Rockies’ catcher Elias Diaz playing like an All-Star, behind the plate and at the dish

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:20:52 GMT

Rockies’ catcher Elias Diaz playing like an All-Star, behind the plate and at the dish The Rockies have never had a catcher selected for the All-Star Game. Zero for 30.Could Elias Diaz be the man to change that equation?“Wow! Good question,” Diaz said, his eyes brightening at the thought. “For every player in the major leagues that is the dream. Everybody wants to play in the All-Star Game. I don’t know if I’ll make it but I’ll continue to play hard and we’ll see what happens.”It’s only mid-May, so we’re a long way away from the Midsummer Classic. But through the first six weeks of the season, Diaz, 32, has been the Rockies’ best everyday player, as well as one of the best catchers in the majors.“The thing about Elias is that he’s so capable and so willing,” manager Bud Black said. “He’s strong as a bull and he wants to play every day. There is a strong desire to do it all — and do it playing a tough position.”As the Rockies entered a weekend series against the Phillies at ...

Keeler: Ex-CU Buffs coach Mike Sanford on Coach Prime, transfers, recruiting: “Not every single kid on that team was a 1-11 person.”

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:20:52 GMT

Keeler: Ex-CU Buffs coach Mike Sanford on Coach Prime, transfers, recruiting: “Not every single kid on that team was a 1-11 person.” Mike Sanford was kibitzing at Brady Russell’s NFL Draft party when it hit him like Ralphie at full tilt. He couldn’t let CU go. Not Buffs players, anyway.“That (party) kind of reconnected me as to why you do this in the first place,” CU’s former offensive coordinator and 2022 interim head coach told me by phone last week. “I was at the party and there were a bunch of former CU players, and I was like, ‘I love these kids.’”Sanford had punted Twitter for a time, understandably, to decompress and clear the decks after Deion Sanders and the new Buffs football regime cut him loose this past December. But seeing the kids again and hearing how many of them felt left in the lurch by the historic roster switcheroo at CU got him back on the platform, tweeting the night of May 1 that:“If any coaches want unbiased info on any of the CU players in the (transfer) portal, shoot me a DM with your number and I’ll call you. I’ll shoot you straight… I have no dog in the fight!”His phone blew up. In th...

Mark Knudson stands alone as only ballplayer to play for Colorado team in high school, Division I and MLB

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:20:52 GMT

Mark Knudson stands alone as only ballplayer to play for Colorado team in high school, Division I and MLB Mark Knudson is a Colorado baseball rarity.The first Colorado native to play for the Rockies and the last Colorado State player to make the major leagues, Knudson is the lone man to play for a Colorado team in high school, at the NCAA Division I level and then for the Rockies.  Even now, the game has never left him as Knudson, 62, is the head coach at Prospect Ridge Academy in Broomfield.Not bad for a homegrown baseball life.“He’s lived a life as a high school, college and professional player that kids in this state would dream of,” points out former longtime CSU sports information director Gary Ozzello. “And there’s only one guy in this state who’s done what he did in this sport — him.”Knudson’s feat could stand in perpetuity, too.  UNC hasn’t had a big-leaguer since the 1980s. CU/CSU are unlikely to bring back their long-defunct programs and Air Force has only had one big-leaguer — Griffin Jax. The Twins right-hander and former...

Josh Hawley Won’t Let Go of His Manhood

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:20:52 GMT

Josh Hawley Won’t Let Go of His Manhood Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesAcross the ages, right-wing politics has had an enduring fixation: manliness, whatever that means exactly.You may remember that Hogan Gidley, the press secretary for former President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, declared that Trump was “the most masculine person ever to hold the White House.”Before that, there was Trump’s runner-up in manliness, George W. Bush. When Bush delivered his “Mission Accomplished” speech on an aircraft carrier, convicted Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy said Bush’s flight suit “made the best of his manly characteristic.” Bush’s one-time chief speechwriter Michael Gerson described him as possessing “a manly humor.”Then there was the Vietnam War, a manly endeavor prosecuted by the Nixon administration’s manly men. When Henry Kissinger’s assistant Anthony Lake objected to the intense U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, Kissinger told Lak...

Russia says 2 commanders killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:20:52 GMT

Russia says 2 commanders killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine Two senior Russian military officers have been killed in eastern Ukraine, Moscow’s Ministry of Defense said on Sunday, as Kyiv pledged its long-awaited counteroffensive will liberate occupied areas of Ukraine.Russian officials claimed in a statement issued on Sunday that they were repelling Ukrainian attacks around the contested town of Bakhmut. But they conceded that top army leaders had been among the casualties in their own ranks.“The commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade, Colonel Vyacheslav Makarov, personally led the battle from the front,” the ministry said. “While repulsing of a third attack, the brigade commander was seriously wounded and died during the evacuation from the battlefield.” In addition, the deputy commander of the army corps, Colonel Yevgeny Brovko, was also killed, the ministry said.At a summit in Berlin Sunday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his forces are laying the groundwork for a major counte...

Hundreds taking part in annual Walk for Peace in Dorchester

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:20:52 GMT

Hundreds taking part in annual Walk for Peace in Dorchester Hundreds of area residents gathered for the 27th annual Walk for Peace in Dorchester on Sunday. The event is aimed at promoting peace in parts of the city that are hardest hit by street violence.The Mother’s Day morning event is slated to kick off at 9 a.m., with the area surrounding the starting line decked out in purple and white balloons.This year’s theme is Cultivating Cycles of Peace.The event is aimed at turning cycles of violence into more frequent cycles of peace by empowering survivors and supporting returning community members and their families and investing in “Generation Peace.”The fundraising goal this year is $600,000.To donate visit: https://www.mothersdaywalk4peace.org/This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Police investigating crash in Saugus

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:20:52 GMT

Police investigating crash in Saugus Police are investigating a crash overnight in Saugus.Crews could be seen removing the vehicle from Main Street.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Lakeville store clerk, her boyfriend indicted in scheme to claim stolen $3M lottery ticket

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:20:52 GMT

Lakeville store clerk, her boyfriend indicted in scheme to claim stolen $3M lottery ticket Two people have been indicted on charges that they schemed to steal a winning lottery ticket and attempted to cash it in at Massachusetts State Lottery Headquarters, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.On Friday, a Plymouth County grand jury returned indictments charging Carly Nunes, 23, of Lakeville, with one count each of Larceny from a Building, Attempted Larceny, Presentation of a False Claim, and Witness Intimidation. Additionally, the grand jury indicted Joseph Reddem, 32, of Manchester, N.H. on one count of Attempted Extortion.On Jan. 17, a man entered the store formerly known as Savas Liquors on Bedford Street in Lakeville and purchased a bag of barbecue potato chips, two Massachusetts State Lottery Quick Picks for the Mega Millions lottery, and two for the Mass Cash lottery. The man added a multiplier to his Mega Millions ticket to increase the jackpot prize. Nunes, the checkout counter clerk, input the order into the lottery terminal, and printe...

Orioles share what their moms mean to them: ‘I’d give her the world if I could’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:20:52 GMT

Orioles share what their moms mean to them: ‘I’d give her the world if I could’ Teacher Appreciation Week preceding Mother’s Day afforded Orioles manager Brandon Hyde the opportunity to double-dip.After all, his favorite teacher was his mom, Lucy.“She was unbelievable,” Hyde said.When Hyde was in middle school in California, he occasionally had his mom as a substitute or student teacher. He joked he was “always” on his best behavior when their schedules aligned — “Especially at 13 and 14 [years old], there was no issues ever,” he quipped — but he hardly had to worry about getting detention with Lucy.“My mom is so easygoing, just so relaxed and even-keeled,” Hyde said. “Everybody loved her all the time because she was fun to be around. I never saw her get angry ever.”On Mother’s Day, here’s what some of Hyde’s players had to say about what their moms mean to them.Center fielder Cedric Mullins on his mom, Sheila:I would hope for the majority of folks, Mom represents ev...

Hayden Wesneski — torched by lefties — looks to learn from a tough outing as the Chicago Cubs lose 11-1 ‘clunker’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:20:52 GMT

Hayden Wesneski — torched by lefties — looks to learn from a tough outing as the Chicago Cubs lose 11-1 ‘clunker’ Chicago Cubs right-hander Hayden Wesneski dropped his head and stared at the dirt mound.The Minnesota Twins had just clubbed their fourth home run of the game off Wesneski — the last Jorge Polanco’s 409-foot, two-run homer in the fifth — to build a seven-run lead. Each came from the bat of left-handed hitter who swatted Wesneski’s too many mistakes. The Cubs couldn’t overcome the home run barrage in an 11-1 blowout loss at Target Field.Tucker Barnhart’s RBI single in the seventh prevented the Cubs (19-20) from getting shut out the first time this season.“Trying to make pitches and sometimes whether that’s mechanical or concentration, what are those factors, we’ll look at and try to get a plan these next four days and get back to work,” manager David Ross said of Wesneski. “We haven’t had many clunkers like that early on (when) we’re out of the game.”Wesneski struggled to command his stuff around the ...