the financial well-being of Native Americans, the institute announced Wednesday.“When I was a young girl, I wanted above all to be popular. By the time I was 35, I decided I would rather be useful than popular,” inductee Peggy McIntosh, an activist known for her explorations of privilege, said by email after the honorees were announced.She and the other living inductees — Kimberlé Crenshaw, Judith Plaskow, Loretta Ross and Allucquére Rosanne “Sandy” Stone — have helped drive issues of white privilege, systemic racism, reproductive justice, transgender studies and feminist theology into the public discourse. Three women will be inducted posthumously: Dr. Patricia Bath (1942-2019), an early pioneer of laser cataract surgery and the first Black woman physician to receive a medi...

TikTok ban pushed by Missouri’s Hawley blocked in Senate

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:42:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley tried to force a Senate vote Wednesday on legislation that would ban TikTok from operating in the United States, but he was blocked by a fellow Republican as lawmakers in both chambers are still trying to figure out what action, if any, is appropriate against the social media app.In trying to force a vote — a move that rarely works in the Senate, since one senator’s objection can block it — Hawley called TikTok “digital fentanyl” and argued it could give the Chinese government access to data from 150 million American users. His bill would block and prohibit U.S. transactions with TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., within 30 days.The bill “sends the message to Communist China that you cannot buy us,” Hawley said. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky objected to Hawley’s motion, arguing that trying to ban an app would violate the Constitution and anger the millions of voters who use it. “Speech is protected whether you l...