ghost of miles

Early word is Pettitte will be out 4-5 weeks with a Grade 1 (minor tear) groin strain. Too bad that Cliff Lee trade didn't work out--CL sure would've come in handy about right now. Mitre's being tapped as the initial replacement, which isn't making Pinstripe Alley very happy; they wanted Nova. If nothing else, at least NY overcame Pettitte's early departure and beat up on Price today. But Pettitte's probably been our most reliable starter, after CC; Hughes, Javy, and certainly AJ much less so. (Well, AJ was reliably bad throughout all of June, and after two good starts in a row nearly went all Kevin Brown on us yesterday.) So I think the AL East just got even more competitive. Boy, I'll bet the White Sox are lovin' the Indians right now--sure kept Detroit off their backs, given that they've dropped three in a row. The AL Central could end up being even more of a barnburner than the AL East come late September.

Well worth getting, Matthew. I wrote a review of it years ago for a local alternative newsweekly--I'll see if I can dig it up and post it. EDIT: I looked for the review online ("Revolutionaries in the Tradition"--I was also reviewing some book about Monk) but it seems to be gone, even in cached form. In the meantime, here are some excerpts from reviewing pros on the Duke University site: Songs of the Unsung reviews

...and yet again. Nice win for your Bosox, Dan--congrats. If they can stay 4-5 games back of NY and TB going into August, they'll be very much in contention, especially as some of the regulars start returning to the lineup.

Looks like he's remembered--and so has John Lackey.

Yer blind, ump!

We may go to streaming mp3s at some point, but we'll never be able to do podcasts of the entire show (that is, unless copyright restrictions/royalties suddenly changed drastically regarding podcasts...but I don't foresee that happening). In the meantime, you might find this thread of interest.

Wow--I got a lot more out of it than that, Matthew. Time, remembrance, the broad sweep of life and the way that baseball reflects it. Pete Abraham loved it, and he's a Boston Globe writer!

Thanks to the Boston Globe's Pete Abraham for hipping readers (via Twitter) to Sam Borden's beautiful piece about last night at Yankee Stadium: Moment of silence elicits years of memories

...and now builds them for others: Small house living

Great, dramatic win by the Yanks tonight against Tampa Bay after the tributes to Steinbrenner and Sheppard, tying the game twice through home runs--Nick Swisher hitting one in the bottom of the 8th, and then knocking in Granderson in the bottom of the 9th to win it. Glad to get that W under our belts, as we're facing TB's top two pitchers tomorrow and Sunday. EDIT: Dave James and other Yankees fans, the full clip of Swish's walkoff single and subsequent pie-in-the-face from A.J.: Swish's gamewinner Big, big emotional victory for the Yanks. The sequence in the 9th--Granderson leading off with a hit against a leftie, a great bunt by Pena, Gardner turning an 0-2 count into a walk, and then--it sure would have been perfect for Jeter to get the walkoff, but it came down to Nick Swisher, who had a hell of a night (3-5 and robbed of what would have been another homer). And Swisher's enthusiasm is contagious, just a pleasure to watch, last year and this year. Like the comeback against the Dodgers, this game makes me think this year's edition might have the grit to repeat as champs after all. God, that was a great game to listen to!

My first two tries: David Foster Wallace and... H.P. Lovecraft?

Googling seems to indicate that it comes from a Season 8 episode called "The Abstinence." It's definitely got to be from near the end of the show's run, since the '96 WS is referenced.

Dave James, while watching the "Larry David as Steinbrenner" clips again, I came across this 1997 clip, which I'd never seen before--George Costanza giving batting lessons to Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams: Jeter and Bernie on Seinfeld

Bill Kirchner will be devoting his monthly edition of WBGO's Jazz From the Archives to Lees:

Great set to get, Peter. Wasn't that one that evaporated without warning, due to the expiration of the licensing agreement? I haven't listened to it in a long time, but seeing this topic pop up today will probably prompt me to pull it out when I get home tonight.

Many apologies for the oversight, but much belated appreciation to the several Organissimo posters who contributed to the recent Night Lights online fund-drive--we made our goal and then some. Such votes of support from this crowd in particular are especially heartening... many thanks. We'll have an on-air drive in the autumn, and I'll probably drop a note or two about that (esp. for any folks who missed the summer online drive & still want to kick in a few bucks), but its presence here will be very low-key; also, next year's summer online drive will be shortened up & done in 7-10 days (as opposed to three weeks). As always, any input or suggestions regarding the show, the fund-drive, or anything else are welcome; I still think of this board as the home base for the program. We're on 14 stations now in 38 markets, and many individual episodes have been licensed through PRX for broadcast on stations all over the country (most recently the Louis Armstrong "It's All in the Game" show was picked up by Mississippi Public Broadcasting for broadcast on its statewide radio network). I don't think the distribution we've had would've been possible without the early support for the show shown here, so again, many thanks.

Yeah, I guess it's too much to expect that the Angels fans would overcome longstanding animosity for the sake of cheering on the collective league team. (Said without sarcasm.)

Hey Dan, did you catch how loudly the Red Sox and Yankee players were booed when they were introduced tonight? By an AL home team crowd, no less!

Now there's an intriguing alternate universe: Catfish Hunter & Reggie & Goose sign with Cleveland, and the Indians win a World Championship or two. Then of course since there's no revenue to support the spending, Steinbrenner bails out of the business ... and maybe the Yankees are working on a 45 year championship drought. I can dream can't I? Anyway, that's giving Steinbrenner far too much credit. In 1972 the Indians still had Chambliss, Nettles & Tidrow. Perhaps the trades don't happen. And the Indians had Gaylord Perry. You never know, maybe the alternate universe Indians coulda been a contender. The Yankee teams that won world championships nearly always benefited from some shrewd trades (the players you mention, Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez in the 1990s, Nick Swisher on the current team).

This article about Derek Jeter from spring training earlier this year came to mind today--I would love to see Jeter become a part of the Yankee ownership group some day. Hard to get a sense for how much Hal and Hank Steinbrenner want to keep the team, though I can't see them selling it any time soon (and I can't even begin to fathom how much NY is now worth... way, way more than the $8 million George paid for the team in 1973). But I can't imagine anybody more appropriate than Derek Jeter for at least a partial stake in the Yankees. EDIT: ESPN says the Yanks are now worth $1.6 billion. Well, that's a pretty steep mountain for Jeter to climb--but I'd love to see him find a way.

New York Times Steinbrenner obit A lighter note: Larry David as Steinbrenner on Seinfeld Steinbrenner-Derek Jeter VISA commercial

Steinbrenner's death confirmed.

On a more upbeat note: An All-Star again, A-Rod gets reflective

There's a report out that George Steinbrenner has died. A rough couple of days for Yankee fans, what with Sheppard's death as well. As for Steinbrenner, whatever one thinks of him (and my own feelings have always been pretty ambivalent), the guy was definitely a larger-than-life character.

Many thanks, Niko.