Patrick

Last night, Jason Moran trio w guest Ingrid Laubrock celebrating 20th year of trio, by way of Black Stars. After performing "Kinda Dukish", Jason hinted at an (extended?) work celebrating Ellington to be performed in DC next season.

Music with an MRI? No such luck. I had two of them back-to-back, so an hour in the tube. I ended up conjuring my own themes to the beats to keep from going a little crazy. Futuristic stride by someone (or something) with a gait disorder, or Stereolab-like groove. or...

...or maybe 2 hitters.

Andrew Hill - Dance with Death

Thanks. Got to enjoy my NL team win a game 7. Nice change of pace after a few Indians game 7’s in recent decades. Django Festival AllStars tomorrow evening.

Saw Jimmy as part of Dizzy centennial fest in 2017 and as part of Javon Jackson Sax Appeal in 2015 (w Bobby Watson, Donald Harrison). Both at Kennedy Center.

Is "I Am a Man" Ron Miles rather than Ben Williams?

What a scrappy bunch in DC! Young guys like Soto delivering (...though a bit adventurous in left field...). Old guys like Kendrick just raking. Production from the 8th spot (Gomes, Michael A., Robles). A god awful bullpen now has two arms back, and hopefully the starters can continue to pitch deep into games, though HOU or NYY lineups will be challenging. While I had no issues while he was here, kind of cool that they are doing this without the mega-superstar now in Philly. And the next time I cringe regarding outfield play by Nats or Tribe or whomever, I will remember the Cardinals. Yikes.

Nice to see Scherzer back closer to Max levels. And getting the big blast from Mr. National Ryan Zimmerman was very cool. With Strasburg pitching Game 5, it's a reasonable coin flip against the NL beast.

Congrats to A's and Rays for getting the AL WC slots. Tribe just couldn't quite overcome injuries given the narrow margin of error provided by cheap ownership. And while they took care of business against weaker sisters in the AL Central, just not good enough against good teams. Following the Rays a bit more closely the last few weeks, I've grown to appreciate the challenges in the Bosox pitching staff (esp bullpen) and the Rays ability to take care of business, incl against NYY. Kudos to them down the stretch. For the Tribe, some hope for optimism given the progress of young starters Civale, Plesac, Bieber, and outfielder Mercado. But have they reverted back to being a farm team for larger market teams? We shall see. As irritating as Dan Gilbert is as Cavaliers owner, I'd appreciate the Tribe being owned by a mega-gazillionaire willing to spend $$$ in a smaller market.

Music themes for Kotter, Happening?, and Barney Miller going through my head now. Groovy!

Tribe basically needed a sweep against Twins, down by 3.5 with about 14 to play. They lost Saturday afternoon 2 - 0, and are well on their way to losing the evening contest (9 - 5 after 8, Minny grand slam to break 5-5 tie, ugh). Clevinger pitched great in the afternoon (8 IP, 2R, 10K), but no offense. Evening game pitched by the bullpen -- Clippard (ouch), Carrasco (far from back), Cimber (double ouch), etc. A nice illustration of ownership being cheap (Michael Brantley, anyone?), and too many injuries (Kluber, Carrasco, Clevinger, J Ramirez, Hand, Naquin, Zimmer). Wildcard seems unlikely now. At least they briefly led the division after trailing by 11+ games, and the emergence in the rotation of Bieber, Plesac, and Civale suggests continued success after Bauer and perhaps Kluber relocate.

Thanks for mentioning the sidemen. Find it kind of sad that the BN blurb above couldn't spend the space to identify those two musicians.

Not buying for a second that Tribe wanted to unload Bauer due to emotional hysterics. Immediately after most recent meltdown he apologized completely and sincerely. Anyone actually paying attention to Tribe this year (minus Kluber, Carrasco, and Clevinger for long stretches) recognize that TB was a total workhorse. Perhaps not quite as effective as last year, but still a total stud. This deal was only about one thing: $$$. Having a cheapass owner unwilling to pay $18M next year. And the assets they received appear to be an attempt to patch the massive hole created when they were unwilling to pay Brantley. Bauer actually was a highly useful teammate to Bieber and Clevinger. Hopefully they won't miss having him around.

David Byrne/Talking Heads tune?