Page 8 September 7, 2017
Helping Houston from front page
California-based refinery said that the Chevron
Humankind fund will match the personal
contributions of the company’s U.S. paid
employees and retirees. Valero did the same
with a $1 million gift and gave away free gas
in the Houston area during and after hurricane
Harvey that set a storm-driven rainfall record
of 51.88 inches for the 48 states.
Southwest Airlines donated 100 roundtrip
tickets to help move volunteers from
disaster response organization Team Rubicon
into Houston once flight operations resume.
The Dallas-based carrier supplied catering
services to support the shelter at the Kay
Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in
downtown Dallas, and made a $500,000
donation to the Red Cross. United Airlines
is encouraging passengers to donate to the
relief efforts by offering three million bonus
miles to MileagePlus members who made a
donation. The carrier said it will match the
first $100,000 in donations to the American
Red Cross or AmeriCares.
Raytheon wasted little time, announcing
two days after Harvey made land on
August 25 that the company would make a
$250,000 grant to help residents affected by
Los Angeles Angels Praying to Ascend into Postseason
By Adam Serrao
Don’t look now… but despite a horrible
start to the season, the Los Angeles Angels
are making a strong push toward a postseason
appearance this year. The reason that the
team is making its push may not be for the
reason that most people would immediately
assume. The Angels haven’t necessarily
been obliterating their competition this year.
Instead, the competition has been just as
mediocre as the Angels have been. Whatever
the reason may be, though, Los Angeles is
certainly in the hunt. And one thing that we
all know from playoff competition is that
once you make it into the race, absolutely
anything can happen from there.
When looking at the MLB standings at
any given moment, you’re more likely than
not to see the Angels record at 5-5 over
their last 10 games of play. That may not
come as a surprise being that the team has
hovered right around a .511 win percentage
for the majority of the second half of play.
At this point and time, it’s safe to say that
the Angels don’t have what it takes to catch
a Houston Astros team that has been at the
top of the American League all season long.
With Mike Trout back to full health and a
roster full of players who are finally hitting
their respective strides, though, the Angels
just might have what it takes to beat out
a list of other mediocre teams vying for
the last remaining Wild Card spot in the
American League.
August was the Angels’ most impressive
month of the entire baseball season by far.
The Halos jumped out to a four-game winning
streak to start the month before another sixgame
Unfortunately for the Angels, producing is
something that the team has been awfully
mediocre at all season long.
– Asixlion@earthlink.net •
streak and a three-game sweep over
their divisional rivals from Oakland rounded
things out. Though it’s late in the season,
Los Angeles has been playing its best ball
of the year at precisely the right time. The
team’s recent impressive showing has done
its part to not only put it into competition
for a shot at the Wild Card, but to also make
the Angels one of the frontrunners vying for
the last available spot.
One massive wrench in the Angels’ plans
to take the American League West this year
was the injury to their star--and arguably the
game’s best player--Mike Trout. Naturally,
it would have been easy for Los Angeles to
give up without its leader on the field, but
instead of folding, the team found a way
to stay in contention. One of the ways it
stayed within reach was the play of shortstop
Andrelton Simmons. The infielder’s defense
has never been a question, but this year
Simmons has been having a career year
at the plate as well. He has been hovering
around a .300 batting average, which is well
above his career .266 showing. He is also
approaching his career high in home runs
(17) and has already broken his season high
in RBIs, which was previously set at 59.
Though the Angels haven’t looked like
much of a World Series contender for a
good majority of the season, general manager
Billy Eppler stayed strong and kept hope.
Instead of selling off assets, he decided
to bolster the lineup in hopes of making
a playoff run. “This team showed a lot of
fight over the course of the year,” Eppler
explained. “Their play warranted continued
investment in the club, which we were able
to do when [owner] Arte [Moreno] gave us
the green light.”
That green light led to the signings of both
Justin Upton from the Detroit Tigers and
Brandon Phillips from the Atlanta Braves.
The moves immediately gave depth to a
team that was obviously lacking in that
area, with Upton specifically bringing muchneeded
power to the lineup in front of Trout.
“The lineup looked good,” Simmons said
last Friday night after Upton and Phillips
played their first game with the team. “We
put up really good at-bats, scored a lot of
runs. That lineup showed what it can do.”
That lineup will have to continue to show
what it can do in order to back up a pitching
staff and a bullpen that have been less than
stellar this year, to say the least. Despite
the Angels’ nine-run output with Upton
and Phillips in the lineup for the first time,
starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs was only able
to go two innings while giving up six runs.
The bullpen gave up another three in a 10-9
loss that was awfully reminiscent of many
games that the Angels have lost this season.
As of last weekend, Los Angeles was
still hovering just above the .500 mark,
well behind Houston in the American
League West standings and just barely on
the outside looking in at the last spot in
the American League Wild Card standings.
The Angels’ front office has now done all
that it possibly could do in order to put
the team in a position to make a run at the
playoffs this year. Now, it’s simply up to the
players--new and old--to produce on the field.
donations of up to $1 million. American
Airlines is giving loyalty-program members
10 miles for every dollar members donate to
the Red Cross, with a minimum donation
of $25. Apple is accepting donations of $5,
$10, $25, $50, $100, or $200 through iTunes.
Every donation is passed onto the American
Red Cross, and Apple gave $2 million to the
Red Cross and offered to match employee
donations at a 2:1 rate.
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation
is donating $1 million to support Harvey
relief efforts, including a $250,000 donation
to the Red Cross. Bank of America will also
match employee donations of $1 or more
until September 30.
Boeing made a $1 million pledge to the
American Red Cross, and Carnival Cruise
Lines and its philanthropic division also said
they would give $1 million to Harvey disaster
relief, without specifying which organizations
would receive the gift. Carnival ‘s Chairman
Micky Arison and his wife matched the
cruise ship company’s $1 million gift with
a donation of their own.
Chevron is making a $1 million contribution
to the American Red Cross, and the
the hurricane and flooding. Raytheon’s gift
included $50,000 to the American Red Cross
and a matching grant of up to $100,000 for
all employee donations to ongoing disaster
relief in the region. Last week, nationwide
retailer Walmart made the largest pledge
to date, offering $20 million for Hurricane
Harvey relief efforts. This includes $10 million
for support of American Red Cross shelters
and $2 million in support of a relief fund at
the Greater Houston Community Foundation.
The Arkansas-based retailer promised to
match customer donations two to one up to
$10 million in cash and products.
This is not meant as a complete listing
of companies and brands involved with the
corporate giving to the Gulf region. A full
listing, which is updated regularly, can be
found at www.uschamberfoundation.org/
aid-event/hurricane-harvey. Companies that
wish to have their donations and fundraising
drives added to the list can do so by using
the form on the Corporate Aid Tracker. The
page also lists past disasters and the level
of corporate support for recovery from past
disasters and emergencies in the United States
and in foreign countries. •
A volunteer hands cleanup kits to residents in a flooded
neighborhood in southeastern Texas. Photo Credit: Chuck Haupt/
The American Red Cross