Los Angeles Times - 09.08.2019

SPORTS

F RIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019::L ATIMES.COM/SPORTS

D

Public radio
host Terry
Gross had an
exchange with
comedian
Ramy Youssef
during a recent
episode of
“Fresh Air” that was as
poignant as it was hilarious.
Gross asked Youssef, who is
Muslim, about elements of
his life that appear to be in
conflict with his faith.
Gross: “Like, you’re
really — you are a practic-
ing Muslim. You probably
practice it slightly different
than your parents do, and
you’re not completely all in.
I mean, it’s clear. Like, you
have premarital sex, for
example.”
YOUSSEF: “Yeah. We
would call it the picking
and choosing. Sometimes,
we would call it Allah carte
... where we’re kind of, you
know — everyone’s got a
different line, and it’s really
funny. There’s the people
who are like, ‘OK, I’m going
to have sex, but I’m not
going to drink.’ Then there’s
the people who are like, ‘No
way am I having sex, but
let’s do acid on Saturday.’ ”
In many ways the line
that Youssef refers to can be
said about the supporters of
President Trump who get
offended when people call
them racists for supporting
a man who in testimony to
Congress in 1993 said some
Native American casinos
shouldn’t be allowed be-
cause “they don’t look like
Indians to me” and in 2016
said that U.S. District Judge
Gonzalo Curiel could not be
impartial presiding over a
lawsuit involving Trump
University because he was
Latino.
Miami Dolphins owner
Stephen Ross is one of those
people.
He is under fire for host-
ing a $250,000-a-plate fund-

LZ GRANDERSON

Can’t

have it

both

ways

DOLPHINS’ Stephen
Ross is holding fundrais-
er for President Trump.

Lynne SladkyAssociated Press

[SeeGranderson,D2]

The levity in his voice

offset the gravity of

his words.

He described this

season as “extremely

tough,” except he

didn’t sound frus-

trated.

On the contrary.

As he explained

the difficulties of returning to the

Dodgers lineup after missing all

but the first month of last season,

Corey Seager projected a sense of

... excitement?

The former rookie of the year

smiled. He laughed. He playfully

wiggled the black bat in his hands.

Seager will enter a weekend

series against the Arizona Di-

amondbacks batting a career-

worst .265 with nine home runs, but

if you ignored what he said and

listened only to how he said it, you

would think he was a triple-crown

contender.

Which makes sense.

Seager, 25, views this as a transi-

tional period, something to be

endured. He believes that so long

as he remains healthy and contin-

ues to accumulate at-bats, he will

hit again. He always has.

“Absolutely,” he said.

The possibilities are intoxicat-

ing. As many games as the Dodgers

have won, as large as their lead is in

the National League West, as many

runs as they have scored, perhaps

their most talented player is still

working his way back from two

major operations. Imagine if the

version of Seager, who was an

All-Star in his first two seasons, is

added to this lineup.

Others had warned Seager this

year would play out like this. He

underwent reconstructive elbow

surgery in May of last year. He later

had a procedure to repair a trou-

blesome left hip. He missed the last

five months of the regular season,

as well as all of October.

Before the injuries, manager

COREY SEAGER, who underwent reconstructive elbow surgery in May 2018, then later had a pro-

cedure to repair a troublesome left hip, is determined to be a standout once again for the Dodgers.

Harry HowGetty Images

TOO GOOD

TO BE BLUE

DYLAN HERNANDEZ

Seager’s return from two surgeries hasn’t been easy,

but the Dodgers shortstop believes he’ll excel again

[SeeHernandez,D4]

BOSTON — Angels out-

fielder Kole Calhoun raced

to his left, eyes trained on a

baseball slicing toward the

right-field foul line at Fen-

way Park. If he didn’t get to

it, the ball would skitter into

no-man’s land. A Boston

Red Sox batter would easily

have an extra-base hit, may-

be an inside-the-park ho-

mer, to lead off the fourth in-

ning. Not an ideal situation

for an Angels team that on

Thursday struggled to pick

up its starting pitcher.

Calhoun did not allow

those circumstances to

arise. He dived, fully ex-

tended his body and stuck

out his right arm. The ball

nestled into Calhoun’s glove,

afew inches away from a

fence that Calhoun might

have crashed into if he were

taller than 5 feet 10.

“I knew I had a chance to

make a play and gave it a

shot,” Calhoun said later.

“Probably one of my better

ones.”

The catch was so impres-

sive, Boston fans cheered

Calhoun when the replay

streamed across the vi-

deoboard.

It was the Angels’ only

highlight on a night they

dropped their seventh

straight game, falling 3-0 to a

Angels

see nil

against

Boston

Sale of old is lights out

for Red Sox as visitors

lose their seventh

consecutive game.

BOSTON 3

ANGELS 0

By Maria Torres

[SeeAngels,D5]

This past spring, before a
barrage of interceptions
made him the most buzzed-
about defensive back at
USC’s training camp,
Olaijah Griffin sat at home,
doing little else but stewing
in his own misery.
Offseason surgery on the
labrums in both of his shoul-
ders left him in agonizing
pain, with limited range of
motion. For weeks, he could
barely move his arms. But
the pain was only a small
part of the self-pity that
would come to consume
him.
It was the stagnation

that proved most madden-

ing. Griffin couldn’t prac-

tice. He couldn’t do much of

anything. So he sat and

waited and thought about

how much he missed foot-

ball.

Griffin wouldn’t be able

to ease that pain until

months later, when he first

stepped onto the turf at

Howard Jones Field for fall

camp and breathed a sigh of

From bad spring

to spring in step

After shoulder

surgeries, USC’s

Griffin looks like

a No. 1 cornerback.

By Ryan Kartje

[SeeUSC, D6]

NFL PRESEASON::WEEK 1

GLENDALE, Ariz. —

Philip Rivers trotted onto

the field at State Farm Sta-

dium for the Chargers’ open-

ing preseason game ... wear-

ing shorts and a baseball

cap.

Still, the team received

an impressive performance

Thursday night from its

starting quarterback.

Tyrod Taylor took over

against Arizona in Rivers’

absence and directed the of-

fense to a pair of drives that

netted 160 total yards and a

touchdown in a game the

Chargers would go on to lose

17-13.

Rivers was among sev-

eral regulars who didn’t

dress, giving Taylor an op-

portunity to show why Char-

gers coach Anthony Lynn

A Taylor-made good first start

CHARGERS second-year receiver Artavis Scott makes a move after catching a

short pass in the preseason opener. Scott missed all of last season with an injury.

Norm HallGetty Images

ARIZONA 17

CHARGERS 13

By Jeff Miller

[SeeChargers, D3]

SEASON OPENER

USC vs.

Fresno State

AT THE COLISEUM

Aug. 31, 7:30 P.M.

TV:ESPN

Bad combination

While the Angels’ offense

has slumped in August, the

team’s pitching has also

struggled. The team’s

monthly numbers:

Hitting >>>

Month AVG. OBP. SLG.

April* .239 .322 .406

May .276 .352 .446

June .263 .332 .455

July .249 .324 .462

Aug. .175 .242 .323

Pitching >>>

Month AVG. OBP. SLG.

April* .248 .334 .432

May .240 .309 .468

June .247 .320 .448

July .266 .342 .425

Aug. .286 .333 .489

* — includes four games in March

Statistics through Thursday