Dan Gould

Are we all going to be parked in front of the TV (or monitor) to catch the big debut tonight? I believe its on MLB Network. And Conrad, I think you're right that his mechanics are a great big warning sign: I hope the Nats savior doesn't suffer the same fate that Prior did. But they look like mirror images.

Ralph Moore was an early neo-bopper, getting his shot with Horace in the early 80s. Played in the first post-Carson Tonight Show Band for a while and then seems to have disappeared from the music world.

I could be wrong but I want to say that Red Holloway was a sideman on a BN date. Has Houston Person appeared on a BN since the relaunch? Pretty sure he never did during the first incarnation through the 70s. How about Ralph Moore? I know some don't like him but greatness in the ear of the beholder and I've enjoyed just about everything I've heard of his.

That Eddie Higgins was my "get" - a great afternoon spent with a fine gentleman of jazz. And very indulgent, too. Anywhoo - I'm sending a PM on: August 1990 – Houston Person/Irv Kluger Aprel 1994 – Teddy Edwards/Willem Beuker, pt. 2 April 2001 – Cedar Walton/Charles Gayle uly 1999 – Alan Silva/Michael Weiss August 1999 – Michael Weiss pt. 2/James Emery

I couldn't watch. Her mug broke my TV.

A certain website had the "best" performances from one night's shows. The samples sounded OK but I couldn't be moved to join in.

Just cause he didn't record for Blue Note ... :rolleyes:

Yeah, since I wrote that, he's won a Slam or two on something other than dirt. But why have you bolded so many non-Slam tournaments? :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

But there is a lot of talent with a track record, especially in the infield at 2B, 3B and 1Band LF. The one guy that needs to get his act together is Upton, who is officially turning into a disappointment. But the C from the Indians should provide some power when he's ready to start. I don't think a rough patch equates to being an insufficient offense. And for all the supposed trouble, they are fourth in the majors in runs scored (just happen to be fourth in the division, too). Plus Maddon thinks he's as smart as LaRussa, and his lineup changes probably have a lot to do with it. If he could figure out how to bat the pitcher 8th, he would.

Here are some interesting stats as we enter today's games with the top four teams in the AL East within 3.5 games of each other: Those top 4 also make up the highest run scoring offenses in the game. Red Sox 311 Yankees 310 Jays 292 Rays 287 First observation is that the worries about the Red Sox offense were completely misplaced. They've scored the most runs in the league and they've done it with essentially zero contribution from Ellsbury and Cameron, and a career minor leaguer getting most of the starts in CF. Second observation is that they still don't have a chance in hell unless the pitching performs up to expectations. Lester, Buchholz, Papelbon, Bard and MDC alone won't do it. Lackey has to pitch like an ace, a stopper, not just a guy who keeps his team in the game. And Beckett has got to be ready to roll when he does come back, which is now looking like the ASB. Wakefield is officially killing us, and Dice-K only kills us every other game. Runs allowed for those four teams tells the story: 1. Rays - 202 3. Yankees - 225 6. Jays - 242 9. Red Sox - 270 Really, when you get down to it, the Red Sox are lucky to be in position to have a shot, given their run differential in comparison to the other three teams. Is it remotely possible that there could be two teams in the AL East with 90-93 wins and nowhere to go in October? And could the third and fourth place teams have better records than the rest of the league, or at least one of the other division winners? The uneven schedule argues against it, but if everybody plays everyone else tough, the performance against Baltimore and the rest of the league will make the difference. As I mentioned before, the Kevin Gregg factor should count out the Jays, but right now it doesn't look like they are going to fade anytime soon.

And why Johnny will eventually fall behind everyone else, so long as the settings remain the way they are.

What's interesting is that the Yanks hadn't even faced the Jays til Friday (while the Jays have had two series each against the Rays and Red Sox). So they have a helluva lot of games left to go against them. The Yanks can't afford to play the Jays like they did Baltimore a couple of seasons ago. At least the Yanks have Baltimore and Houston coming up, and they aren't losing ground to the Rays since they've been beated twice by the Rangers.

I haven't watched Strasburg enough but Prior had appalling mechanics, with the obvious problem being the way his elbow rose above his shoulder, creating an inverted "W". I didn't know it til after he destroyed his career, but that's a major predictor of bad arm injuries for pitchers. More here.

Bluesmith is the one that I've wanted to find - now I see some kinda expensive CDs and a variety of LPs available but I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

The first looks like a good 'un to have available but I'm not so sure about anything "sweetened by a string section".

Eric is 100% correct. And I still haven't heard an explanation for what happens when a manager has used his allotment of challenges and something like this happens. There's absolutely no reason to assume that managers will hold a challenge to the end of the game - use 'em or lose 'em. Is the other manager supposed to use one of his in the name of "historical integrity"? Or maybe, in the limited situation of 26 outs in a near-perfect game, the umpires should huddle up and decide if anyone else thought he fucked it up, so they'll call a review. Actually Eric is a 1000% correct. So a perfect game didn't go into the record books. Big fucking deal! If it isn't killing the kid, why is it killing everybody else?

According to GoM, that's the call he should have given. There's supposed to be an unwritten rule. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Some "unwritten rule": http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/sports/baseball/03detroit.html?ref=sports

" ... a crime against the history of the game"?

Girardi is out of his freaking mind. And it could still very well happen with some sort of review regime if there is a limit on "challenges". What happens if there are two bang-bang plays earlier in the game that are challenged by the "perfect" pitcher's manager? Now he's got no more challenges left for the biggest call of the game. Should there be an automatic review by the umpires, like the ridiculous two-minutes-left-in-the-half rule in football? Or maybe the losing team should challenge a call that went in their favor? BAD CALLS ARE PART OF THE GAME. DEAL WITH IT AND DON'T FUCK UP THE BEST GAME IN THE WORLD.

The only way video review would possibly work is to have someone in the booth with the specific job of watching safe/out calls for over-turning. He sees something questionable, he hits the microphone and tells the home plate umpire to call time. He gets two or three looks at the play and makes his judgment. If one bad call at a big moment creates such a momentous change it will be a travesty of a mockery of a sham.

The thing is completely legit as a new sinkhole. AP has video up on their youtube channel.

I could not disagree more. Bad calls are a part of the game. It happens in games that should be "Perfect" and it happens in a game that should have ended a World Series and it happens in games that are instantly forgotten. The human aspect of umpiring is a part of the game and that cannot change. Not to mention the fact that the league is trying to keep games from going so long, and you want to expand the video review to bang-bang plays at a base? And you've lost me even more on this. No umpire should ever get caught up in the moment or possibly have a "preferred outcome" which your example would assume. Umps call it as they see it in the moment, and Joyce saw him safe. It was surely closer than Denkinger's blown call! Related to that is the fact that umps should be respected for the ability to ignore the jawing that they get, or after ringing up a manager for arguing balls and strikes, doing their best on the next pitch and the pitch after that, and not take out their own anger on the team that pissed them off. Lest you think I'm defending umps too much, let me say that I think that something has to be done about the a-holes who have made themselves the focus of a lot of games recently. As for Joyce, he's obviously not well-regarded by MLB. I saw that his last "marque" game assignments was an All-Star game and a World Series around the turn of the century. That's a long time to not earn another playoff shot. Ques-Tec must hate him.

You know why that fucking blind ump knows he fucked up the call? Because Cabrera jawed at him forever and he didn't get run out of the game. What a shame. What a pathetic excuse for an umpire.

Jon Lester was named AL Pitcher of the Month and David Ortiz was named AL Player of the month. Take that, Dave James!