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Against The Twins All Time Leaders – Through 2021

Minnesota-TwinsIn the past, we’ve looked at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams.  This offseason, we will take our first ever look at those leaders against all 30 clubs.  We continue things today with the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins originated in 1901 as the Washington Senators, one of the charter members of the American League.  When Minneapolis was given an expansion team to begin play in 1961, owner Calvin Griffith requested to move the Senators to Minnesota, becoming the Twins, and to have the expansion franchise take over the Senators name in Washington.  I’ve seen them play 64 times at 3 different stadiums, including the division-title deciding game 163 in 2008 at US Cellular Field.

Home Runs

Name Total
Joe Crede 8
Alexei Ramirez 7
Paul Konerko 7

Hits

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 40
Paul Konerko 39
Jose Abreu 29

Runs

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 19
Paul Konerko 19
Jose Abreu 18

RBI

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 21
Joe Crede 21
Paul Konerko 20

Doubles

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 6
A.J. Pierzynski 6
Paul Konerko 5
Adam Eaton 5

Triples Continue reading →

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Still Waiting

Yesterday’s deadline for a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement between the MLBPA and the owners and maintain a 162-game schedule has come and gone, with the only deal in place to push that deadline back to today at 5 PM Eastern.  After weeks of dragging their feet, the owners seemed willing to finally negotiate yesterday, and the negotiations went deep into the night (or early this morning).  Does that mean we are any closer to a deal?  Hard to tell.

Last month, Rob Manfred said it would be catastrophic for the game if the regular season was impacted.  Yesterday, the owners threatened to cancel the entire slate of April games.  That rhetoric seemed to calm down as the day wore on, but today will see if the owners truly understand the potential harm they are causing to the sport or if their only interest is in extracting as much money as they can and then dumping the husk on the next unsuspecting sucker who will reap what the current batch have sown.

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Ready For Some Madness

After a year stuck at home thanks to corona virus, my first sporting event of 2021 was a trip to Indianapolis to see Purdue play in the NCAA tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium.  This month’s picture is from that trip, with Danny posing in front of the inflatable March Madness sign, before we were both disappointed by the outcome of that evening’s contest.

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Top 200 Albums: #131 – 139

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.

We continue today with the next batch of ten albums that I have listened to the most over the last 15 years, including one comedy album, one compilation, and an even one half of the albums coming from the 90s.

#139: Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters
iTunes stats: 91 plays
Previous Ranking: 129

Recovering from the death of Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl recorded this debut, which increased its plays by a scant 56.9%, alone and formed the band afterwards.

#139: Bell Biv DeVoe – Poison
iTunes stats: 91 plays
Previous Ranking: 120

The debut album from the former members of New Edition added 30 new listens to two of the ten songs from the album.

#136: The Beatles – Let It Be
iTunes stats: 92 plays
Previous Ranking: 129

Four of the twelve tracks from this remastered version of the Fab Four’s twelfth and final studio album earn a relatively small 58% increase over the past 4 years.

#136: Various Artists – TV Themes of the 80’s
iTunes stats: 92 plays
Previous Ranking: 161

Five different theme songs, from popular TV shows like WKRP in Cincinnati, Love Boat, and the Dukes of Hazzard, added 43 new plays to jump up 25 spots.

#136: Liz Phair – Whitechocolatespaceegg
iTunes stats: 92 plays
Previous Ranking: 127

Ten different songs make up this total, an increase of 56% from four years ago, for this third studio album by the one-time indie darling.

Continue reading →

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By The Numbers – 19

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 #19.  83 different players have donned #19 while playing in Chicago, 32 for the White Sox, one of whom had it retired in his honor, and 51 for the Cubs.

With a new ownership group in place and looking to make a quick splash, the White Sox purchased Greg Luzinski from the Phillies on March 30, 1981.  Coming off a disappointing season, the Chicago-area native, wearing his familiar #19, responded well to the change, hitting .265 with 21 home runs in the strike-shortened season.  He earned Comeback Player of the Year honors, beating out teammate Bill Almon by 5 votes, and finished 23rd in MVP voting.  Luzinski had another strong year in 1982, raising his average to .292, his highest total since 1977, while hitting 18 home runs and driving in 102 runs.

In 1983, Luzinski was a powerful cog in leading the White Sox to their first division title.  He launched the 8th, 9th, and 10th rooftop home runs in Comiskey Park history between June 26 and August 28.  While his average dropped to .255, he hit 32 home runs and drove in 95, good enough to finish 17th in MVP voting.  Like the rest of his teammates, he struggled during the ALCS against the Orioles, hitting only .133 in the 4-game series.  Unfortunately, those struggles carried over in to 1984.  His average dropped again, down to .238, and his power output fell as well, finishing the year with only 13 home runs, his lowest total since 1974, and 58 RBIs.  He did manage to hit his fourth rooftop blast on July 3 against the Tigers.  He became a free agent following the year and decided to retire.

On the north side of town, Matt Murton donned #19 when he made his major league debut for the Cubs on July 8, 2005.  He appeared in 51 games for the Cubs, hitting .321 with a .908 OPS.  That helped earn him the starting nod in left field for 2006, where he managed to post a .297 batting average with 13 home runs and 62 RBIs.  Despite his success, Murton saw his playing time diminish in 2007 after the Cubs signed Cliff Floyd, even getting sent back to Triple A in June.  He returned in late July, and finished the year with a .281 average and a .791 OPS in only 94 games.  His playing time was diminished ever further in 2008, appearing in only 19 games before being traded, 4 years to the day of his major league debut, to the A’s, as part of the haul for Rich Harden.

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Against The Pirates All Time Leaders – Through 2021

pirates-primaryIn the past, we’ve looked at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. This offseason, we will take our first ever look at those leaders against all 30 clubs.  We continue today with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates began life in 1887 as the Alleghenys, before taking on the Pirates moniker in 1891.  I’ve seen them play 46 times, including a double header sweep in 2003, enabling the Cubs to clinch their first NL Central title and a work outing in 2008 against the White Sox.

Home Runs

Name Total
Sammy Sosa 6
Alfonso Soriano 4
Jermaine Dye 3
Corey Patterson 3
Aramis Ramirez 3

Hits

Name Total
Derrek Lee 17
Aramis Ramirez 16
Sammy Sosa 15
Alfonso Soriano 15

Runs

Name Total
Sammy Sosa 14
Aramis Ramirez 10
Derrek Lee 8
Alfonso Soriano 8
Corey Patterson 8

RBI

Name Total
Sammy Sosa 12
Alfonso Soriano 8
Aramis Ramirez 7
Derrek Lee 7
Jermaine Dye 7

Doubles

Name Total
Geovany Soto 5
Michael Barrett 5
Aramis Ramirez 4
Carlos Zambrano 4

Triples Continue reading →

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FB8 – Week 4

It’s back to reality as returning home and continued cold temperatures led to a precipitous drop in steps.  The week got off to a poor start on Sunday, as I tried to recover from the long trip home and all the activity over the past two weeks, leading to 3600 steps.  On Monday, I notched 4700 steps while returning to work.  Tuesday was the low point of the week, thanks in part to a morning spent in PI Planning, and I ended the day three steps shy of 2700.  A brief warmup on Wednesday led to increased activity, coming 15 steps short of 4300.  Thursday was the big day of the week, as an afternoon snowstorm led to some evening snow blowing, which led me to finishing the day just three steps away from 5900.  Friday fell back down again, dropping down to 3700 steps.  Frigid temperatures on Saturday kept me inside all day, leading to a 4700 step total.

Total steps: 29,755

Daily average: 4250.7

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Book 14 (of 52) – Sorry Not Sorry

Sorry Not Sorry – Alyssa Milano

Actress turned activist Alyssa Milano checks in with this collection of essays where she shares her thoughts on politics, patriotism, her children, defunding the police, abortion rights, and what she sees for the future

Alyssa Milano burst onto the scene nearing her twelfth birthday in 1984 in Who’s The Boss?.  I was approaching my tenth birthday at the time and, at some point over the next few years, she became my first celebrity crush as I entered adolescence.  Ever since then, she has held a special place in my heart, which is why I went ahead and listened to this book even though I knew I wasn’t going to enjoy it.  And believe you me, enjoy it I did not.  It’s not that I disagree with her politics, which we agree on more often than not, but, outside of the chapters on her children, there was very little joy to be found in this tome.  It was a chore to get through.  Sorry.  Not Sorry.

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RIP Julio Cruz

Former White Sox second baseman Julio Cruz passed away yesterday at age 67 following a bout with cancer.  He joined the White Sox in 1983 and gave the team the spark they were looking for, helping them go on a 72-31 run to finish the season and go from 6 1/2 games back to 20 games ahead.  Cruz famously scored the winning run on a Harold Baines sacrifice fly against his former team, the Mariners, on September 17, clinching the first division title in White Sox history.  A toe injury in 1984 sapped his speed and basically ended his career, as he struggled in 1985 and 1986 and was finally released at the end of spring training in 1987.  He is survived by his wife, three sons, and their families.

Cruz is the third person associated with that 1983 Winning Ugly team to die within the last five months.  Pitcher LaMarr Hoyt also died of cancer last November and General Manager Roland Hemond, who put the team together, died in mid-December at the age of 92.

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Against The Rays All Time Leaders – Through 2021

414_tampa_bay-rays-miscellaneous-2012In the past, we’ve looked at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. This offseason, we will take our first ever look at those leaders against all 30 clubs.   We continue things today with the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays began life in 1998 as the Devil Rays, dropping the Devil portion of their name in 2008.  I’ve seen them play 25 times, 5 as the Devil Rays and 20 as the Rays, including the 2008 ALDS, where they defeated the White Sox.

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 4
Jermaine Dye 4
Tim Anderson 2
Jose Abreu 2

Hits

Name Total
Paul Konerko 19
A.J. Pierzynski 13
Alexei Ramirez 13

Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 11
Jermaine Dye 7
Alex Rios 6

RBI

Name Total
Paul Konerko 9
Jermaine Dye 8
Tim Anderson 6
Jose Abreu 6

Doubles

Name Total
Tim Anderson 3
A.J. Pierzynski 3
Alex Rios 3
Gordon Beckham 3

Triples Continue reading →