Dan Gould

Brutal. Just brutal. And heartwrenching for me and my Dad, as we had spoken since May of a Red Sox-Cubs WS. After the Sox forced game seven I gave him a quick call just to say, "we're both a game away from the dream. Let's get it done" and when Alou hit the homer, I thought it was. But the difference was the Marlins pulled out all the stops, turning to practically every pitcher they had to try to stifle the Cubbies, and the Cubs felt like they had to ride Wood all the way, just like they did with Prior. And I do not see how game seven was a choke at all. Wood had nothing left, and the bullpen couldn't keep it close enough, those last two runs were just killers. On the positive side, the Cubs are going to be a good team for a long while. They need to add a couple of arms to the bullpen, maybe resign Flash Gordon? And add a bat. I'd love to see Sheffield hitting behind Sammy, but Alou has another year to go on his contract. ************** Meanwhile, what does this mean for the kharma of tonite's game seven? Does it show that cursed teams find a way to lose and another chapter will be written in the Book of Misery? Or do the Marlins prove that it *can* be done, you can go into the heavily favored opponent's park and win back-to-back with backs to the wall? It will depend on: What kind of stuff Martinez has. If he can toss 93 MPH fastballs early, it means he's begun to recover from his 130 pitch A's outing and should be very tough. Is Wakefield ready to be the hero, and how long can he do it? Pedro is a seven inning pitcher nowadays, but if Wake can pitch seven and eight and that saves Timlin and Williamson for the ninth, we'll have a chance. And its gotta be tough to go from Pedro's assortment of pitches to a 65 mph knuckler! And finally, do the hits keep coming? Of course, Clemens will have a lot to say about that. Can there be any better way to "reverse the curse"? Game seven, Yankee Stadium, Roger Clemens on the mound? If they win this, I don't think it will matter what happens with Florida, the season will be a wondrous one.

Un FREAKING believable! The Sox finally get out the whooping sticks and mash about 18 hits and 9 runs, kill the non-Rivera bullpen for a stunning two-run down comeback win and we're staring square at Pedro vs Rocket, Game Seven, Yankee Stadium. The only reason I have hope to complete this miracle is precisely the fact that the bats came out of hibernation today, with every slumping player getting into the act, including Nomar, Manny, Ortiz, Millar and Mueller. If they can keep it up tomorrow, I like our chances, especially if Wakefield is available to follow Pedro. And hey, who knows, maybe we don't have to actually win it. This game might get so ugly in the stands, maybe we'll win on a forfeit And meanwhile, in Chi-town, Kerry Wood just crushed a three run homer to tie it up. GO CUBS!!!!

From today's Times: FIJI: A POSTPRANDIAL APOLOGY Residents of a mountain village where an English missionary was killed and eaten in 1867 will offer an apology to the man's descendants, local media reported. The only known white victim of islands once called the Cannibal Isles, the Rev. Thomas Baker of the London Missionary Society was killed by villagers on Viti Levu, the largest of Fiji's islands, because he rudely touched a chief's head and was subsequently cooked. The Pacific Islands News Association said Chief Ratu Filimoni Wawabalavu had invited Mr. Baker's descendants for the apology. It is still considered rude in Fiji to touch another's head without permission.

Funny, for me, Harmon's voice is also the clincher ... for Hennessey! On top of which, as an actress, Angie Harmon is a fine model.

I have a feeling that after the LC Series are over, I'll be in Margaritaville. Where's that damn drunken stupor wastin away again smilie?

Hell yes, Schiraldi stunk. And he was the best we had for that situation. Again, talent. As for the Yankees, what 185 million dollar payroll? I bet it tops 200 just to keep the Sox off of them. But we'll see if Pettite goes home to Texas and Wells to San Diego. Of course, winning has a way of overwhelming other considerations. So if the Yankees are somehow stopped, I bet Pettite and Wells will be gone, along with the entire front office and hopefully, Torre too.

I disagree completely. No one playing today played in '86. The manager wanted Buckner on the field for the last inning, ignoring the fact that Dave Stapleton was his defensive replacement in every game they won. Schiraldi was in the minors with Kevin Mitchell and they talked about how they'd deal with each other if they ever faced off with the game on the line, and Schiraldi actually followed that script, throwing a crappy slider that Mitchell wacked for the first basehit of the inning. Yes, the Yankees have cornered the market in confidence they will win but that doesn't mean that Nomar and Manny are standing up there saying "oh my God I can't take this pressure, millions of people relying on little old me. And anyway, we're fated to lose, so let me just wiff at this fastball so I can head back to California/Miami." The Yankees have superior pitching and our hitters have, not entirely coincidentally, gone into a funk. That's what good pitching does. With the Yankees losing Clemens and probably Wells, next year is the best chance the Red Sox will have for some time, considering that the core of this team is still signed through next season, but after that, people like Pedro, Nomar, Varitek and Nixon will leave because they can't afford to sign all of them again. So while they can, they have to capitalize and they should head into next year with Scott Williamson as the closer, Timlin and Embree and one more setup man, Kim given an opportunity to start, and concentrate the checkbook on a true frontline starter like Colon, or else trade for Curt Schilling. Oh, and get rid of Todd Walker, he gives away too many runs with his glove, and replace him with a good field, OK hit second baseman. With the rest of the lineup back, no one will miss Walker.

Funny, I have no trouble seeing EKE's Pres avatar.

I got mine yesterday, too, and look forward to giving it a listen this afternoon or tonite. May I suggest that since the discs are in the mail, so to speak, its time for Jim to declare a test-giver for #4? It obviously takes time to make the tough decisions, so it would probably be a good idea to have the next person start his work.

I don't believe in fate or destiny or any of that crap, Brad. The fact is, unless the Red Sox find a decent pitching staff, top-to-bottom but especially the starters, they will always fail against the Yankees. I mean, Contreras was going to be the #2 or #3 starter for us, and he's only being used in the 7th inning for the Yankees. We've got John Burkett pitching the final game of his career against Andy Pettite. If we somehow win, it will be because we used Wakefield and Lowe out of the pen. I guarantee, if it goes to a seventh game, Mussina and Wells won't be in the pen for the Yanks-they don't need them. Its not fate. Its arms. And slumping bats. And its not fate for the Cubs either. Its Baker, like Grady Little, being so certain that a struggling pitcher is still better than anyone in the pen that you leave him out there too long. After the funky foul ball, it was obvious Prior had little left. And yet no one was even getting warm. Same thing for Lowe in the 8th inning when he was clearly tiring and the Yankees scored that insurance run. And it all started in Game one of the A's series. Little was so insistent that Pedro was the whole game, he ended up throwing 130 pitches in a no-decision and he hasn't been the same since.

The ribbon-cutting is this week, here's an article about the guy who had the job of archiving Armstrong's stuff: Trumpets, Diaries and Cocktail Jiggers By BEN RATLIFF Published: October 15, 2003 ouis Armstrong did not catalog his possessions according to the rules of library science. For example, though he kept song indexes for his collection of 650 reel-to-reel tapes in neat three-ring binders, he curiously alphabetized titles by their last word. So "The Girl That I Married," on side one of reel No. 44, is cataloged on the line above "In the Mood." But over all his archives demonstrate an enormous sense of purpose in leaving a documentable footprint on the world, even beyond his performances and recordings. Part of his archives is displayed at the Louis Armstrong House in Corona, Queens, which has been renovated and is having a ribbon-cutting ceremony today before opening to the public for tours starting tomorrow. Since 1991 it has been Michael Cogswell's job to organize all of Armstrong's personal effects. Comfortable in the home that his wife Lucille busily managed, Armstrong was perhaps relieved by the sense of security he felt after being sent to a home for wayward boys, spending 20 protean years on the road and being married three previous times. He left much evidence of his nesting habits. Mr. Cogswell, as director of the Louis Armstrong House and Archives, based at Queens College's Flushing campus, has sorted and stored every tape, record, photograph, trumpet, cocktail jigger, ashtray, book, unsent letter, diary entry, trumpet and laxative packet in the house, where Armstrong lived with Lucille from 1943 to his death in 1971. (Lucille lived there until she died in 1983.) "We have to ask ourselves why Louis was, for example, making all these tapes and cataloging their content," Mr. Cogswell said the other day, standing in Armstrong's small study before a portrait of Armstrong painted by Tony Bennett. "Part of it is him being the great communicator — he'd knock off a seven-page letter to a fan, thinking nothing of it. But on another level Louis had a sense of his place in history. I think he sensed that these tapes would survive him." Much of the drive to ready the three-story brick house as a public historic site came from Mr. Cogswell, 50, an affable Virginian with a zigzag background. He has raised most of the money for the $1.6 million renovation of the house on 107th Street in what is now primarily a Dominican, Ecuadorean and Colombian neighborhood. After spending a few years at the University of Virginia, he dropped out in 1973 to make a living as a saxophonist, moving to Boston and working in R&B and jazz bands. In 1981 he returned to the University of Virginia to study musicology. "My mentor there was a Harvard-trained musicologist named Ernest Campbell Mead, who wore a bow tie and a seersucker suit," he said. "I couldn't believe how great it was that this guy's job was to stand up in front of a class, play records and talk about them. I wondered, why isn't somebody doing this for jazz? He's talking about Josquin" — the Renaissance composer — "he's talking about Beethoven; how come somebody isn't doing the same thing for Ellington or Charlie Parker?" In 1983 Mr. Cogswell earned his bachelor's degree in music, and then the university offered him a job in charge of the sound-recordings collection in its music library. Three years later he started a master's degree program in musicology at the University of North Texas, and found work at that school's music library, which brought him closer to jazz archivism. That school is renowned for its jazz big-band instruction, and keeps Stan Kenton's entire archives, as well as a collection of rare Duke Ellington recordings. That is where he was when a listing for the job of arranging, preserving and cataloging the Armstrong Collection, owned (as it is still) by Queens College, crossed his desk in the Music Library Association's job newsletter. "I took a look at it and said, That's my dream job," he said. Two weeks later he had the job. He and his wife, Dale Van Dyke, moved to New York. On his first day he was faced with the reality of the situation. "There were 72 cartons of Armstrong's stuff, a desk, a chair, a sofa and not much else," he remembered. Besides creating proper storage systems for everything there, he began collecting other items related to Armstrong from around the world. Much of this collection is featured in his book, "Louis Armstrong: The Offstage Story of Satchmo," published this month by Collectors Press. Mr. Cogswell said Armstrong would be happy with how things have turned out. "He'd be delighted that people are enjoying his house," he said. "One of the things we have on exhibit is his F.B.I. file, and I always chuckle to think of the F.B.I. maintaining a file on Armstrong. He was the most open guy you'd ever want to meet."

Uh, no. With over 100 page views, I guess I can say that I stumped the panel! The answer is ... organist Paul Bryant. According to the liners of his PJ album Burnin', at the time of the recording he'd been in show business for 20 of his 27 years, including a start on "Our Gang". And he remained an on-screen talent, it says he's since appeared in many television and motion picture productions. So, he must have appeared on "Our Gang" in the early '40s, since Burnin' was recorded around 1960-'61 and at that point he'd been in show business for 20 years.

Well, not sure that its "larger" than most soul-jazz dates, its Bryant, Hadley Caliman and Herman Riley on tenor, and a rhythm section of Joe Sample, John Duke and Carl Lott. I was just listening to my copy of the LP this week-its decent soul jazz, pleasant but not earth-shattering. If the price is right, go for it, just don't expect to be totally blown away.

Will the Sox and Cubs write another chapter in their respective Book of Misery? I don't think the Gould family could take it, but I'm not optimistic.

How about this one? "Rarest Blue Note -- Red Wax" A red wax copy of Midnight Special. Seller hasn't found anyone who knows of BNs in colored wax. Be real interesting to see where this one goes ...

I tried sending a PM but I don't think it worked. E-mail me at dangould@hotmail.com and we can do bidness.

Well, that's great news (the reissue, not the backorder) because it is a fine album.

Well, I had no idea that Annie Ross was one answer, but its not the one I'm looking for. Its an instrumentalist.

HUGE win at Fenway last night! And I like our chances today, with Lowe pitching on full rest in the park he performs very well at, and frankly, Wells is the least worrisome of the Yankee starters-he doesn't like Fenway, he doesn't generally pitch well in day games. I think if we win, we have to go with Burkett to start game 6, with Suppan on deck if Burkett has one of his patented bad innings. Game 7, Wakefield/Pedro or Pedro/Wakefield. Part of me thinks to ride Wake as far as he'll go. Every out he gets is one fewer Pedro has to get. But today is crucial. And why do the Yanks have home field advantage if we win today? I'd rather have to win one out of two, regardless of locale, than face elimination. Oh, and by the way, it seems that the Yanks have made a habit of losing series in which they've lost a one-run game. And what was the score last night? Go Cubs and Sox!!!

What Pacific Jazz recording artist was in the Our Gang Comedy series? Hint: I don't think Robert Blake was a PJ recording artist, and I'm pretty sure Buckwheat didn't grow up to play jazz.

From today's New York Times: In Pioneering Study, Monkey Think, Robot Do By SANDRA BLAKESLEE Published: October 13, 2003 Monkeys that can move a robot arm with thoughts alone have brought the merger of mind and machine one step closer. In experiments at Duke University, implants in the monkeys' brains picked up brain signals and sent them to a robotic arm, which carried out reaching and grasping movements on a computer screen driven only by the monkeys' thoughts. The achievement is a significant advance in the continuing effort to devise thought-controlled machines that could be a great benefit for people who are paralyzed, or have lost control over their physical movements. In previous experiments, some in the same laboratory at Duke, both humans and monkeys have had their brains wired so they could move cursors on computer screens just by thinking about it. And wired monkeys have moved robot arms by making a motion with their own arms. The new research, however, involves thought-controlled robotic action that does not depend on physical movement by the monkey and that involves the complex muscular activities of reaching and grasping. The study is being published today in the inaugural issue of The Public Library of Science, a peer-reviewed scientific journal that makes articles available free of charge. The research team was led by Dr. Miguel A. L. Nicolelis, a neurobiology professor and co-director of the Center for Neuroengineering at Duke, in North Carolina. Dr. Nicolelis also did the earlier research on monkeys and robot arms at Duke. While other laboratories have helped monkeys use thoughts to move robots, using different experimental designs, the Duke findings go furthest in the sense that their robots were mentally assimilated into the animals' brains. "For nearly completely paralyzed people, this promises to be a fantastic boon," said Dr. Jon Kaas, a psychology professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, who is familiar with Dr. Nicolelis's research. "A person could control a computer or robot to do anything in real time, as fast as they can think." While experts agree that thought-controlled personal robots are many years off, the Duke University team recently showed that humans produce brain signals like those of the experimental monkeys. "Monkeys not only use their brain activity to control a robot," said Dr. John Chapin, a professor of physiology and pharmacology at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. "They improve their performance with time. The stunning thing is that we can now see how this occurs, how neurons change their tuning as the monkey does different tasks." Dr. Nicolelis implanted tiny probes called microwires into several brain regions of two rhesus monkeys. At first, each monkey learned to move a joystick that controlled a cursor on a computer screen. When a ball appeared, the animal had to move the cursor to the target to earn a drink of juice. Researchers collected electrical patterns from the monkey's brain as it performed the tasks. After the monkey became skilled at the exercise, the scientists disconnected the joystick. At first, the monkey jiggled the stick and stared at the screen, Dr. Nicolelis said. Even though the joystick was not working, the monkey's reaching and grasping motor plans were being sent to a computer, which translated those signals into movements on screen. There was an "incredible moment" when the monkey realized that it could guide the cursor and grasp an object on the screen just by thinking it, Dr. Nicolelis said. The arm dropped. Muscles no longer contracted. The final step was to divert brain signals to a computer model that controlled the movements of a robot. The monkey continued to think the movements but in doing so it now moved the robot arm directly, without a joystick, which in turn directed movements of the cursor. Controlling a shaky, jerky robot with thought is not easy, Dr. Nicolelis said. When the robot is first added, the monkey's performance degrades. It takes two days for the animal to learn the mechanical properties of the arm and to incorporate its delays into motor planning areas. "By the end of training, I would say that these monkeys sensed they were reaching and grasping with their own arms instead of the robot arm," Dr. Nicolelis said. "Every time we use a tool to interact with our environment, such as a computer mouse, car or glasses, our brain assimilates properties of the tool into neuronal space. Tools are appendages which are incorporated into our body schema. As we develop new tools, we reshape our brains," he said.

Since its one of the few Larry Young BNs I especially enjoy, I'm in! B)

And the latest on the bullpen fracas, from Boston.com, including the text of the Boston police report: Police report on Sox-Yankees bullpen altercation By Boston.com Staff, 10/12/2003 The following is the text of the incident report filed by the Boston Police detective assigned to the Red Sox bullpen and the police officer assigned to the Yankees bullpen during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series Saturday night. A member of the Fenway grounds crew, Paul Williams, 24, of New Hampshire, also assigned to the Yankees bullpen, and two Yankees players – reliever Jeff Nelson and right fielder Karim Garcia – got into a fight near the end of the game. No charges have been filed against Nelson, 36, or Garcia, 27, even though this report indicates that the police officers involved intended to do so, characterizing the episode as assault and battery on Williams. It lists two New Hampshire men as witnesses to the fight. The report says that “hands, feet, and teeth” were used during the fight. It describes Nelson as 6’2” tall, 210 pounds, and “muscular,” and quotes him as saying to Williams, “If you’re gonna cheer, go on the other side (or words to that effect).” It describes Garcia as 200 pounds and also “muscular.” The report was filed at 9:40 p.m. Saturday, 2½ hours after the altercation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While performing a paid detail at Fenway Park, Det. William Dunn, assigned to the Red Sox bullpen, and Officer Michael Pankievich assigned to the Yankees bullpen. Approximately 7:10 p.m., between the top and the bottom of the 9th inning, while standing outside of the bullpens and facing the crowd (and also bullpen occupants), Det. Dunn and Officer Pankievich observed a pitcher (Jeff Nelson) from the Yankees, approach the victim (who was standing in the corner of the bullpen). At this time (what appeared to be) a verbal confrontation ensued between the victim and Jeff Nelson. Officer Pankievich proceeded to that location in an attempt to separate the parties. While enroute, Jeff Nelson was observed pushing/grabbing the victim in the chest area at which time both parties fell to the ground where Jeff Nelson began punching and flaring his legs at the victim. At that point numerous other members of the Yankees bullpen jumped on the victim (some striking the victim and others attempting to break up the melee). The right fielder (Karim Garcia) from the Yankees was then observed jumping the right field wall, into the bullpen and begin striking down at the victim with his left hand. With the aid of other officers and Red Sox security staff, the parties were separated ending the incident. Further investigation revealed victim sustained numerous injuries, transported to Beth Israel Hospital and treated for injuries to his head, mouth and body (including what appeared to be numerous cleat marks). D899 Dets. Tierney and Gill responded to the Beth Israel Hospital where they further interviewed the victim and photographed his injuries. Lt. Kelly McCormick of Area B-3 forwarded witness information to Det. Dunn and P.O. Pankievich regarding their eyewitness account of the incident where they stated they observed member(s) of the NY Yankees baseball team initiate an unprovoked attack upon the victim. Summonses to be sought in Roxbury District Court for assault and battery on both Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia of the Yankees baseball organization. Its unfortunate the Summons are being sought. Garcia and Nelson should be, ahem, "frog marched" out of Fenway in cuffs, IMO.

Are you presuming that game 6 matchup or has someone said something? Pedro could go on three days rest for game 6, with Burkett or Suppan as backup (or he could do what he did in the Cleveland series, and come in in relief after someone else goes the first 3 or 4.

With the game rained out tonite, Grady Little should have some thinking to do. #1, you can skip Burkett and bring Wakefield back for game four (of course that leaves Wakefield for game 7 or an extremely rested John Burkett. OR (and I like this idea) #2, Let Burkett pitch tomorrow night but switch Lowe and Wakefield so that Lowe pitches game five in Fenway (with regular rest because of the rainout) where he's been awesome all year and let Wakefield pitch game 6 in New York where he's already won and the big field/foul ball area works to his advantage. I think Little's choice is obvious.