Showing posts with label Crazy Uncle Dave. Show all posts

Sunday, January 11, 2026

A Packers & Bears Fan Reaction to the Wild Card Round

I absolute this video. When you get to the 1:42 mark, that was definitely me the entire first half.

Monday, January 5, 2026

Should Mark Buehrle be Elected into the Hall of Fame?

Today is the 5th of January and the first day of the second semester. As good of time as any to get the discussion going about who should be elected into Baseballs Hall of Fame as the announcement as to whether and who the Baseball Writer's Association of America (BBWAA) elected to that August group will be made later this month.

Here is some analysis as to whether Mark Buehrle should be enshrined in Cooperstown. I'll be back later this month to share my feelings on Buerhle and the others who are appearing the BBWAA ballot.

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

If The Playoffs Were Today + 7 Game WHYDFML Index Last Reg Season Week Edition

4 weeks ago I made this post about a weekly feature I was introducing until the end of the football season. As often happens on this blog, I did not deliver on the feature. This was mostly due to situations beyond my control, so I won't dwell on them but will go ahead and pick up the segment where I left off.

With 1 week left in the regular season here is the NFL Playoff Schedule if the Playoffs Began today...

AFC

1st Round Bye #1 Denver Broncos (+1 seed ) AFC West Division Champion (13-3) +16

#7 Buffalo Bills (Same seed ) AFC Wild Card3 (11-5) +8 @ #2 New England Patriots (-1 seed since 12/2 AFC East Division Champion (13-3) +18

#6 Los Angeles Chargers (-1 seed) AFC Wild Card2 (11-5) +10 @ #3Jacksonville Jaguars (Same Seed) AFC South Division Champion (12-4) +28

# 5 Houston Texans (Previously unseeded) AFC Wild Card 1 (11-5) +29 @ #4 Pittsburgh Steelers (Previously unseeded ) AFC North Division Champion (9-7) +4

NFC

1st Round Bye #1 Seattle Seahawks (+4 seeds) NFC West Division Champion (13-3) +26

#7 Green Bay Packers (-1 seed) NFC Wild Card 1 (9-6-1) -8 @ #2 Chicago Bears -1 seed) AFC North Division Champion (11-5) +6

#6 Los Angeles Rams (-4 seeds) NFC Wild Card 2 (11-5) -4 @ #3 Philadelphia Eagles (Same seed) NFC East Division Champion (11-5) +10

#5 San Francisco 49ers (+2 seeds) NFC Wild Card 1 (12-4) +26@ #4 Carolina Panthers (Previously unseeded ) NFC South Division Champion (8-8) -4

Instant Analysis: There is not a lot of movement expected or possible for outsiders looking in.The AFC North champion will be the winner of the Steelers Ravens game and the Tampa Buccaneers will only get in the playoffs if they beat the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints beat the Atlanta Falcons. Otherwise, the Panthers win the NFC South.

I'll

Friday, December 5, 2025

Beltin' Melton The Bill Melton Story

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Stats Sunday: Most Improved Baseball Teams of 2025

The Regular season of MLB came to an end last month some would say that for the White Sox it did so mercifully. I would beg to differ.

Me (In my best Dickensonian pauper's voice) : Please Sir, may I differ? Please?!? Could I kindly differ?

When you lose 100 or more games in a season 3 years in a row as my beloved South Sliders (misspelling intended) have it would ostensibly make sense for anyone covering the team to write an end of the season review as a post-mortem. Over the past few weeks I have read many that looked just like that,

However, as I mulled it over in my mind, I realized that the 2025 record of 60 wins paired with 102 losses , an abysmal 21 games below .500, was in actuality 19 wins better than their record setting (in a bad way) 2024 season total. This made me wonder how the White Sox would match up to the rest of the league in terms of most improved win total from 2024 to 2025.

2025 MLB Teams (Listed from most improved to least improved regular season from 2024 to 2025)

Team 2024 2025

1. Toronto Blue Jays 74-88 94-68 +20

2. Chicago White Sox 41-121 60-102 +19

3. Miami Marlins 62-100 79-83 +17

4. Los Angeles Angels 63-99 72-90 +9

5. Chicago Cubs 83-79 92-70 +9

6. Boston Red Sox 81-81 89-73 +8

7. Athletics 69-93 76-87 +7

8. Cincinnati Reds 77-85 83-79 +6

9. Seattle Mariners 85-77 90-72 +5

10. Milwaukee Brewers 93-69 97-65 +4

11. Texas Rangers 78-84 81-81 +3

12. Detroit Tigers 86-76 87-75 +1

13. Philadelphia Phillies 95-67 96-66 +1

14. San Francisco Giants 80-82 81-81 +1

15. New York Yankees 94-68 94-68 E

16. Houston Astros 88-73 87-75 -1.5

17. Tampa Bay Rays 80-82 77-85 -3

18. San Diego Padres 93-69 90-72 -3

19. Kansas City Royals 86-76 82-80 -4

20. Cleveland Guardians 92-69 83-74 -4.5

21. Washington Nationals 71-91 66-96 -5

22. St. Louis Cardinals 83=79 78-84 -5

23. Pittsburgh Pirates 76-86 71-91 -5

24. Los Angeles Dodgers 98-64 93-69 -5

25. New York Mets 89-73 83-79 -6

26. Arizona Diamondbacks 89-73 80-82 -9

27. Minnesota Twins 82-80 70-92 -12

28. Atlanta Braves 89-73 76-86 -13

29. Baltimore Orioles 91-71 75-87 -16

30. Colorado Rockies 61-101 43-119 -18

Analysis: I marked each record in bold if that team went to the playoffs the year listed. Of the 7 teams that made the playoffs in 2024 and 2025, three did so with more wins than the previous year, 1 team had the identical record each campaign, and 3 won more games in 2024 than they did this year.

Of the 3 cities with 2 teams , Chicago was the only city that had both teams improve let alone be in the top 5 of improved teams.

Top 10 most improved home and road teams. (Teams in bold are in tp 10 in both categories)

Home Road

Blue Jays +15 White Sox +9

Red Sox + 10 Athletics +9

White Sox + 10 Marlins +9

Marlins + 8 Blue Jays +5

Angels +7 Mariners +3

Padres +7 Mets +3

Yankees +6 Cubs +3

Cubs + 6 Angels +2

Reds + 6 Guardians +1

Brewers +5 Nationals +1

Pirates + 5 Giants + 1

So, yes the improvements from one year to the next for our Chicago teams is something to be celebrated. Similar improvements next year are not impossible dreams. If The Cubs improve by 9 wins next year they would be past the 100 win mark. If the Sox win 19 more games next year they would only finish 2 games below .500. Will that happen, who knows? But steps in the right direction are signs of life not cause for a post-mortem.

Saturday, September 13, 2025

WHYDFML Index ratings of the AP Top 25 College Football teams

I love stats. I don't love sports because of stats but statistics is one of the love languages I use to convey my love of sports.

Some of my favorite stats are the ones I make up like the STBFI Or the WHYDFML Index that is reference in the title of this post. The STBFI stands for Soon To Be Fired Index and WHYDFML stands for What Have You Done For Me Lately,

The STBFI is straightforward, forward it is a list of the major coaches and managers in a city, (for me it's Chicago )in order of the likelihood that they will be the next person on the list to be fired or otherwise leave their position. The WHYDFML (pronounced y dee eff em el) is actually a name for many statistics that measure productivity from most to least recent.

Each Sunday during the college football season, The Associated Press releases a poll of the top 25 teams in College football. I decided to look out this past Sunday's rankings thtough the lens of one of the WHYDFML indices.

This particular index takes the results of the last 5 games and scores them this way. A win in the most recent game counts as 5 wins whereas a loss in the least recent game counts as only 1 loss. In cases of ties a tie would be treated as 1/2 the points in the win column and 1/2 the points in the loss column . You then fihure out the win percentage by taking the adjusted win amount and dividing it by the adjusted total game amount.

For example, if there are 4 teams that are 4-1 in their 5 most recent games (let's call them Teams A through E), and each one of them lost a different game on the time line between most and least recent they would all have different winning percentages in their WHYDFML Index.

Let's say Team A just lost their most recent game after winning the previous four. Their results would wook like this with the point value for the loss or win in parentheses:

L(5)W(4)W(3)W(2)W (1)

This would make Team 10-5 with a winning percentage of .667 (10/15)

If Team B won 3 games in a row, then lost, and then won again, their results, adjusted record and winning percentage would look like this

W(5)L(4) W(3) W(2) W(1) 11-4 ..733

Team C

W (5) W(4) L (3) W(2) W (1) 12-3 .800

Team D

W (5) W (4) W (3) L (2) W (1) 13-2 .867

Team E

W (5) W(4) W(3) W (2) L (1) 14-1 .933

Now that we have a better understanding of the WHYDFML index, we can compare the AP top 25 using said index. At this point in the season, most teams have played 2 games. Some, like Notre Dame, have only played one, and some, like Iowa State, have already played 3. In order to use a record over the last 5 games, we will need the results of the last 2-4 games of the previous season, including bowl games and playoffs. I will list each team from the best to worst by its WHYDFML winning percentage, with the best ranking breaking any ties.

Team C L5R L5C WHYDFML AP Rank

Ohio State 2-0 5-0 1.000 WWWWW 15-0 1.000 1

LSU 2-0 5-0 1.000 WWWWW 15-0 1.000 3

Illinois 2-0 5-0 1.000 WWWWW 15-0 1.000 9

Missouri 2-0 5-0 1.000 WWWWW 15-0 1.000 25

Iowa State 3-0 4-1 .800 WWWWL 14-1 .933 14

Ole Miss 2-0 4-1 .800 WWWWL 14-1 .933 17

South Florida 2-0 4-1 .800 WWWLW 13-2 .867 18

Penn State 2-0 4-1 .800 WWLWW 12-3 .800 2

Oregon 2-0 4-1 .800 WWLWW 12-3 .800 4

Georgia 2-0 4-1 .800 WWLWW 12-3 .800 6

South Carolina 2-0 4-1 .800 WWLWW 12-3 .800 11

Tennessee 2-0 4-1 .800 WWLWW 12-3 .800 15

Utah 2-0 3-2 .600 WWWLL 12-3 .800 20

Texas Tech 2-0 4-1 .800 WWLWW 12-3 .800 21

Auburn 2-0 4-1 .800 WWLWW 12-3 .800 24

Florida State 2-0 3-2 .600 WWLWL 11-4 .733 10

Indiana 2-0 3-2 .600 WWLWL 11-4 .733 22

Miami (FL) 2-0 3-2 .600 WWLLW 10-5 .667 5

Oklahoma 2-0 3-2 .600 WWLLW 10-5 .667 13

Michigan 1-1 4-1 .800 LWWWW 10-5 .667 23

Texas A&M 2-0 2-3 .400 WWLLL 9-6 .600 16

Texas 1-1 3-2 .600 WLLWW 8-7 .533 7

Clemson 1-1 2-3 .400 WLLWL 7-8 .467 12

Alabama 1-1 2-3 .400 WLLWL 7-8 .467 19

Notre Dame 0-1 3-2 .600 LLWWW 6-9 .400 8

Notre Dame by virtue of their loss in the CFP finals, their first week loss to Miami and a second week bye has the lowest percentage of the AP 25. Illinois, Ohio,State, LSU, and Missouri have all won 5 of their last 5 games but if any of them lose this week they will be down near the bottom to .667 and some won’t stay on the AP 25 with a loss.

I meant to share this on Sunday after I did all the research, but had a very busy week. I will try to publish an updated list after the new AP poll comes out tomorrow.

Saturday, August 2, 2025

Fisk gets two outs at home plate

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

45th Anniversary of 1980 All Star Game

On This Day 45 years ago White Sox Pitcher Ed Farmer faced Pete Rose in the 1980 All Star Game. This was back when the Houston Astros were in the National League and the Milwaukee Brewers were in the American. In the 6th inning with 1 out, Farmer pitched to Rose who hit a ground ball to 2nd Willie Randolph, who flipped the ball to SS Robin Yount for the 1st out and then threw out Rose at First Base.

Special Shout out to Sox Nerd who reminded me of this play in his Jan 1, 2025 post, Pete Rose and The White Sox. Rose passed away in 2024, and Farmer in 2020, making the footage from my youth feel even more poignant.

Saturday, May 10, 2025

Team Saturdazzle: The One With Roasted Hope and the zest of Lemon

Yesterday I posted Ronald Reagan's commencement address from Eureka College when He was President of the Unite States. . Today, I have footage of him while Governor of California performing at a celebrity roast for Bob Hope.

***********************************************************************************

Headline of the week:

A Pope Who Ministers to the Suffering? Yup, He's A White Sox Fan.

New York Times 5/10/2025

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My Brother texted me during the coverage of the announcement of the new pope that one of my childhood White Sox heroes, Chet Lemon had passed away. Now, that Dick Allen has been elected to the Hall of Fame, Lemon is one of the best White Sox players to not make it to Cooperstown. A 3 time all star, and a World Series champion with the 1984 Tigers. Lemon was aggressive at the plate, on the base paths, and patrolling center field. In the time he played in the MLB between 1975 and 1990 he was 2nd in being hit by a pitch. He holds the American League single season record for most put outs as a centerfielder (509 in 1997) when he was with the White Sox.

Some of Lemon's leatherwork is in display when he was on the Baseball Bunch T.V. show. In the episode he works with young players on how to run down a ball and be aware of the fence.

Footage of Lemon's famous catch in game 3 of the 1984 World Series.

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That's all the Saturdazzle I have for today, Hope to be back next week with more.

Sunday, April 27, 2025

W is for White Sox Fan

I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

We were a family of Cubs fans. We went to our annual pilgrimage to Wrigley Field each year. My first baseball glove has the cubs logo in the mitt (I still have it by the way).

I may have stayed a Cubs fan forever if it hadn't been for these three men:

Ray Rayner

Dave Roller

This is the story of how a Children's T.V. host, a baseball player and my own father led me to more than 50 years of White Sox allegiance.

Ray Rayner hosted a television show on WGN TV when I was a kid. He had several regular bits he would do on the show: he would feed a duck named Chelveston while he played a popular song (where I ffirst heard American Pie), He would have a regular visit with Lester Fisher (the director of the Lincoln Park Zoo), He would visit a puppet named Cuddly Duddly at his dog house, and in between these bits he would be a disc jocker for cartoons, (mostly Warner Brothers).

His role in making me a Sox fan was when he would do the daily traffic and sports reports. Equipped with a Cubs cap with a White Sox cap sewed in the back of it. He would show the results of the previous day's baseball games. He would switch the sides of the cap depending on which team he was reporting on. This gave me as a child the notion that in Chicago you could like both teams.

Ray Rayner reporting on a Cubs victory while wearing the Cubs end of his Cubs/Sox cap.

The 2nd person most responsible for me switching my favorite team from the Cubs to the Sox was my Dad. When I was growing up the White Sox would offer 2 tickets to grade school students who either had straight A's or perfect attendance for the year. One l year my sister, who was the year ahead of me achieved straight A's. She won the two tickets and My Dad took her to a game to see the White Sox play the Baltimore Orioles. My sister was 15 months older than me, and I had a brother 18 months younger than me. By that time I had another brother who was still a toddler. 1 on 1 time alone with my Dad was not really something any of us kids ever got on a regular basis. So when my Dad took Kathy to a game, I knew that was something I wanted to do as well. When school restarted in the Fall, I was determined to win a pair of free White Sox tickets to get 3 to 5 hours alone with my Dad. That year was the only year in my academic career that I ever had perfect attendance. The next summer My father and I attended my first White Sox game.

Dick Allen only played 3 years on the South side but he made his presence know in a major way. He hit 85 homes runs in those 3 years and a batting average over .300 and the best slugging percentage of all baseball. I remember him hitting at least 1 home run at the game we went to, I was a White Sox fan after that. Even without the free tickets my Dad continued to take me to at least 1 game a year through high school. Dick Allen was my White Sox hero, but certainly not my last. One of my Cubs hero's Don Kessinger finished his career with the White Sox as a player manager. Carlton Fisk who was one of my favorite players on an opposing teem came to the White Sox as a free agent when I was in high school. Wilbur Wood, Bill Melton. Bucky Dent. Jorge Orta. Harold Baines, and the list goes on and on. Dick Allen died a few years ago but was finally elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame by the Veteran's committee and he will be inducted this year.

When I think of the White Sox I think back of the 5o+ years of memories I have watching them. Going to games with my Dad and taking my kids to the games. Next Saturday I am taking my wife to the White Sox game. They just happen to be giving away Dick Allen Hall of Fame bobble heads. My favorite team, my favorite player and my favorite person in the world. I don't care If I never get back.

Thursday, April 10, 2025

I is for Iguchi Appreciation Society Charter Member

My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. Today's letter is I so let's get right to it shall we?

A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I is for Iguchi Appreciator

This is the 20th anniversarry of the Chicago White Sox winning the 2005 World Series. There were many new players on the team that became instant White Sox legends: Bobby Jenks, Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, Scott Podsednik, El Duque Hernandez, and # 15 Tadahito Iguchi

Iguchi was 30 years old when he came to Chicago after playing nine seasons with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks.

In 2005 I had a partial season ticket package for the White Sox. The Sox went 8-1 in games in my package and led their division from the beginning to the end of the season. We know that had a lot to do with me, but it also had a lot to do with their 2nd baseman,

I tool my son Charlie to several games that year. He was about 3 1/2 when he and I went for our first time that year. We were sitting in the bleachers and there was a group behind us who were getting animated every time that Tadahit came to the plate. They even had a cheer for him:

You Say Tada

And I say Hito

Tada

Tada (echos)

Hito

Hito (echos)

Tadahito Iguchi

Iguchi with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan after his 4 years in the Major Leagues

Charlie and I tried to imitate that cheer every game we were at. He quickly became Charlie's favorite player. We even called him Charlihito sometimes as a nick name. Some of my fondest memories are of Charlie in his Iguchi shirt.

By mcclouds on Flickr - From Flickr; description page is (was) here, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

Even though the above pictures were taken in the 2006 season, they communicate what it was like to have Iguchi in the fold in 2005.

Tadahito Iguchi , Aaron Rowand. and Paul Konerko hit back to back to back homers against Randy Johnson in 2005

tadahita was an excellent 2nd baseman. Here's an amazing play from 2006.

Tadahito helps the White Sox defeat the 2004 World Series Champion Red Sox in the second game of the ALDS

To get back to the A to Z Challenge page click here. To see the A to Z Master List click here.

Next up: I don't know.

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

B is For Blogger

A was for Amateur Parodist

B is for Blogger

When I was your age, television was called books. William Goldman - The Princess Bride

When I was in my twenties, blogs were called newsletters. I wrote one, a semi-whenever publication called Those Living On The Cutting Edge printed on a dot matrix printer and mailed out when postage stamps cost 22 cents.

It was written to like minded friends and contained interviews, reviews, rants and even a feature called "If I Could Draw This Would Be A Cartoon, in which I described a scene and then said what the caption would be.

Another early pre-blog was when I would write prayer letters when I was a short term missionary in Russia. It's title was The Siberian Sentinel. Each month I would write a few snippets of what was going on and send it back home to be distributed.

One summer my brother visited me there and I tasked him to write that months letter. So, I guess he was the first guest blogger. I don't remember everything he wrote, but I remember when he said that he could make a lot of money by selling the Russians the recipe for ice.

Geo-Cities was a dream come true for me. It was my pre-blog blog. My family had multiple pages including my ultimate Comic Strip Page where I put my 30 favorite comic strips as if I published a newspaper. I had another page where I listed the last 5 sporting events we attended. At Geo Cities I also posted editorials/ essays some like An Open Letter to the Car Behind Me eventually made their way to this blog.

An Open Letter to the Car Behinf Me

Dear Car Behind me 7:30 p.m September 1st 2001 exiting Elk Grove Bowl Parking lot onto Southbound Arlington Heights Road,

Yesterday as my wife, daughter and I were heading home from dinner at the Rose Garden restaurant in Elk Grove we were making a left out of the parking lot of The Grove Shopping Center on the corner of Arlington Heights Road and Higgins. We were joined by you on our tail. My wife, who is probably the worlds best and safest driver, was waiting for traffic on both sides to subside before making our turn.

This is when you, in your 2nd row mentality, decided that you could see the traffic better behind our minivan than we could ahead of you. So you blared on your horn, indicating that we really should be turning at that exact moment and make you wait no longer. Well, Superman, (A reference to your x-ray vision; being able to see past our car to the ongoing traffic) not 3 seconds after you honked, a northbound car barreled past us.

This means that if we took your horn blowing advice, and stuck our cars nose out in traffic, that most likely my wife, myself, and my daughter and our unborn child would be dead right now. My daughter would not have turned two today. The house in Carpentersville we moved into yesterday would have never been lived in by us, nor paid off by us, saddling our parents with grief and debt.

Fortunately, as disconcerting as your second row salute was, my wife did not go until the coast was actually clear. You, then had the audacity to catch up with us and give my wife a glare! Don't you realize, that if we did take your advice and got smashed up, you would have most likely been even further delayed than you were. When we both stopped at the light at Landmeier it was all I could do to not roll my window down and give you an earful.

This has happened to me so many times before. We live in an area of congested traffic, driving in front of people who honk the horn at us before the light turns green. If you guys are so quick on the draw, how come you generally are behind me ?

So car behind me, next time you are second in line behind somebody else: try to remember that it's not just a car you are behind, it is people!

Love,

Dave

At some point I started reading blogs, at first I didn't know they were blog. One time I was reading an excellent review of a movie I never heard of called Once, . I got the movie from our library and it is now one of my top 100 films of all time. My wife and I have also seen the musical version of the film. That blog was one of the first blogs I put on my first blog roll. Because of that blog and many others over the years, I have read things, experiences things, and even written things like a progressive poem that I wouldn't have without blogging. My wife's siblings and other relatives started a family blog in 2006 or so, A lot of seminal pictures of our growing family made their way to that blog.

This blog was originally started in 2009 with the title Home School Dad. To many the moniker Home School Dad connotates a Dad whose family home schools. The picture you get in your mind is of a Dad who works outside the home with a wife who teaches the children. In that scenario I was a Home School Dad since 2002 or so when my wife started doing school at the kitchen table with our 3 year old daughter as our 1 year old son toddled by.

What I meant by Home School Dad was a Dad who was the stay at home primary educator of the children. Starting in the Fall of 2008, I was that Dad. After an introductory semester of teaching the kids, taking them to the library, and putting my toe in the water of Home School co-operatives, I was ready to dive in to full home schooling mode. At that time this usually included, a home school blog. So I made the transition from blog reader to blog doer and became Home School Dad. I participated in lots of blog hops, carnivals, and memes (which I pronounced as me mes) . I built a pretty good following in the home schooling community.

The mid to late 2000's are generally considered the height of blogging. I think the late 2000's early 2010's were the height of home school blogging. By 2010 I had 3 active blogs. Home School Dad started in January 2009, Crazy Uncle Dave's Sports Page began in December of that year. These were both on blogger. I started a vlog called Dave Out Loud on Word Press and like Arthur Dent, who could never get the Hang of Thursdays, I could never get the hang of Word Press. So in January 2012, I brought Dave Out Loud to Word Press. 2012 was also the first year I participated in the A to Z challenge at HSD.

I was the main home educator in our family for 5 school years between 2008 and 2013. When I went back to working full time, I was still able to teach once a week at our home school co-op. I also was able to continue to blog. In 2015 I came back to the A to Z challenge at this blog and also on my sports blog. In 2016 I actually did the challenge on 3 different blogs. That was the only year I didn't complete the challenge.

2017 and 2018 were dry years for me as far as blogging we concerned. I participated in the 2019 A to Z challenge on a Word Press blog, dropped out for about a year and then resurfaced again in 2020 during Co-vid. I have been back ever since. From 2019 until now I have participated in the A to Z challenge each year. In that time, I have consolidated my 3 blogs into one and changed the name of Home School Dad to Leap of Dave.

I still read quite a few blogs and use my blog rolls to keep up with them, I know this is a bit of a rambling history of my life in the blogoverse. There are probably more things I could have said and some things I could have left out. There used to be a Weekly Blog Meme called Works for Me Wednesday at the blog We Are That Family. It was one of those mr. linky blogs and the basic idea is you would give some sort of tip that was helping you and your family. What I'm trying to say amid the rambling, is that blogging works for me.

A to Z challenge wise, you can get back to the blog by clicking here and get to the spreadsheet by standing up, spinning around 3 times while chanting spreadsheet. I'll wait. Actually, it's April Fool's day as I'm writing this, so that may not work, but still try it. Clicking here won't be as entertaining to those around you as my method, but it will get you to the spreadsheet.

Coming Up: C is for Christian.

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Capping Off Poetry Friday

I am an old school blogger and as such I still list many blogs on multiple blogrolls at my site. There are many different types of blogs, sports blogs, music blogs, poetry blogs just to name a few. tonight as I was looking over some of the recent posts on my blog roll I noticed one that said 30 poems. So I assumed it was a poetry blog this being just a few hours from Poetry Friday. Boy was I wrong it was a blog called Fan Graphs which is a very insightful baseball blog that I understand only about a third of.

Well I clicked and there were 30 poems all right, but they were poems about baseball caps and not just any baseball caps but 30 poems dedicated to a new line of caps called overlap caps by the company New Era.

Davy Andrews wrote a poem for each of the 30 MLB teams caps. They are called overlap caps because each cap overlaps two of the baseball teams names or designs. Since I am a Chicago baseball fan I am including a picture of both Chicago teams caps and the first few lines of the poem to demonstrate the effect.

Chicago White Sox

Pay close attention, kids.

This is the danger of the limited color palette.

Life’s not black and white.

Or rather, it’s not all black and white.

There’s still right and wrong.

There’s right, and then there’s wrong.

So much wrong we’re drowning in it,

Chicago Cubs

“Nothing to see here,” said the huge, rotund C

That swallowed its skinny sibling whole.

“Nothing to see. Hop aboard the El.”

It looks like it’s about to throw the skinny C back up.

To see the pictures of the rest of the caps and read these poems in their entirety along with other teams of your choosing click here.

Poetry Friday is hosted this week by Janet at Salt City Verse. You can click here to see what she has going on. I have not been writing much poetry lately which is one of the reasons why I have not been participating in Poetry Fridays for a while, but as my old school blog role indicates I am still actively pursuing poetry in my blog reading.

Friday, March 7, 2025

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal: The ABC's of ME

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

Leap of Dave

2025 A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal

Monday, February 10, 2025

An Open Letter to Bob Morgan

Bob Morgan

Il State Representative 58th District

Dear Representative Morgan:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame: If I Had a Ballot

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. Barry Bonds

11, Roger Clemens

10. Jeff Kent

9. Scott Rolen HOF

8. Andruw Jones

7. Omar Vizquel

6. A.J. Pierzynski

5. Curt Schilling

4. Todd Helton HOF

3.David Ortiz HOF

2. Mark Buehrle

1. Dick Allen HOF

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, January 20, 2025

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame: New On The Ballot

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

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

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

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

Félix Hernández P 15 seasons : 1 Team: Mariners

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

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

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

Brian McCann C 15 Seasons 3 Teams Braves Yankees Astros

Dustin Pedroia 2B 14 Seasons 1 Team Red Sox

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

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

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

Ichiro Suzuki RF 19 Seasons 3 Teams Mariners Yankees, Marlins

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

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

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

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

Sunday, January 19, 2025

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame Voting: Returning to the Ballot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, January 18, 2025

Team Saturdazzle: The One With Downtown Chicago

Third Saturday of the year. Third Team Saturdazzle post. For Christmas this year I gave Amy tickets to a Bulls game. We used them this weekend and drove to the city to watch The Bulls lose a close one to the Charlotte Hornets. Amy likes either playing sports or watching them live. I like those as well as watching sports on TV. , listening to sports on the radio and reading the accounts of a game in a newspaper or online. But being with Amy makes everything even losing to the Hornets better.

Horace Grant 87-94 Bulls (1st 3 championships)
Randy Brown 95-00 Bulls (Last 3 championships)

A case in point is after I gave Amy the tickets she decided that staying overnight in Chicago would be better than driving back to our home in the suburbs. This is why I sit here at a Chicago hotel chronicling our adventure so far early on a Saturday morning.

One thing Amy and I like about staying in a hotel is television. In the 26-plus years we’ve been married many of those years have been spent without a TV. A few more years have been spent owning a TV. You can only watch DVDs or video cassettes. So on those occasions when we have stayed in hotel rooms we have enjoyed watching broadcast television. Yesterday after the game we watched a couple episodes of Seinfeld followed by an episode of Friends. After that we turned on TUBI and watched a part of an episode of What's Happening and part of an episode of The Floor, We watched the former because one of the Bull's bench players, Jalen Smith gives off a big Roger vibe from the show.

The latter is because we have been catching up on the 2nd season of the Fox game show sporadically over the past few months.

This morning I went downstairs for some breakfast and I encountered a young man with a Hornets hoody and a Bulls Cap. It's the kind of thing I would do with Cubs and Sox gear so he let me take a pic of him. The breakfast was good. I don't see grits as an offering very much in the Chicago area but was glass to partake.

Bulls Cap Hornets Hoodie

Breakfast these days takes grits and hard-boiled determination.

Checkout at the hotel wasn't until noon. So we lingered and then on the way home we stopped by a restaurant I'd seen on Friday that appealed to several parts of my nature.

1. It's a classic Chicago Hotdog spot.

2. The name of the place, LuLu's is also one of our nicknames for our youngest daughter.

3. Three Words: Home Made Chili

4. Art work reminiscent of the Little Lulu comics without giving any of the credit.

5. When I went in I decided I would see if they could put Chili on my Polish. Not only could they but the Chili Cheese Polish, which I thought I had invented seconds before, was their special of the day.

While I don't subscribe to the no ketchup on hot dog

theory, I do appreciate the wry wit of this poster.

For the last 3 years our Saturdays were too busy in the winter to get away for the weekend. Almost every weekend, we were judging a speech tournament which took a huge portion of our Saturdays. Even yesterday we drove by a high school on our way home blissfully unaware that the Larkin Speech Team was participating in a tournament there.

Last 5 Sporting Events

1/17/2025 Charlotte Hornets Defeat Chicago Bulls 125-123 @ The United Center Chicago Illinois

11/16/2024 Class 7A Football Quarterfinal IHSA Batavia 17 Downers Grove North 7 @Batavia High Scool Batavia IL

11/2/2024 Dad's Day Weekend Minnesota 25 Illinois 17 Memorial Stadium Champaign IL

10/26 Mt Carmel 34 Loyola Academy 20 Mt. Carmel High School, Chicago IL

10/19 100th anniversary game of Dedication of Memorial Stadium Illinois 21 Michigan 7 Memorial Stadium Champaign IL

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