Lounging With Libertarians on The Lower East Side During The Detroit Democratic Debate

After being unable to get into a Midtown club last night to watch the first Democratic debate from Detroit, I arrived early at The Cloisters Cafe on the Lower East Side to take in the second part of the Democratic debate from Detroit in the company of Libertarians. More on them later.

Well, a little now. Most really did not watch the debate. Rather they came to socialize with each other. But this made it a challenge to actually listen to the debate so there was a lot that I missed. As such I will make a few general observations rather than focus on each candidate.

1. Why Did Kamala Harris Not Prepare For Tulsi Gabbard's Onslaught?

After Kamala Harris went after Joe Biden hard on school bussing during the first debate, Tulsi Gabbard made a point of criticizing Harris for hatching "a political ploy" to "smear" Biden. Prior to the debate I tweeted, "Gabbard has been taking aim at Harris for going after Biden. Will Gabbard draw first blood? #DemDebate."

Well, you be the judge.

Here's my question. How could Harris not have been prepared for Gabbard's onslaught? She and her staff had to know it was coming. Gabbard had been telegraphing her punch for three weeks. My guess is that Harris simply didn't take her seriously or was polling too low to be taken seriously. Whatever her reasoning she wasn't prepared for what she should have known was coming.

Following the debate, Harris fired back at Gabbard calling her "an apologist" for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. An hour late and a few million dollars short. The damage was done.

Needless to say, if Harris cannot handle Gabbard then how the hell is she going to handle President Trump?

2. Biden Was Bloodied & Every Democrat Who Attacked Him Got Hurt In The Process

Nearly all the Democrats on stage took Harris' lead from the first debate and piled on Biden (Cory Booker on crime, Kirsten Gillibrand on equal pay, Jay Inslee on climate change, Julian Castro on deportations and Bill de Blasio on just about everything else.) Biden did not always come out on the favorable end of those exchanges.

Sportswriter Jeff Pearlman tweeted, "I love @joebiden. Truly, I do. But it’s like watching Willie Mays flop around the outfield as a Met. #DemDebate."

To which I replied, "True. But no one is reaping the benefits. Their attacks on Biden hurts the whole team."

I understand that Biden is the top dog and these puppies need to knock him off the top of the mountain. But they all went about it in such a way that they made themselves look small. No one on that stage who went after Biden elevated their stature. Should Biden get the nomination, I'm sure they will all say wonderful things about him. Unfortunately, it will be hard to believe a word they say and will be yet another reminder of why politicians are held in such utter contempt.

3. What is So Libertarian About President Trump?

What truly surprised me was the level of support there was for President Trump among the Libertarians. Now this could be because it's New York City although there were several Libertarians in attendance from outside the city. But what is so libertarian about Donald Trump? After he is a man obsessed with tariffs and wanting to regulate social media critical of him. Given the possibility that Justin Amash will run for President as a Libertarian one would think they would hold Trump in contempt. Yet all the Libertarians I heard from thought Trump got a raw deal on the Mueller Report. This is most curious given how Amash's departure from the Republican Party was triggered by his call for impeachment of Trump in the first place. If this is representative of Libertarian thinking then that tells me that Trump has captured Libertarians every bit as much as he has captured Republicans and conservatives at large. All of which made for a very long night.

D'Backs Trade Greinke to Astros & Other Deadline Deals

This afternoon began with Zack Greinke at Yankee Stadium starting for the Arizona Diamondbacks.


Five innings later, the D'Backs trade Greinke to the Houston Astros for 1B/OF Seth Beer, RHP Corbin Martin, RHP J.B. Bukauskas, and INF/OF Josh Rojas. The bulk of Greinke's outstanding $100 million plus salary will be paid for by the Astros with whom he is under contract through 2021. At the time of the trade, Greinke had compiled a 10-4 record with a 2.90 ERA in 23 starts this season with Arizona.


Greinke, 35, is three wins away from the 200 mark for his career. Earlier this season, Greinke struck out his 2,500th batter. Over his 16 seasons in the big leagues which began with the Kansas City Royals along with stops with the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and the D'Backs, Greinke has earned six All-Star team selections, won five Gold Gloves and earned the AL Cy Young Award in 2009. A World Series ring has eluded him. That could change.


Greinke joins a rotation that includes fellow Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Wade Miley as well as Aaron Sanchez who the Astros acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays along with reliever Joe Biagini. Perhaps being surrounded by Greinke, Verlander, Cole and Miley will help Sanchez improve his ghastly 3-14 record and 6.07 ERA and regain the form which led the AL in ERA in 2016. Not to be outdone, the Astros also reacquired catcher Martin Maldonado from the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Tony Kemp. Maldonado had been acquired by the Cubs earlier this month from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for pitcher Mike Montgomery.


While the D'Backs lose Greinke they do gain Mike Leake whom they acquired from the Seattle Mariners. The Washington Nationals picked up a trio of relievers - Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland from the Mariners and Daniel Hudson from the Jays. The Atlanta Braves bolstered their bullpen with the addition of Shane Greene from the Detroit Tigers and Mark Melancon from the San Francisco Giants. The Tampa Bay Rays obtained struggling first baseman Jesus Aguilar from the Milwaukee Brewers for reliever Jake Faria. The Brewers also landed starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz from the San Francisco Giants. The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired infielder Jed Gyorko from the St. Louis Cardinals for reliever Tony Cingrani. The Cubs landed third baseman Nicholas Castellanos from the Detroit Tigers while the Giants acquired Scooter Gennett from the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds traded starting pitcher Tanner Roark to the Oakland A's. The Philadelphia Phillies acquired outfielder Corey Dickerson from the Pittsburgh Pirates while the Minnesota Twins obtained reliever Sam Dyson from the Giants. You can read the fine print here.

AOC: Palestinians Have No Choice But To Riot

If Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's support of BDS didn't confirm her anti-Semitism then her justification of Palestinian violence certainly does. Here is what she said during a radio interview with Ebro Darden yesterday:

I believe that injustice is a threat to the safety of all people, because once you have a group that is marginalized and marginalized and marginalized—once someone doesn't have access to clean water, they have no choice but to riot, right?

Wrong. Dead wrong.

Palestinians don't kill Jews because of impaired access to clean drinking water. Palestinians kill Jews because they hate Jews and have been taught to hate Jews from they are born until beyond the grave.

Palestinians are taught to hate Jews in school.

Palestinians are treated to music videos glorifying the murder of Jews.

Earlier this month, a senior Hamas official called upon Palestinians to "attack every Jew on the globe by way of slaughter and killing."

I suspect that Palestinians who kill Jews outside of Israel can expect to be rewarded in a similar manner to that of Palestinians who kill Jews in Israel. Palestinians who kill Jews in Israel attain martyrdom status and are rewarded with a parade, a street, soccer field or school named in their honor and their families in turn receive financial compensation from the Palestinian Authority.

That AOC claims Palestinians engage in violence against Jews because they have no access to clean drinking water is at best willful ignorance and at worst anti-Semitic defamation.

AOC Supports BDS Under The Guise of Freedom of Speech

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave her formal support to fellow Squad member Ilhan Omar's pro-BDS resolution. AOC justifies her support on the basis of "protecting free speech."


Of course, the white supremacists she decries so much justify their racism on the basis of free speech. The same can be done with anti-Semitism. So free speech my foot.


The aim and objective of BDS is to bring about the end of Israel as a Jewish state. Full stop.


To single out the world's only Jewish state for this kind of ostracization is anti-Semitic. Full stop.


Therefore AOC (and any other Congressman who supports this resolution) is anti-Semitic. Full stop.

Indians, Reds & Padres Consummate Trade With Bauer, Puig & Reyes

On Tuesday night, the Cleveland Indians dealt starting pitcher Trevor Bauer to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Yasiel Puig in a transaction which also involved the San Diego Padres. The Friars sent outfielder Franmil Reyes, utility man Victor Nova and southpaw Logan Allen to the Indians while sending minor league outfielder Taylor Trammell to Cincinnati.

Although the Indians have the first berth in the AL Wild Card and are only three games back of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central, the Tribe has discussed dealing Bauer for some time. Bauer wrote his ticket out of Cleveland when he threw the baseball over the centerfield wall after a rough outing on Sunday against the Kansas City Royals. This angered Indians manager Terry Francona. Bauer was forced to publicly apologize to his teammates, the organization and the fans and, to boot, fined an undisclosed amount of money for the incident. In 24 starts for the Indians this season, Bauer was 9-8 with a 3.79 ERA and led the AL in innings pitched with 156 2/3. In 2018, Bauer earned his first AL All-Star appearance with a 12-6 record and a 2.21 ERA in 27 starts. There is a question of whether Bauer will actually pitch for the last place Reds. He could potentially be moved between now and the trade deadline tomorrow afternoon at 5 p.m. EST.

Bauer might no longer be the Indians' problem, but Puig sure is. As the trade was completed, Puig was at the center of a pier-six brawl between the Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates, their second brawl of the season. Puig was at the center of the first brawl in April. Puig will undoubtedly be suspended and thus delay his debut across state. Entering tonight, Puig was hitting .255 with 22 HR and 60 RBIs in 99 games with the Reds. Puig was acquired in an off-season deal from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, any suspension time for Puig will be offset by Reyes who in his second year in the bigs has comparable stats to Puig. Entering tonight, Reyes was hitting .253 with 27 HR and 46 RBI in 98 games in San Diego. Puig and Reyes will give the Tribe some much needed power. Still, it would be nice if they got another starting pitcher back. Could that be Noah Syndergaard of the Mets or Detroit's Matthew Boyd? Or even Madison Bumgarner? The Tribe might not be done at the trading post just yet. Only 16 hours to go.

CNN 1st #DemDebate in Detroit Post-Mortem

I watched tonight's first part of the Democratic Party presidential debates which took place in Detroit and broadcast by CNN. It was my plan to do so at a debate watching party at a club in Midtown Manhattan called RPM Underground. But they gave me a hard time due to my backpack. So I watched the debate at home. Tomorrow night, I plan to watch the second part of the debate with some Libertarians on the Lower East Side. Hopefully, they will be more laissez-faire where it concerns backpacks.

Here is my evaluation of the candidates which in most cases I will group together:

Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren - These two were the biggest fan favorites. Sanders was feisty while Warren did encounter trouble interjecting although she generally got a big pop when she spoke. I did find it bizarre that she would make the case the United States should never use nuclear weapons first and claimed it had never happened before. I seem to recall President Truman ending WWII in this manner. Curiously, Sander and Warren avoided confronting each other nor were any of the questions posed by Jake Tapper, Dana Bash or Don Lemon attempted to get one to criticize the other. This will change down the road, but tonight Sanders and Warren spent much of the evening fighting off more marginal candidates skeptical of socialism.

The Average White Band (John Delaney, John Hickenlooper, Tim Ryan and Steve Bullock)

Aside from their race, gender and age, these four candidates expressed a distinct hostility towards socialism and directed much of their attention towards Sanders and Warren. Of the four, Delaney was the most effectiveness forcefully arguing against Medicare For All and wealth taxes. Both Sanders and Warren tried to bait him over his status as a multi-millionaire, but he didn't take the bait. Where it concerned wealth taxes, Delaney pointed out they were unconstitutional and had been repealed or scaled back wherever they had been implemented. He proposed raising the capital gains tax instead. This earned him his only applause of the night. Unfortunately for Delaney, the former Congressman is man without a party as its followers give socialism a warm embrace.

The two governors on stage, Bullock and Hickenlooper, were barely coherent. While Ryan didn't help himself when he said President Trump was on something where it concerned tariffs. I suspect at least of these candidates will suspend their campaigns between now and the next scheduled debates on September 12th and 13th.

Beto O'Rourke & Amy Klobuchar

These two candidates needed a breakout performance. Klobuchar was workman like, but made no real impression in the debate. O'Rourke drew applause for his support of reparations, but Marianne Williamson drew even bigger applause.

Marianne Williamson

If there was any candidate who was significantly helped by tonight's debate it was Williamson who drew applause not only when she spoke of reparations, but threw shade at the Democratic Party at large over its unwillingness to accept public financing of elections and that the Flint water crisis wouldn't have happened in Gross Pointe. Because of her unconventionality, Williamson is going to stick around and gain traction. While possessing an entirely different disposition than Trump, they both embrace an anti-intellectualism. Williamson regularly derides the Democratic Party for its "wonkishness" and it is resonating. Will she capture Democrats the way Trump captured the GOP. It's not likely. But then again Trump's ascendency to the White House was unlikely too.

Pete Buttigieg

The South Bend mayor turned in another solid performance answering questions head on about his dealing with race relations amidst a lack of resonance with black voters. He might have begun to change this perception. While many other candidates called Trump racist, Buttigieg went after congressional Republicans who have chosen to stay silent and look the other way. Buttigieg also resonated when he said Democrats shouldn't worry about what Republicans think of their policies because they will be called socialists regardless and there is certainly a lot of truth to that notwithstanding the increasing leftward tilt of the party. When Buttigieg was asked about his youth he replied, "I don't care about how old you are. I care about your vision," an assessment which Sanders agreed. It's always good to have your rivals agree with you. Buttigieg manages to be forceful without being angry. That takes some skill. Whether it will be enough to win the nomination remains to be seen, but he has made himself a top contender by the sheer force of his personality.

The Moderators

Tapper, Bash and Lemon kept time tight. It might have ruffled the feathers of a few of the candidates and their supporters, but it kept the debate from going four hours. I'm sure the audience was grateful because they seemed ready to go home.

Epilog

Part two of the debate will be tomorrow night. Hopefully I will get a sense of how other people are responding to the candidates even if Libertarians will be predisposed not to be receptive to their message.

Mets Trade Jason Vargas to Philly

The New York Mets have traded pitcher Jason Vargas to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league catcher Austin Bossart.


The 36-year old southpaw joined the Mets as a free agent in 2018. In 2017, while with the Kansas City Royals, Vargas had led the AL in wins with 18 and earned his very first All-Star Team selection. During his tenure with the Mets, Vargas was a combined 13-15 with a 5.26 ERA in 41 appearances (40 of them starts). In 2019, Vargas was 6-5 with a 4.01 ERA. Since June, Vargas had won five of his last seven decisions including wins in his last three starts.


Vargas' recent effectiveness was somewhat overshadowed by an incident where he and Mets manager Mickey Callaway had words with Newsday reporter Tim Healey with Vargas threatening bodily harm against Healey. Vargas reportedly told Healey, "I'll knock you the fuck out, bro." The Mets subsequently fined both Vargas and Callaway $10,000 apiece for their behavior. While Callaway publicly apologized for his behavior, Vargas was defiant and was rebuked by Mets broadcasters Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez for not doing so.


So while Vargas will add depth to the Phillies starting rotation, I don't think he will do the same for the Phillies clubhouse. The Mets and Phillies will meet six more times this season in late August and early September.

Jeff Pearlman's Prescient Pearls of Wisdom on Trump & 9/11

On July 21st, sportswriter Jeff Pearlman posed this question to country musician Charlie Daniels on Twitter:


Charlie, question: In the aftermath of 9.11 Trump repeatedly said he helped w 9.11 recovery. Said he was digging at rubble. Said he sent "his men" to assist. All well-documented lies. Where's your patriotism?


Pearlman did not get a response. Perhaps Daniels was meeting with the devil down in Georgia. The following day he added:

Guys like @CharlieDaniels put forth this proud-to-be-American mojo. Flags, trucks, BBQs. But they’re tragically lazy when it comes to looking under the hood. Wanna know @realdonaldtrump? Read how he treated contractors, homeless vets, 9.11 responders. Know your shit.

On July 24th, Pearlman implored the DNC to make Trump's 9/11 claims a central issue of the election campaign:


I beg the @DNC to make an issue—THE issue—of @realdonaldtrump lying about helping with Ground Zero search and rescue. Swift Boat him with it. Drill it home. Issue of honor, patriotism, honesty. Take back the Captain America bullshit #hewasntthere #trumpwasntthere


Well, five days later, President Trump says this in the Rose Garden of the White House after signing the extension of the 9/11 Victims Fund:

Needless to say, Pearlman was on Trump's comments in a New York minute:


So that’s the president of the United States, insisting that he was “down there with you” in the aftermath of the greatest domestic attack in modern United States history. At other moments, the president has claimed he was helping with the digging through the rubble. He has said he sent hundreds of “my men” to Ground Zero to assist with the recovery (not one has ever stepped forward, and no officials with the recovery effort can recall this). He also has claimed that, as the towers fell, he saw (with his own eyes on television!) thousands of Muslims celebrating atop buildings in Jersey City. He also also claimed that he watched people jumping from the towers—even though he was four miles away at the time. He also took $150,000 in funding allocated to help small businesses impacted by the tragedy. He said he lost hundreds of friends on 9.11—but attended nary one 9.11-related funeral. Oh, and as 9.11 was unfolding he went on TV and boasted of now having Manhattan’s tallest building.


I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it: This is Donald Trump’s Swift Boat. His Willie Horton. The Democrats keep flailing around for arrows that will stick into the president. Well, here’s your arrow. What sort of thing lies about 9.11? About being there? About helping with the search? About hiring men to help with the search? What sort of thing lies about friends lost? What sort of thing claims funds for repairs he didn’t need? What sort of thing brags about now having the tallest building?


Some disclosure. We've never met in person, but we follow each other on Twitter and occasionally communicate. Indeed, we tend to disagree with each other as we did last night following the mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California. But Pearlman is dead on here not only in his analysis, but in his prescience. Trump lied about providing assistance after 9/11 - an act of war. This is dishonorable as it comes and Trump is plenty dishonorable. If we do not oust him from office for this lie then we not only dishonor those who died that day, but we dishonor any respect for the God's honest truth. Turning a blind eye to this means accepting lying as a virtue.


By boasting about his "efforts" at Ground Zero, Trump has now opened the door for scrutiny on his conduct in the aftermath of 9/11. He wasn't there. If Democrats are smart enough to use this cudgel against Trump and it results in his defeat then we will have Jeff Pearlman to thank for making Trump a one term President.

Mets Acquire Stroman From Blue Jays, But Will He Throw a Pitch For Them?

The Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly traded pitcher Marcus Stroman to the New York Mets. The other pieces of the deal are not known at this time although minor league pitchers are expected to be involved.

I first heard about the deal on the MLB Network. Joe Girardi wonders if the Mets will turn around and flip Stroman to a contender. The Mets have been playing better lately having won 4 in a row. Since the All-Star Break, the Mets are 10-5 and are 13-7 so far in the month of July. But they are 11.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and six games back of the second NL Wild Card berth.

On the other hand, Girardi also noted that Stroman, 28, would be under contract through next season. So perhaps the Mets will keep him. Even if they aren't contenders in 2019 there could be a chance in 2020. A first round draft pick of the Jays in 2012, Stroman made his big league debut in 2014. Stroman was named to his first AL All-Star Team this season. Although he has a mediocre 6-11 record his ERA of 2.96 is more than respectable. In 124.2 innings this season, Stroman has struck out 99 batters while walking only 35. In parts of six seasons in Toronto, Stroman went 47-45 with a 3.76 ERA with 635 strikeouts, 221 walks and a Gold Glove in 2017.

Assuming the Mets are keeping Stroman, there's a strong possibility they will trade Noah Syndergaard with Stroman taking Syndergaard's spot in the rotation.

Meanwhile, the Jays have had a busy day. Earlier today, they dealt infielder Eric Sogard to the Tampa Bay Rays.

It's going to be a busy 72 hours as we make our way to the July 31st trade deadline.

UPDATE: The Jays will receive minor league pitchers Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson. I wouldn't be surprised if Kay is in a Jays uniform by September.

Tulo Calls It a Career

This afternoon New York Yankees shortstop Troy Tulowitzki announced his retirement. Tulowitzki, who signed with the Yankees last off-season, only played 5 games with the Bronx Bombers before being put on the 10-Day IL with a left calf strain. He would later be transferred to the 60-Day IL.


Tulowitzki's 13-year big league career which was spent mostly with the Colorado Rockies and later the Toronto Blue Jays, was plagued by injuries. Since 2011, Tulowitzki only played in more than 100 games a season thrice. But when he was healthy, Tulo was arguably the best shortstop in the NL. After finishing runner up in NL Rookie of the Year balloting and a World Series in 2007, Tulo would earn five NL All-Star Team selections between 2010 and 2015 winning two Silver Slugger and two Gold Gloves both in 2010 and 2011.


At the trading deadline in 2015, Tulowitzki would end up in a Blue Jays uniform and would lead the team to their first post-season appearance in 22 years and to another the following season. However, hamstring and ankle injuries would limit Tulo to 66 games in 2017. He missed the entire 2018 season with bone spurs in his right ankle. The Jays would release Tulo last December. The Yankees took a chance on Tulo due to the injury to Didi Gregorius and he earned the starting shortstop job, but this proved short-lived. Tulowitzki finishes his career with 1,391 hits, a lifetime batting average of .290, 225 HR and 780 RBI in 1,291 games. These numbers won't get him into Cooperstown, but they will endear him to fans in Denver and Toronto for many years to come.

Mueller: Trump Can Be Prosecuted Once He Leaves Office

Apologists for President Trump are claiming Robert Mueller's congressional testimony is "shaky".


Don't fall for it.


The long and the short of it is that President Trump can be prosecuted for his conduct regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election.


Colorado Republican Ken Buck asked Mueller, "Could you charge the President with a crime after he left office?"


"Yes," replied Mueller.


In other words, if Donald Trump wasn't President of the United States right now he would be under indictment.


Presently, DOJ precludes the indictment of a sitting President.


Now that Mueller is on the record concerning this subject, should Trump be defeated next year I suspect that he will loudly claim the vote was rigged and will threaten to remain in office beyond the end of his term. If Trump were to do so then we would truly have a constitutional crisis on our hands.


My guess, however, is that Trump will resign in the final hours of his presidency to allow Pence to become the 46th President of the United States for the purpose of pardoning Trump and prevent him from handing over the reins of power to a Democrat. This is something which Washington Post columnist Jen Rubin predicted last December.


Until such a scenario comes to pass every time Trump tweets, "No Obstruction!!! No Collusion!!!", it is our duty to reply, "You can be prosecuted when you leave office."

Boris Johnson is No Trump

Boris Johnson has defeated Jeremy Hunt for the leadership of Britain's Conservative Party. As such, the new Tory leader will move into 10 Downing Street tomorrow and become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.


This development, while not entirely unexpected, is being greeted with gloom and doom given his forceful advocacy of Brexit. Many media outlets are likening Johnson to President Trump with British Trump currently trending on Twitter. Some arecalling him even more dangerous than Trump. It certainly isn't reassuring that Trump tweeted that Johnson will be great and I'm sure its an endorsement Johnson would just as soon do without. After all, Johnson condemned Trump last week for telling "The Squad" they should go back from where they came.


It also must be remembered that when Trump was promoting his Muslim ban policy in 2015 he claimed there were no-go zones in London. Johnson, then Mayor of London, tersely replied, “I would invite him to come and see the whole of London and take him round the city except that I wouldn’t want to expose Londoners to any unnecessary risk of meeting Donald Trump.”


So I'm not sure where people get the idea Trump and Johnson are and will be bosom buddies. But such a perception is certainly contributing to the low expectations many Britons have of his impending tenure. But I believe this works to Johnson's advantage. The bar has been set so low that all Johnson need do is not come away with egg on his face in dealing with the EU and deliver a Brexit that doesn't result in the collapse of the British economy. If he can do that then Johnson will be considered one of the best Prime Ministers in British history.


One can certainly be skeptical of Johnson. But right now he is the only thing that is standing between Jeremy Corbyn and 10 Downing Street.

David Hedison, R.I.P.

Actor David Hedison, best known for his portrayal of Captain Lee Crane in the 1960's ABC TV series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and CIA agent Felix Leiter in the James Bond films Live & Let Die and License to Kill, passed away on July 18th at the age of 92. No cause of death has been released.


Born Al Hedison in Providence, Rhode Island, he studied acting at Brown University before moving to New York City where he studied with the likes of Martha Graham, Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner. After appearing in several Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, Hedison signed a contract with 20th Century Fox. His first notable role was the lead role in 1959 sci-fi/horror film The Fly. His starring turn in The Fly led to him to his first major TV role in the short-lived NBC adventure series The Five Fingers. It was at this point that Hedison went by his middle name David.


Hedison would return to film in 1960 starring in The Lost World. Directed by Irwin Allen, he offered Hedison a chance to star in his next film Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea in the role of Captain Crane, but Hedison declined. Three years later, Hedison would accept the same role for TV and his career changed forever.

Hedison would appear in a litany of TV shows throughout the 1970's and 1980's - Barnaby Jones, Wonder Woman, The Bob Newhart Show, Charlie's Angels, Hart to Hart, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat and the pilot episodes of both Benson and T.J. Hooker. Hedison also appeared in soap operas Another World and The Young and The Restless. I remember his portrayal of Spencer Harrison on Another World (Yes, I watched daytime soaps when I was university during the early 1990's). At the time, I didn't know the body of his work. I'm glad I got a chance to become more familiar with the body of his work before he was called up to that Flying Sub in the sky. R.I.P.

What Harm Would There Have Been Had The Senate Ethics Committee Investigated Al Franken?

Jane Mayer's New Yorker article on the sexual misconduct allegations against former Senator Al Franken is pretty damning. It appears that Senate Democrats fell for a dubious set of allegations against Franken put forth Lee Ann Tweeden, an ally of Sean Hannity, without the benefit of an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee which Franken requested. The article also does not cast New York Senator and Democratic presidential aspirant Kirsten Gillibrand in a positive light:


Minutes after Politico posted the story, Senator Gillibrand’s chief of staff called Franken’s to say that Gillibrand was going to demand his resignation. Franken was stung by Gillibrand’s failure to call him personally. They had been friends and squash partners. In a later call, Gillibrand’s chief of staff offered to have Gillibrand speak with Franken, but by that time Franken was frantically conferring with his staff and his family. Franken’s office proposed that Franken’s daughter speak with Gillibrand instead, but Gillibrand declined.


Gillibrand then went on Facebook and posted her demand that Franken resign: “Enough is enough. The women who have come forward are brave and I believe them. While it’s true that his behavior is not the same as the criminal conduct alleged against Roy Moore, or Harvey Weinstein, or President Trump, it is still unquestionably wrong, and should not be tolerated.”


Minutes later, at a previously scheduled press conference, Gillibrand added insult to injury: she reiterated her call for Franken to resign while also trumpeting her sponsorship of a new bill that banned mandatory arbitration of sexual-harassment claims. She didn’t mention that Franken had originated the legislation—and had given it to Gillibrand to sponsor, out of concern that it might be imperilled by his scandal.


I recently asked Gillibrand why she felt that Franken had to go. She said, “We had eight credible allegations, and they had been corroborated, in real time, by the press corps.” She acknowledged that she hadn’t spoken to any accusers, to assess their credibility, but said, “I had been a leader in this space of sexual harassment and assault, and it was weighing on me.” Franken was “entitled to whichever process he wants,” she said. “But he wasn’t entitled to me carrying his water, and defending him with my silence.” She acknowledged that the accusations against Franken “were different” from the kind of rape or molestation charges made against many other #MeToo targets. “But the women who came forward felt it was sexual harassment,” she said. “So it was.”


So by her own admission Gillibrand hadn't spoken to any of Franken's accusers and Franken was entitled "to whichever process he wants", but because she "had been a leader in this space of sexual harassment and assault", her mind was already made up and Franken had to resign.


Here's what ought to have been asked of Gillibrand and the other Democratic Senators who demanded Franken's resignation. What harm would there have been in letting the Senate Ethics Committee proceed with its investigation of Franken? Gillibrand would have been afforded an opportunity to question Franken. It is entirely possible that an investigation and her questioning of Franken could have been very damaging to Franken. In which case, Gillibrand and others would have been justified in calling for Franken to step down. But this isn't what happened.


I suspect the answer is one of political expedience. It would have been far more difficult for Democrats to campaign against Roy Moore's Senate campaign in Alabama or carry out hearings against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. So Franken had to fall on his sword for the good of the party.


It will be interesting to see if the #MeToo crowd rallies around Gillibrand sufficiently to revive her moribund campaign. Perhaps, but Gillibrand's Senate colleagues Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar also want to be President. The solidarity of sisterhood probably won't take Gillibrand very far. But she will still have her Senate seat. The same cannot be said for Al Franken.

David Crosby Carries On

In May 2015, I went to see Crosby, Stills and Nash perform in concert at the Wang Theatre in Boston and reviewed the show for The American Spectator (although the article is now credited to someone named Superuser).

At the time of the show, David Crosby just had a falling out with Neil Young after he had publicly trashed his girlfriend (now wife) Daryl Hannah for whom Young had left his wife Pegi (who passed away on New Year's Day). Graham Nash unsuccessfully tried to be peacemaker. But by March 2016, Nash was through with that role and publicly bashed his former bandmate:

I don’t like David Crosby right now. He’s been awful for me the last two years, just fucking awful. I’ve been there and saved his fucking ass for 45 years, and he treated me like shit. You can’t do that to me. You can do it for a day or so, until I think you’re going to come around. When it goes on longer, and I keep getting nasty emails from him, I’m done. Fuck you. David has ripped the heart out of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

It is not known what led to Crosby and Nash's falling out although Nash, like Young, left his wife for a much younger woman in 2016. Given Nash's visceral anger at Crosby one cannot rule out that possibility. Whatever the reason it is highly unlikely Crosby will ever harmonize with Nash, Stills or Young again. 

Since 2016, David Crosby has been carrying on recording a string of solo albums, touring with a cabal of musicians half his age and is now the subject of a Cameron Crowe documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name which I saw today at the Film Forum in The Village.

Crowe interviewed Crosby while he was on tour in early 2017 with his Lighthouse Band. Much of Remember My Name is a lament about his falling out with CSNY and, to a lesser extent, his falling out with his former Byrds bandmates Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. Complicating matters is his poor health having diabetes, a liver transplant and several heart attacks with eight stents in his heart. Crosby, who turns 78 next month, believes the end is coming soon and wants to say goodbye to the people with whom he spent decades making music and seek their forgiveness. 

Forgiveness might be difficult to come by. After all, Crosby is a blunt man. Crosby admits to being an asshole, but has he learned anything from it? He still hates Jim Morrison of The Doors nearly 50 years after his death because Morrison had the temerity to remove his glasses while he was on an acid trip. Crosby has long been something of a bully. One thing which is not mention in Remembered My Name is his appalling treatment of Byrds bandmate Gene Clark. In his 2005 book Mr. Tambourine Man: The Life and Legacy of Gene Clark, John Einarson writes about Crosby making fun of Clark's guitar playing to the point where he gave it up and played the tambourine. The fact that Clark had written a majority of the Byrds' hits and was getting the lion's share of the royalties undoubtedly contributed to this conflict. It seems that Crosby has changed very little in half a century. He's a jerk who makes beautiful music. Nash wrote about this paradox in his song about Crosby called "Encore".

And how you gonna feel if friends follow fortune?
How you gonna feel if the music dies?
How you gonna live with the soul sadly sighing
Into the wind that is our life

Yet the ill winds of the Trump Administration could bring these men back together. Shortly after Trump took office in 2017, Nash opened the door of a possibility of a CSN or CSNY reunion to raise their voices against the President. If Trump separating children from their asylum seeking parents and telling American born Congresswomen to go back where they came from doesn't get CSN or CSNY back together then nothing will. Ironically enough the last time CSN performed together in public was in December 2015 during the lighting of the White House Christmas Tree when they sang "Silent Night". A brief clip of this performance was included in the film and I'm glad it was brief because it was painful to watch and listen. The Obamas looked utterly mortified at the whole spectacle. It would be a shame if they closed the chapter to their storied career on such a sour note.

But the reality is that most of us don't live to see happy endings. For many of us our lives end in bitterness, debt, estrangement and illness. Crosby might never perform with Stephen Stills, Graham Nash or Neil Young again let alone speak with them ever again. But he can still make music and has an audience that wants to listen to him. Indeed, Crosby is scheduled to perform a free concert at Lincoln Center next month and, if he is still carrying on, I plan on attending. People are paying attention to David Crosby and remember him. In the grand scheme of things, he is far more fortunate than most of us. David Crosby is carries on. 

The Reinstatement of Butts Will Kick Trudeau's Liberals in The Butt

Gerald Butts, who resigned as Justin Trudeau's chief of staff last February in the wake of the SNC-Lavalin affair in which former Justice Minister Jody Raybould-Wilson was pressured to drop the corruption case against the top Montreal based Liberal donor, is now back in the Prime Minister's inner circle with the federal election only three months away.

It would appear that Trudeau believes that Canadians have moved on from the SNC-Lavalin scandal and feels free to bring back his old friend into the fold. This strikes me as a foolish gambit on the part of Trudeau because all it does is remind people of the SNC-Lavalin scandal and makes it news all over again.

In recent weeks, the Liberals had regained ground on the Tories largely because of the unpopularity of the Ontario Tory government of Doug Ford. Earlier this month I commented:

The key to ousting Trudeau's Liberals is in Ontario. As ham handed as the Trudeau government has been regarding SNC-Lavalin, voters in Ontario are not going to abandon Trudeau if they think Scheer will govern the way Ford has during his first year in office. Needless to say, Trudeau will move heaven and earth to make people believe that Scheer and Ford are blood brothers.

At this point, SNC-Lavalin is old news while the hijinks at Queens' Park is brand new. If Scheer spends the election campaign having to talk about Ford instead of Trudeau then the federal Tories will grab defeat from the jaws of victory. For his own political future, Scheer is going to have distance himself from Ford. Unless there are new developments in SNC-Lavalin or another new Trudeau scandal emerges, Scheer's hopes for a one term Liberal government might become sheer fantasy.

Well, the return of Butts is for all intents and purposes a new development in SNC-Lavalin. I suspect that whatever momentum the Liberals might have had will quickly evaporate. The return of Butts might prove to be kick in the butt that removes the Liberals from office in October.

Is Matt Harvey Finished? (Or A Dark Day For The Dark Knight)

The Los Angeles Angels have designated pitcher Matt Harvey for assignment. The decision comes less than 24 hours after Harvey surrendered six runs, seven hits and five walks over six innings in a 6-2 loss to the Houston Astros. In 12 starts for the Angels this season, Harvey went 3-5 with an ERA of 7.09.

Harvey was my pick to become AL Comeback Player of the Year after signing a one year deal with the Angels for $11 million.  Unfortunately, he's never been the same pitcher since 2015 when he led the New York Mets to the NL pennant. Harvey was injured the following season and that June had surgery to deal with thoracic outlet syndrome. He would fare no better in 2017 and after being banished to the bullpen in early 2018, the Mets traded Harvey to the Cincinnati Reds for catcher Devin Mesoraco. In 24 starts with the Reds last season, Harvey was a serviceable 7-7 with a 4.50 ERA, but still a far cry from his All-Star form in 2013 and World Series form of 2015. This year has proved to be a huge step backwards.

So it's been a dark day for The Dark Knight. The question now is Harvey finished? At the very minimum, the 30-year old Harvey is at a crossroads. From where I sit, Harvey's best bet is to reinvent himself as a relief pitcher. He needn't be a closer, but perhaps as a two or three inning pitcher along the lines of Andrew Miller or at least the Andrew Miller from two or three years ago. Harvey could be a valuable asset out of the bullpen. With starting pitchers exiting games earlier and the emergence of openers, there is a need for long relievers in the middle innings and Harvey could fill that role. Unless he has no further desire to play baseball, Harvey has nothing to lose by trying so long as a team is willing to give him one more try.

Elijah "Pumpsie" Green, R.I.P.

Former MLB player Elijah Green, better known as Pumpsie Green, passed away on Wednesday night at the age of 85. A cause of death has not been released.


Green's big league career was a short one. He only played 344 games over five seasons with a career batting average of .246. But Green's career was nevertheless significant as he became the first African-American player to take the field with the Boston Red Sox in 1959. Twelve years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, the Red Sox were the last MLB team to integrate. They could've been the first. Robinson had a tryout with the Red Sox in 1945 but had no intention of signing him. This owes to the racism of owner Tom Yawkey who even during the 1959 season said, “The Red Sox will bring up a Negro when he meets our standards.” What those standards exactly meant Yawkey didn't say. Pressure would be brought to bear from the Masschusetts Commission Against Discrimination.


Green was finally called up and made his debut as a pinch runner on July 21, 1959 (the 60th anniversary of which takes place on Sunday) at Comiskey Park. In 50 games with the Red Sox, Green batted .233 with 1 HR and 10 RBI. He would play a career high 133 games in 1960 splitting his time at shortstop and second base. He proved to be a good field, no hit player batting .242 with 3 HR and 21 RBI in 313 at bats. Green only played 88 games in 1961, but did hit a career high 6 HR and 27 RBI.


In 1962, Green fell out of favor with the Red Sox when he and pitcher Gene Conley went AWOL off the team bus during a traffic jam in New York City. Although Conley took things further and attempted to travel to Israel without a passport, the Red Sox would trade Green to the New York Mets along with Tracy Stallard (the man who surrendered Roger Maris' 61st HR). Green played only 17 games with the Mets in 1963 although he remained in their minor league system until the middle of the 1965 season when he became the property of the Detroit Tigers. His professional career would end that season. Green's big league statistics included 196 hits with 13 HR and 74 RBI. Despite his modest playing career, his historical significance was such that the Red Sox inducted Green into the team's Hall of Fame in 2008.


On an interesting note, Green attended El Cerrito High School in El Cerrito, California which was also attended by Ernie Broglio who passed away two days before Green.


Here is an interview Green did with NESN earlier this year. R.I.P.

Ernie Broglio, R.I.P.

Former major league pitcher Ernie Broglio passed away from cancer on July 16th at the age of 83.


Broglio was best known for being on the wrong end of one of the most lopsided trades in MLB history when he was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Chicago Cubs in June 1964 for a young outfielder named Lou Brock. Although it was actually a six player deal, Broglio was at its center.


At the time, Broglio had been a mainstay of the Cardinals starting rotation winning 21 games in 1960 and finishing third in NL Cy Young balloting that season. In 1963, Broglio was coming off an 18 win season. The Cubs thought they were getting an ace starting pitcher. What they got was a pitcher with an injured arm who only won 7 games with them before finishing his career in 1966 at the age of 30. It was later learned that Broglio had torn his UCL and Tommy John surgery was another decade away.


In three and a half seasons, Brock was a .250 hitter. While he could run, he was often caught stealing bases and led the NL in for being caught stealing 18 times in 1963. When Brock arrived in St. Louis, the team was 28-31 and 7 games back of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL standings. No sooner than Brock put on a Cardinals uniform he set the league afire hitting .348 and stole 33 bases en route the Cardinals' first World Series title in 18 years. Brock would earn another World Series ring three years later along with a World Series MVP. A decade later, he would eclipse Ty Cobb for the all-time stolen bases crown and finished with 938 for his career (a record later shattered by Rickey Henderson). Brock would be inducted into Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility in 1985.


Although Broglio's name became synonymous with poor decision making and the ongoing misfortune of the Cubs, Broglio made his peace with his notoriety. Broglio asked, “Who else can say he was traded for a Hall of ​​Famer?” R.I.P.

I Can't Stand With Either President Trump or Ilhan Omar

At this hour both #IStandWithPresTrump and #IStandWithIlhan are trending on Twitter.

If I had a hashtag it would be #ICantStandEither.

There are many reasons to criticize Ilhan Omar. Her national origin isn't one of them. Chants of "send her back" at tonight's Trump rally in North Carolina continues the legitimacy of nativism and all the ugliness which accompanies it.

Yet equally ugly is Omar's resolution in Congress in support of the BDS Movement, an entity which seeks not only the elimination of the State of Israel but the delegitimization and marginalization of Jews. BDS activists in Europe have been associated with Holocaust denial and have also targeted non-Israeli Jews. I would stand against Omar whether she was born in Mogadishu or in Minneapolis.

Simply put, my contempt for President Trump does not obligate me to stand in solidarity with Ilhan Omar. Nor does my contempt for Ilhan Omar obligate me to stand in solidarity with President Trump.

That might be a difficult concept for some especially those who worship at their respective altars. Both those who worship at the feet of false idols cannot stand up for themselves and see what is right in front of them.

Thoughts on Twitter Banning Lindsay Shepherd

When on Twitter, from time to time I check in on Lindsay Shepherd. We have occasionally conversed on Twitter and met in person in February 2018 when she appeared at Harvard. However, when I tried to check in this morning she was nowhere to be found. I soon learned why.


Yesterday, Twitter banned Shepherd following an exchange with Jessica Yaniv, an individual who identifies as a transgender woman. Yaniv has gained notoriety for bringing complaints to human rights tribunals because estheticians have refused to wax "her" male genitalia.


For its part Twitter claimed Shepherd was engaging in "abusive behavior" against Yaniv. Yet it was Yaniv who took aim at Shepherd who recently gave birth to first child. Yaniv tweeted “at least my pussy is tight and not loose after pushing out a 10 pound baby.” Shepherd replied,  “This is how men who don’t have functional romantic relationships speak. But… I guess that’s kinda what you are!”


Yaniv then escalated matters when he tweeted about Shepherd's septate uterus, a medical condition which increases the risk of miscarriages. “I heard @realDonaldTrump is building a wall inside of your uterus aka your ‘reproductive abnormality’ hopefully the walk works as intended,” Yaniv tweeted. Shepherd fired back, “At least I have a uterus, you fat ugly man. Of course, he thinks reproductive issues are something to be mocked.”


Shepherd subsequently deleted the tweets, but this did not matter to Twitter who banned her anyway and denied Shepherd's appeal. Meanwhile, Yaniv remains on Twitter without consequence and emboldened. While Shepherd acknowledged Twitter could do what it saw fit she told The National Post:


Because this is a trans individual they are untouchable … they are allowed to mock and taunt me about my biology, they can say whatever crude things they want. But when it comes to me wanting to take a shot back at that person and wanting to stand up for myself — or for my womanhood so to speak — I am permanently kicked off.


Shepherd's ban is also noteworthy in light of recent events regarding the Twitter account of Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam. Last week, Twitter ordered Farrakhan to delete a tweet which described Jews as "termites" following the adoption of a new policy prohibiting "language that dehumanizes others on the basis of religion." . However, his account remains intact while numerous other anti-Semitic tweets remain such as, "Hollywood’s Casting Couch: 'The wicked practices that govern their industries are largely justified and influenced by such Talmudic principles.'"


So why is it that Farrakhan gets to keep his Twitter account after deleting a single anti-Semitic tweet, but bars Shepherd for life after she deleted a tweet in which she was defending herself from a personal attack?


Why do anti-Semitic tweets get a slap on the wrist while tweets directed towards transgendered individuals (even when deleted) result in a lifetime ban?


Indeed, why does Twitter permit Farrakhan who has been public with his anti-Semitic views for decades permitted to have a platform? Is Twitter afraid of being accused of being racist and Islamophobic? Or does Twitter simply view some people as more equal than others?


Whatever the answer it is clear that Twitter has some serious problems if Louis Farrakhan is welcome in its universe and Lindsay Shepherd isn't.

Both Trump & The Squad Engage in Bigotry

When President Trump tweeted that The Squad (Democratic Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar) "originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe" and asked, "Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came," he was engaging in act of racism, defamation and xenophobia.


AOC, Pressley and Tlaib were born and raised in the United States and Omar's family sought asylum in this country when she was a child. Of course, this isn't the first time Trump has pulled this stunt. He did the same with federal judge Gonzalo Curiel during the 2016 campaign when he called the Indiana born justice a "Mexican" while he presided over the Trump University case.


Predictably, Democrats came to the defense of The Squad and, in so doing, made themselves vulnerable to charges of tolerating anti-Semitism which Trump has been all too happy to exploit. Both Omar and Tlaib have a long history of engaging in anti-Semitism and AOC and Pressley have excused their behavior.


Yes, it is wrong for Trump to defame The Squad on the question of race and national origin. But it is equally wrong for The Squad to either engage in anti-Semitism or make excuses for it.


It is for this reason that I cannot support either the Republican or the Democratic parties. At this point, I shall only vote for an individual if they earn my support. While I am willing to listen to what most Democratic presidential candidates have to say none of them have said or done enough to earn my support. Democrats are right to condemn Trump, but wrong to ignore the anti-Semitism or, at the very least the tolerance of it by of The Squad. In so doing Democrats are effectively saying that some forms of bigotry are acceptable or at the very least turning a blind eye to behavior they would condemn of a Republican.


Needless to say, Republicans are spineless when it comes to Trump except for Justin Amash. Then again, Amash isn't a Republican anymore. It will be interesting if Amash makes a presidential bid. If he does I have to know why he was the lone member of Congress to oppose enhancing the role of the U.S. Envoy to Monitor & Combat Anti-Semitism to the status of an Ambassador. At this point, he hasn't engaged in anti-Semitic behavior so I'm disposed to giving Amash the benefit of the doubt. But as admirable as Amash has been he too will have to earn my vote and to earn it he will need to answer this question.

A Thought for Bob Gibson

St. Louis Cardinals pitching legend Bob Gibson has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Gibson, 83, revealed this to his fellow Hall of Famers informing them he would not be in Cooperstown for Hall of Fame ceremonies next weekend. The contents of Gibson's letter was made public on Saturday night by fellow Hall of Famer Jack Morris while broadcasting a Minnesota Twins game.

The two time World Series winner has been hospitalized in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska for the past two weeks and is soon expected to begin chemotherapy. Few men come tougher than Gibson who once pitched after breaking his leg.

Gibson pitched his entire 17-year big league career with the Cardinals winning 251 games, striking out 3,117 batters, won 9 Gold Gloves, was selected to 9 NL All-Star Teams and won both the NL Cy Young Award and NL MVP in 1968. That year Gibson went 22-9 and set an MLB record with an ERA of 1.12. How Gibson lost those nine games God only knows. Oh, did I mention he tossed 13 shutouts. And for good measure he struck out a World Series record 17 Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series. Although the Tigers would win that Series in seven games, Gibson's Game 1 performance almost overshadowed the Tigers' triumph.

Hopefully, Gibson's next triumph will be to strikeout cancer.

Royals Trade Resurgent Homer Bailey to Oakland

On Sunday, the Kansas City Royals traded pitcher Homer Bailey to the Oakland A's for minor league infielder Kevin Merrell. 

In 18 starts for the Royals this season, Bailey was 7-6 with a 4.80 ERA. That might not look impressive on the surface, but in his last five starts Bailey was 3-0 with a 2.48 ERA. A year ago, Bailey looked finished after going 1-14 with a 6.09 ERA last season with the Cincinnati Reds. After a dozen years in Cincinnati, the Reds traded Bailey to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deal which brought Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood and Matt Kemp (who has since just been released by the New York Mets). The Dodgers immediately DFAed Bailey, but the Royals took a chance on him.

And now Bailey, 33, is in a pennant race with the A's currently holding on the second berth in the AL Wild Card race. Bailey last pitched in the post-season with the Reds in 2012 when he won a career high 13 games. In 230 big league starts, Bailey is 74-83 with a 4.58 ERA and has thrown two career no-hitters. 

Red Sox Acquire Cashner From Orioles to Bolster Starting Rotation

Let the trade deadline deals begin.

The Boston Red Sox fired the first salvo by acquiring starting pitcher Andrew Cashner from the Baltimore Orioles for minor league prospects Noelberth Romero, an infielder and outfielder Elio Prado as well as cash considerations.

Cashner, 32, has pitched with the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Miami Marlins and Texas Rangers before joining the O's last season. His career numbers aren't stellar. In 275 big league appearances (182 of them starts), Cashner is 55-82 with a 4.00 ERA. However, in fairness, when Cashner puts on a Red Sox uniform it will be the first time in his 10-year big league career that he has pitched with a club with a winning record. Cashner has also been exceptional this season with a 9-3 record along with a 3.83 ERA in 17 starts winning nearly a third of the O's 28 wins in 2019.

At this point, Cashner will be the team's number five starter behind Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez. He could also be an option out of the bullpen if Nathan Eovaldi doesn't work out as the team's new closer. Cashner is a free agent at season's end, but the Red Sox can exercise his option in 2020. It is a low risk investment for a team only 1.5 games back of the Oakland A's for the second AL Wild Card berth. You could call it Cashner or carry.

Thoughts on The NYC Blackout of 2019

Late this afternoon, Dad & I walking along Columbus Avenue returning home from an afternoon at Yankee Stadium. New York City has these electronic billboards which have messages about the city's history. I saw a message noting it was 42 years ago today that New York City was plunged into darkness which resulted in the Bronx burning.

About an hour or so later, we found ourselves in a blackout of our own. First, the air conditioner went off and then the TV. A few minutes later we made our way outside and found the whole street was without power. We walked north on Columbus Avenue and found that everything was normal above 72nd Street.

Unlike the 1977 blackout which was caused by lightning strike, this was caused by a fire at a transformer on 64th Street. While the 1977 blackout covered nearly the entire city, this blackout was confined to Manhattan's Midtown West and part of the Upper West Side. Perhaps a smaller area, but an area which included Madison Square Garden, Times Square, Carnegie Hall, the Time Warner Building and Lincoln Center. This forced the evacuation of these buildings and the abrupt cancellations of programs going on including various Broadway shows and a Jennifer Lopez concert. A few Broadway performers and musicians outside of Carnegie Hall delivered impromptu outdoor performances.

In the Upper West Side, this gave Dad and I the opportunity to experience Manhattanhenge where the sun aligns perfectly with the borough's grid & made our way to Broadway & 72nd Streets.

Things got considerably more challenging once darkness hit Manhattan. By 9 p.m. nearly everything below 72nd Street was pitch black as illustrated by this picture of 68th Street off Columbus Avenue. Or is it 69th Street?

There were some tense moments as we walked home as some folks behind us started acting menacing. The dark does strange things to people. Fortunately, we returned to our apartment only to discover the carbon monoxide detector had gone haywire. After lighting a candle and a little assistance from our landlord we fixed the problem. We also decided to may our week to Richard Tucker Park on 66th between Columbus and Broadway. If nothing else it was a good way to prevent my hummus from going iffy by finishing it off some hummus with some carrots and celery I had just bought from a convenience store on Columbus & 73rd which needless to say was with power. Restaurants and delis without power below 72nd weren't so lucky and will probably have to throw out food as a result.

Needless to say we weren't the only people who decided to gather there and our mood improved. The mood improved more when the power was restored at 10:30 p.m. Let there be light and it was good. Here's a picture of my Dad just moments after the power came back. Like nothing ever happened.

We were without power for about four hours. It might as well have been all night. After spending another 45 minutes outside, we returned home and our apartment was once again fully functional. But we truly did not relax until after watching several episodes of The Best of The Joy of Painting. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. If watching Bob Ross painting landscapes can't calm and relax you then nothing will.

In the grand scheme of things, we were lucky. Neither of us was in elevator, in a building which required electronic access to enter or exit or on a train as we had been earlier in the day to and from Yankee Stadium.

Nevertheless we pay a price for convenience and creature comforts and when they are not there even for a short time it can throw our lives into chaos. Given that many of these systems are now online I shudder to imagine what would happen if there was a major cyberattack which did far more than affect electricity. I don't think we are prepared for such an event. Hell, New York City certainly wasn't prepared for what happened tonight. It doesn't help that Mayor de Blasio is more focused on trying to convince Democrats in Iowa to nominate him to face President Trump than he is on governing the biggest city in America and Governor Cuomo made it clear he was none too pleased.

On the bright side, however, there appear to be no deaths or injuries or acts of looting of any sort. We might not be so lucky next time.

With that I hope tomorrow is a boring day.

Angels Pitchers Cole & Pena Honor Skaggs With Combined No-Hitter

Tonight marked one of the most historical moments in MLB history.

Fans in Anaheim gathered to honor the memory of fallen Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs who died suddenly on July 1st. His mother Debbie threw out the first pitch and all Angels wore Skaggs' 45 jersey.

Things only got more amazing from there as Taylor Cole and Felix Pena combined on a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners. The Angels won 13-0 scoring seven runs in the first inning on a home run and a double by Mike Trout who would later add a single for a total of 6 RBI.

Following the game, the Angels gathered around the mound and one by one placed their jerseys bearing Skaggs' name on the mound. Trout then conducted an emotional interview with the MLB Network's Kelly Nash which left both of them in tears.

Was this an act of an Angel? Was this an act of God? Divine intervention or not, this will go down as one most notable games in the history of Major League Baseball. As for the Angels, tonight represents a catharsis. After Skaggs' death followed by a serious career threatening injury to catcher Jonathan Lucroy last Sunday, the Angels were in need of a sign and, as it turned out, the signposts were all over Angels Stadium. 

It remains to be seen if the Angels will come back down to earth after tonight and or if this marks the beginning of a World Series miracle. Whatever happens the remainder of this season, the 2019 Los Angeles Angels have come together like no other team has come together before. It is said that everything happens for a reason. The reason isn't always a good one, but triumph is often rooted in disaster. Win or lose, the 2019 Los Angeles Angels will be brothers for life and shall for the rest of their lives remember this night.

Will The BBC Panorama Documentary on Labour Anti-Semitism Change Anything?

I just watched the BBC Panorama documentary "Is Labour Anti-Semitic?", which debuted on Wednesday night in the U.K., online and have arrived at the following five conclusions.


1. The Labour Party has experienced a dramatic increase in anti-Semitic incidents since Jeremy Corbyn became party leader in September 2015.


2. Jewish Labour Party members have become targets of abuse and the Labour Party leadership tolerates this abuse notwithstanding Corbyn's public statements claiming anti-Semitism has no place in the party. A political party whose members can engage in Holocaust denial and make videos about Jewish members being "fucking Jews" without consequence is an anti-Semitic entity.


3. The office of Jeremy Corbyn and that of Labour Party General Secretary Jenny Formby have actively interfered and obstructed the Party's Dispute Committees and National Constitutional Committees from investigating complaints of anti-Semitism and imposing the proper discipline.


4. The Labour Party has publicly smeared whistleblowers from the Disputes Committees as being always opposed to Corbyn when, in point of fact, many were Corbyn supporters or had joined the party because of him.


5. Jeremy Corbyn himself is an anti-Semite and Labour cannot rid itself of anti-Semitism unless he is no longer leader and there is full scale purge of members who engage in anti-Semitic behavior.


So will the Panorama documentary change anything? Short of a full scale rebellion on the part of Labour MPs, I very much doubt it. Indeed, Labour MPs are calling for the resignation of Deputy Leader Tom Watson after he praised the programme and the whistleblowers even while claiming only Corbyn could solve the problem.


All of which tells me that anti-Semitism in the Labour Party is going to get much worse and might never get better.

How Jim Bouton's Ball Four Turned My Life Upside Down

My heart sank when I learned that former big league pitcher turned author and broadcaster Jim Bouton had passed away at the age of 80. I knew Bouton was suffering from a rare form of dementia brought on by a stroke and that his time would eventually come. I just didn't think that time would be today. We never do. (Although perhaps he knew - or at least his wife Paula did. It was only two days ago the Library of Congress announced they had acquired his papers).

Bouton is, of course, best remembered for authoring the 1970 book Ball Four which was a diary of the 1969 season which he spent split between the expansion Seattle Pilots and the Houston Astros. Once a budding star with the New York Yankees with two World Series rings and an All-Star Game selection, Bouton was struggling to stay afloat in the major leagues with a knuckleball.

When the book came out, many were shocked to learn that baseball players drank booze, took drugs, had extramarital affairs and weren't always very nice people - including Mickey Mantle. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn demanded Bouton recant what he had written. He wouldn't and the book became a best seller. Ball Four gave Bouton a second career as an author as well as a sports broadcaster on the original Eyewitness News team here in New York. He would later appear in the Robert Altman movie The Long Goodbye with Elliott Gould and co-invented the shredded bubblegum Big League Chew.

But Bouton became the black sheep of baseball because because he told the truth. For years, Bouton was persona non grata by the Yankees as he was never invited back to Yankee Stadium for Old Timer's Day. It took a New York Times op-ed by Bouton's eldest son Michael on Father's Day in 1998 urging the Yankees to invite him back to help his father cope with the death of his daughter Laurie in an automobile accident the year before to finally be brought back into the fold.

I first read Ball Four in January 1986 while in the eighth grade in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Ball Four did for me what The Communist Manifesto did for George Bernard Shaw - it turned my life upside down. I was an outsider at school and was lucky if I ever heard a kind word. For the first time in my life I understood not only my place in the social structure, but how I could navigate it. I learned how to speak up, choose my battles and ultimately decided I wanted to write myself.

On January 20, 1986, I began writing a diary which I kept for the better part of a decade. Most of it has gone into ash heap of obscurity, but I learned how to organize my thoughts and observations in a manner that would engaging, if not amusing to those who might come upon it. Although I've never written a best-seller, I did manage to write articles for The American Spectator and National Review Online and get paid for it however modestly.

I had the opportunity to tell Bouton what he and Ball Four meant to me back in July 2003 at the Boston Public Library. Bouton was in town to promote his book Foul Ball. Also written in a diary format, Foul Ball documented Bouton's involvement in trying save Wahconah Park in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, a minor league ballpark complete with wooden grandstands. This year, Wahconah Park celebrates its 100th anniversary. However, most people who attended that night wanted to talk about Ball Four (myself included).

I don't remember much of what he said back to me other than he liked the George Bernard Shaw comparison. I do remember that his wife was using a cane having recently injured her hip. Bouton had written about ballroom dancing in Foul Ball and asked if they had incorporated the cane into their act on the dance floor. They laughed and said they had.

I used to read Ball Four once a year. Now it's about twice a decade. Just the other day, I saw a copy of Ball Four in Westsider Books on Broadway between 80th and 81st. I very nearly bought it. I didn't because I still have an autographed copy of Ball Four which Bouton inscribed with, "Smoke' em inside," which I have yet to unpack nearly a year after my move from Boston. It looks like I have some unpacking to do.

Bouton closed Ball Four with this sentence, "You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time."

To paraphrase Bouton, "I've spent a good piece of my life gripping Ball Four and in the end it turns out it will always have a grip on me."

R.I.P.

If Trudeau is Re-Elected Scheer Can Thank Doug Ford

Two months ago, Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party was trailing the Tories by double digits. But after having a steady lead in the polls since the SNC-Lavalin scandal broke in February, Trudeau's Liberals appeared to have recovered and have taken the lead in several recently released polls including a Nanos poll which gives the Grits a 4.2% lead over the Tories (34.6% to 30.4%).

If the Liberals manage to win re-election this October then Tory leader Andrew Scheer can thank his provincial Tory counterpart in Ontario - Premier Doug Ford. According to a poll commissioned by the Toronto Star last month, more than half of Ontarians (54%) are less likely to vote for the Tories this October because of Ford's policies.

Elected in June 2018 ending 15 years of Liberal rule under Dalton McGuinty and later Kathleen Wynne, the Tory government's popularity has been in free fall since introducing their first budget back in April. Although government spending is at record levels, the Tories have seen fit to cut programs affecting the poor and most vulnerable members of society such as the transition child benefit, violence against women shelters, environmental programs, after school programs as well as the centralization of health care programs.

It also hasn't helped matters that Premier Ford's chief of staff had to resign due to patronage appointments going to his friends, there's been a cabinet shuffle after a year in office and one of his cabinet ministers uttered profanities at the owner of the Ottawa Senators at a Rolling Stones concert. This same minister had to apologize back in February for threatening the funding of the Ontario Association for Behavior Analysis for refusing to publicly backed proposed changes to the province's programs for autistic children.

The key to ousting Trudeau's Liberals is in Ontario. As ham handed as the Trudeau government has been regarding SNC-Lavalin, voters in Ontario are not going to abandon Trudeau if they think Scheer  will govern the way Ford has during his first year in office. Needless to say, Trudeau will move heaven and earth to make people believe that Scheer and Ford are blood brothers.

At this point, SNC-Lavalin is old news while the hijinks at Queens' Park is brand new. If Scheer spends the election campaign having to talk about Ford instead of Trudeau then the federal Tories will grab defeat from the jaws of victory. For his own political future, Scheer is going to have distance himself from Ford. Unless there are new developments in SNC-Lavalin or another new Trudeau scandal emerges, Scheer's hopes for a one term Liberal government might become sheer fantasy.

Twitter Slaps Farrakhan on the Wrist; Still Tolerates Anti-Semitism

Twitter briefly locked Louis Farrakhan out of his Twitter account for his infamous 2018 tweet in which he described Jews as termites. Twitter finally decided this language was dehumanizing to Jews after all.


However, his account was restored hours later. Although the termite tweet has been removed many anti-Semitic tweets remain intact. Which means Twitter tolerates anti-Semitism.


Here is one example I found from this past March:


Hollywood’s Casting Couch: 'The wicked practices that govern their industries are largely justified and influenced by such Talmudic principles.'


The Talmud is, of course, the primary source of Jewish civil and religious law. The notion that the Talmud sanctions rape and sexual assault is defamatory and is intended to incite fear and dehumanize Jews, a violation of Twitter policy.


So naturally I reported it. But I'm not holding my breath.


If Farrakhan were a white supremacist he would have been gone long ago. But Twitter is more afraid of being called racist than anti-Semitic. So it looks the other way. Oh, they'll say anti-Semitism is a bad thing and might take action against such behaviors from time to time only to quietly let the offending party back into the fold as if nothing had happened.


Whether its Farrakhan, Ilhan Omar, Jeremy Corbyn and those who make excuses of them all of it represent drips which erode the wall against anti-Semitism. Tolerance of anti-Semitism invariably leads to violence and tolerance of said violence against Jews in turn leads to state sanctioned pogroms.


Anti-Semitism is the world's oldest hatred. But social media can make it spread more swiftly than ever. This spread is legitimized when Twitter fails to act with equal swiftness. The failure to act against anti-Semitism is to tolerate and eventually accept it as part of the social fabric of polite society.