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#177 – Rusty Kuntz

rusty

Name: Rusty Kuntz

Rank: 177

Position: OF

Years With White Sox: 1979-1983

Rusty Kuntz, possessing one of the finest names in recent baseball history, was drafted by the White Sox in the 11th round of the 1977 draft.  He made his major league debut 2 years later, as a September call-up in 1979, starting in left field and going 0-3 in a 4-3 victory over the Tigers.  He appeared in 4 other games over the course of the final month of the 1979 season, finishing up with an anemic .091 average.

Kuntz split time between Triple A Iowa and Chicago in 1980.  He had slightly better results, finishing the year with a .226 average in 36 games.  He spent the entire strike-shortened 1981 season with the White Sox, appearing in 67 games and batting .255 in 55 at bats.

1982 saw Kuntz back splitting time between Triple A and Chicago, appearing in only 21 games with the White Sox.  His batting average fell to .192.

As the White Sox raced to their first division title in 1983, Kuntz again was shuttling between the major leagues and Triple A, appearing in 28 games through June 21, when he was traded to the Twins for a minor leaguer.

Kuntz’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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A Long Thursday Commute

For the first time in 2015, let’s take a look at the tunes that got me through a 1 hour and 45 minute commute home tonight.

You’re Invited (But Your Friend Can’t Come) Vince Neil Exposed 1/15/2015 4:28 PM
We Built This City Starship The Muppets 1/15/2015 4:32 PM
No Excuses Alice In Chains Greatest Hits 1/15/2015 4:37 PM
Instant Karma (We All Shine On) John Lennon Lennon Legend 1/15/2015 4:40 PM
Get Free The Vines Highly Evolved 1/15/2015 4:42 PM
Something’s Wrong K’s Choice Paradise In Me 1/15/2015 4:46 PM
Truth About Romeo Pancho’s Lament Pancho’s Lament 1/15/2015 4:49 PM
Don’t Tell Me Avril Lavigne The Best Damn Tour Live In Toronto 1/15/2015 4:51 PM
Nothin’s Gonna Stand In Our Way Spectre General The Transformers: The Movie 1/15/2015 4:55 PM
Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg TLC Continue reading →
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GF4 – Week 27

Y4Week27As the great poet LL Cool J once said, don’t call it a comeback!  After 10 straight weeks of sub-par totals, I put together a monster week, with my highest total since last April’s trip to San Diego.  Every day of the week finished above 6000 steps, even the weekend, where I normally fall off at this time of year.  So my last full week on the GlobalFit program was one of the best I’ve had during the whole program.  Let’s see if I can keep the streak of 6000 step days going and finish on a high note.

Total steps: 54,888

Daily average: 7841.1

 

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GF4 – Half Year Checkpoint

Y4HalfwaySunday brought about the half way point in year 4 of the great GlobalFit tracker experiment, so it is time to check in on my progress towards my goal of 2,002,000 steps, or an average of 5500 per day. One half of that total would be 1,001,000. So how did I do?

Well, over the past 10 weeks, I have done a good job of burning through whatever cushion I had built up over the previous 16 weeks.  Going back to work after the holidays, I was behind target with a week to make up the gap.  Part of me thought it wasn’t worth it, since the whole system will shut down next week, but, in the end, I figured it was worth seeing my goals through to the bitter end.

To help accomplish my goal, and put me back on track, I put in my best week since last April, when I traveled to San Diego.  Not only did I make up the amount I needed to hit the halfway point, I surpassed it by nearly 11,000 steps.  That makes me 2 for 2 in my quarterly check-ins, which is as far as this “year” will go.  Hopefully, I will be up and running again soon in a new program, and we can start this whole thing over again.

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Top 200 Albums – #74 – 83

itunes_imageMy latest desktop computer arrived in late 2007, at which point I transitioned all of my music off of my laptop. 2 iPods, 3 iPhones, and an iPad later, that computer is still my main repository of music, with iTunes updating its stats every time I listen to something.

Having already gone through cassette tapes and CDs, and digital music, it’s time to roll everything up with the Top 200 albums whose songs I’ve listened to as of September 2014, according to iTunes. Today, we look at the 10 albums that I have listened to 41 – 45 times.

#74: Eminem – The Eminem Show
iTunes stats: 45 plays
The fourth studio album from Eminem uses 5 tracks to make up this total.

#74: Various Artists – Monsters Of Rock
iTunes stats: 45 plays
This compilation of 80s hair bands, like White Lion, Winger, and Firehouse, makes up this total thanks to 8 different tracks.

#76: Nirvana – Nevermind
iTunes stats: 44 plays
The world’s introduction to grunge, and death knell to hair metal, had 5 songs make up this total.

#77: Weezer – Weezer
iTunes stats: 43 plays
4 tunes from Weezer’s debut, known as the Blue Album, place it on the list.

#77: The Lonely Island – Turtleneck & Chain
iTunes stats: 43 plays
The second album from the SNL digital short maestros make the list thanks to 4 different tracks.

#77: Dr. Dre – The Chronic
iTunes stats: 43 plays
Dr. Dre makes the list for the second week in a row with his smash solo debut, whose total is made up by 3 songs.

#80: Bush – Sixteen Stone
iTunes stats: 42 plays
5 tracks from Bush’s debut album place it on the list.

#80: Cracker – Kerosene Hat
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#178 – Luis Vizcaino

Name: Luis Vizcaino

Rank: 178

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2005

On December 13, 2004, Luis Vizcaino, along with Scott Podsednik and a player to be named later, was traded to the White Sox from the Brewers in exchange for Carlos Lee.  Vizcaino had a decent year in the bullpen, appearing in 65 games and putting up a 6-5 record with a 3.73 ERA for the AL Central champions.

Vizcaino sat out the ALDS and ALCS, and made one appearance during the World Series.  He pitched 1 inning of scoreless relief during the 14 inning marathon that was Game 3.

Following the season, nearly a year to the day that he was acquired, Vizcaino was packaged along with Orlando Hernandez and Chris Young in a deal with the Diamondbacks for Javier Vazquez.

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

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GF4 – Week 25

Y4Week25What a miserable showing for Christmas week, with my worst totals in a year.  Not one day above 5000 steps and only 2 above 4000.  Tuesday included a trip to the office, which you would think would have gotten me a little more than the barely 3000 steps I accomplished.  Christmas Eve through Boxing Day were complete wastes.  The weekend bounced back a little, with above average days, at least recently.

Total steps: 20,496

Daily average: 2928

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2014: The Year In Movies Part 2

Movie_Reel_22134 different people starred in the movies I saw last year (starring in being the first two named stars, a tradition dating back to the old Chicago Tribune TV guide), and a whopping 16 of them were in more than 1. Those 16 thespians are:

Name Films
Emily Blunt 3
Scarlett Johansson 3
Liam Neeson 3
Shailene Woodley 3
Kristen Bell 2
Lake Bell 2
Sandra Bullock 2
Bradley Cooper 2
Rob Corddry 2
Melissa McCarthy 2
Julianne Moore 2
Elizabeth Olsen 2
Chris Pratt 2
Jason Segel 2
Amanda Seyfried 2
Bruce Willis 2

Now let’s take a look at the remaining movies that I saw in 2014, following up on Tuesday’s post.

Her (2013)
Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with an operating system, and lives in a world where that isn’t considered odd.

Oculus (2014)
Karen Gillan stars in this horror tale about a mirror that makes its owners kill themselves and their loved ones.

Under The Skin (2013)
I’m sure some film buff will tell you that there was something worthwhile here, besides Scarlett Johansson’s first nude scenes, but I certainly didn’t get it.

Delivery Man (2013)
What would happen if a sperm bank oversold one man’s donations, leaving him the biological father of over 500 children?

X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014)
This adaptation of Chris Claremont’s famous storyline mixes the casts of the old films and the new ones to great effect.

Liars All (2013)
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Election Thoughts

mlb_hof

The votes were tallied in Cooperstown and, for the first time since 1955, four former players were elected to become members of the Hall of Fame.  Ballot newcomers John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez, and Randy Johnson, along with third-timer Craig Biggio, became the newest members of baseball’s greatest fraternity, garnering more than 75% of the votes.  Only three other candidates, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell, and Tim Raines, managed to top 50% of the vote.

The news for players with PED connections was mixed, with Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds gaining a little ground, while Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire lost votes.  Don Mattingly falls off the ballot after 15 tries.  17 candidates who were eligible for the first time will drop off the ballot due to not receiving 5% of the vote.

As for the newest Hall of Famers, I’ve somehow seen 755 baseball games over the past 30 years, none of which included Pedro Martinez or Randy Johnson.  John Smoltz I saw twice, during his closing phase.  Craig Biggio, as an everyday player, was the enshrinee I saw most often, including Game 2 of the 2005 World Series.

Craig Biggio’s numbers in games I attended were:

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