Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs speaks at a press conference at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (JOHN ZICH/AFP via Getty Images)
Mickey Morandini played with Sammy Sosa for two years. He does not have a Hall of Fame vote, but if he did it would have Sosa’s name on it.
Mickey Morandini was an old school second baseman who played right in the middle of baseball’s steroid era. He bashed a career-high eight home runs 1998 while playing alongside Sammy Sosa and the Cubs during Sosa’s famous home run chase versus Mark McGwire.
Morandini went about his business the “right way” during a time when baseball was looking the other way when it came to performance-enhancing drugs. The sport is still coming to grips with whether the best players of that era belong in baseball’s Hall of Fame. Morandini says yes.
[embedded content]“Barry Bonds is the best player I’ve ever seen play in my time,” Morandini said. “Just the things he did on the field were incredible. They say you should make the Hall of Fame if you changed your era somehow, you had an impact, and Sammy [Sosa] had one of the biggest impacts in the ’90s of anybody. Another one is Roger Clemens. You win seven Cy Youngs and 300 wins, these guys deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. No doubt about it.”
Many players who are in the Hall of Fame do not agree along with writers who want to preserve the honor of the sport. You cheated, you are out. Morandini understands that side too.
“They have a point, and to an extent I agree with them because I did it right,” Morandini said. “I should have had a couple of Gold Gloves that I didn’t win. Is it because of steroids? I don’t know, maybe, maybe some of the guys that won ’em did it, I don’t know.”
Craig Biggio won four consecutive Gold Glove awards while Morandini was in his prime from 1993-1997 with the Phillies. Morandini then spent the next two years with the Cubs.
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Chicago was a special place for Morandini, who loved playing day games while living at home in Valparaiso, Indiana with his wife and two kids. He also enjoyed his time around Sosa.
“He [Sosa] was a pleasure,” Morandini said. “He was a great teammate and I’ve never seen anyone enjoy playing the game like he did. He just loved to play the game — you know how he would run out to right field and salute all the fans in the bleachers, always had a smile on his face, always laughing and enjoying himself. I thought he was a great teammate for two years, I really did.”
Sosa won the MVP award for the only time of his career in 1998. Morandini got his only MVP vote finishing in 24th place.
“I’m proud of that. I had a great year that year,” Morandini said. “I am going to be honest with you, and I’m not bragging, I was a big part of why we went to the playoffs . Sammy and Gracie (Mark Grace) were the two heads of that team. I played really really well and I’m proud of that.”
Morandini was just behind Sosa and Grace in many key categories, finishing third on the team in batting average, hits, and walks. He finished tied with Sosa for fourth place with 20 doubles.
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot today announced the long-awaited reopening the Chicago Riverwalk.
Following the latest data and based upon guidance from public health experts, City officials believe the Riverwalk can safely reopen and operate throughout the summer months.
With special restrictions, of course.
Here’s what you need to know:
Entrance points: The Riverwalk will be accessible through limited access points at Lake Street and through ADA compliant ramps between Franklin and Lake Street and State and Columbus streets. All entrances will be guarded by attendants.
Limited guests: The number of people entering the Riverwalk will be restricted to ensure capacity limits are not exceeded.
Social distancing: Riverwalk Ambassadors will monitor the space between visitors to ensure social distancing is maintained.
Hours: The Riverwalk will between the hours of 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. It will be closed briefly at 10:00 a.m. to allow for cleaning.
Face coverings: All persons using the Riverwalk and its facilities will be required to wear a face covering in accordance with public health guidance.
Designated hours: Hours will be designated for special activities.
Recreation: The operational hours for recreational activities are between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. During the recreational hours, those using the Riverwalk will be able to run, jog, walk and bike along the path between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Street.
Food: The hours for concessions will take place between 11:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Dining will be available by reservation in order to maintain social distancing and manage crowds.
Reservations: In order to make a reservation everyone is encouraged to contact the establishment directly. All reservations will be made on a first-come, first-serve basis and ADA access will be available upon request when reservations are being made.
Passive recreation: During 11am-9pm. time frame limited passive recreation will be allowed in specified areas. The paths will be blocked at the under bridges between LaSalle and Columbus and users should use stairways.
Riverwalk Concession Vendors accessible by access points:
Tiny Tapp & Café- West Dearborn
City Winery – East Dearborn
Chicago Brewhouse- West Wabash Stairway
Beat Kitchen and Community Marketplace West Michigan Avenue
Chicago’s First Lady and Mercury Sightseeing Cruises East Michigan
Urban Kayaks, Island Party, The Northman- Columbus
O’Briens’s Riverwalk Cafe East Wabash
Limited passive recreation areas: • Lake Street and LaSalle Street- Access at Lake Street, ADA ramp between Franklin and Lake or East LaSalle Street. • Vietnam Veterans Memorial- Use State Street ADA ramp • Michigan Plaza- Use West Michigan Avenue- this will also allow access to the Community Marketplace vendors. • Columbus Plaza- Use Columbus Stairs • Sweet Home Gelato- West LaSalle Street
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The BMW M8 has a seat extender with a manual adjustment that makes the bottom bolster a couple inches longer to offer more support to taller drivers. (Photo by Jill Ciminillo)
In case you missed it: I’m short. So, I’ve never experienced a lack of support underneath my knees while driving. But if you’re taller than, well, me you probably know this is a thing.
What I have experienced is seat bottoms that are too long. Then I’m stuck feeling like Edith Ann in a too-big seat with my legs awkwardly dangling off the edge. I get this a lot in pickup trucks.
But the point here is: It’s really hard to make a seat that works for everyone — unless the automaker includes something called a seat extender.
Then you make small and tall drivers happy at the same time.
Basically, what this feature allows the manufacture to do is create a seat bottom that fits the fifth percentile female (aka someone who’s about 5-feet-tall) as well as someone who’s much taller, simply by allowing the seat bottom to grow or shrink.
Some automakers have a button you push that extends the bottom bolster, others have a manual adjustment that pulls out the edge of the cushion to make it longer. Some have an awkward ledge that pulls away from the main cushion (like pictured above), others have a bottom bolster that basically uncurls, making the overall cushion longer. However it’s achieved, the seat extender extends the comfort for a wider range of drivers.
While I used to only see this feature on BMW-level vehicles, I’ve seen it start to trickle down into mainstream vehicles as well — including Kias. So, if you have small and tall drivers in your household, this is definitely a feature to watch for.
One of the “whalez” of Midwestern beers turned up at my local Binny’s. So I snagged a 4-pack for a new “One Take Beer Review.”
Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. is situated in the town of Decorah, in Eastern Iowa. Since their founding in 2009, they have become famous for sought-after imperial stouts and hoppy pale ales.
Toppling Goliath King Sue
Their best known pale ale would be King Sue, which has been at the top of most beer ranking since its introduction in 2014. It’s classified as a”Northeastern/Hazy Imperial IPA,” hop with all Citra, at 8.5% alcohol by volume.
It was named after “Sue,” the Tyrannosauris Rex fossil on display at the Field Museum. This brought the brewery a visit from museum representatives. But they decided that rather than raise an issue over trademarks, why not offer King Sue at the museum itself. If this seems a little too strong for a visit with the family, they might also have their 5.8% Pseudo Sue as well.
How does it match up to the hype? I find it very good, though I’m not much of a hophead. The beer pours a cloudy gold with a fizzy finger width of foam that fizzes away in a few minutes. The body is a properly hazy golden color. Smell is mainly orange and pineapple citrus, then the “catbox” that I used to figure came from Amarillo, but is definitely a part of Citra.
That nose is there is the taste too, as well as some bitter hop resins. Not a palate burner, but it does kind of scratch the back of my throat. Malts are bright and a bit quiet, belying the strong abv figure. When the hops go south in a few months, there won’t be much else to hold the taste up. Drinks very quickly, which may be my downfall. But for those who love hops, it’s quite drinkable.
There are more of TG’s flagship beers available since they built a 100-barrel brewhouse a few years back. The new capacity brought their operation in-house after a few years of contract brewing at Brewhub in Florida.
If you want to catch the real hard-to-find beers, you’ll want to go to the brewery when they announce releases for Imperial stouts Kentucky Bruch and Mornin’ Delight, currently ranked #1 and #4 on Ratebeer.com’s Top 50 Beer List. Yes, even higher than Dark Lord and its variant. For now.
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Meet The Blogger
Mark McDermott
Writer, trivia maven, fan of many things. I thought to learn all there is to know about beer as a way to stay interested in learning. It is my pleasure to bring Chicago’s craft beer scene to you.
It is the most visited destination in the state of Georgia today, although most people go there for mother nature, hiking, picnicking and other outdoor activities, not for celebrating the world’s largest shrine to white supremacy.
No other podcast that we’ve ever done has elicited such an angry backlash- see the comments section. Who knew that strongly denouncing the birthplace of the modern Ku Klux Klan, a destination that still hosts KKK rallies once a year to this day, was SO CONTROVERSIAL in 2019.
We need to talk about Stone Mountain, right now, in this moment because we’re seeing not just Confederate monuments, but also shrines to racism and slavery, topple with warp speed. In Richmond, Robert E. Lee is coming down, legally, via government means while Jefferson Davis was ripped down by the people. In Indianapolis, Louisville, Birmingham, and Mobile, Confederate statues are being removed.
The same crowd that rails the hardest against participation trophies seems to be willing to die on a hill of protecting them.
Try explaining this to someone from a foreign country:
There are at least two organizations (United Daughters of the Confederacy and the KKK) dedicated to glamorizing the LOSERS of the Civil War,
There are stautes and monuments dedicated to those losers, even in states that fought AGAINST them,
The flag of the losers is still waved, and it’s waved by people who also carry the flag of the Union that defeated them and these Confederate flag wavers can’t understand the paradox.
We also we have at least 10 military bases named after leaders of the treasonous and ultimately crushed insurrection AGAINST the U.S. military.
None of these things make any sense, at all, but it does perfectly convey just how much systemic racism is deeply entretched in America, and always has been. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, over 1,700 Confederate monuments, many in states that fought against the Confederacy, still exist today.
Since the UDC’s founding in 1894, the elite white Southern ladies’ group has dedicated itself to erecting Confederate monuments around the country and, in more recent years, quietly ensuring those markers remain standing. They have been the single most effective propagandists for the Lost Cause myth, an alternative-fact-ridden version of history that denies slavery as the central cause of the Civil War while also insisting that slavery was a mutually beneficial institution—a win-win for both enslavers and the enslaved. UDC textbooks have taught generations of Southern children that the Confederacy—a nation whose founders were unequivocal about its cornerstone being white superiority and black enslavement—was a valiant and valorous cause.
The Lost Cause myth is powerful, and much more impactful than people realize. The book and movie “Gone With the Wind” is perhaps the most influential single example of its message reaching a mass audience. The issue of HBO removing/keeping it in their library of movies isn’t anything really worth feeling all that strongly about.
They won’t tell you why the real reason why these monuments were made- to intimidate and frighten people of color. It’s not about history. If you want to learn history- READ! These memorials are often placed near courthouses and government buildings in order to send a message that white people are still in charge and in control, regardless of what happened at Appomattox in 1865.
The largest bas-relief sculpture in the world, the Confederate Memorial Carving depicts three Confederate leaders of the Civil War: President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson (and their favorite horses, Blackjack, Traveller, and Little Sorrel, respectively).
The artist and sculptor had extensive Klan ties, with one of the main benefactors a charter member of the UDC. The original vision for the sculpture called for including the KKK. (okay, I guess they have SOME degree of shame, maybe)
Basically, the UDC (approximately 25,000 strong to this day) is like the female version of the Klan, but they focus on disinformation and misinformation campaigns, instead of actual physical terrorist action.
Both are truly terrorist organizations though. Going back to The Daily Beast
The group also put some serious effort into lauding and normalizing the KKK, which was also in the midst of a membership explosion.
“The UDC always had ties to the Klan,” says Heidi Christensen, former president of the Seattle UDC chapter who quit the group in 2012. “But the connection became more overt in the 1910s. You’ve got Birth of a Nation, and then the second rising of the Klan, and you see [the UDC] openly revering the KKK and defending them as saviors of the white southern race during Reconstruction. Those things made it clear they were loyal to the Klan and saw them as heroes. And in some ways [the UDC was] sort of like the KKK’s more feminine, genteel sister organization.”
So what do we do with Stone Mountain today?
Well, a 2015 MoveOn.org petition says we should see Atlanta icons Big Boi and Andre 3000 of OutKast riding in a Cadillac carved into the mountainside. While that’s actually a humorously intended petition, they need to sandblast away those 3 vile bigoted traitors yesterday.
Get that done, now, and we’ll worry about who replaces the disgraceful triad later. How Germany has handled their Nazi sites is a great guide to what America should do with their Confederate propaganda.
The relief sculpture is 42 feet deep and placed 400 feet high in the nearly 1,700 foot high mountain. It’s larger than Mt. Rushmore and the mother of all Confederate monuments.
It was completed and dedicated in 1972, with then Vice President Spiro Agnew in attendance. Remove this atrocious monstrosity now, and the rest of the Confederate monuments will soon follow.
To defeat a vile, poisonous snake, one must first sever the head.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and ChicagoNow.
He’s been a featured guest in dozens of media outlets including The History Channel. His work has been cited in hundreds of publications including the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
The world has been in lockdown since March of this year. Illinois has been in lockdown since March 21st. Now things are becoming slightly better, but it is still better to stay indoors until the situation becomes better. Most governments around the world want to prevent a community spread. If the curve is flattened, we all can resume our lives but with care. We would still need to use masks while outdoors and we need to clean our hands consistently. But we need to wait for the curve to flatten and for that we need to stay at home. Staying at home and working from home can be stressful. Many people around the world are experiencing it. People are finding it difficult to live without socializing. But there are ways to beat the stress and a few of them are given below:
Read:
Reading is a great stress buster. In this age of technology, reading has taken a backseat. People tend to view videos rather than read but the joy of reading is something that cannot be replicated by watching videos. If you ask me, watching the Godfather movie was a good experience, great acting and all but it was not a patch on reading Mario Puzo’s magnum opus. You can read anything you want, be it fiction, non-fiction, even children’s books – it will always ease the stress and relax you. So dust the books from your shelf and start reading.
Play:
Yes, this is the best time to play with your kids and family. You can play many indoor games with your kids and make this difficult time a memorable one. If you are tired of playing board games with your kids you can play online games. But remember playing with your kids is the best stress buster.
Online games:
If you like to visit casinos and play the many games on offer, you can do that at online casinos in the lockdown. You can play your favourite games and make money in the bargain. There are websites like clovr.com which assist you in finding the best casinos by reviewing them. So beat the stress by making money.
Write:
Most of us believe that we have a story or two which we would like to pen down at some point in life. If you are one of those then this is the best time to pen down your writings and publish them. You can even write screenplays or poems, whatever you feel like. When your mind is occupied you do not have time for small things like stress.
Draw:
Yes, you heard it right, draw. Drawing and coloring are great stress busters. In fact, the adult coloring books market is huge. People gift other adults these coloring books so that they can beat stress. Many doctors recommend it, so take out a book and start doodling and coloring in it.
Clean:
Cleaning your room can be therapeutic. If you do not believe me, I would advise you to try it. Just cleaning your closet can beat stress because you will be amazed at the things that you will find there. Keep the ones that are required and make a pile of things that you need to dispose of, you will feel really happy after you do this chore.
Eraina Davis is a writer and entrepreneur. She has written for “Healthy Living” magazine as well as several academic publications. She opened one of the first pop-up shops in downtown New Haven, Connecticut called The Good Life, where she gave advice to entrepreneurs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, an M.Ed in Education and an MAR in Religion from Yale.
(This was supposed to post yesterday morning at 9am, but there was a glitch in the matrix. I scheduled it and didn’t notice it didn’t post. I was riding my bike all day. Apologizes…I know to double check in the future. Good News…you had extra time to completed the 6/11 homework assignments. Hope you took advantage of that extra time. There will be a pop quiz later.)
Today’s Chicago Renaissanve assignments (6/12/20):
What three things are you purging/cleaning today?
What three things are you planning for today?
What three things are you preparing today?
WAIT…Did I hear you say…HEY…Today’s assignments are the same as yesterday. Yes, It’s the same. Why…you ask? Well, did you do yesterday’s assignments? No…and there’s your answer. That was the pop quiz. Grade your paper and put your grades and notes in the comments below or the RCA Facebook page.
I will add this bonus assignment:
GROUP SUPPORT EFFECT: FUNDRAISING FOR PUSH BLACK
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We reach tens of millions of people with our BLACK NEWS & HISTORY STORIES every year.
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Welcome to the “Red Cup Adventures”. Why the Red Cup Adventures? Because the red cup is the universal symbol of fun, ambassador of good times, and the perfect decorative holder for my Single Girl Summer sangria. No party is complete without a red cup. I’ve got my drink and my two step. Now subscribe to my blog below and let’s have some fun together! #LetsGo #FollowTheRedCup #SingleGirlSummer #VotedMostCreative
Chicago experimental electronic-pop duo Hobbyist are well suited to capture the anxiety that’s been our constant companion since the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic upended the world. Producer Marc Mozga creates a stark, austere sound from programmed percussion and synth licks, and his prickly, spacious beats and sparse melodies feel like they could raise the undead. Meanwhile the restrained vocals of front woman Holly Prindle split the difference between sinister and sultry, making her sound like a possessed lounge singer. Mozga and Prindle worked on their new self-released EP, Side Fx, throughout April, recording its wobbly, dark pop songs on a phone app while sheltering in place. Despite the circumstances that inform the EP, Hobbyist stop short of going full doom-and-gloom. When Prindle compares the way she lives in quarantine to the habits of bunker-bound survivalists on the dub-driven “Preppers,” the two words she keeps repeating (“Cook my own / Build my own / Can my own / Shoot my own”) suggest she takes comfort in the power she has to provide for herself. v
The Shadows and the Light, the new album from Chicago drummer Quin Kirchner, is an eclectic collection of freewheeling studio performances with a diverse range of sounds. On its second track, “Bata Chop,” the album features influences of West African bata drum and traces of Afro-Cuban drumming (which Kirchner learned as a teenager while studying in Havana), but elsewhere there are bebop flourishes and interplanetary adornments originally stylized by the mystical jazz mad hatter, Sun Ra. Opener “Shadow Intro” features Kirchner solo on overdubbed drum kit, congas, and synths, showcasing his chops without extraneous accompaniment. The album goes on to present organ- and horn-laden jazz that allows his compositional abilities to shine, played by a revolving all-star group of local musicians that includes bassist Matt Ulery, tenor saxophonist and flutist Nate Lepine, Wurlitzer player Rob Clearfield, alto saxophonist Greg Ward, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, and trombonist Nick Broste (who also mixed and helped engineer the album along with Kirchner and Brian Sulpizio). The first few tracks on The Shadows and the Light seem intended to be singular compositions, but then Kirchner begins to experiment with creating mini movements; as one song ends, the next picks up exactly where it leaves off. He does this with the fifth and sixth tracks, his own “Pathways” and an arrangement of the Kelan Phil Cohran tune “Sahara.” “Pathways” is sparse and minimal, with Kirchner’s kalimba accompanied only by Ulery’s quiet pizzicato on upright bass; it ends with Lepine’s soft flute flowing into “Sahara,” which quickly swells with saxophones and rumbling drum fills. Kirchner reverses this technique on the next two tracks, the all-horn quintet “Star Cluster” and the septet piece “Moon Vision.” The first erupts with a flood of free improvisation on trombone, bass clarinet, and three saxophones, wailing without form or limitation, and the second immediately moves into something softer and more restrained. Kirchner isn’t just playing around with these mini movements; he’s exploring sound and visualization through evocative pieces that transcend tangible reality, and he adds additional context with vivid titles such as “Lucid Dreams,” “Jupiter Moon,” and “Horizons.” The Shadows and the Light is a tightly plotted-out dream world that showcases Kirchner’s creative spirit, as well as the seriousness and refinement he brings to the table–you can practically hear the cogs systematically moving in his head from track to track. It all works because Kirchner is a strong musician who knows how to transform eccentricity into something that can appeal to diverse listeners, rather than jazz aficionados alone. v
British rapper Simbi Ajikawo, who records as Little Simz, jumps right into your ears with her distinctive beats and fluid style on “Might Bang, Might Not,” the first song on the new Drop 6. “You ain’t seen no one like me since / Lauryn Hill in the 90s, bitch,” she raps, laying down the law to anyone who might question her abilities or commitment. “I am a one-woman army / I am the force that we speak of.” Born in London to Nigerian parents, the 26-year-old Ajikawo has been putting out music since she was a teenager, starting with the self-released 2010 mixtape Stratosphere. In 2014, she embarked on the Drops series of EPs (on her own Age 101 imprint), inspired in part by the experimental eclecticism of her early mixtapes–they combine a relatively minimal approach to production with raw lyrics and snippets of musical thoughts. Ajikawo put the finishing touches on Drop 6 in April, while staying alone in her London home due to COVID-19 concerns. Its five songs retain some of the fiery elements of Little Simz’s 2019 LP Grey Area, where her quick-witted lyrics portray her as a force working against any lovers and power structures that might try to slow her roll. But on the new EP, dreaminess and dread creep into her songs: if she was a superheroine on Grey Area, then on Drop 6 she’s her slightly more mild-mannered alter ego, just trying to fit in with the humans. On the EP’s last song, “Where’s My Lighter?,” Little Simz gives herself a progress review: “In this world we need balance / I’m here nurturing my talent.” She’s joined on this track by fellow Londoner Alewya, whose hazy voice adds eeriness to an understated beat punctuated by keyboard riffs. The songs on Drop 6 are full of racing thoughts about relationships and responsibility, disrupted by moments of confusion provoked by the unseen forces that prevent us from leaving home. It’s an entirely relatable journey as we all navigate the pandemic. v
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