Author: Tim Runn

Bobby Witt Jr. offseason update n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”type”:”rich”,”width”:550,”__typename”:”ExternalEmbedContent”},”$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({“locale”:”en-us”,”slug”:”bobby-witt-jr-offseason-update”,”type”:”story”}).parts.4″:{“data”:{“type”:”id”,”generated”:true,”id”:”$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({“locale”:”en-us”,”slug”:”bobby-witt-jr-offseason-update”,”type”:”story”}).parts.4.data”,”typename”:”ExternalEmbedContent”},”type”:”oembed”,”__typename”:”ExternalEmbed”},”$ROOT_QUERY.getForgeContentBySlug({“locale”:”en-us”,”slug”:”bobby-witt-jr-offseason-update”,”type”:”story”}).parts.5″:{“content”:”“If you remember last year, that was in January. This year he’s already met that number,” Stroupe said. “That’s working on hip and spine speed and separation. It should transfer to power in the swing, but it’s not swing mechanics. It’s about spine speed, hip and shoulder separation. I feel like speed is the force that raises all tides. And to have speed in your spine, in your hips, it’s impossible not to swing the bat faster.”nnWitt is enjoying the offseason and the work that comes with it, but he readily admits his excitement for…

They don’t take occasional 98-mph fastballs to the back, they don’t get driven into the earth by 280-pound defensive lineman, and they don’t get checked into the boards or lose their teeth like we lose our car keys.But golfers are some of the toughest people in professional sports.Maybe not physically — but mentally, to be sure. There are so many ups and downs, often the highs and lows coming in the same minute, that there rarely are any obstacles that can’t be overcome by a seasoned golfer. You can win a tournament one week and miss the cut the next, shoot 61 one…

The first Christmas of World War I was a hellish time for Alfred Dougan Chater, a second lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders, who woke that morning in a freezing, muddy trench less than 100 yards from the German lines in West Flanders, Belgium.It was 1914 and the bloodiest fighting of the still-young conflict had ended in a stalemate. Corpses littered the deadly “No Man’s Land” separating the two sides along the Western Front, where hope had long since given way to despair and disillusionment.So what Chater saw next, he wrote his mother, was “one of the most extraordinary…

NEW DELHI: Former India cricketer Zaheer Khan is confident that Virat Kohli’s men will be able to beat South Africa in their own den this time and clinch their maiden Test series win on South African soil. India’s last tour, under the leadership of Kohli, to South Africa was in 2017-18. Kohli’s men managed to win the opening Test in Johannesburg by 63 runs but went on to lose the remaining two Tests and the three-match series 2-1. This will be Kohli’s second tour as captain to South Africa and Zaheer feels this current team is capable of creating history…

MONTREAL — Boxing Day is set to take a beating from its younger rival this year. While Black Friday had already overtaken Dec. 26 as the go-to shopping day of the season, pandemic restrictions and concerns over surging COVID-19 cases may deepen the sales disparity as more consumers stay home for the holidays. The Retail Council of Canada, whose annual holiday survey in August found that Nov. 26 could be the biggest shopping event of the year, now says it will further overshadow Boxing Day after fears of the Omicron variant shot up in early December. Capacity restrictions in at…

VideotranscriptBacktranscriptOmicron Surge Will Be a ‘Challenging Few Weeks,’ N.Y.C. Mayor SaysMayor Bill de Blasio predicted the uptick in coronavirus cases caused by the Omicron variant will last “a matter of weeks” if the city focused on vaccination and testing.Omicron is a real challenge. It’s going to be a very challenging few weeks. But the good news is based on what our health care leadership understands at this moment, we are talking about a matter of weeks. But getting tested is absolutely crucial and making sure we have enough sites, enough resources, enough test kits. We’re working on all these fronts.…

All fantasy owners want for Christmas is for the Omicron variant to go away. Sadly, it’s not, at least anytime soon. With nearly 20 per cent of the league currently in COVID protocol and 50 games shelved for a later date, weirdly, pausing play was probably the best possible outcome for the fantasy community. This way, everyone’s on the same playing field moving forward. Any way you slice it, navigating through this mess has become pretty much impossible. To be frank, there’s no strategy to combat the chaos, we’re all in this together. As the NHL exits its holiday hiatus…

Jarno Hietanen / KOOVEEA large, hulking winger who is counted on to provide secondary scoring, Roby Jarventie struggled offensively at the World Junior Championship in 2021. Finland won the bronze medal in the event, but Jarventie went pointless in six games. That’s why he’s looking forward to some sweet redemption in 2022. If he plays in the event at all, that is. As of mid-November, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association hadn’t told Jarventie if he had made the team. The 19-year-old could not join the Finnish team for the 2021 World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Mich., because he had…

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed another major chunk of events on the hockey calendar. The International Ice Hockey Federation announced on Friday morning that, due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases that have plagued organized sports over the past several weeks, the difficult decision has been made to cancel all events that were scheduled to held in January. These events, among others, include the U18 Women’s World Championship, which will now be canceled for a second consecutive year.  In an official statement following this morning’s announcement, the IIHF stated that due to “league commitments within Sweden during possible postponement dates”, the organization…

TORONTO — One of two things is going to happen here. Either we’ll keep these written prophecies as receipts and flaunt them next winter as evidence of our supreme clairvoyance. Or you’ll screengrab them and launch them right back in our face when the Toronto Maple Leafs stand pat at the trade deadline, crumble in the playoffs and lose Jack Campbell in free agency to the Detroit Red Wings or Colorado Avalanche. Without further ado, here are our three bold predictions for the boys in blue in 2022 (plus a few more). Toronto finds a way to keep Campbell No…