B-Team Blogger Post #2: Top 5 Baseball HOF Snubs

While Chelsea is still sick, I've decided to diversify the type of topics covered in her blog. Since the latest selections of Maddux, Glavine, Larussa, and Cox, the baseball Hall of Fame is a topic that has been on my mind a few times recently. As you may notice, I've chosen to exclude any names associated with steroids or HGH.

5. Craig Biggio- I'm no Astros fan, but Biggio was a great, throwback baseball player. He would've been one of the best in any era. We're talking about a guy that had over 3,000 career hits and 291 home runs while playing catcher, second base, and center field at a high quality level. This last year was only his second on the ballot, and he only missed induction by 2 votes, so it's likely that Biggio will be elected next year. Otherwise, he would've been much higher on the list.

4. Tim Raines- Raines was a fantastic lead-off hitter that just happened to play in the same era as the greatest lead-off hitter in baseball history: Rickey Henderson. Tim Raines had an on-base percentage of .385 for his career and ranks 5th all-time in stolen bases. Just because he was overshadowed by Henderson during his playing career doesn't mean that it should hurt his chances for Cooperstown.

3. Mike Piazza- Admittedly, Mike Piazza's defensive skills were far from elite, but his offensive weapons were historically potent. He is possibly hurt by playing in the steroid era, but no real accusations have ever been made. In reality, it's criminal that arguably the best-hitting catcher in baseball history would be left of the ballot. His 427 home runs and lifetime .308 batting average, as a catcher, should easily be reason enough.

2. Jack Morris- If Morris ever gets into Cooperstown, and he likely will, it won't be through the Baseball Writers of America ballot. After 14 years, 2014 was his last year to be eligible. Jack deserves to be in the hall for two reasons: his consistency and World Series performances. He tied the record for 14 consecutive opening day starts. That means, for 14 years straight, Morris was considered the "ace" on his staff and healthy enough to make his first start. He also made 5 all-star appearances, 4 World Series titles, and one World Series MVP. That's quite a bit of hardware.

1. Pete Rose- In case you didn't already know, Pete Rose is kind of a sketchy individual. He has been accused of, and admitted to, illegally betting on baseball, tax evasion, and forcefully shoving an MLB umpire during an argument. However, he also might be the greatest player, outside of Babe Ruth, to ever touch a baseball. He is the all-time Major League leader in hits and won 3 World Series titles, 1 MVP award, 2 Golden Gloves, and made 17(!) All-Star appearances. He did all of this without the aid of performance-enhancing drugs. So, Major League baseball is in a bit of a conundrum. One of the very best players in the history of the game can never be enshrined in its Hall of Fame because he's currently serving a lifetime ban for illegal gambling. My case for his pardon is based on the history of two other great players: Ty Cobb and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. Ty Cobb was actually quite similar to the player in question. Like Rose, he was known for his tenacity, hitting ability, and hustle. Off the field, Cobb had his own issues. He infamously climbed into the stands one day to physically attack a heckler who happened to only have one hand. "Shoeless" Joe, on the other hand, was known to be a good guy, both on the field and off. However, he was caught up in a gambling scandal with several players on his team, resulting in a thrown World Series. Like Rose, Jackson was given a "lifetime" ban, but it was eventually lifted. In fact, both Cobb and Jackson can be found enshrined at Cooperstown. In short, I think it's time for "Charlie Hustle" to join them.

P.S. Just in case this post wasn't the manliest thing ever written on Chelsea's blog, here's a little something to push it over the top.

Sick Wife=B-Team Blogger

Well, the deadly combination of flu season and the notoriously poor sanitation habits of children has finally caught up with Chelsea. In case the title didn't give it away, this is Chelsea's husband.Because she is in the middle of this month-long challenge, my talents as second-string blogger have been requested. I've never felt more like Rudy. Or Ollie in Hoosiers. Or Howie in The Benchwarmers. I think you get the idea. Anyway, expect a few blogs from the B-team over the next couple of days!

Ri ng Day 14

Yep, that gross, swollen, raw finger is mine. I think the dry weather irritated my finger and when I tried to take my ring off, it made it even worse. Basically I didn't really have a choice but to get my ring cut off. I was talking about it at church when one of our church members, who happens to be a paramedic, overheard and informed us he has a ring saw. It looks like this:



Basically, he saved me hours of trying to talk to someone at Samuels who knew what to do or pay so much money to have a doctor tell me I need to get it sawed off.

The moral of the story: complain loud enough and someone will help you.

Rise and Shine

This morning, I was awoken by my husband getting out of the shower. And by this morning, I mean at 2am. He got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and I guess figured it was time to get ready for work. He realized half way through that a) I was still sleeping and b) it was really dark outside.

I used to do this all the time in high school. I would wake up in the middle of the night and get all the way through my morning routine-makeup and all only to realize that I have several hours before I should be awake.

Historically, people slept differently than we do today. It's called sleep segment. They would go to sleep when the sun went down (around 8pm) and sleep until midnight. They would be awake for a couple of hours and then go back to sleep until around 6am). Apparently, this was very common up until the 1800s when electricity came about. Here are some bible verses that people used in their articles:

But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron (Judges 16:3).

At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! (Ruth 3:8)

At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules (Psalm 119:62).

Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning (Mark 13:35).

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them (Acts 16:25).

These articles go into more detail:

BBC News
Polyphasic Society
Cranach, the blog of veith

Awkward Day 13

Today we had our pictures made for the church directory. I think the last time I had a church directory picture taken was around ten years ago. One year, my family posed with a yellow color scheme. I was playing with pencil shavings and got them all over my shirt right as we were supposed to be heading out the door. Another year, my mom decided we all needed to wear hats.

This year, being the first time I was in charge of what we were wearing, was a lot more pressure than I would like to admit. I clearly over-think things. Yesterday, I spent way too long trying to find a shirt that was semi-flattering. After thinking I found it, Aaron decided to let me know he was wearing a suit. Ugh, I got something too casual. After all that work, we just decided to wear clothes we already had. Today I spent a stinking long time on my hair and makeup. Than I spent too long deciding whether or not I should wear a scarf. The answer ended up being 'no.'

I tried to convince Aaron to make our pictures awkward, but he wouldn't let us. So, here is a few from awkwardfamilyphotos.com to make up for it.




The caption on this said "she got the benefit of having both a little brother and a big brother."

They're at the dentist

This post is really a reflection for me than anything else. Then again, isn't that what blogs are for?

Because today is MLK day,the students had the day off and the teachers went to a Schlechty training. The Schlechty center helps schools become more focused on student engagement.

Today we really focused on how model mindsets gets in our way. For example, we read a story about how a flock of sheep had always had wolves attack them. Their ancestors told them that this is how it had always been and this is how it would always be. Eventually, the sheep got together and realized that maybe there was a solution to their problem. So they reflected on when the wolves attacked (when there is a drought) and eventually discovered that the wolves were going under the fence that went through the river. The sheep built a dam and solved that problem.

The point is, we can't let preconceived notions get in the way. Whatever the problem is, we need to examine it and look at what we can control.

We also did other activities where some of the teachers taught others what they do in their classroom. We then made posters reflecting the sheep story.

Then, we did a team building exercise where we wrote one truth and one lie and everyone had to guess who the statements belonged to and which ones were lies. It was a fun way to learn interesting things about other teachers. Some of our teachers didn't return after lunch, so we just kept saying they were at the dentist.

This post will make you sound more cultured

Because I don't have students to teach tomorrow, you will be my students.

1. Spell "socks" out loud. You just said "It is what it is" in Spanish. (Eso sí que es).

2. Say "Rise up lights" out loud. You just said "razor-blades" with an Australian accent.

3. Now say "boots and cats" over and over. You are now beat boxing.

4. Say "beer can" with a British accent. You really just said "bacon" in a Jamaican accent.

5. And just because I need a fifth one, say "Emma Chizit," and you just said "how much is it" with an Australian accent.


Here is a website to help you learn to do a variety of accents.