Tag Archives: WGOM featured

WGOM Half-Baked Hall

Half-Baked Hall: 1939 Results

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Lou Gehrig

When philosopher writes about someone, they get voted in unanimously. I love this plaque.

Rogers Hornsby

Two unanimous players on one ballot! Rogers wasn't as well-liked, but when you're the best second baseman ever, nobody cares.

Goose Goslin

Sam Rice hasn't gotten any Twins franchise love, but Goose sure didn't have to wait around. With 90% of the vote, he coasts in on his first ballot.

Mickey Cochrane

I love this picture. Great find hungryjoe. Mickey Cochrane garners 84% of the vote, and the Hall hates catchers just a little less.

Remaining On The Ballot (20 Players)

Frankie Frisch debuts as well as one can without getting elected (unless you're Billy Hamilton). Otherwise, not a whole lot of movement, with several players still stuck in the 60th percentile. Joe "Strikeouts Are Fascist" Sewell makes the biggest jump, gaining 25 percentage points. Firpo Marberry's support is dwindling fast.

Frankie Frisch: 74%
Stan Coveleski: 68% +1
Red Faber: 68% -4
Bill Terry: 68% +1
Zack Wheat: 63% +2
Joe Sewell: 58% +25
Sam Rice: 53% +3
Urban Shocker: 42% -8
Max Carey: 37% +4
Hack Wilson: 37% -2
Pie Traynor: 32%
Earl Combs: 26% -2
Wally Schang: 26% +4
Waite Hoyt: 21%
Firpo Marberry: 21% -12
Kiki Cuyler: 16%
Burleigh Grimes: 16% -17
Tony Lazzeri: 16%
Heinie Manush: 11%
George Uhle: 11% -6

Falling Off The Ballot (9 players)

Jim Bottomley was one of those guys I thought was amazing when I was a kid, almost certainly because he was in the Hall. I was baffled to see how pedestrian he seems when looking at his b-ref page. It seems most of you felt the same way.

Travis Jackson: 21% +10
Eppa Rixey: 21% -12
Jim Bottomley: 16%
Jimmy Dykes: 11%
Jesse Haines: 11%
Red Lucas: 5%
Chick Hafey: 0%
Rube Wallberg: 0%
Earl Whitehill: 0%

Graphs

Ballots

The Nation Has An Appetite

Pumpkin Waffles

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As I always say, when all else fails . . . make waffles. Actually, I never say that. But these are tasty enough to make a bad day tolerable and a good day better.

1 7/8 cups (8 oz.) all-purpose flour
2 cups (8 oz.) white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (4 oz.) packed light brown sugar
3 3/8 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 15-oz. can solid-pack pumpkin
9 tablespoons (4.5 oz) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
vegetable oil spray for waffle iron
maple syrup

Preheat oven to 250°F and preheat waffle iron.

In a medium bowl, combine flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Then whisk in milk, buttermilk, pumpkin, and butter until smooth. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula just until smooth. (Note: my batter had a few lumps, and this did not seem to be a problem.)

waffle batter

Spray a light coat of vegetable oil onto waffle iron (mine is nonstick, so I did't need much). Using a ladle, pour batter onto waffle iron. Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions. I can never manage to fill the waffle iron the right amount to get full-sized waffles without also ending up with batter spilling out the sides, but perhaps you’re more skilled than I am or own a better waffle iron.

fully baked

When waffles are lightly browned, transfer them to a cooling rack positioned over a cookie sheet in the oven. This is an important step; it allows them to become crisp. You want to give them about 5 minutes in the oven, though longer is fine too if you want to make all the waffles first and then serve them.

Continue making the rest of the waffles. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

NOTES: Recipe source here. I basically multiplied the ingredients by 1.5 and ended up with 20 waffles. Check out that link if you want to end up with a less ridiculous quantity. I just freeze what we don’t eat. To reheat frozen waffles, defrost in the microwave and finish in the toaster.

WGOM Half-Baked Hall

Half-Baked Hall: 1937-1939

30 Comments

Last ballot we had one person get elected. I have a feeling this time we might get more than one.

Your random blurb assignments are below.

Blurb Due Date: October 22nd

New Hitters

Jim Bottomley (New Britain Bo)
MIckey Cochrane (daneekasghost)
Kiki Cuyler (bhiggum)
Jimmy Dykes (Beau)
Frankie Frisch (nibbish)
Lou Gehrig (philosofer)
Goose Goslin (Scot)
Chick Hafey (CanofCorn)
Rogers Hornsby (Beau)
Tony Lazzeri (DPWY)
Heinie Manush (nibbish)
Pie Traynor (Pepper)

New Pitchers

Jesse Haines (DPWY)
Waite Hoyt (AMR)
Red Lucas (yickit)
Rube Wallberg (freealonzo)
Earl Whitehill (philosofer)

A few of you got more than one assignment. I purposely gave philosofer two because last time he got assigned a Yankee slugger he whined about it. The others I just randomly assigned. If you can't do two, just let us all know and we'll try to cover it.

Also, thanks Pepper for the assist.

Stats

Last Ballot

WGOM Half-Baked Hall

Half-Baked Hall: 1936 Results

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God I love baseball so much. When I was eight years old I memorized every statistic of every player in R.B.I. baseball. I would annoy the shit out of my parents by reciting things like how many homers Ellis Burks and Tony Armas had for the 86 Red Sox (20 and 43 respectively, even though Burks's rookie year was 1987 and they used Armas's 1984 stats). I'm so glad I found a community on-line where I can be myself with glorious baseball history. 27 years later and my love for this game is stronger than ever.

We had 18 voters this time around. It was a relatively weak ballot. But we will still have an election ceremony.

 

Dazzy Vance

Dazzy Vance squeaks in on his second ballot, pulling down 78% of the electorate. It's a good thing he had another trick up his sleeve. He sure ain't gettin' by on his looks.

Remaining on the Ballot (15 Players)

Red Faber: 72% +28
Stan Coveleski: 67% -5
Bill Terry: 67%
Zack Wheat: 61% +5
Sam Rice: 50% -6
Urban Shocker: 50% +0
Hack Wilson: 39% -5
Max Carey: 33% +5
Burleigh Grimes: 33% -6
Firpo Marberry: 33%
Joe Sewell: 33% +0
Eppa Rixey: 33% +5
Earl Combs: 28% +6
Wally Schang: 22% +0
Travis Jackson: 11%

Not a lot of movement here, except for Red Faber who had a huge jump of 28 percentage points and was the only player to fall one vote short. Bill Terry made a pretty strong first ballot showing. Firpo Marberry must have been swayed by philsofer's plea as only 5 of 18 voters voted nay. A lot of people on the fence there. Some people on the fence about Travis Jackson as well thanks to nibbish's lukewarm report.

For the first time in a while we will have zero players on their final ballot next go round.

Falling off the Ballot (9 Players)

Eddie Cicotte: 39% +11
Heinie Groh: 22% -6
Edd Roush: 17% -5
Lefty O'Doul: 11% -6
Herb Pennock: 11% -6
Rabbit Maranville: 6% -11
Freddie Lindstrom: 0%
Tom Zachary: 0%
General Crowder: 0%

I'm honestly surprised how well Eddie Cicotte did. Perhaps I shouldn't be given how much overwhelming support Shoeless Joe got. I thought that was a case of, "Well, he was so dominant we can ignore the cheating." As it turns out, Eddie's borderline case overcame that as well.

As for the rest, we see a lot of real-life Hall-of-Famers getting kicked to the curb. Pennock, Maranville, Roush, and Lindstrom all say goodbye, the voters unimpressed by the various Veteran's Committees.

Charts

Ballots

WGOM Fitness

Trails and such

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I decided I'm going to hike/bike/run across Connecticut - and started this last weekend.

The New England Scenic Trail goes from the MA border down to the Long Island Sound in Guilford.

On Saturday did the Beseck Mountain segment (hiking boots/trekking sticks, etc.) and on Sunday did Bluff Head by Guilford.  All have similar characteristics from north to south (volcanic eruption with westward facing basalt cliffs).

This evening did a trail run from Albany Ave (Reservoir 6 in West Hartford) to Heublein Tower on the Metacomet Trail.  Tough when it starts to get dark around 6ish.  Several trips but no problems.

Tough running on rocks/boulders/roots/etc. but I like the variety compared to running on asphalt.

First Monday Book Day

Monday Book Day: Sci-Fi and Fantasy Awards

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The Hugo awards were passed out this month (or, in most cases, not passed out).  And tradition dictates that this is the time that I put together a little online reading list of short fiction based on the various sci-fi award nominees out there.

Hugo Award Nominees and Winners

Nebula Award Nominees

Locus Award Nominees

World Fantasy Award Nominees

Sturgeon Award Nominees

Those represent 12 short fiction awards (two have yet to be handed out, and two were not awarded this year), and 60 different nominated works.  My favorites listed below with links where the stories are available online.

NOVELLA (17,500 to 40,000 words)

The Mothers of Voorhisville by Mary Rickert - A whole group of mothers are all pregnant at the same time, and something is very wrong with their children.  Or maybe the children are fine and there's something very wrong with the mothers.  (Nominated for Nebula and World Fantasy)

We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory - A support group for the survivors of supernatural violence comes together and tells their stories while realizing their stories aren't over. Not available for free online. (Nominated for Nebula, World Fantasy, Locus, and Sturgeon)

The Regular by Ken Liu - A cyborg detective is enlisted to solve a murder.  The anthology this is from (Upgraded) can be got for free in some places (I got it from the publisher but it seems that offer has expired?), or you can purchase it for a few dollars.  (Nominated for Nebula, Sturgeon and Locus)

The Lightning Tree by Patrick Rothfuss - I love a good trickster story, and this is that story.  Set in the world of the Kingkiller Chronicles, but I wasn't familiar with that and still very much enjoyed it.  Unfortunately, another that's not freely available online. (Nominated for Locus)

The Man Who Sold the Moon by Cory Doctorow (Sturgeon Award winner) and Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress (Locus and Nebula Award winner) weren't my favorites and they weren't available freely online, so I'll just mention them here.

NOVELLETTE (7,500 to 17,500 words)

The Magician and Laplace's Demon by Tom Crosshill - Can magic exist in a world with AI and total surveillance?  (Nominated for Nebula)

A Guide to the Fruits of Hawaii by Alaya Dawn Johnson - Vampires have humans in concentration camps, and one of the human workers in those camps is caught up in the intrigues of the overlords. (Nebula Award Winner)

The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson - Shapeshifters in the antebellum South. (Nominated for Nebula and World Fantasy)

Tough Times All Over by Joe Abercrombie - A package makes its way through the city in the hands of various underground characters.  Excerpt here.   (Locus Award Winner)

A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch - A crime caper with witches and wizards.  (Nominated for Locus)

SHORT STORY (under 7,500 words)

Jackalope Wives by Ursula Vernon - My favorite story of the year.  Native American myth and magic woven into a great story (Nebula Award winner)

Herd Immunity by Tananarive Due - In a plague apocalypse, how can the narrator find a connection with anyone?  (Nominated for Sturgeon)

When it Ends, He Catches Her by Eugie Foster - A zombie apocalypse story that's somehow wistful.  (Nominated for Nebula and Sturgeon)

Ogres of East Africa by Sofia Samatar - Samatar is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers, this is in an anthology, so not available freely online, but it's very good. (Nominated for Locus)

The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family by Usman Malik (nominated for Nebula)

I Can See Right Through You by Kelly Link (nominated for World Fantasy)

 

Parentgood

Father Knows Best: Routines

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Now that the Valet is eleven months old, he's pretty comfortable with his daily routine. He wakes, eats, poops, and naps on a consistent schedule for the most part. Thankfully, this gives us a decent amount of flexibility for our days because we know what times are "locked in" for him.

Anyway, last weekend I had the opportunity to be a single parent. I stuck to the schedule for the big activities (which meant I watched a lot of EPL because that was prime time for playing with toys in the living room) and they all went smoothly. Except sleep. He would not fall asleep.

 

On Saturday, he fought his morning nap for four hours (despite clear signals of needing sleep) before finally crashing and taking a much longer than usual nap. Then, at bedtime, he was extraordinarily sleepy but fought out for an hour despite books, rocking, bouncing, and lullabies (mainly 90s alternative music). On Sunday, he took just a twenty minute nap the entire day.

Sleepiness was clearly not the issue. Instead, it seemed that in his zombie stage, he finally would notice that mom hadn't been around and that would set him off. Strange, because I put him to sleep at least half the time when we're both around.

I have no idea what, if anything, I could have tried differently. Oh well, everyone survived and the house didn't burn down on my watch.