Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts Baseball Hall of Fame inducts 5 new members
LONGMEADOW — The Western Massachusetts Baseball Hall of Fame forever immortalized five inductees Thursday night and also honored a man who helped document the region’s sports for decades.
The Class of 2024 was the 11th inducted into the regional Hall of Fame, established in 2014 to honor those who made lasting contributions to the game at all levels. The event was held at the Twin Hills Country Club.
The five Hall of Fame inductees were a perfectly pieced-together ensemble that consisted of three former major leaguers and two regional head coaching legends. In addition, a historic high school team out of Turners Falls defied the odds to go undefeated during the height of World War II.
Dalton’s Jeff Reardon
Former Major League Baseball World Series champion pitcher Jeff Reardon was also in attendance. To many, the Pittsfield native is also better known as “the pride of Dalton.”
Reardon’s professional career lasted 16 seasons, during which time he laced up cleats for over seven organizations, including the New York Mets, Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees.
Reardon ended his career with 367 saves, placing him 12th all-time on the MLB saves list. He was also a four-time all-star.
“It was great,” said Reardon, reflecting on his induction into Western Massachusetts annals. “I’m from a small town, Dalton, Massachusetts, which has about 5,000 people, and even though I’m part of many Hall of Fames, this honor truly means a lot, because I am from the area.”
In 2019, 6-year-old John Hart of Wilbraham became an honorary member of the Springfield College baseball team with a special draft-day signing ceremony at the college. This is John with his mom, Michelle, and Springfield College baseball coach Mark Simeone during the ceremony. (Don Treeger / The Republican, File)
Rounding out the ensemble of inductees were Mark Simeone, who just surpassed 500 wins this past Sunday as part of his 28th season of coaching for Springfield College, Bob Taylor and Don Strange, who both have ties to professional baseball and roots in Springfield.
Bob Taylor of Springfield played baseball for the Springfield Giants and spent the 1970 season with the San Francisco Giants. This is Taylor in his Springfield home. (Don Treeger / The Republican, File)
Taylor’s career spanned 16 seasons with multiple teams. His most notable was with the San Francisco Giants, where he shared the field with legends such as Willie Mays and Willie McCovey. Strange spent eight years in the Atlanta Braves farm system.
In 2022, Western Mass Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Patrick Strange, center, with his family. (Dave Roback / Special to The Republican, File)
In addition, legendary Turners Falls head coach Earl Lorden was inducted posthumously, along with the rest of his team, the 1942 state champions, whose spirit and legacy were kept alive by the last living member of the team, George Bush, and direct family members of other players in attendance.
Longtime Republican staffer
In 2004, Republican staffers Garry Brown, left, and Ron Chimelis. (Marla Pinsky / The Republican, File)Marla Pinsky / The Republican
Notable takeaways from the event included longtime Republican columnist Ron Chimelis being named the second recipient of the Garry Brown Award. The award is dedicated and presented in honor and legacy of the acclaimed Republican sports writer whose career spanned from the early 1950s until his passing at age 90 in early 2022.
A longtime columnist and community staple for 36 years, Chimelis’ career reflected his character and genuine nature. During this time, he had a front-row seat and witnessed the Boston Red Sox win three World Series championships in 2004, 2007 and 2013. His work has been recognized nationally and regionally as among the best in the business.
“It’s very gratifying, partly because I worked for years next to Garry at Fenway Park, along with the Springfield office,” said Chimelis after Thursday’s event.
As recipient of the honor, Chimelis expressed gratitude for his late colleague.
“There’s a humanity to this whole thing, and it is tremendously flattering to be linked with him in any way. (Browne) gave me a big boost when he nominated me for the Baseball Writers Association in 1998. And you have to be in that to do things such as be bestowed the ability to vote for Cooperstown. But it meant more that my longtime friend nominated me for it than some of the accolades I received.”
In 2018, Ron Chimelis of The Republican during an editorial board meeting. (Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen / The Republican, File)Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen / The Republican
Chimelis’ dedication and integrity expanded well beyond the realm of sports into the later years of his career, when he wrote news, features and editorials for The Republican.
Chimelis tackled tough questions and topics, demonstrating his simple, practical, every-man approach.
“Should Sox owner Tom Yawkey’s name be kept on a street outside Fenway Park in light of his racist history?” was one query. Another: “Do the likes of Pete Rose and any number of steroid users belong in the National Baseball Hall of Fame?” Both columns still can be found on Masslive.com.
“I think the media needs people who can connect readers with the story being told,” Chimelis said. “This approach allows me to explain the story in ways people can understand and feel comfortable with.”
Longtime colleague Cynthia Simison, Republican executive editor emerita, said she felt Chimelis was “richly deserving of this honor.”
“The poignancy of it being now named in honor of Garry Brown makes it even more special.”
The meteor responsible for a loud boom heard in Rhode Island and Massachusetts Saturday afternoon was approximately 5 feet in diameter and weighed more than 12,000 pounds, according to NASA.
The object entered Earth’s atmosphere at roughly 42,000 mph, a NASA spokesperson said. It then traveled through the atmosphere from northwest to southeast for 26 miles before breaking up and producing a meteorite fall into Cape Cod Bay.
The energy released when the object broke up at an altitude of 31 miles is estimated to be equivalent to about 230 tons of TNT, according to NASA.
Professor Ralph Milliken of the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at Brown University spoke with NBC 10’s Mike Cerullo. (WJAR)
While it’s not very common to experience a 5-foot-wide meteorite, there is a significant amount of debris from space that reaches Earth.
“The estimates are that we probably have about 5,000 tons of cosmic dust and material and meteorites landing on Earth. The vast majority of that is super tiny stuff, we’re talking things that are smaller than a grain of sand, or the thickness of a human hair,” said Professor Ralph Milliken of the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at Brown University. “For something of this size a few feet across, it’s not that common, but a few a year. Most of these would occur over uninhabited areas, over the ocean, and we wouldn’t be able to see them, but they are detected.”
Because of its size, a meteorite with a 5-foot diameter is difficult to track before it enter Earth’s atmosphere.
“It’s virtually impossible to kind of know in advance of this size object coming,” Milliken said.
The area where a meteorite crashed in Cape Cod Bay. (WJAR)
Scientists are, however, able to track much larger space objects. NASA has been developing technology to try to deflect larger objects if needed.
Events like what occurred in New England over the weekend are recorded. Although other fireballs enter Earth’s atmosphere throughout the year, many of them materialize over water and uninhabited areas.
Massachusetts
Winners’ circle: Tracking every 2026 spring high school championship – The Boston Globe
Championship season is upon us, and we’re tracking every title winner in Massachusetts this spring.
From the golf sectionals in late May to championship weekend June 11-14, a four-day stretch in which 31 titlists will be crowned across boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, boys and girls’ tennis, boys’ and girls’ rugby, boys’ volleyball, softball, and baseball, we’ll have you covered.
Find all the dates, brackets, seedings, matchups, and links to our postseason previews here.
Follow us on X @GlobeSchools, Instagram @BGlobeSchools, and Facebook to stay up to date.
Over at Globe.com/Schools you’ll find our daily scoreboard, nightly Takeaways, game coverage, videos, live streams, and our weekly Varsity News newsletter (sign up for free) to keep you in the know.
Division 1: Lexington girls, St. John’s Prep boys
Lexington girls graduate to two-time Division 1 track champions, St. John’s Prep sprints to boys’ title
Division 2: Billerica girls, North Andover boys
Billerica girls unphazed by move up to Division 2, going back-to-back as North Andover boys dominate
Division 3: Canton girls, Walpole boys
Canton girls cap greatest season with first Division 3 track title, Walpole boys win by thinnest margin
Division 4: Duxbury girls, Newburyport boys
Historic win for Duxbury girls, Mohoric paces Newburyport boys to Division 4 outdoor track championship
Division 5: North Reading girls, Weston boys
It’s four in a row for North Reading girls, two straight for Weston boys at Division 5 track championships
Division 6: Ayer Shirley girls, Abington boys
Ayer Shirley girls pick up where they left off, Abington boys twinning at Division 6 track championships
Day 1, Divisions 1, 2, and 5: Lexington boys and girls setting the pace at Division 1 track & field championships
Day 1, Divisions 3, 4, and 6: Canton girls make a strong run to first at Division 3 track championships
South: Walpole | With Tori Adams as its driving force, Walpole scores third straight MIAA South girls’ golf championship
North/Central/West: Hopkinton | Concord-Carlisle’s Sophie Redmond, Hopkinton rule MIAA girls’ golf championship for North/Central/West
With titles for Natick and Peabody and smiles for all, MIAA unified track championship ‘beyond inspiring’
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.
Massachusetts
Meteor Lands In Cape Cod + Bus Crash Kills 5 From MA + Wind Storm Knocks Out Power To Thousands: MA Weekend
MASSACHUSETTS — Residents throughout New England were simultaneously startled as a meteor that landed in Cape Cod caused a sonic boom this past weekend.
Meanwhile, a bus driver is facing charges after five Massachusetts residents died in a crash on a highway in Virginia.
Plus, another State Trooper was caught handling a wrong-way driver situation on Route 1.
Mysterious Boom Heard Across MA Was An Exploding Meteor, Experts Say
The noises were heard around 2:11 p.m. Saturday, with people describing a sudden bang that rattled windows and even shook some homes. The American Meteor Society said that the booms heard were actually caused by a meteor about three feet wide entering the atmosphere near the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Residents as far as Ipswich and Johnston, Rhode Island, reported hearing and feeling the sensations. Meteorologist Nick Stewart shared satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, showing where the meteor entered the atmosphere and combusted while traveling at 75,000 miles per hour above the ocean.
Bus Driver Charged After MA Family Of 4, Worcester Woman Killed In VA Crash
Jing S. Dong, of Staten Island, New York, now faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the collision, which occurred around 2:35 a.m. Friday on southbound I-95 near Quantico. Among those killed were a 45-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, a 13-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, all from Greenfield, Massachusetts. All were in the Acura, which police said caught fire after the collisions. Police on Saturday evening identified the fifth person killed as Priscilla R. Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, Massachusetts, who was riding in the Suburban struck by the bus.
In total, about 44 people were transported to area hospitals, including three with critical injuries.
State Trooper Hospitalized After Route 1 Wrong-Way Crash In Peabody
State Police said the trooper was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after police acted in coordination to protect traffic and stop the driver, who was traveling southbound on Route 1 North in Peabody. The incident occurred not far from the location on Route 1 where State Trooper Kevin Trainor was killed when his cruiser was hit head-on in a wrong-way crash in Lynnfield last month. The driver in Sunday’s crash was also hospitalized and charged with operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and driving the wrong way on a state highway.
Rapidly Expanding Grocery Chain Has Big Plans For MA
Sprouts Farmers Market is slated to launch up to 40 locations throughout the region in the coming years. Construction has begun for the first Massachusetts spot in Weymouth, which has an opening date of 2028. The Phoenix-based organic grocery chain has more than 480 stores in 25 states.
Saturday’s Meteorite Was ‘Fishy Squisher’ And NASA Knows Where To Find It In Cape Cod Bay
Data from NASA suggest fragments of the meteorite lie in waters from the middle of the bay to about 10 miles northeast of the town of Sandwich. The agency said late Saturday it picked up radar signatures of the fragments from four radar sites, and termed the strike a “fishy squisher.” The meteorite entered Earth’s atmosphere about 40 miles above the Bay State and southern New Hampshire, creating the sonic boom. Water in the bombarded portion of Cape Cod Bay is about 100 feet deep.
35K Without Power As Winter-Like Storm Pummels MA With 55+ MPH Winds
Massachusetts residents throughout the North Shore were without power on Saturday morning as a winter-like storm tore a path of tree damage, downpours, and fierce winds throughout New England. Widespread tree damage was reported across the state, with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reporting 34,228 customers without power as of 11:20 a.m. Wind speeds reached a high of 55 miles per hour. Temperatures dropped into the 40s with wind chills in the 30s as the storm arrived across the Bay State. The unsettled weather will continue through Monday and Tuesday before a warming trend takes hold later in the week.
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