Blog Archives

Love and Happiness Loop (Monty Alexander)

[Photo Credit: Bags]

Hard Luck Hiroki Kuroda hit the first batter he faced last night, walked a guy and gave up a three-run homer. That was all the runs the Indians would score and wouldn’t you know it, it was enough to beat the Yanks–3-1 was the final.

It’s a game that is too frustrating to recall in detail. It’s Sunday morning now and thinking back on it too much would just needlessly angry up the blood. The Yanks had their chances.

Here’s the game in a nutshell: Top of the sixth, Jeter singles, Swisher walks, Cano singles. Bases loaded, nobody out. Teixeira hits one to dead center, deep part of the park. Ball reaches the warning track. Jeter scores, Swisher and Cano tag. Okay, nice enough. Then Chavez hits a bullet line drive but it’s right at the third baseman. Bad luck. Martin hits a shot to deep right field, but again, to the warning track. Bases loaded, nobody out, next three guys hit the ball well. One run.

Moving on.

[Photo Credit: Kurt Nimmo]

It’s our man Hiroki in Cleveland tonight. Chance for the Yanks to take advantage of a Rays loss. Justin Masterson is no slouch though.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Curtis Granderson CF
Eric Chavez 3B
Russell Martin C
Raul Ibanez DH
Ichiro Suzuki LF

Never mind the waiver wire: Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Like some other dudes do…

[Photo Via: Zombiegotham]

I was at Citifield last night. Yes, even after Fat Guy did his Fruit Loops impression.

Spent the entire game like a dildo, checking Twitter on my phone as this improbable Red Sox-Dodgers trade unfolded. And checking Gameday to see how the Yanks were doing. Only looked up to see a pitch being thrown so that a foul ball didn’t come my way and hit me in the noggin.

Yanks won, as you all know. Derek Jeter got hit in the helmet and was pissed off. C.C. Sabathia pitched well, Nick Swisher’s two-run homer was the difference and Rafael Soriano had a Johnny Sweatgland How-Do-You-Spell-Relief? 9th inning, putting the tying runs in scoring position with nobody out. He got out of it, no runs allowed, the Yanks won, the Rays lost, and the Red Sox are about to get ride of close to $300 million headaches.

Otherwise, it was a dull night. Oh, yeah, Mets lost.

Yanks look to get their head out of their asses tonight in Cleveland.

It’s the return of the Big Fella. No panic here. But if the Yanks lose a couple this weekend, there will be cursing-a-plenty round these parts.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Curtis Granderson CF
Eric Chavez 3B
Russell Martin C
Raul Ibanez DH
Ichiro Suzuki LF

Never mind the Rays: Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Alex Prager]

Dig this Instagram gallery over at SI.com.

[Photo Credit: Brad Mangin]

If you’ve never read Chris Health’s 2005 GQ profile of Merle Haggard, do yourself a favor and check it out:

“You know, I woke up this morning in a wimpy mood,” he says. “Men don’t like to be wimps. But I have reached the point, it’s really sad to mention, I have reached the point where… They always say you’ll know when it’s time. Speaking of the place in your life when you finally say: Do you want to die on a highway or do you want to die in bed? I’m tired of it. I’m tired of it. I’m tired of singing ‘Okie from Muskogee.’ I’m tired of the whole gig. Somewhere around my age, people begin to feel insignificant and small and unnecessary and not so much in demand.” There is plenty of work out there for him, but its attraction is waning. “I guess I’ve come to a point in my life where…I hate to admit fear. I hate to even admit fear’s part of my reasoning. But I have some dementia that’s coming around, and there’s a bit of a nervous tic—I don’t know what that’s about; I guess it’s growing old. And I don’t feel as bulletproof as I should feel…. I’ve traveled all over the world without a seat belt for forty-two years. Forty-three. And I’m a bit of a gambler and have a feel for odds. The odds are really against me.”

…There’s a steel and sadness in his face, a proud combination of force and frailty; whatever the gracious opposite of serenity is, that is what Merle Haggard oozes. He smiles. “There comes a time when you can’t do it anymore. It’s a double-edged sword: if I can manage to get over the wispiness and continue to go, I’ll probably live longer and probably enjoy it. But I’m at that pivot point in my life where I can swing that way and give my last bit of strength to the music of my life, or I can give it to my little family here.” He gestures toward the open kitchen, empty now, but through which his wife and children are constantly flowing, past the post on which their heights over the years have been marked. “And music has supported my little family; my little family knows what music means to me. I am music. Music is me, and I am music. But which one is which? Which one do you favor in the latter moments?”

[Photo Credit: Michael Macor, S.F. Chronicle]

Nice piece on Eric Chavez in the Wall Street Journal today by Daniel Barbarisi.

Photograph Via: The Indifference.

Serious Eats gives us Pearl Sugar Brioche Buns.

[Photo Credit: Carrie Vasios]

Here’s our great friend Pete Fornatale celebrating his father.

Yeah, it’s a rip-off–one of the biggest rip-off joints of our lifetime–but let’s take a moment to appreciate the passing of Colony Records. You don’t have to like a place to miss it.

Gothamist has the details.

That’s the way it is.

[Photo Credit: livinglifeofreilly]

I type therefore I am.

It ain’t cheap but Gem is restaurant worth visiting. In Yonkers. Who knew?

The wife, she was a heppy ket.

Over at SI.com, Joe Sheehan offers this appreciation of Derek Jeter. And while you are there check out Cliff’s 10 worst contracts in baseball history.

Here is a track I produced with a friend. It was on a mix cd for my wife around the time we got married. The Marvin Gaye cut was looped by Lord Finesse and appeared on a rare white label record. A friend of mine played me the loop, sampled in an SP-1200, in the late 1990s and was kind enough to burn it to a CD.

The dude I made this track with put the loop into his Pro Tools and cleaned it up some. The dialogue that runs over the music here is from one of my wife’s favorite movies: Little Miss Sunshine.

Enjoy.

Are You Listening? (Bonus Beat)

[Photo Via: Holy Friend]

Photograph by Csilla Klenyanszki via Huh Magazine]

“It’s harder each year to sustain because everybody’s after you,” Washington said. “But you have to have pride in what you’re doing and you can’t forget the fundamental things that this game has to offer. Then the talent part of it comes into play. I got a lot of talent, and I work hard to try to get them to understand the fundamental part of it.

“But it’s tough. It’s not easy to win. It’s easy to lose — but it’s not easy to win. To wake up every morning knowing you’re going to come to the yard and everything you have inside of you, you’ve got to leave there. Winning is tough. It’s a grind. It’s a lot on your body, a lot on your mind. It’s a lot to keep guys on the same page, to quit thinking individual and think team and think group.”

–Texas Rangers Manager, Ron Washington
(David Lennon, Newsday)

Last Wednesday at this time the Yankees had just won three straight from the Rangers and were on their way to a 5-2 record for the week. Nothing was fucked, nobody was being un-Dude.

Tonight, the White Sox completed a three-game sweep against the Yanks, the Rays won again and New York’s lead in the American League East is down to three.

Phil Hughes pitched a fine game, gave up a couple of runs in seven innings, but Chris Sale, a bony 23-year-old-lefty who could double for Ichabod Crane on October 31, was better. His delivery is too jerky and he’s too tall to remind us of Ron Guidry, although they share the same number, but his stuff is no joke–fastball, change-up, slider. And all coming sidearm. Kid knows how to pitch, too. He allowed three hits and one run–which came on a solo home run by Derek Jeter (who has homered in each game in Chicago).

The score was 2-1 in the ninth and Addison Reed, another tall pitcher, came on for the save. The Yanks were 0-44 this season when trailing after eight innings. Nick Swisher got in a couple of good swings before he became the 14th Yankee to strikeout on the night. Robinson Cano lashed the first pitch he saw to left field, right passed a crouching Kevin Youkilis at third base and into left field for a base hit. Mark Teixeira got ahead 2-1 and then a high fastball was called for a strike. Tex paced away from the batter’s box and complained. He had good reason to bitch, especially after he waved at the next pitch, a breaking ball falling away from him, for the second out.

So it came down to Eric Chavez, a pinch-hitter, who worked the count even and then grounded out.

Final Score: White Sox 2, Yanks 1.

And sometimes our favorite game goes something like this:

Better luck in Cleveland, suckas.

The Magic Number, as we all know, is three.

[Featured Image: Beatriz Martin Vidal via Gas Station; Nelson via Gruesome Twosome]