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Apolitical blues By Peter Gammons Special to ESPN.com July 7
Amnesiac dollars
American League
National League
King of the mountain
I didn't see it coming What player has most surprised you in the first half?
The leaders Most unusual vote: Craig Counsell Which player who has struggled will take off and have a monster second half? 1. Jeff Bagwell2. Tom Glavine 3. Ken Griffey Jr. 4. Bobby Abreu 5. Erubiel Durazo 6. Trot Nixon 7. Carlos Beltran 8. Derek Jeter 9. Al Leiter 10. Carlos Delgado Most Unusual vote: Eric Gagne
The last laugh
Life in a glass house
The fall of the world's own optimist
Bells of Rhymney
Johnny Marr (Smiths). Roger McGuinn (Byrds), Angus Young (AC-DC), Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), Johnny Ramone (could you expect that a Ramone wouldn't be on the list?). Honorable mention: Pete Towsend, Mike Campbell (Tom Petty), Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Dick Dale (surf legend). George Harrison -- from Help on, everything he played sounded so cool; Jimmy Page -- rock band as orchestra; Wes Montgomery -- jazz can sound great on the guitar; Eddie Van Halen -- the reason I play guitar; Joey Santiago (The Pixies) -- now that's alternative. It pains me to leave off guys like Mike Campbell, The Edge, Neil Young, Keith Richards, et al. Eric Clapton -- Done it all, blues, rock, reggae. His acoustic stuff may be my favorite. Mark Knopfler -- Has a great unique sound. Never seems to get old. Stevie Ray Vaughn -- This man was one of a kind. He wailed. The 1980 live album "In the Beginning" is all the proof you need. Dave Matthews -- I know you're saying I'm crazy, but this guy plays things on an acoustic guitar nobody else could pull off. He doesn't play lead, but he lays down rhythms that are unbelievable. The chords that go into his songs are all over the board. Great blend of funky jazzy rock. Jimi Hendrix -- Crazy talent, cutting edge creatively. Influenced the greats. Plus he was a lefty from Seattle. Also a quick nod to the man who started it all -- Robert Johnson. He may have sold his soul to the devil, but he sure got something in return.
The Edge (U2); Bruce Watson (Big Country); Mike Campbell (Tom Petty/Heartbreakers); Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits); Mike Eisenstein ... or J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) Martin Belmont -- he made Graham Parker's backup band The Rumor and Nick Lowe's Cowboy Outfit simply amazing; Ricky Skaggs -- if you've never seen him you wouldn't understand; Chet Atkins-Skaggs credits him for teaching him the most about playing the guitar; Bill "The Diesel" Kirchen -- just go listen to "Hot Rod Lincoln" live and you'll understand; David Grissom -- session player from Austin who played with Joe Ely's band on a couple of albums ... listen to Joe's Live at Liberty Lunch and on a couple of tunes you'll swear there's more than one guitar playing. Jeff Beck; Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil); Jimi Hendrix; Richard Thompson; Mark Knopfler; Paul Barrere (Little Feat). Honorable mention: Paul Cotton, Duane Allman, Johnny Lee Schell. Down below the borderlineJulio Franco, 39, leads the Mexican League in batting (.423), hits, on-base percentage (.493) and slugging percentage (.655). Mark Whiten also leads in homers with 23, while one-time Red Sox phenom Rudy Pemberton -- the Izzy Alcantara of his time-- leads in RBI. (Source: SportsTicker) The Red Sox wives have put together a cook book titled "Crowding the Plate," with proceeds going to the AIDS center at the Boston Medical Center. It isn't unusual to see Stacey Beck or Bitsy Hatteberg hawking the cook book on the streets outside Fenway Park (it can be ordered c/o the Red Sox, 4 Yawkey Way, Boston, Mass. 02215) Here are a few of the following items:
Paint by numbers
Prodigal
Broken butterflies |
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