Mike Trout Hits Grand Slam Into 'Trout Net' in 13-7 Win Over Rangers at Angel Stadium (VIDEO)

Folks are starting to describe Mike Trout with words like "magical" and "historic."

He's still only 23-years-old.

At Bleacher Report, "Mike Trout Crushes Grand Slam, Ball Lands in Fan's 'Trout Net'."

And at the O.C. Register, "Angels star Mike Trout's grand slam caught in the 'Trout Net'":

ANAHEIM – Just when we all might think that Mike Trout’s heroics can’t possibly get any more spectacular, the Angels’ reigning AL MVP did something magical Sunday once again.

In the sixth inning of the Angels victory over the Texas Rangers, Trout blasted Spencer Patton’s 93 mph, down-and-in fastball into the Angel Stadium bleachers in right center field for a grand slam.

But this was a grand slam dunk, the home run landing in the 2-foot-diameter netted basket of the “Trout Net” sign held high by Angels fan Jonathan Plaza, who was standing in the second row of the stands in Section 240.

Trout’s grand slam, the third of his career, gave the Angels an six-run lead en route to a 13-7 victory. It was Trout’s second home run of his 4-for-4 day, and his league-leading 31st of the season.

Just before Trout came to the plate with the bases loaded, Plaza, 25, of Santa Ana, borrowed back his homemade net sign from the young fans standing in the row in front of him.

“I said, ‘Let me have it back because I have a hunch something’s going to happen,’” Plaza recalled. “Then Trout hit it. I saw the ball. It was going deep. I jumped up with the sign and I caught it.”

This was the first home run Plaza has ever caught, but not the first baseball Trout has been sending his way.

Plaza and his son, Alexander, who turns 4 in September, have made their Trout Net a ballpark fixture since this season’s home opener. That was the first day they came with their sign, a red-netted ring topped by the white letters “Trout Net,” with Trout’s number, “27,” and photos of a diving Trout around the rim.

Alexander first held up the sign at the opener and several other home games. Trout has spotted the sign and made a habit of trying to lob baseballs into the net during warmups. Right fielder Kole Calhoun has also taken aim at the Trout Net.

Earlier this season, Trout posted a photo of Alexander with the Trout Net and the message, “I see you out there bud!” on Instagram.

"Magical."

See what I mean?

More at that top link.

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Mike Trout's grand slam leads Angels in 13-7 win over the Rangers."

The Coming (and Hilarious) Democrat Implosion

From Kurt Schlichter, at Town Hall:

Republicans fear a repeat of 1992, with a squishy Bush at the head of the ticket watching helplessly as some populist businessman/novelty act hands the election to a Clinton. But Democrats should fear the far more likely repeat of 1968.

Ah, the 1968 convention … just thinking of it brings a smile to the face of every normal American. Let’s start with hordes of Chicago cops kicking the psychedelia out of dirty hippies. Footage of all-American flatfoots clocking VC-flag waving pinkos with nightsticks is more erotic than a hundred “Fifty Shades” books. Just thinking about it makes me want to light up a Marlboro and cuddle.

Then there was the fun and games inside the convention hall – nothing like blue stater on blue stater fratricide to quicken the pulse and put a spring in your step. That glorious intramural warfare led to a Republican president. It may well again in 2016.

Back in 1968, the Democrat Party was divided between liberals who loved America and liberals who hated everything about it. The situation is a little different now, with today’s Democrat Party divided between liberals who hate everything about America and liberals who really, really hate everything about it.

The delightful scene at Netroots where Martin O’Malley was forced to do penance before a jeering crowd of washed-out undergrads for the sin of saying “All lives matter” was a harbinger of the future. The Democrats are on the verge of being sucked into their own vortex of progressive insanity that will bar them from any chance to reach out of their psychotic echo chamber to normal Americans. It serves them right...

He's good!

More at that top link.

99 Ranch Supermarket Replaces Ralphs Grocery Store in Alhambra, Stirring Backlash

Damned rednecks, heh.

I've got a 99 Ranch right across the street in my Korea- and China-town neighborhood. Hardly anyone speaks English over there. Spanish maybe, since there's also a hand-car wash at the shopping center as well.

Welcome to 21st century California. You'd think those Alhambra yokels would get with the program.

At the Los Angeles Times, "In Alhambra, an Asian market replaces a Ralphs and stirs cultural anxiety":

As classic diners and soda fountains gave way to double-decker strip malls packed with Chinese restaurants, Margie Myers, a resident of Alhambra for 64 years, didn't say much.

She weathered friends and neighbors moving away and endured the steady retreat of English from storefront signs.

But the change she couldn't accept came in June, when the Ralphs on Alhambra's Main Street closed and was replaced by 99 Ranch, an Asian supermarket.

"I know the city's changing," Myers said. "That's just inevitable. But does it have to change our supermarket?"

Few hallmarks of demographic change generate as much controversy as the death of the neighborhood grocery store.

This spring, Alhambra residents packed City Council meetings at the news that the Ralphs on Main Street was closing, though the city had no role in the renting of the space. Rumors flew of Chinese ownership driving up rental prices to kick Ralphs out, though the property owners are not Chinese and Ralphs decided not to renew an expiring lease.

The debate over Ralphs contained all the fears and frictions found in any rapidly changing community. Longtime residents couldn't accept that demographic change had reached their grocery baskets. Immigrants and newcomers complained of xenophobia and racism in the opposition's protests.

Alhambra's conflict echoes in communities across the Southland. Latino grocery stores move into South Los Angeles and a mini-Wal-Mart battles for market share in Chinatown, said Min Zhou, a professor of sociology at UCLA.

"It's almost like all of the fear and anxiety over demographic change focuses on a grocery store," Zhou said.

Since Ralphs Store No. 199 closed in March, Myers has been driving three miles farther to Pavilions in South Pasadena for her groceries. It's a short journey that begins in one era of the city and takes her through another.

She backs her Chevy Tahoe out onto a quiet tree-lined street of ranch-style homes. Her father, an Army veteran and former professional baseball player, bought their house new in 1947 for $10,700, and the city identified it as a historic neighborhood in 2005. She's lived here all her life...

Embrace the suck, lady. Oops, I mean embrace the change! Embrace the change!

More.

Is This the End of Christianity in the Middle East?

Melissa Clouthier tweets a powerful yet depressing report at the New York Times, "Do American Christians care?"

Again, a longer piece. Better get a cup of coffee before chilling with it.

Horror: Woman Killed After Sucked Into Escalator at Shopping Center in China

It was monster escalator that sucked her down into the jaws of death.

This is freakin' unbelievable. The only consolation is that she was able to save her baby.

Truly horrific. Rescuers found her body only hours later.

At LAT, "China aghast as woman crushed by escalator at shopping mall."

Here's the video: "Woman's shocking escalator death sparks calls for answers in China."

#StopIranRally

I couldn't make it up to L.A. yesterday, which is a bummer. Looks like it was a big event.

At ABC 7 News Los Angeles, "Hundreds protest Iran nuclear deal in Westwood."

BONUS: At ABC 10 News San Diego, "San Diegans protest Iran Nuclear Deal."

#Cuckservative

That hateful Deutschephysik Twitter account was tweeting the #Cuckservative hashtag over the weekend. ICYMI, "Deutschephysik: Gotta Be a Parody Account, Right?"

Actually, I'm not sure that was a parody account.

But no fear, Robert Stacy McCain is here with the lowdown. See, "About the #Cuckservative Thing: By Whom Is the ‘New Right’ Being Trolled?" Also, "Notes on Survival Amid the Madness."

Rae Returns for Zoo Today

Here, "Rae: behind the scenes pictures and videos from her rude poolside return!"

Watch: "Rae hits the pool in her very rude return! | ZOO Magazine."

Donald Trump Destroys the 'Conventional Wisdom Establishment', is Boon to GOP

From Mary Matalin, at the Trump symposium at Politico, "'Donald Trump is not only not hurting the GOP, he is a boon to it'":

With apologies to, and respect for, my conservative friends and colleagues, Donald Trump is not only not hurting the GOP, he is a boon to it.

Candidates would be well advised to pay close attention to the forensics of his approach, and apply their own unique personalities and policies to their campaign efforts. And the GOP leadership should quit insulting him, giving him an excuse to mount a third party candidacy.

Among other strategic and tactical triumphs, Trump is exhibiting in pulsing neon colors the contemporary political parallel universes of Common Sense America and Conventional Wisdom Establishment. CS America is, and has been for some time been, so over the incompetent, posturing national politicians as well as their irrelevant agenda issues and their counterproductive policies. They are aching for candidates with authenticity who will address their everyday concerns. AND do not presume a preference for their common sense world makes them redneck philistines.
.
Further he is exposing the multiple fallacies of CW Establishment politics, to wit: appealing to nontraditional GOP voters requires narrow and corrupt Identity Politics tactics; message resonance demands mandatory acceptance of any and all CW Politically Correct premises, including gratuitous, phony, solicitous kowtowing to the media; that strict avoidance of establishmentarian “third rail” issues is political kamikaze.

Once he gets to the debates, he will have to connect his bombastic iconoclastic antics to authentic policy prescriptions, as well as demonstrate his potential effectiveness by past performance metrics

Bottom line: he will not blow up, but could pump up overly-reserved candidacies.

See the full symposium, "How Does Trump End?"

Plus, at CBS News New York "Trump Rising In Polls."

PREVIOUSLY: "Surging Donald Trump Leads GOP Field in New Hampshire, Second in Iowa, New Poll Shows."

China Stocks Plunge Amid Fears of Beijing Pulling Back

I just love the smell of Chinese markets crashing in the morning.

At the Wall Street Journal, "China Stocks Tumble 8.5%, Calling Into Question Beijing’s Ability to Prop Up Market":

Chinese shares suffered their biggest one-day drop in more than eight years, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars of market value and calling into question the effectiveness of Beijing’s recent efforts to prop up the market.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which includes China’s biggest companies, fell 8.5% to 3725.56, with the losses coming mostly during a hectic last two hours of trading on Monday afternoon. More than two-thirds of the 1,114 companies included in the index fell by the 10% daily maximum allowed under local market rules.

The smaller Shenzhen market fell 7% to 2160.09, bringing its losses to 31% since it hit a record high in mid-June.

Traders and analysts listed several reasons for the sudden slide, which came amid relatively thin trading volumes. Some cited fears about the effect of an unwinding of heavy borrowing that investors have used to buy shares. Others pointed to concern that the government could soon pull back on its recent attempts to underpin the market.

A spokesman for China’s top securities regulator tried to allay some of these concerns, saying late Monday night that the government will step up its purchases of stocks. Zhang Xiaojun, spokesman at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said the CSRC-owned company that has been buying up battered shares didn’t “exit” the market. Mr. Zhang said the company, called China Securities Finance Corp., will “increase its holdings” of stocks “at appropriate times” and will continue to fulfill its role in “stabilizing the market.”

Mr. Zhang also pledged to root out any “malicious” stock sales by individuals that authorities think could wreak havoc on the market.

Monday’s big decline shows investors have become skeptical of the market and of the government’s ability to control it. China’s stock market has a history of volatility, and government-engineered bull markets have sometimes ended with spectacular selloffs that left stocks languishing for years.

China’s top leaders, currently gathering for their annual summer talks at the northern seaside town of Beidaihe, will have on their agenda what further action they can take to bring stability back to the stock market and to prevent the market’s problems from spreading to other parts of the economy...

Keep reading.

Margaret Sullivan's 'Public Editor's Comment' for Botched New York Times Report on Hillary Clinton's Emails

ICYMI at the time, see Instapundit, "PATHETIC: HILLARY CLINTON’S CAMPAIGN ‘STEAMROLLED NYT FOR A REWRITE’ (AND GOT IT)."

And now from ombudsman (woman) Margaret Sullivan, at the Old Gray Lady, "A Clinton Story Fraught With Inaccuracies: How It Happened and What Next?"

No one trusts the Times to report critically --- much less accurately --- on anything the puts Hillary Clinton in a bad light. And no public editor's non-apology is going to change that fact. The leftist bent of the newspaper is too deeply embedded. When conservatives run for office, they're not just running against Democrat candidates. They running against the entire Democrat Media Complex, whose CINC is NYT chairman Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.

Dog-Walker Attacked by One-Eyed Wild Boar

Right out of "Game of Thrones.

Gnarly.

Her wounds required 10 stitches on her legs.

At the Sydney Morning Herald, "Canberra woman attacked by wild pig in Jerrabomberra."

At 71, Keith Richards Still Enjoys His 'Early Morning Joint'

Whatever gets you through the night, or the morning, as the case may be.

At the Independent UK:

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, 71, still enjoys 'an early morning joint' http://t.co/aAN5rTpq0o pic.twitter.com/Kf11nA9CaZ

— The Independent (@Independent) July 27, 2015

Morning Selfie from Kate Upton

It's sometimes weird to see big celebrity tweets pop up in your TL. And Kate Upton doesn't tweet a whole lot in any case.

She looks great, here.

Obama Meets with Ethiopia Leaders for Talks on Terrorism, Human Rights and Regional Security

At Time, "Obama Arrives in Ethiopia, a Favored Ally In Spite of Human Rights Abuses."

And at USA Today, "Obama talks about security and human rights in Ethiopia."

Surging Donald Trump Leads GOP Field in New Hampshire, Second in Iowa, New Poll Shows

Heh, those McCain comments only boosted Trump's

This is a NBC, via Memeorandum, "NBC/Marist Polls Show Donald Trump Running Strong in Iowa, NH."

And at WSJ, "Donald Trump Tops GOP Field in New Hampshire, Second in Iowa: Poll":

NBC-Marist poll of NH: Trump 21%, Bush 14%, Walker 12%, Kasich 7%

— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) July 26, 2015

NBC-Marist poll of Iowa: Walker 19%, Trump 17%, Bush 12%, Carson 8%, Huck 7%

— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) July 26, 2015

Donald Trump isn’t just the leading Republican candidate in the national polls – a barometer of name recognition – he is now looking strong in the early presidential nominating states where voters are paying attention.

An NBC News/Marist poll released Sunday found the New York developer in first place among New Hampshire GOP primary voters and two percentage points behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Iowa.

Mr. Trump carries 21% of the New Hampshire GOP primary electorate, a decisive lead over second-place Jeb Bush, who had 14%, the poll found. In Iowa, Mr. Trump is at 17%, with Mr. Walker at 19%.

The poll found a strong early showing in New Hampshire for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who at 7% is in fourth place among GOP voters there. Mr. Kasich, who formally launched his presidential campaign Monday, has just 2% support in Iowa, good for 11th place among the 17 Republican candidates tested.

Until now, Mr. Trump had been in the lead of national polling but Mr. Walker and Mr. Bush led opinion surveys in Iowa and New Hampshire, home to the nation’s first two presidential nominating contests.

Mr. Trump campaigned Saturday in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where he attacked the Wisconsin governor for the first time. Mr. Trump said “the gloves are off” after a fundraiser for Mr. Walker called Mr. Trump “DumbDumb” in an invitation to an event later this week.

Mr. Trump’s polling rise comes as he seems to have weathered the initial public storm over his belittling of Sen. John McCain’s war record. The NBC/Marist poll was conducted before and after Mr. Trump said Mr. McCain “is not a war hero.” Mr. Trump’s standing in Iowa increased after he made the incendiary remark, though he lost ground in New Hampshire, according to the poll.

Perhaps working in Mr. Trump’s favor is that twice as many Republican voters in both Iowa and New Hampshire said they’d prefer a GOP nominee who shares their positions on issues over one who has the best chance of retaking the White House for the party...

Still more, and at Memeorandum.

Trump's unfavorables are high but he's really connecting on the issues with base Republicans in the early states. The GOP establishment is seething with anger at Trump, which is the second stage in the five stages of grief.

Sunday Cartoons

Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



Also at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Fight Club," and Theo Spark, "Cartoon Round Up..."

More at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

Cartoon Credit: IBD.

Camille Leblanc-Bazinet

Nice legs.

On Twitter:

#impossibleisntfar pic.twitter.com/Wj0R5kQxZb

— Camille l.bazinet (@CamilleLbaz) July 26, 2015

Democrat Party's Future Isn't as Sound as You'd Think

A interesting (but long) piece from Suzy Khimm, at the New Republic, "The Obama Gap: A Case Study in Electoral Failure":

Obama’s electoral victories in 2008 and 2012 seemed to herald a new era of Democratic dominance built on a winning coalition of young and minority voters, one that would indicate a long-term, structural advantage for Democrats. It seemed to be the scenario John Judis and Ruy Teixeira famously predicted in 2002, at the nadir of Democratic influence during the Bush administration, in their book The Emerging Democratic Majority. Increasing urbanization, education, and racial diversity offered “fertile ground for the Democrats’ progressive centrism and postindustrial values.” A few days after the 2012 election, Teixeira, writing for The Atlantic, pointed to Obama’s success with minority voters over Mitt Romney (80 percent to 18 percent); with educated professionals (55 percent to 42 percent); and among young voters (60 percent to 37 percent). He reminded readers that Obama was “the first Democratic president since Franklin Roosevelt to win successive elections with more than 50 percent of the vote, powered by the continuing rise of the coalition described in the book.” As Teixeira recently told me, while Democrats must be mindful of not continuing to hemorrhage white voters, “the advantages, all else equal, continue to increase.”

But set Obama’s impressive electoral victories aside and the Democrats look less like an emerging majority and more like a party in free fall: Since Obama was sworn in six years ago, Democrats have suffered net losses of 11 governorships, 30 statehouse chambers, more than 900 statehouse seats, and have lost control of both houses of the U.S. Congress. After the 2014 midterm rout, Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg penned a memo deeming it “remarkable”—an understatement—that voters had given Republicans so much control so soon after giving Democrats Rooseveltian wins nationally. The implications, Rosenberg warned, were dire: “The scale of Republican success in recent years outside the Presidency has altered the balance between the two parties now, and may even leave the GOP a stronger national party than the Democrats over the next decade.”

That has been the experience in Florida. Since 2008, the GOP has solidified its control of the Sunshine State. Republicans now hold every statewide office in Florida except for the Senate seat of Bill Nelson, a former astronaut who was first elected to Congress in 1979. In the statehouse, Republicans command a supermajority, which they used to create a redistricting map so heavily weighted in their favor—one congressional district was so convoluted it resembled a snake—that they were forced by a county court in 2014 to redraw it. And it’s all happened in the home of Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Florida reveals the existential challenges the Democrats confront. The emerging Democratic majority may be an opportunity that Obama turned into reality. But unless Democrats find better ways to turn out their new voters—and win back more of the white voters flocking to the GOP—the party will continue to lose ground in Congress, governors’ mansions, and statehouses across the country—regardless of who wins the White House in 2016. To do that, Democrats will need better ways to organize their traditional party apparatus—or find new ways to leverage outside groups and spending to strengthen their ties with new voters before Republicans do. “Our party has a problem,” Wasserman Schultz said in a post-midterm “autopsy” video. “We’ve got to do better.”

Lots more at the link, and worth a read, but you'll need to grab a beer and chill with it for awhile.

Deals on Men's Classic Clothing

Good until July 31st, at Amazon, Shop Amazon Fashion - Men's Classic Clothing.

Plus, still hot for summer reading, Kirsten Powers, The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech.