Category / Baseball

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#352 – Ken Vining

Name: Ken Vining

Rank: 352

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2001

Ken Vining was acquired by the White Sox from the Giants as part of the reviled, but ultimately fruitful “White Flag” trade at the deadline in 1997 that sent Wilson Alvarez, Danny Darwin, and Roberto Hernandez west in exchange for Vining, Lorenzo Barcelo, Mike Caruso, Keith Foulke, and Bob Howry.

Vining finally made it to the big leagues in 2001, but success was difficult to find and Vining’s season, and career, came to an end after only 8 appearances.

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

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by jim

A-One, A-Two, A-Three…

Following up on Bob Brenley’s departure from the broadcast booth earlier this week, the good people at Bleed Cubbie Blue check in today with the suggestion that the Cubs use this opportunity to stop their “celebrity” 7th inning stretch conductor and interview.  I’ve been saying this for years.

For those of you unaware, the Cubs started bringing in actual celebrities to sing Take Me Out To The Ballgame following the death of Harry Caray prior to the 1998 season.  What started as a tribute to the late broadcaster has, over the past 15 years, turned into another opportunity for every C and D-List actor looking to plug an appearance at Zanies or their new straight-to-DVD film release.  Just this past season, the Cubs welcomed such luminaries as comedians Tom Dreesen and Jon Lovitz, former Bull Bobby Hansen, and former Bear Donnell Woolford.  If these “stars” were only singing the stretch and then hitting the street, it might be bearable for it to continue.  However, the Cubs give up a half-inning of their broadcast so that Len Kasper can interview these superstars when he should be doing play-by-play.

For years, I would suggest switching over to a tape of Harry Caray singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame.  At this point, though, it may be better to just switch to the organ and letting the crowd lead themselves.  A whole generation of Cubs fans have been raised without hearing Caray and likely hold no special regard for him.

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#353 – Kevin Beirne

Name: Kevin Beirne

Rank: 353

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2000

Kevin Beirne was drafted by the White Sox in the 11th round of the the 1995 draft as an outfielder, but was quickly converted to a pitcher and finally made it to the big leagues on May 17, 2000.  Beirne appeared in 29 games for the division winners, but did not make an appearance during the 3 game division series loss to the Mariners.

Following the season, Beirne was packaged along with Mike Sirotka, Brian Simmons and others in the trade that brought David Wells over from the Blue Jays.

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

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by jim

2012 Final Pitching Leaders

Tuesday we looked at the leaders in games I attended this year on the offensive side of the ball.  Now let’s take a look at the pitchers.

Wins

Name Total
Gavin Floyd 5
Chris Sale 4
Nate Jones 3
Jake Peavy 2
19 tied with 1

Losses

Name Total
Chris Sale 3
Jake Peavy 2
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by jim

2012 Final Batting Leaders

As we close the books on the 2012 season without a post-season appearance by a Chicago team, here are the offensive leaders for the games I attended this year.

Home Runs

Name Total
AJ Pierzynski 7
Dayan Viciedo 7
Alex Rios 7
Kevin Youkilis 7
Adam Dunn 4
Tyler Flowers 4

Hits

Name Total
Alex Rios 44
Alexei Ramirez 38
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by admin

#354 – Kevin Walker

Name: Kevin Walker

Rank: 354

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2005

Kevin Walker signed with the White Sox following the 2004 season and managed to earn a World Series ring for 9 games of mediocre work, his last in the major leagues.  Following the 2005 season, he was granted free agency and bounced around the minor leagues for the remainder of his career.

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

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by jim

2012 Predictions Revisited

Exactly six months ago, I looked into my crystal ball and tried to predict the outcomes of the upcoming baseball season.  Now that the season has come to an end, and half of my predicted divison winners are headed home instead of the playoffs, let’s take a look back at how things unfolded.

American League

East: Yankees

The Yankees went down to the wire, not with the Red Sox as expected, but with the surprising Orioles.

Central: Tigers

After picking up free agent Prince Fielder, the Tigers were expected to run away with the Central division.  Instead, they underachieved much of the season and battled the overachieving White Sox for most of the season.  However, a late season collapse by the White Sox offense helped the Tigers take the division.

West: Angels

The Angels just may have been the biggest disappointment in the league this year. After dropping over $330 million in one day on Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, the Angels were expected to be at the top of the heap this year.  Unfortunately, things just did not work out and, even with the addition of rookie of the year shoo-in Mike Trout, the Angels were unable to make a serious run and finished in third place, behind the surging A’s, who swept the Rangers in the last series of the season to take the division title.

Wild Cards: Rays, Rangers

The Orioles and the Rangers will face off in the first wild card play-in game.

National League Continue reading →

by jim

2012 Final Standings

Another disappointing season comes to an end today.  The White Sox, who spent 126 days in first place, sputtered through September and dropped to second place.  The Cubs managed to lose 100 games for the first time since 1966.

TeamCity TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Washington Nationals 1 0 1.000
Colorado Rockies 1 0 1.000
Kansas City Royals 1 0 1.000
Boston Red Sox 2 1 0.667
Tampa Bay Rays 2 1 0.667
Chicago White Sox 18 13 0.581
Oakland A’s 1 1 0.500
Houston Astros 1 1 0.500
Toronto Blue Jays 1 1 0.500
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by admin

#355 – Lance Broadway

Name: Lance Broadway

Rank: 355

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2007-2009

Lance Broadway was the White Sox first round pick in the 2005 draft and worked his way to the big leagues 2 years later.  A starter by trade, Broadway worked mostly out of the bullpen for the Sox, making only 2 starts in his time on the south side.  When the opportunity presented itself early in the 2009 season to make an upgrade at backup catcher, Broadway was (fittingly) traded to the New York Mets for Ramon Castro.

Broadway’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →