Category / Baseball

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2023 All Star Break Standings

For the first time since 2001, the Midsummer Classic returns to Seattle and T-Mobile Park.  As the stars of the baseball world gather in the Pacific Northwest for tonight’s showdown, it’s time to take a look at the team records for the 24 games, featuring 60% of the teams in the league, that I attended in the first half of the baseball season, a disappointing one on both sides of town.

2023 Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Philadelphia Phillies 2 0 1.000
Toronto Blue Jays 2 0 1.000
Miami Marlins 1 0 1.000
San Francisco Giants 1 0 1.000
Cleveland Guardians 1 0 1.000
Chicago Cubs 3 1 0.750
Chicago White Sox 10 10 0.500
Tampa Bay Rays 1 1 0.500
St. Louis Cardinals 1 1 0.500
Seattle Mariners 1 1 0.500
Baltimore Orioles 1 1 0.500
Detroit Tigers 0 1 0.000
Houston Astros 0 1 0.000
Milwaukee Brewers 0 1 0.000
New York Mets 0 1 0.000
Pittsburgh Pirates 0 1 0.000
Boston Red Sox 0 2 0.000
Kansas City Royals 0 2 0.000
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Hey Now, You’re An All Star

With just one week left before the All-Star break, the reserve rosters were announced today for both leagues.  The Cubs scored three All Stars, with shortstop Dansby Swanson and pitcher Marcus Stroman both making the team for the second time in their careers while pitcher Justin Steele makes it for the first time.  For the disappointing White Sox, center fielder Luis Robert Jr. earns his first All Star nod.  The four will be heading to Seattle for next Tuesday’s festivities.

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Get Your Bets In (Well, Not Quite Yet)

Back in 2001, the Cubs received approval to build a two-story, 22,350-square-foot structure at the corner of Sheffield and Addison, which would be home to a DraftKings Sportsbook at Wrigley Field.  This week, that sportsbook took a big step closer to becoming a reality, opening to the public as a sports bar while waiting for approval from the Illinois Gaming Board.  To align with Major League Baseball rules, the building is open to anyone 21 and over, with no ticket to that day’s game necessary.  At the present time, there is no way to cross from the sportsbook into Wrigley Field itself.

I’m sure at some point I will make a visit, even if it is just to sample the menu, provided by Levy.  The place appeared to be packed following last night’s Cubs game as I walked past on my way to the El, which bodes well for both DraftKings and the Cubs.

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A Win Off The Field

The Cubs scored a victory in court last week as a federal judge ruled that the billion-dollar renovation of Wrigley Field did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.  The decision follows an April trial that came nearly six years after a Chicago attorney filed suit against the team on behalf of his son, who is confined to a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy, claiming that the extensive renovations did not provide enough accessible seating to comply with the ADA.

With a listed capacity of 39,510, Wrigley Field would be required to have at least 209 accessible seats to meet ADA standards.  In his ruling, the judge notes that there at least 210 accessible seats (the Cubs claim there are 225) and that an April site visit “impressed upon the Court the variety of locations and views on offer for patrons who require accessible seating, as well as that ‘friendly confines’ feeling that is unique to Wrigley Field.”

In a statement, Cubs spokesperson Julian Green said that the team was “grateful for today’s decision and its validation of our belief we followed accessibility guidelines throughout the 1060 Project.”  The team is not out of the woods completely, though, as last July, the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago filed a separate lawsuit against the Cubs, claiming the renovations at Wrigley Field violated federal law by failing to make the park “appropriately accessible” to fans with disabilities.  That lawsuit is ongoing.

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It Hasn’t Been A While

Coming in to the 2023 season, I had seen every team since the pandemic-stricken 2020 season save two: the Pirates, who I had last seen in 2019, and the Marlins, who I hadn’t seen in person since 2013.  This week, I knocked both of those teams off the list, with the Marlins coming through Guaranteed Rate Field this past weekend and the Pirates in town at Wrigley Field this week.

Less than halfway through the 2023 season, I’ve already seen fourteen of the 30 clubs, just under half.  That number jumps to 25 when we turn the clock back to 2022.  That’s 83% of the league that I’ve seen in less than a season and a half.  The remaining five I saw in 2021, and I’m sure at least two or three will make an appearance in the second half of 2023.  Anyway, here’s a look at each team and the last time I saw them play.

Most Recent Game By Team

Team Name Date
Washington Nationals 5/19/2021
St. Louis Cardinals 5/26/2021
San Diego Padres 6/1/2021
Boston Red Sox 9/11/2021
Cincinnati Reds 9/28/2021
Seattle Mariners 4/12/2022
Los Angeles Angels 4/30/2022
New York Yankees 5/15/2022
Los Angeles Dodgers 6/8/2022
Texas Rangers 6/12/2022
Atlanta Braves 6/18/2022
Toronto Blue Jays 6/20/2022
Colorado Rockies 7/27/2022
Oakland Athletics 7/30/2022
Continue reading →
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Orange Haze

Last night’s contest between the White Sox and the Yankees in the Bronx was postponed after wildfires in Canada caused “clearly hazardous air quality” at Yankee Stadium.  Tuesday night’s game was played under a lesser haze, but conditions worsened during the day on Wednesday, leading to cancellations across sports in both New York and Philadelphia.  The game is currently scheduled to be made up today as part of a straight doubleheader, assuming the skies clear up some.

This is not the first time the White Sox have had a game cancelled in New York for non-weather-related reasons.  The White Sox were scheduled to start a series against the Yankees in New York on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, before certain events in the city caused the game to be delayed.

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20 Years Corked

Twenty years ago tonight, Sammy Sosa came up to bat in the first inning against the Devil Rays at Wrigley Field, broke his bat on an RBI ground out to second base and then, all hell broke loose.  Home plate umpire Tim McClelland ended up with the handle of the bat, which showed an unmistakable dark spot that was deemed to be cork.  He conferred with his crew and Cubs manager Dusty Baker and, after a long delay, Sosa was ejected and the run was wiped off the board, though the Cubs would go on to win 3-2.

After the game, Sosa confirmed the bat was corked and tried to explain he used it for batting practice and for home run exhibitions to entertain his fans and that it had inadvertently been mixed in with his game bats.  “I just picked the wrong bat,” Sosa said at the time. “I apologize to my team, to my fans…  I apologize to the commissioner of baseball.”

Sosa was suspended for seven games and, it could be argued, this was the beginning of the end of his tenure with the Cubs, culminating in the blow up on the final day of the 2004 regular season that has kept him out of the Cubs good graces to this day.

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He Gone… Again

Last week, the White Sox brought back Alexander (nee Alex) Colomé for a second go around.  After four appearances with a 6.00 ERA, that second go-around came to an end today.  Colomé was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for outfielder Jake Marisnick.

Colomé was first acquired from the Mariners in a trade for catcher Omar Narváez following the 2018 season.  He notched 42 saves in 83 games over two seasons and picked up an additional save and two scoreless innings in two appearances during the 2020 Wild Card series against the A’s.  He left as a free agent after the abbreviated 2020 season and returned on a minor league deal earlier this season.

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A Roster Shakeup

After a disappointing (to put it mildly) April, the White Sox looked to shake things up in May, making eleven roster moves prior to yesterday’s game.  To put this into perspective, reassigning eleven players at one time during spring training would be highly irregular.  Making eleven roster moves on one day during the regular season is unheard of.  Twenty percent of the active roster changed!  In one day!

To start things off, Tim Anderson and Hanser Alberto were activated from the injured list.  Joining them from Triple A are pitchers Alexander (nee Alex) Colome and Sammy Peralta and outfielder Billy Hamilton.  To make room for these five, Joe Kelly was placed on the paternity list, Romy Gonzalez was placed on the injured list, Oscar Colas and Lenyn Sosa were demoted to Triple A, and Jake Diekman was designated for assignment.  In addition, Frank German was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

Diekman was the big (and lone) acquisition the White Sox made at the trade deadline last year.  To say he has been a bust would be quite the understatement.  Since being acquired from the Red Sox, Diekman has posted a 7.04 ERA in 39 games.  In thirteen games in April, that ERA ballooned to 7.94.

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Back Up To Twelve

The Oakland A’s, formerly of Philadelphia and Kansas City, announced yesterday that they may be on the move again soon.  After a 20-year saga to find a new, publicly financed stadium in the Bay Area, the team has signed a binding agreement to purchase 49 acres in Las Vegas with the hopes of having a new stadium ready to start the 2027 season.  In a statement, commissioner Rob Manfred said: “We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year.”

Removing Oakland from my active stadium count means I would now have twelve parks to get to in order to finish off the set.  I’ve made two trips to the stadium once known as Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, first in 1999 and again in 2008, seeing the Tigers and Orioles respectively.  Should this new stadium actually get built and a move actually take place, it would give me reason to visit Nevada for the first time since 2018.