Category / Baseball

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So Long, Skipper

Former White Sox manager Jeff Torborg, who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, died at the age of 83.  Torborg took over the White Sox following the 1988 season, replacing Jim Fregosi.  It was a tough go for the rebuilding White Sox, who finished with a record of 69–92, giving them a last place finish in the AL West.

Things got significantly better in 1990, when the young White Sox surprised the world, going 94-68 in their final season at Comiskey Park and finishing in second behind the A’s.  The 25-game improvement earned Torborg the Manager of the Year award.  As the White Sox opened the new Comiskey Park II across the street in 1991, they posted another second-place finish.  Following the season, Torborg bolted to the Mets, getting a hefty pay raise.

Torborg ended his tenure on the South Side at fifteen games over .500 and became a mentor to future manager Ozzie Guillen.  His son Dale was a roving strength and conditioning coordinator for the White Sox from 2004-22.

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New Duds

Thursday night, on the eve of their annual fan convention, the Cubs unveiled a new alternate uniform for 2025.  According to the press release, the new Blues Alternate “pays tribute to the team’s history and Chicago’s contribution to the electric blues movement that shaped music worldwide.”  Despite having all of the story elements of a City Connect uniform, this is not that.

The jersey, described as baby blue, features a new logo insignia that “combines details from early Cubs uniforms with typography inspired by blues-era instruments.”  The sleeve patch is in the shape of a guitar pick “representing Chicago’s legacy as the birthplace of the electric blues.”  The numbers and nameplate take design elements from past Cub designs.  The jersey looks to be teamed with white pants.  The cap appears to be a darker blue, with a white front panel featuring the same logo as the jersey.  The socks feature references to Sweet Home Chicago, along with a six-string guitar stripe.

The Cubs were the first modern team to wear baby (or powder) blue, incorporating it into their road jerseys from 1941-1942.  It returned in the late 1970s, as most of baseball switched from plain gray to powder blue on the road.  The final full-time appearance was the road pinstripes in 1981.

The number font on the blue jersey gives off very strong Expos vibes, but aside from that, these look pretty good.  We won’t have to wait long to see how these look on the field, as the new uniforms will debut Saturday, April 5.  After that. they will be worn at home on Fridays during the summer months, which was the same schedule as the old City Connects.  Which, again, these are not.

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Ballpark Tour: A’s

With just under a month to go before pitchers and catchers start reporting to spring training camps, we continue our tour of all of the different baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. This week, we head to the Bay Area to look at the former Oakland A’s. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with the Oakland Coliseum.

Stadium Name: McAfee/Network Associates Coliseum

Years in Service: 1968 – Present

Visits: 2

The Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum opened in 1966 as the home of the Oakland Raiders.  Two years later, Charlie Finley moved his A’s from Kansas City to Oakland and became the baseball tenant of the stadium.  In 1998, the stadium became known as Network Associates Coliseum.  In mid-2004, Network Associates was renamed McAfee and the stadium was renamed McAfee Coliseum accordingly.  Following the 2008 season, the name reverted back to Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum until April 27, 2011, when it was renamed Overstock.com Coliseum. Just over a month later, the Coliseum was renamed O.co Coliseum, after Overstock.com’s marketing name.

Both times I’ve traveled to the Bay area, I’ve taken in both Giants and A’s games.  My first trip to what at the time was called Network Associates Coliseum was on September 6, 1999 while I was out west visiting my friend Scott.  The Tigers triumphed over the A’s that day, and my one memory of the stadium is that the seats were not necessarily positioned in such a way as to face the field for baseball purposes.

My second trip to the Bay area, for the JavaOne conference in 2008, actually started out with a BART trip out to Oakland for a 2-1 A’s victory over the Orioles on May 5th.  The A’s had opened up three sections of the third deck as designated All-You-Can-Eat seats, where, for the price of the ticket, free ballpark fare was included.  While I enjoyed the novelty of the free foodstuffs, the seats, while directly behind home plate, were horrible.  Leaving early in order to catch the train back to San Francisco led to the problem of trying to get out of the stadium, since none of the gates were open.

The A’s bid this stadium, and the city of Oakland, farewell following the 2024 season.  They plan to play their home games in Sacramento while a new stadium is being built in Las Vegas.  The funding for said stadium isn’t as secure as MLB and the A’s would lead you to believe, so the future home of this franchise is anyone’s guess.

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Ballpark Tour: Guardians

With the spring training camps opening early next month, we continue our tour of all of the different baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. This week, we look at the Cleveland Guardians, the last new stadium I added to my list prior to the lockdown in 2020. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my one game history with Progressive Field.

Stadium Name: Progressive Field

Years in Service: 1994 – Present

Visits: 2

Cleveland moved into Jacobs Field for the 1994 season after calling Cleveland Stadium home since 1932.  In 1997, the park became one of the few in MLB history to host both the All-Star Game and the World Series in the same season.  2008 saw the naming rights sold to a local insurance company and the stadium was renamed Progressive Field.  Since opening, the park has seen twelve Central Division titles and three trips to the World Series.  It hosted its second All Star Game in 2019.

I almost took my first trip to the park in 2016, for Game 7 of the World Series against the Cubs, but I just couldn’t quite pull the trigger.  A Southwest credit this summer led to me booking a 2-day September trip to Cleveland for $3, so there was no second guessing this time.  I arrived on a Wednesday afternoon, in plenty of time for that evening’s tilt between the White Sox and Cleveland.  A tremendous catch on a smash by Eloy Jimenez saved the game for the then-Tribe.  The matinee performance on Thursday afternoon entailed a nice one-hitter by Reynaldo Lopez, giving the White Sox a quick victory before I had to head back to the airport.

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Ballpark Tour: Mariners

As the calendar turns to 2025, we continue our tour of all of the different baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. This week, we head to the Pacific Northwest for a look at the Seattle Mariners. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with T-Mobile Park.

Stadium Name: T-Mobile Park

Years in Service: 1999 – Present

Visits: 2

After 22 plus seasons of indoor baseball at the Kingdome, the Mariners moved partially outside midway through the 1999 season, when the stadium then known as Safeco Field, with a retractable roof, opened in 1999 following the All-Star break.  The Mariners dropped that first game 3-2 to the visiting Padres.  The name changed to T-Mobile Park prior to the 2019 season.  The park has seen two perfect games, both in 2012.  The first, by Phillip Humber of the White Sox, came in April and was followed four months later by the Mariners’ own Felix Hernandez.  The park has hosted two All Star games, first in 2001 and again in 2023.

My first and only trip west to Seattle came in the summer of 2023, when Danny finally cashed in his high school graduation trip.  We arrived in town on a Friday afternoon and, following a trip to Pike Place Market for lunch, we headed over to the stadium, where the Mariners bested the White Sox.  Having upgraded to the special all-inclusive section behind home plate, we returned on Saturday with better results, as Zach Remillard made his major league debut and led to the White Sox to an extra-inning victory.

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Ballpark Tour: Rays

With the offseason underway, we continue our tour of all of the different baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. This week, we head south to the Tampa Bay area for a look at the Tampa Bay Rays. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with the place now known as Tropicana Field.

Stadium Name: Tropicana Field

Years in Service: 1997 – Present

Visits: 2

Originally known as the Florida Suncoast Dome, the stadium now known as Tropicana Field was built in the late 1980s in the hopes of luring a baseball franchise to the Tampa/St. Pete area.  Ironically, the White Sox would have called the park home had the Illinois legislature not approved funding for what is now Guaranteed Rate Field.  The stadium opened in 1990, hosting the Davis Cup finals that fall, but was still looking for an MLB team as the primary tenant.  After National League owners blocked the sale of the Giants to Tampa-based investors who planned to move the team, the park was used for the local Arena Football team and as the initial home of the Tampa Bay Lightning.  In 1995, the area was awarded an expansion franchise, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who would begin play in 1997.

After the long pandemic, I decided to take the long drive down to Florida in August of 2021 for a long getaway.  After arriving in town on Friday night, I made my maiden voyage to Tropicana Field the following afternoon.  The White Sox put up little fight, losing to the Rays 8-4.  I returned the following afternoon looking for a better result but instead saw a 9-0 shutout by the Rays.

Due to damage from Hurricane Milton, the Rays will be forced to play their 2025 schedule at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the Yankees.  A new stadium built in the same location in St. Petersburg was planned to open in 2028, but, if the funding is still in play, may be needed sooner.

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Ballpark Tour: Rockies

With the offseason underway, we continue our tour of all of the different baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. This week, we head west to Denver for a look at the Colorado Rockies. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with Coors Field.

Stadium Name: Coors Field

Years in Service: 1995 – Present

Visits: 2

After spending their first two seasons at Mile High Stadium, the Rockies moved to their own ballpark, the first baseball-only park opened in the National League since Dodger Stadium in 1962.  During construction of the park, numerous dinosaur fossils were found, eventually leading to the creation of the team’s mascot Dinger, a purple triceratops.  Coors Field has hosted two All-Star Games, in 1998 and again in 2021.

A quick trip to Denver in 2022 saw me taking in two games versus the White Sox.  I arrived in town on a Tuesday afternoon, heading to the ballpark for a night game in the Rockies’ club level.  The White Sox managed to pull out a squeaker, winning 2-1.  I returned to the ballpark the following afternoon, sitting on the first level down the third base line.  Things did not go as well for the White Sox this day, as the Rockies managed to score late to take the game 6-5.

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Another Name Change

Eight years into a thirteen-year deal, Guaranteed Rate Field will now be known as Rate Field.  While the new name rolls off the tongue a little easier than the previous moniker, it is still a bit of a clunker.  Guaranteed Rate rebranded as simply Rate this past July, so the new name aligns with the corporate master.

In the time the park was known as Guaranteed Rate, I saw 203 games, including post-season play in 2021 and the worst team in modern MLB history in 2024.

All-Time Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Milwaukee Brewers 3 1 0.750
Cleveland Guardians 4 2 0.667
San Diego Padres 2 1 0.667
Arizona Diamondbacks 2 1 0.667
Chicago Cubs 7 4 0.636
Seattle Mariners 7 4 0.636
Toronto Blue Jays 5 3 0.625
Boston Red Sox 6 4 0.600
Cleveland Indians 7 5 0.583
New York Yankees 4 3 0.571
Detroit Tigers 13 10 0.565
Houston Astros 6 5 0.545
Cincinnati Reds 1 1 0.500
Los Angeles Angels 3 3 0.500
St. Louis Cardinals 2 2 0.500
Texas Rangers 3 3 0.500
Oakland Athletics 6 7 0.462
Chicago White Sox 93 110 0.458
Minnesota Twins 7 9 0.438
Kansas City Royals 8 12 0.400
Baltimore Orioles 3 5 0.375
San Francisco Giants 1 2 0.333
Tampa Bay Rays 2 5 0.286
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A Change Will Do You Good

In a move that was expected after last week’s Kyle Tucker trade, the Cubs have sent Cody Bellinger, along with cash considerations, to the Yankees.  In exchange, they receive Cody Poteet, a 30-year-old relief pitcher with 24 career major league appearances.

Bellinger, a former MVP, is owed $52.5 million over the next two seasons, with the Cubs will be sending $5 million to help cover that cost. He hit .286 with 44 home runs and 175 RBIs in his two seasons on the north side.  When he suits up for the Yankees, he, and his father Clay, will become the fourth father/son duo to play for the team, joining Mark Leiter and Mark Leiter Jr., Ron and Ike Davis, and Yogi and Dale Berra.

This is a salary dump, pure and simple.  What, if anything, the Cubs do with that money will determine if this trade is a winner or a loser.

Bellinger’s numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

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Ballpark Tour: Twins

With the offseason underway, we continue our tour of all of the different baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. This week, we head north to the Twin Cities for a look at the Minnesota Twins. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with Target Field.

Stadium Name: Target Field

Years in Service: 2010 – Present

Visits: 2

After 28 seasons of indoor baseball at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the Twins moved back outside starting with the 2010 season when they opened Target Field in downtown Minneapolis. The first regular season game took place on April 12, 2010, with the Twins defeating the Red Sox. In 2014, Target Field hosted the All-Star Game, the first in Minnesota since 1985.

I took the long drive up to Minneapolis in the weeks after that All-Star Game, along with Danny and Michael, to see the White Sox take on the Twins. We picked two good games to see, as the White Sox offense came to life and they managed to win both games we attended against the Twinkies. We sat down on the first level, between home plate and third base behind the White Sox dugout for both games, so I didn’t get to sample the different areas of the ballpark, but I certainly liked what I saw. The one thing I didn’t like about the park was the configuration of most of the outfield. Between the large hitting background in center field and the high walls in left and right, there is a lot of dead space in the outfield that seems to put the fans far away from the action. Besides that, though, a good time was had by all, and I certainly wouldn’t mind returning one day.