Looks like homeschooling is exploding!!!
6 months ago
Sox Fam
Saturday, November 27, 2021
Dave Out Loud #100: Dave Out Loud Reexplained.
Friday, November 26, 2021
Feline Friday: When the House is Full, Our Cats are MIA.
I am sort of participating in Feline Friday at Comedy Plus today, I say sort of participating because I am not following their prescribed rules of posting a picture, cartoon or video of a cat. What I offer instead is a cow eating grass style anecdote of why our scaredy cats hide when ever people and especially dogs visit our abode as they did yesterday for Thanksgiving. 6 relatives and a dog-in-law partook in turkey, ham, cranberries and yams yesterday and our cats blipped off the radar into the basement as they are wont to do. I could take a picture of them now as they are in full post holiday hover mode in the next room but in this case no picture is the best picture of what happens when visitors come to call.
For some legitimate Feline Friday entries click here.
Golden Days Era Ballot
On January 25, 2022 the attention of the baseball loving public turns once again to Cooperstown, New York for the announcement of those who will be inducted into the 2022 class of Baseball's Hall of Fame
Each year the BBWAA (Base Ball Writer's Association of America) is tasked to pick among the most elite of the previous generation of ballplayers who will be placed with the rest of the legends of the sport.
This process now can take approximately 15 years as players are placed on the writer's ballot 5 years after retiring from the game and players are allowed to be on the ballot up to 10 years while trying to receive the 75% of the sportswriters votes needed to be elected to the hall.
This is not the only avenue available for players to be enshrined into Cooperstown. There is a path for players not elected by the BBWAA as well as managers, umpires and executives to be included into the HOF. This path formerly called the veteran's committee now has 4 individual committees based on the era that the individuals were involved in the sport: The Today's Game Committee (1988 to Present) , Modern Baseball Committee (1970-1987), The Golden Days Era Committee (1950 to 1969) and the Early Baseball Era Committee (1871-1949).
At least one of the committees meets each year at the annual Baseball Winter Meetings . The Today's Game and Modern Baseball Committees meet twice every 5 years. The Golden Days Era meets once every 5 years while the Early Baseball group meets once every 10 years. On December 5th of this year the Golden Day's Era Committee and the Early Baseball era Committee (each comprised of 16 members)will both vote on 10 people to be considered for Cooperstown. Any one receiving 75% of the vote or more will be among those announced in the Hall of Fame on 1/25/2020 and inducted on Sunday, July 24th 2022.
The remainder of this article is about the Golden Era Ballot.
These are the 9 former players and 1 former manager who are under consideration on the Golden Era Ballot
Dick Allen Years Played: 1963-1977 Teams: Philadelphia Phillies , Chicago White Sox , LA Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Oakland Athletics
Allen was the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year when playing for the Phillies and the 1972 AL MVP for the White Sox as well as a 7 time all star. Allen has been considered by the committee on 3 past occasions missing enshrinement by 1 vote in 2015. Dick Allen passed away on December 7, 2020 at the age of 78.
Ken Boyer Years Played: 1955-1969 Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, LA Dodgers, NY Mets, and Chicago White Sox.
While Dick Allen was earing his NL Rookie of the Year award in Philly, Boyer was the NL MVP for the 1964 World Champion Cardinals. He was also an 11 time all star with 5 gold gloves at third base. Boyer has also been considered by the committee on 3 past occasions. Ken Boyer died on September 7. 1982 at the age of 51.
Gil Hodges Years Played:1943 - 1963 Teams: Brooklyn & LA Dodgers and New York Mets.
Hodges was an 8 time all star with 3 gold gloves, He played for the World Series Champion 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers and 1959 WS Champ LA Dodgers. He managed the 1969 Mets so he has caused a little misery to both Chicago teams over the years. Hodges has been considered by 4 previous veteran's committees, the most recent being in 2015. Gil Hodges only lived to the age of 47 dying on April 2, 1972.
Fun Fact: Gil Hodges homered in the first baseball game my Dad ever saw on 6/28/1953 in County Stadium in Milwaukee. Fellow Golden Era nominee Dick Allen homered in the first White Sox game I ever went to but I think I had been to a few Cubs games before that.
Jim Kaat Years Played 1959-1983 Teams Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins (same franchise), Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees.
Kaat is a 3 time 20 game winner (twice in a row with my beloved White Sox), a 3 time all star and owner of a whopping 16 consecutive gold glove awards. Kaat pitched in the 1965 World Series for the Twins as they lost to the Dodgers and in 1982 pitched in the World Series as his Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers. Kaat has been considered on 3 previous occasions missing enshrinement by only 2 votes in 2015. Jim Kaat is one of 3 living former players on the ballot and turned 83 earlier this month.
Roger Maris Years Played 1957-1968 Teams New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians. St. Louis Cardinals, and Kansas City Athletics.
Maris won back to back AL MVP awards in 1960 and 1961 for the Yankees In 1961 Maris broke Babe Ruth's home run record with 61. Maris was in 7 all star games , 7 World Series (winning with the Yankees in '61 and in '62 and with the Cardinals in '67. Maris has been on the veteran's ballot 1 previous time in 2007. Roger Maris lived until 1985 dying at the age of 51.
Minnie Minoso Years Played: (1946-1980) *includes his time in the negro leagues and his return to baseball in 1976 and 1980* Teams: Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, New York Cubans, Washington Senators, St. Louis Cardinals.
Minoso had a life time batting average of .298 and was 37 hits shy of 2000. A 9 time American League All Star (4 time all star with the negro leagues). Minnie had 4 gold gloves and his only post season play was when the New York Cubans won the Negro League World Series in 1947. Minoso was the first black player to play for the White Sox. Minoso has been on 4 previous Veterans committee ballots, in 2015 he received 8 of 16 possible votes. Minnie Minoso died in 2015 less than 9 months before he would have turned 90.
Danny Murtaugh Years Managed (1957-1976) Team Pittsburgh Pirates
Murtaugh is the only person on this years Golden Days Era Ballot that I had not previously heard of. Murtaugh played second base for the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Braves, and Pittsburgh Pirates from 1941 to 1951 in between serving in WW II. As a manager, Murtaugh led the Pirates to two World Series championships in 1960 and 1971 and managed 3 all star games.. Murtaugh has been twice considered by veterans committees previously in 2008 & 2010. Danny Murtaugh died at the age of 59 on December 2, 1976 just 2 months after retiring as the Bucs manager.
Tony Oliva Years Played (1962-1976) Team Minnesota Twins
Oliva like Murtaugh did as a manager, retired from playing baseball after the 1976 season. In the American League( like Dick Allen in the NL) was the 1964 Rookie of the Year. Oliva won back to back AL batting crowns in 64&65 and a third in 1971 and was an all star for 8 consecutive years beginning in his sensational '64 campaign. Olivia received as much as 47.3% of the BBWAA votes in his 15 years on their ballot. This is his 5th time being considered by committees and like Allen he missed enshrinement by only 1 vote in 2015. Unlike Allen, Tony Oliva who turned 83 earlier this year may still be alive if Cooperstown does finally come calling.
Billy Pierce Years Played 1945-1964) Teams Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Detroit Tigers,
Pierce is among 5 former White Sox players being considered for the HOF by the committee this year. While he neither began or finished his illustrious career with the Sox, he hurled 13 seasons for the pale hose and had his # 19 was retired by the club back in 1987. Pierce was a 7 time all star and was the AL pitcher of the Year in 1955 with an era of 1.97. Pierce was on the veterans ballot for the first time in 2015. Billy Pierce died in 2015 at the age of 88.
Maury Wills Years Played:1959:1972 Teams Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos.
Wills was a 7 time all star with back to back gold gloves at shortstop in 1961 and 1962. In 1962 Wills was the NL MVP as well as the All Star MVP. He played in 4 World Series for the Dodgers winning the championship 3 times. This is Wills 4th time being considered by the veterans committee receiving 9 of the minimum 12 votes needed for enshrinement back in 2015. Maury Wills turned 89 this past October.
Fun Fact: Wills, Pierce and Hodges all played in the 1959, World Series. This does not include Minnie Minoso who played for the White Sox in all but 2 seasons between 1950 and 1961. Alas, one of those season was 1959, otherwise 4 of the 10 players on this years ballot would have been in that series.
Analysis:
This is a very deserving class and itis more than a little mind numbing that some of these players were not enshrined long ago. I have a well earned reputation as a Sox homer so it should not be surprising that I think I can make a good argument for inclusion into the HOF for 4 of these former southsiders. That being said, I think the two most logical candidates for enshrinement this time out are the two players (Dick Allen and Tony Oliva) who missed it by one vote in 2015. This would allow for my first White Sox hero to achieve in death what I think he most certainly earned in life and to have Oliva avoid the same speedbump on his eventual road to Cooperstown.
If there are more than these 2 enshrined look to Kaat, Wills and Minoso as the logical candidates. The rest of the field are also quite deserving and have 1 two time MVP in Maris and 1 MVP in Boyer not to take anything away from Pierce, Hodges or Murtaugh. I guess we will have to wait until December 5th to find out if any of these fine baseballers are Cooperstown bound. We've been waiting so long for some of them, what's another 10 days?
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
JJ Heller - God Is Still Here (Live)
Haven't shared for a while. I have been greatly encouraged by this song. You can listen to the official version of the song on Spotify by clicking here.
Saturday, November 20, 2021
Things I'd like to post more about.
Blog Insider: A look behind the curtain at HSD
Tonight's Episode: Some things I'd like to post more about.
When I first started blogging I kept a notebook with all the blogging ideas I had and would cross them out when I wrote about them and add more as the ideas come to me. This got to be a bit of a problem as I would often not have my notebook when I got an idea and often could not find my notebook when I was working on my blog. Also, not all of my ideas were blog worthy. Some were time sensitive and by the time I got to writing them down they were no longer relevant. Some just worked better as an idea but did not make sense when they saw the light of screen.
I have decided to make one of those lists as a blog post to give me a reference point I can't leave in my other coat and also to give the readers (if there are still any out there) an idea of what sort of things are interesting me these days.
- I would like to write more about my work as a substitute teacher.
- I would like to write more about my ADHD.
- I would like to write a little about the combination of my ADHD and my work as a substitute teacher,
- I have began recompiling my list of my 100 favorite movies. I would like to write more about the particular movies and my process in compiling the list.
- My wife and I have have lost over 100 pounds this year. I'd like to write about my weight and my goal to stop yoyoing and get down to my weight in high school.
- I would like to share more poetry here. Which means I'd like to write more poetry.
- I would like to take more pictures and post more pictures.
- I would like to write more about my faith.
There are certainly other things I'd like to blog more about, but at this present moment these are the forms of content I'd like to delve into more in the future.
I am also thinking of making some wholesale changes in my my blogging presence at the beginning of the year. I currently have 4 blogs active and am finding keeping those active more and more challenging. I once commented to someone that as long as I am posting at least once a quarter on each blog I would be satisfied. I have certainly been doing that but I'm noticing some redundancies and have spending a lot of thoughtspace on how to more efficiently scratch my blogging itch in the months and years to come.
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Reflections on Keith's birthday.
Today is Veteran's day. It happens each year on the 11th of November. November 11th has had special significance to me since 1970.
I was in first grade at Queen of the Rosary school in Elk Grove village and Mrs. Newman was my teacher. Some of my classmates were Dennis Morrison, Bob Gore and Dick Lynch. The special significance of 11/11 has nothing to do with Veteran's day but with the birth of my brother Keith.
Keith was the 4th child in our family and was born when I was 6, my older sister was 7 and my brother Chris was 4. In 1970 Keith was the 38th most popular boys name. That statistic would have been meaningless to me except that my brother Keith died in April of 2009 at the age of 38. Today he would have turned 51, but to me he will perpetually be 38 until we are reunited in Heaven.
My parents are still living and as of this writing live in the same house as they did when Keith was born. I was visiting them yesterday and I forgot all about it being Keith's birthday today. It wasn't until this morning at announcements at school that I realized it was Veteran's day. My first 3 classes today were teaching 2nd grade, kindergarten and 1st grade art classes. It was strange to remember that I was in first grade when Keith was born and unsettling to realize Keith's children were in Kindergarten and 2nd grade respectively when he passed away.
I used to think of Keith all the time after he passed away. Over the years I haven't forgotten him or anything like that, but 12 1/2 years of life has moved on while Keith remains more or less at a fixed point in time. I'm feeling a bit of survivor's guilt today. My children have grown up or are in the process of growing up with both their parents. My niece and nephew lost their Dad before they were even tweens. I remember what a loving father Keith was to his kids but it makes me sad that they don't have many memories of him at all.
Over the years I have endeavored to stand in as much for Keith as I could for his children. I will continue to do my best in that regard, but today I'm just a guy who misses his brother.
Sunday, November 7, 2021
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
Captain Kirk actor "Shatners" oldest person in space record
For Captain James Tiberius Kirk space was the final frontier.
For William Shatner, the actor who portrayed him on network television, Saturday Morning cartoons and multiple motion pictures space was just another step in a long and illustrious career. The 90 year became the oldest person in space on October 13th ,making the trek from science fiction to science fact.
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Colors of the Rainbow | Color Song for Kids | Learning the Colors | Jack...
I work as a substitute teacher in a local school district. I have been doing this for the last 4 school years and have found that I really enjoy it and seem to be good at it. Since January of this year, I have been doing mostly long term subbing which usually means filling in for a teacher or paraeducator on maternity leave.
A few days before the beginning of this school year I was contacted by my wife/s principal (My wife is a school pyschologist) who wanted to know if I would teach her schools art classes while they searched for a permanent art teacher. I had previously done two shorter stints subbing for the art teacher at that school and found that while it was a little out of my comfort zone it also landed firm in my sweet spot. Buoyed my my previous experience I quickly agreed.
My students range from kindergartners to 5th graders. II like tend to teach between 2 or 3different lessons to encompass all the age groups. The activities, and types of content will vary. With the younger students I like to supplement the activities with stories and songs. Jack Hartmann. a forever young 71 year old children's singer with unbridled makes some of my favorite videos for the pre-school to 2nd grade set. I'm currently starting my k-2 classes on warm and cool colors with this great Jack Hartmann video.
Saturday, October 16, 2021
I'm trying an experiment.
It's been quite a while since I've posted here. So I have set my timer for 15 minutes have put on Larry Norman radio from pandora on Alexa which is playing Rich Mullin's oddly enough. I am going to just type for 15 minutes and see if I can produce a short message.
As the school. year started this year, for about 3 weeks I was working 3 jobs. I have had a long term sub assignment as an art teacher at my favorite elementary school. I also had been working along with my wife and daughter at a minor league baseball park selling concessions. There was a section in the employee handbook that said I had to disclose to my supervisor if I wrote in a blog, but I think that was written 20 years ago when blogging was more common place. The problem was that my supervisors would change with almost every shift and the supervisors I did tell didn't know what a blog was. I also continue to work 2 nights a week at the movie theatre. I was very glad when the baseball season ended in early September and I could get back to the relative ease of working only 2 jobs.
The problem with getting back into blogging was 2 fold. The first our family has 3 birthdays in a 3 week period in September which kept us all on our toes. The 2nd is that once you get too busy to do something like blogging or reading which both came to an abrubt halt it's hard to get them back going again.
I lost 30 pounds this Summer. The trick will be not to find it again this winter. I am counting calories consistently for the first time in my life and it seems to be working okay for me. My wife and I are doing it together which is better than going it alone.
My timer just went off so I will continue this again hopefully soon with the opening sentence. I always told myself that when I got under 250 pounds I would start running again.
Music listened to during past 15 minutes:
Larry Norman - UFO
Rich Mullins - If I Stand
Randy Stonehill - King of Hearts
Rescue Story - Zach Williams
Why Don't you look into Jesus - Larry Norman
Batting .500 on first round of very biased MLB playoff predictions
Right before the MLB playoffs began I wrote down my predictions for the playoffs and posted them here.
I picked the White Sox to win it all, which might seem the ultimate heart instead of head choice, but I 80% believed that the Sox could be the 2021 World Series Champs.
Of course, this was not meant to be. The Astros beat the White Sox in 4. It was a series of blowouts with Houston winning 3 of the blowouts and the Sox winning only game 3. The White Sox had their chances leading 3 0f the 4 games but the Astros led all 4 games and their hitting was relentless.
In my other ALDS prediction I correctly picked the Red Sox to beat the Tampa Bay Rays in their AL East rivalry. I also correctly picked the NL Wild Card (and 2020 reigning World Series champ) LA Dodgers over their NL west rival over the San Francisco Giants.
In the pick I felt less certain about I did pick the Brewers to beat the Braves in the other NLDS and I was quite wrong about that. (Fun fact: Both the Brewers and the Braves once called Milwaukee County Stadium their home. ) It's just as well as the Dodgers Braves NLCS match-up is a rematch of my the first baseball my game my Dad ever attended. This was back when the Dodgers played in Brooklyn and Jackie Robinson played for them and the Braves were playing in Milwaukee.
The Red Sox lost game 1 in the ALCS and the Dodgers Braves NLCS gets underway today, Now that the White Sox are out of the mix, I am not as invested in the results but I would not be surprised if any of these teams were to win the World Series this year.
Monday, October 11, 2021
Album Spotlight: Peter Paul & Mommy
I used to love to make mix tapes from my album c.d. and cassette collections. Often I would record an album spotlight where I would feature 4 or 5 songs from the same album and mix it in with other songs on a 45 minute cassette. I found I can basically do the same thing in a much shorter time on Spotify. I am also less limited by space so instead of choosing 45 minutes of songs I chose 20 songs.
The first album I decided to do this with is Peter Paul and Mary's award winning Children's album Peter Paul and Mommy. Unfortunately, I didn't discover this gem of an album in 1969 when it first came out. This is too bad, as I was 5 in 1969 and at the perfect age for many of the wonderful songs on this album I did eventually discover it when my own children were at the perfect age to listen to it.
Click here to listen to the entire playlist.
My favorite 5 songs on the album (in alphabetical order) are ...
An additional 5 songs featured on the playlist are ...
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall - Bob Dylan
Grandma's Feather Bed - John Denver
The entire album has a singing around the campfire feeling. I guess it's not surprising that many of the songs I chose to accompany songs from the album were songs that I sang around the campfire over the years. Grandma's Feather Bed is a song that I learned over the campfire years before I ever heard Denver's rendition
Wedding Song (There is Love) - Noel Paul Stookey
On my album spotlight playlists, I like to feature songs by the artist or solo songs from the group that are not on the album. Noel Paul Stookey is the Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary and The Wedding Song was performed by my sisters at my and my wife's wedding, so it was a slam-dunk choice for the playlist.
Snuggle Puppy - Eric Stoltz
I also like to include songs from the album's same genre on my playlist. Snuggle Puppy is a song from the book c.d. combo Philadelphia Chickens featuring the lyrics and artwork of Children's author Sandra Boynton. Like Peter Paul and Mommy this song (and the entire album) was a favorite of my kid's growing up. I could totally see doing an album spotlight in the future on this amazing project.
Carolina in My Mind - James Taylor
I think groups like Peter, Paul and Mary paved the way for the folk-pop music of the 70's. This is why I added a little JT to the mix.
I hope you enjoyed this look back at one of my favorite albums. I hope to do another one here real soon.
Thursday, October 7, 2021
My Very Biased Playoff Predictions
As both the NL Wild Card and AL Wild Card games are in the books time for my hopes and dreams for the rest of the playoffs. Predictions are too string of a word, but I will take credit for any of these picks that turn out right as I have the courage of my convictions to post them here.
National League
Dodgers vs Giants
I pick the Dodgers,
Brewers vs, Braves.
Ever since I lived 2 hours from Atlanta back when the Braves won their World Series in the last century I have been a pretty big Braves supporter from afar. That's not true exactly. I have loved the Braves ever since the days of hammering Hank Aaron who remains my favorite ball player who never wore a Chicago uniform. That being said I think the Brewers will beat the Braves in a close series.
Dodgers vs. Brewers
I am a little torn here and will explain my reasoning more when I get to my World Series pick but suffice it to say I'll pick the Dodgers.
American League
Rays vs. Red Sox.
The Rays were very impressive in a very impressive division. I think the Red Sox will find a way to skate past Tampa.
White Sox vs. Astros.
In a rematch of the 2005 World Series the former NL Astros play my beloved White Sox. I hope with all the hope I can muster that Houston will have a problem and the pale hose will prevail.
White Sox vs. Red Sox.
Let me boldly assert that the Sox will definitely win this match-up. The question is what color will these victorious Sox be adorned with, Again my hope is that the White Sox will prevail.
2021 World Series Pick
White Sox vs. Dodgers
If the White Sox do make it to the World Series my preference would be they play the Brewers. I live less than 2 hours from each ball park and would try to get tickets without breaking my bank account. However I love the symmetry of the White Sox beating the Astro's and the Red Sox as they did in 2005 and then avenging their last World Series defeat in 1959 by beating the reigning champion Dodgers.
It could happen and in October anything can happen, so why not that?!!!? Go Go White Sox!
Note: I Just remembered that Hank Aaron started and finished his playing days in Milwaukee. He started with the Braves, moved to Atlanta with them, and then finished his career with the Brew Crew.
Friday, September 17, 2021
Randy Stonehill 50 years in ministry kickstarter project is fully funded.
Last Month Ray Ware, Randy Stonehill's longtime manager and bestfriend, launched a kickstarter project to produce an album to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of Born Twice, Stonehill's first album. The Album will have various artists performing Stonehill songs from the last 1/2 century. The link to the project (which is now fully funded and closed for contributions) is found here.
The album will be entitled "There's A Rainbow Somewhere" which are lyrics from his song King of Hearts. I was excited to hear about the project and it is the first kickstarter project that I have ever been a backer of. To celebrate funding I am sharing the song King of Hearts here.
Thursday, September 9, 2021
79 Years Ago in baseball history
Today is September 9th 2021. Seventy-nine years ago today, Eddie Robinson made his major league debut for the Cleveland Indians. Eddie, is currently the oldest living former magor league. In addition to the Indians Robinson also played the majority of his career for the White Sox, Yankees, Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics and Washington Senators. He also saw limited service with the Detroit Tigers and Baltiomor Orioles in his final year of baseball in 1957. Robinson turned 100 on December 15th of last year
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Snow Kidding!
These "kids" now range from 19 to 25
These Blogs are so 2025
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Justin Wilson- 10 Years9 months ago
