Dave James

Vasquez was lights out for the first half season he was with the Yankees. I'm hearing that he had shoulder problems during the second half but that he kept them to himself. That would help explain the serious drop off in his effectiveness. If he's anywhere near what he has been for the last couple of years, this is going to be a very good deal for the Yanks. He could easily wind up being their #2 guy. It also provides some bullpen flexibility in that either Hughes or Chamberlain can be the go to set-up guy.

The Yankees have traded Melky Cabrera and Mike Dunn to the Braves for Javier Vasquez and a minor league pitcher. Good move for the Yanks. It also opens the door every so slightly that an agreement can be reached with Johnny Damon. That's a long shot, but I'd sure like to see it happen.

Membership in the Republican party? The order is usually the other way around.

And this guy's reward is the complete Wynton Marsalis catalog? That'll teach him to keep his mouth shut.

Membership in the Republican party?

So we change the topic title and everyone feels better yet all the other references to Nazis in the body of the thread remain. Huh?

A rather unflattering portrait of Tiger aired last night on The Learning Channel. The really strange thing about his "extracurriculars' is that they weren't one night stands. Far from it. He had ongoing and rather long term relationships with many of these women. There was also a fair amount of discussion about Elin. What she knew and when she knew it. The concensus was that she was well aware of his activities prior to their marriage but that she thought she could reel him in. Nice try. When the dust settles, I think we're going to find that Tiger is a lot like Michael Jordan. Two huge egos driven by the next conquest whether it be on the basketball court, the golf course or in the bedroom.

I have not seen the movie, although I plan to later this week. From my outside looking in perspective, Hollywood has just taken its biggest step yet in the relegation of substance to style. Gigantic special effects and a story which, in the absence of these effects, would send a five year old running from the room. Nonetheless, this may be the rare case where the the effects are so overwhelming and so well done that the absence of anything approaching a story is an acceptable price to pay.

So would you rename the Seinfeld episode The Soup Fundamentalist?

The CD's he's done under his own name are well worth checking out. He's not by any means only a blues player. I really like a song he does called The Sweeper.

High unemployment, lack of political leadership, messed up taxes, problems with school funding, weather, Greg Oden's knees and, most importantly, the fact that we can't pump our own gas. I'm not surprised.

I just ordered Soul Station, True Blue and Cool Struttin' from Evolution. I've never owned an XRCD before, but they certainly sound intriguing. I guess I'll find out soon.

Conrad, I just watched the Leno segment on Hulu. The best part of the Q&A was when the gal was shown a picture of Moammar Kadafii and thought it was Lionel Richie. You can't make this stuff up. You just wish you could. Of the three, my favorite is the guy named Mike who refers to himself simply as "The Situation". Like I said, WTF?

A quick Google search reveals that Havens is on tour in the New York area as we speak. I never had the opportunity to see him live, but I sure wish I had. He's one of those rare performers whose style allows him to take other people's songs and make them his own. I'll bet I still have a half a dozen of his LP's out in the garage. His MGM release Mixed Bag is one of my all-time favorites.

With the all but completed signing of Nick Johnson, it looks like the Yankees and Johnny Damon are parting company. From a productivity, financial and age perspective, I guess this makes sense, but I like the way Damon plays the game. I know his pinstripe legacy is secure on the basis of his double steal in this year's Series, but it won't be the same not having him around. His swing was tailor made for the house that Ruth didn't build and for the one he did. I wish him well wherever he goes.

I like to listen to Bill Simmons' podcasts on ESPN when he talks to his friend, the uber-Yankee fan, Jacko. In addition to baseball, they sometimes talk television, and this week, a new show on MTV called The Jersey Shore came up in their conversation. As "luck" would have it, while I was surfing the dish tonight, I came upon an episode and decided to watch. Now keep in mind, this is about the hottest thing going right now, at least among the MTV crowd. Well, all I can say is this. If you're looking for hard evidence of the decline of western civilization, go no further. This show is populated by the biggest collection of loser idiot hedonists you can imagine. The one and only thing that any of these characters care about is getting laid. Not that at their age this shouldn't be a consideration, but 24/7? Just wondering. Has anyone else seen this?

All the upbeat Mariner news has just been cancelled via their acquisition of the man with a game for a name, Milton Bradley. Mr. Clubhouse now gets to weave his magical spell on the unsuspecting M's. I would say I hope they have enough veteran leadership to accommodate this guy, but all the other teams he's infested had plenty of leadership and look where it got them. I know the guy can hit, but at what cost?

Area 51?

Not to rain on the Mariner's parade, but Tim Kirkjian at ESPN says he is unable to confirm that Cliff Lee is on his way to Seattle. He's wondering why the Phillies would move him when they have him locked up at a bargain basement price for another year. Needless to say where there's smoke, there's usually fire, but this doesn't appear to be a done deal.

The New York Times is confirming that World Series MVP Hideki Matusi has signed with the Angels. Boy will it be weird to see him in that uniform. I don't think he'll look good in red.

Hans is right. I'm guilty as charged. Blindsided, as it were, by the unintended double negative. I feel shame.

Maybe he taught Elaine how to dance.

The five CD T-Bone Walker Mosaic is now at $686 with two days left. Wow!

I already have the Dolphy box, but while I was in the Newbury neighborhood, I ordered the last four Blue Note 16 oz. beer glasses that they had in stock. I can't imagine how good an ice cold PBR will taste in one of these.

Any show that hangs around as long as Seinfeld is bound to experience some ups and downs. Personally, I enjoyed it for its entire nine year run. As a matter of fact, some of the most interesting and funniest recurring characters (Putty, Mr. Peterman and Jackie Chiles) showed up pretty late in the game. I really didn't see much difference in the level of self-absorption between the beginning and the end. That was kind of the point of the whole show and one that was driven home so effectively in the final episode.