Letters: How a trans high school athlete is making me rethink my sports fandom
Regarding 'Trans athlete embraced as California track and field champion by peers while adult activists duel' (High School, SFChronicle.com, June 1): As a child in the 1960s, my hero was Willie Mays. As an adult and 72-year-old lifetime sports fan, I had no sports heroes — until now.
The accomplishments of Jurupa Valley High School track standout and trans female AB Hernandez at the state championship made me reconsider my hiatus from worshipping athletes.
As a high-jumper, long-jumper and triple-jumper, AB has persevered and soared (pun intended), while tolerating the relentless bigotry, hatred, religious intolerance, transphobia and the profound ignorance of adults led, shamefully, by our president. These adults not only protest against this young woman's participation in sports, they deny her very existence.
Let me add Brooke White as a sports hero. The cisgender River City High-West Sacramento long jumper who competed with AB said, 'Sharing the podium was nothing but an honor … she's a superstar, she's a rockstar, she's representing who she is.'
As for 'local right-wing activist and blogger Josh Fulfer,' who says young people like White have a 'fear of speaking out' and need 'adults in the room to be the voice for them,' I trust these young people to get this right. Condescending bigots like Fulfer notwithstanding.
Barry Goldman-Hall, San Jose
Refocus LGBTQ+ lens
Most of the LGBTQ+ community are just people living their lives openly and freely. Drag and being trans are a part of this community, but it is a small part.
During this time of assault against the LGBTQ+ community, it may be smart to focus on people such as Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, or Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.
Emphasizing drag and trans people adds fuel to the fire that President Donald Trump is igniting around the country. This is the mistake that the Democratic Party made, and look where it got them.
Gloria Judd, San Francisco
Losing small-town charm
Regarding 'A luxury hotel could transform this California town. Some residents are fighting back' (Bay Area, SFChronicle.com, May 30): When I moved to Petaluma in 1986, it still had the feel of a small town. That, of course, has changed.
But, until recently, it still had the feel of a town whose stores and restaurants were there to serve the people of Petaluma, not tourists.
Petaluma used to have visitors. People from the Bay Area who wanted to see the Butter and Eggs Day parade or the antiques fair or just visit family. We had some nice clothing stores and some decent, unpretentious restaurants. Now we have trendy boutiques and expensive, fancy restaurants that bring in rich tourists.
It's a sad commentary if the only way a city can survive is with an economy based on tourism. As a society, our hobbies are now eating, drinking and shopping. And we like to travel all over the world to do it.
Sometimes, change is good. Sometimes, it means improvement. But sometimes, it means taking something fine and twisting it to meet the demands of a privileged few who are just trying to make more money.
Gail Sickler, Petaluma
Hold a benefit concert
The Golden Gate Park shows by Dead & Company have stirred up a lot of debate and anger about high ticket prices, especially since the original band used to play there for free.
But there's one option that might take away some of the rancor and keep with the original band's ethos: Make at least one of the three shows a benefit concert. There are plenty of worthy organizations, soon to be more needy than ever in these trying MAGA times. There's also the Dead's longstanding and fine Rex Foundation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
18 hours ago
- New York Times
Cam Smith's workload, an All-Star logjam and recovering pitchers: Astros takeaways
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The College World Series semifinals concluded Wednesday, allowing Houston Astros manager Joe Espada another chance to marvel at an absurd ascension. Last year, Cam Smith propelled Florida State University into college baseball's final four. Twelve months later, Smith is the starting right fielder for a division-leading team trying to maintain a dynasty. A whirlwind winter preceded a prolific spring training and subsequent position change, neither of which has fazed an affable 22-year-old who still maintains an aw-shucks attitude. Advertisement 'He wants to be great, so he thinks, 'The more I do on the field, the quicker I can reach greatness,'' Espada said Thursday afternoon. 'But we have to let him know (he) has to rest, recover.' Smith played in his 61st game Thursday. Six more and he'll reach uncharted territory. Smith started 66 games and took 322 plate appearances during his final season at Florida State, the highest workload he has ever absorbed as an amateur. Smith will obliterate that benchmark before the All-Star break. How his body responds to the longest season of his baseball life is a compelling subplot to an already riveting rookie season. Can't get enough of Cam. #VoteCam ⭐️ — Houston Astros (@astros) June 19, 2025 Team officials are encouraged that Smith's supreme athleticism and strict habits will allow him to handle a heavy workload, but they also believe reducing some of his rigorous pregame routine will benefit him in the second half. 'He understands that cutting down on some of his swings in the cage, (that) some of his work in the outfield is less — but quality,' Espada said. 'Right now, he looks good. He's moving great. But it's something that I'm mindful of.' Finding a left-handed-hitting outfielder at the trade deadline could lessen some of Smith's workload during the second-half dog days, too, but if Smith continues to produce as he did during Houston's four-game split with the Athletics, platooning him might be impossible. Espada slotted Smith fifth in Thursday's batting order against A's left-hander Jacob Lopez — the highest he has hit in any lineup as a major leaguer. A hitless night didn't diminish an otherwise dominant series, one in which Smith raised his OPS from .690 to .758. His two-homer game Tuesday ended a streak of 147 at-bats without a long ball. Following it with a three-hit game Wednesday inspired optimism that Smith is starting to harness a consistency that has sometimes eluded him. Advertisement 'Physically, he's fine. My conversations with him are more (about) just how he is mentally,' Espada said. 'The mindset of handling the failures, the ups and downs. Right now, I am very impressed with the way he's going about his work. He's playing his best baseball right now, but for us to maintain that, we have to be careful how much we push him.' Jacob Wilson of the Athletics and the Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. separated themselves during the first round of All-Star fan balloting, ahead of the American League shortstop who has better numbers than both of them. Whether that matters for Jeremy Peña's candidacy is a fascinating discussion. All of Peña's statistics make him a surefire All-Star. He entered Thursday slashing .321/.377/.474 across Houston's first 74 games. According to Baseball-Reference, Aaron Judge is the only player in baseball worth more wins above replacement than the 4.3 Peña has accumulated. 'Snub' wouldn't suffice if Peña is somehow left off the American League roster. If he isn't elected to start the game, though, finding a place for him could get complicated — far more complex than his first half deserves. A representation rule and a remarkable showing from Peña's fellow American League shortstops are to blame. Twenty-seven American League position players entered Thursday worth at least 2.0 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. Seven are shortstops: Peña, Wilson, Witt, Gunnar Henderson, J.P. Crawford, Zach Neto and Taylor Walls. Major-league rules dictate that each club must have at least one representative in Atlanta. At least two shortstops, Wilson and the Los Angeles Angels' Neto, are logical candidates to be the representatives for their team in Atlanta. If Witt isn't elected to start the game, it's difficult to envision any scenario in which he is omitted from the roster. Advertisement The same should be said for Peña. Major League Baseball combines player balloting and commissioner's selections to pick reserves for the rosters, which featured four shortstops last season. Players electing Peña is perhaps the most direct route to his inclusion. The sanctity of an exhibition game won't be impacted if an infielder plays a different position, either. Given the preponderance of worthy shortstops, perhaps it is a situation the sport should explore. The trajectory of Houston's trade deadline can be traced to West Palm Beach, Fla., where four injured pitchers reside in various states of recovery. How Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, Spencer Arrighetti and J.P. France progress will determine what the Astros prioritize across the next six weeks. Predicting exact timelines for the pitchers' returns is an impossible exercise, especially given the team's checkered history with its 'return to play procedure.' That Garcia has suffered a slew of setbacks only complicates the process. Still, time is running short for any of the quartet to return before the All-Star break begins on July 14 — 17 days before the trade deadline. All four men are building back up as starters, a process that requires at least another month once a pitcher starts facing hitters. Of the quartet, only France and Javier have reached that benchmark. Arrighetti isn't even throwing off a mound while recovering from a fractured right thumb. According to Espada, France is scheduled to throw his third live batting practice session sometime next week, putting him the closest to a potential return. Javier only threw his first live batting practice session Thursday afternoon. According to Espada, his fastball reached 95 mph. At least two more live batting practices loom before Javier could begin a possible minor-league rehab assignment, during which he'd require at least four outings to build his pitch count. Advertisement Garcia could throw a live batting practice session next week, Espada said, but he has reached this benchmark on multiple occasions before suffering setbacks. Garcia hasn't pitched in a major-league game since May 1, 2023. How effective he would be after such a long absence is one of many questions general manager Dana Brown and his baseball operations staff must ponder.
Associated Press
20 hours ago
- Associated Press
Athletics play the Guardians in first of 3-game series
Cleveland Guardians (37-36, second in the AL Central) vs. Athletics (31-46, fifth in the AL West) West Sacramento, California; Friday, 10:05 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Guardians: Tanner Bibee (4-6, 3.79 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 65 strikeouts); Athletics: Jeffrey Springs (5-5, 4.52 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 66 strikeouts) BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Guardians -125, Athletics +105; over/under is 9 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Athletics host the Cleveland Guardians on Friday to open a three-game series. The Athletics are 31-46 overall and 14-25 at home. Athletics hitters have a collective .418 slugging percentage to rank fifth in the majors. Cleveland has gone 18-21 on the road and 37-36 overall. The Guardians are 25-5 in games when they out-hit their opponents. The teams meet Friday for the first time this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler Soderstrom has 11 doubles, a triple and 14 home runs for the Athletics. Nick Kurtz is 10 for 37 with three doubles and four home runs over the last 10 games. Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with a .318 batting average, and has 15 doubles, a triple, 13 home runs, 26 walks and 35 RBIs. Angel Martinez is 9 for 37 with two RBIs over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 5-5, .220 batting average, 4.54 ERA, outscored by 11 runs Guardians: 4-6, .213 batting average, 3.45 ERA, outscored by three runs INJURIES: Athletics: Grant Holman: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Seth Brown: 10-Day IL (elbow), Shea Langeliers: 10-Day IL (oblique), Miguel Andujar: 10-Day IL (oblique), Gunnar Hoglund: 15-Day IL (hip), Zack Gelof: 60-Day IL (hand), Jose Leclerc: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Brady Basso: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Medina: 60-Day IL (elbow) Guardians: Andrew Walters: 60-Day IL (lat), Ben Lively: 60-Day IL (forearm), Will Brennan: 10-Day IL (forearm), Paul Sewald: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Erik Sabrowski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), John Means: 60-Day IL (elbow), Sam Hentges: 60-Day IL (shoulder) ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Athletics play the Guardians in first of 3-game series
Cleveland Guardians (37-36, second in the AL Central) vs. Athletics (31-46, fifth in the AL West) West Sacramento, California; Friday, 10:05 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Guardians: Tanner Bibee (4-6, 3.79 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 65 strikeouts); Athletics: Jeffrey Springs (5-5, 4.52 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 66 strikeouts) Advertisement BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Guardians -125, Athletics +105; over/under is 9 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Athletics host the Cleveland Guardians on Friday to open a three-game series. The Athletics are 31-46 overall and 14-25 at home. Athletics hitters have a collective .418 slugging percentage to rank fifth in the majors. Cleveland has gone 18-21 on the road and 37-36 overall. The Guardians are 25-5 in games when they out-hit their opponents. The teams meet Friday for the first time this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler Soderstrom has 11 doubles, a triple and 14 home runs for the Athletics. Nick Kurtz is 10 for 37 with three doubles and four home runs over the last 10 games. Advertisement Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with a .318 batting average, and has 15 doubles, a triple, 13 home runs, 26 walks and 35 RBIs. Angel Martinez is 9 for 37 with two RBIs over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 5-5, .220 batting average, 4.54 ERA, outscored by 11 runs Guardians: 4-6, .213 batting average, 3.45 ERA, outscored by three runs INJURIES: Athletics: Grant Holman: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Seth Brown: 10-Day IL (elbow), Shea Langeliers: 10-Day IL (oblique), Miguel Andujar: 10-Day IL (oblique), Gunnar Hoglund: 15-Day IL (hip), Zack Gelof: 60-Day IL (hand), Jose Leclerc: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Brady Basso: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Medina: 60-Day IL (elbow) Advertisement Guardians: Andrew Walters: 60-Day IL (lat), Ben Lively: 60-Day IL (forearm), Will Brennan: 10-Day IL (forearm), Paul Sewald: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Shane Bieber: 60-Day IL (elbow), Erik Sabrowski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-Day IL (elbow), John Means: 60-Day IL (elbow), Sam Hentges: 60-Day IL (shoulder) ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
