No Yankee game on the schedule yesterday as they travel from Tampa to Baltimore; a perfect opportunity for Girardi to rest the guys without getting anxious reports from the New York beat writers. So, I scout the Twins vs. the Chisox for a little while.
The Twins are throwing “their ace” Carl Pavano, and yes, I am biased against the now-mustached pitcher, but really? He’s their ace? Would you want to see him up against Sabathia, Price or Lee in the opening game of a playoff series?
And then – holy shite – Pavano hits Konerko in the face with a pitch. And Guillen and the trainer are out there and the trainer’s trying to pull Konerko away from the plate and toward the dug-out and the big, badass just won’t go. He does permit the trainer to retrieve a towel, but Konerko stays in the game.
And it proves my point about Pavano right off the bat: let’s put it this way: do you think if you got hit in the face by a pitch thrown by Sabathia, are you going to be able to stay in the game? Are you even going to want to? CC hits you, you go down and you stay that way…
Oh, Manny looks so good in Chicago. Two weeks in the windy city and the dumb thug doesn’t even have an extra base hit yet. He doesn’t have a single run batted in. Things may be awful with the Dodgers, but at least Mr. Torre doesn’t have to deal with Manny being Manny any more.

“Machete,” the new Robert Rodriguez flick that had started out as one of those kick-ass trailers from Grindhouse, is a whole lotta fun and I have to recommend seeing it. Pulling chunks of pages from QT’s book, Rodriguez fills his cast with a bunch of older actors (okay, and Lindsay Lohan who only seems young; she doesn’t really show much in the chops department (and at least one of “her” scenes comes straight from the trailer and isn’t HER in the role (the LA Weekly took a shot at Rodriguez for this, but I think it was just fun)) but she does show off her chest far more than you’d expect) like Don Johnson and Robert DeNiro and it’s the first time in a long time that I could get through a movie with DeNiro and like what he’s doing. See it for a good, action-packed, time…

Got tickets to see Thelonious Monster next Saturday at Spaceland; it’s been ages since I have seen that beloved band. I think more people know Bob Forrest from his part in that Celeb Rehab TV show. No, he’s not a patient, but an adviser to the doctors and staff as he’s been through it all. Occasionally (in the couple episodes I watched) it would come up with some of the famous rock n’ roll fuck-ups that Bob was one, too in his day. The one time I recall seeing T. Monster – and this was a long time ago at a LA invades NY show featuring TSOL, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Monster that the Peppers were the opening act) he fell from the high stage. It took me and about 2-3 other guys to haul his dead-drunk weight back onto the stage. It was impressive in the way that really only Shane MacGowan could do. I love Lucero and I appreciate Ben Nichols’ claims to his drunken spirit, but compared to the aforementioned singers, Ben is just a pischer, but I am still looking forward to seeing Lucero at SFO’s Hardly Strictly BlueGrass Festival October 1-3.