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By The Numbers – 10

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 #10.  65 different players have donned #16 while playing in Chicago, 26 for the White Sox and 22 for the Cubs, who retired the number in 2003.

Alexei Ramirez signed with the White Sox on December 21, 2007 after defecting from Cuba.  He made his major league debut the following March 31, wearing #10 while going 0-4 against the Indians while playing center field.  When Juan Uribe went down with an injury in May, Ramirez settled in at second base.  On September 19, Ramirez hit his 3rd grand slam of the year, tying the major league rookie record.  10 days later, he grabbed the record for himself, hitting his 4th slam against Gary Glover to push the White Sox to an 8-2 victory and the tiebreaking game 163.  He finished the regular season with .290 average and a career high 21 home runs.  During the ALDS, he hit .250 in the 4 game series against the Rays, with 2 RBI.  Once the season came to an end, Ramirez placed second in Rookie of the Year voting, behind Evan Longoria.

With Orlando Cabrera gone, Ramirez shifted over to shortstop for the 2009 season.  On July 23, he fielded the final out in Mark Buehrle’s perfect game.  He ended the year with a .277 average, 15 home runs, and 68 RBI.  2010 saw Ramirez earn his first Silver Slugger award, thanks to 18 home runs, 70 RBI, and a .282 average.  In 2011, his average dropped somewhat, but he remained consistent, hitting .269 with 15 home runs and 70 RBI.  Ramirez saw his power numbers slip in 2012, dropping to 9 home runs, but the rest of his game remained consistent with a .265 average and 73 RBIs, though he did set a new career high with 20 stolen bases.  His power fell off even further in 2013, finishing with only 6 home runs and 48 RBI, but he logged his highest average, .284, since his rookie year.  He also set a new career high with 30 stolen bases.

2014 may have been the finest season of his career.  On May 5, he notched his 1000th career hit, off Justin Grimm and the Cubs.  In July, he earned his first All Star selection and, after the season, his second Silver Slugger award.  He finished with a .273 average, 15 home runs, and 74 RBIs.  Ramirez struggled for much of the first half in 2015.  He rebounded in the second half, but still finished the year with the lowest batting average, .249, and OPS, .642, of his career.  Following the season, the White Sox declined his option for 2016, making him a free agent.

Ron Santo spent 14 of his 15 big league seasons with the Cubs, switching to #10 during his rookie season of 1960.  He earned 9 All Star game appearances and 5 Gold Gloves and followed his playing career with a long broadcasting stint with the team.   The Cubs retired number 10 in his honor in 2003 and he was posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in 2012.

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The Doctor Is In The House

Earlier this week, the BBC announced that Ncuti Gatwa would be taking up residence in the TARDIS as the latest incarnation of the Doctor following the departure of Jodie Whitaker later this year.  Gatwa is best known for his role on Sex Education, for which he was awarded a Best Actor Scottish BAFTA in 2020.

The current run of Doctor Who will wrap up this year in a series of holiday specials, with Whitaker and current showrunner Chris Chibnall.  Russell T. Davies, who launched the modern revival of Doctor Who back in 2005, will return as showrunner along with Gatwa.  No other details were released at this time, but the expectation is the new series will launch in 2023.

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Book 25 (of 52) – The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires

The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires – Grady Hendrix

Neglected by her husband, Patricia Campbell takes solace in her book club, reading true crime stories to bring excitement to their quiet Southern suburb.  However, when a mysterious new man shows up in town, Patricia starts to think he is responsible for killing black children on the “other” side of town.  Years later, the stranger has intertwined himself into the community, but Patricia continues to be suspicious.  When she comes upon some evidence which proves he may be more dangerous than she even thought, she rallies her book club to do what their husbands and the police won’t.

Released in 2020, The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires is the second outing I’ve read from Grady Hendrix.  I found it to be a bit of a let down, both compared to his latest book, The Final Girl Support Group, and to the hype that surrounded this one.  Maybe it has been too long since I’ve read a true horror novel, but this one seemed a little off.  The vampire was not quite a vampire, but was certainly some type of supernatural creature.  It’s not that it was a bad story, but maybe just not what I was expecting.  Oh well, you can’t win them all.

 

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Throwback Thursday – Team Records Of The 2000s

It’s time for another trip in the wayback machine, as this week we move our focus to the start of the 21st century and see what my view of the baseball world looked like in the 2000s.  This was my first decade as a season ticket holder, starting in 2002 for the Cubs and 2005 for the White Sox.

I attended 518 contests during the 2000s, starting with my first trip to Cincinnati in April of 2000 and finishing with Daniel Hudson’s first major league victory in September of 2009.  I attended games at 13 stadiums from coast to coast and saw my first post-season action, with an ALDS in 2000, an NLCS in 2003, and a World Series game in 2005.

2021 Team Records
Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Arizona Diamondbacks 11 1 0.917
Philadelphia Phillies 10 4 0.714
Toronto Blue Jays 6 3 0.667
Florida Marlins 12 7 0.632
Tampa Bay Rays 3 2 0.600
Texas Rangers 8 6 0.571
Los Angeles Dodgers 8 6 0.571
Chicago White Sox 130 107 0.549
Chicago Cubs 172 147 0.539
Baltimore Orioles 9 8 0.529
Cleveland Indians 10 9 0.526
Los Angeles Angels 10 9 0.526
Boston Red Sox 9 9 0.500
Colorado Rockies 6 6 0.500
Seattle Mariners 5 5 0.500
Anaheim Angels 1 1 0.500
Houston Astros Continue reading →
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A Different Point Of View

Five years ago today, I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a Tesla.  I took possession in late July and, until a few months back, sent a good portion of my paycheck to Elon Musk each month.  Which meant something different in 2017 than it does in 2022.

For reasons that I don’t entirely understand, Musk has, in more recent times, aligned himself with the fringe right wing.  He has recently announced his intentions to purchase Twitter, promising “free speech”, which the right wing has taken to mean it will be open season on any minority or marginalized group.  Persons who have been previously banned for their bad behavior on the platform are expected to see their accounts restored.

Two weekends ago, I was pulling into the parking lot at Guaranteed Rate Field and there was someone in the car parking next to me who seemed very excited by my car.  I’ve had people comment on it in the past, because they are still somewhat rare, but never to this level.  I acknowledged his interest with a head nod, existed the car, and started walking towards the stadium.  Which is when it occurred to me: maybe he wasn’t excited by the car itself, but what Tesla, and Elon Musk, now means to him.  And does that meaning include attacking minorities and marginalized groups?  Suddenly, it may not be such an exciting time.

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FB8 – Week 15

A pretty successful week, as a couple of baseball games gave me my highest weekly total completed in the state of Illinois since last July.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, as I managed just 3500 steps.  Monday saw a pretty decent increase, jumping up to 5600 steps.  My first trip to Wrigley Field of the season helped me surpass 6500 steps on Tuesday, while the return trip on Wednesday left me 6 steps away from 9000, the second time I’ve surpassed my daily goal at home in as many weeks.  Thursday saw a big decline, finishing 13 steps shy 3200 despite a trip out to meet friends for lunch.  Friday saw a small improvement, coming 16 steos away from 3900.  Another Cubs game on Saturday helped me see another big increase, ending the day 9 steps short of 6000.

Total steps: 37,757

Daily average: 5393.9

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Top 200 Albums: #41 – 50

We last counted down the Top 200 albums in my iTunes library four years ago. Since that time, the world has literally changed, and my commute has decreased from 1+ hours each way to 25 steps. So, despite the decrease in potential listening time, I figured it was time to take another look, based on number of plays from late 2007 through the morning of January 1, 2022.

Today, we kick off the final quarter of our countdown with the next batch of ten albums that I have listened to the most over the last 15 years, breaking the triple digit total play plateau with three compilations, and music from the 60s, 80s, 90s, and beyond.

#50: The Beatles – The Beatles
iTunes stats: 182 plays
Previous Ranking: 48

Colloquially known as The White Album, the band’s ninth studio album, released in 1968, garnered a nearly 52% increase in plays.

#48: George Carlin – You Are All Diseased
iTunes stats: 183 plays
Previous Ranking: 79

The comedian’s eleventh HBO special, recorded in 1999, added 102 listens to jump 31 spots in the rankings.

#48: Various Artists – Monster Ballads
iTunes stats: 183 plays
Previous Ranking: 55

This compilation of love songs from hair bands, featuring artists such as Warrant and Cinderella, added 74 new plays to the five different tracks in my collection.

#47: Garfunkel and Oates – Secretions
iTunes stats: 188 plays
Previous Ranking: 79

The latest offering from musical comedians Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci saw a 132% increase in listens.

#46: Van Halen – The Best of Both Worlds
iTunes stats: 190 plays
Previous Ranking: 56

This greatest hits compilation saw an increase of 83 listens thanks to eight tracks, split between David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar.

Continue reading →

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By The Numbers – 11

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 #11.  59 different players have donned #11 while playing in Chicago, 18 for the White Sox, who retired the number in 1984, and 41 for the Cubs.

Rudy Law was acquired by the White Sox from the Dodgers at the end of spring training in 1982 for Cecil Espy and Bert Geiger.  Wearing #11, Law split center field duties with veteran Ron Leflore, appearing in 91 games in the middle of the outfield.  He hit .318 with a .361 OBP, stealing 36 bases along the way.  Law took over as the everyday center fielder in 1983, helping the White Sox claim their first division title.  His 77 stolen bases remain a team record, and he finished the year with a .283 average.  During the ALCS against the Orioles, he led the White Sox with a .389 average.  His season was good enough to earn him 2 votes for MVP, tied for 21st place.  Law was forced to change his number during the 1984 season when Luis Aparicio was elected to the Hall of Fame and the White Sox retired the number in his honor.

Another #11 made their way to Chicago via the Dodgers when the Cubs acquired third baseman Ron Cey following the 1982 season.  Cey provided veteran leadership for the Cubs over four seasons and, in 1984, helped lead the Cubs to a division title, hitting 25 homers and driving in 97 runs, both team highs.

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RIP George Perez

After a battle with pancreatic cancer, legendary comic artist/writer George Perez passed away yesterday at the age of 67.  Perez was best known for his work on The New Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, and Crisis on Infinite Earths for DC and The Avengers for Marvel.  He had announced his retirement from comics work in 2019 due to vision problems and was diagnosed with cancer this past November.

I did not get a whole lot of exposure to Perez’s work back during my comic collecting days.  He never worked on a Spider-Man title, which were my stock in trade, but I happened upon the stray issue or limited series here and there.  By all accounts, he was a better man than he was artist, which is saying something.  May his family find some solace in the fact that his talent has touched millions of people over the years.

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Another Speed Trap

It has been more than three years since I last took a look at the internet speeds being delivered to me by our good friends at Comcast.  At the time, my download speeds had improved by nearly 22 Mbps over the previous test.  Can I expect a similar jump now, with the amount of people working remotely?

Google Chrome

No, I most certainly cannot. Compared to my last test using Google’s Chrome browser, I’ve gained a mere than 4.5 Mbps of download speed over the past 41 months. Upload speed has stayed pretty consistent.

Microsoft Edge

Things were a little better on the Microsoft side of the house. The Edge test finished just a smidge over Chrome, but added nearly 10 Mbps from the last test. Upload capabilities were again pretty much the same.