Tomorrow night’s American League “play in” game at Yankee Stadium  matches the New York Yankees, whose 27 World Series wins are more than double those of any other baseball franchise (the Cardinals, who won  100 games in the 2o15 regular season, are second, with 11), and the Houston Astros, whose only World Series appearance resulted in a 4 game sweep loss to the White Sox, giving the South Side Chicago team its first World Series win in 88 years.

Only the Texas Rangers, who also made the playoffs, clinching the A.L. West on the regular season’s final day, after dissipating a 4 run 9th inning lead vs the L.A. Angels of Los Angeles with a chance to do so the day before, now in their 55th season, have gone longer than the Astros, (in their 54th season), without ever having won a World Series.

The Yankees, who have been in 40 World Series, 15 ALCS, and are bidding to qualify for the division series for the 18th time in its 21 year existence, will be in their first “play in” game. (The Yankees were also in a strike marred 1981 season equivalent of a division series, as were the Astros.)

This is the fourth season with the play in game and tomorrow night’s contest will be the Astros’ first post season appearance since the aforementioned sweep loss, in the 2005 World Series.

Perhaps smiling down from above will be the recently departed Yogi Berra, of course an enormous part of the Yankees’ great history, having played on a record 10 World Series winning teams, but also a coach for the Astros, the last time they played in a post season game in New York, which was vs the Mets in the 1986 NLCS.

Recently, I was privileged to see a great music show, called “Hippiefest,” at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, New York.

One of the great performers on the bill, guitarist extraordinaire, Rick Derringer thanked the audience for coming out on a rainy night, which is a nice thing.

As a member of that audience I want to thank the performers for putting on a wonderful show that literally had people, yes an older crowd, dancing in the aisles and that included me. I must say the audience looked really good doing so.

Those performers included Mitch Ryder, “Badfinger,” Mr. Derringer and the still incredible “Family Stone” which played the entire post intermission portion of the show.

Ryder opened the show with good comedic lines between songs and treated us to big hits “C.C. Rider” and “Devil With The Blue Dress,” dedicating the song to all the women who have worn one.

“Badfinger,” proteges of Paul McCartney and George Harrison on the Beatles’ Apple label, were led by the last “Finger” as he was introduced, Joey Molland.

“If You Want It Come And Get It” led the great hits and though we now know Molland was warned by the legendary great, Mr. Harrison that a big hit will be sung over and over again, the group produced a fine version.

Derringer was next telling us that when on tour with Ringo Starr, of course another member of The Beatles, that his hit as a member of “The Mc Coys,” “Sloopy Hang On” was first on the charts ahead of the Beatles “Yesterday” which was second, for at least one week, roughly 50 years ago. The song and Derringer’s amazing guitar playing made it a great segment.

“The Family Stone” performed so many of their great hits, “Dance To The Music” among them, before closing the show with “I Want To Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself Again.”

Among their contingent this night were original members saxophonist Jerry Martini, drummer Greg Errico and vocalist Phunne (pronounced Fun, and her singing and dancing surely is) Stone, the daughter of the great Sylvester “Sly” Stone, who sounded great.

Thanks to all the performers once again as you helped “myself” feel great during the show.

Rick Derringer Pictured Above

Click below to “ride” back in time for “C.C. Rider” with Mitch Ryder

Mitch Ryder – C.C. Rider

Going into the final weekend of the baseball regular season, the Houston Astros have a one game lead over both the Minnesota Twins and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the tenth and final spot in the upcoming baseball tournament. All the 10th spot contenders have three games remaining.

The Astros face the Arizona Diamondbacks on the road while the Angels are also on the road in Texas vs the Rangers. The Twins are at home vs the Royals.

Incredibly, or maybe not so incredibly, given his penchant for glaring factual errors, WFAN radio host Mike Francesa did not include the Twins among the hopefuls for the last playoff spot.

He said it was “between the Astros and Angels.” At least he did not say among.

There once was etiquette in giving scores with giving or saying the winning team first sacrosanct. For better or worse, usually worse, people have strong emotions involving who won.

That myopic sense of priorities is terribly unfortunate, but does not excuse saying the losing team first as Yankees’ radio analyst Suzyn Waldman did yesterday during a third or fourth inning scoreboard report during the Yankees playoff clinching win vs the Boston Red Sox.

She said the Reds collected their 12th straight loss. Done properly: The Cubs handed the Reds their 12th straight loss.

First of all, I admit to having an almost unfathomable (0-12-1) record this season on my college and pro football predictions. Rather than emphasizing that it is remarkable and even rewarded in some office pools to be that inept, heed the warning about gambling, the so called law of averages (no such thing in this regard) and take it all in stride.

Before the predictions, Mike Francesa, known to “doctor” his record on his predictions, said the other day that the Patriots will play the Packers in the regular season. In addition to the laziness of not looking at the schedule, (Francesa you are a New York based “I don’t know what,”) save the utterly absurd fact you are paid millions, and know the Jets are playing the Giants this season.

You see it is NFC East vs AFC East and without any homework, Francesa who “plugs in what he knows,” obvious stuff like the quarterback and coach are most important, should have known New England from the AFC East will not be playing Green Bay from the NFC North.

Tonight Cincinnati University to keep it close, losing (24-22) to the University of Miami.

Top ranked Ohio State will win by less than “expected” for a fourth straight week, (38-20) vs Indiana University.

The fact a third high school football player this season, Evan Murray, died from injuries sustained during a game will be publicized, mourned briefly even disproportionately and then FORGOTTEN amidst the beer, food, gambling, lack of attention span and most of all hypocrisy (Al Pacino’s “Michael Corleone” to the late, great character actor G.D. Spradlin’s Nevada Senator–“We are part of the same hypocrisy” applies) that is prevalent in our society and epitomized by football.

Finally one prediction I got correct!

Click below for a compelling, well written perspective.

The Death of Evan Murray

G.D. Spradlin, above, who also portrayed an all powerful college coach in the film “One on One,” that helped illustrate the corruption and yes hypocrisy in big time college athletics.

It was sixty one years ago today that the World Series opened at the Polo Grounds in New York between the New York Giants and the heavily favored Cleveland Indians, winners of 111 games that season. Now if the World Series goes six or more games, they will play on or past Election Day.

The Giants, as recounted in Arnold Hano’s great book, “A Day in the Bleachers,” won that game one and shocked the baseball world by sweeping the Indians in four straight games.

Dusty Rhodes won game one with a pinch home run while Willie Mays made his famous over the shoulder catch and great throw in the eighth inning.

Vic Wertz, who was robbed of an extra base hit by Mays on the aforementioned catch, had 4 hits in the game. I recall Howard Cosell’s touching tribute to Wertz, recalling that great individual game but the fact it hurt Vic so much that it was in defeat, on his “Speaking of Sports” show, when Wertz passed away.

Supposedly after the great catch by Mays on Wertz’s drive, the Giants pitcher Don Liddle, who faced just one batter (Wertz) in the game, said “I got my man out.”

The levity being Wertz hit the “bleep/ bleep” out of the ball, only for it to be run down by Mays, whose throw which kept Larry Doby from scoring,  being perhaps more amazing than the famed catch.

For the sixth time in their 54 seasons, the New York Mets finished in first place.

All the first place finishes were division titles, four of the far more impressive and meaningful “one quarter” titles in 1969, 1973, 1986 and 1988. This year’s division title and the one the Mets secured in 2006 were the “one eighth” variety.

Yesterday was the second time in Mets’ history that they became one of eight teams in the baseball tournament, with a win at Cincinnati. The other time was in a “do or die” one game playoff for the bogus wild card berth in 1999.

The Mets also beat the Cincinnati Reds in a best of five NLCS, in 5 games in 1973.

Earlier this season it was noted here that the Colorado Rockies truly helped the Mets overtake the Washington Nationals, by losing all 7 games to the Mets and winning games vs Washington.

The last two days, the Rockies have helped the Mets take a one half lead in the loss column vs the Dodgers in the battle for the National League two seed, with consecutive home wins vs L.A.

Flying well under the radar and at a distance from the top spot for most of the season, the Texas Rangers now stand on the precipice of their first division title since 2011, a season in which they lost a World Series (to the St. Louis Cardinals), they twice were one out from winning.

No team in baseball history was one out from winning the title in two different innings and failed, as was the case for Texas in 2011. That year’s second straight World Series loss (the “odd year’ SF Giants won the first of three titles, ending a 56 year title drought, with a 5 game triumph vs Texas in the 2010 World Series), was followed by an epic collapse by the Rangers in the 2012 A.L. West race, necessitating a play in game, which resulted in a home loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

Now this season, after failing miserably in both 2013 and 2014, Texas went and out and acquired Cole Hamels at the trade deadline and led by him ( a record of 5-1) have a 5 game loss column lead, with 9 games to play.

The Rangers almost certainly will be the American League “3” seed and will open the division series in either Toronto or Kansas City on Thursday October 8th.