Scott Dolan

According to his wiki page, he was indeed 16 when Jackie hired him. I never heard much of any McLean so I wasn't even aware that Tony ever played with him.

Must have been. Wasn't he 18 when he started playing with Miles in '63-'64?

My skin is so damned wimpy that if someone took a straight razor to it I'd have razor burn for a month!

Yikes... No wonder they're looking for a professional.

James, can you please unblock me? I was going to send you a humorous PM, but I got a message saying you wouldn't allow it.

I don't think pitching in the A.L. effected Cueto. You have to keep in mind that Kauffman Stadium is one of the biggest outfields in MLB, and the Royals one of the best defensive units. I think he just hit a glitch in his career. Plus, he never really gelled with many of his teammates there. Perez and Hosmer, in particular, found Cueto to be quite a source of frustration. And when you can't get on the same page as your catcher, things won't end well. Those factors combined with the mid season move likely conspired.

Still got Alex Gordon in play...

I wouldn't worry about it. His inconsistency with the Royals was an anomaly when you look at what he's done throughout his career. And he still impressed when we slid all the chips in. That's what matters the most. Now let's see your boys back in the postseason where they belong!

Tim, looks like Cueto is your man... Great signing! He ended up being a roller coaster ride for us, but he's still one of the best in the game.

But that's the problem. That's what they thought they were doing! ESP got it right with the Spiritual Unity packaging, but most others have failed miserably. And in some of those cases they DID have the slip cover included. I wish I could recall what release it was, but I had one that I actually fucking RIPPED the slip cover trying to remove it from the cardboard sleeve. Another I wrinkled all to hell trying to get it back IN the cardboard cover... Either way, epic fail. Give me a jewel everyday over that bullshit.

Right? Some of those damn things had me wondering, "do I really want to listen to this disc THAT bad?!"

Happy B-Day, you asshole! ;)

I prefer digipaks, but I'm cool with jewels too. I do hate cardboard slipcases, though. It seems every one of them is one size too small for the disc it contains.

Understood completely. I've gone through various phases when it comes to listening to music. And as far as Jazz/free improv goes, I got heavily into 60's Free Jazz and listened to it almost exclusively for years. But then I tried this free/Euro improve stuff and decided it was the kind of senseless noise Dan described earlier. So at that point I had pretty much burned out on the 60's stuff, and the newer artists out of the William Parker universe (In Order To Survive, Daniel Carter, Susie Ibarra, Other Dimensions In Music, etc.), and pretty much left Jazz, as a whole, behind for...years. Got back to basics and started listening to a lot of Alternative Country, which is still a huge favorite. Then getting back into Jazz (which was just recently, as you see later) I stuck with "the basics" there as well. Miles, Monk, Brubeck, that kind of thing. But then Mary Halvorson caught my ear, and after diving further into what Mr. Wooley has been up to, the free improv thing just clicked for some bizarre reason. Guess I needed to "cleanse the palette", so to speak. Either way, I'm back in exploratory mode. So again, I completely get where you're coming from.

But how are they supposed to secure it if not with shrink wrap? I can unwrap a CD in a matter of seconds, so I don't see why it's something to gripe about. Now, if you want to gripe about those bubble packs that way too many things come in these days that require a hacksaw, jackhammer, and scalpel to open, I'm right there with you.

While I do agree that the contract Zobrist got was on the silly side, he is most definitely NOT a utility player. He is a player that can start everywhere but catcher (and I don't think I'd trot him out to center at this point in his career), and the Cubs will likely move him around a lot to give players days off. But he is indeed a starter.

???? What did the Cardinals offer him? I never saw a definitive number. Oh, and Heyward had 3 errors on 303 chances last year. That rather amazing. And while his power may not be All Star, his OBP is. Here, found this: "Two sources confirmed for The Post-Dispatch that the Cardinals’ offer was greater in guaranteed value while the Cubs’ had the higher annual average value, at $23 million a year." So it was really an either/or.

I'm wondering what the point of that passive/aggressive reply was. Thanks for sharing, but then refusing to share about why you shared...

I used to feel that way, too. But I've grown to really appreciate the experience of these kind of...sonic explorations, I'll refer to them as. They are certainly an acquired taste, and not for everyone, of course. But, if you have the time and patience to sit down and experience them the results can be very rewarding. I'm glad I finally worked through my own prejudice and discovered how to appreciate this stuff.

Having gone nearly 100% digital (the rare box set being the exception), I'm no longer doing the jewel case shuffle. And since I never touch the CDs I have anymore, I don't worry about anything happening to the existing cases.

The contracts so far this offseason are just off the charts absurd. You have to wonder when MLB will reach a breaking point.

Because we need "real musicians" to remind us what "real music" is when artists start coloring outside the lines?

I know she's supposed to be a huge artist on the scene, but I've never heard an Adele song. Definitely an odd combo, though.

No, you don't see anything beyone your own nose and the bitter and under-educated bubble you live in. Social media manager is a legitimate position, and they make pretty damned good money to the tune of $40k and up. They are both public relations and advertising rolled into one. The two most vital departments of any successful business. The joke being that you think your barely profitable record company is comparable to larger corporations with bigger money interests, which would include JALC. But hey, you've got the whole thing figured out, don't you...

Just a bizarre and compltely random glitch.