MartyJazz

I have to think that Jeter decided to bunt on his own with two strikes. I don't think Girardi is dumb enough to stick with the bunt sign with Jeter, a .334 hitter during the regular season, who already has 4 hits in the two WS games. But that's got to be the dumbest thing I've ever seen Jeter do. As for Damon's line drive picked up by Howard, he clearly trapped it because he then threw immediately to 2nd base. If he had caught it clean, he simply has to step on first to double up Posada. The 1st base up is behind Howard and obviously didn't see it as clearly as the camera did.

You notice that Jeter got 3 of the 6 hits while the 3 (Tex), 4 (A-Rod) and 5 (Jorge) non-hitters in the lineup struck out 7 of the 10 Ks that Lee got. That was a real pathetic performance by those three in particular.

Predictions anyone? I say Yanks in 7 with each team winning one in the other team's ballpark.

Girardi overmanaged to be sure. He's got righty Dave Robertson pitching in the 11th who induces two harmless outs. For some reason unknown, he then yanks DR for Aceves, another righthander, who promptly serves two meatballs to the next two hitters. Gametime! WTF? When a pitcher is getting people out, the only reason to pull him is to put in someone who pitches with the other arm,e.g., lefty against lefty, etc. Otherwise, I don't give a damn what your intelligence reports say about how well or poorly a hitter has done against a specific pitcher. You stick with the guy who is proving in front of your eyes that he's "on", i.e., his stuff is working. Aceves had nothing and I don't blame him for the loss, this is strictly on Girardi. But another problem that has surfaced for the Yanks is that outside of Jeter and A-Rod, lots of key people are not coming through with men on base, including Texeiria and Cano. Swisher also had no business being in the lineup yesterday, having non-hit zero for whatever and continuing his abysmal showings at the plate; Gardiner should have been in there. Unfortunately with the Angels pitching a lefty today (Kazmir), we'll probably again have to cope with the switch hitting Swisher.

Lots of thrills in this game, albeit sloppily played. Cano is lucky he isn't the goat. After driving in the first run early in the game, he was terribly futile at the bat the rest of the evening and his two errors could definitely have proved costly Among the Angel non-performers we have to thank, of which there are quite a few, Vladimir Guerrero stands out IMO. His lack of discipline at the plate has caused him to look like a sad joke so far. Hopefully his futility will continue when the series resumes in CA. And what's with their ace reliever, he of the 48 regular season saves, Fuentes? After he got two quick strikes on A-Rod in the 11th, how could he throw him a chest high pitch just above the outside corner? That's just inviting disaster from a hitter of A-Rod's caliber and sure enough.....tie game.

I've been a Netflix subscriber for close to 5 years now (3 at a time, around $18/month) and really love the service. I don't know what their deal is with the USPS but it's kind of amazing. I'll return a film by putting it in my mailbox for the postman to pick up when he delivers the mail which sometimes isn't until around 5 PM that day, and yet early the next morning around 6 AM I'll get an e-mail from Netflix that they've already received it and are sending me the next DVD on my queue. My tastes are pretty eclectic so I love the fact that if a film has been issued on DVD anywhere, NF has it in stock. Occasionally there's a wait, usually short, if a hot domestic film has just been released on DVD, but a wait never happens, at least in my experience, on foreign films or any less recent domestic releases. Last four I've seen and enjoyed: "State of Play" (2009, USA thriller) "Raise the Red Lantern" (1991, China, drama) "Baran" (2001, Iran, drama) "Adventureland" (2009 USA drama-comedy)

I personally have not collected compilation boxes and attach little, if any, monetary value to them. However, because the music is often superb, I understand the interest of the non-collector in acquiring these inexpensive (initially at least) box sets. Anyway to get to the point, a lady friend recently unearthed from a deceased aunt's home a 25 box set (4 vinyl discs per box making a total of 100 LPs) of the "Greatest Jazz Recordings of All Time" issued by the Franklin Mint. 19 of the boxes are still shrink wrapped and the remaining six appear to be hardly played. All the significant innovators and instrumentalists of jazz appear to be represented. Anybody have any idea if there is any market value for this collection? (Didn't see any listing in e-Bay for this.)

George Wallington Quintet at the Cafe Bohemia - alternate takes. This 1985 issue LP (Progressive PRO-7001)) was taken out of circulation as a result of a lawsuit against the producer. Fascinating album especially if you love as much as I do, the original album.

OK, the best teams in the AL meet to decide who goes to the series. The way it should be. The thing that bugs me about this year's Angels is how and why the Yanks let Bobby Abreu go. What a mistake!

They did better than that, winning the way they did ripped the guts out of all Red Sox fans today. Winning in a blowout may be better for the heart, but by scoring 2 in the top of the 8th, giving back one in the bottom of that inning, and then scoring 3 with two outs in the 9th......... much, MUCH better. As a Yankee fan whose team has been "owned" for most of this decade by the Angels, I certainly respect them and look forward to hopefully getting some revenge (assuming we close out the Twins ASAP). And Dan, I think you've been proven correct about Papelbon. Don't know how he'll live this one down. Pretty awful performance at money time.

See Ghost??? The hatred comes from all corners of the political spectrum! I'm glad Yankees fans are happy. And they do look like a team having fun. But that ump made the worst error I have ever seen in a playoff game. Including that ump in the Cards-Royals game. That was at least bang-bang. That was the biggest joke of the day. Well, 2nd biggest! Game should have still been tied up after Tex's home run. The game was so very many hours ago, but as I recall, Mauer would have scored from 2nd, on the first hit after his single, after the non double. Then you don't have the same defense(most likely) at least not a force out at home. They may have still played in....just a shame for the Twins, what chance they had in the series was taken away by an ump who can't see worth a damn. All it really means is the Yankees win it in 3-4 games instead of 5. Agreed, terrible call which I hate to see, especially in a playoff game, and I'm a Yankee fan. Don't know why they can't institute replay in an upstairs booth for playoff use. That would have been a very simple call to overturn. It's a foul line call just like they have to determine whether a HR is fair or foul. Calls that should never be overturned are balls and strikes, which I mention, only because the home plate umplre last night was simply awful. What I don't understand is how can so many pitches that "made the box" on TV replay be called balls, even pitches that went squarely into the virtual box, while so many pitches that were high inside or outside were called strikes. Is it the technology that's not quite right or did the ump really suck? I think the latter as was obvious by the questioning looks and verbiage he was taking from both teams' hitters.

I can't believe Vladimir Guerrero has survived as long as he has. He's got to be the dumbest (great) hitter I've ever seen. Angels get the bases loaded with two outs thanks to Torrey Hunter's excellent at bat against Lester, and VG just wastes the opportunity, swinging at just 3 pitches, only one of which looked remotely like a strike. The last pitch, a high fastball up around his eyes, a real sucker pitch on an 0-2 count.

I've always liked Baldwin, especially in early comic roles, e.g., his line and take in "Working Girl" when caught in the sack with another woman, he says to Melanie Griffith, "It's not what it looks like!" Like his comic work in "Married to the Mob", "Beetlejuice" and "State and Main" as well. On the serious side, he plays a terrific, ruthless casino owner in "The Cooler". Rent that one!

An elderly, very wealthy guy marries a young beautiful woman. On the wedding night, they are in separate bedrooms when the young woman hears a knock on the door and realizes that her husband evidently wishes to consummate the marriage. He enters and the deed is done. He returns to his bedroom when a half hour later, she again hears a knock on her bedroom door and sure enough, he enters and the marriage is yet again consummated. He returns to his room and surprisingly, one half hour later she again hears a knock on her bedroom door whereupon the husband enters, ready to go. She says, “I can’t tell you how surprised I am. I’ve been with men one-third your age and I honestly cannot recall anyone who was able to make love three times within such a short period of time.” He replies, “You mean I’ve been here already?”

The Age of the Unthinkable: Why the New World Disorder Constantly Surprises Us and What We Can Do About It - Joshua Cooper Ramo

To me it looks like Varitek has become a serious liability for the Sox. He doesn't throw anyone out stealing and he's become quite pathetic at the plate, practically a sure out, or worse, two, as he hit into at least one DP last night. Just hope this keeps up whenever he faces NY at least.

Looks like Melky used Lester for target practice. Seriously though, that was quite unfortunate and I'm happy to have learned that nothing was broken.

After reading your rave and the three equally enthusiastic ones on the Amazon link, I gave in and ordered one of the "used - very good" copies. (Fortunately, I've never been burned by any of the private Amazon sellers). Anyway, looking forward to a good listen. Thanks.

ALL ART IS PROPAGANDA, George Orwell essay compilation

For my money, Jo Stafford made a terrific jazz vocal album that features Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, Don Fagerquist with Johnny Mandel arrangements. All the cuts make the cut, in particular "Midnight Sun" and "I Didn't Know About You". If you're not familiar with it, it's no surprise that Pres mentioned her as a favorite in a recorded interview. Titled "Jo + Jazz": http://www.amazon.com/Jo-Jazz-Stafford/dp/B0000010KH

That clip is probably from the Copenhagen '65 video available on the Jazz Icons Rollins DVD. Marvelous trio set with NHOP and Aln Dawson.

From the glorious '60s, I would add ON IMPULSE (Impulse) and OUR MAN IN JAZZ (RCA Victor)

I am surprised that you are repeating this falsehood. It was established at the beginning of the year that while they made the marker points the same, the dimensions are not identical. The old stadium had a bend in the rightfield wall. With the lengthy scoreboard now embedded, the wall has to be straight. The bottom line is that for a substantial distance in right field, the fence is an average of five feet closer. In one section, its nine feet closer! On top of that, the fence is what, two feet lower? Put it all together and its a joke to say that the dimensions are the same. Honestly didn't know that.

I'll save Dan the trouble. The reason we're in first is because the Yanks play 1/2 of their games on a Little League field. Of course, it would be a "Little Tyke" field and we would have won 100 games by now if our right handed hitters had the benefit of a green Monster in left. How does the Green Monster help...? Doesn't it keeps balls in play that otherwise would fly out of there? Just sayin'. Well yeah, if you're talking about line drives that hit near or the top of the wall that would carry into the seats in other ball parks, but I've seen far too many pop flies that would be caught in any other ball park, simply carry enough so that instead of being simple outs, arc downward and either go over the wall or hit it just high enough to thwart any thought of a leap by the left fielder to catch 'em.. Hey, the park is a landmark in the history of baseball and personally I don't have a problem with it, but it does giveth and sometimes taketh from the home team. After all, I'm old enough to remember Bucky Dent's pop fly over the wall to win the '78 pennant for the Yanks.

Where did I fucking say the Red Sox are superior to the Yankees? The Yankees clearly have the better and more consistent offense, and somehow or another the better and more consistent starting pitching. The Red Sox have the superior bullpen, and anyone with a brain would agree with that. And that's all that I asserted. Try reading next time. They've dropped tons of money before and it hasn't brought them rings. They dropped the right ton of money on the right players. That is, the right players for 2009 - I can't wait until Sabathia is falling apart and earning 20 million a year, around 2 million per win, and when Burnett doesn't have a 97 MPH fastball but doesn't have a clue in his Nuke Laloosh head about how to pitch without one. I figure this will coincide with the dramatic declines in-everything-but-salary of the aging but still signed for many more years Jeter and A-Rod (does anyone think Jeter will accept anything less than the years/dollars A-Rod has coming?). That will also coincide with the first 300 or 350 million dollar payroll as there will be so much wasted in sunk costs to those four alone, plus a declining Mr. Leigh Texeira, that they will have to go hogwild on a whole nother generation of overpriced free agents to make up for it. Better hope the Steinbrenners hang on to the team for that, because any corporate ownership would never foot the bill to ease the pain of those disastrous contracts. Sorry but not quite. Your little league dimensions and jet stream to right field go over an 8 foot wall, not a 37 foot wall. :rolleyes: OH, and IMO, candle boy wouldn't know punctuation if it bit him in the ass. Dan, surprise but I agree with you about the overall superiority of the setup men in the Red Sox bullpen. And it seems to me that the Yanks were wrong to duplicate the original measurements of Yankee Stadium in the new ballpark, especially in light of what you refer to as the "jet stream" that apparently aids simple fly balls. What I don't understand is why baseball hasn't instituted a mandatory rule that all newly constructed ballparks are to have symmetrical dimensions, neither favoring left or right hand hitters. I really don't subscribe to the "charm" theory that attaches to ballparks with asymmetric dimensions. Who's candle boy?