Hot news for us Buster Keaton fans.

According to David Kehr in the New York Times:

A new, double-disc edition (also available as a single Blu-ray disc) of Keaton’s 1928 “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” presents both the familiar, public domain print that has been a staple of film societies and television screenings for decades, and an alternate version, newly discovered in the Keaton estate archive, that uses different takes or different angles for many shots and is cleaner and sharper than the standard print. (It was common in the silent era to produce two different negatives, one for domestic and one for export use; in this case, it isn’t clear which is which.)

…After “The General” (1926) and “College” (1927), “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” was Keaton’s third costly failure in a row, and would prove to be the last film he would make for his own independent production company. Audiences had turned their back on him (In The New York Times the reviewer Mordaunt Hall described “Steamboat Bill” as “a sorry affair”), just as Keaton had turned his back on them, quite literally, at times, given his penchant for shooting himself from behind. Keaton invited neither the audience’s identification, as Lloyd did, nor its sympathy, as Chaplin did. He presented a closed-off, self-sufficient figure, his emotions, if any, hidden behind his famous stone face.

Here is the most famous shot from the movie (no such thing a tough guy actor these days when you see this):

I can’t wait to get this new DVD…

Couple few news items worth noting…

Mariano Rivera is banged-up. He has a sore right knee. His left rib cage is aching too, so Rivera will not appear in the All-Star Game next week. Joe Girardi is downplaying the injuries but at 40-years-old, Rivera’s health is of concern.

I’ve daydream occasionally, wondering how Rivera’s career will end. The daydreams are always tidy–the Yanks win another Serious and Rivera walks away on top. Reality usually doesn’t comply with these kinds of fantasies but still, it shouldn’t stop us from dreaming. Anyhow, I could easily see this being Rivera’s swan swong, or I could see him returning for another season or two. One thing I’m hyper-aware of–and have been since, oh, about November, 2001–is that it’s not going to last, that life as a Yankee fan will soon be different, that it is important to appreciate every time Rivera is out on the mound, no matter the result.

* * * *

Robbie Cano is going to participate in the Home Run Derby come Monday. My first thought, without causing undo embarrassment, I hope he goes out in the first round. Then I read this from the Yankees’ hitting coach, Kevin Long:

“I would prefer he’s not involved in it, but that’s not my decision,” Kevin Long said. “History suggests that guys that do the home run hitting contest get fatigued and exhausted from the process. I’m happy for the fact that he’s maybe getting the opportunity, but in the same breath we have to be careful in how he goes about this.”

…”I think it’s a lot of swings for a player; physically, I think it’s somewhat of a grind, but it’s an honor to be involved,” Girardi said. “The biggest thing is that we keep Robinson Cano healthy and strong the whole year. If that in any way would fatigue him, then I would prefer that he didn’t get fatigued.”
(Feinsand, N.Y. Daily News)

(more…)

There’s been lots of talk here and elsewhere about Mark Teixeira’s painfully slow start this season, but I always felt like the most interesting angle had nothing to do with his hitting.  The only question worth asking, I think, was why didn’t anyone care that he wasn’t hitting?  Every Yankee has heard the boos cascading down at one point or another, even the legends.  Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Don Mattingly, Paul O’Neil, Alex Rodríguez — and even Derek Jeter — were all booed during slumps.  But why not Teixeira?

Even as his average hovered in the low .200s, Tex could pop up with a runner on third, strike out with the bases loaded, or ground into a rally-killing double play, all with relative impunity, as evidenced by his jog back to the dugout beneath a cloud of indifferent silence.  Analysts would say it was because the true fans understood that he was still helping the team with his on base percentage and stellar defense, but that’s not it at all.  Mark Teixeira is vanilla.  He hits for a decent average, slugs thirty to forty homers a year, drives in a boatload of runs, plays Gold Glove defense, and helps the team win — but no one cares.  We have no expectations for him, so we can’t be disappointed when he fails, even when it’s happening for weeks and months at a time.

Alex Rodríguez, of course, is different.  His at bats stop conversations and delay trips to the concession stand because we expect greatness each time he steps to the plate.  He could be mired in a slump and facing, say, Roy Halladay, but we don’t wonder if he’ll succeed, we wonder how far the ball will go.  Sure, there are a lot of other variables here — the steroid issue, the enormous contract, the opting out of the enormous contract, the social awkwardness, the shadow of Jeter — but the main thing is the great expectations.

All of which brings us to Tuesday night’s game in Oakland.  The Yankees had just tied the score at one in the top of the third when Teixeira came to the plate with runners on first and third, and that’s when the idea of an A-Rod grand slam first popped into my head.  Three pitches later Teixeira was writhing in pain after being plunked in the back by an errant fastball from Trevor Cahill, and the bases were loaded for Mr. Rodríguez.

Any base hit would’ve been fine, but I expected more.  After getting the benefit of the doubt on a check swing call that pushed the count to 3-1 instead of 2-2, A-Rod jumped on a flat sinker and banged it off the bleachers in left center field, 423 feet away.  A-Rod’s response to these no-doubt home runs has always been interesting to me.  Reggie would pause for a second or two, and then take a few deliberate steps towards first before breaking into a Cadillac trot around the bases, all designed to give everyone — Reggie included — ample opportunity to admire what he had just done.  A-Rod instead bolts from the box and immediately turns his head towards his teammates, none of whom are looking at him.  They’re celebrating and following the flight of the ball, and when A-Rod looks into the dugout he seems to be channeling Sally Field: “You like me!  You really like me!” He needs their approval and can’t wait to get around the bases and into the dugout so he can accept their congratulations.  You could psychoanalyze this all you want — or maybe I just did — but all it really means is that he wants to be loved, and I love him for it.

A-Rod’s slam gave the Yankees a 5-1 lead, and that was more than enough for CC Sabathia, who has been pitching like CC Sabathia for the past six weeks.  Following his start in that disaster game in Cleveland on May 29, CC’s record stood at 4-3 with a 4.16 ERA.  Since then he’s rattled off seven straight wins and lowered his ERA with each outing, dropping it to where it now stands at 3.19.  He was dominant again on Tuesday night, striking out ten in seven and two-thirds innings and never really allowing the A’s a look at the game.  He gave up a couple of singles and a walk to the load the bases with two outs in the fifth, but recovered to strike out Daric Barton, who slammed his bat down in disgust at the call and was instantly tossed by home plate umpire Mike Winters.  (And is it just me, or are a lot of opposing hitters getting run lately?)

If all that wasn’t enough to crush the Athletics’ spirit, A-Rod added a second home run (and an second glance into the dugout) with the next half inning, and that was pretty much it.  Yankees 6, A’s 1.

[Photo courtesy of US Presswire.]

I was thinking about the two impressive starting pitchers being featured tonight in Oakland, but this being Oakland, up popped the image of the Tooz:

Good ol’, Oakland.

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

Since July 4th was Louis Armstrong’s birthday (and even if it wasn’t his official birthday, play along), let’s dedicate the rest of the week’s beats to him. Here’s one of Woody’s favorites:

I’m writing to you today from the afterlife, but please do not be alarmed. I am asking for your kindest assistance in a noble venture. It is completely on the up-and-up, and my minions are beyond questioning regarding their decency and motives. They have taken my good name and ascribed it to a cancer research foundation.  Not only have they done that, but they’ve endeavored to undertake a fundraising walkathon in that hallowed house of our National Pastime, Yankee Stadium.

Yes, on the same field that the smoothly dashing Derek Jeter and genial yet lethal Mariano Rivera ply their trade, many feet will trod on August 15th.  They will saunter and/or gallop through the corridors of the seating areas, and end their 5K jaunt on the warning track of the Stadium.  And you, dear reader, can join in this aerobic activity.

What’s that you say?  You can’t make the event?  Your “ambulatoryness” lost its “ness”?  You can’t afford the entry fee?  Well, I am sad to hear of that, and I can’t help but think of the opportunity you are missing, but let me offer you yet another way to help my enterprise.

Unbeknownst to you readers still of this mortal coil, they do have the Internet in Heaven (I hear they have it in Hell too, but there its dial-up).  One of my favorite sites for sportswriting is the portal through which I am communicating right now, Bronx Banter.  It just so happens that Diane Firstman, an erudite Banter columnist and long-legged lass, who can probably circle the bases in a mere 64 paces or so, is already registered for the event, and is looking for supporters.

Being of the feminine persuasion, and therefore lack some of the proper, how should we say, “equipment” to play this wondrous game of baseball, this may be the only way dear Diane will ever make it onto the dirt at Yankee Stadium (unless she tumbles out of the stands in a futile attempt to corral an $8.00 foul ball, but of course that would require a seat in those “Legends” sections, which would seem to imply that the sittee could BUY hundreds of those same $8.00 baseballs and not risk getting tossed out of the Stadium by that delightful Yankee Stadium gestapo, but I digress).  It would touch my weary soul if you would pledge a few dollars towards her participation in this event.

If you’ve read this far, I thank you.  If you’ve decided to participate by joining this walkathon/run, I thank you.  If you’ve decided to participate by supporting Ms. Firstman, I thank you.  If you HAVEN’T read this far, then there must be some alternate reality existing within this portal, and I suggest you log off and go outside and throw a ball around.

Sincerely, Damon Runyon’s ethereal presence . . .

Man, an ice-cold, air-conditioned movie theater sounds like the place to be today as the temperature hits 100 in the Big Apple.

From There’s No Business Like Show Business:

How do you follow that? Well, never one to be upstaged…

Yo, where you at?

[Photo Credit: Mamrie’s Weblog]

Jeremiah Moss, who runs the most excellent blog, Vanishing New York, has a piece in the Times about the location of Edward Hopper’s famous painting, “Nighthawks.”  Moss dug through archival photographs and microfilm to pinpoint the exact spot only to discover that the scene Hopper painted didn’t entirely exist in the first place:

Back home, I dug through my bookshelves and unearthed Gail Levin’s “Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography.” The book is autographed by the author — I had gone to hear Ms. Levin read in a bookshop that is now gone — and dated from a time when I was still new to the city and knew it largely, romantically, as a sprawling Hopper painting filled with golden, melancholy light. In the book, Ms. Levin reported that an interviewer wrote that the diner was “based partly on an all-night coffee stand Hopper saw on Greenwich Avenue … ‘only more so,’” and that Hopper himself said: “I simplified the scene a great deal and made the restaurant bigger. Unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city.”

Partly. More so. Simplified. The hidden truth became clearer. The diner began to fade. And then I saw it — on every triangular corner, in the candy shop’s cornice and the newsstand’s advertisement for 5-cent cigars, in the bakery’s curved window and the liquor store’s ghostly wedge, in the dark bricks that loom in the background of every Village street.

Over the past years, I’ve watched bakeries, luncheonettes, cobbler shops and much more come tumbling down at an alarming rate, making space for condos and office towers. Now the discovery that the “Nighthawks” diner never existed, except as a collage inside Hopper’s imagination, feels like yet another terrible demolition, though no bricks have fallen.

I’ve come to appreciate Moss’ blog–it’s a regular stop for me–but I don’t share his disappointment here because I think an artist’s natural inclination is to combine his (or her) imagination with what they see in real life. Once it becomes a picture, on the canvas, it has its own rules, and isn’t meant to be a document like a photograph. And this picture gets at one of Hopper’s most compelling (and enduring) themes–“the lonliness of the big city.”

 When I look at the painting, actually, my eye always goes across the street to the empty store front on the left-hand side of the canvas, the triangle-shape of green in the middle window above that store. I love how it gives balance to the scene inside the diner. It is an empty space but sturdy and sure.

What I don’t know from professional hoops is more than somewhat. Still, as a casual fan, I just don’t see the Knicks’ splashy signing of Amare Stoudemire as anything but a prelude to more disappointment at the Garden. Maybe I’m jaded by all these years of Dolan depression. Amare strikes me as the guy you’d ideally want to be the third-best player on your team, not the guy you build around. He is a stud, he is a good player but he also feels like Plan B.

I’m curious to know just how much better he is than David Lee (he’s better for sure, don’t get me wrong). Anyhow, unless he lures a couple of more stars to town–preferably a point guard–this could be the start of something familiar. To be fair, it is too soon to judge this signing. I just hope it is the start of something…better, for the Knicks and their fans, and not just another re-run. It’s still early…

Am I crazy? Am I mising something?

Photo by Associated Press

Believe it or not, I was in Oakland on Monday morning. A family road trip for the Fourth of July weekend had us driving back and forth across the San Mateo and Bay Bridges all weekend long, and Monday found us on the east side of the bay as we started our trip home. Much has been made recently about rule changes that have made it more difficult for teams travelling across the country, and the Yankees certainly faced an uphill battle after playing in the Bronx on Sunday afternoon, flying to Oakland on Sunday night, and squaring off against the A’s on Monday night, but I’ll ask that you not feel sorry for them.

I’m guessing that during their seven-hour trek from Yankee Stadium to their hotel in Oakland, their journey was a bit softer than mine. While they were lounging in luxury, watching DVDs and flagging down cocktail waitresses on a chartered flight, I was battling holiday traffic, oppressive heat, outrageously filthy gas station restrooms, and three fussy children. At the end of my journey I knew I’d have to watch the game and file a game report, all without the help of greenies or amphetamines.

But I digress. The Yankee hitters, perhaps suffering from jet lag, weren’t overly impressive. They got on the board in the second inning when Nick Swisher doubled, Curtis Granderson tripled, and Francisco Cervelli singled — all with two outs — to jump out to an early 2-0 lead, and Mark Teixeira added an insurance run with his 14th home run in the sixth. That was pretty much it, but it was enough.

Javier Vazquez was on the mound on Monday night and continued his resurgence, throwing 110 pitches over seven strong innings while allowing only only three hits, two walks, and a single run. His only struggle came in the third inning, as Chad Pennington tripled with one out and then scored on a Coco Crisp sacrifice fly. He worked around a walk and a single in the fourth, allowed a walk to start the fifth, but then retired the next nine batters in a row to finish his night. Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera took care of the final six hitters, and the deed was done. Yankees 3, A’s 1.

Trevor Cahill, the A’s lone All-Star this year and CC Sabathia’s opponent Tuesday night, was on the disabled list with a scapula problem when the Yankees took two of three from the A’s in Oakland in April. Since then, he’s gone 8-2 with a 2.47 ERA while three other members of the A’s rotation (Brett Anderson, Justin Duchscherer, and Dallas Braden) have landed on the DL. That leaves tonight’s starter, the brittle Ben Sheets, as the only member of the A’s intended Opening Day rotation not to hit the DL this year.

If that wasn’t troubling enough for the A’s, Sheets has been struggling through his worst major league season (3-7 with a career worst 4.98 ERA and 1.85 K/BB). Mind you, Sheets hasn’t been awful, he has just been consistently unimpressive. Out of his six June starts (1-4, 5.11 ERA), he lasted six innings in five (seven in the exception) and allowed four runs in five (five runs in the exception). When he faced the lowly Pirates, he struck out nine against no walks. Against everyone else he struck out 14 against 11 walks over five starts, and he has allowed a home run in each of his last seven outings.

Consistently unimpressive pretty much describes this A’s team as a whole. They’re scoring just 4.1 runs per game, but in this pitching-dominated year there are seven teams that score even less often, including the Yankees’ next opponent, the Mariners. The pitching has been solid when healthy, though even Cahill isn’t particularly threatening or exciting, their ballpark helps, and 31 of their games (37 percent of their schedule to this point) have come against the Mariners, Orioles, Indians, Cubs, and Pirates, five of the teams below them in runs per game.

The A’s enter this series hot because they just played three of those teams and went 7-2 against the Pirates (sweep), Orioles, and Indians (two of three, each). Tonight they face Javier Vazquez, who struck out eight Mariners in a futile quality start against Felix Hernandez his last time out. Javy posted a 3.23 ERA in June and his first win of the season came in Oakland back on April 20. With the Yankee bats having shown some life the last two days, the all signs point to a good series for the Yankees this week. If only they could bring that glaring summer afternoon Bronx sun with them to these three night games in Oakland.

With Jorge Posada day-to-day with a sprained left ring finger, Joe Girardi tries a new look lineup tonight. Brett Gardner leads off with Derek Jeter batting second and Nick Swisher hitting in Posada’s vacated sixth spot. I can dig it. Swish is the DH tonight, Colin Curtis plays right field and bats ninth behind Francisco Cervelli.

Oh, and it has nothing to do with the game, but Andy Pettitte is indeed going to the All-Star game, as Clay Buchholz’s injury replacement.

(more…)

The Yankees make their final west coast trip of the season, and we’re not even at the All-Star Break yet. Go figure that.

Sox and Rays are playing tonight, so have at it if you’re just kickin’ around before the late night game in Oakland.

We Keep the Light On…

[Picture by Bags]

It is supposed to be in the upper nineties this week in the Rotten Apple. Oy and veh. I’ve got the day off and I hope you do too. Blogging will be light, but we’ll be back tonight (if not sooner) when the Yanks take on the A’s.

Phil Hughes took the mound against Brandon Morrow on Sunday, trying to put his last start, a flu-and-skipped start-dogged subpar affair behind him.  For a while, the only thing in his and the rest of the Yankees’ way were gopherballs and the outfield arms of the Blue Jays.

Hughes cruised through the first two innings on 20 pitches, featuring three swinging Ks.  Leading off the 3rd, Lyle Overbay launched a Monument Park homer, the ninth homer Hughes has allowed at home this season (strangely, Hughes hasn’t allowed one in his road starts).

The Yanks put two on the board in the bottom of the inning on a single to left, an infield single to third, a Jeter sac bunt in which Lyle Overbay tried and failed to get Brett Gardner on a force out at third, a Mark Teixeira sacrifice fly and an Alex Rodriguez RBI single.  While it didn’t match the Bombers’ 11-run 3rd inning outburst from Saturday in terms of clout and duration, Hughes was pitching well enough that one thought it might be enough.

The Yanks tacked on a gift run in the 4th. With one out and Curtis Granderson on first, Grandy was allowed to advance to 2nd on a Gardner called swinging third strike/wild pitch, even though the ball appeared to nick Gardner’s leg, which would have made it a dead ball.  Ramiro Pena plated Granderson with a 2-out single.

The Jays got to Hughes again in the 5th, with the big blow coming from DeWayne Wise, a 3-run doink high off the right field foul pole on a floating breaking ball mistake from Hughes.  Wise was only starting in center for the Jays due to Vernon Wells getting a day off in the midst of an 0-for-18 slump.  Mr. Wise’s day would get more interesting soon thereafter.

Nick Swisher led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to center, and then Teixeira boomed a double over Wise’s head (Wise plays a notoriously shallow centerfield).  Swisher hesitated rounding second to make sure Wise didn’t catch it, then was waved around third, and was gunned down 8-6-2, with our old friend Jose Molina deftly blocking the plate and applying the tag.  Teixeira took third on the throw home.

Then Rodriguez lofted a flyball to medium center, and Wise threw a one-bouncer to Molina, who tagged Teixeira as he was trying to hook his arm around home plate.  End of rally.

Hughes served up yet another homer (his 7th in the last four starts) in the sixth, this time a bullpen blast off the bat of  Adam Lind.  Hughes’ day would be done after the sixth, having allowed five runs on nine hits and a walk, with seven Ks.

Down 5-3 now, Jorge Posada knocked a one-out single and after Granderson K’ed (one of four on the day for him), Gardner belted another ball over Wise’s head.  This time though, Wise caught up to it in time enough to put up his glove, only to lose the ball in the tough sun, and have it tick off his glove as Wise fell to the ground in self-defense.  Gardner circled the bases on a debatable inside-the-park homer, tying the game at 5.

Damaso Marte pitched a perfect top of the 7th, but the Yanks lost Jorge Posada with one out in that frame due to a foul tip off the edge of the glove that bent Posada’s fingers back.  It was eerily reminiscent of the recent injury to the BoSox’ Victor Martinez.  (Fortunately, x-rays proved negative, and a sprained ring finger makes Jorge day-to-day).

(more…)

Hope the holiday is making like Chubb Rock and treatin’ you right (and I hope most of you’ve got tomorrow off, too).

While we digest, and wait for Dee’s recap of the game, here’s the rosters for the 2010 All Star Game.

Mr. Hughes tries to rebound this afternoon.

It’s a scorcher…Hope everyone has a great (and safe) holiday.

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

Happy Birthday, George.

And speaking of George, here’s Mr. Cagney as that other famous George, Mr. Cohan:

Bow Down.

I know this routine from Albert’s first comedy album, Comedy Minus One.

Here is a version he did on TV:

Special Delivery…

When Andy Pettitte gave up a two-run homer to Jose Bautista in the first inning it was hard to fight off the “here we go again” feeling. But the Score Truck arrived in a rather royal way in the third inning. Brett Gardner led off with a single against Rickey Romero and chased Toronto’s starter later in the inning when he launched his fist big league grand slam into the right field bleachers. That made the score 8-2. Four batters later, Alex Rodriguez popped a high fly ball to left. His old “ha!” buddy John McDonald lost it in the sun and three more runs crossed the plate.

That was the only scoring the Yanks did today but it was more than enough as Andy Pettitte cruised to his 10th win.

Final Score: Yanks 11, Jays 3.

[Photo Credit: Bags and Hive]