I know it is an SSSS (Super Small Sample Size), but here is the number one prospect in baseball, Texas Rangers' infielder, Jurickson Profar's top line slash so far this season, since being called up from AAA Round Rock to fill in for Ian Kinsler -- who is on the DL -- .324/.350/.514.
(h/t to Rooster at Lone Star Ball) Look at that smile.
The Rangers are in an interesting situation. They just extended Kinsler to a big time deal, and are not excited or eager to move him off of second base. They also extended their SS, Elvis Andrus, to a big time deal, and he is absolutely not going anywhere.
Profar, meanwhile, is twenty years old, and his first position is SS, but has been playing mostly 2B with the Rangers in The Show.
The Rangers, barring some horrific sudden collapse, look to be in contention all season long, and are expected to be buyers at the trade deadline. The Rangers need bullpen help first, and probably a boost to their rotation, as well.
What do you do?
I would much rather trade Kinsler and keep budding superstar Profar on the cheap. (He is still making the minimum right now.) But, is there any one out there who wants Kinsler bad enough (and be willing to pay his large salary) and still be willing to give us something of value. It would prob have to be something like a one for one deal, a starting pitcher with a large salary of his own. (Cliff Lee?)
There were so many years in the past where I would have loved to have problems like these. The Rangers are truly a great organization now. The 2013 Texas Rangers continue to maintain one of the best records in baseball despite serious injuries to its' rotation, and a below average bullpen. Plus, Beltre is day to day now; Kinsler is on the DL, and A. J. Pierzynski has spent time there, as well. You might think it was luck (we are only one third of the way through the season) but the Rangers sport one of the best run differentials in the Majors, too.
I remember a time back in the Aughts when the Rangers stunk, and the Oakland Athletics were so good. It seemed no matter who the A's brought up, or traded for -- especially pitching wise -- they would perform so well for the ballclub. Whereas, it was the exact opposite for the Rangers. It is the organization, Stupid!
No matter what business you run, sports or even Whole Foods Market, if you have great training (coaching), and you instill a sense of passion or ownership in your players (team members), and put them in a position to succeed, then they will.
The Billy Beane Athletics have been doing that for over a decade now (with some ups and downs, for sure.) But, so have the Nolan Ryan/Jon Daniels/Ron Washington Texas Rangers, too.
We finally figured it out. What great problems to have.
Usually when people mouth off like that, bad things happen. What goes around comes around, and the baseball gods are truly vindictive vengeful gods that act swiftly and love to righteously punish those who piss them off.
Josh Hamilton, apparently, has not saved his breath to cool his porridge. A grown man and addict that was/is revered in North Texas and much of this nation. A grown man who makes over twenty million dollars a year hitting baseballs, and running after them.
Chuck Morgan, the Rangers' and The Ballpark in Arlington public address voice said it ever so well the other day,
VC, I have been wondering since December.
Its not so much the negativity, but making sure our fans feel at home and that our players feel like they are at home. Out of respect to the current roster, even though its part of our history, this year is a little early to show big hits or big plays by players that have moved on.
We are working on a concept. A little history showing the AL trophies being raised.
Personally, I think our fans deserve more credit than what they have received the past couple of days. David Murphy said it best, that our place was “electric”. Ron Washington said it best, 3.4 million came through the gates in Texas.
Like many of you, I have been to what people consider “baseball towns”. In New York, I saw a ballpark empty out in the middle of an ALCS game.
I grew up close to a “baseball town.” If you take the Rangers history, put it on the banks of the Mississippi, I’m not sure that is a baseball town.
I hope that makes sense, but what I am saying, fans here deserve a lot of credit. Fans here have supported a baseball team for 40 years with not a lot of trips to the postseason. I think Adam mentioned that in his column this morning.
In my opinion, there are alot of baseball fans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We are a melting pot of many baseball fans. Some from Detroit, some from New York, some like the Cardinals from the days their grandparents listened to KMOX, some like the Braves and Cubs because of the superstations.
But in 2010, something special happened. Almost everyone in this area became Texas Rangers fans.
As I wrote back in September, 3,000,000 should never be taken for granted. It needs to be respected. There are couple of those so called baseball towns that wish they had fans like the Texas Rangers have now.
Our fans are loud. Our fans cheer when there are 2 strikes. Our fans for years have cheered and given standing ovations to great performances, that’s nothing new. That’s been going on since I came here in 1983 and getting know fans here, I am sure great performances were cheered for back in the 1970s.
In 1993 we closed a ballpark and our fans responded the way any baseball town would.
In 1994 we opened a new ballpark and our fans responded the way any baseball town would.
In 1996, 1998, 1999, 2010 and 2011 we won AL West titles and our fans responded the way any baseball town would.
In 2010 and 2011 we won AL Pennants and our fans responded the way any baseball town would.
This area is a great area for football, basketball, hockey, NASCAR and baseball.
We live in a great sports area. Not many areas in the country that can support franchises and events the way Dallas-Fort Worth does with attendance, interest, sponsorships, luxury suites, TV and radio ratings.
Dallas-Fort Worth is a great area and a great place for a professional athlete to call home.
Fans in this area, in this case, baseball fans, deserve more credit and a big thank you.
I’ll get off the soap box now.
Thanks
Chuck
by chuckranger83 on Feb 19, 2013 2:42 PM CST up reply 67 recs
Word. Can not wait to see the Angels run in to town now.
Today's Rangers game against the Orioles. I mean, heck, we're not playing the Athletics anymore, right?
I am not guaranteeing a victory, or anything. The Orioles are a good team and another great baseball story this year, like the A's, Reds, and Nationals. But, it is at home, Darvish is on the bump, and the Rangers, despite their recent meltdown, are the better team.
We will see how it goes.
(Hamilton's mysterious ailment, his dropped pop up, and his inability to take a single pitch have all added up to a "Happy trails" attitude amongst Ranger fans. I feel the same way. He was a great story, and he was a big part of the Rangers recent success, but there is no way he is deserving over the twenty million per annum offers he will entertain this winter. He really screwed up his job dialogue, for sure. Ciao, baby, and amen.)
At a game I will be attending -- thanks Pnut -- the Rangers will have three chances over the next seventy-two hours to win one game and win their third straight American League West title.
I am not optimistic. Of course, the season that marks the tenth anniversary of the amazing Moneyball twenty-game winning streak A's would be a miracle one for your 2012 Oakland Plucky Athletics.
I would not be the least bit surprised if the A's did sweep the Rangers and stole the flag. And, even if the Rangers do win the division their playoff prospects do not look very good. In point of fact (h/t Beat the Devil; an aside, me and a buddy were obsessed with Beat the Devil, and even had a drinking game -- drinking Pernod, natch, which is what Bogart orders in an early scene -- where we drank every time Jennifer Jones says, "In point of fact." She says it three times in three seconds in that clip, starting at the 3:04 mark. You could get pretty drunk playing our game, depending on what you are drinking.) Ahem,in point of fact, the Rangers just do not look very good. They are having runners picked off; they are not getting good jumps on fly balls; the rotation is seriously leaky -- with the exception of Darvish and Harrison; Nathan -- uncharacteristically -- has blown two saves in just the last couple of weeks; the offense is a serious roller coaster ride with longer valleys than peaks; Wash keeps bringing Lowe out to pitch in high-leverage situations; and some of the players look flat-out bushed. We probably would not even have made the playoffs if not for Adrian Beltre. (And he tweaked his shoulder again last night! Do not know if he will be at third or the DH tonight, but he insisted last night that he is playing today.) However it turns out this has been one of the strangest Ranger seasons ever. Despite being considered one of the best teams all season long, Ranger fans have never seemed satisfied. There have been mystery flus and viruses; our rotation was nearly completely wiped out; Hamilton either looks like Mickey Mantle or Joe Shlabotnik (lately, more like Shlabotnik); Roy Oswalt has been much more pain in the neck than savior; Kinsler is acting like Kinsler (and not hitting much recently); it has just a been a wacky wacky season for the Rangers, and there could be a real sense of relief when it ends, however it ends. Baseball is a seductive, yet cruel lady, ...
To wit, every game matters in a very long season of Major League Baseball. April is just as important as September. Just ask the Los Angeles Angels of Disneyland, who spent one-third of a billion dollars on two players, and despite being one of the best teams in the Majors at this point, will be working on their golf game next weekend. They simply could not overcome their horrible start and are on the outside looking in. Not that I am all that wracked up about it.
Wash will have tonight's starter on a very short leash tonight, Martin Perez. The A's roughed him up for five runs in two-thirds of one inning last week. We will probably see Oswalt or Scooter Feldman if Perez can not get it done.
Honestly, this is not the best chance for the Rangers tonight. Tomorrow is. But, "That's the way baseball go," as Wash likes to say.
The Rangers have clinched a playoff spot. The Rangers' Magic Number for the division title is two. The Rangers' Magic Number for home field advantage is three. The Athletics' Magic Number for a playoff spot is one. The Athletics' Magic Number for the division title is six. The Athletics' Magic Number for home field advantage is six.
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Here is a fun chart of the AL West playoff chances throughout the season: (Poor Mariners.)
And here are some more screen shots of an interesting philosophical discussion on the Rangers SBNation blog:
I will talk about The Master, which I saw yesterday, another time.
The Rangers earn a split in the series, winning today, Nathan getting the last out with Cespedes in the on-deck circle, again. Just like on Monday.
But, the plucky A's decided they would rather give me a heart attack by hitting three solo shots in the eighth, before being retired in order in the ninth.
Good grief!
(And, now I get to do inventory tonight. Woo-hoo!)
The final from Arlington is nine to seven, Rangers.
The Rangers' Magic Number for the division is three. The Rangers' Magic Number for a playoff berth is two. (The Angels are trailing the Mariners three to two right now B5.) The Rangers' Magic Number for home field advantage is six. (The Yankees play later tonight.)
The Athletics' Magic Number for the division is eleven. The Athletics' Magic Number for a playoff berth is six.
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Here is how you figure out a Magic Number. The Magic Number is 163 - (Your team's Wins + Your rival team's losses.)
For example: The Rangers now have ninety-two wins, and the A's have sixty-eight losses. That adds up to 160. 160 subtracted from 163 is three!
Plus, you can do it for the trailing team, too. The A's have eighty-eight wins, and the Rangers have sixty-four losses. That adds up to 152. 152 from 163 is eleven.
Who ever reduces their Magic Number to zero first wins the division.
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Oh, those plucky A's! Even if we do win the division, we still might have to face them in the playoffs. Ugh!
Joe Nathan has a lifetime ERA of 0.76 (!) v the Oakland A's
And, I do not like the Rangers chances tonight. Darvish was scratched from yesterday's start and they are saying the latest he will pitch again will be Sunday against the Angels.
(If the Rangers lose tonight, I suspect they might think about starting him tomorrow, and give Harrison an extra day of rest, too.)
Lefty rookie prospect, Martin Perez, goes for the Rangers tonight.
So, yesterday, no Darvish, and in went Scooter Feldman, boychik, instead. Feldman did not pitch too bad, and the rest of the bullpen was sharp, too, until Lowe in the tenth.
The main problem with the Rangers is their inability to score runs right now. The Rangers plated two in the first, and had Hamilton at third with no outs. They did not score again the rest of the game. Plus, they had two runners picked off first last night.
If the Rangers win tonight, I will consider that a real steal/gift. It is more likely that they will get rocked tonight, and have to buckle down tomorrow to earn the split they need.
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Here is the story about Renee and the Magic Number. Two years ago when the Rangers became good again after a decade of yuck I would blog here on fauxluxe about the Magic Number. To wit, here is such a post, and here is another one. Plus, I would quiz Renee on what the Magic Number was every time it changed. Renee went along with this, thinking what a silly obsessed boy I was, doing esoteric special baseball math that no one could figure out but myself.
Until a few days before her birthday in 2010 and she heard the radio voice of the A's, Ken Korach, tell listeners that the Rangers Magic Number was three or whatnot.
She sat bolt upright in her chair, and exclaimed, "You mean there really is such a thing as a Magic Number? You were not just making all that up?"
Pretty cute.
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The Rangers' Magic Number for the division title is five. The Rangers' Magic Number for a playoff berth is three. The Rangers' Magic Number for home field advantage is seven.
Let's go Rangers!
Their Magic Number for the playoffs is three, and their Magic Number for Home Field Advantage is eight.
(Have I told you folks the Renee Magic Number story? It is a hoot. Maybe another time.)
Wow! Look at Napoli jump!
In the meantime, let us talk about last night's odd little A's/Rangers tilt. Derek "Dutch" Holland had looked marvelous lately, so, last night, of course, he could not find the strike zone, and gave up two massive bombs to Cespedes and Donaldson. He lasted all of three total innings, and left, trailing three to one.
When I saw that Roy Oswalt was coming in for the fourth, I had resigned myself to the fact that the Rangers were most certainly going to lose, and that Oswalt would act like a little cry baby again, and that Ranger fans everywhere would scream, "DFA the bum, already!"
Lo, and behold, Oswalt pitched very well for two frames, and kept the Rangers in the game. Hamilton (we discovered what his mystery illness was, but it still sounds like a fishy story) hit a second-deck bomb job of his own, and the Rangers were trailing four to two, bottom of the seventh.
The A's yanked Straily (after a v fine effort) with two out, bottom seven, and brought in Neshak. (Neshak had blown the A's four run 13th inning lead in the Bronx a few days ago.) Neshak walked Hamilton, got to two strikes on Beltre, and then got rocked by an opposite field home run, tying the game at four.
A's fans are surely wondering why Ross pitched the ninth. (I feel bad for Ross, he has had a v rough year.) But, for whatever reason, Managers are reluctant to bring in their closers in tied ballgames on the road. There were some other options for Melvin, too (Doolittle, the Rangers had lefty Moreland lead off) but Melvin went for Ross.
Ross faced five batters, giving up one run, three singles, an intentional walk, and recorded his only out on Elvis Andrus' sacrifice. And, that is your ballgame.
(Melvin's oddest move to me last night was sending the runner in the top of the ninth with Cespedes -- who murders the Rangers -- in the on deck circle.)
Beltre's legend continues to grow in Arlington. He had a spectacular game last night, despite still being v sick.
Alright, we do it all again tonight! Darvish v Milone. You gotta love nerve-wracking Pennant Race baseball.
The Rangers' Magic Number for winning the AL West is seven. The Rangers' Magic Number for clinching a playoff spot is four.
On Sunday, the sixteenth, right before the Wife and I left The Overlook Claremont Hotel for our reservation at Rivoli, I was sweating bullets, keenly peering in to the MLB.com app on my iToy, listening to Eric Nadel call the final out of a game the Rangers really needed to win. Actually, it is September, so, if your club is a part of the pennant chase, you naturally believe that they need to win every game, whilst knowing at the same time, that that is nearly impossible.
The A's lost that day as well, knocking two off the Magic Number to fourteen. The A's and the Rangers both had the next day off, so I figured what would be the likely outcome for the upcoming week. I anticipated that the Magic Number would be cut in half to seven by Sunday the twenty-third. I expected the Plucky A's to go two and four at Detroit and New York. And, the Rangers to go three and three at Los Angeles Angels of Disneyland and Seattle. The A's went two and four (four off the Magic Number) and the Rangers went three and three (three off the Magic Number, adding up to seven total).
And, that is where we are.
The A's and the Rangers open a four game series tonight in Arlington. The A's then fly home and finish the regular season in Oakland. They will play Seattle this weekend and then play three with the Rangers, starting a week from today, October first.
The Rangers play three against the annoying, "We refuse to go away" Los Angeles Angels of Disneyland this weekend. The meat, if you will, between the two aforementioned Oakland A's "buns".
The A's series with the Yankees was an absolute September Classic. All three games were decided by one run, and the first two, both of the Yankees' wins, were decided in the last at-bat of extra innings. The A's on Saturday took a four run lead on three home runs in the top of the thirteenth, only to lose in the bottom of the fourteenth on a fielding error. And, then Eric Chavez said some stupid stuff to Murdoch's New York Post, instead of just being grateful for such a thrilling crazy win. Athletes, right?
But, the A's rebounded yesterday and snuck out of the Bronx with a five-four victory.
Meanwhile, the Rangers do not have to see the Seattle Mariners again until next Spring. Hoo-ray! The lowly M's have given the Rangers fits all season, and it was touch and go, nail-biting time yesterday right around four o'clock, as Joe Nathan got the save, and the Rangers avoided being swept by Seattle. (In fact, when the Rangers lost the first two of that series, it was the first time the Rangers had lost consecutive games in over a month.)
The Rangers are getting very good pitching right now, but can not hit a lick again, quite suddenly. Josh Hamilton has some bizarre ailment that no one can diagnose, and we do not know when he will return. Adrian Beltre has been battling his own illness issues lately, too, and apart from a majestic, magical ninth inning, game winning home run against the Angels last Thursday, he has not done much, either. Kinsler, Cruz, and Elvis are all struggling, too. Only Napoli, Craig Gentry, and David Murphy are hitting right now.
I am hoping that getting some home cooking this week will wake up some bats. And, you know the A's have got to be wiped after that epic Yankees series.
I expect the A's and Rangers will split their four game series, getting the Magic Number down to three with six games left. But, the A's need to worry about the Angels, as well. The Angels are three back in the loss column for a playoff spot, chasing the A's. The A's magic number for a playoff spot is eight.
There was a funny moment in yesterday's Rangers game, when Soto hit a two-run home run. Soto was convinced he had popped it up, and slammed his bat on the ground, not realizing it had left the park until he looked up after rounding first base. That "pop up" home run was the game winning hit, it turned out.
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I do not know if it is because I have watching, following so much of the pennant races lately, or, because I have just devoured all seven seasons of the deliciously rude English series, Peep Show, but I am obsessed with The Fratellis right now. Their glam-y, yobbish, naughty football terrace hits; Flathead, Chelsea Dagger, etc, ... just seem to be perfect for me right now.
I dare not post their videos here, but you can find them v easily on YouTube. It is basically the band "playing" whilst surrounded by girls wearing lingerie.
The Fratellis are not a good group, really. They are certainly a guilty pleasure for me. And the singer really milks his accent to a very annoying degree, but, you do have to respect their knack for writing "hits".
Peep Show, meanwhile, is bloody good fun. It breaks no fresh ground, but is mean-spirited and fun, and hilarious, in dozens of very good ways. Plus, I love Olivia Colman, who plays Sophie. Peep Show prob is not for everybody, but Renee and I truly enjoy it.
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Mittens is in such a world of hurt right now. He is hurting so bad that he even did a Friday news dump of his 2011 taxes, and hired some lackey to write a report about the previous ten years of tax returns that basically said, "Well, you folks, the forty seven per cent, the help, can not actually see Mittens' tax returns, but I have looked at them, and everything is okay, so, would you kids just shut up about all that now?"
Plouffe and Axelrod, of course, have already created a sharp commercial about all this, that is airing in Ohio right now, as Mittens and LL Cool P will be sailing in a corrical (h/t In the Loop) throughout the Buckeye state for three days this week.
And, up in Massachusetts, we are seeing the real Scott Brown, at last. Ms Warren is slowly but surely beginning to connect with voters, and is stretching out her slim lead. The drug store truck driving man, that won a few years ago is long gone, and has been replaced but a whinging cry baby of the worst kind, that is holding his breath on account that Elizabeth Warren does things like call Brown a Republican, and what not. What a witch, right?
And, that is all I got for today,
Love you all,
Ardent
(No one except Annie S prob reads my baseball posts.)
The plucky A's won their World Serious last night. At a finally frickin' sold out house (which was not really sold out, but whatever, ... )
The A's are likely candidates for the Wild Card, and I am not crazy, at all, about meeting them in the playoffs, but their story is just about done.
It is a beautiful story, yet, one that ultimately will result in gorgeous, beautiful failure, most likely at the hands of the Rangers, who are way too busy thinking about the World Serious.
The A's will promptly go a massive losing streak, starting today, nine sixteen two thousand twelve.
The "foreplay" part of the title to this post is in reference to the great Ray Ratto, formally of the SFChron, and is a quote of his in said newspaper, back in the Nineties, re baseball.
September is almost upon us, indeed. Which is when we will see which clubs are truly ready for the big postseason dance, and which are not.
This has been a very weird season for the Texas Rangers. Despite numerous rotation injuries, and underwhelming rotation performances, and a horrible two month stretch where the club simply could not hit, the Rangers have maintained one of the best records in baseball all season long.
But, Ranger fans, myself included, are not pleased. Some, in fact, are openly hostile towards their club, practically disgusted. It is certainly a strange situation to be in.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are wrapping up the "foreplay" section of their schedule and seem primed to really get down to "bidness", if you know what I mean. They have won four in a row, eight of their last ten, and are sixteen and eight overall for the month of August. And, they are not just winning games lately. They are crushing their opponents; in the Rangers last ten games they have outscored the opposition seventy-two to thirty. (Which according to the pythagorean theorem of baseball adds up to an expected winning percentage of .852. The Rangers are right below that with a winning percentage of .800 those last ten games. Meaning the Rangers, as well as they have been playing lately, have actually been a little bit unlucky, too. Scary.)
But, how about the plucky little Oakland Athletics, who have just taken two of three on the road from one of the hottest teams in baseball right now, the Tampa Rays? Like Ratto says, "It is all foreplay until September." We will see how serious the A's are about the postseason very shortly.
Here is the backstory on the song above: The song that "hit' was the b-side. They cobbled that together in like a day, just to fill both sides of a 45. No one remembers the a-side, of course. All the djs flipped the single and made it in to the monster smash that it was. And, it is still a staple in many ballparks around the country whenever the road starter is chased from the game. I think it was the 1977 Chicago White Sox who were the first to use the song in that manner.
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Watched The Man Who Never Was last night, streaming on Netflix. It was not a particularly great movie, but it has a great true backstory, and it does star Gloria Grahame. Ms Grahame was obviously mailing her performance in in this picture, but I was still a sucker for her trademark Damaged Fuckable self.
The cool backstory is that the British Military and Intelligence "placed" a dead "pilot" off the coast of Spain with misleading information about the Allies' plans to invade Greece, as opposed to their real target, Sicily. The pilot was carrying letters to Eisenhower and the head General for the British forces. He also had a letter from his "fiancee", theatre tickets, receipt stubs from a clothing store, and other random items. The Germans fell for the ruse, and the Allies were able to secure Sicily.
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Also saw a very excellent doc, streaming on Netflix, The Woodmans, about the artist family, whose daughter Francesca Woodman committed suicide in the early Eighties.
Honestly, I am not seeing the amazing talent that Francesca was concerning her provocative sexual canon of photography. I like her journal instead, although, for idiosyncratic reasons. The journal is certainly not "art' in the strictest sense of the word. I love the fractured sentence structure, the ellipses, the extremely deep and insightful look in to a young woman's sexuality, and her passion for creating art.
I will watch it with Renee soon. Renee is a damn fine photographer, herself, and I would be interested to get her thoughts on Ms Woodman's work.
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And, finally, a great quote from one of Renee, Meghan, and I's great friends, Charles:
"Charles, is not it a bit early to be drinking?"
"Hell, no, honey. Just throw some juice in it and it's brunch."
While most of the baseball world's eyes are prob focussed on the "It's the Yankees! It's the Red Sox! Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! My Gawd!" this weekend, they should be watching what is going down in Detroit.
The Rangers split a doubleheader yesterday w/ the Tigers in what has been an absolutely thrilling early-season four game series. The Rangers plated eight in the first inning of the first game, eventually winning 10-4. The Tigers won the nightcap 3-2, a great pitcher's duel between Neftali Feliz and Justin Verlander.
Uh, I loooooove me some contract year, just had a relapse Josh Hamilton. He is looking like he did in June 2010, one of the best months for any MLB hitter the last ten years.
(He just hit another one. Rangers up 1-nil, Top 2.)
The Rangers and Tigers are the real class of the American League. And the Angels are gonna wake up. They are going to be good, real good, but not as good as the Rangers. Derek Holland (w/ the crappy mustache) is very quietly becoming our ace. Neftali Feliz' transition to starter has been amazing, again. (This is the third year in a row the Rangers have successfully converted a reliever to a starter.) And the Rangers are attempting to become like the 1984 Detroit Tigers, who started the season 35-5.
Renee and I are going to have the greatest Sunday ever today. And this Okie/Texas boie loves himself this heat. More please. And hotter!
Everybody check out Veep and Girls tonight. We will be riveted, eating grilled sausages from Cafe Rouge, drinking fabulous wine.
And a nice boy, I think it is fair to say, my favorite story arc of Lena Dunham's new series for HBO, Girls, is going to be the one involving Marnie and Charlie. Charlie is obviously the sweetest guy in the world, affectionate to a tee, and perhaps a little too sweet to his Sweetie. Naturally, in Dunham's Universe, Marnie is "repulsed every time [Charlie] touches me" and presumably will be threatening to end the relationship once or twice every episode.
The Marnie/Charlie arc is an opposite twin of the Hannah/Adam arc, and some in the audience are left to wonder, Is there no "boy" out there who can fit the (Mythical?) Happy Medium?
"Mom, give Jess a chance. He understands me."
(When Renee and I first started going out, one of the things she said she liked best about me was that underneath my sensitive, feminist, nice guy exterior I was "still just a dude." High praise, indeed. And I completely mean that.)
It was the first episode of Girls last night, so, sure, some of the writing seemed a little show-offy, and some of the pop culture references fell flat. (And speaking of which, why is it that no one seems able to drop facebook in to the conversation of a film or teevee show without embarrassing themselves? Or is it just me? The only time I have seen facebook successfully incorporated in to conversation is when Anna Chlumsky does it in In The Loop. But of course, those guys have a writer who's only job is to add pop culture references and swear words to the finished scripts. *sigh* More on the In The Loop/The Thick of It/Veep team in a minute.) But despite that, it is plain to see that Girls is going to be the teevee event of the Spring and Summer, and will be a fine addition to Blockbuster Sundays, alongside Mad Men and Game of Thrones.
It is especially nice to see that Whit Stillman's lovable, difficult cad, Chris Eigeman, now has credits in both Gilmore Girls and Girls. I have a really decent Gilmore Girls joke here but no one outside of a few people at the Food Hole Walnut Creek would get it, so, I am going to skip it.
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Man, does Veep look awful, or what? My heart sinks and I cringe every time they show those crummy clips. I will be there, seven PM on Sunday, but I am really expecting the absolute worst. (At least Girls is on right after it!) And, I think I have figured out why Veep is going to stink. Peter Capaldi. The Thick of It and In The Loop are completely hung on Peter Capaldi's character, Malcolm Tucker. (And Malcolm Tucker is based on Tony Blair's infamous Press Secretary, Alastair Campbell.) It is not just a cultural barrier, moving from UK politics to US politics, it is the fact that without a US Malcolm Tucker equivalent the show will fail. Plus, you have Capaldi's talent to match, as well. Capaldi's performances in The Thick of It and In The Loop make for an absolute tour de force. Malcolm Tucker completely overshadows Capaldi's entire career. He will always be known as Malcolm Tucker now, full stop.
I would love to be pleasantly surprised on Sunday but I am doubting it.
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Meanwhile, the Rangers are an American League wrecking crew with a four game series with the Tigers in Detroit this weekend. Fabulous stuff.
And my staycation is over. It is back to work tomorrow.
So, after Josh Hamilton put on a baseball clinic last night, Yu Darvish faces real-life Major Leaguers in a game that counts for the first time ever. The fantastic Ranger blog, BBTiA is holding a contest to pick Darvish's "line" for tonight. Here was my entry: 6 2/3 IP -- 3 H -- 0 ER -- 5 BB -- 9 K -- 0 HR -- 70 Game Score. (Game Score is a fun integer stat invented by the stat geek master, Bill James. Below 50 is below average. Above 90 is crazy good. Below 30 is very bad indeed.)
And, also, in baseball related news, Les Bonnes Femmes, my fantasy baseball team is off to a very good start and currently holds down first place. It is still v early, though, and anything could happen. Matt Harrison, the Ranger pitcher who I yelled at last year at a Rangers/A's game, was Les Bonnes Femmes' big star last night w/ six shut-out innings (and a game score of seventy-five!)
It is Springtime -- I am feeling very twee and Postcard Pop today.
But, I will have to follow Darvish's debut tonight on my new toy (if the Hyatt will give me the password for their wi-fi) because I am going to a trade tasting tonight with my rock star buddy, Justin G. Justin will get to see what a trade tasting is like: spit buckets, rinses, crappy cheap wine, stunning good wine, wine that is being poured even though it should still be resting comfortably in its bottle, obnoxious tasters getting wasted, obnoxious tasters pushing and shoving, exasperated and tired vendors, schmoozy annoying suit-wearing Southern Wine and Spirits Reps, decent snacks, and oh so much more! Listen, working in the Wine Industry is an absolute joy, with tons of fantastic perks, but trade tastings are not one of them.
I also just received my latest edition of OOTP, OOTP 13. It looks better than ever even though I have not been able to really devour it yet. I just started a fictional league that will start play in 1968 (the year I was born.) I will be managing the Memphis Soul.
Things are looking up!
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Just read that facebook bought Instagram for one billion dollars. Zuckerburg maintains that Instagram will run independent of facebook and that users will be able to post their photos to Twitter, still, and keep their Instagram friends completely separate from their facebook friends. I love Instagram. So does my Wife and many of our friends. I really hope Zuckerburg is being honest and does not fuck this up. But it would not surprise me, either. That is life in the big-time Capitalistic future-shocked world we live in.
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I just started folding laundry, and suddenly two very sleepy kitties, who had been passed out, comatose on the bed, are most interested in hanging out with me in the "fun" room, helping me "fold" laundry.
Mavis, "folding" clothes.
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Looks like Mittens has this thing all wrapped up now, hunh? And the rumors are flying about when Santorum and Newt will drop out. Soon, Mittens will get a chance to shake that Etch-a-Sketch and veer back to the center.
My fave strategy of the Mittens Campaign, though, is sending out his wife to appeal to women voters. This is after over two straight years of the GOP's official War on American Women™.
Ever since the Teabaggers took over the House, our fine Public Servants of the GOP have been hell-bent on doing the following things: Defund Planned Parenthood, investigate any frickin' thing they can to tar Obama, and bring up idiotic budget votes that have absolutely no chance of even getting cloture in the Dem controlled Senate.
Meanwhile, in states where the GOP controls the legislature, they are hacking furiously at a woman's (still) Legal Right to Choose as quickly and invasively as they can.
This has got to be about the stupidest, most inane general election strategy I have seen in all my years. They can trot out all the wives they want, all repeating the same Fox News Talking Points, that Women care not about birth control or their legal right to choose, and are really worried about gas prices, but women ain't gonna fall for that crap. And they will lose a lot of GOP women, to boot, with this ridiculous rationale.
Good luck in November, guys.
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I will end with two more Women Michael Loves: Fay Weldon and Caryl Churchill. Ms Weldon gets her spot here for her delicious, tart, spare, anti-style novel, The Life and Loves of a She-Devil. (Skip the film, just read the book.) (Plus, I am convinced Weldon's novel was the inspiration for PJ Harvey's monster classic song, Man-Size.)
And Ms Churchill gains her spot for all her work, but in particular her sexual-role busting play, Cloud 9; and her feminist masterpiece play, Top Girls.
Both these women tackle feminist issues head-on every day of their lives and are supreme stylists that have created each their own distinctive voice that can not be confused with any other.
Ms Weldon's book is very easy to find, and very cheap. And Ms Churchill's plays, naturally, are best enjoyed in a theatre but also read a treat, and are very easy to find, as well, and cheap, too.
This is from a Broadway production of Top Girls, and that is Marisa Tomei on the right.
All my love,
mds
UPDATED! 4/10/12: Darvish struggled mightily last night, gave up five runs, walked five batters, but he hung in there, calmed down, and did not look too bad before leaving the game. The Rangers won and Darvish did last long enogh to get the Win, his first Major League Win.
And re The GOP's intriguing General Election strategy: Here are some polls that kos shared on his blog today. Yeh, that strategy's going to work a treat come November, hunh?
Finally, there is joy, reading the NYT Friday Movie page. I want to see Scenes of a Crime, Turn Me On Damnitt, Moonrise Kingdom, Damsels in Distress, and about three or four others, ...
"Watch out for the operators."
Next week is my birthday. Baseball season is about to begin. (Yu Darvish vs Ichiro and the Mariners on Monday, April 9.) Soon the sun will be setting at 8:30 pm. (Heaven!)
6'6" and very handsome, too.
My parents are in town for the weekend, taking Renee & I to Rivoli for a birthday dinner on Monday.
I will take some time off after Inventory Thursday.
Renee & I (and Molly and Mavis) are healthy and happy and things are looking up!
(With a serious tip of the cap to the late, great Blackie Sherrod.)
This post is a big random round up/notes column to tide me over until my (most prob) too long post about the next Pop Explosion is ready to be published. That should happen Sunday or Monday.
Until then, well:
I swear, in the Enron doc she's only wearing one earring.
... Since it is International Women's Day I figure I should throw out another Woman Michael Loves. Today it is another journalist, Bethany McLean. Ms McLean nearly single-handedly brought down those Enron assholes. She has a great article in this month's Vanity Fair about how a whole bunch of rich folks, hedge fund managers, and movie stars are co-opting and ruining a very sacred, difficult yoga discipline. Yeah, I know, a shocker ... So, my fantastico RomanVinity rep, Michele, who has been mentioned here before, obv dropped off a bottle sample of Verdicchio to me. I had completely forgot about it and it had been camped out in the back of our fridge for ages. I drug it out last night. It is amazing. I do not even know if it is approved for me to order and sell. There's no price on the bottle, either. I do not even know how much it costs. But it is superb, a white wine spilling over w/ baking spices and cardamom. Folks in Italy generally drink Verdicchio with seafood and shellfish. It can have a brine-y quality to it sometimes. There is no brine here. It is aromatic, lively, refreshing and perfect for North African or Indian food. Next time I get the chicken Tikka Masala at Breads of India this is the bottle I want. (Let me go get my reading glasses -- I am so old.) Accadio Angelo is the producer. It is 2010 vintage. I am guessing this bottle would prob be twenty dollars retail ...
The Dali-like image on the bottle is brought more forward now. And I am enjoying the 2010, not this 2008.
... The film, Anonymous, did not suck, at all, like I had expected it to. Of course, the splendid Rafe Spall's talents were nearly wasted in a small (but very important) role. Could someone please give this guy one shot at a lead role? I suppose he will be just like his superb character-acting Da, Timothy Spall. But, naturally, me being a theatre guy I would like Anonymous. We theatre-folk love that, "We were so oppressed, hated, vilified" bullshit. (Does not everyone? A chip on the shoulder moves mountains sometimes.) Do not get me wrong. The powers that be truly hate artists, always have. Look at the whole Fox News/Right-wing revulsion towards "Hollywood" ... Also saw recently Still Bill, a documentary about Bill Withers. It was not the greatest film I have ever seen, for sure. But, I did learn a bit more about Bill Withers and what a great man he is. Withers was born on the Fourth of July, and he is, for me, maybe the nicest, sweetest, most humble, most generous American alive. The fucking recording industry does not deserve a legend like him. I am so proud someone as talented and wonderful as Withers has decided to "retire". Withers, now, makes music strictly for himself, his family, and friends. Right on ... Yeah yeah I know I know, it is only v early March but Yu Darvish looked an absolute monster out there yesterday. I am loathe to link to gifs. I will not. But, I will give you a quote from today's AP round-up report:
"He had good stuff, great poise," Padres second baseman Orlando Hudson said, " ... Seven different pitches. It's hard enough to throw one pitch in the big leagues, man."
... Aw, hell. Everyone who is reading this knows that Michael prefers the company of women (h/t to Wire, 106 Beats That.) And all of you, all of you wonderful women that have meant something to me in the past, and that change and enrich my life every single day (especially you, Pnut, who made me grow up, finally) I would like to give a most humble thanks. (Thanks, Renee. And thanks, Mum.) It is all the English Roses, exes, cheese-mongers, wine reps, customer service clerks, movie stars, team leaders (thanks Annie & Lisa & Josie & Meghan), authors, rock stars, journalists, baristas, book store owners, nurses, etc, that make me who I am. I am so indebted to you.
All my love,
Michael David Spitler
(Here's the deal on that kissing sequence: At the time you could only kiss on screen for three seconds max. Hitchcock, who was madly in love with Ingrid Bergman (are we not all in love with her?) thought that was incredibly silly. So, he had Grant and Bergman do a four minute take of them together, where never once was a smooch longer than three seconds. Absolute genius. And, my goodness, Bergman has never been as sexy before as she is in this. Why is not that me on the patio? When I see those elbows raised I get a little bit excited. Bergman was an icon (a picture, a poster, an image, whathaveyou) but when you see her in action she is a living, breathing sexual Swedish adult that I wish I could have bumped in to at a party.
That is why the Rangers lost. Because I put a bottle of Yellow Label in the fridge Weds night. The wife came home the same night, late, "There is," she said, "A bottle of Veuve in the fridge." So, really, it is her fault. I said, "No, there is not. You did not see that."
S'funny, all the crazy superstitions re sports. I must say, you ne'er see so many people praying outside of church as at a World Serious game. I changed everything up after game six (what is it about game sixes?) and it still did not matter a whit. I listened to music on the way home, (my Freakbeat cds that I am sharing with my musically inclined friends. Would you like one? Tell me. I am making them for Dylan, Chris Mc, my exquisite Da, Nick C, Jared, and who knows, maybe you) put my ring back on, had a lucky found toy in my bag, took the bridge instead of crossing the street (or, was it the other way around, whate'er), anything I could do to change what I knew was inevitable.
But I am drinking Yellow Label, anyway. Are you kidding me? Back to back pennants? Hell, even the Giants and Cards did not do that.
Was it a dramatic, fun World Serious? Yes. Was it a great, yeah, I know it went seven games, World Serious? No. I know, I know, my team lost. But, there were too many errors and too many bone-headed decisions (by both managers) and not enough good starting pitching to call the 2011 World Serious a classic. Oh, I know, the Cards comeback in game six will live forever in history (much to my chagrin), but this was not an all-time classic, as far as I am concerned. It was a good World Serious, much better than last year's (obv. Oh, shit, that was my club, too.)
But, hey, I do not follow the Indians. Or the Mariners. Or the Cubs.
A dude on BBTiA pointed out something v valuable: The Brooklyn Dodgers sucked forever, finally got good and it took like four or five World Serious before they got it done. Or, he went on, consider the second best team in recent history, the Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz Braves. They lost in '91 and '92, did not make it in '93, were shut oot, like everybody in '94, before finally winning it in '95. And then the Yankees ruled the world. (They do not rule the AL anymore. The Rangers do.)
Think about that for a second. The Rangers are the class of the American League. A league that has the Yankees and the Red Sox. And, that because of stupid Bud Selig's fiat, did not have home field advantage in the World Serious at least once in the past two years. The Giants won their division last year, and won one more game than the Rangers, okay. The Cardinals were Wild Card winners on the last day of the season and had fewer wins than the Rangers. Bud is gone after this season. He has been one of the absolute, prob worst Commissioners ever. Please please please abolish this rule, the All-Star game winner getting home field, please. (And do not do this 10 team playoff idea.) You have the idiotic inter-league play, already, (get rid of that, too) so, let the Club with the best record have home field.
It is all about Yu Darvish now in Ranger world. Who is Yu Darvish? Darvish is gonna change baseball one way or the other, no matter what club he ends up with, but that club is gonna be the Rangers. Everyone in baseball (incl the Yankees and Red Sox) know that the Rangers are going to do every single thing to make Darvish ours.
Unlike other great Japanese pitchers, Darvish is profoundly young. And unlike Dice-K, the Dodgers guy, and all the others, Darvish is obscenely great. He has disgustingly good command of four or five pitches and has his own frickin pitch, to boot, that is all his own.
This is what Darvish looks like:
He is tall, looks Western, and is about to blow MLB up, Ranger or not. But, I believe that the Rangers are mighty prepared to let CJ Wilson go (boy, did he hurt his FA case in this last post-season) and bring this guy to Texas. (And, I am not the only one.)
Jon Daniels, the Rangers' GM, still does not have that shiny 30 flag trophy, but no one, no one in his job is more prepared or savvy, to get that thing done.
The Rangers are gonna be like the Braves of the nineties (and beyond), I believe. They are going to win a number of pennants, suffer heartbreak in the World Serious, and win one or two before all is said and done.
And, jeez, I have not even mentioned Martin Perez or Jurickson Profar yet.
I will save that for another time.
Congrats, Cards.
But the mo-fo Texas Rangers are not going anywhere. We are for real, finally.
