ghost of miles

Joe Kelly suspended 8 games for Astros incident That's equivalent to 22 games in a regular season. Michael Kay on the Yankees broadcast right now saying that a lot of players on Twitter are supporting Kelly. O'Neill saying there's a lot of player sentiment that Astros got off way too lightly; Cone thinks MLB needed to make an example of Kelly because they're afraid otherwise it'll be open season on Houston.

Great topic--this has been on my Night Lights drawing board for some time, actually, after I did a day-show broadcast several years ago along the same lines. Title is "I Didn't Know About You: The Lesser-Heard Ellington Songbook." Had it tentatively slotted for next April around the time of Duke's birthday, but this discussion may inspire me to move it up. Johnny Hodges small-group version with Mary McHugh on vocals:

Kelly was a member of the 2017 Red Sox team that got knocked out of the playoffs by the Astros, so there’s that.

Jomboy’s put up a video-clip sequence of the Dodgers-Astros brouhaha: Kelly vs Astros Now with subtitles!

The Marlins' season has been "paused." Washington Nationals had already voted as a team against traveling to Miami to play them.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reports four more Marlins have tested positive. Half of the current 30-man roster is infected. Tonight’s Phillies-Yankees game has been postponed. No word yet on the Phillies’ tests... but given the incubation period for this virus, how could tonight’s game have been safely played anyway, even if all the tests came back negative? What a mess.

I think it's unlikely they'll cancel the season altogether today. I imagine a lot's riding on the test results for the Phillies players. But hard to see how this kind of outbreak doesn't happen again, given that MLB's *not* playing in a bubble, they're traveling a lot, and you have a number of teams based in the four worst hotspot states right now--the Rays and Marlins in Florida, the Astros and Rangers in Texas, the Diamondbacks in Arizona, and the Dodgers, Angels, Giants, A's, and Padres all in California.

MLB also convening an emergency meeting.

Already speculation that the just-started 2020 season could ultimately end up being canceled because of what’s going on with the Marlins. More immediately, not sure if fielding their “practice team” is a viable option or not. Probably not, from what I’m reading so far. Behind a paywall at the Athletic, but if you’re a subscriber, a very good piece re the Marlins’ situation, and a bleak outlook for sustaining the season: Why did the Marlins play baseball on Sunday? Gist of the headline is that they already had enough positive tests back to indicate a very high likelihood of a team outbreak.

We re-aired Late Art: Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers In The 1980s last week, and it remains archived for online listening.

Justin Verlander out for at least the next several weeks with an elbow strain—initial Houston Chronicle report that he was out for the year has been corrected by the Astros. Still, not a good situation for Houston, especially in such a shortened season. Also: At least four Miami Marlins test positive for Covid-19

I actually ordered it last night! Darryl Pinckney had recommended it during the online talk he gave recently about No Name In The Street for the Library of America.

Loving all the Television references--incredible band that I still listen to quite a lot from time to time. Same-era, same-scene band on my CD player right now. It's the 2001 Rhino reissue and includes a blistering live set from the Roxy in August 1976:

Friend and Mets fan texted me earlier that Diaz set an MLB record last year with 15 HRs given up in the 9th inning. That's pretty bad, for sure. Paxton looked terrible for the Yankees tonight. Velo down considerably, couldn't spot his pitches... hopefully just an off-night and not some underlying physical issue. Damn, though, that Giancarlo Stanton HR... 121.3 mph exit velo, 483 feet.

The Braves' Adam Duvall socked a home run that hit a cardboard "fan" (a large-sized dog in a Mets jersey) in the face: Duvall hits HR off cardboard fan's face

Yep. And what’s “political” here is the deliberate attack on the USPS as outlined in the article that Medjuck posted and this one from Fortune Magazine. So if one wants to complain about how much “the USPS sucks” (which has never been my experience btw, despite the challenges they’ve faced), one might wish to call one’s representatives and the seat of national leadership regarding the issues mentioned in these articles. Package delivery has been slower since the pandemic began, but everything’s eventually arrived. Given all that USPS has had to deal with, I’m not upset. Hopefully they can somehow ride out the next few months.

Baldwin’s No Name In The Street from this collection: And rereading this entry in the 33 1/3 series:

Check out this baseball-themed Toyota G commercial! https://youtu.be/OpWUEj5RoGc Edit: can’t seem to embed the video. Normally doesn’t simply pasting the link into the post work?

Well, that’s one way for the Rays to finally get some fans in the stands... How Fox Sports will fill empty stadiums with virtual fans

deGrom already hitting 99-100 mph on his first few pitches.

From several days ago, somehow missed this--Braves all-star Freddie Freeman feared he was going to die from Covid-19. His temperature hit 104.5 degrees. Damn... I don't think I've ever run a temperature anywhere close to that. Glad that he's recovered and is in the lineup today.

Loved watching Gerrit Cole’s pre- and post-game commentary last night—guy is just so jazzed to be a Yankee. Via the Athletic: As Cole crouched behind the mound in preparation for his long-delayed debut, he tried to steady the emotions that had surfaced in the time since the team arrived in D.C. Gary Sánchez was tasked with what Cole described as “steering the ship” while he settled in for his five-inning debut. His joy was unmistakable as he recapped his outing after the game was called following a two-hour rain delay. He beamed while announcing “I had so much fun!” multiple times. In what seems to be a rare occurrence for Cole, he hardly dove into the particulars of his performance. Instead, he was consumed by how it felt to take the mound for the Yankees at all. Cole said he called his wife, Amy, to tell her how he felt about his first experience of pitching for the Yankees in a game that actually counted: “I can’t believe I’m gonna get a complete-game one-hitter in my debut.”

Emperor Palpatine, er, Commissioner Manfred delivering news of expanded playoffs last night: