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#131 – Jorge Fabergas

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Name: Jorge Fabergas

Rank: 131

Position: C

Year With White Sox: 1997

Jorge Fabergas was acquired by the White Sox, along with Chuck McElroy, from the Angels on May 18, 1997 in exchange for Chad Krueter and Tony Phillips.  He became the regular catcher and put together a fine season, hitting .280 and driving in 48 runs in only 100 games.  Unfortunately, his time on the south side was cut short, as he was left unprotected in the expansion draft and was selected by the Diamondbacks.

Fabergas’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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LCS Batting Leaders

baseballs3The ghosts of 1969 will be in full force this year as the Cubs will battle the Mets in the NLCS.  The Cubs will be looking to end 70 years of World Series frustrations against the rival who came from 9 1/2 games back in early August to catch and surpass the Cubs in that fated summer, finishing 8 games ahead as the Cubs en route to their first World Series title.  With the series scheduled to kick off tomorrow night in the Big Apple, let’s look at the offensive leaders in the 5 LCS games I’ve attended, games 1, 6, and 7 of the 2003 NLCS and games 1 and 2 of the 2005 ALCS.

Home Runs

Name Total
Miguel Cabrera 2
Moises Alou 2
Robb Quinlan 1
Ivan Rodriguez 1
Mike Lowell 1
Kerry Wood 1
Juan Encarnacion 1
Garret Anderson 1
Alex Gonzalez 1
Troy O’Leary 1
Joe Crede 1
Sammy Sosa 1

Hits

Name Total
Juan Pierre 6
Jeff Conine 5
Luis Castillo 5
Miguel Cabrera 4
Moises Alou 4
Sammy Sosa 4
Ivan Rodriguez 4
Alex Gonzalez 4
Mark Grudzielanek 4

Runs

Name Total
Juan Pierre 4
Miguel Cabrera 4
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#132 – Timo Perez

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Name: Timo Perez

Rank: 132

Position: OF

Years With White Sox: 2004-2005

Timo Perez came to the White Sox from the Mets in the waning days of spring training in 2004 in exchange for Matt Ginter.  Acquired to be a backup outfielder, Perez saw more action than anyone bargained for when Magglio Ordonez went down with a knee injury following a collision with Willie Harris.  Perez finished the year with a .246 average in 103 games.

Perez returned in 2005, though he saw much less action.  He only appeared in 76 games as his average dropped to .218.  He went 0-2 in the playoffs, getting one at bat each in the ALDS and the World Series.  Following the season, he left as a free agent.

Perez’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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Heading To The LCS

FlyTheWFor the first time since 2003, the Chicago Cubs are headed to the NLCS, having defeated the Cardinals in the NLDS in 4 games.  They await the winner of the Dodgers/Mets series, who will host game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday.  The Cubs, who last appeared in the World Series in 1945, have never won an NLCS, losing in 1984, 1989, and, of course, 2003.

Yesterday was also the first time in franchise history that the Cubs won a post-season series at home.  In 1907 and 1908, the team clinched their World Series victories in Detroit against the Tigers.  In 2003, the NLDS wrapped up in Atlanta, with the Cubs taking game 5 against the Braves.

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South Side Gentrification

new-video-boards-us-cellular-fieldNot to be outdone by their neighbors to the north, the White Sox will have 3 new video boards in place at US Cellular Field for Opening Day 2016.  The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority approved the $7.3 million renovation, including a roughly 7000-8000 square foot video board in center field that should leave the White Sox with one of the largest boards in the league.

The current board, installed in 2003, measures only 1484 square feet and is the smallest board in all of baseball.  The boards in left field and right field will be the same size as the current boards, but with much higher resolution.

Hopefully, along with the new boards, they are reconfigured a little bit.  The bottom of the scoreboard in center field is blocked in its current configuration by the Fan Deck, added in 2003.  The board in left field is blocked from most of the third base side by the Fundamentals Deck added in 2005.  Installation of the new board in center field should be able to be raised a few feet to place it above the Fan Deck.  Switching the location of the other two boards with the ads next to them would, along with fixing the Fundamentals problem, provide the opportunity to use all three boards with each other.

The ISFA will also be allowed to keep any revenue generated by the boards at non-White Sox events held at US Cellular Field, including concerts.  The last concert was held in the park in 2003, but the agency is negotiating with promoters to bring big shows back to the south side.

According to Brooks Boyer, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, there will be a number of other renovations at the ballpark over the winter, but he was unwilling to go in to details.  “Come Opening Day next year,” Boyer said, “it’s going to look a lot different.”

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#133 – Tony Bernazard

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Name: Tony Bernazard

Rank: 133

Position: 2B

Years With White Sox: 1981-1983

Tony Bernazard was traded to the White Sox from the Expos for Rich Wortham on December 12, 1980.  During the strike shortened 1981 season, Bernazard became the starting second baseman, hitting .276 with 6 home runs while leading the team with 106 games played.

In 1982, the White Sox were poised to make a run for a division title, with Bernazard leading the way.  Unfortunately, his season came to a premature end when he suffered a broken leg on September 12, and the White Sox faltered down the stretch without him, finishing in third place, 6 games behind the division-winning Angels.

Expectations for the White Sox were large in 1983, but the team got off to a slow start.  On June 15, with a record of 28-32, the White Sox looked to shake things up and shipped Bernazard to the Mariners in exchange for Julio Cruz.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Bernazard’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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Playoff Pitching Leaders

baseballs2As the Cubs and Cardinals prepare to kick off their NLDS series later today, it’s time to take our first ever look at the pitching leaders from the 17 post-season games I’ve attended since the White Sox won the AL Central in 2000.

Wins

Name Total
Mark Buehrle 2
15 tied with 1

Losses

Name Total
Matt Clement 2
15 tied with 1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Chad Billingsley 1.35
Mark Prior 2.20
Greg Maddux 2.57
David Wells 2.70
Jose Contreras 2.81

Strikeouts

Name Total
Mark Prior 13
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Playoff Batting Leaders

baseballs3Now that the Cubs have gotten past the Pirates in the Wild Card game and will face off against the Cardinals in the NLDS, it’s time to take our first ever look at the offensive leaders from the 17 post-season games I have attended since 2000.  So, without further ado, we start off with:

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 3
B.J. Upton 3
Moises Alou 2
Miguel Cabrera 2
Chipper Jones 2
Eric Karros 2
A.J. Pierzynski 2
Scott Podsednik 2
Manny Ramirez 2

Hits

Name Total
Moises Alou 9
Juan Uribe 8
Derrek Lee 8
A.J. Pierzynski 7
Mark DeRosa 7

Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 6
A.J. Pierzynski 5
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All Time Playoff Team Records

baseballs3As the Cubs prepare for tonight’s NL wild card game against the Pirates, the first post-season appearance by a Chicago team since the inception of this blog, it’s time to take our first look at the team records for the 17 playoff contests I have attended.  These contests come from the 2000 ALDS, the 2003 NLDS and NLCS, all 3 rounds of the 2005 post-season, the 2007 NLDS, and both the ALDS and NLDS in 2008.

TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Florida Marlins 3 0 1.000
Seattle Mariners 2 0 1.000
Los Angeles Dodgers 2 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 1 0 1.000
Chicago White Sox 5 4 0.556
Tampa Bay Rays 1 1 0.500
Los Angeles Angels 1 1 0.500
Atlanta Braves 1 1 0.500
Chicago Cubs 1 7 0.125
Houston Astros 0 1 0.000
Boston Red Sox 0 2 0.000
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2015 Predictions Revisited

baseballs2Six months ago, as the 2015 baseball season was scheduled to kick off at Wrigley Field, I made my annual predictions as to who would win what.  Now that the regular season has come to an end, it is time revisit those predictions and see what, if anything, I got right.

American League

East: Blue Jays

After a middling first half, the Blue Jays turned things around after the All Star break, especially after acquiring David Price and Troy Tulowitzki at the trade deadline, earning them their first division title since 1993.

Central: Indians

Well, I correctly predicted the end of the Tigers reign after four seasons, but I wrongly assumed that the Royals would regress after their World Series appearance last year.  Instead, they went and ran away with the AL Central crown while the Indians struggled to stay out of the cellar.

West: Angels

It came down to the final day, but the Rangers, who finished in last place in 2014, managed to hold off the Astros and the Angels to win the division.

Wild Cards: Tigers, Mariners

I completely missed the boat here, as both teams failed to live up to their pre-season expectations.  The Yankees return to the post-season and so do the surprise Astros.

AL Champion: Angels

Cy Young: Felix Hernandez

MVP: Mike Trout

Only one of these seems like a possible choice at this point, with Mike Trout the frontrunner for the MVP award.  The Cy Young award is up in the air at this point.

National League

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