Angels appreciate Matt Thaiss back behind the plate

• May 14, 2023

CLEVELAND — After a slow start to the season, Matt Thaiss’ bat is heating up, and he’s helped the Angels find some stability at a position hit hard by injuries.

The Angels catcher is hitting .432 since going 0 for 12 to start the season, allowing him to settle into the lineup as the Angels navigate injuries with Logan O’Hoppe (torn labrum) and Chad Wallach (concussion).

“It was a slow start, but he wasn’t getting much consistent playing time,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said. “It’s tough when you’re here in that role and then kind of make an impression, if you will. Logan carried the load for most of it there those first few weeks until he was hurt, and now Thaissy’s getting his chance. I couldn’t be more happy for him, the way he’s handled it and gone about his business.”

The Angels have relied on Thaiss as their starter after he played just four times in the first 15 games, and he responded to the call with five multi-hit performances in his past 15 games, including a two-hit night Friday that boosted his season average to .327.

“It feels good,” Thaiss said. “Anything I can do to help this team win and put together good at-bats, get out there and get on base for the hitters we have in this lineup. Not trying to do any damage or anything like that because of how deep our lineup is. It’s kind of just a passing-the-baton kind of thing.”

He’s had an opportunity to show the progress he’s made at the position after going almost five years without playing it.

Thaiss was a catcher with Virginia prior to being drafted in 2016, but he didn’t pick the position up again until he was with Triple-A Salt Lake in 2021.

After making his major-league debut at catcher last season, Thaiss – who mainly played third base, first base and outfield in the big leagues prior to 2022 – has played exclusively at catcher and designated hitter this season.

“He’s done a heck of a job behind the plate defensively,” Nevin said. “It’s gotten to the point where the pitchers really feel comfortable with him. I think that’s going to start showing in the results with our pitchers, too.

“He’s such a student of it. He works so hard to study it, game planning and everything, and he follows it so well. He creates his own moments really well. Love having him back there.”

SHOHEI AND CATCHER INTERFERENCES

Shohei Ohtani drew his fifth catcher interference of the season Friday in the fifth inning when he hit the glove of Guardians catcher Sam Gallagher mid-swing.

Ohtani has five catcher interferences this season. No other MLB player has more than two.

Nevin believes the quirky stat has come as a result of Ohtani standing back in the box to give him more time to swing – and give himself a higher probability of making contact.

“It’s his bat path,” Nevin said. “He loves to let the ball get deep, and he knows he can get balls deep in the contact space. If a catcher gets too close, it’s just part of it. He knows he can foul balls off back there. He’s not trying to hit the catcher, obviously, but he knows if he can get a piece of the bat on it, it can serve an at-bat.”

WALSH IN TRIPLE-A

First baseman Jared Walsh played the first game of his rehab assignment in Triple-A on Friday, going 0 for 2 with two walks.

Nevin said Walsh will play five or six innings again Saturday and see how he feels after the weekend before judging how many more games he’ll need before joining the team.

“He felt great,” Nevin said. “He did say his timing was way off, but (I said), ‘Yeah, you haven’t played baseball in a long time.’ That’s the least of our worries. He came out feeling great and he woke up feeling great.”

AROUND THE BASES

Nevin said catcher Chad Wallach (concussion) has a “good chance” to come off the 7-day injured list Monday when the Angels start their next series in Baltimore. …

Top prospect Jo Adell is hitting .290 with a .390 on-base percentage and has totaled 13 home runs, which leads the Pacific Coast League. Nevin called Adell’s work “outstanding.” …

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 3-1, 3.41 ERA) at Guardians (RHP Tanner Bibee, 1-1, 4.30 ERA), 8:35 a.m. Sunday, Peacock, 830 AM

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​ Orange County Register 

Chris Roberts, former longtime UCLA broadcaster, dies at 74

• May 14, 2023

Chris Roberts, the former voice of UCLA football and men’s basketball for 23 seasons, died Friday morning from complications of Parkinson’s disease at his home in Glendora. He was 74.

Roberts was the play-by-play voice for 10 years at Long Beach State before making the move to UCLA. From 1992 to 2015, Roberts was the Bruins’ play-by-play broadcaster for both sports. He called 16 bowl games for the UCLA football team, including the 1994 and 1999 Rose Bowl games, and 19 trips to the NCAA tournament for the the men’s basketball team.

The highlight of his career was arguably the Bruins’ 1995 NCAA tournament championship run, capped by their title-game victory over Arkansas at the Kingdome in Seattle.

The decorated broadcaster, who was a four-time Golden Mike Award winner and a Hall of Fame member in the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association, also co-authored two books with Bill Bennett – “Stadium Stories: UCLA Bruins” and “UCLA Football Vault” – and worked in real estate. He also spent time coaching the Glendora High junior varsity baseball team.

Born as Bob LaPeer in Alhambra, Roberts grew up in Baldwin Park and played football, basketball and baseball at Baldwin Park High before continuing to play baseball at Cal Poly Pomona. He began his broadcasting career at KCIN in Victorville, then at KREO in Indio and KWOW in Pomona, where he announced high school and junior college sports. Other stops included KFXM in San Bernardino – where a program director asked him to change his name because someone else named Bob also worked there – as well as KUTE-FM, KFI-AM, KOST-FM and KMPC-AM.

Roberts is survived by his wife Ann LaPeer, son David LaPeer and daughter-in-law Yvette LaPeer, daughter Nichole Hijon-LaPeer, son-in-law Octavio Hijon and grandchildren Andrés, Santiago and Carmen.

According to a release from UCLA, Roberts’ family “requests that in lieu of flowers, in Chris’ memory, to please remember to provide love, guidance, and mentorship to those around you and in need. He was always proud and fond of the young broadcasters that he had the privilege to coach and mentor.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Has Scabby the Rat reached the end of his relevance?

• May 14, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — For decades, a giant, inflatable rat with beady eyes, sharp teeth and a pustule-covered belly has loomed over union protests, drawing attention to various labor disputes.

But in the era of TikTok and influencer culture, middle-aged Scabby faces a new challenge: staying relevant.

“It’s kind of unfortunate, changing times, older members of the public know exactly what the rat is for,” said James Smith, union activity administrator for the NYC District Council of Carpenters. “The newer generation sometimes doesn’t — one person thought that we were protesting a building that needed an exterminator.”

Nevertheless, Scabby isn’t collecting hard-won retirement benefits just yet. Most recently, he has been making the rounds at various picket lines in New York for the Hollywood writers strike organized by the Writers Guild of America East and other unions.

Scabby is the “true rat czar of New York City,” said WGA East communications director Jason Gordon, referencing the more fun title for the city’s new director of rodent migration.

At the picket line near HBO and Amazon’s New York offices on Wednesday, screenwriter Lisa Kron, 61, said she was “thrilled to see that we were being chaperoned by Scabby the Rat.”

She’s seen Scabby out and about during her four decades living in New York, but this was her first time picketing with the rat.

“It’s one of those great enduring symbols, it’s a great piece of visual protest,” she said. “It’s got humor and it’s got a shaming kind of message. And it’s very New York.”

“It’s an attention grabber,” said Benjamin Serby, a professor at Adelphi University who has written about the history of Scabby. “It’s something that just is very effective, for whatever reason, at making people walking by or driving by, stop and ask: ‘What’s going on here?’”

Although having a rat as a mascot seems quintessentially New York, Scabby the Rat was actually invented by a union in Chicago around the late 1980s (several claim credit), and other unions around the country quickly adopted the practice of using inflatables to draw attention to actions (pigs, roaches and cats are other popular inflatables to use as well, although they lack a catchy nickname).

There are many Scabbys. At another union action in March at a Petco, Marty Flash sat in the cab of his truck used to ferry one of the NYC District Council of Carpenters’ eight rats around (most unions have several, or borrow from unions that do). Most of the District Council’s rats, along with a generator and gas can, stay in a locker at union headquarters or in organizers’ trucks so they can be quickly deployed.

Flash, a carpenter for 35 years, has seen many reactions to the 10-foot-tall rat, which, at the moment, was towering over Union Square in the truck’s bed.

“In midtown Manhattan, it’s a tourist attraction. Little children get a real kick out of it. They come over, they want to touch it. Dogs are petrified of it,” he said. Flash said Scabby can inflate in about a minute and a half with a generator and deflate in about 30 seconds. Bigger rats — the rats range from 8 to 20-plus feet — can take 15 minutes to fill up.

Scabby’s name is a play on “scabs,” the derogatory term dating back to the 1800s for strikebreakers who cross picket lines to work. The oozing sores on his belly are a visual reference to the term. But Flash said workers at the sites visited by Scabby shouldn’t take offense, since the rat is protesting against contractors and companies, not the workers themselves.

“Some workers think that we are against them. We’re actually fighting to get them more money, better pay and better benefits,” he said. “But it’s perceived as the rat is calling them a rat or implying that they’re ‘less than.’ Which is not our intention. … It’s to imply that a rat contractor is not paying their workers the fair pay.”

Rats are made of PVC vinyl and cost between $8,000 to $20,000, according to Flash. One company, Blue Sky Balloons outside of Chicago, is responsible for most of the rats found in NYC. But they seem to be distancing themselves from the inflatables, The Guardian reported earlier this year. Blue Sky Balloons responded to an Associated Press query by saying they were new owners who weren’t associated with the rat, and didn’t respond to follow-up queries.

But Flash says his union still sends their rats to Big Sky for repairs, which can cost up to $2,000. Repairs are needed often since most are years or decades old — so the unions try to take good care of their rats.

“I baby this one with my life,” Flash said. “We have a pool of rats and generators that you take when you need. I just always keep mine with me because I’m familiar with this operation.”

Not everyone likes Scabby. Sometimes the inflatable rat gets slashed or attacked by anyone from random passersby to disgruntled workers at sites. The rat has often been the subject of legal challenges by the companies Scabby targets. If he blocks the sidewalk or street, police can boot him. But Scabby is a survivor, winning its most recent legal challenge in 2021, when the National Labor Relations Board ruled that it was a protected form of expression.

These days, Scabby also has to contend with new technology and social media. Its Facebook page, run by a retired union organizer, lets various unions post photos of Scabby at protests around the country, and some rats feature QR codes that give people information about campaigns. But Mike Piccirillo, president of Local 20 Carpenters Union, said a more recent addition to the union’s arsenal might overshadow Scabby.

“Our LED sign truck is a lot more effective than the rat,” he said. “I’ve been in construction for 25 years, and most New Yorkers are numb to the rat. They just walk by it. Now the LED sign with its flashing lights actually gets their attention.”

Yet — much like the currently surging rat population in New York — Scabby is unlikely to completely disappear anytime soon, as long as the rat keeps conveying his message of fair pay for workers.

“People are drawn to it in part because it’s like an ironic symbol of defiance,” Serby said. “Something about this giant, ugly, toothy kind of scary-looking rat makes people feel permitted to express anger and defiance and outrage at employers.”

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Saturday, May 13

• May 13, 2023

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Scores and stats from Orange County games on Saturday, May 13

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

SATURDAY’S SCORES

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

CIF-SS PLAYOFFS

Finals

DIVISION 3

El Segundo def. St. Margaret’s, 20-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-9

GIRLS LACROSSE

CIF-SS PLAYOFFS

Finals

DIVISION 3

Huntington Beach 12, Portola 9

Goals: (HB) Pilkington 4, Hazan 3, Ford 2. (Por) Zdanavage 6

Saves: (HB) Levine 3. (Por) Bebawy 5

SOFTBALL

CIF-SS PLAYOFFS

Semifinals

DIVISION 5

Irvine 5, Santa Paula 4

​ Orange County Register 

Shepherd Asta is a charmer who’s sweet as they come

• May 13, 2023

Breed: German shepherd

Age: 2 years

Sex: Neutered male

Size: 79 pounds

Asta’s story: Asta is sweet as honey. He has been featured at adoption events and is nothing but a gentleman around his furry friends, large or small! Not only is he a social butterfly, but he’s also incredibly smart. Asta knows how to sit and shake, and he’s excited to learn more tricks from his forever family. Although Asta is quick to befriend other dogs, he takes an old-school approach when it comes to humans. He prefers to go on several play dates before calling anyone his best friend, so we think he’ll do best in a home with very patient adults.

Adoption fee: Throughout May, adoption fees are waived for dogs 25 pounds and over. Those adopting dogs 25 pounds and over will not have to pay for microchipping, vaccinations, spaying or neutering and an anti-parasite treatment. Waived adoption fees do not include licensing fees or puppies six months of age or younger.

Adoption procedure: Call OC Animal Care at 714-935-6848 to pre-schedule your adoption visit. While pre-scheduled visits are available for convenience, walk-ins are welcome on a first-come, first-served basis at the  shelter, 1630 Victory Road, Tustin.

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Abortion fight: North Carolina governor vetoes 12-week limit, launches override showdown

• May 13, 2023

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — In front of an exuberant crowd, North Carolina’s Democratic governor vetoed legislation Saturday that would have banned nearly all abortions in his state after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

About 1,000 abortion-rights activists and voters watched on a plaza in the capital of Raleigh as Gov. Roy Cooper affixed his veto stamp to the bill in an unconventionally public display.

The veto launches a major test for leaders of the GOP-controlled General Assembly to attempt an override vote after they recently gained veto-proof majorities in both chambers. The bill was the Republican response to last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

“We’re going to have to kick it into an even higher gear when that veto stamp comes down,” Cooper told the crowd. “If just one Republican in either the House or the Senate keeps a campaign promise to protect women’s reproductive health, we can stop this ban.”

Andrea Long, a 42-year-old mother of three from Cary, said she was honored be part of an “electric” crowd on what she called a “historic day for freedom” in North Carolina.

“I couldn’t stop crying tears of joy seeing the governor hold up the veto stamp, but I know it’s an uphill battle to keep this momentum going,” Long said.

Cooper, a strong abortion-rights supporter, had until Sunday night to act on the measure that tightens current state law, which bans most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The legislation passed along party lines last week in the House and Senate. Override voting could begin next week.

Cooper spent this week on the road talking to North Carolinians about the bill’s lesser-known impacts and urging them to apply pressure upon key Republican lawmakers who were hesitant about further restrictions during their campaigns for office last year.

Republicans have pitched the measure as a middle-ground change to state abortion laws developed after months of private negotiations between House and Senate GOP members. It adds exceptions to the 12-week ban, extending the limit through 20 weeks for rape and incest and through 24 weeks for “life-limiting” fetal anomalies.

Senate leader Phil Berger accused Cooper on Saturday of “feeding the public lies” and “bullying” members of his party to block the legislation. “I look forward to promptly overriding his veto,” he said in a statement.

Cooper has said repeatedly the details contained in the 47-page bill show that the measure isn’t a reasonable compromise and would instead greatly erode reproductive rights. He cites new obstacles for women to obtain abortions — such as requiring multiple in-person visits, additional paperwork to prove a patient has given their informed consent to an abortion and increased regulation of clinics providing the procedure.

Cooper and allies have said those changes in practice will shut down clinics that cannot afford major upgrades mandated by new licensing standards and make it nearly impossible for women who live in rural areas or work long hours to access abortion services.

Compared to recent actions by Republican-controlled legislatures elsewhere, the broad prohibition after 12 weeks can be viewed as less onerous to those in other states where the procedure has been banned almost completely. But abortion-rights activists have argued that it’s more restrictive than meets the eye and will have far-reaching consequences. Since Roe was overturned, many patients traveling from more restrictive states have become dependent on North Carolina as a locale for abortions later in pregnancy.

Republicans call the legislation pro-family and pro-child, pointing to at least $160 million in spending contained within for maternal health services, foster and adoption care, contraceptive access and paid leave for teachers and state employees after the birth of a child.

Cooper has called out four GOP legislators — three House members and one senator — whom he said made “campaign promises to protect women’s reproductive health.” Abortion-rights activists passed out fliers in the crowd Saturday with their names and office phone numbers. Anti-abortion groups accused Cooper of trying to bully them.

“The way he’s been showing up in their districts and harassing their constituents, it’s disgusting,” said Wes Bryant, one of about 70 anti-abortion protesters gathered across the street from Cooper’s rally for a prayer event.

One of the House members Cooper singled out is Rep. Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County, who voted for the bill mere weeks after she switched from the Democratic Party to the GOP. The move gave Republicans a veto-proof supermajority if all of their legislators are present and voting.

Cotham has spoken out for abortion rights in the past and even earlier this year co-sponsored a bill to codify abortion protections into state law. Rep. Ted Davis of Wilmington — another targeted legislator — was the only Republican absent from last week’s initial House vote. The Senate margin already became veto-proof after GOP gains last November.

Davis said last fall that he supported “what the law is in North Carolina right now,” which was a 20-week limit. Davis has declined to comment on the bill, but House Speaker Tim Moore said recently that Davis is a “yes” vote for an override.

​ Orange County Register 

Man, woman dead after being hit by car while crossing Anaheim street

• May 13, 2023

A man and woman were killed after they were struck by a car while attempting to cross an Anaheim street Friday night, May 12, authorities said.

Anaheim police were called to the 1000 block of South Anaheim Boulevard and found the two pedestrians in the roadway, Sgt. Jon McClintock said.

The man died at the scene and the woman was treated, but died of her injuries at a hospital, McClintock said.

The pair was not in a crosswalk and was hit by a car traveling southbound, McClintock said. The driver of the car was not driving under the influence and was not arrested.

Further information about the pedestrians was not immediately available. They were not identified pending family notifications.

Video from OC Hawk, a freelance news videographer, showed a silver Toyota sedan with damage to the front right side.

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​ Orange County Register 

Blood stem cell donor meets 15-year-old whose life he saved in Los Angeles

• May 13, 2023

It was a heartfelt meeting, as San Jose resident Chuck Woo met the 15-year-old with blood cancer whose life he saved.

Woo met Darrian Lu for the first time Thursday in downtown Los Angeles. Lu, an Alameda teen on the autism spectrum, had been battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia for two years. Woo was his blood stem cell donor.

“As soon as I knew I was a match, I said, absolutely, there’s no question about it. As a parent, I wanted to help potentially save a life,” said Woo.

In November 2021, Lu had his life-changing transplant at the Oakland Children’s Hospital. He said he was excited and grateful to meet Woo for the first time.

The emotional reunion was made possible by nonprofit Be the Match, which helps patients with life-threatening blood cancers find bone marrow and stem cell donors, increasing access to cellular therapy.

Nearly half of the registry’s Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander patients currently do not have a matching blood stem cell donor on the Be The Match registry.

Organizers say eligible donors can help increase those odds by joining the free registry, with a health history form and a cheek swab sample, through a kit sent to their home. Anyone who meets healthy guidelines is welcome, and more donors of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and between the ages of 18 and 35, are most urgently needed.

As part of its campaign effort to reach more donors during Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Be The Match hosted a special live-streamed concert in Little Tokyo with singer-songwriter AJ Rafael, who is also a blood stem cell donor.

There are upcoming swab drives and donor events in L.A. and the Inland Empire. Visit BetheMatch.com for details and a list of events.

Related links

Where to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Los Angeles County
‘Ten Thousand Things’ podcast finds stories in objects owned by Asian Americans
Michael Milken urges medical, science communities to speed up cures
City of Hope bone marrow recipients virtually meet their donors, both German residents
City of Hope opens on-campus hotel in Duarte for patients, families

​ Orange County Register