#Dominicans were not joking when they coined

[thatscarletflycatcher]

My old arch-nemesis, we meet again ("it's all about the sex" academia)

[junker-town]

David Ortiz doesn’t miss playing, but he hasn’t left baseball behind in retirement

Big Papi is finding a balance in his post-Red Sox life

It’s hot in D.C. And by hot I don’t mean “oh boy I could sure go for some ice cream right now before I walk to the pool” hot I mean hot in the sense that if someone were to trace the origins of the word back to its inception I would not be surprised to find out ancient Germanic peoples created it to describe a death by 1,000 tiny flames.

It’s even hotter on the astroturf a group of MLB All-Star Game attendees is standing on a few blocks from Nationals Park while watching David Ortiz take part in one of the brand-mandated appearances he is committed to doing during All-Star Week festivities.

As the air temperature hovers somewhere between 90 degrees and “pure uncut death,” and the humidity bounces between 65 percent and “human life can not survive on this planet any longer,” the turf is 30 degrees hotter or more than the air and the kids-sized baseball field inlaid into the sweltering green swath isn’t endearing enough to distract from the dizziness that no amount of water can battle, the sweat constantly dripping between your shoulder blades, and the glances between others standing in small clusters waiting for the moment we can once again experience the relief of shade.

Yet David Ortiz, Red Sox legend and could-be Hall of Famer, is barely breaking a sweat. His face, unmarred by droplets and with his massive signature smile splitting across it as always, makes it seem like he’s a weather-immune mirage in this turf desert. A beacon of hope and illogical image for the rest of us standing around.

Oritz is more than dealing with the heat ably: he is genuinely happy to be out on this turf playing with a small core of energetic children wearing branded shirts. He tosses pitches, poses for pictures, and cracks jokes with volunteers and parents scattered around the faux-field. He has mainly come to All-Star Week to serve as one of the managers for the annual Futures Game, but Ortiz is also excited to simply be near baseball. While he has professional commitments for brand partners and the league, and admits several times that his handlers are keeping him as busy as any of the players in the actual All-Star Game, he’s in D.C. mostly because in retirement David Ortiz is happy to be around baseball as much as he wants to be — he’s still a part of the MLB family after he left an active roster.

Crucially, he’s excited to be able to not be around baseball when he doesn’t want to be as well.

Over a lunch of world-class barbecue, which Ortiz savored while filling a folding chair with his 6’3” frame, the artist known as Big Papi explained that the balance he has found in retirement is refreshing but he never wants to leave the baseball “fraternity” in which he spent so much of his life enmeshed. Noting the variety of friendships he experienced in the league, he expressed excitement about the increasing frequency of international players becoming close — Asian, Dominican, or Venezuelan guys more quick to bond with players from other countries.

When it comes to reminiscing about his playing days and what baseball means to him, he makes sure we don’t mistake his fond memories for retirement regret. He told Boston reporters before the Futures Game that “managing is not on [his] bucket list” and in between bites of pulled pork (the slider looking coin-sized in his hands) confirmed that he’s more than happy spending time with his family before his children are all off to college.

Managing for a day clearly fulfilled him, though, and allowed him to be around baseball and influence the next generation alongside longtime friend Torii Hunter, who was on the opposite side of the diamond managing against him. They teamed up to pass advice on to the game’s future stars, even if it was advice about situations Ortiz and Hunter never really had to deal with personally.

The risks of social media being one of the newer risks that both one-day managers are concerned about, and Brewers pitcher Josh Hader’s old and offensive tweets surfacing only a day after this lunch took place made it starkly clear why.

“You have social media, which you really have to be careful with, the way you’re posting or the way you get caught in things.” Ortiz said of what young players have to watch out for as they prepare to be professionals. “After you post something there’s no turning back. So you don’t want to get caught doing something or put yourself in a situation where you can end your own career doing something.”

Mentoring younger players is something Ortiz made sure to do during his career in Boston and something he values now, despite the game changing before his eyes. While in the locker room of the Futures Game, the size of these teen players shocked him.

“Everybody’s 6’4” right now. Only Altuve is below 6’4” but he acts like he’s 6’4” anyway,” he chuckle. “But these guys’ bodies are unbelievable, I feel like I was in an NBA locker room yesterday basically because everybody is so tall, so built up.”

He credits the bulk of players now for the increase in home runs and the increased effectiveness of the shift and doesn’t think this is simply because of baseballs or a flash in the pan for baseball. He said of the recent home run spike, “when [players] are that big, [players] are that strong, [they’re] not thinking about getting base hits. You know what I’m saying? It doesn’t matter what part of the lineup you’re hitting at.”

While he considers that one major factor, the time Ortiz has put into thinking about how changes in the game create waterfall effects all the way down to the developmental stage illuminates how fully he still embraces the game despite not being part of a front office or coaching staff. He sees young players in the Dominican being encouraged to only hit for power rather than with variety, which leads those players to be valued more highly and get available contracts, which in turn encourages other young guys to limit their own development in exchange for power and continue the cycle.

Meanwhile, in Ortiz’s eyes, managers on the mainland are then left with a more limited crop of player skills to use in games, curtailing the possibility of creativity and leading to power-oriented lineups. He sees managers willing to “do whatever it takes to win because otherwise their job will be in jeopardy” which is then limiting their willingness to take risks and not follow the crowd.

That’s not all Ortiz has thoughts on either. He joins much of the baseball community in ruminating on the fallout from the increase in teams’ use of the shift.

With his powerful bat he of course saw the shift “his whole life” but he now considers the frequency of its use “out of control.” Using the “struggling” Bryce Harper as an example (he still has 23 home runs on the season) Ortiz spelled it out.

“He’s going to be fine hitting home runs but batting average-wise you know how many times I’ve seen Harper hitting line drives between first and second or to the middle that is out? That is supposed to be a hit! I don’t know if you know what I’m saying but that is supposed to be a hit!”

While others in the media and on teams question Harper’s offense this year Ortiz lets him off the hook by saying that batting average almost doesn’t matter anymore for power hitters. He doesn’t commit one way or another on banning the shift, other then when talk turns to his former team it’s the most worked up he gets about any topic.

His former team is still his family as well, but the one part of the baseball world that Ortiz is careful not to be too involved in at the moment is the Red Sox. The team gave him a lifetime contract last fall so he can be as involved as he likes when he likes, and he does take advantage. He recently got in a spot of trouble with Alex Cora for promising he was coming to say hi and running late, missing his chance to mingle with his former teammate. But while he’s “very happy and proud” of his friend Cora, he’s acutely aware that too much of his presence in Fenway could backfire so soon after his retirement considering his legacy in Boston.

“I know I still can be a distraction so I don’t want to be around too much taking the attention away from the guys that are playing so I’m very careful with all of that,” Ortiz explains.

His bond with this team runs deep though, and he describes watching the 2018 team play like watching himself “because they’re doing everything the right way,” with some specific characteristics that Ortiz says he passed along while mentoring the young players who have grown into stars over the last few years.

He describes players like Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts as “part of what I am” and that “when the Red Sox are doing good it’s like something good is happening in my life” a sentiment that does not come across as at all exaggerated. His face lights up like the LED bulbs that hang over a ballpark whenever the team comes up. He sees himself in Betts’ body language, his enjoyment of the game. He sees himself in the swagger of players like J.D. Martinez, despite he and Martinez never overlapping on the roster. His identity is still so woven into that dugout and organization, which is why he’ll keep his distance for now and watch them succeed at a slight remove.

But it’s apparent that he will eventually return to the team he values above all else when the time is right, when there’s been enough of a gap that his presence won’t trigger immediate comparisons for the current players or distract from their accomplishments.

By the time he’s ready to return to the Red Sox in a more full time capacity, when his kids are out of the house and he’s gotten all of this free time out of his system, Boston might very well have another World Series trophy in the case. If that happens, which he believes will be the case either this year or soon, it would be the first championship the franchise wins without him in more than one hundred years.

When reminded of that, he laughs. His legacy was built in Boston and the last brick has been laid on that chapter, his Hall of Fame candidacy still up in the air but his number 34 forever retired from those jerseys. With his on-field accomplishments behind him it doesn’t bother him to watch his former team succeed without him. He was ready to retire when he did and has stayed busy in the time since, and happily.

So he’s more than comfortable being a mentor when he can, making sure he always makes time for photos and autographs when asked, and getting to watch a potentially all-time Boston team win on television rather than from his seat in the dugout. That laugh captures an entire career worth of satisfying outcomes, with not a retirement frustration in sight.

[mycasandstarrs]

SPN 4x10: “Heaven and Hell”

Eugh, Uriel.

“You’re some heartless sons of bitches, you know that?”

“As a matter of fact we are. And?”

OOOOHHHH FUCK YES. S4!CAS WAS SO GREAT.

Hmm, Cas has a rather interesting reaction to Uriel saying “She’s worse than this abomination you’ve been screwing.”

Cas kinda looking like he doesn’t want to be there.

Uriel goes after Ruby, Dean goes after Uriel, and Cas calmly approaches Sam.

Sam’s first time calling him Cas!

lmao, Cas just put him to sleep. He thought “You really thought you could call me Cas? Sorry, our friendship has to be at a Level 10 to unlock that upgrade.”

Our first angel banishment.

Dean helps Ruby up, in one of 5 moments of solidarity between them.

This is the first time Dean sees the angel banishment sigil...but he goes on to credit Cas for it.

To Bobby’s!

Hmmm, Dean thanked Ruby a lot quicker there for the hex bags.

And Ruby looks...happy about that. B u t knowing her, she might be happy that she can further infiltrate and manipulate them more now.

Oh Dean, don’t lie. Even if it’s just to keep her happy.

Lmao, Dean asked about the car first. Sam reassures him she’s fine.

Bobby’s in the Dominican! Unlike Sam and Dean, I hope he’s on vacation because he most certainly deserves one.

Huh, so at 2 years old Anna sensed her dad wasn’t her real dad and that her real father was “wanted to kill her mad.” Yikes.

“You’re confusing porn with reality again.” ...what were the other times?

lmao Ruby.

Pamela!

“Any chance I can dick over an angel, I’m taking it.” hoo boy, who’s gonna tell her?

I loved Pamela’s sense of humor.

Sam hangs out by the door, close to Ruby. Dean is closer to Anna.

Oh boy, this ain’t going well.

Wow, Dean.

The change in demeanor from Anna Milton to Anna the angel is incredible.

Anna was the boss of them.

“I disobeyed...which, for us, is about the worst thing you can do. I fell.”

The first mention of an angel’s grace.

Ruby silently freaking out, lol.

“You’re pretty buff for a nerd.” She ain’t wrong.

Ruby’s tapping out. Well, she’s suggesting it.

Alastair AKA “Picasso with a razor.”

Oohh crap, the demon blood mention.

Conversations between Sam and Ruby always tend to go downhill somehow.

And now the other side of the coin: Dean and Anna.

Dean wants to know why he was saved. Hoo goodness.

“Why would you fall?”

“There’s loyalty...forgiveness...love.”

(I could have sworn there was a gifset of Cas displaying those traits.)

Anna doesn’t want to be an angel.

“Feeling are overrated.” lowkey same, lol

“Beats being an angel.”

I just keep thinking about S9, human Cas, and the conversation he and Dean have after Cas takes another angel’s grace as his own. I keep thinking about Dean asking Cas if he’s sure that he wants to be an angel again; did Dean remember this conversation with Anna? 

Dean’s idea of angels: “You guys are powerful and perfect. You don’t doubt yourselves or God or anything.” This could only come from what he’s seen from Cas...and Uriel.

At this point, only 4 angels have seen God.

Anna is practically complaining about her people watching job vs Cas who tells Sam in S8 “it never gets old”. AKA Cas always seemed to enjoy it.

Sam the interrupter.

An interesting take on Team Free Will.

He’s actually got a point. “It’s just an angel and a demon riding in the backseat. It’s like the setup to a bad joke...or a Penthouse Forum letter.”

Again with the porn.

The grace is gone. Everyone collectively has a “well, shit” moment.

“Dean Winchester gives us Anna by midnight or we hurl him back to damnation.” Damn, ok.

Dean wanted to get Bobby back, hahaha. 

Oh lord, it’s about to happen.

“Maybe I don’t deserve to be saved.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“We’ve all done things we gotta pay for.”

Something inside of me cried out in pain when Dean looked so surprised that someone went to caress his face gently. Oh, honey.

Yeah yeah yeah, kiss him and get on with the sex.

“Ready for Love” by Bad Company. You know what, I still can’t listen to this song without getting hot and bothered. This show ruined me.

Oh my god, the back muscles. i need all the holy water and the forgiveness of our lord and savior.

Oh look CAS’ HANDPRINT In fine print you can see: “Don’t touch. Property of Castiel.”

And the Titanic thing, ha ha.

Ruby sneaking out...

Alastair.

“We must revoke your membership.”

Ruby tried to bargain for her and the Winchester’s safety.

But it was a trap, of course it was.

Uriel...you’re a pain in my ass.

Oh, it’s a dream.

“See he has this weakness. He likes you.”

oooohhhhhh!!!!!! Dean’s facceee!!!!!!

(x)

Dean tries to lie about Anna having her grace and it backfires spectacularly. 

Oohhh, the taunting about having sex with Anna...which gives us the”Ken doll” taunt, which we’ll be hearing again.

“This is a whole lot bigger than the plans we got for you, Dean.You can be replaced.” 

Being Michael’s vessel would definitely qualify as “bigger plans”.

Adam is currently around soo....

(And hell, in Apocalypse AU, John died before he could father Sam, Dean OR Adam. When the time came for the Apocalypse to start, they *did* get someone else, a non Winchester...Uriel wasn’t kidding or bluffing.)

Poor choice of words, Dean. 

I hate Ruby...but I can’t stand to see her being tortured like this.

And I have to admire her smarts here.

Dean’s drinking.

Dean brought the angels...

The most subtle indication that Dean is the reason the angels are here: Cas’ gaze.

Dean and Anna kiss...AND IF YOU TRY TO TELL ME THAT THE LOOK IN CAS’ FACE ISN’T JEALOUSY, I WILL CLOG MY EARS SO I CAN’T HEAR YOU.

Ruby brings the demons.

“You sanctimonious, fanatical prick.”

Hot damn, I love me some S4 commanding Cas. “Leave now...or we lay you to waste.”

Cas went straight for Alastair!

And nearly died for it too!

RIP random demon.

Dean saves Cas! (Probably because of the whole “he likes you” thing. Besides Anna, Cas is the only other “good angel” Dean can have on their side, the only angel they can possibly get through to. But still, as a Destiel shipper, I’m overjoyed that Dean chose to save him.)

(x)

RIP random demon #2.

Anna takes her grace.

Good lord, Cas is beautiful.

Anna and Alastair are gone.

Awww, I half expected Cas to join the brothers.

Oh, it was Sam’s plan! I somehow never noticed this before???

Shit, he’s quoting Ruby.

It’s kinda neat how both Dean and Ruby know Anna’s truly miserable about being an angel again.

OH NOOOO NOT THIS SCENE.

I want to hug Dean so badly.

The fact that Dean even tried to keep count of how many souls he tortured and then he just lost count...

“for 30 years” is the single worst line of the monologue. It’s at least top 3 for me, because as soon as he says it, complete dread takes over. When you thought it couldn’t get worse, you’re neck deep in it.

Sam offers a feeble assurance with “At least you held out 30 years”. That’s the best thing can Sam could say, and I’m not saying there’s something better...except for maybe nothing at all.

With what Dean has gone through, now wonder he shuts out the pain and squashes down feelings. Confronting them hurts too damn much. i get it.

Jensen’s acting is absolutely phenomenal, he deserves every acting award for this.

No wonder I avoid this episode like the plague.

And finally, I want to hug Dean so very badly.

[goldeagleprice]

Coin Finds: Aim to be alert

Based on the long-running “Coin Finds” column in Coins Magazine, which will continue to appear in print, this online version will give additional exposure to the thrill of the hunt.

Submit your own discoveries via email to Coins Magazine editor Antoinette (Toni) Rahn at toni.rahn@fwmedia.com.

  In 1962, shortly after we were married, I saw an article in “Life” or “Look” magazine that stated: “Do you have any of these coins in your pocket?” One of them was a ’17-D dime, which I had.

That got me started.

In 1964, in a dollar changer at Hercules Powder Co. in Rocky Hill, N.J., I found a “42 over 41” in very fine condition. I traded it for some “classics” (1/2C, 2C, etc) worth $65. In two tavern sites near Pottsville, Pa., in 1967, my brother and I found many large cents using a metal detector. One was between stones in the foundation of a structure and actually had some mint luster.

In another tavern, not far away, we found a 1864-L Indian. We took turns digging and detecting that day, and it was fun. I also found the names of the taverns, which were Brewer’s and Wassers. I found them on a leather map in the Pottsville Historical Society Building.

Love your mag. Thanks.

Frank S.

  While “shopping” at my favorite bank (the tellers are very nice to me despite the amount of time I bother them for my ration of two rolls of one cents), one of the three beautiful tellers said to me, “I have a really weird quarter.”

She knows I’m a coin collector, which is why she asked me to look at the weird quarter. It’s a beautiful silver AU+ 1964 Washington 25-cent piece. I could not believe my find. I tried to pay her for said coin, but she cannot accept extra money for any coin. Sorry!

Rod T. Northfield, VT

  Although I started collecting coins later in life (late 20s, and today I’m in my late 50s), I (like so many other collectors) would go to the banks around town to get rolls of coins – mostly cents, but I’ve done nickels, dimes, quarters, and halves.

There is something about searching through the rolls. It’s the excitement of finding a coin that you did not have or an upgrade from the one you had. And, of course, the rare coin.

Over the past 30 years, I have found some nice older coins. Cent finds include a 1962 doubled-die Canadian cent, very pronounced. I have found 100 or more 1970-S, all in better grades. I have 1909-1929 G in better grades, having found at least 25 each year, except for the very rare ones; for those years I was happy to get one. I have a lot of 1930s, except for the first three years, 5-10 of each year, ’30, ’31, ’32, in very good to fine or better condition. With the 1940s and 1950s, I put them in a box. The Wheaties years I kept all “S” mintmarks separate, teens through ’50s, and I also did that with the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.

They are not a very high value, except to me. The bulk of the collection will be passed on. I’m hoping in the next few years I can get my grandson to catch the collecting fever, like me, so we can do it together until I cannot anymore.

Gary S. Upstate N.Y.

  The year was 1948. I was eight years old, and my father had promised to take me fishing as soon as he finished plowing the garden. But to keep me out of his way and out of his hair, he suggested that I search the newly turned soil for worms to use as bait. I fetched a can and began my search. The garden patch sat next to an old cemetery. It wasn’t too long before my bait can was quite full, so I sat down in one of the furrows.

As I sat down, I leaned back on my hands. I felt a stone under my hand, and when I picked it up, I saw it was rather flat and would be a perfect stone for skipping on the water while fishing. It felt a little rough while I was spitting on it and removing the dirt with my thumb. Then I looked at it closely and noticed some writing. I finally discovered that it was a large penny dated 1852 in very good condition. I took it to my father, who was amazed, and he surmised that I had discovered a coin that might have been in a coffin from the cemetery that, over the years, had rotted away; then the coin had traveled by rain power (underground) into my hand.

I still have that first coin, and it became the beginning of my collection.

H. Robinson

  I’ve been reading your magazine for the last four years. I really enjoy your “Coin Finds” section.

I found something interesting in circulation in Ontario, Canada, while I was still able to purchase $540 worth of pennies, both Canadian and American. In some of these American coins, I found four 1969-S doubled date and “S” doubled in MS-64 condition. Plus, I also found a 1968-S doubled date and doubles – three of them. I also found a 1943-S and 1943-D (all double punched).

I’ve been collecting coins since 1957. I’m now past 69 years old.

Jerry L.

  In Berlin, Vermont, at the Price Chopper store, the “Coin Star” is my favorite machine to explore.

I check the machine each and every time I go into the store. One of my very favorite stores to visit is the Price Chopper.

I have found one 1964 Roosevelt dime, in about AU shape – surprise! I will keep the dime for many moons for sure.

Today (April 1), I found four Roosevelt, non-silver; two 5-cent new coins; 21 cents; and a Canadian 5 cent from 2011 – all in the reject box. Wish I could do this every day. So no April Fool’s joke – honest my word.

R.T.

  On or around March 8, I went to reload my prepaid cellphone at one of my cellular provider’s various sale/service stations. My very basic monthly plan is $12 plus taxes. I paid the clerk $15, and when I got back my change, there was a weird-looking coin “playing the role of” a quarter. Close inspection of it exposed it as a 2008 Cayman Islands 25-cent piece.

That it came from the Caymans is what made it a weird find, given that where I live it is more likely for someone to find in pocket change stray coins from either Canada (because it is a U.S. neighbor and its coinage is very similar to that of the U.S. in terms of coin colors, diameters, and denominations, and we Coin Finders all know how easy it is for Canadian coins to find their way into U.S. circulation, which also spans Puerto Rico and the U.S.V.I.) or the Dominican Republic (because it is P.R.’s closest foreign neighbor, and my island has a long history of Dominican immigration, both legal and illegal, plus its minor coinage is also very similar to that of the U.S. with respect to colors, diameters, and denominations).

Leroy Vargas Hormigueros, Puerto Rico 

  Like many others, I always look through my change.

Yesterday, I received a 1968 Washington quarter. I’d say it’s a grade of Good on the obverse and VF on the reverse.

Finding that age and older makes me think of the past and what I was doing then.

Philip Deaugustino Hemet, CA

  I don’t know if it is much of a find, but I found in my loose change four Utah Statehood quarters with indents known as clashed die errors according to my error book.

I also found a Texas Statehood clashed die error quarter and a 2005-D dime with a long line from ear to rim.

Michael Hicks Mobile, AL

  Shortly after seeing the new 2010 Yellowstone quarter, my love affair with the buffalo, or American Bison, began. There were now buffalo pictured on four different currently circulating coins: the 2005 Kansas Statehood quarter, one of the 2005 Lewis & Clark nickels, the 2006 North Dakota Statehood quarter, and the 2010 Yellowstone quarter.

In an effort to acquire as many buffalo as possible for my “herd,” my wife and I will print out tickets at the local casino with usual amounts in excess of 75 cents. This results is each of us coming home with 30 or 40 dollars’ worth of change to sort through, whether we win or lose – which is always a win!

In May of 2017, during the ride home, my wife was sorting her coins and exclaimed that she had found a classic Buffalo nickel, which was certainly a surprise. The date on this coin was unreadable, as one might expect, but it was still a nice addition to the buffalo collection, and it showed me that there actually were five circulating U.S. coins with buffalo on them.

Sorting through these coins over the years has also yielded many other surprises, and just this one Buffalo nickel would have been enough for this letter, but my wife had a bigger find on the very next trip. Her exclamation this time, however, was “I think this one is foreign.” She handed the coin to me, and I immediately assured her that it was indeed a U.S. coin – a 1902 Liberty Head nickel.

Thank you for the opportunity to share.

Rick W. Wausau, Wis.

  This article was originally printed in Coins Magazine. >> Subscribe today.

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