Book 30 (of 52) – The Woods Are Always Watching

The Woods Are Always Watching – Stephanie Perkins

Two high school best friends go on a camping trip as a last fling before they go their separate ways for college.  An argument the first night puts them on edge, but the events of the second day draw them back together, thanks to a sinkhole, a broken ankle, dead bodies, a missing hand, and a duo of murderous men who hunt them individually and, eventually, together.  In order to escape, they will need some help from mother nature.

The Woods Are Always Watching, a young adult thriller from Stephanie Perkins, entered my household as a birthday gift for my nearly 70-year-old mother.  Now, you may be asking yourself “who would buy a young adult thriller for an old lady?”  A valid question, dear reader.  When all you know about your co-worker is that they like to read, and you head to the local bookstore with your pre-teen child and have them pick out the book, this is the result.  So why did I read it?  It was there.  Perkins tells a tale.  An unlikely tale, but a tale none the less.  Nothing really happens for the first half of the book, other than the big argument that nearly drive the girls apart but pick up considerably in the second half.  The ending is so ludicrous that you won’t even bother questioning it.

Throwback Thursday – Pitching Leaders Of The 1990s

Our Throwback Thursday feature continues, as we once again point the wayback machine back to the 1990s, finally putting our focus on the defensive leaders of that decade.  As a reminder, I’ve identified 32 games that I attended during this time period, when I would have been ages 15 through 24.

Wins

Name Total
Wilson Alvarez 2
Alex Fernandez 2
28 tied with 1

Losses

Name Total
Tony Castillo 2
Jaime Navarro 2
James Baldwin 2
26 tied with 1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Terry Adams 0.00
Wilson Alvarez 0.39
Keith Foulke 1.04
Donn Pall 1.08
Angel Miranda 1.13

Strikeouts

Name Total
Jaime Navarro 17
Jon Lieber 14
Jim Parque 14
Continue reading →

Gone Too Soon

Word broke yesterday morning that former Purdue basketball standout Caleb Swanigan, who was just 25, had died.  Swanigan, who had an unstable childhood before being adopted by former Boilermaker Roosevelt Barnes, spent two seasons at Purdue, declaring for the NBA draft following his sophomore year in 2017.  His NBA career ended in 2020 when he declined to enter the NBA Bubble due to personal reasons.

Swanigan, who struggled with his weight as a child, had started putting on weight again following his departure from the NBA.  At just 25 years old, he died of natural causes yesterday in a Fort Wayne hospital.  Hopefully he can find some peace now that seemingly eluded his life on Earth.

FB8 – Week 21

Another solid-ish week, as I found myself staying on the right side of 30,000 steps thanks to some outside activities.  Things got off to a pretty good start on Sunday, finishing 13 steps shy of 5800 thanks to a frustrating trip to Guaranteed Rate Field.  Monday saw very little drop-off, ending with 5700 steps.  Tuesday saw a much bigger fall, dropping down to 4300 steps.  Wednesday fell even more, going down to 4100 steps.  Thursday was the high point of the week, thanks to a last-minute decision to head to the World Hollywood Casino Ampitheatre to see Garbage and Tears for Fears, putting me over 7000 steps.  Friday turned that around and saw the lowest total of the week, with only 3500 steps.  A trip to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs battle the Braves on Saturday was a decent way to end the week, finishing with 6900 steps.

Total steps: 37,414

Daily average: 5344.9

Post Mortem – Ozark

After four seasons spread out across five years, Ozark wrapped up its run on Netflix earlier this year following the April release of the second half of season four.  The series has received a total of 32 Emmy nominations, including two Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series wins for Julia Garner in 2019 and 2020.

The ending was ambiguous enough that, in this world we live in now where no show is ever truly over, it could pick up again down the line in any number of ways.  The one disappointing thing about the ending was how the story of Ruth was wrapped up.  I wanted better for her.

By The Numbers – 5

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 continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #5.  75 different players have donned #5 while playing in Chicago, 42 for the White Sox and 33 for the Cubs.

Selected in the fifth round of the 1990 draft, Ray Durham broke camp with the White Sox in 1995 and, wearing #5, made his major league debut on Opening Day, leading off and going 1-4 in the 12-3 loss to the Brewers at County Stadium.  Durham stuck in the leadoff spot and finished the year with a .257 average, 7 home runs, and 51 RBI, good enough for a 6th place finish in Rookie of the Year voting.  He saw improvement in 1996, raising his average to .275 and his OBP to .350.  His home run and RBI totals also jumped, going to 10 and 65 respectively.  1997 was another good year for Durham, as he hit .271 with 11 home runs.

In 1998, Durham earned his first All Star nod and finished the year setting career highs with a .285 average, 19 home runs, 67 RBIs, and 36 stolen bases.  Durham improved his average again in 1999, raising it to .296, his career best.  It was also his second of seven straight years with an OPS over .800.  Durham nabbed his second All Star selection in 2000.  When the season came to an end, Durham had a .280 average with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs and the White Sox were atop the AL Central for the first time.  Like the rest of his teammates, Durham struggled during the ALDS, hitting .200 in the three game sweep against the Mariners.

2001 saw Durham’s average drop to .267, his lowest total since his rookie year.  He did manage to set a new career high with 20 home runs as the White Sox failed to repeat.  Durham was hitting .299 with 9 home runs at the trade deadline in 2002 when, facing free agency, he was shipped to the A’s for Jon Adkins.  At the time of the trade, Durham was the club’s all-time leader in leadoff home runs, while placing in the top 10 in franchise history in steals (5th), doubles (7th), extra base hits (7th), and runs (8th).

Michael Barrett wore #5 for the Cubs when he was acquired for the 2004 season.  Barrett gave up his cherished # 5 in early August, handing it over to the newly acquired shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, while switching to #8, in tribute to former Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra.

Throwback Thursday – Pitching Leaders Of The 1980s

Our Throwback Thursday feature continues, as we once again point the wayback machine back to the 1980s, finally putting our focus on the defensive leaders of that decade.  As a reminder, I’ve identified a mere 14 games that I attended during this time period, when I would have been ages 5 through 14.

Wins

Name Total
14 tied with 1

Losses

Name Total
Tom Seaver 2
12 tied with 1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Floyd Bannister 0.00
Mark Langston 0.00
Dwight Gooden 0.00
Scott McGregpr 1.00
Bud Black 1.23

Strikeouts

Name Total
Britt Burns 12
Tom Seaver 10
Tim Lollar 9
Continue reading →

Book 29 (of 52) – Fame-ish

Fame-ish: My Life at the Edge of Stardom – Mary Lynn Rajskub

Actress and comedian Mary Lynn Rajskub, with her recently released memoir Fame-ish, tells tales and anecdotes from her 30-year Hollywood career and personal life.  Perhaps best known as analyst Chloe O’Brian in 24, Rajskub seems to inhabit that character’s main personality trait, being awkwardly grumpy, but in a good way.

Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t have even bought this book had she not been offering signed copies through her website.  I am nothing if not a sucker for a signed hard cover.  Coming in at just over 200 pages, this was a pretty quick read.  Rajskub comes off as a decent-enough human who has made some questionable decisions in her time, especially when it comes to relationships.  I don’t know how if I’d want to live in her world, but it was an interesting place to visit for an afternoon or two.

FB8 – Week 20

A bit of a bounce back week, as I found myself back on the right side of 30,000 steps.  Things got off to a decent enough start on Sunday, finishing 16 steps shy of 4400.  Monday saw a small drop-off, falling down to 4000 steps.  Tuesday saw a much bigger fall, needing 12 steps just to get to 3400.  An evening trip to Guaranteed Rate Field on Wednesday was the high point of the week, coming just 6 steps short of 7000.  Thursday saw another huge drop, falling back down to 3500 steps.  Friday saw a nice recovery, jumping all the way back up to nearly 6300 steps.  Saturday was a decent way to end the week, finishing with 4800 steps.

Total steps: 33,493

Daily average: 4784.7