ghost of miles

I referenced the # of championships in response to Dan’s boast about Boston’s WS run over the past 15 years. That’s not something I ever bring up unless somebody else initiates some kind of unprovoked nah-nah-nah patter. And yes, it’s disappointing as a Yankees fan that they’ve won only one WS in the past 19 years (is anybody trying to deny that?!)—which is all the more reason why obsessive Yankee hatred is increasingly irrational. They’re a consistently highly competitive team, but they ain’t no dynasty. As somebody who’s followed them for 46 years now, though, I’m still proud of the effort they put forth—and having been to NYC five times in the past three years has made me love the team even more. So yeah, today’s a depressing one... but I still love NY, I still love baseball in general, and even this crazy not-quite-half-a-season has been a pleasant distraction at times from the country constantly being on fire in one way or another (sometimes literally). So I’m grateful for that as well.

I should add that the U.S. in general reported 57000+ new cases and 995 new deaths yesterday—so the overall national picture remains quite grim as well.

Seven-day high for new cases this past week in Indiana. Things are not going swimmingly, especially with cooler/colder weather on the way.

I’m not sure—I actually don’t have that album. A friend who does shared the digital file with me, but not sure if it was transferred from a CD or the original LP. It’s unfortunate that the planned second set reissue of Lateef’s Savoy recordings never came to pass.

How am I trying to put a positive spin on it?! And did you see my comment that the Rays are the #1 seed for good reason? And yes, as somebody at PSA noted this morning, the Rays are somewhat reminiscent of the late 1990s Yankees—a team where the sum is greater than the whole of its parts. (That’s a compliment, since I guess I have to amplify loudly all due respect for the Rays.) Re the third pitch, the ump had been calling similar pitches strikes all night long. But even that wasn’t an attempt to excuse the loss—as I went on to say, NY was running out of bullpen options anyway. The loss last night was primarily on the bats’ ineffectiveness against the Rays’ top-flight pitching.

Yankees still 27-13 in championships over the past century. 😉 And the longest, still-ongoing-streak of consecutive winning seasons. They’re in the hunt just about every year and IMO will remain so for 2021-22. Definitely a disappointing conclusion to this season, no doubt about it. Re lack of bullpen depth, Otto lost the plot badly this year, Kahnle went down for TJS, Green is middling, and after that it goes downhill fast. Sure, Britton and Chapman are very good closers, but there’s no reliable effective middle relief. You saw that last night when Boone went straight to Britton/Chapman after pulling Cole in the 6th. And even if Chapman had gotten through the 8th unscathed, gotten the third borderline pitch called a strike instead on Brosseau, who would the Yankees have wheeled out for the bottom of the 9th? Rays had a better overall pen, and that’s to their credit. They seem to do a better job with developing and coaching their pitchers. Maybe Matt Blake can up NY’s game in that regard next year with a full season in which to do it... remains to be seen. Rays are already there.

It was a very restful season in general for Red Sox fans! Tough loss last night, but the Yankees’ lack of both starting and bullpen depth in all likelihood was going to catch up with them eventually in the postseason. And the Rays are a #1 seed for good reason. Will be interesting to see how things play out between them and the Astros.

Wow--guy was a legend. I'll bet Gerrit Cole's a fan. Ford had to be one of the last surviving members of those 1950s teams, right? Tony Kubek's still around, maybe a handful of others.

My memory fwiw is that the shift occurred from the 1970s on. This comment (you have to scroll down a bit) says it began before that. But I do recall that having a starter go on three days' rest wasn't the radical outlier back in the 1970s that it is now.

Tonight’s game is going to be very interesting. Cole on short rest for the first time in his career against Glasnow on two days’ rest—I’m sure Cash’s plan is to use Glasnow as a 1-2 IP opener and then empty the Rays’ formidable pen. Yankees’ challenge will be getting 5-6 solid innings out of Cole and then somehow finding a bridge to Britton/Chapman. Since Green pitched the last two nights, I doubt he’ll be available—esp given the new rule that a reliever has to face a minimum of three batters. Should be quite a barnburner at Petco tonight.

There’ll be a sequel (tentatively scheduled for next month) that covers the 1960s, again with Mark as a guest.

Posting this week’s show, the first of a two-part tribute to Yusef Lateef, a bit early because today is his centenary. Mark Stryker, author of Jazz From Detroit (and well-known as a contributor to this forum) joins the program to talk about this key period in Lateef’s development as a musician: The Jazz Message Of Yusef Lateef: The 1950s

Thanks for the reminder of this one--just pulled it off the shelf and will give it a spin tonight. 2020 needs some vintage Red!

Also didn't realize, till I got to the chapter on the Postcard label, that the book's title comes from the Orange Juice song "Rip It Up." There's a band I hadn't thought about in quite awhile, but I always liked what I heard of them, which sounded both influenced by early Talking Heads and anticipating the sound of some early Smiths songs as well. Such an excellent book, sending me back to some artists I hadn't listened to in many years, and inspiring me to check out others that I missed the first time around.

Really glad you enjoyed it. Steven Isoardi is such a wonderful scholar and commentator on all things Horace, and we were finally able to reactivate the interview outtakes that I had included in the original post for the show. (WFIU's web platforms have changed over the years, and older shows sometimes include material in the posts with links that no longer work and need to be updated.)

He gave NY a good quality start tonight. Boy, does Choi have his number, though. Glad they decided to issue him an intentional pass the last time Cole faced him.

I wasn’t—thanks much! Probably going to seek out Reynolds’ book on glam-rock as well. I really enjoy his writing.

I really want this! Probably going to wait till I get my tax refund check early next year, though--most of which is set aside for practical matters, but there's $100+ that I'm reserving for an extravagant purchase... and this may well be the winning choice in that category.

One of my first baseball cards (either a 1974 or 1975 Topps, can’t recall which year exactly, but it was at the end of his career), and an early favorite, though he was in his twilight when I started following baseball as a kid. What a competitor. His 1968 season might be the greatest by a pitcher in the modern era. 13 shutouts! I think that’s probably the collective total for an entire league these days.

I just got that one several days ago—it’s next on the reading list after I finish Rip It Up. Wow, there’s a band I haven’t heard or thought about since I was a young’un! Iirc they were often grouped under the stylistic umbrella of early R.E.M.-type groups. I need to revisit their recordings. Last night I was bopping around the house to this record, which I probably hadn’t listened to in 25 years or so. Blissfully good late 70s/turn of the 80s UK pop:

The story of Horace Tapscott seems more relevant than ever in 2020. We re-aired One More You Wrote Through Us: Horace Tapscott with special guest Steven Isoardi this past week on Night Lights, and it remains archived for online listening.

Funny, Prez’s term “Von Hangman” popped into my head just the other night for no apparent reason.