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FB10: Week 44

Despite the turn in weather, and the first snowfall of the season, I managed to stay above the 30,000-step plateau for the fifth week in a row.  Things got off to a decent start on Sunday as we celebrated Danny’s birthday, which left me 34 steps away from 5000.  Monday saw a big drop, going down to 3200 steps.  A charging session on Tuesday helped push me back up to 5300 steps.  Another drop on Wednesday put me 3 steps shy of 4000.  Thursday was just a little worse, needing 8 additional steps to get to 3900.  A slight increase on Friday left me just 6 steps short of 4200.  Saturday was the high point of the week, thanks to a trip to the United Center to see the Bulls battle a Zach Edey-less Grizzlies team and leaving me just 17 steps shy of 6400..

Total steps: 31,986

Daily average: 4569.4

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Fifty Years Of Music – 2017

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 2017, the year I turned 43.  Only four of these songs are familiar to me today, with just half of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#39: Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do
iTunes stats: 18 plays

The lead single from her sixth studio album, it spent three weeks atop the Hot 100 in September of 2017.

#9: Imagine Dragons – Believer
iTunes stats: 16 plays

The at bat song for former White Sox third baseman Matt Davidson, it was the band’s third top ten single, peaking at #4.

#2: Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber – Despacito
iTunes stats: N/A

Spending 16 weeks at #1, it was the first primarily Spanish language song to top the charts since 1996.

#1: Ed Sheeran – Shape of You
iTunes stats: N/A

The final song written for Sheeran’s third album, it debuted at #1 on the Hot 100 for a week and then returned for an eleven-week run after a two week break.

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Book 54 (of 52) – Fatal Intrusion

Fatal Intrusion – Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

When a killer attacks the sister of a Homeland Security agent, she starts to investigate on her own.  Coming across an impenetrable encryption found on his phone, she turns to an old “acquaintance”: a hacker she arrested years before.  Against her better judgement, he joins the investigation, using his special skills to help track down the killer and the real motives behind his attack.

Long time favorite Jeffery Deaver and new-to-me Isabella Maldonado team up on Fatal Intrusion, the first entry in what is bound to become a new series.  The tale includes plenty of twists and turns that I’ve come to expect from Deaver, and the ending sets up future adventures for the duo.  I expect we will be seeing a new entry sooner rather than later.

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Ballpark Tour: Dodgers

With the offseason well underway, we continue our tour of all of the different baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. This week, we head to Chavez Ravine to take a look at the Los Angeles Dodgers, owners of the third oldest ballpark in the major leagues. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my one game history with Dodger Stadium.

Stadium Name: Dodger Stadium

Years in Service: 1962 – Present

Visits: 1

Following the 1957 season, the Dodgers fled Brooklyn and headed west to California, landing in Los Angeles. The team played in the LA Coliseum while they built a new stadium at Chavez Ravine. In 1962, three years after breaking ground, Dodger Stadium opened as the Reds topped the Dodgers in the season opener.

The following year, the Dodgers won their first World Series in their new home. Between 1962 and 1965, Sandy Koufax threw three no hitters at the stadium, including a perfect game against the Cubs. Four home runs have been hit out of Dodger Stadium, two of which were hit by Pirate great Willie Stargell.

Dodger Stadium is currently the third oldest park still in use, behind Fenway Park and Wrigley Field.  I made my first visit to the stadium to see the second home game of the 2014 slate, with the Dodgers taking on their longtime rival Giants.  Thanks to traffic, I didn’t get to my seat until the 4th inning, by which point the Giants had secured a substantial lead. I sprung for decent seats, which put me down on the lower level. One odd thing about those lower sections were the aisles, which are so narrow that people could only go in one direction at a time. I did also manage to score a fabled Dodger Dog, or at least the all-beef version of it.  I hope to make it back some day for a repeat performance.

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2025 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Holdovers

Monday, the BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2025.  The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 21st, with induction taking place July 27th.  Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, and Joe Mauer were elected in last year’s voting and Gary Sheffield reached the ten-year maximum, leaving fourteen holdovers along with another fourteen newcomers.

Let’s take a look at the returning candidates today before moving on to the newcomers next time.

Bobby Abreu
Years on ballot: 5
2024 Percentage: 14.8

A slight downward trend for Abreu, who has a long way to go and not a lot of time to do it.

Carlos Beltran
Years on ballot: 2
2024 Percentage: 57.1

A nice bump in his second go-around for Beltran means the Astros cheating scandal might just delay his entry to Cooperstown rather than derailing it outright.

Mark Buehrle
Years on ballot: 4
2024 Percentage: 8.3

Buehrle keeps bouncing up and down but lives to fight another day in his uphill climb to make it to Cooperstown.

Torii Hunter
Years on ballot: 4
2024 Percentage: 7.3

Despite a small increase from the previous year, things do not look good for the long-term prospects of the former Twin and Angel.

Andruw Jones
Years on ballot: 7
2024 Percentage: 61.6

With just three elections left, Jones keeps trending in the right direction but doesn’t have all that much time left.

Andy Pettitte
Years on ballot: 6
2024 Percentage: 13.5

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Book 53 (of 52) – Unmissing

Unmissing – Minka Kent

Missing for ten years and presumed dead, a woman shows up on her husband’s doorstep, only to be greeted by his new wife.  Finding a local shop owner willing to help her get back on her feet, she tries to re-establish a relationship with her former husband and strikes up a friendship with the new wife.  But, everyone here has a secret that will ultimately threaten all of their lives going forward.

I’ve read a number of works from Minka Kelly in the past, but Unmissing, while having the germ of a good idea, missed the mark.  The wife, kidnapped and held captive for a decade, for some reason doesn’t go to the police once she escapes.  Her captor, who claims to have purposefully let her escape, does not seem overly concerned over the possibility of her going to the police.  And nobody seems all that concerned about cleaning up their mess once she shows back up, even when it is obvious she hasn’t gone to the police.  The whole thing was nonsensical.  There’s the ability to suspend disbelief and then there’s needing nobody in your story to act like a real human being would in order to move the plot forward.  Here’s hoping this was a temporary misstep for Kent and that she will rebound with her next effort, should I choose to read it.

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FB10: Week 43

An overall down week saved somewhat by one day that kept me above the 30,000-step plateau for the fourth week in a row.  The week got off to an excellent start on Sunday as I ran around Boston watching Angelina finish the Boston Half marathon before flying home, leaving me 14 steps away from 9500, my second straight day over goal.  A day off on Monday to recover dropped me down to 3600 steps.  Returning to work on Tuesday powered a nice improvement, falling 40 steps shy of 4700.  Wednesday was the low point of the week, falling down to 2900 steps.  Another improvement on Thursday pushed me back up, needing just 28 additional steps to get to 4100.  A slight decrease on Friday dropped me down to 3800 steps.  The week puttered out on Saturday with just 3900 steps.

Total steps: 32,476

Daily average: 4639.4

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Book 52 (of 52) – Indelible

Indelible – Karin Slaughter

When two gunmen take over the Grant County police station, killing one and taking the rest hostage in the process, Sara Linton tries to keep her ex-husband alive without letting on who he is.  The GBI, led by Amanda Wagner, arrive on the scene and use Lena Adams, on her first day back on the force, to infiltrate the station and get the lay of the land.  Sara, thinking back to the first time she met Jeffrey’s family and friends when he brought her to his hometown, learns who the shooters are, but can she use that knowledge to stop them from killing again.

Indelible is the fourth entry in Karin Slaughter’s Grant County series and introduces some new characters who will become integral parts of her later Will Trent series.  This certainly wasn’t my favorite work of hers. as the flashbacks to the past and Jeffrey’s origin story, while it tied into the A-plot, seemed to overwhelm the rest of the story.  I’ve got two more entries in this series to go, so I should be wrapping it up relatively soon.

For the second straight year, Karin Slaughter is the author of my goal-reaching 52nd book.  This is just the fourth time since I started this “52 books in 52 weeks” challenge back in 2010 that I made it to the finish line. I should be able to give my personal record of 59 books, set last year, a run for its money.

 

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Fifty Years Of Music – 2016

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 2016, the year I celebrated my 42nd birthday.  A mere two of these songs are familiar to me, with just one appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#79: Taylor Swift – Wildest Dreams
iTunes stats: 14 plays

Peaking at #5 in November of 2015, it returned to the charts in 2021 thanks to the re-recorded Taylor’s Version, where it reached #19.

#7: Adele – Hello
iTunes stats: N/A

The last #1 single of 2015 and the first of 2016, it spent ten total weeks atop the Hot 100.

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2024 BBWAA Award Predictions

The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the recently completed baseball season, which will be announced next week.  It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Bobby Witt Jr.

While Witt led the league in hitting while posting a 30-30 season and leading the surprising Royals back to the post-season, Judge’s 58 home runs and 1.159 OPS, the highest number since Barry Bonds in 2004, should take this with no problem.

Cy Young Award: Emmanuel Clase, Seth Lugo, Tarik Skubal

In his breakout season, Skubal looks like the logical choice, winning the AL triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts.

Manager of the Year: A.J. Hinch, Matt Quatraro, Stephen Vogt

As usual, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  Three teams from the AL Central made the post-season and all three of their skippers show up here.  I’m guessing that A.J. Hinch, whose Tigers were left for dead before going on a tremendous stretch run to get into the playoffs, will get the award.

Rookie of the Year: Colton Cowser, Luis Gil, Austin Wells

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  The two Yankees both had impressive stretches throughout the season but also faced significant struggles at times.  Cowser, meanwhile, tied for the rookie lead with 24 home runs and led AL rookies with a 123 OPS+, which should earn him the nod.

National League

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