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Midseason Review – Thursdays

We are on the back half of our look back at the offerings for the new fall season. Thursday night is traditionally the busiest night of the week for my television viewing habits, but not this year. Here’s what was on the slate for this season.

7:30

Ghosts – I never ended up watching any of the first season of this adaptation of a BBC show, but I remain interested.

I’m still interested, but still have not seen a single episode.  Maybe some day.

8:00

Grey’s Anatomy – With Ellen Pompeo slated to appear in only eight episodes this season and a whole new crew of interns, it will be quite the shakeup for the medical drama’s 19th season.

With Ellen Pompeo saying goodbye, how much life does the show sill have?

9:00

Big Sky – I still haven’t watched the second story of season one, let alone any of season two, but I still do have a vague interest.

Yeah, still got a way to go to finish season one.  Not sure how much longer I will lie to myself about this one.

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Party Of One

The baseball world had turned its attention to snowy hamlet of Cooperstown in upstate New York, where the votes were tallied and the 2023 Hall of Fame class is now complete with one additional member.  Former Phillies and Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen scored 76.3% of the vote to earn enshrinement in his sixth election.

Four others tallied greater than 50% of the vote, led by Todd Helton, who jumped up to 72.2% and seems like a lock to be elected next year.  Billy Wagner came in with 68.1% and has two more attempts to make it over 75%.  Andruw Jones got a big lift, jumping up to 58.1%.  Finally, Gary Sheffield, with just one election left, rises to 55% and looks unlikely to make that final jump in his last year.

On the local front, Manny Ramirez, who spent a little more than a month with the White Sox, saw a small increase in support, finishing with 33.2% of the vote thanks to his multiple PED suspensions.  The disgraced Omar Vizquel, accused of both sexual abuse of an autistic teen and spousal abuse since being added to the ballot, dropped even more, down to 19.5%.  Jimmy Rollins, who spent the final 41 games of his career on the south side, picked up 12.9% in his second go-around.  Mark Buehrle jumped back up to 10.8% in his third time on the ballot, living to fight another day.  Former Cub pitcher John Lackey nabs a single vote.

Thirteen players will fall off the ballot after failing to score 5% of the vote.

As for the newest Hall of Famer, I’ve seen Rolen play 18 times.  He joins Fred McGriff, who was elected by the veteran’s committees in December, in the class of 2023.  They will both get their day in the sun on Sunday, July 23.

Scott Rolen’s numbers in games I’ve attended were:

Continue reading →

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Midseason Review – Wednesdays

We have reached the halfway point of our look back at my thoughts on the offerings for the new fall season.  Here’s what Wednesdays had on tap for the fall.

7:00

The Conners – Another go-around with this reboot, which has somehow made it to five seasons.

You know, it isn’t bad, but it’s not really good either?  I wonder who really watches this outside of Gen X folks reliving their childhood?

8:30

Home Economics – Topher Grace and company return for their third season.

The show wrapped up its third season last week and is still entertaining.

And now the new entries:

The Flash – The CW stalwart returns for its ninth and final season.

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Book 4 (of 52) – Malibu Rising

Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reid

One of the biggest stars in the world, Mick Riva is loved by everyone.  Everyone, that is, except for his children, who he abandoned and hasn’t seen for years.  After years of struggle, they have found successes of their own, leading to a yearly party that has grown along with their status in the enclave of Malibu.  1983 promises to be the biggest party yet, but with each child reaching a turning point in their lives, can the re-emergence of their father cast a pall over where they are going next?

I first became acquainted with the work of Taylor Jenkins Reid last year with Daisy Jones & The Six, which was one of, if not the best book I read all year.  Malibu Rising is the follow-up to that book and again brings us behind the scenes of the rich and famous, focusing on the family left behind when someone becomes a big star.  Reid has an ability to bring the past to life, whether it’s the underdeveloped Malibu of the 1950s and ’60s or the home of the rich and famous it would become by the early ’80s.  I definitely look forward to whatever is next from her.

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Midseason Review – Tuesdays

Continuing our look back at my thoughts on the new fall season, with the offerings that I found myself interested in for Tuesdays.

Now, let’s see what interesting tidbits are coming this spring:

Night Court – Melissa Rauch joins the returning John Larroquette in this update of the 80s hit.

Will Trent – Based on Karin Slaughter’s series of novels, early indications say this will turn into a procedural, which does not fill me with joy.

Superman & Lois – Returning for its third season while I still have yet to watch any of it.  At what point do I admit that I don’t watch this show?

Gotham Knights – Following the death of Bruce Wayne, his adopted son forges alliances with the children of his father’s enemies.

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Midseason Review – Mondays

We continue our annual look back at my thoughts from the beginning of the season and look ahead at what’s to come for Monday nights, which looked a little barren in the fall, leaving me with nothing to watch.

Now, let’s see what is coming to the airwaves this spring:

Fantasy Island – FOX’s update of the old classic returns for a second season.

Perry Mason – The HBO version of the legendary lawyer returns for a second season.

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Midseason Review – Sundays

With the advent of winter premieres, the start of the premium cable network shows, and with February sweeps around the corner, it’s time to revisit my thoughts from the beginning of the season and look ahead at what’s to come for Sunday nights.

Now, let’s see what interesting tidbits are coming this spring:

The Blacklist – The long running James Spader vehicle returns, for some reason, for its tenth season.

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Team Stats: Earned Run Average

With less than three months until baseball returns to Chicago, I thought it would be a good time to revisit, for the first time in six years, the all-time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 1040 games I’ve identified that I have attended.  We wrap up the defensive side of the ball today with earned run average.

Both the White Sox and Cubs find themselves in the middle of the pack for team ERA, with the Cubs coming in at 14th with 4.00 and the White Sox at 17th with a team ERA of 4.20.  The Anaheim iteration of the Angels lead the way, finishing mere percentage points below 2.60.  The Devil Rays are on the opposite end of the spectrum, clocking in just over 5.95.

Earned Run Average

Team Name ERA
Anaheim Angels 2.59620377314948
Arizona Diamondbacks 2.92054914270955
Washington Nationals 3.16720186512999
Montreal Expos 3.4000755572346
Los Angeles Dodgers 3.41129032258065
Colorado Rockies 3.58507711650256
Los Angeles Angels 3.65023417507605
San Francisco Giants 3.69195184152779
Boston Red Sox 3.70899413615711
Oakland Athletics 3.84286934244236
Tampa Bay Rays 3.87647371109753
Miami Marlins 3.9375
Philadelphia Phillies 3.96004525766009
Chicago Cubs 3.99524314872638
New York Mets Continue reading →
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FB8 – Week 51

After a good start to 2023 in Florida, I couldn’t quite keep up the same pace once I returned home.  The week started off decently on Sunday, where an early morning flight home from Orlando left me with 5200 steps.  A day full of meetings on Monday led to a nearly 3000 step drop, finishing with 2400 steps.  Tuesday was even worse, as I needed a single additional step to get to 2300.  A slight bounce back on Wednesday pushed me up to 2900 steps. Thursday was the low point of the week, managing just 1800 steps.  Another disappointing day on Friday left me needing 32 more steps to get to 2900.  Saturday was no better, falling 26 steps short of 2400.

Total steps: 20,061

Daily average: 2865.9

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2022: The Year In Live Performances

During 2022, I managed to get out three different times, taking in my first post-pandemic concert and play and my second comedy show.

In June, I attended my first concert since 2019.  Garbage was opening for Tears for Fears at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre and I made a last-minute decision to attend.  I hadn’t been to this particular venue since 2017, despite it being the closest to my house.  After a nice set from Garbage, I stuck around for the first part of Tears for Fears’ set.  The songs I knew from them were evenly split between the beginning of the show and the end, so I stayed for the first five songs they performed, hearing Everybody Wants to Rule the World and Sowing the Seeds of Love before leaving.  Without the crowds, I was able to get from my seat to my house in about a half hour.

For my birthday, I received tickets to the stage version of Clue.  In November, the night before Thanksgiving, Angelina, Danny, and I headed into the city for what was my first trip to the theater since 2018’s trip to Broadway.  The production of Clue is based on the movie, which is one of my favorites.  A good time was had by all.

To wrap up the year, I headed to the Chicago Theatre to see John Oliver on New Year’s Eve.  It was the perfect New Year’s Eve for someone my age, with the show starting around 7:30, wrapping up by 9:00, and allowing me to drive home and be in the house by 10:00.