I'm having the best sales month of my life and am trending toward a sizable bonus. I keep waiting for it to fall apart because I work in such a small store, but so far, so good.
Monthly Archives: November 2015
Happy Birthday–November 21
Bobby Mathews (1851)
Charlie Bennett (1854)
Billy Clingman (1869)
Andy High (1897)
Freddie Lindstrom (1905)
Paul Richards (1908)
Stan Musial (1920)
Warren Hacker (1924)
Tom McCraw (1940)
Bill Almon (1952)
Rick Peters (1955)
Mike Mason (1958)
Mark Eichhorn (1960)
Dick Schofield (1962)
Ken Griffey (1969)
Todd Erdos (1973)
Brian Meadows (1975)
Hank Blalock (1980)
Rick Peters was drafted by Minnesota in the eighteenth round in 1973, but did not sign.
November 20, 2015 – No Awards, No Cuppa?
FMD: Listening Habits
Up through much of college, I had no real ambition to expand my musical listening habits. I liked what I liked and that was fine. Then a few years ago, I was devouring new music at the rate of about an album a week. But eventually I burnt out on the high turnover and I couldn't really tell you what 3/4th of the albums were like. In the last year or two, however I've started listening to a small number of albums repeatedly (e.g. Metamodern Sounds and lately Something More Than Free), over and over, taking in as much as I can and trying to hear every different part of the song, each instrument and vocal track.
1965 Rewind: Game Forty-six
MINNESOTA 11, WASHINGTON 2 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Sunday, June 6.
Batting stars: Jerry Zimmerman was 3-for-4 with a home run, scoring twice and driving in three. Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring three times. Jimmie Hall was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.
Pitching star: Bill Pleis struck out seven in five shutout innings of relief, giving up three hits and two walks.
Opposition stars: Ed Brinkman was 2-for-2 with two walks. Frank Howard was 1-for-3 with a home run (his eleventh) and a hit-by-pitch. Steve Ridzik struck out two in two shutout innings, allowing one hit.
The game: Tony Oliva homered in the first and Zimmerman singled in a run in the second to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. Each team scored once in the third, but Howard's home run in the fourth cut the lead to 3-2. Zimmerman struck again in the bottom of the fourth, hitting a two-run homer to give the Twins a 5-2 advantage. Starter Dave Boswell had given up four hits and a walk through four innings, but when he opened the fifth with a walk and a hit batsman he was replaced by Pleis. The move paid off, as Pleis struck out the next three batters and the Senators did not threaten again until the ninth, by which time the game was well in hand. A three-run seventh was highlighted by Hall's two-run double and the Twins added three more in the eighth keyed by a two-run single by Oliva.
Of note: Jerry Kindall was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two. Oliva was 2-for-5 with a home run (his tenth) and two RBIs. Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-5 with a run. Boswell pitched four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks with no strikeouts.
Record: The win was the Twins' fourth straight and made their record 31-15. They were in first place by 3.5 games over Chicago.
Notes: Hall's 3-for-4 day raised his average to .335. Boswell went 1-for-2 and was hitting .313. Earl Battey was again out of the lineup.
Canadian Brass – Just A Closer Walk With Thee + Saints Go Marching In
As I've tried to suggest, there is so much simple joy to be found in music. That's why, when the time comes, this is what I want played on my way out.
httpv://youtu.be/eZqsvncYMy4
Happy Birthday–November 20
Joe Sommer (1958)
Kenesaw Landis (1866)
Clark Griffith (1869)
George McBride (1880)
Leon Cadore (1890)
Larry Benton (1897)
Jay Ritchie (1936)
Herm Starrette (1938)
Rick Monday (1945)
Jay Johnstone (1945)
Ron Cash (1949)
Alex Arias (1967)
Gabe White (1971)
J. D. Drew (1975)
Sam Fuld (1981)
Brock Peterson (1983)
Kenesaw Landis, as I'm sure you know, was the first commissioner of baseball, holding the job from 1920 until his death in 1944.
Pitcher Clark Griffith was a star for the Cubs before jumping to the White Sox when the American League was formed. Later, of course, was the owner of the Twins franchise while it was still in Washington. His adopted son, Calvin, brought the team to Minnesota.
Ron Cash was drafted by Minnesota in the sixth round in 1969, but did not sign.
Father Knows….nothing at all.
I’ve never really cared for very small children.
I never had to deal with babies while growing up (my younger brother was born when I was four, so I didn’t have to help with any of the baby stuff), and have always regarded them as sort of extremely loud, legally binding tamagotchis.
When Linds and I got married, we agreed that we weren’t going to have kids for at least five years. We made sure that some of our bills were paid, we made sure we went on a tropical vacation, we got the stuff out of the way that we wanted to do. The five years stretched to seven. I was okay with that, because I’ve always been worried that my dismissive attitude would persist. Sometimes, that paternal instinct just never kicks in for some people – I was honestly worried that could be the case for me.
When we found out we were going to have a baby, that fear didn’t decrease, because even though I was excited about impending fatherhood, I didn’t feel nearly as excited as I thought I should feel. This was going to be life changing, and most days, all I could conjure up was “yeah, that’ll be pretty cool”.
As I found when I held Caleb for the first time, I really needn’t have worried.
It certainly doesn’t hurt that this kid is pretty much parenting on training wheels so far (sleeps through the night, is constantly happy (like, ridiculously so… the day care lady wants to adopt him), he’s had no health issues other than the sniffles and a light fever so far). Still, I could not have possibly anticipated the reprogramming my worldview would get. I spend my evenings lying on the floor, laughing til my stomach hurts over a baby giggling. I know the characters to Wallykazam.I have a phone full of baby pictures. If you had told me two years ago that would be the case, I would’ve laughed.
So, sorry this one doesn’t end up being an advice column. I don’t really have any to give. I still know practically nothing about parenting. Caleb changes every day. Everything is new and scary (he rolls over now! Both exciting and terrifying). Even so, all rational thought is overridden by a single thought that I would’ve scoffed at five years ago.
It’s worth it.
1965 Rewind: Game Forty-five
MINNESOTA 9, WASHINGTON 5 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Friday, June 4.
Batting stars: Jimmie Hall was 3-for-5 with a home run (his tenth) and a double, scoring three times. Bob Allison was 2-for-3 with a home run (his ninth), a walk, and a stolen base (his fifth), scoring twice. Jerry Kindall was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.
Pitching star: Jerry Fosnow retired all eight batters he faced, striking out one.
Opposition stars: Woodie Held was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his eighth. Ken McMullen was 2-for-5 with a double and a run. Don Lock was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in one.
The game: Tony Oliva singled in a run in the first and Allison homered leading off the second to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. Each team scored once in the fourth, with the Twins' run coming on Hall's inside the park home run. The Twins then scored five time in the sixth to put the game out of reach. Jim Kaat had a two-run double, Zoilo Versalles had a two-run single, and Kindall contributed an RBI single. The Senators tried to get back in the game in the seventh, scoring four times. Three of the runs came on Held's three-run homer. With the score now 8-5, Kaat was replaced by Fosnow, who slammed the door on Washington's hopes, retiring their last eight batters.
Of note: Versalles was 1-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two. Oliva was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4 with a walk. Kaat pitched 6.2 innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on nine hits and a walk with one strikeout.
Record: The win made the Twins 30-15. They remained in first place, 1.5 games ahead of Chicago.
Notes: Hall raised his average to .325. Earl Battey remained out, with Jerry Zimmerman again catching. Washington starter Howie Koplitz was making one of his nineteen major league starts, eleven of which came in 1965. As a starter, he was 2-5, 5.31; as a reliever, he was 2-2, 2.36. He made twenty-two relief appearances, but never more than five in a season. One wonders what might have happened had someone put him in the bullpen and left him there.
Flight Of The Conchords – Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)
Now here is some quality humor music.
httpv://youtu.be/84EoBQfdrb0