Oy Vey - The Mets Lost to the Nationals 23-5

Well, on the positive side, it is only one game.  It is only one loss whether it is by one run or 18 runs.  Noah Syndergaard should not have started this game as he developed pain in his arm and came out in the second inning.  The bullpen really imploded and catcher Kevin Plawecki had to pitch late in the game.  Anthony Rendon went 6 for 6, hit 3 home runs, and drove in 10 runs.

The rest of the season starts tomorrow.

Game recap

Yankees 12 Orioles 4 with 4 Homers by the Bronx Bombers

Even though I am a big Met fan, I don't hate the Yankees and like to see them in the Bronx twice a year.  The only time I root against them is during the Subway series.  The D train was really packed as we boarded it a 42nd Street for the last leg of the subway trip to the stadium. We also had to wait for several minutes to get to the security check.  I understand that it is necessary in this post 9/11 world, but it was a very slow process.

The pitching matchup was Michael Pineda against Ubaldo Jimenez.  The Yankee bats came alive with 2 home runs by Brett Gardiner.  Austin Romine and Aaron Judge also homered as the Bronx Bombers coasted to a 12-4 victory.  Through the "magic" of Facebook I found out that my brother-in-law Keith and nephew Scott were also at the game, but our seats were too far apart to meet with them.

Game recap

The Injuries on the Mets are Killing Them

So far the Mets are 8-13 at the end of April and have lost 6 in a row and 10 out of 11.  Much of the poor performance can be attributed to injuries.

• David Wright - we don't know when or even if he'll be back
• Steven Matz - we need a good left handed pitcher
• Seth Lugo - he did well at the end of last season
• Noah Syndergaard - he missed his start yesterday because of a dead arm.  We don't know how serious this is.
• Lucas Duda - hopefully, he'll be back soon
• Wilmer Flores - infection
• Yoenis Cespedes - hamstring problem

Let's hope for the best.

Alternative Version of Mr. Tambourine Man Sung by Gene Clark

The hit version of Mr. Tambourine Man was sung by Roger McGuinn.  Gene Clark was the first original Byrd to leave the group to become a solo artist.  His version of Mr. Tambourine Man is out of this world.  Give it a listen.

The Gridlock in Downtown Flushing Has Gone from Worse to Impossible

The population of Flushing has grown by leaps and bounds over the years.  Many private houses were demolished and replaced by apartment buildings.  Likewise in the downtown area, small buildings were taken down and replaced by high-rise office buildings.  Umpteen bus lines run in and out of the downtown area.  Obviously, this has created congestion.

I usually take the Q34, Q44 or Q20 from the end of the #7 line for one mile to my home.  Today there was gridlock on Main Street from Roosevelt Avenue to Northern Blvd.  Likewise, the traffic on Northern Blvd was at a standstill for a mile.

I think I did the wise thing by walking that last mile.  It is just aggravating to stand in a crowded bus while it is stuck in traffic.

I think this qualifies for an "Oy Vey."

Nationals 3 Mets 1 in Our First 2017 Game at Citifield

Since this was the first weekend afternoon game of the season, we decided to come to Citifield.  There was a Matt Harvey gnome given to the first 15,000 fans, but we decided to pass on that since we already have umpteen bobble head dolls at home.  The game started in a slight drizzle, but there were no rain delays.  Our seats were covered, so we didn't get wet.

Starting pitcher Jacob deGrom and 3 relievers struck out 15 Nats, but the hitting just couldn't get going.  The Mets only had 1 run with just two hits and lost 3-1.  Tomorrow is another day.

Game recap

Happy Birthday Karen

It worked out that Karen's birthday is one day after mine.  I guess that fellow Taurean's are compatible,  I think he helped that both of us are Met fans.  We went to our first game in together in 1981and were married in 1983.

To celebrate we are going to see the Mets play the Washington Nationals at Citifield later today,

Special Birthday Greeting from Mr. Met Compliments of Pete Freckelton

Oh No! Another Birthday. I think I've stopped counting

Well, tomorrow is the big day for me.  First of all, I'd like to thank radio personality Anita Bonita for this wonderful virtual birthday cake.  She even knows that chocolate cake is my favorite.  I am not going to reveal my age.  I am going to give two trivia questions.

What is the atomic number of erbium?

What is Dellin Betance's uniform number for the Yankees?

These Should Have Been Bigger Hits

That Thing with Rich Appel is now played over 77 radio stations all over the world.  I listen every weekend on Pop Gold Radio or WLNG.  Every year Rich compiles a list of songs voted by his listeners that should have been bigger hits.  It just means that they were more popular as oldies than they were when they were originally released.  The rankings vary every year.  You can download this year's list of top 109 at:  https://www.thatthingshow.com/i-r-s-10-99 ,

I am sure that I speak for all of Rich's listeners when I thank him for all the effort he puts into compiling this list every year.

Bruce Langhorne who Played with Bob Dylan Dies at 78

\

Bruce Langhorne, seen above, played guitar on Bringing it All Back Home which is one of my favorite Dylan albums.  The obituary in the New York Times states that he played lead guitar on Maggies Farm, Love Minus Zero/No Limit and She Belongs to Me among others.  Dylan stated that Langhorne was the influence for Mr. Tambourine.

My condolences to his family.

Appropriate for April 15 Taxman by George Harrison and Eric Clapton

In most years federal and state taxes are due on April 15.  Since it is on a Saturday this year, everyone gets an extension till Monday.  Taxman, written by George Harrison,  appeared on the Revolver album in 1966.  It seems that all of the Beatles songs were taken off Youtube, but I found this concert version with George backed by Eric Clapton.

Would an AM Oldies Station Work in NYC?

Oldies are defined as music that hit the charts from 1955 (the beginning of rock n roll) until the late 1970s.  I guess the ending date is not definitive.  For many years WCBS-FM was New York's premier oldies station until it adapted the dreaded Jack format in 2005.  It came back in 2007 wth a "classic hits" formats playing music from 1964 onward.  As the years progressed it abandoned 1960s music and now plays hits from the 70s until the 90s.  They want to attract listeners from age 25-54 to be appealing to advertisers.

Now listeners of oldies must go to internet radio stations such as Pop Gold Radio and Rewound Radio which are excellent.  Very recently the station at 1260 AM in Los Angeles flipped to oldies and is known as 1260 K-SURF,  I don't think there are any ratings yet available for that station.

Could oldies on an AM station work in NYC?  What station would do it?  The ratings for the talk radio stations are very low, thus would WABC or WOR flip to oldies?  Could a less powerful AM station like WPAT (930 AM) or WSNR (620 AM) do it?  WMTR (1250 AM), a suburban station from Morristown has done oldies for many years and seems to be doing very well, but would it work in the Big Apple?

The Man on Top Must Take Responsibility When Things Go Wrong

I don't know that exact wording but Richard Nixon said that as chief executive (the man on top) he had to take responsibility when his subordinates did things wrong.  This was said as the Watergate scandal exploded in 1974.  He had to pay the ultimate price by resigning the presidency since it was obvious that he obstructed justice.

A few days ago Sean Spicer, President Trump's press secretary asserted that Adolph Hitler had not used chemical weapons.  Hey, give that man a history book.  To say the least this was an insult to all Jews.  Since Spicer was appointed by Donald Trump, the President must take responsibility for what he said.  Spicer should be fired or forced to resign.  What does Jared Kushner have to say about this?

It is my sincere hope that a "Trumpgate" will develop and the 45th president will be impeached or be forced to resign.  We can only impeach a president if he commits a crime and is found guilty by a 2/3 vote in the Senate.  I almost cry when I read what he is trying to do as Chief Executive.  I think that historians will determine that he is the worst president in history.

Mini Vacation For Passover

First of all, I'd like to wish all my readers who observe the holiday a Happy Passover.  Chag Sameach.

I certainly have plenty of vacation time in my bank, so I decided to take a few days off for the holiday.  My car is due for inspection in April so I took my car to a local mechanic.  Of course, they found that I needed new brakes, so that was an unexpected expense.  I can't complain since my car is now 17 years old.  I do almost all local driving so it has about 64,000 miles and is running well.

I watched the Yankee opening day on TV as Michael Pineda had a perfect game for  6 2/3 innings.  The Yankees won the game 8-1.

It Was Confirmed that British Broadcaster Brian Matthew Has Died at Age 88

 A few days ago it was erroneously reported that British radio personality had died.  The BBC retracted the story and stated that he was in the hospital in critical condition.  The Telegraph in the UK reported that Brian had died at age 88.

He had joined the BBC in the early 1950s and became the host of Sounds of the 60s in 1990.  Readers of Bruce's Journal know that I am an avid listener to that show that now airs live at 6 Am Saturday morning in the UK.  I listen to the podcast every Sunday morning.

Tribute to Brian Matthew from the BBC

Very Few Day Games at Citifield in April

Usually, on the first weekend of the baseball season, we are out at Citfield watching the Mets.  But this season both the Saturday and Sunday games are at night.  We don't like to sit in a cold stadium to watch a game.  Last night as the TV cameras scanned the seats, we saw so many people with blankets.  Why go to the game and be so uncomfortable?  The likely reason for this is that the TV ratings are much higher for night games resulting in more money which is the name of game.  Sunday night's game is on ESPN.

Our first game is Saturday April 22 when the game starts at 4 PM.

Random Comments for Thursday

Even a large and reputable news organization like the BBC can make errors as they had mistakenly reported the death of radio personality Brian Matthew .  I had even posted here about that, but deleted that entry a few hours later.  The most recent reports say that he is in the hospital in critical condition.

There are still problems with NJ Transit, Amtrak, and the LIRR after the derailment on Monday,  Yesterday, I was off from work for an eye doctor's appointment.  Today, I am going to a professional meeting at Hunter College in Manhattan so for two days I was spared extra inconvenience.  According to this report from CBS News Amtrak is aiming for a return to normalcy on Friday.  I saw on the news last night that the derailed train was removed and that Amtrak was working around the clock to fix the signals that were destroyed.  We'll see.

And the beat goes on

Random Comments of the Day

The derailment of an NJ Transit train in New York Penn Station is still causing havoc for commuters.  For the last two days, I had to take the PATH train from NYC to Newark.  There is limited service in and out of Penn Station, but I assume there must be a bottleneck of trains entering and leaving the station.  It is like that on a normal day so it must be much worse under these circumstances.  I have an eye doctor appointment for tomorrow so I won't be coming into work.  I don't think service will be back to normal until Friday.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely heart Clubs Band album.  I read there will be  1 CD, 2 CD, and 6 CD anniversary editions.  I assume they will include outtakes.  One CD may include Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever which were originally released earlier in 1967.

I am glad that baseball season has started.

I actually saw a commercial for Nellie's Eggs featuring Bob Dylan singing All I Really Want To Do.

Why Must New York City Poiticians Raise Campaign Funds Out of State

I just can't understand why Bill de Blasio who is running for reelection with minimal opposition must travel to the west coast to raise funds.  This article in Politico states that our beloved mayor will be traveling to Sacramento, Seattle and San Francisco for fundraisers. Why?  There are plenty of urban problems that the mayor must confront.  Hey, Bill, just stay home and do your job.

POLITICS SUCK!

Photographic Exhibit of a Young Bob Dylan Coming to NYC - April 20 - June 3

On April 21, my birthday, I will not be listening to Bob Dylan but viewing photographs of him from 1961-1964.  The details may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2017/apr/01/portraits-of-a-young-bob-dylan-in-pictures?

Steven Kasher Gallery
515 WEST 26TH STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10001

My Ding-A-Ling by Chuck Berry

The girls in the audience are really having a good time.  Back in 1972,  WABC did not play this song.  I guess the "suits" there just did not have a sense of humor.