As I mentioned in April, I boycotted the Braves this year and went with my second-favorite team, the Cubs. I made the decision to do so in September of 2014, when Fredi Gonzalez wasn't fired after multiple seasons of mediocrity. After observing his managerial capabilities for his first month with the Braves, I spent every year of his tenure hoping they'd replace him with a good, solid manager. It never happened, and now he's under contract until the end of 2016. :( Enough is enough. The only Braves games I watched this year were the ones in which they played the Cubs.
In September 2014 most of the unthinkable moves and trades made in the off-season hadn't happened. The Braves had a lot of talent and looked good for this year. The Cubs were struggling and seemed iffy. So, how did my boycott work out?
Between seasons the Braves sold or traded off nearly the entire team. The Cubs picked up a fantastic manager and made good trades for talented players. There was no way to predict the way things ended up happening.
2015 Season Standings
The Braves finished third worst among all major league teams, winning 67 games while losing 95 for a 41.4% win rate. As usual for Fredi Gonzalez teams, they experienced yet another late-season collapse. Only Cincinnati and Philadelphia were worse. Average attendance was 25,017.
The Cubs finished third best among all major league teams and made it to the post-season. They won 97 game and lost 65 for a 59.9% win rate. The best team in the American League won 95 games. The Cubs' record is better than the entire American League's and second only to St. Louis and Pittsburgh in the National League. Average attendance was 36,540.
My boycott went pretty well. The Cubs have a young team that's not really expected to take off until next year, and they're already in the playoffs this year. How far will they go? I expect them to make it past Pittsburgh in the first round. It's only one game, and Jake Arrieta will pitch. He's had an amazing 2015 and could win the Cy Young Award. The competition is fierce this year. Even if he doesn't win, his year was certainly worthy of the honor.
If the Cubs beat the Pirates, they would go on to face the St. Louis Cardinals, the best team in all of baseball. 100 wins. 62 losses. 61.7% win rate. The Cardinals handled the Cubs early in the season this year but lost the last series in September. Assuming he gets two starts, I expect the Cubs to win both of Arrieta's games, which only leaves them one game to win in this best of five series. I kind of expect the Cubs to beat St. Louis and move on, but a few things worry me. The Cubs are a young team. John Lester hasn't been his best this year. Over the course of the year the Cubs had too many occasions of putting runners on base with 0 or 1 out and them failing to score. The bullpen hasn't always delivered.
I think it might come down to the bullpen. If Arrieta and Lester both pitch well, that's three games, but the bullpen has to close the deal.
All in all it was a good year to be a Cubs fan. :)
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Bird Feeder
I cleaned the bird feeder last week for the first time all year. It doesn't get very dirty, but it was getting hard to see through the opaque plastic in a ring around it where the birds were hitting it with their wings, I guess. I felt good about getting that done. A couple of days later, the metal bird feeder pole was bent over. It had been broken beneath the ground. The bird feeder was nowhere to be seen. It was just gone.
It was discouraging. My TV got hit by lightening not too long ago. My computer just went into a coma. Apparently, it's the motherboard, although that's what I thought about the CPU. Bird feeders aren't expensive, but I still don't know how much it's going to cost for the computer.
However, while coming up the driveway, I saw part of the bird feeder in the woods. When I went to get it, I saw a huge paw print. Bear. I haven't seen one since 2013 when my dad was in the hospital. I think someone shot that one. A few days after I saw it, I heard a gunshot back where it would have been roaming.
I put the feeder back on the pole, which is shorter now. The feeder had very little damage, just a small piece of bent plastic that I broke off and threw away. When I saw it in the woods, I figured it would be too mangled to use. Now I'm wondering how the bear carried it from the yard to the woods without scratching it. They must be able to use their mouths very delicately. I wouldn't have thought that about such a large animal.
It was discouraging. My TV got hit by lightening not too long ago. My computer just went into a coma. Apparently, it's the motherboard, although that's what I thought about the CPU. Bird feeders aren't expensive, but I still don't know how much it's going to cost for the computer.
However, while coming up the driveway, I saw part of the bird feeder in the woods. When I went to get it, I saw a huge paw print. Bear. I haven't seen one since 2013 when my dad was in the hospital. I think someone shot that one. A few days after I saw it, I heard a gunshot back where it would have been roaming.
I put the feeder back on the pole, which is shorter now. The feeder had very little damage, just a small piece of bent plastic that I broke off and threw away. When I saw it in the woods, I figured it would be too mangled to use. Now I'm wondering how the bear carried it from the yard to the woods without scratching it. They must be able to use their mouths very delicately. I wouldn't have thought that about such a large animal.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Windows 10 Upgrade Woes
I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro from Windows 7 Pro. It turned all the title bars white with no way to change the color that I could find. I right clicked the desktop and went to settings/personalize, etc. Didn't work. I put it on the back burner. I had bigger problems than worrying about the colors.
I use Microsoft financial software to keep track of my checking account. Windows 10 is incompatible with it. For some reason it needs Windows Explorer 6, or it won't run. Windows 6 will not install under Windows 10 in a 64-bit environment. To make a long story short, the solution is to use virtualization software or upgrade the software. Since I couldn't even open the program to export my data, my solution was to uninstall Windows 10. My software works now. :) I'm going to have to find a replacement program, export my data into it and try Windows 10 again later.
If you're thinking about upgrading to Windows 10, be sure to check software compatibility first. It might not even work with Microsoft software.
I use Microsoft financial software to keep track of my checking account. Windows 10 is incompatible with it. For some reason it needs Windows Explorer 6, or it won't run. Windows 6 will not install under Windows 10 in a 64-bit environment. To make a long story short, the solution is to use virtualization software or upgrade the software. Since I couldn't even open the program to export my data, my solution was to uninstall Windows 10. My software works now. :) I'm going to have to find a replacement program, export my data into it and try Windows 10 again later.
If you're thinking about upgrading to Windows 10, be sure to check software compatibility first. It might not even work with Microsoft software.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Bullpen Relief
http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/140132628/cubs-get-tommy-hunter-from-orioles-for-lake
In the last post I expressed worry for the Cubs' bullpen. Right after I posted, another article came out. The Cubs picked up another arm for the bullpen, Tommy Hunter from the Orioles. I'm not familiar with him, since I don't watch American League baseball unless they're playing a National League team. The American League isn't authentic American baseball, but that's a post for another day.
The Cubs have been slipping since the All-Star break and have lost their wild card spot for the moment. We'll have to wait and see if these changes have any affect on the team.
In the last post I expressed worry for the Cubs' bullpen. Right after I posted, another article came out. The Cubs picked up another arm for the bullpen, Tommy Hunter from the Orioles. I'm not familiar with him, since I don't watch American League baseball unless they're playing a National League team. The American League isn't authentic American baseball, but that's a post for another day.
The Cubs have been slipping since the All-Star break and have lost their wild card spot for the moment. We'll have to wait and see if these changes have any affect on the team.
But...
http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/140109934/cubs-get-dan-haren-in-trade-with-marlins
But what about the bullpen? I thought the starting rotation was okay already, especially with Lester finally getting on track since the All-Star break. The bullpen has lost the Cubs a lot of games this year. I've been hoping for a while that they'd get an extra bullpen arm. I can't believe they got an extra starter. I'd even rather see another bat than that. Some of the batting averages look a little shaky.
However, this Haren guy surely won't be starting all the time. I suppose that means he's going to be coming out of the bullpen between starts. Maybe it's not as weird as it looks.
But what about the bullpen? I thought the starting rotation was okay already, especially with Lester finally getting on track since the All-Star break. The bullpen has lost the Cubs a lot of games this year. I've been hoping for a while that they'd get an extra bullpen arm. I can't believe they got an extra starter. I'd even rather see another bat than that. Some of the batting averages look a little shaky.
However, this Haren guy surely won't be starting all the time. I suppose that means he's going to be coming out of the bullpen between starts. Maybe it's not as weird as it looks.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
New Blog
Welcome to the new blog!
I had too many posts at my other blog that were off topic. It's really supposed to be about my Messengers of Yesh series. Or related books like the sequel series. The idea was to post about a blog every week(or two), but lately I've been ranging far afield with subject matter. Sometimes, I have too many things to say for once a week. However, I don't want to spam readers with random posts about things they might not care about. I want the other blog to be more consistent. Also, I've needed a place to talk about my books that fall outside the Messengers universe. The current work in progress is for a different market altogether, for instance.
So, the plan for this blog is to provide: a) A place to talk about my non-Messengers books. b) A place to post short, and possibly more frequent, things that grab my interest on any top whatsoever. News, sports(my teams, as I'm not a big sports guy), science, language, religion, politics, etc. c) A place with no set schedule. If I have something to say, I'll say it. Otherwise, it's better to say nothing. d) A place to refer YouTube viewers, once I'm able to make some videos. If I did something that went viral, viewers would need to buy books, right? ;) e) A place to refer web site visitors. I have a web site for Messengers, but I really need a new site that can include any book in any genre. f) A place to vent about things in life that I find frustrating. Sometimes the injustice is unreal, and I want to say so.
I think that about wraps it up for now.
I had too many posts at my other blog that were off topic. It's really supposed to be about my Messengers of Yesh series. Or related books like the sequel series. The idea was to post about a blog every week(or two), but lately I've been ranging far afield with subject matter. Sometimes, I have too many things to say for once a week. However, I don't want to spam readers with random posts about things they might not care about. I want the other blog to be more consistent. Also, I've needed a place to talk about my books that fall outside the Messengers universe. The current work in progress is for a different market altogether, for instance.
So, the plan for this blog is to provide: a) A place to talk about my non-Messengers books. b) A place to post short, and possibly more frequent, things that grab my interest on any top whatsoever. News, sports(my teams, as I'm not a big sports guy), science, language, religion, politics, etc. c) A place with no set schedule. If I have something to say, I'll say it. Otherwise, it's better to say nothing. d) A place to refer YouTube viewers, once I'm able to make some videos. If I did something that went viral, viewers would need to buy books, right? ;) e) A place to refer web site visitors. I have a web site for Messengers, but I really need a new site that can include any book in any genre. f) A place to vent about things in life that I find frustrating. Sometimes the injustice is unreal, and I want to say so.
I think that about wraps it up for now.
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