ghost of miles

Listening right now--thanks, Lazaro. Mark, I've read the "sugar free" description elsewhere too... David Rosenthal's essay for the Mosaic box, I believe. On the LET FREEDOM RING quote, maybe from the 2003 RVG edition? Man, I love this period (1959-67) of Jackie--haven't listened to these records in awhile, great to hear them again. McLean was one of the players, along with Bud Powell, who got me really hooked on jazz.

We re-aired Rollins '57: Sonny Rollins Takes The Lead this past week; it remains archived for online listening. And, by total coincidence, the post I wrote for NPR's Take Five was published today and includes a track by Rollins featured on the Night Lights show as well: Jazz On The Range: 5 Cinematic Sides

Dude, that Bronx Zoo stuff was SO cool in it's time, hype you could believe in because you knew it was realer than it had to be, and especially realer than it needed to be. Plus, the reality was even greater than the hype! The team reflected the city, in a way which, well, I guess it still does reflect the city, but it was more fun then, the city and the team, hell America in general. I liked it all then. But like so much else that was fun back then, it's over now, sometimes for the better, sometimes not, but never to be confused with the way things are now, not by anybody with a clear head, and a good memory, clear or not. Have you ever seen THE BRONX IS BURNING? I got it as a super-cheap remainder several months ago, but haven't settled in to watch it yet...heard good things about it, though. Somewhere in my dad's house I probably still have my beat-up paperback copy of Lyle's book. Regarding that era of NYC, did you ever read the book o' essays that our own former Clem helped put together, NEW YORK CALLING? Good stuff... Anyway, rest assured that I wasn't truly longing for a return to the late 1970s! (Gabba gabba hey!)

Yankee players and front office should STFU and stop feeding the media any possibilities for Bronx Zoo II: Hank-'n-Hal Boogaloo. For 15 years there's been relative quiet, with A-Rod and Jeter's soured bromance the only real distraction... unless we're also going to bring back Sparky Lyle, funky 1970s mustaches, and a couple of World Series titles, I don't really have the appetite for another go-round. The article Dave James linked to does point to the real issues NY has with its veteran star contracts, though, and should serve as a warning to any team that signs players in their prime at ages 28-32 to hugely expensive eight, nine, or ten-year contracts. (Jayson Werth's contract with the Nats is one recent example.) Unfortunately for NY, they've plowed their plentiful resources into several such deals. Look at what they're still on the hook to A-Rod for: 2011 31 million 2012 29 million 2013 28 million 2014 25 million 2015 21 million 2016 20 million 2017 20 million And while some of that was based on the speculative value of his chasing Bonds' HR record, said chase has now been forever clouded by his admission re: steroid use. I'm sure the Yankees will still see some financial benefit, assuming he maintains a pace to get there (absolutely not a sure thing IMO), but some of the PR value has undoubtedly been damaged. If Hal Steinbrenner wants to change the payroll culture of the team by ultimately focusing more on developing young talent and being more judicious about awarding huge contracts, I'm all for it (though they sure were willing to throw a ton of money in a similar way at 32-year-old Cliff Lee), but NY needs to be a bit smarter about the PR end of managing their aging stars...and the aging stars have to be better about getting a grip on their egos. At least Posada did the right thing and apologized to Girardi, who's the only person, as far as I can tell, coming out of this in a good-guy manner. On another topic entirely: Jose Bautista is on one hell of a 12-month power surge.

If she is, the Yankees may soon be bidding for her services as well. Of course, she'll probably spurn both of us for the City of Brotherly Love...

Many thanks again for your presence on the planet.

One for Jsngry: Rangers' sluggers Cruz and Hamilton nearing rehab games

Two NY Times articles about the Indians for Patrick: The Indians' Manny Acta: follow me Indians first in standings, last in attendance

Dave, re: GM: Cashman is indeed getting a bit too talkative for my taste (hard not to do, I'd imagine, when you're in the NY media spotlight), and sometimes I think he tends to inflame ongoing situations (the Jeter negotiations, for instance, or last night's brouhaha with Posada--who was totally out of line, by the way, and who ought to issue an apology for having caused such a stink, instead of trying to cover up with the "back stiffness" excuse). He did make some good moves for us in the offseason--picking up Russell Martin, for instance. At 73 Gene Michael is probably a bit long in the tooth to come back as GM, but if Cashman were to leave, either voluntarily or at the behest of the Steinbrenners, I'd love to see somebody as good with the farm system as Michael was in the 1990s (laying the foundation for much of the Yanks' ongoing success between the mid-1990s and now) move into that position. Still, the farm system isn't doing too badly right now; I think it's more an issue of how the Yankees are managing it (and that ties in a bit to the issue with having handed veteran stars overly-long, overpaid contracts.) Managerial: Joe Girardi does make some boneheaded decisions from time to time (Pinstripe Alley has mounted a generally level-headed critique of them), but in general I think he's been a good manager for the team... being able to keep the clubhouse relatively free of drama is an important asset for any Yankee manager. (Another reason why Posada's hissy fit last night is really problematic for me; too many shades of the George I era. I mean, even A-Rod, for all of his problems with Joe Torre, took his lumps when Torre moved him way down in the batting order during the playoffs a few years ago.) Anyway, I don't think firing Girardi would solve their problems, and would almost certainly add to them in the short term. Any kind of decision like that would be best made in the off-season, anyway (again, too reminiscent of the Yankees' 1980s/early 90s desert years for me.) Position players: nothing to be done about Jeter and A-Rod's contracts. At some point we may need to move Jeter down in the lineup if he can't at least maintain a .270 BA, and that will be more possible drama. I highly doubt that he retires at the end of this season, unless his performance becomes so abysmal that he ends his career out of pride. More likely that he ends up making a slight improvement on last year's numbers, then continues to decline over the next two. Doesn't he have an option to take a fourth year as well? A-Rod's still got some offense left in him, but last year's .270/30 HRs numbers may be looking good in another year or two...who knows? I was happy to see him start off so well in April, but he's really been in a bad slump, ever since he went out with that oblique injury. There was a lot of optimism about him in spring training due to his being able to work a 100% offseason conditioning program for the first time in two years, but he's still on the verge of turning 36, and it's hard to say what level of hitting we can expect or hope to see from him in the next several seasons. I'd give Posada another month or so to try to get whatever's left of his groove back. I do think they should bring up Montero soon, possibly in June (that delays his arbitration clock, right?), but in the meantime they should bring up another Jorge--Jorge Vazquez, who's smoking the ball for Scranton, and who, in addition to DHing, can back up first and third while Chavez is out. Pitching: the Killer B's work-load and minor-league experience really precludes bringing any of them up in 2011 as a full-on season-long starter. Colon has pitched well for us, Garcia too, and Nova had three good starts in a row before that last blowout. I think it's too soon to make a call on Nova, and my biggest concerns with Colon and Garcia are how well they're going to hold up across the stretch of the year. Another question mark is Phil Hughes--when he comes back, will we see April-May 2010 Phil, or June-October 2010 Phil? Again, hard to say. What I would not want to see happen is us trading away lots of farm talent for an overvalued starter at mid-season. If we can pull off an artful deal that bolsters the staff, I'm all for it, but I'm not counting on a King Felix pickup or anything like that. (Andy, Andy, why hast thou forsaken us? I wish Pettitte would reconsider his retirement and return for a half-season, but that's about as likely as seeing King Felix in pinstripes. Here's an interesting stat: Pettitte went out with his groin injury last year on July 18; the Yankees still won, putting them at 58-33. Since that date, the Yankees' record (including last year's playoffs) is 62-55. Since July 31 of last year, it's 54-51. They've been essentially a .500 team.) We may simply be looking at a team somewhat comparable to the 2008 edition, coming in on the high side of a mid-80s win total (maybe another 8-game drop, like the one from 2009 to 2010). By Yankee standards of the past 15 years, that would be pretty mediocre, and it seems like small results for such a big-noise payroll. But it's that payroll itself that creates some of our problems. In the meantime, we have a good outfield (though Nick Swisher can start hitting, like, any time now!), and an excellent asset in Robinson Cano. Posada is gone after this year anyway, freeing up $13 million in payroll. Biggest problems will be dealing with the aging A-Rod and Jeter, whether or not Tex can be a consistently threatening hitter in the #3 hole, finding a replacement for Mo (who I'd be surprised to see pitching, or at least pitching effectively, beyond 2012), and dealing with CC's opt-out clause. We're only a fourth of the way through the season, and hopefully NY can turn it around--I'd counsel patience. But I agree that the signs right now are pointing to a struggling year for the Yanks. I still don't see how Boston doesn't end up running away with the division, esp. with two of their five starters pitching so well (Lester and Beckett) and Buchholz showing signs of a return to 2010 form. And Gonzalez is a menace in that batting order! Sure, their slow start precludes them winning 110-115 games or some such, but they've still got a great shot at racking up 100 wins and the division title. EDIT: apparently Posada has indeed apologized to Girardi. One rosy scenario would be that this comes to be seen as an early low point in the season. Off the Yankee Twitter feed at the NY Times: Jon Heyman Girardi told posada: "I believe you can turn this around." Joe g doing nice job in press conference 50 minutes ago Jack Curry Girardi admitted he's managing some great Yankees who are aging and that there's "no manual for that." 52 minutes ago Jack Curry Girardi and Posada were emotional in meeting. Girardi said he wouldn't say Posada cried, but said it wasn't the "typical Jorge Posada face.

Something was wrong with his voice several weeks ago, and Fox said he was fighting off a virus. That's a long-running virus at this point, though, but evidently it's really the case. Dave James: looks like the mediocre Yankee season we were expecting has finally arrived, just a few weeks late. With Lester going up against Garcia tomorrow, NY could easily be swept at home by the Bosox (thus elevating them to .500 at last, about to pass us on the way up as we head down to that level). Throw the Posada situation into the mix (his wife's latebreaking tweet about "back stiffness" is a lame attempt at damage control IMO) and it's made for a pretty miserable weekend so far. Still really looking forward to seeing the Scranton farm team in Indy on June 2.

Headline of the day: Report: MLB looking into operation on Yanks’ Colon Trust me, guys, you don't want to go there...

What disappointed me most about tonight's game was the tremendous number of LOB we rang up (something like 35). KC managed only 4 hits to our 12 and still outscored us (we pulled 8 BB of our own, so the disparity there wasn't too bad); upsetting to watch us piddle away a game like that and waste another excellent start by A.J. Burnett. Outside of HRs, I'm beginning to wonder how truly mighty the Bronx Bombers' offense is this year. Missed chances pile up in Yanks' defeat

I feel your pain, man. That is a tough one to swallow; you guys had that game in the bag.

On the Night Lights FB page or my own page? I think I missed it (your question) somehow. I think I added it as a comment on your FB note about this. Just asked if the show had been broadcast yet and if it was archived. But I'm so bad with FB (I blame them) that I may not have done it right. Have only heard the first half but it was great. BTW I take it that he feels constrained by law from playing a disc all the way through. Also he seems to have an Ellington broadcast from the Cotton Club not included in the recently released Storyville set that we all thought had all the extant Cotton Club broadcasts except one cut. Yes re: the "constrained by law" comment. The only full-length track I used was "Tiger Rag," and that came from the previously-released CD that included that side (which has turned up, in better sound quality, in the Savory collection as well). I used it to fill out the so-called "newshole," the five-minute segment that follows the show's opening billboard, and which isn't always taken by NPR stations (some opt to cut away for the top-of-the-hour newscast, which means some listeners will be joining the program six minutes in). According to Loren, all of the music that he brought along was being played on a radio show for the first time since its original broadcast. (I.e., the music on this program doesn't overlap with what he played on WNYC last year, etc.) It's incredible how much material that collection contains.

On the Night Lights FB page or my own page? I think I missed it (your question) somehow.

Jazz artist, scholar, writer-of-superlative-Mosaic-booklets, and National Museum of Jazz director Loren Schoenberg stopped by the show recently to share some music from the Savory collection. Nearly all of it has not been heard since its original broadcast: Listening to the Savory Collection With Loren Schoenberg Artists featured on the program include Mildred Bailey, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Benny Goodman, Bunny Berigan, Chu Berry, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Bobby Hackett, Earl Hines, Django Reinhardt (performing with Ellington at Carnegie Hall in 1946), Louis Jordan, John Kirby, Joe Mooney, Red Norvo, Artie Shaw, Dave Tough, Tommy Dorsey, and Bud Freeman. The music is heard in excerpted form, accompanied by some commentary from Loren.

Any day when Derek Jeter finishes with a 4-6, 2 HR, 3 RBI line is a happy one in Yankeeland. Granderson knocked out his AL-leading 11th of the year, but perhaps more significantly, his fifth off a lefthander so far. At the Yankees' current HR rate, they'll finish with 273, which would break the 1997 Seattle Mariners' MLB team record of 264. Dave James, you're right about the pitching, of course. Colon had three strong starts for us; hopefully yesterday was the inevitable bad game, but most posters over at Pinstripe Alley feel the same way, that he and Garcia are bound to run out of steam and that we'll be lucky to get 10 wins apiece out of them. I was heartened by Ivan Nova's performance the other night (though he was facing a Rangers lineup that lacked both Hamilton and Cruz), and A.J. Burnett seems to have stabilized somewhat this year, though he's had a good start every single season with the Yankees, so it may not say much about how well he'll pitch for the rest of the year. Hughes, of course, remains a huge question mark, and I don't think we have anybody in the minors, including the promising "Killer B's" prospects, ready to come up yet. Anyway, glad we won today, as the Rays seem to have forgotten how to lose, and Boston once again appears to be getting its act together. Mark Feinsand in-game tweets:

Moral victory indeed--they blew a 5-0 lead, then immediately tagged the Yanks' bullpen for two runs after Swisher had tied it all up. Plus you guys nailed 14 hits total off us. In the meantime, outside of the occasional sputter here or there, the Yankees' offense continues to be suddenly less than daunting. How long, for instance, do we keep Posada at DH if he maintains his sub-.150 batting average? Jesus Montero may be coming up sooner rather than later (just one option if Posada doesn't find a better groove, though I think Joe Girardi's going to wait a long time before benching Jorge).

Dave, also wanted to add about Granderson: especially glad to see him doing so well this season, as he seems to be a genuinely nice, very likable person. (Quite the charities guy too, from what I understand, even by MLB player standards.) He's also been a great asset in centerfield, that's for sure... between him and Gardner in left, a lot of potential hits have turned into outs this year and last.

It's a conundrum all right, Dave. A-Rod got off to a great start, but he hasn't been the same since that oblique injury. Texiera has hit well for power, and at least he hasn't had quite as miserable a beginning as he had last year. As for Jeter, the Yankees'"hardline" negotiating stance is starting to look rather generous, isn't it? I'm also concerned about Posada, who's knocked out half a dozen homers but is currently batting in the vicinity of .150; not exactly the kind of offensive production you like to see from your DH. Thank God for Curtis Granderson, eh? With all that, we're still 18-12 after tonight, which is much better than I thought we'd be--especially if you had told me last November that (1) we'd fail to sign Cliff Lee (2) Andy Pettitte would retire and (3) Phil Hughes would not only fail to return to April-May 2010 form, but would be out of the rotation for an indefinite period. Still, dropping three in a row to Detroit in such lousy fashion did a nice job of revitalizing my pessimism!

That would be Tad Hershorn's book, which has been in the works for a long time. Glad to hear that it's still on its way; here's the Amazon link.

Final out!

Cool, Dave! A personable and dapper gent... thanks for sharing this with us.

... a really fascinating memoir about working railroad yards in California and the Southwest, probably late 1970s/early 80s, as far as I can tell.