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Book 14 (of 52) – The Steel Kiss

The Steel Kiss – Jeffery Deaver

The Steel Kiss, the 12th Lincoln Rhyme novel from Jeffery Deaver and the 7th that I’ve read, has the paralyzed criminologist and his trusty sidekick, Detective Amelia Sachs, going up against a killer using technology to take out his victims. The duo work on bringing down the culprit while, at the same time, dealing with personal issues.

Jeffery Deaver’s work shows up rather frequently on sale in the Kindle store, allowing me to stock up and keep up to date on the goings on in Lincoln Rhyme’s life, with this being my fourth digital entry since mid-December 2015. As usual, it provided a good bang for the buck, entertaining me far beyond the small price I paid to acquire it. I’ve got three more Deaver works waiting in the Kindle app, so hopefully more turn up soon.

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#23 – Carlos Lee

Name: Carlos Lee

Rank: 23

Position: LF

Years With White Sox: 1999-2004

Carlos Lee signed with the White Sox as an amateur free agent in 1994.  He worked his way through the minor league system, making his major league debut on May 7, 1999 against the A’s and hitting a home run in his first at bat.  Lee became the everyday left fielder and finished the year with a promising .293 average, 16 home runs, ans 84 RBIs.  He tied for seventh in Rookie of the Year voting with future teammate Billy Koch.

The 2000 season saw Lee improve, upping his average to .301 and his home runs to 24, as the White Sox took home the Central Division title.  Like most of his teammates, Lee struggled in the ALDS against the Mariners, garnering only 1 hit in the 3 game series.

While Lee struggled a bit in 2001, he became a south side folk hero on June 8, when he hit a walkoff grand slam in the 10th inning against the rival Cubs.  He ended the year with a .269 average, 24 home runs, and 84 RBIs.  2002 was more of the same, as his average dropped to .264 with 26 home runs and 80 RBIs.

2003 was a bounce back year for Lee.  His average rebounded to .291 and he set new career highs with 31 home runs and 113 RBIs.  The effort was good enough for an 18th place finish in MVP voting.

Lee put up another strong season in 2004.  He pushed his average up to .305 and again hit 31 home runs.  He set a career high with an OPS of .891.  Following the season, he was traded, along with Nelson Cruz, to the Brewers for Scott Podsednik, Luis Vizcaino, and a minor league throw-in.

Lee’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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Post Mortem – Dr. Ken

Coming off of the Hangover films and Community, I had high hopes for Ken Jeong in Dr. Ken.  But, it wasn’t particularly good and, if it weren’t for the good feelings built up from his previous work, I would have bailed right away.  Instead, I trudged through the first season, with the expectation that would be the end of it.

Somehow, the show got renewed for a second season, but a third wasn’t in the cards.  Which is probably for the best, since the finale of season 2, a fictionalized version of Jeong’s real life story, ended up with his character being cast in a fake version of Community.

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Post Mortem – Sleepy Hollow

I had stopped watching Sleepy Hollow midway through its second season.  Despite an interesting premise, I found myself using the show as background noise more than anything.  The key to knowing it was time to stop was that I didn’t know any of the character’s names, and this was midway through season two.

Somehow, the show managed to make it to a fourth season, despite killing off one of the two main characters at the end of season three.  Thankfully, it was put out of its misery and will not be returning.  I’m sure this show worked for someone, but it certainly didn’t for me.

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Fitbit III: Week 19

A slow start turned into a tremendous week, as I broke 60,000 steps for the first time since the end of March/beginning of April.  Things started poorly with a 3500 step day on Sunday, ending my streak of days above goal at 24.  Monday bounced back, as a concerted effort to make up for Sunday got me over 9200 steps.  Tuesday saw me working a bit late, which led to a long commute and coming in at just over my 6500 step goal.  Wednesday I was able to combine some work activity with an after-work walk to surpass 11,000 steps.  Thursday was even better, thanks to a post-work trip to Wrigley Field that ended up with over 11,300 steps.  Friday needed some last minute pacing before falling asleep to get over goal for the day.  Saturday was the big day of the week, thanks to a morning walk on a new route and Angelina’s graduation party.  When all was said and done, I ended up with over 16,200 steps, my highest total since Universal last June.

Total steps: 64,503

Daily average: 9214.7

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iTunes Top 200 Artists: #1-10

3 years ago, we first counted down the then Top 100 artists 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, expanding out the field to the top 200 artists, based on number of plays from late 2007 through January 1, 2017.

We wrap things up today with the top 10, which includes 3 new additions and a whopping 5,848 total listens.  These bands have accounted for 12 of the concerts I’ve seen over the years.

#10: AC/DC
iTunes stats: 342 plays
Previous ranking: #8

20 songs make up the total for the hard rockers, including one that has a tremendous amount of plays due to the White Sox use of it when running out on to the field.  Meaning, they likely would not have dropped 2 slots had the team played better these past few years and my victory playlist got a little more action.

#9: Pearl Jam
iTunes stats: 348 plays
Previous ranking: #9

The grunge godfathers stay even despite adding 2 new songs with plays, up to 39, and 157 new listens over the past 3 years.  I spent a good amount of time being burnt out on them after their 90s heyday, though I am now less likely to skip over them when they come up on the iPhone.

#8: The Cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer
iTunes stats: 395 plays
Previous ranking: #4

Back in 2001, during the sixth season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the show produced a musical episode as Buffy and the Scooby Gang battled the musical demon Sweet.  The following year, the soundtrack was released, and those 21 songs make up this total.  Only 88 additional listens in the last 3 years caused this group to drop 4 slots.

#7: Tegan and Sara
iTunes stats: 438 plays
Previous ranking: #5

61 songs, up from 50, combined to make up this total for the Canadian sisters.  164 new listens since 2013 was good enough for a 3 slot drop for the group I saw live back in 2005.

#6: Patton Oswalt
iTunes stats: 466 plays
Previous ranking: #52

Funnyman Patton Oswalt makes a huge jump of 46 slots, thanks to 416 new listens and the purchase of a few new albums which bumped his “song” total to 96.

#5: George Carlin
iTunes stats: 507 plays
Previous ranking: #26

Purchasing a few new albums from the classic comedian, bumping his track total from 47 to 116, accounts for this big jump of 20 slots.

#4: Garfunkel and Oates Continue reading →

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#24 – LaMarr Hoyt

Name: LaMarr Hoyt

Rank: 24

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1979-1984

Acquired by the White Sox, along with Robert Polinsky and Oscar Gamble, from the Yankees for Bucky Dent days before the start of the 1977 season, LaMarr Hoyt made his major league debut two years later, on September 14, 1979, against the A’s, throwing an inning of scoreless relief at Comiskey Park.  He appeared in one other game, ending the year with 3 innings pitched without giving up a run.

Hoyt split the 1980 season between Triple A and Chicago.  With the White Sox, he went back and forth between the bullpen and the rotation, ending the season with a 9-3 record and a 4.57 ERA.

Hoyt worked almost exclusively out of the bullpen in 1981.  He earned 10 saves while posting another 9-3 record, while lowering his ERA to 3.57.  He moved in to the rotation full time in 1982 and tied a club record by winning his first 9 decisions.  He ended up leading the American League in wins, posting a 19-15 record, while walking a minuscule 48 batters in nearly 240 innings.

A slow start, for both Hoyt and the White Sox, in 1983 gave way to a tremendous run that ended with Hoyt leading all of baseball with 24 wins against only 10 losses, good enough for a Cy Young award and some MVP consideration.  He lowered his walk total to 31 while upping his innings pitched to nearly 261.  In the ALCS against the Orioles, he threw a complete game in the first game of the series, giving up only one run in the only White Sox victory.

Hoyt, and the White Sox, faltered in 1984, failing to live up to expectations following the successes of 1983.  Never a thin man, Hoyt’s weight became an issue in 1984, as battery mate Carlton Fisk described the pitcher as having “everything it takes, including a lot of stomach.”  Hoyt finished the year 13-18, leading the league in losses after leading in victories for the past 2 years.  His ERA jumped to 4.47, his worse total since 1980.

Following the season, Hoyt, along with 2 minor leaguers, was traded to the Padres for Ozzie Guillen, Tim Lollar, Bill Long, and Luis Salazar.  Hoyt rejoined the White Sox organization on July 1, 1987, hoping to work his way back from a shredded shoulder and drug addictions, but a fourth drug arrest in December brought his career to an end.

Hoyt’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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It’s Been A While

Prior to last night’s game, I hadn’t seen the Rockies live since August of 2012, nearly 5 years ago.  For someone with season tickets to two teams, one in each league, that is a long drought.  This got me thinking about the other 29 teams.

You would think that I would cycle through each team every few years or so.  And, for the most part, that does seem to be the case.  I’ve already seen 12 teams in 2017, and the season is just over 2 months old.  Going back to last year, that number jumps to 22 and, going back to 2015, 25.  That’s over 83% of the league in the past 2+ seasons.

What about those remaining 5 teams?  The Astros and Diamondbacks last appeared in 2014, with the Marlins and the Nationals in the two years prior.  That leaves the Phillies, who I have somehow not managed to see in person since 2009.  I’ve seen the Florida Marlins more recently.  Anyway, here’s a look at each team and the last time I saw them play.

Team Name Date
Colorado Rockies 6/8/2017
Chicago Cubs 6/8/2017
Chicago White Sox 5/30/2017
Boston Red Sox 5/30/2017
Detroit Tigers 5/28/2017
San Diego Padres 5/13/2017
New York Yankees 5/7/2017
Kansas City Royals 4/25/2017
Cleveland Indians 4/23/2017
Pittsburgh Pirates 4/15/2017
Los Angeles Dodgers 4/12/2017
Minnesota Twins 4/9/2017
San Francisco Giants 10/8/2016
Continue reading →
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Post Mortem – Bones

When Bones debuted on FOX on September 13, 2005, the White Sox were still a month and a half from breaking their 88 year World Series drought and the Cubs drought had not even hit 100 years.  12 years later, the wacky procedural had aired in at least one timeslot on every weeknight, giving FOX a steady, if unspectacular, performer.

Fresh from Angel, David Boreanaz signed on as Agent Seeley Booth, followed quickly by Emily Deschanel as Temperance Brennan.  Their chemistry helped to elevate the show above a typical procedural, useful for a 12 season, 246 episode run.

While it was certainly time for the show to move on, I can’t say that I won’t miss having it on the schedule.  Even at the end, when the cracks were starting to show, it was an enjoyable way to spend an hour with a group of old friends who had been together for so long.

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Fitbit III: Week 18

A third straight week over 50,000 steps, and my streak of days over goal reached 24.  The week got off to a decent enough start on Sunday and Monday, with both days using trips to Guaranteed Rate field to push me over my daily goal.  Tuesday was the big day of the week, my first day over 10,000 since the end of April thanks to an after-work trip back to Guaranteed Rate field for Chris Sale’s return to Chicago.  Wednesday and Thursday were nothing special, both just barely managing to pass my daily goal of 6500 steps.  Friday used a pre-lunch walk followed by an after-work followup to post the second best day of the week at just over 9000 steps.  Saturday was spent going back and forth between the garage and the basement as the new plug was installed in preparation for my new car.

Total steps: 55,180

Daily average: 7882.9