Chase Utley's Borderline Legal Slide Might Save Dodgers' Season (VIDEO)

Following-up from last night, "Mets' Ruben Tejada Broken Leg on Chase Utley Dirty Slide in 7th Inning — #MetsVsDodgers."

From Bill Plaschke, at LAT, "Chase Utley's slide was late, high and arguably dirty":

The slide was late. The slide was high. The slide was questionably legal and arguably dirty.

Even if you were watching it through blue-colored glasses, you had to admit that the slide was recklessly dangerous, so much that it broke another man's leg.

But after 27 years of frustration, the Dodgers will accept reckless, embrace dangerous, and so on Saturday night they uncomfortably celebrated a slide that won a game, altered a series and may have saved a season.

Eight outs from essentially being knocked out of a National League division series, the Dodgers were desperate for a hit, and so 36-year-old Chase Utley put one on New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada that changed everything.

With one out in the seventh inning, running into second base to break up a double play, Utley threw a late body block into the legs of Tejada, knocking him on his back and breaking his right lower leg.

It was awful, it was ugly, but the Dodgers scored the tying run on the play, and later scored three more runs in the ensuing emotional chaos to take a 5-2 victory to tie the best-of-five series at one game apiece.

The team that has forever fought the reputation for being soft got tough, probably too tough, perhaps cheaply tough, and now they're going to have to fly cross country and defend themselves. The Mets are mad, their fans will be furious, and it's going to be ugly at New York's Citi Field on Monday when the teams meet for Game 3.

It was a costly loss for the Mets, but could wind up being an equally costly victory for the Dodgers....

The slide occurred in the seventh inning with the Dodgers trailing, 2-1. There was one out with Enrique Hernandez on third base and Utley on first after his pinch-hit single.

Out went starter Noah Syndergaard, in came reliever Bartolo Colon, up stepped Howie Kendrick, and here came the fireworks.

Kendrick hit a grounder up the middle that Daniel Murphy flipped to Tejada to start a potential double play. It appeared that Tejada had touched the bag and was preparing to spin to throw to first base even though there was no way he could have thrown out Kendrick. But it turns out, there was no way Utley was going to let him even try.

Utley came into second base sliding high, so high that he essentially threw a block on Tejada's lower body. Utley's head smashed into Tejada's legs. Tejada flipped into the air and landed on his back.

Hernandez scored from third base to tie the score, but the drama wasn't finished. Tejada remained on his back, holding the ball but also unable to move with what was later diagnosed as a broken leg. While a cart was rolling him from the field, the play was reviewed to confirm that Tejada had actually touched second base before the collision. He did not, and Utley remained on second, from where he later scored along with Kendrick on a double by Adrian Gonzalez.

Did Utley's slide cause Tejada's foot to miss the bag? Probably not. But did Utley's hustle force Tejada to rush things? Probably.

"I have a problem with the play on a number of different levels," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "He's running to second base with Ruben's back turned, I don't know what his intent is."

The only thing for certain is that it cost the Mets their starting shortstop and threw a calm Mets ride toward a second consecutive victory into the chaos of a late-inning Dodgers victory.

Federal Student Loan System Reams Borrowers

I just haven't had that many problems, and my loan payments have been quite manageable.

But see the New York Times, "A Student Loan System Stacked Against the Borrower."

President Obama Golfing at Torrey Pines Golf Course (VIDEO)

BUMPED!

Heh, it's all the guy does these days, lol.

At ABC News 10 San Diego, "President Obama Waves from Golf Cart at Torrey Pines Golf Course."

Added: "President Obama Plays Golf at Torrey Pines."

And at Weasel Zippers, "Russian Missiles? Intifada In Israel? Obama Takes to the Golf Course!"

Adult Children Lean on Mom and Dad for Financial Support

At Instapundit, "LIFE IN THE ERA OF HOPE AND CHANGE: Reopening the Bank of Mom and Dad, to Help Adult Children."

Click through to the New York Times.

Economic growth has not been the focus of this administration. "Social justice" has, for all that good that's done:

Parents, of course, want the best for their children from the moment they are born and are used to doing everything they can to help them. Continuing that support into adulthood has spread, experts say, largely because the economy of the last decade has fallen short in generating good job opportunities for their millennial children.

The Most Persistent Hobgoblin of the Last Quarter Century Has Been Global Warming

This is great.

At IBD, "Another Climate Alarmist Lets It Slip: Why They Want to Scare You":

World savers are anything but. They always have an unspoken motive. H.L. Mencken saw the self-appointed saviors for what they were almost a century ago, when he said the "whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

The most persistent hobgoblin of the last quarter-century has been global warming, now called climate change but eventually to be known as extreme weather, or some such other fright-inducing name. The climate activists are constantly bombarding us with warnings, hectoring, hysteria, pleading and threats. Apocalyptic books have been written and shrill movies made, all in an effort to slow man's combustion of fossil fuels.

Included among these is a new documentary "inspired" by Naomi Klein's book "This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate." If the title isn't enough to give away Klein's motives for attacking the climate "crisis," then a comment she makes in the trailer — please forgive: watching the entire documentary would be as agonizing as any medieval torture — should.

"So here's the big question," says Klein. "What if global warming isn't only a crisis? What if it's the best chance we're ever going to get to build a better world?"

Then comes the threat:

"Change, or be changed."

Klein says she "spent six years wandering through the wreckage caused by the carbon in the air and the economic system that put it there." Clearly, it is her goal to shatter the free-market system. The climate? It's just a vehicle, a pretext for uprooting the only economic system in history that has brought prosperity and good health.

Klein's statement is perfectly in line with Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of United Nation's Framework Convention on Climate Change, and in fact is almost an echo. Figueres acknowledged earlier this year that the environmental activists' goal is not to spare the world an ecological disaster, but to destroy capitalism...

Keep reading.

Klein's also the author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. She's got a little fear-mongering industry going there.

Governor Jerry Brown Signs Bill Authorizing Automatic Voter Registration

Despite the leftist hullabaloo, this will have little affect on voter turnout. Even automatic registration won't get malignant pseudo-citizens to vote, especially Latinos.

At LAT, "Gov. Brown approves automatic voter registration for Californians."

And at Twitchy, "Hillary Clinton jazzed over California’s new automatic voter registration at DMV."

Obama’s Options Narrow in Syria

Yeah, Putin's kicked Obama's ass in Syria. Few options left now.

At WSJ, "Pentagon abandons plan to build rebel army as U.S. suggests Assad could remain for a time":

WASHINGTON—Ten days into a Russian military campaign that has upended U.S. policy in Syria, President Barack Obama is picking from two bad options for how to respond.

The U.S. is hesitant to become more involved in Syria’s bloody and messy civil war, at the risk of forcing a proxy war with Russia. The president’s goal continues to be resisting any greater U.S. military commitment, aides say.

That leaves one other choice: to accept Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power, even though U.S. policy calls for his removal, and hope to negotiate his exit when the battlefield is less volatile.

On Friday, the Pentagon said it would abandon its failed, $500-million program to build an army of opposition fighters in Syria in favor of an effort to directly arm favored Syrian rebel commanders to fight Islamic State.

U.S. officials are no longer demanding Mr. Assad must step down immediately. Rather they are advocating a “managed” transition in which Mr. Assad could remain in Syria for some time.

The U.S. also is discussing ideas that require less military intervention and might provide additional humanitarian relief. One effort under discussion is the establishment of local cease fires negotiated with the Assad regime. Ben Rhodes, one of Mr. Obama’s closest foreign-policy advisers, noted Friday this has been tried by the United Nations. But he cautioned that the U.S. would want to ensure that such an effort not aid Mr. Assad at the expense of the opposition.

The deliberations are complicated by a fast-changing situation on the ground, as Russian airstrikes relieve some of the pressure on the Assad regime, Moscow’s longtime ally.

U.S. officials initially expressed optimism that Moscow might help in the fight against Islamic State militants. But since the first Russian airstrikes on Sept. 30, U.S. officials have voiced alarm at what they say is a campaign to strengthen Mr. Assad by targeting any opponent of his regime, including ones backed by the U.S.

Mr. Rhodes said that while the president will continue to refine his strategy, he isn’t considering options that would significantly ramp up U.S. military involvement, such as a no-fly zone.

“We see significant resourcing challenges associated with focusing on the establishment of no-fly zone that could, frankly, take away from other elements” of the campaign against Islamic State, he said...

Keep reading.

Mets' Ruben Tejada Broken Leg on Chase Utley Dirty Slide in 7th Inning — #MetsVsDodgers

Harsh.

At SB Nation, "Mets' Ruben Tejada breaks leg on vicious Chase Utley takeout slide."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Mets' Ruben Tejada carted off field after controversial slide," and "Dodgers beat Mets, 5-2, to even the NLDS series after controversial play."

Chase Utley should have been called out, and Howie Kendrick as well. No runs should have scored. Rule 6.01 (6) pic.twitter.com/jS2MUOdJo2

— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) October 11, 2015

Dirty slides have been happening all season, all postseason, really throughout time. Rule against them is hardly ever enforced.

— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) October 11, 2015

Here's Pedro Martinez, speaking on TBS about Chase Utley's takeout slide Saturday. pic.twitter.com/HJwhvwgM19

— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) October 11, 2015

Chase Utley's dirty take-out slide dooms Mets as Dodgers even series http://t.co/y0yKWPJPYs pic.twitter.com/6OgtNeLr7H

— New York Post (@nypost) October 11, 2015

Hey #Mets fans, there's no crying in baseball. Quit yer bitchin'. #MetsVsDodgers

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) October 11, 2015

Outrageous Universities

See Andrew Delbanco, at the New York Review, "Our Universities: The Outrageous Reality."

Books reviewed:

* Suzanne Mettler, Degrees of Inequality: How the Politics of Higher Education Sabotaged the American Dream.

* Joel Best and Eric Best, The Student Loan Mess: How Good Intentions Created a Trillion-Dollar Problem.

* William Zumeta, David W. Breneman, Patrick M. Callan, and Joni E. Finney, Financing American Higher Education in the Era of Globalization.

* William G. Bowen and Eugene M. Tobin, Locus of Authority: The Evolution of Faculty Roles in the Governance of Higher Education.

* Elizabeth A. Armstrong and Laura T. Hamilton, Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality.

* Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, Aspiring Adults Adrift: Tentative Transitions of College Graduates.

And see Sajay Samuel, "Outrageous Universities."

Trey Gowdy's Benghazi Investigation Has Been a Model of Seriousness, Professionalism, and Discreetness

From Kim Strassel, at WSJ, "The Real Benghazi Investigation":

Kevin McCarthy unexpectedly withdrew from the House speaker’s race on Thursday, a casualty of a fractured Republican conference. The Californian didn’t do much to inspire confidence last week when he suggested that the House Benghazi committee had been designed to attack Hillary Clinton.
One pity of the McCarthy comments is that they tainted the committee’s work with politics. The bigger pity is that they are dead wrong. South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy is 18 months into the committee that the House purpose-built to investigate the 2012 terrorist assault in Libya that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. His Benghazi investigation has been a model of seriousness, professionalism and discreetness.

The statistics alone bear this out. The committee has so far reviewed 50,000 new pages of documents. Less than 5% have anything to do with Mrs. Clinton’s work as secretary of state. It has interviewed 51 witnesses. Forty-one of those were brand-new—no committee had bothered to speak with them before, though seven were eyewitnesses to the attack.

Not that you will have seen any of this testimony. Congress generally loves public hearings—members relish parading in front of cameras, grilling and humiliating witnesses. But Mr. Gowdy, a former prosecutor, is more interested in getting information. All 51 of the committee’s interviews have been done in private, attended by committee members or staff from both parties. In a public hearing, the majority Republicans get more time than Democrats to speak. In private interviews, time is divided equally. Mr. Gowdy is fine with that.

If Republican Rep. Darrell Issa were running this committee, is there any doubt that he would have put Clinton fixer Sidney Blumenthal in the public hot seat? Mr. Gowdy’s committee interviewed him privately. When Mr. Blumenthal’s lawyer said he would be out of the country on the proposed interview date, Mr. Gowdy rescheduled; he wanted the Democratic operative to have competent counsel. Former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills’s private interview concluded with the remarkable sight of her, Mr. Gowdy and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings together at a post-interview press availability, where she thanked the committee for its “professionalism” and “respect.”

The House Select Committee on Benghazi has held three public hearings. Mr. Gowdy allowed Democratic members to choose the first two topics. They predictably focused on the work of the State Department’s Benghazi Accountability Review Board, which they like to claim has already settled what happened in Libya. Mr. Gowdy nonetheless committed to thorough hearings. When Washington Democrat Adam Smith looked likely to miss a hearing because of hip surgery, Mr. Gowdy set up a Skype connection so that he could ask his questions. Mr. Gowdy made the same offer to Illinois’s Tammy Duckworth, who’d just had a child. When she politely declined, he allotted her question time to Mr. Cummings—a fair-play move rarely seen in D.C.

Washington lawmakers love their powers, and Mr. Gowdy has plenty. He has exercised them prudently. The Benghazi committee has issued only threes subpoenas. One to Mr. Blumenthal, whom the committee had trouble tracking down. One to the State Department for a specific batch of emails. And one to Mrs. Clinton, when the news first broke that she had maintained a private server for her email. When Mrs. Clinton later claimed that she was not under subpoena, Mr. Gowdy didn’t complain, he simply released the subpoena to set the record straight. He has declined to answer questions about whether he thinks she has committed any crimes...

That's amazing.

RTWT.

Santa Ana Hits Record 106, More Heat Coming This Weekend

That was 106 yesterday. It was definitely in double-digits today.

At the O.C. Register.

More, from this afternoon, "Placentia Heritage Parade shut down; 60 people striken with heat exhaustion."

I had that earlier, "Police Department Shuts Down Placentia Heritage Day Parade."

Video Shows Immediate Aftermath of Terrorist Suicide Bombings in Ankara, Turkey

Following-up from earlier, "Scores Dead in Suicide Bombings at Peace March in Turkish Capital (VIDEO)."

The death toll's up to 95 now.

And watch here, "Warning! Graphic Video of Suicide Bombing in Turkey."

More at the Daily Beast, "Who’s Behind the Horrific Bombing that Hit Ankara?"

And at the Independent UK, "Ankara terror attack: Turkey censors media coverage of bombings as Twitter and Facebook 'blocked'."

Daredevils Charge Bulls at Festivals in Spain

At WSJ, "To These Bull Runners, Pamplona Is for Wimps: Those Looking for a Lot of Bull Stampede Into Spain's Tiny Towns":

ALCALÁ DE CHIVERT, Spain—For daredevils the world over, Pamplona’s running of the bulls is a once-in-a-lifetime thrill, a chance to charge alongside 1,200-pound beasts hurtling down narrow streets.

For Saul Boix, the annual dash is a cakewalk.

“In Pamplona, you run with the bulls for about two minutes,” the 26-year-old Spaniard said. What really beefs up his adrenaline, he said, is spending an entire day at a town festival, provoking one bull after another to charge him, or if that fails, charging directly at the bull.

“In the small towns,” Mr. Boix said, “you have hours with the animals.”

Every year across Spain, bull-obsessed adrenaline addicts seek their fix by traveling from town to town to participate in local iterations of Pamplona. They’re a haphazard group, so it is hard to hit the bull’s-eye on their numbers—at least several hundred, according to fans and some of the men themselves.

The Mediterranean coastal region of Valencia, Mr. Boix’s home turf, holds around 7,000 festivals each year that feature bulls and cows with horns, mainly in the summer and autumn.

“Where there’s a bull, there’s a fiesta,” said Francisco Miró Simó, 62, president of the club that organizes a festival in nearby Alquerías de Santa Bárbara. “If there are no bulls, only a quarter of the people would show up” at festivals, he said.

“We are always with bulls,” Mr. Boix said of his fellow itinerants. They are often called recortadores, those who intercept the bull’s path, quickly sidestep its charging horns, then use their bodies like a bullfighter’s cape to steer the animal around. They are also called corredores, or runners, when sprinting alongside the animals.

“They see risk as a kind of entertainment,” said José Ramón Caballero de la Calle, a veterinary professor at Spain’s University of Castilla-La Mancha who treats festival bulls...

I love it.

Keep reading.

BONUS: Flashback to 2010, "Julio Aparicio, Spanish Bullfighter, Gored at Feria San Isidro, Plaza de Toros de las Ventas, Madrid (May 21, 2010)."

Plus, more at my "Pamplona" search link.

Don't Forget Your Halloween Goodies

At Amazon, "Shop - Up to 20% Off Halloween Candy.

Also, Halloween Shop --- Toys & Games.

Fight for Killer Whales Not Over for SeaWorld in San Diego (VIDEO)

Following-up from yesterday, "California Coastal Commission Bans Captive Breeding of Orcas at SeaWorld (VIDEO)."

At the Los Angeles Times, "What the Coastal Commission's ban on orca breeding means for SeaWorld":

If there's a star at SeaWorld San Diego, it's the 11 mammoth killer whales that thrill children and parents with their magnificent grace and acrobatic tricks.

So does the animal park have a future without Shamu?

That's the existential threat the San Diego theme park is facing after this week's stunning decision by the California Coastal Commission to ban captive breeding of the park's killer whales — as a condition of building a much larger $100-million holding facility.

The vote, condemned by the park, comes as SeaWorld tries to fend off criticism highlighted in the 2013 documentary "Blackfish" accusing the marine park of neglecting and abusing its killer whales.

SeaWorld has rejected those accusations but faced plummeting attendance and a constant barrage of public criticism. It planned to win back public support by building a much larger living environment for its orcas — a 450,000-gallon pool and a 5.2-million-gallon tank in place of its 1.7-million-gallon pen.

The Coastal Commission approved the plan, but placed restrictions on the park that could mean an end to SeaWorld's orca program. Without breeding or bringing in new orcas, its animals would grow old and die in the park, ending the shows permanently.

"It means that the California Coastal Commission is asking them to manage these animals to extinction in the state of California," said Grey Stafford, director of conservation at the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium in Phoenix.

SeaWorld could abandon the project and allow the animals to live and continue performing in their current enclosure — in essence thumbing its nose at a growing chorus of critics.

But few see the company pursuing either option.

The twice-a-day shows by the animals, which weigh several tons, are by far the biggest attraction at the park, which also features other marine shows, animal exhibits, a roller coaster and water ride.

The commission's decision might complicate SeaWorld's future plans, but doesn't spell the company's demise, said James Hardiman, equity research analyst and managing director at Wedbush Securities.

"A lot would need to happen for SeaWorld's business to be over," he said. "This does not mark the end of SeaWorld." ...

Bill Hurly, past president of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks & Aquariums, an international accreditation body, said he expects that SeaWorld will follow through on its threat to challenge the legality of the decision, a move that would be supported by the industry.

"If I were SeaWorld, I'd use my legal resources," he said.

Indeed, aquarium and zoo officials have blasted the Coastal Commission's restrictions, saying breeding programs help biologists improve their understanding of the behavior and habits of killer whales. They blamed the panel's vote on "misinformation" disseminated on social media by animal rights activists.

"Most of what is known about marine mammal reproduction has been learned by studying animals in zoological facilities," said Rob Vernon, a spokesman for the Assn. of Zoos & Aquariums.

Even so, the vote will likely give animal rights groups new momentum to call on local agencies throughout the nation to change the way animals in captivity are treated after several unsuccessful reform efforts.

A bill introduced in the California Legislature to ban killer whale shows at SeaWorld San Diego was tabled last year for further study, and its author confirmed later that he won't reintroduce it this year. In Vancouver, British Columbia, a parks board voted last year to halt the breeding program at the Vancouver Aquarium, but the ban was never implemented.

"Blackfish" director Gabriela Cowperthwaite said the commission's decision shows that the public is now taking a greater interest in how animals are treated.

"It's a sign that everyone is exercising any authority they might have over this place to force them to do the right thing," Cowperthwaite said.

Fuck 'em. Fuck the totalitarian leftists who have not one fun bone in their bodies.

The De-Valuing of America

Bill Bennett got in a lot of moral trouble when folks found out he had a multi-million dollar gambling addiction, but his broadsides against the collectivist left's war on traditional culture are like prophesies today.

It's out of print, but still worth a read, The De-valuing of America: The Fight for Our Culture and Our Children.

Police Department Shuts Down Placentia Heritage Day Parade

It's too hot out for a parade.

From the Placentia Police Department, "Heritage Day Parade stopped due to approx 30+ heat related illnesses. OCFA & PPD on scene and triaging."

And from the Orange County Fire Authority, "Placentia - Multiple heat related patients during a parade. 2150 block of Kraemer Blvd. OCFA PIO onscene. Time of call 11:45."

It's triple-digit weather in Orange County. Seems like parade organizers would have cancelled the parade on their own.

Freakin' Jacob deGrom Smokes Dodgers in Game 1 of NLDS (VIDEO)

From Bill Shaiken last night on Twitter, "Jacob deGrom's 97th pitch was 97 mph."

I tweeted this morning, "My gosh did you see the Mets' pitcher deGrom? That dude smoked the #Dodgers."

And now at the New York Times, "Straight Out of Hollywood: The New Guy Outpitches the Ace":

LOS ANGELES — Rawboned and gangling, he peered peek-a-boo over his glove, rocked and curled the ball behind his head. Sucking his lips hard against his teeth, he spun toward the plate, his right leg kicking up behind him, his hair a whirling dervish mop of locks.

All evening Friday, Jacob deGrom executed this delivery, tossing that most intriguing pitch: the seemingly effortless 97-98 miles per hour fastball. Some skidded sideways, others slithered downward. When for punctuation he tossed a couple of 3-2 changeups, the effect on the batters was almost unfair.

He completed seven innings, striking out 13 and walking just one. He gave up five hits. The Mets won, 3-1.

This was movie-set baseball playoffs on Friday evening. Fringed by palm trees and hills, Dodger Stadium sits against the backdrop of the San Gabriels, which turn red-hued as the sun sets. Add an autumnal heat wave, and the baseball crackled.

The Mets’ prospects did not look promising. The Dodgers started Clayton Kershaw, who is the arch deacon of National League pitchers. Zack Greinke will follow Saturday evening. Together they form the most fearsome pitching duo in the league.

The Mets’ young arms are formidable; their pitchers throw with microwave-dialed-high intensity. But Kershaw had been near unhittable of late. His style is sui generis. He stares samurai style into space somewhere over first base. Then he stretches his arms high over his head, like a cat in full stretch, and turns to the plate and unfolds a halting delivery. He has perhaps eight pitches, which arrive at speeds of between 97 and 74 miles per hour.

If you sit on his fastball, Kershaw’s changeup or sweeping curve can all but pull your shoulders out of sockets.

The Mets’ center fielder, Yoenis Cespedes, looking fashionable in his radioactive lime-green hitting sleeve, settled into the batter’s box in the first inning. Kershaw gave him a 96 m.p.h. hello. Two more strikes followed and Cespedes took a seat back in the dugout.

In his home stadium and throwing well, Kershaw should have been the story of the night.

But deGrom offered his own flip of that script. Friday’s matchup played as The Kid against the Ace; in fact, deGrom, 27, is just three months younger than Kershaw. His path to the majors had been as winding and tangled as Kershaw’s was straightforward.

DeGrom’s career plays as an improbable dice roll of chance, and a study in the tenuous nature of success for a pitcher. He played shortstop in college and only then turned to pitching. His statistics offered no hint of dominance.

The Mets drafted him in the ninth round. “We liked his attitude, and he was an athlete,” the Mets’ former general manager Omar Minaya said recently. “But you take a kid in the ninth round of the draft, you can’t claim you saw it all play out.”

The Mets’ staff is thick with golden boys. Their blond giant Noah Syndergaard got a signing bonus of $600,000 from the Toronto Blue Jays. Matt Harvey, the erstwhile Dark Knight, signed for a cool $2.5 million. (The Dodgers signed Kershaw to a bonus of $2.3 million.)

DeGrom signed for $95,000. The Mets packed him off to rural Tennessee and after six not-terribly-impressive starts he tore his ulnar collateral ligament. He embarked on a year of anonymous rehabilitation.

Somehow, improbably, his fastball gained a foot of hop. The kid who threw 93 now touches 98 m.p.h.. And he became a more polished pitcher; Johan Santana, who was rehabbing his shoulder, taught him to throw a changeup. He also broke a finger castrating a calf, which set him back. He finally made it to the majors last year, at age 26. Kershaw pitched his first season at age 20.

DeGrom throws with an insistent urgency, as if intent on wasting no more time...

Keep reading.

And see Bill Plaschke, at LAT, "Dodgers' Don Mattingly makes right call to pull Clayton Kershaw."

Scores Dead in Suicide Bombings at Peace March in Turkish Capital (VIDEO)

From Color Me Red, on Twitter, "Massacre in Turkey...at least 86 reported dead after bombing."

More at Weasel Zippers, "Video of terrorist bombing in Turkey," and Reuters, "Video captures moment of deadly Turkey blast."

And at the Telegraph UK, "Turkey bomb massacre kills 86 and injures over 180 at pro-Kurdish peace rally":

Warning: The video in this article shows the moment a bomb explodes at the peace rally killing at least 86 people and injuring over 180. Contains distressing scenes.

A double attack believed to be the work of suicide bombers on a march in the Turkish capital Ankara yesterday killed 86 people and injured more than 180 others in the worst terrorist outrage in the country’s modern history.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which was captured in dramatic video footage taken by a cameraman filming the start of the demonstration. A group of young activists doing a traditional Turkish dance flinch and duck as an sheet of orange flame punctures the sky behind them.

They had been setting off on a protest backed by the pro-Kurdish HDP political party and leftist secular groups calling for the government to make peace with the Kurdish guerrilla group, the PKK.

One of the men who can be seen in the video, Goksel Ilgin, told The Sunday Telegraph how the massive blast erupted right behind him.

“We started dancing the ‘halay’ dance as we were cheerful and determined to promote peace,” said Mr Goksin, who can be seen at the far right of the picture wearing a blue cardigan and jeans. “Then we heard a sudden blast about 15 metres behind us.

"After the explosion I was overcome by shock. I fell on my knees, and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Then 15 seconds later there was a second blast. We saw flags and pieces of bodies flying into the air.

"People were injured and running around unconsciously. It took ten to fifteen minutes for someone to slap me to get over the shock. She told me to walk fast and scream. I did and started to feel better.

"But I will never forget the smell of burned human flesh. Even after I left the scene, I couldn't help feeling it. So my friends made me smell some flowers and perfume to stop it. It took a few hours to smell the air again. I am OK now but I will never forget it."

Keep reading.

Also, at the Wall Street Journal, "Pair of Explosions in Turkey’s Capital Kill at Least 86 People."

Black Bear Caught on Video in Monrovia (VIDEO)

This is no ordinary bear either. It's a huge black bear with a deep brown coat.

He was just chilling around the neighborhood. A grown man would not be able to fight off a bear that size with his bare hands.

What a trip.

Watch, at CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Large Bear Roams Monrovia Neighborhood."