It shouldn’t take long for David Aardsma to feel right at home. He may be one of the newer faces on the White Sox pitching staff (he will be wearing No. 54), but he is no stranger to Chicago–he spent his first full season in the bigs last year with crosstown rivals, the Cubs.
To be consistent, the 26-year-old right-handed reliever is staying in the same River North neighborhood where he resided in ’06. But as with most baseball players, the Chicago rental is just a pit stop between away games.
His real home is a two-bedroom, three-bathroom house in Scottsdale, Ariz., a locale he describes as: “Perfect. Beautiful. Warm.”
Aardsma–whose preferred look includes a goatee and shaved head atop that 6-foot-4 frame–says the decor inside is a “combination of Southwest with a tech feel.”
Holding down the fort is his girlfriend, who “wants a dog, but I move around too much. Once I’m more established, if I’m here [with the White Sox] for a few years, yeah maybe I’ll get a few pets.”
1. What is your decorating nightmare? My decorating nightmare is to let [my girlfriend] take over and decorate everything. [Shakes his head laughing–it was just a joke.] Actually, I love windows, and I can’t cover them up. I couldn’t live in a place where they were covered up.
2. One thing you have in your house from your childhood: I still have my blanket from when I was a little kid. I keep it on my bed–right on the foot of my bed.
3. One thing on a wall in your living room: I’ve got a 1938 skyline of Chicago. We’re going to buy one that’s a skyline from nowadays, and put it on the other wall.
4. Three condiments we would find in your refrigerator: Ketchup, Asian chicken salad sauce and probably some ranch dressing.
5. Three things we would find in your medicine cabinet: Now that’s getting personal! Razors, shaving gel and probably more razors. I have to shave my head every couple of days.
6. Do your dirty dishes go in the sink or dishwasher? I used to be really bad. I used to do the method of, if it’s dirty put some water on it and let it soak. But now I’m dishwasher all the way.
7. Most high-tech gadget or appliance in your home? I’ve got everything. You name it, I’ve got it: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, 61-inch hi-def plasma TV. And I just bought a whole sound system for my whole downstairs.
8. Maker of your everyday dinnerware? They’re authentic Mexican. My mom got them for me for Christmas. They’re square and brown, and they don’t look quite right. They look handmade.
9. If you had to save one “thing” from your home, what would it be? The 61-inch plasma. I could haul it on my back, easy. I could carry it. Just get some adrenaline in me …
10. What is the biggest collection in your home? Just stuff. Clutter. I love saving receipts, and they’re all over the place.
11. What reading material would we find in your bathroom? No comment. OK, I’ll say “men’s” magazines.
12. Most embarrassing thing in your home that you hide when guests come over? I would have to say handcuffs.