ghost of miles

Dan, I genuinely felt for you last night--last time I checked on the game, Bard had just closed out the 8th, and I assumed it was over. When I checked back not long after I actually let out a groan--even if the Bosox are NY's biggest rivals, that was a monumental achievement to hit Jimenez so well...and I've witnessed too many NY bullpen meltdowns myself this year to know how aggravating it is to lose a game in that manner. Still, isn't that only Papelbon's second blown save this year (the other one a somewhat similar implosion against the Yanks). Re: the New York-Arizona game, I finally had to go to bed last night around 1:10 a.m. after the Yankees tied it in the top of the 9th. Turned on ESPN this a.m. and saw the highlights of what the NY Times rightfully called a very sloppy win--but what a Houdini act by Mo! And he actually had to bat, too, after Granderson hit the go-ahead HR in the top of the 10th. (Inducing much laughter among the Yanks and Mo himself--it was only the fourth AB of his major-league career.) I was looking over the comments at Pinstripe Alley, and people started sinking into despair after Mo gave up the two hits to start off the bottom of the 10th, along the lines of "What is it with Mo and Arizona?" (Lots and lots of Game 7 2001 talk from media folk throughout this series.) But this time he pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam: Mo's magic act Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe had a pretty funny tweet:

Sounds cool--playing any Bob Graettinger, a la CITY OF GLASS?

Dan oh Dan, what on earth are your Bosox doing to Ubaldo Jimenez's spirit-o-'68 ERA?

Tonight's Yanks-Diamondbacks game is much more like it. Of course, Joba may be pitching the bottom of the 8th.

Congrats on the completion of another lap!

Many happy returns, Papsrus! And many thanks for your presence on the board as well.

+1!

I just got an e-mail from Mosaic seeming to indicate that the Bradford/Carter will be out as of this week. The budget won't allow me to get both till the end of next month, but happy camping to all the pre-order folks.

Exactly--it was the lack of wine that produced the disorientation!

It was no attempt at the ol' reverse jinx--just a grim, straightahead prognosis based on recent starts and his prevailing tendency to pitch worse on the road (with even more of a disparity this year than last). Maybe too early to say this, but so far I don't think this year's edition of the Yankees has the same spark as last year's. True, they started very slowly last year (partly because they were without A-Rod) and really poured it on in the second half, particularly after the All-Star break. Maybe that will come to pass as well this year--if Tex can at least jack his BA up to the .270 range and hit for a little more power (which also applies to A-Rod), if the bullpen can produce a more stable 7th-inning reliever (David Robertson, perhaps? who finally seems to be pitching well again), and if Javy can stay consistent, who knows? Cano's having a banner year, Andy Pettitte is going out in a blaze of glory (if this is his last year), and Mo is once again Mo. But I have my doubts--I just don't sense the kind of fire that we seemed to have last year. It's imperative that A.J. get back on track, since we're already starting to skip starts by Phil Hughes (although his innings limit may be a bit higher than previously reported--180-190 is the latest I've read, but still, he's not going to be going every single turn from here on out).

Wow. Haven't turned on the game yet, just went to check the Yahoo box-score--Bad A.J. and then some. That's gotta be the worst start by a Yankee pitcher in a long, long time. EDIT--great comment over at Pinstripe Alley: EDIT 2--and once again a less-then-stellar pitcher is handcuffing the NY batting order. Isn't Arizona the worst team in the league when it comes to runs given up per game? Lopez sure isn't having any problems with the Yankees tonight.

Just noticed the game's on ESPN, but with a 10:10 start time since it's out west. Could make for a bleary-eyed start to the morning tomorrow at work... Dan, what's the latest conjecture on when Ellsbury will be back this year? Boston's offense is pretty impressive even without him--aren't you guys leading the majors in runs scored? NY's not far behind, but last time I checked Boston led in that category.

Interesting article in the NY Times: John Updike's Archive: a Great Writer at Work

Yeah, somehow I think they're going to end up being a very big deal indeed. This week we should by all rights pounce on the Diamondbacks, but A.J.'s set to pitch tonight, and he's been awful on the road so far (and lately, just plain awful), so I don't have high hopes for this evening's game. On another note, Mo Rivera sure had a shaky stretch (by his standards) several weeks ago, but he's now retired the last 21 batters he's faced, setting a new personal record. Good to know he's still got some gas left in the tank, given how unreliable the rest of the bullpen has been.

Up for the final two weeks--we're just about halfway to the goal of $600 by July 3. Can you help out by kicking in a few dollars or so? All contributions are appreciated, whatever the amount! In the meantime, here's one of the Night Lights fund-drive shows that I've posted online--a little music to hopefully put folks in the giving mood: The Prestige Records Story

Bill, thanks much about the show--it was a lot of fun to put together. Sooner or later Night Lights needs to make some forays into the annals of UK jazz.

Interesting nuggets from the NY Times rundown of the Yanks' 4-0 victory over the Mets today: Great bunt by Swisher--I think it caught the Mets completely off-guard and helped set up Tex's grandslam. First time NY's been in sole possession of AL East first place since April 21, given the Rays' loss today. With Boston rolling down the tracks, it's looking to be a long, hot summer!

Drove up to Indpls today to see my dad and other family for Father's Day and listened to this for the second time after buying it last year: Excellent live double-CD, taken from some Dublin shows they did in 2007 while preparing to record ACCELERATE. Lots of interesting material drawn from the I.R.S. years ("Letter Never Sent" and "Second Guessing" off RECKONING, "Disturbance at the Heron House" from DOCUMENT, "1,000,000" off CHRONIC TOWN, "Maps and Legends" off FABLES) that they hadn't played live in a long time...and the energy on the record's just great. Listening to it (and the studio CD that resulted from this period, ACCELERATE) rekindled the kind of intense enthusiasm I felt for them in the 1980s.

Dan, thought you might appreciate this tweet by the Boston Globe's Pete Abraham:

Ah, but Reyes' two dingers were both to right field as well! That second one, the two-run one, just barely cleared the fence. Yeah, Hughes has not been as dominant of late--plus he has an innings limit (supposedly in the 165 range). Not sure what they'll do when he hits it--move him to the pen? (God knows we could use a 2009 Phil Hughes type there in the postseason--well, a reliever who pitched like Hughes did out of the pen during the regular season last year...his postseason was actually abysmal, iirc.) At his current rate he'll hit it in late August, unless they start periodically skipping his turn or letting him pitch only 5 innings. I'm not sure that the rest of our rotation is as fearsome as it might look on paper. CC is struggling, although he's generally a better pitcher in the second half. A.J. is generally pitching very well at home and terribly on the road. Andy Pettitte is having a great year, but I worry about how well he'll hold up down the stretch now that he's turned 38. And Javy has been pitching quite well for the past few weeks... hopefully he can sustain that after his grisly beginning.

Make that 2.69 Strange pattern for NY over the past few days--face less-than-stellar pitchers and they can barely manage a run...face an ace and they do just fine.

I Googled around a bit but haven't found anything yet to confirm his next start--but the Nats play every day between now and then, so in a normal rotation that's when his turn would come up next. Not sure if whatever "Strasburg rules" the Nats are using would involve skipping him a turn now and then or not at this point, but I seriously doubt they'd want to skip a home-game start, given what a draw he is. The official Nats site doesn't have any probable pitchers listed beyond today's game.

So how do most fans on this thread follow the games? Via GameDay Audio (which is a really great deal at $19.95), or via MLB.TV, or other?