No Game 1 Until Thursday?!?
The New York Yankees open the Division Series against the Cleveland Indians on… Thursday?!? I understand that Major League Baseball has to schedule an off day (Monday) before the playoffs begin in case there is a one game playoff needed in the case of any regular season ties. And also I realize they like to not have the games start at the same time of day, which means they traditionally have only three out of the four series being played on the first few days of the playoffs. But since the wildcard began in 1995, that has always meant that the latest a team starts the post-season was on the Wednesday after the season ends. Why do I have to wait until Thursday for the Yanks to kick off the post-season?
I also understand that as of the beginning of Sunday, there are some crazy scenarios in the National League that could mean the regular season tie-breakers would still be taking place on Wednesday. But that does not affect the American League. In fact, that is all the more reason the Yanks should start earlier than Thursday. If the National League playoffs can’t start until Thursday, at least kick off the American League games before then.
Yankees Division Series Game 1
The New York Yankees have made the playoffs for 13 years in a row now, and for the last 12 years a pattern has emerged for the outcome of the Division Series (first round) based on the result of game one. If the Yankees lose game one, they win the Division series. If they win game one, they either sweep the series or lose the series. Here are the results:
|
Year |
Opponent | Yanks Game 1 result | Div. Series Result |
| 1995 | Seattle | Win | Loss, 3 games to 2 |
| 1996 | Texas | Loss | Win, 3 games to 1 |
| 1997 | Cleveland | Win | Loss, 3 games to 2 |
| 1998 | Texas | Win | Win, 3 games to 0 |
| 1999 | Texas | Win | Win, 3 games to 0 |
| 2000 | Oakland | Loss | Win, 3 games to 2 |
| 2001 | Oakland | Loss | Win, 3 games to 2 |
| 2002 | Anaheim | Win | Loss, 3 games to 1 |
| 2003 | Minnesota | Loss | Win, 3 games to 1 |
| 2004 | Minnesota | Loss | Win, 3 games to 1 |
| 2005 | Anaheim | Win | Loss, 3 games to 2 |
| 2006 | Detroit | Win | Loss, 3 games to 1 |
With the exception of the two series sweeps in 1998 and 1999, the result of game one of the Division Series has been the exact opposite from that of the entire series. Here’s hoping the Yanks lose game one this year!
Book review: The Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson
Released in 1994, The Jedi Academy Trilogy consists of three Star Wars books (that’s why it’s called a trilogy): Jedi Search, Dark Apprentice, and Champions of the Force. I read all three consecutively and they tell one story of how Luke Sykwalker attempts to rebuild the Jedi Order in the wake of The Thrawn Trilogy, which is why I review them together.
I thought these books were great at the time I read them in 1994, but I was starved for Star Wars content at the time and would have enjoyed listening to George Lucas read the phone book at that time. Years later I revisited these books in the form of audiobooks and wasn’t as impressed with the story as I had originally remembered it being. Having said that, the audiobooks are abridged and can never substitute for the experience of actually reading the book in my opinion.
These books are enjoyable reads that introduce some interesting characters in the Star Wars Extended Universe, most notably Kyp Duron.
Rating: 7 out of 10.
Comic book review: Civil War: Fantastic Four
Collecting issues #538-543 and written by Babylon 5 creator and Amazing Spider-Man writer J. Michael Straczynski, Civil War: Fantastic Four expands on the rift in the relationship of Sue Storm and Reed Richards during Civil War and also focuses on The Thing as he comes to realize he cannot support the pro-registration act forces but also does not want to break the law.
So The Thing goes to France and levity ensues. The stories that focus on The Thing are more light-hearted and fun than most of the other weighty Civil War stories, with the character even uttering his famous line in French: “Il est temps de batter!” which roughly translates to “it’s clobberin’ time!”
And the final issue is a 45th anniversary tribute to the Fantastic Four, which while enjoyable, had little to do with Civil War.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10.
Music review: Absolutely Free by Frank Zappa
In Frank Zappa’s second album, Absolutely Free, he fully achieves what it seems he set out to do on his first album, Freak Out! but failed to do: create a cohesive piece of music that both shocks and entertains. After listening to Absolutely Free it feels as if Zappa felt some restraint during the recording of Freak Out that prevented him from doing what he really wanted. But on Absolutely Free, he and the Mothers really cut loose. And the results show Zappa’s genius.
There are no rules on Absolutely Free. Zappa makes fun of politicians, satirizes American suburbia, and litters the first few songs with an obsession about vegetables. And that’s just the lyrics. The music bounces around between everything from avant-garde jazz to lounge, with plenty of references to “Louie Louie” thrown in for good measure. Yet amidst all this craziness, it all works. There are no bad songs or weak spots, and even the two singles that Zappa threw in the middle for the CD release which were not on the original LP fit in nicely (“Big Leg Emma” and “Why Don’tcha Do Me Right?”).
One big reason the sometimes disparate music works is because there is still a sense of interconnectedness between the songs. Despite having 15 songs, the album can be considered to have two “suites” – each being a side of an LP. Even if within each suite the music sometimes quickly changes gears, there is still some sense of conceptual continuity with the recurring themes of both the music and lyrics.
Because of this continuity, it isn’t necessary to discuss individual tracks except for one: “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It.” My second favorite of all Frank Zappa songs, “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It” is seven and a half minutes of scathing humor and satire, with social commentary on suburban life and the deviances of politicians, some of which still shocks 40 years later. Like the rest of the album, musically “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It” switches between styles and rhythms while still retaining that sense of cohesion.
While Absolutely Free is not my favorite Zappa album, it was an easy choice for my top 10 Zappa albums and ranks somewhere around number 5 or 6. Ranking number 6 compared to other Frank Zappa albums still means it deserves a very high rating overall.
Rating: 9 out of 10.
Length of Yankees-Red Sox Games
Why does it seem like almost every baseball game played between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox is one of the longest games ever? Last night’s game was 4 hours and 43 minutes, the second longest 9 inning regular season game ever – second only to last year’s Yankees-Red Sox game on August 18, 2006. And games 3, 4, and 5 of the 2004 playoff series between the Yanks and Sox? Long, long and longer.
The Yankees played a game earlier in the week on Tuesday against Toronto in 2 hours and 35 minutes. That’s 2 hours and 10 minutes quicker than last night’s game. Do the TV networks put in extra commercials during the Yankees-Red Sox games? I’m not sure but I wouldn’t doubt it. But they are not adding 2 hours of extra commercials.
Comments on Baseball and Steroids
Instead of responding as a comment, I will reply in this post to comments left by B.J. regarding Rick Ankiel’s use of HGH.
B.J writes:
“You can’t seriously believe that it has been HGH that has been the source of his solid stats this season. … he likely used it to help his recovery THREE YEARS AGO.”
I seriously believe that using HGH even three years ago could very well be a contributing factor in Rick Ankiel’s unprecedented transition from pitcher to major league caliber hitter. He was using HGH at about the time his transition began. Imagine if Ankiel showed no pop in his bat at the beginning of his attempt to become a hitter – he could have been let go shortly thereafter.
“If he took it then, OK. It wasn’t illegal at the time.”
While HGH was not a banned substance by Major League Baseball at the time Ankiel took it, it was and is illegal for a doctor to prescribe HGH unless it is used to treat a disease. Recovering from a sports injury is not a legal reason to prescribe HGH.
Over the past several years, I have slowly changed my opinions regarding baseball and steroids. At first, I was skeptical of all the allegations with little or no proof of this kind of substance abuse by baseball players. But as more and more compelling evidence surfaced through things such as Mark McGwire’s testimony in front of Congress, Rafael Palmeirmo’s failed drug test, and the book Game of Shadows, I have come full circle and now generally take a hard line against the use of steroids.
More Rick Ankiel
What I hadn’t thought of in all my previous observations about Rick Ankiel is that a pitcher can transform himself into a major league hitter these days with the use of performance enhancing drugs.
NFL Pre-Game Concerts
Why does every big NFL football game have to begin with a concert? I sat down tonight to watch the NFL season kickoff pre-game show expecting to get some previews and analysis about the new season. Instead I got one musical number after another. Why does the NFL and/or the TV networks covering the games think this is a good idea? If I wanted to watch Kelly Clarkson sing I would watch American Idol Rewind, not an NFL pre-game show.
Division I-AA College Football
Lost in the discussion about Appalachian State’s victory over Michigan this past weekend is the fact that the top college football teams in Division I-AA play good football. I have been casually following what is now known as the “Division I Football Championship Subdivision” (though everyone still calls it Division I-AA) for over 15 years now and have seen enough of teams like Youngstown State, William & Mary, Villanova, New Hampshire, and an occasional top Ivy League team (ok, just Penn) to know that any of these teams at their peak could beat a mediocre Division I team.
So it stands to reason that the current two-time defending Division I-AA champion, Appalachian State, could compete with a top Division I school. Similar to how mid-major schools regularly defeat the top schools in college basketball, it should not be considered the biggest upset in college football history for the same thing to happen in football.
