Today, we celebrate Michael’s 12th birthday with a picture of him having fallen asleep last October before Game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field.
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iTunes Top 200 Artists: #81-88
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 continue our march up through the the top 100 with this next batch of artists, which includes:
#88: Soul Asylum
iTunes stats: 54 plays
Previous ranking: #70
20 new listens for the Minneapolis-based band causes them to drop 18 spots in the rankings.
#88: John Morris
iTunes stats: 54 plays
Previous ranking: N/A
The composer of the score from the best movie ever made, Clue: The Movie.
#88: Artie Lange
iTunes stats: 54 plays
Previous ranking: #76
The comedy stylings of Arthur Lange drop 12 spots despite 23 new listens in the past 3 years.
#84: The Cranberries
iTunes stats: 56 plays
Previous ranking: #80
A small 4 spot drop for the Irish band, who picked up 26 new listens to their 8 tracks over the last 3 years.
#84: The Beastie Boys
iTunes stats: 56 plays
Previous ranking: #91
30 new listens in the last 3 years bumps the Beastie Boys up 7 spots in the rankings.
#84: Gin Blossoms
iTunes stats: 56 plays
Previous ranking: #63
25 years after the release of their debut album, the Arizona group drops 21 spots due to a small increase of 18 listens over the past 3 years.
#84: Christina Aguilera
Continue reading →
Fitbit III: Week 10
Another good week, though not as good as the last few weeks thanks to the end of the Jiff step challenge and my streak of consecutive days over goal came to an end at a record breaking 75 days. Things got off to a decent start on Sunday thanks to some neighborhood treks which got me over 7000 steps. Monday was the scheduled start of the baseball season, but rain meant I spent a lot of time pacing the 300 level of Guaranteed Rate Field, putting me over 9500 steps. Tuesday was back to work in the morning and then an afternoon trip back to Guaranteed Rate Field for the make-up Opening Day. Wednesday parlayed a trip to North Plaza in to nearly 8000 steps. Thursday just barely managed to meet the daily goal, finishing a mere 45 steps above 6500. Friday was a nice bounce back day thanks to a lunch time spent shooting baskets and a release which kept me up all night. Saturday was the downer of the week, as my streak of being above goal came to an end, despite being awake until 6 AM and then going back to the south side for more baseball.
Total steps: 53,467
Daily average: 7638.1
#33 – Ron Kittle
Name: Ron Kittle
Rank: 33
Position: LF/DH
Years With White Sox: 1982-1986, 1989-1990, 1991
Ron Kittle joined the White Sox organization in Septmber of 1978. He worked his way through the minor leagues before making his major league debut on September 2, 1982, pinch hitting for Aurelio Rodriguez and striking out in the White Sox 6-5 victory over the Rangers at Comiskey Park. Kittle got sporadic playing time over the final month of the season, earning just 29 at bats in 20 games. He hit .241 with a single home run.
Kittle, and the White Sox, broke out in a big way in 1983. While the team charged towards their first division title, Kittle earned an All Star nod and finished the year with a team rookie record of 35 home runs while hitting .254 and driving in 100. Kittle was knocked out of the ALCS against the Orioles after getting hit by a pitch in Game 3, finishing the series with just 2 hits in 7 at bats. His season earned him Rookie of the Year honors.
1984 was a bit of a letdown for both Kittle and the White Sox. While the team failed to perform up to the expectations set the previous year, Kittle did the same, falling to a .215 average. His power numbers remained, as he clubbed 32 home runs, but his OPS was down by 70 points. There was a slight improvement in 1985, with his average improving to .230, but he hit only 26 home runs and drove in just 58 runs in 116 games.
In 1986, Kittle was hitting .213 with 17 home runs at the trade deadline when he, along with Joel Skinner and Wayne Tolleson, were sent to the Yankees for Ron Hassey, Carlos Martinez, and a player to be named later. He rejoined the White Sox a year and a half later, signing as a free agent after the 1988 season.
Injuries limited Kittle to just 51 games in 1989. In 169 at bats, he hit .302 with 11 home runs and 37 RBI. He returned in 1990, seeing his average drop to .245 with 16 home runs in 83 games when, again at the trade deadline, he was sent to the Orioles in exchange for Phil Bradley.
Kittle returned for one final hurrah with the White Sox in 1991, signing as a free agent on June 19 before being released on August 15. In between, he appeared in 17 games and hit only .191 with 2 home runs.
Kittle’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
#34 – John Danks
Name: John Danks
Rank: 34
Position: P
Years With White Sox: 2007-2016
John Danks was acquired by the White Sox, along with Nick Masset, from the Rangers for Brandon McCarthy following the 2006 season. He broke camp with the Sox in 2007 and made his major league debut on April 8, picking up the loss against the Twins at US Cellular Field. Danks, along with the rest of the White Sox, struggled through 2007, finishing the year with a 6-13 record and a 5.50 ERA.
2008 was a different story for both the White Sox and Danks. Posting a career-best 3.32 ERA, Danks finished the year at 12-9 and had quite possibly the best outing of his career in game 163, throwing 8 scoreless innings of 2 hit ball against the Twins to secure the Central Division title. Less than a week later, he picked up the lone White Sox victory in the ALDS against the Rays.
Danks had continued success in both 2009 and 2010, combining for a 28-22 record over the two years, with an ERA in the 3.70s both years. 2011 went south for both the White Sox and John Danks, as his ERA jumped to 4.33 while manager Ozzie Guillen lost control of the team before leaving in the final week to head to the Marlins. Following the season, the White Sox signaled their faith in Danks, signing him to a 5 year extension worth $65 million.
Danks struggled through 9 starts in 2012 before hitting the disabled list with a mysterious shoulder injury. When he finally underwent surgery, doctors found a torn shoulder capsule. Very few pitchers have undergone this surgery, and even fewer have successfully returned to the same level they were before the injury.
Sadly, Danks’ recovery did not happen as anyone would have wanted, though not for a lack of effort. He returned in 2013, making 22 starts and going 4-14 with a 4.75 ERA. 2014 was more of the same, as his ERA was 4.74, though his record improved to 11-11. And 2015, again, saw Danks put up an ERA of 4.71 in 30 starts.
In 2016, Danks, in the final season of his contract and due $14.25 million, went 0-4 with a 7.25 ERA in April. With the surprising White Sox in first place after 1 month and with Danks accounting for half of the team’s losses, being an innings eater was no longer good enough. He was designated for assignment on May 3, ending his White Sox career.
Danks’ numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
March Madness Steps Challenge
As I may have mentioned a time or two, we had a steps challenge at work that wrapped up on Tuesday. The goal: to take 780,000 steps in 21 days. My team managed to surpass this in 13 days, finishing 203rd out of 2567 teams.
As a team, we finished with 1,193,351 steps. I finished fourth on my team, with 206,044 steps, averaging over 9811 steps per day. I scored 11 days over 10,000 steps during the challenge, which is more than I notched during all of 2011 and 2013.
Now that the challenge is over, I’m looking forward to taking a bit of a break to rest up. My left knee has been bothering me for a while and I may have worn a path in the carpet upstairs. Eventually, the next challenge will come down the pike. I look forward to it.
Fitbit III: Week 9
Yet another tremendous week, as I averaged over 10,000 steps for the second consecutive week and my consecutive days over goal streak reached 69 days. The week got off to a good start on Sunday, my first of 5 10,000 step days in the week. The work week got off to a fast start with another 10,000 step day on Monday and then nearly 13,000 steps on Tuesday. Wednesday, my team finished the Jiff challenge at work, so I was able to relax a bit, falling way back to just over 6500 steps. Thursday was more of the same, before a big bounce back on Friday, where I again came near 13,000 steps thanks to a long walk around the hood after work. Saturday used yet another neighborhood walk to again surpass the 10,000 step plateau, ensuring my highest weekly step total since June.
Total steps: 70,448
Daily average: 10,064
Book 9 (of 52) – The Man In The High Castle
The Man In The High Castle – Philip K. Dick
Imagine a world where the Allies lost World War II, with the US split between the Germans and the Japanese. This is the world where Philip K. Dick puts us in The Man In The High Castle, where the Germans have taken over the east coast and the Japanese the west, leaving a free state between them in the Rockies. Dick’s tale focuses primarily on the last two, switching among connected but disparate stories.
I watched the first episode of Amazon’s adaptation of this book and it did not really hold my interest. The same can be said of the book, which took me forever to read and which I never really was enthralled by. The concept certainly holds some interest, but the execution left me wanting more.
All Time Team Records
Yet another exciting baseball season is upon us, and it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have attended dating back to 1984. The Cubs begin the season as defending champions for the first time since 1909 while the White Sox finally start their long-overdue rebuilding effort, so both sides of town are pointing in different directions. Either way, the 2017 season should be an exciting one.
| 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 | 12 | 9 | 0.571 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 16 | 13 | 0.552 |
| Boston Red Sox | 14 | 12 | 0.538 |
| Colorado Rockies | 7 | 6 | 0.538 |
| Chicago Cubs | 203 | 179 | 0.531 |
| Chicago White Sox | 267 | 237 | 0.530 |
| Cleveland Indians | 23 | 21 | 0.523 |
| Kansas City Royals Continue reading → |
2017 Predictions
The 2017 baseball season is scheduled to kick off tonight, with 3 games scheduled culminating with the Cubs starting their first title defense since 1909 against their arch rivals in St. Louis. For the seventh consecutive year, I’ve looked into the crystal ball to make my picks for the upcoming season.
American League
East: Red Sox
Central: Indians
West: Mariners
Wild Cards: Blue Jays, Tigers
AL Champion: Red Sox
Cy Young: Chris Sale
MVP: Francisco Lindor