For the seventh straight season, the Cubs are using digital tickets through the MLB Ballpark app, which were uploaded on Tuesday. This was a much more exciting day back when physical tickets were delivered, getting a big, fancy box filled with tickets and extras in the mail.
Category / Baseball
All Time Pitching Leaders – Through 2024
White Sox pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to camp today, so that means it is time for our annual look at the pitching leaders in the now 1,110 games I’ve attended, and identified, between 1984 and 2024. Very, very few changes from last year, with just the appearances leader board impacted. So, without further ado, let’s get things started with our first category, the always popular:
Wins
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Mark Buehrle | 31 |
| Gavin Floyd | 24 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 21 |
| Chris Sale | 21 |
| John Danks | 19 |
Losses
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Mark Buehrle | 17 |
| Jose Quintana | 17 |
| John Danks | 16 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 15 |
| Gavin Floyd | 15 |
ERA (>= 35 IP)
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| David Robertson | 2.13 |
| DJ Carrasco | 2.20 |
| Nate Jones Continue reading → |
Ballpark Tour: Giants
With pitchers and catchers reporting within the week, is a little less than a month away as we continue our tour of all of the baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. Today we travel west to the Bay area for the baseball homes of the San Francisco Giants. Between the two stadiums that have been located in and around San Francisco, I’ve seen three games, all against the same opponent. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with 3Com Park and Oracle Park.
Stadium Name: 3 Com Park
Years in Service: 1960 – 1999
Visits: 1
When the New York Giants moved west in 1958, the city of San Francisco began constructing a new ballpark for them, and Candlestick Park was born. The stadium opened in 1960 and was the home of the now-San Francisco Giants through the 1999 season. Along the way, the stadium has also played host to the Oakland Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers, dozens of commercials and movies, and, in 1965, the final commercial concert appearance by the Beatles.
In September of 1999, I headed out to the Bay Area to visit an old friend. One of the items on our agenda was to head out to Candlestick, which had been renamed 3Com Park by this point, to see a game before the Giants moved to their new home the following season. With only 13 home games left on the schedule, we set out to see the Giants take on the Phillies on September 2. The Giants, behind starter Joe Nathan, defeated the Phillies 3-2 on a cool autumn afternoon.
Stadium Name: AT&T Park/Oracle Park
Years in Service: 2000 – Present
Visits: 2
After flirting with a move to Tampa Bay, the Giants opened Pacific Bell Park in 2000 after 40 seasons at Candlestick Park. The ballpark was the first stadium built without public funds since the completion of Dodger Stadium in 1962. The stadium was renamed SBC Park in 2003 and then finally AT&T Park in 2006 thanks to the corporate upheaval in the telecommunications world. In April 2010, the stadium became the first MLB ballpark to receive LEED Silver Certification for Existing Buildings, Operations and Maintenance.
In May of 2008, I made my second trip out to Bay Area, this time to attend the Java One conference. The week started with the A’s in town while the Giants returned home for a weekend series, so I adjusted my schedule so that I could attend games at both stadiums. Friday night, after most of the techies had left town, I hopped on the bus down to AT&T Park to see the Giants, once again, take on the Phillies. I dropped some major coin for the best tickets in the house, which got me in a box between home plate and the Phillie dugout and a prime spot on the evening’s telecast. The Phillies, on their way to a World Series championship, defeated the Giants 7-4.
In August of 2018, I made my third trip to San Francisco, this time for a trip to one of our affiliates for talks about their entry into the broader corporate umbrella. Wouldn’t you know it, but the Phillies were in town once again at the building now known as Oracle Park. With Madison Bumgarner on the bump, the Giants shut down the Phillies as I took in the game a mere three rows behind the Giants’ dugout.
Ballpark Tour: Tigers
Spring training is right around the corner as we continue our tour of all of the baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. Today we travel northeast to Michigan for the baseball homes of the Detroit Tigers. Between the two stadiums that have been located in Motown, I’ve seen 3 games. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park.
Stadium Name: Tiger Stadium
Years in Service: 1912 – 1999
Visits: 1
Tiger Stadium opened as Navin Field on April 20, 1912, the same date as Boston’s Fenway Park. It would serve as the home of the Tigers until the final game on September 27, 1999, an 8-2 Tiger victory over the Royals.
My one and only trip to Tiger Stadium was during its final season, on August 2, 1999, when rookie Kip Wells made his major league debut for the White Sox, picking up the win in the victory against the Tigers. The stadium reminded me of the old Comiskey Park, with the dark ramps and tunnels leading out to the glorious green of the field.
Stadium Name: Comerica Park
Years in Service: 2000 – Present
Visits: 2
After 87 seasons at Tiger Stadium, the Tigers opened their new stadium in 2000 on a snowy afternoon against the Mariners. In contrast to Tiger Stadium, which had been considered one of the most hitter-friendly parks in baseball, Comerica Park is considered to be extremely friendly to pitchers. After years of irrelevance, the new stadium was one step leading the Tigers back to contention, which they achieved in 2006, making the World Series and being in the hunt more often than not ever since.
The White Sox were 3.5 games behind the Twins for the AL Central lead heading into a Labor Day holiday series against the Tigers in 2010. After they split the first 2 games of the series, I decided to head up to Detroit to take in the final two games, my first trip to Comerica Park. I had booked a room at the Caesars hotel and casino in Windsor, so I drove up to Canada and checked in prior to the night’s game back in Detroit. I booked a round trip on a bus back to the US which dropped me off near the park, where I took in the Tigers 5-1 victory. The next afternoon, I drove back to Detroit and stopped for the afternoon’s series finale, which the Tigers once again won.
The stadium itself was a vast improvement over Tiger Stadium. For the first game, I sat in the upper deck behind home plate and had a good view of the entire field. For the second game, I was right behind the White Sox dugout, which, while a bit pricey, did provide another nice view. The only disappointment, besides the play of the south siders, was the food. Since the Tigers owner also owns Little Caesars pizza, that is the food that is available. I remember making it through a few bites before leaving the pizza underneath my seat for whoever wanted it.
A New Class Of Imortals
With temperatures hovering around four degrees Tuesday night in the hamlet of Cooperstown, New York, the attention of the baseball world turns to summer of the past now that the votes have been tallied, and the 2025 Hall of Fame class is complete. Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner join Dick Allen and Dave Parker, who were elected by the Veteran’s Committee last month, in obtaining baseball immortality. Suzuki and Sabathia make it on their first try while Wagner made it in his final shot.
Just two others scored greater than 50% of the vote, led by Carlos Beltran, who came just short at 70.3% and seems likely to make it next year. Andruw Jones rose to 66.2% with two more years to go.
On the local front, Manny Ramirez, who spent a little more than a month with the White Sox at the tail end of his career, saw a small increase in support, finishing with 34.3% of the vote thanks to his multiple PED suspensions. Jimmy Rollins, who spent the final 41 games of his career on the south side, picked up 18% in his fourth go-around. The disgraced Omar Vizquel, accused of both sexual abuse of an autistic teen and spousal abuse since being added to the ballot, stayed stagnant with 17.8%. Mark Buehrle saw a small increase, going up to 11.4% in his fifth time on the ballot, living to fight another day. Former Cubs Carlos González, Fernando Rodney, and Ben Zobrist nabbed a single vote between them.
Ten players will fall off the ballot after failing to score 5% of the vote.
As for the newest Hall of Famers, I’ve seen Suzuki play fifteen times, Sabathia eight times, and Wagner five times. They will get their day in the sun on Sunday, July 27.
Ichiro Suzuki’s numbers in games I’ve attended were: Continue reading →
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.