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#239 – Donnie Hill

donnie-hillName: Donnie Hill

Rank: 239

Position: 2B

Years With White Sox: 1987-1988

Donnie Hill was acquired by the White Sox as the player to be named later in the earlier trade that sent Gene Nelson to the A’s.  The 1987 season was painful for him, both physically and emotionally.  An eye infection struck him in May and lingered for nearly 2 months, making it difficult to see.  As a result, his batting average plunged to .239.  “It was just a pain in the tail,” Hill said. “I don’t know how I got the problem.  Whatever I did only seemed to make it worse.  It was a distraction, but I’m not using it as an excuse.”

Going in to the 1988 season, Hill was slated to platoon at second base with Fred Manrique.  Things did not improve for Hill, though, as he appeared in only 83 games and his average dropped to .217.  “I never should have tried to change what I did in Oakland,” Hill said, “but I’m still confident in my ability. I know there are some things I need to do in the off-season-drop a little weight and get stronger. I’m not finished.”

The White Sox were just about finished with him, though.  Hill came to spring training in 1989, but was released on March 9, about a week into the Grapefruit League schedule.

Hill’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

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All Time Team Records

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersAnother exciting baseball season is upon us, and it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have attended.  Some changes from last year:

– A horrible 2013 dropped the winning percentage for the White Sox 9 points.

– The Miami Marlins join the roster of teams I have seen in person

All-Time Team Records

TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 1 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 12 2 0.857
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
Philadelphia Phillies 10 6 0.625
Toronto Blue Jays 9 6 0.600
Chicago White Sox 220 187 0.541
Tampa Bay Rays 7 6 0.538
Colorado Rockies 7 6 0.538
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 15 13 0.536
New York Yankees 9 8 0.529
Chicgao Cubs 191 170 0.529
Continue reading →
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Concert Flashback: Garbage II

05garbage

Garbage released their fourth album in April of 2005, which broght them back to Chicago, this time to the Metro.  Opening for them were UK ska punk band The Dead 60s, who had just released their first album.  I’m not sure if I knew of them at the time, but I picked up a copy of their album at some point over the years and only one of their songs sticks with me.

Garbage eventually came out and played a set which mixed in some new songs with their hits.  Once again, someone managed to record the show, which eventually got leaked as a bootleg, which I now have in my collection.  Garbage was still one of my favorite bands and, having now seen them twice, I would have been more than willing to see them again the next time they came to town, whenever that would be.

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GlobalFit III: Week 36

Y3Week36

The week got off to an odd start as the temperature broke 50 degrees for the first time all year on Monday, but an overturned semi gave me my second 2 1/2 hour plus commute to work in under a week.  Despite that, and thanks to a meeting in North plaza in the morning and a coffee run in the afternoon, I was able to put up a pretty good total.  Tuesday finished a mere 60 steps below the 5000 step mark, mainly due to my decision to not wear the tracker when I got home from work.  Yet another snowstorm kept me home on Wednesday, which led to the day’s small total.  Thursday was a good bounce back day, thanks to my last night of bowling for the season.  Friday finished off the pretty decent week, before yet another horrid weekend performance.

Total steps: 32,876

Weekly average: 4696.6

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#240 – Antonio Osuna

osunaName: Antonio Osuna

Rank: 240

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2001-2002

When Bill Simas went down for the entire 2001 season during spring training, GM Kenny Williams struck a deal with the Dodgers on St. Patrick’s Day, acquiring Antonio Osuna for a collection of minor league talent. Unfortunately for Williams and the White Sox, a cyst in Osuna’s pitching shoulder limited him to 4 poor appearances in April before requiring season ending surgery.

Osuna bounced back in 2002, appearing in 59 games and posting a 3.86 ERA.  He, along with Damaso Marte, replaced Keith Foulke as the team’s closer at the All Star break, converting 11 out of 14 save opportunities.

In January of 2003, Osuna was sent to the Yankees as part of the 3 team deal that brought Bartolo Colon to the White Sox and sent Orlando Hernandez, Rocky Biddle, and Jeff Liefer to the Expos.

Osuna’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

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Veronica Mars Poster Watch – Day 11

VMposter
After 11 days, the mystery of the Veronica Mars movie poster has finally come to an end.
USPS
The poster has seen better days, as it obviously either came open or was deliberately opened at some point during it’s trip.  The 8 day trek to travel the approximately 25 miles from Beecher, IL to my front door step left the right side of the poster crinkled up and with one of the plastic caps at the end of the poster tube missing in action.  I guess I can’t complain, though, since I had pretty much written off ever seeing the poster arrive.  Kudos, I guess, to the USPS.  Your item may be ruined, but they will (eventually) get it there.
 

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2014 Tickets – Northside Edition

Once again, the Cubs manage to far surpass their play on the field with their superb season ticket packaging.  This year, the team has upgraded from a cardboard box to a large tin featuring an old drawing of Wrigley Field.

2014CubBoxInside the tin was a cornucopia of treasures.  Once again, the team tried to save a few shekels on credit card fees by bribing encouraging people to pay by check.  This year’s enticement was a coffee table book celebrating the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field. Continue reading →

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Veronica Mars Poster Watch – Day 8

VMposter

One of the perks from the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign was a movie poster.  I got an email back on March 6th saying that it had shipped and gave me the tracking number from the USPS.  The expected delivery data was Tuesday, March 11th, which was one week ago.  USPS still claims it is on track for delivery on the 11th, with its last known location being the sort facility in Beecher, IL on March 13th.  There’s been no update since then.  At this point, I’m not holding out hope that it will ever arrive, but I’ll keep looking as long as USPS says it is in transit.

VMposterUSPS

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2014 Tickets – Southside Edition

Word came down yesterday afternoon that Cub season tickets had started to arrive, so imagine my surprise when I got home and found this sitting on my doorstep:

2014soxbox

Inside the box were the two ticket books, a collection of parking passes, and some miscellaneous paperwork.  The tickets themselves have returned to a portrait orientation, and feature photos of all-time White Sox greats.

Continue reading →