ghost of miles

Up--this book is referred to (under a slightly different title) in the footnotes of Robin Kelley's new Monk bio. Any news about it? An initial search of Amazon turned up nothing.

Another bad call just now--Damon clearly safe at first on that infield hit. (Not that it would probably matter much, given the way that Lackey's pitching so far.) BTW, MLB has made some umpire switches for the upcoming WS.

Ouch--that first inning seemed to bear out my bad premonitions about tonight's game and A.J. on the road. Not good, staking Lackey (who's looking dominant through the first two after Jeter and Damon's leadoff singles) to a 4-0 lead... looks like there's a very good chance we'll be heading back to NY for Game 6 on Saturday.

Happy birthday to a great guy and jazz/baseball lover...really glad you're here, Matthew.

Yep--I'd say their half of a possible "Freeway Series" is toast. If the Yanks can finish off the Angels, we'll be looking at a "Turnpike Series."

Just got the same notices for both the Garner and the Oscar P.--each shipped at the $6.99 price. Amazing deal...thanks again for the thread.

Hmm--then again, maybe not. I just looked at the World Series schedule, and CC would be pitching on three days' rest twice in a row if he went Games 1, 4 & 7. Oh well, not even gonna think about it--after 2004, I'm not taking anything for granted in the playoffs, and I'd give a slight edge again to L.A. for Game 5, what with their backs to the wall and Burnett pitching on the road.

Sounds very cool, LV--thanks much for the heads-up.

The third-base ump who ultimately called Swisher out for allegedly leaving third base too early wasn't even looking at him. Again, I couldn't feel too upset about it, given that Swisher by all rights should've been called out for getting picked off second base...but the idea of a "makeup" call is abysmal. I think they'd be better off loosening the replay-call standards somewhat instead. (Only allowed for certain home-run calls right now, correct?) Glad that it was all ultimately irrelevant. It would be really, really, really good to win this in either 5 or 6 games and possibly have CC available for 3 starts in a World Series... but I'm not counting on anything yet, esp. with Burnett on the mound tomorrow night. He was a much better at home than on the road this season.

...and up again following a late-night ALCS game--reading, appropriately enough, about Monk and "Round Midnight" from the new Robin D.G. Kelley biography.

Whew! After two cliffhangers, good to have a win like that... CC pitching such a great game on three days' rest, A-Rod having another fantastic night, Melky driving in four runs, Johnny Damon finally starting to connect... great victory for the Yanks.

BTW, if CC were pitching on 4 days' rest, I'd feel pretty confident about this game at this point. On 3 days' rest, and given what the Angels did to the Bosox in Game 3 of the DS, I don't think NY fans are anywhere near being able to sit back and count this one in the bag. I just hope CC can get in 7 decent innings, so that we don't have to go through another round of Girardi's bullpen musical-chairs.

Absolutely TERRIBLE umpiring in this game--WTF??? Yeah, two blown calls involving Swisher in the 4th, and now...hey, I'm a NY fan, but what on earth was that with Posada and Cano at third base just now? Bad baserunning by NY this inning...Posada should've scored on Cano's double off the wall, then Cano just stands there and should be called out on the double tag...again, I'm glad NY didn't ultimately benefit from a bad call, but man oh man! And yeah, I got the distinct feeling that calling Swisher for leaving third base too soon (are you kidding me?) was nothing but a makeup call for not calling him out on the pickoff attempt. On the brighter side, A-Rod simply smoked another one out of the park--this after having put NY on the board for the first time with aggressive baserunning. And the Yankee bats seem to finally be coming to life.

Right--and I shouldn't begrudge Beatles obsessives such books if they want 'em. After all, one of the next must-have items on my book-shopping list is the updated Coltrane reference guide, which I'll be perusing in my big glass house.

Has that function been restored? At one time you could do that, but I thought the ability to do so had been removed, for some reason--so that you can delete any post of yours unless it's a topic-starter.

Damn... all you need is REVOLUTION IN THE HEAD, really. (BTW, I really *hate* that new Blackberry ad.)

I agree, MJ--I saw a stat today on NY's average with RISP, and it's horrible. Lots of power, but it helps to hit those HRs when there are some runners on base. NY has to pick it up at the plate... even if they get past the Angels, they won't be able to take the Phillies with batting performances like what we've seen so far. (Philly is looking like a tough nut to crack for whoever emerges from the ALCS.)

Double thanks!

New-release e-mail from Cuscuna:

What were the other two? Red Sox-Mets Game 6 in '86 WS would be one, correct?

An early chapter in music biz D.I.Y.: Tom Wilson, a young African-American Harvard graduate who'd go on to produce some of the 1960s' most landmark albums, working with Bob Dylan, the Velvet Underground, and Frank Zappa, started out in the 1950s by running his own label, Transition Records. Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Herb Pomeroy, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers/John Coltrane, Louis Smith and Herb Pomeroy were some the jazz artists who recorded for Transition--some of them making their debut on wax. The music of all of these artists, plus more of the backstory on Wilson, this week on Night Lights: Before Rock, There Was Jazz: Tom Wilson And Transition Records Broadcast times around the U.S. Next week: "Sweet Smell of Success."

I didn't see any of tonight's L.A-NY game, as I was up in Indpls, taking my dad and grandmother out for a double-birthday dinner. Sounds like I missed another one for the ages, though--and that Girardi again blew through his bullpen and made a couple of questionable premature hooks re: Pettite and Robertson. So now it's CC tomorrow on 3 days' rest and Burnett on Thursday. At this point I'm simply hoping that NY can take 1 of 3 at Anaheim and head home with two chances to take it all. But A-Rod has certainly arrived as a clutch postseason player when he gets intentionally walked in the top of the 9th with a tie score, two out, and nobody on. :rsmile:

Aybar wasn't anywhere near the bag on at least one DP earlier in the night--but I thought he did brush the bag with his foot on that last call. Either way, yeah, they should be more consistent...I felt like the ump was nailing him with payback for taking liberties earlier in the game. Highlight video clips: A-Rod does it again Hairston scores the winning run

That 13-inning epic Angels-Yankees game kept me up till about 1:15 in the morning, and now I can't get to sleep... so working on a Clare Fischer Night Lights show, contemplating reading some more of the Monk bio (I keep sneaking in a few pages here and there--really hooked on it).

Happy birthday, Chris, and congratulations on developing such a compelling blog.