With the All Star Game on the books for tonight, we close the books on yet another disappointing first half for the 2014 season. Here are the offensive leaders for the 17 games I attended:
Home Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Paul Konerko | 4 |
| Alejandro de Aza | 2 |
| Jose Abreu | 2 |
| 20 tied with | 1 |
Hits
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Alexei Ramirez | 18 |
| Adam Eatorn | 17 |
| Gordon Beckham | 14 |
| Dayan Viciedo | 13 |
| Paul Konerko | 10 |
| Jose Abreu | 10 |
Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Adam Eaton | 9 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 7 |
| Continue reading → |
Many 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 all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of May 30th.
Today, we look at the 4 actors that have starred in 16 movies that I have seen.
Drew Barrymore
Like most of America, Drew Barrymore first entered my consciousness as the precocious little girl from E.T., but it was another decade before she had a starring role that I saw, 1992’s Poison Ivy. In the year’s since, she has had two separate runs of 4 years, first from 1998-2001 and again from 2003-2006. 3 years saw me seeing two of her films, most recently in 2004. The most recent of her films that I’ve seen was Music And Lyrics, which I saw in 2008.
Tom Cruise
Top Gun was likely my first introduction to Tom Cruise’s starring roles. 2000 was a big year for his films, as I saw 4 of them, the only time I’ve seen more than one. I took a 5 year break from his films after seeing War Of The Worlds in 2007. The last film of his that I’ve seen was Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 2012.
Kirsten Dunst
The first Kirsten Dunst starring vehicle that I saw was Small Soldiers, which I saw in 1999. That started a 4 year run where I saw 9 of her films, including 4 in 2000 alone. After a one year break, I returned to her films in 2004 with both Mona Lisa Smile and the first Spider-Man. Besides 2000, there are 5 other years where I’ve seen multiple Dunst films, most recently in 2007. In fact, the only years that I’ve seen only one of her films were 1999, the first time I saw one, and 2011, which was the last time I saw her in All Good Things.
Michael Keaton Continue reading →
As we head in to the All Star break, it’s time to take a look at the team records for the 17 games I attended in the first half of the baseball season.
| Team | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Kansas City Royals | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| San Francisco Giants | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Cleveland Indians | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| San Diego Padres | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Chicago Cubs | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Chicago White Sox | 6 | 10 | 0.375 |
| Seattle Mariners Continue reading → |
Name: Joe Magrane
Rank: 222
Position: P
Year With White Sox: 1996
After spending all of 1995 in the minor leagues while attempting to rehab from elbow injuries, Joe Magrane was sitting at home in February of 1996 when the White Sox offered him a non-roster invite to spring training. “I’ll give it one last shot,” Magrane said. “I don’t know how it’ll work out.” After being the most consistent left-hander in the bullpen, Magrane found himself breaking camp with the White Sox.
By early May, manager Terry Bevington had moved Magrane into the 5th starter role. “Joe’s getting a lot of groundballs lately,” Bevington said, “and I like what he’s done. Of course, nothing is forever, but as of today he’s the No. 5.” Forever lasted until mid June, when Mike Sirotka was called up and pushed Magrane back to the bullpen. Five days later, the White Sox designated Magrane for assignment. “We gave Joe a lot of chances,” general manager Ron Schueler said. “Unfortuately for Joe, it just didn’t work out.”
Magrane spent the remainder of the season toiling away in Triple A before retiring at the end of the season.
Magrane’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:
So, of course the servers that control step updates came back online today, after this morning’s post went live. So, I now have the official totals, that make things look a little better. I ended up finishing the year with 5,423,276 steps, which was nearly 327,000 below my goal. My updated average step total per week was 35,098, which comes out to about 5014 per day. The median weekly total changed to 34,642. I ended up passing the 10,000 step mark 12 times over the year, with my best day coming nearly a year ago, thanks to the BTN 5K.
My goal for this upcoming year remain the same, which would put me at 7,425,276 steps. Hopefully, doing so will help me get a handle on this weight issue.
Last year, I set a goal of surpassing 5,750,000 steps, which would have given me a little less than 2.25 million steps for the year. Sadly, I fell well short of that mark, finishing the year with at least* 5,385,696 steps. My average step total per week was 34,885, which comes out to about 4983.6 per day. The median weekly total was 34,390. My best week was Week 39, which was the start of my trip to California this past spring. My worst week was Week 24, which was during my winter vacation and fell victim to missing days due to (possible) battery issues.
For the upcoming year, there may be some changes afoot. Rumor around the office is that we will be discontinuing the GlobalFit program. For the time being, I will keep going as is, but there may be some adjustments along the way. My goal for the upcoming year is to average 5500 steps per day, which would bring me to a yearly total of 2,002,000 steps. I haven’t had much luck in meeting these goals as of yet, but, as I stare down my 40th birthday in a few months, I do have some extra motivation.
*The network that handles the transfer of data between the tracker and the interwebs has been down all week, so, combined with the holiday last week, leaves me without a few days of data. Once the network comes back online, I’ll post an update with the new numbers.
Many 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 all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of May 30th.
Today, we continue with the 7 actors that have starred in 15 movies that I have seen.
Matt Damon
In 1994, Matt Damon made his first appearance on my personal movie screen with his role in 1992’s School Ties. He disappeared for a while until reappearing in 1999 with 3 different films. From that point on, he has been a pretty regular entrant in my watched films, including a four year run from 2005-2008. The last film of his I’ve seen was in 2012, when I saw the previous year’s Contagion.
Robert DeNiro
My first experience with Robert DeNiro was back in 1988, when I saw Angel Heart. He then went quiet to me for 8 years, coming back in 1996 with Sleepers. 2000 was my high water mark with his work when I saw 3 of his films. My most recent experience with him was 2011, when I saw him in both Machete and Limitless.
Angelina Jolie
The first starring role of Angelina Jolie’s that I saw was 1995’s Hackers. 2005 was my most prolific Jolie year, when I took in 3 of her films. Her last appearance on my screen was in 2012, when I saw her in Changeling.
Steve Martin
As we head towards the trade deadline at the end of the month, everyone expected the Cubs to move both Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. I don’t think anyone expected them to go as part of the same deal. Which is exactly what happened Friday night, when word leaked that the Cubs would send both pitchers to the A’s in exchange for Addison Russell, Billy McKinney, Dan Straily, and a player to be named later.
Russell, a shortstop, was the A’s first round draft pick in 2012 and the top prospect in their system. The 20 year old, who has been compared to Barry Larkin with power by one scout, joins the collection of middle infield prospects the Cubs have assembled, including Javier Baez, 21, and current starter Starlin Castro, who is still only 24. Assuming everything pans out, the Cubs will have flexibility to use their surplus at shortstop to fill other holes, most likely in the rotation.
McKinney, the A’s first round pick in last year’s draft, is an outfielder who was the 2nd rated prospect in the A’s system. Straily garnered some support for AL rookie of the year last season, but struggled with Oakland this year and was back pitching in Triple A at the time of the trade.
Samardzija had been with the Cubs since being drafted out of Notre Dame in 2006. He made his major league debut in 2008, working out of the bullpen for the division champions. He moved in to the starting rotation in 2012 and has been the ace of the Cub’s staff ever since. Hammel was signed as a free agent this past winter with the intention of flipping him to a contender, should he have a good first half. He certainly held up his end of the bargain.
Samardzija’s numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
Continue reading →
Name: Rob Dibble
Rank: 223
Position: P
Year With White Sox: 1995
After rotator cuff surgery forced him to miss the entire 1994 season, Rob Dibble signed with the White Sox as a free agent in late February of 1995. Dibble got off to a tremendous start with his new team, claiming that replacement players were “going to be labeled like child molesters for the rest of their lives,” which earned him a suspension during spring training.
Once the season got underway, Dibble found other, performance-related reasons to let down his new club. Unfortunately, the arm injuries robbed him of both his command and his velocity, which left him as a pretty ineffective option out of Gene Lamont’s and Terry Bevington’s bullpen. His WHIP was well over 2, and the last straw came in mid-July when he was suspended 3 games for throwing at Brewers second baseman Pat Listach’s head. Before he could serve the suspension, the White Sox waived the troubled reliever, bringing his brief South Side career to an end.
Dibble’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:
Another pretty good week, with my highest total since heading to San Diego back in April, with the entire work week surpassing 6000 steps and 3 of the days above 8500. Nothing too far outside the norm until Friday, where a trip to US Cellular Field for Grinder Bash pushed my total well above 12,000. Saturday was disappointing only in that I finished a scant 48 steps below the 5000 step mark despite a trip to the mall and a bowling outing. Sunday, while well below my goal of 5000 steps, did manage to have more than the negligible amount I have been getting.
Total steps: 51,356
Weekly average: 7336.6