Goats and games and great one-on-one battles

Now that was a great, great game.

(No, not the pucks, that was just one of 82, right?).

We’re talking about Tigers-Yankees and that was pretty much one of those instant classics you get in playoff baseball and one guy will be remembered more than any other and raised this question:

Can Alex Rodriguez come back?

Of all the drama in all the games of that series, the two at-bats that are going to resonate for a very, very long time are his bases-loaded appearance in the seventh and the strikeout that ended the Yankees season.

It is totally unfair to put it all on him but that’s what we do, don’t we? We look for goats and readily place blame and when you’ve got a kabillion dollar contract like A Rod and you’re a lightning rod for criticism throughout the league anyway, you have to know that the knives are going to be out.

I don’t know Rodriguez at all and certainly can’t offer the insight of a guy like Griff or any other “real” baseball writer but it strikes me that he gets more than his fair share of the blame.

As well he should.

When you’re that guy, the guy with the brilliant career stats, the guy with the big contract, the guy who is supposed to come through in the clutch, it doesn’t matter that teammates didn’t do their jobs, or the manager made some questionable calls or the other team was just a little bit better when it counted most.

When you don’t, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel for everyone; it’s not entirely right but it’s the way sports is.

Now, I don’t know Alex Rodriguez at all, not sure I’ve ever spoken to him outside of maybe one post-game scrum one night long ago, but there does seem to be something dislikeable about him, isn’t there?

Maybe it’s because he’s not Derek Jeter, maybe it’s because of all the money he’s made, maybe there are still people irked by the way he left Seattle to chase the franchise-killing big bucks in Texas.

Whatever it is, people seem to like to see him fail.

Nice of him to oblige.

-

Okay, story time, thanks to this from the mail the other day.

Q: So, Mr. Music Man, sir, how many tunes do you have loaded on your iPod these days? (I was pretty proud of my 900 until I started hearing people bragging about their 10,000. 10,000?!) I'd bet you probably have some rare gems tucked away in your playlist. Would you like to recommend maybe a top five list of Doug's Fave-o-Rite Musical Artists That Irregulars Might Have Overlooked But Should Know About? Thanks for all the musical diversions, Doug. Good stuff!

David M, Ottawa

I don’t have a lot of rare gems, nor do I have a lot of relatively unheard-of bands to offer up, but I do have this, since you jogged my mind.

It was perhaps the very first story I ever wrote, back when I was wet behind the ears in high school. Used to deliver a weekly free TV listings magazine to stores – This Week In Niagara? Niagara This Week? – with my boy Cool Hand Luke.

Well, for some reason they asked me to do an interview and write a story (I’m sure it was to accompany some advertisement) and – yes – it was on a band that was playing in some St. Catharines saloon.

Now, I have no idea how I specifically remember that tale but when you asked about overlooked bands somehow I made the connection.

I can’t imagine anyone’s heard of them, especially anyone young, but thanks the power of youtube, you can.

Anyone recall these guys? I remember wearing out the vinyl on two or three records of theirs.

Still with that, and as another example of my mis-spent youth, we used to get paid the same day so Luke and I would gather meager pittance right after lunch and do what every teen should do with his salary:

We’d head to Fort Erie and bet the ponies.

Ah, the good old days.

-

People!

Mail!

Now. Here. Fast. There’s hardly any and the weekend’s approaching. And nothing – squat, nada, zilch – in the way of video but that’s okay.

-

I am of the belief that one of the things that should draw casual fans to baseball is either a specific pitcher or a pitching matchup.

When Super Son and I used to go every now and then it was to see Roy Halladay, now we’d probably schedule a weekend day when Ricky Romero was on the mound.

Well, you can be sure I’ll find my way in front of some TV set tonight to see Halladay and Chris Carpenter in Game 5 of the NLDS.

It’s not often that you get two of the best – and, yes, I still have Carpenter on that list – go head-to-head with so much on the line.

(Verlander-Sabathia would have been great in Game 1, not so much with a weary CC on short rest).

It’s what makes playoff baseball so great, a highly-anticipated pitching matchup that should have ‘em drooling.

I’ve got Halladay. Just seems to be the kind of game where he’ll throw a three-hit shutout, doesn’t it?

Not sure there’s a guy who better rises to the occasion with so much bulldog in him than that guy.

-

Oh yeah, right.

Basketball.

Nothing’s going on; there’s another of those dreary, over-hyped exhibitions this weekend down in Miami you should ignore.

But other than that?

Nothing going on at all although I would think Sunday someone would call someone else and maybe see if they can’t salvage the start of the season.

If they don’t at least talk, every season ticket holder in every city in the league ought to call their franchises on Monday, demand their full refunds and go spend the money somewhere else so they won’t have it when the teams come begging for forgiveness whenever they get around to settling.

-

I’m not entirely sure in the dawn of a new day but at some point while watching the Yankees-Tigers last night, one of those “separated at birth” things came to mind.

Does the guy on the left look a bit like the guy on the right?

Or is it just me?

-

Lots of fun with the pucks crowd last night, no?

Yes, I agree a day-long blog might have been, you know, waaaaaaaaaaay too much but what the heck.

The iGBT went okay, don’t think I embarrassed myself and maybe we do more since there might not be any basketball to worry about.

Whaddya think?

-

 

 

Comments

[Simon]

Hey doug we all love baseball here. How about some MLB playoff IGBTs?

[sam]

A Rod gets more than his fair share of the blame and rightfully so. He also gets more than his fair share of the Yankee's Payroll - His annual salary suggests he should be the best player in baseball. He's not even the best player on his team.
Tough to choose between Halladay and Carpenter - Both good soldiers during thier time with the Jays....the edge goes to Roy, I would imagine.....
Brewers/Diamondbacks - Marcum or Hill/MacDonald? Who do you cheer for?

[Lorie]

Wow. There's a good category: LP's you wore out listening to a million times. Remember the act of picking up the needle and the skill required to place it down, gently, at just the right point in that certain song? Music got me through high school - in one way or another - and while albums I listened to over and over and over again are rather well known (even to my own kids) such as Carole King's Tapestry, Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water - there was a dimunitive, little-known singer - but brilliant composer of music recorded by many others - whose (sadly obscure) LP's of him singing his own words that most touched me. Thank you, Paul Williams. Here are two of his own compositions, sung by the composer.
http://youtu.be/R4DNk1Kf8Ns
And a certain frog made this one an enormous hit, but listen to Paul Williams and Jason Mraz's interpretation. Beautiful.
http://youtu.be/9xY3Bd1XPjY
A Happy Thanksgiving to All.

[DannyFromFreddy]

RE: LP's you wore out listening to a million times

I think I went through at least two copies of Dark Side of the Moon.

Blogger's note: And The White Album

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Morning Doug,
A fitting end to the Damn Yankees season. They must be looking at a pretty hefty roster reload for next year and beyond. Take a look at the Sox meltdown, and you've gotta have sort of a warm and fuzzy feeling about the Jays' prospects!
Hadn't heard of Garfield, but that was some good stuff! And @Lorie, great call on Paul Williams. A large impact, minimal fame name.
A couple of low-profile artists I'd recommend would be Canada's (Wakefield, Quebec) own Danny Michel (a little tribute to your pony days, Doug): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0sbK746RHM&feature=related
And James Hunter – a classic English R&Ber, it stuns me he doesn't seem to be a household name: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGQd8M5t4Ao
Ah, and one for the road and a Happy Thanksgiving: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhTCKR2csow&feature=related
Cheers! Crank it!

[The J]

You forgot a couple more reasons why we hate A-Rod; The steroids reveal, and oversell in denying the truth, his powerplay to get more money from the Yanks a few years ago, and some of his silly "got it" (I believe that's what he had said) against the Jays. Of course he has failed so often in the clutch that you tend to excpect it now. That's probably why with all his skill, and despite playing for the mighty Yanks, he only has one ring to show for it. I wonder if there isn't an obvious Lebron parallel you could draw (Wade is Jeter, the still liked champion, and Bron is A-Rod, the incredibly talented choke-artist).

[Mike kovacs]

Lorie my favourite Paul Williams is the movie and sountrack 'Phantom of the Paradise'.

[Snizzoop]

Hey Doug,

I noticed at the end here that you wrote "iGBT." This is the first time I've seen you write it this way. Typo, or nod to the iWORLD?

I have an interesting clip from DWTS for you...I'll e-mail you the link and let you check it out...might be a little too saucy to post here. I'll let you decide if you want to include it somewhere in your postings.

Cheers

[doug]

it's not just ARod that is failing to live up to expectations...if the Phillies lose that will mean that the top 9 teams in payroll with a combined total of payroll this year of 1.3 billion approx, (and that is not counting long term commitments, etc)....will not be in the playoffs.. which raises this issue for me , I am torn over the Jays reported interest in signing this Darvish kid, if he pans out great but it's also a lot of money to be spending on a unproven talent, it could be a impediment to our future plans or capability in signing more cost effective free agents.....a song I always liked was this song by Queensryche called Silent Lucidity....besides albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, or White Album I wore out B side of Abbey Road as well as for awhile there when it first came out Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhat-xUQ6dw

[TLI]

Whoa! Another Garfield fan!!
Now I know two of them... my wife tended bar in the mid-70s at Ye Olde City Hall in downtown London when Ronnie Hawkins owned the place. This was when bars still brought in good acts to play all week and/or all weekend. Garfield was a frequent attraction (probably because the place was big enough for all their gear) with quite a local following. One of those hugely talented bands that never quite broke through. My girl still has a stack of Garfield's vinyl which I ripped to mp3's for her.

[Tim H.]

Anyone know what the 'shape' on the cover of the Garfield album is? (Hint: It's a Math term!)

[D-Mac Ottawa]

@Tim H.: Looks like a Moebius strip to me... Inside-out cheers.

[Lorie]

@Tim H and @D-Mac Ottawa:
I think you're correct about that shape being a Moebius strip. And do you think Doug was demonstrating about we Irregulars, in that this object has the mathematical property of being 'non-orientable'. (That's a fair description of life in this basketball-deprived blog lately!) So,this property can be illustrated by showing that an ant, crawling along the edge of the strip would return to its starting point having journeyed through every part of the strip without ever crossing an edge. I do think a parallel can be drawn! But then again, I might be overthinking things. After all, as Groucho said, "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".