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Book 53 (of 52) – A Slow Fire Burning

A Slow Fire Burning – Paula Hawkins

Paula Hawkins returns with her third novel, A Slow Fire Burning.  In this go around, the death of a young man on a houseboat is the latest connection between a group of locals, the nosy neighbor who found him, his aunt and uncle, his mom’s neighbor, and the young woman he had just slept with.  As the police focus in on one suspect, the others intersect until the truth is finally revealed.

Hawkins hit the scene in 2015 with her smash debut, The Girl on the Train, which was one of many releases to be dubbed “the next Gone Girl.”  While I have enjoyed all three of Hawkins’ efforts, there does seem to be some diminishing returns, as I liked each one less than its predecessor.  I may check out what comes next, since I’ll probably forget my growing apprehension four years from now when she puts out a new book, but, for now, I’m ready to give her work a rest for a bit.

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Fitbit VII – Week 47

Yet another disappointing week, though at least I had a mysterious injury to blame for some of it.  Sunday was easily the best day of the week, as I drove down to Purdue to see the women’s basketball game with Danny in the band, finishing the day with 5800 steps.  Monday saw a significant decline, falling down to 3000 steps, as I began to feel a pain in my side.  Tuesday was slightly better, rising all the way up to 3600 steps.  Wednesday is when the pain was at its worst, so I spent most of the day in bed, which left me with just over 2000 steps.  I was starting to improve on Thursday and managed to get back up over 4200 steps.  Friday fell back down again to 3100 steps.  Saturday saw an improvement, rising back up to 4300 steps.

Total steps: 26,294

Daily average: 3756.3

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Book 52 (of 52) – The Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol – Dan Brown

The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s follow-up to the phenomenon that was The DaVinci Code, finds symbologist Robert Langdon summoned to Washington DC to do a favor for a friend.  When he arrives, he finds that he has been tricked and, to save the life of his friend, he must stay ahead of the CIA and decipher the secret codes of the Masons to try and stop a madman.

The third of five novels in the Robert Langdon series, The Lost Symbol was the only one I hadn’t yet read.  I do have one of his standalone works sitting on the Kindle, which I am sure to get to one of these days.  Or years.

Book 52!  For the first time since I started this 52 books in 52 weeks challenge back in 2010, I actually made it to the finish line.  My previous high point of 31, which I managed to hit twice, was tied and surpassed back in August.  We’ll go into more detail when we wrap up the year in books in a few weeks.

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Prolific Authors Wrap Up

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 54 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we wrap things up with a look back at the 77 authors I’ve read more than once.

Largest Increase (since 2019)

The Knife Slipped – Erle Stanley Gardner

Erle Stanley Gardner – 5
Jeffrey Deaver – 3
Karin Slaughter – 3
Tom Perrotta – 3
Riley Sager – 2
Greer Hendricks – 2
Sarah Pekkanen – 2

Largest Increase (since 2011)

Deadly Heat – Richard Castle

Richard Castle – 13
Jeffrey Deaver – 10
Erle Stanley Gardner – 9
J.K. Rowling – 7
Mary Kubica – 6
David Mack – 6
Karin Slaughter – 6

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By The Numbers – 27

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 #27.  103 different players have donned #27 while playing in Chicago, 52 for the White Sox and 51 for the Cubs.

Acquired on December 19, 2016 from the Nationals, Lucas Giolito made his White Sox debut the following summer donning #27.  In 7 starts, he put up a sparkling 2.38 ERA while compiling a 3-3 record.  Things went south In 2018, as Giolito was, statistically, the worst starting pitcher in baseball with a 6.13 ERA, leading the league (the bad way) in WHIP and walks per 9 innings.  That offseason, he began rebuilding his game from the ground up, leading to a 2019 All Star appearance en route to a 14-9 record with a 3.41 ERA.  In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he held the hapless Pirates hitless on August 25th, striking out 13 while facing one batter over the minimum of 27.  He made his post-season debut in Game 1 of the Wild Card series against the A’s, retiring the first 18 batters in order before giving up 2 hits and a walk in the 7th inning, earning the victory in the White Sox only win during the series.  In 2021, Giolito made 31 starts, finishing with a record of 11-9 and a 3.53 ERA.

During his second go-around with the North Siders, Joe Girardi wore #27 for the 2001 and 2002 seasons.  On June 22, 2002, Girardi addressed a sold-out Wrigley Field to announce the day’s game was cancelled following the death of Cardinal pitcher Darryl Kile.  Following that season, he became a free agent and left the team for the second, and final, time.

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Against The Mariners All Time Leaders – Through 2021

marinersIn 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 Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners began life in 1977, joining the American League along with the Toronto Blue Jays. I’ve seen them play 39 times, including the final night game at the original Comiskey Park, the first 2 games of their sweep of the White Sox in the 2000 ALDS, and the first series back with 100% capacity last June.

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 10
Alex Rios 4
Avisail Garcia 3
Jose Abreu 3
Dayan Viciedo 3

Hits

Name Total
Paul Konerko 17
Alexei Ramirez 17
Tim Anderson 15

Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 14
Tim Anderson 10
Alex Rios 9

RBI

Name Total
Paul Konerko 17
Alex Rios 9
Alexei Ramirez 8

Doubles

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 5
A.J. Pierzynski 5
Melky Cabrera 3

Triples Continue reading →

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Fitbit VII – Week 46

Another disappointing week, though I did manage to squeak past 30,000 steps for the first time in 5 weeks.  Sunday was the worst day of the week, ending with a mere 2200 steps.  Monday was much better, as managed to finish just 29 steps shy of 4700.  Tuesday saw a slight decrease, falling down to 3500 steps.  Wednesday fell back down again, this time coming in 26 steps from 3000.  Thursday, my last day of work for 2021, saw some improvement, going back up to 4200 steps.  Friday improved again, with more than 5000 steps.  A trip in to the city on Saturday to see Whitney Cummings at The Vic left me just 98 steps away from my supposed goal of 7500, a level I haven’t hit in over a month.

Total steps: 30,110

Daily average: 4301.4

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Book 51 (of 52) – Yogi

Yogi: A Life Behind The Mask – Jon Pessah

Lawrence Peter Berra was born on May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, the third child of Italian immigrants who wanted to try and make a living playing baseball.  When the hometown Cardinals passed on him, Berra started playing in the local American Legion league, where he picked up a nickname: Yogi.  After serving with the Navy in World War II, Yogi Berra made his mark with the New York Yankees.  Over his career, he won 3 MVP awards, appeared in a record 14 World Series. and won 10 championships.  After his playing career, he managed and coached for both the Yankees and the Mets.  When he was fired by George Steinbrenner 16 games into the 1985 season, Berra vowed to never enter Yankee Stadium again as long as Steinbrenner owned the team.  14 years later, Steinbrenner apologized and mended fences, bringing Berra back in to the fold, where he would remain until his 2015 death.

I feel like for baseball fans of my era, Yogi Berra’s accomplishments on the baseball field were blunted by his reputation off of it, that of the bumbling goofball who says funny things.  In fact, until fairly recently, I didn’t even know that he had coached with the Astros for 5 seasons following his fallout with the Yankees in 1985.  Reading through this biography, I learned that Berra was not just along for the ride for Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle’s championship teams, but was instead the driving force that bridged those two eras and kept the Yankees the champions of the American League for all but 3 seasons of his career.  I have a newfound respect for Berra and his place in baseball history.

 

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Prolific Authors – 17 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 54 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we finish things off with the author I’ve read the most, with 17 entries.

Nancy Holder

My most prolific author first came to my attention in 1998, when I read Halloween Rain, her first entry, along with Christopher Golden, into the Buffy The Vampire Slayer series of books based on the television show.  12 of her 17 entries, all of which are tie-ins to either Buffy or Angel, were read between 1998 and 2002.  After a 9 year lay off, she returned to me attention in 2011 with Carnival of Souls.

Carnival of Souls – Nancy Holder

Another 5 years went by, before she returned again with 2 books in 2016, once in 2018, and then one earlier this year.  Seeing as I have depleted my backlog of Buffy novels, she’s likely to stay put for the foreseeable future, unless someone re-releases these cheaply on the Kindle.

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By The Numbers – 28

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 #28.  86 different players have donned #28 while playing in Chicago, 46 for the White Sox and 40 for the Cubs.

Acquired by the Cubs prior to the 1989 season, Mitch Williams, wearing #28, quickly became a beloved cult figure on the north side.  He made an immediate impression, giving up 3 hits to load the bases in the ninth inning on Opening Day before striking out the next three batters, starting with future Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, to close out a one-run victory.  That kickstarted an amazing season for Williams, and the Cubs, as they made a surprise run towards an NL East title.  On April 28th, Williams became the only pitcher in major league history to earn a save without throwing a pitch, entering the game with two outs and picking off runner Carmelo Martinez to end the game.  Williams made the All Star team for the only time in his career and hit his lone career home run, en route to a 4-4 record with 36 saves.  He appeared in two games of the NLCS against the Giants, giving up the game-winning hit to Will Clark in Game 5.

1990 was not quite as good for Williams.  His record dropped to 1-8 while his ERA rose to 3.93.  He earned only 16 saves, a drop of 20 from the previous season, as a knee injury bothered him throughout the year.  The next spring, with the Cubs having acquired Dave Smith to replace him as closer, Williams was traded to the Phillies just prior to Opening Day.

On the other side of town, Joey Cora switched to #28 after the 1991 season, his first with the White Sox.  Cora spent the 1992 season on the bench following the acquisition of Steve Sax, starting only 21 games at second base.  With Sax faltering, Cora became the everyday second baseman in 1993.  He set a career high with 153 games played and hit .268 with a career high 20 stolen bases as the White Sox won their final AL West crown.  Cora struggled in the ALCS, hitting an anemic .136 as the White Sox fell in 6 games to the Blue Jays.

Cora continued to improve in 1994, raising his average again to .276 and had 2 home runs and 30 RBIs when the season came to a premature end due to the player’s strike.  When baseball resumed in 1995, Cora became a free agent and his White Sox playing career came to an end.  He rejoined the organization and once again wore #28 as third base coach for the 2004 season, when Ozzie Guillen was hired as manager.  He moved to became the bench coach after the 2006 season, where he would remain until the end of the 2011 season, when he was fired with 2 games left in the season as part of Guillen’s exit from the team.