ghost of miles

Standard decline for an aging, presumably non-juicing player? Here are his lifetime stats by age and season: Albert Pujols career stats I don't have any statistical insight into how his switch from St. Louis to the Angels might have made any difference, though presumably being able to frequently DH as an American League player has enhanced his ability to mitigate defensive decline, not having to deal with the wear and tear of everyday defensive play. I think in general it's a very bad idea (and this sure ain't rocket science) to give a lengthy and massive contract to a 32-year-old player, a la Pujols and Arod. As good a player as Robinson Cano is, I completely understood the Yankees' not wanting to offer him more than seven years for a contract that would have begun when he was 31. Cano has done well at Seattle, but Starlin Castro's been pretty effective these past two seasons, while taking much less of a toll on the Yankees' payroll.

From the NY Times account of last night's game: Judge finished 3 for 4 with three runs scored and six R.B.I., a new career high. It extended Judge’s dominance of the Orioles this season — his 11 home runs against them are the most by any player against any opponent in 2017. In 16 games against Baltimore, Judge has hit .472 with 27 runs scored and 24 R.B.I. Buck Showalter might be better off just issuing Judge an IBB every time up. Judge also became the first Yankee to pick up 110+ runs and 110+ walks in a single season since Mickey Mantle in 1961. (Of course, he strikes out as much if not more than the Mick did too.) Catching McGwire's rookie HR record a long-shot at this point, but I suppose he could still do it with a hot streak here at the end... 16 games left.

Some late-1970s BR big-band music (including Barry Kiener on piano) on this 2015 release, from tapes made by Alan Gauvin when he was in the band: Birdland

... annnndddd just another routine Indians win. ? Wow! That really did have a postseason vibe to it... Congratulations to the Tribe fans here. It would be fantastic to see Cleveland go all the way this year after the Cubs did it last year. Here's Lindor's two-out, two-strike double that tied it in the bottom of the 9th: Tribe ties it ... and Bruce's walk off hit in the bottom of the 10th: Cleveland wins 22nd in a row Oh, and as Michael Kay pointed out tonight, if Aaron Judge batted only against the Baltimore Orioles all year long, he'd have the greatest offensive season in MLB history. ☺️

Just watched Cleveland, down by one in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and down to their last strike, tie it with a double off the left-field wall. Now going into extra innings.

We re-aired this show recently, and it remains archived for online listening: First Fusion: Jazz-Rock Before Bitches Brew

Some contention too that this isn't the true "winning streak" record, as one of the Giants' games ended in a tie. (And what's the story there?) The record for the longest winning streak that doesn't include a tie belongs to the 1935 Chicago Cubs, who won 21 in a row before finally losing. After tonight's victory, Cleveland's only two away from equaling that. Regarding the Dodgers' collapse, I take solace only in the evaporation of comparisons to the 1998 Yankees that had begun to emerge just before said collapse began.

Cleveland Indians' 15-game winning streak means $2 million in free windows for fans

Excellent! Dave's a friend, had him on the show a few times... I'll definitely check this out.

No season 4 thread here, since it aired before the mass migration to this board from the old Blue Note forum, but I have to say this figure from Tony's dream at the end of "Calling All Cars" is one of the most haunting images I've ever encountered in a television show:

The conventional wisdom is that Gene Michael laid the foundation for the 1996-2001 dynasty during Steinbrenner's years of suspension in the early 1990s, and in this case I think the CW is pretty much on the money. I'd never heard that Bernie Williams story before, but it sure fits into the narrative.

The show's title is referring to Jaco's well-known proclamation about himself. I suppose I could have put that part of it in quotes to make it clearer, but didn't think it necessary. The whole notion of such a ranking is a highly, if not completely, subjective practice in any event.

No disrespect to Sir Paul intended whatsoever. Just couldn't resist the urge to get in a Casablanca allusion.

Posting these today in honor of Sonny's 87th birthday: Crossing The Bridge: The Return Of Sonny Rollins Rollins '57: Sonny Rollins Takes The Lead Sonny Rollins: Live In London Sonnymoon: Thelonious Monk And Sonny Rollins Not too long ago I revisited the Prestige box in its entirety... incredible to think that that was only the beginning.

Don't go to Casablanca for the waters either.

One big reason the Yankees remain a much better bet to be a WC team rather than catching the Red Sox: after Betances' giving up a two-out walk-off HR in last night's game against the Orioles, New York now has 23 blown saves, which puts them third in the majors in that dubious category. A crazy stat for a bullpen that includes Chapman and David Robertson as well (at least Chapman's showing signs of regaining his form).

Up for Dorham's birthday today: The Durable Kenny Dorham

More photos of Houston, including a couple of crazy "before-and-after" side-by-side pics: Houston in the flood

Photos of Houston under water, with flooding expected to worsen

Up for Prez's birthday. Postwar Prez Lester Young 1945-50

Whoa--this tweet from NWS: Unprecedented, impact unknown Also reading that rainfall could reach up to 50 inches in parts of Texas.

I think Seattle just tied the modern record for errors by an MLB team in a single inning--five against the Yankees in the bottom of the first inning. (Overall record appears to be six, set in 1902.) EDIT: Evidently the "modern era" is defined as from 1901 on, so I guess they didn't tie the record. Definitely the most team errors committed in a single inning of any game I've ever watched, though, at any level of play! Paul O'Neill said "it's beginning to look like the Bad News Bears out there." ☺️