Angelina’s (and my) birthday month kicks off the final quarter of 2025. We celebrate with two pictures of her from the Boston half-marathon last fall.
Author / admin
All Time Playoff Team Records
We’ve made it through 162 games and, for the first time since 2020, the Cubs are in the post-season as the top-seeded Wild Card in the National League. In a rematch of the 1984 NLCS, they start a best of three series against the Padres at Wrigley Field today. The winner of that series will advance to the NLDS and face the Brewers starting Saturday.
It’s time to take an updated look at the team records for the now 33 playoff contests I have attended. These contests come from the 2018 Wild Card game, the ALDS in 2000, 2005, 2008, and 2021, the NLDS in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016, and 2017, the NLCS in 2003, 2015, 2016, and 2017, the ALCS in 2005, and, of course, the 2005 and 2016 World Series.
Post-Season Team Records
| Team Name | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Marlins | 3 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Seattle Mariners | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| New York Mets | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Colorado Rockies | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Chicago White Sox | 6 | 5 | 0.545 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 3 | 3 | 0.500 |
| Atlanta Braves | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Cleveland Indians | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Washington Nationals | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Chicago Cubs | 9 | 13 | 0.409 |
| Houston Astros | 1 | 2 | 0.333 |
| San Francisco Giants | 0 | 2 | 0.000 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| Boston Red Sox | 0 | 2 | 0.000 |
Prolific Authors – Seven Books
It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school. This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years. Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years. We continue today with the three authors I’ve read seven times, a decrease of two from two years ago.
Airframe – Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton
The prolific author, who died in 2008, first entered my bookshelf in 1989, when I was assigned to read The Andromeda Strain as part of my high school Biology class. He continued to be a big part of my 90s reading, but has only added a single title, Airframe, in this century.
Rebecca Forster
One of my first Kindle finds, I’ve read the first seven entries in her Witness series.
J.K. Rowling
All seven entries in the Harry Potter series, which I read in 2016, make up Rowling’s total. She continues to write under a pen name, but her horrific political views make it unlikely that she would end up on this list twice.
Book 47 (of 52) – My Friends
My Friends – Fredrik Backman
A chance encounter with the artist of her favorite painting just hours before his death sends a young woman on an adventure with one of his best friends, learning about the artist and his childhood friends and what led to the creation of the painting. Along the way, they come to realize that while loss is part of life, you find people through the journey to fill in those spaces.
For the first time in two-plus years, Fredrik Backman crosses my path again with his latest offering, My Friends. This is a tale of how like-minded people come together and how the moments of our childhood friendships can outshine the painful realities of real life for decades. I really do need to dive into Backman’s back catalog one of these days, since I always enjoy his work when I read it.
Fitbit XI – Week 35
A nice week, courtesy of the final home games of the 2025 White Sox season, which extended my 30,000-step week streak to 19 weeks. Things got off to a decent start on Sunday, needing 14 additional steps to reach 4300. Monday was in the same ballpark, finishing with 4200 steps. A small increase on Tuesday put me at 4400 steps. An afternoon off work to take in some baseball on Wednesday left me a single step shy of 5800. Thursday was the low point of the week, needing 21 steps just to reach 3500. A trip back to Rate Field and parking in an unfavorable lot pushed me up over 7000 steps on Friday. Another trip to that same lot on Saturday, my final White Sox game of the year, ended the week with 6800 steps.
Total steps: 36,025
Daily average: 5146.4
2025 New Fall Season – Fridays
We conclude our look at the new fall season with Friday’s amazing slate of shows.
9:00
Boston Blue – The Blue Bloods spinoff sends Donny Wahlberg to Boston for some reason.
Keeping It 100
After dropping last night’s game to the Yankees 8-1, the White Sox notched their 100th loss of the season. While this is only the seventh time in the 125-year history of the franchise that they have lost 100 games, it is the third consecutive season and the fourth in the last eight. Over 50% of the franchise’s 100-loss seasons have come in the last decade under the stewardship of Jerry Reinsdorf.
While there are some glimmers of hope heading into 2026, there does not appear to be any urgency to improve this offseason. GM Chris Getz has already indicated they are hoping that incremental improvements from the young nucleus will be enough to push this team back to the winning side of the ledger. That plan, on its own, seems unlikely to get the job done, but what else can you expect from a franchise that strives for mediocrity?
2025 New Fall Season – Thursdays
Thursday night was traditionally the busiest night of the week for my television viewing habits but has fallen off over the past couple of years. This year is no exception. Here’s what’s on the slate for this season.
7:00
9-1-1 – Returning for its ninth season, and its third on ABC, although without star Peter Krause.
8:00
9-1-1: Nashville – Another spinoff, moving the franchise to Tennessee.
9:00
Elsbeth – The The Good Wife spinoff returns for its third season, but I still have to watch the second one.
Grey’s Anatomy – The medical drama enters its 22nd season with the follow-up on last season’s explosion.
2025 New Fall Season – Wednesdays
We have reached the halfway point of our look at the offerings for the new fall season. The cupboard looks pretty bare for Wednesdays, which I believe is a first.
2025 New Fall Season – Tuesdays
Continuing our look at the new fall season, here are the offerings that I may find myself interested in for Tuesdays.
7:00
Murder in a Small Town – A second season of the Canadian mystery-drama of the week featuring old favorites Kristin Kreuk.
8:00
Doc – A surprise hit last spring, Molly Parker returns for a second go-around.
9:00
High Potential – One of the only breakout hits of last season, Kaitlin Olson returns for a second season as an under-employed genius who consults with the police.