Starting at an Ending: NLDS

Playoffs have finally arrived and the teams are set (at least for the National League). So let's run down the "best" of the senior circuit and see how these boyos match up. In addition, we'll get some tunes from each city's respective scene.

Philadelphia Phillies: One of the top teams in this league, the Phillies did it with good ole mashing. Put Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard in a lineup and you really have no choice but to score some runs. The defending champs have a nearly identical lineup to last year, save a substitution of Raul Ibanez (who had an unusually good excellent first half) for Pat Burrell. Starting pitching is strong on paper with lefties Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, and J.A. (sounds like "Jay." Seriously) Happ and and old Pete Martinez with the valuable "veteran leadership." They're a tough club. There has to be some weakness. Oh, well there is this guy.Yeah, that might be a slight problem they'll have to look into. The Phils have homefield advantage and take on the Rockies.
Philly has some damn good music. Not many better than this band:

Colorado Rockies: This year's wildcard (which lately has meant World Series favorite) got to where they are by disciplined hitting and great pitching by Ubaldo Jimenez and Jorge De La Rosa and out of his element pitching by Jason Freakin' Marquis. Not to mention, they fired their manager mid year. Hey, it worked for the Penguins, amirite? But let's not kid ourselves. If this team makes the World Series, we're all going to be bored out of our skulls. Remember the Red Sox-Rockies World Series? Of course, you don't.
This song's called "Joe California" but it's by a band from Colorado. Crazy worldly, I know.



St. Louis Cardinals: "My" team was a rag tag band of merry players that used grit and determination to lead the league in goodwill and hearty wins. Not really. Two Cy Young candidates and groundball wizard Joel Pineiro provided some stability in the rotation. The front office pushed their chips (read: top prospects) all in for masher Matt Holliday to protect Lord Pujols in the lineup. With any luck the peripheral players will play the slightly above replacement level that that are paid to do.
Unfortunately, not much to choose from but this is a pretty damn good song:



Los Angeles Dodgers: The Cards face the NL West Champion Dodgers. The Dodgers had a hot start this season after getting some decent pitching from Chad Billingsly and Clayton Kershaw and some hot hitting from Manny Ramirez, who has been coming off his 'roid cycle. But like the Cards, they lost a bunch of games as they entered the playoffs. It'll be interesting to see which team decides it's worth it to play games 163-168 of this long season.
LA has some legendary punk bands and I could choose any number of great music. However, I want everyone to root for the Cardinals, so here's a reason not to root for Los Angeles: the town brought you this travesty:



It's like Snoop Dog is endorsing a Juggalo band.

Go Cards.

The Kings

Hey, it's nearly damn playoff time. The summer went fast, per usual. My team of choice clinched their spot in the playoffs and you can read a few of my thoughts on that here and here. The interesting thing is that even though there are less than ten games left in the season, not all the spots are decided yet. Will the Tigers hold on or will they Fernando Rodney their playoff chances? That's right Fernando Rodney is now a verb and Tigers fans know what it means. In St. Louis, it's pronounced Isringhausen, but diverse speech accents are what make America grand.
The proximity of the World Series had me thinking about the Yankees and the Cardinals: the two teams with the most championships. Now the Yankees have the most by far with 26. The Cards are a distant second with 10. But how did those teams do it? Existing for over 100 years helps. But what did the Yankees do to be so successful? You have to remember that these teams won in a time when there was no such thing as free agency. Players stuck with their team until they were traded away. So the Yankees began their success with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Having control over such great players made the team the premier franchise in league. The players knew they had to stay with the team as long as the team said. Wouldn't the best players want to be with the franchise that can pay the most and/or give the best opportunity to win? Success breeds success, indeed.
Also, there was no such thing as a farm system. The farm system was pioneered by the Cardinals. It gave the team a deep pool of players from which to choose their major league roster. That pioneering can probably explain some of the Cards' success.
Now that free agents keep players on the move and each team has a farm system to support the big club with cheap, young talent, the MLB is close to being the best possible system for league "parity" without the boring, facelessness of the NFL. Every team has a chance as long as their management doesn't spend 17 years thinking Jack Wilson type players are the key to your future championships.
In the music world, some of my favorite artists are or have put out new albums. Already out there are new releases by Frank Turner, Banner Pilot, Chuck Ragan, The Gateway District, and Pissed Jeans. Look out for upcoming music by Nothington and Lucero. It's a damn good time for new music. That's what makes it even weirder that I am ending with this song:

Poster of our heroes hawking cancer sticks courtesy of Deco Dog.

The Big Show: Red Collar

Wednesday night shows are hard to pull off. It's hump day. The week barely started and it's barely over. I gotta work in the morning. But here I am, writing a show review of one of those Wednesday night "messes." Lindberg's in Springfield, Mo., is the best venue in town as far as sound and atmosphere. The sound system was put together by a real musician and the decor was designed by true music fan. Each show is looked over by beautiful portraits of patron saints Elvis, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Robert Johnson, Bob Dylan, and Tom Waits.
On this nondescript Wednesday evening, Red Collar was to perform at Lindberg's. It was a fill in show. They weren't even supposed to be there, but fate brought them to the edge of the middle of nowhere.
Mark Bilyeu of popular local band Big Smith opened the night with a talented and entertaining set. My friend Brett and I came in during the beginning of Bilyeu's set. He entertained the sparse crowd with bluegrass, old rhythm & blues, and alt country songs. I listened casually as I watched the Cardinals game, which was just getting started in L.A. The Cards got out to a 2 run lead and Adam Wainwright looked unhittable until the 7th inning. By that time, Bilyeu finished his set. A DJ was spinning his rockabilly and old r&b records by that time. The bartender very briefly changed the TV to the Weather Channel. It said we were in a thunderstorm warning and tornado watch. My buddy and I looked at each other and kind of gave each other the same quizzical look. Then we looked to the monsoon outside. Sideways rain and not infrequent lightning danced outside. We hadn't noticed before, but now we thought about trekking to our cars in this piss poor weather. As we looked away from the meteorological commotion outside, Wainwright gave up a solo homer. The game ended up tied by the end of the 7th.
Red Collar humbly took the stage. They sound checked and knocked into their first song. Now, you'll have to forgive me because I just very recently started listening to this band so I can't really give you proper song titles, but rest assured: this band brought it. As sheets of rain relentlessly beat against the windows at Lindberg's, Red Collar brought equal intensity. Jason Kutchma led the way as if he was conducting a hurricane. Guitarist Mike Jackson never stopped his kinetic rhythm. Beth Kutchma kept some tight beats on bass and drummer Jon Truesdale is as talented a drummer as you'll find. The band's songs pierced each listener at the venue. Driving rain, relentless beats, and flashes of lightning and greatness illuminated. During the song "Pilgrim" I saw through a window a streak of lightning strike across the empty sky. It was a goosebumps moment.
The room was moving. Here's the kicker: there were six (myself included) standing close to the stage and about eight people sitting at the bar or working the sound.
With such an anemic turnout, the band could have given a quick, minimal performance. But they played the house as if it was packed to the gills. After the initial set, local talented musician Jeb started the "One more song" chant. Jason asked, "One more song? How about we do two?" All six to eight of us erupted. Jason explained that he was trying out some solo work. He performed Tom Waits' "Better Off Without A Wife," with altered lyrics that were meant as a tribute to his wife Beth. The band closed with "Used Guitars" (I think) (Confirmed!).
During the set, the rain slowly died down. I looked back to the Cards game. Ryan Franklin just saved his 31st game of the season in a 3-2 game.
Jon and Jason both promised that the band would come back in September. Here's what you need to do. Contact the band and demand that they tour within 200 miles of your town. I know how it is when you live near podunk. You only travel far when it is a band you know and you trust will be worth the gas. As someone in your shoes, you'll have to trust me: if this band tours near you, go see them.
Here's a couple reasons why:

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Image via RedCollarMusic.com

What's your card?

It was recently announced that Topps would be the "exclusive" trading card producer for Major League Baseball. This pretty effectively eliminates all competition from the baseball card industry. Good bye, Fleer. Good bye, Bowman. Good bye, Score. Probably good bye, Upper Deck. It was reported recently that Upper Deck has a deal with the MLB Players Association. They say they'll continue to produce cards in 2010. It'll be odd, but I can see some lame cards with players in front of a black background wearing non-descript t-shirts that vaguely happen to be the same color of their team. Topps head honcho Michael Eisner (yes, that Michael Eisner) says he is doing it to not confuse kids or some such crap. Let's call a spade a spade here. It's an exclusivity deal that eliminates competition and creates a monopoly on the market.
Before this mess was announced, I had been looking around a local flea market. I found big box that looked to be a complete set of cards from the late 80s/early 90s. I know it's a cliche, but remember when that would have been worth a sheik's ransom? I began collecting when I was 9 or 10. I received a large number of cards from someone who was a big collector. They were all the same year and brand. Because that is the majority of my collection and was my first card, it became my brand. The 1988 Score card. It wasn't flashy like Upper Decks or Topps cards, but they all had good in-game pictures and nice write-ups on the players on the back. Each pack also had a Magic Motion Trivia Card with some sort of fact that I would hurry up and forget. As with everything on planet Earth, there is a blog dedicated to completing a set of 1988 Score. A least a couple people are dedicated to the brand.
I spent a few summers looking for new cards and organizing them by team in my baseball card binder. Unlike the cliche, I still have the binder, so when the baseball card market finally rebounds, I'll be ready. Suckers.
Anyway, anytime there is news about baseball cards, it gets me a little nostalgic like most guys my age. But, like most things in life, we move on, we forget. The cards just seve as a bookmark in a long line of important "forgettable" life moments.

Baseball card images courtesy of CheckOutMyCards.com

Nerd Alert: Curveball Edition

I'll take a quick break from doing nothing and take a look at one of the consistent marvels of the game: the curveball.
In the baseball blogosphere, there is a whole genre of stat centric sites that try to determine the value of players. Beyond simple boxscore, stat analyzers are another set of writers who examine the physics and effectiveness of specific pitches. Check out Fangraphs for a world of stats you have never even considered.
Check out this article by Dave Allen at Fangraphs from earlier this year. In it, he analyzes the vertical and horizontal motion of curveballs thrown by Adam Wainwright, Roy Halladay, and Brad Penny. Notice this chart. The 0 in the "Vertical Movement" axis represents how much the ball moves vertically from the release point to the plate. Incidentally, the horizontal axis represents how much a ball moves toward or away from a hitter. As you can see, Wainwright and Halladay have much more overall movement on their pitches than Penny, which is why an indicator of why their curveballs are more effective than Penny's.
But also look at this visualization that I have just recently seen. It won an award for optical illusions. (Sorry, I can't seem to embed the visualization.) Follow the directions and notice how much the ball appears to curve away even though it is always moving in a straight line.
Despite the cool optical surprise, I'm not sure what it tells us about curveballs in real life baseball. If this is supposed to somehow represent the deception of a curveball, then it is an aerial view of a curve with no horizontal movement. It doesn't give us an idea of what that motion looks like from a batter's point-of-view. The batter, catcher, and umpire (presumably) have their eye on the ball the whole time. Keeping your eye on the ball in the visualization keeps the sphere in its true path. But certainly, the spin on the ball plays some slight trick on the battery. If a pitch is moving up around eight inches from its release point and the spin creates an illusion of movement, it is a wonder that anyone can hit the pitch, let alone on a consistent basis.
If you are interested in a much more informed analysis of pitches, check out Drew Fairservice's "Kicking and Screaming" recurring feature at Walkoff Walk.
In completely unrelated news, if you ever have to explain the infield fly rule to anyone, just play this song by The Isotopes.

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The Isotopes four-song EP titled Heatseaker is being digitally distributed by Red Scare Industries. Each song has to do with baseball. Sounds so familiar.

Curveball pitching data image courtesy of Dave Allen at Fangraphs.

EXCLUSIVE TRACKS: Volcania

A few months back I picked up new record player from Target. Shortly thereafter, I sought out records at some local flea markets and thrift stores. One flea market booth had huge racks of albums with a wide variety of music. I found some Dylan and some Ray Charles, but I also found a couple punk albums like Government Issue's Boycott Stabb, and an album by a band called Volcania called L'agression. As you can see from the picture it had a goofy looking bat and a sticker on the front that said "The Leading French Punk Group." I had never heard of them, but that didn't mean anything because there are a lot of older, important punk bands that I don't know about.
I put on the record and did some research online for more information about Volcania. Or at least I tried to find information about them. There weren't a lot of Google hits and most of the information was in French, a language I most assuredly do not speak. The best information on the band I could find was on a French site called the "France Metal Museum." According to the Google translation of this site, the band was formed in 1976. Apparently, the band was originally named HLM. Before they recorded in 1977, the record label, Dream Music Records, forced the band to change their name (don't ask me why). Volcania was born. The group consisted of Pierre Brusco on guitar, his brother Yves "Vivi" Brusco on bass and lead vocals, Omar El Mabrouk Ben on drums, and Thierry Van Hooland on lead guitar and backing vocals. The band, under the Volcania moniker, toured to promote the album, but it didn't sell well. Pierre left the band later that year. The remaining guys renamed the band HLM (I want to know what it means just as badly as you do) and the toured a while longer. Eventually everyone went their separate ways. Volcania didn't even last a year. Matt Canino is in awe. Members of the band went on to perform with Trust and a band called Trash.
But in that year, they made an album. I did a review of the album on Punknews already but I'll go over some of my thoughts on it again. It's definitely a product of its time. Vivi has some nice aggressive vocals, a little like Iggy Pop's. The musicianship is tight. I especially appreciate the bass work and the lead guitarist, who has some ripping solos. It's a bit of a Stones and/or Who sound. My favorite tracks are the lead track "Mais C'est Seulement Du Rock And Roll" (But It's Only Rock and Roll) and Fille De Joie (Daughter of Joy). I don't understand a word of the lyrics, because, again, the French.
My guess is that because they album did so poorly in France, the label decided to ship a bunch of records to the U.S. to see if their sound would fly here (not without the sticker though. It means they are exotic). I have no idea how rare this album is. When I first researched it, there were a couple up for sale on Ebay, but neither entry is there now. Also, I have not been able to find the tracks digitally anywhere.
Until now. I am going to bring Volcania to the English-speaking, 21st century. Fortunately, my record player has a USB port which allows me to rip albums digitally. Unfortunately, I have no experience doing this. That means the tracks I have may not necessarily be of top quality. I tried my best. The vinyl itself is very clean for being over 30 years old. There are only a couple times that cracks are too noticeable. Otherwise, I hope the audio is sufficient. Let me know if you have problems downloading the album.
Also, if the person or organization that owns the rights to this music wants me to take down the album, please let me know through my email on the left side of the page.
Now, ladies and gentlemen: Volcania.

http://www.mediafire.com/?yjunowzzirn

Q&A with Roger Clemens

In May, Roger Clemens started talking again about his alleged innocence in taking illegal performance enhancing drugs. One of the ploys he tried is taking questions from readers of The Houstonist. The blog took the questions and performed an e-mail interview with The Rocket. I submitted a question, but I wasn't sure it would actually get sent to him. To my surprise, it was.

You have stated that you never took HGH. However, your wife has admitted she took HGH and that that drug was provided by Brian McNamee. Are you saying that he was an adviser of yours and you let him give your wife a performance enhancing drug that you have never taken? (from: Brian Kist)

First, I did not "let" Brian McNamee inject my wife. As I stated in the congressional deposition, I was not at home when the incident took place. All you have to do is read — just go to the congressional website and spend some time reading.

I should have ended my question with "I want the TRUTH!" Of course, it takes more than one shot of HGH to get the desired results, so his answer was just thin enough to keep him out of jail for now. To be fair, though, I am impressed that he took questions from people (most of whom had fake names), without (supposedly) lawyers answering for him. Anyway, I got to ask a guy with over 4,600 strikeouts if he is a cheater, so that's another feather in my cap.

Awesome frumpy Clemens baseball card image courtesy of Wax Heaven.