Author / admin

by admin

2013: The Year In Books

2013books

With another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 18 books I read over the past year, 6 overall less than last year but the same total if you exclude the graphic novels.  Of those 18, 5 were non-fiction and, of the 13 novels, 5 were TV show tie-ins.  Only 3 of the books came from the “to-read” drawer, and 7 were e-books, which was a new category for me last year.

 

A majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before.  The 11 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Alan Sepinwall
Joe Hill
Rebecca Forster
Sarah Silverman
Kimberly McCreight
Andrew Gross
Ben Mezrich
Tina Fey
Ron Rapoport
David Mack
Dustin Diamond

The ghost writer for Richard Castle was the only author I read multiple times in 2013.

The five books that I read this year that were released this year were Richard Castle’s Deadly Heat, Kimberly McCreight’s Reconstructing Amelia, Brad Meltzer’s The Fifth Assassin, Warren Ellis’ Gun Machine, and From Black Sox to Threepeats, edited by Ron Rapoport.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Being off again for most of December certainly helped pad the total a tad bit.

Continue reading →

by admin

Concert Flashback: Veruca Salt

95verucasaltIn the spring of 1995, I made plans, along with my friends Tina and Kelley, to travel from West Lafayette over to Champaign to see Veruca Salt, who was playing one of the bars at the University of Illinois.  The task of acquiring tickets was left up to my sister, who joined us at the show.

Neither opening act, Hazel and Squash Blossom, were well known at the time, or have been heard from since.  The headliners were just starting to make a name for themselves as part of the burgeoning Chicago alternative music scene.  Their first hit, Seether, would have dropped the previous fall and they were just about to wrap up their first headlining tour.

The show itself is a bit of a blur all these years later, but I do remember that either Tina or Kelley went home with a guitar pick and we all ended up with some of the tape that kept the extra picks attached to the mike stand.  Exciting, I know.

After the show, the girls headed off to stay with a friend while I crashed in my sister’s dorm room.  The next day, we headed back to good old Purdue, with a stop off in Danville for what I fondly remember as the greasiest pizza I’ve ever seen.  If you can’t trust the Danville Pizza Hut, who can you trust.

by admin

#258 – Marvin Freeman

freemanName: Marvin Freeman

Rank: 258

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1996

Marvin Freeman joined the White Sox after being claimed on waivers from the Rockies on August 31, 1996.  He appeared in 1 game for the White Sox, starting and giving up 3 runs in 2 plus innings in a game the White Sox eventually won 13-5 over the Red Sox.  It wound up being his final major league appearance.  He left the team as a free agent following the season.

Freeman’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

Continue reading →

by admin

#259 – Scott Bradley

scottbradleyName: Scott Bradley

Rank: 259

Position: C

Year With White Sox: 1986

Scott Bradley joined the White Sox on February 13, 1986 along with Neil Allen and a minor leaguer who never sniffed the big leagues from the Yankees in exchange for Ron Hassey, Matt Winters, and two additional minor leaguers who would never again heard from.  Bradley spent the majority of his time with the White Sox in Triple A, earning a promotion to the big league club on May 28th after the release of Marc Hill.  With Carlton Fisk and Joel Skinner also on the roster, Bradley wasn’t going to be limited to catching.  “Wherever they want to play me is fine with me,” Bradley said. “The whole key is being here.”

He wasn’t there for long, though.  On June 26, his short stay in Chicago came to an end when he was traded to the Mariners for a player to be named later, which, 5 days later, became Ivan Calderon.

Bradley’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

Continue reading →

by admin

GlobalFit III: Week 22.5

Y3Week22plusWhile I’ve been away on this long Christmas vacation, the good folks at GlobalFit have revamped their Destination You website.  In addition to new graphics, the main change that would affect our weekly looks at my activity is the move from a Sunday through Saturday week to a Monday through Sunday.  Which means that when we finally take a look at Week 23 once I go back to work in January, we will have lost track of one day, Sunday December 8.  So, since it wouldn’t count if it wasn’t listed on this site, here are my pathetic steps for that one day.  1,244 total steps, the majority of which came in the 3 and 4 o’clock hours, thanks to Danny’s basketball game.

by admin

2014 Calendar

Cover

Now that Christmas has come and gone, we can unveil the cover to this year’s calendar gift made up of pictures I have taken throughout the year.  This year’s calendar was once again produced by the good folks at Shutterfly, which has allowed for some new creative flourishes.  For each of the kid’s birthday month, they have a current photo surrounded by smaller pictures of them from year’s past.  Time surely moves quickly when you see them grow up in picture form.

This year’s cover is from our trip to Disney World last summer.  On our second day at Hollywood Studios, we were able to get some dry pictures with everybody’s favorite duck character, Ducky Momo, from the Phineas & Ferb cartoon.  As in year’s past, we will unveil each month’s photo on the first of the month throughout 2014.

by admin

#260 – Mike Devereaux

mikedevereauxName: Mike Devereaux

Rank: 260

Position: RF

Year With White Sox: 1995

Following the end of the work stoppage that wiped out the 1994 post season, Mike Devereaux signed a one-year deal with the White Sox during the abbreviated spring training prior to the delayed 1995 season.  He was impressive, putting up a .306 average for the South Siders in 92 games.

On August 26, he was sent to the Braves for prospect Andre King.  “We’re not going to the playoffs likely,” manager Terry Bevington said. “We’d need 20 wins in a row. I’m a guy that doesn’t give up ’til we’re mathematically eliminated, but the odds are very low. So here’s a chance for to go to the playoffs. I’m sorry to lose him, but I’m happy for him.”

Devereaux’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

Continue reading →

by admin

Concert Flashback: Aerosmith

94aerosmithWith summer winding down and just a few weeks before it was time to head back down to college, Aerosmith and Jackyl rolled in to the World Music Theatre.  I don’t really remember who came along to this show, but my guess is that the usual band of suspects were there,  I’m going to be completely honest and say I don’t remember much of anything about this show at all.

Jackyl opened up the show and, based on their setlist, it wouldn’t have been too exciting.  Of their 8 song set, I’ve only heard of 2 of the songs, and only really liked 1 of them.

Looking back at Aerosmith’s setlist from the night in question, I’m struck more by the songs they didn’t play than the ones they did.  They managed to get 8 songs from their latest album into the show, which meant there was no room for older favorites like What It Takes, Angel, and Back In The Saddle, to name a few.  Beyond those 8, it was a pretty good mix of songs from their initial 70s heyday and their post-Run DMC resurrection.

by admin

#261 – Roy Smalley

roysmalleyName: Roy Smalley

Rank: 261

Position: 3B

Year With White Sox: 1984

Roy Smalley came to the White Sox on July 18, 1984 from the Yankees in exchange for Kevin Hickey and future Cy Young award winner Doug Drabek.  The Sox took a chance that Smalley could help wake up their struggling club and help them to repeat as champions of the American League West.  He hit .239 with the Yankees, but the change of scenery didn’t end his struggles.  Smalley appeared hesitant defensively at third base and out of sync at the plate, hitting an anemic .170 in 48 games with the Sox.

The next February, the White Sox sent Smalley to the Twins, in exchange for minor leaguers Ron Scheer and Randy Johnson (no, not that Randy Johnson).  Under an unusual arrangement, the Twins had to keep Smalley for at least two years, at which point they had the option of returning him to the Sox.  Smalley ended up playing three years with the Twins before he, and the 3 years and $1.6 remaining on his contract, was shipped back to Chicago.

After adjusting things to make room for him during spring training, the White Sox made Smalley their final cut coming out of spring training.  “They’ve got a direction they are going in,” Smalley said. “It was obvious from the beginning that the direction didn’t include me.”  Despite not making the team, Smalley impressed the Sox brass.  “He’s a fine young man,” said Sox manager Jim Fregosi.  “He handled himself very well.”  The 35-year old Smalley never played in the major leagues again.

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

Continue reading →

by admin

#262 – Ben Davis

ben-davisName: Ben Davis

Rank: 262

Position: C

Year With White Sox: 2004

Ben Davis was acquired by the White Sox along side Freddy Garcia in the June 27, 2004 trade that sent Mike Morse, Miguel Olivo, and Jeremy Reed to the Mariners.  Davis appeared in 54 games for the White Sox after the trade, putting up an anemic .231 batting average.

He re-signed with the White Sox for the 2005 campaign, but the arrival of A.J. Pierzynski meant Davis started the year in Triple A Charlotte.  He only appeared in 10 games before a fractured finger and a right elbow injury ended his season.  He underwent Tommy John surgery, was released at the end of the season, and never played in the major leagues again.

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

Continue reading →