"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

Monthly Archives: August 2015

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Get Outta Town

cabtown

No, we’re not in NYC, I just love this picture. Still, the Yanks are looking for a win tonight, man before they split from Cleveland.

The Jays won again this afternoon and it sure would be nice to see the Bombers head to Toronto with a win.

Young Greg Bird makes his major league debut tonight and gets the start at first base.

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B

It’s Eovaldi–dude, Yanks are looking to you to have a strong start, Holmes.

Never mind the late night flight to the Great White North:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before

sofa

There is good news. The good news is that the Yankees are pitching well. Sure, the starters aren’t going deep enough into games, and yes, the bullpen is taxed, but as a whole, they are performing well. CC Sabathia wasn’t terrific last night, giving up 9 hits, but he bulled his way through 6 innings allowing only a couple of runs.

It’s just that nobody is hitting. Four lousy hits all night. Rallies left limp and for dead in the 8th and 9th. I could recount these failures by why bother? If you didn’t see it live, you’ve seen something like it before, enough to know you don’t need to know more. Less you are a some kind of masochist or something.

2-1 was the final and that’s how it unfolds when you’re in a slump.

Oh, the Jays won again, and now they are in first place.

Game on, fellas. Something tells me good t hings are right around the corner.

Picture by Bags

Leave Your Whole Crew Stuck on Stupid

Redlightsz

Let’s try this again, shall we?

Never mind the dog daze:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Beat of the Day

flatiron

It’s getting late…

Painting by Andrew Gifford.

Sometimes I Wonder What I’m a Gonna Do

whales

‘Cause there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues.

The Yanks’ offense looked dead in the water again last night. Never mind a slump, they were up against a formidable pitcher in Carlos Carrasco. But solo home runs by Stephen Drew and Carlos Beltran tied the score and the top of the 10th inning, pinch-hitter Chase Headley dropped an RBI single in front of the right fielder, the Yanks scored a couple, and it was Miller Time. Ah, Miller time.

Hell of a spot to blow your first game of the season. Miller wasn’t awful, the Indians hit a couple of good pitches. Still, by the end of the inning, the score was tied. And that’s how it remained through good relief pitching–or weak hitting–on both sides. On and on.

The Indians finally scored the winning run in the bottom of the 16th and those of us who stayed up for it are now feeling less than spry.

And so it goes during a slump–hard hit balls go for outs, the other guys’ bloopers fall in for hits.

Course the Jays won, too.

Shake it off. Today is…well, it’s already today. Onward!

[Illustration by Francis Livingston]

The Kid Stays In The Picture

greenlight

Yanks turn to lil’ Luis to get them back on the good foot tonight in Cleveland.

Never mind those footsteps:

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B
Brendan Ryan 3B

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Via: We Heart It]

Million Dollar Movie

bluevelvet

I was in high school in 1986  the year Platoon and Hannah and Her Sisters and Something Wild came out. They made big impressions on me. So did David Lynch’s masterpiece. 

Taster’s Cherce

Dukes-Mayonnaise-1

I don’t have anything against Mayonnaise but it never occurred to me to put it on a simple tomato sandwich. But that’s how they roll down South so last weekend I gave it a try after picking up some nice, rip tomatoes from a local farmer’s market. And you know what? Southerners know what they’re doing.

Over at Garden & Gun, Jed Portman explains why Duke’s matters. 

Beat of the Day

manwithcup

Summer…

Picture by Bags

Afternoon Art

hankpitcher

Painting by Hank Pitcher via This Isn’t Happiness.

Taster’s Cherce

noodles

To Stay or  To Go. 

Round One: Jays

umpy

All you need to know about yesterday’s fait accompli is that after Jose Bautista hit a home run, a fan threw it back on the field and accidentally hit Brett Gardner in the back.

Shut out. 

Picture by Bags

 

Keep Your Head Up

plane

Never mind Nuthin’:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Price Check

price check

It was close for awhile there yesterday. Then Ivan Nova gave up a grand slam and that was more than enough for David Price, who pitched a sweet game as the Jays beat the Yanks, 6-0. Toronto is now just two-and-a-half back. That makes today’s game especially important for the Yanks. Yes, they’ve got Masahiro Tanaka going, but he hasn’t been great lately, and well, this feels like one of those lost weekend’s don’t she?

They Plump When You Cook ‘Em (Oh, Yeah)

plums

This has the makings of a long weekend. But that’s cause I’m never much on confidence when it comes to my sports teams. I still remember those horrible late-season series vs the Jays in the mid-’80s. Screw those guys and screw these Jays, too. Upstarts. Fuckos. Douche Knots. They are a perfectly agreeable team to dislike–even though I like a bunch of their players (Martin, Donaldson, Price, Tulo). Their manager looking like a tin-cup-spitting-bar-stool-sitting hard ass pal of Brian Dennehey’s. Goddamn crotchy fucking goat.

The  Yanks had done reasonably well against Price and that’s a concern. Figure he’s due for a good one against them. Only hope Nova is up to the task.

Ah, never mind my gloom–it’s a gorgeous day here in New York:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

Paint it Black

paint it black

Maybe I should stop doubting Nathan Eovaldi. He pitched a swell game last night. Gave up a solo home run to Josh Donaldson in the first on a 99 mph fastball on the black and that was it, as he pitched into the 7th inning. Really nice job. Shame his boys couldn’t help him out s’more, but Eovaldi’s benefitted from a ton of runs this season so I suppose it all evens out.

R.A. Dickey, the dastard, pitched well too, and the game went into extra innings tied at 1. Andrew Miller pitched a nifty 9th inning on only 6 pitches but he did not return in the 10th to face the heart of the Blue Jays line up. First guessers just ahead of second-guessers on this move by manager Joe Girardi for sure.

Instead, the young right-hander, Branden Pinder–nice slider, powerful fastball–replaced him. Pinder got Donaldson to look bad swinging at a couple of sliders and then threw a third one which Donaldson lined to center field. Good thing Didi Gregarious was positioned to catch it–though the ball almost took his glove off. Pinner got a called strike one on Jose Bautista with the slider, another called strike on a fastball inside and then tried to get another fastball by one of the better fastball hitters in the game. The location was off and Bautista hit the ball over the fence in left field.

That’s all the Jays needed as they won, 2-1.

Third straight 2-1 game the Yanks have been involved in. A difficult loss for sure, especially at the hands of that made-for-TV-bad guy, Bautista. David Price goes today for the Jays and the Yanks have held their own against him, which is what I’m afraid of.

Could be a long weekend for the Bombers which is a drag for the rest of us because it is diamond-in-the-back-sunrooftop beautiful here in New York.

Picture by Bags

For You Blue

bluediebs

The Mighty Mighty Blue Birds are in town this weekend; next weekend, the Yanks go up to Toronto. Be interesting to see what shakes out. From the looks of it, there should be many runs scored.

I’ve doubted Nathan Eovaldi many times this season only to be pleasantly surprised. Tonight, with Toronto’s Gashouse Gorillas on a roll, I just can’t see him doing well. Again, hope I’m wrong.

R.A. Dickey, another infuriating knuckleballer, goes for the Jays. Hey, so long as the Yanks don’t get swept, we’ll be able to digest.

Never mind the Heebie Jeebies:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Picture by Diebs]

Beat of the Day

bluegal

Eh, fug it, it’s Friday:

[Photo Credit: Chris Heads]

Don’t Be Mad, UPS Is Hiring

CHarl

Another 2-1 game, this time the Yanks won, thanks to a go ahead home run by Jacoby Ellsbury. The story of the night, though, was CC Sabathia, who not only pitched with determination and force but who was more animated than I ever remember seeing him. There he stood, sweat pouring off him like he was Zero Mostel under the hot stage lights. The stuff was sharp and he got into it with the home plate ump–aw, sensitive. When CC stuck out David Ortiz with the bases loaded to end the fifth, he let out a yell that we could feel uptown. Onions! And pride. A terrific way to enter what should be a tough weekend series against the red hot Jays.

Just a little bit of Flavor.

[Photo Credit: Rich Schultz/Getty Images]

Left Over

delivery

We love CC around these parts even if he’s struggling. Even if he’ll never be an Ace again.

Not sure how much he’s got left, but I do know how much of a boost it’d be to the team if he could be even decent down the stretch.

Dream big, right?

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Chris Young RF
Chase Headley 3B
John Ryan Murphy C
Didi Gregorius SS
Brendan Ryan 2B

Never mind the standings:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Picture by Bags

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"This ain't football. We do this every day."
--Earl Weaver