October 6, 2019September 26, 2019 by admin

Ballpark Tour: Marlins

Baseball
Billy Marlin, Braves, Cubs, Expos, Fenway Park, Hurricane Frances, Hurricane Ivan, Marlins, Nationals, Phillies, Southpaw, US Cellular Field, White Sox
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As we prepare to enter the long offseason, and having trekked to a few new stadiums this season, 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 (as the home team)

In September of 2004, Hurricane Ivan bore down on Florida, just weeks after Hurricane Frances 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 an exactly convenient locale when playing on the South Side.

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.

October 4, 2019September 30, 2019 by admin

2019 Final Pitching Leaders

Yesterday, we looked at the leaders in the 37 games I attended this year on the offensive side of the ball. With the Division Series in full swing today, it’s time to wrap up our look back at the 2019 season with the pitching leaders, starting with everyone’s favorite pitching statistic:

Wins

Name	Total
Reynaldo Lopez	3
Evan Marshall	2
Ivan Nova	2
Brad Brach	2
Jon Lester	2

Losses

Name	Total
Ivan Nova	5
Lucas Giolito	4
Jose Quintana	2
Kelvin Herrera	2
Alex Colome	2
Kyle Hendricks	2

ERA (> 6 IP)

Name	Total
Evan Marshall	0.00
Kolby Allard	0.00
Madison Bumgarner	0.00
Chris Bassitt	0.00
Brandon Kintzler	0.00
Kyle Ryan	0.00

Strikeouts

Name	Total
Lucas Giolito	35
Reynaldo Lopez	33
Ivan Nova	33
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October 3, 2019September 30, 2019 by admin

2019 Final Batting Leaders

Another baseball season has come to an end, with the Cubs shocking late season collapse leaving them out of the post-season and without a manager and year three of the rebuild for the White Sox finally showing some signs of life. Let’s take a look back at the offensive leaders for the 37 games that I attended this season:

Home Runs

Name	Total
Jose Abreu	7
Eloy Jimenez	5
Welington Castillo	4
Kyle Schwarber	4
Tim Anderson	4

Hits

Name	Total
Jose Abreu	33
Tim Anderson	33
Yoan Moncada	31
Leury Garcia	26
Eloy Jimenez	23

Runs

Name	Total
Tim Anderson	17
Yoan Moncada	14
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October 2, 2019September 29, 2019 by admin

2019 Final Standings

Baseball
Angels, A's, Blue Jays, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, Indians, Mariners, Mets, Nationals, Orioles, Phillies, Pirates, Rangers, Red Sox, Royals, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees
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For the second straight year, the Cubs faltered down the stretch and, for the first time since 2014, they failed to make the postseason, thus bringing my game-attending portion of the 2019 season to an end. I made it to 37 games this season, my highest total since 2016. I did manage to attend games at 7 different stadiums, my highest single season total and bringing my total up to 25. Here are the final standings for those games and the 21 different teams I saw in person.

**2019 Team Records**
Team Name	Won	Loss	Winning Pctg
San Francisco Giants	2	0	1.000
Washington Nationals	2	0	1.000
New York Mets	1	0	1.000
Texas Rangers	1	0	1.000
Boston Red Sox	1	0	1.000
Toronto Blue Jays	2	1	0.667
Cleveland Indians	2	1	0.667
Los Angeles Angels	2	1	0.667
Chicago Cubs	6	5	0.545
New York Yankees	1	1	0.500
Oakland Athletics	1	1	0.500
Seattle Mariners	1	1	0.500
Minnesota Twins	1	1	0.500
Chicago White Sox	13	15	0.464
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September 30, 2019September 29, 2019 by admin

2019 Predictions Revisited

Six months ago, at the dawn of the 2019 baseball season, I made my annual predictions as to who would win what. Now that the regular season has come to an end, it is time revisit those predictions and see what, if anything, I got right.

American League

East: Yankees

Well, one for one so far. This one wasn’t particularly close, as the Yankees won 103 games and won the division by 7 games.

Central: Indians

So much for going perfect. The Indians saw their run of 3 consecutive division titles come to an end at the hands of the upstart Twins.

West: Astros

The Astros put up the best record in baseball, so this one was pretty much a gimme.

Wild Cards: Red Sox, Angels

No and No. Right divisions, but the Rays and the A’s took home the Wild Cards.

AL Champion: Astros

This one is looking pretty good.

Cy Young: Justin Verlander

As is this one. It will likely come down to him or teammate Gerrit Cole.

MVP: George Springer

I think I picked the wrong Astro.

National League

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September 29, 2019 by jim

The Joe Maddon Era Has Ended

Baseball
2016 World Series, Angels, Cubs, Joe Maddon, NLCS, Padres, Phillies
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After 5 seasons, the Cubs and Joe Maddon have agreed to part ways as his initial contract with the club expires with the end of the 2019 season. Maddon, who was hired under dubious circumstances following the 2014 season, put together one of the best runs in franchise history, with 3 straight trips to the NLCS and a World Series victory that broke a 108 year curse on the north side. The last 2 years, though, have ended in disappointment, with September swoons that led to a Wild Card loss in 2018 and missing the playoffs completely this year.

Maddon is likely to land on his feet, with attractive openings in San Diego and, potentially, Philadelphia. The Angels, Maddon’s one time employer, have hinted they are willing to pull the same move the Cubs did 5 years ago, dumping their manager after one year for a shot at Maddon. Wherever he ends up, he will try to rebound and re-find his winning touch.

September 29, 2019 by admin

Leading The League

As the 2019 season comes to an end, two members of the White Sox achieved some personal milestones. Tim Anderson led the major leagues in batting average and Jose Abreu led the American League in RBIs.

Anderson finished the year with a .335 average, leading the American League and the major leagues. The injured Christian Yelich of the Brewers and Ketel Marte of the Diamonbacks tied for the National League lead at .329, while Yankees infielder DJ LeMehieu finished second in the AL with .327 average. White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada used a torrid finish to come in 3rd in the AL, making for a fearsome left side of the infield for the South Siders heading into 2020.

Anderson becomes just the third player in White Sox history to win the batting title. Luke Appling led the league in 1936 and 1943 and Frank Thomas wore the crown in 1997.

On the other side of the diamond, Jose Abreu took home the RBI championship for the American League. He finished just 3 behind the Nationals’ Anthony Rendon for the major league lead. Abreu becomes just the second RBI leader in White Sox history, following Dick Allen in 1972.

August 18, 2019September 20, 2019 by admin

Playoffs?!?!?!

For the fifth consecutive year, a Chicago team is in position to start selling playoff tickets to their season ticket holders. While the Cubs have once again struggled to pull away from the pack, they currently are in the hunt in the National League Central, but, unlike the last few years, are not locks to make it back to the postseason.

Thanks to a randomly selected combination assignment, I would end up with tickets to a home Wild Card game, all Division Series home games, home games 1 and 3 of the League Championship series, and home games 2 and 3 of the World Series. Unlike past playoff appearances, it seems I would have my normal tickets for the first two rounds, before moving a little closer to home plate but 2 rows up for the World Series.

Just like last year, only electronic tickets will be issued. Unlike last year, no word on whether commemorative physical tickets will be made available.

August 17, 2019August 17, 2019 by admin

Looking Ahead To 2020

Major League Baseball released their tentative 2020 schedule earlier this week. While the local squads have differing goals in mind as 2019 winds down, with the Cubs struggling for their 8th straight trip to post-season and the White Sox playing out the string in year three of their rebuild, it’s time to turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

For the third year in a row, the White Sox open their season against the Royals, but will be at home for the first time. They follow that with a trip to Cleveland and Boston.

The interleague schedule pits the White Sox against the NL West, with trips to Colorado, San Francisco, and San Diego and home series against the Rockies, Diamondbacks, and the Dodgers. The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a 2 game series at home and a 2 game series at Wrigley Field, both in July in the weeks surrounding the All Star Break.

In August, they will travel to Iowa to battle the Yankees in the first Field of Dreams game, hosted where the film of the same name was filmed in 1989 and played in an 8000 seat stadium that will be inspired by the original Comiskey Park.

The season ends with 10 games against their Central Division rivals, which hopefully will be important.

On the north side, the Cubs open their season up north in Milwaukee, before returning home the following Monday to kick off the home portion of their schedule against the Pirates.

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

In June, they will head to London for a two-game tilt against the Cardinals

The Cubs end the year with a 16 of their final 22 games against the NL Central, with 13 of those coming against the Pirates and the Cardinals, who are likely to challenge them for the NL Central crown.

July 21, 2019January 22, 2019 by admin

Hall Of Fame Batting Leaders

Today, former White Sox designated hitter Harold Baines joins long time Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, Orioles and Yankees ace Mike Mussina, Mariners star Edgar Martinez, Blue Jays and Phillies ace Roy Halladay, and well-traveled closer Lee Smith in taking their place in Cooperstown. With a single new hitter joining the list of Hall of Famers I’ve seen play live, let’s check back in with the new leaders on the offensive side of the ball amongst Hall of Famers for all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2019.