A Quote to Start Things Off

""I'd love to go to Santa Fe at some point, Emmett said, but for the time being, I need to go to New York. The panhandler stopped laughing and adopted a more serious expression. Well. that's life in a nutshell, aint it. Lovin' to go to one place and havin' to go to another. Amor Towles in the Lincoln Highway.

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Pictures of Memories I

Pictures of Memories I
Snow kidding! These "kids" now range from 17 to 23

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Z is for Zoo, Zisk and Zones

#AtoZChallenge 2022 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter

The day is here the final day 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



On 3 continents I've been to the zoo

Europe and Asia are two

It's more than I can bare (ika) 

Not been to South America

Maybe soon I will go to Peru. 



Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime





They say good things come in 3's.  In the year 1977 that was certainly true for me, the White Sox and Richie Zisk.  In 1976 the White Sox finished last in the A.L. West and were in need of  a major shake up.  Iconic owner Bill Veeck (as in Wreck) was up for the task.  He traded Hall of Fame Reliever Rich Gossage and starting pitcher Terry Forster to the Pirates for Zisk. In 1977 Zisk had his best season having his best career years in RBI and Home Runs.  In 1977 8 White Sox players had  10 or more homers, (Oscar Gamble had 31, Zisk had 30).  
more than 50 RBI (Zisk led the team with 102), and batting .247 or higher (Richie hit .290) earning the moniker of the Southside Hitmen.  Old Comiskey was a magic place that year and I (turning 13 at the end of the season) was at a perfect age to enjoy it.  

Richie Zisk only played 1 year for the White Sox but he made an indelible impression on the fans.  From 1976 to 1987 Zisk hit 159 of his 207career home runs.  Besides the 30 for the Sox, he hit 59 for the Texas Rangers,  49 fir the Seattle Mariners and 21 in his final season for the Pirates.  










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 26th starting word was zones. 

Z O N E S Two letters in solutuion but not in right pace
W R O T E - Got O in right place.
E M O J I-  Added E in right place
P L A C E - I usually dont make guesses like 4 and 5 
D O U G H - but my notebook says I did
E P O X Y - Epoxy in 5 

Thanks for joining me for the  A to Z challenge.  For more click here.  

Friday, April 29, 2022

Y is for Yin, Yang, Yaz and Young

#AtoZChallenge 2022 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter

 Good morning and welcome to day 24, the penultimate 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 give a darn or a dang

for the yin or even the yang

Don't meant to alarm ya

I'm just not into karma.

I think God controls whole shebang.











Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime



 



Carl Yastrzemski played his entire career  (1961-1983) with the Boston Red Sox. Yaz is 39th overall in homeruns over his career with 452.  (Nelson Cruz will tie him with his next homer and surpass him with the one after that.) From 1961 to 1963 Yastrzemski pummeled 44 homers for the BoSox in his first 3 years in the Bigs.  From 1964 to 1975 he established himself as a hall of fame caliber outfielder hitting 273 homers with a .290 batting average and a slugging percentage of .480.  In that Era he was 1 of only 4 players to be in the top 40 of homers, doubles and stolen bases along with Dick Allen, Hank Aaron, and Jimmy Wynn.  Yaz hit 135 more dingers for Boston in his final 8 years with the team.

  













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 25tg starting word was young. 

Y O U N G- I guessed one letter (o) correctly but not in the reight place...
S T O R E - Added 2 more letters (T and  E) still nonr in their correct positions.
O C T E T-  It took 8 people to get the t in the right place.
D E P O T - Depot in 4.

For more A to Z challenge click here.  

Thursday, April 28, 2022

X is for Xylophone, Xavier and Xerox

#AtoZChallenge 2022 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter
Good morning and welcome to day 24th, the 4th 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'll compare in 5 lines of this poem

the glockenspiel and xylophone

spiel's bars made from metal

and the phone's by Gepetto

Tap on either , they make a nice tone.

.











Part II: A to Z Homerun hitters of my lifetime





I have been using the letter of the day for the homerun hitters first or last name.  Which turns out to be a good thing because there has never been a major league baseball player with a last name beginning with X.  So I went to the first name and chose Xavier Nady.

While it's true that Xander Bogaerts has 38 more homers than Nady and is still playing so will probably get more, I went with Nady because I needed one more player from the 2000 to 2010 period of my lifetime.  Nady hit 104 homers from 2000 to 2012 but only 11 after 2010.  The 93 from 2000 to 2010 were hit while with the Pirates (36), Padres (25), Mets (14) , Yankees (12), and the Cubs (6).  













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 24nd starting word was xerox. 

X E R O X- although x was xcluded, I was xcited that I got an e..
E V E N - Event was eventful by placing the E correctly and adding a properly placed T.
C H E S T-  Getting chest in 3 was a real treasure and x marked the spot!

For more A to Z challenge click here.  



Wednesday, April 27, 2022

W is for Writers Block, Willie, and Wraps

#AtoZChallenge 2022 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter



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 YA 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.  


Tuesday, April 26, 2022

V is for Vladimir, Vladimir and Voice

#AtoZChallenge 2022 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter


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 TThis 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.  


Monday, April 25, 2022

U is for Umbrella, Double U, and Urban

#AtoZChallenge 2022 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter

 

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

A to Z 2023 Road Trip

#AtoZChallenge 2023 RoadTrip