T.D.

I pretty much agree with you, especially re. clubhouse downside, but wouldn't quite call the stats equivalent. I always discount hitting stats of Rockies players, because they're inflated due to playing 50% of games at altitude. Still, even discounting Arenado's stats, your conclusion seems valid.

Read another thread about MLK recordings. Don't have a specific recording, but went for this.

Trying this on a whim, not sure if I'll dig it. Simultaneously starting this:

The Mickey Haller books are also good.

Years ago, Kyle Gann's website gave links to some interesting modern/postmodern classical stations , but they all seem to have gone off the air.

Discs 4 and 5, maybe more later. Got this after seeing a post by Jim S. I like it! Practically a quintessential "Brooklyn Academy of Music" piece.

Another old-school manager, Dallas Green, is often blamed for blowing out the arms of 3 talented young Met starters (Wilson, Pulsipher, Isringhausen) back in the '90s...

I once worked with a guy who pitched in the minor leagues (Seattle Mariners system) until his elbow blew out. He had seen Greg Maddux pitch up close and had some interesting comments. He said that Maddux threw a "live" ball with a lot of motion and that his pitches moved exceptionally late, when the ball was right on top of the hitter. He thought those factors (in addition to control and changing speeds) made Maddux so hard to hit.

Dunno, but in recent years there have been concomitant explosions of pitchers throwing 95+ mph and pitchers requiring elbow reconstruction surgery. I recall seeing articles (unfortunately forget citations) arguing that throwing 100 mph stresses the arm right to the brink of falling apart. Putting these things together with the gearheads' findings that opponents' batting averages increase on the third trip through the lineup, I expect pitch limits to continue. Or maybe "2 tours of the lineup" limits.

Another One for my "desert island"

Maybe a knuckleballer. But I can't think of many, and recently the closest would be R. A. Dickey in 2012 (Cy Young winner), 5 complete games and 233 IP.

Wow! Thanks for the update. I bought the aforementioned piano trio from Bandcamp last year. Will almost certainly go for this one, as I only have Volume I (Evidence CD), tracks 1-8 of 22.

Philidor the chessplayer ("pawns are the soul of chess")! I've always been curious about his music, but never got around to listening...

Discs 1 and 2, maybe more later.

Thanks. The visual thing is intrinsic to all opera, which is perhaps why I listen to opera recordings much less than I used to. Used copies are going for a song on Amazon, so I may give it a try. Funny, I was thinking "this piece has BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) written all over it!", googled, and found that it indeed premiered at BAM's Majestic Theater. Video excerpt:

How do you like that [Arjuna's Dilemma]? Looks interesting, and clips sound pretty good, but sometimes "Bang-on-a-Can" type stuff (to make an unfair generalization) can wear on me.

Thanks...No, I didn't know all that...I took a cursory look at the box on Amazon, put it on the wish list, but got discouraged by the Amazon comments. The classical label mergers have gotten me all confused; I thought it was plausible that Sony Classical could be under the Warner umbrella by now!