Dan Gould

Not to derail this but don't forget to get back to me re McCracklin, Clem. I am curious as to your view of the breadth of his career and his soul period specifically.

I don't know where you came up with this but it is not correct. People who have owned their home a long time do have lower assessed values due to the limitations imposed by Proposition 13 (no more than a 2% increase per year). Actual purchase price is not the basis for property taxes, assessed value (subject to the limitations of state law) is.

I have the latest two Ace compilations, Volumes 1 and 2 of Jimmy and His Blues Blasters, so I assume I've got that one covered ... also found Blast 'Em Dead, an earlier, vinyl only Ace comp of Peacock sides - "She Felt Too Good" has some pretty funny lyrics.

I'm curious where clem places Jimmy McCracklin in the soul genre. Just recently I got a hold of one of his Imperial LPs and then an EMI comp of his Imperial and Minit sides that I also enjoyed a lot. For the breadth of his work from "Miss Mattie Left Me" on, I do believe Jimmy is an unjustly neglected master.

The Globe is reporting that Ortiz and Lowell will get the nod Saturday night. In a sense Youk might be more dangerous off the bench than Papi for the simple fact that his appearance won't necessarily mean the immediate entry of the best lefty the Rockies have. In other words, they won't necessarily make a pitching change to face Youk whereas they'll be hell bent on keeping Ortiz from being a difference maker. With a righty on the mound in games three and four, I think it makes sense to start with Ortiz and see what his bat produces and if his defense hurts. When they get the lead I wouldn't be surprised to see Youk in for defensive purposes sooner, like the seventh or no later than the eighth rather than waiting til the ninth. In related news, Ellsbury will lead off and Pedroia will bat second. That works better for me than moving Drew out of his suddenly productive spot at 6 or 7, though Ellsbury hasn't really hit much so far in this series.

Couple of other observations: Right before that critical pickoff, I watched Holliday start to take his lead and thought to myself "Paps never pays attention to runners - he figures if the hitter can't put it in play, it won't matter" and then BOOM - Holliday is caught in the middle of a step and is out by a mile. Despite his continued postseason success, I still say that Theo should tell big Curt "thanks for the memories" and let him go. I just can't see him competing against the AL East with that stuff when he is 41. Schilling has got to go to the NL to finish up his career - I'd say the Phillies but his veteran presence might be nullified by way too many home runs in that little park. San Diego would actually be a great place because of how big the outfield is, and actually San Diego would have another great benefit: Greg Maddux. Schilling wants to go somewhere to mentor young pitchers, the fact is that with his diminished velocity, he could use some mentoring himself from one of the greatest pitchers whose fastball could never break a pane of glass. With some help from Maddux and that big outfield, Schilling could even manage to pitch a couple more years. The Mets might be another potential landing spot but I think that would absolutely kill Pedro if twice in five years he had to watch Schilling be brought in as the "missing piece" of a championship team. Pedro hated him then and Schilling getting the spotlight made it easier for Pedro to leave for a team where he'd be the undisputed ace. So if Minaya cares what his little prima donna wants, he won't go after Curt. As for the question of who sits in Denver, it looks like Tito is leaning strongly towards keeping Lowell and Papi in the lineup and sitting Youk, who only leads all of baseball this month in hits and runs and is tied for the lead in home runs. Yet Tito was quoted as saying that playing Youk at third means playing two guys "out of position" and that Papi would get rested only if his knee demands it. Mark me down as less than pleased.

Was it just me or did it seem like the home plate umpire was giving about three inches in every direction on the strike zone? I swear, if Dice-K had been pitching he might have ended up with 10 Ks or more with that ump. Very tense game but it really seems as though the Rockie bats went to sleep after the layoff - Helton, Hawpe, Atkins, most of them just aren't hitting a lick. If that doesn't change in Denver, I can't see how this is coming back to Boston. Even with the shorter lineup in the NL park, Fogg and his 5 ERA should get hammered. I am inclined to agree with Marty that Ortiz should sit. Keep the defense strong on the corners, and Papi's knee trouble makes it easier to justify keeping him off the field. I think I'd drop Youkilis into the three spot and move Ellsbury to the two-hole.

The plaintiff has absolutely no compelling argument whatsoever, and the American Bar Association official quoted makes it clear that he wouldn't stand a chance in a US court anyway. He was damn lucky they offered him the maximum payout in the first place.

I don't think there is any question this is a must-win game for the Rockies. With Fogg pitching Game 3 and another mediocrity starting Game 4 in his first start since August, the Rockies have to have their rookie fireballer come up huge while the bats need to knock Schilling around. Not saying its impossible but I'll be mighty impressed if this youngster comes up bigger at Fenway than Sabathia or Carmona did. If the Red Sox bats stay hot, Beckett may not even have to pitch again.

seems to me Aloc is the one who should be living near that one. He'd have figured it out much sooner. In honor of the World Series, I'd rename the street Jim saw "Cup Check".

Even the Rockies are admitting as much. Funny, I think if they hadn't run into a pitcher at least as hot as they "were", they wouldn't be saying the layoff hurt, they'd be saying how hot they still are. If Schilling holds them to five runs or less, it will take a minor miracle for them to get their hoped-for split at Fenway, and that four or five game prediction by It Could Be You will be exactly right, only he got the team wrong. According to what I read, Ubaldo Jiminez can really throw the hard stuff, so I wouldn't be so sure that the Rockies can't win if they score 5 or less tonight. If he can somehow match a Beckett performance, a low scoring win is possible. He also has a nasty curveball he throws in the low 70s. The reason I am only mildly concerned is that his ERA on the road is horrible (5+) and he also has the worst control of any Rocky starter (4+ walks per 9 IP). Anything can happen, and maybe he comes up big, but to me, a rookie going into a WS game 2 on the road with those stats, a Carmona-like implosion has to be more likely than a shut-down type game. We'll see. Marty, I trust you are rooting for the AL team, right?

Even the Rockies are admitting as much. Funny, I think if they hadn't run into a pitcher at least as hot as they "were", they wouldn't be saying the layoff hurt, they'd be saying how hot they still are. If Schilling holds them to five runs or less, it will take a minor miracle for them to get their hoped-for split at Fenway, and that four or five game prediction by It Could Be You will be exactly right, only he got the team wrong.

Its not a question of Gagne vs Tavarez; Gagne was going to be on the roster regardless. Snyder got the spot ahead of Tavarez as long man. Its obvious that Tavarez has fallen precipitously, especially when you consider his ground ball tendencies and their potential value at Coors. Hopefully it won't matter a bit, but I would have preferred Tavarez, not least because of his ability to come out of the pen and give several innings and if necessary, do it again the next day. I don't think Snyder has been called upon to pitch very long or very often.

According to Foxsports.com, Jimenez is starting game 2 at Fenway and Fogg is starting Game 3 at home. If that is true, and the splits hold up, I LOVE IT! Since when did FoxSorts gain any credibility? So you hold court with Tim McCarver now? Oooo. Bad omen, Dan. Tim McCarver has nothing to do with what is reported on the website, and ESPN is reporting the exact same thing. I should have mentioned that I never have the sound on when Fox broadcasts these games, so I was thankfully unaware of McCarver's man-love for Manny Being Manny. If he went that overboard in his praise, that's just one more reason to keep the sound off. Youk's splits by where he bats in the lineup is very telling. Far and away his best "spot" is in the two-hole. Earlier in the season Tito tried to use him elsewhere, particularly when Drew and Varitek were in the depths of their slumps, and also when he was trying to get Lugo and Crisp going at the top of the order. But its clear that Youk feasts on the fastballs that tend to be thrown before Papi and Manny step into the box. Well, as was mentioned above, Wake is out. Not official yet but its believed that Lester gets his start. My best guess is that Tito likes the idea of Beckett, Schilling, Dice, Lester, Beckett, Schilling, Dice. It keeps everyone on regular rest or a day extra; it puts Schilling into the Game 6 spot where, heaven forbid, he might be needed to extend the series to a Game 7, and if it comes down to that, Tito can have Beckett available in the pen for an "all hands on deck" finale.

"Tornado Alley" also has that fault line (Madrid?) that is going to pulverize all of the brick homes in St. Louis one day and is probably more overdue than any of the other fault line areas.

I think the problem here is that you took my statement to be a personal attack or a criticism of your poll. NOT! I said "Good music is beyond category and I think people who close their ears to a broad spectrum of music short-change themselves." You may not agree with that, but you should not twist it into something it never was: an insulting assertion. That, Dan, is an interpretation without "basis in logic." I guess I find the notion of picking first and second favorite genres to be limiting. I didn't take it as a personal attack, and I in fact tend to agree with your assertion. It just isn't related to the poll. Saying that I, for instance, consider blues to be my second favorite genre doesn't imply that I short-change myself by "closing my ears to a broad spectrum of music," for the simple fact that I never said I don't have other genres of interest.

According to Foxsports.com, Jimenez is starting game 2 at Fenway and Fogg is starting Game 3 at home. If that is true, and the splits hold up, I LOVE IT!

The problem is that choosing a second favorite genre does not in anyway imply "closing ears to a broad spectrum of music". Why is that a "problem"? Because it asserts something ("what is your second favorite genre?"="closing your ears to a broad spectrum of music") that has no basis in logic or reality. If I started a poll that asks the question "are there any other genres than jazz you even bother with?" then Chris might assert that good music is beyond category and that people who close their ears to a broad spectrum of music short-change themselves. That's not what I did in this poll.

The problem is that choosing a second favorite genre does not in anyway imply "closing ears to a broad spectrum of music".

For what its worth, the Red Sox supplanted the Yankees this year as the leader in road attendance. So, maybe its not so surprising that a World Series with the Red Sox is giving Fox and the advertisers a stiffie. No offense to Tribe fans but I'm not sure that they'd be quite so excited is the Indians had won on Sunday.

And now it is official: Wakefield is left off the roster due to an injured shoulder. No official word that Lester will start in Colorado, but I think he could do fine as a lefty against that lineup, and it keeps Mirabelli on the bench. I am going to guess that this brings Julian Tavarez onto the roster, which is fine by me. We could use a long reliever at some point and if it happens in Colorado, his sinker could help stop the bleeding.

I'm really not very concerned about this; the fact is that players live at close enough quarters in the clubhouses that throughout the season, one or another suffered "flu symptoms" that would then be suffered by someone else and then someone else. I assume it happens in other clubhouses too, or else I'd be more concerned about just how "close" the Red Sox are. It isn't just Wakefield at Coors where he apparently has trouble with his knuckler knuckling; it is also the concept of Mirabelli in a lineup that will be missing one of Ortiz/Youk/Lowell. Not to mention that Schilling pitching Game 3 puts him in line to pitch Game 7, and we all know what his record is in elimination games. Fenway's positive impact on runs isn't as great as it once was; as you probably know, it plays pretty damn big from RF to CF. Schilling learned three years ago that you can be a fly ball pitcher and succeed there, if the fly balls go to the right part of the park. More importantly, there seems to be some question about Wakefield's availability, which may allow them to start Lester. He's probably as likely as Dice to get pounded, or only give five or six serviceable innings. But then again he might look pretty good against their lefties. His second appearance in the ALCS was quite impressive. Precisely why it would be nice to break that streak without the Yankees being involved. Not to mention my earlier comment that some Yankee fans think it will be another 86 year drought for the Red Sox. Shutting them up, and going up 2-0 in World Championships this decade, will be sweet.

Is that the cube of the three live CDs that were out previously? Because I'd be surprised if you couldn't pick up the original reissues very easily.

I'll be damned - that works for me (tested on the rodcast version). Yep, she went the other way. Yep, works for me to. Well at least I know that I have both sides, FWIW. Does not work for me ... but Catesta's bottle cap keeps doing these weird loop-de-loops.

Patrick, while I agree that Manny is and will always remain a mediocre fielder (and sometimes worse), credit has to be given where it is due. He's had the time to learn the peculiarities of the wall, and his throws to second are strong, accurate, and with a very quick release. Its not that Lofton wouldn't go against a different Sox outfielder, its that Lofton would have reached easily 5 years ago. On the issue of Red Sox fan arrogance, I am afraid that the bandwagon has filled with know-nothing fans who feel entitled to championships, probably because they've never actually experienced the heartbreak and certainly never got conditioned to expect it. Its unfortunately true that the bandwagon will probably fill to over-flowing if they get it done this week, but I'm willing to deal with the jerks anyway. The Rockies have a shot if they are unaffected by the layoff (somewhat unlikely, IMO) and if their pitchers come up big. Otherwise I see it going somewhere in between the Angels series and the Tribe series - 5 games, most likely.