Category / Baseball

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Opening A New Book

The Cubs received approval this week from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to build a two-story sportsbook at the corner of Sheffield and Addison. The 22,350-square-foot structure, which would be home to a DraftKings Sportsbook at Wrigley Field as part of a sponsorship deal the team struck with  DraftKings last year and looks to make gambling an integral part of the game day experience at the Friendly Confines. Though the new building would be connected to the ballpark, the addition would be open to anyone, as Major League Baseball rules prohibit a sportsbook operating where a game ticket is required for entry.

Yesterday’s approval is only the first step in what is sure to be a long process to get this extension put in place.  Approval is still needed from the City Council, both for the development itself but also on allowing sports betting inside the city’s stadiums. The National Park Service, which designated the restored ballpark as a National Historic Landmark, would also need to approve the plans for the new building.

While the timing is likely coincidental, it is somewhat amusing that the hearing on this came up a week after the Cubs traded off all of their star players because they couldn’t “afford” to offer them market-value extensions.  Also, it is amusing in a sad way that you must have a ticket to sit in the lovely park the Cubs built on the other side of the stadium in Gallagher Way, but you will be able to enter this new facility without one.  Like it or not, baseball, and the Cubs, have hitched their wagon to legal gambling and they will try to wring every dollar they can out of the arrangement.

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Two Sides Of The Same Town

cws-chiFollowing last week’s trade deadline deals, Ryan Tepera and Craig Kimbrel became the 36th and 37th people I’ve seen play in person for both the Cubs and the White Sox.  With the first round of crosstown kicking off this afternoon at Wrigley, here’s a look at those players, in alphabetical order.

David Aardsma

After posting a decent season with the Cubs in 2006, Aardsma was traded to the White Sox for Neal Cotts.  Aardsma lasted one season with the Sox, where he was unable to duplicate his success from the year before.

Jason Bere

Drafted by the White Sox in the 36th round in 1990, Bere debuted with the big league club in 1993, finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting.  After an All Star selection in 1994, injuries marred the remainder of his tenure on the South Side, which ended in 1998.  He resurfaced with the Cubs in 2001 and had a decent season, but he went 1-10 in 2002 before being let go.

Emilio Bonifacio

Bonifacio spent back-to-back partial seasons in Chicago, first for the Cubs in 2014 after signing as a free agent, where he played decently enough to be flipped at the trade deadline, along with James Russell, to the Braves for a young catching prospect by the name of Victor Caratini.  He returned to Chicago in 2015, signing with the White Sox, where he he did not do well at all, hitting .167 in 47 games before being released in August.

Welington Castillo

Debuting with the Cubs in 2010, Castillo spent time behind the plate for the Cubs until May of 2015, when, having been replaced in the starting lineup by Miguel Montero, he was flipped to the Mariners.  He returned to Chicago in 2018 after signing with the White Sox as a free agent.  On May 24th of that season, he was suspended 80 games for a violation of the PED policy.  The White Sox then cut bait following the 2019 season, shipping him off to the Rangers.

Neal Cotts

Acquired by the White Sox in the Billy Koch trade, he debuted with the team in 2003.  He was a key contributor in the bullpen during the 2005 championship season, and was the only relief pitcher to appear in all 3 rounds of the playoffs that season.  Following the 2006 season, he was traded to the Cubs for David Aardsma, and he spent the next 3 injury filled seasons on the North Side.

Scott Eyre

Joining the White Sox organization in a 1994 trade with the Rangers, he debuted with the big league team in 1997.  He split the next 4 seasons between the rotation and the bullpen, not to mention between Chicago and Charlotte, before being moved to the Blue Jays following the 2000 ALDS loss to the Mariners.  He joined the Cubs as a free agent for the 2006 season and enjoyed 2 seasons of relative success, before falling apart in 2008, when he was traded to the Phillies.

Kosuke Fukudome Continue reading →

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Keeping Our Eyes On Next Year’s Prize

With a little more than 8 weeks remaining in the 2020 season, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2021 schedule yesterday.  For the first time in quite a while, the White Sox will be looking to compete for a title while the Cubs will be “retooling” after trading off all of their stars last week.  Assuming, of course, that the 2022 season goes off as planned and the end of the collective bargaining agreement doesn’t lead to a long work stoppage.  So, for one day, at least, let’s turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

The White Sox open their season at home against the Twins on March 31 for a three game tilt before heading on the road.  Nothing like a potential snowstorm to get the season off to a good start.  They face the Guardians for the first time on April 18 in Cleveland.

The interleague schedule pits the White Sox against the NL West, with trips to San Francisco, Colorado, and San Diego and home series against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Rockies. The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a 2-game series at Wrigley at the beginning of May and a follow-up at Guaranteed Rate Field Memorial Day weekend.

The season ends with a 6 game road trip to Minnesota and San Diego.

On the north side, the Cubs open their season up on the road in Cincinnati, also on March 31.  They come home the following Monday to open their home slate against the Cardinals.

The interleague schedule pits the Cubs against the AL East, with trips to Baltimore, New York, and Toronto and home series against the Rays, Red Sox, and Orioles.

Of their 28 games in September/October, only 7 are against their NL Central rivals, though, with the Cubs not likely to contend, that shouldn’t make much of a difference.  They end the year with a 6 game homestand, facing the Phillies and the Reds.

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July All Time Leaders – Through 2020

With a full year of baseball on tap after last year’s troubles due to a combination of the corona virus and needless labor squabbles, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for each month in games that I have attended.

As we continue through the summer months, the warm weather has played a part in my attending 161 games during the month of July, my largest total.  I’ve managed to see a game on every day of the month, despite the 3 day All Star break which falls around the same time every year, with 10 games on the 4th leading the way, thanks to Independence Day fireworks shows, and 3 games on the 6 different dates bringing up the rear.

Home Runs

Name Total
Derrek Lee 10
Paul Konerko 9
Moises Alou 8
Sammy Sosa 8

Hits

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 54
Jose Abreu 50
Derrek Lee 44
Paul Konerko 44

Runs

Name Total
Derrek Lee 24
Alexei Ramirez 22
Jose Abreu 19
Paul Konerko 19

RBI

Name Total
Derrek Lee 28
Jose Abreu 28
Aramis Ramirez 27

Doubles

Name Total
Gordon Beckham 10
Jose Abreu 9
Aramis Ramirez 9

Triples Continue reading →

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End Of An Era

When Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer took over baseball operations for the Cubs following the 2011 season, they started a rebuild effort that combined high draft picks with savvy trades in an effort to end the longest title drought in US professional sports.  They key to that rebuild, four prospects ranked in the Top 50 by nearly every publication prior to the 2014 season, became known as the Core Four.  Javier Baez, the 9th overall pick in the 2011 draft, Albert Almora, the 6th selection in 2012, Jorge Soler, a Cuban defector who signed a 9 year, $30 million contract in June of 2012, and Kris Bryant, the second overall pick in the 2013 draft were expected to lead the Cubs to the promised land and, in 2016, they did, each contributing to the team’s first World Series title in 108 years.

Bryant and Baez were the only two left heading into the 2021 season.  Both were traded today.

Kris Bryant is heading to the Giants, with OF Alexander Canario and RHP Caleb Killian coming back to the Cubs.  Bryant, the 2015 NL Rookie of the Year and the 2016 NL MVP, has seemingly been on the trading block for years now, ever since the Cubs won his service time grievance.  Ironically, he was the last one out the door, following yesterday’s trade of Anthony Rizzo and this afternoon’s moves with Craig Kimbrel and Javier Baez.

Canario, a top 15 prospect in the Giants’ system, showed flashes as a teenager prior to the pandemic, but has seen his strikeout rate increase as he’s gone up to higher levels of competition.  Killian, likely rated in the top 40 of the Giants system, was an 8th round pick in 2019 and has seem some success this year coming back from the pandemic.

After winning the World Series in 2016, the Cubs, with their young talent, looked to be on the verge of a dynasty.  5 years later, that dynasty is over without ever really starting, having dropped their last 4 consecutive post-season games dating back to the 2017 NLCS.  Now, 10 years after the start of the last rebuild, Jed Hoyer has to start again.

Bryant’s and Baez’s numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

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A Flurry Of Activity

The Cubs have seemingly turned Wrigley Field upside down, shook real hard, and let the pieces fall where they may.  With less than an hour until the trade deadline, they’ve made two huge deals, sending closer Craig Kimbrel to the White Sox for second baseman Nick Madrigal and reliever Codi Heuer and, in a separate deal, sending Javier Baez and Trevor Williams to the Mets in exchange for Pete Crow-Armstrong.

The first move, along with yesterday’s acquisition of Ryan Tepera, fortifies the White Sox bullpen as they look towards October baseball, giving them two All Star closers to choose from as Tony LaRussa sees fit.  Madrigal, the fourth overall selection in the 2018 draft, should hold down second base on the north side for years to come, assuming he can stay healthy.  He’s been out since early June with a hamstring tear and is expected to be ready for spring training.  Heuer has been a workhorse, and is the pitcher I’ve seen in the most games this year, but has gotten knocked around a bit more than the White Sox expected.

Baez, the ninth overall pick in the 2011 draft and the runner in the 2018 MVP race, has been a centerpiece of the Cubs run these last 7 years, debuting in 2014 and cementing himself in the lineup in 2016.  He is reunited with his friend and Team Puerto Rico teammate Francisco Lindor with the Mets.  Crow-Armstrong was the first round selection of the Mets in the 2020 draft and is currently their 5th ranked prospect, according to MLB.com.

With all of this, the one guy everyone expected the Cubs to move, Kris Bryant, is the last man standing.  Will something happen in these last couple of minutes?  Time will tell.

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End Of The Road

The rebirth of the Cubs, which began with the hiring of Theo Epstein in October of 2011 and culminated with their first World Series title in 108 years, officially came to an end this afternoon, as new GM Jed Hoyer shipped team leader Anthony Rizzo to the Yankees for rookie ball outfielder Kevin Alcantara and High-A righty Alexander Vizcaino.  The Cubs agreed to pay Rizzo’s remaining salary.

Vizcaino, 24, is already on the 40-man roster and ranked as the Yankees 11th best prospect at FanGraphs and 12th at Baseball America.  He is working his way back from a shoulder issue and has posted a combined 9.00 ERA in 6 games across two levels.  Alcantara, 18, is hitting .360 in 8 rookie league games and ranked 7th at FanGraphs and 14th at Baseball America.

Rizzo, who had been drafted by the Red Sox when Epstein and Hoyer were in their front office and was acquired by Hoyer when he became GM of the Padres, was the first big acquisition when the two reunited in Chicago.  He began the 2012 season in Triple A.  Recalled at the end of June, he quickly became a mainstay of the lineup and a crowd favorite, as the Cubs were rebuilding around him.  In 2013, he signed a long term contract extension, which expires at the end of this season.  He cemented his position in Cubs lore by catching the final out of the 2016 World Series, ending the longest championship drought in American professional sports.  However, as the Cubs have struggled to repeat the team success of that season, Rizzo has also struggled in later years, contributing to an offense that has severely regressed since 2016 and was one of the Cubs who refused to get the COVID vaccine, keeping the team below the 85% threshold for this 2021 season.

Rizzo’s numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

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Crosstown Dealings

In his second move of the day, Rick Hahn went shopping in Wrigleyville for a new relief pitcher, picking up Ryan Tepera from the Cubs for Bailey Horn, a pitcher in Class A Winston-Salem.  Tepera, best known for garnering a National League MVP vote last season thanks to a misclick by a St. Louis writer, has put up a career-best 2.91 ERA this season, with 50 strikeouts in 43.1 innings.

Horn, 23, was selected in the 5th round of the 2020 draft and posted a 13.09 ERA with Winston-Salem, issuing 11 walks and 12 hits over 11 innings. with the Dash.  To make room for Tepera on the 40-man roster, pitcher Evan Marshall has been moved to the 60-day IL.

With a little less than 23 hours until the trade deadline, the Cubs have made 3 moves and the White Sox 2.  I have a gut feeling that the White Sox are done, but the Cubs still have some work to do.

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Trade Winds Are A Brewin’

With a little more than 24 hours remaining before the trade deadline, the White Sox finally made a move, acquiring second baseman César Hernández from Cleveland for Double A pitcher Konnor Pilkington.  Hernández, who won a Gold Glove and led the AL in doubles last year, has hit a career high 18 home runs while hitting .231 with 47 RBIs and a .738 OPS.  The White Sox have been looking for a second baseman since Nick Madrigal went down with a torn right hamstring in early June.

Pilkington, the third round pick of the White Sox in the 2018 draft, is 4-4 with a 3.48 ERA in 14 starts this year for Birmingham.  He was rated as the 17th best prospect in the White Sox system by Baseball America at the start of the 2020 season.  To make room for Hernández on the 40-man roster, the White Sox released right-handed pitcher Tyler Johnson.

Meanwhile, on the north side of town, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are not in the lineup for today’s tilt between the Cubs and the Reds.  One or both of them are expected to be moved prior to tomorrow’s deadline.

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By The Numbers – 45 Bonus!

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.

Sunday, we continued our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #45.  Today, we take a special bonus look at someone who wore #45 during a Windy City Classic exhibition game in 1994.

After winning his third NBA championship in the summer of 1993, Michael Jordan retired from basketball.  He signed a contract with the White Sox in February of 1994, “I chose to try to play baseball just to see if I could,” Jordan said when he signed the contract.  “I’m not doing it as a distraction and I’m not doing it as a media hog or looking for the media exposure from it. It’s one of the wishes my father had and I had as a kid.”  Jordan’s father had been murdered the previous July and Jordan’s memories of his father played a large role in his deciding what he should do next.

Jordan, who hadn’t played baseball since high school, had a difficult spring training, hitting .152 in 46 at bats, and he was assigned to Double-A Birmingham.  First, though, was the annual exhibition game between the two Chicago teams on April 7 at Wrigley Field.  Jordan was penciled in to the starting lineup, batting sixth.  In the sixth inning, Jordan hit an RBI single off veteran Dave Otto, and in the seventh, he bounced a Chuck Crim pitch down the third-base line for a game-tying double.  The crowd, White Sox and Cubs fans alike, rose to their feet and roared, as Jordan smiled, stuck out his tongue, and tipped his helmet at second base.

Jordan finished the day 2 for 5, with 2 RBIs, an error, and base running gaffe.  “Who would ever think I would be out there playing in Wrigley Field?” Jordan said.  “It was a great feeling just to come out there and do well.”  Jordan reported to Birmingham the following day and, after the labor strife that ended the 1994 season early spread in to 1995, Jordan left baseball, returned to the Bulls, and won another three NBA championships.