Personal Stats update April 2021

You may remember that I started keeping personal stats of my consumption of reading and viewing content for 2021.  If you missed that post, check it out.  Here is a quick update of my progress through April 28:   

Movies watched: 17
Rewatch: 11
First time: 6

TV series (streamed):
Episodes: 24
Rewatch: 8
First time: 16

Books read: 9
Graphic Novels: 3
Fiction: 5
Nonfiction: 1
Pages read: 2451

Comic books read: 68
Digital: 43
Print: 25

I have no idea how I am doing as I have no stats from past years in which to compare, but I will say that this seems pretty good for me. I am really surprised by the number of films I have watched. Most of the rewatch films are MCU rewatches. Most of the TV series are WandaVision and The Falcon and Winter Soldier.

This has been fun. It seems silly, but I am actually finding it helps give me closure when I finish a story. I get to visit my Google Keep note where I keep the stats and I have a second to reflect on the story I just read or viewed. It is a short moment, but it is satisfying. I will pass on an update around July for the half-year check-in.

Fantasy Baseball Draft 2021

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to this year's Coca-Cola Kids Fantasy Baseball Team.  The Kids were established in 1988 as a National League Rotisserie Baseball Club, but then upgraded to an online team in the mid 1990's on Sandbox.  The Kids joined their current league, the League of the Gorgeous Rogues, in 2003 and took 7th place.  Since then the Kids won the championship twice in 2006 and 2013.  They have finished last more times than they would like to admit, however.  Enough history, it is time to look forward to the 2021 baseball season. 

The Coca-Cola Kids had the first pick in the draft and took  Lucas Giolito starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox.   Each team in the league gets to have three keepers each season.  The Kids elected to keep: Jose Abreu, First Base of the Chicago White Sox, Kris Bryant third base and outfield for the Chicago Cubs and Bo Bichette, short stop of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Here is how the remainder roster shakes out after the draft: 

C:  Buster Posey, San Francisco - Drafted Aaron Nola, San Diego

1B:  Abreu

2B:  Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs

3B: Bryant

SS: Bichette 

OF1: Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox

OF2: Nick Castellanos, Cincinatti Reds

OF3: Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks

Utlility:  Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs

SP:  Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox (first pick of the draft)

SP: Luis Castillo, Cincinatti Reds

SP: Ian Anderson, Atlanta Braves

SP: Matthew Boyd, Detroit Tigers

RP: Yimi Garcia, Miami Marlins

RP: Greg Holland, Kansas City Royals

P:  Diego Castillo, Tampa Bay Rays 

P:  Nathan Eovaldi, Boston Red Sox

Bench: Jose Soler OF, Ke'Bryan Hayes 3B, Ryan Jeffers C, Adalberto Mondesi SS, Tarik Skubal SP, Michael Kopech SP

At posting, the Kids are currently in first place, and are looking forward to a great season of baseball.  

 

Celebrate like the Baddoos

"Don't give up. Your day will come!"  I don't know if Akil Baddoo ever heard that, but he certainly lived it.  Who is Akil Baddoo?  That's what I was asking when he came up to the plate for the Detroit Tigers (my second favorite MLB team).  All that is on the ESPN.com is that he is a 22-year-old centerfielder for the Detroit Tigers.  A little more digging discovered that he remarkably made the Tigers after spending several years in low A minor league ball for the Minnesota Twins.  The Tigers picked Baddoo up this last winter in the unprotected player draft.  After a great spring training with the Tigers, he made the major league team

What did he do?  In his first game in the major leagues when he came up to bat against the Cleveland Indians, he took the first pitch to the opposite field for a 370 foot home run. It was a great moment (check the video).  While one home run, even in your first at-bat, doesn't define a career, it certainly defines a positive moment of hope and achievement for hard work.  It defines a positive moment in the young baseball season where fans are back and the world is trying to figure out what a post-pandemic era will feel like.  It defines a positive moment for a family who was there to see it.  

What really caught my attention was his reaction and that of his parents who were in the stands that afternoon (again, check the video).  You could see the joy in Baddoo's face and actions as he rounded the bases, and he knew exactly where his parents were sitting.  He gave them recognition as he crossed home plate which I think is a total class act.  The cameras knew where his parents were too as if they knew something special would happen that day.  The cameras captured their instant reaction, and as a parent, it was beautiful to see.  Even though I wasn't there for all the little league games, high school baseball, years of summer ball, and what was likely a difficult decision to go pro, I could see the reward; we all could.  

We should mark Akil Baddoo's moment in time and remind ourselves of what can be achieved by the daily grind.  Our hard work will have celebratory moments.  It may not be in front of 10,000 fans and televised.  It may not be in front of all our friends or even our parents, but those moments do come.  Own those moments when you achieve them.  Take credit for your success and be proud of your accomplishments.

If you are a parent, look for the achievement, even small, in your own children and celebrate like the Baddoos did.  Be proud of your work as a parent and be proud of what your children are becoming.  I love baseball for reasons like this, but look around, I am sure there are moments like this to be found every day if we look for it.   

Akil Baddoo update 4/6/21

Baddoo's legendary start to his major league career grows.  In his second game for Detroit on Monday, he smashed a grand slam.  Then today, Tuesday, he was a pinch-runner in the eighth inning of a tied 3-3 game with Minnesota.  He stayed in the game defensively then in his first at-bat of the game in the 10th inning he hit a walk off single to win the game 4-3.  Keep an eye on this guy, he is fun to watch.  

Candlekeep Mysteries

Dungeons and Dragons released its newest book last week, and while all their books are wonderful, this book, Candlekeep Mysteries, is absolutely amazing!  In brief, here is why: 

1. The variant cover is beautiful.  It is a deep red with shiny gold art and lettering.  It has a mystical stamp on the front center with a fairy looking on just to the left and from above the title.  When you flip the book over, there is a terrifyingly beautiful Beholder staring at you with all 11 eyes! The standard-issue cover isn't too shabby either with an image of a couple of adventurers pouring over a book in the library as they attempt to solve some great mystery.  Look carefully, there is danger looming right behind them!  

  

2. There is a great pullout map of Candlekeep that shows the Inner Ward and the Great Library. That's a big deal.  

3.  The book has 15 adventures (there might be one more, it was a quick count) that are "bite-sized" quick adventures for different levels.  What is really cool about the adventures is it appears that each one is based on or revolves around a different book.  How awesome is that?  

4. Let's be real, as a librarian in real life, I have been waiting for something about the greatest library in Faerun!  We get titles and the structure of Candlekeep's curators like The Keeper, The Council of Eight Great Readers, Master Readers, the First Reader, and more.  What may be the best detail is that there are 13 Modrons that escaped from Mechanus who now are part of the library staff.  They catalog and shelve books, but it is noted that they shelve one book at a time.  

This book, upon a quick viewing, is an amazing work.  While I haven't read any of the adventures yet, the description of Candlekeep with its extradimensional meeting rooms and study areas that have permanent silent spells so students aren't disrupted, leave so much to be discovered. I can't wait to dive in to some of these mysteries.  Another aspect of Candlekeep is for characters to gain admittance they must provide a unique book that the librarians of Candlekeep don't already have or it must be a highly valuable and rare copy of something they already have.  It will be fun to send characters on a hunt to find something unique before ever heading there.  This book has so many possibilities and so much fun in store.  

If you make a visit to Candlekeep, let me know in the comments below or tag me on Twitter @draftline

  

Baseball Cards: How much are they worth?

To be able to answer the question of how much baseball cards are worth, I think we have to explore to whom baseball cards are meant.  At first, I think about when I fell in love with baseball cards, and that was when I was a kid.  Is that who the cards are meant?  It seems, given the packaging, placement on the shelves, and the stick of gum inside (old-school, I know), that they were intended for kids.  If we go far enough back, however, some of the most famous (and expensive) baseball cards came out of cigarette packs.  That changes the audience a little, even in those times.  This makes the answer simple; baseball cards are for baseball fans. 

I love the idea that cards are a great way to introduce kids to the game.  I happened upon a blaster box (I'm not even sure I know what that means) of 2021 Topps Baseball cards at Target a few weeks ago, and with the excitement of the new baseball season and a few extra dollars in my pocket, I picked it up.  But who seemed to be as excited about the purchase as my nine-year-old daughter.  She knows I love the Cubs and watching baseball, so she seemed interested.  She convinced me to let her open the packs with her.  So what is the value of baseball cards?  I have no idea in this case.  How do you put value on your child asking to spend time with you to open baseball cards?  Dare I say that these packs of cards are priceless when the payout is time with our own children.  

As she was opening the cards, she was tossing them in a pile on the ground, then sliding them together and using the floor to create a nice stack.  The instinct in me was to say, "Careful!  Don't bend the corners!"  I stopped myself. What was I thinking?  This is supposed to be fun.  She is supposed to enjoy looking at them, opening them, organizing them, not get yelled at because she isn't being "careful" enough.  Heck, I used to stick them in the spokes of my bike!!  What is the value of a baseball card?  The value is looking at them, checking stats and stories on the backs, organizing them and then reorganizing them, talking about the players and the teams.  

I am sure this treatment makes some collectors cringe, but what is the value of a baseball card?  Ninety-five percent of the cards will be worth less than twenty-five cents years from now!  Heck, my Topps Rookie Ken Griffey Jr. card from the 1990 set is only worth $1.00.  Is that what that card is worth?  Heck no!  That card is worth the stories and my history with the card, my history of watching Ken Griffey Jr. play baseball, my history of trading that card with friends.  That card and set is a history book when I open it up with my kids.  I share those cards and tell stories of the season and the players.  They look at the backs of the cards to discover which players were the greats of my time growing up.  What is that worth?  More than any money, that is no doubt.  

When the season starts, I can't wait to put these new cards into sleeves and a binder.  But this year, my daughter will organize them.  Knowing her, she will ignore the numbers on the back.  She will probably organize them by team, or by position, or maybe by which uniforms she likes best.  But the most important part to me, is that she wants to organize them with me.  What is the value of that?  

The MLB is back! My Top 5 Reasons for Being Excited

One month ago the temperature around here barely got above 0 degrees.  Today, we topped out at 71 wonderful degrees.  That might mean lots of different things to people, but to me, that means baseball is just around the corner.  

It shouldn't be any secret that I love the game and have since I was a little kid, but like many things in 2021, the return of baseball just seems to be extra special.  Yes, we got a bit of a season and a World Series in 2020, but the prospects of a full season, postseason, and World Series with fans in the stands seems different.  

Here are the top 5 reasons I am excited for the return of baseball: 

5. The exciting young players in the game: 

This is a great time to be a baseball fan.  There are some really exciting veteran players out there who put on a show every game: Aaron Judge, Javy Baez, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts to name just a few.  The exciting young players in the league; however, may be the reason to tune in to games this year.  First there are the sons of former baseball stars: Vladimir Gurerro Jr. Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Fernando Tatis, Jr.  Then there are the other exciting young players like Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Randy Arozarena, and Ke'Bryan Hayes. I could keep going on there are so many to watch.  

4. Fantasy Baseball:

I have been doing some sort of Fantasy Baseball since 1988.  It started with pencil and paper and digging through the USA Today team stats that would publish on Tuesdays (I think), to Sandbox, to now, Yahoo Fantasy Baseball.  I have been in the league I am with now for several years.  I am not particularly good at Fantasy Baseball because I draft with my heart and loyalties and I draft who I "feel" will have great years.  I rarely draft stars of the game.  I don't know why, but it has turned out well a few seasons.  In our league of 10 teams, I am one of four of us who has won the league at least twice.  I will never have a dynasty Fantasy Baseball team, but I do look forward to putting a team together and seeing how it does.    

3. Long Saturday and Sunday afternoons with a ballgame on: 

Oh my goodness, how is this not number one or two?  There is nothing greater than a warm weekend afternoon, turning on a game, laying down, dozing off in the third or fourth inning to wake in the seventh or eighth inning to watch the end of the game.  What is better than that????  

2. Watching my favorite teams the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs: 

I have always been a Cubs fan.  I grew up in a football house where the Chicago Bears ruled, but somehow I fell in love with the Cubs.  Was it that they were on WGN?  Was it that they played at 1:20 (2:20 on Fridays) and were on when I came home from school?  Was it the visits to Wrigley Field with a church group once or twice a season?  Was it the pinstripes, the success of the 1984 team?  I have no idea, but I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't love the North Side Cubbies.  Why I follow the Detroit Tigers is a story for another day, but it goes back to Sparky Anderson, Allan Trammel, Sweet Lou Whitaker, Jack Morris, Cecil Fielder, Ivan Rodriguez, and more.  

1. Sitting in the stands watching a ballgame in person: 

Any other year, this would be fourth or fifth on my list.  I don't go to many games anymore.  Two years ago, I was able to take my oldest daughter, who is a loyal Cub fan, to Wrigley to see the Cubs play.  They lost that game, and I turned to her and said, "Well, now you are truly a Cubs fan."  

This reason to be excited is that I didn't feel that I missed much in the pandemic.  I didn't miss going to school functions like choir or band concerts, eating in restaurants, attending graduations, stuff like that.  I am not generally a crowd kind of person, but I did miss sitting in a stadium, small or large, watching the most perfect game.  I miss seeing a live double play develop in front of my eyes.  I miss hearing the bat hitting the ball on the sweet spot and knowing that is a home run.  I miss the announcers and the cheesy music. I miss spilling overpriced beer on the toes of my shoes.  I miss filling out the scorecard and being possibly the only one doing it for fun.  I miss it all.  I can't wait to sit in the stands of our local high A minor league team.  I hope to visit a large stadium in Chicago or St. Louis and take in the sound of the crowd on a pivotal moment strikeout or home run, or third out in the ninth inning.  That is what baseball does for me.  It brings me hope.  Hope that everything will be okay.  Win or lose, it will be okay.  

Content Creation: We are all in this Together

When it comes to creating content, my heart is always up for it, but my mind is always cautious and questioning.  I look around at the areas in which I would be interested in creating content: Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars reaction, comic book analysis, Marvel Cinematic Universe breakdown, baseball talk  and more.  I have a lot to say, but I question the value.  Why?  I look around at what is out there.  There are some really smart and creative people who are really successful and fun to read or watch or listen to.  What could I possibly have to add to the conversation?  

I was recently listening to the podcast, Dragon Talk, while shoveling the driveway.  Hosts Greg Tito @gregtito and Shelly Mazzanoble @shellymoo were interviewing Jordan Parker of @Lionhead_Gaming  The topic of content creation came up with the question, "What is the hardest thing you struggled with becoming a D&D content creator?"  Jordan, who is massively positive and has the greatest laugh in the world, said, "Being cognizant that other people's success is not your failure."  I stopped shoveling and stood there in the cold thinking about that statement, because I think that is what keeps me from creating content.  I am looking at the success of others and think, "I could never do that as good as they do."  Parker went on to say that we need to support and love the content creators around you.  It fuels the fire for everyone.  Keep the jealousy and envy at bay.  This thirty seconds of audio resonated so deeply with me. 

It is such a positive outlook on this traditional concept of competition.  I feel we live in a world where we are or we aren't, but Jordan's view is that together we are all stronger.  Together we fuel the fire that builds all of us up.  There is enough space for more Dungeon Masters and adventures.  There is enough space for reactions to Star Wars or comic books or movies or baseball.  If we communicate and reach out to one another, we will each build up something great.  Not separate in competition, but together in partnership.  

The most important part for me though, is his inital answer that other's people's success is not your failure.  I mean, who are we creating for anyway?  Personally, I am creating for myself, because I find enjoyment and fullfilment.  If making content makes us happy and we share it with a few, a lot, or a whole bunch of people and they enjoy it, all the better!  Success lies in our own hearts.  

If you have been holding back, take heart.  Remember who you are creating for...you!  If you share your creations and others love it, great!!  If they hate it, well, you didn't make it for them anyway.  You have something special in you, so make it and share it.  Connect with others who share your passion and together, build something great!