I normally get to see the RSC’s productions at the beginning of their run and I’m then able to prepare the review early. This one is unusual as, because of my personal workload, I didn’t get to see Twelfth Night until three nights before it finished. I decided to prepare a review anyway – even though it’s likely to influence exactly nothing.

The 2007 RSC production of Twelfth Night rather went out of its way to draw attention to itself. The character of Viola, a woman who dresses herself as a man, was played by a man. The three older male characters of Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Fabian, were played by older women. The character of Malvolio was played by the American actor, John Lithgow, who is better known for the sit-com “Third Rock From the Sun” than for his serious theatre work.
On that occasion, Lithgow was the surprise triumph in a play that once you got past the unusual casting didn’t have all that much to offer. Malvolio saved the day.

The 2009 production, directed by Gregory Doran, goes for a much more conventional casting but also goes for a Malvolio that the public will be drawn to because of a sit-com. This time it is Richard Wilson, who has become somewhat typecast since his association with a certain catchphrase and the character of Victor Meldrew in the BBC’s “One Foot in the Grave”.

Wilson is certainly the most recognisable face in the cast but it is another actor associated with a BBC sit-com who provides the wittiest and brightest performance. James Fleet, known for his role in “The Vicar of Dibley” brings energy, verve and believable comedic stupidity to the character of Andrew Aguecheek. He has boundless momentum, wit and makes every word count. This is all the more notable given how lacklustre this character was in the aforementioned 2007 production.

In Richard McCabe who plays Toby Belch he has an amiable and likeable companion, even if the visual jokes are a little low.
But the play is not all high points and great performances. Alexandra Gilbreath as Olivia is a little stiff, and does not bring much to a female part that is supposed have most of the male characters in a sweat.

Miltos Yerolemou as Feste, the fool, is highly energetic and vibrant throughout the play but his spinning around the stage which is entertaining before the interval has a tendency to become a little repetitive the more the night goes on.

Wilson’s Malvolio is adequate but he has none of the charm and variety brought to the role by Lithgow in that earlier production. He is deadpan too often.

It seems that from the two productions you could have made an almost perfect performance! Sam Alexander, who brought good performances to “Love’s Labour’s Lost” and “Hamlet” last year, delivered up an effective Sebastian another role that in the previous run had little to offer other than cross-dressing.

An effective and compelling set design was provided by Robert Jones and this is an eminently watchable and bright production. Paul Englishby provides good arrangements to the music which complements the lyrics provided by Will Shakespeare’s script.
So, good in parts but a production that is good because it plays to the strengths of the play. Weak in places but an enjoyable night at the theatre because the good outweighs the under-developed.

Thirty years of any career deserves a celebration. Surviving thirty years in the MUSIC industry is a particular accomplishment. And so friends, fans and family were called together to honour Judie Tzuke.

Arriving early at The Bedford in Balham, we were able to take seats at the front of the stage.

Compere for the night, Vin Goodwin opened the evening’s events with a satirical take on Judie’s best known song “Stay with Me Till Dawn”. Vin was a charming and affable presence to host the events and as he left the stage he was replaced by the heavily pregnant, Mia Silvas. Mia took lead vocals on the next song, “Bully” and was supported by Bailey and Tallula Tzuke. Vin’s opening satire had reminded us that Judie is best known for her ballads and an aggressive and fiery rocker like “Bully” is a necessary balance. In some ways, it is surprising then that not more of songs of this kind were used and the evening did rather concentrate on those self-same ballads.

Between the ballads and the occasional rocker, more than 20 musicians took the stage. Speaking poignantly of Judie’s role in encouraging their musical and personal development, there were those who had written with Judie and those who had performed with her and recorded with her. The few for whom great distance meant they could not be present had sent their video greetings. Judie’s former keyboard player and co-writer, Bob Noble sent his greetings from the United States. Lucie Silvas who is also now living in the U.S. and whose solo career Judie helped to launch not only sent a message but her version of Judie’s wonderful song “Joan of Arc” was recorded and played – and accompanied by video images that Vin had developed for the occasion.
Tony Moore contributed his version of Judie’s mid-paced, mid-life crisis number, “the Cup of Tea Song” which he stretched out to meet the needs of his voice, whilst Tom Baxter performed three songs with his band that Judie had helped him write for his own albums: “Icarus Wings”, “Skybound”, and “Love is Not Enough”.



Mia Silvas

Highlights included Lorna Blackwood delivering her own version of one of Judie’s strongest recent songs, “Dark Days”, and Vashti’s take on “All at Sea” which originated on the same album.

Many of these very capable singers commented how difficult it was to sing songs which Judie had written for her own range and for her own sense of melody. Bailey recalled how she had forced her Mum to sing “Choices You’ve Made” on a recent tour before finding how difficult that rocker is to sing and promising never to obligate her in that way again.

Ms Tzuke’s ear for young and up and coming talent was shown by the performances by Laura and the Tears (“See You Later”) and Tim Deal (“Parallel Lives”) both of whom have emerged under Judie’s tutelage.

One of Jude’s first compositions was “Ladies’ Night” and there was something particularly poignant about hearing it performed by her eldest daughter as Bailey returned to the stage following on from a gentle performance of the beautiful ballad “One Minute” by Mia.



Bailey Tzuke

Only one thing remained to round out the evening – the chant of “Jud-ie” went up and the lady in whose honour the whole evening was put together was encouraged to come to stage. Visibly moved by the whole occasion, Ms Tzuke, the elder, complied. Joined by Richard Cardwell, she first performed a beautiful version of “Man and A Gun” from her “Wonderland” album. This was followed by the predictable but essential “Stay With Me Till Dawn. Friends old and new – Mike Paxman, Ben Mark et al – joined her on stage. Pax took his signature solo on the hit and rousing applause and standing ovation aside before we knew we were spilling out into the night.

Quite wonderful

.

Judie Tzuke

Sunday night was a good night to celebrate an anniversary with a lady who has been a consistent presence in the UK music industry for 30 years and who has simply one of the greatest voices in rock. More of that in a little while but first let me give you a bit of chronology and a bit of background for those who came in late.

Judie Tzuke first rose to public view (after a couple of false starts) with her album, “Welcome to the Cruise”, in 1979. The single taken from the album, “Stay With Me Till Dawn”, remains her only success on the UK singles chart. After that she was known mainly as an albums’ artist – but because of “….Dawn” she was principally recognised for her ability to compose and sing ballads.

“Welcome to the Cruise” had some great songs but lacked a little in cogent direction in the production department. Her second and third albums, “Sportscar” and “I Am the Phoenix”, took her in a rockier direction. These albums closed out her contract with Rocket (a label owned by Elton John).

Her first album for her new label, Chrysalis, was “Shoot the Moon” in 1982. It was followed by a live set “Road Noise” which showed that her and her band could certainly rock out. Her audience had expanded to include the fringes of the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” brigade and whilst each of these albums charted, she had become cast as another “rock chick” appreciated by those who liked their Stevie Nicks and Heart albums. Trouble was that too narrowly defined Judie’s talents and it was a mould that she was to seek to break out of, even if she lost her audience in the process.

1983s “Ritmo” was an effort to take her music in a more keyboard dominated but funkier and rhythmic direction. It didn’t sell as well as its predecessors and Chrysalis withdrew their backing.

Another label move followed as she switched to Legacy for an album “The Cat is Out” which sought to combine the synthesizers of “Ritmo” with the rock and ballads of her commercial successes. Crucially, Judie was to leave most of the composing to her band on this one giving a suggestion that she was not convinced by what might be perceived by some as a backward step. Bad distribution and a lower profile label led to a further decline in sales despite a successful tour. This 1985 album was to be her one and only for Legacy and heralded the beginning of the splintering of her touring band: bassist John “Rhino” Edwards left and joined Status Quo.

The cat may have been out but Ms Tzuke seemed to be heading for cover. It was four years before she resurfaced with a new long term deal with Polydor, a new album and a promised new tour. The album “Turning Stones” gave her the most disappointing chart placing to date and was more esoteric than “Ritmo” and a much more determined effort than its predecessor. Whether because of disappointing sales or some other reason the tour was swiftly cancelled, the album disappeared from the shelves after one pressing and the much talked of long association with Polydor was brief indeed.

CBS was the next label to take a chance on Judie and in 1991 they released the patchy affair “Left Hand Talking”. This had a re-working of “Stay With Me Till Dawn”, covers of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” and Judee Sill’s “Jesus was a Cross Maker” and seven new compositions that were good in their own right but didn’t necessarily feel like they belonged together. It was the first album in Tzuke’s career that hadn’t charted and the record company promoted the preceding single (the Beach Boys song) with much more vigour than they did the album.

Another year, another label. Castle Communications were the parent company behind Legacy who had released the 1985 album and it was back to them and their “Essential” imprint that Judie headed in 1992. “Wonderland” was a much more thought out affair than its predecessor and was accompanied by some live concerts, TV promotion and a couple of singles. Still sales were unremarkable despite guest appearances on the album by Queen’s Brian May and the current classical darling of the moment, Nigel Kennedy. This was Tzuke at her most mature and thoughtful and still the public wasn’t biting. It was becoming clear that Judie’s days of charting albums and big sales were behind her. If she was to carry on in the music industry then the emphasis would need to be on artistic integrity and a refusal to bend to the whims of the major labels – whilst retaining the support of a dedicated fanbase. It would take a couple of years to figure this out but when it happened Judie Tzuke’s internet-only, artist-owned label, Big Moon, would be a pioneer of its kind.

The second part of Judie Tzuke’s career saw her produce a series of thoughtful studio albums and several live recordings each accompanied by a tour of small-to-medium sized venues around the UK. By this time Judie had settled into domestic life with two children, Bailey and Tallula, by her bandmate, Paul Muggleton. The rest of her original touring band had gone their separate ways with last man standing Mike Paxman soon to be heading in new directions too.

Four years had again elapsed before the appearance of 1996’s Under the Angels. The album couldn’t be found in the stores but healthy promotion was achieved at live concerts where the fact that Judie had a new album, and her own label was notified to everyone who attended. This was alongside “Wonderland” the most accomplished set of Ms Tzuke’s career and her new artistic freedom fitted her well.

Tours in February and June 1997 were recorded for the live album “Over the Moon” which covered the whole of her career to date and when the touring was finished and with sales of the live album healthy, Judie set to work on the next studio album “Secret Agent” which was released in 1998.

This formula of studio album – tour – live album was obviously the way to go and so the last leg of the “Secret Agent” tour was recorded for “Six Days Before the Flood” which was released immediately before the next studio set “Queen Secret Keeper” in 2001.

Another outside label, East Central One came sniffing around this album and promised to make a single out of “Drive” from the record. Its failure to materialise can only have further battered Tzuke’s opinion of record labels.

Undeterred, “Drive Live” was 2002’s live document of the 2001 tour of the album. By now, Judie’s recording studio, label and home had become the nurturing ground for another generation of musicians who were learning their trade, co-writing and being mentored by Judie. Their presence was seen increasingly on her tours and also began to reflect itself in the music charts as first Lucie Silvas and then Judie’s daughter, Bailey Tzuke began to make their presence known.

But everything has its time and this cycle of activity was about to slow down and give way to another chapter. But first there were some loose ends to tie up. First an album of covers “The Beauty of Hindsight – Volume 1”, again accompanied by a tour – this time with a tour programme partially written by yours truly.

2004’s album “The End of the Beginning” had a title which said everything. This was probably one of the three best albums of her career but it was also the last of its kind to date. If Big Moon was to continue it was going to need to move in a new direction which would allow Judie to break out of the constant cycle of touring and recording and allow her to concentrate on her work developing others’ talents, songwriting with her circle of friends but also with the increasingly large number of acts that the majors were pushing in her direction. The beginning of Big Moon had been one thing and that time was at an end and now there was a new thing but first time for one last regular tour (again accompanied by a tour booklet in which my writings were featured).

It would be three years before there would be another Judie Tzuke album on Big Moon and with “Songs 1” and its follow up “Songs 2”, the emphasis was away from a thematic album and back with a much looser collection of songs which just reflected the songwriting prior to its release. When a tour came, it was much less Judie and made room for performances from the stable of talent she was developing with Ms Tzuke like a proud mother hen pushing her associates out into the limelight.

Now in 2009, I hear whispers of a new development with talk of an album partially made up of old songs and to be released into the stores by a label other than Big Moon……. Haven’t we heard and seen this before….. and it didn’t work then.

Only time will tell whether this latest chapter in the career of the unsinkable Judie Tzuke will be a high point or a low point.

In the meantime, there was a gathering of friends and fans to help her celebrate her thirty years in the business and I’ll tell you about that in a subsequent post……….

Place: Elland Road, Leeds
Date: 31st October 2009
Event: Leeds United vs Yeovil Town

Leeds, coming off the back of a 4-0 victory over promotion rivals Bristol Rovers, were expected to dominate their next opponents easily. Yeovil Town securely in mid-table and not looking likely to go much higher, were not perceived to be the threat that the Pirates had been but half way through the game it all looked like it might go wrong. It looked like we might be on our way to a hallowe'en- flavoured nightmare.

Leeds had begun the game with Ankergren in goal. Higgs was still unavailable. Ankergren is not the safest pair of hands but their only other alternative is young Alan Martin. In defence, Patrick Kisnorbo and Richard Naylor are a solid pair in the centre of defence. Leigh Bromby, at right back, looked solid as a feeder down the wing to winger, Snodgrass but less comfortable when under pressure from the Yeovil forwards. Left back, Andy Hughes, is not in his most natural position in that slot but did reasonably well in a team that looked flat and uninspired.

Micky Doyle playing immediately in front of the central defenders did okay in the first half but Leeds needed more playmakers to feed the front pair. In a game where Leeds' main tactic seemed to be to bypass the central midfield as they sought to hump it upfield hard and fast when they could not carry the ball down the flanks, Jonny Howson and Bradley Johnson had really no role to play. Amazingly in the first half Leeds had gone in front but hardly looked like they deserved that lead.

Robert Snodgrass had been by far the brightest of the three forward players. Jermaine Beckford is, of course, a proven force but his partnership with Sam Vokes looks hardly worth the name. They look like someone needs to take them aside in the dressing room and introduce them. In the first half, they both sought to lead the line in their own way but, really, there was no interaction between them.

Beckford is lethal when he has the ball but does not impose himself or create space when he is off-the-ball. The players looked like they expected to win just by turning up. The goal when it had come on 42 minutes looked like the final touch had come from Beckford but later examination of video footage was to reveal that no contact was made and the goal belonged to Bradley Johnson.

The second half started in exactly the same vein and the crowd was growing quiet as that feeling that we were going to take this slender lead into the late stage of a game in which Yeovil might just grab a share began to develop.

And then on the hour came Simon Grayson's masterstroke. In one moment, he showed why he is the mostly highly rated manager in the lower divisions. Leeds needed a big change in midfield and someone with spark and play-making skill and Grayson had just the move in mind.

In a double switch, he brought an end to this developing hallowe'en and gave us the fireworks a few days early. On came Neil Kilkenny to replace Michael Doyle who really was an unneeded presence on this occasion. Most significantly, Andrew Hughes was pulled off to make room for Max Gradel, a loan player who has come in from Leicester.

It was Gradel who was to prove the difference in taking this team from their flat first hour to a final third of the game when they tore Yeovil apart.

Gradel ran himself forward at every opportunity. He wrapped the defence in knots. He outpaced the full back to make the vital cross on numerous occasions and he wasn't afraid to try a snapshot himself. Indeed, it was Gradel who with a goal of brilliant individuality made it 2-0. This came shortly after he had providing a dangerous opening for Beckford and shortly before he fed Howson for another chance.

Beckford and Vokes finally met when the former fed off the latter's flick to give a three goal lead.

Shortly afterwards, Beckford the goalscorer made way for Tresor Kandol who was later to add a fourth goal.

There were even more fireworks after the final whistle when Kandol seemed to get a little too lively in exchanges with opponents. There had been other chances during the actual game and Leeds were unlucky not to make it more than four.

A jubilant crowd eventually moved away having forgotten the woeful beginning to this game. Leeds can't afford to become complacent. Perhaps a permanent deal for man-of-the match, Gradel could provide an on-going spark that they were so sorely lacking in the first hour.

Thursday 29th of October
Leeds College of Music
John Foxx

Reviewing John Foxx, I have to declare a bias. There are very few musicians I would travel from London to Leeds to see whether I was writing a review or not. With Mr Foxx, I would comfortably travel twice that distance just for my own enjoyment.

Thursday night was not a concert but rather a film show with music. A few years ago, John began to develop a movie called "Tiny Colour Movies" from a selection of old Super8 films that he had gathered together from markets and attics. He added an evocative soundtrack and it became an hours fascinating experience. He has been playing it occasionally around the UK whilst tweaking it slightly before each showing to make it closer to the artistic vision that he had in mind.

Film of skyscrapers in New York, old Hollywood actors using keys to open doors, a naked 19 year old swimming around a car dumped at the bottom of a lake, members of families waving to their relatives...... it's all here. It is not the stuff of today's Hollywood Blockbusters and it is all the better for it. I suspect that the back story that Foxx has created of the various film makers and collectors is a lot of hokum but it creates a modern fiction from old inconsequential factual footage which is quite, quite charming.

After a twenty minute break, we return to the audiotorium to hear a section of the recent spoken word album "The Quiet Man". Foxx plays piano whilst the voice of an actor pre-recorded for radio is heard reading Foxx's short story. We're told a story of London gone wild for unknown reasons where the buildings are empty but intact except for the trees and flowers growing up the walls and through the carpets. The music is thoughtful and sparse, the accompanying film is provocative and interesting and the RP reading of the story keeps your attention.

Finally, VJ Karborn is invited to the stage to mix and sample images whilst John Foxx improvises a piano piece full of echo and resonance. The music is interesting but needs to be developed. It is difficult to see the theme in the images and no real narrative is established and this is the least satisfying of tonight's performance.

The affable Mr Foxx then fields questions for twenty minutes talking about his inspirations, his plans for the future, slightly nerdy questions about synthesisers used 30 years ago and the sci-fi film Robot Monster.

A relaxed and thoughtful and quite beautiful evening's activites. I'd travel to Leeds again for more of the same.

After last night's win, the Yankees are just one win away from another World Series. I'll be posting my regular October updates in the next few days but this particular position really required an additional few lines.
The trio of starters that we have HAD to depend on through the playoffs have seen us through. Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte have been solid and, at best, outstanding. The bullpen has been both a great strength and a great weakness. Rivera has been everything we know that he is. Hughes such a dependable presence during the regular season has been quite dreadful.
There have been sterling performances from Jeter, Rodriguez, Damon, Posada and little wrong elsewhere.

I think it'll go to six games but the Phillies will have to be tremendous to turn it around now.

The Yankees have benefited from some great pitching performances and some consistent pitchers this year. Who were the main heroes and the late season culprits?

New York Yankees - Pitching - Month - September
Name	GP	GS	GF	IP	H	RA	ER	BB	SO	W	L	Sv	ERA	OBA
Coke, Phil	10	0	2	5.2	1	1	0	2	5	0	0	1	0.00	.059
Robertson, David	4	0	0	3.2	1	0	0	2	6	0	0	0	0.00	.083
Kennedy, Ian	1	0	0	1.0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0.00	.000
Sabathia, CC	5	5	0	35.0	20	6	5	13	36	4	0	0	1.29	.167
Hughes, Phil	12	0	2	12.2	6	3	2	3	16	3	0	2	1.42	.143
Rivera, Mariano	11	0	11	10.2	8	2	2	3	10	2	1	7	1.69	.211
Albaladejo, Jonathan	9	0	2	7.1	9	3	2	3	3	1	0	0	2.45	.310
Aceves, Alfredo	7	0	1	14.1	11	5	4	4	13	1	0	0	2.51	.208
Bruney, Brian	11	0	1	8.2	8	3	3	6	7	1	0	0	3.12	.242
Towers, Josh	2	0	2	5.1	6	3	2	1	2	0	0	0	3.38	.273
Gaudin, Chad	5	5	0	26.2	27	11	11	10	18	1	0	0	3.71	.265
Burnett, AJ	6	6	0	37.1	39	18	17	16	39	2	1	0	4.10	.262
Pettitte, Andy	4	4	0	23.0	21	12	12	13	15	2	1	0	4.70	.244
Melancon, Mark	4	0	0	5.0	6	3	3	4	3	0	0	0	5.40	.300
Dunn, Michael	4	0	3	4.0	3	3	3	5	5	0	0	0	6.75	.200
Chamberlain, Joba	6	6	0	22.2	31	19	18	11	17	1	2	0	7.15	.320
Ramirez, Edwar	5	0	2	4.2	7	4	4	3	6	0	0	0	7.71	.350
Marte, Damaso	10	0	1	5.0	6	5	5	2	4	1	2	0	9.00	.300
Mitre, Sergio	4	2	1	15.0	21	18	16	4	12	0	2	0	9.60	.309
	120	28	28	247.2	231	119	109	107	218	19	9	10	3.96	.244

Positives

Phil Coke. Coke has not looked the pitcher who made his entry on to the major league stage in 2008. He has, however, usually provided an adequate performance and has frequently been better than that. In September, he started to look again like the pitcher we had seen back in the previous season and when he wasn't that good, he looked like the luckiest pitcher in the major leagues. It is not a bad combination if you can pull it off.

C.C. Sabathia. With the expection of an abysmal performance against Tampa Bay in the last few days of the season (which fell in October), Sabathia looked every bit a 20-game winner. That defeat left him stuck on 19. Four of those came in September and a 1.29 ERA over 35 innings is quite an achievement.

Phil Hughes. Hughes has become a consummate relief pitcher in 2009 which is why the Yankees are thinking of converting him into a starter in 2010!! Less than 2 runs every nine innings, less than 1 walk every four innings. Great performances.

Alfredo Aceves. Aceves has had a great time of it in 2009. He was left off the opening day roster but since he made it, there has been no looking back and September was as good as every other  month of the season.

Negatives

Sergio Mitre. Mitre was the fifth starter for the last few months of the season. His performance in September was so bad that he took away any chance he had of making the playoff roster. A 9.60 ERA for the month, a visible lack of confidence and the highest OBA on the side. Great finish!

Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain, at times, has looked like he was growing into a great starter. For most of September, he didn't look like he should ever be allowed to start again. At times, he looked like he couldn't throw strikes and when he did manage one, it generally ended up in a gap in the outfield. Back to Plan A, I think.

Edwar Ramirez. At the start of the year, Ramirez looked like a fixture in the 2009 Yankees bullpen. By mid-season, he was gone. At the roster expansion point, he returned. He didn't look any better and his time with the Yankees should be at an end now.

Damaso Marte. He looked a much better possibility after returning from injury than he had before he was injured. Second in the pecking order amongst left-handed specialists - behind Coke but looking more reliable than late season call-up, Mike Dunn - Marte, suddenly fell apart again late in the month.

Surprises

Ian Kennedy. I don't know what was more surprising. Was it that Kennedy made it back to the Majors in 2009? Or was it that he got out of his one appearance with a 0.00 ERA. Put simply, he was awful in that game.

David Robertson. Robertson was another pitcher who managed to get ahead of the timetable and return to the team before season's end. That was where the similarity with Kennedy ended. He threw well. He threw strikes. He occasionally got in to a jam but he usually managed to get himself out of the problems. Sadly, because of Chamberlain's redirection to the bullpen, he is unlikely to get many innings in the playoffs.

Brian Bruney. He had a good month, on the whole, in September, and it was somewhat surprising that he didn't make the roster for the first round of the playoffs. He pitched with conviction but his uneven season was too much for him to overcome.

Chad Gaudin. If the Yankees need a 4th starter in the playoffs, it is likely to be Gaudin which in and of itself suggests how much of a surprise Gaudin has been over the last few weeks. He has shown a gritty determination to keep the Bombers in the game and produced some goos innings without ever been overpowering.

Well, here we are in October, the R/Sox crashed out of the playoffs in three straight games and I still haven't published my summary of September for the Yankees.
As I anticipated the two L.A. teams are going to be the ones that the Yankees need to worry about - what ammunition do they have to overcome them, once they have dispensed with the Twins?

New York Yankees - Batting - Month - September
Name	G	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SH	SF	SB	BA	SLG	OBP
Cervelli, Francisco	14	14	3	7	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.571	.500
Cano, Robinson	28	100	15	35	13	9	0	4	7	15	0	2	1	.350	.560	.391
Teixeira, Mark	26	102	21	35	20	8	3	7	8	23	0	2	0	.343	.686	.395
Jeter, Derek	26	100	13	34	6	2	0	1	19	22	2	0	7	.340	.390	.450
Posada, Jorge	18	59	11	20	18	3	0	5	10	17	0	0	0	.339	.644	.435
Rodriguez, Alex	25	89	14	30	23	5	0	5	10	19	0	2	5	.337	.562	.396
Miranda, Juan	5	6	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	.333	.333	.333
Matsui, Hideki	24	80	13	26	18	0	0	5	14	13	0	0	0	.325	.513	.426
Pena, Ramiro	13	17	3	5	2	1	0	1	0	3	0	0	1	.294	.529	.294
Cabrera, Melky	28	87	10	25	18	5	0	2	7	8	0	0	2	.287	.414	.361
Swisher, Nick	24	88	19	23	12	7	0	7	15	19	0	0	0	.261	.580	.369
Gardner, Brett	20	41	9	10	3	2	0	0	2	8	1	0	4	.244	.293	.295
Damon, Johnny	22	81	13	19	5	4	0	0	14	16	1	0	2	.235	.284	.347
Duncan, Shelley	8	13	1	3	1	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	.231	.231	.231
Hinske, Eric	15	28	4	6	4	0	0	2	4	7	0	1	1	.214	.429	.303
Molina, Jose	15	35	1	6	2	0	0	0	5	6	0	0	0	.171	.171	.275
Hairston Jr., Jerry	18	28	4	4	1	2	0	0	4	3	1	0	0	.143	.214	.250
Guzman, Freddy	7	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	.000	.000	.000
		970	154	290	151	49	3	39	119	186	5	8	25	.299	.476	.377

Positives

Robinson Cano. As I mentioned in the reports of the individual games, Cano has made tremendous progress this season. No longer the guy who was lazy in the field last season or the guy with the lacklustre batting average. He led the team in September in hits and doubles and defensively having him and Teixeira in the field means that we compare with anyone on that side of the park.

Mark Teixeira. Speaking of Teixeira, another great month for him. It's interesting that the press still like to talk about his standard of offensive performance in April, attributing it to the lack of A-Rod's threat behind him in the lineup which is nonsensical. Better to concentrate on the fact that since then he has been so consistent and always put up great stats and been a leader in clutch situations. In September, he led the team in at bats, runs, RBIs, triples, home runs and slugging. I think he's done enough to gain credit in his own right.

Derek Jeter. In September, Jeter had another .340 month and led the team in walks. He has not had a down period all year. He is also much improved in the field - although I don't think he deserved a large part of the negative criticism he took last year.

Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez continues to get into his stride and this has, so far, continued into the post-season. It has been a slow progression for him but he's finally got there.

Negatives

Jerry Hairston, jr. Hairston has, by contrast, been cooling down each week since since he arrived in the Bronx. On one hand, this makes it very easy to decide who to choose to start at third base but leaves us going into the post-season without having anyone on the bench that we would particularly want to call on to fill that spot in an emergency. Ramiro Pena has been a consistent and capable utility guy for the other infield spots but first, Ransom and now Hairston and Hinske have offered very little offensively and played only adequately in the third base corner.

Jose Molina. If I was to choose a Yankee catcher on the basis of power and experience, I would go with Posada. If my choice was guided by defensive ability and the need to grow through more playing time then Cervelli is my guy. Molina's .171 with no power in September means that Molina might count himself lucky to be on the post-season roster. If it wasn't for the questions about the Burnett-Posada tandem then I would have left him off and given Cervelli the extra time.

Eric Hinske. See the comments on Hairston. Hinske brings the potential for a little more sporadic power but not much else.

Shelley Duncan. Duncan's great season at Scranton gave him one more chance in the majors for the Yankees .......... and he didn't even begin to take it. 13 at bats, 3 hits is not too bad but you're looking for this guy to hit for power and he just hasn't done it in this limited role. The Yankees can either choose to give him the option to become a career minor leaguer or release him to try his fortune elsewhere.

Surprises

Johnny Damon. Damon needs to finish hot if he is to persuade the Yankees to let him return in 2010. He is a sub-par left-fielder and really needs to keep up his average if he is to be back in that role next year. A mere .235 with no home runs was not the way he wanted to go in September. He needs a big post-season.

Freddy Guzman. Guzman was a surprise addition to the roster in late August and immediately, Girardi was talking about him having a role in the playoffs. He didn't make the first round of the playoffs and a series against the Angels would seem to offer him the best chance of a call up. But to be honest is baserunning in late September was predictable and too often he found himself in problems.

Brett Gardner. Gardner didn't really deliver in September. He is significantly behind Cabrera for the centrefield starting role and his baserunning hasn't been as aggressive and Jeter and Guzman have looked the main threats in that category. Given that he went into the season as the favoured man for CF and that Girardi said he had no plans to platoon, this must be regarded as a severe setback for him.

Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli has proved himself again and again this season. He is a capable guy with the tools of ignorance but it is ability to hit for average at the major league level that is the big surprise and which is the big lift for him and which is beginning to look like it is no fluke. Mostly as a late innings replacement in September, not an easy role, he has managed six singles and a double in fourteen at-bats which for me means that he should see a big increase in opportunities next year and that he should move up the pecking order for the catching role, even if that means saying goodbye to Molina who has served us well over the last few years.

September 30th 2009
Yankees Vs Kansas City Royals
@ Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York


Joba rules! We've lived with them for the last two seasons. Designed to ensure that the young pitcher of the New York Yankees develops into the star we all KNOW that he can be. Mmmm.......  Tonight after lots of late season restrictions the training wheels came off and Chamberlain was given his head to show what he could do in a game on which nothing depended. And we all sat there and squirmed....... And hoped that this was just another off night and tried to avoid the conclusion that they'll never make a starter out of this guy. But, trust me, this was dreadful.

Joba Chamberlain pitched 3 and 2/3 innings for 3 runs, and even more worryingly 7 hits and 4 walks. He couldn't find the strike zone and I would have to say that he was lucky to get off so lightly. He was replaced before the end of the 4th inning by Alfredo Aceves. Now this guy didn't make the rotation back on opening day and has never really been considered as an option for the starting rotation in 2009 but tonight he looked like twice the pitcher that Joba appeared to be. Aceves pitched two innings and if it wasn't for the fact that the Yankees' bats had gone to sleep, we would have been right back in it.

Of the batters, only Jeter produced anything of note. Two hits, one a home run and also a walk before he was lifted for Jerry Hairston in the late innings for a game the Yankees didn't seem to think they could win but in which they were only one run behind.

The late innings relievers, Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera were as overpowering and untouchable as they have been for most of the season but the Royals' bullpen was just as effective and the Yankees ran out losers, 4-3.

So the last home game of the stand raised more questions than answers and Chamberlain hoping that he could some way edge onto the post-season roster and re-gain some of the ground he has lost.

September 29th 2009
Yankees Vs Kansas City Royals
@ Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York


The Yankees are paying AJ Burnett an awful lot of money. After this game he was giving a rousing round of applause for 6 and a 1/3 innings during which he only gave up one earned run. The problem is that from where I was sitting he looked lucky. I kept waiting for the moment when there would be a series of hits and Kansas would then take him apart but it never came. I don't know why. The problem is that I don't think it was because Burnett was overpowering so much as that Kansas are a weak hitting side.

The post-season is at hand and the Yankees biggest flaw is their starting pitching - the one thing they spent most of last off-season trying to fix. Sabathia has been consistent (although I wasn't know to know at this point he was only a couple of days away from one of his worst starts of the season). Burnett has had a poor second half after a solid opening to the season. Pettitte has been good for one good performance in every two. Chamberlain has spent half the time looking like a starter who would make a good reliever which is ironic since he is a good reliever who we are trying to make into a good starter. It is good that we don't need a fifth starter in the playoffs.

We'll see what comes. We could be brilliant, we could be embarrassing.

Tonight, we got away with it.

In relief, Phil Coke pitched reasonably well but made some bizarre decisions in fielding and dealing with runners on base - leading to the unearned run that was credited to Burnett. David Robertson looked as good as anyone coming back from injury at this point of season could have done. Brian Bruney removed 4 of the last 6 batters (1 hit, 1 walk) and has been busy playing himself back into contention for a playoff roster spot.

Offensively, we didn't have much to offer. Teixeira carried us and fan-favourite Nick Swisher added a home run which was just enough for a 4-3 win.

Before the game I visited the Yankees museum (which is excellent) and Monument Park (which, ironically, in this more spacious ballpark is a little too compact). I really must do this more often.

September 28th 2009
Yankees Vs Kansas City Royals
@ Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Last time I arrived in New York, the newspapers were full of stories about how Yankees manager, Joe Girardi, had benched secondbaseman Robinson Cano. Cano had failed to show sufficent effort in his fielding work resulting in Girardi subsituting him immmediately and deciding not to select him for the next game.

This time, Cano fielded like the guy we also knew he could become and hit a grand slam home run to add the power  the Yankees needed to gain their insurance runs.

Oh and all this happened in a completely different stadium.

What else was notable?

Before our journey if I'd have predicted which game I was sure the Yankees would win during our visit, then I'd have gone for the game of the 29th. Burnett looked a possible winner, Chamberlain (due to start on the 30th) can be brilliant on his day. I'm still not sure why we signed Chad Gaudin (who was scheduled to start tonight). We had Sergio Mitre to be an indifferent fifth starter, why did we need another?

At least, the Yankees rule against beards meant that Gaudin couldn't re-grow that thing he used to sport on his chin when he was with the Cubs. But beyond that I've found it hard to think of anything that has come out of him joining the Yankees up until this point. Tonight, he pitched 6 2/3 innings for 4 hits and 2 runs. Now he wasn't outstanding but he held his ground and kept the Yankees in the lead. I don't expect to see him on the post-season roster or back in the Bronx in 2010 but he's good enough to get a job elsewhere.

Cano picked up his 49th double and 26th home run. Jorge Posada got to first base safely in every one of four plate appearance.

Oh and the Yankees collected their 101st win of the season.

This is all the more oustanding because it was their 59th win since the All-Star break. Amazing!

So a 8-2 win for this game, roll on tomorrow

Well, this time it was a bit of a flying, compact visit to New York but it was well worth the travelling time and the jetlag I'm now suffering back in London. During the time we were there we spent time in four of the five boroughs and attended three games at the new Yankee Stadium. It was a painful experience to see the old Stadium closed up, fenced off and derelict but some people struggle to respect history. Strange to think the last time I was there was in the frivolity and joy of the last game ever held there - now the life has moved across the road into a site which has more comfort, more space but lacks the originality of architecture and atmosphere and the ghosts of great games gone by. Where the new stadium has true class is where it has chosen to echo the old. Let's just say it's nice and I'll get used to it and leave it at that.
Over the next few days I'll be posting some thoughts about the games we saw and then a summary of September and what I thinks the Yankees chances are in the post-season.

After my piece arguing that Mariano Rivera is the best relief pitcher in baseball, he blew his very next save opportunity. C'est la vie

So what's happening with me?

I'm heading to New York to catch the end of the regular season in the Bronx.

Negotiations for two albums of new Sad Cafe material are on-going and dragging......... Waiting to see if it all works out.

October will see a visit to Elland Road and two John Foxx performances.

Considering writing an essay on the first books authored by Malcolm Muggeridge. These have been out of print since before the Second World War so I'm guessing this might be difficult to place but, hey...., when did that ever stop me.

Recommended Listening?

Son Volt - American Central Dust
Radio Silence - Whose Skin are You under Now
Sad Cafe - Ole (particularly like the remastering job on this one, you should use that guy on your back catalogue)
John Foxx - The Quiet Man (Spoken Word)
A Camp - Colonia

Last night, at Yankee Stadium, Mariano Rivera reached 40 saves for the season.

Here's a few facts:

Rivera has 79 saves in 81 opportunities in the last two seasons.

His ERA for this season is 1.69. Unless he has a terrible second half of September, this will be the sixth time in the last seven seasons he has delivered an ERA of less than 2.

In total, he has 9 seasons with an ERA of less than 2.

He has pitched over a 1000 innings for the Yankees in a 15 season career and delivered 522 saves over that period.

His ERA in 31 division series games for the Yankees is a minuscule 0.38

His ERA in 25 championship series games for the Yankees is 0.93

His ERA in 20 World Series games is 1.16

He has 34 post-season saves

He has played 8 times for the American League All-Star team. His ERA for them is 0.00

His OBA for the post-season has only once exceeded .250

Since he became a reliever, his OBA for the Yankees in regular season games has never exceeded .300

He has struck out 998 opponents in regular season play

He has ranked in the top 10 save earners in the American League every year since 1997

Mariano Rivera is certainly the best relief pitcher I have ever seen and I would argue that he is the best relief pitcher ever to grace a baseball diamond.

Julius Caesar
The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford
3rd September 2009

Tonight, I watched David Troughton in a repeat of the BBC light drama, New Tricks. Troughton is an actor with a distinguished Shakespearean pedigree and he carried off the TV role with aplomb and class.
Last week, I watched Sam Troughton, son of David, as Brutus in Julius Caesar for the Royal Shakespeare company. Now, the younger Troughton is best known for playing Much the Miller's son in the disappointing BBC light drama of Robin Hood. Could he handle the transition to playing the rather more demanding role in the Shakespeare play and follow in his father's footsteps?

Julius Caesar seems to be to be a difficult play to present well. Even moreso than most plays by the Bard of Avon, it is very wordy. The contemplative scenes with their rich dialogue are some distant apart from the scenes which are set in the heart of the battle as Rome is split asunder by those who assassinated Julius, who are opposed by those loyal to him and his memory led by Mark Anthony (played here by the excellent Darrell D'Silva)

Director Lucy Bailey rather accentuates the problem by making the thoughtful scenes rather colourless and making the action scenes as violent and bloody as I could imagine (although some who saw the preview performances said the amount of blood had been considerably toned down since those early days!). Sitting in the aisle seat of the second row I feared many times being clattered by one of a number of armour-clad Roman soldiers who seemed to be leaping from the stage in my general direction with alarming frequency in the later scenes.

The mention of the armour brings to mind a second problem created by the direction. The costumes worn by the actors were very much traditional Roman garb meant to reflect the era when the play is set (although the skirts worn by the men did look like they'd been bought as a cheap job lot from Primark). This attempt at traditional garb was in marked contrast to the ultra-modern use of video screens at the rear of the stage which were used to depict crowd scenes and battle scenes. Visually, the play tried to be everything and did most things well but perhaps there was too much to take in and too many contrasts. In addition, the crowd and fight scenes on the video necessitated the use of a number of real figures around the central characters to make us feel connected to the video action. This meant that some of the members of the ensemble were seen on stage 5, 6 or 7 times playing different roles. Everything was a little hard to follow. Was that really Caesar's grieving widow at the front of the baying crowd at his funeral as Mark Anthony whipped up the populace?

The ensemble which was so promising in "The Winter's Tale" provided a mixed bunch of performances here. Greg Hicks, a good solid Caesar but not outstanding. John Mackay stumbling over his lines as Cassius. Joseph Arkley, a forgettable Octavius Caesar. Hannah Young, a passionate and convincing Portia.

So a play that was in turns too loud and too quiet, ancient and modern, excellent and then dull.

And young Troughton? An aggressive and full-blooded Marcus Brutus to stand in a family tradition. And indeed likely to establish himself as a capable Shakespearean actor in his own right.



Sam Troughton as Brutus with John Mackay as Cassius





The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

And so on to the pitchers:

New York Yankees - Pitching - Month - August
Name	GP	GS	GF	CG	IP	H	RA	ER	BB	SO	W	L	Sv	ERA	OBA
Melancon, Mark	2	0	1	0	2.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0.00	.000
Marte, Damaso	3	0	1	0	2.1	0	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	0.00	.000
Rivera, Mariano	11	0	9	0	11.1	9	1	1	4	12	0	0	8	0.79	.209
Bruney, Brian	9	0	2	0	10.1	10	1	1	7	5	1	0	0	0.87	.250
Hughes, Phil	11	0	0	0	10.1	7	2	2	4	16	1	0	0	1.74	.189
Pettitte, Andy	6	6	0	0	39.2	29	13	11	12	39	4	0	0	2.50	.207
Sabathia, CC	6	6	0	0	44.1	36	14	13	6	49	5	0	0	2.64	.221
Robertson, David	11	0	4	0	9.2	11	3	3	4	17	1	0	0	2.79	.268
Gaudin, Chad	5	1	3	0	14.0	13	5	5	10	14	1	0	0	3.21	.232
Mitre, Sergio	5	4	1	0	23.0	26	14	11	6	14	2	1	0	4.30	.280
Aceves, Alfredo	8	0	2	0	19.0	17	10	10	1	15	3	0	0	4.74	.236
Burnett, AJ	6	6	0	1	37.1	38	25	25	17	40	0	4	0	6.03	.266
Chamberlain, Joba	5	5	0	0	23.0	31	21	21	15	18	1	2	0	8.22	.323
Coke, Phil	12	0	3	0	9.2	12	12	12	4	7	2	0	0	11.17	.308
Claggett, Anthony	1	0	1	0	1.0	2	2	2	2	1	0	0	0	18.00	.400
	101	28	27	1	257.0	241	123	117	94	251	21	7	8	4.10	.246

Positives

C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia has become easily the Yankees most consistent starter. That was after all what they signed him for and what they pay him enormous amounts of money for. But the Yankees have signed big name pitchers in the past and they have failed to adapt to life in New York. No such problem for C.C.. He's averaging over 7 innings a start in recent games and in his last 6 starts, he has 5 wins and 1 no decision.

Phil Hughes. Hughes has found a role to suit his undoubted ability and we're no longer surprised that month-by-month, he is one of the Yankees most used relievers and gives up few hits and less runs.

Andy Pettitte. Pettitte had an uneven month but his last start of August was his best in the pinstripes for some considerable time . I wouldn't expect him to maintain that standard but he has been a solid part of the rotation.

Mariano Rivera. Another 8 saves during the month. Again only 1 run in the month. A walk every 3 innings. More than a strikeout per innings. He wasn't quite as good as he was in July but this guy is in a field of one and he is a phenomenon.

Negatives

Anthony Claggett. Claggett's performances at triple-A seem to make an obvious candidate for promotion. He arrives in the majors and he falls apart. So bad that both times he has been added to the roster, he is gone so quickly that he doesn't seem likely to get two consecutive appearances at this level.

Phil Coke. Coke has seldom looked like the pitcher he was in 2008. August was probably his worst month of the year so far. He gives up too many home runs and on the month his ERA was over eleven. Fortunately for him the Yankees have had few left-handed options out of the bullpen so he is still on the roster at the September expansion.

Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain had a poor month but indecision amongst management and coaches about how they should keep from over-tiring him did not help him. At one point he had an eight day break between starts. That was a disaster. So on his next appearance, he made a 3 innings start. That was better but not much. Where does he go from here?

AJ Burnett. Burnett's season has hit a serious decline. The Yankees need to get him out of this funk if he is going to be a meaningful contributor in the post-season. He is giving up more than a hit per inning and gifts the opposition more walks than any other starter on the team.

Surprises

Damaso Marte. I'm surprised to even see Marte back on the roster as early as August. I'm even more surprised that he has managed to bring his ERA on the season to below ten. In the few performances he has made since his return from the DL, he looks like a different pitcher than he has had at anytime since he joined the Yankees last season.

Brian Bruney. Bruney's figures are much, much improved on what they were a couple of months ago but I have a feeling that at the moment he is riding his luck and that on a few occasions a wise decision by Girardi to get him off the mound - and an inspired substitution as seen him through. We'll see how long it can last......

Sergio Mitre. Mitre's most recent appearance was a revelation. Prior to that I'd been hoping that he could get the Yankees through to the end of the fifth and keep the scores even. In his last game, he looked much stronger..... and then he was hit by a batted ball and you wonder whether that moment will ever come again.

Alfredo Aceves. Aceves has looked very wobbly at times recently. Somehow he keeps coming good when the Yankees really need him. He now has 9 wins in relief. Very peculiar.

So, August has come and gone and within its spread, the Yankees rose to the head of the pack in Major League Baseball and looked confidently towards the post-season. September will involve the expansion of rosters and will provide me with plenty of time to absorb the sights and sounds of the new Yankee Stadium as I make my first visit to New York this year. Let's see who came up with goods in the heat of Summer and who came up sadly lacking. Batters first:

New York Yankees - Batting - Month - August
Name	G	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SH	SF	SB	BA	SLG	OBP
Jeter, Derek	28	122	27	46	17	6	0	6	5	14	1	1	4	.377	.574	.403
Pena, Ramiro	7	8	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.375	.375	.375
Cano, Robinson	28	118	19	41	16	13	0	5	2	13	0	0	0	.347	.585	.358
Damon, Johnny	24	98	21	32	16	8	0	7	7	14	0	0	2	.327	.622	.371
Rodriguez, Alex	25	92	19	29	12	3	1	4	18	23	0	0	1	.315	.500	.442
Teixeira, Mark	28	109	17	32	26	7	0	6	17	19	0	1	1	.294	.523	.391
Hairston Jr., Jerry	24	41	10	12	10	3	0	2	6	5	1	1	0	.293	.512	.388
Matsui, Hideki	24	89	16	25	25	2	1	8	6	11	0	0	0	.281	.596	.333
Posada, Jorge	20	75	9	21	16	7	0	4	8	24	0	1	0	.280	.533	.345
Swisher, Nick	25	94	14	26	16	6	0	5	17	24	1	1	0	.277	.500	.384
Cabrera, Melky	27	103	13	23	13	5	1	2	5	12	1	1	3	.223	.350	.264
Molina, Jose	14	40	5	8	3	0	0	0	5	9	0	1	0	.200	.200	.283
Hinske, Eric	14	29	3	5	2	3	0	0	4	10	0	1	0	.172	.276	.265
Ransom, Cody	2	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
		1022	175	303	172	63	3	49	100	181	4	8	11	.296	.508	.361

Positives

Derek Jeter. First in the line-up and first on my list. The captain has had a simply outstanding season and he has even managed to improve as the year has gone along. He added 12 extra base hits to his .377 BA on the month, his defense is better and as always he has the perfect demeanour to give the team the lead and example they need.

Robinson Cano. Cano has had some problems in the field but there is no taking away from his offensive production. He's had his best ever year for power production and has continued to hit for average and he is a great singles hitter. Unfortunately, his patience at the plate has suffered, resulting in too few walks, as his ability to gain singles has increased but all-in-all, it's still been a good year for him.

Johnny Damon. Damon had his best month of the year and gave the Yankees something to think about when they think about leftfield for 2010. No question that they could improve defensively but in extra base hits he is second only to Cano, on the month.

Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez also achieved his best month of the year - which to be fair wasn't difficult but still bodes well after his early season surgery. 2009 will still be a year he wants to forget for all kinds of reasons but that .442 OBP is a bright indicator of good things to come.

Negatives

Cody Ransom. At the beginning of the year, Ransom, who has seen some limited time in the majors before, seemed to have his best chance of making the grade. From April to July, he messed up every opportunity he was given and in August, his inability to hit a single finally saw him demoted to Triple-A and more significantly removed from the 40 man roster. He struck out three times in the four at-bats he was given in the early days of the month which really shows his problems.

Eric Hinske. Of the pairing of Hinske and Hairston who were brought in when Gardner headed to the DL, Hinske has been the poorer. He achieved a meagre 5 hits in August - 2 singles and 3 doubles. If it wasn't September (which brings with it extra spaces on the roster) it would be difficult to justify keeping him around.

Jose Molina. Molina vs Cervelli - Posada's days of playing 7 out of 7 were always going to be limited but they're now behind him. This means that the backup catcher is going to get significant playing time. Youth vs experience. The Yankees went with experience and in some ways that has paid off but it is Molina's lack of production in the hits column which suggest that youth might have been the better choice.

Melky Cabrera. Since the night, he hit for the cycle, Cabrera's batting production has slumped to the kind of problems he had in 2008. It has been a rollercoaster year for him but he needs to turn it around one more time before the post-season.

Surprises

Hideki Matsui. Matsui who looked like he was on his last legs (pun intended) just a few weeks ago, had some fluid drained and had a flush of power as the month came to its conclusion. He led the team in home runs for August including a couple of nights when he encouraged the ball to leave the stadium on more than one occasion.

Jerry Hairston Jr. Aside from the error he made during Pettitte's most recent outing - when Andy looked like he might have a stab at a perfect game - this has been a very good move for Mr Hairston. .293 BA and .512 slugging percentage are both significant markups on his numbers prior to joining the Yankees.

Ramiro Pena. Ramiro's name is very near the top of the above list which is sorted by batting average. He's proven himself to be more than capable in the infield (the team's hope that he would also develop skills in the outfield doesn't seem to have really worked out). Somehow, when a roster move requires someone to make the dusty bus trip back to Scranton, his name comes to the top of that list as well, too often.

Nick Swisher. Swisher has proved that he can be a good clubhouse presence and a threat to produce home runs. His ability to produce a good batting average has not been so consistent. This month he bucked the trend and hit .277 which is still below the team average for the month but a marked improvement.

Even by his own standards, John Foxx is having a prolific year. This month, he released his fourth album of new material of 2009.

First, there was "My Lost City". A set of instrumentals which those who have followed his recent career might subtitle "Cathedral Oceans Vol. 4". Very minimalist.
Then there were two collaborations. Next came an album with Steve Jansen (ex-Japan) and Steve D'Agostino who joined Foxx and Gordon on stage for the tour in which John revisited Metamatic last year. This one was entitled "A Secret Life".
It was followed by "Mirrorball", a set composed and recorded with ex-Cocteau Twin Robin Guthrie.

This month's release is "The Quiet Man". Foxx has been working on this since his days with Ultravox! - their song "The Quiet Men" was the beginning of the evolution of non-linear short stories about a man in a grey suit who passes through cities unnoticed. Read by Justin Barton over Foxx's ambient soundtrack, these are beautiful and evocative. A good argument could be made for Foxx having read these on the audio himself in his Mancunian drawl but otherwise it is difficult to fault this. After a while you get used to Barton's received pronunciation and the themes of the "stories" wrap you in their mystery.

Foxx hasn't been quiet on other fronts either. The Horse Hospital in London was home for his recent art exhibition, "DNA", and some remastered albums and performance are due in October.

Today, I turn my attention to the pitchers who have graced the New York Yankees in July. Again, my apologies that this is so late.

New York Yankees - Pitching - Month - July
Name	GP	GS	GF	IP	H	RA	ER	BB	SO	W	L	Sv	ERA	OBA
Rivera, Mariano	12	0	11	11.2	3	0	0	2	9	0	0	10	0.00	.081
Hughes, Phil	11	0	2	14.2	10	1	1	3	16	1	1	1	0.61	.192
Burnett, AJ	5	5	0	33.1	27	10	9	16	21	4	0	0	2.43	.220
Chamberlain, Joba	5	5	0	29.2	26	15	9	10	24	3	0	0	2.73	.232
Melancon, Mark	3	0	2	6.0	5	3	2	0	4	0	1	0	3.00	.217
Albaladejo, Jonathan	4	0	1	4.2	5	2	2	2	5	2	0	0	3.86	.278
Tomko, Brett	3	0	2	4.1	4	2	2	1	1	1	0	0	4.15	.250
Sabathia, CC	6	6	0	39.0	45	21	20	12	31	3	3	0	4.62	.300
Pettitte, Andy	6	6	0	37.1	34	21	20	11	32	1	3	0	4.82	.241
Coke, Phil	12	0	2	9.2	9	6	6	2	8	1	0	0	5.59	.250
Robertson, David	9	0	3	11.0	10	8	7	7	13	0	1	1	5.73	.233
Aceves, Alfredo	9	1	2	15.0	14	13	11	4	10	1	0	1	6.60	.237
Wang, Chien-Ming	1	1	0	5.1	6	4	4	1	1	0	0	0	6.75	.300
Mitre, Sergio	3	3	0	13.2	24	13	12	3	6	1	0	0	7.90	.400
Bruney, Brian	7	0	2	5.1	11	7	7	3	7	0	0	0	11.81	.423
	96	27	27	240.2	233	126	112	77	188	18	9	13	4.19	.254

Positives

Mariano Rivera. Every year, the baseball experts decide that Mariano's career is finally fading. Every year, he bounces back. In the second half of June and the whole of July, he didn't give up any runs. In July, his OBA was an amazing .081. He added another 10 saves to his total during the month.

A.J. Burnett. Of the 5 starters, during July, Burnett gave most innings per appearance and produced the best ERA. His walk total was a little on the high side but he produced 4 wins and 1 no decision. No losses.

Joba Chamberlain. The debate over Chamberlain as starter or Joba as reliever is pretty much over. Even Jorge Posada says he misjudged the situation. His figures for the month were good and solid. He may never over-power as a starter as he first did when he appeared as a reliever and there's no question that his larger-than-life persona does even irritate this Yankees fan when I have to watch it for six innings but there is no question that he is very valuable to the Yankees in this role.

C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia has been inconsistent. But he has been good enough. When he is in the zone, he looks like our best starter. When he is not, he usually gives us the innings.

Negatives

Brian Bruney. General Manager, Cashman has basically said that Bruney lied to the coaching staff when he said he was ready to pitch so off-the-field and on-the-field, it has been a bad time for Bruney. In April, he was one of the teams best relievers but April seems a long time ago. He had the worst ERA and worst OBA on the team during July.

Sergio Mitre. The Yankees are really scratching around to find a fifth starter and Mitre is their latest great idea. He looked below par at triple-A Scranton and promoting him to the Majors didn't seem likely to make him look better. It hasn't.

Chien-Ming Wang. Wang is gone for the season but it is hard to believe he was ever really here. His one start in July was not memorable.

Andy Pettitte. Pettitte is giving up too many hits, too many home runs (particularly at the new Stadium). In July, he produced only 1 win and 3 losses, 2 non-decisions.

Surprises

Phil Hughes. Hughes has been a revelation in relief. He has been so good that even though the team desperately needs a fifth starter, they have chosen not to return him to his previous role. For most of the month he matched Rivera performance-for-performance as the two did not give up a run. The one run he did give up (towards the end of the month) gave him his only loss in July.

Mark Melancon. Melancon finds himself back in the minors in August but it is hard to see why. He gave the team 6 innings over 3 appearances in July and was solid most every time.

Jonathan Albaladejo. Like Melancon, Albaladejo looks likely to spend the forseeable future shuttling between Scranton and New York. In limited useage, he managed to maintain runless performances for much of the month. It is hard to see what he has to do to earn a regular spot on the roster.

Alfredo Aceves. Aceves does well most of the time but most of July doesn't fit into that category. Despite a respectable OBA, his ERA for the month was closer to 7 than 6.

New York Yankees - Batting - Month - July
Name	G	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SH	SF	SB	BA	SLG	OBP
Jeter, Derek	27	112	19	40	11	4	1	2	15	16	0	0	1	.357	.464	.438
Hinske, Eric	7	21	5	7	8	0	0	5	1	6	0	0	0	.333	1.048	.417
Cano, Robinson	27	103	20	34	14	8	1	4	6	9	0	0	0	.330	.544	.373
Teixeira, Mark	27	112	14	33	15	6	0	6	10	23	0	0	0	.295	.509	.358
Matsui, Hideki	24	75	10	22	19	5	0	5	15	13	0	1	0	.293	.560	.407
Cabrera, Melky	27	76	10	22	5	6	0	2	10	5	0	0	0	.289	.447	.372
Rodriguez, Alex	25	97	19	28	18	3	0	7	12	25	0	1	5	.289	.536	.369
Posada, Jorge	24	82	13	23	15	7	0	3	6	22	0	1	0	.280	.476	.333
Cervelli, Francisco	3	11	1	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.273	.364	.250
Swisher, Nick	24	73	8	18	15	4	0	3	12	20	0	2	0	.247	.425	.352
Damon, Johnny	24	85	16	20	12	3	0	3	17	16	0	0	0	.235	.376	.369
Gardner, Brett	18	41	4	9	7	0	2	0	4	9	0	0	3	.220	.317	.304
Ransom, Cody	12	20	5	4	2	3	0	0	4	7	0	0	1	.200	.350	.333
Molina, Jose	5	11	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	.182	.273	.250
		919	146	265	143	51	4	40	112	174	0	6	10	.288	.483	.370

So July seems a long time ago now but here are the Yankee batters who made their mark for good or bad during that month.

Positives

Derek Jeter. Jeter has simply been the most consistent offensive player on the Yankees this season - and in a time when there is such turmoil in the sport, he is a gentleman and a role model. .357 on the month. And improved in the field.

Robinson Cano. Cano has recovered from last seasons set backs and has shown himself to be a solid consistent player. That word "consistent" explains why the Yankees have risen to the top this season.

Mark Teixeira. The term "MVP" is already been used about Teixeira but I don't think he's quite there unless he has an outstanding last two months. What he has achieved is a solid performance after a slow beginning in April.

Melky Cabrera. When Gardner went on the DL, there was a general air of expectancy that Cabrera's comeback season would begin to buckle. It hasn't happened in July (though August is proving a very quiet time so far).

Negatives

Cody Ransom. Ransom just can't hit singles. You know that when he comes to bat, he is either going to hit a double or better (20% of the time) or he is going to be an easy out (80% of the time). He should have gone to Scranton instead of Pena.

Johnny Damon. Damon looks tired and old in the field. He can just about get away with this when he's hitting. In July, he wasn't hitting.

Jose Molina. Molina was fortune to get his spot on the roster back. Cervelli was unlucky. Experience counts for a lot and he always looks solid behind the plate but he needs to raise his average by at least 20 points.

Nick Swisher. Swisher hit .247 in July and that was one of his better months. We're very glad that we signed Teixeira.

Surprises

Eric Hinske. The fact that Hinske is a Yankee ought to be enough of a surprise. But to see him hit .333 in his first 7 games is another thing again. It won't last but it's nice for now.

Hideki Matsui. .293 and 5 home runs in July. Matsui has settled into the role of everyday DH very well. His legs might not last the distance even with a light load but so far, so good.

Jorge Posada. Posada played 24 games in July. He hit .280. After a very difficult 2008, he's bounced back well. Now if he can add a little more power........

Alex Rodriguez. July might be the first sign of light at the end of the tunnel for A-Rod. He led the team in home runs and produced his best hitting performances of the season. He's still not worth the money, the emotional investment and all the circus that goes with him but better this than the way he was earlier in the year.