Tag / White Sox

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Prolific Authors – Two Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 114 books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  We begin today with the 40 authors I’ve read two times, one fewer than two years ago.

Laura Caldwell

I have no idea how I came across the work of this local author, but I must have enjoyed it enough to go back for seconds.  Unfortunately, she passed away in 2020, leaving behind a back catalog of fourteen novels and two non-fiction books.

Michael Chabon

Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, the most recent of the two works of his I’ve read.  I have another, Wonder Boys, waiting in the to read pile, so he rise up some day.

Matthew V. Clemens

The co-author, with Max Allan Collins, of the final two chapters of the Reeder and Rogers trilogy.

Ready Player Two – Ernest Cline

Ernest Cline

The man responsible for both Ready Player One and Ready Player Two.

Bill Clinton

The former president has co-written two novels with James Patterson.

Michael Connelly

The creator of Harry Bosch makes his first appearance thanks to his Renée Ballard spin-off series.

Laura Dave

I read my second novel from her, The Night We Lost Him, earlier this year.

Felicia Day

The first author here that I’ve happened to meet in person.

Cameron Dokey

She makes the list based on two entries in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

Warren Ellis

The comic writer, currently in exile after being called out for abusing women, makes the list thanks to two prose novels.

David Fisher Continue reading →

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Fitbit XI – Week 28

My 30,000-step week streak continues on, reaching twelve weeks by the skin of my teeth.  The week got off to a decent start on Sunday, scoring 4500 steps as I enjoyed the environs of the Rate Club with Michael.  Another White Sox game on Monday saw a nice improvement, coming 38 steps shy of 5400.  Tuesday and Wednesday tied for the worst days of the week came, finishing with the exact same total that was 39 steps away from 3700.  A break in the weather on Thursday led to a walk around the block, which pushed me up to 5000 steps.  Another walk on Friday left me only 9 steps shy of 5000.  Saturday fell back down again, scoring just 2 more steps than Tuesday and Wednesday’s total.

Total steps: 30,902

Daily average: 4414.6

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And That Deadline Was A Bit Of A Dud

The MLB trade deadline has come and gone and neither the Cubs nor the White Sox made the big moves they were expected to make.  The Cubs made two late moves, adding utility man Willi Castro from the Twins and reliever Taylor Rogers from the Pirates.  The White Sox made a single move, sending Adrian Houser to the Rays.

Castro, 28, is a switch hitter who can play pretty much anywhere.  He’s posted a .742 OPS with the Twins this year and will hit free agency at year end.  Going back to the Twins are two Double A pitchers: Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong.  Rogers, 34, was acquired by the Pirates on Wednesday in the Ke’Bryan Hayes trade before being flipped to the Cubs.  His walk rate this year is the highest it has been in his career, but a veteran lefty is always good to have around down the stretch.  High A outfielder Ivan Brethowr is headed back to the Pirates.  He is 22 and striking out in nearly 30% of his at bats this season.

Houser, 32, joined the White Sox in late May and has had the best stretch of his career.  In return, the Rays are sending infielder Curtis Mead, pitcher Duncan Davitt, and pitcher Ben Peoples.  Mead, 24, is a former top 100 prospect who has yet to find his way in the big leagues, spending parts of three seasons with the Rays and posting 0.4 career WAR.  Davitt, 25, and Peoples, 24, were both in Triple A for the Rays.

Despite those moves, when the bell rang at 5 PM CT yesterday, the Cubs were still lacking a proven starter who can help their beleaguered rotation, and the White Sox still employed Luis Robert, Mike Tauchman, and Aaron Civale.  None of which was the expected outcome of the day.

 

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Fitbit XI – Week 27

My 30,000-step week streak hits eleven, the longest such streak in over four years.  The week got off to a decent start on Sunday, scoring 4200 steps.  Monday saw a nice improvement, rising to 5000 steps thanks to a midday trip to Wrigley Field to get my picture taken with Carson Kelly.  The worst day of the week came on Tuesday as I needed 26 additional steps to reach 3500.  Things improved on Wednesday, going up to 4400 steps.  A small decrease on Thursday dropped me to 4100 steps.  The beginning of crosstown baseball on Friday pushed me over my daily goal, falling a single step shy of 7600.  Another trip to Rate Field to see the Cubs battle the White Sox on Saturday ended the week with 4800 steps.

Total steps: 33,768

Daily average: 4824

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The Annual Selloff Begins

With the trade deadline approaching, the White Sox made their first deal, sending outfielder Austin Slater to the Yankees for right-handed pitcher Gage Ziehl.  Slater, 32, was signed as a free agent last November and has five home runs in 123 at bats this season.  Ziehl, 22, was the Yankees’ fourth round pick in the 2024 draft and has split time between three levels in the Yankee system and is their 18th ranked prospect.

We have less than 29 hours to go until the deadline, so I expect there to be more moves, both by the White Sox and the Cubs, coming soon.

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iTunes Top 200: #1

Music.  It is a powerful thing that brings people together, creates memories, and evokes emotions.  It is the universal language that speaks to the soul.  It forms the soundtrack of our lives.

It has now been five years since we last counted down the Top 200 songs in my iTunes library, featuring he songs I have listened to the most since 2007.  It is time to do so again, seeing which older songs still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray.  So, without further ado, here are my most listened to songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2025.

We conclude this week with the chart-topping song with the most plays since my stats began in late 2007.

#1: Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers – Let’s Go-Go-Go White Sox
iTunes stats: 224 plays, most recently on 9/29/2019
Previous ranking: #1

On June 18, 2005, the White Sox were hosting the Dodgers in inter-league play, the first time the two teams had faced each other in Chicago since the 1959 World Series.  The Saturday night tilt celebrated the occasion, with the Go-Go White Sox celebrated prior to the game and both teams wearing 1959 throwbacks.  During the game, the stadium crew dusted off a fight song that hadn’t been heard in nearly 50 years, creating a video montage with the words as part of the night’s festivities.  Down 3-1 in the bottom of the 9th, the White Sox rallied for 4 runs, capped off by A.J. Pierzynski’s two run shot to end the game, and a new tradition at US Cellular Field was born.

The song was written by former White Sox minor leaguer Al Trace and his friend Walter “Li’l Wally” Jagiello during the 1959 season as the White Sox battled for their first pennant since throwing the World Series in 1919.  They brought the song to Tom Fouts, leader of Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers, a popular local band best known for performing on WLS Prairie Farmer Radio and writing and performing advertising jingles.  The song and the team were both a success, as the White Sox did indeed win the pennant, but lost the World Series to the Dodgers in 6 games.

Following that June night, the song became a rallying point for the remainder of the 2005 season.  It received national exposure, as FOX included clips of it in their coverage of the team’s trek through the post-season.  WGN utilized it during their coverage of the World Series victory parade, over clips of highlights of both the 1959 and 2005 teams.  While not as ubiquitous today, the song does still show up occasionally at the ballpark, when the White Sox go on a big rally.

I managed to download an MP3 of the tune at some point, and it has had a place on every White Sox victory playlist I’ve created ever since.

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Crossing Sides Of Town

So far in 2025, Brad Keller, Mike Tauchman, Nicky Lopez, and Reese McGuire pushed the total of players I’ve seen take the field in person for both the Cubs and the White Sox to 47.  With the final round of crosstown kicking off tonight at Rate Field, here’s a look at those players, in alphabetical order.

David Aardsma

After posting a decent season with the Cubs in 2006, Aardsma was traded to the White Sox for Neal Cotts.  Aardsma lasted one season with the Sox, where he was unable to duplicate his success from the year before.

Jason Bere

Drafted by the White Sox in the 36th round in 1990, Bere debuted with the big-league club in 1993, finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting.  After an All Star selection in 1994, injuries marred the remainder of his tenure on the South Side, which ended in 1998.  He resurfaced with the Cubs in 2001 and had a decent season, but he went 1-10 in 2002 before being let go.

Emilio Bonifacio

Bonifacio spent back-to-back partial seasons in Chicago, first for the Cubs in 2014 after signing as a free agent, where he played decently enough to be flipped at the trade deadline, along with James Russell, to the Braves for a young catching prospect by the name of Victor Caratini.  He returned to Chicago in 2015, signing with the White Sox, where he he did not do well at all, hitting .167 in 47 games before being released in August.

Welington Castillo

Debuting with the Cubs in 2010, Castillo spent time behind the plate for the Cubs until May of 2015, when, having been replaced in the starting lineup by Miguel Montero, he was flipped to the Mariners.  He returned to Chicago in 2018 after signing with the White Sox as a free agent.  On May 24th of that season, he was suspended 80 games for a violation of the PED policy.  The White Sox then cut bait following the 2019 season, shipping him off to the Rangers.

Neal Cotts

Acquired by the White Sox in the Billy Koch trade, he debuted with the team in 2003.  He was a key contributor in the bullpen during the 2005 championship season and was the only relief pitcher to appear in all 3 rounds of the playoffs that season.  Following the 2006 season, he was traded to the Cubs for David Aardsma, and he spent the next 3 injury filled seasons on the North Side.

Scott Eyre

Joining the White Sox organization in a 1994 trade with the Rangers, he debuted with the big-league team in 1997.  He split the next 4 seasons between the rotation and the bullpen, not to mention between Chicago and Charlotte, before being moved to the Blue Jays following the 2000 ALDS loss to the Mariners.  He joined the Cubs as a free agent for the 2006 season and enjoyed 2 seasons of relative success, before falling apart in 2008, when he was traded to the Phillies.

Clint Frazier

After missing the second half of 2021 with an injury, Frazier was DFA’d by the Yankees.  He signed a deal with the Cubs that offseason, though he notched just 45 plate appearances before being DFA’s once again.  He chose to finish the year in the Cubs system before becoming a free agent following the season.  After failing to catch on with the Rangers, he signed a minor league deal with the White Sox, eventually hitting .197 in 33 games with the big-league club.

Kosuke Fukudome Continue reading →

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Fitbit XI – Week 26

A letdown after last week, but I still saw my 30,000-step week streak hit double digits.  The week got off to a strong start on Sunday, scoring 5900 steps thanks to the final White Sox game before the All-Star break.  Monday dropped back down a bit, needing 21 steps to hit 4400.  Another slight decrease on Tuesday left me 38 steps shy of 4300.  Things improved on Wednesday, coming 33 steps shy of 4600.  Another increase on Thursday put me over 4700 steps.  A half day off on Friday pushed me back up to 4900 steps.  The week ended with a lazier day, needing 37 steps to get to 3500 on Saturday.

Total steps: 32,290

Daily average: 4612.9

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iTunes Top 200: #2

Music.  It is a powerful thing that brings people together, creates memories, and evokes emotions.  It is the universal language that speaks to the soul.  It forms the soundtrack of our lives.

It has now been five years since we last counted down the Top 200 songs in my iTunes library, featuring he songs I have listened to the most since 2007.  It is time to do so again, seeing which older songs still resonate and if any newer ones have joined the fray.  So, without further ado, here are my most listened to songs, based on number of plays as of January 1, 2025.

Our penultimate entry is a track released as a single in 1990 and became associated with the White Sox in 2004.

#2: AC/DC – Thunderstruck
iTunes stats: 292 plays, most recently on 9/15/2024
Previous ranking: #1

The 12th studio album from AC/DC, The Razor’s Edge, was released in September of 1990, with Thunderstruck released as the first single.  It peaked at #5 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and is now considered one of the band’s signature songs.

The White Sox started taking the field to the song during the 2004 season, and it has been used off and on ever since.  Because of that, it has held a place on every version of my victory playlist since which has led to its high play total.

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Fitbit XI – Week 25

A great week which extended my 30,000-step week streak to nine while scoring my highest total in nearly a year.  The week got off to a strong start on Sunday, scoring 4500 steps.  A day off of work with a nighttime trip to Rate Field on Monday saw a nice increase, crossing my daily step goal with 8600 steps.  Another vacation day and another tilt between the Blue Jays and the White Sox on Tuesday left me just shy of my daily step goal with 7200 steps.  The end of my time off saw a big drop on Wednesday but still left me with 5300 steps.  Thursday saw me going back to work, leading to just 4300 steps.  The unveiling of Mark Buehrle’s statue on Friday put me back up to 6900 steps.  Another game, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 2005 World Series champions, got me to 5300 steps on Saturday to wrap up the week.

Total steps: 42,281

Daily average: 6040.1