Top Ten TV Shows of 2014

Bob’s Burgers - Fox The perfect balance of weird and wholesome, I love the Belchers.

The Comeback - HBO This show was far ahead of its time when it’s first season aired in 2005, and I was thrilled when the network announced its return for 2014. Season Two continues to mix in the meta, as Valerie accomplishes a legitimate comeback in her career after being cast in a HBO drama. Her return to acting is just as cringe-worthy and ultimately more costly than it was it season one, but the show ends up being as heartwarming as it is outrageously funny.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - HBO I’ve tuned out of The Daily Show years ago, so I didn’t have particularly high expectations for Oliver’s transition to HBO. But from the very first episode, Oliver quickly separated himself from Stewart and Co. by breathing fresh air into long-form political satire. Oliver is also sillier and less snarky than Stewart, and as a Brit he offers a bit of an outsider’s view on US politics. Both of these traits allow for him to better appeal to both sides of the political aisle, and has contributed to the unprecedented popularity of the show.

The Leftovers - HBO I never watched Lost, the show most will cite while describing their respective love/hate for The Leftovers. So without carrying over any of the baggage from the mega-hit, I became completely enthralled with The Leftover’s post-rapture world in a way that I may have been unable to if I had already viewed LIndelof’s preceding series. From what I know of Lost, I understand that the two shows have much in common. Both are equal parts, fantasy, sci-fi, drama, and mystery. This season of The Leftovers used all of the material from Tom Perotta’s novel of the same name; I hope that the series can maintain its excellence in season two, without the benefit of such precise source material.

Nathan For You - Comedy Central Like The Comeback, this part scripted, part reality show illustrates how people’s tolerance for absurdity succombs to the authority of a film crew. Also like The Comeback, this show is filled with cringe-worthy fun.

Orange Is The New Black - Netflix Despite casting Jason Biggs in a typically insufferable Jason Biggesque  role, OITNB was my favorite show last year. This season was just as good, with the series introducing its most dangerous villain to date, while continuing to beautifully develop its characters.

Silicon Valley - HBO More like Office Space than any of Mike Judge’s previous work in television, Silicon Valley featured outstanding performances from TJ Miller, Thomas Middleditch, and Kumail Nanjani, as well as what may be the smartest dick joke ever told.

The Simpsons - Fox, FX, FXX While I personally still enjoy the new episodes the Simpsons put to air,  I would hardly argue that they should currently be considered among TV’s best. Instead, I’ve included the show on this list  because Matt Groening and company finally joined the rest of 21st century and made the series available for online streaming. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of the series; and I would be interested to know what went down behind the scenes leading up to FX’s 750 million-dollar deal for rights to the series. But for now, I’m just happy that I no longer have resort to watching the 1.4x sped up versions of classic episodes on YouTube.

True Detective - HBO I don’t need to write anything here, because you already watched this right? Best show of the year.

Veep - HBO Presidential politics can be hilarious when you are able to acknowledge how outrageously stupid the whole system is. Remember this absurdity when you’re voting for Bush or Clinton in 2016.

Near Misses:

South Park, Inside Amy Schumer, Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories, Real Time with Bill Maher, Portlandia, Parks and Recreation.

Shows I want to watch soon:

Gotham, Brooklyn 99, Transparent, the Roosevelts, Fargo, Key and Peele (new season,) the Americans

TOP TEN ALBUMS of 2014

As usual, I spent most of the year listening to music that was at least a decade old, but there were still some pretty good records that came out this year. My top ten:

Alt-J: This Is All Yours -  I can’t pinpoint exactly why I didn’t get into Alt-J’s first record, but I know that I listened through it once and wasn’t caught. I’ve since become a fan of the band and their debut album, but that wouldn’t have happened if genre-bending “Left Hand Free” hadn’t drawn me into to giving the band a second chance with This Is All Yours. The album is more rock oriented and features some more experimental song structures than the band’s debut. I’m still not completely on board with the vocal style, but this album is solid beginning to end.

Beck: Morning Phase - Beck’s last few LPs were okay, but were a far cry from the classics that remain in his back catalog. Beck stated the album was intended to be a companion to Sea Change, as if the similarities in cover art weren’t enough of a clue. With that in mind, this album exceeded all expectations for me. Like Sea Change, the album is lush and intimate, and reminds the listener of Beck’s sometimes fleeting humanity. I listened to this album more than any other new release this year.

Eno / Hyde: Someday World - Any record produced by Eno is likely to appear on my personal best of list; and if he happens to be contributing non-ambient music, the album is a lock. The first of two released from the duo this year, Someday World is Electro-Pop, with heavy use African percussion and horns focused through Eno’s always futuristic lens. Coupled with Hyde’s self-realizing vocals and lyrics, the album has an apocalyptic charm to it. Surrounding the album’s release, Eno made several statements expressing his boredom with repetition in pop music. Someday World’s greatest strength is that songs like “Daddy’s Car” or “A Man Wakes Up” are still incredibly catchy, despite the non-traditional song structures.

Frankie Cosmos: Zentropy - Greta Kline seems to agree with Eno: repetition in music is boring. With ten songs that rarely run more than two minutes each, Frankie Cosmos proves that if a song has only one or two good parts, that’s all it needs. The album comes across as if GBV finally found their sweet side, with more interesting guitar parts. If you read my list last year, you’ll know I’m a big fan of Greta Kline and Aaron Maine’s other band, Porches, who will be rolling a new LP in 2015.

Mac DeMarco: Salad Days - DeMarco may be the goofiest guitar hero in rock music has. This album is fun and more accessible than his last LP. The songs remind me of a more psychedelic version of Big Star, warm and weird at the same time. While I like this album a lot, it wouldn’t have made the list if I didn’t feel as though 2014 was a bit of a down year for new releases.

Spoon: They Want My Soul - I don’t think that any other band has been as consistently good for as long as Spoon has. It’s not as though they’ve been reinventing the wheel here or anything, just a fresh batch of smart American rock and roll. Favorite tracks: “Inside Out” and “The Rent I Pay”

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: Wigout at Jagbags - Full review here.

Swans: To Be Kind -  It’s more rock and less opera than The Drift, by equaling as horrifying as Walker’s classic.

Tweedy: Sukierae -  This album features some of the most straight-forward rock songs Tweedy (Jeff) has written in years. As much as I love Nels Cline, I’ve almost forgotten what an incredible guitar player Tweedy is.  And by recording an album with his son, Jeff has come full circle with Dad Rock, which gives me hope that the next Wilco album will be better than the last.

Woods: With Light and With Love - Woods has always had a knack to find balance and cohesion from seemingly conflicting rock influences. The title song of With Light and With Love  sounds like Mark Linkous cut a track with American Beauty era Dead, and I mean that as a compliment in the highest regard. That being said, much of the album finds the band moving to a more mainstream sound, shedding the freak folk tag that has be applied to the band since their inception. The band has progressed in that manner with each album they’ve released, but they’ve hit a high note here and “Moving to the Left” is the band’s catchiest tack to date.

2014 MLB AWARDS

I put together my list of winners at the end of the regular season, but didn’t have the time to write it up because I was pretty busy with Brew Fair at the time. This is mostly for the benefit of the eleven suckers I beat in fantasy this year. I hope you enjoy reading this, and that it will inspire some debates among friends.

AL Rookie of the Year - Jose Abreu: Masahiro Tanaka was the only other serious contender for this award, but his injury in July put an early end to that effort. That said, Abreu put together a truly historic rookie season and would have probably ran away with the award even if Tanka remained healthy. Abreu’s swing is quick and much shorter than a prototypical slugging first baseman, which allows for him to make quick adjustments, and makes it very difficult for opposing pitchers to find a hole in his swing. Abreu batted .317, hit 36 HRs, led the league in slugging percentage, and has posted an outstanding  .383 OBP. And while defensive metrics don’t always paint the most accurate picture, Abreu ranks among league leaders at his position. In a different season, Abreu’s numbers could’ve won him the MVP in addition to ROY.

NL Rookie of the Year - Billy Hamilton: This race came down to two guys: Jacob deGrom and Billy Hamilton.Entering the 2014 season, Jacob deGrom was perhaps the least regarded of New York’s promising stable of young pitchers. But since his call up in mid May, deGrom has been a very pleasant surprise; posting a 9.2 K/9 rate, and amassing a higher WAR than other rookie pitcher, despite only appearing in 22 games. On the other hand, Billy Hamilton became the fastest man in the MLB the moment that he entered the league. He lived up to that reputation, by stealing 56 bases in 79 attempts in 2014. Hamilton also managed to surprise some with his generally solid defense in CF, a part of his game that was an area of concern during his time in the minors.

This award could go either way, but I would give the edge to Hamilton because I believe he has the higher ceiling. Hamilton is two years younger than deGrom and still has room to develop physically. While he’ll certainly never be a slugger, he can still add some strength which would improve his hitting as well as his arm from the outfield. The .292 OBP Hamilton posted is definitely a red flag, but during his time in the minors he had exhibited more patience at the plate. It isn’t unreasonable to believe that he’ll improve upon 2014’s 5.5 BB% during the next season. And if he does that, he has a legitimate shot to steal 75 bases in 2015.

AL Cy Young - Corey Kluber: Probably the tightest of the award races, the AL CYA race featured a lot of the usual suspects: Felix, Sale, Scherzer, Price, Lester, and Corey Kluber, who had a surprising  breakout season.

Price was an early frontrunner, but struggled after his trade, a fact that may be attributed to Detroit's less than stellar defense. Sale would’ve also been a compelling case if he had managed to pitch more than 174 innings. So the award basically came down to Hernandez and Kluber, two players that pitched the entire season and put up fairly similar numbers.

This one is another toss up for me, and I’ve changed my opinion on it several times. In the end,  I’d give the award to Kluber, who struck out more batters and posted a better FIP. However, my best guess is that the award will go to Hernandez based on name recognition and the fact that he captured both the WHIP and ERA crowns.

NL Cy Young - Clayton Kershaw: This one was not a toss up at all, and Kershaw will have three Cy Young awards before turning 27, an age when most pitchers only begin to enter their prime. Eight other pitchers have won three or more Cy Young awards: Carlton, Clemens, Johnson, Koufax, Maddux, Martinez, Palmer, and Seaver. Of those, only Clemens, Maddux, Martinez, and Seaver won the award before age 27. Kershaw's place in this elite group pretty much guarantees that he’ll have a plaque of his own in Cooperstown one day.

AL MVP - Mike Trout: Despite experiencing a significant decline in SBs, OBP, and AVG, Mike Trout is still the best player in baseball. In 2014, Trout will finally get the MVP award that he deserved the past two seasons. Even if 2014 was arguably his worst season in the bigs, Trout was still outperforming everyone else in the league. That being said, there are interesting cases to made for Donaldson, Bautista, and Michael Brantley, who along with Kluber will look to bring Cleveland into contention for 2015.

NL MVP - Clayton Kershaw: If McCutchen and Stanton weren’t both hit by pitches that took them out of action late in the season, there may have been room for debate. That not being the case, it’s impossible to argue that any player in the NL was more valuable than Kershaw (see above.)

Combined Sophomore of the Year - Anthony Rendon: This isn’t a real award but I wish it was, I feel like it’d be way less flukey than the sometimes silly-in-retrospect ROY award. Anthony Rendon would be the obvious choice here. Via FanGraphs, Rendon only fell behind Trout, McCutchen, and Brantley for total WAR amongst position players, which stands as testament to his break-out bat, but also to his dynamic defense at both second and third base. Rendon should receive some MVP consideration, and rightfully so, as he anchored Washington’s division winning team.

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I’ve had a good stretch of finding books that I really enjoy, and may be writing some of those up in the near future. Will definitely be writing a piece previewing Yo La Tengo’s 30th anniversary show in Philly soon, as well as top ten albums and TV show lists towards the end of the year.

Fifty-Nine in ‘84 by Edward Achorn

If you’re under certain age and have ever even heard of Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn, it most likely occurred via twitter. @OldHossRadbourn is probably the greatest anonymous accounts ever. Tweeting from either heaven or hell, the account is a steady stream of satire and jokes from the would-be 160 year old pitching legend, as he offers hot takes on the latest MLB news. I had been enjoying the account for sometime before I finally checked out the Baseball-Reference page linked to in the twitter bio. Even being well aware that baseball was an extremely different game during the 1880’s, the numbers that Old Hoss put up are still completely staggering. 309 Ws and 488 CGs in just 11 seasons while maintaining a golden 2.38 ERA. One season jumps off the page like no other, 1884. In what was the second largest workload for any pitcher ever, Radbourn pitched 678.2 innings all by himself in route to 59 victories and a pennant for his Providence Grays.

Before Babe Ruth hit 60 HRs in a season, Cy Young collected his 511 Ws, or Dimaggio earned a hit for 56 consecutive games, Radbourn’s 59 wins in 1884 was widely regarded as the most incredible feat a pro ballplayer has ever accomplished. The long passage of time has made Radbourn’s feat less famous, but has made it even that much more incredible. In Fifty-Nine in ‘84, historian and Providence Journal op-ed editor Edward Achorn pieces together the details of the remarkable season by sourcing original newspaper reports and other first hand accounts. Achorn’s immense knowledge of Providence in the 1880’s, as well as the day-to-day life of ballplayers at the time, really makes the story come to life. The result is a compelling and fun-to-read book that not only provided an insightful portrait of the mystical Radbourn, but also provides a comprehensive history lesson on the early days of professional baseball.

Radbourn wasn’t quite as outlandish as the parody account made in his memory would proport, but the real life Radbourn was still a mean S.O.B. He was a heavy drinker, sullen and withdrawn from his teammates. Once, in response to reports that his arm had become lame, Old Hoss tortured his catcher by intentionally crossing signals and throwing as hard as could. Throughout the game, he constantly knocked his battery-mate off his perch and turning his fingers into crooked jelly. In addition to other documented instances of anger, according to to Achorn’s research, Radbourn is the first person to ever be photographed while flashing the middle finger.

Despite being an infamous malcontent, Old Hoss was widely regarded  as the best pitcher in the game, and was beloved by Providence boosters for his grit and determination. However when he began to struggle on the mound in early ‘84, a rookie teammate strung together a series of dominating starts for the Grays and quickly emerged as the team’s uncontested ace. Radbourn was filled with jealousy, and when he felt that the rookie was receiving too much special treatment, Radbourn was angry enough to quit the Grays and join up with a team in the new Union Association league. The rookie who had stolen Radbourn’s thunder, Charles Sweeney, also had a drastic reaction to his new found fame, a massive swelling of the head. After showed up to the park drunk and in the company of two noted prostitutes, he refused to play that day and then quit the Grays after a heated argument with the team’s manager, a decision that he would regret once he sobered up.

What happened after Sweeney’s departure is truly stranger than fiction. Radbourn agreed to come back and pitch virtually every inning left on the schedule. He agreed to rejoin the team only if his salary would be doubled and if he’d be granted free agency after the season, the latter of which would not become common in professional baseball until ninety years later. Radbourn would wake up each day unable to lift his right hand above his waist, but somehow managed to get loose enough to throw by game-time. The pain Radbourn experienced was terrible, but the results were brilliant.

Achorn’s book details each a game and the events surrounding Radbourn as he made good on his end of the contract. More than just a season recap, the book delves deep into the mystical Radbourn’s biography, separating fact from fiction and providing backstory behind many of his more famous attributes. But perhaps my favorite aspect of the book is the fact that its scope is much larger than Radbourn; Achorn paints portraits of dozens of other players, managers, umpires, and team owners, with many of their personalities as outlandish as Radbourn’s.

For fans of early professional baseball, Victorian America, badasses. Buy this book from Amazon here.

"The Great Talk" by Flat Mary Road

Perhaps the best way to describe The Great Talk may be as a throwback to a time when the term ‘indie rock’ had more of a unique sound associated with it; think of the jangly rock that was popular with college radio crowd during the early to mid 90’s. Categorizing any band as indie-rock is a little bit more problematic than it used to be, but if the shoe still fits, wear it.  You’ll know what I mean if you listen to the stand out tracks from the album. "Shameless",  “Easily Read”, and “Mama Said”: the band sounds garagey, yet the songs are dynamic and filled with catchy hooks. 

 Led by Steve Teare, 28, the West Philly band has produced a very straight-forward rock album. However, Teare’s warbling vocals play a huge roll in keeping the band from ever sounding derivative. On some tracks, Teare’s leads are forceful and urgent, and at other times are understated or earnest. The same sentiment can be applied to Teare’s lyrics, which range from sarcastic to surreal, and are as interesting and memorable as his voice. 

 There’s a level of angst present on this record that was not found on the band’s previous recordings. So it is not terribly surprising that hear that after five years, Teare resigned from his job. He was an art teacher in the Philadelphia public school system. Teare tells me he didn’t leave because of the kids (which he loves and still teaches part-time,) but because of the quagmire of problems that the district is famous for. For example, he was frequently laid off, only to be hired back a short time later with the added responsibility of 250 students. Feeling a little like Josef K., Teare tired of being subject of the whims of a system that no one seems to control or even understand. The need for transparency, honesty, and self-determinism come from Teare’s personal experience and is evident on most of the songs on this album.

 Like Flat Mary Road’s first album, The Great Talk does have an overall quirky folk feel, but the band doesn’t shy away from other influences. The violin on the title track and “Grey Susan” give the band a certain southern-flare, while the guitars on “Jason” and “To Join a Cult” evoke some of the stoner-rock sound found on the early Built to Spill or Modest Mouse records. But above all else, The Great Talk is a straight-forward rock album, where the band is pioneering their own sound. It is increasingly rare to hear a new album that isn’t attached to at least two sub-genres, or emerged from some sort of scene; but that is exactly what Flat Mary Road’s new LP is, and it is its greatest strength. 
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For fans of: Drive-By Truckers, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the “Pete & Pete” theme song, bar bands 

Bring the DH to the National League

In spite of not being renowned as particularly proactive commissioner, no other in MLB’s history has overseen as many changes to the game as Allan “Bud” Selig has. While Selig has garnered the reputation as someone who has altered the league to serve his own interests, the quantity of changes can be attributed to the fact that his twenty-two year tenure as commissioner is the second longest ever. During his tenure, Selig welcomed four new franchises to the league, realigned the divisions, expanded the playoffs twice, implemented instant replay reviews, instituted interleague play, and put in place a PED drug testing system which may be the strictest of all the American pro leagues.

Selig’s timing has never been great; the drug policy that was enacted in 2005 would have certainly been useful in 1993. And the same sentiment can be applied to the recent addition of instant replay reviews, another alteration that had a nearly universal advocacy well before the change was  adopted. But for better or worse, its difficult to deny Selig’s business aptitude, as many of the changes he implemented can be directly linked to an increase in revenue for the league, teams, and players alike.  Upon his departure, Selig will leave the MLB in the best financial state the league has ever been in.

But enough about Selig, he is retiring and someone new will soon be in charge and the game will continue to change. Over the next couple of weeks / months, I’ll be writing about some of the ways that I’d like to see the league evolve under the new commissioner, whomever that may be. Today, I'll be writing about why the National League should adopt the Designated Hitter rule.

Bartolo Colon’s at-bats have certainly been one of the highlights of the 2014 season for me, albeit for all of the wrong reasons. He assumes a position in the box that is more of an awkward hunch than a hitter’s stance. His swings and misses have been so wild, he should think of investing in a chin strap. Having hardly any experience putting a ball in play, when Colon finally accomplished that feat, he carried the bat with him on his futile run to first base.

While Colon is a particularly bad hitter (0 walks and 73 strikeouts over 131 career plate appearances,) his inaptitude probably draws more attention because he is so overweight. As of June 19th, the Mets are posting a .135 OBP, a number that would be much lower if Jacob deGrom hadn’t gone 5-for-12 upon his call up. Unfortunately, the problem is not exclusive to the Mets. The Dodgers of 2013 and the Nationals of 2012 are the only two NL teams whose pitchers were able to post an OBP of at least .200 during those seasons, while the MLB’s three-season average for pitchers is .147. Since an OBP of .147 is essentially an automatic out,  watching a pitcher’s at-bat is probably the most irritating part of a the game for me.

There are outliers of course, but you’d have to go back several decades to find an era of baseball when pitchers could be considered respectable hitters. Larger rotations and less innings-pitched have resulted in less at-bats for pitchers, diminishing their skills at the plate. Additionally, since 1973’s inauguration of the DH rule in the American League, even the minor leagues affiliates of National Leagues began to adopt the rule too. This has created a situation where pitchers who may have been skilled batters in high school or college, will have zero chance to develop those skills against a higher level of competition. And the skills that they did have, are likely diminish from an absence of practice.

The minor leagues adaptation of the DH rule is an easy one to understand, as it affords franchises an opportunity to develop more hitters than they otherwise would have been able to. I believe that the NL adaption of the DH rule would have the same effect in the big leagues, providing an additional position to develop young players who would otherwise be benched, creating new value for the franchise.

If that is not incentive enough for the NL to adopt the DH rule, interleague play should be. Teams from the AL has won more interleague games than the NL for ten years running, and are 14-of-18 overall. There’s a difference between having a couple pinch hitters on your bench versus having a designated one, and teams from the AL have been able to exploit that inequality of rosters year after year. The fact that interleague play is now spread throughout the entire season, is another disadvantage to teams in the National League. When interleague play was limited to a few weeks per season, teams had a greater opportunity to juggle their roster for a stretch run where it’d make sense to carry an additional hitter. I may be speculating, but I’d imagine that NL teams are now less likely to tweak their rosters in preperation for interleague series because they are now one-and-done.

This type of scheduling surely creates headaches for AL teams as well. Pitchers on those teams are now expected to take batting practice throughout the year, which may be fun for the players, but probably frustrating for coaches. And as pitchers already tend to be the most injury-prone guys on the team, I’m sure it’s no fun from a general manager’s perspective either, watching a million dollar investment put their bodies in harm’s way for the sake of a mostly fruitless exercise.

As it stands now, the player’s union is in favor of bring the DH rule to the National League, as it means more employed players. Owners are against it, because it would mean an increase in payroll. However, teams are constantly becoming smarter, and I believe that it is a matter of time before they realize that adopting the rule in their league will serve to not only their best interests, but also to the best interests of the game as a whole. Purists will be upset, as they were when the DH was brought to the American League. But ultimately, bringing  designated hitters to the NL will make for a more competitive game, add value to franchises, and protect the health or pitchers, which is why it is a change to the game that I’d lobby for if I was the next commissioner of baseball.

* SPECIAL NOTE: On June 18th 2014, Bartolo Colon collected his first hit of the season. a stand up double.

Next time, I’ll write about closing the Adderall loophole, MLB’s favorite PED.

Philadelphia Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Cradle of Liberty by Rich Wagner

The first half of this book covers the nearly 250 years of Philadelphia brewing before prohibition. Suitably, Wagner examines the history of Philly brewing by placing it in the context of neighborhoods, and also by establishing a timeline of the particular styles that gained prominence era to era. It was interesting to read about Philadelphia’s pioneering of Lager beer, and how its popularity helped to establish the city as a nationally leading beer producer. This section of the book was comprehensive, but also somewhat dry. At times, I felt as though I was reading a long wikipedia page on the subject.

The book picks up in its second half, as Wagner goes on to describe how the Volstead Act utterly destroyed one of Philadelphia’s largest industries. The vast majority of breweries closed at the introduction of the act, but some remained opened manufacturing near beer and selling it as a breakfast food (so punk rock.) Prohibition was of course repealed, but at that point the economy was suffering through the Great Depression, and most of Philadelphia’s breweries would never reopen.  There were over a dozen large scale breweries in the city before prohibition. By 1950, there were only four, and by 1970 there were two. Schmidt’s was the last brewery operating in the city when it shut down in 1989 and began its transformation from an abandoned industrial complex to a bro stomping ground. The final chapter dealt with Philly’s more recent history, from the small brewpubs that popped up during the 90’s to the large scale breweries of Yards and PBC that we enjoy today.

This book was a short, and I finished reading it rather quickly. The beginning of it was a bit boring, but only because so much of Philadelphia’s early brewing history has been lost to time. As the book continued, the author was able to interject an increasing amount of detail, making the book worthwhile for those with an interest in the subject. At the very least, it will give you some new things to ponder while walking around Brewerytown, or while catching a band at Ortleib’s. This book is available at Amazon

SPECIAL NOTE: I mostly was drawn to reading this book because I happen to be organizing a craft beer festival in historic Brewerytown. Info here: Brew Fair

To Every Thing a Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia 1909 - 1976 by Bruce Kuklick

To Every Thing a Season is a great book because it is as much about the A’s and Phillies teams of the Shibe Park era as it is about the neighborhood the ballpark transformed, and ultimately mirrored. Bruce Kuklick is a long time professor of history at the University of Penn, and has written several books on the philosophical and intellectual history in the United States. Books of this type are sometimes prone to an overly sentimental perspective, but Kuklick is successful at avoiding this pitfall, and instead takes a deep look at exactly what causes that type of mass nostalgia in addition to his historical recount.

The story itself is rather compelling. In the 70+ years from the park’s founding to its demolition, the neighborhood transformed from a collection of small farming villages, to a densely populated inner city on a steady decline. The park itself was considered a great technological achievement when it was built, but by 1971 it was heavily regarded as pro baseball’s worst stadium and famously likened to chicken shit by Richie Ashburn. Kuklick covers it all with great detail; closely examining the many local factors and national trends that shaped the area during that time, but also giving equal time to highlight the baseball personalities that made the area famous.

The location of Shibe Park was selected for its proximity to local trolley and regional rail lines. But by the 1940’s, it was a lack of automobile parking that had both the A’s and the Phillies pining for a new home. The section of the book that dealt with the respective team’s efforts to relocate and the city planning that eventually lead to the regrettable Veteran’s Stadium was particularly interesting. It’s a shame that most of the follies associated with that era of publicly funded stadiums still exist today, as politicians continue to falsely believe that a new stadium will benefit the city, when it usually only benefits the owners of the team that resides there. I would have love to have Kuklick’s thoughts on what lead up to the building Citizen’s Bank Park, but this book was published in 1994, at a time when public opinion of Veteran's Stadium had only begun to sour.

The closing of To Every Thing a Season was especially strong. It reminded of some of Milan Kundera’s writings as Kuklick uses Shibe Park to reflect on the nature of collective memories, which run both true and false. The author quotes local papers from the time of Shibe’s closing, and some remembered the neighborhood, stadium, and its teams as they were. But many were already looking back with rose tinted glasses, finally praising the very stadium they’d been lobbying against for the past 25 years.

This book is rich in detail, and the writing has a great flow to make for an enjoyable read. While much of its focus is on baseball, I’d recommend this book to anyone with a serious interest in 20th century Philadelphia. Unfortunately, this book is not available in the Kindle store, so you’ll have to lug around a hard copy if you want to read it. Available on Amazon

This Fall, coming to a Brewerytown near you!

Wig Out At Jagbags

Malkmus is now six LPs deep into his solo career, which makes for one more album than he produced with Pavement. His self-titled solo debut from 2001 sounded a lot Terror Twilight Part II, but on his second album, Pig Lib, Malkmus took a significant departure from his former band’s sound by making a psychedelic blues album.  Three albums later, we finally see Malkmus come full circle with Wig Out at Jagbags, which sounds more like a Pavement record than anything else he’s done as a solo artist.

I suppose that the same thing was probably said about Mirror Traffic when it came out, which is a far more pop-oriented album than the preceding Real Emotional Trash. The difference on Wig Out is Malkmus’ vocals and lyrics. Quirky wordplay coupled with a So-Cal slacker delivery has always been his signature, but on this album it takes center stage in a way that Malkmus has only teased with since Pig Lib.

That being said, it is also no coincidence that most of the songs have more stripped down arrangements than Malkmus has been doing on his past couple of records. This gives the album a loose and live sounding feel. “The Janitor Revealed”, “Shibboleth”, “J Smoov”, and “Scattegories” all sound like they could have maybe come off Brighten the Corners or Wowee Zowee. The rest of the album doesn’t sound as much like Pavement as those tracks do, but it has a similar fun energy and that carries it throughout.

AllMusic gave this album 4.5 stars, the same rating it gave for Malkmus’ previous two albums. Personally, I like Wig Out much more than those albums, and I think that most Pavement-first fans will agree. That being said, Wig Out is far from a rehash. It sounds fresh and is full of surprises. My favorite track: “Lariat” was the first single and is pretty much the epitome of everything there is to like about Stephen Malkmus.

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks are playing in Philadelphia on 3/1 at the TLA. That date is also my birthday, so feel free to meet me there and buy me a drink. 

My Hall of Fame Ballot

I don’t have a Hall of Fame ballot, but if I did, I’d vote for these 10 players:

1. Craig Biggio: Should’ve been elected last year, but only received 68 of the 75 percent necessary. I guess the knock on him is that he never cracked the top 3 in MVP voting.  Perhaps he wasn’t ever the best player in the league at one time, but his standing on other leader boards speak from themselves. He won 4 Gold Gloves between 2B and CF, as well as a Silver Slugger award as a catcher, a position he only moved from in an effort to stay healthy.

2. Mike Piazza: Belle & Sebastian’s favorite player, and probably the best offensive catcher ever. He also owns a Honda dealership in Langhorne, which more people would probably buy from if he was the guy who took you out on the test drives. His memoir and recent media rounds were more than a little Kenny Poweresque, so maybe it’s better for him for stay out of the public eye, at least until his elected into the HOF in a couple of years.

3. Greg Maddux: The BBWAA members who did not vote for Maddux should sell their vote to Deadspin.

4. Barry Bonds: Barry Bonds did steroids and had a good time doing so. That doesn’t change the fact that he was one the most gifted players ever. His numbers are exaggerated by his use of PEDs, but if we are able to accept that the whole league’s numbers were exaggerated by the Steroid Era, then Bonds’ 7 MVP awards are a more relative measure of his greatness.

But stacking him against the greatest of all time is fun too… If he wasn’t prematurely rejected from the game after the 2007 season, he’d certainly top Babe Ruth as all-time leader in career WAR.

5. Roger Clemens:  Pretty much anything negative people to say about Bonds, they’ll say about Clemens too. But as Bonds is the greatest offensive talent of many generations, Clemens is a pitcher of equal greatness. Clemens won as many Cy Young awards as Bonds won MVPs, both should be in the Hall of Fame.

6. Rafael Palmeiro: Congress was once the paradigm of truth and integrity in this country, until Palmeiro lied to it and ruined baseball forever… A lot of voters think this way, and that is why he’ll probably fall off the ballot this year. I on the other hand, think that he had a no doubt HOF career and would vote for him if I had the chance.

7. Frank Thomas: Statistically very similar to Jeff Bagwell, who I originally had listed here. Both players deserve to be in the HOF, but I’d vote for Thomas first giving him additional points for playing in the more competitive AL of the era.

8. Mike Mussina: Never won a Cy Young, but had an incredibly long stretch of years where him came close, while playing in the toughest division of the era.

9. Curt Schilling: Feels like Schilling in the main reason that the Phillies were able to win any games from 1994-2000. Like Mussina, he never won a Cy Young (finished 2^nd three times,) but had a incredibly long peak. He of course is most memorable for his post seasons, where he may be considered as the best playoff starting pitcher ever

10. Tom Glavine: Because winning 300 games still has to count for something, right?

My friend Marc C wrote an excellent and extensive breakdown of the 2014 HOF ballot which I highly recommend checking out here: Baseball Bullsh

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Thanks again for reading. I’m hoping to write a little bit about some books I’ve recently read sometime soon, so please check back for that. Bye, thanks for stopping by.