Justin's Blog

This week I was able to find facts about the late 1900’s. I first found out the Dodgers won three National League pennants and appeared in the World Series three times (1974, 1977, 1978). Next I found out that there was a era called the Tommy Lasorda era. I found out during this era Lasorda led the Dodgers to two pennants in his first two seasons (1977, 1978). Next I researched the 1980’s success and learned the Dodgers won two World Series championships in 1981 and 1988. Next I learned about their post 1990’s struggles and how the Dodgers remained competitive, but they struggled to reach the postseason. Lastly I researched notable players during all of these eras. I learned that the Dodgers roster during this period included Hall of Fame players like Walter Alston, Tommy Lasorda, Steve Garvey, and Fernando Valenzuela. This week I didn’t have any notable struggles or adjustments to make during my research. Next week I will start working on my script and maybe start on my tri-fold.

Somebody that is a very important person for me is my mom. There are many things I have to be thankful for her, but here is three. The first reason I have to be thankful for her is she cooks dinner for me every night. I am thankful for this because she takes her time away to prepare a good meal for me. The next reason would be she supports me through all my sports. I wouldn’t be the same baseball or football player if she was there to support me and cheer me on through my good days and my bad days. The last reason why I am thankful for my mom is she helps me in school. Many times before test if I don’t understand something she will help me through it and make me feel more confident. Thanks for reading my blog this week!!!

---

For the month of April I read the book New Kid by Tim green. At the start of the story Tommy (the main character) is up to bat in the last inning of the game, but then his father tells him they have to leave in a odd way. They don’t just leave the game they leave the state. Tommy then changes his name to Brock Nickerson. He is always confused on why he keeps having to move all over the place. Tommy is a character who loves baseball as it explains in the exposition and rising action. On his first day of school he gets into a fight and his P.E teacher gives him a spot on their travel baseball team. He also has a crush on this girl named Bella, who he builds a strong relationship with, but in the climax he has to leave again with his dad. In the falling action he denies his dad of leaving again to pursue the chance of playing baseball and to stay connected with all of his friends. Finally in the resolution he learns that it’s okay to speak out your feelings. My favorite thing about this book was how dramatic and suspenseful the book was. Especially the part where Tommy was up in the bottom of the last inning in the championship game. My favorite character from the novel was Tommy Rust. One of Tommy’s character traits is calm. A quote to prove this is “I just wanted to be normal, just to be me. But every time I turned around, there was another rule, another expectation, another pressure on my shoulders.” This shows Tommy is calm because in this situation he is dealing with the pressures of his father’s expectations and doesn’t show any signs of panic or anger towards him. My favorite quote from this book is “it’s not over until it’s over.” This is my favorite quote because I like referencing this quote in my life a lot.

 

This week I learned about the rich history of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The accomplishments I made this week was I started with the early origins of the franchise. I learned about how the Dodgers started their journey in Brooklyn, New York and started their first season ever with a 86 and 43 record with a championship. I also learned the term “Trolley Dodgers” was attached to the Brooklyn ball club due to the complex maze of trolley cars that weaved its way through the borough of Brooklyn. The name was then shortened to just “Dodgers.” During the 1890s, other popular nicknames were Ward’s Wonders, Foutz’s Fillies and Hanlon’s Superbas. The next thing I learned was the Dodgers transferred the the national league, where they won the 1889 pennant. The last thing I learned was the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles primarily due to the desire for a new, modern stadium and a more financially viable market. Owner Walter O’Malley was unable to secure a suitable site for a new stadium in Brooklyn and saw Los Angeles as a promising location with the potential for growth. The Dodgers experienced significant success, winning multiple World Series titles and setting attendance records at their new home, Dodger Stadium. The team’s success in LA was partly due to the strong pitching of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, and the speed of Maury Wills. The Dodgers also won three NL pennants in the 1970s. This week I didn’t have any struggles or problems during my work. The only adjustment that I made this week was I changed websites to have more information to work with. Next week I will work on the more recent dodgers history.

This week I accomplished writing down four of the Dodgers most popular and great players known for their love of the game and their respect towards fans.. These pitchers were Clayton Kershaw, Sandy Koufax, Fernando Valenzuela, and Orel Hershiser. The way I wrote these players down was I put there names on the doc then in smaller font I put down there greatest achievements. One struggle I had was how long it took to do each player. Some of these players have many accomplishments throughout their career which made some players take a lot longer than other players to list their achievements. A adjustment I made to make my work more efficient was I switched to a different resource that had much more facts and they were easier to find. This made my work faster and better. Next week I will start working on the history and the origin of the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise.

 

Out of all the spaces in my house, my backyard would be my favorite. The first reason why my backyard would be my favorite space is it has lots of space for outdoor activities. As soon as you walk into the backyard you will find yourself under a large, open, vaulted ceiling. Just right of that is a decently sized concrete area used for basketball. This is a super fun area because sometimes all my neighborhood friends will come over to play. Then as you leave the basketball area and go past the covered area you will find a big turf area that is used for soccer. We will also invite friends to come and play with us. My next reason for picking my backyard is it can host a lot of party’s. My backyard is perfect for hosting party’s. The reason for that is it has a built in grill, fridge, and sink attached to a large table that wraps around all most half of the covered area. It also has a sitting area with a two chairs, and one big couch and one small couch. This is perfect for people who would want to relax during the party’s. In front of the sitting area there is a tv that can be used for putting on sports games and other things. The last reason why I would choose this space is my dogs are back there most of the time. Having my dogs back there is nice to have because they will give you company, and you can play with them. Thanks for reading my blog this week, and what is your favorite place in your house?

I have just started my twenty percent project and I chose to learn about the Los Angeles Dodgers. This week I was able to accomplish listing hitting leaders in lots of categories. This week I chose to list players, current or retired that excelled in home runs, runs batted in (RBI’s), batting average, runs, hits, doubles, triples, and games played. In all of these categories I listed the players one through ten based on how much they had. This week I had just a few problems. I had a hard time copy and pasting my research because sometimes it would delete some of the work I already did. A adjustment I made this week to make my work more efficient is copy and pasting from the website instead of typing all the players and their stats one by one. I also used multiple websites to make sure the information was correct and accurate. I left off on the stat at bats which I will pick up on next week. Thanks for reading my first 20% project blog!!!

There has been a long debate over who is better LeBron James or Micheal Jordan. In my opinion I think LeBron James is better. These are three reasons  why LeBron is better than Micheal Jordan. First he has better averages in rebounds, assists, field goal percentage, and 3-point percentage. Lebron has a 7.5 average in rebounds while Jordan has 6.2 as his average. Lebron has a 7.4 average in assists compared to Jordans 5.3. Next is field goal percentage James has a 50.5% compared to Jordans  49.7%. Lastly is 3-point percentage with James’s being 34.7% compared to Jordans 32.7%. The second reason why LeBron is better is because he has better longevity. LeBron has been in the league for 22 seasons which is tied for the most with Vince Carter, but Micheal was only in the league for 15 seasons. The last reason why LeBron is better than Micheal Jordan is he has way more points than him over his career. James has 42,020 points in his career compared to Jordans 32,292 career points. This means LeBron has almost 10,000 more points than Micheal Jordan. I hope I have persuaded you to think LeBron is the G.O.A.T. Thanks for reading my free write blog this week!!!

For the month of March I read the book “Michael Jordan” by Chip Lovitt. The book starts with introducing Micheals love for basketball and his childhood in North Carolina. Next the book explains his college years at The University of North Carolina and how he led his team to a NCAA championship in 1982, won the ACC rookie of the year award, and got collage player of the year by the Sporting News. Next it mentions the start of his career and later years of his career like getting drafted by the bulls and his rapid rise to fame, and his 6 championships with the team and numerous records that were broken. He also won two Olympic gold medals and played on the dream team. Lastly it mentions the legacy that he left and how he is arguably considered one of the greatest of all time. I liked this book because it was a biography. I like reading biography’s because it helps me further understand him as a person and a player. Also I can use this information to prove that LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan. My favorite character from this book was obviously Michael Jordan because one he was the main character and two he has good character traits such as being dedicated and determined. A quote to prove these character traits are, “It is the story of a boy who dreamed of becoming a champion and made the dream come true with years of practice, dedication, determination — plus a style all his own.” This quote prove Michael is dedicated and determined because at the start it mentions that he always wanted to become a champion this shows the perseverance and self confidence which most people don’t have. It also shows he had a lot of fight which is similar to determination. My favorite quote from this book was, “Everyone says thirty-four is two old. The challenge is still do at thirty-four what the young guys are doing at twenty-five, twenty-six. I feel I’m playing my best basketball. I feel that mentally, I know much more. Earlier I had more reckless abandon, and was more athletic. Now I thick I show more savvy out there.” This quote is my favorite because it showed and brought out his greatness that  he still thought he could beat someone even though he was older than them. This quote also brought out his mental toughness as he is very confident in himself. Thanks for reading my Rad Reading this month!!! Expect another one next month.

 

There are many people I would want to invite to my house to have dinner, but these are my top three. First I would invite over my glorious king, LeBron James. I would invite LeBron to come to my house because after he can play basketball with me to improve my skills. Improving my skills would help beat all of my friends in basketball. Next I would invite Jeff Bezos. Inviting Jeff Bezos would be a good decision because he could give me free amazon for a lifetime. This would help me save lots of money that I can use to buy other things like a house. Lastly I would invite Shohei Ohtani. I would invite Shohei over so I can meet his dog, Decoy. His dog would interact with my dogs which would make them entertain so I wouldn’t have to watch over them or worry about them.