Dan Gould

A fine idea but since Midnight Blue has come out as a regular reissue and an RVG, they'd have done that already. Hopefully though it is on Michael's radar and we'll see it out in the same form that he originally produced it for the Japanese market.

I guess I should be glad that my birthday was last month and not this month, as I managed to score an audiophile pressing of a Ray Brown Trio album from them then. As everyone says, great service (Rick made it free shipping when he heard it was a birthday present for myself, even though I had removed the other item from the order and taken it down under $50.) As for prices, as Lon says, some great deals in the past. I wouldn't order stuff that wasn't on sale, but I've gotten some great stuff at excellent prices in the past, including a David Hazeltine Venus CD for only $14.99 (Cadence is usually best at $20) and I got a couple of Japanese Universal reissues of Argo/Cadet albums for $13.99. Japanese reissues at domestic prices = happy customer. Hopefully Red Trumpet will make it through this crunch period.

I'm with you, a terrific series of recordings. Just impossible to choose among them, although the strings album never quite did it for me, relatively speaking. But God bless Granz for recording Ben so much.

On a Misty Night is a good 'un, and I'm not just talking about the tune.

Considering that at the moment, the Hurricane Center's strike probability for West Palm Beach - 2% - is the same as the probability of it hitting New Orleans I think its a tad early to start thinking in those terms just yet.

You are so freaking paranoid it makes it easy to WANT to root against you.

Those are some big IFs, I'm sure you know. Manny probably sings "Meet the Mets" at least once a day, and Herr Steinbrenner is practicing writing Damon's full name. Going to be a significant offseason for the Red Sox, whatever happens. Yet if Damon wants to be a Cub, I won't complain. ← Neither would I! The fact is, there are conflicting signals about Manny all the time. There was word put out by a rep that he wants to meet with ownership about the "direction" of the team, as in, I want to stay, and I hope you're going to do this or that to improve the ball club. Nevertheless, it seems likely they'll explore the options once again. As far as Damon goes, there are indications within the Yankees that they are not so high on him at all. They also worry about how many years it may take to get him signed and whether he'll be Bernie Williams-like by the last couple of years of the deal. Damon is more likely to end up with the Angels, I think, but hopefully the Cubs do what they can and ultimately he realizes he has the best possible world at Fenway.

With Papelbon in the rotation, Hansen in the bullpen and a healthy and effective Schilling and Foulke, I think you know who I am picking. The Sox next year may have the deepest pitching staff in their history, and that's without making any improvements from without, like Burnett. So long as the offense isn't eviscerated by letting Damon go or an ill-advised trade to get out from Manny's contract, the team will be very tough to beat. And they'll do it with a fresh influx of youth, from Pedroia and Youklis in the starting lineup to Delcarmen, Hansen and Papelbon on the staff, and Jon Lester waiting in the wings, while the Yanks are getting older and older and older and older and older ...

Wait til next year when the Yanks are the Wild Card.

Opening for Scofield, huh? Considering that recent thread, you might want to come up with a definitive statement on taping and distribution, and possibly post armed guards to make sure the Sco fans don't decide for themselves that your music in their air is free game.

Shades of the 1986 ALCS/Donnie Moore/Hendu homer. But somehow I doubt that Lidge will kill himself or that the Astros will roll over and play dead for the next two.

PUJOLS JUST HOMERED!!! Nolan Ryan looks like he's about to be sick!!!

This is really not an accurate statement, at least not as far as the White Sox are concerned. On August 1, the White Sox stood at 69-35, the Indians at 55-51. On September 24 (the high water mark for the Indians) the White Sox were 93-61. They'd gone 24-26 over the last 50 games. The Indians were 92-63 and had gone a remarkable 37-12 over the previous 49. Go back a bit further. From the all-star break, July 14, (58-29) to September 24, the White Sox were 35-36. They were supremely mediocre until they got their shit together the last week of the season, and got themselves primed for the playoffs. Remember, it takes two for a comeback/collapse. The Indians came back and the White Sox played poorly enough to let them. Hell, late in the season, they had the same second-half winning percentage as the Colorado Rockies.

As a lifelong Cub fan, I'll take exception to that. So would the many fans who still follow them despite not having any payoff (yet). ← I also take exception to it, being from a family of Cubs fans. Hell, my MOTHER would keep the scorecard when we used to go to Shea Stadium for Cub-Mets doubleheaders after we moved to Long Island. There were plenty of bandwagon joiners for the Red Sox last year - dumb ass chicks who thought Damon was so cute or whatever. Doesn't make the core fans any less passionate or any less knowledgeable or any less committed.

The only way I'll jump is if it means that the Baseball Gods (you know, the ones that cursed the White Sox for throwing the Series) are indeed working their way backwards and will spread their pixie dust on the CUBS next year. Then I'm all in favor of a White Sox championship. But til then, its GO CARDINALS or GO ASTROS.

Time to wallpaper Amazon with some reviews!

What a difference a couple of weeks makes. September 25, the White Sox are in free fall, the lead just 1 1/2 games. Then the Indian centerfielder loses the ball in the sun, the Indians lose and start an epic collapse, the White Sox right the ship and now by the time this night is over could be in the World Series.

The USC-Notre Dame and Michigan-Penn State games were some of the most exciting endings I've ever seen. Unfortunately, my Seminoles couldn't duplicate the last minute heroics.

Renteria's errors were indeed surprising, if not shocking. It did come out after the season was over that he played with lower back pain for at least the last month, and had tweaked his groin with two or so weeks to go. This coincides with a comment reported in September by some NL scouts that he "looks hurt". But that doesn't explain the earlier problems. Another disappointment was his inconsistent bat which started very slowly, picked up and then dropped off again. I believe his BA was about 8 points below his last year in St Louis and his power numbers were down too. So yes, Renteria was definitely less than advertised, this year. Nevertheless, I expect that he will bounce back next year and perform much better. The biggest reason why the Sox did not want Cabrera back was his approach at the plate. For a "moneyball" team that preaches patience, working counts, taking walks, and most of all, getting on base, Cabrera is completely unacceptable. The vast majority of the time, he is a rally killer, Mark Bellhorn without the compensatory ability to draw walks. Yes, he can get hot and come up with some very big hits. But over the course of a season, the cumulative impact of his batting style would have hurt the team far more often than it helped. But no question, defensively, I dreamed many a day of Cabrera's smooth glove as I watched Renteria butcher a play that he used to make in his sleep. My only fear is that the rumors may be true, and Renteria is actually 42, not 32. Here are the stats, offensively: BA: Renteria .276 Cabrera .257 OBP: Renteria .335 Cabrera .309 Slugging: Renteria .385 Cabrera .365 Career OPS Renteria .743 Cabrera .718 Career BA: Renteria .288 Cabrera .267 The choice was obvious - even Cabrera acknowledged that Renteria is the superior shortstop. He just wasn't, defensively, this year!

My, we're a tad paranoid, aren't we? What I have yet to hear is an explanation for why the umpire kept his call to himself. No one has said that he said anything like "no catch" and its as if, because the hitter ran to first, he decides then that it was a trap and the putout has to be made. As Jim Caple writes on ESPN, the umpire is guilty of the most basic failure: The failure to state, for all to hear, what his call is. And on top of that, the umpires are simply covering for themselves in claiming that there is any "change in direction" or that the video doesn't show they fucked up, because that is what it undoubtedly shows. They ought to take a lesson from Don Denkinger (oops, now I've pissed off St. Louis fans) and not only fess up to their moment of failure, but frame a picture of that moment and hang it in their den, like Denkinger had the guts and integrity to do. In the end, I agree that the game wasn't lost on that call. Heck, in an extra inning game at home, you have to favor the White Sox especially since they hadn't used the bullpen yet. But as mentioned above, it simply sucks that the game came down to a blown call on the field instead of being won/lost fair and square.

And what was this from the umps about the tape being "inconclusive"??? The view from behind and to the right was absolutely unmistakeable: The ball went straight down into the glove.

That umpire crew - or at least the home plate ump - better never, EVER work a post-season game again. WTF is right!

Mine arrived today. Hope to listen and post by the weekend.