Two 10.70 solves

My Son Charlie competed in anoter Rubiks Cube event this weekend. He films all his solves and made this cool video with two solves with nearly identical times from different days of the event.

Stats Sunday: Worst thing about the 2024 White Sox

The Chicago White Sox start ful squad workout for  2025 Spring Training tomorrow.  I thought this might be a good time to review the 2024 team.  The 2023 White Sox were horrible.  They were record breaking bad. I know, can I analyze or what?

One stat more than any other shows how bad their start to the season was.  This stat would be the number of 1 game losing streaks the White Sox had in the first half of the season.  A 1 game losing streak may sound like a bad thing but it is actually pretty good. A 1 game losing streak is really a series of 3 games in a row, a win followed by a loss followed by another win.  Here is a list of the 30 MLB teams last year listed with their record after 71 games and how many 1 game losing streaks they had at that point of the season.  

Arizona Diamondbacks        34-37         12

Atlanta Braves                      40-31         12

Baltimore Orioles                 47-24        10

Boston Red Sox                  36-35          7

Chicago Cubs                     34-37          12

Chicago White Sox             18-53          0

Cincinatti Reds                    34-37          8

Cleveland Guardians           45-26          10

Colorado Rockies                25-46          5

Detroit Tigers                      34-37           7

Houston Astros                    32-39           11

Kansas City Royals             40-31            10

Los Angeles Angels             28-43            7

Los Angeles Dodgers           43-28           10

Miami Marlins                     23-48            6

Milwaukee Brewers             42-29            11

Minnesota Twins                  39-32             9

New York Mets                    34-37              7

New York Yankees               49-22              8

Philadelphia Phillies             47-24              13

Pittsburgh Pirates                  34-37              10

San Diego Padres                  36-35               11     

San Francisco Giants             34-37              13

Seattle Mariners                     40-32              12

St. Louis Cardinals                 36-35              12

Tampa Bay Rays                     33-38              10

Texas Rangers                         33-38              13

Toronto Blue Jays                    35-36              10

Washington Nationals              35-36              11

In 71 games all the other teams in Major League Baseball had at least 5 1 game losing streaks.  1 game losing streaks are a key to any kind of sustained success.  A 1 game losing streak means you can start inching back up in the win column.  If its multiple losses are followed by a win or two and then followed by multiple losses you are never going to gain any momentum.   

lack of momentum was certainly yjr case for the 2024 White Sox. This was partially  because it took  72 games to finally stop the bleeding after a 1 game losing streak.  By that tine they were 19-53.  In the 90 games left in the season they would have needed to go 62-28 to get to .500.  They did not go 62-28 in their last 90, They went 22-68 or .244 which was actually worse than the  .263 winning percentage for the 1st 72 games.

Very few people including myself, expect the White Sox to be much better than they were last year.  They may well lose 100 or more game s for the 3rd year in a row.  One thing  I will be looking at is  if they can  put a win or two together and then lose just 1 game before getting back in the win column.  In fact I have a plan for a future  Stats Sunday focusing on  how long it takes each team to stop a losing streak at just one game.  Hopefully the White Sox won't be the last team to achieve that this year.  

Team Saturdazzle: The One Where Captain Abearica goes to work.

Team Saturdazzle is in the house.  I had many ideas this week for our time together.  Some of them I discarded, others I forgot what they were, still others, I discarded , forgot about them, remembered them again, bit forgot that I had previously discarded them, and then discarded them again.  This one  happened organically but took about a week to culminate, so I'll share a little of the genesis. 

Monday or Tuesday of this week I found out that our school was having yet another pajama day.  I thought that I might participate this time.  There also had been some talk about a lot of snow coming into our are Wednesday and  some thoughts that the regular school day might be replaced by an  e-learning day.  The main difference between a weather related closure, or snow day and an e-learning day is that an e-learning day does not be made up and a snow day does.  On E-learning days teachers give assignments to students, the students check in with them over the course of the day and it counts as a day of instruction.  E-learning days had their beginnings during co-vid 19 and can be used for weather related closures and other times when meeting at the school is not possible.  I think for the most part teachers like these e-learning days but as a building sub at least in my district I do not because I don't work on those days and when I don't work, I don't get paid.  In a traditional snow day situation,, I also don't work and don't get paid, but when the school year is extended because of the closure I work and get paid making up for the day I missed.

It turns out that our school was not cancelled.  But there was still a lot of snow in the forecast for the majority of the day.  So, I wore sweat pants, a tye dye t-shirt and then put warm pajama bottoms  over the sweat pants and a thick robe on over the ensemble.  As I was leaving I decided to bring 

Captain Abearica, the Build-A-Bear Captain  America my daughter Lucy brought for me and that I've been using in various ways as a Sub since 2019. I figured what goes better with pajamas than a stuffed animal.

Pajama Day  came and went.  The 6th grade science classes that I subbed for that day that weren't too cool for school enjoyed his appearance.  On Thursday after school I decided to take advantage of the perk I have at the movie theatre where I work and watch the new Captain America movie for free.  My plan was to bring Captain Abearica  in as well, because family members also get in for free.   I remembered to bring him to work on Thursday but forgot to take him into the theatre.  

Thursday was the soft opening of the new film whose full title is Captain America Brave New World.  The hard opening was Friday, I was working and I figured the place was going to be a zoo.  I have a very logical mind, at least to me. I thought if the place is going to be a zoo, why not bring a bear, especially one who's dressed for the occasion? 

I talked to my manager, who thought it was a great idea and provided me a name tag for "Cap".

Captain Abearica AKA Steve Pawgers

The Captain was a big hit and some people even offered to buy him.  My manager is letting me bring him back for my shifts for the rest of the run of the film.  Who knows maybe he'll even let me dress up like this?

I'll probably have to wait until the next pajama day.

April Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2025 SIGN-UP March 24-April 5 a-to-zchallenge.com

The A to Z Challenge blog posted yesterday for the first time since May of last year. Besides introducing the above 2025 badge.  They posted the schedule for this years challenge: 

 

2025 #AtoZchallenge Schedule: 

 The THEME REVEAL (optional bonus hop) : March 9- 15 

 Official Challenge Sign-ups : March 24 to April 5 

 Reflections (optional bonus hop) : May 2-9 

 Road-trip (sign up to keep visiting others all year _ optional bonus) : Opens May 10

I'm not sure exactly what I might be doing for the challenge.  I've had 4 ideas and I like all of them, but unlike some of the past years I'm only going to do one of them this year

Even as a big fan of the challenge,   I still take umbrage with the way they schedule the reflection so early .  This year challenge ends on a Wednesday and you have all of Thursday to reflect on the challenge before Friday when the reflection  sign up begins.  That's not enough time to reflect!!!  Well that's my rant.  Remember if you are missing any umbrage, I took it.  

Now for a new Saturdazzle feature:

 Something I said on Facebook this week

My friend's BIL posted on FB this week that he found the Super Bowl game boring. I so did not! So I said this on FB this week:

I loved everything about this game. The Eagles delivered in every aspect of the game after being overlooked in all the talk about a 3peat. Not a KC hater nor an Eagle lover but this was a quality football game Jeff. I’m sorry you didn’t like it.

That's it for this week.  That's my Saturdazzle and I'm sticking to it.   

An Open Letter to Bob Morgan

 

Bob Morgan

Il State Representative  58th District

Dear Representative Morgan:

A few years ago some well meaning member of the state senate decided to fix something that wasn't broke with  a bill called SB136.  At the time, I was the dedicate home educator of our family home school, and  as the bill  was primarily aimed at home education I rallied against it even writing several posts about it on my blog. At that time I thought I might be done with blogging about misguided bill proposals.  But thanks to you, I get to go at it again.  

 While it may have seemed to you  like a good idea to tie winning records into public funding requests  for sports facilities,  and it certainly  gave you 15 minutes of fame, The question remains why you would set winning records as a requirement for stadiums when it is not requisite for other public funding.  

Public schools, for example, continue to receive public funds even when the students are not showing winning records.  In fact, one can make the argument that we should put funds in schools that are not winning so their winning percentage can increase in years to come.  It's called development. Also ,we spend money on prisons and that money is spent on people who come to have losing records, sometimes in your line of work.  

{{Information |Description={{en|1=Staley Da Bear, the official mascot of the Chicago Bears. }} |Source=http://www.flickr.com/photos/blueyeda73/2988610732/ |Author=[http://www.flickr.com/photos/blueyeda73/ blueyeda73] |Date=10 28, 2008 |Permission=see belo

One of the main  reasons we should be exploring the idea of spending public funding for sports teams like the Bears is to bring more quality opportunities to our area.  If the Bears had a state of the art facilty they woukd be much more likely to be considered for hosting events like the Super Bowl and giving the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago more leverage in winning a future bid for hosting the Olympic games.    Those events would certainly bringg revenue to the owners of the facility but would also bring visitors, jobs and positive notoriety to the area.

If you still insist on making winning records part of government financing of a stadium I'm not sure the requirement of  3 of 5 years winning record your proposal calls for is the best way to go.   According to your plan, a team could win 3 of their last 5 and then have 9 straight losing seasons.  A back end approach seems more feasible. Perhaps after the team that receives financial backing from the state starts playing in their new facility there be a written into the contract that if the team has a combined losing record any 5 consecutive seasons in a 19 year period that they have to pay the state a predetermined amount.  This could either be a percentage of the original financing amount or a percentage of their annual revenue.

If such a plan was in place after government money was used to build what was then called Comiskey Park or Comiskey Park II, there would have only been 1 5 year period of 15 (1995-1999) where the White Sox would have needed to pay a penalty.  During that 19 year period the White Sox went to playoffs 4 times and won the World Series  in 2005.  Those 4 playoff appearances were one more than the 80 seasons played at the original Comiskey. When put that way it seems like it  was money well spent.  

By Tony - Bears vs Chiefs, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

As for calling your act the BEARS act may make sense to you since Lake Forest, I believe is in your district but to name it  for just one team when many may  want to finance a stadium seems again like a cute way to make a name for yourself.  I would suggest a better acronym and a better plan before calling any more audibles.  

Team Saturdazzle: The One where I Mispronounced Meme Twice.

Another Saturday, another Saturdazzle .  Todays Saturdazzle could also be called The one with the 14 year old video.  After I statrted this blog in 2009, I started in short order a few more blogs most notably Crazy Uncle Dave's Sport-O-Rama and Dave Out Loud. Dave Out Loud was my attempt at a vlog.  A few years ago I combined all 3 blogs into this one. 

As I often do in the early months of the new year I've been cleaning up this blog.  Spending time looking at old posts, and revamping the look of it.  While I was doing that I came across this video talking about my the previous week at our home school.

I was participating in a meme called weekly wrap up where you share post about your week and link your post up to a site.  These things still happen and I hope one day to see if I can make Team Saturdazzle a weekly link up.  

A few years after this post I discovered that I had been mispronouncing meme.  In it's correct pronunciation it's pronounced like it thymes with theme.  However, I was pronouncing it me me.  So when I learned of my mistake, I just corrected my pronunciation and moved on.  

What I didn't realized was that there was evidence of my earlier failure to communicate.  I invite you to watch what I am calling exhibit A.  Where I mispronounce meme not once but twice.

Now if you were wondering what I was thinking when I pronounced meme me me, it is this: Most of the memes I knew at that time were blogging memes and it seemed like the purpose of the blogging meme was to get the attention of other bloggers.  It was to me as if you were shouting Me! Me! Look at me,  That's why I pronounced it me me.  

Memories of Kite Fest 1999

Amy and I were married in April of 1998 and her two brothers gave us a wedding gift of a weekend  in Madison Wisconsin, where they both lived and still live.  We went up in early February and discovered there was a kite flying festival taking place.  I have pictures similar to the picture below in a photobook some where. If you click on the caption below the picture, it will give you more infor about the event this year.  While that festival no longer exists.  There is a kite flying event on the same lake today as part of a new winter festival in Madison.  

Kite Fest 1999 Madison Wisconsin
I do not own this picture, click on the caption for the full story.

Team Saturdazzle At The Movies

Powered by Box Office Mojo

Top 10 Films  January 2025 

and by default

 top 10 Films of 2005 as of 1/31/2005

10. Baby Girl Up 2 from December

9. Wolf Man

8. One of Then Days

7. Den of Thieves: Pantera

6. A Complete Unknown Up 1 from December

5. Wicked Down 3 From December

4. Nosferatu Up 2 from December

3. Moana 2 Down 2 from December

2. Sonic The Hedgehog 3: Up 1 from December

1. Mufasa: The Lion King Up 3 from December

Writer's Workshop: 4 Prompts in 8 sentences? I'll try.

 

Here are this week’s prompts(I have the 4 I'm attempting in bold): 

1.  Write a post based on the word military. 
2. Write a post in exactly 8 lines. 
3. Write a list of movies that always make you smile. 
4. Choose a social media platform (e.g. Facebook, X, Instagram etc.) and tell us what you love and hate about it. 
5. Tell us about a time you had to go to court. 
6. Tell us about your best friend from the old neighborhood. 

 My 10 favorite movies  which are The Princess Bride, Miss Potter, Marty, Adventures of Robin Good, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Chariots of Fire, Casablanca, Ordinary People, The Muppet Movie, and It's A Wonderful Life   (click here for more info) all have moments that never fail to make me smile.  What I hate about Twitter can be summed up by the response to my 2/3/2005 tweet, "I'm thinking of quitting Twitter, ( Can't bring myself to call it X) It's not what it once was.", 5 impressions, no engagements, no comments in 48 hours.  One time I had to go court, not sure exactly why, proof of insurance, probably.  While I was waiting I decided to watch the festivities one young man waited in line with his very  energetic baby  son and when it was their turn, he had to give an update on what he was doing to get his driving privileges reinstated.  He assured the court that he had taken the bus to this appointment.  In the town I used to live in there is no bus stop next to the court room but many are walking distance.  He was given another court date, and then I was called, I provided whatever documentation was required of me and walked out of the court building.  As I walked I saw the man driving his son away in a car, in my town you can put a bicycle in a special holder in front of the bus, I had no idea they also did that for cars!

8 sentences? Maybe. 8 lines? Probably not.  But at least, I get an E for Effort.  John Holton invites  your prompt reply to his prompts at The Sound of One Hand Typing by clicking here.

Team Saturdazzle: The One with Bits and Pieces.

Today's Team Saturdazzle is just a quick compilation of stories, clips and jokes.

Like many days when I was a kid it starts with Sesamee Strret and it ends with a snack,

One of the things I liked about Sesamee Street from an early age was the guest appearances.  One of the ealriest I remember probably since I like puns so much is when the cast of Bonanza came on the show.  They were on a lot of season 2 and did segments where they counted or recited the alphabet or demonstrated math problems like the video below.  

 

In the episode I remember they do a play on the Ernie and Bert banana in my ear sketch (original sketch below) except instead of saying banana in my ear they actually say Bonanza in my ear. Epic!

Sesamee Street has continued with their guest appearances.  I just discovered this gem with Billy Joel and Marlee Matlin (CODA, West Wing, Children of a Lesser God) . I'm a big Billy Joel fan and also love writing new lyrics to old songs and Joel does this by tweaking one of his standards and adapting it to Oscar The Grouch.  

###########################################################

Yesterday I had one of my days where I was out of the house at 6:30 and not back for good until after midnight. I was home for about 90 minutes in the afternoon.  My wife and daughter were preparing for  an impromptu game night, where they had invited several people a day or less before the party was slated to begin.  A few people did manage to come, but when I was home the only people they had heard from were unable to attend.  This gave me an idea for a wry observation which I shared on my personal FB page:

A lot of times when people can't make it to an event youv'e asked them to attend, they will respond something like that sounds great, but I'm busy that day. Just once can't they say that sounds like an awful time, but I'm not doing anything see ya at 7?

#############################################################

This morning, Amy and I were judging another speech tournament.  This time it was at held at Lucy's old high school.  When you walk in the hallowed halls of a high school there are pictures of accomplished student athletes and plaques with the names of students who received accolades, awards, accomplishments, and some words that don't start with A like scholarships. None of those halls in any of those schools contain my picture.  I wasn't that kind of athlete, and I was not that kind of student.  However the apple must have fallen far from the tree because my daughter class of 2024 is pictured at least twice and her name is engraved on a plaque as a recipient of a scholarship for mastery in Language Arts.  

Ending the day with a snack

My college friend Angela Rumbold's birthday was earlier this week.  We had many fine times over the years.  When she first moved from Illinois to Georgia, I had occasion to visit her there and she introduced me to boiled peanuts.  It was love at first soggy bite.  years later when I lived in South Carolina for 2 years the boiled peanut became my go to snack as there was a street vendor outside our local Walmart.  I generally did not go more than a fortnight without grabbing me a bag.  

When I ventured back to Illinois in '97 to forsake all others and marry my best friend, I also  ending up forsaking regular visits with my favorite boiled legume.  This +25 year absence of a boiled peanut routine ended about 2 years ago when I discovered inside A BP in Frankfort, Illinois where my sister in law  lives, a boiled peanut station.  So now 4 or 5 times a year on visits to her family I get the fruits of Jimmy Carter's first job (Boiled Peanut deliverer).

Tonight was one of those nights.  My Niece Gracie was in a production of Finding Nemo Jr.  Which is not it turns out a quest to find Nemo's progeny but a children's adaptation of the musical Finding Nemo.  I was glad to attend, but everyone in my family knew there was a boiled peanut quid pro quo in my attendance.  

By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferwoodardmaderazo/3563681031/, CC BY 2.0, Link

Well that's all the Team Saturdazzle I have for you today.  We learned some math, heard some jokes, watched some videos, I shared some stories and  even had a snack.  It's not exactly 3 points and a poem, but it will have to do.  

Muppet Movie Posters, Trailers & Clips. Oh My.

I found these posters for the Muppet Movie (1979) in draft status of my blog.  I probably put  then there in preparation for a post of the 45th anniversary.  Well the 45th anniversary has come and gone, but as it is one of my 3 all time favorite films I don't think it needs a special occasion to be celebrated.  The Muppet Movie is a special occasion.

All Muppet Muppet Movie Poster

Muppet Movie Poster Featuring Celebrity Cameos

 

 I really like the cameos in the Muppet movie.  

 It's interesting the next clip starts with Steve Martin who we saw in the last clip.    

Wordless Wednesday: 16 Years of Pictures from This Blog

 

For More Wordless Wednesday @ Comedy Plus Click here.

12 New Movies: Silver Streak 1934

The first New (to me) film I watched this year is the 1934 film, Silver Streak.

In each brief review, I will attempt to do the following.

1. I will rate each movie on a 1 (worst movie ever) to 5 (best movie I have seen) scale.
2.  I will provide a 2-3 sentence summary of the movie. 
3. I will share 1 theme from the movie. 
4. I will write one thing I liked about the movie and 1 thing I disliked about the movie. 
5. I will say who I think would make the best audience for this movie.

Silver Streak (1934) Rating 3 stars out of 5

Summary:  A young train designer challenges the train industry by proposing a new streamlined diesel capable of high speed travel. When his girlfriends father, a railroad executive, doesn't approve his designs, he quite his job and convinces another manufacture to produce his train.   The completed train must race against time to deliver medical equipment that can stop a polio outbreak and save the life of his girlfriends brother.  

Theme:  One theme of the movie is the the resistance some have to changing technology.

Likes and dislikes:I watched this film with my wife Amy a few weeks ago and we both really enjoyed it. Here is specifically why.

Me: One thing I liked about the movie is how the train that the Silver Streak is based on The Burlington Zephyr, is the real star of the film and is even given a screen credit. 

Amy: The acting was first rate.  You believed that the actors were the characters they were portraying. 

Dave: One thing I didn't like was that the spy subplot seemed contrived.

Amy: I agree, I know they have to create conflict and tension, but the fight on the train was too much.

A Good Audience for this Film: Adventurers, Train Buffs, and Obscure Train Movie  aficionados.

Sally Blane and WIlliam Farnum

By Burlington Route (railroad) This appears to have been given to those at the fair who toured the train on exhibit. - eBay itemcard frontcard back, Public Domain, Link

Now that this review is over let's look at my progress so far this year.  At this point, I have watched and reviewed 1 film.  

Films released from 2009 to 2024                  Watched 0 Remaining 2

Films released from 1994 to 2008                  Watched 0 Remaining 2

Films released from 1979 to 1993                  Watched 0 Remaining 2

Films released from 1964 to 1978                  Watched 0 Remaining 2

Films released from 1949 to 1963                  Watched 0 Remaining 2

Films released before 1934 and up to 1948   Watched 1 Remaining 1

Amy and I watched this film on You Tube and you can too.  I proudly present Silver Streak ...

Team Saturdazzle: The One With The Made Up Holidays

Hello and welcome to the last Team Saturdazzle post for January 2025.  Last April for the A to Z Challenge I wrote about Holidays. On most day of the challenge I found an event that was already taking place on that day and pair it with the letter of the day. 

For example each April 2nd is International Children's Book Day so since the letter of the day for April 2nd was B, I wrote about that Holiday and title my post, B is for Books for Children.  

Writing about made up holidays turned out to be not enough for me.  SO, I actually made up 5  holidays and added them into the challenge  for all the letters that were vowels.  Now that it is 2025,  It has come to my attention that these holidays are coming up again this year.  

A chart or graph of some kind might be helpful here:

Name of Holiday with link to         2025 Date           (When it occurs)

A to Z Challenge Post

Adult Children Appreciation Day                  April 21, 2025.  (The Monday after Easter)

 

 Wedding Planner Black Friday                     April 4, 2025     (1st Friday in April)

Indicted Illinois Governors Day                     April 10, 2025   (10th day in April)

One More Time and You Get A Parade Day   April 16, 2025   (Third Wednesday in April)

                        

Undecided, Undeclared & Unsure Day           April 30th 2025 (Final Wednesday in April)

This is me talking about one of the new holidays last year.

Good Grief! I'm Trying To Watch 12 New Movies This Year, Again!

There is a lot of Charlie Brown in me. My middle name is Charles, I had a dog named Snoopy when I was a kid, my love for baseball has always exceeded my ability to play it well, and like the storied definition of insanity, I often do the same thing and expect different results

Charlie Brown Football GIFfrom Charlie Brown GIFs

This is particularly true regarding my annual plan to watch 12 movies I've never seen before and post the reviews here. The way it works is supposed to work is each year, I choose 12 films I haven't seen or haven't seen in their entirety, watch them, and then write a quick review and post here.  I also add a few wrinkles to the plan:

1. The movies have to come out no earlier than the year before the challenge. In this case 2024.

2. Although this is not a hard and fast rule, I generally do not count movies I watched in their original theatrical run if they came out the year prior.  For example. I watched  A Complete Unknown tonight at the theatre where I work.  Technically, it was released in 2024 and I watched it in 2025 so it could count, but since it hasn't left my theatre yet I'm going with the spirit of the law and not counting it.  If I had not watched it today and then watched it on DVD or streaming in a few months after its theatrical run ended I would certainly count it.

3. I divide the movies into 6 sections by years released. This year the sections are:

Films released from 2009 to 2024

Films released from 1994 to 2008

Films released from 1979 to 1993

Films released from 1964 to 1978

Films released from 1949 to 1963

Films released before 1934 and up to 1948

4. Since I'm trying to watch 12 films, I choose 2 films from each section.

This year I have already watched 2 films but have yet to review them.  This is where I usually get into trouble because until I review them and post them and have documentation of them, it is easy to lose track of what I've already seen.  In one of the first posts I did this year I mentioned the 

1976 Gene Wilder , Richard Pryor movie, Silver Streak.  In preparing that post, I discovered that there was also a 1935 film with the same name.  I have since watched that film and hope to post a review here before the end of the month.

The other "new" film I saw was at a staff party for the movie theatre I work at.  After all the last runs of movies in the theatre had begun they had a special showing of cartoons, and tow feature length movies.  the first film they showed, I had seen parts if but never in it's entirety, so I counted it as new to me. I hope to reveal the name of that film, and a review sometime in February.

Until then I see a girl holding a football for me, and I'm off to kick it. 

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame: If I Had a Ballot

 Since the inception of my illustrious blogging career, This part of January has been reserved for HOF talk.  It started on my sports blog Crazy Uncle Dave's Sports Blog and moved here when I incorporated all my blogs into Leap of Dave a few years back.  

While I certainly had HOF thoughts in 2023 and 2024 I did not post them here.  Since this is my 3rd installment of the 2025 Hall of Fame, you may have correctly concluded that my respite is over.  

Each year certain members of  The Base Ball Writers Association of America are given a ballot containing the names of former baseball players eligible for enshrinement in Cooperstown. While technically not a member of this august body, the same part of my brain that thinks I'm one phone call away from being the starting 3rd baseman for your Chicago White Sox, supposes that the BBWAA would welcome my inclusion into their body. even though  I've never covered my favorite sport in a professional status. 

The BBWAA ballot contains 28 names this year, 14  returning players and 14 on the ballot for the first time.  The writers are asked to vote for no more than 10 of these players on their ballots.  

As I have done here in the past, I imagine a scenario where I was a member of the BBWAA given a ballot and asked to vote for exactly 10 of those players.  Then I imagine the same scenario where I am asked to vote for only 9, then 8, and so on . and add some infinitum.   At some point in these imaginings, I imagine what I have come to call my official unofficial ballot or OUB,  This is where I state who exactly I would vote for if I chose the players who would be on my ballot. Also, as I have done here in the past, I reserve the right to add some purposeful randomness in the proceedings.

Examples of that purposeful randomness are evidenced in my 2022 Ballot which included 12 names. (My OUB is in bold, and HOF after their name indicates that since my previous post, they have been selected for enshrinement. 

12. Barry Bonds

11, Roger Clemens

10. Jeff Kent

9. Scott Rolen HOF

8. Andruw Jones

7. Omar Vizquel

6. A.J. Pierzynski

5. Curt Schilling

4. Todd Helton HOF

3.David Ortiz HOF

2. Mark Buehrle 

1. Dick Allen HOF

So enough introduction, let my imagination run amuck...

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 12 players the 12th player would be Alex Rodriguez. 

There is no doubt in my mind that if the former Mariner, Ranger, and Yankee was not an admitted PED cheater that he'd already be in the Hall of Fame.  This is why I have him 12th on the ballot.  But he is an admitted PED cheater which is why he stops here at 12.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 11 players the 11th player would be Bobby Abreu. 

In 2021 I said this about Abreu explaining why he was 10th on my theoretical ballot ... I don't think he's worthy of Cooperstown. I think he had a distinguished enough career to be in the conversation for a year or more.

4 years later ... I'm not sure if he's worthy of Cooperstown, but he's growing on me.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 10 players the 10th player would be Andy Pettitte.  

Pettitte is a lot like college graduates flying back home for the summer.  They have a resume and they have baggage. The 3 time all star has pitched in 8 World Series with 5 rings to show for it.  Being listed in the Mitchell report for using HGH has deterred many actual voters and at least one imaginary one.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 9 players the 9th player would be Carlos Beltran.

Speaking of former Astro's embroiled in controversy, Carlos Beltran received 57.1% of the vote last year in his 2nd year of eligibility despite his involvement in the 2017 sign-stealing brouhaha. He may well make the jump to the Hall this year, if he does not I'll consider him again next year.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 8 players the 8th player would be Torii Hunter. 

In 2021 I said placed Hunter 9th, 5 spots short of the 4 players I put on my official unofficial ballot and said this: When I hear the name Torii Hunter. I think Hall of Fame. When I look at his stats they tell a bit of a different story. He falls short of making My OUB but it would certainly be nice if he could get enough votes to be on the ballot again next year.

Well he made it back to the ballot in 2021 and was not one of my 12 votes, he made it back to the ballot in 2023, 2024, and again this year, but I no longer think of him as Hall of Fame material.  I think there is a good chance this year that he won't make the 5% needed for future consideration.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 7 players the 7th player would be Omar Vizquel. 

This is Vizquel's 8th year on the ballot and he made my OUB in 2018 through 2021.  I In 2022 I wrote this explaining why he was no longer on my OUB: 

I still think he's a Hall of Fame type player. However, some of the controversy that has swirled around his nomination has made me decide to put a pause on voting for him this year and look at him with new eyes next year.

The controversy still swirls and like many actual voters, I am waiting for that fog to clear before proceeding any further.  

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 6 players the 6th player would be Pete Rose. 

But wait you say Pete Rose is not on this ballot and besides that he is dead.  That is my point exactly Rose was given a lifetime ban from baseball.  Since his life is over his ban should be over and the Veterans committee should be allowed to consider his inclusion in the hall.  

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 5 players the 5th player would be Joe Jackson. 

But wait you say Joe Jackson is not on this ballot and besides that he is dead.  That is my point exactly Jackson and other players from the 1919 "Black Sox" were given a lifetime ban from baseball.  Since his life is over the ban should be over and the Veterans Committee should be allowed to consider his inclusion in the hall.  I am placing Jackson ahead of Rose because he's been dead much longer.

If I could vote for as many players on the 2025 BBWAA ballot that I thought were worthy for inclusion to the Hall of Fame, my ballot would contain 4 names.  The 4th name on that ballot would be Andruw Jones.

This is the first year I have included Jones on my OUB.  In 2022 while explaining why Jones fell 2 places short of the 6 player OUB of that year, I hinted of a change of heart that might be on the horizon: 

The truth is that I'm not sure that Andruw Jones taking a giant step down in his performance in his final 5 years is as much of a detriment to voting for him as I've made it . His star is definitely on the rise and I can imagine a time when my evaluation of him would increase to the point where I'd vote for his place in the hall.

 

That time came in my 2 years absence and while he may fall short again this year, I do believe that Cooperstown is calling.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 3 players the 3rd player would be C.C. Sabathia.

The former Indian and Yankee hurler is in his first year of eligibility and if voting tracking numbers are to be believed, he will be a first year hall of famer.  I'll have more to say about him after I reveal my next  2 votes.   

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 2 players the 2nd player would be Ichiro Suzuki.

There is no doubt that Ichiro Suzuki is a first-year ballot Hall of Fame, he may even be the 2nd ever unanimous choice for the Hall of Fame.  He is definitely on my OUB.  However, I am not passionate about Ichiro and I am passionate about the player I  put ahead of him on my ballot. And like my pal Irene Cara used to always tell me, take your passion and make it happen.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 1 player that player would be Mark Buehrle.

There are 3 starting pitchers on the ballot this year who have some comparable stats. In my opinion, Buehrle outshines Pettitte and Sabathia.  True, I am a lifetime White Sox fan and Buehrle is my daughter's favorite player. 

When you look at some of the hardware and accolades they have merited Pettitte has 5 World Series Championships compared to Buehrle's and Sabathia's 1 each.  Sabathia has been elected to 6 all-star games, compared to Buehrle's 5 and Pettitte's 4.   Sabathia is the only Cy Young recipient and both he and Pettitte have a a league championship series MVP.  Buehrle is the only one of the 3 with Gold Gloves and he has 4 of them.  So when you total them all up it is Buehrle who has 10, Pettitte with 9, and Sabathia with 8. Buehrle also has a perfect game, an additional no-hitter, and a streak 0f 14 seasons where he pitched 200 or more innings.  

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame: New On The Ballot

 The 2024 Baseball Writers Association of America Hall of Fame Ballot contains 28 names of former MLB players being considered for enshrinement. This year the ballot has been split right down the middle with 14 players returning to the ballot and 14 players eligible to be on the ballot for the first time.   Players have 10 years of eligibility to receive the 75%  or more votes needed to make it to the Hall this way.  If they have additional years of legibility remaining and receive between 5% and 74.9 % of this year's vote they will remain on the ballot for next year.  

The 14 players on the ballot for the first time in 2025 are in Alphabetical Order

Carlos González OF 12 Seasons 4 Teams: Rockies, A's Indians, Cubs

Curtis Granderson OF 16 Seasons 7 Teams: Tigers, Mets, Yankees, Marlins, Bluejays, Dodgers, Brewers

Félix Hernández P 15 seasons : 1 Team: Mariners 

Adam Jones CF 14 Seasons 3 Teams: Orioles Mariners D-Backs

Ian Kinsler 14 Seasons 5 Teams: Rangers, Tigers, Angels, Padres, Red Sox

Russell Martin C 14 seasons: 4 teams: Dodgers, Bluejays, Yankees, Pirates 

Brian McCann C 15 Seasons 3 Teams Braves Yankees Astros

Dustin Pedroia 2B 14 Seasons 1 Team Red Sox 

Hanley Ramirez IF 15 seasons 4 teams: Marlins, Red Sox, Dodgers, Indians

Fernando Rodney RP 17 Seasons 11 Teams Tigers, Rays, Mariners, Angels A's D-Backs, Twins, Marlins, Nationals, Padres, Cubs

CC Sabathia P 19 Seasons 3 Teams: Yankees, Indians, Brewers

Ichiro Suzuki RF 19 Seasons 3 Teams Mariners Yankees, Marlins

Troy Tulowitzki SS 13 Seasons 4 Teams: Rockies, Bluejays, Yankees 

 Ben Zobrist IF 14 Seasons 4 Teams: Rays, Cubs, A's Royals

Fun Facts: 1) Only the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and San Francisco Giants do not have any 1st-year eligible players on the ballot this year.  

2) The 2 players on the ballot for the first time this year who played the most seasons, Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia both played on 3 teams and were teammates on the Yankees. 

Not Sure How This is A Writer's Workshop But I'm In.

Here are the prompts for this week’s Writer’s Workshop: 

1. Write a post based on the word surprise. 
2. Write a post in exactly 8 sentences. 
3. Tell us about your favorite restaurant when you were a kid. 
4. Share links to 5-10 of your favorite non-political YouTube videos from this past week. 
5. Tell us about a time you had a really elaborate project in elementary school. 
6. Tell us how you named one (or more) of your pets.

I love writing too much, too look for a loophole when it comes to these Workshop prompts.  But if I were, prompt 4  would be right up my alley.  A writing prompt that just has me sharing links?  Bring it on.  

Some of the videos are not from  the past week but were in my you tube feed in the past week.  I had already put a few You Tube links in previous posts which is why I have the minimum amount.  Yet another loophole.  

Bob Bennett Weekly Live 1/12/2025

 

Ving Rhames Give His Golden Globe to Jack Lemon

MLB Remembers Legendary Broadcaster Bob Uecker

1987 Dal@Phi Buddy Ryan Runs Up The Score

The Newsroom: That's How I Got To Memphis

That was almost too easy,  So I decide to do # 6 as well. It's how I renamed a pet.

When I was in highschool my family bought a cat.  They named him Tiger.  I say they because If I had been conulted in the naming process such a predictable name would not have escaped my lips.  One of my best friends already had a cat named tiger, and of course every other striped cat was named tiger.  

Not only did I refuse to call the cat Tiger. I unilaterally decided to change his name.  So in my family of 7 people, 6 people called  our new cat Tiger and I called the cat Larry. I was very aggressive  and vocal with my naming preference. While no one switched over immediately I wore people down. My Dad would  accidentally call  him Larry, sweat under his breath and switch back to Tiger. I was always a pretty obnoxious teenager but this was me ar my most obnoxious.

in the early 80s VCRs were coming on the scene and our family got one before a lot of my other friends had them. So that summer I had a big party and we watched a number of movies. In between and even during movies people hung out I’m different places in the house and on the front porch and people came and went freely.

At some point during the party Larry/Tiger went freely but didnt come back. He probably got tired of  all the name calling. We never did see Larry or Tiger again. 

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame Voting: Returning to the Ballot

The 2024 Baseball Writers Association of America Hall of Fame Ballot contains 28 names of former MLB players being considered for enshrinement. This year the ballot has been split right down the middle with 14 players returning to the ballot and 14 players eligible to be on the ballot for the first time.   Players have 10 years of eligibility to receive the 75%  or more votes needed to make it to the Hall this way.  If they have additional years of legibility remaining and receive between 5% and 74.9 % of this year's vote they will remain on the ballot for next year.  

The returning players are listed here in descending order of the % of votes received in the 2024 BBWAA election.

Player                  Position                 YOE           Highest PCT. (YR)         Lowest Pct. (YR)

Billy Wagner       Relief Pitcher        10th            73.8 % (2024)                 10.2% (2017)          

Andruw Jones      Centerfielder         8th              61.6%  (2024)                 7.3% (2018)

Carlos Beltran      Centerfielder         3rd              57.1 % (2024)                 46.5 % (2023)

Alex Rodriquez    Shortstop               4th              35.7 % (2023)                 34.3% (2022)

Manny Ramirez    Outfielder              9th              33.2 % (2023)                 22 % (2018)

Chase Utley             2nd Base                2nd              28.8% (2024)                  28.8% (2024)

Omar Vizquel           Shortstop               8th               52.6% (2020)                 17.7% (2024)

Bobby Abreu            Righfielder            5th               14.4% (2023)                5.5% (2020)

Jimmy Rollins          Shortstop               4th              14.8% (2024)                 9.4 % (2022 )

Andy Petitte              Pitcher                  7th               17.0% (2023)                9.9% (2019)

Mark Buehrle            Pitcher                    5th              11% (2021)                   5.8% (2022)    

Francisco Rodriguez Pitcher                 3rd             10.8% (2023)                  7.8% (2024)

Torii Hunter              Pitcher                5th               9.4% (2021)                    5.3% (2022)

David Wright           3rd Base               2nd             6.2% (2024)                    6.2 % 2022

Billy Wagner who is in his final year of eligibility missed enshrinement last year by only 1.2% of the votes.  

Fun Fact of the 12 players who are on the ballot for the 3rd time or more, only 4 of them received the highest percentage of votes in their election cycle in 2024.