Dan Gould

See, Marty? THIS is why I'm thinking about over-stamping anything I mail in the near future!

The one factor you don't mention is the likelihood that enough writers will make their own judgements that regardless of what he might have accomplished, unjuiced, they believe he juiced and they won't vote him in. Remember, while steroids may not have been explicitly banned by MLB at the time, they were a controlled substance and possession without a prescription violated federal law.

Not all that bad but one time we were on final approach into Newark (and I mean, under 1000 feet) when all of a sudden the pilot went to full throttle and we climbed at a very steep angle. Everyone was looking at each other when the pilot apologized and explained that there had been aircraft on our runway.

Absolutely no doubt in my mind that Cal is in, right off the bat. If he isn't, send me an Orioles cap and I'll eat it.

I agree. McGuire was a shoe-in at one point, but if he cops to steroids after the statute of limitations expires, then he'll be finished. Admitting using them will be even worse than the way he handled the congressional hearing. I'll say right now that the chances are maybe 10% that McGuire makes it. Pretty sad.

We should probably wait til this year is done before talking about 2007 and beyond, but here are the upcoming first-time candidates, courtesy of Jayson Stark (my expected first-year electees in italics): 2007 Harold Baines, Derek Bell, Dante Bichette, Bobby Bonilla, Jeff Brantley, Jay Buhner, Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco, Eric Davis, Tony Fernandez, Tony Gwynn, Darryl Hamilton, Pete Harnisch, Charlie Hayes, Glenallen Hill, Ken Hill, Stan Javier, Wally Joyner, Ramon Martinez, Mark McGwire, Paul O'Neill, Gregg Olson, Cal Ripken Jr., Bret Saberhagen, Jeff Shaw, Kevin Tapani, Devon White, Bobby Witt 2008 Shawon Dunston, Travis Fryman, David Justice, Mike Morgan, Tim Raines, Randy Velarde 2009 Mark Grace, Rickey Henderson, Dean Palmer, Dan Plesac, Matt Williams 2010 Andres Galarraga, Edgar Martinez, Robin Ventura Stark notes in his column that Rice has only three more shots after this year. I know that the number of votes he needs is still fairly high, but at this point I'd be happy he cracks 70% this year, because historically, virtually everyone who reaches that level has eventually made it, and after Gwynn and Cal go in a year from now, Rice will still have two more chances, and only Rickey Henderson is a first-year inductee in the group for 2008-09.

Its definitely been a pain in the ass at the PO lately, between holiday shipping and now the postage increase. Last time, I used the automated machine thingy for my package shipping, which is great because its as if no one understands what it does and you can beat a huge line in a minute or two. Now with the two cent increase, if things don't improve, I am thinking about using my last half packet of .37 stamps two at a time til they're gone, then buy a new roll at the new price. Call it my way of helping the USPS fight that never-ending operating deficit. And, keep my sanity by avoiding those lines.

I don't need the search function to find the political forum. I re-read the beginings of the thread and it still looks like the thread was moved and then Chris stopped posting for a few days. How does Dan know he left? Does he post with his broadband connection and then watch the political forum with a dial up connection on another machine? http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...topic=21591&hl= Read post 7. Hell, you're such a dumb fuck, you even posted in the very same thread. But what can you expect from a "musician" whose most complimentary press is, "It's fundamentally static, but I can listen to literally hours of the stuff. Its the best thing since Prozac."

Or just have it in for me because, like a former smoker who's now militantly anti-smoking, I am a reformed Political Forum junkie. Having seen how much better the board is without that garbage, I do my best to insure it doesn't infect the rest of the board. Albertson is no doubt sick of preaching to the choir and continuously starts topics in the Miscellaneous Forum which are obviously political in nature and I keep calling him on it. It even led him to "leave" the board but that obviously didn't take and now that a topic is posted without the slightlest connection to politics except the historical fact that the man had joined the Nazi party gives Chris leave to post as a fool does.

I finally broke open my favorite Christmas present, the Ray Charles Atlantic box set, and in reading the very nicely laid out book, I was struck by this statement by Jerry Wexler: What do you think? Is this liner note hyperbole? While he doesn't refer to "hard bop" there's no doubt that the root of that style was the "return to the roots" of blues and gospel, and its often given as a "reaction" to the rise of West Coast jazz that was supposedly neutered of these characteristics. At the same time, I can imagine that Ray had an influence, but I'd rather hear it specifically from the people Wexler mention (or any others) before taking it as, ahem, gospel truth. I guess I fall on the side of "probably true, but also probably overstated." What do you guys think? I do believe its an interesting question, I hope some of the more perceptive members will offer their thoughts (I'm kinda afraid of what Allen might say, as many of his comments lead me to think he pretty much dismisses "soul jazz" out of hand) .

Good piece in today's Times about Hall of Fame balloting through the years:

What a ridiculous comparison. Guidry pitched til he was 37, and his career ended due to his ineffectiveness. Koufax quit at 30, his best years ahead of him, and in his last five years, had gone 129-34. Guidry went 48-40 in his last five seasons. Guidry won one Cy Young and two ERA titles. Koufax won three Cy Youngs and five ERA titles. Guidry was awesome for one year, very good for two others (his other two 20 win seasons), and decent in a fourth year (18-8). That isn't anywhere near HoF calibre, and to compare it to Koufax is just nuts. A better comparison might be to El Tiante, who had four 20 win seasons and a lifetime ERA that was more than half a run better. Dan - Bill James, who is, or at least was, employed by your beloved Sox, made the comparison. I didn't. And neither he nor I made the claim that Guidry belongs in the Hall - please read my post. I believe that James was making the point that statistics aren't everything. I'm surprised that you would bring Tiant's name up as a possibility for the HoF. I seem to remember that he was another traitor/"Judas" who took the bucks and joined the Evil Empire. Just because someone is connected to the Sox or disassociates themselves has nothing to do with whether they get a free pass on stupidity or recognition of their talent.

Yeah? Didja know about this one? I bow to no man in my admiration of Teddy!

You're a fool, Albertson. This is an obit about an historical figure. Not a dumb-ass Frank Rich column about gays, the religious right, and the culture war. And I find it hysterical that you talk about hissy fits when it was YOU who announced your "departure" from this board after that very thread WAS moved. Have you seriously still not perceived the reason? Well, as I said, you ARE a fool.

What a ridiculous comparison. Guidry pitched til he was 37, and his career ended due to his ineffectiveness. Koufax quit at 30, his best years ahead of him, and in his last five years, had gone 129-34. Guidry went 48-40 in his last five seasons. Guidry won one Cy Young and two ERA titles. Koufax won three Cy Youngs and five ERA titles. Guidry was awesome for one year, very good for two others (his other two 20 win seasons), and decent in a fourth year (18-8). That isn't anywhere near HoF calibre, and to compare it to Koufax is just nuts. A better comparison might be to El Tiante, who had four 20 win seasons and a lifetime ERA that was more than half a run better.

I wouldn't be at all surprised that this really is a necessary warning. Two, three feet of snow on a flat roof, I can picture a lot of people who are worried about the weight of all that snow, thinking about lugging that thing out a window. But the rest ...

Just ordered from Da Bastards, but I'm wondering if anyone can shed light on this one: As in, was this reissued, perhaps under a different title? It all looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place such a session as being with Blue Mitchell and Barry Harris, so I went for it. Gots to be good, right?

Definitely sad news. Perhaps we can be grateful that he didn't linger and suffer very long. Now I know I'm gonna be cleaning the house to Stormy Monday, Live and Black and Blue today.

I think the same show was posted on Dime a Dozen a few months ago. The "info file" said this:

Finally, maybe some good news in Boston? Manny Says He's Staying In Boston. Of course, we still have to replace He Who Shall Not Be Named and Rent-a-Wreck, too. But Manny in Boston means protection for Papi and lots more run production than almost any other option out there. The only player I'd accept for Manny is Tejada, and it doesn't look like that will happen.

The Van Dyke is the place for live jazz. The Miami Zoo is very good, if that would appeal to the kids. If you're looking to hunt for jazz CDs, try the CD Collector on Sunrise in Fort Lauderdale. Not a long drive from Hollywood, maybe twenty minutes. Go east off of I-95. Where Federal Highway splits off and goes north, stay to the right. Go through one light and then take the next right into the parking lot. If you go too far you'll pass another light then a bridge over the intracoastal, with a Borders on the other side. I'd recommend that Borders but the jazz selection has gone to hell. But CD Collector has an excellent selection of used jazz, even some decent used LPs.

Twenty minutes further south, I can say, "Ditto!"

Gene Harris made a record, "Don't Call me Nigger, Whitey" ... I think its on Blue Break Beats Volume 3. Not that I recommend it or anything.

Frank Burns George Burns Morgan Freeman

I feel as though I did miss the Rose Bowl, cuz I turned it off and went to bed when Southern Cal opened up the 12 point lead. It looked to me like it was USC's defense that was stepping up, and no way UT could stop them enough to get two scored in 5 minutes. You can imagine how surprised I was when I woke up and saw ESPN's home page. I probably should have taken a lesson from Tuesday night, when I bailed on the Orange Bowl after Penn State had the first down inside the 20 in regulation. I was sure they'd kick the winning field goal and had no interest in witnessing the inevitable defeat of my beloved Seminoles. 'Course, I was wrong, but only in the details, and at least I missed out on a lot of the aggravation that went with the disappointment.