Good pitching match-up tonight at the Stadium as the Rays are in town for the weekend.
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Alex Rodriguez DH
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B
Never mind the scoreboard:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
You guys know me as a P. Kael freak so you can imagine how honored I am to be able to reprint one of her reviews–of a fun movie too (Damn, I miss Raul Julia):
The movie is a confluence of fantasies, with a crime plot that often seems to be stalled, as if a projector had broken down. A good melodramatic structure should rhyme: we should hold our breath at the pacing as the pieces come together, and maybe smile at how neat the fit is. Here the pieces straggle, and by the end you’re probably ignoring the plot points. Raul Julia, who turns up as the Mexican Comandante Escalante, has a big, likable, rumbling presence; his role recalls the Leo Carrillo parts in movies like The Gay Desperado, with a new aplomb. And for a few seconds here and there Raul Julia takes over; he’s funny, and he detonates. (The character’s lack of moral conflicts gives his scenes a giddy high.) Then the film’s languor settles in again. An elaborate government sting operation waits while Mac and Escalante play Ping-Pong, and waits again while they sit in a boat and Mac talks drivel about bullfighting. (It’s the worst dialogue in the film; for sheer inappropriateness it’s matched only by Dave Grusin’s aggressive, out-to-slay-you score.)
Most of the dialogue is sprightly—it’s easy, everyday talk that actors can breathe to. But Towne’s directing is, surprisingly, better than his construction—maybe because when he plans to direct he leaves things loose. He says, “I make the character fit the actor, I don’t try to make the actor fit the character.” That sounds as if he’s highly variable, a modernist. But he isn’t. He likes bits from old movies, such as having the cops who are planning to surprise Mac be so dumb that they leave peanut shells wherever they’ve been posted. The difference between the way Towne handles the peanut shells and the way a director of the thirties would have (and did) is that he doesn’t sock the joke home; he glides over it. He wants the effect, yet he doesn’t want to be crude about it, so he half does it. Almost everything in the action scenes of the last three-quarters of an hour is half done. Often he gives you the preparation for action and no follow-through; sometimes the reverse.
Huge thanks to Kael’s daughter, Gina James, for giving me permission to share this with you.
Crumb.
Hey Now.
cc
The Yanks get no style point credits for Wednesday afternoon’s win against the Sox. The Bombers had a big lead but the mop-up crew got shelled forcing Betances and Miller into the game. Miller got hit in the back of the leg with a line drive and we all gasped but he is okay and the Yanks finally came away with an untidy 13-8 win.
Hey, some games are more painful than others. They ain’t all going to be efficient or smooth.
Never mind the teeth-gnashing, we’ll take it.
Odd 4:00 p.m. start today as the Yanks finish their business in Boston.
Brett Gardner CF
Chris Young LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Carlos Beltran RF
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
John Ryan Murphy C
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B
Our man Masahiro’s on the bump.
Never mind the goldbrickers:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Joan Lifton via MPD]
Lonesome Blues.
The Yanks got the breaks last night and survived a 13-strikeout performance from Rick Procello. Big Mike was all right, the bullpen was strong, Stephen Drew had a big hit, and Brett Gardner’s solo home run helped them to a 3-1 win over the Sox at Fenway Park.
Course the Blue Jays won again–this time in extra innings. More lousy news about Mark Teixeira, too.
Having fun?
Hey Big Mike, how ’bout a decent start, huh? I know the Sox are garbage but they are playing well these days.
Time to show up, Hoss.
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Alex Rodriguez DH
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B
Never mind the Hub:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
“Breakers” By Elmer Bischoff (1963)
Why? It’s spoiled.
You know when someone–let’s say, my wife–takes out a container from the fridge, looks at it suspiciously, opens it and then pushes it in your direction and says, “Smell, this. Is this still good?”
That’s last night’s game. The Red Sox practically rolled out the red carpet for the Yanks to beat them and yet it did not happen. Didi Gregorious hit a deep fly ball to the warning track with the bases loaded for the final out and the Yanks wasted a chance to gain a game on the Jays.
The ball looked like it had a shot and the sinking feeling that ensued was as agreeable as your wife asking you to smell a container of leftovers.
Fuck this fucking game.
The next 16 games for the Yanks are against AL East opponents: 3 in Boston, then 3 vs. the Rays, 3 vs. the O’s and 4 against the Jays, all at home, capped off by 3 in Tampa.
The Sox played a spirited series against the Mets this past weekend in Queens. Got to figure they’ll have plenty of upstart left in them.
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Chris Young LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
Didi Gregorius SS
Brendan Ryan 2B
Never mind those damn Jays:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
I guess that’s the thing–even when Eovaldi’s disappointing he doesn’t get bombed. He wasn’t all that great today. Staked to a plump lead he couldn’t get an out in the sixth inning, and once again, his outing wasn’t nearly long enough. The good news is that it didn’t matter as the Bombers scored a week’s full of runs for him–as they’re wont to do–battering Atlanta, 20-6. Even Stephen Drew had a big game and is now over the Mendoza line.
Hey Now.
A sweep is just what the Yanks needed, especially considering the Jays ain’t slowing down for nuthin’.
[Photo Credit: MPD]
Three-quarters of the way through his first season in New York Nathan Eovaldi has shown more than promise, he’s shown progress. And it’s been fun to watch because I naturally find it easy to be extra critical of him. Initially, he was easy to root against. Every time I saw Eovaldi out there I expected him to implode. He’s a big, hulking guy and bears a physical resemblance to Carl Pavano. That’s probably it. But then you hear him in interviews and he’s a quiet, soft-spoken guy. Hard to get any sense of him but he doesn’t come across as a big jerk that’s for sure.
Unlike Pavano, he’s not a clod. Eovaldi is adept at pick-off throws, excellent at keeping baserunners from stealing–the announcers say he’s got good feet. His fastball–which touches 100+–his newly-developed splitter, his stuff, is tantalizing. Reminds me of AJ Burnett, the proverbial million-dollar-arm-ten-cent-head, the guy who never fully realizes his great promise (though, of course, Burnett has been a terrific older pitcher). And yet there is something passive about Eovaldi. He doesn’t have that thing that Matt Harvey has, the poise and aggression of a great pitcher.
So you have to wonder–is Eovaldi just a great arm or is he going to be a stud?
Well, he doesn’t often pitch deep into games and for all his stuff doesn’t strike a lot of guys out, but since getting bombed in Miami back in the middle of June, he’s been decent. Better than decent, he’s been good. Last two starts, against two potent offenses (Twins, Astros), he’s been especially good. Let’s hope for more of the same today.
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B
Nathan Eovaldi P
Never mind the chanting:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
A man died at the ballpark last night. It happened when Alex Rodriguez was announced as a pinch-hitter in the 7th inning, Yanks ahead, 2-0.
The man–not yet identified–was said to be in his 60s. He fell from the upper deck and landed on the seats below. The announcers caught it and there was a brief shot of were the fan landed. My wife, who works in an hospital ER saw it before I did–“They’re doing CPR,” she said.
The Yanks won the game, 3-1, but it didn’t seem to matter much.
Painting by David Park.
