Former USA TODAY MLB reporter who lived for baseball dies at 64 - USA TODAY
Former USA TODAY MLB reporter who lived for baseball dies at 64 - USA TODAY |
- Former USA TODAY MLB reporter who lived for baseball dies at 64 - USA TODAY
- Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend - USA TODAY
- Biden administration should sue Donald Trump to pay for Capitol riot cleanup - USA TODAY
| Former USA TODAY MLB reporter who lived for baseball dies at 64 - USA TODAY Posted: 31 Jan 2021 03:26 PM PST CLOSE  WASHINGTON — Mel Antonen, family man, friend to the world, and renowned sports journalist, died Saturday of a rare acute auto-immune disease and complications from COVID-19. He was a longtime USA TODAY Sports and MASN-TV baseball reporter who covered nearly three dozen World Series. In a half century in journalism, he reveled and excelled in telling others' stories. He was 64. Mel Richard Antonen's own story became the best of all. It began in the tiny town of Lake Norden, South Dakota, on Aug. 25, 1956, when he was the third of four children born to Ray and Valda Antonen. Lake Norden is 225 miles from the nearest major league ballpark and has never been populated with more than 550 people, but on soft summer evenings fans from counties away congregate at Memorial Park to watch a new episode of South Dakota's storied amateur baseball history. Its pull never left him even as he walked, as a sports journalist, on Boston's hallowed Fenway Park with the late Yankees Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio, or sat in a pre-game spring training dugout with another Hall of Fame member, Minnesota Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew, weeks before Killebrew died in 2011. The Antonen family has promoted amateur baseball in Lake Norden for decades. Mel loved to tell how his father, Ray over the years brought to the tiny hometown a series of barnstorming pros, including the legendary Satchel Paige and Cy Young Award winner Jim Perry, to play at Memorial Park. On the mornings of home games throughout his childhood and beyond, Mel, his father and siblings would groom the field, with the rising corn and soybean fields ritually marking the progression of summer beyond the left-field fence. "I love baseball because it always brings me home," Antonen said at his induction to South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. "A baseball park in my mind is a home. It doesn't matter if it's next to a cornfield, as it is in Lake Norden, or if it is next to a rumbling subway, in New York." At USA TODAY, and later as an analyst for MASN, the network that covers the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles, Antonen "was a very good storyteller who went far beyond balls and strikes and the score of the game," said his retired USA TODAY Sports editor Henry Freeman. Dan Connolly was among the reporters in the Washington-Baltimore area with whom Antonen was close, as they two sat next to each other in the press box and exchanged good-natured barbs. "He had such an easy way about him with players and media and staff,'' Connolly said. "It was one of those things, everyone liked the guy. Everyone. He had a way about him. He could relate to anybody. He was really very smart, and being a South Dakota boy, he was very ease to relate to. I remember him saying that if he didn't go into baseball writers, he wanted to be a Lutheran minister. You could tell Mel anything, he was a pastoral listening-type guy." Antonen's journalism career began as a kid, when he called in scores from Lake Norden's home games to two newspapers that he ended up writing for: the Watertown (S.D.) Public Opinion, which paid him as a high schooler 15 cents a copy inch; and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, where he got his first job after graduation from Augustana University, eventually covering the sports, farm and political beats. He joined USA TODAY in 1986, where one of his earliest assignments was covering the Tonya Harding Olympics figure-skating scandal. Antonen became a MLB reporter and columnist, covering history from Cal Ripken Jr.'s consecutive games streak to the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa record-breaking home run race and the steroid scandals that followed. The story he often said was seared most in his memory came during the earthquake-interrupted 1989 World Series. There, sitting in a press box high above San Francisco's Candlestick Park, he watched as the entire stadium undulated dangerously during the destructive Loma Prieta quake. Antonen filed a story, then headed out for days to cover the aftermath, focusing on the human costs. Hall of Famer Ripken told USA TODAY Sports' Bob Nightengale that Antonen "was a fixture around the game for so many years, and it was clear that he had a passion for baseball. He was a thorough and thoughtful reporter and left his mark on his profession." Along with the World Series, Antonen covered three Olympics, and professional bowling leagues. "I can't imagine being anything other than a reporter, an ink-stained wretch," he told his Hall of Fame audience. Freeman, his editor at USA TODAY's pioneering sports section, said Antonen's knowledge of baseball, reverence for its history, and his love of stories, was evident from the first day. "It became clear to me right away the understanding he had of baseball, and a lot of that was because of his father," said Freeman. Freeman said one of his favorite stories involved Antonen at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson won the 100 meters in world-record time, but failed a drug test, was stripped of his gold medal and ordered to be sent home. USA TODAY received a tip that Johnson had reservations on one of several potential flights out of South Korea, and Freeman immediately sent Antonen to the airport to find Johnson and to do anything necessary to get an interview. Carrying nothing but a walkie-talkie and his reporter's notebook, Antonen arrived at the airport and quickly discovered that Ben Johnson was booked on a flight to Toronto. Antonen bought a ticket, went aboard and found Ben Johnson – who turned out to be a doctor, decades older than the sprinter by the same name. Antonen turned failure into a memorable human interest story about the frantic hunt through Olympics high-security obstacles that ended with the wrong Ben Johnson. "It was a non-story that he made a good story of its own," Freeman said. "It also showed the lengths that Mel would go to get a good story." Using persistence and personality, Antonen scored a rare interview with the notoriously press-shy DiMaggio, late in the legend's life, after learning that DiMaggio was in Boston for a special event at Fenway Park. The man considered "ungettable" by many sports journalists talked for several hours with Antonen, and they finished with a stroll in front of the Green Monster. DiMaggio "loved the history of baseball," Antonen years later told the Argus-Leader. He was a sports broadcaster for MASN's Mid-Atlantic Sports Report, and radio analyst on Sirius-XM in the last decade of his career, and also wrote for Sports Illustrated and other publications. He did a radio interview on the baseball Hall of Fame voting from his hospital bed less than a week before his death. He especially loved talking baseball with long-haul truckers on his late-night satellite radio show. Antonen's mother died when he was 12. His father, himself enshrined in the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame, raised Mel and his sisters, Kathy and Carmen, and brother, Rusty, with the field at Memorial Park becoming a refuge. "My life reflects the power of baseball," he said in that 2017 speech. "One of my earliest memories of Lake Norden baseball was the summer of 1969. … In March of that year my mom died after a year-long battle with cancer. But it was baseball, and Lake Norden baseball, with hot dogs and a 10-cent glass of pop and chasing batting-practice foul balls on a beautiful summer night, that created a diversion from fearful images of three months prior – (of) my mom's tan casket, crying adults, the hearse in front of Trinity Lutheran, on an overcast subzero day, when there were piles of snow in one of South Dakota's worst winters." Antonen kept reporting and writing throughout his illness with COVID-19 and an auto-immune disease so rare that his doctors told him he may have been the only person on Earth with that combination. Months after being diagnosed with both diseases, Mel scored an interview with Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and big baseball fan, who talked about the need for caution, but also hope, in a pandemic. "You've got to go on with your life, but that doesn't mean you have to deprive yourself of all the pleasures" Fauci told him. Antonen's final column for MASN, written after the Dodgers won the World Series in October, paid homage to the comforting and reassuring next-year ritual of baseball. It ended this way: "World Series 2021 prediction: The Padres in six over the White Sox." Mel Richard Antonen is survived by his son, Emmett, 14, and his wife, Lisa Nipp, a photojournalist, whom he married in 2001, along with three siblings and their families. Lisa embraced the many characters in Mel's baseball orbit, once holding the phone for Mel with the crusty, late Hall-of-Fame pitcher Bob Feller by discussing the beauty of hollyhocks. "From Joe DiMaggio to Dusty Baker and Bryce Harper, I have gotten to meet and interview and become friends with people that baseball fans around the world would love to know," he said in that Hall of Fame speech in South Dakota. "But those experiences only happened because I grew up around people that we should all be lucky to know. The lessons learned here, and on the prairie, have gone with me and worked beautifully. And tonight, baseball brings me home once again."  |
| Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend - USA TODAY Posted: 31 Jan 2021 04:08 PM PST
CLOSE Trump announces new attorneys to lead impeachment defenseFormer President Donald Trump announced Sunday two new attorneys who will lead his impeachment defense team, just days before his Senate trial is set to begin. Trump, the first president to be impeached twice, announced his legal team would be led by David Schoen, a criminal defense attorney who works in Alabama and New York, and Bruce Castor Jr., a former district attorney in Pennsylvania. The news comes just days before filings are due in Trump's trial, including an official response due on Tuesday to the article of impeachment passed by the House charging Trump with inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Trump's trial will begin in earnest the week of Feb. 8. 10 GOP senators urge bipartisan COVID-19 relief billTen Republican senators issued an open letter to President Joe Biden on Sunday, citing his calls for unity and asking to discuss a COVID-19 relief package the group believes will get bipartisan support in Congress. The proposal, which does not include a price tag, comes after Biden offered up a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package of his own and as many Democrats are expressing a desire to see another round of stimulus help. "Our proposal reflects many of your stated priorities, and with your support, we believe that this plan could be approved by Congress with bipartisan support," the joint letter reads. The letter concludes with a pledge to work in good faith to "meet the health, economic, and societal challenges of the COVID crisis." Major winter storm blasts the NortheastA powerful winter storm that hammered the western United States last week came roaring through the Midwest and into the East on Sunday, with meteorologists warning of blizzard conditions and up to two feet of snow in some areas. Almost 80 million people were under winter storm warnings and watches, from North Carolina all the way up the East Coast as major cities including Washington, D.C., Chicago, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City braced for the biggest snowfall of the season. State agencies and local officials warned residents to prepare for strong winds, possible flooding and power outages on top of the snow. Meteorologists expect the storm to erupt into a full-blown nor'easter, with major effects lasting at least through Tuesday. Real quickBiden adviser says to prioritize first vaccine dosesA top epidemiologist and adviser to Biden urged the U.S. to prioritize giving the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to as many Americans as possible before focusing the second dose. Both Moderna's and Pfizer's vaccines are comprised of two shots, though just receiving the first shot has shown to provide some protection. Johnson & Johnson, which sponsors a single-dose vaccine candidate, is expected to apply for emergency use authorization within the next week and receive it sometime next month. However, new data shows that J&J's single dose will only be 66% effective. So far, 31 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered out of the nearly 50 million doses distributed across the U.S. In addition: Travelers on airplanes and public transportation in the U.S. will be required to wear masks beginning this week, per a new rule from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'SNL' returns with first episode of its 2021 season"Saturday Night Live" kicked off its first episode of 2021 by reminding everyone how chaotic the first 30 days of the year have been. Kate McKinnon opened the comedy show with a segment titled "What Still Works?" — a series of interviews to recap everything going right, or rather, wrong in America right now. "The Office" and "A Quiet Place" actor John Krasinski also made his debut on the show by getting arrested for participating in the Capitol riot earlier this month and sharing a smooch with Pete Davidson. During the goodbyes at the end of the show, Davidson took a tumble off the stage with Machine Gun Kelly, who was making his first appearance on the show. The musician performed "Lonely" and "My Ex's Best Friend" from his 2020 pop-punk album "Tickets to My Downfall." P.S. Like this round up of stories? We send it to inboxes every afternoon. Sign up for "The Short List" newsletter here. This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Contributing: The Associated Press. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2021/01/31/covid-19-relief-winter-storm-snl-vaccine-weekends-biggest-news/4331549001/  |
| Biden administration should sue Donald Trump to pay for Capitol riot cleanup - USA TODAY Posted: 31 Jan 2021 02:02 AM PST
Impeachment or not, the case of the USA vs Donald J. Trump will provide accountability, in the only language that Trump understands: moneyWith well over 100 rioters already arrested, and major criminal investigations still in progress, it is time for the Biden administration to start efforts to recover the millions of dollars in cleanup and physical restoration costs owed the United States from the insurrection. In addition, those responsible for the invasion are also obligated to pay for the military, national guard and other Inauguration Day security expenses made necessary to assure that nothing like Jan. 6 happened at the swearing in. It is not likely that, even collectively, the individuals who have been arrested will begin to have enough money to scratch the surface of that debt. But there is one person who is responsible, has the money, and for whom money talks: private citizen Donald J. Trump, who should be the lead defendant in a case to be brought by United States to reimburse the government for its monetary losses. Of course, despite his promise to join the rioters at the Capitol, the then-president was safely hiding out in the White House, but that will not relieve him of the legal liability for pulling the rhetorical trigger to start the invasion. Defendants should include GiulianiIf there has ever been better direct evidence of a leader commanding his troops to enter battle, it is hard to think of it. That video, which will be the center of the upcoming impeachment trial, would be exhibit number one in the multi-million-dollar civil damages suit. No doubt, Trump will point to his subsequent statements in which he claimed to oppose violence, and the government — represented by a Biden attorney general — will counter with his many other public statements making it clear that he was urging his supporters to do whatever was necessary to stop the election certification that was violently interrupted by the invaders on Jan. 6. It will be up to a federal judge and/or a jury of District of Columbia citizens to decide whether Trump is liable to pay the costs of the ensuing riot. And when they do, the answer should be obvious: if Trump had said, "please do not go to the Capitol, let the count go forward, and I am prepared to accept the verdict," is there any doubt that the insurrection would have dissipated? There are other non-marchers who must be named as defendants. Most prominent is enabler-in-chief Rudy Giuliani who, standing by the president, urged the mob to engage in "trial by combat" to stop the certification from taking place. Joining him as named defendants, because they verbally seconded Trump's incitement that day, should be other members of his family and perhaps some Republican members of Congress. They, like Rudy, have responsibility and money and, at the least, will be important witnesses who will have vital information about Trump's motives and knowledge. Move on: America has more important things to worry about than a Trump Senate impeachment trial It also appears that the rioters did not all come on their own and that they were supported financially, organizationally and logistically in ways that made it possible for the 15,000 or more invaders to travel to Washington. Those groups and their leaders, whether present at the Capitol or not, are also responsible for what happened and should be named as defendants. Fortunately, the FBI, the Secret Service and other agencies are gathering evidence for the criminal cases which can be eventually, with proper safeguards, be used to enable the United States to recover what it is owed. The claim is not complicated: if someone broke into your house, tore up the furniture, and broke your doors and windows, could they escape liability because they said they had a serious disagreement with your politics? On the merits, that's what most of this case will involve. Next for GOP: How do Republicans move forward after Trump? Ditch magical thinking and tell the truth. There have also been enormous costs for additional security, both to stop the carnage that day, and to guard against a repetition two weeks later. These include not only the barriers that had to be put in place, but all the expenses related to the stationing of additional federal troops, national guard and other law enforcement personnel. Many of those costs may not have been initially borne by the federal government, but whoever did should be able to assign their claims to the United States, which can sue on their behalf. File suits and demand accountabilityMost of the members of Congress, their staffs, the Capitol police, reporters, and others caught by the invasion also have claims for physical and emotional injuries. They too can be expected to file suit, with or without their own lawyers. The Justice Department cannot represent them directly, but it can take the lead in establishing who is liable, which will greatly simplify their cases. Perhaps most enticingly, if Donald Trump and his family are held liable, the world will find out just how much money they actually have. The American people are demanding accountability. Impeachment or not, the case of United States of America vs Donald J. Trump will provide it, in the only language that Mr. Trump understands: millions of dollars in a civil verdict against him. Alan B. Morrison is an associate dean at George Washington University Law School where he teaches civil procedure and constitutional law. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/01/31/post-capitol-riot-cleanup-and-how-pay-column/6700427002/  |
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