Dwight Michael Evans (born November 3, 1951), nicknamed "Dewey",^[1] is an American former professional baseball right fielder and right-handed batter who played with the Boston Red Sox (1972–90) and Baltimore Orioles (1991) in Major League Baseball.

Evans won eight Gold Glove Awards (1976, 1978–79 and 1981–85). In the 1970s and 1980s, Evans played in the outfield with Jim Rice as well as all-stars Fred Lynn and Tony Armas.

Life and career[link]

Evans was born in Santa Monica, California. He played Pony League and Colt League Baseball in Northridge, California with Doug De Cinces. Dwight attended Granada Hills High School in the tenth grade, but was not happy with the poor treatment he received from the baseball coaches. He then transferred to Chatsworth High School and played alongside Rick Rieger. Evans started his career by winning International League MVP honors, but in his early major league career, he was primarily a defensive standout with a modest bat. In the second half of his career, he became a powerful batter.

Evans made his Major League Baseball debut for the Boston Red Sox on September 16, 1972 in a game against the Cleveland Indians. The Red Sox won 10–0 behind the pitching of Luis Tiant who threw a 3-hit complete game. Evans pinch ran for Reggie Smith in the 6th but was stranded at 2B, he played in right field where he recorded 1 PO. Evans went 0–1 at the plate in his debut. Evans played in 18 games in 1972 for the Red Sox, and had 57 plate appearances (.263 BA, 15 H, 2 R, 6 RBI, 1 HR).

Despite the strike-shortened 1981 season, Evans had his best all-around year. He paced the league in total bases (215), OPS (.937), walks (85), times on base (208), and tied Eddie Murray, Tony Armas and Bobby Grich for the home run title with 22. He also ranked second in runs scored (84) and on-base percentage (.415), and third in slugging percentage (.522). He added a .296 batting average with 71 runs batted in. In 1987, at age 35, Evans recorded career highs in batting average (.305), HRs (34) and RBI (123). He spent his final season with the Orioles, batting .270 with six homers and drove in 38 runs in 101 games.

Evans was named an Outfielder on The Sporting News AL All-Star team in 1982, 1984 and 1987 and was also tabbed as an Outfielder on the AL Silver Slugger Team by The Sporting News in 1981 and 1987. Evans would win the Gold Glove award in 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985.

In his 20-year career, Evans batted .272, with 385 home runs, 1384 RBI, 1470 runs, 2446 hits, 483 doubles, 73 triples, and 78 stolen bases in 2606 games. Only Carl Yastrzemski (3308) played more games for the Red Sox than Evans (2505).

From 1980 through 1989, Evans hit more home runs (256) than any other player in the American League. He also led the A.L. in extra base hits over the same period of time. He is the only player to hit 20 or more home runs during every season of the 80's (1980–1989).

Evans hit a home run four times on Opening Day. On April 7, 1986, he set a major league record by hitting the first pitch of the season for a home run, eclipsing the mark held by the Chicago Cubs' Bump Wills, who hit the second pitch for a home run on April 4, 1982.

Originally Evans was assigned the uniform number 40 but quietly he wanted to wear number 24, the number of his idol Willie Mays. In 1973 Sox gave him number 24, the number he wore for the rest of his career in Boston and one year with Baltimore. Other Red Sox players to wear the same jersey number since Evans retired include Kevin Mitchell, Mike Stanley, Manny Ramírez, and Takashi Saito.

In 2000, Dwight Evans was selected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.

In 2002, Evans served as hitting coach for the Red Sox and wore uniform number 25.

In 2003, Evans was named a Player Development Consultant for the Red Sox.

Hall of Fame[link]

Evans was dropped from the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot when he did not receive the minimum five percent of votes in his third year of eligibility. Evans received 5.9% in 1997, 10.4% in 1998, and 3.6% in 1999. Evans' low vote total in 1999 is attributed to the appearance of future Hall of Fame players Nolan Ryan, George Brett, Robin Yount, and Carlton Fisk on the 1999 ballot. Based on his win shares metric, baseball statistician Bill James has argued that Evans is a worthy candidate for induction.^[2]

Achievements[link]

• 3-time All-Star (1978, 1981, 1987)
• 8 Gold Glove Award (1976, 1978–79, 1981–85)
• 4-time Top 10 MVP (1981–82, 1987–88)
• Led league in On-base percentage (1982)
• Led league in OPS (1981 and 1984)
• Led league in Runs and Extra-Base Hits (1984)
• Led league in Total Bases and Home Runs (1981)
• Led league in Walks (1981, 1985 and 1987)
• Led league in Runs Created (1981 and 1984)
• Led league in Times on Base (1981 and 1982)
• 2,606 Games (34th All-Time MLB)
• 8,996 At Bats (61st All-Time MLB)
• 1,470 Runs (65th All-Time MLB)
• 2,446 Hits (95th All-Time MLB)
• 4,230 Total Bases (53rd All-Time MLB)
• 483 Doubles (59th All-Time MLB)
• 385 Home Runs (49th All-Time MLB)
• 1,384 RBI (65th All-Time MLB)
• 1,391 Walks (25th All-Time MLB)
• 1,570 Runs Created (54th All-Time MLB)
• 941 Extra-Base Hits (41st All-Time MLB)
• 3,890 Times on Base (43rd All-Time MLB)
• 77 Sacrifice Flies (87th All-Time MLB)
• Hit for the cycle (1984)
• 4-time hit a home run on opening days in his career, including one on the very first pitch of the season. The one he hit on the very first pitch was also in the first MLB game of the season, thus giving him the record for earliest home run hit in a season, which for obvious reasons can never be broken.
• Has the 10th most career Home Runs hit by an American League right-handed batter (385).
• Appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1988.
• In the 11th inning of Game Six of the 1975 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Evans made a spectacular running catch deep in the right field corner near Pesky's Pole, robbing Joe Morgan of a home run, then doubled Ken Griffey, Sr. off first. The Red Sox then won the game in the 12th on Carlton Fisk's famous walkoff home run.

Charitable work[link]

• Evans and his wife Susan have been long-time supporters of the neurofibromatosis non-profit NF Inc., Northeast.^[3] Their sons Timothy and Justin were diagnosed with the disease in the 1980s.^[4]

Film career[link]

• In 2011, Evans appeared in the Farrelly brothers film Hall Pass as Maggie's father.^[5]

See also[link]

• Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame
• Hitting for the cycle
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• Hitting for the cycle
• List of Major League Baseball home run champions
• List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Page at Baseball Library
• MLB.com historical statistics
• Dwight and Susan Evans supporting neurofibromatosis research

Robert "Bob" Lobel is a former sportscaster for WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. He anchored the sports segments on the evening newscasts between Sunday and Thursday, and hosted the weekly programs Sports Final and Patriots 5th Quarter. During a round of layoffs in April 2008, Lobel's contract was bought out by the station.^[1]

WBZ[link]

A native of Apple Creek, Ohio, Lobel joined the station as weekend sports anchor in 1979 and was promoted to weekday anchor and sports director in 1981. Before joining the television side of WBZ, Lobel worked at WBZ radio for three years, most notably as the co-host (with Upton Bell) of Calling All Sports, a sports talk show that aired nightly on the station. He also worked at WJOY in Burlington, Vermont and WGIR in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Lobel has also done some play-by-play work, calling WBZ's annual broadcast of the Boston Marathon, Boston Celtics games from 1989-1993, Boston College Eagles football games in 1986, New England Patriots preseason games from 1985-1991, and two NFL games for NBC in 1985. He was a sideline reporter for the NCAA Mens' Basketball Tournament between 1995 and 1997.

On the air, Lobel was known for using props and catchphrases during his sportscasts:

• "Why can't we get players like that?" - when any former player for a Boston team is shown making a big play for his new team. This is emphasized in instances when the former Boston player burns a Boston team.^[2]
• the "Panic Button" when a local team is on a losing streak
• a support beam from the Boston Garden occasionally used for Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics highlights.

Lobel is also known for his local charity work for Children's Hospital and The Genesis Fund among many others.

During a 2003 edition of Sports Final, Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan said that the wife of New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd needed someone to "smack" her for taking his young children to NBA playoff games where they could be taunted. Kidd had recently faced charges of domestic violence. Lobel immediately interrupted Ryan and tried to get Ryan to retract his comment, but Ryan refused. The Globe suspended Ryan for three weeks. In an Internet chat that summer, Lobel said that his actions were not "an act of heroism on my part, just knowing what is acceptable and what is not acceptable".^[3]

On April 2, 2008, it was announced that Lobel will be released from WBZ-TV after almost thirty years with the station. ^[2] On Dec. 1, 2010, Lobel will start doing a two hour show on WTPL-FM 107.7 in Hillsboro, NH, weekdays from 1 pm until 3 pm.

On February 3, 2009 Bob Lobel returned briefly to the WBZ fold, on WBZ 1030 AM, replacing Gil Santos (longtime sportscaster who retired on January 30) as the on-air sports reporter. He continues to work with the radio station in other capacities, including golf reports on weekends.

WODS-FM and WAMG-AM[link]

In September 2008, Lobel was hired as a co-host on a morning talk show on WODS-FM, "Oldies 103.3". The show, co-hosted by Karen Blake, will feature cover a range of topics including sports.^[4][5][6] Due to back surgery in October 2008, Lobel was replaced on WODS on November 11, 2008.^[7]

Lobel appeared on The Boston Sports Show on Boston's ESPN Radio affiliate, WAMG-890, until it was cancelled in September 2009.

Controversies[link]

Lobel has been reported as having appeared on air in an intoxicated state which Lobel denies.^[8] Lobel was a judge at Kiss 108's 2007 Turkey Toss in which local high schools sent two members of their football team to compete in a turkey throwing competition. Although the contest was held at 7 AM, Lobel was accused of being intoxicated by a number of participants. He interrupted the competition and made a number of calls which visual evidence later clearly refuted.

Get Fuzzy[link]

An edition of the comic strip Get Fuzzy published on May 13, 2005 resulted in legal action. In the original strip, characters Rob, Bucky and Satchel are watching television. Satchel asks "Is this sportscaster... drunk?" Rob replies "Lobel? Who knows. He's like some TV outreach program or something." ^[9]

Less than a week later, Lobel filed a libel lawsuit against cartoonist Darby Conley, United Features Syndicate, and the New Bedford Standard-Times newspaper. The New Bedford paper was named specifically because it did not censor the strip as several other Boston-area papers did, including The Boston Globe; most either refused to run the strip or substituted "Him?" in place of Lobel's name. The lawsuit claimed that the strip was both personally and professionally damaging, especially given that his contract was under negotiation for renewal at the time.^[8][9]

On November 16, 2005, a brief article in the Boston Herald reported that Lobel and Conley had settled the suit out of court.^[10] Conley made a public apology to Lobel, saying the strip was not intended to imply that he had been drunk on the air. Further details of the settlement were confidential, but the Herald quoted an unnamed source as saying Conley had made a substantial donation to charity.

The strip was left out of the Get Fuzzy collection Take Our Cat, Please.

Affair[link]

In late 2004, the Boston Herald reported that he had an extra-marital affair. Lobel has denied all allegations.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Lobel was married to fellow former WBZ news anchor Susan Wornick during the 1980s; they are now divorced. ^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Interview with Boston magazine
• Bob Lobel at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview on Plum TV
• Announcement Regarding Bob Lobel's TruFan.com Webcast

Jack Heath
Born	(1986-08-23) 23 August 1986 (age 25)
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	Australia
Genres	Young Adult Fiction
www.jackheath.com.au

Jack Heath, (born 23 August 1986 in Sydney, Australia), is a writer of young adult fiction. He has resided in Canberra since age 9.^[1] Heath is best known for the Six of Hearts series, for being one of Australia's youngest bestselling authors, and for the high action content in his novels (his work is often compared to that of Matthew Reilly,^[2] to the CHERUB written by Robert Muchamore and to the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz.)

Jack Heath's second book, Remote Control was shortlisted for the 2007 Aurealis Award for Best Science-Fiction Novel, and he is the 2009 ACT Young Australian of the Year.

Notable characteristics and themes[link]

Most of Jack Heath's works so far have contained one or more of the following elements: atonement/redemption, coming of age, commercialism, conspiracy, corruption, genetic experimentation, greed, heroism, and nature vs. nurture. However, Heath has been quoted as saying that he writes only "to entertain . . . to keep people entertained from the first page to the last. I'm not trying to force issues onto anyone."^[3]

The narrative is always third-person and past tense, except in dream sequences and the final chapter of Third Transmission (which led some critics to speculate that the end might be a dream.^[4]) Heath frequently uses onomatopoeia and lots of detail in his action scenes to create a "slow-motion" effect. Another consistent element is the lack of a stated geographical setting. The Six of Hearts series is set in an overpopulated, capitalist metropolis known only as "the City", which covers an entire continent. (The continent is described as being 7.5 million square kilometres in area,^[5] which is only slightly less than Australia, so this seems the most likely location.) Money Run is set in a Western nation where the currency is dollars, but where the police Miranda warning resembles that used by British law enforcement,^[6] which might indicate that the book is set in Australia or New Zealand.

Heath is also known for his in-jokes - for instance, the names of many of his characters are anagrams of famous actors, (e.g. "Serfie Thaldurken" is an anagram of Kiefer Sutherland) and some of the firearms in his novels are named after fictional weapons from films such as Aliens. Similarly, his website includes humorous hidden captions behind all images and links, and the site's 404 error message has been replaced with a short story entitled 404.

Books[link]

The Six of Hearts series[link]

• 2006 The Lab (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• 2007 Remote Control (Pan Macmillan Australia, shortlisted for the Aurealis Award for Best Science-Fiction Novel, 2007^[7])
• 2008 404 (short story, published on jackheath.com.au)
• 2009 Third Transmission (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• 2012 Dead Man Running (Pan Macmillan Australia) (announced, release date 2012^[8])

The Ashley Arthur series[link]

• 2008 Money Run (Pan Macmillan Australia)
• 2008 Freak Show (short story, published by the State Library of Queensland^[9])
• 2010 Hit List (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Stand alone short stories[link]

• 2006 Sleep (published in Voiceworks, issue #65)
• 2007 The Mistress (published in Voiceworks, issue #68)
• 2007 Right-angles and hair (published in The Sex Mook)
• 2008 Emma (published in lip, issue #16)
• 2009 The Beach (written for Salon 3 - Stoker and Shelley, and published on Tara Moss's blog, The Book Post)^[10]
• 2010 Flesh (written for Salon 5 - Pinol and Wells, and published on The Book Post)^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jack Heath's official website
• Jack Heath's official myspace
• Karin van Heerwaarden's interview with Jack Heath
• Third Transmission review by Tania McCartney

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (October 2011)

Tom Knox
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Linda
Children	Two sons
Residence	Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia
Occupation	Businessman
Religion	Catholic
Website	knoxforgovernor.com

Tom Knox is an American businessman and politician. He was second in the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Philadelphia on May 15, 2007. He is notable for his pledge to spend up to fifteen million dollars of his own money in the race.^[1] After considering a run in 2008 for state treasurer,^[2] Knox announced his entry into the 2010 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election in August 2008.^[3] He ended his gubernatorial camapaign in January 2010, and endorsed Dan Onorato. Knox is said to be considering running a second run for Philadelphia Mayor in the 2011 election, this time as an Independent.^[4]

Business career[link]

A high school dropout who later earned a GED in the United States Navy,^[5] Knox was a successful entrepreneur who built an insurance advisory firm and sold it for nearly six million dollars in 1986. In the late 1980s he began buying and turning around underperforming companies.

Among his targets was Crusader Savings which he later sold to Royal Bank of Pennsylvania for seventeen million dollars. Knox was credited with significantly increasing the bank's income, though has been criticized for his methods. The bank's income increased through the use of payday loans which charge high interest rates and are under fire from a number of states. The Office of Thrift Supervision, one of the country's bank regulators, later expressed concerns over several of the bank's businesses, including the payday lending business.^[6]

In 1999, Knox acquired Fidelity Insurance Group, a Maryland health insurance firm which he sold to UnitedHealth Group in 2004^[7] for a gain of over twenty million dollars.^{[citation needed]} After the acquisition, Knox became the CEO of UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania, a UHG subsidiary. He resigned his position in 2006 in order to run for mayor.^[8]

Political career[link]

Knox briefly interrupted his business career to serve as Deputy Mayor for Management and Productivity under then-Mayor Ed Rendell. He served for one and a half years, accepting only one dollar a year in salary.^[9] Rendell credited Knox with helping to save the city seven million dollars on better leases for office space. Knox was also involved in negotiating lower health care costs for city employees.^[10] Knox has been a major contributor and fund-raiser for various local politicians.^[11]

In December 2006, Knox announced his campaign for mayor and lent five million dollars to his campaign. In response to criticism that he was trying to buy City Hall, Knox replied that he was trying to "buy City Hall back for the people of Philadelphia".^[12] Thanks to his cash advantage, Knox was one of the first candidates to go on the air with television commercials.^[13] The early advertising, which attacked city corruption and high business taxes, proved to be significant in raising Knox's poll numbers from 1% to 25%, and placed him in first place for the first time in March 2007.^[14]

Knox's business practices came under increasing criticism during the campaign. The Philadelphia Daily News reported that his insurance company was fined $125,000 in Maryland for a number of violations including hiring a compliance officer who had a felony record for embezzlement.^[7] In addition, other candidates have attacked his lack of experience in government and the payday loan practices of his bank.^[15] Several 527 groups were created^[16] with funding from union sources and from supporters of candidate Rep. Bob Brady.^[17] However, local television stations refused to run the ads, requesting more documentation of the charges against Knox.^[16] The new '527' money did prompt Knox to put another $3 million of his own money into the race to counter the ads, which raised his personal total to $8 million.^[18] Knox finished second in the Democratic primary with 25% of the vote, losing to Michael Nutter.

In August 2008, Knox announced his candidacy for Pennsylvania's 2010 gubernatorial election;^[3] he dropped out of the race in January 2010, giving his support to Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato.^[19]

Personal[link]

Knox was raised in public housing in the East Falls neighborhood of the city. He currently lives in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia.^[20] Tom has purchased three units in the high-rise condo Residences at Two Liberty Place with plans to convert them into a single 5,500-square-foot (510 m²) unit on the 46th floor.^[21] Tom is married to Linda Knox,^[22] and together they have two sons.^[22]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site