Another Name Change

Eight years into a thirteen-year deal, Guaranteed Rate Field will now be known as Rate Field.  While the new name rolls off the tongue a little easier than the previous moniker, it is still a bit of a clunker.  Guaranteed Rate rebranded as simply Rate this past July, so the new name aligns with the corporate master.

In the time the park was known as Guaranteed Rate, I saw 203 games, including post-season play in 2021 and the worst team in modern MLB history in 2024.

All-Time Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Milwaukee Brewers 3 1 0.750
Cleveland Guardians 4 2 0.667
San Diego Padres 2 1 0.667
Arizona Diamondbacks 2 1 0.667
Chicago Cubs 7 4 0.636
Seattle Mariners 7 4 0.636
Toronto Blue Jays 5 3 0.625
Boston Red Sox 6 4 0.600
Cleveland Indians 7 5 0.583
New York Yankees 4 3 0.571
Detroit Tigers 13 10 0.565
Houston Astros 6 5 0.545
Cincinnati Reds 1 1 0.500
Los Angeles Angels 3 3 0.500
St. Louis Cardinals 2 2 0.500
Texas Rangers 3 3 0.500
Oakland Athletics 6 7 0.462
Chicago White Sox 93 110 0.458
Minnesota Twins 7 9 0.438
Kansas City Royals 8 12 0.400
Baltimore Orioles 3 5 0.375
San Francisco Giants 1 2 0.333
Tampa Bay Rays 2 5 0.286

The Hall Calls

Sunday night, the results of the Classic Baseball Era Veteran’s Committee vote was revealed, adding two players to the Hall of Fame class of 2025: Dick Allen and Dave Parker.  Parker was named on fourteen ballots from the 16-person committee, while Allen nabbed thirteen votes, the one more than the minimum needed for election.

Allen spent three of his fifteen big league seasons with the White Sox, earning the MVP award in 1972.  He was the Rookie of the Year in 1964 with the Phillies and also spent time with the Cardinals, Dodgers, and A’s.  He hit 20 or more home runs in nine consecutive seasons and finished his career with 351 homers, 1,119 RBI and a .292 career batting average.  Unfortunately, Allen passed away in December of 2020.

Parker, 73, was a seven-time All-Star in his 19-year career, hitting 339 home runs and posting a lifetime .290 batting average.  He won back-to-back batting titles with the Pirates in 1977 and 1978, winning the NL MVP award in ’78.  He earned All-Star MVP honors in 1979 while leading the Pirates to their last World Series championship.  After leaving the Pirates, he bounced around to the Reds, A’s, Brewers, Angels and Blue Jays, winning a second title with the A’s in 1989.

2024 BBWAA Award Predictions

The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the recently completed baseball season, which will be announced next week.  It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Bobby Witt Jr.

While Witt led the league in hitting while posting a 30-30 season and leading the surprising Royals back to the post-season, Judge’s 58 home runs and 1.159 OPS, the highest number since Barry Bonds in 2004, should take this with no problem.

Cy Young Award: Emmanuel Clase, Seth Lugo, Tarik Skubal

In his breakout season, Skubal looks like the logical choice, winning the AL triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts.

Manager of the Year: A.J. Hinch, Matt Quatraro, Stephen Vogt

As usual, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  Three teams from the AL Central made the post-season and all three of their skippers show up here.  I’m guessing that A.J. Hinch, whose Tigers were left for dead before going on a tremendous stretch run to get into the playoffs, will get the award.

Rookie of the Year: Colton Cowser, Luis Gil, Austin Wells

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  The two Yankees both had impressive stretches throughout the season but also faced significant struggles at times.  Cowser, meanwhile, tied for the rookie lead with 24 home runs and led AL rookies with a 123 OPS+, which should earn him the nod.

National League

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And Then There Were None

The Cubs career of Kyle Hendricks officially came to an end Wednesday when the free agent pitcher signed a one-year deal with the Angels.  After an eleven-year Cubs career, he was the last remaining member of the 2016 World Series champions to remain on the roster for the North Siders.

Hendricks was first acquired by the Cubs at the trade deadline in 2012 as part of the return from the Rangers for Ryan Dempster.  He made his major league debut nearly two years later, throwing six innings against the Reds at Great American Ballpark and earning a no-decision.  2016 was his best season, winning 16 games and posting a 2.13 ERA in the regular season and making five post-season starts, giving up just two earned runs in 21 2/3 innings between the NLCS and the World Series.  He has struggled with injuries and worsening performance over the past three seasons, making his departure feel inevitable.

While Hendricks was the last continuous link to the 2016 squad, he may not be the last member of that team to suit up for the Cubs.  Rob Zastryzny, who made his major league debut for the 2016 team and made eight appearances down the stretch, was recently re-acquired off waivers from the Brewers and will be given a chance to claim a bullpen spot during spring training.

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

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2024 Predictions Revisited

Six months ago, I made my annual predictions as to who would win what.  With the Wild Card round in full swing, it is time to revisit those predictions and see what, if anything, I got right.

American League

East: Rays

Well, after missing the postseason for the first time since 2016, the Yankees stormed back to take the AL East crown.  Meanwhile, the Rays struggled early and never really found their groove.

Central: Guardians

Would you look at that?  I got one right, as the Guardians led a resurgent AL Central for most of the season.

West: Mariners

The Mariners did lead the division for a while, but, at the end of the day, the Astros managed to win the division for the fourth straight year and the seventh year out of the last eight.

Wild Cards: Astros, Blue Jays, Yankees

I guess I can take solace in the fact that two of these choices are headed to the post-season, though as division champions.  A surprisingly strong AL Central, thanks to getting to face the putrid White Sox many times, landed two Wild Card spots with the Royals and the Tigers.  The Orioles snagged the top spot.

AL Champion: Yankees

The Yankees look to have the hardest path, having to face either the Tigers, the hottest team in baseball heading into the post-season, or the Orioles, against whom they lost eight of their thirteen contests this year.  I hate to say it, but the Astros may make another appearance in the Fall Classic.

Cy Young: Tristan McKenzie

McKenzie struggled this year and split the year between Cleveland and Triple A Columbus.  Tiger starter Tarik Skubal looks to be the front-runner.

MVP: Julio Rodriguez

Another wrong guess.  Aaron Judge will probably take it home for the second time in three seasons.

National League

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Looking Ahead To 2025

Last week, on the extra off day in the All-Star break, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2025 schedule while I was away in Amsterdam.  For the third year in a row, MLB is keeping with a balanced schedule, playing 52 games against division opponents, 64 games against non-division opponents in the same league, and 46 interleague games, with series against every team in the opposite league.  With the White Sox about to cement the worst season in franchise history and the Cubs trying to figure out what went wrong on their way back to contention, the 2025 season looks like it could be a long one for the city of Chicago.  So, for one day, at least, let’s turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

The White Sox celebrate the 125th anniversary of the franchise, opening their season on March 27 at home against the Angels, kicking off a six-game homestand that also features the Twins.  They will make their first visit to Sacramento, the new home of the A’s, in the last weekend of April.

The interleague schedule sees the Phillies, Marlins, Cardinals, Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Padres coming to Guaranteed Rate Field, while the White Sox will go on the road to face the Pirates, Reds, Dodgers, Braves, Mets, Rockies, and Nationals.  The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a three-game weekend series at Wrigley Field in mid-May followed by another weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field the last weekend in July.

After wrapping up the home portion of the schedule in mid-September against the Orioles and Padres, the White Sox wrap up the 2025 season on the east coast, battling the Yankees and the Nationals to finish up the year.

On the north side, the Cubs head to Japan to open their season on March 18 with a two-game tilt against the Dodgers in Tokyo.  They return to the US to face the Diamondbacks on March 27 before heading to Sacramento for the first time to face the A’s.  They open up the home portion of the 2025 season on April 4 against the Padres.

Aside from the A’s, the Cubs will head out on the road to face the Twins, Angels, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Tigers, while the Mariners, Orioles, Guardians, Red Sox, and Royals will be coming to Wrigley Field.

Only ten of their 25 games in September are against their NL Central rivals, which could make a difference should the Cubs find themselves in contention.  They end the year with a six-game homestand, facing the Mets and the Cardinals.

All Time Team Records

After a long, disappointing winter, the 2024 baseball season is set to get underway tomorrow.  To celebrate, it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have identified as having attended dating back to 1984.  Last year, I tied 2011 for my eleventh highest game total of all time, an increase of ten games from the year before, and managed to see 21 out of the 30 teams, so there should be some nice changes.

The White Sox just may be worse this year following a disappointing 2023, with new general manager Chris Getz treading water by bringing in defensive upgrades who can’t hit their way out of a paper bag.  On the other side of town, the Cubs brought in Craig Counsell to push a team that overachieved back into playoff contention but didn’t do a whole lot to improve the roster to help him do so.  The 2024 season may just be a maddening year on both sides of town.

All-Time Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 2 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 16 4 0.800
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
New York Yankees 19 12 0.613
Colorado Rockies 11 7 0.611
Cleveland Guardians 3 2 0.600
Philadelphia Phillies 13 9 0.591
Toronto Blue Jays 17 12 0.586
Los Angeles Angels 20 15 0.571
Boston Red Sox 19 15 0.559
Washington Nationals 7 6 0.538
Cleveland Indians 31 27 0.534
Chicago Cubs 235 213 0.525
Chicago White Sox 366 342 0.517 Continue reading →

A Shakeup In Wrigleyville

Just over nine years ago, the Cubs stunned the world by hiring Joe Maddon to manage the team while still employing Rick Renteria in the same role.  Since that worked out so well, Jed Hoyer and company decided to do it again, shocking everyone by announcing they were hiring Craig Counsell to become the new manager of the Cubs while simultaneously firing David Ross.  Counsell, 53, becomes the highest paid manager in MLB history with a five-year, $40 million contract after leading the Brewers to four NL Central titles in his nine seasons with the club.

In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, the Cubs were primed to sneak into the playoffs before a September swoon knocked them out of contention.  That swoon likely cost David Ross his job, even if it wasn’t necessarily his fault.  Now Counsell will try to lead the upstart Cubs, and their new core of young talent expected to graduate to the big leagues in the next year or two, past his old club and back to the post-season for the first time since 2020.

Ross finishes his tenure with a 262-284 record in four seasons, with the one division title in 2020.  I imagine he will get another shot at the manager gig someday.

2023 Predictions Revisited

Six months ago, I made my annual predictions as to who would win what.  With the Wild Card round in full swing, it is time to revisit those predictions and see what, if anything, I got right.

American League

East: Yankees

Yeah, I didn’t see this one coming.  The Yankees missed the postseason for the first time since 2016.  Meanwhile, the upstart Orioles came out of nowhere to win the East and take the top seed in the American League.

Central: Guardians

The Guardians put up a fight, but the Twins managed to rebound and re-take the Central.

West: Astros

It came down to the last day of the season, but the Astros did manage to win the division for the third straight year and the sixth year out of the last seven.

Wild Cards: Blue Jays, Mariners, White Sox

Oh boy.  Well, the Blue Jays managed to snag the last Wild Card spot and the Mariners lasted until the final week.  The White Sox, on the other hand, lost 100 games and were out of contention in April.

AL Champion: Yankees

If I’m going to be wrong, this is the way to do it.  The Astros look to have the easiest path, but I’m going to say either the Orioles or the Rays pull this one off.

Cy Young: Alek Manoah

This might be the wrongest prediction in the history of predictions.  Manoah was so bad this year, he spent time in both the Rookie League and AA.  Gerrit Cole looks to be the likely winner.

MVP: Julio Rodriguez

Another wrong guess.  Shohei Ohtani will probably take it, despite injuries ending his season early.

National League

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2023 Final Standings

A disappointing season on both sides of town came to an end this weekend, leaving both Chicago teams home for October.  The Cubs looked like a lock for a Wild Card spot heading into September, and even were holding on to the last spot within the past week, but managed to squander their lead.  The White Sox, on the other hand, managed to lose 100 or more games for just the fifth time in franchise history.  Despite all this, I ended up attending 43 games, tied with 2011 for my eleventh highest total of all time.  I only managed to add one new stadium, bringing my total up to 28.  All told, I managed to see 21 of the 30 teams.

2023 Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Toronto Blue Jays 2 0 1.000
Philadelphia Phillies 2 0 1.000
San Diego Padres 2 0 1.000
Miami Marlins 1 0 1.000
Chicago Cubs 9 2 0.818
Milwaukee Brewers 2 1 0.667
Seattle Mariners 2 2 0.500
San Francisco Giants 1 1 0.500
Oakland Athletics 1 1 0.500
St. Louis Cardinals 1 1 0.500
Detroit Tigers 1 1 0.500
Cleveland Guardians 1 1 0.500
Tampa Bay Rays 1 1 0.500
Baltimore Orioles 1 1 0.500
Chicago White Sox 15 21 0.417
Arizona Diamondbacks Continue reading →