Dan Gould

At the risk of being guilty of the worst possible jinx, Jon Lester is mowing down the Rangers in nearly unbelievable fashion: Only 52 pitches (37 strikes) through five innings, no walks, no hits, 9 Ks. We gotta get some more runs on the board though - only a Mike Lowell home run is the difference right now. Now's the time I wish I had the money for Extra Innings. I wonder if MLB Network will break away from their Saturday game if he takes this into the eighth. They have to, don't they?

I'm glad the Rays held on - its great to see Mariano getting hit, he may turn out to be human after all - but its painfully obvious that its not 2008 anymore and the Rays bullpen has turned back into a pumpkin. They really need help there, as in several new arms, if they are going to repeat as division champs, let alone AL champs.

He also says that his eyes get dry when he is concentrating, like when he is at the plate, and he starts to have to blink a lot more than usual.

Gene composed quite a bit but they were all, or almost all, blues tunes that didn't make a lot of people want to play or record them.

That is one of the sillier rumors that will have no validity in the end. Number one, Francoer is the exact opposite of everything Theo has worked to develop on the major league roster - patience at the plate, a high OBP. Number two, of all the potential playoff competitors, do the Braves really need pitching? They think they have enough pitching to release Glavine, why would they want Penny? Penny will end up with a team like Philly or Texas, for a middle-grade prospect. And the sooner the better because after last night's stinker, and the one that is sure to come against the Yankees, I don't want to see Penny ever again. But if Penny goes to the Braves for Frenchy, I'll burn my Faith Rewarded DVD.

:party:

Have only downloaded disc 1, I'm going to keep disc 2 in abeyance until our able compiler posts his thoughts on my BFT. Track 1 - I'm very inclined to say I own this fine opener. Sounds modern, not vintage, and I am going to guess Greg Hatza Organ-ization. Probably wrong I know. Track 2 - Another very familiar sounding track, I very much enjoyed this one. I am probably way off here too but I'm going to go with Sir Charles Thompson with Percy France, off his Columbia album. Definitely a keeper, whoever it is. As for Tracks 3-8, none stood out for me in terms of possible guesses, and in all honesty, they ranged from "just OK" to "pretty good" but none were standouts like the first two tracks. Looking forward to disc 2, which I will quid just as soon as a certain quo is completed.

I want to say he played on another BN or two but I know nothing else about him. I've liked him when I've heard him.

It didn't occur to me that the family might get the full details, good point. Although it occurs to me that in the not-too-distant past it might have been pretty common to regard "suicide" as a less troubling cause of death than auto-erotic asphyxiation.

It's also strange that the plane does not send a position signal when flying in an off-radar zone. But that's an operational flaw for over-water flights, not a technical problem. SOP is to report position when passing a handful of navigational beacons, as I understand it.

Actually aside from the "embarrassment" I'd think the family might ultimately feel better that it was an accidental self-hanging rather than suicide. Suicide presupposes depression, and the family of someone with such a great future might spend a lot more time obsessing over whether or not there were "signs" and if they missed them. At least they knew the truth and didn't go to their own graves wondering "what if".

How about his on base percentage, which is atrocious for a lead off man? The fact is that they are unbeaten since this change, with decent run production for a change, and Ellsbury's on-base percentage has actually been a bit better hitting eighth (pitchers are less concerned with walking him when Lugo or Green are on deck). I'd like to see this lineup continue when Lowrie gets back, as he will be a better ninth hitter than Green or Lugo, with better patience. Ellsbury says that with his speed, pitchers don't want to nibble and that's why he doesn't draw walks. But he needs to take lessons from someone like Damon, who developed the ability to foul off the tough pitches until he got one he could handle or ultimately did draw a walk. That's how you become a top lead-off man - by getting the fuck on base, one way or the other! Until he does that, there should be no change in the lineup unless, by some crazy luck, Ortiz reclaims his #3 spot. I don't think its likely, but I've also noticed that he's really had appalling luck lately when he does get a hold of a pitch. A few long outs and scorched line drives with nothing to show for it.

Wikepedia has already added him to the Auto-erotic Asphyxiation page. Personally I always figured the reward couldn't be great enough to outweigh the risk. I'll stick with the traditional method, thanks!

Sure. Budget labels, in general, tended to release substandard recordings pressed on substandard vinyl and packaged in substandard cover art. Occasionally, by the law of averages, they would accidentally release a good or great record. By designation I meant this part of your post:

From the NYT: The description is quite harrowing, what I can't understand is why these automated messages, designed to give a "heads up" to maintenance personnel so that they have an idea of what needs to be repaired or looked at when the plane lands, would include a notification that autopilot had disengaged? Doesn't seem to me an issue for maintenance personnel to get advanced word about.

Believe me you don't want to - they are nasty MFs.

Crown was a budget label that released some ghastly records, but have these amazing gems spread across their catalog, including the greatest album ever made - "Jazz Heat, Bongo Beat" by the Latin Jazz All-Stars. Care to explain your designation?

Repeat thousands of times! You didn't mention "hope that you don't run out of usable fingers before you've killed all of them."

Federer is 26-1 lifetime against the remaining draw. If he's gonna win the French its gotta be now. I really hope he does because otherwise we'll probably see him bawling his eyes out again.

My thought exactly except that I think I may have more. Its very hard to justify that kind of cost for his first single, a bunch of unissued alternates, an unissued demo, and a fuller view of his later years, which I don't visit very often on the two CDs I already have.

I saw this, Conrad and my reaction is that its a very gutsy thing to do - not that Glavine is going to go anywhere else and pitch like its 1998. He's done, shot, toast, kaput, finished. The very fact that he completed his rehab against single A hitters says something. The fact is he was awful before needing surgery to continue his career. So its gutsy in the sense of cutting ties with a future hall of famer, former star in order to avoid paying him a million dollars, plus the risk that he might earn some portion of the incentives in his contract. But really, Braves fans should be glad to get on with the future by sticking with the great prospect and moving on. They'll be better off this year, and frankly I think any team willing to sign a washed up future Hall of Famer would be much better off with Pedro than with Glavine. I think the more significant transaction on this day is the trade for Nate McLouth for a bunch of minor leaguers. That's going to be a nice shot in the arm for the offense.

Must have taken up tennis due to the well known effects of her endowments on a woman's golf game.

I still regularly do searches by "Gene Harris" hoping to find a couple of long OOP Japanese-only releases by the Ray Brown Trio. This copy of a common Concord release at nearly $150 certainly makes this copy of the same album, which is autographed and half that price, look like a bargain.

That entire page is filled with productions that looked "backward" which makes it really ironic that he'd bitch about middle age white guys and the kind of jazz they prefer. And now that I know who the clown is, I find it even more remarkable that a Serb would take pot shots at people for being "racist".

I see that now, Free, and well deserved for a long time. I normally didn't buy into Chris Albertson's rants about people hiding behind screen names, but if you put yourself out there as someone who was in the middle of things back in the day, put your fucking name on your rants, or shut the hell up, or better yet, get your ass thrown out of here.