Tag / Corona Virus

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White Sox All Time Leaders – Through 2019

cws_logoWith baseball now officially on its way back after the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look back at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We finish things off today with the hometown Chicago White Sox.

I’ve seen the White Sox play 592 times at 13 different stadiums in 9 different cities, including every home playoff appearance in 2000, 2005, and 2008 except for Game 1 of the 2005 World Series.

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 93
Jermaine Dye 39
Jose Abreu 36

Hits

Name Total
Paul Konerko 366
Alexei Ramirez 299
A.J. Pierzynski 231

Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 200
Alexei Ramirez 133
A.J. Pierzynski 104

RBI

Name Total
Paul Konerko 235
Alexei Ramirez 138
Jermaine Dye 107

Doubles

Name Total
Paul Konerko 57
Alexei Ramirez 49
A.J. Pierzynski 41

Triples Continue reading →

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200 Things To Do In Illinois – Water Tower

Illinois celebrated its bicentennial as a state in December of 2018. To celebrate, the Chicago Tribune published the Bicentennial Bucket List: 200 Things To Do In Illinois, celebrating the best the state has to offer in history, food, architecture, culture, sports, nature, drink, and oddities. With the state still shut down due to the corona virus outbreak, I figured this was the second-best time to look through this collection and cover the ones I’ve done/eaten/seen.

We continue things this week with one of the entries from the History category: Water Tower, from Chicago, IL.

Salute a survivor of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 by stepping inside the city’s Historic Water Tower, an enduring Michigan Avenue landmark that’s now a repository for local artists’ work.

If I’m being honest, I’ve never actually been inside the old Water Tower.  But, I’ve been by it plenty of times, including catching a carriage ride after junior prom way back when.

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Fitbit 6: Week 24

Week 17 of working from home due to the corona virus was still disappointing, in the grand scheme of things, but, for the second week in a row, was my best showing since being stuck at home.  The week got off to a slow start on Sunday, finishing 9 steps shy of 4800.  Monday saw a slight improvement, coming in just shy of 5000 steps.  Tuesday was better still, coming in over 5100.  Wednesday was the high point of the week, coming in above goal by 66 steps.  Thursday fell off a bit, back down to 4300 steps, the week’s low point.  Friday saw a nice improvement, back up to to 5400 steps.  Saturday could have been better, but also could have been worse, finishing with 5200 steps.

Total steps: 37,544

Daily average: 5363.4

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Cubs All Time Leaders – Through 2019

chc_logoWith baseball now officially on its way back after the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look back at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue things today with the Chicago Cubs.

I’ve seen the Cubs play 416 times at 9 different stadiums in 7 different cities, with the earliest identified game at Wrigley Field on August 4, 1984 against the Mets, through a late August 2019 game against the Nationals.

Home Runs

Name Total
Sammy Sosa 42
Aramis Ramirez 41
Derrek Lee 38

Hits

Name Total
Derrek Lee 245
Aramis Ramirez 216
Sammy Sosa 136

Runs

Name Total
Derrek Lee 136
Aramis Ramirez 114
Sammy Sosa 102

RBI

Name Total
Aramis Ramirez 151
Derrek Lee 128
Sammy Sosa 97

Doubles

Name Total
Derrek Lee 51
Aramis Ramirez 48
Michael Barrett 29

Triples Continue reading →

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Looking Ahead To 2021

For reasons that I don’t entirely understand, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2021 schedule late last week, 3 weeks before the 2020 season begins. The local squads should have common goals in mind for 2021: competing for a title.  Assuming, of course, that the 2020 season goes off as planned and the pandemic winds down enough for 2021 to proceed as planned.  So, for one day, at least, let’s turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

The White Sox open their season against the Angels in (Los Angeles, California, Anaheim), the first time that has happened since 1993.  Which, I guess, is a decent sign if one’s looking for omens towards a division title.  They return home a week later, facing the Royals for the home opener.

The interleague schedule pits the White Sox against the NL Central, with trips to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee and home series against the Reds, Cardinals, and the Pirates. The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a series at Wrigley at the beginning of August and a follow-up at Guaranteed Rate Field at the end of the month.

The season ends with a 5 game homestand against the Reds and Tigers.

On the north side, the Cubs open their season up at home against the Pirates, which seems to be a familiar Opening Day foe.

The interleague schedule pits the Cubs against the AL Central, with trips to Cleveland, Detroit, and Minnesota and home series against the Indians, Royals, and the Twins.

The Cubs end the year with a 12 of their final 14 games against the NL Central, with 9 of those coming against the Brewers and the Cardinals, who are likely to challenge them for the NL Central crown.

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Twins All Time Leaders – Through 2019

Minnesota-TwinsWith baseball now officially on its way back after the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look back at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue things today with the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins originated in 1901 as the Washington Senators, one of the charter members of the American League.  When Minneapolis was given an expansion team to begin play in 1961, owner Calvin Griffith requested to move the Senators to Minnesota, becoming the Twins, and to have the expansion franchise take over the Senators name in Washington.  I’ve seen them play 59 times at 3 different stadiums, including the division-title deciding game 163 in 2008.

Home Runs

Name Total
Oswaldo Arcia 6
Jason Kubel 4
Brian Dozier 4
Torii Hunter 4

Hits

Name Total
Joe Mauer 43
Justin Morneau 25
Trevor Plouffe 23

Runs

Name Total
Joe Mauer 19
Brian Dozier 13
Trevor Plouffe 11

RBI

Name Total
Justin Morneau 15
Oswaldo Arcia 14
Torii Hunter 11

Doubles

Name Total
Trevor Plouffe 6
Justin Morneau 5
Oswaldo Arcia 5
Joe Mauer 5
Brian Dozier 5

Triples Continue reading →

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Active Batting Leaders – Through 2019

baseballs2Way back in February, we looked at the overall leaders on both sides of the ball from all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2019.  After a months long pandemic due to the corona virus and weeks spent fighting between the powers that be and the MLBA, Opening Day is finally right around the corner.  Let’s take another look at those numbers, limiting it to players that are still active heading in to the delayed 2020 season.  A few notable retirements will be hardly noticeable on these lists from last year.

Home Runs

Name Total
Jose Abreu 36
Tim Anderson 16
Avisail Garcia 15
Gordon Beckham 15
Melky Cabrera 14

Hits

Name Total
Jose Abreu 193
Gordon Beckham 146
Melky Cabrera 132
Tim Anderson 113
Adam Eaton 105

Runs

Name Total
Jose Abreu 89
Gordon Beckham 85
Tim Anderson 62
Avisail Garcia 58
Adam Eaton 52

RBI

Name Total
Jose Abreu 106
Gordon Beckham 71
Melky Cabrera Continue reading →
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Fitbit 6: Week 23

Week 16 of working from home due to the corona virus was still disappointing, in the grand scheme of things, but was my best showing since being stuck at home.  The week got off to a slow start on Sunday, finishing 87 steps shy of 3000.  Monday saw a slight improvement, coming in just shy of 4100 steps.  Tuesday was better, coming in 29 steps shy of 6000.  Wednesday saw another improvement, ending the day with 6500 steps.  Thursday was the high point of the week, finishing above goal with 7600 steps.  Friday was a nice day off, which I translated into 5200 steps.  Saturday came a little lower, due in part to a double celebration of Independence Day and my sister’s birthday, leaving me with 4700 steps.

Total steps: 37,175

Daily average: 5310.7

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Royals All Time Leaders – Through 2019

royalsWith baseball now officially on its way back after the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look back at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue today with the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals began life in 1969, joining the American League following the abandonment of the Kansas City market by the A’s following the 1967 season.  I’ve seen them play 55 times, first in 1985 at old Comiskey Park where Willie Wilson took a throw to second base off the noggin, to last April, where I saw them in an early season series at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Home Runs

Name Total
Alex Gordon 6
Eric Hosmer 5
Salvador Perez 5

Hits

Name Total
Eric Hosmer 31
Billy Butler 30
Alcides Escobar 30

Runs

Name Total
Alex Gordon 17
Alcides Escobar 15
Billy Butler 13

RBI

Name Total
Whit Merrifield 17
Billy Butler 16
Salvador Perez 15

Doubles

Name Total
Alcides Escobar 10
Billy Butler 6
Alex Gordon 6

Triples Continue reading →

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Tigers All Time Leaders – Through 2019

tigersWith baseball now officially on its way back after the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look back at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue today with the Detroit Tigers.

The Tigers began life in 1894 as part of the Western League and became a charter franchise of the American League in 1901, making them the oldest one city, one name franchise in the American League.  I’ve seen them play 55 times, including the second game ever, and my first game, at the new Comiskey Park.

Home Runs

Name Total
Miguel Cabrera 8
Nick Castellanos 4
Ryan Raburn 3
Jhonny Peralta 3

Hits

Name Total
Miguel Cabrera 26
Nick Castellanos 19
Ryan Raburn 19

Runs

Name Total
Miguel Cabrera 17
Ian Kinsler 11
Nick Castellanos 10
Austin Jackson 10

RBI

Name Total
Miguel Cabrera 20
Ryan Raburn 13
Nick Castellanos 11

Doubles

Name Total
Jose Iglesias 5
Miguel Cabrera 4
Ian Kinsler 4
Alex Avila 4

Triples Continue reading →