December 16, 2017: The Wedge

Tonight I go down to Blue Earth for a Christmas celebration with...a majority of my dad's family. One of his siblings and his wife have isolated themselves from the rest, and it's created a very difficult dynamic. It's also heartbreaking, of course. Even though I only saw them a couple of times a year, they're always part of my childhood holiday memories. Now they'll have passed on a generation from now, and I'm not sure they'll matriculate back into the family before then.

Happy Birthday–December 16

Sammy Strang (1876)
Tony Kaufmann (1900)
Neil Chrisley (1931)
Adolfo Phillips (1941)
Mike Flanagan (1951)
Rick Sofield (1956)
Tom Gorman (1957)
Billy Ripken (1964)
Jeff Granger (1971)
Charles Gipson (1972)
Matt Kinney (1976)
Hector Santiago (1987)

The reason Neil Chrisley is listed is because his given name is Barbra O’Neil Chrisley. No explanation for this name is given, but it seems reasonable to assume that he’s the only man to play major league baseball whose first name was Barbra.

Jeff Granger was drafted by Minnesota in the fourteenth round in 1990, but did not sign.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–December 16

FMD — More Cowbell!

I have a soft spot in my heart for songs that include a well placed cowbell. Typically at the end of a song when the cowbell comes out of nowhere and signals that the end of the song is upon us.

One great example is the cowbell at the end of the Rolling Stones’ Dead Flowers. The cowbell comes in right near the end of the song at the 3:48 mark. Two stark and clear peals, it’s off the beat and partly masks Mick’s singing but provides such a coda. The cowbell effectively ends the song and is the ultimate kiss off on what is an excellent kiss off song. It’s a great little touch from Charlie Watts.

Another great example is the cowbell at the end of The Replacements’ Don’t Ask Why. Different from Dead Flowers in that its part of the cacophony at the end of the song. It first comes at 1:41 of the song and and its three strikes mirror Paul singing “Don’t Ask Why.” Actually the first time there is only 2 peals and I always wondered if that was an error. Technically I don’t think this is a cowbell as there is an upward tone in the 3rd peal, although it could be where the bell is struck. Much like Dead Flowers, the bells put emphasis on what is another fantastic kiss off song. It drives me crazy. I was at the Replacements Tribute last weekend at the Turf Club and I missed it when the band didn’t have those bells.

Honorable mention goes to what I think is an electronic chime at the end of The Tourist from Radiohead. It’s literally the last thing you hear at the end of the song and the last thing you hear at the end of the entire album. I could write a whole post about the meaning of that chime.

Are there other small elements of a song that you always look for? Any good examples? Also drop your lists.

December 15, 2017: Quick Jaunt

I was going to miss out on that coveted silver airline status by roughly 120 miles (out of 25,000). I fly just enough where it's a pain not to have it as I'm taller and need the legroom (all the legroom!). Anyway, I'm flying to a nearby hub for a matter of hours then flying back. At about $100, that's $500 cheaper than the option to just buy my way across the finish line. Also, it's cheaper as 2 one-way flights than round trip. Weird system all around.

2002 Rewind: Game Seventy-two

METS 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Thursday, June 20.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his sixth.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton struck out six in four shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  J. C. Romero pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Steve Trachsel pitched 8.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out seven.  Edgardo Alfonso was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk.  Mike Piazza was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fourteenth.

The game:  There was no score through five, and neither team even got a man to third base in that time.  With two out and none on in the sixth, Piazza hit a home run to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.  With two out in the eighth, Alfonso hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0.  With one out in the ninth, the Twins got consecutive singles from David OrtizJacque Jones, and Guzman to load the bases.  Doug Mientkiewicz popped up, but Corey Koskie delivered a two-run double down the right-field line. I have no idea if there was any chance for the speedy Guzman to score from first.  If there was, though, the Twins should've taken it, because Torii Hunter struck out to end the game.

WP:  Trachsel (5-6).  LP:  Tony Fiore (5-2).  S:  Benitez (17).

Notes:  There is no apparent reason for Milton to have left the game after four innings.  One assumes that he might have had a minor injury.  He did not miss a start...Jones was 1-for-4 to make his average .316...Hunter was 1-for-4 and was batting .301...Bobby Kielty was 0-for-3 to make his average .325...A. J. Pierzynski was also 0-for-3, dropping his average to .327...Romero's ERA fell to 0.65...Steve Trachsel had an extremely long career.  He was rarely really good, but he was rarely really bad, either.  He was consistently average for a long period of time.  That's not a criticism--an average pitcher can be a very valuable man.  Teams have lost pennants because they couldn't find an average starting pitcher to fill out their rotation.  From 1995-2007 he made between 28 and 34 starts every season.  Three times he had an ERA under 4.00, twice he had an ERA above 5.00, and most of the rest of the time he was in the mid-fours.  His ERA+ was between 80 and 120 every year but one.  For his career, he was 143-159, 4.39, ERA+ of 99, FIP of 4.88.  He made only one all-star team, in 1996, and never got a Cy Young vote.  He simply was a guy who you could put down in the starting rotation every year and know you were going to get thirty starts and that they would be of legitimate major league quality.  Every manager in both leagues would love to have a pitcher like that.

Record:  The Twins were 40-32, in first place, four games ahead of Chicago.

Julien Baker – Televangelist

I'm a fan of Baker's whole new album, but I chose this song because midway through it sounds to me like there's a little tip of the hat to Joni Mitchell's "River," which I nominated for this year's WGOMXMASMIX. Please listen and tell me if you hear it too!

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