Alec Burleson
Swinging, covering the zone
RBI leader
JJ Wetherholt
Keystone defensive whiz kid
Rookie of the year
Masyn Winn glove gold
Rangey double play turner
Cannon for an arm
Thomas Saggese
Nonlinear progression
Potential is there
Leo Bernal is
Catcher of the future or
At peak trade value
Ivan Herrera
Hit by pitch leader this year
Might break team record
Jordan Walker is
Maturing and strengthening
Home Run Derby Champ
Nate Church emergent
Present center fielder and
Ready for next year
Joshua Baez
MLB all time record
3 HR debut!
The Ferminator
You could come up with some hits
Good enough bench guy
We miss Lars Nootbaar
Arizona may help him
Begin career anew
Pitcher Dustin May
Traded away before we
Knew what he could do
Michael McGreevy
Middle rotation anchor
Steady producer
Andre Pallante
De facto rotation ace
Ground ball specialist
Rookie Quinn Mathews
Impressive future pitching
One would imagine…
Kyle Leahy is
Now a rotation pitcher
Remarkable focus
Liberatore
Did not deceive hitters so
Crushed repeatedly
Gordon Graceffo
A bullpen reinforcement
Defying logic
Ryne Stanek wild thing
High strikeout walking machine
Top tier pitch spin rates
Justin Bruihl improved
As the season went along
Pretty good, not bad
Luis Gastelum
Steady improvements after
MLB debut
Riley O’Brien
Good but not good in relief
Unpredictable
A VEB tradition! Write your haikus about the players in the comments. Have a moment of Cardinal zen.
5/7/5 syllables. 3 lines. 17 syllables. 7 in the middle line. Unrhymed. Observational. Let’s hear your writeups.
1997 In Music
1997 is about when music really really started stumbling into the future. Sounds got more eclectic, and styles all over the map. My favorite albums of 1997 gave me a new level of energy, probably not felt since the early 90s. ‘Ok Computer’ changed the world. But what has been my favorite album from 1997 over the years?
- Thingy – ‘Songs About Angels, Evil and Running Around On Fire’ prog punk pop math rock psychedelic? I don’t know what you would call it! But it’s really good to my ear. Male/female vocal duo stylings with airtight San Diego art punk music. One of my favorite drum performances ever, and my favorite fuzz guitar tone. The songs are terse as fuck, but that’s how I like ‘em. Complicated, catchy, and true. And maybe a little sarcastic and weird. Heavy but lighthearted. This album will make you laugh, cry, and feel alive.
- Squarepusher – ‘Hard Normal Daddy’ Tom Jenkins plays bass and drums and is a master studio whiz and also has his head torn off creatively, so this is a journey into the future through the year 1997 and it’s absolutely fantastic and insanely amazing. Electronic, jazz, funk, soundtrack, and more! The future arrived in 1997. (Coincidentally, the year I moved from the country to Chicago!) A sonic voyage and adventurous listen.
- KARP – ‘self-titled’ Olympia, WA legends! Like a mashup of the Beastie Boys (in their more hardcore punk form), the Melvins, and countless noise rock bands (Helmet, maybe?), but even more fun than that sounds… they really do have a sound all their own. Super fun stuff. While the other KARP albums are better produced and a bit heavier sounding, the songs on this self titled album are undeniably infectious.
- Cornelius – ‘Fantasma’ let it play for a while and experience pure unadulterated genius
- Portishead – ‘self-titled’
- Blonde Redhead – ‘Fake Can Be Just As Good’ even better than Sonic Youth?
- Radiohead – ‘OK Computer’ the all time classic, changed the whole game
- Starflyer 59 – ‘Americana’ hidden gem
- Del the Funky Homosapien – ‘Future Development’ alt hiphop retrofuturism
- BP – ‘Golden BP’ super hip Japanese band, so 90’s! must hear! if you like the 1990’s
- Ween – ‘The Mollusk’ the album that made me a Ween fan, prog rock alt whatever masterpiece
- Shiner – ‘Lula Divinia‘ hidden gem
- Koenjihyakkei – ‘Viva Koenji!!’ absolutely incredible! Japanese prog rock from 1997
- Yo La Tengo – ‘I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One’ it grows on you with every listen, but “Sugarcube” might make you a fan right away
- Autechre – ‘Chiastic Slide’ what the music of the future sounded like in the past
- Laddio Bolocko – ‘Strange Warmings of Laddio Bolocko’ “Unadulterated nightmare fuel right here. How does one explain the great Laddio Bolocko? I guess they don’t try.” Hungarian punk free jazz
- Biosphere – ‘Substrata’ experimental ambient masterpiece
- godspeed you black emperor! – ‘f#a#∞’ classical ensemble or punk rock band, you decide… post-rock masterpiece, blew my mind first time I heard it
- Stereolab – ‘Dots and Loops’ French sophistipop meets the studio as an instrument, progressive electronic sounds, with influences anywhere between Motown to IDM
- Bjork – ‘Homogenic’ Bjork pushed electronic dance music production several instances into the future but ultimately is an exhilarating alt-pop experience
