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Against The Red Sox All Time Leaders – Through 2021

redsoxIn 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 Boston Red Sox.

I’ve seen the Red Sox play 32 times at 4 different stadiums, first in the White Sox home opener in 1985, through the 2005 ALDS, and, most recently, this past September.  The game total would have been 2 higher, if the corona virus hadn’t put the kibosh on my April 2000 weekend trip to Fenway Park.

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 5
Jermaine Dye 5
Tadahito Iguchi 3
Jim Thome 3
Carlos Quentin 3
A.J. Pierzynski 3

Hits

Name Total
Paul Konerko 18
Scott Podsednik 18
A.J. Pierzynski 13

Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 10
Scott Podsednik 7
A.J. Pierzynski 7
Jermaine Dye 7

RBI

Name Total
Paul Konerko 15
A.J. Pierzynski 9
Jermaine Dye 9

Doubles

Name Total
Paul Konerko 4
Jermaine Dye 4
Luis Robert 3

Triples Continue reading →

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Book 8 (of 52) – The Case Of The Green-Eyed Sister

The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister – Erle Stanley Gardner

Catching up on the books I read while in Hawaii while on vacation.

When a blackmailer comes after the Bain family, threatening to implicate them in a crime if they don’t pay, a daughter hires Perry Mason to negotiate the deal.  When the blackmailer is found dead and his client is arrested for murder, Perry, along with Della Street and Paul Drake, have to get to the bottom of the case.

Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister, originally published in 1953, is the 42nd entry in his Perry Mason series, the fourth of six novels re-released two years ago in conjunction with the new adaptation on HBO, and the sixth that I’ve read.  This entry spent more time in the courtroom than some of the others and felt more in-line with the classic television show we all know and love.  I look forward to seeing the TV adaptation from the Raymond Burr version of the show, the 21st episode of its first season, so I can compare the filmed version with the original.

This was the last Perry Mason novel I had waiting to be read.  A second season of the HBO program should be released later this year, so hopefully they re-release another batch of novels along with it.

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Remember When There Was A 10,000 Step Club?

Things were a lot different two years ago, as I was finishing up my fifth year using a Fitbit.  I had just added 45 new 10,000 step days, my 3rd best year to date, and, with upcoming trips to Boston and California already on the docket, things were looking good to add a good number more and add some new tales to this list of my top 25 step days.  Then, the corona virus happened, and the world basically shut down for the next two years.  I’ve worked from home since March of 2020, which gives me a lot more free time, but also significantly cut down on my natural daily step totals.  All told, I managed only 5 10,000 step days for the just completed seventh year of Fitbit usage, which, granted, is better than last year and gives me a total of 270 since I started keeping track back in 2011.  With that in mind, here’s the list of my top 25 step days, which has stayed static for two years now.

1: 4/14/2018 – 27,470 steps

My best single day total is from my April 2017 trip to New York to see Angelina.  The day’s excursions included trips to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, Central Park, the Guggenheim museum, and the Empire State Building.

2: 7/21/2018 – 27,278 steps

My July 2017 trip to Virginia, to hike up Catawba Mountain to McAfee Knob with Jeff and Val, fell just short of the top spot.

3: 6/6/2013 – 24,988 steps

2013’s trip to Disney World, which spent 5 years as my single day best, included excursions to both Epcot Center and the Magic Kingdom, and yes, falling 12 steps short of 25,000 still irks me.

4: 6/3/2019 – 24,665 steps

The first full day of 2019’s summer trip to Washington DC spent most of the day at the Smithsonian Zoo.

5: 8/8/2019 – 23,866 steps

Late in the summer of 2019, I spent two weeks in San Francisco for a work trip.   On my last full day, I went out after work, walking to Pier 39 and then back the other direction to Oracle Park to see the Giants take on the Phillies.  My totals would have been even higher, but I was dead tired and took an Uber back to the hotel after the game.

6: 3/18/2018 – 23,780 steps

My first day in Las Vegas for the 2017 IBM Think conference, the day’s totals include gallivanting around town, including a late night trip up to Caesar’s Palace from the MGM Grand to see Absinthe.

7: 10/24/2018 – 23,362 steps

My October 2018 trip to Boston to see Angelina for our birthday gives us our next entry.  While she was in class, I took tours of Fenway Park and Harvard, before meeting up with her for a late lunch and then heading to the airport for the trip home.

8: 3/22/2016 – 22,493 steps

My one-time second highest day took place during the ill-fated trip to Disney World in March of 2016.  The day’s excursion started at Hollywood Studios before heading over to Epcot Center with Jeff and Val.

9: 7/27/2013 – 20,592 steps

Still my highest total at home in the state of Illinois, the next entry comes thanks to the 2013 BTN 5K and a, for lack of a better word, misunderstanding about where I should be picked up after the race.

10: 12/29/2018 – 20,374 steps

We wrap up the top 10 with 2018’s trip to California and the trip to Disneyland to see Danny perform with the Lincoln-Way Marching Band.

11: 8/5/2017 – 20,218 steps

The next entry came in August of 2017 on the first day of my trip to Boston with Danny and Michael.  After landing in town, we traipsed to the Science Museum, a breakfast joint, our hotel, and, finally, Fenway Park.

12: 7/14/2017 – 20,208 steps

Down to #12 is my 2017 trip to Disney World, a one day journey with Angelina to celebrate her high school graduation. Continue reading →

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Book 7 (of 52) – The Memory Watcher

The Memory Watcher – Minka Kent

Catching up on the books I read while in Hawaii on vacation.

Autumn Carpenter is lightly stalking the family that adopted her daughter: following the adoptive mother on social media and dating the man who lives behind them.  She fantasizes about their seemingly perfect life.  However, she panics when the social media feed goes dark and decides to get more deeply involved, applying for their open nanny position.  Once inside, she finds that their perfect life isn’t quite so perfect, but, then again, hers isn’t all that it seems to be either.

I first read Minka Kent last year, in the sequel to The Memory Watcher.  While there is supposed to be a good 20 years between the two, they aren’t written in that way. Reading them, you’d think they take place in the same time period, with characters using the same social media services.  Still, aside from that bit of anachronism, this was another enjoyable effort from Kent.  I may keep my eyes open for more of her work in the future.

 

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Top 200 Albums: #150 – 158

itunes_imageWe 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 wrap up the first quarter of our chart with the next batch of ten albums that I have listened to the most over the last 15 years, including 2 compilations, 1 greatest hits package, and two albums from one of the greatest bands of all time.

#158: The Beatles – Revolver
iTunes stats: 79 plays
Previous Ranking: 143

Three of the fourteen tracks from this 1966 release, the bands seventh studio album, added 25 new listens over the past four years.

#158: Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion II
iTunes stats: 79 plays
Previous Ranking: 182

The fourth studio album from the band, released the same day as its companion album Use Your Illusion I, is the third of the six CDs I left for college with in the fall of 1992 to appear on this chart.

#158: Various Artists – Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (More Music From The Motion Picture)
iTunes stats: 79 plays
Previous Ranking: NR

The second soundtrack to the 1999 Mike Myers film, featuring songs by Steppenwolf, Lenny Kravitz, and the Bangles, among others, makes its debut after increasing its plays by over 125%.

#156: Metallica – …And Justice For All
iTunes stats: 80 plays
Previous Ranking: 104

A 52-spot drop for the 1988 mainstream breakthrough album from the metal denizens, caused by the retirement of White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, who had used one the songs as his walkup song.

#156: Various Artists – Reality Bites
iTunes stats: 80 plays
Previous Ranking: 136

The soundtrack to the 1994 hit film starring Winona Ryder had three tracks, from The Knack, Lisa Loeb, and The Julianna Hatfield Three, contribute its 43% increase.

Continue reading →

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Book 6 (of 52) – Judge’s List

The Judge’s List – John Grisham

Catching up on the books I read while in Hawaii (or, in the case of this one, on the airplane on the way to Hawaii) on vacation.

When a woman contacts the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct with a compelling theory. but little proof, that a sitting judge is a serial killer, Lacy Stoltz has to decide whether to pursue the case.  The judge seems untouchable, but when the contact connects him to a new murder, one where a complication led to an unplanned killing, the road to finding actual proof reveals itself.  Lacy brings in the FBI, and, together, they draw down on the rogue judge.  Can they stop him before he kills again?

The Judge’s List, the latest offering from John Grisham, is my first exposure to his work in nearly nine years.  It is his second book to feature Lacy Stoltz and the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct, but, thankfully, he does a good job of making the earlier work unnecessary for new readers.  This was a nice re-introduction to Grisham’s work and I hope to catch up on more of it in the future.

 

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By The Numbers – 21

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 #21.  69 different players have donned #21 while playing in Chicago, 26 for the White Sox and 43 for the Cubs.

Near the end of the spring training in 1992, Sammy Sosa, along with Ken Patterson, was acquired from the White Sox for a fading George Bell.  Wearing #21, Sosa blossomed with the Cubs, going from 8 home runs and 25 RBIs in his first season to 33 home runs and 93 RBIs in his second, becoming the first 30-30 player in Cubs history.  Sosa continued to hit for power and speed in 1994, but he also upped his batting average to .300 for the first time.  Sosa was named to his first All-Star team in 1995, on his way to 36 home runs and 119 RBIs.  In 1996, Sosa continued his success, hitting .273 with 40 home runs and 100 RBIs.  1997, however, saw a decline in Sosa, who batted just .251 and posted a paltry .300 on-base percentage while leading the league with 174 strikeouts, despite hitting 36 home runs and driving in 119 runs.

A bulked-up Sammy Sosa arrived in camp in 1998, looking to turn things around, and turn them around he did.  While the surprising Cubs were in contention for the first time in nearly a decade, Sosa put on a home run barrage of historic proportions.  In the month of June, Sosa launched 20 home runs, drove in 47, and slugged .842 while pulling himself into the home run chase with Mark McGwire.  Sosa hit his 62nd home run on September 13, passing Roger Maris, and finished the season with 66, 4 behind McGwire’s then-record 70.  Sosa replicated that performance in 1999, hitting 63 home runs, again trailing McGwire, who hit 65.  Sosa finally led the league in home runs in 2000, though with “only” 50.  He managed another season for the ages in 2001, as he hit 64 home runs, becoming the first player to hit 60 or more home runs three times, and setting career highs in runs scored, RBIs, walks, OBP, slugging percentage, and batting average.  He notched his second career home run crown in 2002, adding 49 to his ledger.

Things started to turn for Sosa in 2003, despite the Cubs driving towards their first division title since 1989.  He went on the disabled list for the first time since 1996 in May and, when he returned, he was ejected, and ultimately suspended, for using a corked bat in the June 3 game against the Devil Rays.  He finished the season with 40 home runs, his lowest total since 1997, as the Cubs famously blew a 3-1 lead in the NLCS despite being 5 outs away from the pennant in Game 6.  The following May, he landed on the disabled list again following a violent sneeze at PETCO Park.  After returning from the DL, Sosa struck out 98 times the rest of the way, while hitting .238 and posting an OPS of .749.  For the entire year, Sosa hit .253, his worst average since 1997, with only 35 home runs and 80 RBIs, his lowest total since 1994.  When the Cubs fell out of contention for the NL Central title after losing 7 of their final 9 games, Sosa was given the day off for the final game of the season.  Unfortunately, he was spotted leaving Wrigley Field before the game even started while his teammates took out their frustrations with their “leader” my smashing his boombox with their bats.  That January, with the declined performance and the growing suspicion of PED use on their minds along with the end of the 2004 season, the Cubs decided to move on, trading Sosa to the Orioles for Jerry Hairston Jr. and Mike Fontenot.

On the South Side, Todd Frazier wore #21 after being acquired from the Reds in a three-team deal prior to the 2016 season.  On July 11, Frazier placed second in the Home Run Derby, losing to Giancarlo Stanton in the final round.  Frazier finished the year with career highs in home runs, runs batted in and walks despite hitting a career low .225 batting average in 158 games.  With the White Sox throwing in the towel and entering a full-fledged rebuild in 2017, Frazier was traded to the Yankees at the deadline.

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Against The Phillies All Time Leaders – Through 2021

Philadelphia_PhilliesIn 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 Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies began life in 1883, and are the oldest continuous franchise that hasn’t moved cities or changed names.  I’ve seen them play 20 times, including three times in the city of San Francisco.

Home Runs

Name Total
Sammy Sosa 4
Aramis Ramirez 2
Anthony Rizzo 2

Hits

Name Total
Aramis Ramirez 12
Jacque Jones 8
Ryan Theriot 6
Alfonso Soriano 6

Runs

Name Total
Sammy Sosa 6
Derrek Lee 6
Aramis Ramirez 4
Anthony Rizzo 4

RBI

Name Total
Aramis Ramirez 8
Sammy Sosa 6
Jacque Jones 5

Doubles

Name Total
Aramis Ramirez 4
Jacque Jones 3
Mark Grudzielanek 3
Derrek Lee 2
Jeff Kent 2
Kris Bryant 2

Triples Continue reading →

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FB 8 – Week 2

A tremendous week of fun in the sun, as we easily surpassed my weekly goal for the first time since the end of March, beat my daily goal all seven days for the first time since early August of 2020, and my highest total since traveling to DC in early June of 2019.  Things got off to a great start on Sunday, as I parlayed a morning walk and a trip to the local multiplex to see the new Scream into 10,000 steps, the first time I’ve surpassed that milestone in 2022.  Monday was slightly better, thanks to a walk down to the beach for a swim in the ocean which left me 15 steps shy of 10,400.  Tuesday was nearly the same, with another 10,300 step day in the books. Wednesday bumped things up slightly, going above 10,400.  Walks away from the resort for food on Thursday and Friday put me over 12,300 steps each day. I wrapped up the week with my final full day at the resort with 11,500 steps.

Total steps: 77,397

Daily average: 11,056.7

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2021: The Year In Television

Now that I am home full time, I have plenty of time to catch up on the streaming shows I may have missed in years past or that were newly released. Since we cover the network and cable shows that I watch elsewhere, let’s take a look at the 34 seasons of the 24 shows I streamed on 8 different platforms this year.

13 Reasons Why Seasons 1-2 (Netflix)
When a high school girl commits suicide, she sends a series of confessional tapes to the people she deems responsible.

The Blacklist Season 8 (Netflix)
Having missed an episode or two along the way, I had to wait for the season to hit Netflix to combine with what was on my DVR to come up to date as the story of Elizabeth Keen wraps up.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 4 (Netflix)
The final installment of the darker interpretation of Archie Comics character somehow found a way to crossover with the 90s ABC version before ending its run.

Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (Peacock)
A very unfaithful adaptation of the novel which I probably should not have watched right after reading the book.

Devs (Hulu)
A woman keeps digging into the death of her boyfriend, running afoul of his employer, who is up to some sketchy stuff.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+)
Burdened by the legacy of Captain America, both the Falcon and the Winter Soldier try to find their way in a post-blip world.  When the government’s replacement Cap goes bad, the Falcon finally decides he is ready to take on the legacy Steve Rogers left for him.

The Flash Season 7 (Netflix)
I used a combination of Netflix and my DVR to catch up on the goings on from last season.

Hawkeye (Disney+)
Hawkeye takes on a new apprentice when the re-emergence of his old Ronin costume causes an uprising in New York’s underworld.

The History of Swear Words (Netflix)
Nicholas Cage hosts this look at some of our culture’s favorite words, including their etymology and most popular uses.

Loki Season 1 (Disney+)
Loki teams up with many different versions of himself to find out who is behind the TVA.

Love Life Season 1 (HBO Max)
An anthology series that follows one person’s romantic history per season.  The first season focused on Anna Kendrick’s Darby Carter as she learns to love herself and let herself be loved.

Mad About You Season 8 (Amazon Prime)
The 12-episode revival, released in 2019 on something called Spectrum Originals, finds the Buchmans rediscovering themselves after their daughter leaves for college.

Masters of the Universe: Revelation Season 1 (Netflix)
I wasn’t originally planning on watching Kevin Smith’s revival of the old He-Man cartoons, but when fandom acted all butthurt by them, I needed to see what the fuss was all about. Continue reading →