An Unprecedented Debut at Wrigley Field for Báez, a 23-year-old outfielder who is rated as the Cardinals’ No. 3 prospect, was promoted from Triple-A Memphis on Friday to assist with the team’s postseason push.

Batting fifth and playing left field on Saturday, his performance rewrote the record books.

He Launched a monster 449-foot HR to center field on the very first pitch he saw from Cubs starter Matthew Boyd.

2nd at bat he hit a solo HR 382 feet down the left-field line.

Third at bat he Crushed a 368-foot HR over the right-field wall.

Báez finished the historic day going 3-for-4 with 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored before recording his first major league out, a lineout in the eighth inning. (NYT

Much of Europe is in the middle of a severe drought, and major rivers have been reduced to a fraction of their usual size.

Europe’s second-longest river, the Danube, is now facing record lows, recently measuring just 9 inches deep in Budapest.

Part of Italy’s mighty Po River is also at a record summertime low.

And the Rhine, a major outlet for trade flowing from the Alps to the North Sea, is now shallower than at any time since records began.

This summer, the transport of chemicals, oil products and other goods on the Rhine and the Danube ground almost to a halt in places.

The carmakers Dacia and Ford agreed to temporarily cease production in their Romanian factories to save power. (NYT)

We’re getting too much water in some places and not enough elsewhere!

We live in a world in which A.I. tools have found their way to the center of a staggering number of professional, academic and personal interactions.

Lately these chatbots and agents have been doing more than just talking to us.

Students are writing essays with ChatGPT, and teachers are using A.I. to grade them.

Workers are sending lengthy A.I.-generated emails to colleagues, who are responding with walls of chatbot text of their own. 

A.I podcast hosts are holding forth with A.I. podcast guests on topics like gas prices, the Iran war — and artificial intelligence.

Tech wants to take all this even further: In March, Meta acquired a social network designed for bots to talk to one another. (NYT)

Where is all this headed at breakneck speed?

Anything changing our society this fast is impossible for us to understand the future impact on our lives!

Yes, it is moving to a pass or no credit system when grading freshmen.

The plan will go into effect in the fall of 2027.

It will begin in the college of Literature, Science and the Arts.

Its purpose is to help freshmen “start strong” and curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college students.

This system is similar to one used at M.I.T.

A personal note: The same thing is being done with our military recruits.

Not a good sign!

I don’t pretend to be an expert on employment opportunities for recent graduates.

But, here are some facts: 41% to 52% of recent college graduates who do find jobs are underemployed.

That means that they work in positions that don’t require a college degree.

A larger pool of applicants are chasing fewer jobs

The unemployment rate for vocational and trade school graduates, however, generally hovers between 2% and 4%.

This is depending on the specific trade and local economic demand.

So, it seems due diligence must be done before entering a college or trade school so that jobs are there upon graduation.

Ford is the undisputed global leader in pickup trucks. The F-Series is the best-selling vehicle in the US – of any kind – since 1981.

Its latest pickup, the Ford Fathom, will cost a downright cheap $28,350, which should set it up to be a massive seller.

And it absolutely needs to be!

Ford has spent billions beyond the usual costs developing the Fathom ,a smaller electric pickup truck that goes on sale in 2027.

But there is no current US market segment along the lines of electric pickup smaller than a regular truck but still with room for a family of five (CNN)

A HUGE GAMBLE!

When the next hurricane heads toward Florida, some people won’t have to join the lines of traffic slowly snaking out of town.

They won’t need to worry about gas, or where they should head. Instead, they will be swiftly flown out of state on a privately hired airplane.

A new company called PriorityEvac, which launched in June, is offering private evacuation flights from Florida’s coasts.

For $1,250 a year, a member is guaranteed a spot aboard an Airbus A320 aircraft to Atlanta for a maximum of two hurricanes per season.

PriorityEvac “gets the prepared Florida household out first,” the company’s website says. (CNN)

Who knew?

With 50 games to go after the deadline, the Tigers insist that trading one of the best pitchers on the planet plus another key part of their top-notch rotation does not constitute waving the white flag.

“Firm no,” Harris said. “The season is not over.”

“I see what we have in front of us – five-and-a-half [games] back in the AL Central and two-and-a-half [games] back in the wild card,” said closer Kenley Jansen, who was expected to be dealt as well if the team went into full teardown mode. “Just make a push. Why not? It’s not over ‘til it’s over.”

“They were the reason why our clubhouse was our clubhouse, and our team chemistry was our team chemistry,” Greene said of the departed players.

“So yeah, it’s going to be a little different, but we still have a job to take care of. We’re two games out of the playoffs. We’re right in this thing.”

“We obviously know about the personnel changes,” Hinch said. “But the objective doesn’t change, the goal doesn’t change, the standards and expectations don’t change.” (CNN)

My parents had over sixty years of a happy marriage before my dad died at the age of eighty eight.

My mother told me she had prayed that dad would die first so he wouldn’t be alone.

Living alone after a long marriage is very difficult regardless of who is left behind.

A comedian of the past, after his wife died, slept on her side of the bed so he wouldn’t have to look at her empty pillow

My mom thought God had forgotten her because she lived three years longer than my dad.

After a long, happy marriage you’d think the surviving spouse would enjoy the good memories.

But, the surviving spouse feels half of them has died too.

It takes patience for children and friends to listen to the old stories.

But, they must be told.

If you decide to pursue an issue, even if you’re upset, present yourself to the school as a collaborator, not an adversary.

You’re on the same team, trying to help your child get a good education.

Whether you’re talking to a teacher, principal or the school board — and do start with the teacher if that’s where your concern is — assume officials have good intentions.

If you approach the conversation as a conflict and try to prove someone wrong, “creating tension or escalating tension is not going to help the situation move forward,”

“That just sets up a dynamic that is less likely to get you what you want and what you need.”

What happens when your child tells you one thing and the school says another?

“Knowing your kid is helpful.

Is your child reactive and “does a touch become a hit or a push?”

Or does your child tend to underreport things? If you’re not sure what version of events to believe, make your best guess based on how your child tends to react. (CNN)