Category / Baseball

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2024 Final Batting Leaders

Another season of baseball season is in the books, with the White Sox disappointing their fans with one of the worst seasons in baseball history while the Cubs failed to live up to expectations.  Let’s take a look back at the offensive leaders for the 27 games that I attended this season.

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul DeJong 4
Andrew Vaughn 4
Andrew Benintendi 3
Gavin Sheets 3
5 tied with 2

Hits

Name Total
Andrew Vaughn 22
Gavin Sheets 22
Andrew Benintendi 17
Paul DeJong 16
Luis Robert 16

Runs

Name Total
Andrew Vaughn 11
Gavin Sheets 11
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Ballpark Tour: Marlins

As we prepare to enter the long offseason after a hugely disappointing 2024, it is time to take another tour of all of the baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years.  We start with an odd occurrence: the Miami Marlins.  While I have never been to Miami, I have managed to see one of their home games, thanks to Hurricane Ivan.  So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with the Marlins at, of all places, US Cellular Field in Chicago.

Stadium Name: US Cellular Field

Years in Service: 2004

Visits: 1 (with the Marlins as the home team)

In September of 2004, Hurricane Ivan bore down on the east coast of Florida, just weeks after Hurricane Frances had made landfall.  The Marlins, having already cancelled a full series against the Cubs, decided to move 2 games of their series against the Montreal Expos to Chicago.  So, on September 14, 2014, I went to US Cellular Field, home of the White Sox, to see the Marlins battle the Expos.

With general admission ticket prices set at $15, $5 of which went to a fund for victims of the hurricane, I headed down to the second of the two games the teams played in town.  The Marlins, playing the part of the home team, brought their own public address announcer, their own mascot, and their own graphics to be used on the center field scoreboard.  Southpaw, the mascot of the White Sox, palled around with Billy Marlin.

The games marked the first time that a National League game was played in an American League stadium since 1946, when the Braves had to play the Phillies at Fenway Park due to painted seats that hadn’t yet dried.  It was also the first time that the defending World Series champions played a home game in Chicago since 1918.

For the Expos, it was just another strange trip in a season full of them.  This was their last season in existence, when they played a portion of their home schedule in Puerto Rico.  The travel for this series should have been nothing, since the team was already in town to play the Cubs the weekend before.  However, a previously booked convention kicked them out of their hotel downtown, forcing them to move out to Arlington Heights, which is not exactly a convenient locale when trekking to the south side of Chicago.

The Marlins managed to win both games of the series before they were able to head back to Florida and continue the season as planned.  The Expos played out the last 20 or so games of their existence before moving to Washington and becoming the Nationals in 2005.

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2024 Final Standings

A hugely disappointing season came to an end this weekend, once again leaving both Chicago teams home for October.  The Cubs planned on being a playoff contender this year after poaching manager Craig Counsell from the Brewers but failed to put it all together.  The White Sox, on the other hand, put together an absolutely horrific performance, setting the modern MLB record for most losses in a season and notching the sixth time in franchise history that they’ve lost 100 or more games.  Because of this, I ended up attending just 27 games, my lowest total since becoming a season ticket holder in 2002.  All told, I managed to see 20 of the 30 teams.

2024 Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Detroit Tigers 4 0 1.000
Baltimore Orioles 1 0 1.000
Cincinnati Reds 1 0 1.000
Cleveland Guardians 1 0 1.000
Houston Astros 1 0 1.000
Toronto Blue Jays 1 0 1.000
Los Angeles Dodgers 1 0 1.000
New York Mets 1 0 1.000
Pittsburgh Pirates 1 0 1.000
San Diego Padres 1 0 1.000
Seattle Mariners 1 0 1.000
Boston Red Sox 2 1 0.667
Chicago Cubs 3 2 0.600
Oakland Athletics 1 1 0.500
Kansas City Royals 1 1 0.500
Chicago White Sox 6 18 0.250
Los Angeles Angels 0 1 0.000
Atlanta Braves 0 1 0.000
Colorado Rockies 0 1 0.000
Tampa Bay Rays 0 1 0.000
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2024 Predictions Revisited

Six months ago, I made my annual predictions as to who would win what.  With the Wild Card round in full swing, it is time to revisit those predictions and see what, if anything, I got right.

American League

East: Rays

Well, after missing the postseason for the first time since 2016, the Yankees stormed back to take the AL East crown.  Meanwhile, the Rays struggled early and never really found their groove.

Central: Guardians

Would you look at that?  I got one right, as the Guardians led a resurgent AL Central for most of the season.

West: Mariners

The Mariners did lead the division for a while, but, at the end of the day, the Astros managed to win the division for the fourth straight year and the seventh year out of the last eight.

Wild Cards: Astros, Blue Jays, Yankees

I guess I can take solace in the fact that two of these choices are headed to the post-season, though as division champions.  A surprisingly strong AL Central, thanks to getting to face the putrid White Sox many times, landed two Wild Card spots with the Royals and the Tigers.  The Orioles snagged the top spot.

AL Champion: Yankees

The Yankees look to have the hardest path, having to face either the Tigers, the hottest team in baseball heading into the post-season, or the Orioles, against whom they lost eight of their thirteen contests this year.  I hate to say it, but the Astros may make another appearance in the Fall Classic.

Cy Young: Tristan McKenzie

McKenzie struggled this year and split the year between Cleveland and Triple A Columbus.  Tiger starter Tarik Skubal looks to be the front-runner.

MVP: Julio Rodriguez

Another wrong guess.  Aaron Judge will probably take it home for the second time in three seasons.

National League

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The Wrong Kind Of History

After staving off their ignoble date with history for the final homestand of the season, the White Sox met their date with history on Friday night, losing 4-1 to the Tigers to notch their 121st loss of the season, a total unmatched in modern MLB history.  Owner Jerry Reinsdorf had his fingerprints all over this one, on both sides of the field.  The Tigers, managed by A.J. Hinch, who was then-GM Rick Hahn’s leading choice to manage the White Sox before Reinsdorf insisted on hiring Tony LaRussa for a second go-around, and announced by Jason Benetti, who Reinsdorf and henchman Brooks Boyer drove away from the White Sox booth this past off-season, clinched a playoff berth while handing the White Sox their record-breaking loss.

Last fall, when Reinsdorf promoted Chris Getz to General Manager after firing Hahn and Kenny Williams, he said, “One of the things that I owe the fans is to get better as fast as we can possibly get better.”  He later added, “I realized that if I brought someone in from the outside it’s going to take them a year. He’s going to have to evaluate everyone in the organization.”  Well, both Reinsdorf and Getz now own this year.  The most losses in the 124 years of modern baseball history and second of all-time to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders.  In the conversation for the worst team of all time.  And outside of a handful of promising pitching prospects, most of whom have already debuted and contributed to this season’s history-making finish, very little help on the way from the minor league system.  Speaking as a fan, I would have gladly traded that year for competence.  Something that is sorely lacking on the corner of 35th and Shields.

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T Minus 2

Following last night’s loss to the Padres, the White Sox now have 118 loses. just two away from the modern record set by the expansion Mets in 1962.  They would have to go 7-1 over their remaining eight games to avoid tying the record.  They have won seven games since August 16.

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T Minus 3

Following yesterday afternoon’s loss to the Angels, the White Sox now have 117 loses. just three away from the modern record set by the expansion Mets in 1962.  They would have to go 7-2 over their remaining nine games to avoid tying the record.  They have won seven games since August 16.

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T Minus 4

Following last night’s loss to the Angels, the White Sox now have 116 loses. just four away from the modern record set by the expansion Mets in 1962.  This was the 19th time they’ve been shut out this season.  They would have to go 7-3 over their remaining ten games to avoid tying the record.  They have won seven games since August 16.