Quincy

Harry is at the piano, Lauren is on the piano.

I agree from the stand point of a game of baseball it looks stupid. However, I think there may be some franchises that are so desperate for money where they need it NOW, or closer to now than a few months from now. I don't know any dirty details about the Ray's ownership, but you think of some of the arrogant jerks (such as the Cubs' last owner) along with other rich folk who made seriously awful investments...(Imagine if any in Tampa ownership invested in FL real estate during the bubble?) Like I said, I don't have a clue about TB financial details, just saying such tough times could lead to needing money over trying win to wild card, sad to say.

I think it's money related. The Rays only average about 24,000 fans a game. This is the best since the team debut but still near the bottom in league attendance. The Angels need a starter now and Torres looks like he may be a high quality lefty starter. Hard to say if they'd offer as much in the winter. Sweeney has signs of power & patience (fielding looks iffy) so that's a nice bonus. Given that Kazmir has had injuries 3 out of the past 4 years and also has had his control wander maybe they figure it's better to unload him. There were rumors of Crawford being traded earlier as part of cost control. A damn shame they signed Burrell to the fat contract, although to be fair he's had a good August and they needed an OF at the time, not a pitcher.

Pounding the strike zone with a butterfly. I like Wakefield (and not just because he's over 40.) This season has been a yo-yo for quite a few team's fans, but for Boston especially so (as you know!)

I agree as I'm no fan of the loud music at sporting events either. I mostly mentioned rock as it's Cleveland and all. I was lucky enough to catch the game this year at Civic Stadium where they have an old time band in the stands instead of the piped in stuff. Alas it's the final year for the old WPA park.

That's about $55 adjusted for inflation. Of course you aren't getting a cup holder, a big vidya screen w/ replays and no rock music between innings. I'm sure any Indian fan who could afford ride in a time machine would happily pay it!

Well, Reader doesn't always work - according to my feed, "Fucked in Park Slope" hasn't had any new stories in a year but I know there are several a day. True. Sometimes you have to resub or use a different subscription to get a feed.

That was my frustration with it--I even mentioned it in a comment. Love the photos and the stories about Lil Hardin Armstrong and others, and plan to read more, but for these increasingly aged eyes, the small print is sometimes very tough to read. I have to put on my reading glasses and get up close to the screen! greg mo Then try using Google Reader or some other RSS/blog sort of reader. Check it out, take the tutorial if need be to get the hang of it. In the case of Chris's blog you can get black "ink" on a white background with the pictures. It's the sort of program like tabbed browsing that can change your online life for the better! The other great thing about programs like this is that rather than having to visit a blog and see that "no, there aren't any new posts" you'll save time by having the new content delivered to you.

I think he left once over having some NY Times article moved into the political forum where he didn't think it belonged which he felt was censorship since only members can go there. I could be wrong, though it sounds like the kind of thing can lead to 15 page threads here. I thought it odd that he left because of goings on in the political forum, whereas many of the other boards that he would then try to settle into after leaving organissimo disallowed politics for discussion. It just didn't seem like he could be happy in such places. Or anywhere except his own court apparently. In a way perhaps a good thing that he stomped off, as now his remembrances are even longer and more elaborately formatted. He is a mighty fine storyteller with a knack for incorporating the visuals. I guess if he has problems with censorship at his blog we'll know he has a Arctor/Fred problem ala A Scanner Darkly.

No kidding, especially in that ballpark. Perfect place to debut, or uh, debut again. He said on Dan Patrick that after being cut by the BoSox he pitched some on a high school diamond and had made an adjustment. Guess that and the lowly team he faced worked. He always comes across a good guy in interviews so I'm happy for him. Plus having had a joint rewired many years ago I have empathy for the difficulties of getting back into the swing o' things too.

Just for fun I Googled your last name, Papi and POS. So he got his power stroke going just 2 days after you called him a POS in this thread. Way to motivate him!

Huh? You're having some serious math problems up there. As a Giant he's averaged 5.83 innings a start - in other words he makes it into the 6th. I'm not saying he was a good signing for the price, but it's not a 2 IP per start average.

That's the first time I've ever heard of a pitcher "hiding" in a league where pitchers hit. I understand what you were getting at, it just looks funny in print. Yeah, I have no idea if he'll have better results in a weaker division/familiar league or if he's toast. He was so awful with Boston, yet the K/BB is a head scratcher. Just as Wang's success while he had was also befuddling given his weak K/BB rate. Timing of bad pitches may have something to do with it. Ah, always Mr. Cheerful. Maybe if he sticks around he'll face Manny in the NL playoffs. I'm guessing you'd pull for Manny as he helped give you 2 titles, though the rooting for Torre thing would have to feel strange for you too.

So the Cards sign Smoltz. Back on August 7th after the Red Sox DFA'd him, Squawking Baseball noted the following: "But you know what? He’s not done, and the Red Sox may end up feeling really stupid about this one. Smoltz has gone 40 innings; he’s struck out 33 and walked 9. That’s 18% and 5% of the batters he’s faced, respectively. His BABIP is .390, and his HR/FB 14.8%. Both are career highs by a mile. Pitch fx doesn’t see any major differences in his velocity or movement, and his LD% (if you’re into that) is right in line with his career norms. PECOTA predicts a 3.92 ERA for the rest of the season, and ZIPS says 3.97. I see no reason to disagree. Someone will pick him up — for the league minimum, no less — and that team could end up feeling very, very lucky." He definitely had some of the oddest numbers (high K to BB) I've ever seen for a guy who wasn't getting it done. Going back to the NL may increase his chances of not sucking.

Have a great day, and thank you so much for all of the thought & care that went into the Art History Project.

Michael Fitzgerald's site has Joe's discography ya know. Here's the entry: Date: 9/17/1966 Location: Monterey Jazz Festival, Monterey, CA Label: [private recording] Joe Henderson (ldr), Joe Henderson (ts), Bobby Hutcherson (vib), Don Moore (b), Elvin Jones (d) a. Isotope - 8:30 (Joe Henderson) Palo Alto Jazz LP 12": - Jazz At Monterey (1984) Quicksilver Records CD: - Monterey Jazz 1958-1980 Disc 1 (2002) Other artists included on this album not listed here. Just entering Joe Henderson Quicksilver Monterey into Froogle I came up with a hit at Easy Street Records for the comp that has Isotope. Never ordered from them so you're on your own there. It's not expensive so my guess is if they have it someone else does too. An even quicker check on one of the boot sites didn't bring up anything by Joe from '66.

Probably my poster child season for rotten luck and (duh) how important run support is for wins is Nolan Ryan in 1987. League leading 2.76 ERA League leading 270 strike outs. 11.5 K per 9 innings. But he goes 8-16 as the 'stros could only score 3.28 runs scored per game when he started. 3 times they were shut out, 8 times they just scored 1 run.

1990 Bob Welch (Oakland) 27-6. He was very consistent as he went 13-3 in the first half, 14-3 the rest of the way. 14 W at home, 13 on the road. His run support was 5.21. Others with 25 since Guidry's include: 1980 Steve Stone (Baltimore) 25-7. He won the Cy, but after going 4-7 the next year he was done. The O's scored a whopping 5.69 runs per game for him. Best in NL since Carlton: 1973 Ron Bryant (Giants) 24-12. 270 innings at age 25. He'd go 3-15 the following year and 0-1 after that. Giants scored 4.61 for him. His ERA was 3.53. 1980 Steve Carlton (Phillies) 24-9, 304 IP w/ 13 CG. The World Champ Phils scored 4.39 for him. His ERA was 2.34. In his famous '72 season his run support was 3.83. His ERA was 1.97. He threw THIRTY complete games. 1985 Doc Gooden (Mets) 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA, 276 IP 16 CG at age 20. His run support was 4.83. 2002 The Big Unit (D-backs) 24-5. 260 IP, 2.32 ERA. A whopping 5.73 for run support. There were a few 24 game win seasons after Guidry in the AL as well. Probably the most famous of the dumb Cy Young picks was his 24-10 season with the '83 White Sox. He had a 3.66 ERA and the team scored 5.54 runs for him. But other than Quiz there weren't any stand out starters as sometimes happens. Clemens ('86) & Viola ('88) also won 24 after Guidry's 25. Oh yeah, Guidry's run support for his 25 win season was 4.85.

You've been playing without Kinsler the past week as he's been out with a bad hamstring. Getting him back adds punch & (depending on how healed the hamstring is) speed back to the lineup. Cough, cough, he who homered in each of his 1st 2 games back vs. the Red Sox. They say they'll probably move him back up to lead off where before the injury he was on track to set the record for RBI from that spot. 6th might not be bad though he can clear 'em & set up down there nicely too. Not to jinx your team, but it's very very weird to see such fine young starting pitching down there in Texas! Having such excellent defense is part of why it's so good. It's shaping up to being an interesting stretch drive.

What a treat to see someone close it out rather than meltdown, and vs. Tiger at that. Well done!

Wow, pretty impressive for that punk kid. He started the day needing 36 to tie Lou Gehrig for most hits by a Yankee. It's likely he'll move to the top this year barring injury or a bad slump.

I ended up with a high fill rate too with just 1 missing out of 33 or so (this started so long ago the details are getting fuzzy). The Stitt arrived today! I don't think it was known whether these were to be cutouts at the time of ordering though. Having come across an earlier fear that these could be mp3 CDRs I was relieved to find out they were cutouts. And given the price I wasn't surprised that that were, even if that wasn't the case in glorious 2006 blowout sale. Only 2 out the order were sawed with such ferocity that it caused the all center ring teeth to break. (I have plenty of spare cases around to replace that myself.) As far as the saw marks it's easy enough to flip the disc around (and upside down if need be) to have non-murdered spines to look at. I'll leave my estate to deal with the heartache that they're worth less because of the savage cuts.

Good & fascinating stuff! I'm lucky enough to stumble upon affordable Sinatra LPs at a certain regular garage sale so now I'll know to pay more attention to details.

I have the final 2 of the 3 coming in separate shipments that might arrive by today or tomorrow. Pure Getz, Fahey's The Voice Of The Turtle, or Stitt's Bitts are in the running. From the reports here I'm guessing one will be the Stitt. I actually kind of like the lottery aspect of this order. It's like Christmas in August not knowing exactly what I'll get from my wish list.

It's "Have to Change Keys to Play These Blues", so that's twelve songs Darn that return key. I love this music enough that even with the Mosaic I'll at least make a note and put the 2 disc set on my hunting list. In the meantime it's a great reminder to play what I have (and I do return to this set often.) Blind Willie Dunn? He just split with Brooks didn't he?