Not worried about Cardinals

Why am I not worried about the Cardinals? Here is a list of the best hitters in the NL. What is missing? Birds are missing. Yes, the Cardinals are surging...., but they are not good at the core - behind the plate. Take a look:

RK  Player       Team   Pos    R    H
1   Marte, K     ARI    CF    87  163
2   Acuna Jr., R ATL    LF   107  158
3   Arenado, N   COL    3B    89  155
3   Blackmon, C  COL    RF    96  155
5   Freeman, F   ATL    1B   103  154
6   Albies, O    ATL    2B    82  152
7   Marte, S     PIT    CF    89  149
7   Yelich, C    MIL    RF    92  149
9   Rendon, A    WSH    3B    96  148
9   Castellanos  CHC    OF    79  148 <-
10  Baez, J      CHC    SS    87  147 <-
11  Hosmer, E    SD     1B    65  146
11  Rosario, A   NYM    SS    63  146
11  Story, T     COL    SS    95  146

The next Cardinal? After two more Cubbies
21 Bryant CHC with 135 hits
...
26 Rizzo CHC with 129 hits

all the way to 28th place

28 Goldschmidt, P STL 1B 128 hits <- first for Cardinals
and after Goldschmidt

41 DeJong, p STL with 118

then a bit longer till you get the the rest of the Cardinals. Let's face it. The Cardinals are hot right now, but overall, they can not hit! You have to trust the talent and the statistics. They both favor the Cubs.

training log

              Speed        Time
Date       MPH     Miles  M/S    Cal  Inc
25 Aug 19  2.3     0.936  25.05  100  0 L
26 Aug 19  2.6     1.053  24.45  108  0 L
27 Aug 19  2.8     1.255  27.00  125  0
28 Aug 19  3.0     1.304  26.05  127  0 *
29 Aug 19  3.1v    1.364  26.28  132  0
30 Aug 19  2.V     1.003  24.04  103  0 L
31 Aug 19  3.2     1.504  27:22  142  0
01 Sep 19  day     off
02 Sep 19  3.7     1.301  21:05  120  0
03 Sep 19  3.5-4.2 0.937  18:02  104  0 L
04 Sep 19  V       1.000  ?????  ???  V LW
04 Sep 19  3.7-4.5 1.618  25:10  163  0 +
05 Sep 19  day     off
06 Sep 19  3.5-4.5 1.667  25:01  215  0 [14:15 mile]
07 Sep 19  3.5-4.5 1.886  27.52  252  0 x
08 Sep 19  day     off
09 Sep 19  V       1.085  22.29  128  0
10 Sep 19  Stairs day 20 floors up and down
11 Sep 19  3.0-5.0 1.309  19:37  175  V
12 Sep 19  day     off
13 Sep 19  V       1.254  19.09  159  0

I will post my progress on this article.

goal #1: Do 3 mph mile in about 20 minutes. *
goal #2: Very brisk 15 minutes mile. +
Note: impossible to walk a 15 min mile, must be at least partly run.
goal #3: Complete a 2 mile walk in less than 40 minutes.
goal #4: Complete a 5k walk
goal #5: Use 250+ calories. x
goal #6: Jog a mile
goal #7: Jog 3 miles or 5k

visual log

Top 10 posts since moving to Google blogger

The biggest topic since I started blogging in 2000 has been Arcade games. I had my largest following. Since then I get a fraction of the traffic I once did. I decided to see what are my top 10 since moving to the Google platform for blogging. Now the biggest pulls are video game consoles and dice.

Entry                            Date pub       Page views
PlayStation 1 Classic Game add     Jan 1, 2019    321
Making a custom dice box. Part I   Jan 9, 2018    132
Making a custom dice box. Part V   Jan 14, 2018    97
My dice collections                Feb 8, 2018     77
Making a custom dice box. Part II  Jan 10, 2018    74
Making a custom dice box. Part III Jan 12, 2018    68
Making a custom dice box. Part IV  Jan 13, 2018    67
Day 8 of backyard work             Jun 25, 2018    60
1960 Cubs cards                    Jan 31, 2018    56
PlayStation Classic Controllers    Jan 06, 2019    27

Mustang News.

In April, we learned from Ford that Hybrid Ford Mustang are due out 2020. Then there were other rumors. Now we learn that a Mustang inspired SUV has been confirmed. Additionally, an all wheel drive electric mustang has been confirmed. The AWD version makes the all electric more palatable. Mustang owners love gas engines. But the newer performance engineered car nuts also know the benefits of planting HP over four wheels and what that means for track times.

Plenty of people are upset about high performance Mustangs loosing the manual transmission for increased performance. More people will be upset about an electric Mustang. Even more about a non rear wheel drive Mustang. But then again, there will be people that care more about Physics. My 2 pennies.

There is very little hard facts about either of these cars that Ford confirmed, but I expect there will be in a month or so. That is how Ford operates.

Battery life is going to be something over 300 miles. A front and rear electrical motor. Reasonably priced like most cars that Ford tries to market.

Cubs power offense

Cubs are having one of their best offensive years ever and yet are in second place and struggling badly on the road.  With the numbers that Castellanos is having, I would like to see the Cubs keep him.  Although Baez is clearly the best hitter and base runner on the team, he has been off track lately and the rest of the team is catching up.

As of August 20th, the Cubs have 9 players with double digit Home runs. In fact the slugging numbers a looking good so far.  Odds are likely the Cubs will have three players with 30 or more home runs this regular season.

Player       HR  3B  2B  XBH    H
Baez         28   4  34  66   140  <--
Schwarber    28   1  18  47    92
Bryant       25   1  32  58   128
Rizzo        25   2  25  52   125
Contreras    19   1  15  35    81
Heyward      18   4  15  37   109
Castellanos  18   3  44  65   137  <--
Almora Jr.   12   1  11  24    78
Bote         10   0  16  26    69

Baez and Castellanos lead the team in hits, doubles, triples and in general extra base hits. Every great team has to have at least a trio or great hitters. Everyone thought it would be Baez, Bryant, and Rizzo.... but their offense has been spotty this year. who is going to step it up?

Overall, it looks promising still for the Cubs. The Cardinals only have 7 players with double digits and their numbers a much lower.

Player        HR  2B  3B    H
Goldschmidt   28  15   0  120
Delong        22  27   1  112
Ozuna         22  18   0   91
Fowler        14  19   1   89
Carpenter     11  14   2   72
Martinez      10  12   0   83
Wieters       10   4   0   34

As you can see, The Cardinals are no where near as impressive hitting as the Cubs. The difference is mostly pitching.

Best Cartoon Duo

Tell me who you think is the best Cartoon Duo?

1 Ren and Stimpy
2 Beavis and Butthead
3 Zim and Gir
4 Pinky and The Brain
5 Rick and Morty
6 SpongeBob and Patrick
7 Bender and Fry
8 Fred Finstone and Barney Rubble
9 Scooby and Shaggy
10 Daggett and Norm
11 Cow and Chicken
12 Garfield and Odie
13 Chip and Dale
14 Yogi and Boo-boo
15 The Tick and Arthur
16 Pooh and Piglet
17 Phineas and Ferb
18 Snoopy & Woodstock
19 Stewie & Brian Griffin
20 Bullwinkle & Rocky
21 Marlin and Dory

22 Elroy and Astro

23 He-Man and Battlecat

24 Johnny Quest and Hadji

I did not included these duos because they are not really duos, but antagonist to each other:
-  Tom and Jerry
-  Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck
-  Willie Coyote and Road Runner

I did not include these because they never made it to the screen:
-  Calvin and Hobbes

So far on other media I have [I will keep updated]:

2 votes for Scooby and Shaggy
1 vote for Ricky and Morty
1 vote for Phineas and Ferb
1 vote for Pinky and The Brain
1 vote for Tom and Jerry (even though I said they don't count) 
1 vote for Elroy and Astro
1 vote for Snoopy and Woodstock

1 vote for He-Man and Battlecat

1 vote for Johnny Quest and Hadji

2019 Summer Mustangs

I just posted a new video of various Mustangs that I took photos of in Bloomington IL during the Summer of 2019.  As promised earlier, I really want to start video blogging more.

You can view the video here

I think my next video blog will actually be of some content and I plan on doing something on Route 66 like visiting:

1. Ryburn’s Place on 305 E. Pine Street, Normal IL and getting a photo of my Mustang there.

2. Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup at 5257 Historic U.S. 66, Shirley IL

3. Dead Man’s Curve at Towanda IL

4. Gemini Giant on 810 E. Baltimore St., in Wilmington IL

5. Brick wall in Pontiac IL with mustang car photo.

6. Eat at Park View Inn in Bloomington IL

7. world largest catsup bottle in Collinsville, Il

8. Arcade museum in McLean IL.

2020 Shelby GT500 info

Ford submits headline:

2020 SHELBY GT500 ACHIEVES SUPERCAR ACCELERATION WITH 760 HORSEPOWER AND 7-SPEED DUAL-CLUTCH TRANSMISSION

So what is Ford bragging about:

Ford: "Its 760-horsepower 5.2-liter V8 engine is the most power- and torque-dense supercharged V8 in the world. With 625 ft.-lb. of torque funneled through a Tremec® TR-9070 DCT 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, the Shelby GT500 achieves a 0-100-0 in 10.6 seconds, thanks also to the largest front brakes of any domestic sports coupe (16.5-inch rotors) and available carbon fiber wheels, each wrapped in a Ford Performance-spec Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tire."

That is pretty impressive.  What is Chevy saying for the C8? 

But a more Interesting bit of information here:

Ford: "Power output is transmitted to the 3.73:1 Torsen limited-slip independent rear suspension via a carbon fiber driveshaft for reduced rotational mass and torsional distortion, plus larger halfshafts and a redesigned rear suspension hub for added strength."

That is impressive in that this Mustang is geared for 0-60 acceleration.  This machine is geared for fast acceleration like other high performance Mustangs!  The sixth generation Mustangs have been released with the following limited-slip independent rear axle ratios: 3.15:1, 3.31:1, 3.55:1, 3.73:1 Torsen limited-slip rear axles.  Down side of 3.73:1 is lower top speeds and fuel efficiency.

Baez Praise, Theo Shame

Just a little Javier Baez praise after I just learned yesterday that the Cubs had tried to trade Javier Baez in 2017. Let's think about that. With the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the Cubs would have fallen on the Cubs' collective face if not for Baez. Theo believed the sole core or the Cubs is Rizzo and Bryant.

Currently, as of Aug 5th, 2019 - Javier leads the Cubs in every offensive stat except Runs and he is second. I'm not sure who was dumber; the Cubs for trying to remove much of the Cubs Offense or the Tigers for not seeing the possibilities.

Yes, in 2017 Baez was not keeping up with Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, but in 2018 and 2019 he performed much better than both.

So far, compared to the two players the Cubs said were the sole back bone:

        Year    R    H  2B  3B  HR  XBH  RBI  SB    BA   OBP 
Baez    2017   75  128  24   2  23   49   75  10  .273  .317
Rizzo   2017   99  156  32   3  32   67  109  10  .273  .392 
Bryant  2017  111  162  38   4  29   71   73   7  .295  .409

Baez    2018  101  176  40   9  34   83  111  21  .290  .326
Rizzo   2018   74  160  29   1  25   55  101   6  .283  .376
Bryant  2018   59  106  28   3  13   44   52   2  .272  .374

Baez    2019   79  130  30   4  28   62   76   9  .290  .323
Rizzo   2019   68  113  24   2  21   47   71   5  .285  .390
Bryant  2019   81  113  30   1  21   52   51   2  .284  .385

In 2018, Javier beat Rizzo and Bryant in every number but On Base Percentage. In 2019, Baez leads in most stats.