Birthday wishes go out to Mr. Michael, who turns 9 today. To celebrate, here’s a photo of him from last spring at US Cellular field, sporting the giveaway hat from that day.
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GlobalFit III: Week 38
Another work week where every day surpassed the 5000 step mark. The weekend also showed a slight improvement, thanks to taking care of a sick family member.
Total steps: 38,436
Weekly average: 5490.9
The last two weeks have also had a challenge to improve on the number of steps accumulated from January 18-31st. My total for that period was 62,776 steps. Over the past two weeks, my total is 74,944 , an improvement of 12,168.
#236 – Joe Borchard
Name: Joe Borchard
Rank: 236
Position: RF
Years With White Sox: 2002-2005
Joe Borchard was the 12th overall draft pick in the 2000, receiving a then-record bonus to dissuade him from focusing on football. Borchard made his major league debut on September 2, 2002 against the Blue Jays, blasting a home run in his second at bat as the White Sox most touted prospect since Frank Thomas.
Borchard returned to Triple A in 2003, at least until Willie Harris went down in late May with a sprained shoulder. He did not stay long, appearing in 16 games, and batted only .184.
2004 gave Borchard his first extended opportunity in the big leagues, thanks to injuries to Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez. Unfortunately, he still had trouble producing, as he hit only .174 in 63 games, although he did set the US Cellular Field record for the longest home run with a 504 foot blast against Brett Myers of the Phillies.
Borchard returned to the minor leagues in 2005, appearing in just 7 games for the eventual World Series champions. The next spring, with a little more than a week to go before the start of the season, Borchard was traded to the Mariners in exchange for relief pitcher Matt Thornton, which, ultimately, may have been his biggest contribution to the organization.
Borchard’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →
Food-a-palooza
In addition to the previously announced change in pizza vendors, the White Sox have a few other interesting new food items on tap for the 2014 season. The ones available to me that I won’t be particularly interested in are a pork chop sandwich, an adobe mango chicken sausage, a supreme corned beef sandwich, an ultimate turkey club, and a host of new beer offerings.
The switch to Beggars Pizza means that I will be purchasing pizza at the ballpark for the first time in years. In addition to that, there will be the intriguing bacon on a stick, a thick cut, premium slice of Danish bacon seasoned with black pepper. Depending on the cost, this could become a new favorite.
For the lucky folks who are able to access the Club Level, Diamond Suite, or Stadium Club, there are a few more new offerings that seem appealing, but will stay just out of reach. First off is a chicken and waffle sandwich, a crispy cornflake breaded chicken served between two house-made waffles and brushed with honey butter and maple syrup. Next, for the low price of $17 comes the banana split sundae helmet, featuring four scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream and drizzled with caramel and strawberry sauces and chocolate syrup then topped with whipped cream and cherries. This three pound creation would be an occasional treat if I had access to those special areas of the park. I guess it is better for both my wallet and my waistline that I do not.
Concert Flashback: Foo Fighters/Weezer
The story of this show begins months earlier, when tickets were first due to go on sale. I had access to a pre-sale, and just as it was about to go live, there was a fire drill at work, which left me away from my computer for some time. Thankfully, I was able to still find decent seats once the drill was over. My plan was to try and entice a girl I had a crush on to attend with me, and I had a few months to work that angle.
Sadly, things did not work out in that regard, so I dumped the extra pair of tickets I had and ended up going with Tina. It seems as though the Kaiser Chiefs were the opening act for the night, but I don’t remember if we were there in time to see them or not. Weezer was the second act of the evening, and, according to Internet reports, they played a decent mix of old and new songs. They even mixed in a few covers, including a version of Big Me by their show mates.
Once they were done, the Foo Fighters came out and also mixed in old hits with selections from their new album. They also managed to break down some of their hits with elongated guitar solos that gave the audience an opportunity to thrash themselves as much as humanly possible.
The combination of the two headlining bands made this seem like a the closing acts of a festival from a decade previous, but they both provided a good night for the crowd and a good kickoff to what ended up being one of the busiest, and most exciting, weeks of my life.
#237 – Rick Wrona
Name: Rick Wrona
Rank: 237
Position: C
Year With White Sox: 1993
Rick Wrona signed a minor league deal with the White Sox prior to the 1993 season. When starting catcher Ron Karkovice went down with a shoulder injury in June, and with owner Jerry Reinsdorf fighting with Carlton Fisk, who would be released days later, the White Sox recalled Wrona, along with Mike LaValliere.
Wrona managed to get 1 hit is his 8 at bats in a White Sox uniform before being sent back to the minor leagues. After the season, he was allowed to leave the organization as a free agent.
Wrona’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were: Continue reading →
#238 – Dallas McPherson
Name: Dallas McPherson
Rank: 238
Position: 3B
Year With White Sox: 2011
Dallas McPherson joined the White Sox as a minor league free agent after the 2010 season. He opened the 2011 season at Triple A Charlotte but got a chance to return to the major leagues after Mark Teahen went down with a strained oblique.
Unfortunately for McPherson, and the White Sox, he continued to struggle at the major league level, as he had for his entire career. He was DFA’d after hitting .133 in 11 games.
After making it through waivers, he was returned to Triple A. In August, however, he was released from Charlotte in order to make room for the newly acquired Tommy Manzella.
McPherson’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →
10,000 Step Club
Way back in July of 2011, when I started this whole GlobalFit exercise (pun somewhat intended), I had the silly thought that since 10,000 steps was what is generally considered active, that I would use that as a guideline of something to ascribe to. Now, nearly 3 years later, I find that I’ve actually crossed that plateau only 31 times. As I spend today flying home from California, with the expectation that I will be adding at least one or two days to this list, I thought it would be sobering, and perhaps inspiring, to look back at the top 20 of those 31 days.
1: 6/6/2013 – 24,988 steps
My best single day total came during last summer’s trip to Disney World. The day’s excursion to both Epcot Center and the Magic Kingdom ended up with a total of approximately 12.5 miles. And yes, it does bother me that I didn’t get those 12 additional steps to reach 25,000.
2: 7/27/2013 – 20,592 steps
My second highest total came nearly 2 months after my highest, thanks to the BTN 5K and a, for lack of a better word, misunderstanding about where I should be picked up after the race. These 2 days are the sum total of my days over 20,000 steps.
3: 6/8/2013 – 17,852 steps
My third highest output brings us back to Disney World, this time for a day split between Animal Kingdom in the morning and Hollywood Studios in the afternoon. Sadly, this also ends our collection of days greater than 15,000.
4: 9/9/2012 – 14,957 steps
The fourth best day I’ve had in the last 3 years is my highest total outside of the United States. A Sunday in Belfast spent walking down to the Titanic museum
5: 6/7/2013 – 14,940 steps
We round out the top 5 with another day of last June’s vacation to Disney World. This day started with a morning trip to the hotel pool, followed by an abbreviated day at the Magic Kingdom.
Always The Fool
Mr. Michael celebrates his 9th birthday this month, and this photo is from his birthday last year, when Minecraft was still a thing. In addition, he got three other photos of himself in the calendar from his younger days, one enjoying a nice red cup, one miniature golfing, and one from Purdue’s 2011 homecoming victory over the Fighting Illini, all of which we will enjoy after the break. Continue reading →
Concert Flashback: Garbage III
It had been a long 3 1/2 months since their last Chicago appearance when Garbage returned to town in late August of 2005. A lot had changed in my life in those 3 1/2 months. I had left the North American continent for the first time. I made my (to date) last trip to Texas to visit my dad. I just felt like a completely different person from the previous show in May.
I don’t recall much about the show. Unlike the last two times I saw Garbage, I do not have a bootleg of this show, so it has drifted into the recesses of my memory. According to the Interwebs, they played a slightly longer show this time, adding 2 additional songs to the setlist. After this show, there would be many a year until the next local Garbage show, one I would be attending.