Category / Baseball

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If You Build It, They Won’t Come

One day before the Cubs and the Reds are set to battle in the second Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa, word broke that MLB will not be returning to the site in 2023.  Frank Thomas, the former White Sox star who is part of the new ownership group that owns and operates the site, said that construction plans at the movie site will prevent MLB from returning next year.

Thomas and his partners, who bought the site after the inaugural game last year, plan to put in a youth baseball and softball complex that they hope will begin construction later this year.  The construction work will impact the site’s accessibility.

Will a game return there in 2024?  Too soon to tell, though breaking the inertia of making this an annual tradition will be a hurdle that will need to be jumped.

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The Jason Heyward Era Ends

In news that was both surprising and unsurprising, Jed Hoyer announced before last night’s game that Jason Heyward was unlikely to return from his knee injury this year and that he and the Cubs would be parting ways this offseason.  Heyward, who has been on the IL with a knee injury since late June, has one year remaining on his contract.

Signed to an 8-year, $184 million contract back in December of 2015, Heyward never quite produced enough to justify his lofty contract and, as the Cubs failed to sustain their 2016 success, he became as much of a scapegoat as anyone else on the roster, seeing his playing time reduced.  However, his place in Cubs lore was set when he was credited with leading an inspiring players-only meeting during the 17-minute rain delay at the end of Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, after which the Cubs stormed out and took the lead in the 10th inning.

In addition to a World Series ring, Heyward won Gold Glove awards in both 2016 and 2017.  His numbers with the Cubs, both in games I attended and overall, were:

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London Calling

One of the casualties of the lockdown following the corona virus pandemic in 2020 was the cancellation of the series in London between the Cubs and the Cardinals.  While MLB returned in full force in 2021 and this year, the series in London did not.  Well, MLB announced yesterday that the series would return in 2023 with the Cubs and the Cardinals finally getting their chance to battle overseas.

MLB played in Europe for the first time in 2019, when the Yankees swept a pair of games from the Red Sox, and looked to further expand the game’s popularity throughout Europe by making it an annual excursion.  I imagine if next year’s tilt goes off without a hitch, the annual rollout will continue as originally planned.

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A Deafening Thud

Last year, the Cubs and the White Sox made a lot of noise at the trade deadline, making six deals involving stars like Craig Kimbrel, Javy Baez, Anthony Rizzo, and Kris Bryant.  With the White Sox looking to make a move to overtake the Twins and Guardians in the AL Central and the Cubs looking to further divest themselves of championship pieces like Willson Contreras and Ian Happ, this year’s deadline was sure to be a wild and crazy time.  It wasn’t.

Sure, each time made some small moves, with the Cubs emptying out their bullpen of anyone with a pulse and the White Sox adding a bullpen arm, but those expected big moves didn’t happen.  Willson Contreras, a free agent at year’s end, is still a Cub.  It is safe to say nobody had this on their bingo card.

So where do we go from here?  For the White Sox, Rick Hahn and company have to hope that getting their stars healthy provides enough of a boost to sneak into the postseason for a third consecutive year.  On the north side of town, things are a little stickier.  By not trading Contreras, he will play out the year and will likely be given a qualifying offer heading into free agency, which, at best, will cost him money and, at worst, could leave him sitting at home well into the start of the 2023 season.  Ian Happ is under team control for another year, so, short of an offseason deal, he will go through this same dance next July.

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By The Numbers – 0

In 1929, uniform numbers appeared on the back of baseball jerseys for the first time, thanks to the Indians and the Yankees.  By 1937, numbers finally appeared across all uniforms, both home and away, across both major leagues.  Since that time, 81 distinct numbers have been worn by members of the White Sox, while the Cubs boast 76.

Today, we conclude our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #0.  Only three players have donned #0 while playing in Chicago, all for the White Sox.

Billy Hamilton signed with the White Sox during spring training of 2021 after being released by the Indians.  He quickly became valuable outfield depth following the injuries to Adam Engel and Eloy Jimenez.  He quickly became ingrained in the team’s culture and played his way into the fan’s hearts, thanks to, surprisingly, a pair of home runs over Memorial Day weekend and a tremendous catch in the rain and mud in Minnesota.

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A Shocking Development

If you recall the conclusion of the lockout this past spring, MLB and the MLBPA were to continue negotiations on an international draft, with a deadline of July 25, which just so happens to be today.  You may be surprised to hear that the two sides were not able to come to an amicable agreement, so there will be no international draft and draft pick compensation for free agents will continue to exist.

On Sunday, MLB made what it described as its final offer, with a bonus pool of $191 million. The players had earlier proposed a bonus pool of $260 million.  An international draft was expected to help rein in the corruption that is rife in the international amateur signing process, particularly in the Dominican Republic and Latin America.  Key among the concerns is the prevalence of early deals, agreements between teams and players before a player has reached 16, the minimum age required to formally sign.

Since there was no agreement, the current system of offering certain free agents a qualifying offer and receiving draft pick compensation should they sign with another team will remain in place.  The loss of a draft pick has depressed, if not outright destroyed, the market for some players over the years, most recently Michael Conforto, who did not sign at all this last offseason, and with Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel, who waited until the draft was completed in 2019 before signing deals with the Cubs and Braves respectively.

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Hall Of Fame Batting Leaders



The Hall of Fame Class of 2022, former Red Sox DH David Ortiz joins veterans committee choices Minnie Minoso, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, Gil Hodges, Buck O’Neil, and Bud Fowler in enshrinement in Cooperstown.  With a new hitter joining the list of Hall of Famers I’ve seen play, let’s check back in with the leaders on the offensive side of the ball amongst Hall of Famers for all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2021.

Home Runs

Name Total
Jim Thome 35
Frank Thomas 15
Vladimir Guerrero 6
David Ortiz 6
Ivan Rodriguez 4

Hits

Name Total
Jim Thome 110
Frank Thomas 54
Ken Griffey Jr 32
David Ortiz 23
Vladimir Guerrero 21

Runs

Name Total
Jim Thome 82
Frank Thomas 42
David Ortiz 16
Ken Griffey Jr 12
Vladimir Guerrero 11
Craig Biggio 11

RBI

Name Total
Jim Thome 84
Frank Thomas 38
David Ortiz 19
Ken Griffey Jr 17
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Fallen Hero

Former Cub Dwight Smith, who, as a rookie, was a key member of the 1989 NL Easy champions, died yesterday at the age of 58.  The Braves, with whom Smith played for after leaving the Cubs and earned a World Series ring in 1995, said he died of congestive heart and lung failure,

As a rookie, Smith hit .324 with an OPS of .875 in 109 games in 1989, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting to teammate Jerome Walton.  He also sang the national anthem at Wrigley Field on July 21.  In his five seasons with the Cubs, he hit .285 with 32 home runs and 159 RBIs.  After the 1993 season, Smith was non-tendered by the Cubs and, following a nomadic 1994 season, he ended his career with the Braves from 1995-1996.  His son, Dwight Smith Jr., played parts of the 2017 through 2020 seasons with the Blue Jays and Orioles and is currently playing in the Mexican League.

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2022 All Star Break Pitching Leaders

Now that the All-Star Game is behind us and we await the start of the second half of the season, let’s take a look at the first half leaders on the defensive side of the ball for the 21 games I attended:

Wins

Name Total
Reynaldo Lopez 3
17 tied with 1

Losses

Name Total
Johnny Cueto 2
18 tied with 1

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name Total
Clayton Kershaw 0.00
Dylan Cease 0.00
Reynaldo Lopez 0.73
Marcus Stroman 0.79
Kendall Graveman 0.90

Strikeouts

Name Total
Michael Kopech 20
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2022 All Star Break Batting Leaders

The All-Star Game is on tap for tonight in Los Angeles, with four total representatives from the Cubs and White Sox.  As we get ready for the stars to come out, let’s take a look at the first half offensive leaders for the 21 games I attended, starting with:

Home Runs

Name Total
Luis Robert 4
Gavin Sheets 3
Jose Abreu 3
Jake Burger 2
Joey Gallo 2
Tim Anderson 2
Jorge Polanco 2
Josh Naylor 2
Andrew Vaughn 2

Hits

Name Total
Luis Robert 19
Jose Abreu 16
Tim Anderson 16
Gavin Sheets 15
Andrew Vaughn 11
Adam Engel 11
A.J. Pollock 11

Runs

Name Total
Luis Robert 15
Tim Anderson 9
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