Tag / Brent Lillibridge

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Active Batting Leaders – Through 2014

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersLast month, we looked at the overall leaders on both sides of the ball from all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2014.  With Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn hanging up their spikes after last season, we should see some new names on this list.  Now that Opening Day is right around the corner, let’s take another look at those numbers, limiting it to players that are still active heading in to the 2015 season.

Home Runs

Name Total
Aramis Ramirez 41
Alexei Ramierz 28
Carlos Quentin 28
Alex Rios 23
AJ Pierzynski 20

Hits

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 261
AJ Pierzynski 237
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by jim

Transaction Tree

WhiteSox-rosterA few weeks back, when Corey Kluber won the Cy Young award, a New York time reporter tweeted how the Indians had, through multiple trades, turned Eddie Taubensee’s 1991 roster spot in to Kluber.  The fine folks at Grantland took it a step farther, and looked at the longest such chain for all 30 teams.

The White Sox fall smack dab in the middle of the league, having the 15th longest chain, dating back to the February 8, 1994 signing of amateur free agent Carlos Lee.  Lee made his major league debut on May 7, 1999, and quickly became a mainstay of the White Sox lineup, holding down left field through the 2004 season.  New manager Ozzie Guillen had tired of the station to station team he inherited, and was looking to implement some small ball, so Lee was shipped to the Brewers for a package that included Scott Podsednik and Luis Vizcaino.

Vizcaino spent just the one season with the White Sox, earning a World Series championship ring for his troubles.  With general manager Kenny Williams looking to repeat, he packaged Vizcaino with Orlando Hernandez and outfielder Chris Young in a trade to the Diamondbacks for starting pitcher Javier Vazquez.

Vazquez lasted 3 seasons with the White Sox, up to and including their 2008 AL Central title-winning year.  As the White Sox battled the Twins for the title, Vazquez turned out to be the one weak link in the rotation.  With the season stretching to a 163rd game, Guillen was forced to turn to Vazquez to start the first game of the division series against the Rays.  Vazquez responded to the challenge by giving up 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings, putting his team in an early hole in the best of 5 series.

Feeling that he couldn’t open the 2009 season with Vazquez still on the roster, Kenny Williams moved him, along with Boone Logan, to the Braves for, among others, Brent Lillibridge and Tyler Flowers.  Flowers made his debut in 2009 and became the full time starting catcher in 2013.  His production has been lacking over the course of his major league career, and, should an opportunity to upgrade arise, this chain may come to an end.

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#221 – Boone Logan

Boone Logan

Name: Boone Logan

Rank: 221

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2006-2008

Boone Logan joined the White Sox organization as their 20th round pick in the 2002 draft.  He made his major league debut against the Indians on April 4, 2006, on the day the majority of his teammates received their World Series rings.  Logan ended up splitting time between the White Sox and Charlotte, finishing with a very disappointing 8.31 ERA for the big league club.

2007 saw Logan spending the majority of the year in the major leagues, appearing in 68 games for the disappointing White Sox squad that lost 90 games.  He managed to lower his ERA to a still enlarged 4.97.

While the White Sox rebounded to win the AL Central in 2008, Logan continued to struggle, with an ERA that jumped back up to 5.95.  Logan did not appear in the Division Series, which the Sox dropped to the Rays in 4 games.  Following the season, Logan was packaged with Javier Vazquez to the Braves in the deal that brought Tyler Flowers, Brent Lillibridge, and two others back to the White Sox.

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

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by jim

Saviors?

It’s been a busy couple of days in the Chicago baseball universe.  After nearly three months of futility at the hot corner, the White Sox shipped Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge to the Red Sox for the services of Kevin Youkilis on Sunday afternoon.  Less than 24 hours later, the Cubs finally decided to call up their latest superstar-of-the-future Anthony Rizzo, now that they have successfully manipulated his free agent status.

Youkilis, whose time in Boston was brought to a premature end thanks to the emergence of Will Middlebrooks, has been fighting injuries and the suggestions that he’s not the player he once was.  Even if that is true, he should be an improvement over the incumbents, who have managed to put together numbers that, to this point, have been surpassed by, among others, the Washington Nationals pitching staff.  Even a broken down Youkilis should be an upgrade as the White Sox try to make a run at the AL Central crown.  Orlando Hudson moves to the bench, but I would be surprised if he finishes the season with the Sox.

Meanwhile, the performance of the Chicago Cubs this season makes the White Sox third basemen look like all-stars.  However, the one person putting up numbers has been buried in Des Moines, with the new leadership of Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer tanking the 2012 season in the hopes of securing the 2019 season.  At the end of the day, it may end up having been the correct decision, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it now for the people who have plunked down their hard earned money to watch (or not, if the empty seats and StubHub listings are to be believed) the mess that is the 2012 Cubs, who may end up with the worst record in franchise history.  Now the pressure is on Rizzo to save the season and prove that he was worth the wait.

by jim

The Robin Ventura Era Begins

After playing alongside Ozzie Guillen on the left side of the White Sox infield for years, Robin Ventura now follows him in the dugout as skipper, starting with today’s contest against the defending American League champion Rangers.  Here’s a look at the roster with which he’ll be starting the 162 game grind.

Starting Pitchers

John Danks, Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd, Chris Sale, Phil Humber

With Mark Buehrle gone, John Danks moves up to the top of the rotation, getting his first Opening Day start today.  Peavy looks to have his first injury-free season on the south side.  Chris Sale attempts to move from the bullpen to the rotation and fulfill the promise he showed in college.  Humber was a surprise success last season and hopefully can continue that success.

Relief Pitchers

Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain, Will Ohman, Addison Reed, Hector Santiago, Zach Stewart, Nate Jones

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#485 – Javier Vazquez

Name: Javier Vázquez

Rank: 485

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2006-2008

In 2005, the White Sox defied expectations and won their first World Series championship since 1917.  In an attempt to bolster the rotation for their title defense, Kenny Williams sent playoff hero Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, Luis Vizcaino, and prospect Chris Young to the Diamondbacks for Javier Vazquez, the former Expos ace who had bounced around the previous few years.  On paper, it seemed like a good move, but it failed to take into account that Javier Vazquez is at his best when he is pitching for either a National League club or a team out of contention.  Neither of these fit in to the White Sox plans for the 2006 season.

Watching him pitch in 2006 was frustrating, to say the least.  He had a propensity for being unhittable for 5 innings, and then completely falling apart in the sixth.  He finished the year 11-12 with a 4.84 ERA in 33 games and, while they won 90 games, the White Sox finished in third place.

2007 was a much better year for Vazquez, going 15-8 with a 3.74 ERA.  Coincidentally, the White Sox finished the year with a 72-90 record, 24 games behind the Indians.  In 2008, as the team rebounded to 89-74, winning the division in a one game playoff versus the Twins.  Vazquez regressed back to a 12-16 record, with a 4.67 ERA.  Thanks to the push down the stretch to win the division, the Sox were forced to start Vazquez in game 1 of the ALDS, where he was battered around by the Rays, giving up 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings.  That December, his tenure on the South Side came to an end when he was moved to the Braves for a package that included Tyler Flowers and Brent Lillibridge.

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

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2011 Final Batting Leaders

What was expected to be a huge offensive season on the Southside turned out to be a major disappointment.  Here are the final stat leaders for the games I attended this year.

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 10
Alex Rios 6
Brent Lillibridge 5
Gordon Beckham 4
Alexei Ramirez 3
Brent Morel 3
Adam Dunn 3
Carlos Pena 3

Hits

Name Total
Juan Pierre 50
Paul Konerko 47
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by jim

2011 Opening Day Roster – White Sox

Starting Pitchers

Mark Buehrle, Edwin Jackson, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Phil Humber

Buehrle, Danks, and Floyd have been stalwarts for 4 seasons now.  Hopefully Jackson can build upon the success he had after coming over in a trade with Arizona last summer.  Humbler fills in for the injured Jake Peavy.

Relief Pitchers

Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain, Chris Sale, Will Ohman, Sergio Santos and Tony Pena

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