Dave James

WOW! Al Leiter for President. What an effort. If he can pitch anywhere near tonight's level, he's going to be a godsend. But, the most important thing is the Yanks take three of four from the Sox in their barn and are now only 1/2 game out. The offense is really percolating. If they can get some decent pitching while they wait for their rotation to reconstitute itself...well...I have to be feeling pretty good about their prospects. Up over and out.

When it's all said and done, Tiger will be the man. For now, I'll hold with Nicklaus. Bobby Jones was no slouch either. Man, what I'd give to see either guy (especially Jones) in his prime playing with today's equipment. With the possible exception of Sam Snead, Jones had the sweetest swing I've ever seen. Up over and out.

Yanks eschew Burnett but go with another Marlin, the recently deposed, ex-Pinstriper, Al Leiter. Not what I'd call a Cadillac move considering that Leiter has been lit up all year long, but it sure beats going with either of the tomato cans they picked up last week from the Padres. I suppose Leiter could wind up being a pleasant surprise, but that's gotta be a long shot at this point. It will be interesting to see how he does again the Red Sox tomorrow night at Fenway. Talk about a baptism by fire. Speaking of the Sox, I'm wondering if American league teams are starting to catch up to Matt Clement. His last few outings have been pretty shaky. Also, I've heard two different commentators (Rick Sutcliffe and Larry Bowa) say that Curt Shilling is not close to 100%. They both said he's not yet able to push off the pitching rubber properly and that he's throwing more with his arm than his legs. If that's the case, it seems like a calculated risk for the Sox to be using him the way they're using him. Up over and out.

The Yankee's pitching situation is starting to get ugly. Brown may be back within a week or ten days, but which iteration of KB returns remains to be seen. Even if he comes back strong, his back is so touchy, he may not last long. Pavano is at least three weeks from any thought of a return and Wright seems to have disappeared. Wang, I'm afraid, is done for the year. Add all this up and it spells trouble...big trouble. Frankly, with only two bona fide major leaguers in the starting rotation right now, and neither one of them pitching very consistently, the Yanks will be lucky to play .500 ball for awhile. The timing could not be worse. They are desperate to add a reliable center fielder before the July 31st trading deadline, but their pitching may need enough shoring up that they'll wind up having to dance with the gal that brung them. My Lordy me, just when things were starting to look up. Up over and out.

God, it's painful to have to relive this. When we were kids, my twin brother and I had thousands of baseball cards we'd collected over the years. Lots of star cards, including, I'm sure, many of The Mick. When we got to high school, we stopped paying attention to them. I remember our Mom asking one day when she was doing some cleaning, if we ever planned on doing anything with the cards and if not, could she throw them out? In one of the worst decisions made in all of recorded history, my brother and I said, "sure, go ahead." All I have now is a complete Yankees set from the Topps 1959 series including a Mantle card I got from someone on e-Bay. It's not in great shape because of a pin hole in the top, some creasing, 70/30 centering and fuzzy corners. It's a PSA 2. I don't care about the condition, though, because ultimately, I"m going to have this group of cards nicely framed and mounted. When that's done, the card's defects will mostly be masked. How about you...any Mantle cards laying around? The '57 Topps is my favorite. Up over and out.

I don't have HBO, so didn't see it, but I asked a friend of mine to tape it. When I was growing up in the '50's, I absolutely idolized Mantle. He's the main reason I'm a life long Yankee fan. I actually saw him play several times at old Comiskey Park in Chicago. Raw talent the likes of which I'm not sure has ever been seen in baseball before or since. If not for the injuries and the fast living, who knows what he might have done. When I was in Dallas several years ago, I went and stood on the driveway of the home he owned there. The number 7 was inlaid in the concrete. On the face of it, I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's something I'll never forget. Up over and out.

Given Woods' history at St. Andrews, you've got to think he's very comfortable on that track. The last time the Open was held there, he not only ran away and hid from the rest of the field but, while doing so, set the record for the lowest overall score in the history of major's golf at 19 under. Too bad about Nicklaus. At +3 after his first round, and considering that the course seems to be yielding some pretty good scores, he'd really have to go low tomorrow to have any chance at all of playing the weekend. Everyone gets old, but it still must be awfully frustrating for him not be able to do now what came so easily to him in the past. Speaking of Jack, did you know that Tiger has won all three Majors when Nicklaus was playing that tournament for the last time? The 2000 U.S. Open, the 2000 PGA and the 2005 Masters. One other golf note. On the off chance Michelle Wie wins the Men's Publinx championship and gets an invite to Augusta, can you even imagine what kind of a circus that would be? I'll bet old Hootie Johnson is having some sleepless nights just thinking about the possibility. Up over and out.

They missed a bet by not calling this one "Off Base". Up over and out.

I'm petrified, mortified, stupified, mystified. How can we even have a discussion like this without mentioning Hank Mobley save to dis his version of "The Turnaround"? This borders on treason. Maybe it's just that there are so many good tunes that it's too hard to choose one. For me, that would be "Remember" from "Soul Station". A good medium tempo, toe tappin' tune wholly representative of the best of Blue Note. Hank, Wynton, Blakey...I mean, c'mon, does it really get any better than this? I'm officially demanding by means of this post that "Remember" be added to the CD. If it isn't, I'm pickin' up my ball and goin' home. Furthermore, I won't buy this when it does comes out. So there. Up over and out.

I can barely keep up with the weekly editions. What in the world would I do with 80 years of this stuff? I'd be reading from now until I put my cue back in the rack. The problem with the New Yorker is if you don't read just about every issue from cover to cover, you run the risk of missing some little tweak or nuance that can leave you laughing or crying. Some mighty fine writing going on here. It's the only magazine I subscribe to or read anymore. Up over and out.

"Fast Eddie, let's play some pool." A classic movie. Easily Jackie Gleason's best role and, at least IMO, one of Newman's finest. Up over and out.

Hmm. "...was obviously smoking something..." If that's not a euphemism for "uninformed", I'm not sure what is. If you go back and read my first couple of posts, I think you'll see I was trying to be accommodating of your opinions. However, when those opinions are so dogmatic and unassailable and you mix them with so much hostility, that bothers me. Jazz pitches a pretty big tent and there's lots of room under it for everyone. What would have been wrong with an initial post that simply said, "I have trouble understanding what people see in Art Pepper, Bob Brookmeyer and Gerry Mulligan. Would be interested in your thoughts on these artists." Instead, the first thing you do is throw down the gauntlet. If you get off on being confrontational, that's fine, but don't be shocked when your approach is reciprocated. You started it. Up over and out.

MJM, I'm the guy who had the timerity to suggest that Art Pepper was my favorite post-bop alto saxophonist. That doesn't mean I don't like or appreciate McLean, Stitt and Adderley. As a matter of fact I happen to like those guys very much and they are all very well represented in my collection. It just so happens I prefer Pepper. Is that what makes me uninformed in your eyes, or worse...just the fact that I happen to like someone you don't? If it does, then I've got a hot flash for you, bunky; you're the one who's uninformed. How about a little diversity here? What an incredibly boring place this would be if everyone liked exactly the same thing. Get a grip. Up over and out.

Dan, Just consider yourself lucky that your boys have a farm system that allows them to play some mid-season games. My boys, as you know, have nothing. Also, regardless of how you feel about the Sox's use of Shilling, that's a nice option to have as well. Up over and out.

MJM, Perhaps I erred in intimating that Parker was a post-bop saxophonist. Not really. However, I have taken into account the alto players you mention (all first cabin musicians in their own right) and others as well. I still find Pepper to be my personal favorite. This is one of the things that makes jazz so attractive. We can agree to disagree and it's cool. Up over and out.

I was listening the Mariner's pre-game show tonight on the way home and they were talking about Keith Foulke. Word is he's going on the DL for a knee problem. If this turns out to be true, it will pretty much force the Sox to check Timlin's chops as a closer. If he doesn't work out, and there's some precedent for this in his past, then maybe they do start looking elsewhere. The name that came up, given that this was a Mariner broadcast, was Everyday Eddie Guardado. The concensus was that the M's would be willing to listen to trade offers, but that Guradado really likes it out here on the left coast AND he would be pretty expensive. Contractually, he has a list of 10 teams he'd be willing to go to, but it would have to make sense for all concerned. Up over and out.

I got 20 Standards the other day from Amazon U.K. Based on what I've heard so far, this is a stronger outing for Braxton than "23". I've only listened to a couple of the discs so far, but the intonation problems that plagued "23" seem to have been addressed. I haven't looked at the recording dates, so it's possible I could just be imagining things, but at first blush, Braxton just sounds more on top of his game. Kevin O'Neil, the guitarist on both these sets, remains a monster. I don't think I've ever heard anyone play quite like this, especially in the face of the challenge that is Anthony Braxton. Up over and out.

Back to the subject at hand and getting away from ad hominum attack mode, I'm a huge Pepper fan, IMO outside Charlie Parker, the best post-bop alto saxophonist ever. Mulligan I also like, but maybe more for his compositional contributions than for what he did instrumentally. He's still right up there on my A-list of baritone players, but I'd still put Chaloff and maybe one or two others ahead of him. I do love the CJB stuff though. Brookmeyer I just don't know as well as I should. He plays valve trombone which right away sets him apart from any kind of meaningful "competitive" discusion and he's also a fine pianst and a gifted arranger. I should have more Brookmeyer in my collection than I do, but for whatever reason, he's never really rung my bell. Up over and out.

Al, Agree that the All-Star game isn't what it used to be, but it's still head and shoulders above any other similar event. Baseball is the most individual of all team sports. That's why it's always fun to watch the best of the best do their collective thing. Up over and out.

According to Harold Reynolds (of all people) Foulke is suffering from two things. His velocity is down and he's up in the zone. If I was a Sox fan, I'd be worried about the first of the two. I think you can correct location (to the degree lack of velocity doesn't contribute to that problem) but I'm not sure what you do at this point in the season to address velocity. Frankly, I don't know why the Sox haven't gone to Timlin. He's been lights out as a set-up guy, although there's certainly a difference between asking someone to set-up and asking someone to close. I guess they may also not want to monkey with Foulke's psyche, at least until they have to. Of course, the trading deadline is still several weeks away, so if Foulke continues to struggle, they may have no choice but to address the problem in that manner. Up over and Harold.

I only remember him in the context of the Kenny Barron group Mike refers to. The gentleman could play. RIP. Up over and out.

"The Best of Jackson Payne" by Jack Fuller. Up over and out.

One big thumb up for this set. I think it's the best of the vocal Mosaics and well ahead of whatever's in second place. I'd even rank it fairly high in terms of the entire Mosaic catalog. Up over and out.

"Pariah" Carey is the poster child for much of what's wrong with pop music today. A quintessential instance of style over substance. Up over and out.

Roy Eldridge. Disc 3. I was on the fence about this set, but so many positive comments from board members pushed me in what turns out to be the right direction. I had zero Roy in my entire collection up until I got this one, so I'm getting to discover him and these Verve sides all at the same time. If I could drink the stuff, I'd be thinking about an Old Milwaukee, cuz it doesn't get any better than this. Up over and out.