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
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 much-needed
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. Unfortunately for the
Angels, producing is something that the team
has been awfully mediocre at all season long.
– Asixlion@earthlink.net •
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
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
Old paint. Solvents. Batteries. Computer
monitors. These are some of the
household hazardous waste and electronic
waste items you can bring to a Roundup
for recycling. It’s a great opportunity
to clean out your garage and clean up
the environment. Our free drive-thru,
drop-off events are a quick, convenient,
and common-sense way to
dispose of materials
too toxic to trash,
pour down a sink,
or dump in a
storm drain.
No Business Waste Accepted
Brought to you by the County of Los Angeles and
presented by the Department of Public Works and the
Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County in cooperation
with the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Gardena,
Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale,
Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance.
Home-generated sharps waste such as hypodermic
needles, pen needles, syringes, lancets, and intravenous
needles SHOULD NOT be placed in your trash. Bring
them to the Roundups or visit www.CLEANLA.com for
alternate disposal options.
You can also take your used motor oil to more than
600 oil recycling centers in Los Angeles County. Call
1(888) CLEAN-LA for a complete listing.
TOO
TOXIC
TO
TRASH
Household Hazardous
Waste & Electronic Waste
Roundup
Saturday, September 9, 2017
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Lawndale High School
Llyode Parking Lot
14901 S. Inglewood Avenue
Lawndale
For more information
or an event schedule, contact:
1(888) CLEAN-LA,
www.CleanLA.com
or 1(800) 238-0172
www.lacsd.org
Marine Ave.
Manhattan Beach Blvd.
Hawthorne Blvd.
Ingelwood Blvd.
Redondo Beach Ave.
Vail Ave.
W. Rosecrans Ave.
ENTER THIS
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MARINE AVE.
San Diego Fwy (405)
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