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More Of The Same

Last week, the White Sox made the long-necessary decision to move on from Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn.  As part of the announcement, the team plesdged to have a “single decision maker to lead the baseball operations department” and that they anticipate having this person in place by the end of the season.”  They said nothing about having an exhaustive search for said decision maker.

Today, Chris Getz, the assistant general manager who has spent the past seven years overseeing the team’s barren minor league operations and lack of player development, was promoted to senior vice president/general manager.  During his tenure, the White Sox have consistently been at the bottom of the rankings of minor league systems, aside from when sell-off trades at the big-league level have restocked the pantry.  Those prospects who have graduated to the major leagues have, more often than not, found themselves woefully unprepared and have seen struggles out of the gate.  To top things off, he was also responsible for hiring Omar Vizquel to manage at Double A Birmingham, where he has been accused of sexually assaulting a teenaged, autistic batboy.

The White Sox have long been an insular organization, and one that is very much in need of new ideas and viewpoints.  This was the perfect opportunity to interview the top candidates across the league, even if they wouldn’t ultimately take, or be offered, the job, and see how people outside the organization would attack the problems that have plagued it for years.  Instead, Jerry Reinsdorf has decided more of the same is the order of the day.  A disappointing end to what should have been a revitalizing process.

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Book 40 (of 52) – Pageboy

Pageboy: A Memoir – Elliot Page

In Pageboy, Elliot Page documents his struggle with his sexuality, his assigned birth gender, and coming to terms with both while trying to build and maintain a career in Hollywood.  He jumps around, from his childhood in Nova Scotia, Canada, to his involvement in hit films like Juno and the X-Men franchise, to his broken relationship with his father and stepmother, and to his love life, dropping the surprise of an affair with future My Days of Mercy co-star Kate Mara.

Page first appeared on my radar in 2006 when I saw his surprising turn in Hard Candy. He became a breakout star the following year thanks to Juno, and, career-wise, hasn’t really looked back.  His story is a sad one, as it took more than thirty years for him to get to a place where he is finally comfortable in his own skin.  Hopefully, the future bodes well for him, and I look forward to seeing him back on my screen in the future.

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Fitbit IX – Week 31

Another good week, as I posted my highest total since going to Seattle back in June.  Things got off to a decent start on Sunday as I finished with just over 4000 steps.  A post-work trip to Guaranteed Rate Field on Monday left me just 6 steps shy of 5900.  Tuesday fell off a bit, dropping down to 3800 steps.  A day off from work, a day game at the ballpark, and nearly 100-degree temperatures combined to put me 26 steps away from 5700 on Wednesday.  Another White Sox game on Thursday night, following another 100-degree day, pushed me up to 6400 steps.  Friday turned out to be my worst day of the week, getting only 3400 steps.  One final trip to the ballpark on Saturday pushed me back up, coming just 29 steps short of 5900.

Total steps: 35,163

Daily average: 5023.3

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You Ought To Be In (19) Pictures

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.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 107 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

We continue today with the six actors that have starred in exactly 19 movies that I have seen, even from 3 years ago.

Jennifer Aniston

The former Friends star first burst through onto my movie screen in 1997, with a double feature of She’s The One and Leprechaun.  In years since, she was a pretty steady contributor until 2014, with multiple films in 1997, 1998, 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2013, with a high-water mark in 1998, when I saw her in three starring roles.  Her most recent entry came in 2014, when I saw 2013’s We’re the Millers.

John Cusack

Local boy done good John Cusack entered my movie-watching consciousness in 1988 when he portrayed disgraced White Sox third baseman Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out.  After a nine-year dry spell, Cusack came back with a vengeance with three films in 1997 which started a run of eight films in four years.  Aside from 1997, he notched multiple films in 2000, 2004, and 2010.  His most recent film that I’ve seen remains 2012’s The Factory, which I watched in 2015.

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 three 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 2019, when I saw 2017’s Downsizing.

Robert DeNiro

My first experience with Robert DeNiro was back in 1988, when I saw Angel Heart.  He then went quiet to me for eight years, coming back in 1996 with Sleepers.  2000 was my high-water mark with his work when I saw three of his films, while he showed up twice in 2004, 2011, and 2016.  My most recent experience with him was in 2020, when I saw 2008’s Righteous Kill.

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves slinked on to my movie screens in 1988 in a small film called Permanent Record.  The following year, he became huge thanks to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.  2020 stands out as my best Reeves year, when I managed to see three of his films.  His most recent appearance came in 2022, when I watched the 2020 sequel Bill & Ted Face the Music.

Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington first appeared in my life in a starring role as Tom Hanks’ homophobic attorney in Philadelphia.  There have been four years, starting in 2000, where I have seen two of his films.  2002 started a five-year run where I saw secen of his films.  After a six-year absence, he returned to my screen in 2020 thanks to Ricochet, released in 1991.

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Book 39 (of 52) – This Will Only Hurt A Little

This Will Only Hurt a Little – Busy Philipps

From Freaks and Geeks to Dawson’s Creek and ER to Cougar Town, Busy Philipps has been a mainstay on television for over twenty years now.  In her memoir, It Only Hurts a Little, she covers her life story, from Oak Park to Arizona to, finally LA, where she realized her childhood dream to become an actress.

This was the first celebrity memoir I’ve read (or listened to) in a while that I’ve really enjoyed.  Busy takes herself and her career seriously, but not too seriously, and gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse into shows that I’ve watched and enjoyed.  She was (and maybe still is?) a big deal on Instagram Reels, so maybe I’ll have to give her a follow.

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Book 38 (of 52) – The Five-Star Weekend

The Five-Star Weekend – Elin Hilderbrand

Following the untimely death of her husband, a famous gourmet food blogger gathers her closest friends from different phases of her life to gather at her home on Nantucket for a weekend of celebration and indulgence.  Each woman arrives with her own drama or worries but attempt to leave the real world behind for the weekend.  What each one realizes is that doing so is easier said than done.

Elin Hilderbrand returns with The Five-Star Weekend, her latest summer beach read set on her home island of Nantucket.  I first came across her work last year, and this outing had a similar vibe.  As a Midwesterner, I never really thought about summering on Nantucket, but thanks to these works I can see the appeal.  If only I had the bank account to swing such a thing.

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It Was All A Dream About Tennessee

Because they just can’t help themselves, the White Sox once again made off the field news this week when an article in Crain’s Chicago Business broke that Jerry Reinsdorf is considering selling the team and/or moving them to a new location when the lease at Guaranteed Rate Field expires in 2029.  Alternative locations mentioned in the article were elsewhere in Chicago, the suburbs, or Nashville, Tennessee.

Now, first things first.  Reinsforf, who turns 88 next February, is unlikely to sell the team in his lifetime.  Reinsdorf made his bones as a tax attorney who was known for having detailed knowledge of the tax code and the loopholes within.  It has long been speculated that the team will not sell until after his death to shield his heirs from the capital gains tax that would be owed once the team is sold.  Reinsforf and company purchased the White Sox for $19 million back in 1981.  Conservatively, the team is worth upwards of $1 billion dollars today and would likely sell for over $2 billion.  If Reinsdorf sells, he owes taxes on the difference between the selling price and his initial $19 million investment.  If his heirs sell, they will owe tax on the difference between the value when they inherited the team and the selling price.  That’s quite a difference.

As for moving, I would be shocked if the team ended up moving out of state.  Firstly, there are still six years left on the team’s lease for the current ballpark.  A ballpark that, frankly, is in a better condition today than it was the day it opened.  The most likely outcome is that Reindorf and company is just rattling the cage in the hopes of getting concessions on a new lease agreement.  In the unlikely event the team were to move, the most obvious location would be the current Soldier Field, which the Bears are looking to abandon as they head to Arlington Heights.  Tearing down the existing structure would be costly and building something new would be costly (and what about the Fire and summertime concerts?), but could use buyout money from the Bears to cover some of that cost.  Suburban locations could also be on the table.  The teams fanbase is concentrated in the south and southwest suburbs, though last time they threatened to move they were looking to the northwest.  There is too much money to be made in Nashville as an expansion franchise for me to seriously consider that MLB would allow an existing team to relocate there.

All that said, this report will likely turn out to be much ado about nothing.  Which is exactly what you want when you’re fighting for a top draft pick in a season you were expecting to be competing for the World Series.

 

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Cleaning House

In a shocking development, the White Sox announced this afternoon that executive vice president Kenny Williams and senior vice president and general manager Rick Hahn have been relieved of their duties, effective immediately.  The team, expected to be in the middle of a contention window following a rebuild at the end of the last decade, find themselves 49-76 heading into tonight’s game.

Williams first joined the White Sox as a player via the 3rd round of the 1982 draft.  He debuted with the team in 1986 and spent parts of the following two seasons with the club.  He rejoined the White Sox organization following his retirement as a scout in November of 1992 before becoming a special assistant to Jerry Reinsdorf in 1994.  The following year, he was named director of minor league operations from 1995-1996 and served as vice president of player development from 1997-2000.  Following the 2000 season, Williams was named general manager, just the third African American in baseball history to hold the position.  He was elevated to the executive vice president role following the 2012 season, the role he served until this afternoon.

Hahn joined the White Sox organization in 2002 as the assistant general manager.  He was promoted to general manager following the 2012 season.  He was responsible for convincing Jerry Reinsdorf of the need for the rebuild and did a spectacular job of tearing down the major league team to the studs, bringing in a bevy of prospects.  It was that next step, of surrounding those prospects with the right mix of free agent veterans, where Hahn failed, either of his own accord or due to meddling from his superiors.

The announcement from the White Sox says that they plan to have a “single decision maker to lead the baseball operations department” and that they anticipate having this person in place by the end of the season.  Does Jerry Reinsdorf have it in him to bring someone new into the organization?  Or will he promote from within?  We should have the answer sometime in the next six weeks.

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Fitbit IX – Week 30

After two down weeks, I got back up above 30,000 steps for the week.  Things got off to a good start on Sunday as I finished with over 5200 steps thanks to a trip to Guaranteed Rate Field.  Monday fell off a bit, dropping down to 3700 steps.  The second round of Crosstown kicked off at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, leaving me just 9 steps short of 6800.  Things dropped off a little on Wednesday, coming in at 5,555 steps as my seats were closer to the Red Line stop.  Thursday saw big drop, needing 7 additional steps just to get to 3600.  Things were ever worse on Friday as I fell to 2700 steps.  Saturday saw a nice increase, jumping up to 4300 steps.

Total steps: 31,967

Daily average: 4566.7

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You Ought To Be In (18) Pictures

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.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 107 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

We continue today with the three actors that have starred in exactly 18 movies that I have seen, down one from 3 years ago.

Kirsten Dunst

The first Kirsten Dunst starring vehicle that I saw was Small Soldiers, which I saw in 1999.  That started a four-year run where I saw nine of her films, including four in 2000 alone.  After a one-year break, I returned to her films in 2004 with both Mona Lisa Smile and Spider-Man 2.  Besides 2000, there are five other years where I’ve seen multiple Dunst films, most recently in 2007.  Things have slowed down considerably for Dunst in my world, with her last appearance coming in 2015, when I saw her in the surprisingly good Bachelorette.

Meg Ryan

My introduction to Meg Ryan was most likely in 1990, when I saw the previous year’s hit When Harry Met Sally.  She put together a nice six-year run starting in 1994 which accounted for ten movies.  Things have been quiet of late and the most recent film of hers I’ve seen remains 2009’s Serious Moonlight back in 2010.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

My initial introduction to the future governor of California was most likely 1987’s The Running Man.  2008 was my biggest collection of his films, with three, and was one of four years where I saw multiples.  The most such year was 2020, where I saw both The Last Stand and Terminator: Dark Fate.