Monthly Archives: September 2021

Seventeen years passed between the dayPastor Paul Johnson was outed to his Lutheran congregation and his first sermon as an openly gay man.

Since age 13, Johnson who would later become the first gay minister in Ames felt a calling to ministry.

Despite being forced to resign from that Lutheran congregation, being outed turned out to be a relief. After years spent living in fear and experiencing suicidal thoughts, Johnson could be his authentic self.By 2008, Johnson stood in front of a congregation again, but this time it was different.

"The biggest difference was that I was able to be honest about who I was and not have that be an impediment and to be accepted," Johnson said. "And that was not possible in (1991)."

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Nearly two decades after he was outed, he married his late husband, David, in May 2009 in front of the same Ames pews and people who'd accepted him at the city's United Church of Christ.

Today, thechuch's third gay minister, the Rev. Eileen Gebbie, serves the congregation.

Discrimination continues for people in the LGBTQ+ community, and religious institutions can posechallenges for the queer people of faith.But in Ames, a rainbow flag on the historic United Church of Christ lets the LGBTQ+ community know that a space for them exists in Ames.

The Ames United Church of Christ is the city's oldest church, Gebbie boasts, getting its start in1865, and 135 years later, it was the first in town to welcome all sexualities.

The UCC denomination has a history of progressiveness in religion, starting in 1972 whenthefirst openly gay minister in a protestant denominationwas ordained inCalifornia.

The church soon founded the UCC Gay Caucuslater called the Open and Affirming Coalition. UCC bodies that welcome all sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions are considered open and affirming.

The 1,700 open and affirming churchesrepresent33% of UCC's congregations;29 are in Iowa, according to the coalition.

The Iowa caucus of the United Church of Christvoted to become open and affirming a year ago, Gebbie said.

Divisionover a separate vote in 1985 the "just peace" pronouncement delayed the Ames congregation's joining the coalition.

More: Meet the 4 women who will be inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame this fall

"That vote was so divisive that they did not consider the open and affirming element until 2000," Gebbie said. "So it took 15 years to get to the point where they were going to consider another one of these identity votes."

A unanimous vote in 2000, with some abstentions, madeAmes UCC an open and affirming church, eight years before itsfirst openly gay minister, Johnson, led thecongregation albeit on an interim basis.

"I'm not sure they would've felt comfortable in calling a regular pastor who was gay at that point," Johnson said. "But I think theywere willing to take a chance on an interim minister.

But Johnson's tenure of three years, three months and three weekssurpassed that of a typical interim minister,his enthusiasm bringing a struggling congregation back to life, Gebbiesaid.

The Ames United Church of Christ's congregation looks like others in town, at first glance.The classic brick building with vibrant stained glass windows is exactly what one would expect from the oldest church in Ames.

Nine-year congregant Amy Erica Smith said she hadn't been to a church in a long time before moving to Ames but wanted the church to be a part of her children's lives.

After three months in Ames, she found the United Church of Christ.

"I attended a few churches by thenand hadn't found one that I really liked," Smith said. "The values of the churchwere very much in line with my own valuesintellectual inquiry, honesty, justice, while also having a religious experience that seemed real and important."

Since before Gebbie became the church'sministerin 2015, the building maintained a rotation ofthree different identity signs to complement the seasons, one of which was a pride flag.By2018, Gebbie'd made thedecision to keepthepride flag up full-time.

"The longer I was here, the more I realized the rainbow banner was the one that drew people in and ... it saved their lives," Gebbie said.

A brief absence came after a manstole and burnedit in 2019. Adolfo Martinez, 30, was found guilty of ahate crime, the first to be prosecuted in Story County, and sentenced to more than 16 years in prison.

The news led many to send an influx of vitriol to the church, despite it having no part in the sentencing. Despite theevents, Gebbie said she holds no hate toward Martinez.

Gebbie said at the time that the decision to forgive wasn't hard, and that she wanted to focus instead on"How can we help him in his sufferingand how can we maybe find a bridge between our two understandings of God?"

More from December 2019:Ames pastor chooses forgiveness after LGBTQ flag-burning sentencing and the hate that followed

For Gebbie, it was harder to "come out as Christian" than it was to come out as gay, she said.

Like Johnson, her sexuality and conflicting beliefs with the religion she had experiencedled to a long gap of absence from the church in her adulthood.

Raised in Portland, Gebbie said she was one of few to attend a Christian school in the unchurched belt. Still, she became disillusioned with religion watching the treatment of gay peopleand the handling of the AIDS epidemic.

A dozen years passed and Gebbie found herself failing out of a doctoral program. Speaking with her mother about what shed do next, she said, Well, Ill become a nurse or a pastor. Gebbie said the words came from somewhere other than herself.

(Coming out as Christian) was really embarrassing because its, like, Yes, I am going to side with people who hate me the most. Let me sign up for more of that', she said.

More: Iowa State student club members, leaders excited for a return to in-person activities

Gebbie eventually found peace in the conflict between her sexuality and her faith.

There is a difference between the Christian institution and the holiness we have faith in, she said. Soits the human institution that is problematic, as a wholeas all human institutions areand theres the holiness we are gathering around, which is as generous, expansive, loving, merciful as we can imagine.

After realizing ministry was her path and graduating from the Chicago Theological Seminary, Gebbie struggled to find a position, as pastoral positions for both women and members of the LGBTQ+ community can be hard to find.

But once you do, it is likely to be a church that is vivacious, diverse and wide open to becoming what it needs to be for God and for the community, she said.

Johnson has felt that increasing acceptance in his own career in small-town congregations.

More: Pride crosswalks, an effort to 'make all people feel welcome in Ames' get a touch-up

The last congregation he served was the Bethany UCC congregation in Baxter, a town of 1,000, which became an open and affirming congregation just a few months before welcoming Johnson to serve as their minister in August 2018.

Another small-town Iowa congregation refused to interview him in 2011 because of his sexuality but recently changed their stance to acceptance, he said.

I think thats increasing the acceptance in our culture even in small towns in Iowa, Johnson said. I think thats a development thats fairly recent.

All those small changes are really big. They seem small, but to happen in small-town Iowa, for families to be much more accepting of gay people in their families ... they certainly add up to a big distance.

Along with the usual topics, sermons at Ames' United Church of Christ have tackled issues like racial justice, too. And while the church preaches social change, many congregants are part of that change.

The church is one of 35, along with a handful of social service agencies, that participate inAMOS,A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy. Thealliance responds to community needs, from mental health to housing.

The group helped to form the Story County Housing Trust Fund, a source to fundhome rehabilitation, affordable housing projects and rent assistance.

More: Maximum Ames partnering with Ames Pride for 2 nights of free live music at 3 venues around town

The church also formed a Social Justice and Outreach Committee, in which Smith serves as chair. The committee aimsto "promote justice in the Ames community," she said.

Last year, the committee decided to raise a Black Lives Matter flag outside the church, which caused a stir inside and outside the church, but Gebbie said signs like these hold the church accountable.

"Pushing for justice when the community isn't ready for it, it's hard; it takes courage," Smithsaid."Sometimes, it seems like it can lead to backlash, and sometimes it seems like maybe the smart thing to do is to wait."

Danielle Gehr is a politics and government reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached by email at dgehr@gannett.com, phone at (515) 663-6925or on Twitter at @Dani_Gehr.

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From the city's first gay minister to flying pride, BLM flags, Ames' oldest church has a history of open-mindedness - Ames Tribune

Sleepypod makes products that help furry family members travel comfortably. When the company decided to start testing its safety harnesses, there were no animal crash-test dummies, so it designed its own, starting with Max 1, a terrier-sized stand-in. The vinyl and foam dummies are weighted with pennies or lead and can house load sensors and cameras. Sleepypod now has seven crash pets, including big Duke, Max, a cat named Cleo, and Scout, a reclining mid-size dog. A new and improved Scout will soon join the pack.

Max Mini

Little six-pound Max was designed to test safety for small dogs in pet carriers, although here we have him in a harness to keep Duke company.

Duke 1.0

Weighing in at 75 pounds, big dog Duke bravely takes hits to protect his real-dog brothers and sisters. His crash-test-inspired design is purposeful. "Not only can we weight him realistically and place sensors," says Sleepypod designer Michael Leung, "but when tests are done with fluffy stuffed animals, it looks too real, and people get upset watching the videos."

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A Brief History of Keeping Dogs Safe in Cars - Car and Driver

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum opened in May of 2014, to remember, reflect and honor those lost in the attacks on both September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993 the first attack on the World Trade Center.

Today, the museum and eight acre memorial acts as a beacon of sorts, welcoming visitors from across the globe with a mission to commemorate, educate and inspire. And now, 20 years after the destruction of the Twin Towers, the museum is also looking to the next generation.

"We're in the middle of a transition from memory to history," Alice Greenwald, National September 11 Memorial and Museum President and CEO told Yahoo Finance in an interview.

"There's an entire generation of people, 25 years and younger, kids, who were maybe too young to remember the events or born after 9/11, for whom this is history, history to be learned," she explained. "So while our mission remains the same, our focus is evolving to be more responsive to this next generation."

One of those people is Amanda Carithers of San Diego, who was in her 9th grade English class on 9/11/2001. She felt it was crucial to visit the memorial and museum on her first visit to New York.

"We thought this was pertinent and it's a part of our nation's history, to actually come to see it," she told Yahoo Finance. "It's indescribable."

Dayna Hias of Santa Rosa California also felt compelled to visit the site. She was 11 years old on that fateful day.

"I remember sitting in class watching it, and it's just always been something that's really stuck out to me...my first thing in history that I've actually experienced, so this has been something on my bucket list that I've wanted to do...coming here was really important to me," she added.

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum launches the Never Forget Ticket for the 20th anniversary. (Courtesy: 9/11 Memorial & Museum)

For those who cannot travel to New York, the museum aims to reach the younger generation through its webinar Anniversary in The Schools each year. It runs 30 minutes, and includes individuals who lived through 9/11.

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That includes family members of victims, people who evacuated the buildings and survived, first responders, people who worked on the recovery, and people who were rescued that day.

"The power of the first person narrative of people sharing their personal story resonates with children," Greenwald said. However, this year the museum is hoping to reach an even younger level as those individuals becomes older.

"The number of the people featured in this year's webinar were kids themselves on 9/11, so they're now in their late 20s, early 30s, but the stories they tell are the stories of their own experience of that day," Greenwald added.

This includes a young man's account of September 11th, 2001, who was in fifth grade at the Emma Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, where President George W. Bush was reading a book to the students when he first received word of the attacks.

To honor the 20th anniversary and this new additional focus to reach young people, the museum launched the Never Forget Fund, including the Never Forget ticket, which is being sold for a $50 donation.

The ticket itself is a permanent metal keepsake handcrafted by Pennsylvania-based Wendell August Forge. The company, known for its made in America producers, aims to employ former first responders.

"It's literally is a memento that you can buy. It's this lovely, beautifully designed piece of metal that has been hand wrought, hand pounded. It's something you can place on your desk, or your mantel, or your bookshelf as a remembrance of the 20th anniversary," Greenwald explained.

The ticket itself comes with a QR Code, but also serves a year-long ticket to the museum with the hope it'll be passed along.

"We're encouraging people, give it to that teenager in your house, give it to that college student," she added.

A regular ticket costs $26. And despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which slashing daily visits from 8,000 people per a day to just 4,000 Greenwald is determined to keep prices the same.

"We also have free hours every week. So that people who can't otherwise afford to come, they can come during those hours...we do try to make ourselves as available as possible," Greenwald added.

The eight-acre memorial remains free to the public all-year old, along with the twin reflecting pools that list the 2,977 people lost on that day.

Brooke DiPalma is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.

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As 9/11 moves from 'memory to history,' memorial acts as beacon for future generations - Yahoo Finance

Bagpipes playing America the Beautiful signaled the start of the Bakersfield Fire Departments morning ceremony at BFD Station 15 honoring and remembering the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

People arrived Saturday to a more than 100-foot flag hanging from a fire truck and several law enforcement vehicles blocking some lanes along Buena Vista Road in front of the fire station.

About 50 law enforcement officials, clad in dark uniforms, marched down the aisle.

After raising the flag at half-staff, police service technician Alejandra Balandran sang the national anthem. As she belted out the last note, two F-15 planes flew overhead. Cheers filled the air.

Aaron Rothkopf, a teacher and professor at Bakersfield College, arrived at Saturdays ceremony to honor the anniversary of his friends death: Lisa Frost was aboard Flight 175, which hit the World Trade Centers south tower; flight attendant Betty Ong on Flight 11, which crashed in Pennsylvania; and Jill Maurer-Campbell, an administrative assistant in the south tower.

Rothkopf said the presence of the large crowd leaves a powerful impact. Many people there were too young to recall 9/11, he said.

It means a lot of their memory is always remembered, Rothkopf said.

Bakersfield Fire Battalion Chief Jim Cherry preceded the remarks with an invocation. Codi Adams, captain with the Bakersfield Fire Department, asked the audience for a moment of silence to remember California Highway Patrol Officer Scott Merrik, who died from COVID-19 complications Friday.

Speaker Steve Gage, an incident commander who was sent to serve at the Pentagon, said his team was called upon to travel to the Pentagon for recovery and debris removal. He experienced three emotions that day; he felt humbled to serve, prideful no team member shirked their duty, and fearful Americans would forget that day.

Retired BFD firefighter Pat Caproli recalled the uncertainty plaguing everyone on that trip to the Pentagon. Was an attack on the West Coast next, he wondered? Smoke greeted Caproli at the Pentagon on Sept. 13, the building on fire two days after the attack.

Caproli said tight bonds among the firefighters draw a connection between all fire personnel, regardless of their assignment in the country. The attacks felt personal to him, he added. Saturdays ceremony provides him healing.

Speakers Kern County Undersheriff Doug Jauch and Kern County Fire Chief Aaron Duncan advised the younger generation in the audience to always honor the memory of 9/11.

Bakersfield Assistant Police Chief Mike Hale said residents can learn from first responders, whose occupation revolves around making the right decisions. He wondered how the attacks impact would change law enforcement agencies in Bakersfield.

The last speaker, Bakersfield Fire Chief Anthony Galagaza, said all first responders make a promise to protect the innocent. He wanted everyone to make a promise to never forget the significance of the terrorist attacks.

No one here in uniform views himself as a hero, Galagaza said. Firefighters will continue to run into burning buildings, and they continue to risk their lives if need be to save a life. Its their job.

Community members must shed their political affiliations and simply remember 9/11 because the date will unequivocally be remembered by history, he added.

(It is) a history that lives inside us and reminds us that the community and country ... should be united, Galagaza said. Not just in times of crisis, but at all times.

Bakersfield Fire Capt. Tim Ortiz played the bagpipes at the ceremony and recalls waking up Galagaza when he heard about the attacks. They watched the tower fall together and Ortiz immediately sought his wife's comfort.

Ortiz also helped organize Saturdays ceremony and started the process one year ago, after the 19th anniversary of 9/11. Ortiz said it struck his heart to see a large turnout of children and teens all gathered.

We really wanted to make sure that we did something special here in Bakersfield, Ortiz said. We want to make sure the city of Bakersfield and Kern County did not forget.

A bell tolled three times at the ceremonys conclusion, significant in firefighter history. The instrument warns firefighters of an emergency or signals the beginning of a shift, Adams said. When the bell rang for 343 firefighters, at 8:26 a.m. Sept. 11, that call to service was their last, he added.

Silence followed. Everyone remained still, remembering.

Pastor Jim Ranger sang God Bless America to the crowd. To pay their respects afterward, people placed carnations and touched the 6-ton I-beam from the underground parking structure at the World Trade Center.

Former Bakersfield City Councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan said she remembers her daughter telling her to turn on the television and seeing the wall-to-wall coverage Sept. 11. She urges residents to remember days post-9/11 and the surging unity. Sullivan served on the City Council for 25 years, the longest such tenure in Bakersfield's history and beamed with pride over efforts to create Saturdays ceremony.

"We are one country," Sullivan said. "Just be proud to be American."

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. Follow her on Twitter: @idesai98.

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'A history that lives inside us': Speakers urge 9/11 remembrance on 20th anniversary of attacks - The Bakersfield Californian

The trouble with water, Giulio Boccaletti reminds us in his sweeping Water: A Biography, is that it moves. Rivers flood; rain clouds drift away; oceans rise. When human beings lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers, we adapted by migrating toward dry ground or fresh sources of water. But once we settled into permanent farming communities some 10,000 years ago, our options narrowed and our relationship with water became more fraught.

Since we could no longer sidestep floods and droughts, we compensated with technology, building canals and dams to channel water toward where it was needed and away from where it could do harm. But marshaling such infrastructure entailed considerable labor, which had to be apportioned and coordinated. And so even as we remade the landscape, water helped shape civilization. The central argument of this book, Mr. Boccaletti writes, is that humanitys attempts to organize society while surrounded by moving water led people to create institutions, which tied individuals together in mutual dependence. Despite all the infrastructure, he maintains, the essence of our relationship with water has always been not technological, but political.

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Water Review: The Ebb and Flow of History - The Wall Street Journal

It is the most iconic, most brilliant play in the career of New York Yankees Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter, the play that personifies his remarkable combination of athleticism, agility and, most important, awareness. It is one of the most famous plays in the history of postseason baseball, one that has been replayed hundreds of times every October for 20 years. Like many unforgettable plays, it has a nickname. It will always be known as The Flip.

It occurred in the 2001 American League Division Series between the Yankees and Oakland Athletics. Oakland held a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series but trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 3 on Oct. 13. With two outs and Jeremy Giambi on first, Terrence Long hit a hard ground ball over the first-base bag. Yankees right fielder Shane Spencer fielded it in the right-field corner but overthrew two cutoff men -- second baseman Alfonso Soriano and first baseman Tino Martinez. Jeter raced across the diamond, fielded the ball on one hop in foul territory between first and home, and made a backhand flip to catcher Jorge Posada, who tagged out Giambi on a very close play at the plate. The Yankees won the game 1-0, then won the next two to advance to the American League Championship Series and ultimately the World Series.

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"You've opened up an old wound for me," says Art Howe, then the A's manager. "Jeter was a thorn in my side for a long time, but it was an amazing play he made. The flip was incredible, but to be in that position, I really don't know what he was thinking. And there he is, in the perfect spot.'"

What makes The Flip even more intriguing is the debate still surrounding it. Should Giambi have slid on that play? Most involved agree that he should have, and likely would have been safe. Was Giambi really out at the plate? Oakland pitcher Barry Zito, and several other A's, said at the time that he was safe. Was Giambi told to slide by Ramon Hernandez, the on-deck circle hitter? Would Giambi have been safe if Spencer had hit one of the two cutoff men? Would Giambi have been sent home if either of the cutoff men had been hit? And what was Jeter doing all the way over on the first-base line on that play, anyway?

The best part about that play, though, is that no one involved in it had ever seen it made before, or since.

"I've never seen that play," says then-Yankees manager Joe Torre, who has spent 60 years in the major leagues as a player, manager and executive. "I'm certainly happy the first time watching it was in Game 3 of the division series."

Howe says he had never seen that play.

"And you'll never see it again," he says.

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Take a look back at Yankees icon Derek Jeter's most memorable moments.

Derek Jeter"I am big on preparation. I always just run through all the possible scenarios in my head before they happen. You know athletes talk about how they slow down the game, they slow down when you prepare. You know, you have a guy on second base, you're playing shortstop and you know where you're going to go if you go to your left or your right, you're coming in, you know the speed of the runner, you know the different circumstances, you know which runners run hard, which don't. You have all these checkpoints in your head. So when [Long] hit the ball down the line, it was something I had prepared for. I was in the position I was supposed to be. That's the way I always looked at it."

Tino Martinez, Yankees first baseman, 1996-2001, 2005"It's one of those plays where it's a sure triple as soon as it goes over the bag. It's a double cutoff play, an automatic double-cut play on that ball down the right-field line."

Ron Washington, A's third-base/infield coach, 1996-2006, 2015-2016"I heard they practiced that play. They probably did."

Joe Torre, Yankees manager, 1996-2007"To this day, when people talk about the play, I tell them that we work on that play in spring training, and they sort of laugh at me. There's a reason we did work on it. You have to have someone athletic like Derek to make a decision on where the play is going to be."

Jorge Posada, Yankees catcher, 1995-2011"We practiced that play in spring training. We don't have that play happen the whole year. It just happened to come against the A's in the playoffs."

Jeter"My job in that situation is to be the third cutoff man. And 99.9% of the time, it's just to redirect the throw to third base. You would assume that one of the first two cutoff men would be hit, but in that situation, he overthrew both of them. If you think about it, if he hit either one of them, Giambi would have been thrown out by about 15 feet at home. I saw it go over both of their heads. If you go back and look at the hop, it would have taken Jorge away from the plate because the throw sort of started to check up, up the line."

Art Howe, A's manager, 1996-2002"He would have been out from here to next week at home if he had hit the cutoff man."

Martinez"I was the second cutoff man. I was the trail guy, but I stayed around the first base area in case he overthrew the first cutoff man. Shane's got a pretty good arm. He airmailed both of us. I jumped and didn't even have a chance to catch it. If he hits Soriano, now Soriano has to make the perfect relay throw to the plate to get him. It's almost like it turned out in our favor that that happened because a perfect relay is pretty hard these days. It almost worked out better that he airmailed both of us because Derek was in the right spot."

Shane Spencer, Yankees outfielder, 1998-2002"[Laughing] The game was going so fast; with Mussina and [A's starter Barry] Zito pitching really well, there was no action, so when the ball got hit down the line, [Martinez] just assumed [Paul] O'Neill [the every-day right fielder, who didn't start against Zito, a left-hander] was out there, and the ball was going to go all the way to the wall. So I cut it off before it got to the wall. I turned around and chucked it. It was like, 'Hey, whoa, there's nobody there.' It was probably one of my best throws ever. So, the one time I miss a cutoff man, because they both weren't really in the right position, I get the overthrow and he gets the ESPY."

Mike Mussina, Yankees pitcher, 2001-2008"I ran toward [the A's] dugout to back up the play, and looked for the ball wondering if it was going to second or going home, then I would veer one way or the other."

Torre"Winning 1-0, two outs, there's a good chance the play will be at the plate ... if there is going to be a play. We don't care if [the batter] goes to third, you just want to keep the guy from scoring. Derek's athleticism, and he has great instincts, made that play. You have to be in the mindset of the third-base coach. I don't think in any instance he's going to stay at third base. They're going to take their shot, and rely on somebody having to make a play."

Washington"If [Spencer] had hit either one of those cutoff men, I would have stopped Jeremy at third."

Howe"[Laughing] Knowing Wash, I don't know if that's a true statement."

Mussina"The weird part is, that situation comes up every 10 years, and for Derek to do it right. ... We do things out of habit, I run to back up home on that play out of habit, but this was not habit. The right fielder overthrowing both cutoff men is not habit. And Derek was still there at the right time in the right place."

Torre"If you throw over one cutoff man, there's a 50-50 chance you will throw over two of them. Spencer in right field is just going to wheel and throw, he's just going to give it to somebody else. It's like a pitcher pulling a fastball: He threw it and just held on to it a little too long, and it wound up in foul territory. That's a long distance from the cutoff man."

Spencer"If I throw it to Tino, I don't know if he has the arm strength to get him out. If I get it to Soriano, he has the arm strength, but would it be accurate? Who knows?"

Posada"As soon as I saw him overthrow the two cutoff guys, I took two steps forward away from the plate to get the ball. I was going to go get the ball, and try to throw [Long] out at second base. But thank God I saw [Jeter] out of the corner of my eye. I had completely vacated home plate. Then, when I saw Derek, I retracked and went back."

Washington"Spencer threw it out of that corner and missed them all ... and there was Derek Jeter."

Spencer"I've seen so many different angles. You got to go 50-50 on that one. Friends of mine think the throw would have beat him anyway, and originally, Posada said it would have. But when you watch it, it would have been a bang-bang play either way. I don't know. I don't really care. All I know is that I get asked the question all the time, whether it's from kids when I do clinics: 'Wait a minute, you're the one that threw the ball?' I say, 'Yeah, yeah, that's me.' As I'm coaching, it's like, 'OK guys, now let's hit the cutoff man.'"

Jeter"It's tough to say that anything went wrong on that play because we got him out at the plate. But if Shane had hit one of those two cutoff men, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about it now."

Jeter"I've been in that area before on a play like that, but I've never fielded it and flipped it home. That's the first time for me. The only time."

Mussina"His responsibility is like a free safety. He read the trajectory of the ball. The ball was thrown too high; no one else was in position to catch it. He ran 60 to 70 feet to get in position because he was paying attention. I was backing up home. I looked over my shoulder and saw him running, and I thought, 'Where did he come from? How did that just happen?'"

Washington"I've seen guys miss the cutoff man, and when it does, it rolls, and someone goes and gets it, but by the time they get it, the run is across the plate. Derek was supposed to be floating in the middle. He recognized that that ball was missing everybody, and, the smart player that he has always been, he left the position he was in and got to the line. He recognized the setup; he saw the ball coming out; and he automatically left because he saw that no one was going to catch that. It wasn't just that he got over there; a lot of smart ballplayers would have gotten over there. As a shortstop, I have run to that spot. But I've never had a ball bounce to me like it bounced to Derek Jeter."

Martinez"It's the same thing for me on a ball down the left-field line. The shortstop and third baseman are the double-cut and, me, the first baseman, runs to where Derek ran, only it's on the third-base line, in an emergency. But I've never had the ball come to me like it did to Derek."

Torre"Derek had the best perspective on the play because he can see Giambi at third base. He was basically going to race Giambi to home plate because he has to get there before he does. Derek has great instincts, and no question, instincts are so important. When the ball was hit, I don't think Derek had anything else in mind but to go home. If he was wrong, and the guy didn't go home, then the worst-case scenario is second and third."

Howe"It was just an incredible play on Jeter's part to possibly foresee that throw. His position is supposed to be a cutoff man towards third base."

Martinez"I turned back, and when Derek was right there, and caught it on the one hop, and it seemed to me, from that point, everything went in slow motion."

Jeter"I know I've run to that spot before. But a lot of things have to happen for that play to happen."

Jeter"I was thinking, 'Just get rid of it as soon as possible.' There really wasn't a lot of time to do anything else. That was the only way I could get rid of the ball in that time frame. It was just catch it and get rid of it in one motion."

Washington"The key to that play was his flip. Most guys go to the outside of the line and try to flip it directly to the catcher, which would make the ball fade on the opposite side. But Derek flipped the ball to the inside. He made it come back to the catcher. He led the catcher right into the runner."

Martinez"He pitched it right back to Jorge, and I describe it as the perfect flip, the perfect pitched ball to the perfect spot. He hit Jorge right at the bottom of home plate, not high where the guy could have slid under him. It was right in front of home plate. The only way Jorge could have made that play is exactly where Derek flipped him the ball. He didn't have time to raise up, catch it and put it back down."

Torre"Derek's back flip was so unorthodox. The thing that was so remarkable about it is that he came so far into foul territory to get the ball, then back flip."

Mussina"You watch a lot of athletes and they talk about just making a play. He just made a play that no one else would make. That's the definition of a Hall of Famer -- 99 times out of 100, that ball bounces two or three times, and now it's too late to pick it up and throw it to the plate. But the one time it happened, he read the play perfectly, he flipped it backwards, on the run, 40 to 45 feet, on target."

Posada"It felt like a second baseman flipping to the shortstop on the double play. He's a shortstop. The way he flipped the ball is not common for a shortstop. The accuracy, and he had some hair on it for me to catch the ball."

Spencer"[Joking] The first time I saw it, I thought, 'What are you doing grabbing the ball? I had him at the plate!'"

Jeter"All that was going through my mind was, 'Tag him.' Then I looked at Kerwin [Danley, the plate umpire], and he signaled out. It's not a play you work on. I had never shovel-passed a ball to Jorge before. He fielded it cleanly; he applied the tag cleanly. I always felt it was the perfect storm."

Torre"As a former catcher, I give Georgie a lot of credit for staying home. He could've so easily drifted to where the ball was, and start heading over there. But he stayed home, caught the ball and made a difficult tag."

Mussina"It was a tremendous play by Posada. To catch it, swipe tag, it was like, 'Holy crap!' To take that throw, with the ball between his legs, how did he not let the ball get kicked out of his hand? It was a classic Yankee play. I saw it so many times from the other side: Everything went their way for 30 seconds."

Posada"It was just one of those swipe tags that you just hope you catch the ball first. It was just a lot of things that didn't happen for them but happened for us. I could have gotten hurt on that play. He could have scissored my hands. I don't know how I caught it. I caught it and swiped back. The ball could have gotten loose. The way I tagged him, with my palm instead of my hand open, that helped out a lot, too. A lot of things went our way. We got lucky with [Giambi] not sliding. The guy that was hitting behind him [Ramon Hernandez] did not tell Jeremy to slide. There were a lot of things that went our way."

Howe"That's not correct. I asked Ramon after the play. To say the least, I was a little livid when the play was over. They were coming back into the dugout, and I asked Ramon right away, 'Did you tell him to slide?' And he said, 'Yeah, I was telling him to get down.' So, I take his word for it. But I don't think he's in any of the pictures."

Washington"If we could go back over that again, and tell Jeremy to hit the dirt, he would have been safe. But he decided to run across the plate. The on-deck circle guy never got up there to direct the traffic. The on-deck circle guy never told him to get down. But in that situation, it's a 1-0 ballgame, Jeremy Giambi is supposed to know he has to hit the dirt. No reason to run across that plate. But, the ball started to move. Everyone had something to do on that play."

Posada"If he slides, he's safe. For sure. 100%. 100%. I just did a phantom tag. To tag him on his calf on the way down to the plate."

Howe"I don't know about that. Posada had his foot in there. He might have been able to block him off the plate if he slides. I would not say that he would have definitely been safe if he had slid. Jeremy did the best he could to score, and he didn't do it."

Martinez"The umpire made the perfect call. It was such a close, close play, with no replay back then, if he calls him safe, and we can't replay that, it could have turned the whole series around, and maybe changed the dimension of the entire postseason."

Washington"I really feel in my heart I made the right play. Sometimes, you make the right call, but everyone has to be on board, and doing what they're supposed to do. I am not blaming Jeremy Giambi, but he's supposed to hit the dirt. The only way you don't hit the dirt is if you see the ball and no one can get to it. You got to hit the dirt."

Giambi declined to be interviewed for this story, but a year ago, he told The Athletic he stands by his decision to not slide:

"Now that we know what happened, it's maybe I should've slid. If I slid and I was out, maybe the question would be, should I have run Posada over? And then I think, well, maybe I should've taken him out. And then I think back to when Pete Rose took out Ray Fosse (in the 1970 All-Star Game) and I think, well, what happens if I ruin Posada's career?

"Those are things we can't analyze. Obviously, I think about it. I don't dwell on it, but I think about it. I think that's part of our competitive nature. I mean, we were going to win a World Series. I know that was the first round, but we always felt like we had to go through the Yankees, and if you got through the Yankees, you had a pretty good chance, at that time. They were the team to beat."

Was Giambi really out at the plate?

Howe"Where's replay when you need it? I really don't think he was out. I thought he tagged him on the back of his calf after his foot had hit the plate. But what are you going to do? Nothing can be changed. But they probably couldn't overrule it on replay. It has to be clear proof that it's one way or another before they overrule a play. I'll tell you that the umpire [Danley] called me after the game and told me if he slides, he's safe. But he didn't slide."

What did Howe say to Giambi after the play?

Howe"Actually, I didn't say anything to Jeremy. I didn't think it was appropriate to get in a player's face over that."

Jeter"Out! He's out! 100% he was out. You can't change it now. It's kind of like the Jeffrey Maier home run [in the 1996 ALDS against the Orioles]. It's a home run. Whatever you want, but it's over now."

Jeter"I'm going to be honest with you. I don't remember [what it was like in the dugout after the play]. Everyone was excited. We still had to win that game. It was 1-0. You're excited that it happened. But the thought process was, 'We have to win this game.'"

Martinez"The reaction was, 'We still have a one-run lead!' We were getting shut down. The first reaction was, 'Let's get some more runs.' We knew it was a great play, but after the game, when we watched the highlights on ESPN, it was like, 'Wow!' I see it replayed all the time now. It's on at the stadium all the time. I'm sure it's going to be played even more the week he is inducted in the Hall of Fame. It's fun to watch every time."

Posada"It was like hitting a home run to win the game. That was the atmosphere in the dugout. Everyone is pumped. Everyone is high-fiving. Everyone is screaming. Derek is like, 'Let's go!' That kind of feeling."

Howe"That was like a punch in the gut. You know the closer, the big man [Mariano Rivera], he's going to have to pitch more than one inning or two innings if they're going to beat us. And he really wasn't doing that at that time. If we get into their other bullpen guys ... anything could happen."

Mussina"I don't know what the reaction was in the dugout, but I know how Jeter would have reacted: 'I saw the ball; I went after it; I caught it and threw it. Big deal. So what? I did what I was supposed to do.'"

Posada"Derek probably downplayed it a little bit. But this is a very special play made by a Hall of Fame player."

Jeter"I've seen it quite a bit. It seems like when anyone talks about my career, that's one of the first things that they speak of. And I'm fine with that because we won the game."

Where does it rank among Derek Jeter's greatest plays?

Martinez"It has to be in his top five, if not No. 1, because of the magnitude of it, being in the playoffs, changing an actual playoff game in favor of us. I've seen him make so many backhand plays, diving plays, jump throws, over-the-shoulder catches, but they go unnoticed. That had to be his No. 1 play."

Torre"Down two games to none, it's a 1-0 game in the seventh inning of Game 3, I don't think anything comes close to that play, the pressure involved in it."

Mussina"That's a top-two or -three play that I saw him make. I saw him dive into the stands and break his face. I've seen him get so many big hits. But that was his defining moment. It just defined the way that a professional baseball player is supposed to play. His whole career, he was in the right place at the right time; he ran out every ground ball; he battled every at-bat; and he did all of that as the shortstop of the Yankees. He got 3,000 hits, but that play is why he's in the Hall of Fame."

Posada"It's way up there. He's always at the right place at the right time. Even his glove became clutch. There were plays -- the play in the hole, going into the stands in the Boston series, there's a bunch of them -- but this one ... if we don't make that play, we are eliminated. We're winning 1-0, if they tied it at home, it changes everything. It tells you how big and important and clutch that play was. When we talk about Derek Jeter, we talk about that play first."

Washington"I've seen it a thousand times. That play was greater than great. That play is why he is a champion."

Spencer"[I don't know where it ranks] because honestly I didn't even know what happened on that play. I threw it, I threw it where I would usually throw it, and there was nobody there. And I thought, 'Oh, s---!' And I didn't know Jeter was there, I didn't see Jeter make the play. I ran into the dugout, and I remember talking to [teammate] Clay Bellinger, and I asked, 'What the hell happened?' He said, 'Jeter caught it and flipped it.' I said, 'What?!' I'm getting high-fives from people on the bench, and I don't know what happened."

No one really knows exactly what happened on that play ... because no one had ever seen that play before.

Jeter"No, I haven't seen that play [before or since]. That alignment. I don't think I've ever seen another team work on that alignment, which we did. I've never seen it. ... No, that's not completely true. Phil Rizzuto [the shortstop-turned-broadcaster for the Yankees] threw out the [ceremonial] first pitch at home in the game after that. He ran up the first-base line and flipped the ball to home."

Here is the original post:

Derek Jeter enters the Hall of Fame - Oral history of the Yankees shortstop's greatest play, The Flip - ESPN

So Coffman did what she always did: She read. And because she happened to be between jobs, she was free to immerse herself in history for long stretches. She learned about the Civil War, the conflict behind so much of the turmoil in the United States. She read about lost cause ideology, which claims the Confederacy actually fought to preserve high-minded Southern ideals, not specifically the institution of slavery. She brushed up on her knowledge of the Second World War, a struggle more familiar to her.

Maybe the lack of a job, of people to collaborate with, is also what made Wikipedia seem like an attractive pastime. Thats what it was supposed to be: another hobby. At first, Coffman stuck to tentative, sporadic suggestions. But then she was making edits nearly every day; there was so much to fix. She liked the sites intricate bureaucracythe guidelines on etiquette and reliable sourcing, the policies on dispute resolution and article deletion, the learned essays and discussion pages that editors cite like case law. Wikipedia is very regimented, she says. I am good with instructions.

Gday, Peacemaker67 begins his note for K.e. coffman. Its late 2015, and he is concerned about recent changes to an article on Wikipedia (WP for short) about an SS tank division made up of Nordic Nazi volunteers. Sorry but there appears to be some sort of misunderstanding about what should be deleted on WP, and I just want to clarify it before this gets too far down the track.

Coffman recognizes this editors handle. Hes Australian, and his User page says he served as a peacekeeper in the former Yugoslavia. He is the same person who invited her to join WikiProject Military History, a group where editors can chat, take classes, win plaudits, and work on articles together.

Not for the first time, Coffman has been removing material from the article about the tank division. She thinks its full of unsourced fancruft, the Wikipedia word for fawning, excessively detailed descriptions that appeal to a tiny niche of readersin this case, those thrilled by accounts of battle. The article tells how the division acquitted itself well even against stiffening resistance, how it held the line and earned the grudging respect of skeptical commanders. One contributor has used the eyebrow-raising phrase baptism of fire. Its as if the editors dont see the part lower down the page where a soldier uses the phrase and then we cleaned a Jew hole.

The glorifying language, Coffman thinks, is a clear sign that this is historical fan fiction. It elides the horrors of war. If editors want such details to stay on the page, at a minimum they should use a better source than Axis History, a blog whose motto is Information not shared is lost.

The interaction starts out politely enough. IMHO it is good that you are deleting citations from unreliable bloggy sources, Peacemaker67 says. But just because material is sourced to them doesnt mean it is wrong.

K.e.coffman replies in less than an hour. Thank you for your note, she writes. Yes, I was surprised about how little I was able to salvage as I was editing the article. She lists 17 bullet-pointed examples of biased language, Nazi glorification, and unreliable claims. Would Wikipedia not bebetterwithout such content? she asks.

Well, people are on WP for different reasons, Peacemaker67 replies. I dont go around deleting stuff because I think it might be dodgy. He cites a page that counsels gradualism in editing, because Wikipedia is a work in progress. Articles have long histories, and there is noWP:DEADLINE, he says.

See the rest here:

One Womans Mission to Rewrite Nazi History on Wikipedia - WIRED