A new study offers the first physical evidence that the coronavirus was circulating at low levels in New York City as early as the first week of February.
The city confirmed its first infection on March 1. Mathematical models have predicted that the virus was making its way through the city weeks before then, but the new report is the first to back the conjecture with testing data.
“You’re probably talking about very early in February,” said Florian Krammer, an immunologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who led the study. “It looks like there was at least low-level circulation.”
The findings were posted online Tuesday and have not yet been vetted by other scientists in a formal review, but several experts said the work was rigorous and credible, if not entirely surprising.
Genetic analyses have suggested that the virus entered the city several times early in the year, but most of those introductions died out and did not initiate the city’s epidemic.
“If I had to put a single date on it, based on current models, we had it as Feb. 19 as the arrival that fueled things,” said Trevor Bedford, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Dr. Krammer’s date is only slightly earlier, he noted.
The study also confirms estimates by epidemiologists working for New York State that roughly one in five New Yorkers had been exposed to the virus by late April, a figure broadly consistent with data released on Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I think it’s cool that we all have similar numbers,” Dr. Krammer said.
The similarity is even more striking, experts said, because the three studies all arrived at their estimates differently.
Dr. Krammer and his colleagues analyzed plasma samples from nearly 5,500 patients who went to Mount Sinai for routine medical appointments, were seen in its emergency department or were hospitalized from the week ending Feb. 9 through the week ending April 19.
The C.D.C. looked at blood samples from people who went in for routine medical exams, but only the week ending April 1 for New York City. The New York State study recruited people at supermarkets from April 19 to April 28.
“When we have three sources all giving you consistent results, that lends strength to all the findings,” said Eli Rosenberg, an epidemiologist at the State University of New York at Albany and lead author of the state study.
The numbers from all three studies also agree on a crucial point: The vast majority of infections in New York City and elsewhere in the country went undiagnosed. Even in places with large outbreaks, the number of people exposed to the virus is still far from what is needed for herd immunity.
The Mount Sinai researchers grouped their samples in different ways and analyzed them using a lab-based antibody test that is highly accurate and specific to the new coronavirus.
Among people admitted to the emergency room or the hospital during the study period, the prevalence of antibodies rose to nearly 60 percent from 3.2 percent, the researchers found. These numbers are high because they include people who were severely ill with the coronavirus.
But among people who gave blood for routine appointments, or were admitted to the hospitals for reasons unrelated to the coronavirus — a group that represents the general population — fewer than 2 percent of people had antibodies until the week ending March 29. The rate rose exponentially after that, ending at 19.3 percent among patients seen in the week ending April 19.
The team broke this latter group down further by the reason for their appointment, and found the increase in prevalence was mostly driven by pregnant women. Nearly one in 10 pregnant women had antibodies to the virus by the week of March 29, and the number rose steadily to nearly 27 percent by the week ending April 19.
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.
I’ve heard about a treatment called dexamethasone. Does it work?
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the firsttreatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
What is pandemic paid leave?
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.
What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
How does blood type influence coronavirus?
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
How can I protect myself while flying?
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
What should I do if I feel sick?
If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
By comparison, people who came in for appointments related to surgery, cancer or cardiology plateaued at about 9 percent.
Subgroup analyses tend not to be reliable because of the smaller sample sizes, but this is a large study and the trends are intriguing, said Taia Wang, an immunologist at Stanford University.
“It does suggest the possibility that different groups of patients might have different susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection,” she said.
Experts were also struck by the relatively flat prevalence of coronavirus antibodies in blood samples from the first few weeks.
“I would expect during this time period, where people are not modifying their behavior, you’d get much closer to exponential growth,” Dr. Bedford said.
Other cities, like San Francisco, have similarly shown periods when the virus seemed to percolate until something — perhaps a superspreader event — triggered an exponential rise in infections.
“We’ve seen this elsewhere repeatedly, and it’s still strange to me,” Dr. Bedford said.
Dr. Krammer is continuing to track antibodies in blood samples and plans to do so for at least a year. But he said he would not expect the prevalence to rise much above 20 percent in May or June, because infections in New York City had tapered off by then.
A piece published by Time raised eyebrows after calling for a cultural reckoning of how superheroes are depicted amid the national dialogue that has cracked down on how TV shows and films portray police and law enforcement.
Time writer Eliana Dockterman began the piece -- titled "We're Re-examining How We Portray Cops Onscreen. Now It's Time to Talk About Superheroes" -- by noting the recent cancellations of "Cops" and "Live PD" following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and how even "Paw Patrol" has become a target.
"But as we engage in this long overdue conversation about law enforcement, it’s high time we also talk about the most popular characters in film, the ones who decide the parameters of justice and often enact them with violence: superheroes," Dockterman wrote Monday.
She described superheroes as "cops with capes who enact justice with their powers" who are usually "straight, white men who either function as an extension of a broken U.S. justice system or as vigilantes without any checks on their powers."
"When Batman ignores orders and goes rogue, there’s no oversight committee to assess whether Bruce Wayne’s biases influence who he brings to justice and how. Heroes like Iron Man occasionally feel guilt about the casualties they inflict, but ultimately empower themselves again and again to draw those moral lines," Dockterman said.
The Time writer blamed superhero creators being white men behind how very few films "reckon with issues of systemic racism -- let alone sexism, homophobia, transphobia and other forms of bigotry embedded in the justice system or the inherent biases these superheroes might carry with them as they patrol the streets, or the universe."
She cited the "Blade" films, "Black Panther" and "Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse" as examples fo superhero flicks that do a better job at elevating the conversation, and praised "Watchmen" for directly engaging with "corruption in policing," noting how the recent HBO miniseries tackles the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the white nationalist terrorist organization that served as the antagonist.
"If Hollywood is to do better in telling these stories, more creators of color need to be given the reins to tell them," Dockterman said.
She added: "Only when this creative freedom is encouraged and Hollywood offers more opportunities to BIPOC creators -- and white creators use their capital to support creators who are too often overlooked -- will we get more superhero tales that adequately grapple with the complexity of justice in America."
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Good morning.
We’re covering the latest on the Hong Kong security law, new findings in possible Russian bounties and a reversal in U.S. reopenings as coronavirus cases rise.
Beijing on Tuesday.Credit...Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press
What we know about the Hong Kong security law
The new national security law for Hong Kong that was adopted in China on Tuesday gives the government in Beijing sweeping powers to crack down on dissent.
The new legislation, released to the public for the first time after its adoption, provides a blueprint for the authorities and courts to suppress the city’s protest movement and for China’s national security apparatus to pervade layers of Hong Kong society.
In ambiguous wording, it lays out new crimes and authorizes life imprisonment in the most serious cases. Here are some key points:
The law takes aim at antigovernment protesters. Activities like damaging government buildings and interrupting public transit are described as acts of subversion and terrorism.
It allows Beijing to seize broad control in security cases, especially during crises. A new Committee for Safeguarding National Security will operate in total secrecy and will be shielded from legal challenges.
The law focuses heavily on the perceived role of foreigners in Hong Kong’s unrest. It will impose harsh penalties on anyone who urges foreign countries to criticize or to impose sanctions on the government.
Big picture: Critics have called it a death knell to the “One Country, Two Systems” political framework that preserved Hong Kong’s distinctive status.
John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens last month.Credit...Johannes Eisele/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Europe bars travelers from the U.S., Russia and Brazil
The European Union will open its borders to visitors from 15 countries as of Wednesday, but not to travelers from the U.S., Brazil or Russia, where coronavirus cases continue to balloon.
The list of nations that the bloc has approved includes Australia, Canada and New Zealand; travelers from China will be permitted if China reciprocates. E.U. countries are hoping to restart travel and tourism while preventing new outbreaks.
The decision came as Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S., said the number of new infections in the nation could more than double to 100,000 a day if the country fails to contain the surge that is now underway in many states.
U.S. officials intercepted electronic data showing large financial transfers from a bank account controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency to a Taliban-linked account.
This was part of the evidence pointing to an effort by Russia to covertly offer bounties to the Taliban for killing U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan.
What it means: Intelligence analysts and agencies had disagreed over how reliable the information from interrogations was, but the intercepts bolstered the findings.
Swine flu: A study warns that a new strain of the H1N1, common on pig farms in China since 2016, has “the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus” and should be “urgently” controlled.
Australia-China relations: Australia will be spending nearly $1 billion on cyberdefense, including recruiting cyberspies, over the next decade as tensions with China increase.
Belgium: King Philippe has expressed his “deepest regrets” for his country’s brutal past in a letter to the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the first public acknowledgment from a member of the Belgian royal family of the devastating toll during eight decades of colonization.
In memoriam:Carl Reiner, the multifaceted master of comedy, has died at age 98.
Credit...Eve Edelheit for The New York Times
Snapshot: Above, Sunset Beach in Treasure Island, Fla. Beaches in the southern part of the state will be closed for the Fourth of July, the biggest summer travel holiday in the U.S., as Florida reverses course on its reopening because of a rise in coronavirus cases.
What we’re listening to: This retro radio station, where it is always the summer of 1997. “The desktop themes and tunes alone will make your day,” says Remy Tumin on the Briefings team.
Now, a break from the news
Credit...Andrew Purcell for The New York Times
Cook: This Sichuan chile crisp with peanut streusel is a combination that doesn’t sound like it should work, but it does — especially when paired with a sundae. You can also omit the peanut streusel or replace it with crushed peanuts.
Watch: Cinéma vérité raises fascinating questions about the genre’s capacity to accurately mirror the world. Our reviewer recommends “Crisis” and “Salesman” if you want to become acquainted with a style that tests the boundaries of nonfiction filmmaking.
Do: Bridal boutiques are offering virtual shopping experiences where brides, grooms and members of their wedding parties can try on and purchase their attire online. Here are a few options for shopping without having to leave your house.
My father was born a Negro. Then he was black. Late in life, much to his discomfort, he became an African-American.
Everyone in this country who traces their ancestors back to Africa has experienced a panoply of racial identifiers over their lives, with some terms imposed and others embraced. In the course of a single day in 2020, I might be called black, African-American or a person of color. I’m also labeled, in a way that makes my brown skin crawl, as diverse, ethnic or a minority.
Protesters at a march outside the Georgia State Capitol.Credit...Joshua Rashaad McFadden for The New York Times
Amid the nation’s reckoning with racism following the death of George Floyd, another name is being widely adopted: Black with a capital B.
John Eligon, a New York Times national correspondent who writes about race, captures the discussion in an article. As he notes, each name change brings spirited discussion. Isn’t black a color, not a race? If one capitalizes Black, should one also capitalize White? And Brown?
As one who works in words, I would never suggest that word choice does not matter. Words can affect the thinking of both those who write them and those who read them. So I am in favor of pushing the shift key — but I doubt it will be the last time we edit what people like me are called.
Thank you
To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the rest of the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion this week.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Bird with light blue eggs (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• A trove of internal ISIS documents obtained by the Times journalist Rukmini Callimachi and her colleagues in 2018 have been released to the public as part of a project with George Washington University.
The first college baseball game was played on July 1, 1859, when Amherst College defeated William College 73-32, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In the 162 years since then, there have been nearly as many legendary college baseball players as there were runs scored in that contest.
But who is the best of the best? We decided to take that debate to the fans of college baseball while they were stuck at home in June without a College World Series to watch. The votes are in, and the roster is set. Here's who made the team and the stories that got them there.
Quick, make a list of people who have a song written about them. Johnny B. Goode, Runaround Sue, Sweet Caroline ... and Buster Posey. That's how great he was at Florida State.
"Oh, yeah, man, they had a whole song they would sing when he came to the plate," Mike Martin, Posey's coach and the winningest head coach in college baseball history, said. "They'd go, 'Bus-ter Po-see! He'll hit a home run! He'll throw you out, too!'"
Gerald Dempster Posey III could have landed on this roster at any position on the field. In fact, he seemed destined to make this list as a shortstop. That's where he started his career at Florida State, hitting .346 and earning freshman All-American honors. But the following fall, Martin needed a catcher, so he and associate head coach Jamey Shoupe suggesting trying Buster behind the plate.
"I thought they were pulling my leg," Buster said. "But we set up the pitching machine, and I took some pitches, and I've been behind the plate ever since."
Posey spent that winter studying Jorge Posada and Joe Mauer, and the next season, he hit .362, threw out 41% of potential base stealers and became the youngest finalist named for the Johnny Bench Catcher of the Year Award. His final year, he won that award, along with the Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award, after hitting .463 with 26 homers and 93 RBIs, barely missing college baseball's second Triple Crown. On May 12, 2008, against Savannah State, Posey played all nine positions in one game, striking out the only two batters he faced. Then he led FSU to its first College World Series berth in eight years.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you get songs written in your honor.
Voting results:
First base: Will Clark, Mississippi State
"Oh, lawd, that swing." That's the reaction of anyone who saw Will Clark doing work at The Dude, even now, 35 years after his last game in a Mississippi State uniform. He was the first half of what is likely the greatest 1-2 punch in college baseball history: the "Thunder and Lightning" combo with future big league teammate Rafael Palmeiro.
The '85 Bulldogs are widely considered the best team to not win a College World Series title, as a team with four future MLB All-Stars (including Jeff Brantley and Bobby Thigpen) was forced to settle for third in Omaha, Nebraska. But that took little away from Clark's Golden Spikes season. In '85, Will the Thrill hit .425 with 25 dingers, 77 RBIs and 75 runs scored. He left Starkville as a two-time All-American with a .391 career batting average. He still ranks in the top 10 of nearly every major run-producing category in whatever college record book you can find.
"We were on the U.S. Olympic team together in '84 in Los Angeles, and pretty much everyone on that team ended up playing in the major leagues," former UNC Tar Heel and 18-year big leaguer B.J. Surhoff said. "Will was the one guy that we would all stop what we were doing to watch him take batting practice."
Because, oh lawd, that swing.
Voting results:
Will Clark: 29.50%
Frank Thomas: 26.09%
Lance Berkman: 15.52%
Andrew Vaughn: 7.99%
Dustin Ackley: 6.07%
Dave Magadan: 5.91%
Tim Wallach: 4.58%
Eddy Furniss: 4.34%
Second base: Todd Walker, LSU
Identifying the best player of the Skip Bertman era at LSU is like trying to decide which diamond is the shiniest rock in the jewelry store. But ask the Tigers, and they all point to No. 12, the second bagger out of Airline High School in Bossier City, Louisiana. However, if they're being honest, none of them was pointing toward him when he arrived on campus in 1991. He was the third-string second baseman, and many thought he should have taken his 51st draft pick money ($60,000) from the Texas Rangers and skipped college altogether. But he chose to come to The Box and fight for a spot in the lineup.
"That first fall practice, no one could strike him out, and we had a couple of future major league arms on that team," Bertman said. "I'd never seen someone so dug in at the plate, so I decided we'd start him as a freshman and see if he'd stick. I'd say he did."
Over three years, Walker hit .396 with 246 RBIs, 52 homers and 51 stolen bases. In the '93 College World Series, he drove in the ninth-inning run that put LSU in the title game. In that title game against Wichita State, he homered in the first inning to spark an 8-0 blowout. He was named Most Outstanding Player, with a CWS stat line of .390/3/12. So, yeah, he stuck.
Voting results:
When Alex Bregman arrived in Baton Rouge in 2012, he requested to wear jersey No. 30. Why? Because he was still angry at the 30 big league teams that passed on selecting him during the first round of that year's MLB draft.
play
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Relive some highlights from Alex Bregman's time at LSU that led him to become the second overall selection by the Astros in the 2015 MLB draft.
Over the next three years, he played like a man fueled by revenge. In 2013, he earned All-American honors, the Brooks Wallace Award for the nation's best shortstop and a trip to the College World Series, all as a freshman. In 2015, he powered the top-ranked Tigers back to Omaha and was one of four finalists for the Golden Spikes Award. His final LSU stats: .337 with 153 runs scored, 56 doubles, 66 stolen bases and 583 assists vs. 36 errors, with only nine in his final season.
In the 2015 MLB draft, only one team passed on Bregman, as he went second overall to the Houston Astros.
Voting results:
Third base: Robin Ventura, Oklahoma State
There was never a question as to whether Robin Ventura was going to be on this team. It was only a question of whether the team might be named the Fightin' Venturas. The Hot Corner slugger who found his way from Santa Monica, California, to Stillwater, Oklahoma, is the best hitter in college baseball history, and it's hardly debatable. He walked onto campus swinging, hitting an OSU-record .469 as a freshman and being named a First Team All-American, an honor he earned in each of his three seasons.
By the time those three seasons ended, he hit .429 with 329 hits and 300 runs, all still program records. He was named The Sporting News Player of the Year twice and won the Golden Spikes Award in 1988.
In '87, he captured the imagination of the sports world when he arrived in Omaha for the College World Series carrying a hitting streak that matched the magical number of Joe DiMaggio's 56. Ventura broke that mark in the opening game of the Series and reached 58 before an infield grounder was ruled an error by legendary CWS scorekeeper Lou Spry.
To this day, Cowboys supporters are angry about that decision. But in 2006, when Ventura was elected to the inaugural class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame, Spry approached Ventura with a photo of the controversial play. Ventura smiled and signed it: "To Lou, Great Call! Best Wishes, Robin Ventura."
Voting results:
Left field: Barry Bonds, Arizona State
At Arizona State, Barry Bonds was so good. But at Arizona State, Barry Bonds was also so bad. In three years in Tempe, the second-generation slugger hit better than .360 in two of those seasons and slugged 45 home runs, a huge number ahead of the Gorilla Ball era that was still years away.
The future MLB career homers leader powered the Sun Devils to a pair of College World Series appearances in 1983 and '84, making the all-tournament team both times and tying a CWS record with eight consecutive hits.
In recent years, Bonds' relationship with his alma mater has improved. In 2017, he was all smiles as his No. 24 was retired. But in 1992, when ASU's legendary head coach, Jim Brock, was asked about the Bonds era, he said, "No one on the team liked him. That was his fault. But I sure liked him in my lineup. That was his fault, too."
They called them Circus Tent Shots, and from 1995 to '97 everyone in attendance at the Florida State ballpark, be it for a game or for batting practice, stopped whatever they were doing whenever J.D. Drew stepped to the plate, hoping to see a Circus Tent Shot. The FSU Flying High Circus Big Top, where Seminoles students can learn the circus biz, is located beyond the right-field wall of Dick Howser Stadium. Way beyond.
"J.D. isn't the only guy to bounce a homer off that tent," said Mike Martin, Drew's head coach. "But he was the only guy to bounce one off of every square inch of it -- the front, the back, the very tip top. The circus folks probably thought they were under attack for three years."
That's certainly how everyone in college baseball felt. In 1997, the pride of Hahira, Georgia, produced the greatest offensive season in college baseball history. He hit .455 with 100 RBIs and 110 runs scored. His 31 homers and 32 steals made him the first member of the 30-30 club. He's still the only member of that club and one of only three players to produce 100 runs, RBIs and hits in one season.
In 1997, Drew won the Golden Spikes Award, the Dick Howser Trophy and Player of the Year by The Sporting News, Baseball America and the ACC. Those awards went with his '95 honors as a freshman All-American and CWS all-tournament team and his '96 first-team All-American and member of Team USA. Perhaps he should build his own big top to house all of those trophies.
Voting results:
Right field: Joe Carter, Wichita State
When Wichita State revived its baseball program in 1978, head coach Gene Stephenson knew he needed a special brand of superstar talent to spark the resurrected hardball Shockers. He found that hero in Oklahoma City's Joseph Chris Carter, Stephenson's first signee.
When Carter left for the big leagues three years later, he was a three-time All-American, two-time Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and holder of 10 season and 11 career Wichita State records. He still owns many of those marks nearly four decades after his last game and even after Stephenson's program became precisely the powerhouse he hoped Carter's recruitment would kickstart.
In fact, today's Shockers go to work each day in the Joe Carter Players' Locker Room, and today's Missouri Valley POYs are given an award named for Carter.
"Joe's last year, he hit .411," Stephenson recalled in 2017. "For any other player, that's a career season. But his freshman year, he hit .450, and his sophomore season, he hit near the same. I told him, 'Joe, I think these pitchers are figuring you out.' They weren't."
Voting results:
Joe Carter 38.01%
JJ Bleday: 15.03%
Kyle Russell: 12.18%
Trevor Larnach: 10.89%
Kellen Kulbacki: 8.67%
Seth Beer: 7.07%
Casey Close: 4.86%
Mickey Sullivan: 3.29%
Two-way player: John Olerud, Washington State
There is no shortage of two-way players on this all-time team. Heck, Ben McDonald played some of his non-pitching days in the outfield and also played basketball. Dave Winfield, the most glaring absence from this roster, was drafted by the NBA, the NFL and MLB and nearly won the 1973 College World Series by himself, at the plate and on the mound.
However, no one had a more monstrous crossover career than the Cougars' soft-spoken first baseman and pitcher from Seattle. John Olerud hit .434 in three seasons while hurling a record of 26-4. His 1988 season might be the best ever produced, as he hit .464 with 23 homers while going 15-0 on the mound, still the only time a college baseball player has topped 15 wins and 20 homers in a season. Oh, and he also overcame a life-threatening aneurysm and brain surgery that stole the first half of his final season.
But hey, why try to explain all of this here when you can read this recently posted feature on Olerud, penned by a really handsome ESPN senior writer.
Voting results:
John Olerud: 31.59%
Dave Winfield: 22.11%
Brendan McKay: 14.22%
Brooks Kieshnick: 10.32%
Todd Helton: 8.63%
Tim Hudson: 6.82%
Brad Wilkerson: 3.21%
A.J. Reed: 327 3.10%
Left-handed pitcher: Greg Swindell, Texas
In spring 1984, the always intense college baseball fans of Austin, Texas, were tempering their legendarily high expectations. The Longhorns had just won the College World Series with one of the all-time great lineups, featuring Roger Clemens, Calvin Schiraldi, Kirk Killingsworth and Mike Capel. But those players had all been drafted into the big leagues, and a letdown was imminent, right? Wrong.
"Greg Swindell came in there from Houston, and he immediately started showing some of the best control anyone had ever seen," former Texas head coach Cliff Gustafson recalled in 2015. "His first month as a freshman, I don't think he lost a game. He struck out everyone he faced, and he even earned a couple of saves. Everyone realized we were going to be OK."
They were better than OK. The Horns reached the CWS finals in '84 and '85 as Swindell spent three seasons posting a record of 43-8 with 13 saves and a 1.92 ERA. The three-time All-American also threw a pair of no-hitters and still owns a pair of Texas career pitching records, with 501 strikeouts and 14 shutouts.
In 70 years of College World Series games played in Omaha, there is no player more beloved by the locals than Ben McDonald. And he never won a game there. In fact, he holds the record for most losses by a starting pitcher, going 0-for-4 during two trips in 1987 and '89. Why is he remembered so fondly, still earning screams and hugs every summer when he returns to cover the CWS for ESPN and the SEC Network?
"Because he's the most down-to-earth human being you could possibly meet," said his former head coach, Skip Bertman. "No one has ever faced more pressure in Omaha, and he handled it all with grace, even when it didn't go like we wanted it to."
Big Ben posted a record of 29-14, with 18 complete games, as an LSU starter. He was a two-time All-American, and in 1989, he won the Golden Spikes Award thanks to 202 strikeouts and 44 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings over 152 1/3 innings pitched. His 373 career K's are still a school best, even as the school became an MLB talent machine. McDonald won an Olympic gold medal in 1988, and in '89, he was the No. 1 overall MLB draft pick, which happened the night before one of those CWS losses.
"I put too much on him," Bertman admitted in 2008. "But the way he sat there and thanked the people of Omaha after his losses, the way he handled it all, how he promised to keep coming back to Omaha because he loved it so much, they have never forgotten that. That's all you need to know about Ben. That's who he is."
Huston Street was born not on a street in Houston but, rather, on an avenue in Austin. He was a legacy Longhorn, son of James, the 1969 Cotton Bowl MVP as a quarterback and pitching ace of three College World Series teams. Huston was also a double threat, spending time at third and jogging in from the hot corner to nail down victories as Augie Garrido's go-to closer. From 2002 to '04, he earned All-American honors all three years, thanks to what are still some of the greatest shutdown statistics in college baseball history. He racked up a school-record 41 saves with a 1.31 ERA (second best), and opponents hit him for a paltry .172 average.
But Street did his best work in Omaha, where the Longhorns played in all three of his seasons. In 2002, his freshman year, he made four appearances on the mound at Rosenblatt Stadium, earning a CWS-record four saves, and he was named Most Outstanding Player. He was so dominant and so beloved among the Omaha locals that in 2010, they voted him onto the NCAA College World Series Legends Team.
As Pride month comes to a close, it’s important to look ahead to the future of queer film. As long as there are obstacles to funding, production, and distribution for queer films, shorts remain the easiest way for filmmakers to get noticed and get a foot in the door of the industry. That’s doubly and sometimes triply important when you’re a marginalized voice, especially if your work deals openly with themes of queerness, sexuality, race, and/or gender.
While the U.S. has fewer avenues for short films to gain attention than say Europe or Asia, there will always be cinephiles who enjoy the unique pleasures of a well-made short. The best short films don’t use the form as a mere stepping stone to a feature, but as a unique and valuable medium unto itself.
Recognizing that barriers to entry remain higher for all marginalized filmmakers of all stripes, it’s vitally important to highlight up and coming queer filmmakers at the shorts level. You never know which of these filmmakers could be the next Gregg Araki or Desiree Akhavan. In the spirit of finding fresh talent so you can say you knew them one, here are six provocative LGBTQ shorts from queer filmmakers.
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“Salacia,” directed by Tourmaline
Writer, activist, and filmmaker Tourmaline is best known for her electrifying short “Happy Birthday, Marsha!”, which starred “Tangerine” breakout Mya Taylor in a luminous vision of a day in the life of transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson’s moments before igniting the Stonewall uprising. Now, her work is receiving even more prestigious acclaim as her newest film has been added to the MoMA film collection, as part of the institution’s recent efforts to broaden its roster to include more marginalized creative voices. “Salacia” even caught the attention of Keanu Reeves, who signed on as executive producer.
“Salacia” imagines the life of Mary Jones, a trans sex worker who lived in Seneca Village, a 19th century Manhattan community that was one of the only places in the country Black people could own property and vote. It was demolished in 1855 to make way for Central Park. Like much of her work, “Salacia” is informed by Tourmaline’s exhaustive historical and archival research. In her introduction, Tourmaline calls the film “a culmination of many, many people’s freedom dreams.” “Salacia” is available to watch for free online through MoMA until July 9.
“Lavender,” directed by Matthew Puccini
“Lavender” is the second narrative short from gay filmmaker Matthew Puccini, who wrote and directed the film. His first film, “The Mess He Made,” starred Max Jenkins (“High Maintenance”) as a man waiting for the results of an HIV test. “Lavender” is just as plaintive in tone, though its themes are slightly lighter. The film centers around a young man (Michael Hsu Rosen) in a relationship with a slightly older couple (Michael Urie and Ken Barnett). “Lavender” opens with the trio sitting at the piano and singing an Irving Berlin tune, and eventually pivots to a hot and heavy group sex scene.
Puccini was inspired by a similar experience he had, though his was a less serious entanglement than the one portrayed in the film. Few filmmakers have truly interrogated what polyamory looks like in real life without resorting to cheap thrills and even cheaper jokes, which is only part of what makes “Lavender” such a revelation. Puccini will be releasing his third short film, “Dirty,” online sometime this summer, so keep an eye out.
“Lockdown,” directed by Logan George & Celine Held
Tightly focused and exquisitely rendered, “Lockdown” is an almost painfully accurate portrayal of angsty middle school yearning. The film focuses on fourteen-year-old girl whose feelings for her best friend lead her to act out in the most unexpected of ways. From a tense volleyball scrimmage to the unbearable unease of a crush avoiding eye contact, “Lockdown” is brimming with charged moments that build to an emotional wallop of a film. Still, despite a somewhat heavy topic, “Lockdown” manages to keep a light heart in the right place, reveling in the recklessness of adolescent longing, and embracing sexual exploration through a fully autonomous main character.
“See You Soon,” directed by Tyler Rabinowitz
Delicately threaded with the tender nervousness of emotional vulnerability, “See You Soon” is a passionate queer romance with surprisingly ripe parallels to navigating connection in quarantine. A long distance romance that has blossomed entirely over technology is suddenly put to the test when the would-be lovers meet for the first time in New York City. As the dashing paramours negotiate physical awkwardness, new sexual roles, and the crushing and wonderful weight of surging *feelings*, the camera follows them with a warm and intimate familiarity. Whatever is missing from the heavy silences is all right there in the frame.
“Flu$h,” directed by Heather María Ács
“Flu$h”
FemmePower Productions
The debut film from performance artist and activist Heather María Ács, “Flu$h” is a hilarious peek behind the blindfold of the queer sex worker community. Ács stars as Roxie, a queer femme caught juggling the sexual needs of her older male client and her hot new date. As her gaggle of friends of all gender presentations stop by to help her wrangle the idiosyncratic fantasies of her clueless regular, Roxie must keep everyone happy while making sure everyone gets paid. Irreverent, silly, and rooted in authenticity, “Flu$h” is a testament to the delightful magic that can result from letting queer filmmakers tell queer stories. Watch “Flu$h” on FemmePower TV.
For the cover of its new double issue "America Must Change," Time magazine turned to artist Charly Palmer, a Custer High School graduate, for a portrait about the impact of racial injustice.
His painting, "In Her Eyes," shows a girl in profile with images of fires, protests and police in her mind. "Little Black children today are afraid,” Palmer said in a statement about the image.
"As a man, I am concerned for my own children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. I worry about the Black community as a whole,” Palmer told Time in a discussion about the painting.
The Time issue, with a cover date of July 6 / July 13, includes other Palmer paintings: "Remembering George," a commemoration of George Stinney Jr., executed at age 14 on a conviction that was overturned 70 years later; "Eminent Domain," which depicts the construction of the interstate highway system as a cancer destroying Black neighborhoods; and a portrait of novelist James Baldwin.
Born in Alabama, Palmer moved with his family to Milwaukee in 1964, at age 4. He began drawing early, often on typing paper his mom would bring home from her job at City Hall. After the family moved to a home in the Capitol Drive neighborhood, she let him paint a mural on the living room wall.
It was a scene of people walking to a water well in Africa, Palmer said in a telephone interview. "I think there was a hippopotamus in it." He traces his ancestry back to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
“As a Black child of the mid-’60s, my parents did all they could to shield me from the horrors of racism, especially through the unconditional love and vigilant protection of my mother, Irma Walker," Palmer told Time. Walker died in 2008. The floral imagery in his paintings since then pays homage to her.
Palmer, who lives in Atlanta, said Time's creative director approached him because he knew Palmer's work, including paintings in his Silent Series, which address the right of African Americans to speak, and was partly inspired by Colin Kaepernick's protest.
That creative director wasn't the only person to ask for Palmer by name. Singer John Legend commissioned Palmer to create a portrait for the cover of his album "Bigger Love," released in June. After bonding in conversation about their mutual love of South Africa, Palmer worked South African flowers into the portrait.
Closer to his former home, the curating company Sports & The Arts commissioned Palmer to paint about 20 works for a huge collection of art that now lines the walls of the suites and club levels at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
His subjects included former Packers running back John Brockington, a childhood favorite. To Palmer's delight, Brockington's wife arranged to get a photo of the former Packer in front of the painting.
"I felt like a kid all over again. John Brockington standing in front of my painting of him, smiling," Palmer said.
Contact Jim Higgins at jim.higgins@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jhiggy.
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Time magazine turns to Custer High alum Charly Palmer for cover of special issue on racial injustice - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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The beginning of the Twins’ not-really-spring training this week signals an attempt at a return to normalcy. If executed intelligently and graced with luck, baseball could provide an experimental and nontraditional season that could be loads more fun than the usual 162-game slog.
The NFL has proved that the way to the heart of the American sports fan is fewer, more high-impact games. Baseball is about to provide about six high-impact games per week while tinkering with rules changes that could make the game better in the future.
Universal DH? I understand the traditionalist view that pitchers batting creates more strategy and intrigue. I’ve just never agreed with it.
As someone who watched Paul Molitor hit .341 and Jim Thome hit the plaza, I prefer watching hitters who can actually hit.
Currently, the only decent argument for a pitcher batting is that fast outs can make games move more quickly. I’d prefer to achieve that effect with umpires, real or robotic, calling a rule book strike zone.
Expanded rosters? The modern shift toward pitching specialization has robbed the game of position-playing specialization and late-inning strategy. With a 30-man roster and a three-man taxi squad, baseball will begin its season with the ability to carry a third catcher, a pinch hitter and a pinch runner.
Imagine the Twins’ championship teams without Randy Bush on the bench, awaiting a key at-bat. Imagine the 2004 playoffs without Dave Roberts pinch-running and stealing that base in Game 4. Late-inning substitutions should again become an important part of the game.
A 60-game regular season? I know, I know, baseball is supposed to be a marathon, not a sprint. But who would you rather watch — Usain Bolt or ... what’s the name of the world’s best marathoner?
What I love about baseball is that it is there for you almost every day for almost nine months, from the beginning of the spring schedule through the last out of the World Series.
But it’s not like baseball provides nine months of quality. It provides lousy spring training games, and almost every team in baseball history has played like amateurs for a month or two of the schedule. A long season guarantees and excuses lapses. A short schedule will reward excellence and punish slumps.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli isn’t going to give away a game in the first week of the season to protect an arm or test a reliever. He’s going to manage to win every game from Day 1. That will be refreshing.
A runner on second base in extra innings? Back when baseball games might finish in 2 hours and 10 minutes, extra innings were a gift. Now, with most games lasting three hours or more, extra innings are a curse.
Yes, put a runner on second and let’s make something happen right away.
The three-batter minimum for a pitcher? Long overdue. A pitcher who can’t handle facing three batters shouldn’t be in the big leagues, and fewer mid-inning pitching changes would be welcome.
No spitting, or pitchers licking fingers? Thank you, baseball. Spitting is disgusting and ballplayers spitting long ago became parodies of themselves.
Games without fans? Everyone will miss the buzz of the crowd, but we will not miss everyone in the crowd.
The guy who thinks he’s being clever by yelling at the umps? The people behind home plate taking selfies or talking on the phone? At the end of a summer during which tens of thousands of Americans are dying, maybe a quiet, businesslike ballpark is appropriate.
Older coaches being excused from play? The Twins have told two of their veteran coaches, Bob McClure and Bill Evers, to stay away from the ballpark to protect their health. I hope other teams follow suit, including the Astros. Houston hired Dusty Baker, 71, to manage its scandal-ridden team. The cheatingest team in ball should not be allowed to endanger the health of one of baseball’s great people.
This will be a season unlike any other. That just might be a good thing.
