W is for Writers Block, Willie, and Wraps

Good morning and welcome to day 23, the3rd day of the final week  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

Writers Block is of course a thing.  It often happens to writers on deadline. The A to Z challenge is of course one massive deadline.  Here is a limerick I wrote 8 years ago about Writer's Block.

 I wonder if there's some kind of doc

For a bad case of writer's block

You make an appointment

He gets you some ointment

And you can get back on the clock. 

Adapted from my Facebook page 1/4/14

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Willie Mays, "The Say Hey Kid" began his HOF career in 1951, 13 seasons before the year I was born.  Between 1951 and 1963 Willie hit 406 home runs. Thats good enough for 9th overall between 1920 and 1963.  If he stopped there, It would be goof enough for 58th all time.

But Willie Mays did not stop there he continued to play until 1973 hitting another 254 long balls (240 for the San Francisco Giants and 14 for the New York Mets) for a career total of 660.  This puts him in 6th place in homers over the history of Major League Baseball. Mays who will turn 91 a week from this coming Friday is the oldest living member of Baseball's Hall of Fame.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 23nd starting word was wraps. 

W R A P S- Guessed the R and the P but not in the right places.

P O R C H- A step forward : Got the P and the R in the correct positions.

P A R T Y-  A step backwards: Guessed a letter that I knew wasn't there/

P U R G E -  Purge in 4 

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

V is for Vladimir, Vladimir and Voice

Good Morning and welcome to day 22, the 2nd day of the final week  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

I know this guy Vladimir

He is a true friend ,very dear

His name in Russian means swan

I would like to go on

But a limerick's lengths very clear

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Speaking of Vladimir our home run hitter under V is Vladimir Guerrero.  Vladimir in Russian literally means one who rules the world.  Vladimir Guerrero rules the world of Montreal Expo home run hitters with 234 in his 8 years with the team.  Ryan Zimmerman now owns the franchise record but all of his 4 baggers came after the team move to D.C>) 

over his career The hall of famer  hit 449 homers from 1996 to 2011 while maintaining a batting average of .318.  From 2000 to 2010 Guerrero hit 357 of those 449 homers. Putting him 17th among the prestigious sluggers of the 1st decade of the 21st century.  He was one of only 3 during that era with a batting average of .300 or higher. (The other 2 were Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera) and his .318 was the best of the bunch. During that period Vladimir sr. hit 173 of those homers with the Angels, 142 with the Expos and 29 with the Rangers before ending his career in 20011 with the Orioles where he hit an unlucky 13 dingers finishing 1 short of 450 for his career.

I say Vladimir, Sr. because his Son Vladimir, Jr. now plays for the only remaining Canadian team in the MLB, the Toronto Blue Jays where he has hit 77 homers since beginning his career in 2019.  Maybe if we revisit this list again in a few  years we will have anither world ruler to contend with.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 22nd starting word was voice. 

V O I C E - The O is in the word but in the wrong place.  I removed vice from my next guess. 

D R O O P - The only thing I learned in this guess was where the O went. 

S H O O T- This was a mistake as I already knew there was only 1 O. 

S L O S H-  Slosh in 4..

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

U is for Umbrella, Double U, and Urban

 

Good Morning and welcome to day 21, the start of the final week  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

If you want to stay dry for hours

Without using your super powers

Well, go gal or fella

Buy yourself an umbrella 

It is great for these April showers!

.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Today I chose two brothers to represent the letter U for my a to z home run hitters. J.R. (Melvin)  and Justin Upton are both in the top 500 all time longballers with a combined total of 488 between them. BJ hit 97 of his 164 homers between 2011 and 2016 while playing for the Rays, Padres, Braves and Blue Jays.  The Brave's were not only the one team that did not rhyme with the others but where he was able to play with his brother in 2013 & 2014.  The Brothers Upton combined for a total of 77 homers in those 2 years.  

Justin hit 264 of his career 324 round trippers between 2011, and 2021.  In additioned to the aforementioned Braves, Justin played for the D-Backs, Padres, Tigers and Angels in that timespan.  Justin was cut from the Angels prior to the beginning of this season and at this point has not been picked up by any other teams 

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 21st my starting word was urban, as I mentioned yesterday.  I had spent that weekend in downtown Chicago that weekend and I had my starting words (Sears, Tower, and Urban) match my locale.  

U R B A N  - I was able to get the letter r, but in the wrong place

R O D E O - Unlike the common phrase, this I believe was my first rodeo.  At least as far as Wordle was concerned.  I did add an E to the  but also not in the right right place 

M I T E R - This got me R in the right place and added 2 more incorrectplaced letters

T H E I R- with their I got there in 4.

For more A to Z challenge click here. 

 I

T is for Tupelo, Thomas & Tower

 Good evening and welcome to day 20 of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

Yesterday's limerick was pep talk to others in the challenge.  This one's more for me.  

8 years ago we had a bit of a polar vortex in Illinois.  I got myself in a little bit of a Roller Vortex and write a limerick on my Facebook page about the 28 degree difference in temps between the Chicago are and Tupelo, MS.

 If I spent the day in Tupelo

Where it's 14 above not below

While water would still freeze

28 more degrees 

Would increase by old get up and go

From my Facebook account in the winter of 2014

.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Choosing some  players for this list has been more difficult than others.  There was absolutely  no difficulty in choosing Frank Thomas for this list.  I drove from Chicago to upstate New York to see him enshrined in Cooperstown, so it's no trouble at all to reserve a letter for him.

Thomas is tied for 20th all time in homeruns with Ted Williams, and Willie Stargell with 521.  He hit 301 of those in the era of 1988 through 1999 all with my beloved White Sox. He hit 448 total dingers with the ChiSox and knocked 73 more between the A's and the Jays at the end of his storied career. Only 8 players hit more homers than the Big Hurt in the 1990's and none of those 8 had a better batting average than his .320 for the decade.  He finished his career with over 500 homers and a batting average of .301. Among the 6 other players who have accomplished this are Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams and Willie Mays.  When your career stats match favorably with what could easily be considered the Mount Rushmore of hitting you are in grand company indeed.  

.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 20th my starting word was tower. It had been Sears the day prior and this was because I was in Chicago proper running a 1 mile and 5 mile race that weekend and my starters were an homage to the Willis Tower FKA Sears Tower.  

T O W E R  - My first guess netted 3 letters but none in the right place 

S H R E W - Got the EW sorted and still had the r in the wrong place.

R E N E W-  For the first time since March 14th I renewed my acquaintance with the feelings of getting a wordle in 3 guesses.

For more A to Z challenge click here. 

 I

S is , Stan Lee, Sammy Sosa and Sears

Good Evening and welcome to day 19 of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

There once was a "Marvel"ous man

A comic book writer named Stan

when the books came to screen

His cameos would be seen

As an Easter egg for the true fan.

.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Sammy Sosa was not my first choice for a slugger in my life time for the letter S.  I would have rather been able to insert Mike Schmidt, Willie Stargell, Ron Santo or even Alfonso Soriano.  What it came down to was era.  When I decided to make an a to z list of hommer hitters over my life time, I decided to split the eras into 11-12 year increments (1964-1975, 1976-1987, 1988-1999, 2000-2010, and 2011-2021) I decided to fit 5 players from each era and a 6th from whichever era had the quintessential q hitter.  This meant that sometimes I could not put in all the players I wanted to make room for 5 in each era and 1 with each letter.  I needed another player form the 1988-1999 era and Sammy Sosa was the only person in the top 25 of homerun hitters from that era who had an s in his name.  

Sosa like Reggie Jackson, and Albert Pujols was actually in the top 25 of 2 eras, his 273 homers between 2000 and 2010 was tied for 23 of players from that time period.  It was in 1988 to 1999 when he hit 336 dingers that he made the top 10 o.  It is that time frame that he comes into the list. Add both eras home run production together and you get 609 long balls good enough for 9th on the all time list.  Between 1988 and 1999, he hit 1 while playing for the Texas Rangers, 28 with the Chicago White Sox and 307 with the Chicago Cubs.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 19th starting word was Sears.

S E A R S - Got an A in the incorrect place

A N N U L-  Got A in right place added l but in wrong place. .

A L L O Y - 4 letter in correct spots!

A L L O W -  Wordle  in 4 guesses.

For more A to Z challenge click here. 

R is for Race, Reggie and Robin

 Good morning and welcome to day 18 of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

Yesterday's limerick was pep talk to others in the challenge.  This one's more for me.  

This challenge is quite like a race

It goes by at a blistering pace

Marathon not sprint

Not trying to win it

I'll  finish with grin on my face.

.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

They call Reggie Jackson Mr. October because he excelled on the biggest stage in baseball, The World Series.  That does not mean he has many substandard April through September's by any stretch.  Like Albert Pujols who we discussed on Tuesday Jackson made the top 25 in homeruns for 2 eras in my life.  Today we will be focusing on that 2nd era 1976 through 1987. 

Jackson in a career that spanned from 1967 to 1987 played for 4 major league teams in 5 cities.  (He started with the Kansas City Athletics and finished his playing days with the same team who had since moved to Oakland.  From 1976 to 1987 Jackson hit 309 of his career 563 homers. He hit 144 for the Yankees, 123 for the Angels, 27 for the Orioles, and 15 in his final stint with the Athletics.

Jackson is ranked 14th in career homeruns.  He is ranked 5th between 1976 and 1987 behind Mike Schmidt, Jim Rice, Dave Kingman, and Dale Murphy. Interestingly enough Jackson is ranked above all of them on the all-time list.  

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 18th starting word was robin.

R O B I  N - Robin was not exactly a rockin' way to start with 0 letters guessed correctly.

S T E P S-  Steps had some pep, with S in the correct position and T and E in the final answer.

S L A T E - From here it was a quick trip to

S A U T E - And voila!, Wordle is served in 4 guesses.

For more A to Z challenge click here. 

 

Q is for Quit, Quentin, and Quest

 Good Evening  and welcome to day 17  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

I am composing tonight's limerick as an encouragement to anyone considering checking out and giving up on the challenge.

Stop thinking that you can't do it.

You've come too far now just to quit.

If you're working on Q

10 more than you're through.

And remember your much too Legit!

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Traditionally Q is often the hardest letter along with X for the A to Z challenge.  For me this year Q was no problem when it came to homerun hitters because I'm a big fan of the Chicago White Sox and we had Carlos Quentin. Quentin played major league ball from 2006 to 2014 starting with Arizona and finishing with San Diego but his prime was spent with t he beloved White Sox where he hit 107 of his 154  (approximately 70 %) homers between 2008 and 2011.  That averages out to 36 homers in a 162 games season during his time with the pale hose.  That's compared to 30 homers in a 162 game average over the course of his career.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 17th starting word was quest.

Q U E ST- The E  is in the final answer but not in the right location

L E A R N-  I didn't learn too much from learn, no new letters and E still out of place.

C O P E D -  This got  me a new  letter in the right place.

M O V I E - Cut and print in 4 takes.  

For more A to Z challenge click here. 

 

P is for Philippians 4, Pujols, and Piano.

 Good morning  and welcome to day 16  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

I like Philippians 4:4

I should attempt to follow it more.

Paul, in emphatic voice

Says always rejoice

Cause there's much to rejoice in the Lord.

Adapted from my 2/3/2014 Facebook post

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

From 2011 -2021 Albert Pujols hit 280 homers mostly while playing with the LA Angels.  former Ro This was the 5th most homer output during those years.  That is not why were talking about the 3 time MVP, 2 time World Series Champ. He is also the 5th all time homerun hitter in MLB history  and just has to hit 15 more in this his final MLB season to tie A-Rod for 4th place overall. 4 more dingers and he's be in the rarified air of Bonds, Aaron and Ruth the only players to have 700 or more.  If this turns out not to be his last season or if he hits a total of 35 or more long balls this season (which he has accomplished 10 other times in his storied career) he could surpass Babe Ruth for 3rd all time.  Between the years 2000 and 2010 Pujols hit 408 dingers and was 2nd only to A-Rod in that time frame.  Pujols is the only player to be in the top 5 in 2 of the 4 quadrants of my life that I divided these homers by.  Pujols hit all 408 of these 1st decade 21st century bombs for the St. Louis Cardinals.  Pujols has been reunited with the Cardinals for this supposedly final season.  He has already hit 2 homers in this young season,  

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 16th starting word was piano.

P I A N O - The A is in the final answer but not in the right location

D R E A M-  Added the R and E but nonr of the 3 letters are yet in their proper places. Leaving only 1 spot for R in the next guess 

C A T E R - There are at least 4 words that fit with c a (blank) e r. . Caper and caner will not work as the p and n were eliminated on the first guess.  I went with Cater as it's much more common than cager and it turned out well for me.  Cater in 4. 

For more A to Z challenge click here. 

 

Last 5 Next 10 Tax day Edition

As it turns out I didn't finish any books in the  traditional way since our last edition.  Each year I read the chronicles of Narnia through.  I have been doing this for about 40 years.  This year I decided to mix it up a little and listen to the books being read rather than reading them myself.  4 of the 5 selections here are from the CHronicles of Narnia and the only one that wasn't was a comic book anthology.

Voyage of The Dawn Treader- C.S. Lewis

Listened to via Hoopla

4/1/22

The Essential Defenders - Len Wein

Read myself, borrowed from a friend.

4/1/22

The Silver Chair by C.S, Lewis

Listened to via Hoopla

4/6/22

The Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis

Listened to Via Hoopla

4/14/22

The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis

Listened to Via Hoopla

4/18/22

Ten books I am currently reading or planning to read soon are .

God's Forgetful Pilgrims - Michael Griffiths

The Case For Easter - Lee Strobel

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

Love, Dance & Egg Rolls - Jason Tanamor

An American Marriage - Tayari Jones

Until Tuesday, A Wounded Warrior and The Golden Retriever who saved Him - Luis Carlos Montalvan

First Degree - David Rosenfelt 

Inside The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Devin Brown

Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007 - Roger Ebert

The Collected Short Stories of Louis Lamour - Vol I

I finished book 15 on 3/24 and finished book 20 today (4/18). This means I completed 5 books in 25 days.  Over the course of 1 year at that rate I would finish 73 books.  In the first 108 days of this year I have averaged reading 1 book every 5.4 days.  If I keep up that pace I should finish approximately 68 books by years end. I am not sure I can sustain such a pace this month while completing the a to z challenge.  But after the challenge I hope to finish a lot of these books I've been working on.  

O is for Orange, Oliva, and Overt

 Good morning  and welcome to day 15  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

From the thet can't all be winners department ...

Orange, is a wonderful fruit.

And has vitamin C to boot.

While it's no crime,

That it has no good rhyme.

It does make me want to say "shoot!"

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Tony Oliva got elected to the Hall of Fame by the veteran's comittee this year receiving 12 of the 16 votes he needed.  Oliva played for the Minnesota Twins from 1962 to 1976 and hit all but 1 of his 220 career homers from 1964-1975.  

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

C 

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 15th starting word was overt.

O V E R T - Guessed the E and T the T but not in their proper place.

T E P I D-  Got the T and E in their proper spots.

T E A C H  - Added a third letter in the right spot.

T E A S E - Correct in 4 guesses

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

I May Have This Read at my Funeral

 Today is Easter Sunday.  Well it still is in my time zone.  After church today I was driving to a family gathering and I heard this song. The song is over 30 years old and I have heard it plenty of times.  As I listened to it today and reflected upon the lyrics and thought about it in the context of Easter.  I realized I'm accepted by Christ, and He loved me so much to die for my sins and his resurrection shows that His love is packed with power.  I hope these lyrics minister to you today as much as they did to me .

"I'm Accepted"

by Degarmo & Key | from the 1989 album The Pledge I May not be rich Don't wear fashion clothes Don't live in a mansion Don't have much that shows Never won a contest in popularity Don't have much to offer  But Jesus still loves me I'm accepted, accepted I'm accepted by the one who matters most. Never set a record in sports agility Never was magnetic in personality That don't really matter I'll do the best I can 'Cause there's a God above me Who loves me like I am I'm accepted, accepted I'm accepted by the one who matters most. If you think you're a loser When you fail it seems at everything you do Just remember there's a Savior And you are worth enough He gave his life for you I'm accepted, accepted I'm accepted by the one who matters most. I'm accepted, accepted I'm accepted by the one who matters most. I'm accepted, accepted I'm accepted by the one who matters most.

N is for Next, Nelson and Nails

 Good morning  and welcome to day 14  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

So many people get vexed

Wondering what to do next

I say don't have a cow

You're building next now

so just keep on doing your best.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

When I decided I would be doing an a to z list of home run hitters in my lifetime I decided to apportion my lifetime in 5  approximately 11 year chapters and try to fit 5 players from each chapter on the list.  Yesterday13 days into the challenge I finalized my list.  Yesterdays entry and todays entry are both from the last chapter which encompasses 2011-2021. Yesterday I featured Miguel Cabrera who has hit 502 homers in his MLN career.  Today we talk about Nelson Cruz who is not far behind Cabrera with 450.  

Cruz has the most homers of any player between 2011 and 2021 His 372 is almost 50 more than the player behind him on the list.  During that time frame, Cruz has hit 163 homers for the Mariners ,, 80 for the Rangers , 76 for the Twins, 40 for the Orioles, and 13 for the Rays. Cruz now plays for the Washington Nationals and has hit one homer for them so far this season.  

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My March 14th starting word was nails.

N A I L S  Got 2 letters, 1 in the right place 

S H E L L-  3 letters all in the right position 

S M E L T - smelt is a verb and a noun and I "nailed" it in 3.

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

M is for Meaning,Miguel Cabrera, Mouse

Good morning  and welcome to day 13  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

I'd like to make a good syllogism

One that would refute nihilism

God exists.  He has plan. 

So there's meaning for man.

Now I'll go learn ventriloquism.

Originally published on FB March of 2014

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Miguel Cabrera and I have something in common.  We have both worked for the Kane County Cougars.  He, when he was coming up with the Florida Marlin organization at the turn of the century and me, last summer when I worked in their concession stands. Cabrera's major league stats are more o,[ressive than his minor league ones and even my prodigious vending skills.  He is 9 hits away from joining the elusive 500 Homer 3000 hit club.  Cabrera hit 247 homers between the Marlins and the Tigers from 2003 to 2010.  In 2011 to 2021 (time spent entirely with the Tigers) he has hit 255 dingers.  

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

On March 13th I opened my Wordle with an animal for the 3rd day in a row.  

M O U S E- Got 3 letters, 1 in the right place 

S O U N D-  This was a mistake in logic guessing u in the place I knew it wasnt. 

B O G U S - Despite evidence to the contrary, this was not a bogus guess. 

F O C U S - Focus in four. 

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

At about 12:15 this morning I did my wordle early.  I started with mouse and finished in 2.  

L is for Lima Beans, (E)L Caballo and Llama

 Good morning  and welcome to day 12  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

I don't mean to go to extremes

But the worst food in the world is lima beans 

I do not know who

Thought of those in Peru

But they certainly did not know beans!

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

Carlos Lee is definitely in my nick name hall of fame.  They call him El Caballo which is spanish for the horse.  I loved watching El Caballo play for the White Sox from 1999 to 2004. He got traded to the Brewers and I was glad that we got Scottie Pods in that deal and I know that Podsednik was a major part of our World Series Championship but I was still a little sad that Lee left. Lee played in the MLB from 1999 to 2012. He hit 315 of his 358 career home runs from 2000 to 2010.  In that time span, he hit 136 for the White Sox, 110 for the Astros, 60 for the Brewers, and 9 for the Rangers.  

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

Some of my a-z wordle opening guesses have multitudes of meaning to me and my family. Llama is one of the most significant.  There was a period of my life when my kids were growing up that I could not keep myself from saying the word llama.  It got so bad that I offered to pay the kids a nickel each time I said the word.  One night they as before bedked me to read some books to them for bedtime, which was big part of our not time routine so I wasn't suspicious until they pulled out books like Is your Mama a Llama, and Llama Llama Red Pajama.  They made some big money that evening!

For the letter K, I opened with Krill and for L I opened with Llama.  I find it interesting that I ended one opener  with a double L and then came back the very next day to start the word with the very same double L

L

L L A M A - got an a in the wrong place

B R E A K-  Placed that A in the right place

S Q U A D- Added a D but in the wrong place. 

D I V A N - Did not find out anything new.

T O D A Y- 5th guess, added t,o, and y and got the word 

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

K is for Kilometer , King Kong and Krill

 Good Evening and welcome to day 11 of the A-to-Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. Due to the incredible busyness of my week I am posting more than 16 hours late today.  Usually I would post at 4:13 a.m to coincide with the date 4/13.  Speaking of 4/13 stay tuned and I will have a special 17th birthday shout out for someone who was born today.  

Part I: A to Z Limericks

our This limerick was written 3/20/22 about an hour after I finished the Shamrock Shuffle, a Chicago 5 mile run.  Special 17th birthday shout out to my niece Olivia who ran in that race much much faster than I did and is celebrating her birthday today.

 Just finished my first 8 K

A 5 mile race, so they say

I'll admit it was fun

But I'm glad that it's done

No more runs for a week and a day

Actually I have not run for 3 weeks and 2 days.  Although I have taught some gym and played some full court basketball.  I hope to get back on track (Oh boy, was the pun intended!) soon.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

When I think of Dave Kingman, I think of Wrigley Field.  Kingman only played for the Cubs for 3 years (1978-1980) but during that time hit 49 home runs at the friendly confines.  When not with the Cubs he hit 20 more home runs at Wrigley as a  member of the visiting team. Kingman once hit a home run 550 feet.  

Kingman played from 1971 to 1986.  In the era of 1976-1987 he hit 329 of his career 442 homers, 3rd most of that era. Only Mike Schmidt (1st with 437) and Jim Rice (2nd with 341) hit more in that time period.  During that time King Kong belted  118 homers with the Mets, Creamed 100, for the A's,  hit 94 dingers with the Cubs.  He also hit 11 for the Padres, 4 for the Yankees and 2 for the Angels.  

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My opening word for K on March 11th was Krill

K R I L L  - There was something fishy about that guess not netting letters

G H O S T-  I didn't get spooked by my first guess and got h and t on the second , but in wrong places.

H A U T E - this guess got A in the right position and added h to t as letters in the wrong position

W A T C H - got it in 4

This morning I started again with Krill and like last month guessed the wordle in 4 guesses.  

I better call it a night. Hopefully I can finish my 3 l topics before 4:14 tomorrow morning.  For more A to Z challenge click here.  

J is For January, Jim Rice, and Judge

Good morning and welcome to day 10 of the A-to-Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. Due to the incredible busyness of my week I am only doing the limerick today.

Part I: A to Z Limericks

 ...

This limerick was written 8 years ago in preparation for a 20 degree below zero day 

Going out in this weather? stay in.

 If you must go,avoid exposed skin. 

With extremities warm 

You'll be safe in a storm

 But spittle might freeze on your chin

From Facebook 2014

My home run hitter for J is Jim Rice, an old school long ball banger who played his entire career (1974-1989) for the Boston Red Sox.  That's the years I turned 10 until the year I turned 25.  I spent my formative years of baseball appreciation watching this hall of famer play.  

From the time period between 1976 to 1987, Rice hit 341 (approximately 90%) of his 382 homers.  This is 2nd only to fellow Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt who hit 437 in the same time period.

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

My opening word for March 10th was Judge.

J U D G E- E in coorect poition everything else wrong

R H Y M E-  Different word, same result.

B L A Z E - Added L and A in incorrect places.

S A L V E   -Correctly placed the A , S and L are in wrong position

L A P S E Got it in 4

Today I started with Judge again but this time got the correct word in 4 guesses.

For more A to Z challenge click here. 

I is for Illinois, Ibanez and Imago

 Good morning  and welcome to  a new week  of the A to Z challenge. This year I chose 3 themes for the challenge: Limericks, MLB sluggers in my lifetime, and A to Z wordles. For more information about these themes click here. 

Part I: A to Z Limericks

If me, you want to annoy

Go ahead mispronounce Illinois

Please be compliant

Let the s remain silent

And no, I am not being coy

The first 4 lines of that limerick stayed on my open computer screen all night as I could not think of an adequate final line.  This morning I asked my wife who volunteered the closer.  Thanks Amy. How fitting that the limerick dropping on our 24th wedding anniversary  shows yet another example of how wonderful it is to be on a team with you.

Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime

When I was thinking which homer smasher I would choose for the letter I.  I did not immediately think of Raul Ibanez.  I immideiately thought of Jason Isringhausen, forgetting for a moment he was   and gave up far more homers (85 in a 16 year career) than he hit (2).  My thoughts then went to Pete Incaviglia for a moment before settling on Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez. With 311 dingers, Pudge does have more homers than any other I player.  I was pretty settled on I-Rod when I did a little more stat surfing.

In the period between 1988 and 1999 Incaviglia hit 149 bombs. Pudge only hit 109.  In the period of 2000 through 2010 Rodriguez hit 161 homers while Raul Ibanez slammed 204 (99 for the Mariners, 55 for the Royals, and 50 with the Phillies ). That means that I-Rod was the I with the most homers in either time period.  Ibanez hit only 6 less (305) career homers than I-Rod so I decided to give not to Raul.

Part III: Wordle Starting Words from A to Z

Note: Correct letters in the correct places will be shown in bold. Correct letters in incorrect places will be shown in italics.

In March when I was going alphabetically to pick my opening wordle words some were just random, and some held a great bit of meaning to me. Imago was one of the latter.

For several years my family and I went to the local college film festival called the Imago Film Festival click  on Wikipedia for more information about this festival.

I M A G O - Got M and O but in wrong places.

M O U N D-  M and O were correctly placed on my 2nd guess and I added n as well.

M O R O N- I felt a little like a moron not getting any more info from my 3rd guess as I did on my 2nd. 

M O N E Y -Throwing money on your problems, doesn't always solve them.  This maxim came true on guess 4, but I did get my N in the right place.

M O N K S - 5th guess got me no further than the fourth.

M O N T H - This was not the only 6 guess wordle I have had.  But it's the only one that took me a month to get.

For more A to Z challenge click here.