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2021 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Holdovers

Earlier this week, the BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2021. The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 26th, with induction hopefully taking place July 25th.  After Derek Jeter and Larry Walker were elected in last year’s voting, the new ballot contains 14 holdovers along with 11 newcomers, which may potentially continue the logjam caused by the current BBWAA rules which limit the number of votes on one ballot to 10 and the ongoing refusal by some writers to vote for players tainted by PEDs, leaving too many qualified candidates fighting for limited spots.

Let’s take a look at the returning candidates today before moving on to the newcomers.

Bobby Abreu
Years on ballot: 1
2020 Percentage: 5.5

After just barely surviving for a second time through the process, I wouldn’t be making any travel plans to Cooperstown if I were Abreu.

Barry Bonds
Years on ballot: 8
2020 Percentage: 60.7

The all time home run champion saw his vote percentage rise for the sixth straight time last year, so the PED bias holding him back may be slightly subsiding.  But, with only 2 more shots with the writers, it would take a huge mindset change for him to get up to 75%.

Roger Clemens
Years on ballot: 8
2020 Percentage: 61.0

Roger Clemens, he of the 354 career victories and 7 Cy Young awards, also found himself with a another slight bump rise after his eighth run through the voting process.  For some odd reason, perhaps by having played for more teams, Clemens continues to get marginally more support than his fellow PED poster child Barry Bonds.

Todd Helton
Years on ballot: 2
2020 Percentage: 29.2

A nice increase in his second showing, but it looks like Helton’s going to suffer from the same Colorado bias as Larry Walker, who needed all 10 of his chances to get elected.

Andruw Jones
Years on ballot: 3
2020 Percentage: 19.4

If voters were to stick to his first 11 seasons, Jones looks like a shoe-in for the Hall.  His last 7 seasons, though, were so bad that it makes it hard to consider him.  Despite more than doubling his vote percentage, those final seasons seem to be holding sway.

Jeff Kent
Years on ballot: 7
2020 Percentage: 27.5

Continue reading →

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Fitbit 6: Week 42

Week 35 of working from home due to the corona virus started well, both step and weather wise, but then saw a big drop in both midweek.  The week got off to a decent start on Sunday, finishing over 4600 steps.  Monday took advantage of the nice weather and came just 7 steps shy of 8500 thanks to numerous short walks throughout the day.  Tuesday was again over goal, with over 7500 steps, despite a morning of duct work and a break in the weather in the late afternoon.  Things fell off on Wednesday, as I finished over 3100 steps despite a nighttime trip to a funeral home to say goodbye to a dead cousin.  Thursday fell 99 steps lower, as I spent a good portion of the day in a meeting.  Friday saw a slight increase up to 3400 steps, as I went to get my license renewed at the local Secretary of State’s office.  Saturday, I finished just over 4000 steps despite not leaving the house all day.

Total steps: 34,339

Daily average: 4905.6

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Book 18 (of 52) – A Good Marriage

A Good Marriage – Kimberly McCreight

In the latest from Kimberly McCreight, a lawyer is forced to defend an old law school friend for the murder of his wife, while trying to figure out how (of if) her marriage can be saved.  When her old friend turns out not to be the man she remembers, she works to prove his innocence in order to save herself and to give the victim some peace.

A Good Marriage explores just the opposite, not good marriages, whether it is the superficial one between the victim, Amanda, and the accused, Zach, or the broken one between Lizzie and her alcoholic husband Sam.  When Zach uses Lizzie’s broken marriage, and the steps she has taken to hide the damage from her new bosses, to force her to defend him, she goes full force, but finds a way to save her soul as well.

McCreight has become a reliable source of entertainment since Reconstructing Amelia was released in 2013, touted as that year’s Gone Girl.  While I’m not willing to put her on Gillian Flynn’s level, at least she is still writing and releasing prose.  I look forward to whatever comes next in 2-3 years.

 

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You Ought To Be In (28) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, and thanks to a corona virus inspired uptick to my movie watching this year, it is time to look at the 100 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

Today, we continue with the actor that has starred in 28 movies that I have seen.

Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage can also point to special circumstances behind his high film total: real estate issues and IRS trouble.  After being accused of owing the government over $6.5 million in unpaid taxes and losing millions in bad real estate deals, Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit against his business manager and started taking any and every role offered to him.  7 of his films that I have seen have come since, including 4 in 2010 alone.  My first exposure to a starring Cage role was likely 1987’s Raising Arizona.  There have been 8 years since where I have seen multiple Cage films.  After a 3 year absence from my screen, Cage returned earlier this year with Vengeance: A Love Story.

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By The Numbers – 88

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 #88.  Once again, a single player has donned #88 while playing in Chicago, for the 2020 White Sox.

Luis Robert was signed by the White Sox as a 19 year old in 2017 after he defected from Cuba.  He made his major league debut on Opening Day 2020, earning Rookie of the Month for August and placing second in Rookie of the Year voting, despite a September swoon that left him with a .233 batting average and .738 OPS.

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MVPito

On Thursday night, White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu took home MVP honors. becoming the fourth White Sox player to receive the award.  He received 21 first-place votes after leading the American League in hits, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, and extra base hits.  The 2014 Rookie of the Year, he became just the 28th player to nab both awards.

Abreu follows Nellie Fox, Dick Allen, and Frank Thomas in winning the award for the White Sox and Zolio Versalles and Jose Canseco as Cuban-born winners.

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Everything Old Is New Again Again

As expected, the White Sox announced this morning that they will be moving their radio home back to ESPN 1000, which previously broadcast their games from 1999 – 2005.  The new agreement includes all regular season and postseason games, as well as select spring training contests, starting (hopefully) with the Cactus League opener against the Brewers optimistically planned for February 27, 2021.

The agreement also includes White Sox Weekly, a weekly wrap up show, plus pregame and postgame shows.  Strangely missing from the announcement was any word on the status of Andy Masur or Darrin Jackson, leaving open whether the duo would be retained.

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Fitbit 6: Week 41

Week 34 of working from home due to the corona virus sees a slight uptake, as I continue to be somewhat respectable, yet still an overall disappointment.  The week got off to a slow start on Sunday, finishing just over 2500 steps.  Monday doubled that total, coming in with 5000 steps.  Tuesday dropped back down a bit, finishing just over of 3200 steps.  Wednesday jumped back up to 6500 steps.  Thursday was the high point of the week, thanks to unseasonably warm weather and an afternoon walk, which pushed me all the way up to 7550 steps, my first day over goal in some time.  Friday fell back down again to 4700 steps, as I was getting a furnace installed.  Saturday, I finished a step shy of 6800 thanks to a trip to the grocery store.

Total steps: 36,377

Daily average: 5196.7

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You Ought To Be In (26) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, and thanks to a corona virus inspired uptick to my movie watching this year, it is time to look at the 100 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

Today, we continue with the 1 actor that has starred in 26 movies that I have seen, the same as 3 years ago.

Raymond Burr

Raymond Burr is a bit of an anomaly as every single one of his appearances have been TV movies where he has played the same character.  In 1985, NBC brought back Perry Mason, Raymond Burr’s starring vehicle from the 50s and 60s, for a TV movie.   The ratings were high enough to justify a recurring series of films, 26 in fact, over the next several years, ending in 1994 following Burr’s death the previous year.