Game 34: Acadian Driftwood

It's not everyday you see a match-up of 6' 7" left-handed pitchers.

This will be the sixth start of the season for 31 year old Brain Tallet. In his three previous seasons as a Blue Jay, Tallet only only made one other start and you'd have to go all the way back to his time with Cleveland in 2003 to find another. He's been solid as a reliever for the Jays, especially last year, when he threw 56.1 innings to a 2.88 ERA, but the injuries to their staff this season forced him into the rotation on April 18th. For the time being, it looks like he's there to stay:

"They (management) do have to make a decision and it's tough to take him out of the rotation now," Jays manager Cito Gaston said of Tallet. "I'd like to have another lefty in the bullpen, but if he continues to pitch the way he has, there's no reason to take him out of the rotation."

His ERA sits at 4.95, but that is severely inflated by one hellacious outing against Kansas City during which he gave up 10 ER in 4 innings. Since then, he's lasted 7 innings in each of his two starts and allowed only 10 baserunners combined.

Of course, jumping the bump for the Yanks tonight will be CC Sabathia. When last seen, Sabathia was letting out a primal scream in Baltimore after throwing a complete game shutout to stop the Yankees' five game skid. They are 2-2 and since then. His second complete game of the year (the first in a losing effort) brought his ERA under 4.00 but CC's won-lost record is still 2-3. After issuing 14 walks in his first four starts, he has given up only 2 in his past three. It seems as though the Hefty Lefty (we can use that for him now that Jared Lorenzen is gone from the Giants, yes?) is starting to hit his stride. 

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As the Yanks head out of Canada and back to New York tonight, I thought it would be appropriate to bust out Acadian Driftwood by The Band. As is the case with some of their other songs, this one is based on historical events, even though the lyrics take some liberties at times. 

Acadia was a French Colony in Canada founded in 1604 which consisted of the modern-day Maritime Provinces, Eastern Quebec, and parts of New England. The colony changed hands numerous times, going from France to The Netherlands to England, back to France. In 1755, at the beginning of the Seven Years War, if Acadians did not swear allegiance to the English crown, they were forcefully deported throughout the American colonies. 

Robbie Robertson (a Toronto native) was the one who wrote the lyrics and did so from a first person historical narrative, similar to The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (except, unlike "Virgil Kane", the narrator is never named). The It's a pretty long song, but this article provides a thorough breakdown of the background behind it and an assessment of the historical validity of it line by line. 

Everlasting summer filled with ill-content,

This government had us walkin' in chains,
This isn't my turf,
This ain't my season,
Can't think of one good reason to remain.

[...]

Acadian driftwood,
Gypsy tail wind,
They call my home the land of snow,
Canadian cold front movin' in,
What a way to ride,
Ah, what a way to go.