Dan Gould

Yeah, Steinbrenner's wallet is no doubt very important for Yankee success. But I think that you really underestimate the importance of a manager, particularly behind the scenes. No matter what mix of players Torre is given to work with, they all seem to play to the maximum of their ability, unless that ability is eroded due to age or physical decline (see Kevin Brown). You never. or perhaps I should say, rarely, hear complaints from a player about how he is being used or about how the manager doesn't communicate well (see A.J. Burnett and Jack McKeon), or demands from anyone to be traded, etc. Rarely any disruption, everyone keyed into the same goal year in and year out. That has a lot to do with the tone and interpersonal skills of the manager. Lots of teams have spent money over the past few years, e.g., the Orioles, the Dodgers, without accomplishing a thing. Ask Theo Epstein if he would trade Francona for Torre - you know what the answer would be. ← Is Torre enamored of statistical analysis and its use in game decisions? Does he keep his laptop with him at all times? Actually, Francona is precisely the manager that Theo looked for, which is why the interviews with other candidates were pro forma. If the Yankees fired Torre the Red Sox would be in no rush to can Francona and grab Joe. The Mets, on the other hand ... As to your claim that "You never. or perhaps I should say, rarely, hear complaints from a player about how he is being used or about how the manager doesn't communicate well" I direct your attention to quite a few of the pitchers in this year's Yankee bullpen, at least one of whom went public about the way he was used, and then released. Remember the comments about "if you're not one of Joe's guys ..."? Now, that pitcher may have pitched his way out of the Bronx, but he sure as hell isn't sending Torre a Christmas card. I don't see any great "interpersonal skills," I see a guy handed a team of all-stars who are indoctrinated into a win at all costs mentality from the top down of the organization. The credit I give Torre is ... damn I thought I could come up with something. Maybe calmness in the storm that the SS Steinbrenner always goes through? That's about it.

A HoF manager for results, or actual influence on the results??? Can anyone identify a critical decision Torre made in a post-season game to win it? Ever? I know its all about the results, and I don't begrudge the honor he'll receive after he retires. But if Torre is honest, the first thing he will say is, "I'd like to thank George Steinbrenner's wallet for making this day necessary. Otherwise, I'd have had the same results as I did in Atlanta, and I'd have been out of baseball 20 years ago."

Neither of the AL East contenders are Championship calibre. That's what makes this failure to beat the Yanks in the East so frustrating. But you are right that the Yankee regime is in rapid descent. Prediction: Next player to calcify in the middle of a game will be Jorge Posada. I am so glad that Bernie Williams stayed in New York, or the Sox wouldn't have Damon, and it would be Williams who was getting overpaid and rapidly collapsing the last three years. And you are also right about the difference in club adherence to player development. I predict that in 2006, pitchers John Papelbon, Craig Hansen and Jon Lester will all make significant contributions. No later than 2007, infielders Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez will also be budding stars. This team has one of the best stocked minor leagues in the game, and while that bodes very well for the future, it unfortunately means that this is the last hurrah for many out of this group of players. Mueller and Millar are definitely gone, and I won't be surprised if Manny is gone too. Youklis is your starting third baseman next year, and if Damon is lost, they need to pick up an equally dynamic centerfielder-sparkplug. If Manny goes, at least I am confident they will not give him away like it looked in July. I've heard rumors about the Mets trading for Delgado and swapping him for Manny - that would solve first base and give protection for Papi. I've also heard of swapping Beltran for Manny, and I'd go for that, too, because Beltran could go back to being a star among stars instead of having all that pressure as the co-saviour of the Mets. There's one big regret I'd have about letting Manny go: He and Papi have now tied a couple of guys named Gehrig and Ruth for consecutive seasons with 40 homers and 140 RBIs. There's no reason they shouldn't do that for a record third time next season, if the Sox don't send Manny away. The only thing that can stall the Yankee decline is signing Damon, and I just don't see that happening.

No way at all. Cashman as GM of the year? Maybe. He certainly has more to do with the end result than anything Torre has done. I'm so sick of this St. Joe treatment he gets. You catch lightning in a bottle with a career minor leaguer (how the hell do you spell that word?), get lucky again with a Coors reject, and the ultimate bit of luck, your rivals lose their two most important pitchers for essentially the entire season. Here's a thought experiment: Where are the Yankees if Randy Johnson has fewer than 12 starts, three wins as a starter and an ERA near 6? Where are the Yankees if Rivera has an ERA over 6, blows saves and loses games left and right and is then shut down with half a season to go? NOWHERE But that exact same thing happened to the Red Sox, and Francona has the team on the verge of the playoffs. The inescapable conclusion is that Francona has a greater claim to Manager of the Year than Torre. And in fact, there's a New York Times columnist who says the same thing.

I grew up in rural CT. When we first moved in, my sister and brother were disturbed by the sounds of mice in the walls. Poison was used and as I recall, the problem went away pretty quickly. Every once in a while there would be a nasty stink for a day or two from the rotting corpse though. But as far as cats go ... within about two years we had a Russian Blue that was quite the killer cat. But he never killed anything inside, and he sure as hell didn't eat them. He brought them to the front door and left them as offerings.

And now its going to be Jaret Wright to start against Schilling, and Mussina to start the first playoff game??? Oh, I just know all the Yankee fans here are just thrilled with that news.

You needn't have worried. And there's your answer, Marty: regardless of tomorrow's outcome, you win the East. Not that it explains whatever the fuck their rules are that allows that outcome. I think the whole idea is to minimize extra play-off games to keep everything on schedule. I mean, as of yesterday, splitting the last two games meant a one-game play-off in the Bronx, and because of a result that doesn't even involve division teams, the Yanks win even if the Sox win tomorrow? WTF???? As infuriating and sickening as it is to see this outcome, at least I know that all we have to do is win one out of two, at home to go to the dance again, and in the end, that is what matters. Hell, I'd rather face the White Sox than a rested and very talented Angels team in the first round. But it sure as hell pisses the FUCK out of me that because of Foulke and Schilling, the Yanks enjoy yet another AL East crown. Forget Schilling's troubles - it was known that it would take some time to regain his form. The fact is that the team TOLD Foulke to have surgery the minute he showed up at Spring Training. He said no, and the end result is that a race that shouldn't have been close went to the Evil Empire.

We've really been blessed by the discovery and release of two of the most significant "finds" the jazz world has seen, probably ever. So, this has to be a very tough call. Maybe the best way to think of the issue of "favorite" is to imagine you truly are allowed only one desert island disc, the Bird-Diz or the Monk-Coltrane. Which one do you take along? I do suggest thinking long and hard about this one, if you choose to participate. I'm kind of suspecting that #4 may win, but I do think that either way, most people will see the Bird-Diz as the most important.

I was thinking about that, too. Harrelson was such a punk.

A three-way tie would mean that the Yanks and Red Sox square off at the Stadium on Monday. Loser plays the Tribe on Tuesday. If the Sox and Tribe are tied after Sunday, they play on Monday at Fenway. Not sure if a play-off between the Yanks and Tribe is at the Stadium or the Jake.

In fact, they were up 3 game s to two but Oakland swept the last two on the left coast to win it all.

Ironically enough, when you & I were little kids--WAY little--I think the Mets won the East with an 82-80 record (!?) and then nearly knocked off the Reds in the NLCS. I'm thinkin' 1973, because the Reds got beat by the A's in the WS that year. ← Close, but it was even more (less?) impressive: The 1973 New York Mets went 82-79 to win the East, beat the Reds 3-2 to win the pennant and took the world champion A's to seven games before losing.

I was prepared to be magnanimous and congratulatory til I saw this, and now all I can say is FUCK YOU and btw, PAPI homered in the eighth to tie and singled in the winning run in the 9th to preserve the World Champion's hopes for another couple of days at least.

Uh, actually I don't think they've ever cleared music rights prior to reissuing material.

Very funny Ray. Thanks for posting that.

Somehow I feel very alone .... but nevertheless, I retain the strength of my convictions!

No and I never plan to. Not only do I find her co-star annoying, but when I spotted them kissing each other on the field when the Sox won it a year ago, I swore I would never see it.

I didn't, though I admit it took me quite a while to finally decide to part with it.

Look in your email over the next few hours.

Well, it didn't go exactly as I previously predicted, but the bottom line, after last night's fiasco, is this: If the Sox go to Fenway trailing by a game, winning two out of three only gets them to a play-off at Yankee stadium on Monday, so they really have to sweep, which is about as likely at this point, with this team, as coming back from a 3-0 deficit in a seven game series. If the Sox avoid the Christmas rush and drop another game in the standings, then the impossible three game sweep is all that will save them. Given the fact that they are heading, in all likelihood, to drop at least two of three to the Yanks, their only chance for the Wild Card is if the Indians completely collapse, and why would they do that, given that the White Sox only need one win or one Indian loss to clinch, and then they'll go into "rest your starters" mode and will probably play with about as much intensity as the utterly contemptible Orioles? Oh how I LOVE a FULL MEDIA BLACKOUT . Can't wait for Saturday night when I will drown my sorrows with a few beers and this:

Do you need to hear more instances of Woody using? Can provide them if necessary... ← I don't think it would do any good at this point. This guy's got a major case of hero worship and it doesn't matter what he is told, even if it comes from professional musicians like yourself and Jim S.

I think its fitting that we pause to honor Atlanta and the Angels as they have clinched their divisions, Atlanta for a stupefying 14th time in a row. Of course, they'll probably get bounced in the first round by Houston, but even though the Angels will probably have the weakest record of the AL play-off teams, I do think they may have the best shot at returning to the World Series, as they've got the arms, bats, and bullpen to do so, and time to relax and set things up for October. That's something that the Sox, Yanks, Indians and Pale Hose can't do.

I think we'll both be out of it by the time you return. Neither of these teams look like champions to me. If there's a play-off in the Bronx, first of all, there'd have to be a one game separation heading into Friday for that to even be possible. And Chacon would be the next starter, theoretically, with Arroyo going for Boston. Speaking of whom, I wonder if Arroyo goes to the pen on Sunday, just in case. I would bet he does, and the Sox go with Clement if Arroyo is used and there's a playoff. Last thing I'll mention is that Wakefield is almost as hot as he was when he broke in with Pittsburg, and he's certainly done well against the Yanks historically. If the Giambino hits that flyball like he did to win in the Bronx, it falls into Trot's glove at Fenway ...

Well, it looks like the Yankee win streak and O's losing streak will come to a big end. I guess it doesn't matter much at this point if you lose by two like the Sox did or get clobbered 17 to whatever, but I'd think the Yanks have to be a bit worried about Mussina pitching the last game at Fenway. He looked great in his first start back but now he doesn't make it out of the second inning. But a big opportunity missed by the Sox, who led in the seventh and let Toronto steal it away. At least they've got two more lefties pitching for Toronto, and lefties have not done well at Fenway all year long. And with the White Sox and Indians losing, we've got one big tie atop the East and the Wild Card, and time may be running out on the Indians chances of taking the division.

Well, Jim is a professional jazz musician and he is telling you such stories right here, right now. It looks to me like we've got a very bad case of hero worship and anything that doesn't jibe with your view of your hero is rejected out of hand. But I'll bet you dollars to donuts that Jim has a better grasp of reality when it comes to Woody Shaw than you do.