Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers has been named the American League Cy Young award winner.
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Chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” broke out Saturday night during George Strait’s concert at Ford Field, as the country legend introduced “The Weight of the Badge,” his tribute to law enforcement from his 2019 album “Honky Tonk Time Machine,” just hours after the apparent assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally.
On stage, the 72-year-old stalwart was thanking law enforcement for their hard work during the lead up to the song. “We appreciate you very much,” Strait said, adding, “especially after today.” That sparked a roar from the crowd, as Strait paused and let the moment take hold.
News of the shooting had spread slowly through the Ford Field crowd during the lead up to opener Chris Stapleton’s set, as some fans flashed headlines to one another on their phones. Strait never mentioned Trump by name, but at the conclusion of the song he held his hand over his heart, as photos of Bradley Reckling, the Oakland County deputy killed last month in what was described as an ambush, flashed on the stage’s video screens at the close of the song.
Those were heavy moments in what was otherwise a jovial celebration of Strait’s 40-plus year career in country music. It was his first local concert since a 2014 visit to the Palace of Auburn Hills, and it’s not necessarily his last in the Motor City: While he put a bow on his touring career a decade ago, he’s been touring steadily since his return to live music over the last few years, and he played to a packed audience of 47,065 fans on Saturday night.
His 30-song set, which lasted two hours and 10 minutes, included classics from his catalog, covers of songs by country music Mount Rushmore candidates Waylon Jennings (“Waymore’s Blues”), Merle Haggard (“Are the Good Times Really Over (I Wish a Buck was Still Silver)”), Willie Nelson (the Merle Haggard duet “Pancho and Lefty”) and Johnny Cash (“Folsom Prison Blues”), and songs from his forthcoming new album “Cowboys and Dreamers,” which is due in September.
Then there was a song dedicated to the tequila brand Strait is invested in (“if it’s not your favorite, you just haven’t tried it,” Strait told the audience prior to “Codigo”) and a piece of Jimmy Buffett-adjacent vacation-baiting (“MIA Down in MIA”), so it was even a little crass, but Strait stood his ground and gave Detroit a serenade to remember.
“Ooh, what a crowd!” Strait said early in the show, following “The Fireman.” “I love Detroit. I’m thinking about moving up here maybe, I don’t know!” It’s a nice sentiment, but Strait is a Texas guy through and through, and on stage in his black hat, blue jeans and tucked in button up shirt, he looked like he was still in Texas. (Strait is so Texas that eight of the 11 members of his backing band also hail from the Lone Star state; give him credit for staying on brand.)
Strait, who hit the stage at just before 9 p.m. and was introduced to the stage as “MCA recording artist George Strait,” which gave him the feel of a rookie artist just getting his legs underneath him. He kicked things off with “Stars on the Water,” his cover of the Rodney Crowell song from his 2001 album “The Road Less Traveled,” and he then rolled through a list of crowd pleasers — “I Got a Car,” “Here for a Good Time,” “Check Yes or No,” “Run” — that were comfortable and familiar, and fit like a favorite coat.
He was joined by Stapleton for a trio of songs, and the pair went back and forth with each other before launching into “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame,” a Stapleton-penned song from Strait’s upcoming album. “I’ve been trying to get you to cover it for 15 years,” Stapleton told Strait, to which Strait replied, “the only reason I did is because you sang it with me.” “Fair enough!” Stapleton said. Earlier in the evening, the country Southern rocker blazed through his own 80-minute set, ripping through his hits “Nobody to Blame,” “Starting Over” and “Tennessee Whiskey” and showing off his electrifying blend of rock and roll, soul and blues.
Strait’s sound is more classically country, and he plays the troubadour role on songs like “I Can Still Make Cheyenne” and “Amarillo by Morning,” songs which invoke images of lonely cowboys, dusty highways and broken hearts. Strait hasn’t lost a step in his delivery and he sells these stories with conviction, the same way he still lands the punchline at the close of “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”: you know it’s coming, but you can’t wait until it gets there.
Strait’s production on the massive stadium stage included a couple of giant video screens on either side of the stage, and a couple of video screens behind him and his band. Nothing fancy, but then neither is Strait. He’s straight down the middle.
While working Haggard’s “Are the Good Times Really Over,” Strait did manage to get a dig in on Ford, in the stadium that bares the company’s name, no less. “I wish a Ford and a Chevy would still last ten years, like they should,” Strait sang, adding a bonus zing at the end, “… and maybe run on gasoline.” Strait isn’t trying to rock the boat, he just calls ’em like he sees ’em, and it’s gotten him this far, so there’s no sense stopping now.
agraham@detroitnews.com
Over the past years, Malik Beasley has suited up for countless different franchises across the NBA. His journeyman voyage continued this summer when he inked a one-year deal with the Detroit Pistons in free agency.
Through the first few weeks of the season, Beasley is looking like one of the best value signins of free agency. His outside shooting has provided a much-needed dynamic to Detroit’s offense, and he is putting up some of his best numbers in the process. Beasley is currently averaging 15.4 PPG and shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc on 9.1 attempts per game.
Along with having success on the court, Beasley seems to be enjoying his new life outside of basketball as well. During a recent appearance on The Detroit Pistons Podcast, the veteran sharpshooter opened up on how Detroit is a bit of a second home for him.
“My mom’s from here born and raised,” Beasley said. “My mom used to bring me out here every summer with my sister. To be out here right now playing for the Pistons is a dream come true. It’s like my second home…I’m just glad to be here.”
At the moment, Beasley finds himself in the midst of one of the best offensive streaks of his career. Despite shifting between the second unit and starting lineup, he has racked up five straight 20+ point performances. Beasley has notched a season-high 26 points on two occasions in the past week, once against the Milwauke Bucks and once against the Washington Wizards.
Between his complementary play on the court and being a veteran leader behind the scenes, Beasley has been a huge addition to the Pistons this season. His presence on and off the floor has been a catalyst to their impressive start to the year.
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (FOX 2) – A well-known Detroit-area pastor has died after police say he was struck by a car driven by an undocumented immigrant. Now his family is wondering why that driver was let go as they grieve.
The word “Heartbreak” does not even begin to describe what Teri Singleton had been feeling in the days since losing her husband, 72-year-old Stephen Singleton.
“I had to sit and watch my husband of 53 years die in front of me and then to know that the person who did this is walking around is very difficult to deal with,” said Teri Singleton.
He was a well-known area pastor, who would do anything for anyone. Police say he was struck by an undocumented immigrant as he crossed the street in Rochester Hills earlier in November. Singleton died several days later.
“He had almost every bone in his body broken,” said Singleton. “He had his collarbone fractured, internal organ damage, and his skull was cracked. He had two craniotomies in the hospital.”
Family members say Pastor Singleton was a dedicated servant of god and a former medic who traveled to New York City to help injured victims of the 9/11 attacks. He gathered at a church there with other religious leaders to pray and spoke about it with FOX 2’s Amy Lange in September 2023.
“After everybody had prayed, he started saying the Lord’s Prayer, and he said it with a whisper, he said it with a shout, he said it with a sing, and then he said it with so much passion that it brought me to tears,” Stephen Singleton said. “I wanted to save somebody. That’s-bottomline.”
He also helped in the search for survivors. It would be local medics who would desperately try to save Singleton’s life after he was hit by a man driving a 2013 Ford Focus as he crossed Rochester Road at Avon. He had just gone for his usual morning walk.
“He’s been coming back within, I’ll say, 45 minutes at the most. He didn’t return. I was sitting there waiting,” said Teri Singleton. “I was actually less than a block away from where it happened.”
Detectives say that the driver was a citizen of Columbia. US Customs and Border Protection determined he entered the US illegally and was released pending a future date in federal court. That’s the most painful part for the pastor’s family.
“He’s dead and they’re walking around. That’s bothering me,” Teri said.
For now, they continue their quest for justice…while staying in faith and love.
“I will not be angry because this has happened,” said Stephen’s daughter Ruth. “I refuse to be angry. I will still love like my Dad taught me to.”
They have also put together a Go-Fund-Me page, hoping to give Pastor Singleton the dignified send-off he deserves.
“He was a loving person who cared about everybody,” said Teri Singleton. “I mean, the whole neighborhood, everybody in our community has come to my door. They didn’t even see the name on the report, but they knew him because of his habits.”
FOX 2 has reached out to government sources to see exactly why the suspect was released and when the next court date will be. Police say Singleton was wearing a reflective vest and was walking in a properly marked cross-walk when he was hit.
Police believe speed or alcohol were factors in the crash.
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers has been named the American League Cy Young award winner.
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