Grading The Week: Bud Black’s Coming Back? That’s So, So Rockies

The 2023 Kansas City Royals were embarrassed. A 106-loss season can — and should — do that to a major league team. Royals owner John Sherman said something about it. Then he did something about it. “It sucked,” Sherman told MLB.com at the end of spring training. “But that’s what motivates you.

For the record, the kids up in the Grading The Week offices like Bud Black quite a bit, personally. The older ones even have a few of his old Strat-O-Matic cards from the ’80s lying around in an attic somewhere. (The younger ones, our moms knew better, and either threw them out or put them on eBay ages ago.) And also for the record, Team GTW does not specifically blame Buddy as the primary reason the Rockies have averaged 95 losses in every non-pandemic season since Todd Phillips’ first “Joker” movie came out in 2019.

BEIRUT — Palestinians in northern Gaza described heavy Israeli bombardment Saturday in the hours after airstrikes killed at least 22 people, as Israel continued to tell people there and in southern Lebanon to get out of the way of its offensives against the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups. In Lebanon, the United Nations peacekeeping force said its headquarters in Naqoura had again been hit, with a peacekeeper struck by gunfire late Friday and in stable condition.

The White House Military Office released Vice President Kamala Harris’ medical report on Oct. 12, sharing that Harris “remains in excellent health” based on her most recent and “unremarkable” physical exam in April 2024. A healthcare statement from Joshua R. Simmons, Harris’ physician, said the Vice President “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Simmons shared that Harris, 59, had certain health issues, including her nearsightedness, as well as seasonal allergies triggered by pollen, and urticaria—a common skin condition that causes itchiness and redness.

A vehicle crash has tipped over a tractor-trailer on Interstate 76, blocking eastbound lanes just south of the highway’s junction with U. S. Route 85. Shortly before 9 a.m., the Commerce City Police Department posted an image of the overturned vehicle on social media, reporting that one person was injured in the crash involving the truck and at least one other vehicle. The department reported that multiple agencies were helping to offload the downed truck and remove it from the roadway. Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.

Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II needed to pause for a moment and collect his thoughts. Since he and Riley Moss combined for three interceptions in a Week 5 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, he’s been trying to find a nickname for Denver’s newest cornerback tandem. When asked on Wednesday if he had made progress, Surtain said he’s going to let the fans decide. “I don’t know… ‘Pulp Fiction’?” said Surtain, referencing John Travolta and Samuel L.