Patrick

Exactly!

An expanding strike zone and HOF Braves pitchers like Maddox and Smoltz—yes, that sounds familiar...

Joe West, really?

I have a vague recollection that Larry King used a bit of this as a bumper during his overnight (at least where I grew up) AM talk show.

Congrats to the Stros who totally took care of business. Tribe had to rise up to the challenge, but basically only Lindor, Clevinger, and perhaps Carrasco showed up. Totally missing in action were Kluber, Ramirez, Donaldson, Miller, C Allen, to name just a few. Frustrating that Tribe lack of ultimate success has been attached to important starter injuries (Bauer, Carrasco, Cliff Lee...), but that’s how it rolls. Go Stros, go Brew Crew!

Had a sinking feeling when Andrew Miller relieved Carrasco, whose pitch count was still low and had not yet given up any runs. Andrew will be elsewhere next season. Thanks for the thrills in 2016. Too bad that magic could not be replicated/extended. Time on the Lindor free agent clock ticks down a bit more...

Tribe definitely were/are underdogs against Houston from the start. Like their recent World Series run, little margin for underperformance and Kluber has to be dominant. That obviously didn't happen in game 1. Clayton Kershaw, wow. I get that CLE/HOU is not going to be as popular as larger market series, and am fine if the scheduling reflects that a bit. But the extreme approach is kind of pathetic, and feeds the view that there is much less interest/concern in the League than in a few large markets. But maybe this for the schoolchildren of northeast Ohio, who will get proper sleep on school nights. (And this very well may be over before holiday weekend anyway).

Dear MLB, Do you and your scheduling geniuses give a crap about anything other than the epic Boston/NYY series? Why is it that NOT ONE single game of (World Series champion) Houston Astros vs Cleveland Indians is scheduled in prime time? Not a one. Game 1 is 2pm today (Friday!), and the other scheduled start times (including a Saturday and a federal holiday) are 4:30, 1:30, 4:30 (Tuesday!), 4:00 (Thursday!). I understand ratings matter, but you couldn't possibly let one game (say pitched by a Cy Young award winner or two) involving teams in flyover country start after the workday is over? And I understand there are a lot of games to play in the first round. But sharing of the early time slot, especially on weekdays? Apparently not. We will get the (statutorily required) fawning about the historic ballpark on Yawkey Way. It is a cool part of the League's history. How about going old school and actually playing a day game there? Rant over. Back to bullpens. With Cody Allen still lost at sea, and Andrew Miller far from 100%, the question in Cleveland is how effective Trevor Bauer (still coming back from leg injury) can be in a new role. I don't have much confidence in the Tribe pen, even with the (overpaid) acquisitions of Hand and Cimber. Mike Clevinger was a pleasant surprise in the rotation, and he now gets the #3 slot. If TB hadn't been injured, Clevinger would have been the long guy added to the pen. It will be interesting to see how well Clev performs (...and how much help he gets from Bauer).

...and face the Tribe in the Series.

Kind of cool (...totally data mined...) stat: Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez are the first pair of teammates to have consecutive seasons in which they each had at least 80 extra base hits since DiMaggio and Gehrig in 1936-37.

Bummer. I was in Chicago one week too early. Experienced Robert Glasper at a packed Jazz Showcase on a Thursday. Regretted not trying Kingston Mines or B.L.U.E.S. instead.

Frank is (...or perhaps was...) a lurker/occasional poster here. In the binge-able present, is such a large project that surprising? I'm intrigued enough to explore. Maybe some more Andrew Hill or Herbie Nichols retrospectives in the future? Finally got a copy of Frank's solo piano date Air (Palmetto). Loving the much slower take on "Wig Wise". Has anyone heard Solstice (Pirouet) w Jay Anderson and Jeff Hirschfield? I have not.

Somewhat amused that the Sunday night crew were all picking the Tribe as their favorites in the AL. Was hoping to continue flying under the radar in flyover country. But when the genius ARod opines otherwise, so be it. Think the rotation can hang with anyone's, as can the top 1/3 of the order. But the rest of the lineup drops off considerably, as does the bullpen. Hoping that Andrew Miller who has been injury-plagued, and Cody Allen who has just been lost, can regain some effectiveness. Pleasantly surprised by the season Mike Clevinger has had. I did not have him penciled in for 200K, even in today's wildly swingin' era.

Complete game shutout for Corey Kluber against the Troutless Angels. 3H, 1BB, 7K, only 98 pitches. After a couple of bad starts, the methodical Klubot appears to have been rebooted. Leonys Martin has already exceeded expectations (HR in each of first 2 games in CLE). And fans finally getting to Progressive Field. I believe it was a massive overpay to send their best prospect (#5 league-wide) who is a catcher for bullpen help, but they need help there and the current guys likely sign elsewhere in offseason. Hopefully rotation stays healthy and effective and they get enough support from guys not named Lindor/Ramirez/Brantley to scare a few folks (...who do not reside in the AL Central).

RIP Tomasz. My point of entry was Soul of Things and Suspended Night. Have all of the ECM's except for the most recent December Avenue, and some of the earlier recordings. The first NY quartet recording Wislawa is a favorite. Saw the Soul of Things group perform once at Blues Alley and naively hoped that they would be a regular on the BA schedule (unfortunately, not so). Had hoped that the New York Quartet would travel south to DC. Was intrigued by the possible collaboration with Rava. Much to enjoy.