Michael A. Taylor has been on fire for the Minnesota Twins lately as they fight to stay atop of the American League Central Division. The Twins will have to win the division if they want a shot at postseason play and that is something that Taylor knows.
The 32-year-old Taylor has been one of the Twins’ best hitters during the last week and a half. On August 24, he had one of his best performances of the season, going 2-for-3 with two solo home runs as the Twins defeated the Texas Rangers 7-5. He has provided great production at the bottom of the lineup for the Twins.
Taylor’s seven-game hitting streak came to an end on Sunday against the Rangers, but his 19 home runs tie a career-best set back in 2017 with the Washington Nationals. In his first year with Minnesota, Taylor has been a versatile addition, filling various needs for the team.
The 10-year MLB veteran has been an efficient player throughout his career and has valuable postseason experience, notably as a member of the Washington Nationals World Series team in 2019.
Taylor’s defense has been a critical aspect of his all-around play. He has been a lockdown defender winning a Gold Glove Award in 2021. Going into the Twins’ matchup with the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday through 112 games this season playing centerfield, Taylor has a .989 fielding percentage with one assist. Minnesota was 69-63 and led the American League Central Division by seven games over the Guardians, which were 62-70.  
At the plate, Taylor is not known as a power hitter, but this season, he’s displayed some pop. His 19 home runs as of Tuesday tie a career high. Despite dealing a with slight hamstring discomfort, he has remained a consistent presence in the lineup. With fellow MLBbro Byron Buxton out of the lineup recovering from a right hamstring strain, Taylor’s contribution has been critical to the Twins’ success.
If Minnesota continues on its current path to the playoffs, it will be Taylor’s fourth time making it to the postseason. The previous three all came with the Nationals. His last appearance was back in 2019, when Taylor hit .333 through eight games, including two home runs.

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Monday was the first official day of the 2023 US Open and a record-breaking single-day total of 72,957 spectators passed through the gates of the spectacular USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens. The night session attendance totaled 30,429, the highest in one single night.

The evening featured a ceremony honoring tennis great and pioneer Billie Jean King and the 50th Anniversary of the US Open becoming the first sporting event to offer equal prize money to male and female competitors. Grammy-Award-winning singer Sara Bareilles sang her hit song, “Brave,” to an approving audience.

Other celebrities in attendance on opening night included Danny DeVito, Rosie Perez, therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Mike Tyson, Alec Baldwin, Gayle King, fashion designer Vera Wang, playwright and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who also spoke at the opening ceremony.

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle were in attendance to watch 19-year-old Coco Gauff’s defeat Laura Siegemund 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in her first-round match. After Gauff’s victory, Michelle Obama made her way down to the court to participate in a tribute to honor King. 

“Billie Jean teaches us that when things lie in the balance, we all have a choice to make.  We can either wait around and accept what we’re given, we can sit silently and hope someone fights our battles.  Or we can make our own stand,” Obama said.

“Fifty years ago, everything was hanging in the balance.  Billie Jean had a choice. She could put her head down, keep winning tournament after tournament and just accept whatever check she was given, or she could dig deep and break serve, she could make a stand.  

“If you know Billie Jean, you know what she chose…and thankfully, the US Open had the guts to listen.”

In 1972, Billie Jean earned $10,000 for winning the singles title at the US Open compared to the men’s champion earning $25,000.

“Thank you, Billie Jean, for always fighting for women’s equality,” Gauff said.

“I appreciate you…so that I can live the life that I live today, in women’s tennis and around the world in general.”

Earlier on opening day, Frances Tiafoe won his first round match defeating Learner Tien in straight sets,  6-2, 7-5, 6-1. He played his second match on Wednesday against Sebastian Ofner. Christopher Eubanks also advanced to the second round defeating Kwon Soon-woo in four sets, 6-3, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4. He played his second-round match Wednesday)against Benjamin Bonzi.

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Coco Gauff rallied back from a first set 3-6 deficit to beat German qualifier Laura Siegemund Monday night in the first round of the U.S. Open. After winning a marathon 30-point, 25-plus minute game to start the second set, Gauff took the second and third sets 6-2 and 6-4 respectively to advance to the second round at Flushing Meadows.

Once Gauff took the lead in the second set, however, she had to contend with Siegemund’s stall tactics, which seemed designed to slow down play and rattle Gauff. Siegemund repeatedly took her time with her serve and leisurely went to the towel between points on Gauff’s serve, forcing the 19-year-old to wait to play the next point.
Although the chair umpire, Marijana Veljovic, warned Siegemund early in the third set, the behavior continued. Gauff finally lost her patience and called Veljovic out in a heated exchange.
“She’s never ready when I’m serving, she went over the clock like four times, you gave her a time violation once, how is this fair?…I’m going at a normal speed. Ask any ref here—I go at medium-paced speed…I’ve been quiet the whole match…Now it’s ridiculous. I don’t care what she’s doing on her serve, but on my serve, she has to be ready.”
The encounter appeared to temporarily fluster Gauff, who was leading the set serving 3-0 but wound up dropping that game. Gauff later double-faulted three times while serving for the match at 5-2—her only double faults of the entire match. Gauff held on in the final set to take the match, beating Siegemund 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in 2-hours and 51 minutes.
When asked during her post-match on-court interview to describe what it was like to play the match, Gauff wryly replied: “Slow.”
The No. 6 seed Gauff was scheduled to face unranked Mira Andreeva of Russia yesterday (Wednesday) if the weather permitted as rain was an impediment for matches in Queens. 

In other pairings on the woman’s side, former world No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams was ousted from the Open in the first round on Tuesday by qualifier Greet Minnen of Belgium, 6-1, 6-1. It was the 43-year-old Williams’s most one-sided defeat in her illustrious career of playing in Grand Slam matches.  

Williams is a two-time U.S. Open singles winner (2000, 2001) and two-time doubles titlist (1999, 2009), the latter playing with her younger sister Serena, who retired from competitive professional play after last year’s Open.

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The Noel Pointer Foundation (NPF) will hold an open house on Thursday, Sept. 7, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. for families to learn about its music classes for kids. Attendance at the open house can be virtual via Zoom or in person at the foundation (247 Herkimer Street, Brooklyn, NY). Online registration is availableat https://www.noelpointer.org/about-us.

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Councilmember Charles Barron and Superintendent Tamra Collins will host East New York’s 2nd annual Black Inventors Youth Parade on Saturday, Sept. 16.

To join in as participants march in unity to celebrate Black intelligence and take part in this showcase for the community’s youth, assemble at 3 p.m. sharp at Linden (Sonny Carson) Park Linden Boulevard & Vermont Street in Brooklyn.

For more information, contact parade coordinator Keron Alleyne at 917-565-3052.

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* This article was originally published here