Ed Farmer

If by "prolonged", you're referring to his very last season, which was injury-shortened and split between two teams (71 games split between Toronto and Oakland), then yeah. Maybe he should have retired in 2007, while he was still a top hitter in the game. Frank Thomas had an OPS of .926 (w/ 39 HR) as late as 2006- he was a legit MVP candidate for much of the year. He dealt with injuries towards the end of that season, IIRC, which nixed his chances at the award. I definitely agree with you that kids would have been pretty thrilled to see a monster hitter/MVP candidate/one of the greatest of all time at the local YMCA. He wasn't too shabby in 2007 with Toronto, either. *Edit* I see I'm responding to a post from 2017... but yeah, Frank Thomas was as legit a hitter as there ever was. Injuries were his downfall. Martinez and Ortiz are known cheaters. Frank Thomas, by all accounts, was clean, and he was the best right handed hitter of our time. I'm a White Sox fan, and this one hurts- not so much because Manny Machado is not on the team- more because it brought to light the ineptitude with which the team's management continues to operate. The GM/Front Office planned for the winter of Machado/Harper for two years, assuring fans the wallet would be open, and walked away with nothing. They got cute and acquired Jon Jay and Yonder Alonso- two garbage ballplayer who don't add to the team at all (prior to any actual commitment with Manny Machado- which never ended up happening! What the fuck?!) in the belief that this is somehow what would make Chicago the most attractive destination (Jay is a close friend of Machado's, Alonso is his brother in law- we'll call it the Friends & Family Plan). Meanwhile, they were low-balling him on the terms of the deal the entire time- declining to throw in an opt-out, not guaranteeing years nine and ten (there was a ridiculous at-bat incentive that never would have been realized). San Diego (a late entrant to the bidding) happily did both of those things. The White Sox had the opportunity to improve their proposal, but assumed that Manny's team was bluffing. Now Machado is in San Diego, and the White Sox are left dancing with themselves, with Jon Jay and Yonder Alonso as season-long mementos of their failure. It's not the first time this has happened- the White Sox highest ever free agent acquisition rang in at 68 million over the life of the contract- one of only four teams in baseball that have never gone to nine figures. They play in Chicago, as big of a market as there is, but operate as if they were Oakland or Tampa Bay. Since whiffing on Machado, there has been radio-silence on Bryce Harper (I thought that wallet was open?). Instead, there was an Ervin Santana signing (would have been nice...10 years ago), and they're rumored to be after Denard Span (again, a little late to the party). Apologies- I just needed to vent. It's been a very tough pill to swallow. Hopefully, anyone who has invested into a sports franchise for as long as I have can see where I'm coming from. I don't want to sound whiny, or ungrateful- I'm just legitimately hurt. I've held tickets for the past 15 years (absolutely not renewing for 2019). There has been very little in way of reward in that time, not just in terms of results- the effort has been bare minimum. My godson and nephew are probably going to grow up Cub fans because the White Sox are an incompetent franchise- that is something I can't forgive ownership and the front office for. It's been ten years of this. The 2005 World Series Championship was among the happiest moments of my life, but it may as well be a figment of Sox fans' imaginations. Never happened, according to the rest of the world.. I doubt it will be any different by the time I have kids of my own.

Those bracket looking things on the descent are for brakes, I assume? Should feel great, if so. Ha! Awesome .

Ouch. I visited Kings Dominion for the first time this past summer and thought the park was great. Volcano standing there dormant was a definite bummer, though. I had tentative plans to give it another shot this year, but I'll likely put it off for the time being.

Ah, memories.

Aqueous @ Chop Shop - 11/29 Illennium @ Aragon Ballroom - 12/22

Batman The Ride @ SFGAm on Saturday. It was so pure.

Slow Arrow double-corks are life.

I thought I read that Six Flags was inquiring about the Mack Power Splash in surveys recently. While that doesn't guarantee anything, it would seem they're at least kicking the tires on something like that.

Was that the Hallo-Ween show, Ed? I got to see them twice this past summer and they killed both shows (Cleveland and Buffalo). Such a great live band...hope they do more in the future! It was, and I will definitely see them again when they roll around next time (first time seeing them)- they were very impressive! A cool tidbit about the show is that I got to see Phish cover Roses are Free a few days earlier when they came through town, so I was pulling for it going into the Ween show, and I got it!

Looks like tomorrow's conditions will provide some nice practice for those fast-approaching December hypothermia bliss rides.

Ween @ Aragon Ballroom

I'd love to see Demon open for HITP, but I recall it struggling at times to make it to the MCBR after the tunnel (and subsequently crawling through the turnaround) last year towards the end of Last Blast.

This will be the most delicious hypothermia ever.

Phish Fri/Sat/Sun @ Allstate Arena in Rosemont

(from CP thread) I hope it's light bulbs. Please, let it be themed light bulbs.

I know Green Lantern's wait time is exacerbated by it's loading procedure. It warms my heart, nevertheless, to see a Stand Up drawing that kind of line.

Pretty sure he meant covfefe.

I caught them on Friday 10/12 at Thalia Hall in Chicago- they absolutely flattened the place. This was the fourth or fifth time I've seen them, and it was definitely the best so far. Also saw Black Tiger Sex Machine at the Concord Music Hall last night.

Umphrey's McGee at Aragon Ballroom (awesome venue) 10/7.

Hopefully this ends up being relocated, rather than just being cannibalized by Nighthawk (Nighthawk on Fire?)- but parting it would make the most sense. Apart from it's quirks and shitty load/unload time, it's a decent ride. Glad it wasn't one of the Arrows!

If it's Firehawk (and if maintenance is a factor), I think it's more likely it ends up at Carowinds for parts than anywhere else to operate again. My other (hopefully wrong) guesses are The Bat or Vortex- mostly because of Old Arrow Syndrome, but at this point I'm leaning towards The Bat. I really still just hope Dorney is getting a shiny new-to-them Invertigo again, mostly for comedic purposes.

That has me thinking Vortex as well (unless it's Windseeker, for some reason). I have an irrational love of Arrow Megaloopers, so I'm hoping that's just a throwaway line, and not a hint.

Invertigo to Dorney

I'm pretty sure I met one of those famous barkeeps when I went towards the end of August. A woman bought a frozen drink, took a few sips at the counter, and casually told the bartender that she didn't like it and would like a beer instead. She was told no. There was an impasse, and five minutes or so of back and forth hilarity ensued.

You should definitely shoot for Friday.