Oil Can Boyd

That's funny - I was just about to post that I saw them at the Agganis Arena in Boston and it was probably my least favorite of all of the Wilco shows I have seen. It had more to do with the venue than the band, but it (the venue) was big and sterile and security was really strict about people staying in their seats.

What would you rank ahead of Murmur?

I'd sign up if they were giving away Moxie.

ESPN reporting that the Red Sox have offered Varitek a one year deal (but no dollar figure was given).

I have been there many many times over the years but did not eat there the other night. But the Somerville Theater now serves beer so it wasn't a total loss ...

Show was great. I was curious as to which I Often Dream of Trains he would play. I am old enough that I bought it on vinyl when it came out but I also have the first CD reissue that has bonus songs added in (rather than tacked on) to the original track order. He was sort of the anti-Stop Making Sense in that he walked out to a tape of Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl, slowed the tape down to a stop, and then began playing the album. He had two guys playing with him and, well, they played the album (although there were a couple of songs that they didn't play). And of course he fi

Robyn Hitchcock's I Often Dream of Trains Going to see him play the whole album tonight and really looking forward to it.

But don't forget: he was the MVP one year.

Yeah, the MVP voting is a weird and subjective process. One of the voters (from the Dallas Morning News) didn't have Pedroia in his top 10. In terms of all time pooch screws, Ted Williams could probably complain. He hit .400 (in 1941) and won the Triple Crown (in both 1942 and 1947) and didn't win the MVP in any of those years. One of those years, 1947 I think, a writer left Williams completely off the ballot.

Today's Boston Herald has an article with their thoughts on what bands might play at Obama's inauguration. It includes this: The Good: Chicago

This next one is the first song from our new album

Yeah, I really liked that. I saw this when it came out and watched it again last night. Loved the book ...

Don't forget Clemens ...

I'm a big Russo fan. I like them all but I think Risk Pool and Nobody's Fool are my favorites.

Right - it's much more complicated. I would argue that of all of the "major" sports, baseball has the lowest success rate in terms of projecting future success of amatuer/high school/college players. And I think it has the largest gap between high school/college level and the majors. Every sport has its list of can't-miss players who missed but baseball's is pretty long.

One of the best baseball names ever.

I really liked this. Pretty sad ...

Yup. The knock on both Young and Jeter is that they are very good at balls hit right to them - which keeps their fielding percentage high - but their range is so limited. And the problem with fielding stats is that fielding percentage/number of errors is the metric that many people still look at. Someone on ESPN was making the point that the real problem with Young getting the Gold Glove is that it makes it hard to change his position. Most people seem to agree that he is a liability in the field but now it becomes hard to move him.

Well he's looking for investors in order to finish it, which may have been overlooked in the first scene. It you've got some extra cash sitting around I can put you in touch with him ...

American League Gold Glove winners P, Mike Mussina, NYY C, Joe Mauer, MIN 1B, Carlos Pena, TB 2B, Dustin Pedroia, BOS 3B, Adrian Beltre, SEA SS, Michael Young, TEX OF, Torii Hunter, LAA OF, Grady Sizemore, CLE OF, Ichiro Suzuki, SEA

A guy I know is making a movie about trying to get the Kinks to reunite. He talks to, and plays with, Sting, Robyn Hitchcock, and others. The trailer is here:

Not to pile on the Freedy negativity, but I used to hold Can You Fly in really really high regard. I listened to it a few months ago for the first time in a while and it sounded, I don't know, sort of uninteresting. It still has some great songs on it but it had more filler than I remember.