Tag / A’s

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#225 – Gene Nelson

genenelson

Name: Gene Nelson

Rank: 225

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1984-1986

With the White Sox struggling to repeat as AL West Champions in 1984, they swung a deal with the Mariners on June 27 to swap relief pitchers, sending Salome Barojas out west in exchange for Jerry Don Gleaton and Gene Nelson.  Nelson, who had been in Triple A for the Mariners, came to the big leagues with the White Sox and split his time between the rotation and bullpen, starting 9 of his 20 appearances.

In 1985, Nelson was penciled in to work strictly out of the pen.  “It was tough to adjust after starting for so long,” he said.  “It was a matter of learning the mental parts of the game in the bullpen.”  However, an injury to Richard Dotson and the ineffectiveness of Bruce Tanner forced manager Tony LaRussa to move Nelson back in to the rotation in early July.  By year’s end, Nelson had completed his first full big league season with 46 appearances, 18 of them as a starter.

1986 saw Nelson back in the bullpen full time, save one emergency start due to the death of Tom Seaver’s mother.  He appeared in a career-high 54 games and posted his best ERA to date.  In December, the White Sox packaged Nelson with Bruce Tanner and sent him to the A’s in exchange for second baseman Donnie Hill.

Nelson’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

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#239 – Donnie Hill

donnie-hillName: Donnie Hill

Rank: 239

Position: 2B

Years With White Sox: 1987-1988

Donnie Hill was acquired by the White Sox as the player to be named later in the earlier trade that sent Gene Nelson to the A’s.  The 1987 season was painful for him, both physically and emotionally.  An eye infection struck him in May and lingered for nearly 2 months, making it difficult to see.  As a result, his batting average plunged to .239.  “It was just a pain in the tail,” Hill said. “I don’t know how I got the problem.  Whatever I did only seemed to make it worse.  It was a distraction, but I’m not using it as an excuse.”

Going in to the 1988 season, Hill was slated to platoon at second base with Fred Manrique.  Things did not improve for Hill, though, as he appeared in only 83 games and his average dropped to .217.  “I never should have tried to change what I did in Oakland,” Hill said, “but I’m still confident in my ability. I know there are some things I need to do in the off-season-drop a little weight and get stronger. I’m not finished.”

The White Sox were just about finished with him, though.  Hill came to spring training in 1989, but was released on March 9, about a week into the Grapefruit League schedule.

Hill’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

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All Time Team Records

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersAnother exciting baseball season is upon us, and it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have attended.  Some changes from last year:

– A horrible 2013 dropped the winning percentage for the White Sox 9 points.

– The Miami Marlins join the roster of teams I have seen in person

All-Time Team Records

TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 1 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 12 2 0.857
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
Philadelphia Phillies 10 6 0.625
Toronto Blue Jays 9 6 0.600
Chicago White Sox 220 187 0.541
Tampa Bay Rays 7 6 0.538
Colorado Rockies 7 6 0.538
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 15 13 0.536
New York Yankees 9 8 0.529
Chicgao Cubs 191 170 0.529
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And The Enshrinees Are

greg-maddux 52174766

The BBWAA ballots have been counted and Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas, and Tom Glavine have been elected as to the Hall of Fame. Maddux lead the pack with 97.2% of the vote, followed by his former Braves teammate Glavine with 91.9%. Thomas finished third with 83.7% of the vote. Narrowly missing induction, with 74.8% of the vote (the Hall of Fame does not round up) was Craig Biggio.

Maddux, of course, got his start with the Cubs, whom he helped lead to the 1989 NL East title.  He won the first of his 4 consecutive NL Cy Young awards with the North Siders in 1992 before being allowed to leave as a free agent by GM Larry Himes.  Maddux signed with the Braves, where he continued to dominate and helped lead Atlanta to the 1995 World Series championship.  After 11 seasons, he returned to the Cubs in 2004.  He defeated the Giants in August of that year to win his 300th game and, in July of 2005, he struck out his 3000th batter.  In 2006, with the Cubs far out of contention, he was traded to the Dodgers for their stretch run.  For 2007, Maddux signed with the Padres, where he spent the next year and a half before being traded back to the Dodgers for another stretch run.  After the Dodgers were bounced from the playoffs, Maddux announced his retirement.

Frank Thomas was the first round draft pick of the White Sox in the 1989 draft, and made his debut for the White Sox the following year.  Thomas won the AL MVP award in 1993 while leading the White Sox to their final AL West title.  Thomas repeated as MVP in 1994, putting up a .353 average with 38 homers and 101 RBIs in the strike-shortened season.  In 1997, Thomas won the AL batting title and finished third in the MVP race.  After two substandard seasons, at least for him, Thomas rebounded in 2000, leading the White Sox to the AL Central title and narrowly losing the MVP award to a juiced-up Jason Giambi.  Thomas struggled with injuries after that, appearing in only 20 games in 2001, 74 games in 2004, and 34 games in 2005.  He spent the entire post-season on the disabled list as the White Sox won their first World Series in 88 years.  Following that year, the White Sox cut ties with Thomas and he headed out west to play for the A’s.  In his first game back in Chicago as a visiting player, Thomas homered twice.  Thomas spent 2007 and the start of 2008 with the Blue Jays, before finishing the season, and his career, back with the A’s.

I have been witness to milestones for all 3 enshrined players.  I was at Wrigley Field when Greg Maddux made his first attempt at winning his 300th game against the Phillies, the start before he won it on the road against the GIants.  I was there the next season for the rain delayed night game where he would strike out his 3000th batter, again against the Giants.  I was in Shea Stadium for Tom Glavine’s first appearance as a New York Met, which did not turn out well for him.  4 years later, I was at Wrigley Field for a Sunday night matchup where things worked out better for him as he defeated the Cubs for his 300th victory.

Thomas is now the Hall of Famer I have seen in action more than any other.  I was at his first return appearance as a member of the A’s, where, before the first of his 2 home runs, he was treated to a standing ovation.  An ovation which panned the crowd and found me amongst the masses, which I happened to notice that night on Baseball Tonight and now lives on as part of the White Sox Memories DVD.  I first saw Thomas play in his rookie year of 1990 and caught 66 of his games over the years.  I was there when he threw out the first pitch before the 2005 ALDS Game 1 against the Red Sox and in 2010 when his number 35 was retired.

Maddux, Thomas, and Glavine’s numbers in games I attended were:

Continue reading →

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#273 – Jon Adkins

jon_adkins_autograph

Name: Jon Adkins

Rank: 273

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2003-2005

Jon Adkins was acquired by the White Sox on July 25, 2002 from the A’s in exchange for Ray Durham.  He made his major league debut on August 14, 2003 against the Angels, facing 3 hitters without getting an out in the White Sox 5-1 loss.  He made only 4 appearances that year for the big league club, but surprised everyone, including himself, when he made the 2004 squad out of spring training.  He spent the entire season n the big leagues, appearing in 50 games and putting up a 4.65 ERA.

Things did not go his way in 2005, when newcomers Dustin Hermanson and Luis Vizcaino took his place in the bullpen.  He did spend enough time in the major leagues to make 5 appearances, but his ERA skyrocketed to 8.64.  Unsurprisingly, he did not make the post-season roster, and, that December, he was granted free agency.

Adkins’ numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Continue reading →

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2013 Predictions Revisited

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersBack in April, on the eve of the 2013 baseball season, I looked into my crystal ball and tried to predict the outcomes of the division races and the major awards.  Now that the season has come to an end the playoffs are in full swing, let’s take a look back at how things unfolded and how wrong my predictions were.

American League

East: Rays

Nobody really predicted the Red Sox bouncing back from their miserable 2012 campaign and winning the division this year.  The Rays, meanwhile, managed to beat the Rangers in the tie-breaker game and make it as the second wild card.

Central: Tigers

This one was practically a no-brainer, although the Indians did make a race of it.

West: Angels

The Angels once again made a huge splash in the free agency market and then underachieved miserably during the season.  The A’s, despite their precarious stadium and underfunded roster, took the division handily.

Wild Cards: Blue Jays, A’s

Despite totally remaking their roster, the Blue Jays failed to reach the playoffs once again.  The Indians and the Rays were the actual wild card teams.  Overall, for the AL, I managed to get one division winner correct and 3 of the 5 playoff teams correct.

National League

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#282 – Bob Melvin

melvin12Name: Bob Melvin

Rank: 282

Position: C

Year With White Sox: 1994

Veteran catcher Bob Melvin joined the White Sox via trade from the Angels for Jeff Schwarz on July 22, 1994.  He managed to appear in 11 games in the 21 days before the strike wiped out the remainder of the season and ended Melvin’s career.

Melvin’s next career, as a major league manager, had him crossing paths once again with his former team as his first opponent while helming the A’s was the White Sox.

Melvin’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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Ballpark Tour: McAfee/Network Associates Coliseum

Stadium Name: McAfee/Network Associates Coliseum

Location: Oakland

Home Team: A’s

Years in Service: 1968 – Present

Visits: 2

The Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum opened in 1966 as the home of the Oakland Raiders.  Two years later, Charlie Finley moved his A’s from Kansas City to Oakland and became the baseball tenant of the stadium.  In 1998, the stadium became known as Network Associates Coliseum.  In mid-2004, Network Associates was renamed McAfee and the stadium was renamed McAfee Coliseum accordingly.  Following the 2008 season, the name reverted back to Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum until April 27, 2011, when it was renamed Overstock.com Coliseum. Just over a month later, the Coliseum was renamed O.co Coliseum, after Overstock.com’s marketing name.  The A’s have officially been looking for a new home since 2005, with Major League Baseball sitting on a feasibility study for over 4 years on the team’s potential future in the East Bay.

Both times I’ve traveled to the Bay area, I’ve taken in both Giants and A’s games.  My first trip to what at the time was called Network Associates Coliseum was on September 6, 1999 while I was out west visiting my friend Scott.  The Tigers triumphed over the A’s that day, and my one memory of the stadium is that the seats were not necessarily positioned in such a way as to face the field for baseball purposes.

My second trip to the Bay area, for the JavaOne conference in 2008, actually started out with a BART trip out to Oakland for a 2-1 A’s victory over the Orioles on May 5th.  The A’s had opnened up three sections of the third deck as designated All-You-Can-Eat seats, where, for the price of the ticket, free ballpark fare was included.  While I enjoyed the novelty of the free foodstuffs, the seats, while directly behind home plate, were horrible.  Leaving early in order to catch the train back to San Francisco led to the problem of trying to get out of the stadium, since none of the gates were open.

The A’s have spent nearly a decade trying to find a new home, and with good reason.  The Coliseum is mainly configured for the Raiders and the A’s have been second class citizens in their own home for decades.  Earlier this year, a game had to be postponed due to a sewage backup.  While the A’s, MLB, and San Jose try to figure things out in the courtroom, the A’s will continue to be behind the 8-ball due to their stadium situation.

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Ballpark Tour: AT&T Park

ATTPark

Stadium Name: AT&T Park

Location: San Francisco

Home Team: Giants

Years in Service: 2000 – Present

Visits: 1

The San Francisco Giants opened Pacific Bell Park in 2000 after 40 seasons at Candlestick Park.  The ballpark was the first stadium built without public funds since the completion of Dodger Stadium in 1962.  The stadium was renamed SBC Park in 2003 and then finally AT&T Park in 2006 thanks to the corporate upheaval in the telecommunications world.  In April 2010, the stadium became the first MLB ballpark to receive LEED Silver Certification for Existing Buildings, Operations and Maintenance.

In May of 2008, I made my second trip out to Bay Area, this time to attend the Java One conference.  The week started with the A’s in town while the Giants returned home for a weekend series, so I adjusted my schedule so that I could attend games at both stadiums.  Friday night, after most of the techies had left town, I hopped on the bus down to AT&T Park to see the Giants, once again, take on the Phillies.  I dropped some major coin for the best tickets in the house, which got me in a box between home plate and the Phillie dugout and a prime spot on the evening’s telecast.  The Phillies, on their way to a World Series championship, defeated the Giants 7-4.

As one would expect from a newly built stadium, AT&T Park offered all the amenities one would expect.  The park is a huge upgrade over Candlestick and, given the Giants recent success, has proven to be a boon for the franchise.  Given the opportunity, I would love to go back for another game.

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#292 – Andrew Lorraine

Andrew_Lorraine

Name: Andrew Lorraine

Rank: 292

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1995

Andrew Lorraine joined the White Sox near the trading deadline in 1995 when he, along with McKay Christensen, Bill Simas, and John Snyder came over from the Angels in exchange for Jim Abbott and Tim Fortugno.  Lorraine made it in to 5 games for the 1995 White Sox, giving up 3 runs in 8 innings.

The following January, Lorraine was packaged to the A’s along with minor leaguer Charles Poe for Danny Tartabull.  He rejoined the White Sox organization in 2006, putting up a 1.95 ERA in 17 appearances for Charlotte, but that was not enough to get called up and it was the final affiliated stop of his long career.

Lorraine’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

Continue reading →