twilightdawning

A writer's thoughts – mainly about music, sport and theatre. Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, live shows, New York Yankees

Reason to Believe

Posted on June 24, 2008 by twilightdawning

Music plays a fairly substantial part in my life in all kinds of shapes and forms. I listen to it, I write about it. Amongst the cds on fairly regular rotation over the last few days have been discs by Tom Scott, Danilo Perez, JD Souther, Rubicks and Mark Colby. A fair percentage of jazz mixed in there. All this while doing the final re-writes on my interview project with Richie Furay which has come together really well and about which various editors are proving very enthusiastic.

However, the album which has really been catching my attention today is an obscure disc by a band called Hearts and Flowers who had their moment in the sun in 1967-68 and are best remembered for being the second stopping point for Bernie Leadon. I think this was the second band of his illustrious career. He joined them for their second album “Of Horses, Children and Forgotten Women”. The band couldn’t decide whether they wanted to be The Byrds, early Simon & Garfunkel (think Wednesday Morning Three A.M.) or straight country. Folk-rock, then. Consequently, the albums are eclectic and a lot of fun with great harmonies and bags of energy and youthful enthusiasm. The songs include a cover of the Tim Hardin song I’ve used for the title of this journey entry, and bizarrely a version of “Two Little Boys” which was made famous a few years later here in the UK by wobble-board-playing Australian, Rolf Harris. Eclectic indeed.

Mostly the albums have been making me sit up and listen for all the right reasons but there are a couple of moments which have touched my funny bone. The guitar on the track “Now is the Time for Hearts & Flowers” and the backing vocals on “The View From Ward 3” (both on their first album) put me very much in mind of the vocals and guitar on that other forgotten classic of the ’60s “(Listen to) the Flower People” by the quite wonderful Spinal Tap. It’s hard to keep a straight face. I seem to have that clip from the rockumentary on regular playback in my head.

I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy – Baseball update

Posted on June 21, 2008 by twilightdawning

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Boston	46	30	.605	–
Tampa Bay	43	30	.589	1.5
NY Yankees	40	34	.541	5.0
Baltimore	38	34	.528	6.0
Toronto	35	40	.467	10.5

The Yankees are enjoying their best run of the season. They’ve simultaneously put themselves in the reckoning for the division title and the wild card. So who has made the difference?

Pluses

Johnny Damon. I’m still reeling from the day that Damon went six-for-six. He was the first Yankee to do this since 1934. He’s batting .331 on the season and .434 on the month. Last year, he seemed to be fading. This year he has bounced right back.

Alex Rodriguez. 14 home runs on the season. Batting .431 on the month. Slugging .629 on the season, .831 on the month. He’s on a real tear.

Jorge Posada. He’s back. He’s more than holding his own. He’s lifted the weight off Molina. He’s being patient at the plate. ‘Nuff said.

Mariano Rivera. Early in June, he encountered his first wobbles of the season. Two home runs in consecutive games. He’s overcome that problem. His ERA on the month is now back down to 2.00. He’s just picked up his twentieth save of the season.

Jose Veras. Prone to injuries and inconsistent since he joined the Yankees, I’d placed him down amongst the also-rans and was looking forward to the day when the Yankees could consider letting him go. 2 wins and a 1.93 ERA on the month so far has turned all that around.

Mike Mussina. Despite yesterday’s defeat against the Reds, you have to acknowledge that the aging Moose has exceeded all expectations. Like Damon, there were real doubts about him coming into the season. That he has 10 wins prior to All Star day is simply outstanding.

Minuses

Melky Cabrera. He’s still inconsistent at the plate. .215 on the month. His fielding makes him a regular but he’s number 4 of the regular outfielders at the moment.

Bobby Abreu. He’s had a pretty good year but the last two weeks have been his worst – just when the team are at their best.

Alberto Gonzalez. He was called up to replace Shelley Duncan who was not getting any playing time and must be fast running out of chances. Shame is the same can be said for Gonzalez. 5 at-bats since his call up and he’s just swinging at air.

Edwar Ramirez. He has gone from a plus to a minus very quickly. In 6 games in June, he has produced a 9.00 ERA. Fortunately, the rest of the bullpen is more than holding its own but he needs to turn it around.

Surprises

Jason Giambi. He has consistently hit for power since he pulled himself out of his early season funk but now he’s boosting his average too. .314 average in June so far.

Chad Moeller. The big surprise is that he is giving Cashman a reason to keep him in the Bronx and to carry three catchers. He’s proving a good pinch-hitter and it seems that until we’re 100% sure that Posada is going to have no more problems, then we’re not going to risk losing him entirely.

Wilson Betemit. He’s bounced back from injury and he’s holding his own. At the start of the year, given the choice between Duncan, Gonzalez and Betemit for the utility infielder, I would have placed Betemit third. Now, he is showing he is the most useful by some distance.

LaTroy Hawkins. He is doing well in June but the surprise is that the Yankees aren’t trusting him with the ball. So early in his time at the Yankees, this doesn’t bode well for a long term future in the Bronx.

Chris Britton. Like Bruney, he achieved more than expected and then got injured. His 1.29 ERA (0.00 in June) would hopefully have led to a regular spot but he’ll have to prove himself all over again, now.

Dan Giese. Where did this guy come from? Patterson was called up for one day and then replaced by Giese. It seemed like Giese wasn’t going to stay but he had just been called up to allow Patterson time to rest without relying on the relatively small number of pitchers we’re carrying. However Giese did better than Patterson had and just kept over-performing. Tonight, he has a start because of the injury to Chien-Ming Wang. I’m surprised.

Joba Chamberlain. Well, he still not making wins but he’s adapting quicker than I’d anticipated and he’s not losing. It’s enough for now.

Darrell Rasner. Seems to have lost his consistency. Hasn’t had the run support that Mussina has had but his head is beginning to drop a little and we need to take care of this guy if the rotation is going to hold together.

Billy Traber. I thought we’d seen the last of Traber but because of the injury situation, he’s got another chance. We need him to take that chance.

Fool, if you think…….

Posted on June 13, 2008 by twilightdawning

One of the great trademarks of Shakespeare’s plays is the way that the fools and clowns of the various plays are the deliverers of so much wit and wisdom. From the erudite fool in King Lear via the midpoint of the humour of the Porter in MacBeth to the comic turn that is Launcelot Gobbo in Merchant of Venice, the collected works are full of them.

So you’d expect that there would be a fool in Titus Andronicus and indeed there is and we’ve not yet looked at his role. The simply-named “Clown” does not arrive on the scene until Act 4 Scene 3, line 76.1. He is asked by Titus to deliver a message to Saturninus, the Emperor. He tells us no hidden truth and aside from one strong joke which would be understood by the audience of the day, he has no particularly witty words to give us and he understands less. By scene 4 of the same Act, he delivers his message and by line 48 of that scene he is led away to his death. Don’t shoot the messenger, indeed!

If this was a late play in the Shakespearean writings, then you might think that old Will is ironically dispelling our expectations. After a career of using the fools of the theatre company to deliver insight, here is one who has nothing to say and only a brief moment upon the stage ending in his own death. But Titus Andronicus, as far as we know, is the earliest of the Shakespearean tragedies. So what are we to understand through this?

Well, perhaps, Shakespeare is pointing out that in corrupt society even truth dies. Even the hidden channels by which truth sometimes comes are closed off. In the scene that has Clown’s appearance, old Andronicus is firing arrows into the heavens (no mean feat with one good arm) with messages attached, hoping to contact the Divine who seems to have hidden his face. He then proceeds to fire them towards the Emperor’s palace in the hope of at least notifying him of his complaint. Neither tactic seems to produce much (except a bird that falls from the heavens) so Titus depends on the Clown to deliver his message for him.

The final channel for truth in this corrupt society is stopped and is hung upon the gallows. Redemption, if there is any, must come from without.

Will you still have a song to sing when the razor boy comes and takes your fancy things away……

Posted on June 12, 2008 by twilightdawning

So I’m into my seventh week of hanging around with Titus Andronicus. If you’ve seen me on the tube, I bet I was reading Titus Androncius. If you’ve seen behind a plate of food, I’d guess that Titus Andronicus was there too. And everywhere that me and my trusty “Steely Dan – Everything Must Go” bag have gone, well, Titus Andronicus was right along with us. But I’m coming towards an end. I’ve read everything I can find that’s related to it. I’ve absorbed the text and I guess I only have two or three more journal entries to bore you with. One of which is here and now……

So if you read the play or you’ve read one of my musings on the subject, you’ll remember that one of the key events of the story is the rape and mutilation of Titus’ daughter, Lavinia. The play was one of the most popular of his works during Shakespeare’s lifetime. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the play was virtually unstageable. It was thought to be indecorous. It was thought to be in bad taste. When Peter Brook directed it with Laurence Olivier in the 1950s, he was credited with saving “this dreadful play”. I’ve already mentioned T.S. Eliot’s condemnation in a previous journal entry.

But I think that it is a great play (as if my voice matters!) and every major production of the last century has been (or seems to have been) a landmark in the history of Shakespearean theatre.

I think that is obvious that the root of these widely divergent views lies in the aforementioned rape and mutilation (mercifully, portrayed offstage) but also in the depiction od the reaction to these crimes.

If Shakespeare was living in the 21st century and if he was a film director, there is no doubt that the revealing of Lavinia after her assault would be done at the end of the scene rather than at a beginning. Also, there seems little doubt that the reaction to her assault would include many meaningful silences, mood-driven stares and tears. But the standards of the theatre of his day were the standards of his day and it is how the play works within these standards that we must judge it. In a Shakespearean script there are no silences, there are no pregnant pauses. There are only words and a very minimum of stage directions. The convention was for three, four, five acts with a few scenes with in each and so there is no space for us to withdraw and find out how the family has dealt with these horrendous events months later. The story is the thing and the action must roll remorsefully on. And there are always words and more words. But what words do you speak when you are presented with your daughter raped and with both hands cut off. There are none that are fit and certainly none that Shakespeare had. So instead he concentrates not on the emotion of the moment but what the mutilation means. And this he does very well indeed.

Marcus: This was thy daughter
Titus: Why, Marcus, so she is

Marcus’ (Titus’ brother) use of the past tense implies that Lavinia is less than she was before the assault – perhaps that in her current physical state, she has become less than human. Titus is the voice of compassion. He knows that she is still what she was before but great violence has been done to her. She has not lost her honour or womanhood. Others have tried to take them from her and they have failed but he cannot help with the shame feels. And to reckon all of these things is hard and Titus loses his sanity. His mind breaks. In the process, Shakespeare teaches us that there are no great nations, no great empires, by definition – only nations that are great for a time because they are driven by great and moral men. The Romans, in the story, have already adopted the morality of the Goth people they have defeated – they had to descend to their level in order to win the war but now Lucius, son of Titus, most leave Rome to keep his life and to avoid being part of the dreadful decline that has begun.

Shakespeare shows us that the pattern of people’s lives doesn’t change across the century. He uses Ovid’s depiction of Ancient Greece (another empire that came to naught) and it’s mythology to show that the pattern that was then was re-occurring in Rome and perhaps by extension that it was capable of happening in his own generation — and therefore, as we read today, in ours.

Chiron (son of the Goth queen) declares in an earlier scene: “I love Lavinia more than all the world”. He has confused love with lust. And he satisfies that “love” through rape. Sex is debased in a society that is debased. Lives are destroyed. And eventually a new kingdom arises. And men have the chance to fail again….. or even succeed, perhaps.

Talkin’ Baseball (part 2) – The pitchers

Posted on June 2, 2008 by twilightdawning

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – May

Name                    IP  H RA ER BB SO W L Sv NOP NOS    ERA   OBA

Rivera, Mariano       14.0  7  1  1  2 13 1 1  7  50  48   0.64  .146

Ramirez, Edwar        11.2  8  1  1  6 10 1 0  0  49  43   0.77  .186

Rasner, Darrell       25.0 19  5  5  3 14 3 1  0  95  92   1.80  .209

Britton, Chris         4.2  1  1  1  4  0 0 0  0  19  15   1.93  .067

Chamberlain, Joba     12.1  8  4  4  8 16 0 1  0  52  44   2.92  .186

Mussina, Mike         29.0 34 20 12  5 21 5 1  0 126 120   3.72  .283

Veras, Jose           11.2  9  5  5  2  9 0 0  0  46  44   3.86  .205

Pettitte, Andy        29.0 36 14 14  6 30 2 2  0 128 121   4.34  .300

Farnsworth, Kyle      12.0 13  6  6  4  8 0 0  0  50  46   4.50  .295

Wang, Chien-Ming      39.1 37 22 22 18 18 1 2  0 171 153   5.03  .248

Hawkins, LaTroy        8.1  7  5  5  3  8 0 1  0  34  31   5.40  .226

Kennedy, Ian          18.2 18 14 13  7 11 0 1  0  82  74   6.27  .250

Ohlendorf, Ross       11.2 17 11  9  5 11 1 0  0  57  52   6.94  .327

Albaladejo, Jonathan   5.0  9  4  4  3  5 0 1  0  24  21   7.20  .450

Igawa, Kei             3.0 11  6  6  0  0 0 1  0  20  20  18.00  .579

New York Yankees – Pitching – whole season

Name                    IP  H RA ER BB SO W L Sv NOP NOS   ERA  OBA

Rivera, Mariano       25.0 11  1  1  2 24 1 1 15  87  85  0.36 .131

Ramirez, Edwar        16.0 11  1  1  7 15 1 0  0  67  59  0.56 .186

Bruney, Brian         11.1  7  2  2  6 12 1 0  1  48  41  1.59 .175

Rasner, Darrell       25.0 19  5  5  3 14 3 1  0  95  92  1.80 .209

Britton, Chris         4.2  1  1  1  4  0 0 0  0  19  15  1.93 .067

Chamberlain, Joba     23.2 16  6  6 11 30 1 2  0  96  85  2.28 .190

Veras, Jose           11.2  9  5  5  2  9 0 0  0  46  44  3.86 .205

Albaladejo, Jonathan  13.2 15  6  6  6 13 0 1  0  58  52  3.95 .294

Pettitte, Andy        65.2 77 33 30 17 50 5 5  0 285 265  4.11 .294

Wang, Chien-Ming      78.1 72 36 36 29 45 6 2  0 332 302  4.14 .242

Mussina, Mike         61.1 70 38 29 10 33 8 4  0 261 247  4.26 .286

Farnsworth, Kyle      25.1 28 12 12  9 22 0 1  0 106  97  4.26 .295

Traber, Billy          8.0  9  4  4  5  6 0 0  0  38  31  4.50 .290

Ohlendorf, Ross       31.2 38 23 21 14 31 1 1  0 146 131  5.97 .290

Hawkins, LaTroy       24.0 25 18 18 10 15 1 1  0 101  91  6.75 .278

Kennedy, Ian          37.2 41 32 31 24 26 0 3  0 177 152  7.41 .279

Hughes, Phil          22.0 34 23 22 13 13 0 4  0 110  96  9.00 .362

Igawa, Kei             3.0 11  6  6  0  0 0 1  0  20  20 18.00 .579

Pluses

Mariano Rivera. There is never going to be enough to say about this guy. 25 innings pitched and 1 run given up. And he does this season after season. A marvellous May to follow on from an astounding April.

Edwar Ramirez. Wasn’t reckoned good enough to make the opening day roster but has hardly put a foot wrong since being called up. 0.77 ERA in May continues the trend.

Mike Mussina. Took five wins in May after a struggle in April. The surprise is that I thought his performance in April was as good as the Yankees could hope from the aging starter.

Minuses

Kei Igawa. What a washout this guy has been. Huge contract. 2nd year at the club. Fourth visit to the majors. One weak game (3 innings, 6 runs) and then back to Scranton.

Ian Kennedy. One good start but then back to the standard he has produced most of the season and now to the disabled list. He had a slightly better May, statistically speaking, but it was still pretty horrible.

LaTroy Hawkins. Was meant to be one of the mainstays of the bullpen this year but the 8 1/3 innings he was given throughout the whole month show how much confidence in him has already begun to slip.

Surprises

Kyle Farnsworth. Perhaps Mr Farnsworth is finally coming good. The statistics don’t quite capture it but he has settled well this month and has been dependable in the majority of his appearances.

Joba Chamberlain. He will be promoted (if that’s the word) to the starting rotation in early June. It’s a surprising risk to take brought about by ownership pressure. We’ll see what happens.

Chris Britton. The surprise is that this guy has not become a regular on the roster yet. He is a frequent flyer between the majors and triple-A despite a 1.93 ERA this month. Surely he is a better bet on current form than Hawkins and as good as Veras. Hope they let him stay around for a while this time.

Talkin’ Baseball

Posted on June 2, 2008 by twilightdawning

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – May

Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG OBP
Matsui, Hideki 100 21 35 13 7 0 2 10 12 0 0 0 .350 .480 .409
Betemit, Wilson 21 3 7 2 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 .333 .571 .333
Abreu, Bobby 100 17 33 20 8 2 4 13 21 0 0 4 .330 .570 .407
Giambi, Jason 73 12 23 14 6 0 6 13 14 0 1 0 .315 .644 .446
Damon, Johnny 98 15 30 13 6 0 3 5 11 0 0 4 .306 .459 .340
Cano, Robinson 95 13 28 12 7 0 2 5 6 0 1 1 .295 .432 .333
Rodriguez, Alex 41 7 12 10 4 0 3 7 8 0 0 5 .293 .610 .408
Jeter, Derek 103 18 27 11 4 1 2 9 17 0 1 4 .262 .379 .336
Cabrera, Melky 94 4 22 12 5 0 1 4 10 1 1 0 .234 .319 .270
Molina, Jose 58 5 12 4 4 0 0 2 12 3 1 0 .207 .276 .230
Moeller, Chad 32 2 6 5 0 0 0 3 8 0 0 0 .188 .188 .278
Duncan, Shelley 43 4 7 6 1 0 1 3 11 0 1 0 .163 .256 .213
Ensberg, Morgan 31 2 5 1 0 0 0 4 10 0 0 1 .161 .161 .257
Gonzalez, Alberto 20 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 .150 .150 .190

New York Yankees - Batting - Season to date

Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SB BA SLG OBP
Matsui, Hideki 190 31 64 26 12 0 6 23 22 0 .337 .495 .417
Posada, Jorge 63 8 19 11 6 1 1 3 11 0 .302 .476 .333
Abreu, Bobby 208 29 62 36 12 3 7 21 45 5 .298 .486 .362
Damon, Johnny 196 34 57 25 16 1 6 23 29 8 .291 .474 .364
Rodriguez, Alex 132 21 38 21 11 0 7 13 27 6 .288 .530 .365
Jeter, Derek 197 27 53 25 7 3 2 11 24 4 .269 .365 .321
Cabrera, Melky 181 19 48 24 7 0 6 15 24 3 .265 .403 .320
Betemit, Wilson 34 3 9 3 2 0 1 0 9 1 .265 .412 .286
Moeller, Chad 52 7 13 7 2 0 1 6 12 0 .250 .346 .339
Giambi, Jason 146 25 35 27 9 0 11 28 25 1 .240 .527 .380
Cano, Robinson 201 19 44 19 10 0 4 12 20 1 .219 .328 .269
Molina, Jose 110 9 24 6 11 0 0 2 17 0 .218 .318 .230
Gonzalez, Alberto 42 4 9 1 2 0 0 4 7 0 .214 .262 .283
Ensberg, Morgan 74 6 15 4 0 0 1 6 22 1 .203 .243 .263
Duncan, Shelley 56 7 9 6 2 0 1 7 13 0 .161 .250 .250
Stewart, Chris 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .000 .000

So as May comes to an end, time for another look at how the New York

Yankees are doing so far.

Pluses

Hideki Matsui. Hugely consistent season for Matsui so far. The whisper

before the season was that perhaps he was a year too old. He's

disproved that point of view. He could do with hitting for a little

more power but that aside it's hard to fault him.

Bobby Abreu. .330 for the month has raised his season average to .298.

4 home runs on the month and .570 slugging percentage and he's been

there in the clutch, picking up some vital hits

Jason Giambi. .315 in May and 6 home runs to bring him to 11 so far.

I'm surprised but he seems to finally pulling his weight. Performance

in the field has also been more than you'd expect.

Minuses

Jose Molina. Filling in for the injured Posada, Molina who had previously

been solid has been only .207 on the month and there has been little to

choose between him and Moeller defensively, leading him to be used only

2 days out of 3. It will good to see Jorge back and lift the weight off

Molina because he's not handling it.

Melky Cabrera. .270 OBP in May and a poor batting performance and

little power has undone the great April he had. Time for him to bounce

back and show his mettle.

Morgan Ensberg. Morgan reverted to type in May with little at the plate

and even losing his previous patience which used to guarantee him

plenty of walks. He was released on the 1st of June but we have little

infield depth with or without him.

Surprises

Wilson Betemit. Preferred to Alberto Gonzalez when he recovered from

injury. Gonzalez caught the bus back to Scranton. Betemit has been

useful at 1b as well at 3rd and has a good average on the month. Maybe

more players should go to the opticians.

Derek Jeter. Hasn't recovered from being hit by pitch earlier in the

month. Yankees need him to improve if they are to close the gap on

Tampa and Boston

Shelley Duncan. Just surprising that he's still around. Last season's

power promise has disappeared and there doesn't seem to be anything

else to offer.

Designated for assignment

Posted on June 1, 2008 by twilightdawning

In April, I said:

“Morgan Ensberg (11). Another surprise name. And another journeyman who is unlikely to be in the post-season in 2008 whether the Yankees make it there or not. Recently with the Astros and Padres, he is patient at the plate and will draw walks but it’s hard when that’s the best thing you can think to say about him.

Scott Patterson (no number allocated). A surprising exclusion. His time will come.”

Today, the Yankees released Ensberg and called up Patterson who is actually pitching against Minnesota at this moment, as I write. I am therefore officially clever and I should be transported to Yankee Stadium, by means of jaunting, as a reward.

Baseball update

Posted on May 23, 2008 by twilightdawning

The season so far has not been kind to the New York Yankees:

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Boston	31	19	.620	–
Tampa Bay	27	20	.574	2.5
Baltimore	24	22	.522	5.0
Toronto	24	25	.490	6.5
NY Yankees	22	25	.468	7.5

It hasn’t been a case that other teams have performed better than expected. Tampa Bay aside, it has been a fairly predictable season so far. The Yankees are just simply not punching their weight. A lot has been said about their lack-lustre starting pitching and I will say more about that later in the week.
However, it needs also to be noted that their batting isn’t living upto its vaunted reputation. We noted before the season began that injuries to seasoned pros like Jorge Posada would have to be expected. Leaving those injuries also to one-side, we note that six of the fourteen offensive players that they have used in May are batting below .200.

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – May (Below .200 BA)

Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG
Duncan, Shelley 31 2 6 3 1 0 0 1 8 0 1 0 .194 .226
Cabrera, Melky 66 1 12 7 3 0 1 4 7 0 0 0 .182 .273
Moeller, Chad 22 1 4 2 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 .182 .182
Ensberg, Morgan 29 2 5 1 0 0 0 4 9 0 0 1 .172 .172
Molina, Jose 36 3 6 1 2 0 0 2 9 2 1 0 .167 .222
Gonzalez, Alberto 19 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 .158 .158

Of these only Cabrera would normally be considered a regular but two or three of these guys are having 
to be used in some combination every day of the week and it is quite simple to see that elevated from 
the bench they are not hitting well. Ensberg and Moeller have settled into the kind of form, with the bat, 
that has been the hallmark of their careers. Alberto Gonzalez was doing well until hastily sent back to 
Scranton and then recalled and then thrust into an uncertain role with the A-Rod injury. Duncan was a 
useful bat last season whilst he had power but this season he has no power, no nothing.

As Alex Rodriguez returns, it is obviously time to shake up the bench. Injuries are going to occur through
out the year with the battery and infield looking most vulnerable. There is not enough to rely upon here on 
current form.

Baseball – the story so far……

Posted on April 14, 2008 by twilightdawning

Well, the baseball season has begun and after thirteen games the New York Yankees lie bottom of their division. This is not as bad as it sounds. Just two days ago, we were pushing for the top slot but two consecutive defeats against Boston leaves us with a 6-7 record so far. So good points and bad points……?

Pluses

Chien-Ming Wang (p). 22 innings pitched. 3 wins – no losses. 1.23 ERA. 1 complete game. Wang continues to be our strongest starter which we have needed since the bats have been quiet. He’s worked his way out of a couple of difficult situations but it’s been smooth sailing the rest of the way.

Joba Chamberlain (rp). 4 appearances, 5.1 innings. No runs. It’s like last post-season never happened. He’s near untouchable once more.

Brian Bruney (rp). You’re always left wondering which Mr. Bruney will turn-up. So far, it is the guy who gets people out. He also gave us a surprise start. 7 innings. 2 hits. no runs.

Melky Cabrera (cf). Despite a two-day suspension, Cabrera continues to be wonderfully consistent when available. 2 home runs and a .290 BA

Minuses

Ian Kennedy (p). Was supposed to be better than this. 13.50 ERA gained in a game when we were very glad to still have Albaladejo around (see below).

Phil Hughes (p). Was supposed to be better than this. 9.00 ERA and still looking for his first win after 3 starts. The young pitchers are wobbling.

Kyle Farnsworth (rp) As predicted. At the moment, he’s eating up a few innings in games we were on the way to losing but he’s not delivered for too long and the change of manager hasn’t seen a change of performance.

LaTroy Hawkins (rp). Difficult start for Mr Hawkins but it is early days yet. 9.00 ERA in 6 appearances.

Jose Molina (c). Jose Molina became the surprise starting catcher when Posada continued to struggle with health difficulties but his strong performance was no surprise. Now he looks as though he is headed for the disabled list with ligament damage which leaves the catching spot looking barren unless Posada improves physically.

Derek Jeter (ss). Noticeable only by his absence through injury after a quiet first few days. We need him back and quickly.

Jason Giambi (dh / 1b) No surprises here. His first noticeable contribution was a fielding error. His .107 BA says it all.

Surprises

Billy Traber (rp). Also 4 appearances. 3.1 innings and no runs. I don’t how long this can last but our wouldbe left-hand specialist has already delivered more than I expected if he starts to lose it tomorrow.

Andy Pettitte (p). Came back from DL earlier than I’d expected. And settled into his normal role without much hesitation despite all the off-season problems. 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA isn’t world-beating but it is more than expected at this stage.

Jonathan Albaladejo (rp). One of the few on the opening day roster I wouldn’t have guessed. Made a strong early debut when Kennedy’s first start fell apart. And then he was gone….. back to Scranton (AAA).

Robinson Cano (2b). Cano had a strong spring but so far his bat hasn’t shown up since the start of the regular season. He’s usually so consistent too.

Alberto Gonzalez (ss). Shortstop looked set with Jeter installed and Betemit as occasional backup. Jeter’s injury meant we had to consider the options and Gonzalez was brought up from Scranton (AAA) as being defensively stronger than Betemit. His .385 average since arriving makes this all the better and all the more surprising. Makes Betemit’s future a little questionable.

Shelley Duncan (1b). I said there were question marks in the long term for this guy but nobody expected him to be off the 25-man roster within a week. Ensberg is delivering (surprise!) and Giambi is paid too much. It may mean that Duncan is the odd man out and not just in the short term.

Bob Dylan – The Curse of Celebrity and the Cross of Christ

Posted on December 26, 2003 by twilightdawning

(This was the original title. When it was published elsewhere, my editor chose to retitle the piece “Bob Dylan: The Spiritual Journey of a 20th Century Icon” which was not what I wanted AND rather seemed to miss my point)

When Leon Patillo was converted in the late seventies, the Christian music industry and its press was full of the news of the conversion of “Santana’s lead singer”. Those who are familiar with the music of Santana will know that the band revolves around and is named for its guitarist and has used a mammoth amount of vocalists over the last 30 years. But the facts don’t always get in the way of Christian reporting and a good story when it sees one.

Patillo may now only merit a footnote in the history of Contemporary Christian music but his launch into the Christian marketplace and its subculture was indicative of something that was going to happen time and time again in the late 70s and early 80s. The church had come to believe that celebrity converts in some ways added to the validity of the gospel. Perhaps if it waved the flag hard enough and high enough and showed that someone famous believed then those who didn’t would be persuaded by celebrity testimony.

Perhaps it was symptomatic of the times. It was the opening of an era in church life which was heavily influenced by the Vineyard fellowship, John Wimber and his teachings. The argument went something like this – if people see marvellous works of God then they would be persuaded of the validity of the gospel and accept Christ. Leaving aside troubling comments of Christ that suggested it was an adulterous generation that looked for a sign and that people would not be persuaded even if someone was raised from the dead, whatever the weaknesses of the theology and the theory of the church, the Vineyard movement would make a lasting impression on the church for the next two decades, until the passing of Wimber, its most persuasive advocate.

Which brings us to Bob Dylan. Not only was Dylan the height of the cult of the celebrity convert, his conversion occurred whilst he was under the auspices of the Vineyard movement. After his conversion, Dylan immediately began to record exclusively gospel songs and began to perform in concert in a way that was out of keeping with the first twenty years of his career. Someone who previously had needed to be encouraged to say “Thank You” between songs and who evaded questions presented by the press, now began to preach sermons about Armageddon and give interviews about his new found faith. Sometimes he was booed and heckled whilst on stage whilst others talked about it all being “a phase”. In 1982, he reverted to type refusing to talk about much of anything once more. He left Vineyard, began to study Scripture, occasionally with the Jewish Lubavitch sect, and declined to host a gospel music awards show. The church that had a use for Dylan’s celebrity now had no use for him. His 1983 album “Infidels” was searched by the Christian press for the expected disowning of the Christian faith and when none came the religious press paid less and less attention to each subsequent Dylan album. The Dylan Christian era was over, it seemed.

Continue reading →