Category Archives: Uncategorized

Judie Tzuke – 30 years – A Celebration

Posted on by
2

Thirty years of any career deserves a celebration. Surviving thirty years in the MUSIC industry is a particular accomplishment. And so friends, fans and family were called together to honour Judie Tzuke.

Arriving early at The Bedford in Balham, we were able to take seats at the front of the stage.

Compere for the night, Vin Goodwin opened the evening’s events with a satirical take on Judie’s best known song “Stay with Me Till Dawn”. Vin was a charming and affable presence to host the events and as he left the stage he was replaced by the heavily pregnant, Mia Silvas. Mia took lead vocals on the next song, “Bully” and was supported by Bailey and Tallula Tzuke. Vin’s opening satire had reminded us that Judie is best known for her ballads and an aggressive and fiery rocker like “Bully” is a necessary balance. In some ways, it is surprising then that not more of songs of this kind were used and the evening did rather concentrate on those self-same ballads.

Between the ballads and the occasional rocker, more than 20 musicians took the stage. Speaking poignantly of Judie’s role in encouraging their musical and personal development, there were those who had written with Judie and those who had performed with her and recorded with her. The few for whom great distance meant they could not be present had sent their video greetings. Judie’s former keyboard player and co-writer, Bob Noble sent his greetings from the United States. Lucie Silvas who is also now living in the U.S. and whose solo career Judie helped to launch not only sent a message but her version of Judie’s wonderful song “Joan of Arc” was recorded and played – and accompanied by video images that Vin had developed for the occasion.
Tony Moore contributed his version of Judie’s mid-paced, mid-life crisis number, “the Cup of Tea Song” which he stretched out to meet the needs of his voice, whilst Tom Baxter performed three songs with his band that Judie had helped him write for his own albums: “Icarus Wings”, “Skybound”, and “Love is Not Enough”.

Mia Silvas

Highlights included Lorna Blackwood delivering her own version of one of Judie’s strongest recent songs, “Dark Days”, and Vashti’s take on “All at Sea” which originated on the same album.

Many of these very capable singers commented how difficult it was to sing songs which Judie had written for her own range and for her own sense of melody. Bailey recalled how she had forced her Mum to sing “Choices You’ve Made” on a recent tour before finding how difficult that rocker is to sing and promising never to obligate her in that way again.

Ms Tzuke’s ear for young and up and coming talent was shown by the performances by Laura and the Tears (“See You Later”) and Tim Deal (“Parallel Lives”) both of whom have emerged under Judie’s tutelage.

One of Jude’s first compositions was “Ladies’ Night” and there was something particularly poignant about hearing it performed by her eldest daughter as Bailey returned to the stage following on from a gentle performance of the beautiful ballad “One Minute” by Mia.

Bailey Tzuke

Only one thing remained to round out the evening – the chant of “Jud-ie” went up and the lady in whose honour the whole evening was put together was encouraged to come to stage. Visibly moved by the whole occasion, Ms Tzuke, the elder, complied. Joined by Richard Cardwell, she first performed a beautiful version of “Man and A Gun” from her “Wonderland” album. This was followed by the predictable but essential “Stay With Me Till Dawn. Friends old and new – Mike Paxman, Ben Mark et al – joined her on stage. Pax took his signature solo on the hit and rousing applause and standing ovation aside before we knew we were spilling out into the night.

Quite wonderful

.

Judie Tzuke

Judie Tzuke – 30 years – A Chronology

Posted on by
Reply

 

Sunday night was a good night to celebrate an anniversary with a lady who has been a consistent presence in the UK music industry for 30 years and who has simply one of the greatest voices in rock. More of that in a little while but first let me give you a bit of chronology and a bit of background for those who came in late.

Judie Tzuke first rose to public view (after a couple of false starts) with her album, “Welcome to the Cruise”, in 1979. The single taken from the album, “Stay With Me Till Dawn”, remains her only success on the UK singles chart. After that she was known mainly as an albums’ artist – but because of “….Dawn” she was principally recognised for her ability to compose and sing ballads.

“Welcome to the Cruise” had some great songs but lacked a little in cogent direction in the production department. Her second and third albums, “Sportscar” and “I Am the Phoenix”, took her in a rockier direction. These albums closed out her contract with Rocket (a label owned by Elton John).

Her first album for her new label, Chrysalis, was “Shoot the Moon” in 1982. It was followed by a live set “Road Noise” which showed that her and her band could certainly rock out. Her audience had expanded to include the fringes of the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” brigade and whilst each of these albums charted, she had become cast as another “rock chick” appreciated by those who liked their Stevie Nicks and Heart albums. Trouble was that too narrowly defined Judie’s talents and it was a mould that she was to seek to break out of, even if she lost her audience in the process.

1983s “Ritmo” was an effort to take her music in a more keyboard dominated but funkier and rhythmic direction. It didn’t sell as well as its predecessors and Chrysalis withdrew their backing.

Another label move followed as she switched to Legacy for an album “The Cat is Out” which sought to combine the synthesizers of “Ritmo” with the rock and ballads of her commercial successes. Crucially, Judie was to leave most of the composing to her band on this one giving a suggestion that she was not convinced by what might be perceived by some as a backward step. Bad distribution and a lower profile label led to a further decline in sales despite a successful tour. This 1985 album was to be her one and only for Legacy and heralded the beginning of the splintering of her touring band:bassist John “Rhino” Edwards left and joined Status Quo.

The cat may have been out but Ms Tzuke seemed to be heading for cover. It was four years before she resurfaced with a new long term deal with Polydor, a new album and a promised new tour. The album “Turning Stones” gave her the most disappointing chart placing to date and was more esoteric than “Ritmo” and a much more determined effort than its predecessor. Whether because of disappointing sales or some other reason the tour was swiftly cancelled, the album disappeared from the shelves after one pressing and the much talked of long association with Polydor was brief indeed.

CBS was the next label to take a chance on Judie and in 1991 they released the patchy affair “Left Hand Talking”. This had a re-working of “Stay With Me Till Dawn”, covers of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” and Judee Sill’s “Jesus was a Cross Maker” and seven new compositions that were good in their own right but didn’t necessarily feel like they belonged together. It was the first album in Tzuke’s career that hadn’t charted and the record company promoted the preceding single (the Beach Boys song) with much more vigour than they did the album.

Another year, another label. Castle Communications were the parent company behind Legacy who had released the 1985 album and it was back to them and their “Essential” imprint that Judie headed in 1992. “Wonderland” was a much more thought out affair than its predecessor and was accompanied by some live concerts, TV promotion and a couple of singles. Still sales were unremarkable despite guest appearances on the album by Queen’s Brian May and the current classical darling of the moment, Nigel Kennedy. This was Tzuke at her most mature and thoughtful and still the public wasn’t biting. It was becoming clear that Judie’s days of charting albums and big sales were behind her. If she was to carry on in the music industry then the emphasis would need to be on artistic integrity and a refusal to bend to the whims of the major labels – whilst retaining the support of a dedicated fanbase. It would take a couple of years to figure this out but when it happened Judie Tzuke’s internet-only, artist-owned label, Big Moon, would be a pioneer of its kind.

The second part of Judie Tzuke’s career saw her produce a series of thoughtful studio albums and several live recordings each accompanied by a tour of small-to-medium sized venues around the UK. By this time Judie had settled into domestic life with two children, Bailey and Tallula, by her bandmate, Paul Muggleton. The rest of her original touring band had gone their separate ways with last man standing Mike Paxman soon to be heading in new directions too.

Four years had again elapsed before the appearance of 1996’s Under the Angels. The album couldn’t be found in the stores but healthy promotion was achieved at live concerts where the fact that Judie had a new album, and her own label was notified to everyone who attended. This was alongside “Wonderland” the most accomplished set of Ms Tzuke’s career and her new artistic freedom fitted her well.

Tours in February and June 1997 were recorded for the live album “Over the Moon” which covered the whole of her career to date and when the touring was finished and with sales of the live album healthy, Judie set to work on the next studio album “Secret Agent” which was released in 1998.

This formula of studio album – tour – live album was obviously the way to go and so the last leg of the “Secret Agent” tour was recorded for “Six Days Before the Flood” which was released immediately before the next studio set “Queen Secret Keeper” in 2001.

Another outside label, East Central One came sniffing around this album and promised to make a single out of “Drive” from the record. Its failure to materialise can only have further battered Tzuke’s opinion of record labels.

Undeterred, “Drive Live” was 2002’s live document of the 2001 tour of the album. By now, Judie’s recording studio, label and home had become the nurturing ground for another generation of musicians who were learning their trade, co-writing and being mentored by Judie. Their presence was seen increasingly on her tours and also began to reflect itself in the music charts as first Lucie Silvas and then Judie’s daughter, Bailey Tzuke began to make their presence known.

But everything has its time and this cycle of activity was about to slow down and give way to another chapter. But first there were some loose ends to tie up. First an album of covers “The Beauty of Hindsight – Volume 1”, again accompanied by a tour – this time with a tour programme partially written by yours truly.

2004’s album “The End of the Beginning” had a title which said everything. This was probably one of the three best albums of her career but it was also the last of its kind to date. If Big Moon was to continue it was going to need to move in a new direction which would allow Judie to break out of the constant cycle of touring and recording and allow her to concentrate on her work developing others’ talents, songwriting with her circle of friends but also with the increasingly large number of acts that the majors were pushing in her direction. The beginning of Big Moon had been one thing and that time was at an end and now there was a new thing but first time for one last regular tour (again accompanied by a tour booklet in which my writings were featured).

It would be three years before there would be another Judie Tzuke album on Big Moon and with “Songs 1” and its follow up “Songs 2”, the emphasis was away from a thematic album and back with a much looser collection of songs which just reflected the songwriting prior to its release. When a tour came, it was much less Judie and made room for performances from the stable of talent she was developing with Ms Tzuke like a proud mother hen pushing her associates out into the limelight.

Now in 2009, I hear whispers of a new development with talk of an album partially made up of old songs and to be released into the stores by a label other than Big Moon……. Haven’t we heard and seen this before….. and it didn’t work then.

Only time will tell whether this latest chapter in the career of the unsinkable Judie Tzuke will be a high point or a low point.

In the meantime, there was a gathering of friends and fans to help her celebrate her thirty years in the business and I’ll tell you about that in a subsequent post……….

From Hallowe’en to Fireworks

Posted on by
Reply

Place: Elland Road, Leeds
Date: 31st October 2009
Event: Leeds United vs Yeovil Town

Leeds, coming off the back of a 4-0 victory over promotion rivals Bristol Rovers, were expected to dominate their next opponents easily. Yeovil Town securely in mid-table and not looking likely to go much higher, were not perceived to be the threat that the Pirates had been but half way through the game it all looked like it might go wrong. It looked like we might be on our way to a hallowe’en- flavoured nightmare.

Leeds had begun the game with Ankergren in goal. Higgs was still unavailable. Ankergren is not the safest pair of hands but their only other alternative is young Alan Martin. In defence, Patrick Kisnorbo and Richard Naylor are a solid pair in the centre of defence. Leigh Bromby, at right back, looked solid as a feeder down the wing to winger, Snodgrass but less comfortable when under pressure from the Yeovil forwards. Left back, Andy Hughes, is not in his most natural position in that slot but did reasonably well in a team that looked flat and uninspired.

Micky Doyle playing immediately in front of the central defenders did okay in the first half but Leeds needed more playmakers to feed the front pair. In a game where Leeds’ main tactic seemed to be to bypass the central midfield as they sought to hump it upfield hard and fast when they could not carry the ball down the flanks, Jonny Howson and Bradley Johnson had really no role to play. Amazingly in the first half Leeds had gone in front but hardly looked like they deserved that lead.

Robert Snodgrass had been by far the brightest of the three forward players. Jermaine Beckford is, of course, a proven force but his partnership with Sam Vokes looks hardly worth the name. They look like someone needs to take them aside in the dressing room and introduce them. In the first half, they both sought to lead the line in their own way but, really, there was no interaction between them.

Beckford is lethal when he has the ball but does not impose himself or create space when he is off-the-ball. The players looked like they expected to win just by turning up. The goal when it had come on 42 minutes looked like the final touch had come from Beckford but later examination of video footage was to reveal that no contact was made and the goal belonged to Bradley Johnson.

The second half started in exactly the same vein and the crowd was growing quiet as that feeling that we were going to take this slender lead into the late stage of a game in which Yeovil might just grab a share began to develop.

And then on the hour came Simon Grayson’s masterstroke. In one moment, he showed why he is the mostly highly rated manager in the lower divisions. Leeds needed a big change in midfield and someone with spark and play-making skill and Grayson had just the move in mind.

In a double switch, he brought an end to this developing hallowe’en and gave us the fireworks a few days early. On came Neil Kilkenny to replace Michael Doyle who really was an unneeded presence on this occasion. Most significantly, Andrew Hughes was pulled off to make room for Max Gradel, a loan player who has come in from Leicester.

It was Gradel who was to prove the difference in taking this team from their flat first hour to a final third of the game when they tore Yeovil apart.

Gradel ran himself forward at every opportunity. He wrapped the defence in knots. He outpaced the full back to make the vital cross on numerous occasions and he wasn’t afraid to try a snapshot himself. Indeed, it was Gradel who with a goal of brilliant individuality made it 2-0. This came shortly after he had providing a dangerous opening for Beckford and shortly before he fed Howson for another chance.

Beckford and Vokes finally met when the former fed off the latter’s flick to give a three goal lead.

Shortly afterwards, Beckford the goalscorer made way for Tresor Kandol who was later to add a fourth goal.

There were even more fireworks after the final whistle when Kandol seemed to get a little too lively in exchanges with opponents. There had been other chances during the actual game and Leeds were unlucky not to make it more than four.

A jubilant crowd eventually moved away having forgotten the woeful beginning to this game. Leeds can’t afford to become complacent. Perhaps a permanent deal for man-of-the match, Gradel could provide an on-going spark that they were so sorely lacking in the first hour.

A Quiet Man and his Tiny Colour Movies

Posted on by
1

Thursday 29th of October
Leeds College of Music
John Foxx

Reviewing John Foxx, I have to declare a bias. There are very few musicians I would travel from London to Leeds to see whether I was writing a review or not. With Mr Foxx, I would comfortably travel twice that distance just for my own enjoyment.

Thursday night was not a concert but rather a film show with music. A few years ago, John began to develop a movie called "Tiny Colour Movies" from a selection of old Super8 films that he had gathered together from markets and attics. He added an evocative soundtrack and it became an hours fascinating experience. He has been playing it occasionally around the UK whilst tweaking it slightly before each showing to make it closer to the artistic vision that he had in mind.

Film of skyscrapers in New York, old Hollywood actors using keys to open doors, a naked 19 year old swimming around a car dumped at the bottom of a lake, members of families waving to their relatives…… it’s all here. It is not the stuff of today’s Hollywood Blockbusters and it is all the better for it. I suspect that the back story that Foxx has created of the various film makers and collectors is a lot of hokum but it creates a modern fiction from old inconsequential factual footage which is quite, quite charming.

After a twenty minute break, we return to the audiotorium to hear a section of the recent spoken word album "The Quiet Man". Foxx plays piano whilst the voice of an actor pre-recorded for radio is heard reading Foxx’s short story. We’re told a story of London gone wild for unknown reasons where the buildings are empty but intact except for the trees and flowers growing up the walls and through the carpets. The music is thoughtful and sparse, the accompanying film is provocative and interesting and the RP reading of the story keeps your attention.

Finally, VJ Karborn is invited to the stage to mix and sample images whilst John Foxx improvises a piano piece full of echo and resonance. The music is interesting but needs to be developed. It is difficult to see the theme in the images and no real narrative is established and this is the least satisfying of tonight’s performance.

The affable Mr Foxx then fields questions for twenty minutes talking about his inspirations, his plans for the future, slightly nerdy questions about synthesisers used 30 years ago and the sci-fi film Robot Monster.

A relaxed and thoughtful and quite beautiful evening’s activities. I’d travel to Leeds again for more of the same.

Yankees on the threshold

Posted on by
1

After last night’s win, the Yankees are just one win away from another World Series. I’ll be posting my regular October updates in the next few days but this particular position really required an additional few lines.
The trio of starters that we have HAD to depend on through the playoffs have seen us through. Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte have been solid and, at best, outstanding. The bullpen has been both a great strength and a great weakness. Rivera has been everything we know that he is. Hughes such a dependable presence during the regular season has been quite dreadful.
There have been sterling performances from Jeter, Rodriguez, Damon, Posada and little wrong elsewhere.

I think it’ll go to six games but the Phillies will have to be tremendous to turn it around now.

September in the Bronx – Part 2 – The Pitchers

Posted on by
2

The Yankees have benefited from some great pitching performances and some consistent pitchers this year. Who were the main heroes and the late season culprits?

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – September
Name GP GS GF IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA
Coke, Phil 10 0 2 5.2 1 1 0 2 5 0 0 1 0.00 .059
Robertson, David 4 0 0 3.2 1 0 0 2 6 0 0 0 0.00 .083
Kennedy, Ian 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Sabathia, CC 5 5 0 35.0 20 6 5 13 36 4 0 0 1.29 .167
Hughes, Phil 12 0 2 12.2 6 3 2 3 16 3 0 2 1.42 .143
Rivera, Mariano 11 0 11 10.2 8 2 2 3 10 2 1 7 1.69 .211
Albaladejo, Jonathan 9 0 2 7.1 9 3 2 3 3 1 0 0 2.45 .310
Aceves, Alfredo 7 0 1 14.1 11 5 4 4 13 1 0 0 2.51 .208
Bruney, Brian 11 0 1 8.2 8 3 3 6 7 1 0 0 3.12 .242
Towers, Josh 2 0 2 5.1 6 3 2 1 2 0 0 0 3.38 .273
Gaudin, Chad 5 5 0 26.2 27 11 11 10 18 1 0 0 3.71 .265
Burnett, AJ 6 6 0 37.1 39 18 17 16 39 2 1 0 4.10 .262
Pettitte, Andy 4 4 0 23.0 21 12 12 13 15 2 1 0 4.70 .244
Melancon, Mark 4 0 0 5.0 6 3 3 4 3 0 0 0 5.40 .300
Dunn, Michael 4 0 3 4.0 3 3 3 5 5 0 0 0 6.75 .200
Chamberlain, Joba 6 6 0 22.2 31 19 18 11 17 1 2 0 7.15 .320
Ramirez, Edwar 5 0 2 4.2 7 4 4 3 6 0 0 0 7.71 .350
Marte, Damaso 10 0 1 5.0 6 5 5 2 4 1 2 0 9.00 .300
Mitre, Sergio 4 2 1 15.0 21 18 16 4 12 0 2 0 9.60 .309
120 28 28 247.2 231 119 109 107 218 19 9 10 3.96 .244

Positives

Phil Coke. Coke has not looked the pitcher who made his entry on to the major league stage in 2008. He has, however, usually provided an adequate performance and has frequently been better than that. In September, he started to look again like the pitcher we had seen back in the previous season and when he wasn’t that good, he looked like the luckiest pitcher in the major leagues. It is not a bad combination if you can pull it off.

C.C. Sabathia. With the expection of an abysmal performance against Tampa Bay in the last few days of the season (which fell in October), Sabathia looked every bit a 20-game winner. That defeat left him stuck on 19. Four of those came in September and a 1.29 ERA over 35 innings is quite an achievement.

Phil Hughes. Hughes has become a consummate relief pitcher in 2009 which is why the Yankees are thinking of converting him into a starter in 2010!! Less than 2 runs every nine innings, less than 1 walk every four innings. Great performances.

Alfredo Aceves. Aceves has had a great time of it in 2009. He was left off the opening day roster but since he made it, there has been no looking back and September was as good as every other  month of the season.

Negatives

Sergio Mitre. Mitre was the fifth starter for the last few months of the season. His performance in September was so bad that he took away any chance he had of making the playoff roster. A 9.60 ERA for the month, a visible lack of confidence and the highest OBA on the side. Great finish!

Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain, at times, has looked like he was growing into a great starter. For most of September, he didn’t look like he should ever be allowed to start again. At times, he looked like he couldn’t throw strikes and when he did manage one, it generally ended up in a gap in the outfield. Back to Plan A, I think.

Edwar Ramirez. At the start of the year, Ramirez looked like a fixture in the 2009 Yankees bullpen. By mid-season, he was gone. At the roster expansion point, he returned. He didn’t look any better and his time with the Yankees should be at an end now.

Damaso Marte. He looked a much better possibility after returning from injury than he had before he was injured. Second in the pecking order amongst left-handed specialists – behind Coke but looking more reliable than late season call-up, Mike Dunn – Marte, suddenly fell apart again late in the month.

Surprises

Ian Kennedy. I don’t know what was more surprising. Was it that Kennedy made it back to the Majors in 2009? Or was it that he got out of his one appearance with a 0.00 ERA. Put simply, he was awful in that game.

David Robertson. Robertson was another pitcher who managed to get ahead of the timetable and return to the team before season’s end. That was where the similarity with Kennedy ended. He threw well. He threw strikes. He occasionally got in to a jam but he usually managed to get himself out of the problems. Sadly, because of Chamberlain’s redirection to the bullpen, he is unlikely to get many innings in the playoffs.

Brian Bruney. He had a good month, on the whole, in September, and it was somewhat surprising that he didn’t make the roster for the first round of the playoffs. He pitched with conviction but his uneven season was too much for him to overcome.

Chad Gaudin. If the Yankees need a 4th starter in the playoffs, it is likely to be Gaudin which in and of itself suggests how much of a surprise Gaudin has been over the last few weeks. He has shown a gritty determination to keep the Bombers in the game and produced some goos innings without ever been overpowering.

September in the Bronx – part 1- the Batters

Posted on by
Reply

Well, here we are in October, the R/Sox crashed out of the playoffs in three straight games and I still haven’t published my summary of September for the Yankees.
As I anticipated the two L.A. teams are going to be the ones that the Yankees need to worry about – what ammunition do they have to overcome them, once they have dispensed with the Twins?

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – September
Name G AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG OBP
Cervelli, Francisco 14 14 3 7 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .571 .500
Cano, Robinson 28 100 15 35 13 9 0 4 7 15 0 2 1 .350 .560 .391
Teixeira, Mark 26 102 21 35 20 8 3 7 8 23 0 2 0 .343 .686 .395
Jeter, Derek 26 100 13 34 6 2 0 1 19 22 2 0 7 .340 .390 .450
Posada, Jorge 18 59 11 20 18 3 0 5 10 17 0 0 0 .339 .644 .435
Rodriguez, Alex 25 89 14 30 23 5 0 5 10 19 0 2 5 .337 .562 .396
Miranda, Juan 5 6 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333
Matsui, Hideki 24 80 13 26 18 0 0 5 14 13 0 0 0 .325 .513 .426
Pena, Ramiro 13 17 3 5 2 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 .294 .529 .294
Cabrera, Melky 28 87 10 25 18 5 0 2 7 8 0 0 2 .287 .414 .361
Swisher, Nick 24 88 19 23 12 7 0 7 15 19 0 0 0 .261 .580 .369
Gardner, Brett 20 41 9 10 3 2 0 0 2 8 1 0 4 .244 .293 .295
Damon, Johnny 22 81 13 19 5 4 0 0 14 16 1 0 2 .235 .284 .347
Duncan, Shelley 8 13 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 .231 .231 .231
Hinske, Eric 15 28 4 6 4 0 0 2 4 7 0 1 1 .214 .429 .303
Molina, Jose 15 35 1 6 2 0 0 0 5 6 0 0 0 .171 .171 .275
Hairston Jr., Jerry 18 28 4 4 1 2 0 0 4 3 1 0 0 .143 .214 .250
Guzman, Freddy 7 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 .000 .000 .000
970 154 290 151 49 3 39 119 186 5 8 25 .299 .476 .377

Positives

Robinson Cano. As I mentioned in the reports of the individual games, Cano has made tremendous progress this season. No longer the guy who was lazy in the field last season or the guy with the lacklustre batting average. He led the team in September in hits and doubles and defensively having him and Teixeira in the field means that we compare with anyone on that side of the park.

Mark Teixeira. Speaking of Teixeira, another great month for him. It’s interesting that the press still like to talk about his standard of offensive performance in April, attributing it to the lack of A-Rod’s threat behind him in the lineup which is nonsensical. Better to concentrate on the fact that since then he has been so consistent and always put up great stats and been a leader in clutch situations. In September, he led the team in at bats, runs, RBIs, triples, home runs and slugging. I think he’s done enough to gain credit in his own right.

Derek Jeter. In September, Jeter had another .340 month and led the team in walks. He has not had a down period all year. He is also much improved in the field – although I don’t think he deserved a large part of the negative criticism he took last year.

Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez continues to get into his stride and this has, so far, continued into the post-season. It has been a slow progression for him but he’s finally got there.

Negatives

Jerry Hairston, jr. Hairston has, by contrast, been cooling down each week since since he arrived in the Bronx. On one hand, this makes it very easy to decide who to choose to start at third base but leaves us going into the post-season without having anyone on the bench that we would particularly want to call on to fill that spot in an emergency. Ramiro Pena has been a consistent and capable utility guy for the other infield spots but first, Ransom and now Hairston and Hinske have offered very little offensively and played only adequately in the third base corner.

Jose Molina. If I was to choose a Yankee catcher on the basis of power and experience, I would go with Posada. If my choice was guided by defensive ability and the need to grow through more playing time then Cervelli is my guy. Molina’s .171 with no power in September means that Molina might count himself lucky to be on the post-season roster. If it wasn’t for the questions about the Burnett-Posada tandem then I would have left him off and given Cervelli the extra time.

Eric Hinske. See the comments on Hairston. Hinske brings the potential for a little more sporadic power but not much else.

Shelley Duncan. Duncan’s great season at Scranton gave him one more chance in the majors for the Yankees ………. and he didn’t even begin to take it. 13 at bats, 3 hits is not too bad but you’re looking for this guy to hit for power and he just hasn’t done it in this limited role. The Yankees can either choose to give him the option to become a career minor leaguer or release him to try his fortune elsewhere.

Surprises

Johnny Damon. Damon needs to finish hot if he is to persuade the Yankees to let him return in 2010. He is a sub-par left-fielder and really needs to keep up his average if he is to be back in that role next year. A mere .235 with no home runs was not the way he wanted to go in September. He needs a big post-season.

Freddy Guzman. Guzman was a surprise addition to the roster in late August and immediately, Girardi was talking about him having a role in the playoffs. He didn’t make the first round of the playoffs and a series against the Angels would seem to offer him the best chance of a call up. But to be honest is baserunning in late September was predictable and too often he found himself in problems.

Brett Gardner. Gardner didn’t really deliver in September. He is significantly behind Cabrera for the centrefield starting role and his baserunning hasn’t been as aggressive and Jeter and Guzman have looked the main threats in that category. Given that he went into the season as the favoured man for CF and that Girardi said he had no plans to platoon, this must be regarded as a severe setback for him.

Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli has proved himself again and again this season. He is a capable guy with the tools of ignorance but it is ability to hit for average at the major league level that is the big surprise and which is the big lift for him and which is beginning to look like it is no fluke. Mostly as a late innings replacement in September, not an easy role, he has managed six singles and a double in fourteen at-bats which for me means that he should see a big increase in opportunities next year and that he should move up the pecking order for the catching role, even if that means saying goodbye to Molina who has served us well over the last few years.

In New York – Third Game

Posted on by
Reply

September 30th 2009
Yankees Vs Kansas City Royals
@ Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Joba rules! We’ve lived with them for the last two seasons. Designed to ensure that the young pitcher of the New York Yankees develops into the star we all KNOW that he can be. Mmmm…….  Tonight after lots of late season restrictions the training wheels came off and Chamberlain was given his head to show what he could do in a game on which nothing depended. And we all sat there and squirmed……. And hoped that this was just another off night and tried to avoid the conclusion that they’ll never make a starter out of this guy. But, trust me, this was dreadful.

Joba Chamberlain pitched 3 and 2/3 innings for 3 runs, and even more worryingly 7 hits and 4 walks. He couldn’t find the strike zone and I would have to say that he was lucky to get off so lightly. He was replaced before the end of the 4th inning by Alfredo Aceves. Now this guy didn’t make the rotation back on opening day and has never really been considered as an option for the starting rotation in 2009 but tonight he looked like twice the pitcher that Joba appeared to be. Aceves pitched two innings and if it wasn’t for the fact that the Yankees’ bats had gone to sleep, we would have been right back in it.

Of the batters, only Jeter produced anything of note. Two hits, one a home run and also a walk before he was lifted for Jerry Hairston in the late innings for a game the Yankees didn’t seem to think they could win but in which they were only one run behind.

The late innings relievers, Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera were as overpowering and untouchable as they have been for most of the season but the Royals’ bullpen was just as effective and the Yankees ran out losers, 4-3.

So the last home game of the stand raised more questions than answers and Chamberlain hoping that he could some way edge onto the post-season roster and re-gain some of the ground he has lost.

In New York – 2nd Game

Posted on by
Reply

September 29th 2009
Yankees Vs Kansas City Royals
@ Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

The Yankees are paying AJ Burnett an awful lot of money. After this game he was giving a rousing round of applause for 6 and a 1/3 innings during which he only gave up one earned run. The problem is that from where I was sitting he looked lucky. I kept waiting for the moment when there would be a series of hits and Kansas would then take him apart but it never came. I don’t know why. The problem is that I don’t think it was because Burnett was overpowering so much as that Kansas are a weak hitting side.

The post-season is at hand and the Yankees biggest flaw is their starting pitching – the one thing they spent most of last off-season trying to fix. Sabathia has been consistent (although I wasn’t know to know at this point he was only a couple of days away from one of his worst starts of the season). Burnett has had a poor second half after a solid opening to the season. Pettitte has been good for one good performance in every two. Chamberlain has spent half the time looking like a starter who would make a good reliever which is ironic since he is a good reliever who we are trying to make into a good starter. It is good that we don’t need a fifth starter in the playoffs.

We’ll see what comes. We could be brilliant, we could be embarrassing.

Tonight, we got away with it.

In relief, Phil Coke pitched reasonably well but made some bizarre decisions in fielding and dealing with runners on base – leading to the unearned run that was credited to Burnett. David Robertson looked as good as anyone coming back from injury at this point of season could have done. Brian Bruney removed 4 of the last 6 batters (1 hit, 1 walk) and has been busy playing himself back into contention for a playoff roster spot.

Offensively, we didn’t have much to offer. Teixeira carried us and fan-favourite Nick Swisher added a home run which was just enough for a 4-3 win.

Before the game I visited the Yankees museum (which is excellent) and Monument Park (which, ironically, in this more spacious ballpark is a little too compact). I really must do this more often.

In New York – 1st Game

Posted on by
Reply

September 28th 2009
Yankees Vs Kansas City Royals
@ Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Last time I arrived in New York, the newspapers were full of stories about how Yankees manager, Joe Girardi, had benched secondbaseman Robinson Cano. Cano had failed to show sufficent effort in his fielding work resulting in Girardi subsituting him immmediately and deciding not to select him for the next game.

This time, Cano fielded like the guy we also knew he could become and hit a grand slam home run to add the power  the Yankees needed to gain their insurance runs.

Oh and all this happened in a completely different stadium.

What else was notable?

Before our journey if I’d have predicted which game I was sure the Yankees would win during our visit, then I’d have gone for the game of the 29th. Burnett looked a possible winner, Chamberlain (due to start on the 30th) can be brilliant on his day. I’m still not sure why we signed Chad Gaudin (who was scheduled to start tonight). We had Sergio Mitre to be an indifferent fifth starter, why did we need another?

At least, the Yankees rule against beards meant that Gaudin couldn’t re-grow that thing he used to sport on his chin when he was with the Cubs. But beyond that I’ve found it hard to think of anything that has come out of him joining the Yankees up until this point. Tonight, he pitched 6 2/3 innings for 4 hits and 2 runs. Now he wasn’t outstanding but he held his ground and kept the Yankees in the lead. I don’t expect to see him on the post-season roster or back in the Bronx in 2010 but he’s good enough to get a job elsewhere.

Cano picked up his 49th double and 26th home run. Jorge Posada got to first base safely in every one of four plate appearance.

Oh and the Yankees collected their 101st win of the season.

This is all the more oustanding because it was their 59th win since the All-Star break. Amazing!

So a 8-2 win for this game, roll on tomorrow