2010 albums

people do love lists, and this is one, but it's not one of the tons of year end best of lists. it is ONLY a list of all the albums (that i can remember) that i bought, been digging on that came out in 2010. some of these have made most peoples i read and respect year end best of list, some are dallas area local favor and some may be a little off the radar but i recommend any of these for a spin if you haven't heard it before. hopeffully i'll turn somebody somewhere on to something new. i always love when that happens to me, so thanks to those i read and found out about through them. in no order:

1. the hold steady- heaven is whenever
2. the national- high violet
3. josh ritter- so runs the world away
4. bruce springsteen- the promise
5. midlake- the courage of others
6. centro-matic- eyas
7. sara jaffee- suburban nature
8. the beaten sea- the beaten sea
9. mumford and sons- sign no more
10. doug burr- o ye devastator
11. elizabeth cook- welder
12. mary gauthier- the foundling
13. ryan adams and the cardinals- 3 & 4
14. vampire weekend- contra
15. local natives- gorilla manor
16. lissie- catching a tiger
17. mavis staples- you are not alone
18. ray wylie hubbard- a. enlightenment b. endarkenment c. hint there is no c
19. catlin rose- dead flowers
20. the walkmen- lisbon
21. dawes- north hills
22. the mynabirds- what we lost in the fire
23. ryan bingham- junky star
24. gaslight anthem- the '59 sound
25. broken bells- broken bells
26. band of horses- infinite arms
27. black prairie- feast of the hunters moon
28. frightened rabbit- the winter of mixed drinks
29. sam amidon- i see the sign
30. bonnie "prince" billy and the cairo gang- wonder show of the world
31. drive-by-truckers- the big to do
32. arcade fire- the suburbs
33. phosphorescent- it's hard to be humble when your from alabama
34. pernice brothers- goodbye killer
35. morning benders- big echo
36. deer tick- the black dirt sessions
37. alejandro escovedo- street songs of love
38. laura veirs- july flame
39. blitzen trapper- destroyer of the void
40. blind pilot- three rounds and a sound
41. freelance whales- weathervanes
42. deer hunter- halcyon digest
43. various- twistable, turnable man: tribute songs of shel silverstein
44. various- broken hearts and dirty windows: tribute to john prine
45. elvis costello- national ransom
46. eels- end times
47. justin townes earl- harlem river blues
48. ray lamontagne- god willin' and the creek don't rise
49. jenny and johnny- i'm having fun now
50. jimmy buffett- encores
51. juniper tar- the howl street
52. sonny and the sunsets- tomorrow is alright
53. april smith and the great picture show- songs for a sinking ship
54. woods- at echo lake
55. phantogram- eyelid movies
56. harlan t. bobo- sucker
57. tallest man on earth- the wild hunt
58. laura marling- i speak because i can
59. she and him- volume 2
60. rocky erickson/ okkervil river- true love cast out all evil
61. mark olsen- many colored kite
62. kris kristofferson- please don't tell me how the story ends: publishing demos '69-'72
63. titus andronicus- the monitor
64. sara harmer- oh little fire

a pirate looks at 64

happy 64th birthday to the leader of parrothead nation.
just remember margaritaville is anywhere you want it to be.

ballad of forty dollars

what everyone truly saw last night (lunar eclipse)

R.I.P phil cavarretta 1916-2010

Phil Cavarretta, National League M.V.P. in 1945, Dies at 94

By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
(excerpted from his new york times article)

Phil Cavarretta, who played 20 seasons for the Chicago Cubs and won the National League’s most valuable player award and batting championship in 1945, the last time the Cubs captured a pennant, died Saturday in Lilburn, Ga. He was 94.

Playing first base and outfield at Wrigley Field from 1934 to 1953, and serving as the Cubs’ player-manager for two and a half seasons, Cavarretta was one of the most popular figures in the team’s history.

A left-handed batter with an unremarkable 5-foot-11-inch, 175-pound frame, Cavarretta was hardly a power hitter in the mold of the Cubs stars Hack Wilson, Ernie Banks and Sammy Sosa. He had only 95 career home runs. But he had 1,977 hits and a .293 career batting average.

He played for three Cubs pennant-winners, in 1935 and 1938 and then in baseball’s last wartime season, when he was the league M.V.P., beating out the Boston Braves’ Tommy Holmes by a wide margin, and took the batting title with a .355 average.

Cavarretta was an All-Star from 1944 through 1947 and tied the St. Louis Cardinals’ Stan Musial for the league lead in hits in 1944 with 197, batting .321 that season. His Cubs teams never won a World Series — they lost to the Tigers in 1935, the Yankees in 1938 and the Tigers again in 1945 — but Cavarretta was usually a star at the plate in October. He batted .462 in the 1938 World Series and .423 in the 1945 Series.

Even after he was fired as the Cubs’ manager during spring training of 1954, Cavarretta remained a fixture in Chicago. He was signed by the White Sox and played into the 1955 season on Chicago’s South Side before retiring.

The Cubs called Cavarretta “a local hero and a tremendous player” in a statement Saturday night.

“His 1945 M.V.P. season continues to rank as one of the finest in Cubs lore,” the statement said. “The Cubs extend our deepest condolences to Mr. Cavarretta’s family and his many friends.”

Cavarretta was signed to a minor league contract and made his debut in the major leagues the following September. In 1935, he supplanted Manager Charlie Grimm at first base, and he never returned to the minors.

When Cubs Manager Frankie Frisch was fired in July 1951, Cavarretta replaced him. He had little talent in the lineup except for the slugging outfielder Hank Sauer, and the team finished in last place. Cavarretta’s Cubs finished fifth in 1952 and seventh in 1953, and by spring training 1954, he decided it was time for a talk with the longtime owner Phil Wrigley.

Cavarretta was a coach and a scout for the Tigers, a minor league manager and a batting instructor for the Mets after his 22 seasons as a player.

As Cavarretta told The Sporting News in the Cubs’ pennant-winning 1945 season: “Hustling was just born in me.”

R.I.P walt dropo 1923-2010

Former Red Sox first baseman Walt Dropo dies at 87
(excerpted from boston.com article)

Walt Dropo, who played 13 seasons in the majors and won the 1950 American League Rookie of the Year award with the Boston Red Sox, has died. He was 87.

In 1950, Mr. Dropo beat out New York Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford to win AL Rookie of the Year honors after batting .322 with 34 home runs and a league-best 144 RBIs in 136 games. He also made his only All-Star team that year.

A broken wrist slowed Mr. Dropo in 1951, and he was never able to match his outstanding rookie numbers. The first baseman batted .270 with 152 homers and 704 RBIs during his career. He was traded by Boston to the Detroit Tigers in 1952, and also played for the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, and Baltimore Orioles.

R.I.P. captain beefheart 1941-2010

nobody could GROOVE like the captain.

R.I.P bob feller 1918-2010

i'm a little late in posting this but i've been under the weather since learning of this wednesday night. i'm not going to sit here and try and write some fabulous piece on who i believe was one of the top five living americans. i'll leave that up to the great joe posnanski.

but i do have to let you know when browsing a little used book shop some years ago, i found on the shelf his memoir now pitching with bob feller. i opened it to the title page and realized it was signed by the true hall of famer himself. in later years i would come to realize that signed stuff by him was LESS rare than unsigned, but that didn't matter. a baseball nerd had found him a diamond. below is an article from today listing his major accomplishments from the cleveland's plain dealer.

Bob Feller: A timeline of heroic service and a great Cleveland Indians career
Published: Friday, December 17, 2010, 5:28 AM Friday, December 17, 2010
By Mike Peticca, The Plain Dealer

Bob Feller
(above) warming up during the 1940 season, when he went 27-11 as a 21-year-old.
Cleveland, Ohio -- It's all but impossible to catalog all of the landmark
events in Bob Feller's long and eventful life.

Impossible for anyone
except, maybe, Feller himself, whose memory was matchless and story-telling
compelling.

Here, we mention some of the key dates in the life, military
service and baseball career of the legendary Cleveland Indians pitcher.

1886: The red barn where Feller grew up -- it still stands
and is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites -- is built.

Nov. 3, 1918: Born in Van Meter, Iowa.

July 25, 1935: Signed as
a 16-year-old, after his sophomore year in high school, by the Indians for one
dollar and an autographed baseball.

July 19, 1936: Having never played
in the minor leagues, the 17-year-old Feller makes his major league debut,
pitching a scoreless inning in relief during the Indians' 9-5 loss to the
Senators in Washington.

Aug. 23, 1936: Makes his first start after six
relief outings and strikes out 15 St. Louis Browns in a 4-1 victory in
Cleveland's League Park. It's his first win.

Sept. 13, 1936: Feller,
still 17, breaks American League strikeout record by whiffing 17 Philadelphia
A's in a 5-2 win at League Park.

April 19, 1937: As a high school
senior, is on the cover of Time Magazine.

Spring, 1937: Graduation from
Van Meter High School is nationally broadcast on NBC radio.

Aug. 25,
1937: Rapid Robert, 18, strikes out 16 Boston Red Sox in an 8-1 victory at
League Park.

Oct. 2, 1938: Feller, 19, sets major league record by
striking out 18 Tigers but loses, 4-1, at Cleveland Stadium.

Sept. 8,
1939: Feller, 20, becomes youngest pitcher of 20th Century to win 20 games in a
season, beating the St. Louis Browns, 12-1, at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

April 16, 1940: Pitches what is still the lone Opening Day no-hitter in
history, beating the White Sox, 1-0, at Chicago's Comiskey Park.

Sept.
22, 1940: Gets what would be his career-high 27th win, topping the Tigers, 10-5,
at Detroit's Briggs Stadium.

Dec. 7, 1941: While driving from Van Meter
to Chicago to talk contract with the Indians, Feller hears on his car radio that
the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor.

Dec. 9, 1941: Enlists in the
United States Navy. When the 1941 season ended, Feller was 22 and had a 107-54
career win-loss record. He had led the American League in wins each of the last
three seasons, and would in his next two full seasons after World War II. He had
led the major leagues in strikeouts each of the last four seasons -- his first
full seasons -- and would in his next three full seasons after the war.


APBob Feller (left), shortly after enlisting in the Navy, with Hall
of Famer and Navy air pilot Ted Williams (center), and pitcher Hugh Mulcahy, who
also served in World War II.
Jan. 6, 1942: Reports for duty to Norfolk, Va.

1942: Made a chief petty officer and serves as a physical training
instructor, and wanting to be in combat, trains at a naval gunnery school in
Newport, Rhode Island. Assigned to the battleship USS Alabama as a gun captain.

1943: The USS Alabama, with Feller, escorts convoys in the North
Atlantic, where German U-boats constantly sank allied ships.

Aug., 1943:
The USS Alabama, with Feller, heads for the Central Pacific, where over the next
two years, it engaged in violent battles off Tarawa and in the Marshall Islands,
Caroline Islands and the Phillipines.

March, 1945: Transferred to the
Great Lakes Naval Training Center.

Aug. 21, 1945: Transferred to
inactive duty. Bob Feller earned five campaign ribbons and eight battle stars
for his military service.

Aug. 23, 1945: Rejoins the Indians.

Aug. 24, 1945: Pitching in his first game in 1,428 days, and after 44
months in the military, pitches a complete game six-hitter with 12 strikeouts,
beating the Tigers, 4-2, at Cleveland Stadium.

April 30, 1946: Pitches
his second no-hitter, topping the New York Yankees, 1-0, at Yankee Stadium.
Catcher Frank Hayes slugs the game-winning homer in the top of the ninth inning.

Sept. 29, 1946: Pitches a complete game, 4-1 win over the Tigers in
Detroit's Briggs Stadium. Finishes the season 26-15 with a 2.18 ERA, tied for
the major league lead in wins. The Indians were 42-71 in their other games.
Finished with major league-leading 348 strikeouts, 36 complete games and 10
shutouts, and even had four saves. The 348 strikeouts were then a 20th century
major league record, although record revisions later found that Rube Waddell had
349 strikeouts in 1904. The 36 complete games were the most since 1916, and the
closest a pitcher has been since were Robin Roberts' 33 complete games in 1953.

Sept. 22, 1948: Pitches a three-hitter to beat the Red Sox, 5-2, before
76,772 fans at Cleveland Stadium, putting the Indians in a first-place tie with
Boston, with eight games left for both teams. The teams finished in a
first-place tie, setting up the Tribe's 8-3, one-game playoff win at Fenway Park
to win the American League pennant.


PD historical photoBob Feller
giving youngsters some pitching tips in 1952.
Oct. 6, 1948: Pitches a
two-hitter but loses, 1-0, to the Boston Braves in Game 1 of the World Series.
Boston's Phil Masi scores in the bottom of the eighth inning after he is picked
off second base by Feller -- as films show -- but is called safe. Indians,
though, go on to win the series, four games to two -- their last World Series
championship.

Jan. 18, 1950: Feller suggests to the Indians that his
salary be cut by $20,000, from his contract calling for about $70,000, after
going 15-14 in 1949. The Indians accept.

July 1, 1951: Pitches his third
no-hitter, tying a record held by Cy Young at the time, in a 2-1 victory over
Detroit at Cleveland Stadium. John Lipon scores the Tigers run, reaching first
on an error, stealing second, taking third on an errant throw and scoring on a
fly.

June 12, 1954: Gets his 2,500th career strikeout in a 4-3 win over
the Red Sox in Boston's Fenway Park, putting the Indians alone in first place.
They stay there on the way to a then-AL best-ever record of 111-43. Feller
finished his career with 2,581 strikeouts, trailing just Walter Johnson -- who
pitched 2,087 more career innings than Feller -- and Cy Young -- who pitched
3,529 more career innings than Bob.

May 1, 1955: Pitches his 12th, and
his last, one-hitter, beating the Red Sox, 2-0, in Cleveland Stadium. The 12
one-hitters are still a record, tied by Nolan Ryan in 1993.

Sept. 30,
1956: Pitches his last game, a complete game, 8-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers at
Cleveland Stadium.

Dec. 11, 1956: Elected president of the first
baseball players association.
1957: Feller's uniform No. 19 is retired by
the Indians.

Jan. 23, 1962: Voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his
first year of eligibility. Feller gets 93.8 percent of the votes cast by the
Baseball Writers Association of America. It's the highest percentage of votes
any player received since baseball's first Hall of Fame vote in 1936, when Ty
Cobb was named on 98.2 percent of the ballots cast and Honus Wagner and Babe
Ruth were both named on 95.1 percent.


APBob Feller acknowledging the
crowd at the 2010 Hall of Fame Classic.
1969: Voted the greatest living
right-handed pitcher in baseball’s centennial celebration.

June 10,
1995: The Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter, Iowa, holds its grand opening.

July 25, 2006: The United States House of Representatives unanimously
passes a measure recognizing Feller for his military service and for the 60th
anniversary of his landmark 1946 season.

Sept. 11, 2006: The United
States Senate unanimously passes a measure recognizing Feller for his military
service and for the 60th anniversary of his landmark 1946 season.

June
21, 2009: At age 90, is a starting pitcher in the inaugural Baseball Hall of
Fame Classic in Cooperstown.

June 20, 2010: At age 91, again pitches in
the Baseball Hall of Fame Classic.

it's time (to move on)

first, thanks for october 18th (pictured right). wow. no words.

the teams in the race: all along we knew about the rangers & the yankees but the phillies, who seem to have come out of nowhere at the last possible moment. reports of them surfaced only late afternoon.

the lee recent background: lee was a hired gun in 2009 for the phillies & got them to the world series against the yankees. he beat them in both starts that series. he also was a hired gun for the rangers (rangers trading prize prospect justin smoak to seattle in the deal but well worth it, they made the world series) last season guiding them to their first american league pennant (past the yankees) & world series in franchise history. he has never pitched for the yankees ONLY beaten them EVERY time he's faced them, so they badly wanted to sign him & get him on their side.

the contracts: phillies 5 years $120 million ( with a vesting option that could bring it to 6

& 135). yankees 6 years $135 million (with a player option to bring it to 7 & 148). the rangers went 6 years & 138 million (with a vesting option that could have made it 7 & 161).

the winner: the phillies. it wasn't about the money. he went where his heart told him to go. not that he didn't have a great time here. he could have gone to be with his good friend c.c. sabathia in pinstripes. but in the end his heart told him his best chance to win was in a phillies uniform. so the phillies rotation sets up like a murders row of pitching (roy halladay, cliff lee, roy oswalt & cole hamels) their catcher carlos ruiz is the luckiest catcher in baseball next season.

but thanks, clifton.

thanks for the greatest four & a half baseball months of my life. your precision & artistry & the way you pitched.

thanks for october 6.

thanks for october 12. your han solo cool of that walk towards bengie molina & everything that happened in the game that led up to it (first playoff series win in history for rangers.)

thanks for doing your part to make my team, the rangers, a world series team. i wanted you back in a rangers uniform but the dollars & years that the bidding had gone to scared me. but in the end when the offers got as crazy as they did, it became more about the yankees NOT getting you than the rangers GETTING you. you caught everyone looking at strike three as you instigated talks with the phillies because it's there you really wanted to return. despite every indication you loved texas & your teammates, it wasn't enough. i don't blame you & i'm okay with it. really even calm. it stinks, no doubt but some of the rangers brass had to be thinking what a bad contract this would be if you had signed. i'm okay with this until i see what the rangers do next.

now the yankees need to figure out plan b. they tried to get you at the trade deadline & now planning their whole offseason with getting you have whiffed again. but i don't care about that.
the rangers weren't caught unprepared by this & really NO player the rangers besides you have come off the free agent market. zach greinke (pitchers, royals) & matt garza (pitcher, rays) could be had by trade. the rangers will check in on josh johnson (pitcher, marlins) as well. if any trade is made they can replenish the farm system by getting the two picks by losing you to FA.

the rangers will have more money now or at the trade deadline.

i know i love how aggressive the rangers new ownership is going forward.

i love clifton lee. there's never been a pitcher like you in texas, & there's never been a season in texas like 2010, which without you would have ended sooner. it will stand as the greatest baseball reward i've ever had. there's NOTHING like the first trip to the world series, win or lose. i got to go to game three, the rangers only victory of the series, with my father who taught me the great game & my brother.

for that, clifton lee, let me just say, once again:

thank you. it was time.

william eggleston photos

my lovely bride & i visited some friends in chicago back in may & there was a william eggleston exhibit at the chicago museum of art. this is some of my favorite photos of his.

end of an era

at the end of the 2010 baseball season the writing was on the wall four these for managerial giants to call it the end of a career & yesterday the ones who hadn't already did. the atlanta braves bobby cox, toronto blue jays cito gaston , los angeles dodgers joe torre & the chicago cubs lou piniella all will step away from their duties & one day will all join each other in cooperstown.

cox (braves, blue jays) managed 29 years, winning 2504 games, 5 pennants & the 1995 world series (braves). gaston (blue jays) managed 12 years, winning 894 games, 2 pennants & the 1992 & 1993 world series. piniella (yankees, reds, mariners, devil rays, cubs) managed 23 years, winning 1835 games, 1 pennant & the 1990 world series (reds) & torre (mets, braves, cardinals, yankees, dodgers) managed 29 years, winning 2326 games, 6 pennants & four world series 1996, 1998-2000 (yankees).

the germans bombed pearl harbor

happy 61st to the weird & great tom waits

kris kristofferson publishing demos 1969-1972

new purchase on limited edition vinyl. the very early recordings of who i think is the greatest living american. case in point: he's fought in vietnam, a pilot, a rhodes scholar, accomplished songwriter & actor & he is one very cool dude. by the way i've shaken the guy's hand.

R.I.P ron santo 1940-2010

how the baseball hall of fame voting process works, i'll never know. sure i know HOW & WHAT it takes to be a hall of fame player, but what it takes to get the necessary votes i can't comprehend. because how ron santo is not in the baseball hall of fame astounds me. he lead all major league third basemen in home runs & RBI from 1960-1974 & this morning he passed away without ever getting that call. every little boy dreams of getting that call when they play little league. it's possible he could be put in post-humously but that won't matter, the one phone call he'd waited for since his playing days were over never came. in this case it should be called the baseball hall of shame.

here's an excerpt from the article on more of his playing & broadcasting days from mlb.com

Ron Santo played his last of 15 Major League seasons for the crosstown Chicago White Sox, but he was always a Cub. A star third baseman and part of the Cubs teams of the 1960s with Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins, many believe Santo should be in the Hall himself. Then he became a heartfelt broadcaster who couldn't help cheering his team from the radio booth for 21 more years.

He wasn't Mr. Cub -- that title belongs to Banks -- but Santo was the next best thing. So it was with great sorrow that Cubs fans around the world reacted Friday when they learned Santo had died from complications of bladder cancer. He was 70.

"It certainly is a sad day for everyone who knows and loves Ron Santo," Banks said. "Ronnie has been a friend of mine for more than 50 years and is like a brother to me. Ronnie's entire life was dedicated to his wonderful family, the Chicago Cubs and their outstanding fans.

R.I.P ron santo 1940-2010

texas rangers 2014 lineup

always a fun game for me to look ahead as baseball america projects this lineup for the texas rangers in 2014, in the admittedly inconceivable event that no players get traded or acquired in the interim:

Catcher Kellin Deglan
First Base Mitch Moreland
Second Base Jurickson Profar
Third Base Mike Olt
Shortstop Elvis Andrus
Left Field Nelson Cruz
Center Field Josh Hamilton
Right Field Engel Beltre
DH Ian Kinsler
No. 1 Starter Martin Perez
No. 2 Starter Tanner Scheppers
No. 3 Starter Robbie Erlin
No. 4 Starter C.J. Wilson
No. 5 Starter Derek Holland
Closer Neftali Feliz

jay farrar covers tom waits "fannin street"