ghost of miles

Oh man, what a heartbreaker--and Hayward's last two shots came so close to going in (I really thought that long 3 was going to make it for a sec--would've been a new "The Shot" for sure).

The most recent Night Lights show features an interview with Mark Miller: Herbie Nichols' Third World It also includes one of the Hi-Lo sides, "S'Wonderful."

Well, it's only one game--but as I just said in a PM to a board member, one worry at the back of my mind, "Who will be this year's Phil Hughes?", now that Hughes is back in the starting rotation, is already being borne out a bit. Hopefully Robertson can step into that role (and hopefully Chan Ho Park's outing tonight was an aberration). I'm afraid that Joba will be too much of an up-and-down headcase to be consistently effective out of the pen. Other notes: the Yankees' lineup certainly does have impressive depth. Everybody, Gardner included, is a threat in one way or another. Granderson, for all his work on batting against lefties, looked pretty bad against them tonight. And for a team allegedly having to make its way on pitching and defense this year, Boston sure smacked the ball around a lot.

I was thinking when that came on: God bless the man who invented the mute button. Eugene Polley?

Matthew, thanks for making this comment--I thought it was just me. They went on and on about Cano being a bit slow off the plate on that long single earlier, too. Boy, CC really looking shaky in the 5th and now in the 6th...Bosox have 2nd and 3rd with no outs. EDIT: now 5-4 and Bosox have a runner on 3rd with no outs. It's a ball game! Matthew, how long is Cliff Lee on the DL for? Cliff Lee is on the 15 day DL, plus a five game suspension. I have a feeling the Mariners will be lucky to see Lee before May. Typical Joe Morgan comment always starts with: "When I played the game..." What I really hate is when he and Miller go off about these small, picayune things, like Gardner throw or Cano's being slow off the plate, and go on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, about it, just so they can let you know they understand inside baseball. If I'm Boston, I'd start getting worried about Beckett, he just doesn't look the same. I didn't realize it, but they mentioned that Beckett had a pretty bad April last year as well (in addition to CC). CC actually looked pretty good tonight, I thought, until the last part of the 5th, when the wheels started to come off. Speaking of the wheels coming off... the NY bullpen is doing about as good of a job as Boston's tonight. (Or at least Chan Ho Park=Ramirez.) Making for a very competitive game, anyway.

Matthew, thanks for making this comment--I thought it was just me. They went on and on about Cano being a bit slow off the plate on that long single earlier, too. Boy, CC really looking shaky in the 5th and now in the 6th...Bosox have 2nd and 3rd with no outs. EDIT: now 5-4 and Bosox have a runner on 3rd with no outs. It's a ball game! Matthew, how long is Cliff Lee on the DL for?

Best birthday wishes to you, Allen--good luck with the C melody, and really looking forward to the blues sets this year!

Admitting you have a problem is the first step in recovery... Forgive me, Father, I have sinned! Thanks so much for all you said, Matthew.

Joe Girardi's saying that Nick Johnson will start tonight--he was questionable after hitting a foul ball off himself the other day. (Oy, it's already begun!) I'm definitely gearing up to watch the game tonight, though I expect Boston to win this one--CC is generally a little weak out of the starting gate in April. Also wondering how soon it will be before Cervelli's catching A.J. Posada's what, 38, 39? He shouldn't catch more than 110-120 games max anyway. He and A.J. still weren't clicking in spring training, and Molina's gone now.

Herbie Nichols biographer Mark Miller joins me this week on Night Lights for Herbie Nichols' Third World. You can listen to the program live tonight on the following stations: Blue Lake Public Radio-Michigan at 10 p.m. EST KRML-Carmel, CA at 7 p.m. PST WVAS-Montgomery, AL at 10 p.m. CST KMBH-Brownsville, TX at 10 p.m. EST ...or listen to it archived online: Herbie Nichols' Third World I'll have more audio quotes from my interview with Mark up on Tuesday.

For better or for worse (probably for worse!), thought I'd post it here as well: The Year the Yankees Won the Pennant: Confessions of a Devoted Fan

Butler vs. Michigan State highlights.

Video: Obama vs. Kellogg Great fun!

Hoosier Hysteria for the Butler Bulldogs! I'm sure Duke will be the favorite to win Monday night--but man, what if Butler pulls it off?

...and now throwing Nick Kent's THE DARK STUFF into the mix...very good profiles of rock artists who lost the plot in one way or another (with some regaining it, many not).

Started both Jack Kerouac's BIG SUR and Henry Miller's THE AIR-CONDITIONED NIGHTMARE today. Good, upbeat vacation reading!

Wow! Thanks so much for posting this.

While we're waiting for Opening Day--a little musical tribute to the game I cooked up this week for Afterglow: Play Ball! The National Pastime in Popular Song

Here's Frank on The Jazz Session as well.

There's this guy Bix, been playing a few frat dances here around town...I really think the two of you should hook up.

Is the $14.95 radio package for the entire regular season still available? That's what I'll probably spring for, if it's still around... I still love listening to radio broadcasts of games. One of NY's scheduled pitchers for tonight: the switch-pitcher (yes, that's correct) Pat Venditte. Watch what happened last season in the minors when he faced a switch-hitter: Switch-pitcher vs. switch-hitter

We re-broadcast Last of the Lions this past week and it's archived for online listening.

Butler's hometown berth in the Final Four got me in the mood to go looking for YouTube clips of one of the most memorable games I ever watched--the 1987 Indiana-Syracuse championship (I was living in Bloomington at the time, and the spectacle of this town celebrating a national championship in the streets and across the campus is something I'll never forget). Anyways, found this rather interesting timepiece: The jazz introduction to the 1987 championship game Plus: Two-minute highlight reel of IU-Syracuse game and of course: Keith Smart "The Shot" ..."Nobody stopped the clock! Nobody stopped the clock!"

Best wishes to you, NOF, and so glad to hear that the prognosis is a good one. You are an institution around this place, my friend! Been listening to a lot of late-period Bill Evans myself (the CONSECRATION box).

Gillian Welch. I haven't kept up with her in recent years, but her first several records (w/partner David Rawlings) are all very good.