Matthew

An option could be to let Beltre go as a free agent, move Jose Lopez to third base, and hope that Matt Tuiasosopo can handle handle second base full time next year. Might work, Beltre is not one of my favorites, even though Dave Niehaus & Mike Blowers keep pumping him up as a "gamer." A weak hitting, good fielding third baseman are a dime-a-dozen in baseball.

1. Beltre's a free agent this winter. I think Beltre is happy in Seattle, and I think management is okay with him. I don't see anyone out there who's a better replacement. 2. I'm not sold on Aardsma either. I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude with him next year. 3. I have a feeling that Junior will retire in the off season. He just didn't want to go through the hassle of the "retirement gig" in the final game. I would not be surprised to see Griffey out of uniform, being honored by the Mariners opening day next year. If that happens, Sweeney might stay around, who knows? One of the great what ifs for me is: What if Junior never went to Cincinnati? Griffey, in Seattle before he left, he was the greatest player I ever saw, he could do everything, and his swing was a thing of beauty -- he made the Kingdom an enjoyable place. 4. I forgot to mention what a great year that Russell Branyan had, though he's another one I'm not too confident about for 2010. It was a fun year to follow the Mariners, and I'm very optimistic about 2010.

Before we move on to the playoffs, I want to give huge props to my favorite team: The Seattle Mariners. Great season coming off the absolute disaster that was 2008. Felix Hernandez turned into the real King that he kept on showing promise of over the years. 19-5, era. 2.49, 217ks, 238.2ip, what a fantastic year! Probably won't win the Cy Young, but anything below second place for that award would be a rank injustice. Ichiro, of course, just keeps playing great, and this year he recaptured his enthusiasm for playing for the Mariners. Last year was a tough year for him, but with the turn around this year, he came alive and he'll probably end his career with Seattle. 242 hits, over 200 hits for nine years in-a-row is an amazing stat, sure fire Hall of Famer. Ken Griffey surprised me, I was against his signing, thinking he was way past his prime, and would not help out too much this year -- was I ever wrong on that. It seems as if from the first day he showed up at spring training, the whole attitude of this team turned around, and the clubhouse was a fun place again. He and Mike Sweeney provided great leadership for this team, and I hope they both come back for 2010. Franklin Gutierrez blossomed as the everyday center fielder, who provided outstanding defense, which was a great need for the Mariners because last year, their outfield defense was hopeless. Jose Lopez, at second, had the unheralded season in all of MLB. 25hr, and 96rbi for a second baseman is not too shabby at all. Beltre is okay, I'm not too excited with him, but he does provide good defense at third, and I hope he is wearing some "protection" now. Pitching was a strong point, Felix, of course, is the number one starter for years to come, Brandon Morrow closed the season on a high note, and I hope he can keep it going for 2010. Ryan Rowland-Smith showed some nice flashes, plus, he's a lefty, so he's a plus; David Aardsma came out of nowhere to record 38 saves, just hope he's not a flame out; Holy Cow! Ian Snell was 5-2 as a Mariners starter, we'll see about next year though; Bedard is hopeless, and I hope he is traded to anyone over the winter. What do the Mariners need for next year? They need two things. 1. A power bat in the line-up. If they want to go anywhere next year, they need a player who can supply power, and scare a pitcher even a little bit. Jermaine Dye would be a good player to look at in this context. 2. Another quality starter. I think Morrow will put it together next year, and be a very good starting pitcher, but the Mariners need one more guy that they can get quality starts from, but one of the drawbacks of this team is that they are still suffering from the mistakes Bavasi made when he was general manager, in terms of money they can spend, they cannot do too much. Don Wakamatsu did a great job as manager, though I would like to see a little more passion from him and by the players, they struck me as a little too laid back at times. 2009 was a great year for Mariners fans, and I can't wait for the 2010 season to start!

on JP! Love his songwork and now, along with his Meat is Murder novella, his books. Have you picked up the "soundtrack" and 7" accompanying the book? Excellent stuff as always. Indeed, not just that, but everything by JP is excellent stuff.

Oh my gosh!!!!!! Someone here other than me knows of the existence of the great and wonderful Joe Pernice! You now can do no wrong in my book!

The perverse, music critic in me asks: Isn't all of Hancocks' playing in the Plugged Nickel set, ballad playing? that is not what he is known for (i play ballads too - but thats not what i'm known for either! ) The point that I'm trying to make is that the influence does not have to solely reside in how a pianist plays ballads, it goes off into whole other areas of a person's playing.

The perverse, music critic in me asks: Isn't all of Hancocks' playing in the Plugged Nickel set, ballad playing?

As a piano player, I can truthfully say that from a harmonic standpoint, Evans opened more doors for me that any other jazz pianist, before or after. I often feel, and I have no proof of this other than my ears, but I wonder if any harmonic breakthroughs were Evans and Scott La Faro. What I mean is that if Evans is going somewhere new, the bassist has to either lead, follow, or get the heck out of the way, and LaFaro was with Evans step-by-step, and I sure they both influenced each other.

One of the things that I've read about Evans' influence is how ballads are played. Before Evans, it was stated (I can't find the article, sorry!) that piano players were stuck in a "cocktail style" of ballad playing, but with Evans' approach, a whole new harmonic vista opened up, and one the players who most benefited most from this was Hancock himself.

Hey Ghosty, did you notice I'm starting to get my I HATE THE YANKEES 'tude going for the playoffs?

Typical of ARod -- do the spectacular when it doesn't mean a darn thing! Let's see if he hits above .200 in the playoffs....

Looks like a playoff on Tuesday. I guess they can't play on Monday -- did you know there's a football game that same night? Football

Hard to believe it's the last day of the regular season, seems like it just started.....

Agree, but Chuck brings up a good point. I'm not knocking the Beatles, but they have become little more than nostalgia for me. I have moved on to other things also. Some people may want to buy this stuff for purely musical reasons, but there is definitely a shred or two of nostalgia involved for many buyers. If I were buying any of these reissues - and I'm not - it would be out ofnostalgia. 90% of jazz cds, and most of the jazz talk here, centers around nostalgia for a jazz style that is long gone, and now resides in that fuzzy feeling for "days gone by." There would be no jazz market at all, if it wasn't for the longed for past.

Oh yes, Chuck pure nostalgia on our part, listening to the music of our youth. Nothing like when you listen to Duke Ellington, nothing like that at all... Yes, nothing like that at all. FWIW, the music of my youth was Little Richard, Elvis, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent. I still enjoy those memories but have moved on to other things. edit for typo Just my worthless opinion: It's not the artists fault, and should not affect their worth, or how we see them, that we were young when they were alive and creating great music.

Oh yes, Chuck pure nostalgia on our part, listening to the music of our youth. Nothing like when you listen to Duke Ellington, nothing like that at all...

MO-NO BOX! MO-NO BOX! MO-NO BOX! Er, sorry what was the question again? *Sigh* I have a four week wait for the MO-NO BOX!

File this under: Dude! What were you thinking???? A D.C. area native-turned-NBA player was arrested in Prince George's County on Thursday after a police officer who pulled him over on the Beltway found that he was carrying three loaded guns, authorities said. Delonte West, 26, a graduate of Greenbelt's Eleanor Roosevelt High School and a guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, was traveling north on the Beltway in a three-wheeled motorcycle called a Can-Am Spyder when he cut off a Prince George's canine officer near Route 214, authorities said. The officer pulled over West for making an "unsafe lane change," police said, and when the officer approached the motorcycle, West told him he had a handgun in his waistband. That prompted the officer to call for backup and search West's vehicle. He found three guns -- a Beretta 9mm in West's waistband, a Ruger .357 magnum strapped to his leg and a shotgun in a guitar case slung over his back, said Maj. Andy Ellis, a spokesman for the Prince George's police. Rest of the story

Not completely off topic, just a slant pattern: I'm thinking of getting the George Harrison Dark Horse Box Set, is it worth the $$$?

The only thing I can think of is that maybe Bill's career was starting to take off at that point, and as a result, he had less time available for "sideman" duties. Evans was a regular member of the working sextet, remember. All involved, including Evans, felt that the more aggressive, uptempo approach of the live band was not his true "comfort zone", although he was certainly adept doing that. I agree with the "comfort zone" observation, as Miles progressed, I do not think that Evans would have "fit in" in any real manner, especially if you consider the Miles/Shorter/Hancock incarnation. As Evens himself states, he felt that his musical vision was exploring deeply the more traditional jazz songs, just look at what songs Evans covered after he left Davis, finding new songs that were edgy in terms of composition was not what he was interested in.

Does this help your appreciation any? I don't know why but I have grown to love that song over the years, I don't know many people that like it though, even the other Beatles hated it. It might have something to do with "Abbey Road" becoming a firm favorite of these re-masters. It's just sooooooooo Beatle-y. I know you're joking but that will actually happen. I really am looking forward to the mono versions of the earlier albums. I've been listening to a lot of Beatles lately, and I think they reached their highpoint with Revolver, and after that, I see a decline in the songwriting, with the production overwhelming the music at times. I know that goes counter to what the vast majority of Beatles fans feel, but there is something so attractive to the Beatles up to Revolver, that it fully holds my attention. For me, something gets lost after Revolver, and what that "something" is, I cannot put my finger on, but their music looses some of its attraction for me.

No, he's going to be like Nixon in Futurama!

My notice has November 5-9, which is okay with me, I can listen to the stereo mix, get use to them, and then bitch how bad they sound next to the mono's! I have to admit, I'm very excited about getting these.

Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains The Same. Honestly, John Bonham is the oldest looking 28 year old ever --he looks 40 here. Plus, I don't get John Paul Jones' haircut, yuck!

Happy Birthday Rod!!!!