ghost of miles

I'd put the 1996-2001 Yankees up against the 1975-76 Reds, the 1972-74 A's, and whoever else you want to throw into the mix, and say you can make a strong argument that they're the best team of the past five decades for sustained success over a multi-year period. (If you want just a barebones argument, nobody else in the past 50 years racked up 4 World Series titles and 5 appearances in a six-year period.) How that comes off as a "Don't make me laugh" statement, and how ANYTHING I've ever said in any post at any time whatsoever on this forum confirms such an ugly stereotype of Yankee fans is way, way beyond me. Any fan wants his or her team to win; why Yankee fans are demonized for doing so is beyond me too. Live and let live, and haters gonna hate for whatever reasons they hate, but that doesn't mean you have to let them define you. Back to Jsngry's son's comment about the Rangers having "something special" this year: Lots of teams have had magical seasons throughout baseball history, and any time you see it, it's a remarkable testament to the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, to what a group of people can achieve working together. Hell, I'd go so far as to say it's something of a work of art--growing up in Indiana, that's how I felt about several of the basketball teams Bobby Knight put together (and Knight's a troubled case for sure, but boy, when he got the pieces put together the way he wanted them--as he seemed to do every several years the first two decades he was at IU--his teams were a beautiful thing to watch). This is an excerpt from the article I wrote earlier this year to which I linked above--and you could apply it in slightly different ways to this year's Rangers (there's a redemption narrative at work in Texas' season too, what with the failed ownership/bankruptcy situation and Ron Washington's personal struggles):

Saw Mike Reed's People, Places and Things at the Bishop last night in Bloomington and got a chance to talk with both Reed and saxophonist Greg Ward afterwards. Looking back over this thread, I realized that I never posted the sequel to the Night Lights show: Returning the Call: More From the Unsung Heroes of Chicago Hardbop

I'll say it one last time: congratulations to the Rangers. Jsngry's son was exactly right about "they've got something special going on." Last year it was the Yankees that had something special going on, and they had a great ride. This year the Rangers have had a great ride and it may well conclude with a World Series parade, which anybody with any kind of baseball heart can at least acknowledge will be a tremendous, joyous thing for followers of a team that's never even been to the Series, let alone won it. When a team gets on that kind of ride, you can see and feel the love they have for being on the field come out. Last year's Yankees team buzzed with that kind of energy (hence A-Rod's quote the day after winning the WS, that he wished the team could just keep playing, even a pickup softball game, because they had so much fun on the field together...this year's team had that kind of feeling only rarely), and this year's edition of the Rangers sure has it as well. I think the Giants have it to some extent too, which is another reason why a Texas-SF World Series would be a blast to watch. That said: I've been a Yankees fan since 1974. Here's a nice little spiel that was reposted last week at Pinstripe Alley: Incoming rant on Yankees-fan bashers She may go a little over the top at times, but given all the s*&% that gets hurled at Yankee fans everywhere, I don't blame her one bit. The Yankees went through their own more recent sucking period in the 1980s and early 90s, when Steinbrenner was indeed trying to buy a championship. Whatever one thinks of his right to do that, I don't think it's a smart way to build a winner. There's no chemistry, you tend to overpay for players about to pass their prime, etc. And it was not much fun being a fan during those years; at least the late 1970s team had a certain soap-opera entertainment factor to it ("Bronx Zoo" and all that), but the 1980s/early 90s offered little pleasure of any kind, save for watching Don Mattingly. As I've mentioned before, Steinbrenner's suspension in the early 1990s paved the way for the team we're still watching. Gene Michael was able to develop a lot of outstanding young players, and the dynasty team of 1996-2001 was built almost entirely on farm-bred players and shrewd trades. Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera all came up through the farm system. Paul O'Neill, Scott Brosius, Tino Martinez and David Cone all came from trades. That's quite possibly the greatest baseball team of the past 50 years (in terms of success over a multi-year period). I don't know how anybody could hate that team, either--it had a great chemistry, it was successful but not arrogant, confident but classy, and it always seemed to find a way to win. In a way it's almost appropriate that NY lost in Game 7 of the 2001 WS in the 9th inning, because several key players were leaving anyway, and the pop was about to go out of the bottle. As for the ongoing Yankee coverage, blame the media! What the hell are the Yankees supposed to do about it? Part of it's just geography, that New York remains in some ways our most significant cultural center. I'm also tired of watching small-market team owners use the luxury tax not to maintain their young star players, but to stash it into their coffers instead. Sorry, that's not the Yankees' fault either. Talk to Bud Selig (and good luck with that) about it. I don't believe the Yankees are entitled to win the World Series every year, let alone the ALCS or the AL East, but damned if I won't root for them to try. I'll doff my hat without hesitation to the teams that beat us, but I'll be damned if I whine, carry on, bitch, moan, take unseemly joy in the defeat of a rival, and rant/rave with classless, irrational hatred... a hatred that frankly is irrational at this point in baseball history. It's 2010. George Steinbrenner is dead. The Yankees have won one World Series title in the past 10 years. Can we all just move along? *Quick p.s.: Somebody mentioned the lack of hot young players on the current team. What do you call Robbie Cano? (Not to mention Phil Hughes, who will be an excellent pitcher if he ever overcomes this problem he's developed with two-strike pitches.) No, Cano alone can't be the basis for keeping the team at a contender level, and the age problems NY faces are real. Go over to Pinstripe Alley and you'll see plenty of fans hoping that we don't go all crazy on the free-agent market this winter and try to sign Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth and whoever else. That's also why many of us did not want the Cliff Lee trade to go through in mid-season this year; we didn't want to lose Jesus Montero, who's one of the most promising hitters in the minor leagues right now. I'd rather see us work on bringing up the generation that will replace the Core 4. Pettitte may retire now. Posada's almost surely gone after next season. Rivera might have two years left; Jeter perhaps three or four. *Dave James: when I say I'll "root" for another team in the postseason after the Yankees' exit, it's a pretty light-weighted term. I just enjoy watching the game itself, and it seems like I inevitably end up pulling for somebody.

Yes, the Lunceford Decca set that had been talked about years ago and then apparently deep-sixed is back on.

Just got home from the Mike Reed's People, Places and Things show and saw the score--congratulations to the Rangers and their fans here. You guys were clearly the better team, and I know this one's been a long time coming. Coming into this series, Phil Hughes had pitched very well on the road against Texas, but yeah, given that it was the postseason, Girardi might have done well to put aside the book for once. Molina's HR in Game 4 was also a huge moment, perhaps comparable in its impact to Damon's double-steal and subsequent run in Game 4 of last year's WS. Basically, though, Texas just outhit and outpitched us in every single game in this series with the exception of Game 5. Not sure who I'll be pulling for in the WS if it's Texas-San Francisco. Normally I tend to go for the team that beat the Yankees (you want your team to have been knocked out by the best ), but the Giants are so damned likable that it's hard not to root for them to take it all. If the Phillies are in, I'll definitely be cheering Texas on--nothing against Philadelphia, just that my AL prejudices will take natural hold. Jsngry, I think each round Texas takes makes it that much more likely that Lee signs with them this winter.

Happy birthday to a most excellent fellow!

Hey all, apologies for the short notice, but for any Organissimo posters in the south-central Indiana area, Mike Reed's People, Places and Things will be playing this Friday night at the Bishop in Bloomington. If you're unfamiliar with Reed and his excellent series of tributes to mid-20th-century Chicago hardbop, check out this recent interview with him: Everything has its roots in something

Lee wants to be on a winner. My takeaway from that is that he does indeed dig being in Texas and has good feelings about the team's future, but he doesn't want to make it too easy on the Texas ownership in terms of a contract offer. Still, the way this series has gone down might push him even more towards staying with the Rangers.

What would you do if Nolan Ryan looked you in the eyes and more or less said, "Son, we need a hero around here besides me. I like your style, and I'd like for you to be the new hero for the Ranger family of fans, and I will do anything I can to help do that, if it's what you want. Can we do business?" This is Nolan Ryan looking you in the eyes and being as serious and honest as any baseball ownership figure is ever going to be with you. Now if you're a player, a player with a soul, a pitcher with a soul, some blabberjabber coming from a suited dwerb with a pinky ring and a cell phone and a big office and endorsement this and marquis that, well, what kind of a man are you anyway, that's what the question then becomes. Just a dream, I know, but what a sweet one it is. Well, that's what I mean. I really don't know much at all about Lee, except that he's got a kind of Texarkana air about him that would seem to make him a good long-term fit for the Rangers. NY is a whole 'nother enchilada... not saying Lee couldn't handle the pressure. I think he could. But the scenario you describe above would, I think, surely be tempting to him. Texas would be a stable, very comfortable environment close to his hometown roots. Most people think Lee will want 5-6 years at $20 million or more a year. If Texas can come close to that, I think he just might go with them over the Yankees, whatever NY ends up offering... at that level of pay you can afford to give up a few million dollars for a better shot at assured personal happiness. And I can see Lee seeing it that way too, esp. if Greenberg and company are working on his parents and his wife's parents as well...southern hospitality vs. Manhattan madness? I dunno, man, I think his heart might just end up in Texas after all. Myself, I sure won't cry if we do get Lee, but I'd just as soon see us develop more homegrown talents like Andy Pettitte (one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest postseason pitchers the Yankees have ever had) or Phil Hughes (on the other end of the career spectrum, but a guy who I think will prove to be a stayer). Lee's had some back issues, too, which might be rather worrisome when it comes to signing a 32-year-old pitcher to a long-term contract. That's another reason why some of the folks over at Pinstripe Alley aren't necessarily eager to see the Yankees pursue him.

They've got soul, as does their crowd. It's been a blast to watch the games at A T & T Park in both the NLDS and the NLCS. I love it that Sandoval's nickname is "Kung Fu Panda." And DAZED AND CONFUSED is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I'm a sucker for a stoner pitcher who looks so much like Mitch Kramer: Hey, if it turns out to be an Giants-Rangers series, I sure won't feel cheated in terms of an interesting match-up.

For Jsngry and other Texas fans--a NY Times interview with Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg. I don't know much about Cliff Lee, but what Greenberg says in there confirms my hunch that Lee may not necessarily walk away from the Rangers after this season. The Arkansas connection had crossed my mind before, and if they can convince Lee that this is a good, at-home place to be--and offer him money that's at least reasonably close to what the Yankees will probably offer him--then it might be a very tough decision. I know he and C.C. are buddies, but still, if he digs living and pitching in Texas, then it might well be worth taking the $100 million contract over the $110 million or whatever NY will throw at him.

Wow. I can honestly say that I did not underestimate Texas going into the ALCS, but I sure underestimated SF as an opponent of Philadelphia's. "These San Francisco Giants... Cinderella story, the crowd going crazy here at A T & T Park..."

Believe me, I'm not defending his overall performance--he had the highest ERA in Yankee history for any starter with more than 180 IP in a season, and we were 13-20 in games that he started. But given his 17-day layoff and all of the bad-A.J. mojo that's surrounded him, I thought until the home run to Molina that he had given the Yankees a quality start. Better than CC and Phil's first starts in this series, anyway! More on "Grim LeRogue" via the New York Daily News:

I thought A.J. actually pitched fairly well last night--if Joe Girardi had lifted him after the IBB, as he should have, that game might have had a very different outcome. (In fact, Jsngry, Joe's managing of the bullpen in Game 4 comes close to giving back what Texas gave to us in Game 1.) If, by some mad chance, NY made it to the World Series, we'd probably see A.J. again. Meantime, what was with the wild dude who stormed the field last night trying to attack A-Rod--allegedly because he's jealous of A-Rod's relationship with Cameron Diaz? Guy goes by the name of Grim LeRogue... posters over at Pinstripe Alley were joking that it was one of the mods.

Well, way to stay alive and all that for the Yankees, but I still think they're destined to be this year's edition of the 2009 L.A. Angels. (Good parallel for TX fans, as NY lost on the road while up 3-1 against the Angels last year and then wrapped the series up on their home field in game 6.) Sure, NY fans can hope that Phil Hughes reverts to previous form at Arlington, can hope that the bats come up with a few runs to support him...and then can hope that somehow Andy Pettitte/Kerry Wood/Mo pull off a 1-0 game against Cliff Lee in Game 7 (which would also ride on the hope that somehow NY scratches out a run against Mr. Lee or that one hitter manages to go deep on him). That's a helluva lotta hope if you ask me.

Just got home from work and tuned into WCBS... return of the MFY? Maybe. Given Texas' proven ability to tag us for lots of runs in the late innings, I'm not resting easy at all in terms of this game. (People have talked about the Rangers' bullpen... what about NY's? No way you guys are out of this one yet.) In terms of the series, I think only that it's quite kind of the MFY to put you in place for wrapping up the title on your home turf. You've got Cliff Lee in your back pocket, man! Even if you drop this game and Game 6, you've got that. Yeah, no guarantees in baseball, but Cliff Lee against the Yankees is about 99.8% of the way to being one. EDIT: tying run for Texas now on deck for the Rangers in the top of the 6th.

We re-aired David Young: a Quiet Strength last week. It remains archived for online listening.

There's so much to be gleaned from well-written commentary on jazz. Writers like Larry (whose praises in this regard I've sung before), Allen, Loren Schoenberg, Martin Williams, Mark Stryker, Jsngry and others will enhance both your interest and your listening experience (and if your listening experience extends for more than four hours call a doctor? Sorry, there must be a better way to say it that doesn't make good jazz criticism sound like a medical product...back to the coffee). Anyway, I'm grateful for it; some people really have a gift for talking about all of the beauty and details in the music that will make you love it even more.

Boy, this has become a regular ol' Texas Chainsaw Mass-a-cree... Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Yanks-Rays golf playoff in Florida next week?

C'mon, man, let me enjoy my creeping resignation in peace! I don't blame you for not wanting to jump to conclusions on your end--having sat through the apocalypse known as the 2004 ALCS, I don't blame you at all. (Though that Yankee team sure didn't have a Cliff-Lee-Game-7 ace to fall back on! ) And--I genuinely mean this--I'll be happy for the Rangers fans here if TX goes. Nolan Ryan taking over the club, Cliff Lee coming to town, and a possible World Series trip have made for a heady few months, a great ride, and if NY doesn't get to go for the ring again, well, last year was our great ride. Really hard to repeat these days for anybody, it seems.

No, I'm not giving up yet, but the odds keep getting higher and higher. We've been consistently outpitched, outhit, and just plain outplayed in this series. Outscored 27-10 so far! You guys are without a doubt the better team right now. NY's back in the same mediocre mode it was in for most of August and all of September. I have, however, found much consolation in listening to the music of Warne Marsh throughout this ALCS debacle. On another happier note, I just found out that somebody touted Night Lights to Ira Sullivan. :)

Sigh... looks like another epic fail in progress for NY. Dan, I may be joining you in the '11 pitchers-and-catchers-watch queue here pretty soon. I hope SF gets to the WS on the NL side (no offense and much respect to Philly fans).

Sounds like Tex may be out for good. No official report yet, but lots of speculation that he pulled or tore a hamstring. He hasn't hit a lick so far in the ALCS, but we'll sure miss his glove... probably put Berkman at first base from here on out, I'd guess.

That's the one I'd be most eager to get. I know most, if not all, of this material has circulated on the Internet, but I'd love to see a well-done box-set of it. Unfortunately, I think jazzbo's post may be right on target.