Dave James

It was a good catch. This is an incredible catch:

Had never seen this picture. Could this have been taken when Hank was playing with Miles?

Anyone notice anything strange about his Stratocaster?

With MLB looking down the barrel of a work stoppage in a couple of years, the timing of a contract moratorium would be seen as collusion by the MLBPA. Considering that profits for owners have never been higher, that could make for a pretty ugly and perhaps lengthly confrontation.

Dallas Keuchel? With Clint Frazier barely hitting his weight this Spring, the Hicks issue may be the most concerning,

Did anyone happen to catch the interview with Lori Loughlin's daughter that ran earlier this week on CNN? Her name is Olivia and she's what's known in the trade as a social media influencer. She is also a black belt airhead. Listen to her talk about going to USC, and then marvel at the fact that she has two million followers on YouTube who apparently hang on her every word when it come to looking good, partying hard and being the coolest kid you know. In a word, "unbelievable." https://us.cnn.com/videos/entertainment/2019/03/13/lori-loughlin-olivia-jade-university-southern-california-admission-scam-mxp-vpx.hln/video/playlists/top-news-videos/

Fans of the NFL will be interested to learn that the Giants have reportedly traded Odell Beckham, Jr. to the Cleveland Browns. Not sure of the details, but that's a blockbuster.

I'm going all in on this one:

I promise not to hold this against him. We all have our crosses to bear.

I don't think Blackman's style is a good match for Santana's music. His style is so percussion heavy, the drummer needs to be less intrusive than she tends to be. When I saw them at Marysville, she took a solo on "Soul Sacrifice" that practically ruined the song. And as long as you brought up Graham Lear, what is it you don't like about his style? He was with the band a couple of times I saw them and I thought he was fine. Not Michael Shrieve fine, but more than serviceable.

I've seen Santana a half a dozen times. The last of these was a couple of summers ago at an outdoor venue in Marysville, Washington. Several years back, he added his wife, drummer Cindy Blackman, to his band. All I'll say about that is this... where are Michael Shrieve or Graham Lear when you need them? She's just a bad fit. They reprised some of the warhorses you wanted to hear but it seemed like they were just discharging an obligation. Then, out of the blue, they covered a song by Enya. At that point, I knew it was time to call for the check.

Died today at 90. He was one of those behind the scenes players like Tony Tedesco, Don Randi and Carol Kaye who had a huge hand in the popularization of rock music in the 60's. During his career, he played 40 #1 singles and on 150 songs that made the Top 10. He was easily the most prolific drummer in the history of popular music.

If you haven't heard The Marcus King Band, he's well more than worth a listen. The kid is 22 years old and plays like he's been around forever. He channels old warhorses like the Allman Brothers and Marshall Tucker, but he writes most of his own tunes and they are very good. Here's his latest called "Homesick".

A day rarely passes when I don't spin a few Marshall Tucker tunes. Toy Caldwell was a monster. What he could do with just his thumb made him the Wes Montgomery of Southern rock.

Good thing he has a second career to sustain him in his time of need:

I have no idea how the Yankees coached him up, but there's no doubt that Gray was a different pitcher after the trade. If he picks his game up again in Cincinnati, it will say a lot about whether he could or couldn't handle the pressure of pitching in New York.

With all due respect to a great and under-appreciated player, my initial reaction to seeing this picture was this. A road-worn musician with his road-worn Telecaster.

Marc Myers wrote a nice piece about Bickert earlier today.

IMO, "61 Hours" is the best of the Reacher series. If I understand correctly, and if there's a third film, it will be based on this book.

If you're a sports fan, I'm sure you're aware that former all-pro Jason Witten has decided to return to the Dallas Cowboys. Thus ends ESPN's abortive attempt to replicate Tony Romo's success with CBS. I didn't pay much attention to Witten, but I came across this description of his struggles that I found amusing: Witten's calling card became a series of malapropisms including “He pulled a rabbit out of his head” and “They kicked themselves in the foot.” Witten responded to the criticism in by saying, “I’m committed to the long game approach.”

Territory only currently occupied by Bobby Bonilla.

Yup.

I agree that the Yankees have overpaid (surprise, surprise), but with Hicks, it's not all about offensive production. He's an above average defensive presence.