Yanks on the brink.

Never mind the preamble:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Yanks won Game 1. Their stud pitcher wasn’t great but he showed toughness; Giancarlo Stanton put the cherry on top in the 9th with a grand slam.

Game 2 tonight gives a rookie on the hill for the Yanks. Exciting.

Never mind the sunset:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

The Rays handled the Yanks this season. They had the best record in the league and will be a handful for our Bombers. Irregardless—as some citizens in the Bronx still like to say—we’ll be here root-root-rooting for our boys.

Never mind the nonsense:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

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First one went well. What about tonight?

Never mind the cardboard cut-outs:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

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Yanks vs. the Tribe.

Two great pitchers on the mound.

Never mind the empty seats:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

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Goddamn, talk about remiss. They’re still playing baseball and I can’t even bother to put up a new post. Sorry about that for those of you who still come by. That’s my bad. But the lack of posts here is an indication of just how little I’ve been paying attention.

But I understand games are happening. I even check the box scores to prove it. And I saw the Yanks were playing poorly for a few weeks and seem to have regained their footing.

What am I missing? Anything you guys enjoying in particular?

Winds light to variable.

Picture by Bags.

I’ve been a bad host. Remiss. Haven’t hardly left the light on.

Well, here’s a new thread because they are still playing baseball. I have to admit, I have not been watching much. Haven’t seen anything in at least a week. But in my heart, I’m always root-root-rootin’ for the Bombers.

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

The Yankees might have a shameful history of racism but turns out I was presumptuous in calling them horseshit for inviting President Trump to throw out the first pitch at a game in August. Turns out, according to this New York Times report, that Trump made it up. The Yanks weren’t in on it at all. A sliver of inconsequential good news in this otherwise cockamamie time.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

So, you say there’s gonna be professional sports during a pandemic, eh?

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More baseball.

Have at it.

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On a day when former Yankee Mariano Rivera visited the White House and it was reported that President Trump has been invited to throw out the first pitch at a Yankee game in August—both horseshit moves that are unsurprising yet repellent—the Yankees beat the Nationals in a ran-shortened season opener in Washington. The Final was 4-1. Giancarlo Stanton hit a very long home run.

Both teams took a knee before the game to honor Black Lives Matter proving that even in the ultra conservative world of baseball—and specifically the Yankee organization—all is not lost.

Baseball in the time of COVID. Go figure.

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

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Texted with a friend last night who has been watching some of the televised pre-season action and reports that he likes the game without fans. I have not watched a lick of anything yet. Still seems crazy that they are going to go through with this but there you have it. MLB baseball is upon us.

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They actually gonna go through with this cockamamie season?

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© Bronx Terminal Market 2020; Universal Hip Hop Museum {R}Evolution of Hip Hop; VIP Party 2019

So this happened:

Fellow Banterite Mr. OK Jazz Tokyo beckoned to Fearless Leader and me for a contribution to a podcast he was working on with some good ol’ NYC-style Hip-Hop, and of course my big mouth said if you gave me a minute and a theme, I could come up with an hour’s worth of tracks; or something like that. Jazz took me up on that and so I dove into my reserves and off the top of my head (as is the wont of anyone who was or is “about that life”) and with a little editing, I created a playlist that lightly (hah!) spans the Golden Era and into the present of that beloved genre of street flavor… and boy, is it salty!

Representing the Jeep-banging Boom-Bap of the five boroughs from back in the day to the still-glowing embers of the underground are 19 tracks featuring legends mainstream and not, including a couple of less-heralded veterans whom are well worth researching if you wonder where all the good Hip-Hop has gone (please don’t answer that, we have already know).

After that, Jazz asked me to tell you all, which admittedly I was hesitant to do at first; not because of the largely NSFW (and I sincerely stress that if you’re unfamiliar with how Hip-Hop generally works) content, but because I’m actually rather modest about showcasing my own creations on a site that’s not actually my own, but then Mr. Belth called porkscrubs (or something of the sort) on that and encouraged me to share. And really, this is a group effort; I made the selections and Jazz and company put them together in a podcast, so who am I to not appreciate that and share it with the rest of the family?

So it is with great pleasure, and with the blessings of Fearless Leader, that we present to you all the way from NY to Tokyo and back, the K.O.L. Radio New York City Hip Hop Mix (by yours truly!) And remember; whether you like Hip Hop or not, the spirit of the streets has begun to be heard again in the darkness of the hour, and we’re here to help >;)

I don’t know about you guys but I just don’t see a season happening this year. And if it does, I am not sure how much of it I can stand—no fans in the ballparks, constant worry that the players will expose themselves to the novel coronavirus. Things have been so strange this year, why not just pack it in and hope to start fresh in the spring.

Much as I love watching baseball I can’t say I miss it. Things are just too weird to allow myself the escape of watching a ballgame. But that’s just me.

Hope you all are hanging in and doing as well as can be expected during this cockamamie moment in history.

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Ed Alstrom, Ladies and Gents. Tune in to to Ed on Facebook each day at noon. He is the gift that keeps giving.

Photo Credit:Steve Delabar on Twitter; @BlueJaysAggr @SteveDelabar_50

Although one would hope that the likelihood of what Yanks’ official team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmed says in a post on Medium.com regarding the risks of starting up the season too soon is about the same as the likelihood of a real-life scenario pertaining to the (ahem) film referenced in the title… aaaaand now I’m stuck, because I just can’t understand or accept why that film was even made. But Dr. Ahmed has some thoughts that might stick you just as easily and unpleasantly.

Dr. James Andrews, another noted physician who has performed numerous Tommy John surgeries for MLB pitchers, has also spoken numerous times about the uptick in these type of injuries in recent years, and both have warned of the potential of an epidemic going forward, though here Dr. Ahmed posits on how the Covid-19 pandemic could hasten such an epidemic.

To me; someone who has also often pondered to anyone and no one about the fast-rising volume of injuries and surgeries, this is definitely worth considering before we beg for baseball (or any sport for that matter) to return to whatever normal ends up being. Yeah, life without sports can be a living hell if you’re used to watching it year-round. But Tommy John surgery is by no means cute, and neither is the prospect of a preposterous number of pitchers succumbing to it while trying to entertain the restless masses sooner than they should have.