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Book 9 (of 52) – Pretty Girls

Pretty Girls – Karin Slaughter

This one had been sitting on the Kindle for a while, and the flight to Las Vegas seemed like a perfect time to start it.  In Pretty Girls, Karin Slaughter tells the story of Claire, the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire.  When her husband is killed, Claire starts to learn the truth about him, including the connection he has to her sister’s death years before.

I don’t even know how I ended up buying this book, but I’m glad I did.  It was a good introduction to Slaughter and her work, and I hope I come across more in the future.

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All Time Team Records

The 2018 baseball season gets underway today, with an early start brought about due to the last collective bargaining agreement, which added additional off days for each team throughout the year.  To celebrate, it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have identified as having attended dating back to 1984. The Cubs look to avenge last year’s NLCS loss and make it back to the World Series, while the rebuilding White Sox hope to finally start seeing their young talent blossom.  The 2018 season should be an exciting one on both sides of town.

All-Time Team Records
Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 1 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 13 2 0.867
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
Philadelphia Phillies 10 6 0.625
Toronto Blue Jays 13 9 0.591
New York Yankees 14 10 0.583
Colorado Rockies 8 6 0.571
Los Angeles Angels 16 13 0.552
Boston Red Sox 16 13 0.552
Kansas City Royals 27 24 0.529
Chicago White Sox 284 256 0.526
Chicago Cubs 209 189 0.525
Continue reading →
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2018 Predictions

The 2018 baseball season is scheduled to kick off tomorrow, the earliest date in history (not counting special series outside of North America) with a full slate of games featuring all 30 teams.  For the eighth consecutive year, I’ve looked into the crystal ball to make my picks for the upcoming season.

American League

East: Yankees

Central: Indians

West: Astros

Wild Cards: Red Sox, Angels

AL Champion: Yankees

Cy Young: Chris Sale

MVP: Giancarlo Stanton

National League

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FB4: Week 8

A tremendous week, with my highest one week total falling just 2500 steps shy of the mythical 100,000 steps.  Things got off to a great start on Sunday, thanks to my trip to Las Vegas and gallivanting around town, including a trip up to Caesar’s Palace to see Absinthe.  The 23,780 total is currently good enough for my second highest daily total of all time.  Monday continued the good times, as I traipsed back and forth between the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay for the IBM Think conference.  Tuesday finished with my second highest total of the week, and 16th of all time, thanks to more conference fun followed by a Barenaked Ladies concert.  Wednesday used a post-conference concert by The Chainsmokers to get its total, my 4th straight 10,000 step day.  Thursday was the last day of the conference, followed by a trip to Phoenix, which ended up with my 5th straight 10,000 step day, my longest streak in a year.  Friday was the low point of the week, with 8500 steps, thanks to a trip to Camelback Ranch to see the White Sox battle the Mariners in spring training action.  Saturday was back over 10,000 steps, thanks to a morning walk and an evening trip out to Peoria to see the Cubs battle the same Mariner squad.

Total steps: 97,417

Daily average: 13,916.7

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Top 200 Albums – #109 – 120

itunes_imageNearly 4 years ago, we first counted down the Top 200 albums in my iTunes library. Since that time, I’ve successfully managed to migrate my music collection to a new PC with the stats intact. So, I figured it was time to take another look, based on number of plays from late 2007 through January 1, 2018.

We continue things with the next batch of 10 albums that rank between #109 and 120, including 4 studio recordings, 4 compilations, and 2 different collections from the Fab Four.

#120: Bell Biv DeVoe – Poison
iTunes stats: 61 plays
Previous Ranking: 92

The debut album from the former members of New Edition needed only 2 songs to make up this total.

#118: Def Leppard – Adrenalize
iTunes stats: 62 plays
Previous Ranking: 141

A big jump for the first Def Leppard album following the death of guitarist Steve Clark, which uses 5 songs to make up its total.

#118: The Beatles – Past Masters, Vol. 1
iTunes stats: 62 plays
Previous Ranking: 70

5 tracks from the remastered version of the album make up this total.

#117: Various Artists – Austin Powers
iTunes stats: 63 plays
Previous Ranking: 87

The soundtrack to the original Austin Powers film, featuring the work of artists like Strawberry Alarm Clock and Divinyls, makes this list thanks to 4 songs.

#115: Various Artists – Now That’s What I Call Music! Vol. 2
iTunes stats: 64 plays
Previous Ranking: 127

The second edition of this long running compilation series makes the list thanks to singles from Jay Z and Britney Spears, among others.

Continue reading →

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Active Pitching Leaders – Through 2017

baseballs3Last week, we looked at the active leaders in games I’ve attended through 2017 on the offensive side of the ball.  With spring training winding down and opening day less than a week away, let’s take a look at the defensive side of the ball and the active pitching leaders, which will be losing a couple of former White Sox starters from their 2008 Division Championship team.

Wins

Name Total
Chris Sale 21
Jake Peavy 11
Jon Lester 8
Jose Quintana 7
Nate Jones 6
C.C. Sabathia 6

Losses

Name Total
Jose Quintana 15
Chris Sale 12
Jake Peavy 9
Carlos Rodon 7
Tom Gorzelanny 7

ERA (> 35 IP)

Name Total
David Robertson 2.17
Nate Jones 2.28
Zach Duke 2.38
Johnny Cueto 2.43
Hector Santiago 2.43

ERA (> 70 IP)

Name Total
Jon Lester 2.89
Chris Sale Continue reading →
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Keep On Dancing

As we enter the Sweet 16, brackets across the nation are busted thanks to upsets galore, including the first ever 16 seed knocking off a 1 seed.  Thankfully, my Boilermakers are still alive, and thanks to my trip to Vegas this week, I have some money riding on them to win the whole thing.  Crazier things have already happened in this year’s tournament.

I’m in trouble here, as only 1 team I picked heading in to the Sweet 16 is still alive.  Virginia, the overall #1 seed, lost in the first round to the upstarts from UMBC.  Exciting times all around.

I’ve got 2 out of the remaining 4 teams still alive, and my final four slot here is still in play.  Hopefully I lose that, though, on my way to paying off the Vegas bet.

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Active Batting Leaders – Through 2017

baseballs2Last month, we looked at the overall leaders on both sides of the ball from all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2017.  Now that Opening Day is right around the corner, let’s take another look at those numbers, limiting it to players that are still active heading in to the 2018 season.  A few notable retirements will completely change the complexion of these lists.

Home Runs

Name Total
Jose Abreu 27
Gordon Beckham 15
Melky Cabrera 14
Dayan Viciedo 14
Avisail Garcia 13

Hits

Name Total
Gordon Beckham 144
Jose Abreu 137
Melky Cabrera 130
Adam Eaton 102
Geovany Soto 97

Runs

Name Total
Gordon Beckham 83
Jose Abreu 67
Alejandro de Aza 57
Adam Eaton 51
Melky Cabrera 50
Avisail Garcia 50

RBI

Name Total
Jose Abreu 78
Gordon Beckham 70
Melky Cabrera Continue reading →
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FB4: Week 7

Another disappointing week, as I failed once again to meet my weekly goal.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, as I barely managed to pass 2500 steps.  Things got better, and pretty consistent, between Monday and Wednesday, as I finished each day within 132 steps of 8000.  Thursday was the big day of the week, scoring over 8700 steps.  Friday fell just short of 6900 steps, and then Saturday was down again, falling to just over 5100 steps.

Total steps: 47,422

Daily average: 6774.6

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Top 200 Albums – #120 – 129

itunes_imageNearly 4 years ago, we first counted down the Top 200 albums in my iTunes library. Since that time, I’ve successfully managed to migrate my music collection to a new PC with the stats intact. So, I figured it was time to take another look, based on number of plays from late 2007 through January 1, 2018.

We continue things with the next batch of 10 albums that rank between #120 and 129, including 4 studio recordings, 3 compilations, 2 greatest hit packages,  and 1 live performance from a marching band.

#129: Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – Very Best Of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
iTunes stats: 58 plays
Previous Ranking: 100

21 new listens to the four tunes from this particular greatest hits package caused a bit of a drop.

#129: Various Artists – On The Edge
iTunes stats: 58 plays
Previous Ranking: 139

This compilation, featuring 80s alternative hits from the likes of The Smiths, Love & Rockets, and Michael Penn, had 5 different tunes make up its total.

#127: Various Artists – Billboard Top Rock & Roll Hits: 1970
iTunes stats: 59 plays
Previous Ranking: 164

This compilation of the biggest hits of 1970 by bands that would allow themselves to be on such a compilation, like Ides of March or the Partridge Family, has 7 tunes making up its total.

#127: Liz Phair – Whitechocolatespaceegg
iTunes stats: 59 plays
Previous Ranking: 112

10 different songs make up this total for this third studio album by the one-time indie darling.

#125: Nirvana – In Utero
iTunes stats: 60 plays
Previous Ranking: 112

The last studio album from Nirvana uses 4 different tracks to make up this total.

Continue reading →