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Saturday Sports: World Series

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The World Series match up between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros isn’t the only drama for the Texas team. Their pitcher was mocked by Yankees fans and their assistant GM was canned.



SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

You know, there is one institution in Washington, D.C. that works well. Time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Well, the Houston Astros tell the Washington Nationals, not so fast. And we mark the life of a great Paralympian athlete. We’re joined now by NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman. Tom, thanks so much for being with us.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: My pleasure, Scott.

SIMON: The Astros won last night 4-1. Nats now lead the series two games to one. I was at the ballpark scouting for the Cubs.

GOLDMAN: (Laughter).

SIMON: Are the ‘stros back on track?

GOLDMAN: I hope you got – I hope you took some good notes.

SIMON: Yeah. This guy Altuve, I think shows…

GOLDMAN: (Laughter).

SIMON: …A lot of promise and, you know…

GOLDMAN: Pitch around him.

SIMON: Right…

GOLDMAN: Walk him a lot.

SIMON: Right, Scherzer Strasburg – you know, yeah, yeah. There’s some – there’s some good players. They’ll be good Cubs. But go ahead. Yeah.

GOLDMAN: In answer to your question, let’s say the Astros got their foot in the door. And we’ll see if they can pry it open all the way in game four tonight. But yeah, last night was more like the Houston we expected going into the series. A very well-rounded win by the Astros. You know, most importantly when they got men on base, they got hits that drove in those men on base for runs…

SIMON: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: …As opposed to Washington, which, as you saw, squandered a bunch of scoring opportunities. The Nats left way too many men stranded on base last night.

SIMON: Yeah. Could they be let down by their relievers, as people were saying a few days ago?

GOLDMAN: Well, the bullpen is always going to be an area of vulnerability. Although, you know, it was starter Anibel Sanchez who gave up all four runs last night. I think more worrisome…

SIMON: Oh, that’s right. Yeah.

GOLDMAN: Yeah.

SIMON: Thank you for pointing that out. Right, yeah.

GOLDMAN: Sure. Sure. Well, I was scouting, too. But…

SIMON: I was deep into a bag of peanuts at that point, yeah.

GOLDMAN: (Laughter). But I think, you know, more worrisome for the Nats is Houston’s fearsome offense really hasn’t appeared yet.

SIMON: Yeah.

GOLDMAN: You know, even, you know…

SIMON: Even last night, yeah.

GOLDMAN: …Last night, the Astros kind of dinked and dunked their way to those four runs. We’ll see if the great Washington pitching of the first two games will prevail and hold Houston in check or if last night was the start of something bigger.

SIMON: Houston’s supposed to be the embodiment of a modern, data-driven franchise. But they had to fire their assistant GM this week for a really ugly encounter with a great Sports Illustrated reporter, who happens to be a woman.

GOLDMAN: Yeah. And it’s still lingering, you know, Scott. In fact, major league commissioner Rob Manfred said yesterday even with the firing, the league is still investigating the incident. After Houston won the American League pennant, the assistant GM Brandon Taubman directed some profanity-laced comments at a group of female reporters, comments supporting an Astros pitcher who’d been previously suspended for domestic violence. The Astros initially accused Sports Illustrated of fabricating a story about the incident, which was corroborated by several witnesses. After a public outcry, the team fired Taubman, admitted we were wrong. But that’s not enough for a lot of people.

SIMON: Yeah. Marieke Vervoort, a great Belgian wheelchair racer, unfortunately died this week – Paralympic gold medalist lived with intense pain because of a degenerative spinal disorder. And she ended her life by euthanasia this week at the age of 40.

GOLDMAN: Yeah, an amazing person. The world became aware of her condition and her plan at the 2016 Paralympics. She talked about signing papers in 2008 to allow a physician to end her life when the pain from her disease became too much. Euthanasia is legal in Belgium. And for her, those papers became her freedom and her control, things her disease did everything it could to take away from her. But yeah, earlier this week, she decided she’d had enough. She reportedly gathered those closest to her, including her beloved service dog named Zenn, for a final evening. They drank her favorite sparkling wine. And then she ended a very painful but a very meaningful life.

SIMON: All right. NPR’s Tom Goldman, thanks so much.

GOLDMAN: You’re welcome.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Astros Beat Nationals 4-1 In Game 3 Of 2019 World Series

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Houston Astros’ Michael Brantley hits an RBI single during the third inning of Game 3 of the baseball World Series against the Washington Nationals in Washington.

Alex Brandon/AP


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Alex Brandon/AP

The Houston Astros beat the Washington Nationals 4-1 in Game 3 of the 2019 World Series in a game they had to win, breaking the Nationals’ eight-game winning streak in the postseason.

Houston, trailing the series 2-0, led the scoring with an RBI single in the second inning by right-fielder Josh Reddick after shortstop Carlos Correa doubled off of Washington’s starting pitcher Aníbal Sánchez.

The Astros added another run in the third inning on a single by left-fielder Michael Brantley, scoring second-baseman José Altuve, who had doubled and reached third base on an error by the Nats left-fielder Juan Soto. Houston’s 2-0 lead after three innings proved to be all they needed to take Game 3.

“I just liked the competitiveness of our at-bats,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said in a postgame interview. “We were kind of pretty focused on handing the baton to the next guy, which is really important. We’re at our best when we do that.”

The Nationals got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning on a triple by center fielder Victor Robles, scoring first baseman Ryan Zimmerman who had opened the frame with a walk, making the score 2-1.

The Astros responded with a run in the fifth inning after José Altuve doubled and Brantley singled for his second RBI, extending their lead to 3-1.

The Nats had chances to score, stranding eight runners over the first five innings, and 12 overall.

Houston chased Nats’ starter Sánchez in the top of the sixth after he gave up a homer to catcher Robinson Chirinos and then walked pinch hitter Kyle Tucker. The homer made the score 4-1.

Here’s what made this a must-win game for Houston: no team in the history of the Fall Classic has ever come back to win after losing the first three games. The Astros made sure they would not be in that position.

Game 3 was the first World Series game played in the nation’s capital since 1933.

Game 4 in Washington will feature Nationals lefty Patrick Corbin against the Astros’ rookie Jose Urquidy.

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Rio Mira: Tiny Desk

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Credit: Shuran Huang/NPR

For just about fifteen minutes, the members of Rio Mira created a living and very melodic connection to Africa. Set behind a large marimba — and drums that are unique to their corner of the world — the members of the band performed music that is the legacy of enslaved people who were in both Ecuador and Colombia. Rio Mira takes its name from a river that separates Ecuador and Colombia and empties into the Pacific Ocean.

Rio Mira’s three songs in this performance are dominated by the marimba and accompanied by drums from both Europe and Africa. “La Pepa de Tangaré” references the culinary joys of life and, like the rest of their set, celebrates life along the river: soft breezes, loving friends, the embrace of Africa and, of course, lots of festejando (partying)!

If you’re a little rusty on your college Spanish classes, the extended narration in “Román Román” tells the tale of a village man who has healing powers and challenges death.

For me, the principal attractions to this group are the instruments and the musical skills that were handed down for generations along the river, and how they eventually ended up here on this video for you to enjoy. I dare you to not move your hips along with these infectious grooves!

SET LIST

  • “La Pepa de Tangaré”
  • “Román Román”
  • “Mi Buenaventura”

MUSICIANS

Esteban Copete: marimba; Karla Kanora: vocals; Benjamín Vanegas: vocals; Carlos Hurtado: vocals; Sergio Ramírez: bombo macho; Carlos Loboa: cununos; Tito Ponguillo: bombo hembra

CREDITS

Producers: Felix Contreras, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineers: Josh Rogosin, James Willetts; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Jeremiah Rhodes, Maia Stern, Beck Harlan; Associate Producer: Bobby Carter; Production Assistant: Paul Georgoulis; Executive Producer: Lauren Onkey; Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann; Photo: Shuran Huang/NPR

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Houston Astros Fire Assistant General Manager After Uproar Over Comments To Reporters

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The Houston Astros fired assistant general manager Brandon Taubman for inappropriate comments directed at a group of female reporters.



AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Tomorrow night, the Houston Astros take on the Washington Nationals in game three of the World Series. The Astros are down two games to none, but their problems do not end there. They’ve just fired their assistant general manager days after he delivered a profane defense of Astros pitcher Roberto Osuna to a group of female reporters. NPR’s David Folkenflik has been following this story. He joins us now.

Hey, David.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.

CHANG: So help us understand why this assistant GM, Brandon Taubman, is being fired today?

FOLKENFLIK: Well, Taubman not only offered a profane rant at these three female reporters, but he did so prompted by nothing. He was essentially yelling, I’m so glad to have gotten Osuna. We’re glad to have – expletive deleted – gotten Osuna. And he was directing it at them. What was not initially clear was he’s really directing it at one of the three reporters, and she’s a woman who had tweeted a lot about domestic violence. She had a domestic violence awareness bracelet on her wrist, and she had tweeted about domestic violence after a couple of Osuna’s appearances last year. That was a sore spot for the Astros, who picked up Osuna in exchange last year from the Toronto Blue Jays after he had been arrested by Canadian authorities for beating the mother of his child. And he was suspended 75 games, so that was a very sore spot. He was screaming about that player to a woman who had been trying to raise awareness about domestic violence.

CHANG: Yeah. But what I don’t understand is this outburst happened days ago. Why are the Astros taking this step now? I mean, didn’t they initially deny Apstein’s entire account of the whole incident?

FOLKENFLIK: That’s right. Not only did they deny it, they said that she and Sports Illustrated had fabricated the count. I spoke to eyewitnesses. Others have vouch for the fact it was accurate. They’re just wrong, and they have not apologized for that very serious charge against a working journalist. They’re doing it now because the pressure is intense. Major League Baseball has said it’s investigating. And basically, all of sports journalism has rallied behind these reporters. There’s been a lot of criticism also for the Astros for being insensitive to domestic violence not only in the outburst but now the decision to trade for Osuna after that accusation of domestic violence had come to light as well.

CHANG: That’s NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik.

Thanks very much, David.

FOLKENFLIK: You bet.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Astros Fire Assistant GM Who Made ‘Inappropriate’ Comments To Female Reporters

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The Houston Astros said Thursday that the club had terminated assistant general manager Brandon Taubman, following comments he made to a group of female reporters.

Bob Levey/Getty Images


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The Houston Astros have fired assistant general manager Brandon Taubman, following an uproar about comments he shouted at a group of female reporters on Saturday.

On Monday, Sports Illustrated published a story by reporter Stephanie Apstein in which she described the scene in the locker room after the Astros clinched the American League pennant: “[I]n the center of the room, assistant general manager Brandon Taubman turned to a group of three female reporters, including one wearing a purple domestic-violence awareness bracelet, and yelled, half a dozen times, “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f—— glad we got Osuna!”

Roberto Osuna is a pitcher who had been suspended by Major League Baseball for 75 games, following charges that he had assaulted the mother of his child while a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Astros subsequently hired him.

The Astros initially denied that Taubman’s outburst had happened in the way that Apstein described, calling the article “misleading” and saying that the magazine had attempted “to fabricate a story where one does not exist.” Others who were in the locker room at the time corroborated Apstein’s account.

In a statement Thursday announcing the firing, the Astros apologized:

“Our initial investigation led us to believe that Brandon Taubman’s inappropriate comments were not directed toward any reporter. We were wrong. We sincerely apologize to Stephanie Apstein, Sports Illustrated and to all individuals who witnessed this incident or were offended by the inappropriate conduct. The Astros in no way intended to minimize the issues related to domestic violence.

“Our initial belief was based on witness statements about the incident. Subsequent interviews have revealed that Taubman’s inappropriate comments were, in fact, directed toward one or more reporters. Accordingly we have terminated Brandon Taubman’s employment with the Houston Astros. His conduct does not reflect the values of our organization and we believe this is the most appropriate course of action.”

The furor over Taubman has happened as the Astros are playing in the World Series. Houston lost the opening two games of the series to the Washington Nationals. Game three is Friday in D.C.

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