Anne Rogers penned a touching Mom’s Day story about Daniel Lynch, considering again on his mom now that he’s just lately grow to be a mother or father:
Jolie Saunders Lynch died on Sept. 7, 2012, at 43 years outdated after a battle with melanoma. Lynch was just a few months away from turning 16, the oldest of the three Lynch youngsters. Jolie had obtained her prognosis six months prior.
“It’s wonderful to me understanding the state of affairs she was in now — the prognosis was not good,” Lynch mentioned. “And she or he was so unselfish in that manner, the place she by no means appeared down. She by no means appeared like she was letting us know something was actually mistaken. I assumed the whole lot was regular.”
“I feel that’s one of many greatest issues I’ve discovered. There’s no goal in being depressing prematurely of one thing. She knew what the deal was, and it was a really troublesome resolution, simply in speaking with my dad, of, ‘Can we inform the youngsters?’ And I feel she was adamant, ‘No. I would like them to dwell.’ She wished us to dwell our lives. I feel that’s probably the most unselfish factor she might have executed.”
At The Star, Jaylon Thompson profiles Jac Caglianone:
Three months earlier than the 2021 draft, Caglianone blew out his arm in an all-star recreation. He wanted Tommy John surgical procedure and his aspirations of enjoying skilled baseball had been formally on maintain.
Caglianone was devastated. His father, Jeff, tried his finest to console his son. After setting data as a pitcher and hitter, Jac Caglianone was now coping with a significant setback. And an opportunity to reset.
“It was powerful on him,” Jeff mentioned. “Jac has received a number of associates in baseball and guys that he was ecstatic for that received drafted within the first spherical. And I’m certain he would’ve preferred to be one among them as effectively. He didn’t let it dampen what his targets had been.”
Vahe Gregorian talks about how the Royals don’t must rush their pitching prospects as a result of rotation’s nice efficiency on the MLB degree:
Having the ability to take “all the correct steps,” as Picollo put it, is a good distance from the prevailing mindset just some years in the past…
“We’ve all been there,” Picollo mentioned, talking to the methods it might go. “‘We now have a gap right here. That’s our greatest man. He might not be prepared. However we’ve received to convey him up, as a result of we’re alleged to win right here each evening.’”
Pete Grathoff writes about Mark Canha, who goes by BigLeagueFoodie on Instagram:
“The meals world is simply such an fascinating world to me,” Canha mentioned, “since you might be stunned by individuals’s creativity or you too can be like, ‘OK, I’ve sort of been there, executed that.’ Nevertheless it’s like limitless exploration. There’s at all times new eating places and locations popping up.”
Canha was acquired in a commerce with the Brewers per week earlier than the season began, so he has solely begun his explorations round Kansas Metropolis. However he shared a few his favorites on Instagram…
“I didn’t have lobster toast on my bingo card for wonderful issues I’d eat in Kansas Metropolis however right here we’re!” Canha wrote. “Lobster Salad with a creamy/chili oil dressing atop Japanese milk bread!”
From August 31 to September 15, 1977, the Kansas Metropolis Royals gained 16 video games in a row.
From July 7 to July 28, 1978, the Royals gained 16 of 18.
Tomorrow, with a win over the Crimson Sox, the Royals may have gained 16 of 18 for the third time ever, and the primary time in 47 years.
— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) Could 8, 2025
The earlier 15-2 stretches had been:
1977197819892013
All profitable seasons, two of them had been playoff years. 1989 would have been beneath the present format.
— David Lesky (@DBLesky) Could 8, 2025
At The Athletic ($), Keith Regulation does a mock draft:
23. Kansas Metropolis – Kruz Schoolcraft
Faculty: Sundown HS (Portland, Ore.), Bats: L, Throws: L
I’ve heard this is perhaps Schoolcraft’s flooring. I’d guess on the Royals going the high-school route even after the success of their prime choose from final yr’s draft, Jac Caglianone (he’s hitting .314/.395/.543 in Double A and enjoying proper area). In the event that they do go highschool, the combination would most likely embrace guys like Neyens, Corridor, Josh Hammond, all high-upside athletes.
Weblog time?
David Lesky ($) wrote concerning the White Sox recreation on Wednesday:
This can be a spot the place in the event you’re an optimist, you see optimistic regression alternative. When you’re a pessimist, you see a staff that doesn’t hit effectively. When you’re someplace within the center, you’re like me, although I most likely lean extra towards the optimist right here as a result of numbers even out in baseball over the course of a protracted season. And even once they’re hitting higher because the begin of this stretch, they’re hitting simply .231/.275/.358 with runners in scoring place. There’s no good clarification for a staff hitting .283/.334/.447 to be that a lot worse in run-scoring conditions. If you wish to say I’m loopy for saying it’ll flip, I’ll enable it, however getting on base and offering alternatives isn’t the issue. Cashing in has been an issue, however I don’t really feel like it is going to be all season.
Every thing else falls into the Weblog Roundup:
How about slightly spin across the MLB?
After being swept by the Royals yesterday, the White Sox matched their worst franchise begin in historical past:
The Sox had been swept within the four-game collection. And within the course of, they fell to 10-28 to match the worst begin in franchise historical past via 38 video games. They share the excellence with the 2024 and 2018 golf equipment. Final yr’s staff went on to set the fashionable major-league file with 121 defeats.
Nevertheless, they’ve excellent news! It seems the brand new pope is a White Sox fan:
Not so quick, maybe. Pope Leo XIV was born in Dolton, a neighborhood on the South Facet of Chicago, making it way more possible, geographically at the very least, that he could be a White Sox fan. That thesis was supported by an interview WGN Information did with the pope’s brother, who mentioned Pope Leo “was at all times a Sox fan.” Their mom, whose household was from the North Facet, was a Cubs fan and their dad was a Cardinals fan, in accordance with the brother, so there have been just a few clashing units of fandom within the family.
Wait? Dad is a Playing cards fan, Mother is a Cubs fan, and he’s a Sox fan??
I really like “Final Week Tonight with John Oliver”. I additionally love that he desires to rebrand a minor league staff:
“And that’s the place we are available in,” he continued, “as a result of I’ve a really particular supply. We’re keen to make use of all of our sources and stupidity to provide one Minor League Baseball staff a complete rebrand. We will provide you with a brand new staff title. A brand new mascot. We’ll even throw you a theme evening. It will likely be customized and it is going to be bespoke.”…
“We’ll do that within the spirit of your staff, metropolis and league by which you belong,” he concluded, although with the caveat that “You’ll be able to’t ask us any questions, give us any notes and you need to do what we provide you with.”
Lastly, Chet Lemon handed away at age 70.
Earlier this yr, we mentioned the well-known Drake-Chenault radio program, The Historical past of Rock and Roll. I closed out that entry this manner:
It’s one among my fond recollections of Dad – not one the vital ones – however a type of foolish ones that makes you smile. I’m beginning to digitize a few of my outdated cassettes from after I was youthful. I listened to a Z-Rock affiliate in Houston and diligently recorded the Z-Rock 50 on Sunday nights (perhaps we’ll speak about that one other day). I even discovered some combine tapes that my Grandpa confirmed me tips on how to make after I was actually younger. Possibly this goes again much more generations in my household.
The “Possibly we’ll speak about that one other day” a part of that paragraph is in the present day. I’m going to lean extra into the technical than the nostalgic this time. I’ve a field of cassettes sitting round that I’d prefer to digitize. There are a handful of precise albums on cassette, however I’ve already changed these with CDs (and digitized them). Some are from the aforementioned Z-Rock, some are from different stations, and others are simply random junk. For example, one Halloween, Trent Reznor remixed an hour of 9 Inch Nails for a neighborhood Prime 40 station.
The combination tapes are of, effectively, combined high quality. Some had been proper off the radio within the “ooh, I like that tune, hit file” selection. For others, I’d tape a few hours off the radio, hear via the supply audio, and choose just a few songs to maintain. Then I’d take my twin tape deck and file what I wished from the supply tape to my new combine tape. In fact, every technology of copying led to a degradation of sound. And it’s not like my low-cost stereo had a terrific antenna and superior sound to start with.
I used to be additionally low-cost. Okay, that’s slightly unfair on me. This was in center faculty and highschool – I didn’t have a lot cash. I primarily purchased the lower-quality 90-minute cassettes as an alternative of the higher 60-minute ones. All that is to say, I’m taping off the radio with some low-cost gear that’s now greater than 30 years outdated. It’s not of nice high quality. Then once more, individuals nonetheless voluntarily get vinyl when superior digital copies exist.
As I went about digitizing these tapes, I assumed I’d make a fast (for me) how-to information, in case anybody else wished to do that.
* * * * *
When you’ve ever began down this street, you’ve possible heard of Reshow. It’s usually agreed upon as the best and most cost-effective methodology and the one main draw back is that the sound high quality could possibly be a bit higher. There’s additionally some chatter about QA issues – you would possibly get a dud however they’re supposedly fast to exchange one you probably have points.
It appears to be like like an outdated Walkman (youngsters, ask your dad and mom) and prices about $40. Older variations got here with a replica of Audacity (extra on that in a bit). Newer ones require no software program in any respect.
I had the older model that used Audacity and it was a breeze. Load the software program, join the Reshow to your pc with the included USB cable, choose the proper enter system, and push play. Then come again in 30 or 45 minutes and click on cease. It’s that simple.
If you need one thing quick, low-cost, and straightforward that does a good sufficient job- simply cease right here. I most likely ought to have simply stopped right here.
* * * * *
We now have to take a second to speak about Audacity. This wonderful freeware audio editor will have fun its twenty fifth anniversary later this month. It could actually look slightly dated, however it’s additionally insanely feature-rich. Nevertheless, it will also be as simple as you need it to be. As above, you possibly can choose an enter, hit file, export to MP3, and be executed.
Nevertheless, after recording from the Reshow, I observed my sound high quality was uneven. The sound from the best headphone was a lot louder than the left – virtually double. I additionally performed round with noise discount to see if I might clear up among the static. Earlier than recording once more, I dug up an outdated tape head cleaner, however it did little or no.
The balancing was simple, however it took a good little bit of time. The sound high quality cleanup was more durable. Once I was executed, it sounded extra, I dunno, muddled and muted. If anybody has any recommendation on this kind of cleansing, I’d love some recommendation. Nevertheless, I’m additionally keen to just accept that the sources aren’t that nice and there’s solely a lot I can do.
* * * * *
I began digging in deeper, and the following step was to go get an outdated cassette tape deck. That is the factor about know-how transferring ever onward – the older stuff might be higher in a number of methods. For example, when everybody nonetheless was making tape decks within the Nineteen Nineties, there have been top quality ones available. Nevertheless, now, hardly anybody makes them so that you’re caught with no matter mediocrity is cranked out.
I do know it sounds slightly “outdated man yells at cloud”, however, in a number of methods, stuff was simply made higher and fewer disposable again then. I discovered a good tape deck on eBay from a vendor who refurbishes the heart and checks them totally, per his suggestions. I
For about $100, together with transport, I picked up an Onkyo TA-6210. Again within the day, there have been 2-head versus 3-head gamers. The three-head gamers give higher sound however it’s onerous to search out one for beneath $200 off the secondary market and I had reached my restrict of what I used to be desirous to spend.
I additionally wanted a cable to attach the tape deck to my pc. In case you have an audio in and a desktop soundcard, that may be very best – however I simply have a laptop computer so I went with a $20 audio seize card. I loaded up Audacity, set the enter to the brand new audio seize card and was off and working once more.
The sound was nonetheless slightly weak on one aspect, however not as pronounced as with the Reshow. I’m guessing my outdated childhood tape deck recorded unbalanced with one aspect stronger than the opposite. Not a lot I can do about that now besides rebalance. Nevertheless, the white noise was a lot better – I wasn’t getting almost as a lot static. That alone made this all price it because it ought to make the post-processing quite a bit simpler.
* * * * *
Since then, I’ve been going via my cassettes whereas doing work. There’s a strategy to arrange Audacity to make use of cassette deck as enter and I can use my headphones because the output. I nonetheless have an older pair of Bose QuietComfort 35s. Bose sound high quality is normally ranked in the midst of the pack, however their consolation and noise cancelling nonetheless get prime marks. I don’t spend quite a bit on devices, however these had been indispensable after I was working in cubicle hell and price each penny.
I simply completed with one set of 10 tapes and it’s time to wash them up and convert them to MP3s. Being as Audacity has been round some time, there are a number of guides on tips on how to optimize it. For example, I ran throughout this information to wash up uneven tracks. You mainly proper click on on the monitor, choose “break up stereo monitor”, equalize every, after which recombine. My first try was to heart them round -5dB (Impact -> Quantity and Compression -> Amplify to have -5dB as heart for each or 0db or no matter), however I’ll check at different ranges.
After that, I might want to clear up the standard as a lot as I can. As earlier than, if anybody has recommendation on processing to wash up white noise or static, I’m all ears.
Then it’s only a fast export to MP3. I feel I’m going to depart them in cassette halves reasonably than chopping them up into songs, however I’ll make some cowl artwork so I can see which tracks are on the album.
We’re going to proceed this little journey subsequent week, however for now we’re onto the Tune of the Day from a type of cassettes. This was a lesser-known tune from Aerosmith’s renaissance within the Nineteen Nineties. It’s not almost as draggy at their fashionable ballads on Get a Grip because it clocks in at half the time. It was initially alleged to be on Pump however as an alternative slipped to The Beavis and Butthead Expertise and was later included within the Huge Ones biggest hits album.
