Author / admin

by admin

They’re Calling It What?

guaranteed_rateAfter being known as US Cellular Field for the past 13 years, the White Sox announced earlier today that, beginning on November 1, their home stadium will now be known as Guaranteed Rate Field.  The team and the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority signed a 13 year agreement with the national mortgage broker based in Chicago.  A name change had been thought to be in the works for the past 4 years, since US Cellular exited the Chicago market.

The new name will take some getting used to, as it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.  That said, the name of the stadium isn’t as important as the action taking place inside it, and a winning team, should one ever deem to locate itself on the south side again, will wipe away any concerns over the name.

Going into tonight’s action, the White Sox were 220-186 in games I’ve attended at US Cellular Field.  There will be a few more opportunities to add to that record over the final month of the 2016 season, before we turn the page and start anew at Guaranteed Rate Field.

by admin

FB2: Week 29

FB2_Week29A bit of a bounce back week, with every day surpassing the 6000 step goal, if unspectacularly.  Sunday got the week off to a decent start, as I had my best day in over a week.  Monday through Wednesday were solid days, ending a couple hundred steps above the daily goal.  Things picked up a bit on Thursday and Friday, before Saturday nearly hit 9000 steps, thanks to an afternoon walk followed by exciting White Sox baseball.

Total steps: 47,594

Daily average: 6799.1

by admin

Most Watched Actors – The Early 1990s

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, it is time to look at the most prolific actors that have starred in the movies that I have seen in the first half of the decade of the 1990s, corresponding with the end of high school and the transition into college.

1991

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Raymond Burr 4

Gosh darn that Perry Mason and its ongoing dominance in this particular category.

1992

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Raymond Burr 3

Guh

1993

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Raymond Burr 3

GUH!

1994

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Bridget Fonda 4

A very busy year for Bridget Fonda as she breaks Raymond Burr’s stranglehold, mostly due to his death in 1993.  Fonda starred in Bodies, Rest & Motion, Point Of No Return, Leather Jackets, and It Could Happen To You.

1995

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Billy Crystal 3
Michael Douglas 3
Michael Keaton 3
Sharon Stone 3

Our first tie of the 90s, each coming in with 3 movies apiece.  Crystal made it with the critically maligned Mr. Saturday Night, Forget Paris, and City Slickers II.  Douglas scored with Disclosure, Basic Instinct, and Coma.  Keaton earned his place with Speechless, One Good Cop, and The Paper.  Sharon Stone nabbed the only 3 starring roles that I’ve seen, with Basic Instinct, The Specialist, and Sliver.

 

by admin

#72 – Ron Karkovice

karkoName: Ron Karkovice

Rank: 72

Position: C

Years With White Sox: 1986-1997

Ron Karkovice joined the White Sox organization as their first round selection in the 1982 draft.  He made his major league debut on August 17, 1986, going 1-4 in the White Sox 7-4 victory over the Brewers at Comiskey Park while catching future Hall of Famer Steve Carlton.  He appeared in 36 additional games, hitting .247, as the White Sox rolled to their worst record since 1980.

Karkovice broke camp with the White Sox in 1987, but was completely overmatched on offense.  He appeared in 39 games, getting only 85 at bats and hitting an anemic .071.  He didn’t do much better in Triple A, putting up a .183 average for Hawaii.

He returned to Triple A for 1988, but got some extended playing time in the big leagues when Carlton Fisk went down with a broken hand.  In 46 games, Karkovice hit .174 and drove in 9 runs.

Karkovice stuck in the big leagues for good starting in 1989.  Getting more regular playing time, he improved his average to a career high .264 while splitting time behind the plate with Fisk.  1990 was more of the same for Karkovice, as he appeared in 68 games and hit .246.

As the White Sox moved across the street to the new Comiskey Park in 1991, Karkovice had a near repeat of his 1990 season, finishing with the same average and nearly the same power numbers.  In 1992, Karkovice finally supplanted Fisk and became the primary backstop.  Appearing in 123 games, he hit .237 but saw his home runs increase to 13.

Karkovice appeared in a career high 128 games for the 1993 White Sox, as the team captured their first division title in a decade.  He went hitless during the ALCS as the White Sox fell to the Blue Jays in 6 games.  1994 saw his offensive numbers continue to fall, as his average dropped to .213, partially due to a sore knee, before the season came to an untimely end due to the strike.

When baseball returned in 1995, Karkovice was back behind the plate for the White Sox.  He appeared in 113 games and saw his average bounce back slightly to .217.  1996 was more of the same for Karkovice, as he appeared in 111 games and hit .220 with 10 home runs, before undergoing knee surgery in September.

Things went south for Karkovice and the White Sox in 1997.  By the middle of May, he had been replaced as the starting catcher by Chad Kreuter.  By the middle of July, he had fallen to third on the depth chart, behind the newly acquired Jorge Fabergas and veteran Tony Pena.  He had requested to be released at the end of May, but was refused by general manager Ron Schueler.  He finished the year with only 51 appearances and an average that had dropped to .181.  He became a free agent at the end of the year, but never played in the major leagues again.

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

Continue reading →

by admin

#73 – Mike Cameron

cameron2

Name: Mike Cameron

Rank: 73

Position: CF

Years With White Sox: 1995-1998

Mike Cameron joined the White Sox organization as their 18th round draft choice in the 1991 draft.  He made his major league debut on August 27, 1995, going 0-3 in the White Sox 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays at Skydome.  He mostly appeared as a defensive replacement during the last month of the season, appearing in 28 games but getting only 38 at bats, hitting an anemic .184.

1996 saw Cameron spend most of the season in Double A Birmingham, getting a small cup of coffee with the White Sox, appearing in 11 games and getting 11 at bats with a grand total of 1 hit.

Cameron got his first extended major league experience in 1997, appearing in 116 games.  He hit .259 with 14 home runs, with 23 stolen bases thrown in for good measure.  He finished 6th in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

In 1998, Cameron regressed, as his average dropped nearly 50 points to .210, his home runs were cut nearly in half to 8, and his OPS dropped by nearly 170 points.  Following the season, he made his largest contribution to the future success of the White Sox by being traded to the Reds for Paul Konerko.

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

Continue reading →

by admin

#74 – Brent Lillibridge

lillibridgeName: Brent Lillibridge

Rank: 74

Position: 2B/OF

Years With White Sox: 2009-2012

Brent Lillibridge was acquired by the White Sox, along with Tyler Flowers and 2 minor leaguers, from the Braves in exchange for Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan on December 4, 2008.  He split the 2009 season between Triple A Charlotte and Chicago, hitting an anemic .158 in 95 at bats spread across 46 games.

Lillibridge stuck with the White Sox in 2010, improving his average to .224 in only 64 games.  2011 was his best season, setting career highs in home runs, RBIs, batting average, and OPS.  On April 11, he hit the 10,000th home run in White Sox history off Dallas Braden and the A’s.

Lillibridge struggled again in 2012, with his average dropping down to .175 before the June 24th trade that sent him, along with Zach Stewart, to the Red Sox for Kevin Youkilis.

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

Continue reading →

by admin

Playoffs!

2016playoffs

For the second consecutive year, a Chicago team is in position to start selling playoff tickets to their season ticket holders.  The Cubs are running away with the National League Central title and are looking for their first World Series appearance since 1945.

Thanks to a randomly selected combination assignment, I would end up with tickets to a home Wild Card game, should the Cubs collapse like its 1969, all Division Series home games, the home games 1 and 3 of the Championship series, and, due to the AL winning the All Star Game, games 4 and 5 of the World Series.  Unlike past playoff appearances, it seems I would have my normal tickets for the first two rounds, before moving much closer to home plate but 7 rows up for the World Series.

The Cubs have little left to prove in the regular season and will need to exorcise some post-season demons after getting swept out in their last 3 appearances as the organization starts to reap the benefits of the years of work starting with the hiring of Theo Epstein in 2011.

by admin

Book 18 (of 52) – Namesakes

Namesakes - Greg Cox

Namesakes – Greg Cox

Set during the fourth season of Alias, Namesakes has Sydney Bristow trying to stop an international terrorist from destroying the United States while she deals with someone killing women in Los Angeles who share the same names as identities she used while working for SD-6.

Author Greg Cox does a good job of bringing the feeling of the series to life, a decade after it went off the air.  This book has been sitting in my to-read drawer for probably 10 years now, and it is the only one of the series that I have.  It was nice to revisit these old friends for a new adventure.  I may see if I can pick up other entries for more APO missions.

by admin

FB2: Week 28

FB2_Week28A horrible week, as I failed to reach my goal for only the second time this year.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday despite a trip down to US Cellular Field for exciting (or not, as it turned out) White Sox baseball.  Things bounced back a bit on Monday, as I crossed the 6000 step barrier thanks in part to a lunch trip to North Plaza.  Tuesday was the low point of the week, as I barely managed to cross 4000 steps.  Wednesday was another down day, as I again failed to break 5000 steps.  Thursday was my second day to pass 6000 steps, though just barely.  Needing to average over 7000 steps on Friday and Saturday to salvage the week, I couldn’t even break 5000 steps either day.

Total steps: 35,293

Daily average: 5041.9

by admin

Most Watched Actors – The Late 1980s

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, it is time to look at the most prolific actors that have starred in the movies that I have seen in the second half of the decade of the 1980s.

1986

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Raymond Burr 2
Lea Thompson 2

For the first time, our leaders have appeared in more than one movie that I saw throughout the year.  Raymond Burr makes his first of many appearances due to the Perry Mason television films.  Lea Thompson appears thanks to half of her starring roles, with the favorite SpaceCamp and the not-so-favorite Howard The Duck.

1987

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Raymond Burr 4

Another appearance for Raymond Burr thanks to the quarterly Perry Mason films.

1988

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Tom Hanks 3

Tom Hanks makes his first appearance with 3 films to top 1988, with starring roles in Big, Punchline, and Dragnet.

1989

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Raymond Burr 3

Yet another appearance for Raymond Burr.

1990

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Raymond Burr 4

We finish off the decade with yet another appearance by Raymond Burr.