Despite the strong start, the team played poorly in May and June and entered the All Star break at 47 – 48, still leading the NL West.

Despite the party's weaknesses, Sinclair gained a high profile as he sought to recall the Midlothian Campaign and once more revitalise the Liberals as the party of a strong foreign policy.

Despite a strong lineup anchored by the potent Lajoie and Shoeless Joe Jackson, poor pitching kept the team below third place for most of the next decade.

Despite the potential for a financially strong owner, Stouffer had some non-baseball related financial setbacks and, consequently, the team was cash-poor.

Despite the comparative obscurity of the kingdom, there were strong connections between Essex and the Kentish kingdom across the river Thames which led to the marriage of King Sledd to Ricula, sister of the king, Aethelbert of Kent.

Despite strong government measures, tension continued to grow, and Carías was ultimately forced to release some prisoners.

Despite the downturn, Hong Kong ’ s economic strengths, including a sound banking system, virtually no public debt, a strong legal system, ample foreign exchange reserves, rigorous anti-corruption measures and close ties with the mainland China, enable it to quickly respond to changing circumstances.

Despite his aping of Fascism, and the strong economic ties with resurgent Nazi Germany, Metaxas followed a policy of neutrality, given Greece's traditionally strong ties to Britain, reinforced by King George II's personal anglophilia.

Despite this, the strong claims made by the doctrine of human rights continue to provoke considerable skepticism and debates about the content, nature and justifications of human rights to this day.

Despite strong Italian influence, Zog refused to completely give in to Italian pressure.

Despite the formal disapproval of religious authority, the segregation of women in Muslim societies and the strong emphasis on male virility leads adolescent males and unmarried young men to seek sexual outlets with boys younger than themselves — in one study in Morocco, with boys in the age-range 7 to 13.

Despite strong economic and cultural ties with Thailand, parts of the border shared by the two countries are indefinite.

Despite coup attempts in 1980, 1983, and 1988, Gayoom's popularity remained strong, allowing him to win three more presidential terms.

Despite achieving independence in 1956, Morocco still has a strong relationship with its former colonizers.

Despite a strong push in the middle of the 2007 season, winning five straight games, the Vikings lost their final two games to finish the season at 8 – 8, missing the playoffs.

Despite its strong Australian showing, and having an American producer ( Peter McIan ), Business as Usual was twice rejected by Columbia's parent company in the United States.

Despite a strong Presbyterian presence on its campus, Occidental cut ties to the church in 1910.

Despite its criticisms, though, realism has strong defenders.

Despite numerous requests by Abdullah bin Jassim — for strong military support, for weapons, and even for a loan — the British were reluctant to become involved in inland affairs and kept him at arm's length.

Despite not selling as well as its predecessor, the album boasted several strong singles, including " Run's House ", " Beats to the Rhyme ", and " Mary Mary.

Despite his pragmatic acceptance of the new power balance in the Pacific after World War II and his strong support for the American alliance, he publicly professed continued admiration for links with Britain, exemplified by his admiration for Queen Elizabeth II, and famously described himself as " British to the bootstraps ".

Despite the global financial crisis, the South Korean economy, helped by timely stimulus measures and strong domestic consumption of products that compensated for a drop in exports, was able to avoid a recession unlike most industrialized economies, posting positive economic growth for two consecutive years of the crisis.

Despite these expansions, some still felt copyright was not a strong enough regime.

Despite the work of the 1400 strong Iraq Survey Group in post-war Iraq, no evidence of actual WMD capability has so far been uncovered ; according to its final report in September 2004.

Despite mounting protests, the owner of Mabuhay says ' I can't cancel them NOW — there's a contract.

Despite protests in the northern cities of the United States organized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and others, it took many millions at the box office.

Despite its small size within Guatemala, many leaders were extremely vocal about their beliefs ( for instance, in their protests and, more importantly, their literature ).

Despite Thomas Habington's protests, the men spent the next four days searching the house.

Despite protests from opposition parties, the country has remained relatively stable since.

Despite the fact that the election results were found to reflect the will of the people, opposition protests in the country intensified.

" Despite the protests of McDaniels, Mizell, and Tyler, Simmons was adamant.

* January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area to force Germany to pay its reparation payments.

Despite Spidey's protests, Jameson assigns him a pair of new partners to get him " back on track " — Bobby ( Iceman ) and Angel ( Firestar ).

Despite protests from Polly, Digory rings the bell.

Despite protests from French and Italian composers, by the end of the first season Habeneck and the orchestra had also performed the Fifth Symphony, the Third Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto as well as other works.

Despite his protests, he was sent by the Arian King Theodoric the Great of the Ostrogoths to Constantinople to secure a moderation of Emperor Justin's decree of 523 against the Arians.

Despite his fiancée's protests he decides to help her, but that unfortunately also means that he suddenly ceases to exist for regular people and becomes real only to the denizens of ' London Below ', whose inhabitants are generally invisible and non-existent to the people of ' London Above '.

Despite the governor's protests, Fernandez held that " summer was farre spent, wherefore hee would land all the planters in no other place.

Despite Uathach's protests, he challenges Cú Chulainn to a duel, and Cú Chulainn dispatches him easily.

Despite the protests, company sales of tacos, enchiladas, and burritos rose by more than a half million dollars that week.

Despite the oppression, sporadic protests against the government continued.

Despite these protests, The Far Side remained popular and continued to run in many newspapers.

Despite protests of many of the show's fans, CBS refused to budge on the new timeslot.

Despite protests from Rediffusion the two companies eventually became Thames Television.

Despite Soviet and Polish government protests, he was not charged with any war crimes during the Nuremberg Trials, as his actions and behaviour were thought to be consistent with those of a professional soldier.

Despite the building not having any bureaucratic function, it has been the location of protests, such as when farmers drove their tractors in a convoy past the front of the property in 2006, and when Greenpeace activists chained themselves to the front gates in March 2007.

Despite the frantic protests of the Caps, a project for the invasion of Russian Finland was rushed through the premature Riksdag of 1740.

Despite the execution of Louis XVI of France on January 21, 1793, Sweden, in the hope of obtaining considerable subsidies, recognized the new French republic ; and secret negotiations for contrading an alliance were actually begun in May of the same year, till the menacing protests of Catherine, supported as they were by all the other European powers, finally induced Sweden to suspend them.