Tag / MLB Network

by admin

Travelling The 50 States – Virginia

Over my 48 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning.  Working in alphabetical order, we continue today with the 10th state to be added to the Union: Virginia.

State: Virginia
Joined the Union: 1788
Visits: 2

Over the years, I’ve two trips to Old Dominion, in 2016 and in 2018.

My first foray in Virgina came in 2016, on a road trip from Chicago to Disney World.  Arriving about fifteen hours behind schedule, we finally managed to get to Jeff’s apartment in beautiful Roanoke.  After schlepping our luggage up to the third floor, it was time to relax and take in all the sights Virginia had to offer.  And what it had to offer was a White Sox spring training game on the MLB Network and the first four episodes of the recently released Daredevil season 2 on Netflix.  A take-out Chinese dinner was the capper on the day, after which we retreated to different rooms and called it a day.

Things got off to an early start, for me at least, as I found Saturday night’s dinner not agreeing with me very well.  When I woke up for real on Sunday morning, Jeff had been out to the market and had returned with bagels and other items and fresh coffee being brewed.  Eventually, Val woke up and the three of us spent the morning eating breakfast and watching the Sunday morning news shows.

After taking in a fifth episode of the new season of Daredevil, we decided to head out on the second leg of the trip, with Disney World our next destination.  Our first stop was at the Wendy’s in Ridgeway, Virginia, about an hour into the trip.  While certain people tried to once again get their bearings, I went in and bought lunch for both Jeff and myself.  Val expressed interest in some curly fries, perhaps intrigued by the previous day’s stop at Arby’s, but the Hardee’s across the street did not offer them and there was no Arby’s in sight.  Over Val’s objections, Jeff vowed to stop at the next Arby’s we found to get her those curly fries, but we oddly did not see one for the rest of the day.

I made my second trip to Virginia in late July of 2018 to celebrate Jeff’s 50th birthday.  The trip started Thursday night after work, when Val and I caught a flight to Roanoke.  The three of us worked remotely on Friday before heading out for dinner and to see the sights of Roanoke, which basically was The Roanoke Star and a grocery store.  Saturday, we headed out early to hike up Catawba Mountain to McAfee Knob.  With an elevation of 3,197 feet and a trail distance of approximately 4.4 miles, McAfee Knob is one of the highlights of the Appalachian Trail.  It took quite an effort on my part, and probably more time than we were planning, but the views from the top, not to mention the satisfaction of one of my traveling companions, were worth it.  The trip back down was a bit easier, thanks to a fire road, but a small stumble by yours truly certainly made things interesting.  Sunday was spent relaxing and recovering from the strain of the previous day, until it was time to head back to the airport and fly home.

Will I return?  One day, I’d imagine.

by admin

Vacation Recap – Florida Roadtrip

A few weeks back, I headed out on a road trip to Florida and Disney World by way of Virginia.  To say things did not go as planned would be an understatement.  This is the story of that trip.

Friday

The plan was to leave work around noon, thanks to a meeting I had with the fine folks in AF.  Our first stop was across the street at Mariano’s, to get lunch, snacks for the trip, and a opaque container that would allow Jeff to drink during the drive outside the view of law enforcement.  An hour later, we were on the road, with Val behind the wheel, me in the passenger seat, and Jeff and a case of Blue Moon in the back.  Our destination, Roanoke, Virginia, lay 700 miles away, with an estimated arrival time of 11:30 PM.  Jeff, thinking this road trip was taking place in the early 2000s, had brought along a collection of CDs for us to listen to, which lasted through much of the Illinois portion of the trip.  Eventually, though, we switched to the playlist I had put together, which led to the first amusing tale of the trip.

When Lily Allen’s hit song Fuck You came up on the playlist in Indianapolis, a not-so-slightly inebriated Jeff instantly took to its charms, seeing it as an anthem against his perceived work antagonists.  As the song played, he dialed it up in the iTunes store on his phone, passed it up front to make sure it was the right one, and then purchased it.  More on this later.

Speaking of drunk Jeff, his plan on drinking throughout the drive had an unintended consequence: our estimated arrival time.  He made the cardinal sin of breaking the seal, after which we needed to stop for him to use the bathroom practically ever hour.  Once you added in his smoking time, we spent approximately 20 minutes of every hour standing still, which pushed our expected arrival in Virginia well past midnight.  During one of these stops, in the lovely town of New Castle, Indiana, we even had to find a WalMart in order to replenish the supply of Blue Moon.  Eventually, we made it out of Indiana and into Ohio with Val still behind the wheel.  However, around 7 PM, things started to go wrong.

We were starting to go through some mountainous terrain when Val suddenly started to feel sick.  She pulled off at the next exit, found a driveway next to what appeared to be a trailer park, and stopped to walk around and catch her breath.  Meanwhile, Jeff, claiming he was now sober (but lying through his teeth) decided he would drive once we got back on the road.  I tried to stop him, but he had the keys, it was his car, and Val was in no position to back either one of us, so he won out.  Eventually, we tried to get going again, but had to pull off again at a gas station before we made any real progress.

While Jeff and Val came in and out of the gas station, I started looking for local hotels.  It was obvious at this point that we would not be making it to Virginia, so this was as good a spot as any to stop for the night.  The closest Hampton Inn was about 10 miles back in the other direction, so, after purchasing some Pepto-Bismal, we slowly reversed our course and found the hotel, where Jeff decided he and he alone could help Val, leaving me to babysit the car which he had left in front of the door.  Unfortunately for us, the hotel did not have any double rooms, so, after a bit of finagling, we ended up with 3 rooms for the night in Chillicothe, Ohio, a mere 300 miles short of our intended destination.

chillicotheSaturday

Waking up in beautiful Chillicothe, I showered and headed down for the free breakfast in the hotel lobby, where I ran into a now sober Jeff.  The day was off to a great start, as he had thoughts about this Hampton Inn and how it did not live up to his expectations for the chain.  I had a bed to sleep in and was able to make my own Belgian waffle, so I was content.  Neither one of us had heard from Val since the night before, so we were both anxious to see how she was holding up, hoping, of course, for the best.

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by jim

Mix Tape Monday – Undated

After my tape deck crapped out in 1997, I was stuck listening to either the radio or full albums in whatever order the artist intended. That all changed in 2001, when the new-fangled MP3 technology got combined with my new CD burner.

From what I can tell, this undated CD was from the lost year of 2004.  In addition to songs that were released in 2004, we also have an ode to former White Sox infielder Willie Harris, which I believe was popular at the ballpark back in 04.

The Muffs – Everywhere I Go

You may recognize this song from a popular Fruitopia commercial.

iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 5/11/2012

J. J. Abrams – Alias theme

This is currently my ring tone for people I work with.

iTunes stats: 10 plays, most recently on 8/21/2012

Avril Lavigne – Don’t Tell Me

The first single from Lavigne’s second album.

iTunes stats: 1 plays, on 8/8/2008

Green Day – American Idiot

Nominated for 4 Grammys, this was Green Day’s first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

iTunes stats: 12 plays, most recently on 1/11/2013

Avril Lavigne – My Happy Ending

The second single from Lavigne’s second album.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 8/27/2009

Ashlee Simpson – Pieces Of Me

The debut single from Jessica’s little sister.

iTunes stats: 6 plays, most recently on 9/16/2012

Sweet – Little Willy

The 1972 hit was reintroduced to White Sox fans whenever Willie Harris would do something worthwhile/

iTunes stats: 6 plays, most recently on 11/9/2012

K’s Choice – Something’s Wrong

An album track from K’s Choice’s second album.

iTunes stats: 5 plays, most recently on 1/2/2013

Nitty – Nasty Girl

Features a sample from the Archie’s hit Sugar, Sugar.

iTunes stats: Never played

Snoop Dogg – What’s My Name

The first single from Snoop’s solo debut.

iTunes stats: 9 plays, most recently on 10/8/2012

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by admin

It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday

Earlier this winter, the MLB Network re-aired the 2005 World Series Championship video and, for the first time, there was an undertone of sadness to it, knowing that this day was likely coming.  Now that it is here, it is a dark day indeed.  Mark Buehrle, the most successful White Sox pitcher of my lifetime, has moved on, signing a new deal with the Miami Marlins.

Buehrle first came up during the 2000 season, working out of the bullpen for the eventual division champions.  He moved into the rotation the following season, and stayed there for the next 11 seasons.  During that time, there were numerous memorable appearances, many of which I was privileged to see in person.

The 2007 no-hitter against the Rangers.

The 2009 perfect game against the Rays.

Winning Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS against the Angels, thanks to AJ’s heads-up baserunning, and starting the streak of 4 straight complete games.

The 1 hour 36 minute game against the Mariners in 2005.

The no look, through his legs flip to Paul Konerko on Opening Day 2010 against the Indians.

And, of course, his performance in the 2005 World Series, starting Game 2, getting a no decision, and coming in to pitch the 14th inning and earning the save in Game 3.

It’s always difficult to see your favorite players move on, and this will be no different.  Seeing Mark Buehrle joining Ozzie Guillen in South Beach, and someone else getting the Opening Day nod for the White Sox for the first time since 2007 will certainly be odd.  While I had prepared myself for this eventuality, there was a part of me that thought Jerry Reinsdorf would step in as he did last winter to keep AJ Pierzynski in town. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and Chicago’s loss is Miami’s gain.

In White Sox annals, Buehrle is currently fifth all-time in strikeouts, sixth in games started, and eighth in wins and innings pitched.

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