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Book 53 (of 52) – The Man Who Died Twice

The Man Who Died Twice – Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club reunites for a new mystery.  When Elizabeth’s ex shows up needing a place to hide out after stealing some diamonds, the retirement community seems like as good a place as any.  An attempt on his life sends him and his handler off to a proper halfway house, where they both turn up dead, and the gang tries to figure out who’s responsible while trying to find the now-missing diamonds.

Richard Osman returns with The Man Who Died Twice, the second entry in his Thursday Murder Club series.  It actually took me a while to get through this one, since my loan from the library ended mid-read and then I had to wait at the end of the line again.  And, if you’re wondering if checking it out again retains where you left off, the answer is no, so I spent some time skipping ahead once I realized I had already read a portion.  Anyway. I’ve got the third, and most recent, entry in his series on hold at the library, which should come in early next year.

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FB8 – Week 46

A disappointing total for my last full week of working for 2022.  The week got off to a decent enough start on Sunday, finishing with 4400 steps, my highest total of the week.  A drop on Monday left me 8 steps away from 3800.  Another downturn on Tuesday put me at 3100 steps.  Wednesday fell even further, dropping to 2500 steps.  An after-work retirement party on Thursday put me back over 4100 steps.  Friday needed 6 additional steps just to reach 2300.  Saturday was even worse, finishing the week off with a woeful 2000 steps.

Total steps: 22,396

Daily average: 3199.4

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Book 52 (of 52) – Random

Random – Penn Jillette

A Vegas native hits a lucky roll of the dice and pays off his father’s gambling debts, saving his and his family’s lives.  Feeling that his life has changed, he decides to give up all planning and decision making, leaving his life’s choices up to the dice.  Will randomness keep him alive against the three things trying to kill him: the mobster who his dad owed money to, a thief who masterminded a casino heist, and the raging novel corona virus.

Magician Penn Jillette brings us Random, his second novel.  A long time Vegas resident, Jillette brings his knowledge of the town and its vibe to the book.  The plot, however, could have used a little more work.  It’s an intriguing idea, but the execution is a little lacking, with the dice rolling getting a little boring the more often it happened.

And there we have it, book #52!  For just the second time since I started this “52 books in 52 weeks” challenge back in 2010, I made it to the finish line, and with a couple of weeks to spare.  Now, I go after my personal record of 54 books, set all the way back in 2021.

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We’re #1 Again

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Purdue Men’s Basketball after the loss of Jaden Ivey, Trevion Williams, Eric Hunter, Sasha Stefanovic, and Isaiah Thompson.  Matt Painter and company weren’t having any of that, though, and, for the second time in school history, Purdue is the #1 ranked men’s college basketball team in the country.  A little over a month ago, they were an unranked upstart, but a 10-0 record with decisive victories against Gonzaga and Duke has seen them rise to the top of the rankings in record time.

When they reached #1 last year, the lost their next game that Thursday on the road at Rutgers.  This year, they are off until Saturday, when they play Davidson in a neutral site game in Indianapolis.  Hopefully they will be able to keep the train rolling and remain at the top heading into January and the bulk of Big Ten play.

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Book 51 (of 52) – The Last Widow

The Last Widow – Karin Slaughter

The Last Widow, the ninth entry in Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series, an explosion at Emory College leads to Sara Linton taken hostage by a white nationalist group.  While Will goes undercover trying to infiltrate the group to find her, Faith works with the FBI to try and figure out what the group’s endgame is before it is too late.

For the first time since I started this series back in 2019, I’m reading the books in the order they were released.  In this outing, Slaughter introduces a group of white nationalists threatening domestic terrorism, which probably seemed like a natural progression back in 2019 when it was released and seems even more imminent here in 2022.  I’ve got one more entry to go before finishing the series, at least what has been released to date, and I’m sure that’ll happen sometime next year.

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Travelling The 50 States – Minnesota

Over my 48 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning.  Working in alphabetical order, we continue today with the 32nd state to be added to the Union: Minnesota.

State: Minnesota
Joined the Union: 1858
Visits: 1

I made my one and only visit to the Gopher State in July of 2014 as part of a road trip to see the White Sox battle the Twins.

On a Friday in late July, Danny, Michael, and I took the long trip up to Minneapolis to see the White Sox take on the Twins.  After arriving at the hotel, we took the 1.2 mile walk over to Target Field, where the White Sox managed to defeat the Twins.  Saturday, we went to the Mall of America for some more mini golf, a mirror maze, and general traipsing.  After a search for lunch, we returned to the hotel for some afternoon swimming before heading back over to Target Field for another White Sox winner.  We called an audible on Sunday and decided to forego the last game of the series, so we checked out of the hotel and started the long drive home.

Will I return?  Probably, someday.  I’m sure there are other things to see in Minnesota.

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Team Stats: Bases On Balls

With less than four 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 continue today on the defensive side of the ball with bases on balls surrendered.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen the most.  When you adjust the numbers per game, three teams are averaging four or more walks per game, with the Nationals leading the pack with just over four.  The Cubs find themselves, unfortunately, in the top ten at 3.45 walks per game, while the White Sox just make it into the bottom half (or top half, depending on your point of view) with 3.29 walks per game.  The Anaheim version of the Angels and the Miami version of the Marlins bring up the rear as the only teams with less than two walks per game, at 1.5 a piece.

Bases on Balls

Team Name Walks
Chicago White Sox 2208
Chicago Cubs 1509
Kansas City Royals 213
Cleveland Indians 207
Detroit Tigers 164
Minnesota Twins 156
Seattle Mariners 149
Pittsburgh Pirates 141
Cincinnati Reds 139
Baltimore Orioles 138
Milwaukee Brewers 136
Texas Rangers 132
Houston Astros 130
St. Louis Cardinals 111
Los Angeles Angels Continue reading →
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And Then There Was One

Willson Contreras’ Cubs career officially came to an end Wednesday when the free agent catcher signed a five-year contract with the Cardinals.  His departure leaves Kyle Hendricks as the last remaining member of the 2016 World Series champions to play for the North Siders.

Contreras first joined the Cub organization in 2009 as a teenaged international free agent.  He made his major league debut as a pinch runner on June 17, 2016 and, two days later, became the 30th player in modern MLB history to hit a home run on the first pitch of his first major league at bat.  Contreras made it on to the post-season roster and helped the Cubs end their 108-year title drought.

Contreras became the starting catcher in 2017 following the retirement of David Ross and the implosion of Miguel Montero’s Cub career in June.  In 2018, Contreras was elected to his first All Star team.  He replicated that feat in 2019 and 2022.

Contreras’ numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

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The Hall Comes Calling

Cubs radio play-by-play man Pat Hughes was awarded the 2023 Ford C. Frick Award yesterday, presented annually for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.  Hughes, who joined the Cubs booth in 1996, will have spent 28 of his 41 seasons as a broadcaster for the Cubs after starting his career with the Twins in 1983 followed by a twelve-season run with the Brewers.

Hughes joined the Cubs booth in 1996, joining long time color commentator, and Cub legend, Ron Santo.  The chemistry between the two grew to the point where their broadcasts came to be known as “The Pat and Ron Show”.  Following Santo’s death in 2010, Hughes has worked alongside former Cubs Keith Moreland and Ron Coomer.

Along the way, Hughes has called many memorable moments, including eight no-hitters, the 25-inning contest between the White Sox and the Brewers which remains the longest game in American League history, Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout game in 1998, Mark McGwire’s record-breaking 62nd home run in 1998, and, of course, the final out clinching the Cubs 2016 World Series title.

Hughes, 67, is the sixth announcer with ties to Chicago to earn the honor, following Ken Harrelson, Milo Hamilton, Harry Caray, Jack Brickhouse, and Bob Elson.

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FB8 – Week 45

Going back to work following a week of vacation led to a decrease in step output.  The week got off to a decent enough start on Sunday, coming 21 steps shy of 4200.  A drop on Monday left me 19 steps away from 3800.  Another downturn on Tuesday put me at 3100 steps.  Wednesday perked back up a bit, ending over 3800 steps.  A push on Thursday left me back over 4000 steps.  Friday was easily the worst day of the week, needing 2 more steps just to reach 1900.  Saturday saw a healthy improvement but was still a disappointment with a woeful 2900 steps.

Total steps: 23,812

Daily average: 3401.7