Dan Gould

I don't know if people are paying attention, but there is more from 1964 available today: JJ Johnson Quartet with Harold Mabern Max Roach with Clifford Jordan & Abbie Lincoln Brubeck and Desmond OP with Ray Brown and Thigpen I am definitely going to ask for a Wolfgang membership for my b-day in September. For $50 you get $50 worth of downloads, plus discounts on purchases, higher bitrate streams and no monthly limit of streaming.

My question would be, what is the position of Monk's son on their legitimacy? If the family says they are boots, I'm inclined to believe them. As for Miles, why would the estate question the issue of the Stockholm recordings other than the fact it never saw any payment on it? If its a technicality - "commercial release not explicitly forbidden" - then I still say its not a legitimate release.

I nominate Boston.

The Stockholm concert source was perfectly legitimate. Source for the Dragon/DIW releases was The Swedish Radio. That hardly means that the commercial release was legitimate, if the musicians agreed to be broadcast but didn't agree, and never got paid, for the sale of a commercial recording. Or maybe when the World Series comes around, I should run my DVR then release my own DVD set. My source will be Fox Sports, and the players and MLB approved the broadcast of the games. Perfectly legitimate.

Since Mark brought it up, I feel compelled to point out that the UK has a very similar law. May not impact whether you think its a Jewish purity thing or not but interesting nonetheless.

The premise of the story is ludicrous on its face. In my wife's experience as a loan processor, no loan of any type have ever required a chain of title stretching back more than 24 months, let alone something as preposterous as 200+ years. Cute story, stupid premise.

There's not a fucking chance in hell.

Just what I was afraid was going to happen when you announced the hiatus, but as you say, all good things must come to an end. Its good to know that everyone has plans and schemes going forward. I sure do wish I'd have had another chance to hear the group in person and hang with you guys backstage. Best to everyone and I hope that Joe plans to continue to stop by here.

I've got 3 Cannonball concert broadcasts from 1969, all supposedly from March, all with Roy McCurdy.

Wouldn't surprise me if its been offered on Dime, and in fresher sound. But aside from that suspicion, I couldn't say.

Lee in Texas, Werth solidifying the Rays lineup? Me would likey, no make that me would fucking love that as it would put the MFY back on their heels come October. And just as I fucking predicted it, the west coast trip is bringing disaster. They fail a golden opportunity to pick up ground on both teams in front of them last night, and today, with Tampa and NY already booking wins, Buchholz is struggling, there's no offense in sight and this will be a series loss soon enough. Two more like that and they'll limp back to Boston with 55 wins and 60 games to play. David, why do you possibly "fear" Boston? Do you think that 95 wins will make the playoffs this year? Do you think that when healthy - and assuming that they actually are healthy by 29 July, they can go better than 40-20 the rest of the way? Every fucking loss puts them further behind the eight-ball, because the reality is that Pedroia doesn't return til August anyway. Are they going to somehow go 40-15? Maybe they'll somehow sneak through by winning every single remaining game against NY and Tampa. That's the point they are reaching - the same as when you were a kid and couldn't face facts, so you invented scenarios where "we've got 9 games left and 6 against the Yankees, all they gotta do is sweep them!" Fucking asinine fantasy.

* Spelling Remained A Challenge Til The End

He's been shaky since June: ERA of about 4.65 and an OPS allowed of .808 in June and .754 in July - before tonight. And as David's article basically says - he has been a two-pitch pitcher, and after one time through the lineup, that is hurting him. And W-L records aren't really appropriate measures - the guy was getting the most run support in the majors the last time I heard. I tell you what, it makes me more appreciative of the way Buchholz has put it together, because he has a legit 4 pitch arsenal - four-seamer, cutter, curveball and change, plus a nice little slider and he uses all of them. And there's a guy who had serious "mental" issues early on. Obsessive throwing over to 1B when someone would get on, and a terrible inability to limit damage. The funny thing now is that his SO rate is down, and its not the greatest K/BB ratio but he has had consistent success because its clicked for him - don't try to overpower people, and don't obsess over whatever happened before. Deal with the guy in front of you and make your pitch, chances are they won't hurt you.

IMHO, the reality is that Hughes remains a two-pitch pitcher. When he commands the fastball (and especially when he gives it a little more giddyup) and the curve he gets major leaguers out. But does he throw a sinker or a change with any effectiveness to give hitters something else to think about? If you remember the axiom that pitchers are ahead of hitters early in the season, you might come to the conclusion that his numbers weren't better because he had better stuff, or more confidence, but basically for the same reason that he dominated in the spring to win the job - the hitters just needed to get into the flow and the weather just needed to warm up to get a better idea about him. The fact is that they are going to make the playoffs, and if they don't add a reliever - or do add a starter, he could easily go back to the pen where, come to think of it, there seems to be an opening for an eighth inning guy.

Lucky you're focusing on official releases. The number of radio broadcasts and soundboards of Monk concerts that show up in the trading community and on sites like Dime is astounding. And some are probably even better than some of the best released concerts.

Today was a perfect example of why the Red Sox are FINITO, FINISHED, KAPUT, DONE - instead of building on yesterday's surprising comeback, they still end up losing three of four to Texas when the offense continues to suck donkey dicks and their ace has a rare bad game. Another reason why they are FINITO, FINISHED, KAPUT, DONE - Theo says that the goal every year is 95 wins and bases that on a presumption that it will be enough to qualify for the playoffs. Well, I did some calculating before today's game, and I figured that with 71 games left, they'd have to win at a .607 clip the rest of the way - but every loss they rack up, like this one, before anyone gets healthy and returns to action, is yet another win they've got to make up as time keeps slipping away. Let's presume they go 3-7 on this west coast trip and return to Fenway at 55-47. That leaves 60 games to play, and they'd need to win 40 of them. Pedroia and Martinez will still be at least a week away from returning, and they'd have to start and sustain .667 ball for two full months. Yeah fucking right. :rolleyes: And to top it off: 95 wins won't be enough to make the playoffs anyway! Realistically, 97 might get you to a one-game playoff. This season was fucked away the moment Pedroia's bat hit the ball in San Francisco, and that was only reinforced a few days later when the ball collided with V-Mart's thumb. Color me tickled pink though that Petttitte has gone down with his boo-boo in the groinal region. Now there's a chance that Tampa will overtake the MFY, hopefully leaving the defending champions to face Cliff Lee twice in a short series without the home field advantage.

A rough start by Andy Pettitte, or is this the beginning of his inevitable regression toward the mean? 4 hits and 3 ERs in just 1/3 of an inning so far, and A-Rod just saved another hit and run with a stab of a hot liner from Gabe Kapler. By "regression to the mean" I of course refer to Pettitte's ridiculous BABIP stats this year, which are undoubtedly the cause of his sub 3.00 ERA. Heading into the game he had allowed a .268 BABIP, the lowest of his career, and a level that he has only come close to one time in Houston against weaker lineups. All of his other stats are right where you'd expect them to be - HR rate, BB rate, SO rate. Yet his BABIP is freakishly low - he's had only one AL season in his career where he achieved a sub .300 BABIP, and that was at .297. My quick and dirty calculation of his career BABIP - weighting each AL season equally - shows a .317 career rate. I'm not smart enough to calculate how many more hits that might be over the rest of the season, but if Pettitte's luck is running out, I'd expect his ERA and general results to start trending upward. May this only be the start ...

Sad news all around. Cherish the memories. I'm glad to realize I have a few CDs on which Ludwig appeared - I'll be pulling out Bob DeVos Groove Guitar and Scott Hamilton Across The Tracks but I'm really looking forward to revisiting Keep That Groove Going, led by Red and Plas. A terrific disc but I'll be paying the most attention to Mr. Ludwig.

Today's outcome falls under the heading "a stopped watch is right twice a day". They are a stopped watch - DONE! FINITO!! ADIOS, MUCHACHOS!

How about the entire fucking roster? Even when they get a good start, they get their asses beat. Three in a row, plummeting like a rock out of contention. I said they'd be lucky to be 5 games back by the time July is over. I say now the deficit will be ten games. You cannot fucking hope to compete when you lose so many pivotal players, but most of all Pedroia and Martinez. This "league leading offense" has averaged 3.82 runs per game since Pedroia was disabled (I'm not counting the 14 run outburst in Toronto, but even with that outlier, the average is just over 4 and way off the league leading pace they had with something vaguely resembling the lineup they anticipated. They are fucking done.

Abraham was a Yankee beat writer for years before he got the Globe job, and while he's from MA and went to school there, he's on record as saying the only New England team he cares about is the Patriots.

I saw that - Bill Madden ripped them for it in the Daily News and said it happened because Steinbrenner isn't around to make sure some players were there. After all of the sniffling about it - where the hell is Jeter or Reggie? Embarrassing.

Several interesting concerts released today, all from the 1964 Newport Jazz Festival: Count Basie Getz, with Gary Burton, Astrud Gilberto and Chet Baker George Russell with Thad Jones, John Gimore and Sheila Jordan Mose Allison

:party:

Greater stupidity you will never find. Happy hunting indeed. I mean, Jesus Christ Timmy, everybody in the fucking baseball universe understands that strength adds distance to fly balls. How many fly balls die at the warning track? With a little added "juice" - from a bottle or from the gym with no chemical help - how many fly into the stands? This ain't fucking rocket science. And pitching isn't just throwing strikes you moronic joke. Going from 92-94 back up to 97-98 doesn't help a pitcher? Having the stamina to pitch deeper into games doesn't help? No one ever said that steroids help you throw strikes you fucking tool.