About the best thing that can be said for the Yankees through the first six innings today is that they weren’t trailing by more than they were. Curtis Granderson left the game with an injured leg and was on his way to the hospital for an MRI with the score 3-1, the lone Yankee run coming on a solo homer by Robinson Cano.

Cano just missed another homer too in the sixth inning, too.

The Wife and I were in the car, driving across Sixth Avenue on Eighth Street, listening to John and Suzyn on the radio. Sterling gave it the ol “It is high, it is far…” only to report that the ball was caught. It took everything in me a) not to crash the car into a pedestrian or b) scream at the top of my lungs and frighten my Bride. If I’d been alone who knows? Instead, I calmly clicked the radio off and said, “That man is irresponsible.”

Cano was fantastic in the field, too, turning a wonderful double play and making a tough over-the-shoulder catch.

The reason the Yanks were fortunate is because David Phelps walked the world. But the O’s couldn’t take advantage. Then, in the seventh, the Yanks had an unlikely rally. With one out, Steve Pearce singled for his first hit as a Yankee. Russell Martin flew out and then Jason Nix fell behind 0-2. We were still in the car, now on the West Side Highway driving home, and with each ensuing pitch I called the strike out that never came. Instead, Nix walked. That brought up Eduardo Nunez–remember him?

Don’t hack at the first pitch, don’t hack at the first pitch.

So he hacked at the first pitch, a fastball and drove home Pearce. Then, a new pitcher, and Ichiro waled. Bases loaded for Jeter. We were home now but stayed in the car knowing we couldn’t miss what came next. So it’s 0-2 with the quickness but the Captain worked the count full and walked. Game tied. Fist bump with The Wife.

By the time we got upstairs and turned on the TV they were replaying SS J.J. Hardy’s error which allowed the go-ahead run to score. Go figure that, especially since Hardy is a good fielder. David Robertson pitched a clean eighth and Rafael Soriano mowed ’em down in the ninth and the Yanks won, 4-3.

Feels about as big a win as they’ve had all year.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. We will take it.

Yanks aim not to suck and give us indigestion this afternoon when they host the O’s at the Stadium.

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

[Picture by Thomas Brendan]

“Take Me To The River”–The Talking Heads

[Photo Via: Vanilla-Daises]

Out boys got their asses handed to them by the surging Orioles tonight at the Stadium. Mark Reynolds, the reincarnation of Ron Kittle’s nutsack, hit a two-run home run against Hiroki Kuroda, made two beautiful plays in the field, and hit another dinger against Derek Lowe.

It was more than enough.

Yanks had a couple of chances to score and didn’t do chiggiddy boom bam with them (Nick Swisher struck out four times). A solo homer by Curtis Granderson in the ninth is all that kept them from being shut out. The Yanks are a flat team since they played the Rangers a few weeks back and are paying the price for their ineptitude. The O’s now trail the Yanks by two.

Final Score: O’s 6, Yanks 1.

Yanks turn to our Hiro in one of the biggest games of the year.

1. Jeter SS
2. Swish 1B
3. Cano 2B
4. Granderson CF
5. Chavez 3B
6. Ibanez LF
7. Martin C
8. Ichiro RF
9. Nix DH

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

Lazy day here at the Banter. The last summer Friday of the year. We’ll be taking it light this afternoon but will be back for the big game tonight.

Stay cool.

[Photo Credit: ggordian]

Here’s Jeff Feuerzieg’s short on Jeff Dowd the inspiration for Jeff Lebowski.

THE DUDE (Director’s Cut) from Jeff Feuerzeig on Vimeo.

Over at Flavorwire here’s a gallery of photographs by Katrin Koenning.

When I first saw Patrick Hruby’s long piece for ESPN on Doc Ellis I thought to myself: Do we really need another Doc Ellis story? Then I read it and was duly impressed.

Hruby is a talented writer. Check out this story for  Sports on Earth on why he won’t be watching football this year; or this piece on professional video game players, or “Murder By Cricket” which was featured in The Best American Sports Writing 2008. 

Yeah, Hruby is a good one.

[Photo Credit: Ray Stubblebine/AP]

The Yanks host the Orioles this weekend at the Stadium. Next week, they go to Tampa for three and then to Baltimore for a four-game series.

So, here it is, the Yanks have been mincing around for a month and now they’ve got their toughest ten-game stretch of the season.

I wonder if they’ll rise to the occasion. I can’t call it.

[Photo Credit: Matthew Pugliese]

Via Slate, dig this clip of Stanley Kubrick’s one-point perspective:

Over at Harper’s check out this 1947 contract between Kurt Vonnegut and his pregnant wife.

My friend Mike C is a dedicated record collector. In the summer of 1995 he took me to A-1, a record shop in the East Village. I flipped through the stacks for about ten minutes, got tired, and started a conversation with a blond-haired kid standing near the counter. He was open and friendly, a rarity in boutique record shops where attitude reigns supreme.

About an hour later, Mike had gone through all of the crates, including the ones on the floor, and he came up with a copy of BDP’s second record for $2. Right then I knew I’d never be a beat junkie. I didn’t have the stamina or the drive.

I didn’t return to the store for close to a year and when I did the friendly guy was sitting behind the counter. His name was Jared Boxx and we became friends. Not long after that he joined two British guys, Steve and Rob, when they opened their own store–specializing in vintage soul, breakbeats and old school hip hop records. It was called The Sound Library.

Later still, Steve and Jared split and opened their own shop on 12th between A and B: Big City Records.

I collected records intensely when I was in my twenties but by 2000 or 2001 was on to other interests. I still went to see Jared who always hipped me to new music. He burned rare records to cd for me, then made MP3s as technology shifted. One day I asked him about a specific record and he said, “No, that isn’t for you.”

I was offended. How was he sure that I wouldn’t like it? Because that was Jared’s gift. He made it his business to know his customers’ tastes. So it was common to walk in the shop and find that he’d stashed away a record. “I thought you might like this.” Jared did this for all of his regulars, from the guys who spent their most of their paycheck each week on vinyl to hip hop producers like Q-Tip, Finesse, Primo, and the Beatnuts.

Jared is a humble man, not one to seek the spotlight. But he believed that music should be shared not hoarded and kept private. And the the store became an extension of his personality. It was a meeting place, a place of community. I’m pleased that I turned him on to a few records too, like when I found a bootleg De La Soul track that Pete Rock produced…

…Or when I lucked into four copies of the Lootpack’s debut EP buried in the stacks at Beat Street.

But times change and while people still buy records they do most of their shopping on-line. So when the rent went up, Big City decided to close it’s doors in town (an adjunct store in New Jersey will remain open).

They say goodbye tomorrow and the store will be missed. But instead of lamenting the end of an era I’d like to acknowledge what a great run Jared and Steve have enjoyed. The fellas at Big City touched many lives and that will not soon be forgotten.

If you are around, fall through and take one last look. Oh, and keep diggin’.

“Cratedigger” a Madlib medley

Finale

Yankee ace CC Sabathia had two runs in one pocket and a ray of sunshine in the other. He didn’t have the world’s greatest defensive performance behind him, but the runs and the sunshine should have been enough against the lowly Blue Jays. It wasn’t nearly. The Jays beat the Yanks 8-5, took the series, and if you watched all the games without knowing the standings, you’d be shocked to learn that the Yankees were on top and the Jays were on the bottom.

I was at the game with my family and for two innings, we lived the ideal day at the ball park. Unobstructed views for the wee ones, shade, and the Yankees kicking ass. I noted it, but I should have savored it. My kids began melting down approximately five minutes before Sabathia did and it never really got any better. We ended up leaving the stadium in storm of tears, trailing by a run in the seventh.

By the time we got home, my kids had straightened things out, but the Yankees never did get it together. I didn’t properly appreciate the Yankees 2-1 win yesterday. In the face of this series chucking loss, the 2-1 win seems like an oasis of pleasure.

Losses on TV make me want to spill a thousand words. Losses in person just make me shrug my shoulders. It’s so obviously a game of action and execution when you watch it live. It’s not the scripted drama I tend to make it when I watch on TV.

Can’t say much for this series except the Blue Jays clearly outplayed the Yankees and deserved their two wins. The Yankees will be in first place for several more days at least. It could stretch for the rest of season. Despite the evidence on the field lately, I think it will.

Photo by Rich Schultz/AP

Yanks go for seconds this afternoon against the Jays at the Stadium.

It’s the Big Fella.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Andruw Jones RF
Curtis Granderson CF
Steve Pearce DH
Jayson Nix 3B
Ichiro Suzuki LF
Chris Stewart C

Oh, Scoretruck, where art thou?

Never mind those Birds on the Creep: Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Jacinda Russell]

The Yankees won a taut, low-scoring affair with a big performance by a starting pitcher, some good defense and a solid bullpen. As long as you don’t have to answer any follow up questions, that’s our story for this game, OK? The Yanks can win close ones. All is well, everything will be OK from this point on, yada, yada. This 2-1
victory over the Blue Jays was the huge sigh of relief that the team needed after Monday’s disappointment. Got it?

Phil Hughes was good for the second straight game – a Yankee-Stadium-Special his only blemish. Never mind that he was up 1-2 on the hitter, and that the hitter was someone named Adeiny Hechavarria, who may or may not have discovered the silent “V”. It was Hechavarria’s first career home run, though I wonder if he’ll be fined in Kangaroo court for smiling – I’m not sure opposing batters are allowed count Hughes and Nova homers for personal milestones.

The Yankee offense jumped out to an early lead, that’s good right? Should it matter that the pitcher the Blue Jays sent against them is so lost this year he’s walked 5.1 batters per nine innings? He walked eight Tigers in his last start. He shut the Yanks down for seven innings.

But that’s not the whole story, because for Ricky Romero to have a shut-down game this year, something else must be at work. And yeah, there it is, the Yankees had recent re-acquisition Steve Pearce batting cleanup. Russell Martin batted fifth. Russell Martin, who may not be the fifth best hitting catcher in the Yankee system, was the fifth best hitter the Yanks could send out there tonight.

The game threatened to tilt in a tricky sixth inning, but the quick reactions of Robinson Cano saved the day. De-Fense, that’s important, right? Hughes walked the first two hitters and Adam Lind tried to order another Special, but the kitchen was all out of meatballs. He skied it to the wall in the right field corner. The tying run moved to third with one out. Yunel Escobar stung one Willie-McCovey style right to second. Cano snared and fired to third to catch Rasmus dancing by himself. The double play balm soothed those nagging doubts that began to appear.

If someone does start asking follow-up questions, like “why was that game against that pathetic team so damn close?” Or  “can you imagine a team like the Yankees fielded tonight winning many future games?” you just say, “how about that Red Sox trade?” And cross your fingers.

Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty

The Show Must Go On.

Hughes on the hill.

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

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

[Illustration by Tang Yau Hoong]

Pictures by Brigitte Lacombe

at Everyday I Show.

If you don’t like hearing bits of 78 different records in 15 minutes this isn’t for you. For the rest of us: Come Down Selector.

Includes: Stevie, Kraftwork, Bing Crosby, Tower of Power, Chubb Rock, John Lennon, Led Zep, Blind Blake, Dave Brubeck, Carol Burnett, Harry Nilsson, Louis Armstrong, King Tubby, James Brown, Lewis Black, Sarah Vaughn, and Creedence. Don’t forget the Creedence.

SPLAT-a-TAT-FWAPP.

[Birmingham Alabama Daily Photo]

Flavorwire looks at memorable movie endings.

Here’s a little clip that appears after the end credits in Married to the Mob. Ah, Michelle.