Cross Country Remixed

[Photo Via: Day by Day]

The Orioles had runners on second and third with just one out in the bottom of the first inning tonight and it was easy to imagine the score being 2-0 in no time. But then Robinson Cano made a beautiful, sprinting catch in center field–followed by a strong, one-hop throw to the plate just in case–to save Phil Hughes’ ass. Matt Wieters got ahead 3-0 and here-we-go-again is what I was thinking But he swung at the next pitch and lined out to center and what do you know, today is a new day.

Russell Martin put the Yanks on the board in the fourth with a three-run homer to left and Steve Pearce nailed a two-run shot before the inning was over. Then Alex Rodriguez hit a long home run in the fifth (his 300th as a Yankee) which gave the vistors a 7-0 lead.

The O’s chipped away of course. Adam Jones hit a three-run homer against Hughes in the sixth, Robert Andino hit a solo shot against Cody Eppley in the seventh, and Manny Machado hit a line drive dinger against Rafael Soriano in the ninth.

By that time, however, it was too little too late. The Yanks scored an insurance run in the top of the inning and about the only ball hit to left that didn’t find it’s way into the seats came when Nate McClouth robbed Nick Swisher of a two-run homer in the ninth. Swisher had been 0-17 on this road trip and he could only smile at his dumb luck.

Fortunately, for the Yankees, it didn’t matter. Maybe he’ll save a couple of hits or three for tomorrow.

Yanks back in sole possession of first for now.

A good, much-needed win. Oh, and it should also be noted that David Robertson faced two batters in the eighth and retired them both. Jones took him deep last night but went down on three pitches this time: an overhand curve that buckled his knees for a called strike, and then two sweeping curves, breaking low and away, swung on and missed. Wieters hit a long line drive on the first pitch he saw but it fell harmlessly into Curtis Granderson’s glove for the third out.

Final Score: Yanks 8, O’s 5.

Is you ascared to watch Phil Hughes pitch tonight?

I am.

The Yanks’ll need runs–and lots of them. Hughes must for to deliver a strong performance.

We want to cheer, dammit (looks like Tex will be back tomorrow and Nova might return on Sunday).

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Russell Martin C
Curtis Granderson CF
Andruw Jones LF
Steve Pearce 1B
Casey McGehee 3B

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

[Picture Via: Comic Book Artwork]

Booyah.

You can watch a full screen version here.

Check out Carlo Rotella’s 2008 Washtington Post Magazine profile of the novelist and screenwriter George Pelicanos:

Pelecanos was a writer, story editor and producer for “The Wire.” He wrote crucial scenes as different as the ex-junkie Bubbles’ breakthrough at a 12-step meeting and the western-style standoff in an alley between Omar Little, the street legend who robs drug dealers, and Brother Mouzone, the prim shootist from New York. Pelecanos also created Cutty, a character who turns away from the street life and opens a boxing gym, and gave “The Wire” its Greek gangsters, even providing the background voices shouting in Greek when the cops raided a warehouse. In story meetings, he refereed arguments between Simon and Ed Burns, the show’s other co-creator.

“Ed and I are often butting heads in a way that somebody who doesn’t know us might think is toxic,” Simon told me. “George’s essential role was to be the gravitas, to make the decision. We’d present our best arguments, and he’d sit and listen until he couldn’t stand it any longer. He was the one with the storytelling chops to decide. He has a really strong ear for theme and idea. He writes books and scripts that are about something. When George says you won an argument, you feel good because it means the idea was good.”

Expanding on his description of Pelecanos as a moralist, Simon said: “We didn’t know we needed Cutty until George invented him. It’s not about plotting, it’s about defining some aspect of human endeavor that wasn’t covered by other characters. Institutionally, not much is redeemed in ‘The Wire,’ yet all of us believe in the individual’s ability to act. George said, ‘We need a moral center.’_”

Burns told me a story about scripting the death of Wallace, a likable corner boy gunned down by his pals. “It could have been just Bodie, who was pretty much a monster back then, who would just walk up and kill him. But that would have left nothing for Poot, and it would have sealed Bodie as a character. The way George wrote it, Bodie can’t finish it, and Poot, who’s a good friend of Wallace, has to step up and do it. That transcends genre; that’s squeezing all the juice out of a scene.” Bodie opens up as a character from that point, grappling with a dawning understanding that the large forces bearing down on him make it almost impossible for him to act honorably and survive. “That’s why you hire writers like George,” said Burns, “because they find what’s inside a scene, what’s inside the character.”

This piece is featured in a compelling new collection of Rotella’s non fiction work: Playing in Time.

I highly recommended it.

[Photo Credit: Ian Allen for Stop Smiling]

The Yankees have not won a game that they have trailed in the eighth inning (or later) all year long. This wouldn’t matter so much except that they’re behind in the eighth and ninth almost every night these days. Tonight they trailed 6-1 with two outs in the top of the eighth and looked deader than disco. Alex Rodriguez stroked a double. Eric Chavez and Russell Martin worked gutsy walks around an RBI single from Curtis Granderson. Pinch hitter Chris Dickerson faced the erratic Pedro Strop with the bases loaded and took four straight balls to push the tying run to second. Ichiro Suzuki bounced a game-tying single to right.

The Yankees had just completed their most important comeback of the season and sent out the best of their bullpen in the bottom of the eighth. David Robertson quickly got ahead of Adam Jones 0-2 and went for the kill with his great curveball. But that pitch is gone. When he attempted to throw it to Jones, it slipped out of his hand and he nearly plunked him in the noggin. I thought he needed to go right back to curve because a) no way Jones is looking for a curve when he just gagged one so badly, and b) might as well see if he’s got any feel for it whatsoever for the rest of the outing. Instead Martin called for a fastball up out of the strike zone. Robertson put it on a fucking tee. I threw batting practice for fifty kids today, mostly underhand, and I didn’t throw a pitch that hittable.

After Adam Jones homered, Robertson kept sucking. He let up a single and another homer before he spun dizzily into the showers. In a show of solidarity, Boone Logan let up another homer as soon as he got in there. Robertson’s stats aren’t as good as last year, but I don’t think we had any business expecting that kind of year again. He’s still been pretty good. It’s his timing that has been so shitty. Robertson’s 4-0 record last year has turned into a 1-6 tally this year. That swing in the standings has been crippling for the Yankees.

In the fourth inning of this game, when I finally tuned in, David Phelps allowed the first three batters of the inning to hit the ball a combined 1200 feet. It was just dumb luck that two of them ended up as outs. The third was a homer by Robert Andino which made the score 5-1 and officially designated Phelps outing as “dogshit.”

The Yankees have played the Orioles four times recently, with the division title clearly on the line, and the Orioles would have swept all four if Pedro Strop could throw a few strikes. Even with Strop screwing things up for them, the Orioles have kicked the Yankees asses in three of the four games. They crushed three homers tonight on their way to an easy win. Strop made things complicated, so they smacked three more to win comfortably, 10-6.

The Orioles have looked the bully in the eye and found out he’s not so tough. The Orioles are playing great baseball and I can’t think of any reason why they would stop. I’m usually ok with the phrase “may the best team win.” But the best team is usually the Yankees.

Big four game serious in Baltimore starts tonight.

It’s Dave Phelps as we hope for a delivery from the Score Truck.

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

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

[Images Via: JBK Fletcher; Supdavid]

Bobby Valentine went on the radio yesterday and it didn’t go well. He talked to reporters about his interview at the ballpark last night.

Over at Sports on Earth, Emma Span considers what’s turned into a misbegotten chapter in the career of one Bobby V.

[Featured Illustration: Justin Peele]

A lot of attention has been paid to the Bronx Bombers nose dive in the A.L. East, and with good reason. By allowing a 10-game advantage to disappear, the 2012 Yankees became only the second team in franchise history to fritter away a double-digit lead. However, as they enter a crucial four-game series in Baltimore, the pinstripes remain front runners. Considering all the hysteria, it’s easy to over look the fact that the team remains in first place, but, even amid a collapse, that’s exactly where the Yankees have resided for most of the season.

Yankee fans, and the organization itself, are a little spoiled. Since its inception in 1901, the franchise has spent over 6,200 days in first place, or nearly 36% of all game dates. That figure jumps up to 42% going back to 1923, when the team migrated to theBronx. So, if the Yankee Universe treats having a lead as a birthright, well, who can blame them?

Distribution of Yankees’ Standings Position, 1901-Present

Note: Based on position at the end of game dates only (i.e., off days excluded). Includes five last place finishes. 1981 finish is based on total record from both season halves.
Source: Baseball-reference.com

The Yankees are guaranteed to spend at least one more day atop the division, which would give the team a longer stint in that position than nine other seasons that ended with a first place finish (excluding 1994). Of course, unless the Yankees hold the top spot on the final day of the season, the longevity of their lead won’t matter. Once again, however, history is on the side of the Bronx Bombers, as only two other teams in franchise history spent more days in first place (1924 and 2010) without sealing the deal.

Days Spent in First Place, Per Season Since 1901

Note: Based on position at the end of game dates only (i.e., off days excluded).Years with no days in first place omitted. Red bars indicate seasons in which the Yankees finished in first place.
Source: Baseball-reference.com

The Yankees have spent at least one day in first place in 93 of 112 seasons, and at least 100 days leading the division in 29 campaigns. Interestingly, despite occupying the top spot so often, the 1927 Yankees are the only team in franchise history to hold a lead from wire-to-wire. On the other end of the spectrum, the 1978 and 2005 Bronx Bombers were the only first place finishers to spend less than 20% of the year looking down at the competition. And, on each occasion, the Red Sox were the team the Yankees caught from behind.

After holding a double-digit lead, a one-game edge almost feels like being behind. However, the rest of the division is still chasing the Yankees, who have historically been at their best when leading the pack. With only 26 games remaining, the marathon has now become a sprint. Will the 2012 Yankees be able to maintain their position as front runners, or suffer the fate of a pacemaker? Let the pennant race begin.

Via Laughing Squid, peep these cardboard busts by Scott Fife.

You guys must check this out: On My Block Films.

And dig this, from an e-mail I received from Erin Pope who does community outreach for the project:

Neighbors across the 5 boroughs are challenged to create one to five minute short films (narrative or documentary) using only the residents from their block as the cast and crew. We’ve completed some sample videos that you can check out here. I can personally attest to how amazing the experience was. I only knew the neighbors in our building in a head nodding sort of way and after creating our film I’d now consider at least 12 people from my block great friends.

And the crazy thing about living in New York is, you never really know who you’ll meet when you go knocking on the door. Case in point, we shot our film with our neighbors last Saturday and through the process we met a woman who works for Obama. Forward ahead 48 hours later and my husband was meeting The President as he arrived at JFK. I have no doubt about the amazing things that will come out of each and every block’s filmmaking process!

Our goal is to create 50 films (10 from each borough) by Oct. 31st.

This is just too cool. Please enjoy this site and spread the word.

[Photo Credit: Tom Arndt via Je Suis Perdu]

Here’s a bit of inexpensive crudeness from a college buddy.

[Photo Credit: Schmootography]

Matt Moore pitched like Sandy Koufax to start the game tonight, struck out six of the first nine batters he faced. But in the fourth, Alex Rodriguez hit a hard RBI double and Russell Martin followed with a two run double of his own. Funny moment when Rodriguez was batting. A pitch landed in the dirt and Rodriguez waved his arm for Jeter to run to third. It was a gut move and the wrong one. The ball didn’t roll far enough away. Immediately, Rodriguez caught himself and held up his hand. Jeter cracked up, so did Rodriguez and then he cracked the double.

But Hiroki Kuroda couldn’t hold the lead as the Rays tied it 3-3, and then 4-4 after Martin’s solo homer put the Yanks ahead.

The Yanks took the lead for good in the seventh on a throwing error by the second baseman Elliot Johnson. A sacrifice bunt by Jayson Nix put runners at second and third with one out. Infield in, Jeter, who had three hits so far, hit a tapper to second and Johnson threw it away. Both runners scored.

Boone Logan got two outs in the bottom of the inning while Jeter made a nice over-the-shoulder catch to end the inning (came up limping some, too). Then David Robertson and Rafael Soriano shut the damn door.

Final Score: Yanks 6, Rays 4.

Yeah, and the Orioles lost.

It wasn’t easy but it was a win. And for one night we can exhale.

[Photo Credit: Estera Lazowska]

It’s Hiroki as the Yanks look to stop the bleeding with a win. They’ll face a tough pitcher in Matt Moore.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Russell Martin C
Curtis Granderson CF
Andruw Jones LF
Steve Pearce 1B
Jayson Nix 2B

Never mind the self-pity: LET’S GO YANK-EES!

[Photo Credit: Luca Pierro]

From the man who brought us Everything Is a Remix

Here’s a nice long piece by Bryan Curtis on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom over at Grantland:

It’s strange when two filmmakers can hardly stand to look at one of their movies. Especially when that film was as lucrative — and, for me, as beautifully sinister — as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. So when I met George Lucas in December, in advance of the release of Red Tails, I asked why he and Steven Spielberg always seemed to be renouncing it.

“Oh, I’m not renouncing it,” Lucas said. Which is fair enough. Lucas mostly sounds sad when he talks about Temple of Doom. It’s Spielberg who recoils from its heart extraction, its human sacrifice, its monkey-brain buffet. He once told a journalist that Temple of Doom was “too dark, too subterranean, and much too horrific.”

“People say, ‘Why’s it so dark?'” Lucas said. Then he began to explain.

“I was going through a divorce,” Lucas said, “and I was in a really bad mood. So I really wanted to do dark. And Steve then broke up with his girlfriend, and so he was sort of into it, too. That’s where we were at that point in time.”

I always liked Temple of Doom–maybe not as much as P. Kael, who gave it an over-the-top rave (after she panned Raiders)–but I thought it was scary and tense.

Here is a blurb of her review:

In this follow-up to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg creates an atmosphere of happy disbelief: the more breathtaking and exhilarating the stunts are, the funnier they are. Nobody has ever fused thrills and laughter in quite the way that he does here. Momentum has often been the true-even if not fully acknowledged-subject of movies. Here it’s not merely acknowledged, it’s gloried in. The picture has an exuberant, hurtling-along spirit. Spielberg starts off at full charge in the opening sequence and just keeps going, yet he seems relaxed, and he doesn’t push things to frighten us. The movie relates to Americans’ love of getting in the car and taking off-it’s a breeze. Harrison Ford is the archeologist-adventurer hero; Ke Huy Quan plays his child sidekick Short Round; and Kate Capshaw is the gold-digger heroine. The plot involves them with an odious boy maharajah and with Mola Ram (an anagram for Malomar), the high priest of a cult of Kali worshippers who come right out of the 1939 adventure comedy Gunga Din. This is one of the most sheerly pleasurable physical comedies ever made. A Lucasfilm Production, from a story idea by George Lucas, and a script by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz. The score by John Williams is too heavy for the tone of the film, and it’s too loud. With Amrish Puri as Mola Ram, and Dan Aykroyd in a half-second joke.

Curtis gets  behind what was up for the filmmaker and why the movie was not beloved like the other Indy movies.

Coolness from Buzzfeed: Famous Album Cover Locations in NYC.

I got people coming out the woodwork calling, e-mailing, and texting me, busting my goddamn balls about the Yankees. Pat Jordan’s on the horn three times a day, cackling like the true sadist that he is.

Hank Waddles called last night too, but to commiserate. He likened watching the Yankees to having a fight with your spouse. One of those bad fights where you try to remember back to when you weren’t fighting and things were easy and happy but can’t. Like when you’ve got the flu and can’t recall being well.

The Wife says to me, “Are you going to be like this all month?”

I say, “Every time they lose.”

What am I going to do with you? That’s what she’s thinking and she’s right.

There is good news, though, and it is this: The Yankees are in first place today.

Every opening I came up with for tonight’s 5-2 loss to the Rays was depressing and cheap. The Yanks have played poorly, blown a big divisional lead and I was ticked. But I stopped myself and tried again. I remembered this isn’t the finish line.

If this collapse coincided with the end of the season, like it did for the Red Sox and Braves last year, then we could thrash and roll about all night. However, there are 27 games left and it’s now a flat-footed tie with Orioles. If they come up short in this sprint, we’ll have plenty of time to hash out why they weren’t good enough this year. In the meantime, maybe they’ll get mad, play well and win.

We don’t know if it will happen that way, and by the look of things, the chances aren’t that great. But it could and we should keep watching and hoping like the fans of the other, less pre-destined, teams.

I didn’t come to this outlook on my own. I woke up this morning to mouse clicks followed by a small voice repeating “Yes!” I figured my son was at the computer checking baseball scores, just down the hall from my room. The problem with that is I knew that the Pirates lost yesterday afternoon and I knew my son knew this, too. I pulled myself out of bed to see what he was celebrating. He sat there dangling his feet and grinning like he just heard about Cookie Crisp cereal. I pulled up over his shoulder and asked him what he was doing.

“Checking out the olden days,” he said. He had clicked all the way back to June. The Pirates won a lot of games in June, so he was thrilled. It didn’t seem pathetic either, like it is when I hole up with Baseball-Reference.com and swaddle myself in past glory each time the Yankees get bounced from the Postseason. I think he just wanted to see the whole picture of the season rather than dwell on their most recent disappointment.

The 2012 Yankee team has access to something better than this. There are some guys that could play better and some guys that could get healthy. If it all happens that way, I think they’re the best team over the last 27 games and I hope their records indicates that. If it doesn’t, well, my son wouldn’t mind if we joined him rooting for the Pirates.

As for the game I have only one thought. After the Yanks went down 3-2 in the third, they sent 21 batters to the plate for the rest of the game. Three over the minimum over the final six innings. I am sure some will credit the Rays pitcher Alex Cobb with grabbing the lead and not letting it go. And some will blame the Yanks hitters for tightening up and failing to execute when they fell behind. I don’t know which is correct, so I hope the Yanks load up on both lead-holding and come-backing for these last 27 games. Find out where the O’s and Rays are shopping.