Apricot Jam from our man in Paris, David Lebovitz.

Permanently. 

I just can’t get enough of this man’s music. Makes me happy, ya hoid?

[Photo Credit: Inspiring Pictures]

Chad Jennings reports that Brett Gardner will not need surgery but the Yanks don’t expect him back for about another month.

It’s been a lost first half for Gardner though the Yanks will be fortunate if he returns and is healthy come mid-July. In the meantime, do you suppose they’ll make do with what they’ve got or make a move to get more talent in left field? My hunch is that they are going to wait it out with what they’ve got.

[Photo Credit: Graycard via It’s a Long Season]

Drawing by Pierre.

Miami looks to even the NBA Finals tonight in Oklahoma City. I think they’ll do it though I’m pulling for the Thunder.

The Yankees returned home to face future Hall of Famer Bob Feller and the first place Indians at the Stadium. Feller was working on a streak of his own; since a loss on May 9th, he had won eight straight decisions, bring his season’s record to an impressive 13-3. When DiMaggio came to bat in the third inning, he watched three straight balls before Feller finally had to come into the zone. Hitting away, DiMaggio slashed a drive into the right-center field gap for a double. Also of note, Tommy Henrich homered for the Yanks in the first inning, extending another string. The Yankees had hit homeruns in ten games in a row, a streak that some local papers were beginning to follow.

Over at the Atlantic’s In Focus, Alan Taylor raids the New York City Municipal Archives and delivers a beautiful photo gallery:

I have tried to read Richard Ford’s “The Sportswriter” on a few occasions and have not be able to get into it. His short stories have been recommended to me, and after reading Andre Dubus III’s glowing review of Ford’s new book, I may have to give him another shot:

Willa Cather once wrote that “a creative writer can do his best only with what lies within the range and character of his deepest sympathies.” By that measure, and any other, Richard Ford is doing his very best in his extraordinary new novel, “Canada,” his first book since “The Lay of the Land” six years ago. Here, Ford is clearly writing within the range and character of his deepest sympathies — in this case, from the point of view of an abandoned 15-year-old boy — and he’s doing it with a level of linguistic mastery that is rivaled by few, if any, in American letters today.

…On a purely plot-hungry basis, turning the page seems the only thing to do, but — as is so often the case with the fiction of Richard Ford — what actually happens in the story feels secondary, or at best equal, to the language itself. In the hands of a lesser writer, this can create problems: the prose begins to feel self-indulgent, written not to illuminate any truths but to please the writer, and in the process, story itself is lost and the reader is left behind. But “Canada” is blessed with two essential strengths in equal measure — a mesmerizing story driven by authentic and fully realized characters, and a prose style so accomplished it is tempting to read each sentence two or three times before being pulled to the next.

Here’s the Paris Review interview with Ford. Dig in.

This is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a minute. Dan Weeks, you rule.

Thanks to Matt B for sending the link.

Blueberry crumble pie? Seriously? Oh, hell yes.

[Photo Credit: Lauren Weisenthal]

The Manhattan Project by Cameron Michael.

The Manhattan Project HD1080P from Cameron Michael on Vimeo.

This is great.

“House of Cards,” By Tony Luciani (2011)

Hey Claudia, would you like to come over to my house and listen to some albums?

Photo: Getty Images

It’s hard to be better than perfect, but last night, Matt Cain was just that. Not only did the Giants’ right hander throw the 22nd perfect game in baseball history (and first in franchise history), but he also tied Sandy Koufax for the most strikeouts while doing so. What’s more, Cain’s game score of 101 matched Koufax and Nolan Ryan for the best mark ever posted in a no-hitter of any kind.

Most Strikeouts in a No-Hitter or Perfect Game

*Denotes perfect game.
Source: Baseball-reference.com

By joining Koufax and Ryan with a game score of 101, Cain’s masterpiece takes a back seat to only Kerry Wood’s remarkable rating of 105. Then 20-years old, the Cubs’ phenom accomplished the feat on May 6, 1998, when he struck out 20 Houston Astros, the same franchise Cain dominated to make history last night. Although Cain’s perfection fell shy of Wood’s record, his performance was still only the 10th game score of 100 or greater in nine innings since 1918, making that accomplishment even rarer than the perfect game itself (the highest game score ever recorded is 153, by Joe Oeschger in an epic 26-inning affair).

100-Plus Game Score Club, Since 1918

*Denotes perfect game.
Source: Baseball-reference.com

No one should be surprised by Cain’s brilliant outing. After all, the right hander has now authored two of the top game scores this season. For those less inclined to trust esoteric statistics, Cain had previously thrown three complete game one-hitters, so maybe a no-hitter was just a matter of time?

Matt Cain’s Top-10 Game Scores

Source: Baseball-reference.com

Now that he has thrown one of the best nine inning games in baseball history, what will Matt Cain do for an encore? History hasn’t been very kind to perfect game pitchers in their next start, but after last night’s performance, for Cain, the exceptional might be the new rule.  Maybe he’ll join Johnny Vander Meer as the only pitcher to throw consecutive no-hitters? Or, perhaps, he’ll break Mark Buehrle’s record of 45 consecutive batters retired (dating back to his previous start, Cain has retired 32 batters in a row)? The Angels are next up on the schedule, so they should consider themselves forewarned.

With the Yankees clinging to a one-run lead, two out in the ninth inning of tonight’s game against the Atlanta Braves, Chipper Jones stepped against the Yankee closer. The Yankee closer pitched him tough, but the future HOFer won the battle by serving a slider on the outside corner for a deep line drive into left field for a base hit. Chipper’s nicepieceofhitting brought Jason Heyward to the plate representing the winning run. He got his hacks, on the second strike especially. He looked like he was trying to hit two game winning dingers in one swing, but the 93 MPH heat danced over the barrel. The next pitch busted his bat and the ball popped harmlessly to Robinson Cano at second base.

The Yankees won 3-2 and gained another game on Tampa, who were Dickeyed to death by the Mets. They completed their second straight sweep and have now won six games in a row and 16 out of 20. I should be feeling great about their recent success and their perch at the top of the American League, but all I was thinking about in the ninth was that the Yankee closer from the first paragraph wasn’t Mariano Rivera. That match-up with Chipper would have been a special one and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness that it couldn’t happen.

And, though Soriano pitched a fine inning and I think he’s done a nice job, the difference between a backdoor slider and a backdoor cutter was never more apparent. Soriano set him up beautifully, but Chipper could wait back on the slider defensively and slash it to the opposite field. The cutter would have sped right past him. Hence Mariano’s proclivity for the backwards Ks to the lefties.

The game started brightly for the Yankees. Just a few days ago I said it would be nice to see Jeter get a double this week, since he had only two extra base hits in his last 32 games. I think the key for the baseball gods was the reasonable nature of my request: Jeter doubled off Tim Hudson to lead off the game. I will be more thoughtful the next time I make a wish. Curtis Granderson didn’t do much with a favorable count, but his grounder advanced Jeter to third. The Braves pulled the infield in on Alex Rodriguez. A few years ago, a third base man would have called time and double-checked his last will and testament if asked to plant his feet on the infield grass with Arod up there.

Alex looked lost on a couple of sliders, but Hudson eventually found the middle of the plate and Alex sent it right back up the box with a sharp knock and the Yankees led 1-0. Somehow, Hiroki Kuroda kept it right there for half the game. The Braves threatened just about every inning, but with Hudson coming up to the plate just about every time the Yanks needed a big out, Kuroda escaped damage. If the Yankees are afflicted with RISPitis, at least there’s a chance it might be contagious. The Braves were 2 for 13 with no RBI with runners in scoring position.

In the fifth, Brian McCann hit a long two-run homer to give the Braves the lead. In soccer, it would have been a “deserved lead” because the Braves seemed in control of the game at that point. Two batters into the sixth, the Yankees had it back – so much for “deserve”. Jeter singled and Granderson kept his hands and weight back behind a floaty cutter and skied it into the right field stands. It had a pop-up’s trajectory, but a homer’s distance, so we’ll take it. That skinny dude has a heckuva power stroke.

The Yankees again hunkered down behind a flimsy one run lead. Kuroda gave way after six and the Russian nesting doll of a bullpen the Yanks are running out there these days went to work. Logan walked two but squeaked through by retiring Heyward and Hinske with runners on base. Rapada was in an even worse spot, runners at the corners with only one out and .320 hitting Martin Prado at the plate. Rapada’s sidewinding sinking action induced the double play grounder that saved the game.

That brings us to Soriano in the ninth, a win, a sweep and a nice little challenge series with the first place Washington Nationals coming up. No Strasburg though.

When the Yankees were in fourth place, playing losing/boring (however you want to describe it is fine with me) baseball, every night seemed the same. The starting pitching wobbled early and the Yankees would be down two or four before even getting loose. And when they did get into the game, there would be some insurance runs for the bad guys or RISP fail for the Yanks that would seal the loss. Tonight was just the opposite. The Yanks scored first. The Yanks reclaimed the lead as quickly as possible after relinquishing it, and the Yanks induced the soul-crushing double play in the late innings. I don’t know if that’s good baseball, exciting baseball or just the swing of the pendulum, but I sure do prefer the wins.

Photo by Scott Cunningham / Getty Images

Curious to see how Hiroki Kuroda pitches tonight. He left his last start early after being hit in the foot by a batted ball.

Good news:  David Robertson is back (and will be activated for Friday night’s game).

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Raul Ibanez LF
Nick Swisher RF
Russell Martin C
Hiroki Kuroda RHP

Never mind the moronic Atlanta chant: Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Associated Press]

Via the most-amazing site, Kottke, check out this bit of hipness from John Boswell and Fred Rogers:

I’ve used efficient, modern-looking microfilm machines, but not at the main branch of the New York Public Library. The machines there are so temperamental that I half-expect a wise-ass bird poke his head out as if I lived in an episode of “The Flinstones.”

That said, there are few things I enjoy as much as digging through old newspapers and magazines on the hunt for research material. It’s taxing on the eyes, your back gets sore leaning over, you often have to fight threading the damn machine up, and sometimes you don’t get what you came for. Other times,  you find things by accident. Oh, those happy accidents.

Along the way,  a forgotten world comes alive, especially in the newspapers–advertisements, headlines, stories and pictures. And there are so many  writers I’ve never heard of before. Plus, there is the thrill of putting in the time to track things down that you can’t find on-line and there’s so much stuff out there that is not on the web it’s not even funny.

The wife calls me a nerd. Guilty as charged.

“Agua Caliente Nova,” by Robert Bechtle (1975)  Oil on canvas