ghost of miles

Many thanks, Joe--I figured that sooner or later the NYRB would run a review of Cohen's book.

February 13.

Now "The New Thing" on KMHD--Jackie McLean, Fred Hopkins, Lester Bowie so far.

One more titanic throwdown before that occurs--I'll be tuning into Lee vs. Price for sure tomorrow night.

Some great music here! I must try to get hold of that Keepin' Up with the Joneses album! Bill, let me know if you can't track it down. Right now: "The Jazz Score" on KMHD-Portland, OR, featuring the music of Duke Ellington.

12 p.m. EST. Yankees vs. Rays/Rangers will presumably follow.

They made it! What a great, great series. Every game decided by one run. Condolences to Berigan, congratulations to Matthew, Goodspeak, and Giants fans everywhere. Can't wait for the Lincecum-Halladay faceoff. EDIT: Matthew, I was thinking of you after Wilson walked two in a row... glad he pulled it out.

Matthew, here's a pic for you if/when the Giants get on the verge of clinching...

Second that, Papsrus! Though I'd love to see a Lincecum-Halladay matchup, and it probably won't happen if this series goes back to SF for a Game 5. :bad: End this thing tonight! I am actually pulling for the Giants overall, Matthew--I'm just enjoying the ALDS games so much that I want to see more of them. And I would like to see a Lincecum-Halladay duel, so that's the upside for me if SF wins tonight.

Second that, Papsrus! Though I'd love to see a Lincecum-Halladay matchup, and it probably won't happen if this series goes back to SF for a Game 5.

A couple of interesting tweets from Mark Feinsand:

...followed by depression, adultery, alcoholism, and trying to write that followup hit!

Yankees to go with 4-man rotation in ALCS I think I agree with this, as long as A.J.'s only start is Game 4 at home. Given Pettitte's recent injury and Hughes' innings jump this year, it's probably better to have them (and C.C.) pitch on normal rest, and roll the dice on Game 4 with A.J. He had a couple of decent starts in September, along with the dreadful ones. Still, you're talking a team that's 62-25 when C.C., Andy or Phil starts, and 13-20 when A.J. does. That's a pretty glaring difference. Have to agree with all of the praise for the Phillies as well--they really are the team to beat, no doubt about it.

Don't be jumping the gun there Ghosty! Nice jinx! Wow! My wife and I went out the door to walk downtown for dinner right after Ishikawa walked with one out in the top of the 9th... just got back and read about what happened. I'm pulling for the Giants in this one, but I still feel terrible for Conrad.

...and the Braves go up 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th...and maybe 2-1 in the series?

Took a pitcher to break up Sanchez' bid for a no-hitter today against the Braves. Papsrus, congrats to the Rays on pulling off two wins at Texas to even the series (boy, homefield has meant next to nothing so far in the ALDS games...the home team is 1-6 so far). I can't imagine a more dramatic match-up than Lee vs. Price for the conclusion; I can hardly wait to watch it! The upside for the Yankees is that whoever wins--Tampa Bay or Texas--will either have to start their ace on short rest for Game 2 of the ALCS, or wait till Game 3 on Monday. Interesting decision. (In the meantime, I imagine that for once you won't mind a constant invocation of the Yankees setting a precedent for the Rays--as the only team to ever come back to win a 5-game series after losing the first two at home. ) The downside for the Yankees, in terms of their sweep, is that I almost think they'll be getting too much rest, what with a five-day layoff. CC will be starting for the second time in a row on long rest (and he didn't look very sharp against the Twins), and then starting on short rest after that. A weird rhythm for a pitcher, I'd think, and the whole NY team may be a bit rusty come Friday night when they suit up against either the Rays or the Rangers, who will be coming off of two days of rest after a hard-fought series. But at least it gives Teixeira more time to let his thumb and toe heal--although he seemed to be hitting quite well in any event against the Twins. I can't figure out the Twins; they led the majors in RISP BA (.285) and then just could not get the job done with men on base in the ALDS. Another note for Yankee fans: Phil Hughes looked about as good last night as I've seen him in a long time. Hard for even a pessimist like me not to feel rather heartened by how things went in the ALDS, but (with absolutely no disrespect to the Twins) the road will get much tougher from here on out.

My bad, Quincy, I thought you meant the Berkman pitch. In the meantime, the Braves have at least scored a moral victory by putting a run on the board against the Giants.

Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer seems to be somewhat skeptical as well that Utley was actually hit, and also questions whether he actually touched the bag rounding third base later on that inning. In which case Utley may have gotten lucky three times in a single inning! J.H.--you want to talk about explosive? Your Phillies seem to have that capacity quite nicely. I still don't see how any other teams, NL or AL, match up against them very well. If the Yankees do somehow back it back to the WS, they'll be facing a team where Halladay=Lee, Hamels 2010 > Hamels 2009, and Oswalt takes the place of an aging Pedro Martinez. The Phillies strike me as a team that got better this year, while NY declined a bit. (Or more than a bit.) Would be ironic, wouldn't it, if Texas takes the AL crown and Lee's back in the WS, except this time he's facing the Phillies?

My reaction as well when I saw that happen, Matthew. And the call he was arguing didn't appear to me to be a blown call--it looked to me like Huff's foot was still on the bag for a split second as the ball arrived in his glove. In any case, such a close, close call that I can't see why Cox came unhinged over it. I think the Reds had a better case for Utley being out on the force play in the bottom of the 7th, which could have radically altered the outcome of that inning (credit to the Phillies, though, for hitting Chapman so well in general). EDIT: Jon Heyman just tweeted the following: Was it? I saw it happen live, and it looked like the ball did just barely graze Utley--but Heyman seems to be calling that into doubt based on Utley's quote. (BTW, don't mean to be harshing on the Phillies at all...whatever the rightness or wrongness of those calls, they pounced on Chapman and Reds mistakes and completed a remarkable turnaround in that game.) As for the infamous Berkman strike/ball that's been talked about from here to Sunday, all I can say is that earlier in that same at-bat he had a pitch that was clearly outside called for a strike--so IMO it evened out. I don't think the controversial pitch was right down Broadway, either--it was a borderline inside pitch.

One of my favorite separated-at-births:

Wow, just wow. I mean, nothing's going to top Halladay's no-hitter, but Lincecum's 14-K, two-hit shutout sure seems like one for the ages...like some sort of epic 1960s pitching playoff performance.

12 K's for Lincecum through 8! Some awfully impressive pitching performances so far in this year's DS. Possibly my favorite part of the playoffs, actually, because you can watch three significant games right in a row on a single day.

Matthew--Lincecum looks fantastic so far tonight.

I feel bad for the Rays--a couple of questionable calls for them in the first two games. I sure didn't expect Texas to take both games from them on the road; didn't expect the Yankees to do it against the Twins, either. The best thing about tonight's game was Andy Pettitte's return to form. After the first two innings, which seemed similar to his previous struggles since coming back from the DL, he seemed to pitch like Andy Pettitte again. If he's finally back on his game, that would obviously be a very good thing for NY. Great 8th inning from Kerry Wood as well, and Curtis Granderson continues his new-and-dangerously-improved ways at the plate. I still think Philadelphia takes it all, no matter who lands in the WS on the AL side of things.

Let's hope this year there's an umpire that can see fair from foul... Twins got it back with an absolutely terrible call in the bottom of the 9th, ruling that Golson trapped a ball that he clearly caught, giving the Twins a runner with two outs and putting the tying run at the plate in the form of Thome. Ultimately didn't matter, thankfully.