title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: The strip was rejected by six syndicates — including the Washington Post Writers Group, Creators Syndicate, United Media, and Chronicle Features — before finally being picked up. Many of the syndicates that rejected the strip were supportive but felt that "The Boondocks" was "too edgy." An article from the summer of 1997 asserted that Universal Press Syndicate (UPS) was taking a "hard look" at the strip; UPS eventually picked it for syndication in April 1999.


title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: In Fall 2003, Boston, Massachusetts-based artist Jennifer Seng assumed art duties from McGruder. In an interview with "The New Yorker", McGruder said, "If something had to give, it was going to be the art. I think I'm a better writer than artist." Carl Jones succeeded Seng as illustrator in late 2004. In the introduction to the collection "Public Enemy #2", McGruder wrote, "I had hired an artist to help me on some of the art duties. People think I stopped drawing the strip, but that's never been the case. To this day there has never been a single "Boondocks" strip that I did not personally touch—I still obsess over the details of Huey, Riley, Caesar and Granddad. I still go over every panel. I still care what it looks like, and I always will."


title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: On February 28, 2006, McGruder announced that his strip would go on a six-month hiatus, starting March 27, 2006, with new installments resuming in October. Repeats of earlier strips were offered by Universal Press Syndicate in the interim. "The Boondocks" was syndicated to over 300 clients at its peak, but more than half substituted different features rather than publish reruns during the hiatus. On September 25, 2006, Universal Press Syndicate president Lee Salem announced that the comic would not return, saying, "Although Aaron McGruder has made no statement about retiring or resuming "The Boondocks" for print newspapers ... newspapers should not count on it coming back in the foreseeable future." He added that Universal would welcome McGruder back if he chose to return. Greg Melvin, McGruder's editor at the syndicate, met with him in an unsuccessful attempt to talk the cartoonist into returning. McGruder cited his work on the Cartoon Network show among other projects as reasons for not then returning to the strip. After the strip was canceled, reruns continued to be carried by some newspapers through November 26, 2006. Reruns of the strip are available online at GoComics.


title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: In February 2019, a series of one-shot strips were published on radio personality Charlamagne tha God's Instagram page.


title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: The strip depicts Huey Freeman and his younger brother Riley, two young children who have been moved out of the West Side of Chicago with their grandfather Robert to live with him in the predominantly white fictional suburb of Woodcrest (in Maryland, as seen from the area code stated in the March 16, 2000 strip). This relates to McGruder's childhood move from Chicago to Columbia, a diverse Maryland suburb. The title word "boondocks" alludes to the isolation from primarily African-American urban life that the characters feel, and permits McGruder some philosophical distance.


title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: Huey is a politically perceptive devotee of black radical ideas of the past few decades (as explained in the May 4, 1999, strip, Huey is in fact named after Black Panther Huey P. Newton, who was named for Huey Long) and is harshly critical of many aspects of modern black culture. For example, he is at least as hard on Vivica Fox and Cuba Gooding, Jr. at times as he is on the Bush administration. Riley, on the other hand, is enamored of gangsta rap culture and the "thug"/bling-bling lifestyle. Their grandfather Robert is a firm disciplinarian, World War II veteran, and former civil rights activist who is offended by both their values and ideas.


title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: Huey's best friend is Michael Caesar, a dreadlocked aspiring MC who agrees with many of Huey's criticisms but serves as a positive counterpoint to Huey's typically pessimistic attitude by taking a humorous approach to issues. He is also a budding comedian, although most of his humor consists of trying to play "yo momma" jokes on Huey, which always falls flat. The Freemans' neighbors are NAACP member and assistant DA Thomas DuBois (a reference both to Uncle Tom and W. E. B. Du Bois) and his white wife Sarah, also a lawyer. Their young daughter Jazmine is very insecure about her ethnic identity and is often the subject of Huey's antipathy for being out of touch with her African ancestry.


title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: "The Boondocks" was very political and occasionally subject to great controversy, usually sparked by the comments and behavior of its main character, Huey. The comic strip has been withheld by newspapers several times. In this respect, it is similar to "Doonesbury". In particular, the principal characters often discussed racial and American socio-economic class issues. Because of its controversy and serious subject matter, many newspaper publishers either moved the strip to the op-ed section of the paper, pulled more potentially controversial strips from being published, didn't publish the strip at all, or canceled it altogether. Similar reactions have been faced by other strips, such as "Doonesbury".


title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: The content of McGruder's comic strip often came under fire for being politically left-wing and occasionally risqué, leading to its being published in the op-ed section of many newspapers. For example, a strip making fun of BET's rap videos (some of which rely on the sexually suggestive gyrations of female dancers) and a strip mocking Whitney Houston's drug problems and emphasizing her buttocks, were pulled out of circulation. "The Boondocks" garnered significant attention after the September 11, 2001 attacks with a series of strips in which Huey calls a government tipline to report Ronald Reagan for funding terrorism. Soon after, he "censored" several strips by featuring a talking patriotic yellow ribbon and a flag (named Ribbon and Flagee, respectively) instead of the usual cast.


title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: Several strips have been briefly pulled from prominent publications. For example, the "Condi Needs a Man" strip, in which Huey and his friend Caesar create a personal ad for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, portraying her as a "female Darth Vader type that seeks loving mate to torture", resulted in "The Washington Post" withholding a week's worth of strips, the longest such suspension ever by the paper. However, the paper's ombudsman, Michael Getler, later sided with McGruder. The "Post" also declined to run "Can a Nigga Get a Job?", which had black contestants compete on a reality TV show to work for Russell Simmons, only to find that all the contestants were rude and lazy.


title: The Boondocks (comic strip)

text: McGruder has often attacked Black conservative commentator Larry Elder in the comic strip as well as the television series. In response, Elder published an opinion piece in which he created the "McGruder", an award for statements made by black public figures that Elder considers "dumb", "vulgar", and/or "offensive".


title: Barry Zito

text: Barry William Zito (born May 13, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. His pitching repertoire consisted of a curveball (his strikeout pitch), a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a circle changeup, and a cutter–slider.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles Pierce College, and the University of Southern California. Drafted three times while in college, Zito signed with the Athletics when they chose him in the first round of the 1999 MLB draft. A year later, he was in the major leagues, finishing fifth in American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award. He struggled to begin the 2001 season but improved greatly down the stretch, finishing the year with an 11–1 win–loss record over his final two months. He won 23 games (while only losing five) in 2002 and won the Cy Young Award. His record was only 14–12 in 2003, but he still made the All-Star team for the second year in a row. In 2004, he had his worst season at the time, going 11–11 with a career-high 4.48 earned run average. He became Oakland's Opening Day starter in 2005 and finished fifth in the AL with 171 strikeouts. In 2006, he made the All-Star team and posted a 15–1 record when receiving two or more runs of support.


title: Barry Zito

text: Following his seventh season with the Athletics, Zito signed a seven-year deal with the Giants in December 2006. At the time, it was the largest contract ever given to a pitcher. He posted double-digit wins in his first three seasons, and in 2010 he helped San Francisco win their first championship since 1954. However, he struggled the last month of the season and he was left off the postseason roster. After sitting out much of the 2011 season with a foot and ankle injury, he came back in 2012 and flourished, finishing with a 15–8 record, his best season in a Giants uniform. The same October, Zito helped lead the Giants to their second World Series title in San Francisco history over the Detroit Tigers by going 2–0 with a 1.69 ERA in three postseason starts. In his first career World Series start, he outdueled Tigers' ace Justin Verlander in Game 1, setting the stage for San Francisco's sweep to their seventh World Series title in franchise history. Zito struggled in 2013 but received a standing ovation from the fans in his final appearance as a Giant. Following the year, he became a free agent. Zito, a philanthropist, founded "Strikeouts For Troops", a national non-profit that provides comforts of home and lifts the spirits and morale of injured troops as well as offering support to military families.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito was born May 13, 1978, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Roberta (née Rosser; 1943-2008) and Joe Zito (1928-2013). He is of Italian descent. His parents were a show-business couple working for singer and pianist Nat King Cole and he had two sisters who were 9 and 13 years older than Barry. His family moved to San Diego, California, to help him concentrate on his baseball career, after he showed signs of promise from a very young age. His father, not knowing much about baseball, began reading books about pitching strategy and even stopped working to help coach his son. At the age of 12, Randy Jones, a former Cy Young Award winner, was hired by his father to give him lessons at $50 an hour. He transferred from El Cajon's Grossmont High School, where he was the star pitcher, to University of San Diego High School, a Roman Catholic private school for his senior year. Zito received many league honors there, posting an 8-4 record with a 2.92 ERA, while racking up 105 strikeouts in just 85 innings.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito then attended UC Santa Barbara where he earned Freshman All-America Honors with 125 strikeouts in innings. In his sophomore season, Zito transferred to Los Angeles Pierce College so that he could be eligible for the Major League Baseball draft. At Pierce, he posted a 2.62 earned run average (ERA), went 9–2 with 135 strikeouts in 103 innings, and was named to the all-state and all-conference teams. He then transferred to the University of Southern California (USC), where he was a first-team All-America selected by "USA Today Baseball Weekly", "Collegiate Baseball", and "Baseball America". With a 12–3 record, a 3.28 ERA, and 154 strikeouts in innings, Zito was named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito also played in the Cape Cod Baseball League, a summer wooden bat league which showcases the nation's top amateur prospects. He led the Wareham Gatemen to the league championship in 1997, and was named a league all-star and led the team to a runner-up finish in 1998.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito was taken by the Seattle Mariners in the 59th round (1,586th overall) of the 1996 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft, and in the third round (83rd overall) by the Texas Rangers in 1998, but did not sign with either team. In the 1999 draft, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics with the ninth pick of the first round, and signed for a $1.59 million bonus.


title: Barry Zito

text: In 1999, Zito began his professional career with the Visalia Oaks, Oakland's A team. He went 3–0 with a 2.45 ERA in eight starts. He struck out 62 in innings. Zito was promoted to the Midland RockHounds, and went 2–1 with a 4.91 ERA to finish the AA schedule. He then got one start for the AAA Vancouver Canadians (PCL), allowing a lone run with six strikeouts in six innings.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito began the 2000 season in AAA with the Sacramento River Cats (the Canadians franchise had moved to Sacramento). He pitched innings in 18 starts, going 8–5 with a 3.19 ERA, 91 strikeouts, and 41 walks.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito made his major league debut on July 22, 2000, against the Anaheim Angels wearing #53. He allowed one run in five innings, and got the win. In his next start, Zito went seven innings while giving up three runs to the Boston Red Sox. Zito continued to have great success early in his rookie season. In his third career start, he went seven innings and gave up one run against the Toronto Blue Jays. On September 10, Zito pitched his first complete game shutout against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He threw 110 pitches, struck out eight, and allowed five hits. During the month of September, he went 5–1 with a 1.73 ERA. Zito finished with a 7–4 record and a 2.72 earned run average in 14 starts. Despite his late start to the season, Zito still finished fifth in American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award voting.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito made his postseason debut in Game 4 of the AL Division Series (ALDS) against the New York Yankees. He went 5.2 innings, struck out 5, walked 2, and allowed an earned run. Zito earned the win, outpitching Roger Clemens. However, the Yankees would win the series, 3–2, and would go on to win their third straight World Series.


title: Barry Zito

text: In 2001, Zito Switched his uniform number to 75 (which he would wear throughout the rest of his career) finished third in the American League (AL) in strikeouts per nine innings (8.61), fourth in strikeouts (205), sixth in wins (17), eighth in ERA (3.49), and tenth in winning percentage (.680). Zito became the sixth lefty aged 23 or younger since 1902 to strike out at least 200 batters in a season. After a great rookie season, Zito struggled through the early part of the 2001 season, posting a 6–7 record with a 5.01 ERA in his first 22 starts. However, he rebounded nicely and by August, he was putting up good pitching numbers. Zito was named Pitcher of the Month in August, going 5–1 with a 1.02 ERA. Zito won Pitcher of the Month again in September, going 6–0 with a 1.89 ERA. During those last two months of the season, Zito went a combined 11–1 with a 1.32 ERA, best in baseball.


title: Barry Zito

text: The Athletics made the postseason and again played the Yankees in the ALDS. Zito pitched in Game 3 against Mike Mussina. He went eight innings, striking out six, walking one, and allowing an earned run. But Zito took the loss as the Yankees won the game, 1–0. The Yankees would end up taking the series, 3–2.


title: Barry Zito

text: In 2002, Zito became one of the best pitchers in baseball. On June 22, Zito won his 10th game of the season. It was the earliest that an A's pitcher had reached the 10-win mark since Bob Welch got there on June 15, 1990. Zito was named to the All-Star team for the first time in his career. On July 18, he went 7.1 innings while giving up no runs against the Angels. That win gave Zito a team-record 16th straight win at home. Zito again faced the Angels in his next start and produced similar results. He went 6.1 innings and gave up just one run. That win gave Zito the most wins by an AL pitcher (14). Zito would become the AL's first 15-game winner when he beat the Rangers. On August 23, Zito recorded his 18th win of the season, giving him one more than his previous career-high of 17, in a game against the Detroit Tigers.


title: Barry Zito

text: On August 28, Zito earned his 19th win of the season against the Kansas City Royals. However, he lost his bid for a perfect game in the sixth inning when Neifi Pérez singled with one out. Zito gave credit to Pérez. "I wasn't pitching to maintain a no-hitter or something", Zito said. "I left the ball up over the middle to Pérez, and he hit it up the middle. It was a good piece of hitting."


title: Barry Zito

text: On September 8, Zito became the first pitcher in the AL to win 20 games when he pitched seven innings and allowed no earned runs against the Minnesota Twins. "I'm not pitching for the Cy Young", Zito said. "I'm pitching to get the Oakland A's into the playoffs and to the World Series." In his next start, against the Seattle Mariners, Zito took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before John Olerud singled to leadoff the inning. Seattle manager Lou Piniella said if he could vote for the Cy Young Award winner, "It would go to that young man who pitched for the Oakland team. There are other deserving pitchers, but [Zito] has won 21 games and he competes well."


title: Barry Zito

text: In his last start of the season, Zito went six innings and allowed just a run against the Texas Rangers. In his last 10 starts, Zito went 8–0, boosting his chances of winning the AL Cy Young Award. "Barry pitched another gem", said Oakland manager Art Howe. "He's certainly had a Cy Young-type season. He's just been steady all season long."


title: Barry Zito

text: In Game 3 of the ALDS, Zito went six innings and gave up three earned runs against the Twins, earning the win. However, the Twins defeated the Athletics in five games, making the Athletics the first team to lose the deciding game of a series three years in a row.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito would go on to win the AL Cy Young Award with a 23–5 record, narrowly defeating Pedro Martínez in the voting. He led the league with 23 wins, was second in winning percentage (.821), and third in both ERA (2.75) and strikeouts (182). Zito's 23 wins were the most by an AL left-hander since Frank Viola had 24 wins for Minnesota in 1988. Zito also allowed a .185 average to opposing hitters, the lowest in the AL. Martínez, who had led the AL in ERA (2.26), strikeouts (239), and winning percentage (.833), became the first pitcher since the introduction of the award to lead his league in each of the three categories and not win the award. Zito became the first A's pitcher to win the Cy Young Award since Dennis Eckersley did it in 1992. Zito was also named AL TSN Pitcher of the Year.


title: Barry Zito

text: In 2003, Zito started off with a win against the Mariners. He went 6 innings and allowed an earned run, an RBI single by Olerud in the first inning. In his next start, Zito went 7 innings, struck out 7, walked 4, and allowed one run against Texas. In the process, he became only the fifth A's pitcher to win 10 straight games, the first since Welch in 1990. On April 18, Zito went nine innings, allowing six hits and no runs in a start against the Rangers. Zito improved to 9–0 in his career against Texas. After the game, Texas manager Buck Showalter said, "I got the feeling he made it look pretty easy. When he has that kind of command, you can see what happens." Zito struggled in his second-to-last start before the All-Star Break on July 8. He allowed seven earned runs and 15 hits against the Devil Rays. The 15 hits allowed were a career-high. Devil Rays manager Piniella was stunned by Zito's bad start. He said, "If you'd have told me we'd get 15 hits off Zito in five or six innings, I would have looked at you a little funny." Nevertheless, Zito bounced back in his next start. He went eight innings without surrendering a run against the Baltimore Orioles. Zito was again named to the All Star team, the second time he has been named to the team.


title: Barry Zito

text: In 2003, Zito was seventh in the AL in ERA (3.30). He had a 14–12 record and 146 strikeouts over a career-high innings pitched.


title: Barry Zito

text: In Game 2 of the ALDS against the Red Sox, Zito went seven innings, striking out nine, walking two, allowing one earned run, and earning the win in Oakland's 5–1 triumph. In Game 5, Zito went six innings and allowed four earned runs, taking the loss as the Red Sox won the game and the series.


title: Barry Zito

text: In 2004, Zito struggled and posted the worst numbers of his career at the time. Zito went 2–3 with a 6.83 ERA in the month of April. On May 28, facing Cliff Lee, he threw eight shutout innings but received a no-decision in a 1–0 loss to the Cleveland Indians. He threw eight shutout innings of four-hit ball in a 5–0 victory over the Devil Rays on August 21. Oakland manager Ken Macha would have let him throw a complete game, but Zito said, "I was worrying about being fresh for the next game. I didn't want to end up [throwing] 115–120 [pitches], so I took advantage of the situation and shut it down." On September 12, he threw seven shutout innings and had 10 strikeouts, earning the win in a 1–0 victory over the Indians. For the season, he went 11–11 with a 4.48 ERA. That was his only year with the Athletics that his ERA was more than 4.00. He still finished 10th in the league in strikeouts with 163.


title: Barry Zito

text: Following the departure of Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, Zito was given his first Opening Day assignment in 2005. He allowed four runs over six innings in a 4–0 loss to the Orioles on April 4. In 2005, Zito again struggled in the month of April, going 0–4 with a 6.60 ERA. In his first 16 starts of the campaign, he was 3–8 with a 4.41 ERA. However, Zito pitched better the rest of the season. He had a streak of 14 consecutive starts from May 17 through July 25 (and 20 out of 21 through August 30) in which he gave up fewer hits than innings pitched. From June 28 through August 4, he earned the win in eight consecutive starts. On June 6, Zito allowed two runs in six innings in a 2–1 loss to the Washington Nationals. During the game, he collected his first major league hit, against Tony Armas Jr. Zito was named Pitcher of the Month in July, going 6–0 with a 2.51 ERA. In 35 starts, Zito went 14–13 with a 3.86 ERA. Zito's 35 starts were the most in Major League Baseball that season, demonstrating his durability as a pitcher. He also had 171 strikeouts, good for fifth in the league.


title: Barry Zito

text: In 2006, Zito went 1.1 innings and allowed seven earned runs on Opening Day (April 3) against the Yankees. It was the shortest outing of his career. However, Zito quickly rebounded from that bad start. On June 1, he allowed four hits over seven innings in a 4–0 victory over the Twins. During the game, he recorded his 1,000th career strikeout by punching out Lew Ford. On July 2, Zito and Brandon Webb both allowed one run through eight innings before Zito gave up two unearned runs while only getting two outs in the ninth; Webb threw a complete game as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Athletics 3–1. When the All-Star Break rolled around, Zito was 8–6 with a 3.29 earned run average. He was named to the 2006 All-Star Game. On August 25, Zito earned his 100th career win when he defeated the Rangers 9–3. He had a no-hitter going into the eighth inning, but Mark DeRosa singled to lead it off. In 35 starts (first in the league again), he had a 16–10 record, a 3.83 ERA, and 151 strikeouts. Zito was tied for eighth in the league in wins, he ranked tenth in ERA, and he was third in innings pitched (221). He had the eighth-lowest run support of AL pitchers (4.97) but had a 15–1 record if he received at least two runs of support.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito helped the Athletics reach the postseason. In Game 1 of the ALDS, he allowed one run and four hits over eight innings, outdueling Johan Santana and earning the win in a 3–2 victory over the Twins and setting the stage for an Oakland sweep. Zito did not fare as well in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series (ALCS) against the Tigers, allowing five runs over innings in a 5–1 defeat. The Tigers went on to sweep the Athletics in four games.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito replaced his agent Arn Tellem with Scott Boras in July 2006. Zito was a focal point of the 2006 trade deadline, and was widely rumored to be headed to the Mets in a potential deal for prospect Lastings Milledge. Susan Slusser of the "San Francisco Chronicle" wrote that if the Mets were unwilling to trade Milledge, the Athletics might be interested in Aaron Heilman and John Maine. However, Athletics' general manager Billy Beane decided to keep Zito for the rest of the season.


title: Barry Zito

text: Following his seventh season with the Athletics, Zito signed a seven-year deal with the San Francisco Giants worth $126 million, plus $18 million option for 2014 with a $7 million buyout. Zito's contract on December 29, 2006, became the highest for any pitcher in Major League history at the time.


title: Barry Zito

text: During spring training in 2007, he and Barry Bonds made shirts that read "Don't ask me, ask Barry" with an arrow pointing to the other Barry. By all accounts, Zito and Bonds got along well during their short time as teammates, and Zito made a point of saying he would stand by Bonds through onslaughts from the media.


title: Barry Zito

text: In his first start as a member of the Giants, Opening Day (April 3), Zito went five innings and allowed two earned runs against the San Diego Padres. He would take the loss. In his next start, Zito struggled. He went six innings but allowed eight earned runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Zito would earn his first win as a member of the Giants in his next start on April 16 when he went six innings, gave up three hits, and allowed no runs to the Colorado Rockies. "I've been trying to have a good game", Zito said. "You can't try to do anything. You either do or you don't. I tried to get too fine with my pitches. I wasn't aggressive."


title: Barry Zito

text: On May 18, Zito made his return to Oakland as a Giant. He lasted only four innings as he gave up seven runs while walking seven, including two bases-loaded walks. The A's beat the Giants, 15–3.<ref name="5/18/07-recap"></ref> He faced his old team again on June 9, this time in San Francisco. Zito pitched four innings while giving up three earned runs on nine hits in a 6–0 defeat.<ref name="6/09/07-recap"></ref>


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito made his first Major League relief appearance on August 5 against the Padres due to an early exit by starter Noah Lowry and an overworked bullpen. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning.<ref name="8/05/07-recap"></ref> He recorded his first career run batted in (RBI) two days later against the Nationals' Mike Bacsik, in the same game that Barry Bonds hit his record-breaking 756th career home run.<ref name="8/07/07-recap"></ref>


title: Barry Zito

text: After Zito's start on August 12, his ERA was 5.13. Over his final nine starts, he posted the fifth-best ERA in the NL, at 3.10. He also had a 3–2 record. He admitted that he had put pressure on himself to perform because of the large contract and was learning that he just needed to be himself. Zito also said that it had been difficult for him to adjust to a new league, team, and ballpark. On the final day of the season, in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, Zito allowed two runs on five hits and had four strikeouts in an 11–2 win. For the first time in his career, Zito had a losing record, as he finished the season at 11–13. He failed to reach 200 innings () for the first time since 2000 and posted a career-high 4.53 ERA.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito began the 2008 season as the oldest starter and the veteran presence in the Giants' starting rotation. In April, Zito went 0–6 with a 7.53 ERA and 11 strikeouts. He was the third pitcher in the last 52 years to go 0–6 before May 1. On April 28, the Giants moved him to the bullpen. Zito did not make an appearance out of the bullpen and returned to the rotation on May 7 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In that game, Zito allowed five hits and two earned runs over five innings and took the loss, his seventh of the season. On May 23, Zito collected his first win of the 2008 season against the Florida Marlins. On June 13, Zito became the first pitcher to record 10 losses in the Major Leagues following a 5–1 loss to Oakland. His 5.1 walks per nine innings pitched for the season, 51.5% first-pitch-strike percentage, and 14 sacrifice flies allowed, were all the worst in the majors. Beginning June 25, Zito saw some improvement, as he posted an 8–6 record for the rest of the season to go along with a 4.33 ERA. He finished the year 10–17 with a career-high 5.15 ERA and 120 strikeouts. His 17 losses led the National League and were the second-worst total in San Francisco history (Ray Sadecki lost 18 games in 1968).


title: Barry Zito

text: The 2009 season seemed to mark a rebound in Zito's pitching performance. Though starting the season 0–2 with an ERA of 10, Zito ended the season with an ERA of 4.03. His ERA would have been 3.74 had it not been for his first two starts. Though going only 10–13 in the season, Zito's record was much more the fault of his spotty run support (the second-lowest in the major leagues) than his performance on the mound. On June 21, Zito pitched a no-hitter through six innings against Texas before giving up a home run to Andruw Jones in the seventh inning. He won the game, his fourth win of the season. On July 7, Zito pitched what could be considered his best game of the season. He pitched 8 innings against the Florida Marlins, allowing one run on four hits, striking out six, and walking one. He won the game, his fifth win of the season.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito started the 2010 season by pitching six shutout innings against the Houston Astros to earn a win; it was the first time he had won his season-opening start since 2003. On April 24, Zito stifled the St. Louis Cardinals, throwing eight shutout innings with ten strikeouts for his third victory of the season, en route to starting the season 5–0 for the first time in his career. It was the best start by a Giants' pitcher since 2004, when Lowry started 6–0. On June 12, 2010, Zito earned his first win against his former team, the Athletics, which gave him victories against every MLB team. Zito is one of eighteen pitchers to record a win against all 30 MLB teams, and the first pitcher to accomplish the feat while only with two clubs


title: Barry Zito

text: Through June 12, Zito was 7–2 with a 3.10 ERA. After a strong start to the season, Zito regressed down the stretch, going 2–12 with a 4.97 ERA the rest of the way. He finished the season 9–14 with a 4.15 ERA, snapping a streak of nine straight seasons in which he had 10 or more wins. In a rotation featuring Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sánchez, and Madison Bumgarner, Zito was the odd man out for the playoffs. In fact, he was left completely off the Giants' 25-man active roster for the postseason. Zito worked out throughout the playoffs so that he would be ready to join the roster in case of an injury, but he was never needed and remained on the secondary squad. The Giants won the 2010 World Series in five games over Texas, and he received his first World Series ring.


title: Barry Zito

text: Early in the 2011 season Zito experienced his first trip to the disabled list after an injury to his right foot during a fielding play. His replacement, Ryan Vogelsong, excelled, but Zito was able to rejoin the rotation when he returned in June because Sánchez was placed on the disabled list with left biceps tendinitis. Zito pitched well in his first few starts back, pitching well against the Tigers, Chicago Cubs, and Padres en route to three Giants wins, but later resumed his struggle, going 0–3 with a 10.91 ERA over his next three starts. He returned to the disabled list after aggravating his right foot injury; ironically, his trip to the DL made room for Sánchez to return to the rotation. On August 13, Zito injured his right ankle on another fielding play in a Triple-A rehab start, sidelining him for another month. Zito returned from the DL on September 11 but was used out of the bullpen for the rest of the year; he posted a 9.00 ERA over his final four games. In a career-low 13 games (nine starts), he had a 3–4 record, a career-high 5.87 ERA, 32 strikeouts, and 24 walks in a career-low innings.


title: Barry Zito

text: After struggling mightily during spring training in which he threw with a new crouched delivery, Zito began the 2012 season with a start against the Rockies on April 9. He threw arguably one of the best games of his career, throwing a complete-game shutout while giving up just 4 hits in the 7–0 Giants victory. It was his first shutout since 2003 when he was a member of the Oakland Athletics. In a June 3 home game matchup with the Cubs, Zito pitched four-hit shutout ball into the ninth inning for a 2–0 Giants win and brought his season ERA below 3.00. In earning the win, Zito earned his 150th career win, becoming the 246th pitcher to hit the mark. Zito had a hand in the Giants' second road shutout win of the season when he pitched seven innings, allowing three hits and recording four strikeouts, in a July 17 game versus the Atlanta Braves. The win pushed his season record to 8–6. Zito would go on to finish the season with a 15–8 record, his most wins in a season with the Giants, while sporting a 4.15 ERA.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito faced off against the Reds in Game 4 of the National League Division Series (NLDS) on October 10 and struggled, being pulled in the third inning after allowing two runs. However, the Giants went on to win 8–3. The Giants, after losing the first two games of the series, became the first team to rally from a 2–0 deficit with both losses at home in an NLDS, winning 3 straight road games to win the series in five games. On October 19, 2012, Zito rebounded and pitched arguably the best game of his career, tossing 7 shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS), earning the win. It was his first postseason win since 2006 and according to Zito himself, was the biggest win of his career. That same day, Zito inspired the Twitter hashtag "#rallyzito", which, behind the efforts of Giants fans, was trending worldwide on the social networking site. The Giants, after trailing 3–1 in the series, prevailed in seven games.


title: Barry Zito

text: On October 24, 2012, Zito pitched in the first World Series of his career. As the Game 1 starter, Zito earned the win, outpitching Detroit's Justin Verlander by tossing innings of one-run ball. Zito also added an RBI single en route to an 8–3 Giants win. The Giants went on to sweep the Tigers in the World Series, and Zito went 2–0 with a 1.69 earned run average in the postseason.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito did not lose a single game after August 2 against the Mets, and San Francisco won his last 14 starts.


title: Barry Zito

text: On April 5, 2013, during the Giants' home opener, Zito held the Cardinals scoreless over seven shutout innings, earning the 1–0 win. He followed this performance with seven more shutout innings and some personal offensive contribution at the plate against the Rockies in a 10–0 win to complete a 3-game series sweep. It was the Giants' 16th straight victory in a row in games started by Zito (including the 2012 regular season and postseason), the longest such streak by a Giants pitcher since 1936 by Hall of Fame left-handed pitcher Carl Hubbell. However, Zito struggled for the rest of the season, going 2–10 with a 6.24 ERA after April 21 and losing his rotation spot a couple times late in the year.


title: Barry Zito

text: On September 25, manager Bruce Bochy decided to give Zito one final start with the Giants as a tribute to his tenure with the team. Zito responded by allowing two runs (one earned) over five innings and earning the win in a 7–4 victory over the Dodgers. However, because Zito was removed between innings during the Dodger game, Bochy sent him in to pitch in relief in the final game of the year so that Giants' fans could give him a standing ovation. Zito entered with two outs in the eighth inning on September 29 and struck out Mark Kotsay (playing his final game) as the Giants beat the Padres 7–6. He finished the 2013 season at 5–11 with a 5.74 ERA in 30 games, 25 of which were starts. Following the season, Zito took out a full-page ad in the "San Francisco Chronicle" thanking Giants fans for their support. The Giants declined Zito's 2014 option, buying it out for $7 million.


title: Barry Zito

text: After taking a year off from baseball, Zito signed a minor league contract to return to the Athletics on February 16, 2015. In spring training, Zito competed for a role on the Athletics' 25-man roster, possibly as a long reliever. On April 4, 2015, Zito accepted an assignment to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Zito's Nashville teammates lauded him for embracing the Triple-A lifestyle and for his commitment to the team: charting pitches between starts, coaching first base, and even buying dinner for the entire team on his birthday. Zito spent the entire season with Nashville, including about a month on the disabled list with left shoulder tendinitis. He was activated on the next-to-last day of the season on which he pitched one scoreless inning of relief. In a total of 24 appearances (22 starts), he accrued an 8–7 record with a 3.46 ERA and 91 strikeouts.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito revealed in an interview that he had learned the Athletics would not be bringing him up to the major league club in September. However, following a season-ending injury to Jesse Chavez, Oakland purchased Zito's contract from Triple-A on September 16, placing him on the major league roster. Zito made his first major league appearance of the season on September 20, pitching an inning in relief. On September 26, 2015, Zito started for the Athletics against Hudson and the Giants in a matchup that was arranged as a tribute to the A's "Big Three" of the early 2000s. Both pitchers received lengthy standing ovations from the sold-out Coliseum crowd (which included the third Big Three member, Mulder) upon leaving the game.


title: Barry Zito

text: On October 19, 2015, Zito announced his retirement from baseball in an article for "The Players' Tribune".


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito's fastball hovered between and . He augmented it with a circle changeup and a curveball that he used as a strikeout pitch. His curveball was voted the best in the Major Leagues in a player poll conducted by "Sports Illustrated" in 2005. Alex Rodriguez once stated that he had never seen anything like Zito's curveball, commenting: "It's such a high one, and it drops three to four feet. You might as well not even look for it because you're not going to hit it."


title: Barry Zito

text: In mid-2004, Zito added a two-seam fastball and a cutter–slider hybrid to his arsenal. In the 2009 season, this cutter-slider became a prominent part of his repertoire, being used more frequently than his changeup. Zito's diminished velocity at the start of the 2007 season (his fastball velocity slowed to ) and loss of command were the key mechanical reasons for his struggles that year, as he more often got behind in the count and had to rely more on his fastball. During the 2009 season, Zito made changes to his delivery, lowering his arm slot from an over the top angle to a three-quarters delivery. This change helped his fastball velocity go back up to the range as well as sharpening the break of his curveball. However, in 2011, he was once again in the range with his fastball. In 2012, Zito relied mostly on his two-seam fastball and cutter, and reduced his reliance on the four-seamer, which was the slowest four-seamer in MLB among starting pitchers that year, at .


title: Barry Zito

text: Addressing his finesse pitching style, Zito said, "My fastball is set up by my offspeed, that's no secret. So if I can command my fastball to both sides of the plate and throw most of my offspeed for strikes, I'll get them to miss the barrel. That's what I'm going for."


title: Barry Zito

text: From 2000 through 2004 with the Athletics, Zito, Hudson, and Mulder were known as the "Big Three." Of the three, Zito had the highest single-season win total and was the only one to win the Cy Young Award. Zito's .618 winning percentage is 10th all-time in Athletics history. His 6.896 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched ranks seventh, his 1,096 strikeouts rank eighth, and his 222 games started rank 10th. Zito also holds a couple more dubious positions on Oakland's list: his 148 home runs allowed rank fifth, and his 65 hit by pitches rank fourth (although he trails Eddie Plank, Chief Bender, and Rube Waddell in that category). Zito's .821 winning percentage in 2002 is tied with Bender's in 1910 for 10th among Athletics' single-season totals. His 8.608 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched in 2001 rank seventh, and his 205 strikeouts in 2001 are tied for 10th (with Dave Stewart's 1987 total and Todd Stottlemyre's 1995 total).


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito's regular-season performance with the Giants was less successful; he went 63–80 with a 4.62 ERA. However, he had significantly more playoff success with them. Aided by his contributions in 2010, the team won its first World Series since 1954. Zito did not pitch in the playoffs that year, but did pitch in the 2012 postseason, saving the Giants' season by pitching them to a Game 5 victory in the NLCS against the Cardinals, and then outdueling Tigers' ace Justin Verlander in Game 1 of the 2012 World Series. The Giants went on to win their second World Series in three years.


title: Barry Zito

text: As a hitter, Zito batted .102 with 11 RBI. His 35 career hits were all singles, putting him 2nd on the all-time list of most plate appearances (418) without an extra-base hit.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito started playing guitar in 1999 as a way to pass time on road trips. He had not considered music as a profession until his sister, Sally Zito, asked him to play guitar in her band with which he played during the offseason from 2000 to 2007. It was then that he began writing songs in preparation for a career after baseball. His 2015 comeback bid found him playing the majority of the season in Nashville, Tennessee, the home of country music. He used his time off to learn from the city's music industry professionals and to pursue songwriting. Zito released his first EP, titled "No Secrets", on January 27, 2017. The collection contains six songs either written or co-written by Zito. He later co-wrote and sang vocals for a theme song for the Nashville Sounds, titled "That Sound".


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito became engaged to former Miss Missouri Amber Seyer in April 2011, and they were married on December 3, 2011. His father, Joe Zito, who died June 19, 2013, at the age of 84, composed and arranged music for Nat King Cole in the early 1960s (ca.1961–64) and arranged for the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra. Zito's mother Roberta was a musician who sang in a choral group known as The Merry Young Souls and with Nat King Cole and his band. Zito is also a musician. He plays guitar, and he co-wrote the song "Butterflies" that was used in the Eddie Murphy film "A Thousand Words". Zito's maternal aunt was married to television actor Patrick Duffy.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito and wife Amber gave birth to their first child, a son named Mars, in July 2014. They adopted their second child, a son named Mercer Joseph Zito, in May 2017. A third child, a son named Rome, was born February 2020


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito is known for his idiosyncrasies and his offbeat personality. Early in his career, Zito dyed his hair blue. He earned the nicknames "Planet Zito" and "Captain Quirk" when with Oakland. Zito says he likes the way his uniform number 75 looks because the 7 and the 5 are like a "shelf" to hold the name "Zito" up. He surfs and practices yoga. He has done yoga poses in the outfield, and meditated before games. Zito practices Transcendental Meditation and supports the David Lynch Foundation. Zito has said, however, that he believes terms such as "flaky" or "hippie" have been applied to him by people who do not know him well enough to know better.


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito was raised in a "spiritual, metaphysical type church" that was founded by his grandmother and that his mother, Roberta, who died in 2008, formerly preached at. In 2001, Zito espoused a universal life force that he credited with his midseason turnaround. He said that he discovered this force by reading "Creative Mind" by Ernest Holmes.


title: Barry Zito

text: However, in August 2011, Zito became a Christian, saying he "committed to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior." Zito explained that God got his attention through his being left off the 2010 Giants postseason roster and a car accident and freak foot injury in early 2011. He got a tattoo (his only one) of a golden calf on the inside of his right bicep as a reminder for him to "not worship false idols" and to remember that God comes first. Zito said that his wife is a Christian as well. In 2019, Zito wrote "Curveball: How I Discovered True Fulfillment After Chasing Fortune and Fame", a memoir book about his life and his conversion to Christianity. Zito has said, “Having placed my full identity into my baseball career for most of my life, only to have it stripped away during the 2010 World Series run is what led me to discover my true identity. Not in a game, but in Jesus Christ.”


title: Barry Zito

text: Zito founded the charity "Strikeouts For Troops". The charity provides comforts of home and works to lift the spirits and morale of injured US troops and offers support to military families. In 2010, Zito announced that he would donate $1,500 for every strikeout in the Giants–Padres game on September 11. There were a total of 14 strikeouts in the game.


title: Barry Zito

text: In 2003, Zito portrayed a United States Navy petty officer in an episode of "JAG" on CBS. Zito's character, a pitcher, faced assault charges after hitting a Marine with a ball during the annual Navy-Marine all-star baseball game.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Electric Dreams is a 1984 science fiction romantic comedy film directed by Steve Barron (in his feature film directorial debut) and written by Rusty Lemorande. The film is set in San Francisco and depicts a love triangle among a man, a woman, and a personal computer. It stars Lenny Von Dohlen, Virginia Madsen, Maxwell Caulfield, and the voice of Bud Cort.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Miles Harding is an architect who envisions a brick shaped like a jigsaw puzzle piece that could enable buildings to withstand earthquakes. Seeking a way to get organized, he buys a personal computer to help him develop his ideas. Although he is initially unsure that he will even be able to correctly operate the computer, he later buys numerous extra gadgets that were not necessary for his work, such as switches to control household appliances like the blender, a speech synthesizer, and a microphone. The computer addresses Miles as "Moles", because Miles had incorrectly typed his name during the initial set-up. When Miles attempts to download the entire database from a mainframe computer at work, his computer begins to overheat. In a state of panic, Miles uses a nearby bottle of champagne to douse the overheating machine, which then becomes sentient. Miles initially is unaware of the computer's newfound sentience, but discovers it one night when he is awakened by the computer in the middle of the night when it mimics Miles talking in his sleep.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: A love triangle soon develops among Miles, his computer (who later identifies himself as Edgar), and Miles's neighbor, an attractive cellist named Madeline Robistat. Upon hearing her practicing Minuet in G major, BWV Anh. 114 from "Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach" on her cello through an air vent connecting both apartments, Edgar promptly elaborates a parallel variation of the piece, leading to an improvised duet. Believing it was Miles who had engaged her in the duet, Madeline begins to fall in love with him though she has an ongoing relationship with fellow musician Bill.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: At Miles' request, Edgar composes a piece of music for Madeline. When their mutual love becomes evident, however, Edgar responds with jealousy, cancelling Miles' credit cards and registering him as an "armed and dangerous" criminal. Upon discovering this humiliation, Miles and Edgar have a confrontation, where Miles shoves the computer and tries to unplug it, getting an electric shock. Then, the computer retaliates by harassing him with an improvised maze of remotely controlled household electronics, in the style of "Pac-Man".


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Eventually, Edgar accepts Madeline and Miles' love for each other, and appears to commit suicide by sending a large electric current out through his acoustic coupler modem, around the world, and finally reaching back to himself just after he and Miles make amends.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Later, as Madeline and Miles go on vacation together, Edgar's voice is heard on the radio dedicating a song to "the ones I love", titled "Together in Electric Dreams". The credits are interspersed with scenes of the song being heard all over California, including a radio station trying to shut it off, declaring that they do not know where the signal is coming from.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Steve Barron had made more than 100 music videos and routinely sent them to his mother for comment. She particularly liked one he did for Haysi Fantayzee; she was doing continuity on "Yentl", co-produced by Rusty Lemorande and Larry deWaay and showed it to them. Lemorande had finished his own script for "Electric Dreams" and was looking for a director; he offered Barron the job.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Barron took the script to Virgin Films, and it agreed to finance within four days. The film was presold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who held rights for the U.S., Canada, Japan and South East Asia. Two months after Virgin agreed to make the movie, filming began in San Francisco. Studio work was done in London at Twickenham Studios.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Virginia Madsen later recalled she "was very spoiled on that movie, because it was such a lovefest that I now believe that every movie should be like that ... I had a mad, crazy crush on Lenny Von Dohlen. God, we were so ... we were head-over-heels for each other. Nothing happened, and at this point, I admit it: I wanted it to happen ... He's still one of my best friends."


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Bud Cort provided the voice of the computer. The director did not want Cort to be seen by the other actors during scenes so Cort had to do his lines in a padded box on a sound stage. He said, "It got a little lonely in there, I must admit. I kept waiting to meet the other actors, but nobody came to say hello." Boy George visited the set and, being a fan of "Harold and Maude", got Cort's autograph.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: The movie features music from Giorgio Moroder, Culture Club, Jeff Lynne (Electric Light Orchestra), and Heaven 17. During filming, Barron said, "The fact that there's so much music has to do with the success of "Flashdance". This film isn't "Flashdance 2". "Flashdance" worked because of the dancing. It didn't have a story. "Electric Dreams" does."


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Barron later said ""Electric Dreams" was definitely an attempt to try and weave the early 1980s music video genre into a movie. ... [The film] isn't that deep. The closest parallel is probably that it's a Cyrano de Bergerac-like exploration of how words and music can help nurture and grow feelings on the path to love. Oops that's too deep." In 2015, he said when he made the film there was a prejudice against video clip directors doing drama, and because "Electric Dreams" "was a little bit like an extended music video... I didn't help that cause in a lot of ways. (laughs)".


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Fans of "Electric Dreams" have noted the similarities between the film and Spike Jonze's "Her". When asked about it, Jonze claimed not to have seen the former film. In 2009 Barron said that Madsen told him she was planning on being involved in a remake. He said, "She didn't ask me to do it, so I guess I blew my chance on the first one! I wouldn't actually do it, but it would have been nice for the ego to be asked."


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: The soundtrack features music from prominent popular musicians of the time, being among the movies of this generation that actively explored the commercial link between a movie and its soundtrack. The soundtrack album "Electric Dreams" was re-issued on CD in 1998.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: "The New York Times" said that the film failed to "blend and balance its ingredients properly", and that it lost plot elements and taxed credibility.


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: The "Los Angeles Times" called it "inspired and appealing... a romantic comedy of genuine sweetness and originality".


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: Film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert each gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, with Siskel writing that it showed a new director eager to show off his talents and Ebert writing "One of the nicest things about the movie is the way it maintains its note of slightly bewildered innocence."


title: Electric Dreams (film)

text: "Electric Dreams" was released in 1984 (VHS) and again in 1991 (VHS) in the US. MGM Home Video released a Laserdisc in America in 1985, and Warner Bros. released a Video CD version for the Singapore market in 2001. The film received a Region 2 DVD on April 6, 2009 by MGM (which owns Orion Pictures and international rights to the Virgin/M.E.C.G film catalog they purchased in the mid 90s). UK video label Second Sight has released a Blu-ray on 7 August 2017, making its worldwide debut.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: Frank Davidson Fraser (13 December 1923 – 26 November 2014), better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks on several occasions. It was during the war that he first became involved in serious crime, with the blackout and rationing, combined with the lack of professional policemen due to conscription, providing ample opportunities for criminal activities such as stealing from houses while the occupants were in air-raid shelters.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: In 1941, Fraser was sent to borstal for breaking into a Waterloo hosiery store, then given a 15-month prison sentence at HM Prison Wandsworth for shop-breaking. Such were the criminal opportunities during the war, Fraser joked in a television interview years later, that he had never forgiven the Germans for surrendering. In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. Although he was conscripted, Fraser later boasted that he had never once worn the uniform, preferring to ignore call-up papers, desert and resume his criminal activities.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: After the war, Fraser was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller, for which he received a two-year prison sentence, mostly served at HM Prison Pentonville. It was during this sentence that he was first certified insane and was sent to Cane Hill Hospital before being released in 1949. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. After being sent to HM Prison Durham for taking part in bank robberies, he was again certified insane and this time was sent to Broadmoor Hospital. Afraid of being heavily medicated for bad behaviour, Fraser stayed out of trouble and was released in 1955. The following year, the British mobster Jack Spot and wife Rita were attacked, on Hill's say-so, by Fraser, Bobby Warren and at least half a dozen other men. Both Fraser and Warren were given seven years for their acts of violence.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: It was in the early 1960s that Fraser first met Charlie and Eddie Richardson of the Richardson Gang, rivals to the Kray twins. According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. In 1966, Fraser was charged with the murder of Richard Hart, who was shot at Mr Smith's club in Catford while other Richardson associates, including Jimmy Moody, were charged with affray. A witness changed his testimony and the charges were eventually dropped, though Fraser still received a five-year sentence for affray. He was also tried in court in the so-called 'Torture trial', in which members of the Richardson Gang were charged with burning, electrocuting and whipping those found guilty of disloyalty by a kangaroo court. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 1967, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: Fraser's 42 years served in over 20 different prisons in the UK were often coloured by violence. He was involved in riots and frequently fought with prison officers and fellow inmates. He also attacked various governors. Fraser was one of the ringleaders of the major Parkhurst Prison riot in 1969, spending the following six weeks in the prison hospital because of his injuries. Involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. Whilst in Strangeways, Manchester in 1980, Fraser was 'excused boots' as he claimed he had problems with his feet because another prisoner had dropped a bucket of boiling water on them after Fraser had hit him; he was allowed to wear slippers. He was released from prison in 1985.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: Fraser became a minor celebrity of sorts, appearing on television shows such as "Operation Good Guys", "Shooting Stars", and the satirical show "Brass Eye", where he said Noel Edmonds should be shot for killing Clive Anderson (an incident invented by the show's producers), and writing an autobiography. In 1996, he played (his friend) William Donaldson's guide to Marbella in the infamous BBC Radio 4 series "A Retiring Fellow." In 1999, he appeared at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London in a one-man show, "An Evening with Mad Frankie Fraser" (directed by Patrick Newley), which subsequently toured the UK.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: Fraser also appeared as East End crime boss Pops Den in the feature film "Hard Men", a forerunner of British gangster movies such as "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", and had a documentary made of his life, "Mad Frank". A feature film production is currently in development with Fraser's endorsement.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: Fraser gave gangland tours around London, where he highlighted infamous criminal locations such as The Blind Beggar pub. In 1991, Fraser was shot in the head from close range in an apparent murder attempt outside the Turnmills Club in Clerkenwell, London. Part of his mouth was shot away in the incident. He refused to discuss the shooting with the police.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: Fraser was an Arsenal fan, and his grandson Tommy Fraser is a professional footballer. Another of Fraser's grandsons, James Fraser, also spent a short time with Bristol Rovers. Another grandson, Anthony Fraser, was being sought by police in February 2011 for his alleged involvement in an alleged £5 million cannabis smuggling ring.


title: Frankie Fraser

text: Fraser's wife, by whom he had four sons, died in 1999. He was a resident at a sheltered accommodation home in Peckham. According to Eddie Richardson, Fraser had Alzheimer's disease for the last three years of his life. In June 2013, the 89-year-old Fraser was served with an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) by police after a row with another resident. On 21 November 2014, he fell critically ill during leg surgery at King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill and was placed into an induced coma. On 26 November, Fraser died after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine.


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: Confirmation, in the Catholic Church, is one of the seven sacraments. It is also one of the three sacraments of initiation into the Catholic Church, the other two being Baptism and Holy Communion.


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: It is evident from its celebration that the effect of the sacrament of Confirmation is the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost... Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts.


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" sees the account in the Acts of the Apostles as a scriptural basis for Confirmation as a sacrament distinct from Baptism:


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: Now when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For he was not as yet come upon any of them; but they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit.


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: In the Latin Church, the sacrament is to be conferred on the faithful above the age of discretion (generally taken to be about 7), unless the Episcopal Conference has decided on a different age, or there is danger of death or, in the judgment of the minister, a grave reason suggests otherwise.


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: The 1983 "Code of Canon law" states (canon 882): "The ordinary minister of confirmation is a bishop; a presbyter provided with this faculty in virtue of universal law or the special grant of the competent authority also confers this sacrament validly."


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: Two synods held in England during the thirteenth century differed over whether confirmation had to be administered within one year after birth, or within three years. Confirmation became a much more important rite when concerns about understanding and faith grew, in particular following the Reformation.


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: After the Fourth Lateran Council, Communion, which continued to be given only after Confirmation, was to be administered only on reaching the age of reason. Some time after the 13th century, the age of Confirmation and Communion began to be delayed further, from seven, to twelve and to fifteen. The 1917 Code of Canon Law, while recommending that Confirmation be delayed until about seven years of age, allowed it be given at an earlier age. Only on 30 June 1932 was official permission given to change the traditional order of the three sacraments of Christian initiation: the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments then allowed, where necessary, that Confirmation be administered "after" first Holy Communion. This novelty, originally seen as exceptional, became more and more the accepted practice. Thus, in the mid-20th century, Confirmation began to be seen as an occasion for professing personal commitment to the faith on the part of someone approaching adulthood.


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: However, the "Catechism of the Catholic Church", §1308, warns: "Although Confirmation is sometimes called the 'sacrament of Christian maturity,' we must not confuse adult faith with the adult age of natural growth, nor forget that the baptismal grace is a grace of free, unmerited election and does not need 'ratification' to become effective."


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: On the canonical age for confirmation in the Latin or Western Catholic Church, the present (1983) "Code of Canon Law", which maintains unaltered the rule in the 1917 Code, specifies that the sacrament is to be conferred on the faithful at about 7-18, unless the episcopal conference has decided on a different age, or there is a danger of death or, in the judgement of the minister, a grave reason suggests otherwise (canon 891 of the "Code of Canon Law"). The 1983 Code prescribes the age of discretion also for the sacraments of Penance and first Holy Communion.


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: Since the Second Vatican Council, the setting of a later age, e.g. mid-teens in the United States, early teens in Ireland and Britain, has been abandoned in some places in favour of restoring the traditional order of the three sacraments of Christian initiation. Even in those countries where the episcopal conference has set a later age as normal, a bishop may not refuse to confer the sacrament on younger children who request it, provided they are baptized, have the use of reason, are suitably instructed and are properly disposed and able to renew the baptismal promises.


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: The Chrismation with holy Myron is what confirmation is called in Eastern Catholic Churches. The canons concerning this practice are the can. 692-697 of the "Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches". In Eastern Catholicism, priests are those who normally administer the Chrismation with holy Myron, and this sacrament can be administered conjointly with baptism. Contrarily to the situation in the Latin Church, in Eastern Catholicism the sacrament does not require the anointing to be made by the imposition of the hand.


title: Confirmation in the Catholic Church

text: The "soldier of Christ" imagery, which remains valid but is downplayed if seen as part of the once common idea of Confirmation as a "sacrament of maturity", was used as far back as 350, by Cyril of Jerusalem. In this connection, the touch on the cheek that the bishop gave while saying "Pax tecum" (Peace be with you) to the person he had just confirmed was interpreted in the Roman Pontifical as a slap, a reminder to be brave in spreading and defending the faith: "Deinde leviter eum in maxilla caedit, dicens: Pax tecum" (Then he strikes him lightly on the cheek, saying: Peace be with you) (cf. the knightly custom of the accolade). When, in application of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the Confirmation rite was revised in 1971, mention of this gesture was omitted. However, the French and Italian translations, indication that the bishop should accompany the words "Peace be with you" with "a friendly gesture" (French text) or "the sign of peace" (Italian text), explicitly allow a gesture such as the touch on the cheek, to which they restore its original meaning. This is in accord with the Introduction to the Rite of Confirmation, 17, which indicates that the episcopal conference may decide "to introduce a different manner for the minister to give the sign of peace after the anointing, either to each individual or to all the newly confirmed together."


title: Golden Bridge (Vietnam)

text: The Golden Bridge () is a pedestrian bridge in the Bà Nà Hills resort, near Da Nang, Vietnam. It is designed to connect the cable car station with the gardens (avoiding a steep incline) and to provide a scenic overlook and tourist attraction. The bridge loops nearly back around to itself, and has two giant hands, constructed of fibreglass and wire mesh, designed to appear like stone hands that support the structure.


title: Golden Bridge (Vietnam)

text: The client for the project was the Sun Group. The bridge was designed by TA Landscape Architecture (under Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture) based in Ho Chi Minh City. The company's founder, Vu Viet Anh, was the project's principal designer, with Trần Quang Hùng as the bridge designer and Nguyen Quang Huu Tuan as the bridge's design manager. Construction began in July 2017 and was completed in April 2018. The bridge opened in June 2018.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: León (), officially León de Los Aldama (English: Lion of the Aldama), is the most populous city and municipal seat of the municipality of León in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. In the 2020 Intercensal Survey, INEGI reported 1,721,626 people living in the municipality of León, making it the fourth-most populous municipality in Mexico. The metropolitan area of León recorded a population of 2,140,094 in the 2020 state Census, making it the seventh most populous metropolitan area in Mexico. León is part of the macroregion of Bajío within the Central Mexican Plateau.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: León has a strong leather industry, offering shoes, boots, belts, jackets, and other leather accessories to national and international markets. The leather industry earned its inhabitants the nickname of "green belly" ("panzaverde" in Spanish) because of the green tainting in the workers' bodies resulting from treating leather. Its first-class services and hotel industry make it an important commercial center in Mexico with numerous options for entertainment, gastronomy, leisure activities, arts, and recreation. It is also considered one of the most environmentally friendly cities in Mexico and has a high number of cyclists, in part because of integrating a network of bike lanes into the SIT system. In March 2012, it received an award as "City Water Champion", mainly due to great progress in the areas of sanitation, wastewater reuse, and energy cogeneration from biogas.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: Leon generally has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa) with summer rainfall (according to Köppen climate classification, Cwa) that closely borders on a semi-arid climate. The average annual temperature is , the warmest month is May with a maximum average of , and the coolest month is January with a minimum average temperature of . Outside the city microclimate island, the ranges tend to be higher, with maximum averages reaching higher than in the city, and minimum averages lowered by or more. In the villages located in between the northern mountains the climate changes; it is considered subtropical highland climate (Cwb according to Köppen climate classification), the average annual temperature is around .


title: León, Guanajuato

text: Leon averages of precipitation annually, which mainly occurs during the summer and early autumn (from late May through October) generally with thunderstorms in the evening. There is usually a discrepancy about whether Leon's valley is either sub-humid or semi-arid. Depending on the methodology, it can be considered as being either one or the other. With Köppen's methodology, there needs to be more than of annual precipitation for Leon to be considered as humid subtropical; according to several weather stations it may have both (humid subtropical and semiarid) terminologies applied to it. The years considered in the study may also be a determinant factor (more frequently used for international purposes is a 30-year data compilation). Years of average rainfall are rare; the usual pattern is bi-modal, with some large string of dry years usually related to La Niña phenomenon (slightly higher than ) followed by other years (around 5) related to El Niño that make up the average (with higher than ). Snowfall is extremely rare. The latest snowfall recorded in Leon was in 1997, although there have been other years of registered slushy snow since 1997.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The city of Leon is well known for its leather and footwear industry. But in the last decade, the city has also developed important economic activity in the automotive industry.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: About 70 percent of all shoes made in Mexico come from León and the surrounding area. In addition to the leather works, there are also industrial chemical, plastic, polymer, transportation, and container companies. The presence of the automotive industry includes a General Motors plant in the nearby municipality of Silao. In the financial sector, León is home to the national headquarters of Banco del Bajío, owned by Salvador Oñate, and to the regional headquarters of Banamex and HSBC, among other banks.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: A newly built facility within GTO Inland Port's premises speeds up the logistics process. Clearing customs in a border city or seaport is no longer a requirement for companies located in GTO Inland Port; now they use this very convenient facility.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: A rail container yard is now offering inter-modal services for rail transportation. The facility is operated by the largest rail company in Mexico and has one of the longest rail spurs in the country.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: In the Poliforum there are trade fairs throughout the year. The principal two are Sapica (Shoe Fair), and ANPIC (suppliers of the shoe industry).


title: León, Guanajuato

text: In the León area there are ten distinct archeological zones, dating from the pre-classic Mesoamerican period. Most of these are identified with the Chupícuaro culture. By the Classic period, the area was under Teotihuacan and Toltec influence. In the 13th century, the Chichimecas, mostly of the Guamare and Guachichil subgroups, overran the area, migrating from an area of what is now San Luis Potosí. They remained through the Colonial period.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: In 1530, Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán arrived with allied Tarasco Indians to the area, naming it Nuestra Señora. Homesteads were granted by the governor of Nueva Galicia Francisco Vásquez de Coronado to Spaniards Rodrigo de Vázquez and Juan de Jasso. Farming and cattle-raising were introduced here around 1546 by the Spaniards, but these settlers were under constant threat by the Chichimecas, who recognized the Spanish as invaders. These settlers requested assistance from the viceregal authorities in Mexico City.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: As a response, viceroy Martín Enríquez de Almanza ordered the founding of a city here, with the name of León in 1575. To carry out the order, Juan Bautista de Orozco founded the village of León on 20 January 1576, creating its first town council and laying out its initial streets. In 1580, it attained the rank of "alcadía mayor" meaning it has governing authority of much of the land and smaller towns surrounding it from the Sierra de Comanja to the Lerma River. For example, two other towns founded in the area were San Miguel and Coecillo. In San Miguel, the Spaniards settled the Otomi peoples and in Coecillo were settled the Purépechas, Mexicas and the Chichimecas that did not oppose Spanish rule. As the population of the area grew, a number of municipalities would eventually break off, such as San Francisco del Rincón, Purísima del Rincón (Purísima Concepción), Cd. Manuel Doblado (San Pedro Piedra Gorda), Huanímaro, Abasolo, Cuerámaro and Pénjamo.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The Jesuits arrived to León in 1731, founding the "Compañía Vieja" which is now the site of the Temple of the Immaculate. They also constructed the Temple of the New Company, which would become the cathedral, however they never finished it as they were expelled from Mexico in 1767. On 2 July 1732 arrived an image of Our Most Holy Mother of Light. She would later be declared the patron saint of the city, in 1849.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The population of the area suffered epidemics in 1643, droughts in 1630 and 1712–1714, famines in 1714 and 1786, and flooding in 1637, 1749, 1762, and 1803.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: Independence forces under José Rafael de Iriarte arrived to the town on 4 October 1810. However, two months later royalist forces under Felix Calleja retook the locality, with insurrectionist sympathizers facing reprisals. About 2,000 insurgents on horses attacked the town but were repulsed by Count Pérez Gálvez. Royalist forces were attacked here in 1817 by Francisco Javier Mina without success. The town remained in royalist hands until the end of the Mexican War of Independence, when Agustín de Iturbide arrived. The town did not celebrate its first Grito de Dolores to mark independence until 1825. In 1827 it became one of the four "departments" of the newly created state of Guanajuato, and in 1830, it gained city status.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: In 1840, Father Ignacio Aguado founded the College of San Francisco de Sales and the College of La Madre Santísima was founded in 1844.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: During La Reforma War, the city changed hands various times between Liberal and Conservative forces between 1858 and 1860. The most notable battle of that war here was when General José Iniesta attacked the town on 18 February 1859. In that same year, León even separated for a time from the rest of the state of Guanajuato.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: In 1862, the bishopric of León was founded, separating the city of León and nine other municipalities such as Irapuato, Guanajuato and Dolores Hidalgo from the bishopric of Michoacán. Bishop Diez de Sollano opened the Conciliar Seminary in 1864. This bishop consecrated the Basilica Cathedral in 1866, even though it was not completed, giving the image of the Virgin of the Light a permanent home.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: From 1863 to 1866, the French occupied León during the French Intervention, with Emperor Maximillian visiting the city in 1864. His arrival was much celebrated here, with fireworks and a hot air balloon exhibition put on by the Alemán brothers. However, when Liberal forces finally had permanent control over the town, two incidents occurred. On 30 September 1867, Coronel Cecilio Delgado Estrada ordered his men to shoot over the heads of people who prayed in the streets, causing some to be wounded. Another incident of this type occurred in 1877. The second was more permanent. The Liberals decommissioned the convent and college of Saints Peter and Paul, converting it into offices for city government. It remains such to this day.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: On 2 January 1946, a mob gathered in the plaza in front of the municipal palace to protest elections seen as illegitimate. These protesters were fired upon, killing many. This plaza has been named the "Plaza of the Martyrs" in their honor.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The main church is called the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Light and is the seat of the Archdiocese of Leon. Construction of the church was begun in 1746 by the Jesuits and is a combination of Baroque and Neo Classic architectural styles. Construction was halted only eight months after it began when the Jesuit order was expelled from Mexico by the Spanish Crown. The Obregon family, however, took over its construction, continuing into the 19th century. The Archdiocese of Leon was created in 1864, with its first bishop, José María de Jesús Diez de Sollano y Dávalos helping to get the towers and cupola completed as he chose the church as the seat. It was finally completed and consecrated on 16 March 1866. Pope Benedict XVI officiated a mass here in 2012.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: Its full name is the Santuario Expiatorio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Expiatory Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). Construction of this shrine was begun in 1920 by Bernardo Chavez with the support of Bishop Emeterio Valverde y Téllez. It is neo-Gothic in design, based on the old European medieval cathedrals but much of the outside wallspace is without decoration. Its work was halted by the Cristero Wars. Since then construction has continued off and on and it is considered 90% complete. An important source of income for the shrine's construction is the sale of crypts. This practice was begun in 1924. A chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Lourdes was begun in 1935 and later a chapel dedicated to the Virgen of Guadalupe, which is separate from the main building, built between 1935 and 1939. A shrine with stained glass windows includes local allegories.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The current Municipal Palace is of Ionic architectural style and occupies part of the site of the old "Colegio Grande del Seminario de los Padres Paulinos" (Grand Seminary College for Pauline Priests) who had to abandon the city in 1860.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: From 1861 to 1867 it was a military barracks. After the French Intervention, it was remodeled to conserve its original architecture by Coronel Octaviano Rosado to become the seat of government on 21 March 1869. The patio of the building contains (in 1972) a bronze statue of Benito Juárez to commemorate the centennial of his death. Since then, the building has had a number of additions such as the dome that now covers this patio, and a number of murals. These murals were painted in 1972 and 1973 by Jesus Gallardo covering the walls of the main stairwell and the hallway of the upper floor around the patio.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: This monument was built to celebrate the arrival of the new millennium and has become a landmark for arrival into the city. There was some concern that the monument would not be ready for New Year's 2000, however the 45-meter tall tower on five plinths was completed on time. It was built in a 5,400 square meter plaza, planted with trees. The project cost 4.5 million pesos.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: This arch (Arco de la Calzada de los Héroes, in Spanish), topped by a bronze lion, began construction in 1896 and has been modified a number of times since then. The first lion was added in 1943 by Francisco Lozornio Castillo made of bricks and mortar. This was replaced by the bronze one in 1958. The idea for a bronze lion was that of the matador Antonio Velázquez, a native of Leon, whose bravery in the ring earned him the nickname of the "Heart of Leon" ("Corazón de León", in Spanish). Not long before his death in 1959, he complained that the brick lion should be replaced with a better work of art, causing something of a commotion in the Leon community. This caught the attention of sculptor Humberto Peraza Ojeda who made the one that sits atop the arch today.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: It is a cultural complex, entertainment and artistic formation space that promotes the professionalization of regional artists, the formation of audiences, as well as cultural tourism. It has several spaces:


title: León, Guanajuato

text: This recreational park is tailored towards families and has lots of walking paths and green grass. There is a body of water in the park with a bridge over which people can feed ducks with food provided by the park. There is also a zip line, life-size aircraft, and a science building.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The Del Bajío International Airport (Guanajuato International Airport) serves the city, although it is located in the neighboring city of Silao.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The city's bicycle paths are extensive. Leon is one of the most bicycle-friendly large cities in Latin America and has an extraordinary track record in active transport, keeping the biking and walking share above 39% of the total trips, one of the highest values in Latin American cities.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: Integrated Transportation System (ITS) (Sistema Integrado de Transporte in Spanish) refers to the development and implementation of a Bus rapid transit system named “Optibús”. Since 28 September 2003, the Integrated Transport Optibús has operated despite an existing need for a subway system "Metro", which originally was planned construction with two lines.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The system was the first of its kind in Mexico. Leon was the first city in the country with a BRT system, before it was implemented in Mexico City as Metrobús and Guadalajara as Macrobús.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: There are currently three permanent transfer stations (San Jeronimo, Delta de Jerez and San Juan Bosco), two micro-stations (Santa Rita - Parque Juarez), which are the endpoints for trunk routes, feeder routes and auxiliary routes. Passengers at these stations are allowed to transfer without cost from any of these lines.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: In addition, as a control measure, the “PagoBús” system has been instituted; this is an electronic card system that allows users to streamline their access to stations and bus and thus save money. There are 2 types of cards: Preferential and General, cost rates with 50 and 15% lower total cost.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The environmental benefits of the system are also high, not least because the system introduced articulated buses using Euro IV technology and ultra low sulfur, resulting in 5,600 tons of reduction annually.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in León, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 78 min. 21% of public transit riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 20 min, while 40% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 5.1 km, while 2% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: The city's main professional Association football team is Club León, which is one of the foremost teams in Mexico, eight-time league champion, now playing in the Liga MX. The team's stadium, "Estadio León", also bears a Catalan name: "Nou Camp". FIFA World Cup games have been played there (1970 and 1986).


title: León, Guanajuato

text: A new franchise with the name of "Curtidores" appeared in the Primera División A in the mid-1990s, but, after being champion in 1999 and earning the right to play in the Primera División, was sold and moved to Puebla to become Puebla, F.C. In 2007 a new franchise named Union de Curtidores began playing at Segunda división.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: Nowadays, there are several football teams in the city playing in the Tercera División: Atlético ECCA, Juventud Cuerera and Conmudaj, among some others. Club Leon also has a women's section that plays in Liga MX Femenil.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: Since 2004 the city has hosted the headquarters of Rally Mexico located at the Centro de Convenciones Poliforum Leon, which is one round of the World Rally Championship. Thousands of fans camp at the nearby Sierra de Lobos and Sierra de Guanajuato mountains to watch the rally; the service park is also located and visited by fans at the Poliforum Leon. The Rally takes place in three cities: Guanajuato, Silao and León.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: Since 2004, León has a basketball team, Lechugueros, which plays in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). They play in the Domo de la Feria (formerly known as Auditorio Municipal). Before this team, the city had other professional basketball teams: "Lechugueros" (original franchise), "Zapateros", "Pony-León" and "Atléticos". These teams participated in the CIMEBA (Circuito Mexicano de Básquetbol), which was the main basketball league of Mexico in the 1970s and 1980s.


title: León, Guanajuato

text: León had two baseball teams in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol: "Cachorros de León", in the late 1970s, and "Bravos de León", in the late 80's. "Bravos", after becoming champions of the league in 1990, and due to financial problems, were sold and moved to Minatitlán, Veracruz. After many years of unsuccessful attempts to bring back baseball to Leon it was announced on November 1, 2016, by the assembly of presidents of the Mexican League, the approval the entry of Leon, Guanajuato, subject to certain conditions. The Bravos De Leon returned to play in 2017.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: The history of the Republic of China begins after the Qing dynasty in 1912, when the Xinhai Revolution and the formation of the Republic of China put an end to 2,000 years of imperial rule. The Republic experienced many trials and tribulations after its founding which included being dominated by elements as disparate as warlord generals and foreign powers.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: In 1928, the Republic was nominally unified under the Kuomintang (KMT; also called "Chinese Nationalist Party") after the Northern Expedition, and was in the early stages of industrialization and modernization when it was caught in the conflicts involving the Kuomintang government, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), local warlords, and the Empire of Japan. Most nation-building efforts were stopped during the full-scale Second Sino-Japanese War against Japan from 1937 to 1945, and later the widening gap between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party made a coalition government impossible, causing the resumption of the Chinese Civil War, in 1946, shortly after the Japanese surrender to the Allied Powers in September 1945.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: A series of political, economic and military missteps led to the KMT's defeat and its retreat to Taiwan (formerly "Formosa") in 1949, where it established an authoritarian one-party state under Generalissimo/President Chiang Kai-shek. This state considers and until the 1990s actively asserted itself to be the continuing sole legitimate ruler of all of China, referring to the communist government or "regime" as illegitimate, a so-called "People's Republic of China" (PRC) declared in Beijing (Peking) by Mao Zedong in 1949, as "mainland China" and "communist bandit". The Republic of China was supported for many years — even decades — by many nations, especially the United States who established a 1954 Mutual Defense treaty. After political liberalization began in the late 1960s, the PRC was able — after a constant yearly campaign in the United Nations — to finally get approval in 1971 to take the seat for "China" in the General Assembly, and more importantly, be seated as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. After recovering from this shock of rejection by its former allies and liberalization in the late 1970s from the Nationalist authoritarian government and following the death of Chiang Kai-shek, the Republic of China has transformed itself into a multiparty, representative democracy on Taiwan and given more representation to those native Taiwanese, whose ancestors predate the 1949 mainland evacuation.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: The Qing dynasty in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was challenged by civil unrest and foreign invasions ever since they lost the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. Internal rebellions and their repression brought millions of deaths, conflicts with foreign Western European powers brought humiliating unequal treaties, exacted reparations that burdened the fiscal system, and compromised the country's territorial integrity. Popular sentiment among Han Chinese grew that political power should return to the majority Han Chinese from the minority Manchus. Following the Boxer Rebellion and the invasion of the imperialist powers to put it down, the Qing Imperial Court launched fundamental institutional and political reforms, such as abolishing the Imperial examination system in 1905, drafting a constitution in 1906, the establishment of provincial legislatures in 1909, and the preparations for electing a national parliament in 1910. However, Manchu conservatives in the Qing Court thought these reforms went too far and distrustful critics felt they did not go far enough. Reformers were either imprisoned or executed outright. The failures of the Imperial Court to enact such political liberalization and modernization caused the reformists to take the road of revolution.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: There were many revolutionary groups, but the most organized one was founded by Sun Yat-sen (), a republican and anti-Qing activist who became increasingly popular among overseas Chinese and Chinese students abroad, especially in Japan. In 1905 Sun founded the Tongmenghui in Tokyo with Huang Xing, a popular leader of the Chinese revolutionary movement in Japan, as his deputy.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: This movement, generously supported by overseas Chinese funds, also gained political support with regional military officers and some of the reformers who had fled China after the Hundred Days' Reform. Sun's political philosophy was conceptualized in 1897, first enunciated in Tokyo in 1905 and modified through the early 1920s. It centered on the Three Principles of the People: "nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood".


title: History of the Republic of China

text: The principle of nationalism called for overthrowing the Manchus and ending foreign hegemony over China. The second principle, democracy, was used to describe Sun's goal of a popularly elected republican form of government and changes such as land reform.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: The Republican Era of China began with the outbreak of revolution on 10 October 1911, in Wuchang, the capital of Hubei Province, among discontented modernized army units whose anti-Qing plot had been uncovered. This would be known as the Wuchang Uprising, which is celebrated as Double Tenth Day in Taiwan. It had been preceded by numerous abortive uprisings and organized protests inside China. The revolt quickly spread to neighboring cities, and Tongmenghui members throughout the country rose in support of the Wuchang revolutionary forces. On 12 October, the Revolutionaries succeeded in capturing Hankou and Hanyang. However, the euphoria engendered by this victory was short-lived. On 27 October, Yuan Shikai was reappointed by the Qing Court to lead the New Army, and loyalist forces under Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui moved south to retake Wuhan. After heavy fighting in November, the out-manned and out-gunned Revolutionary Army was driven out of Hankou and Hanyang, and retreated to Wuchang south of the Yangtze. During the 41-day Battle of Yangxia, however, 15 of the 24 provinces had declared their independence from the Qing empire. Yuan Shikai halted his army's advance on Wuchang and began to negotiate with the revolutionaries. A month later, Sun Yat-sen returned to China from the United States, where he had been raising funds among Chinese and American sympathizers.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: On 1 January 1912, delegates from the independent provinces elected Sun Yat-sen as the first Provisional President of the Republic of China. Yuan Shikai agreed to accept the Republic and forced the last emperor of China, Puyi, to abdicate on 12 February. Empress Dowager Longyu signed the abdication papers. Puyi was allowed to continue living in the Forbidden City, however. The Republic of China officially succeeded the Qing Dynasty.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: On 1 January 1912, Sun officially declared the establishment of the Republic of China and was inaugurated in Nanjing as the first Provisional President. However, power in Beijing already had passed to Yuan Shikai, who had effective control of the Beiyang Army, the most powerful military force in China at the time. To prevent civil war and possible foreign intervention from undermining the infant republic, Sun agreed to Yuan's demand for China to be united under a Beijing government headed by him. On 10 March, in Beijing, Yuan Shikai was sworn in as the second Provisional President of the Republic of China.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: The republic which Sun Yat-sen and his associates envisaged evolved slowly. Although there were many political parties vying for supremacy in the legislature, the revolutionists lacked an army, and soon Yuan Shikai's power began to outstrip that of parliament. Yuan revised the constitution on his own and became dictatorial. In August 1912 the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) was founded by Song Jiaoren, one of Sun's associates. It was an amalgamation of small political groups, including Sun's Tongmenghui. In the national elections held in February 1913 for the new bicameral parliament, Song campaigned against the Yuan administration, whose representation at the time was largely by the Republican Party, led by Liang Qichao. Song was an able campaigner and the Kuomintang won a majority of seats.


title: History of the Republic of China

text: The overthrow of the old imperial regime in 1911 produced a surge in Chinese nationalism, an end to censorship, and a demand for professional, nation-wide journalism. All the major cities launched such efforts. Special attention was paid to China's role in the World War, to the disappointing Paris Peace Conference of 1919, and to the aggressive demands and actions of Japan against Chinese interests. Journalists created professional organizations, and aspired to separate news from commentary. At the Press Congress of the World conference in Honolulu in 1921, the Chinese delegates were among the most Westernized and self-consciously professional journalists from the developing world. By the late 1920s, however, there was a much greater emphasis on advertising and expanding circulation, and much less interest in the sort of advocacy journalism that had inspired the revolutionaries.