WorldB3

If your like this in May after your team has WON TWO out of the last four WORLD SERIES TITLES, I can't imagine what you were like after game 7 of the ALCS in 03. Paul Byrd is roider but sure looked good last night, plus the Indians had five web gems behind him. The A's are streaky with the bats, I am just happy the Duke is working out as a starter after spending his career on the bullpen or on the DL. If the pitching can stay consistent I will be happy, of course going into this season I was picking the A's to finish last so its been a good ride so far.

Most of his work with Charles Lloyd he keeps quiet. Try Forest Sundflower Another with him as a sideman where he doesn't open his mouth and a classic is Kenny Wheeler - Gnu High For some reason it didn't bother me as much on his latest releases, I must be getting use to it.

Earth to Dan. Who is the other team in the AL East that even comes close to being as good as the Red Sox. Maybe, MAYBE Toronto because they have good starting pitching but we have been waiting for them for years to get it together and keep either the Yanks or Sox out of the playoffs. I don't see it happening. The Yanks will be in free fall come the All Star break, the Rays are a nice story but thats all and the Orioles have already peaked. Until Vlad and Tori start hitting for the Halo's the Sox are the best team in the AL period. Closers blow games, nobody has ever saved every game they came into for a whole year (except maybe Eckersly in 92) its how you bounce back the next time you go out. Paplebom has proven he can bounce back. As much as I hate the Red Sox I don't think for a minute they won't be in the post season.

You lost me at "Without Williams, I don't see what so great about the 2nd quintet." Anyway I am starting to get a bunch of the old Prestige records I didn't have and am finding I like them a lot more than I thought I would.

Jim, My deepest sympathies. I lost both of my parents when they were both in their 50's when I had just turned 30.

I like the A's moving ahead part. Its early and I am not going to get my hopes up but the young pitching has been so good for them and the bats are starting to wake up. The Halo's on paper are loaded. The problem with the M's is that they are getting nothing from their free agent accusations at 3rd and 1st base. I guess it was just a matter of time before people found the hole in Sexton's swing, but man 3-4 years ago I thought he would be special.

I have the Sun recordings and its amazing, not only do you get Junior Parker you also get Pat Hare on guitar. My track of the week: Que Lindo Eso, Eh! / Isn't It Pretty! by Eddie Palmieri, totally unexpected as it could pass for an early 70's McCoy Tyner tune. The track Chocolate Ice Cream that comes after on Superimposition is also great. Man these guys could play some jazz. For non Jazz the re-issue of Strangers Almanac by Whiskytown and the track Somebody Remembers The Rose, one of my favorite Alt Country tunes.

You want the fans to boo someone who helped you win a world series? I will never understand Red Sox fans.

ssssh..... if nobody notices we will keep surprising people. Keep it on the down low, we are enjoying the lack of excessive drama and the sideshows that is happening with the Tigers, Mets, Wt. Sox and Yanks. Just pure ball over here, don't tell anyone. k?

^ You should be happy with that, inspired playing by Hank Jones and Tony Williams. Unfortunately Ron Carter was going through his thin sounding amp sound at the time but they were still a great trio. If you like it make sure to get the live albums from the Village Vanguard.

Is it just me or have the playoffs been a huge let down, especially in the West. It was nice to see 76ers and the Hawks give the Celtics and the Pistons a scare but aside from the inspired play by Chris Paul its been dullsville. The 5-8 seeds went out in the West without a fight. Can we still have the Warriors in. And how can a team with LeBron be so damn boring to watch? Wake me up when we get to the real finals with Kobe CP3 in the West finals.

Earlier I added this to a political thread titled the Police. It took me a few min to realize what I did. Reminds me of that quote I read from Bill Wyman of the Stones after a concert in Philly in the early 80's and being pissed off that it was Sting, Stewart and Andy visiting them backstage after flushing all of their drugs down the toilet after their manager said "Hey guys, the Police are here" instead of the actual Police.

^ Yes he does, I would listen to the man sing the phone book. One of the few records by him I didn't have. His last Blame The Vain was one of his best. The Eddie Palmieri and the Paul Bley trio also kicks ass. Even when I am pissed at emusic for taking away the main things I wanted to download I still come away with great stuff.

So much for downloading the Miles From India and some old Stones since there gone, still managed to get some good stuff.

All I can say about that is that I hope we are clicking on all cylinders by then so that we don't embarrass ourselves. The D-Backs, by run differential, are at least as dominant as the Sox were last year. That is probably your World Series preview right there. The D-Backs are monsters this year. You got the 1-2 punch of Haren and Webb and their lineup is scary with Upton, Young and Hudson. If they need punch off the bench they can go to their starting pitcher Owens to hit a pitch hit home run like the other day. Its too early to give a title to somebody in May but they have that look about them, I had that same feeling about them that I had in early 05 with the Wt. Sox. The Halo's - A's series was nuts. The A's get 14 and 15 runs in two games and then 1 run in the other two to split. Jack Cust drops a routine little league pop up that led to 5 runs and then comes back with a HR/4 hits and two walks. I can't figure them out yet but its been fun.

^Sounds completely innocent to me. Clemens simply had the vision to recognize the wonderful voice spewing forth from a cute little 15 year-old package before anyone else did. Never did steroids, either... Maybe he will call Hanah Montana next, you know to help her with her algebra. File under nice work if you can get it: "Ex Oakland Athletic Dan Johnson, claimed off waivers by Tampa Bay, lasted one day with the Rays before he was designated for assignment. He rode the bench Tuesday and was dismissed Wednesday when Gabe Gross was acquired from Milwaukee in a trade. Johnson cost the Rays about 40 grand - $20,000 waiver free, plus a tiny segment of his $410,000 salary, meal money and travel expenses."

I saw him a few weeks ago with Hubbard, Spaulding and Hutcherson. I thought he sounded great and I felt privledge to have finally gotten the chance to see him.

So its ok that Manny stands at home plate for 25 minutes to admire each of his home runs? I am sure the league sends out notices that pitchers will get tossed if they come near him since he is a super star on a big market team. Or how about Derek Lowe at the end of the ALDS yelling suck me and grabbing his unit at the end of the game. Sure its ok when its your team. Props to the Rays for sweeping a team that paid more to just interview Dice K then the Ray's entire team salary. Its nice little story so far.

Its nice to see you give Dirk his props. He showed a lot of heart playing hurt and carrying the team on his back. As for the the 76ers and Pistons I think its one of those match up problems, while the Pistons are the better team the 76ers have a few players that give them trouble. Its really up to Rasheed, if he can play motivated and control his emotions, if so they will go deep into the playoffs. I was pretty impressed with the way the 76ers finished the year and the mental toughness they showed, I think they are better then people expected. Out West, Yes the Lakers are loaded but Denver is a train wreck and Melo needs to grow up, you think after last year he would have gotten a clue but what can you expect form somebody who sucker punches someone and runs away. If I was Denver I would get rid of him and George Carl.

You have got to be kidding me. The NL West has been an offensive wasteland for years, not least because Petco, Dodger Stadium and Pac Bell all are strong pitcher's parks, and the humidor in the Rockies has brought that stadium back to earth, too. Zito is no head case and the AL West, with DH's and smaller parks, for Christ sake, is not weak offensively. Zito has been declining since his Cy Young season, and everyone knew that except your GM. Why do you think it so long to get him signed? You had no competition but you couldn't stand up to Scott Boras and he snow jobbed you into a record breaking contract for a league average pitcher. From reports I heard it wasn't the GM that wanted Zito but the owner. Last year the Giants went after the 3 big name free agent position players and couldn't get them to sign with the Giants. Season ticket holders were pissed off because it was Bonds last year and they were hosting the all star game and prices went up, they felt the Giants weren't doing enough and sticking to them with a rebuilding project because they were getting attendance anyways by hosting the all star game, McGowan caved into the the fans and Boras. I don't think any GM in his right mind would want 40% of his payroll going on one pitcher. It was short term marketing thinking instead of what was best for the club long term. Two years ago they should have been rebuilding but they were wrong in thinking that as long as they had Bonds they had a chance. Its not so bad, I saw that that Lincicum kid last night, man he is awesome! Not really sure what the A's are doing with the Big Hurt but they keep winning so I will be quiet for now.

How about, he's a pitcher who has been declining steadily since 2002, his "fast"ball is somewhere between Mike Mussina and Jamie Moyer ... and you've got him for what, seven more years? That was a horrible signing a year and a half ago, and it will get worse every year until he's gone. Pretty much everyone knew that Zito was getting worse, not better. No pitcher is worth such a long contract, but at least the Mets signed someone at the top of his game. The Giants signed a piece of garbage who has only continued to stink. Only five more years and you're right. $17M per year and for what? Grrrrr In Zito's defense I thought he was great in 2006, you have to remember that year the A's went from having the big 3 to just having Zito and they not only went to the playoffs they got out of the first round thanks to him. I always liked the guy. Sadly for the Giants reports are his velocity has dropped to where there is no difference in speed form is change up, curve and fastball. If he can't get his velocity back he will need to be a Jamie Moyer type, soft, softer, hit the corners, bust them in with a 84 mile an hour fastball after a diet of 60 mph soft stuff. The thing is those types are guys at the back in of your rotation who are into their late 30's not your young Ace.

Show me how to get a Hammond organ and Leslie on the back of that bad boy, and I'm there. Well sure but I don't think the rest of the band would like it.

My old home town to get 30 years worth of GD archives. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../DDML109ACN.DTL Grateful Dead archives going to UC Santa Cruz On Friday, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart are scheduled to announce that the archives of the legendary band - 30 years worth of correspondence, business records, merchandise and memorabilia, including stage backdrops, a large "Blues for Allah" stained-glass artwork a fan gave the band in 1978 and some of the life-size skeletons of the band members for the 1987 "Touch of Grey" video shoot - will be donated to the UC Santa Cruz archives.

Where was it 2.85 a year ago, I haven't seen under 3 since the 90's. I am not kidding. From business week - There Is No Gas Shortage But Washington, Wall Street, and ethanol and oil and gas companies want you to think there is, says automotive expert Ed Wallace http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/cont...8041_945564.htm

When I visited Seattle last year I was really impressed with how easy it was to get around and how accessible all the neighborhoods were. The busses are free if you stay within the downtown area but even going out to the Ballard distrct from downtown was easy and the busses were constantly running, even on a Sunday. Rain aside its a great city.