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Me from A to Z

Me From A to Z: Amateur Parodist, Blogger, Christian, David Davidovich, Evangelical Sans Trump Kool-Aid, Father of 3 Adult Children, Giraffe lover, Husband of One Amazing Wife, Iguchi Appreciator, Jester, Kindegarten Clear, Library Lover Muppet Man Narnian Optimist Poet Quintessential Worker RITA (Republican In Theory, Anyways.) Stonehill Fan Teacher U of I Parent - ILL, Voracious reader, White Sox Fan, Xenophile Yankovic Enthusiast Zoo Afficionado

Sox Fam

Sox Fam

A Quote to Start Things Off

We cannot seem to escape paradox: I do not think I want to. Madeline L’Engle Walking on Water

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

L is for Lee

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke


L is for Lee


Carlos "El Caballo" Lee 

If asked who hit the most home runs for the Sox between 2000 and 2004.  I would probably say Frank Thomas.  Boy, would I be wrong.  Thomas hit 135 long balls during that time period which is enough for 5th.  Magglio Ordonez and Paul Konerko who we will meet later this week both hit 139 homers and Jose Valentin as well as the above referenced Carlos Lee both hit136.  No other team had more than 2 players with 135 or more homers over that time span many didn't have one.  .

Carlos Lee played for the White Sox  from 1999 to 2004 hit 152 homers during that time putting him 9th on the White Sox career HR list.   I n addition to his 6 years with the Sox, Lee played 6 seasons with the Astros, parts of 2 with the Brewers and parts of 1 season with Texas and Miami.El Caballo (Spanish for the horse) hit 358 homers in his MLB career. Lee averaged 28 hr for every 162 games played.  His best 2 home run seasons with the White Sox came in 2003 and 2004 when he hit 31 in both campaigns.


 For more A to Z blogging click here.

L is for Library (Thing)


Today's letter is L.  I have documented over the years that our family loves libraries.  Here is a you tube video from another of my blogs Dave Out Loud.






For more A to Z Blogging click here.

Monday, April 13, 2015

What I learned listening to K-Love




To listen to K-love online click here,  To donate to listener supported K-love click here.

K is for Kittle


White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke










K is for Kittle
















Ron "Kitty" Kittle 

Jose Abreu hit 36 home runs hits last season becoming, The White Sox rookie season home run leader and also won the  American League Rookie of the Year. award.    Kittle, the former rookie home run title holder was also the last White Sox rookie to win Rookie of the year.

At a time  when Larry Bird,  John Mellencamp and David Letterman  were the most famous folks around from Indiana, No Hoosier was more popular than Kittle.  At least, not on the south side of Chicago.  Kittle averaged 34 homers per a  162 game season.   Kittles season rookie mark of 35 homeruns in 1983 (eclipsed by Abreu last year) was his most ever for the pale hose.He followed that up with 32 in'84.

Kittle started and finished his major league career with the White Sox and is still a fan favorite.  I ran into him (almost literally) at Sox Fest in 2006 and he signed the cap off my head.  


 For more A to Z blogging click here.

K is for King Tut (Person)



This classic Saturday Night Live skit was a jr. high favorite of mine.




Click A to Z to get back to the alphabetical disorder.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

J is for Jose

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke





J is for Jose








Jose Valentin




When you think about the 2005 White Sox, you often think about players who started playing for the White Sox in 2005.  Players like Iguchi, Podsednik and Hermanson.  You don't often think about the players from the White Sox whose last season was 2004.  This is mainly because we won it all in 2005.  If we had not, perhaps the ChiSox faithful would have dwelled more on  who we let go than who we picked up.  Consider Dye and Pierzynski for a moment who both came to the White Sox from the Bay Area in 2005.  In the 13 seasons combined that they play for the Sox they hit 282 total home runs between them.  That is 22 homers per season and 26 homeruns over 162 game season.

Now look at Jose Valentin, who we are talking about today and Carlos Lee who we will feature next Tuesday.  They played 11 combined seasons for the Sox both ending their time in 2004 and hit  288homers.  That's 6 more homers than Dye and Pierzynski in 2 less seasons.  26 HR by season and 30 HR over 162 games.

Valentin came to the White Sox  from the Brewers in 2000 and in his first month with the team hit for the cycle (A single, a double, a triple and a homer in the same game).  H hit 136 of his 249 career homers over  his 5 years with the  Sox.  Over that career he averaged 24 homers per
  162 game season.   Valentin hit 30 HR in 2004 and 28 in 2001 and again in 2003.

  If Jose Abreu stayson his torrid HR pace from last year sometime leat in the 2017 season he will be the Jose with the most white sox homers.  Until then our hearts belong to Valentin.

 For more A to Z blogging click here.

J is for "Jack and Diane" (Thing)


Welcome to 6 word Saturday/A to Z blogging.

slash what a great word. sa-lash!

Here's my 6:

John Cougar Mellencamp is a liar.



In the summer of 1982, John Cougar Mellencamp lied to me.  He did so daily, sometimes 3-4 times a day.  Even now sometimes  in an elevator, at a grocery store, a dentist's office or on pandora he continues to lie to me.

He says in his song Jack & Diane that life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone.  When I was 18 and I thought about John, Jack, Diane, The Tastee Freeze et. al.  I just assumed that John was right  and  at some point the thrill of life would eke out and I should enjoy life while I could.

33 years after that song I must say that while life indeed goes on, it does not and did not in my case outpace the thrill of living.  I believe major events in 1982, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2005 and other smaller events scattered throughout my life have helped the thrill of living live on in my life.  These years are all the beginnings of important relationships in my life.

1982.  I became a Christian.  Some people view embracing Christianity as a get out of Hell free card.  To me, it gave life a purpose that continues to this day.  That purpose is to love God and live in a way that glorifies in him.

Sa-lash!

1990.  I made a life long friend.  That friend and I could laugh together shop together, play and watch sports together and in the years we were in different states and or countries exchange meaningful correspondence and stay close even though apart.

1998.  17 years ago today, in fact, I married that friend.  As long as I have Amy by my side the thrill of living is alive and well.

1999.  Our first daughter is born.  2001,  Our son is born. 2005.  Our 2nd daughter is born.

When you have kids, you see the thrill of living again through a fresh set of eyes.

So, John Mellencamp, know this.  Holding on to 16 is one thing, never losing the joy, curiosity and zeal for life is quite another.  I'll choose the latter.  But a chili dog does sound kind of good about now.

Click A to Z or Six Word Saturday to return to their  respective abodes.



Friday, April 10, 2015

I is for Ivan

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke





I is For Ivan








Ivan Calderon




Ivan Calderon played for the White Sox from 1982 to 1990. Calderon also played for the Mariners, Expos, and Red Sox.  



Calderon hit 70 of his 104 Major league homeruns as a member of the White Sox .  This makes him 39th all time for the Sox.  Ivan averaged  18 home runs over 162 game season.  Ivan's annual home run production for the white sox was always in increments of 7.  He hit 28 homers in 87 and 14 each in 88, 89 and 90.  

  For more A to Z blogging click here.

I is for Illinois - (Place)

Six word Saturday and blogging from A to Z combine for these 6 words:

More people know Chicago than Illinois.  






For more Six word Saturday click here. For more A to Z Challenge click here.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

H is for Harold

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke





H is for Harold









Harold Baines




Harold Baines is one of the best baseball players I have ever seen.  He is certainly the most deserving to be in the Hall of Fame, who is not there already.

Baines played from 1980 to 2001, beginning and ending his career with the Sox.  Baines is 3rd all time on the White Sox home run list with  221. Baines was the all time Sox home run leader from 1987 to 1990.   His major league total is 384.   Harold averaged 22 home runs over 162 game season.   Bainesy hit 29 homers for the White Sox in '84 and 25 in '82.  These are his 2 best home run totals fo the pale hose.


H is for Hammering Hank (Person)




I know this is being published on April 9th, but as I write this it is April 8, 2015.  I just decided that my person would be Henry Aaron  and decided to show a video of him hitting  Home Run 715 that broke Babe Ruth's  home run record.  I just realized that Aaron hit 715 41 years ago today (for me) and yesterday (for you.).  Here is a nice clip of the event from Mlb.com




For more A to Z blogging click here. To see what I AtoZ blogged in 2012 click here.


Wednesday, April 8, 2015

G is for Greg

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke





G is for Greg








Greg "Walk" Walker




Greg Walker played for the White Sox from 1982 to 1990.  His first full season was on the 1983"winning ugly" team that won the AL west that year.  Walker was the hitting coach for the Chi Sox in 2005 when they won the world series

Walker hit all of his 113 career  home runs as a White Sox player.  His 113 is good enough for 17th on the all-time list.  Greg averaged 21 home runs over 162 game season  In 1987 Walker hit 27 home runs this eclipsed his previous best mark of 24 which he achieved back to back in 1984 and 1985.

Walker played first for the Sox and was replaced as an everyday player by Frank Thomas, who was in turn replaced by Paul Konerko, who in turn was replaced by Jose Abreu.  Making the 1B position a stable home run source for the Sox going on 30 years.   For more A to Z blogging click here.


G is for Giraffe Poop (Thing)



In the early months of 1987, one chapter of my life had abruptly come to an end and I was in a holding pattern waiting to see what the next chapter would bring. One Saturday I visited a friend and spent the day with her at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

It was a nice seasonably warm day for late winter.  I remember we spent a lot of time watching my favorite animal the giraffe.  What I remember most about our visit to the giraffe enclosure was watching them poop.

I don't mean to be graphic, or disgusting.  I just found the way they relieve themselves to be so very interesting.  It comes out of the giraffe like a quick rain of pellets that hit the ground very quickly,  The giraffe just does his business while going about his business.

For More Blogging A to Z click here. 

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

F is For Frank

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke





F is for Frank








 Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas


I am listening to Frank Thomas give his 2014 HOF induction speech while I type this.  It is available at A to Z blogging toady by clicking Home School Dad.  I went to Cooperstown last year to see Frank inducted and this speech was the highlight of my time there.    I love it when he lists  so many of his former coaches and his teammates.  He gave his speech with the same exuberance that came with every swing of his bat.  

Thomas hit 448 of his 521 runs when with the  White Sox  from 1990 to 2005.  Thomas is the White Sox all-time HR leader for  the White Sox and hit for a .307 average for the pale hose.  The Big Hurt averaged 36 home runs for every 162 major league games he played.  Frank hit 40 or more homers for the White Sox for 5 different seasons.  His 2 highest totals were 43 in 2000, and 42 in 2003.

Now that Paul Konerko has retired, no current ChiSox player is anywhere near Thomas's prodigious HR numbers.  Record or not Thomas will be long remembered on the South Side of Chicago.  For more A to Z blogging click here.

F is For Frank Thomas (Person)




Last year, my son and I drove to New York to see Frank Thomas be inducted into the baseball hall of fame. It was an awesome experience. I am delighted to share today the video of his acceptance speech. Frank played baseball the right way and his speech really showed his tremendous love for the game and appreciation of his teammates.




I am also posting about Frank at Crazy Uncle Dave's Sport-O-Rama today. Frank hit 441 home runs with the White Sox which puts him first on the White Sox list for all time home runs. Click here to see that post. For more A to Z blogging click here. On a more somber note, on 4/7/12 I blogged about grief as it was the 3 year anniversary of my brother's death.  That time has now doubled and my post from 3 years ago can be found here.

Monday, April 6, 2015

E is for Eddie

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke





E is for Eddie




William Edward "Eddie" Robinson


I will be the first to tell you, I don't know a lot about Eddie Robinson.  He played 1B for the White Sox from 1950 to 1952.  He Had a cup of coffee with the Indians in 1942 playing in 8 games and 8 getting at bats.  He came back to Indians in 1946 and played in the Majors through 1957.

As of this writing, Robinson is still alive. He is the 21st oldest living major leaguer.  He is  currently 94 years old and his 1315 games is the most played of any of the 25 oldest former players.

Robinson hit 71 of his 172 MLB home runs for the White Sox.  That is the most for any team he played on.  The 71 dingers is enough for 38th on the all time list for the Sox.  Robinson averaged 24 home runs for every 162 major league games he played.   His last 2 seasons on the South Side were his most productive home run years hitting 29 in '51 and 22 in '52.

  For more A to Z blogging click here.  For more Six Word Saturday click here.

E is For Elgin (Place)




Today I want to tell you quickly how my associations with the city of Elgin , Illinois have changed in the almost 40 years I have been travelling there.

It started when I needed braces when I was kid.  My orthodontist was in a town some 30 minutes away from where I lived called Elgin.  I didn't have any relatives in that town and to the best of my knowledge I had never visited it.  My orthodontist was in the tower building which is now on the national registry of historic buildings.

Tower Building, Elgin, Illinois.

After my adventures in orthodontia were over, I visited Elgin all of 3 times from the early eighties to 1997.  These were for 1) a lunch date with a Judson student, 2) A wedding (The reception was in the Laird Funeral Home of all places), and a camp reunion.

Then in 1997, I moved from South Carolina back to Illinois to court Amy.  I got a temp to perm job in Elgin and was there from July to October.  Shortly after that I got a job at a mortgage company and was there for almost 10 years.  While I was there I was given a 6 week assignment at one of our other facilities in Elgin.

In 2001,  We move to our current house which is between 10 and 15 minutes from Elgin.  We began to do more regular things there.  We visited churches, we visited their  library, our pediatrician's office was there.  But it wasn't until the past 5 or 6 years that we have become Elginated.  These days, I work in Elgin, our home school co-op meets in Elgin, we go to church in Elgin.  Last week I was at Elgin every day for work and then drove back there after dinner for the Imago film fest at Judson.  I spend more waking hours a week in Elgin than I do in my home town.  In a few weeks I will begin to spend more time on the bike paths and many of those are in Elgin.  

One thing we have not done is frequent restaurants in Elgin especially in the down town as they mostly open during business hours.  Elgin has a blue box cafe which has a Dr. Who motif that I want to take the kids too sometime soon.  

FOR MORE A TO Z BLOGGING CLICK HERE

To see what I blogged about alphabetically on 4-6-12 click here.








Saturday, April 4, 2015

D is For Dye

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke


The A to Z Challenge is up to letter 



D is for Dye

It's also Six Word Saturday, My Six:
Jermaine "Win or Dye Trying" Dye


In the off-season between 2004 and 2005 Kenny Williams then GM of the team added different players to get the team to the next level.  Jermaine Dye who had been to the 1996 World Series with the Atlanta Braves as a rookie was a player  that Williams had added to the 2005 Sox.   The Sox Marketing campaign that year was win or die trying. 

Dye was a big reason the Sox won in 2005 and was the MVP of the World Series.  Dye  played 4 more years with the Sox and finished with 164 Home Runs for them.  He hit more home runs in 5 seasons with the Sox than he did in His 9 previous seasons elsewhere.  Dye is 7th on the all-time White Sox homer list.


Dye averaged 30 home runs for every 162 major league games he played.   His best 2 Home run totals for the Sox came in 2006  when he went yard  44 times and in 2008 with 34 round trippers.  If you dye Easter eggs tonight think of good old # 23 Jermaine Dye as you do so.  For more A to Z blogging click here.  For more Six Word Saturday click here.

D is For Dave Ramsey, Debt and Discussion


Six Word Saturday today and I am doing nouns at the A to Z Challenge as well.  Since todays letter is D I am going 3D and giving a person, a place, and a thing.  All for the price of none.

My 6 words:

Person:  Dave.  Place: Debt.  Thing: Discussions.

The Person:  Dave Ramsey


Two years ago, I was the typical husband who was tired of his wife telling him about Dave Ramsey.  But financially things were not going well, and we were on the precipice of some big changes.  So, when his financial peace university program was offered at our new church I signed us up.  

The Place: Debt
I know debt might not seem like a place to you.  But I think it's a place because for a long time we were in it.  Dave Ramsey gave us some serious tools for dissolving debt.

One:  Budget your money.  Make sure that every dollar has a name.  

Two: Use the debt snowball.  Let's say you are 15,000 in debt and owe 5,000 for a car loan, 4000 on a student loan 3,000 on a bank card 2,000 on another card and 1,000 on a store card.  Let's say after making your budget you have 750.00 to pay towards debt.  You make minimum payments on the 4 highest debts and pay the rest on the store card.  Once the store card is paid off then you start putting the additional money on the next highest card until that is paid off.  You continue to do this until all but the car loan is paid off and then put the entire 750.00 towards it.  Once the car loan is paid off you have $750.00 to start putting towards savings.

Three:  Have gazelle-like intensity in paying down your debt.  Gazelle like intensity refers to a gazelle running away from a lion.  You pay off your debt like your life depends on it.  For us, gazelle-like intensity meant stopping homeschooling 2 of  the kids for 1 year while Amy and I both worked full time.  We paid $15,000 of credit card debt in nine months.  Once we were out of debt Amy. was able to take a part-time job in her district, enabling us to begin homeschooling all 3 children again.

The Thing: Discussions

Financial discussions are very helpful.  Sometimes it is easier to hope financial matters resolve themselves, rather than discuss them.  This doesn't work very well.  Discussions are important because goals need to be made, budgets need to be revised, and ideas and feelings need to be discussed.  Amy and I had planned some events for the next few weeks, when we had a financial setback.  We discussed the matter talked about all the possibilities and decided to put off our events rather than dip into savings to pay for them.  We try to have brief discussions before every paycheck to make sure we are on the same page with the implementation of the budget.

Financial discussions are not only between Amy and myself.  Last month I brought an entire paycheck home in cash and illustrated for the kids that every dollar did indeed have a name and showed them how we planned to use that money.

For more A to Z Blogging click here.  For more six words on your Saturday click here.


4-4-2014 A2Z:D is for  Dozen year old Donuts 





Friday, April 3, 2015

C is For Carlton

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke




C is for Carlton





Carlton "Pudge" Fisk

Today at my other blog, Home School Dad, I wrote about Old Comiskey Park, the home of the Chicago Whites Sox from 1910 to 1990. Carlton Fisk called Old Comiskey home from 1981 until the historic ballpark bit the dust and by the time it did, Pudge had become the White Sox all-time home run leader.

All told, Fisk hit 214 home runs for the White Sox from 1981 to his ignominious dismissal in the middle of  the 1993 campaign.  Note: I spent the year of 1993 abroad and it has been well documented (in my mind) that the White Sox would have never pulled shenanigan level antics like that, had I remained stateside.  Fisk hit more than 55 % of his 376  Major league home runs with the White Sox.  The rest came from the team where he hit this famous postseason home run.  If you haven't seen it before you've never watched Good Will Hunting.






Fisk is now 4th  most on the list of White Sox Home Runs. Fisks best 2 years for the White Sox, Homerun wise, were in 1985 when he hit 37, and in 1983 Fisks 26 homers helped win ugly.  Wearing both colors of SOX, Fisk averaged 24 home runs for every 162 games he  played.  Carlton Fisk was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 2000.


For more A to Z blogging click here.  

C is for Comiskey Park (Place)




Today, I take a look at a place that is near and dear to my heart.  Especially, this time of year.  Comiskey Park was the home for the Chicago White Sox from 1910 to 1990. m It was replaced by a second stadium also called Comiskey Park in 1991.  Sometime they are referred to as Comiskey Park I and II or Old Comiskey Park and New Comiskey Park.  When New Comiskey was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2003, I gradually took to calling the new park by it's new moniker and the old park as Comiskey.

Here is a video baseball played in Comiskey in 1977 when the Sox were enjoying their South Side Hitmen success.  








It was somewhere around 1977 that Comiskey became the oldest baseball stadium still in use.  It held that distinction until 1990.

I started going to White Sox ga mes in the early 70's.  The year before my older sister had won two tickets at School and my Dad took her.  We were (and they still are) a Cubs family.  So I believe this was my Dad's first trip there.  I remember hearing all about the game  when I got home and I decided the next year, I would get perfect attendance and spend a day with my Dad.  We were a family of 4  kids at the time and 5 was not long after that, so 1 on 1 time with my Dad was at a premium.

The next year I had perfect attendance and I went to my first game.  Dick Allen,  hit a homerun and I fell in love with the team.  Ie still liked the Cubs and enjoyed our annual trips to Wrigleyield as a family.  But I cherished my trips to Comiskey.  My Dad took me most every year to a White Sox game,  I remembere being dedlighted to be able to watch former Cub heroes of mine Ron Santo and later Don Kessinger after they were moved to the Sox.

I could talk Comiskey all  day, but I was informed to keep these A to Z posts short.  So, I will just give you a quick guided tour.
Game 1 1959 World Series at Comiskey Park

The exploding scoreboard that shot off fireworks after every Sox Homer

The Exterior of the stadium


I think I sat behind one of these at nearly every game I went to.
We got a lot of give-a-way seats and these were what they gave away



Carlton Fisk switched Sox (from Red to White) in 1980 and was still with Chicago in 1990

Fisk is featured today at my sports blog


In 1990, The White Sox ad copy for the final season of Comiskey was years from now, you'll say that you were there.  Well that was 25 years ago and the advertising was right, I do say I was there.  I was living 4 and a half hours from Chicago at the time. Some friends came to my folks house for the weekend in July.  One of my friends had never seen a skyscraper before,  and we all watched a fantastic White Sod  victory.  What a great way to spend my last game there. 
Final Game at Comiskey

Out with the old.  In with the blue.


They Tore Down Paradise




Left Home Plate in the Parking Lot


Prior to demolition of the stadium,
the seats were removed and sold to television stars


For More A to Z Blogging click here. Back in A To Z 2012 I posted about Car Trips.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

B is for Bill

White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke

B is for Bill

"Beltin'" Bill Melton

For many years of my life my dream job has been being the starting third baseman for the Chicago White Sox.  Bill Melton, played that position so marvelously for the White Sox when I was a kid, that I wanted to follow in his footsteps.  

Melton hit 154 home runs for the White Sox from 1968 to 1975.  That is 96.25% of his 160 career home runs.  The 154 dingers  puts him 8th overall on the WhiteSox HR leaderboard. Melton was first on that list until 1987, when surpassed by Harold Baines.      Through his career, Melton has averaged 23 home runs for every 162 games played.   Melton's 2 best home run years were in 1970 and 1971 where he hit 33 each year.  This was about the same time that his performance was making Third Base for the White Sox my dream job.

For more A to Z blogging click here.  

B is for Bibimbap (Thing)



Day 2 of nouns.  Did a person yesterday.  Today a thing is on the docket.   Tomorrow, we will do a place, but after that it will be up for grabs. We might go place, place, thing, person, place, person.  Who knows?  All I know is that there will be nouns and there will be plenty of them.

Today's thing is bimimbap.  Which up until a few minutes ago, I had never typed, or printed, or wrote in cursive.  I had eaten it.  Boy, had I eaten it.  Bibimbap is a Korean dish and looks like this ...



I first fell in love with bibimbap at first sight as it is a multisensory treat.  The texture, the taste and the look all meld together.  I used to frequent this Chinese/Korean restaurant in Evanston, Illinois back in the 1980's.  The owners were Korean so I always ordered the Korean fare rather than the Chinese.  In all the times I went there, I think I only got the Bibimbap, it was so wonderful there was never a reason for me to branch out.  I have to tell you, I'm the guy who loves to get new things on the menu.  I once had fried pork brains while waiting for a train at a Memphis dive.  I ordered them because they were the most unique thing on the menu.  So when Mr. Pork Brains has a go-to dish that is high praise indeed.  I realize that I have major league digressed as well as not yet told you what Bibimbap is.  So, click here to see what Food Republic says about it.

About 10 years after I first ate this Korean wonder food, I found myself serving as a missionary in Russia with several Korean Amercian Missionaries.  Once they found out that I loved bibimbap, they would make it for me every time I was over.  This of course was awesome.  Now in the past 20 years I have not eaten a lot of the aforementioned dish.  But when I think back about it, I celebrate the memory of every morsel.  If I have made you interested in this fantastic dish, check out this recipe from  Bon Appetit.

For more A to Z blogging click here.  Be sure to check out my Boring A to Z  post from 4-2-12 

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

A is for AJ




White Sox Homerun hitters from A.J. to Zeke

A is for A.J.

AJ "The Ajitator" Pierzynski being punched by Cubs backstop Micheal Barret in 2006


A.J Pierzysnki is an easy guy to hate.  Unless of course he plays for your team as he did from 2005 to 2012 for the White Sox.  All his attributes that I hated when he played for the Twins (his ability to get the best out of his pitchers and his ability to make the most of every opportunity ,offensively and defensively,  to give his team a chance to win) I fell in love with when he played for the White Sox .  These attributes are most remembered to the outside world when he got safely to fist base in a 2005 ALCS against the Angels by  running on a third strike that had not been called the third out of the inning.  The pinch runner for Pierzynski later scored the winning run of the game.

A.J. hit 118 of his so far 177 MLB home runs with the White Sox.  This puts him 16th on the ChiSox all time home run list.  Through his career so far, Pierzynski has averaged 15 home runs for every 162 games played.   His first and last years with the CHI SOX were his most prolific home run totals, hitting 18 in 2005 and 27 in 2012.  Pierzynski ended last season with the St. Louis Cardinals and is signed with the Atlanta Braves through the end of 2015.  

For more A to Z blogging click here.  

A is for Allen Levi (Person)

Today is the end of Blogging from A to Z 2015 26 posts in 30 days. Wow! I have had so much fun.

APRIL FOOLS!

Today is actually the first day of Blogging A to Z. My theme this year is nouns. So evaryday in April excluding Sundays you will get a blog about a person place or thing.



Today we start with a hero of mine, Allen Levi. I first met Allen in 1995 at a concert at my church in South Carolina. I have only seen him 4 times in the past 21 years. Each time at one of his concerts. The last time he and I met us was in 2004 at my surprise 4oth birthday party. He provided the music. Allen was an attorney and left his practice to become a full-time musician. Here is footage of him in his former habitat a concert.



I say former natural habitat because he recently did another career change and became a judge. Here is a video explaining the job change.





For More A to Z Blogging click here.

I participated in A to Z blogging back in 2012. To see what I wrote April 1st 2012 click here.





Snow Kidding!

Snow Kidding!
These "kids" now range from 19 to 25