The Confounidng Art of a 20-Inning Loss

A no hitter, no matter how "sloppy" is one of the most beautiful things in sports. I love seeing the joy of the pitchers and his teammates after the historic achievement. That said, it is a little disappointing when a 20-inning, dead whale of a game drifts ashore and the Coast Guard managers decide the best way to deal with it is stick a half a ton of TNT into the bloated carcass and blow it into pieces on top of the 1968 Lincolns.
Like a lot of epic art, there is a lot to like about this game and even more to throw 74 m.p.h tomatoes at. This game was that long running joke that was funny at first (Jaime Garcia had his own no-no after five) then annoying, (ok, it's the 8th, lets string together some runs), then dumbfounding (Holliday removed and the pitcher's spot "protecting" Pujols in the 11th), then kind of funny again (Felipe Lopez and Joe Mather: the new Todd Stottlemyre and Donovan Osborne), and finally somewhere between exhaustion and apathy (Lohse is in left field, Mather is IBB the bases loaded).
First, let me say that any sabermetricians that Gladwellian try to prove that protection in a line-up doesn't work can go shove it up their ass. LaRussa stuck with the back-up catcher on the bench until the 16th because he represented the "last bullet." That's fine if you have some hard and fast rules that you always follow. I'm okay with that. But one of those rules must be "NEVER EVER LET A PITCHER HIT BEHIND PUJOLS."
Despite what others  might think, LaRussa isn't a bad manager. You don't win as many games as he has by shear sheer luck (Maybe by shear sheer cash, and a league that favors do-nothing managers, but not by shearsheer luck). But LaRussa needs an editor. He is Charlie Kaufman. He is capable of brilliant work, if he has somewhat rigid guidelines. But when he gets free reign, occasionally long, drawn out  monstrosities like a 20-inning, no run game or Synecdoche, New York come to ill-advised fruition.
But how disappointed can you be in this game? The players and managers for the most part, were in awe of it. See the audio quotes posted by BJ Rains. Sure, each team wanted the win, but it's one game (actually more than two games that count as one). They'll be ready for the next day's game, which is conveniently against the Mets.

**Edit** I have removed some dumb comments I made about a fellow blogger. They were unnecessary and after some thought and manual labor, I came to my senses. Indeed, I, of all people, should not accuse others of being a reactionary (and yes I see the irony snake eating itself here and I am a snake's ass). So I apologize to 310toJoba, who was only expressing his opinion as freely as I enjoy.

Audio Visual Interpretation of the Mets Organization

So, this is kind of weird. One, I'm posting two days in a row. Second, the YouTube video below. I stumbled across a link on MetsBlog that said a punk band covers "Meet the Mets." This is what it lead to. The girl awkwardly dancing(?) and the tired lead singer make it spicy. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to Seanchai and the Unity Squad.


Also, I had a bunch of time on my hands and played around with the Xtranormal stuff. Sports journalism meets Samuel Beckett.

Checking Back In

So I've neglected this blog for a while, but I've been busy and the Cards collapsed so I've (unfairly) been less interested in baseball.
Well, what's been going on? The Cards, as I've mentioned, have sucked. All they needed to do was finish .500, but instead they decided to get swept by the motherfuggin Pirates! Rays have clinched. Cubs have *heave* clinched. Mets have been sucking. Yankees still take up too much airtime. Blah blah. Forgive my general indifference. I think I'll root for Tampa Bay during the playoffs. They don't play in a city that has a mostly white working class so there is no chance of that the team will be romanticized.
Musically I've been listening to Banner Pilot's Resignation Day. It's such a solid album. All the songs fit together like a finely tuned piano (just try to untangle that metaphor).

Speaking of music, here's what I really want to talk about. First, please listen to this podcast by a couple friends of mine. Mike, the guy getting interviewed, tells the story of one of his band's songs. The song and the story behind it are equally beautiful and I want everyone I know and don't know to hear it. His whole band (minus the new bassist) did a previous podcast as well that exhibits their great senses of humor. A little funny after the kind of sad story is good for the soul.

I'd also like my small group of readers to check out Mike's band called The Verbs (Redux) (be sure to click on their album on the left). The first thing you may notice is that it isn't punk. We'll I'm a complicated man with many tastes, so humor me. If you notice, it's a pay what you want system, so do just that: pay whatever you want. Fifty percent of all the proceeds goes back to the band. I think the default setting is $.45 a track, but you can click on the price and lower or raise it to what ever you think it is worth. If you like hip-hop or alternative music, check out the other bands on that link as well.

Another cool aspect of all this music on this label (LemonDrop Records) is that it is under a Creative Commons license. That means you are free to distribute it as long as you give the band and the label credit. You can also use it in your own creative products, again as long as you give credit to the band(s) and the label. That's a pretty cool deal for all artists out there (DJs, filmmakers, etc.).

All right, I leave for a month or so and now I ask for you to DO stuff. I know, I'm sorry. I think I am going to do some music reviews in the off season and I'll probably keep track of some of the fun hot stove league. I enjoy that stuff a lot but that's probably the fantasy geek in me. Anyway, keep well, y'all.

At-Bat Songs and the Totalimmortal Curse

My most loyal commenter, Alex Canteen, mentioned that new New York Met Daniel Murphy uses AFI's "TotalImmortal" as his at-bat song. Using an AFI song is infinitely cooler than how some Met fans pay tribute to the kid. I haven't seen a Mets game since the rookie was called up, so I haven't had a chance to hear it myself. While the song is indeed an AFI creation, found on their All Hallows EP, the more popular version is the Offspring cover, found on the Me, Myself & Irene soundtrack and Alternative radio stations 8 years ago. The song is good, but serves as a mark of where both bands start embarrassing themselves.

Before:


AFI via 1992 or so. Nice clean kids.

After:

Seriously, what the hell happened? Don't be surprised if Daniel Murphy starts looking like this in the next couple weeks. Damn you, "Totalimmortal!"

Moving on, MLB has been chronicling at bat songs of some players around the league in the MLB Entertainment blog. Silly me, I thought baseball itself was entertaining but MLB thinks they need to appeal to every last soul on the planet. (Coming soon: MLB feminine hygiene products. Get a tampon emblazoned with you favorite (or least favorite) baseball team. Giambi-approved!) So far, the team with the "best" overall music taste is the Cleveland Indians but really no one wins here. They only feature a couple players from each team and even fewer songs. ("What this team needs is WAY MORE METALLICA!") I was hoping they'd have C.J. Wilson's musical picks but, alas, no such luck. His taste doesn't even rub off on his teammates, but I have a feeling his cohorts don't want to hear him. What with C.J. saying his teammates are ignorant and selfish and Manager Ron Washington demanding R-E-S-P-E-C-T:



We still love you C.J. even if you won't be a Ranger next year. Especially if you won't be a Ranger next year.

Here's the two versions of Totalimmortal. PunkOnDeck takes no responsibility in the listener of these songs wanting to crank up Conspiracy of One. (You forgot that album, didn't you? We all did.)

Pick a Side

Quick post. You have to pick one: Phillies or Mets. I like this rivalry. It's nowhere near Yanks/Red Sox or Cards/Cubs, but it's better than Giants/Dodgers. I'll help you with your decision. Here is a 2007 picture of the Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino.



Granted it's a Chuck Liddell style mohawk but kind of cool. Here's the Mets' leadoff man Jose Reyes:


Defend this, Mets fans. I'm sorry to kick you while you're down, but c'mon.

Photos courtesy of Bugs & Cranks and Newsday (via: Sportingnews)