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Book 34 (of 52) – The Only One Left

The Only One Left – Riley Sager

Kit, a caregiver accused of killing her own mother, gets a new job caring for the town’s most famous resident: Leonora Hope, also accused of murdering her whole family 50 years earlier.  The mystery of the Hope murders only deepens when the previous caregiver, thought to have left in the middle of the night, is found dead on the beach below the cliff where the manor resides.  Can Kit get to the bottom the mystery before she, or the house itself, befalls the same fate?

The Only One Left is the latest offering from Riley Sager.  In this outing, he pulls back on the supernatural aspects somewhat, and those that remain all get explained away by the end.  The setting this time is the mid-80s, with some forays back into the late 1920s, when the original murders took place.  The last reveal felt a little forced, especially since some ages needed to be explained in order to make the timeline work, but it was an overall good mystery.  This now makes seven books in as many years for Sager, who shows no signs of slowing down.

 

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One Burger To Go

With a little more than an hour left before the trade deadline, word came down that the White Sox had traded Jake Burger to the Marlins for Jake Eder, the team’s fourth-ranked prospect.  Burger, selected by the White Sox in the first round of the 2018 draft, missed three minor league seasons between 2018 and 2020 due to two torn Achilles tendons and the pandemic before making his major league debut in 2021.  He has broken out as an offensive force this season, hitting 25 home runs, which puts him in a tie for third place in the American League.  Defensively, he is probably fated to be a designated hitter unless he makes major improvements.

Eder, a 24-year-old left-handed starter, had Tommy John surgery in 2021 and missed all of the 2022 season.  In nine starts across two levels this year, he has a 4.12 ERA.  If he can cut down on his walks, he should compete for a spot in the big league rotation in 2024.

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The Dog Days

As summer winds down and everyone gets ready to head back to school, we turn the page to August with a pair of pictures of Angelina with signs.  First, she poses with her Nana beneath the sign for the now-closed Ida’s Restaurant in Boston.  In the other photo, her and Danny find themselves below the marquee for Mercury Theater from our visit in November to see the stage production of Clue.

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Welcoming An Old Friend

After a good run, although against some of the dregs of the major leagues, put them back over .500 and only four games behind the NL Central leading Reds, the Cubs moved from sellers to buyers, making a move this afternoon to re-acquire Jeimer Candelario from the Nationals.  Candelario made his debut with the Cubs back in 2016, earning a World Series ring for his five-game effort.  With the Cubs looking to repeat as champions, he was traded the following July to the Tigers for the immortal Alex Avila and Justin Wilson.

Six years later, he returns, in exchange for lefty pitcher D.J. Herz and shortstop Kevin Made.  Both have a good shot at sticking in the big leagues, but are from the second tier of Cub prospects.  I guess if you find yourself just four games back at the trading deadline, you have to go for it, but odds of the Cubs 1) making the playoffs and 2) doing anything even if they happen to sneak in are extremely low.  Since it doesn’t appear that they gave up too much for him, I guess you can live with this move.  But if a losing streak comes up now that the Cubs are facing upper division teams again, you have to wonder if it was worth it.

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You Ought To Be In (14) 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 nine actors that have starred in exactly 14 movies that I have seen, down one from 3 years ago.

Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman first appeared on my radar with 1987’s Teen Wolf Too.  After another film in 1992, he took the rest of the century off and didn’t reappear on my screen until 2010, when he started a streak of five films in three years, followed by another streak of seven films in five years, culminating in 2018 Game Night, the last time I saw one of his films.

Morgan Freeman

The first film I saw starring Morgan Freeman was the Kevin Costner vehicle Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.  Starting in 2000, he put together a six-year streak that covered eight films.  My biggest Freeman years were 2000, 2005, and 2008, when I saw him in two films each.  After a five-year layoff, he returned in 2020, starring in 2019’s Angel Has Fallen.

Jennifer Lawrence

The delightful Jennifer Lawrence first appeared on my screen in 2011, thanks to 2010’s Winter’s Bone.  Since then, I have seen her in at least one movie every year, tripling up in 2013, for an active streak of twelve straight years.  My most recent film of hers was 2022’s Causeway.

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds first appeared on my movie radar in 2006, when I saw him in both The Amityville Horror and Just Friends, which started a streak of five films in four years.  He had double shots in 2006, 2011, 2017, and 2019.  2021’s Free Guy, which I saw last year, was the last I saw of him.

Paul Rudd

1998’s The Object Of My Affection was my first exposure (in a starring role) to Paul Rudd.  He then put together a run of five films in four years from 2008-2011 and, after taking a year off, had another four in the following three years.  I last saw him earlier this year, starring in Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania.

Winona Ryder

The last films of hers that I saw is still 2002’s Mr. Deeds, which I finally got around to watching in 2011.

Adam Sandler

2011’s Just Go With It, which I saw in 2013, is still my most current exposure to Sandler’s work.

Christian Slater

The last film of Slater’s that I saw was Alone In The Dark, all the way back in 2006.

John Travolta

The last starring role of Travolta’s that I saw was the 2009 remake of The Taking Of Pelham 123, which I saw in 2010.

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Fitbit IX – Week 27

Another week on the up-and-up, as I landed on the right side of 30,000 steps for the second week in a row.  Things got off to a rough start on Sunday as I finished with just 3100 steps.  Monday saw a decent increase, going up to 4100 steps.  The arrival of crosstown baseball on Tuesday led to my two best days of the week, with 6800 steps on Tuesday followed by a Wednesday performance that left me just 15 steps shy of my 7500-step goal.  A huge drop on Thursday, as I recovered from the previous two days with only 2000 steps.  An additional 5 steps were needed on Friday just to get to 3500.  A return trip to Guaranteed Rate Field on Saturday pushed me back up again, coming only 17 steps short of 5200.

Total steps: 32,298

Daily average: 4614

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The Sell-Off Continues

The dismantling of the 2023 Chicago White Sox continued today, as pitchers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly were traded to the Dodgers in exchange for Nick Nastrini, Jordan Leasure, and Trayce Thompson.  Lynn and Kelly last teamed up Wednesday night, as they combined to give up six runs in the top of the fifth in the loss to the Cubs.

The White Sox acquired the 36-year-old Lynn prior to the 2021 season, where he helped lead the team to an AL Central title, earned an All-Star nod and finished top three in AL Cy Young Award voting, and signed a three-year contract extension.  A knee injury limited him to 21 starts in 2022, and hampered his performance when he did pitch, as he saw his ERA soar by nearly one and a third runs.  This year has been a mixed bag, as some of his peripheral numbers show that he should be doing better than he has, but his ERA is well over 6 and he’s set a career high for home runs allowed, and we aren’t even to August yet.

Joe Kelly, signed as a free agent prior to the 2022 season, has not seen much success during his tenure on the south side.  Injuries hampered him in 2022 as he posted a career-worst 6.08 ERA.  He has seen better results in 2023, but still sports an ERA of 4.97 while spending more than his fair share of time on the IL.

On the return side, Nick Nastrini, a 23-year-old right-hander, appears to be the prize in the deal.  The Dodgers fourth-round pick in 2021, he reportedly has the stuff to be a starter in the big leagues if he can reign in his command.  He was 5-3 with a 4.03 ERA in 17 starts Double A.  Jordan Leasure was a 14th-round pick in 2021 and has been closing in Double A this year, compiling a 3.09 ERA with nine saves.  He’s averaging 14.4 strikeouts per nine innings, but has had issues keeping the balls that are hit in the ballpark, giving up more than one and a half homers per nine innings.  Trayce Thompson, who made his major league debut with the White Sox back in 2015, is currently on the 60-Day IL and was likely included just to give the Dodgers salary relief.

The White Sox are now down two pitchers from their starting rotation for the remainder of 2023, with indications a third, Mike Clevinger, may be moved as well if he proves healthy enough coming off the IL this weekend.  Who eats those innings for the rest of 2023?  Your guess is as good as mine.

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Giolito (and Lopez) Shuffle

Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez joined the White Sox organization together in December of 2016, part of the return in the Adam Eaton trade with the Nationals that, along with the Chris Sale trade, kickstarted the latest rebuild.  Yesterday, the two were bundled together once again, traded to the Angels and officially slamming closed the contention window the now failed rebuild was meant to open.  Giolito, who was 6-6 with a 3.79 ERA this season, and Lopez, 2-5 with a 4.29 ERA and 4 saves, will both become free agents at the end of the season.

Giolito and Lopez both had their successes with the White Sox, but it came in different ways.  Both had a decent showing in a brief cup of coffee to close out 2017, but their paths diverged in 2018.  Lopez had a decent year, going 7-10 with a 3.91 ERA while Giolito was, statistically, the worst starting pitcher in baseball.  From that point forward, though, their fortunes changed dramatically.  With the help of future pitching coach Ethan Katz, Giolito reworked his pitching motion, becoming an All Star in 2019 and throwing a no-hitter in 2020 while earning Cy Young Award votes in each season between 2019 and 2021.  Lopez, meanwhile, struggled with consistency, seeing his ERA jump to 5.38 in 2019 and 6.49 in 2020.  After a brief detour to Charlotte in 2021, Lopez returned as a bullpen arm, where he saw more success.

In exchange for the two pitchers, the Angels are sending catcher Edgar Quero, ranked as the 65th best prospect, and left-hander Ky Bush, their second and third ranked prospects.  Quero, 20, is a switch-hitter and is currently the youngest player in Double A.  Bush, 23, was the Angels’ second-round pick in 2021 and, after a non-arm injury impacted his performance earlier in the season, has posted a 1.84 ERA with 17 strikeouts over his last three appearances in Double A.

While the move should improve the White Sox fortunes in 2024 and beyond, it does leave them in a bit of a pickle for the remainder of 2023.  There is nobody in the farm system ready to step up and take Giolito’s place in the rotation.  It is extremely likely that bullpen days become the norm, especially if further deals send Lance Lynn and Mike Clevinger to other locales.  Given their past aversion to free agent deals for quality pitchers, what Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams do to try and re-work the roster to give themselves any chance of competing in 2024 is anyone’s guess.

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Cutting The Cord

Yesterday, the Marquee Sports Network announced their long-awaited direct-to-consumer subscription offering, providing in-market fans the opportunity to stream live Cubs games and other Marquee programming without having some sort of a cable or satellite service. The monthly subscription is $19.99 per month, with subscriptions available through the website and a new app.  The subscriptions are only available within the defined Cubs market, as out-of-market viewers will continue to use MLB.tv to watch the games.

As more consumers move away from traditional cable or satellite subscriptions and teams see their RSN partners go into bankruptcy and stop making their promised payments, app-based subscriptions look like the future for delivering baseball (and all sports, really) to its fans.  The only question is if that comes piecemeal, with each team coming up with their own product tied to their legacy RSN partners, or whether MLB.tv expands to include an in-market option, at additional cost.  How this eventually plays out is anyone’s guess.

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Fitbit IX – Week 26

Another week without baseball heads in the opposite direction, as I landed on the right side of 30,000 steps once again.  Things got off to a decent enough start on Sunday as I finished with 4800 steps.  Monday saw a slight drop-off, going down to 4100 steps.  A small improvement on Tuesday put me just 16 steps away from 4300.  Wednesday continued the pace, coming in at 4300 steps.  An early morning walk around the block led to Thursday reaching the highest plateau of the week, finishing with over 5600 steps.  An additional 21 steps were needed on Friday just to get to 3500.  Saturday jumped back up again, coming only 23 steps short of 4300.

Total steps: 30,925

Daily average: 4417.9