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FB8 – Week 27

We start the second half of the year with a nice bounce back week, thanks to a midweek trip to Denver.  Things got off to a pretty decent start on Sunday, as I finished 12 steps below 5700 thanks to an afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.  Monday fell off quite a bit, dropping down to 2600 steps.  Tuesday was the high point of the week, thanks to a trip to the airport and then a White Sox/Rockies game at Coors Field, leaving me with 8700 steps, the best day of the week.  Another afternoon in Denver and at Coors Field on finished at 8200 steps, my second straight day over goal.  Thanks in part to an early morning arrival at O’Hare on Thursday, I was able to come 16 steps away from 4500.  Friday was another disappointing day, coming in 7 steps shy of 2900.  Another White Sox game on Saturday pushed me back up over 5800 steps.

Total steps: 38,522

Daily average: 5503.1

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Book 34 (of 52) – The WEIRDest People In The World

The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous – Joseph Henrich

Ummm, yeah. Written by Harvard professor Joseph Henrich, The WEIRDest People in the World aims to explain the history and psychological variation of WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) populations with approaches from cultural evolution and evolutionary psychology.  To make a very long story short, a lot of the shift can be traced back to the rise of the Roman Catholic church, which expanded through Europe and wiped out traditional clans and lifestyles.

While I enjoyed some of the ideas presented here and how our environment literally impacts our physiology, this information was presented in much more of a formal way than I usually prefer.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this used as a textbook in some college course somewhere.  This academic approach impacted my ability to get through and enjoy the theses presented.

 

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By The Numbers – 0

In 1929, uniform numbers appeared on the back of baseball jerseys for the first time, thanks to the Indians and the Yankees.  By 1937, numbers finally appeared across all uniforms, both home and away, across both major leagues.  Since that time, 81 distinct numbers have been worn by members of the White Sox, while the Cubs boast 76.

Today, we conclude our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #0.  Only three players have donned #0 while playing in Chicago, all for the White Sox.

Billy Hamilton signed with the White Sox during spring training of 2021 after being released by the Indians.  He quickly became valuable outfield depth following the injuries to Adam Engel and Eloy Jimenez.  He quickly became ingrained in the team’s culture and played his way into the fan’s hearts, thanks to, surprisingly, a pair of home runs over Memorial Day weekend and a tremendous catch in the rain and mud in Minnesota.

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FB8 – Week 26

An even worse week than last week, with very little to redeem it.  Things got off to a bad start on Sunday, as I finished 15 steps below 3000.  Monday improved somewhat, jumping all the way up to 4000 steps.  Tuesday fell off the proverbial cliff, as I barely managed to surpass 2000 steps, by far the worst day of the week.  Wednesday saw a slight improvement, jumping back up to 3300 steps.  Thursday saw a very slight drop-off, just missing 3300 steps.  A White Sox game on Friday helped me gain nearly 5400 steps, my highest total of the week.  Saturday fell back down to 4100 steps.

Total steps: 25,193

Daily average: 3599

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Why Make A Choice?

After a tumultuous 38th season of Jeopardy! that saw the initial choice to replace Alex Trebek removed after a week due to a scandal related to inappropriate comments he had made on an earlier podcast, the producers decided to keep their current jury-rigged hosting situation as is.  Sony Pictures Television has signed both Mayaim Bialik and Ken Jennings to long-term deals that will see the two continuing to split duties on the syndicated game show, while Bialik will continue to host primetime editions of the show as well as the new Celebrity Jeopardy! slated for ABC this fall.

With more versions of Jeopardy! on the air than ever before, and with Bialik continuing to star on Call Me Kat, which has been picked up for a third season, producers felt that multiple hosts would be needed to handle the load.  The search for a new host has been a laborious one, with a parade of celebrity guest hosts completing the show’s 2020-2021 season following Trebek’s death to the naming of Mike Richards as the permanent host before that imploded.

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A Shocking Development

If you recall the conclusion of the lockout this past spring, MLB and the MLBPA were to continue negotiations on an international draft, with a deadline of July 25, which just so happens to be today.  You may be surprised to hear that the two sides were not able to come to an amicable agreement, so there will be no international draft and draft pick compensation for free agents will continue to exist.

On Sunday, MLB made what it described as its final offer, with a bonus pool of $191 million. The players had earlier proposed a bonus pool of $260 million.  An international draft was expected to help rein in the corruption that is rife in the international amateur signing process, particularly in the Dominican Republic and Latin America.  Key among the concerns is the prevalence of early deals, agreements between teams and players before a player has reached 16, the minimum age required to formally sign.

Since there was no agreement, the current system of offering certain free agents a qualifying offer and receiving draft pick compensation should they sign with another team will remain in place.  The loss of a draft pick has depressed, if not outright destroyed, the market for some players over the years, most recently Michael Comforto, who did not sign at all this last offseason, and with Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel, who waited until the draft was completed in 2019 before signing deals with the Cubs and Braves respectively.

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Hall Of Fame Batting Leaders



The Hall of Fame Class of 2022, former Red Sox DH David Ortiz joins veterans committee choices Minnie Minoso, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, Gil Hodges, Buck O’Neil, and Bud Fowler in enshrinement in Cooperstown.  With a new hitter joining the list of Hall of Famers I’ve seen play, let’s check back in with the leaders on the offensive side of the ball amongst Hall of Famers for all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2021.

Home Runs

Name Total
Jim Thome 35
Frank Thomas 15
Vladimir Guerrero 6
David Ortiz 6
Ivan Rodriguez 4

Hits

Name Total
Jim Thome 110
Frank Thomas 54
Ken Griffey Jr 32
David Ortiz 23
Vladimir Guerrero 21

Runs

Name Total
Jim Thome 82
Frank Thomas 42
David Ortiz 16
Ken Griffey Jr 12
Vladimir Guerrero 11
Craig Biggio 11

RBI

Name Total
Jim Thome 84
Frank Thomas 38
David Ortiz 19
Ken Griffey Jr 17
Continue reading →
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Fallen Hero

Former Cub Dwight Smith, who, as a rookie, was a key member of the 1989 NL Easy champions, died yesterday at the age of 58.  The Braves, with whom Smith played for after leaving the Cubs and earned a World Series ring in 1995, said he died of congestive heart and lung failure,

As a rookie, Smith hit .324 with an OPS of .875 in 109 games in 1989, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting to teammate Jerome Walton.  He also sang the national anthem at Wrigley Field on July 21.  In his five seasons with the Cubs, he hit .285 with 32 home runs and 159 RBIs.  After the 1993 season, Smith was non-tendered by the Cubs and, following a nomadic 1994 season, he ended his career with the Braves from 1995-1996.  His son, Dwight Smith Jr., played parts of the 2017 through 2020 seasons with the Blue Jays and Orioles and is currently playing in the Mexican League.

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FB8 – Week 25

A very bad week, saved only somewhat by an outlier day on Saturday.  Things got off to an ok start on Sunday, as I finished with 4100 steps.  A week of all day vendor sessions started on Monday, where I struggled to get 3500 steps.  Things got worse on Tuesday, which saw a big drop-off as I fell down to 2300 steps, by far the worst day of the week.  Wednesday saw a slight improvement, but still came in at a pathetic 2600 steps.  Thursday improved again, but still only managed to come within 35 steps of 2900.  Friday managed to climb back over the 3100-step plateau.  A trip to Wrigley Field on Saturday helped to end the week on a high note, as I broke my daily goal for the first time in nearly a month, finishing just over 7500 steps.

Total steps: 26,129

Daily average: 3732.7