Another season has come to a disappointing end, with both Chicago teams left on the outside looking in to the post-season. Let’s take a look back at the offensive leaders for the 35 games I attended this season.
Home Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Jose Abreu | 6 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 4 |
| Dayan Viciedo | 4 |
| Paul Konerko | 4 |
| Oswaldo Arcia | 3 |
Hits
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Adam Eaton | 38 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 36 |
| Jose Abreu | 29 |
| Dayan Viciedo | 26 |
| Conor Gillaspie | 23 |
Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Adam Eaton | 19 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 19 |
| Jose Abreu Continue reading → |
With the All Star Game on the books for tonight, we close the books on yet another disappointing first half for the 2014 season. Here are the offensive leaders for the 17 games I attended:
Home Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Paul Konerko | 4 |
| Alejandro de Aza | 2 |
| Jose Abreu | 2 |
| 20 tied with | 1 |
Hits
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Alexei Ramirez | 18 |
| Adam Eatorn | 17 |
| Gordon Beckham | 14 |
| Dayan Viciedo | 13 |
| Paul Konerko | 10 |
| Jose Abreu | 10 |
Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Adam Eaton | 9 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 7 |
| Continue reading → |
Last month, we looked at the overall leaders on both sides of the ball from all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2013. With Opening Day right around the corner, I thought it would be interesting to take another look at those numbers, limiting it to players that are still active heading in to the 2014 season.
Home Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Paul Konerko | 89 |
| Aramis Ramierz | 41 |
| Carlos Quentin | 28 |
| Corey Patterson | 26 |
| Adam Dunn | 26 |
Hits
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Paul Konerko | 352 |
| AJ Pierzynski | 237 |
| Continue reading → |
Another season has come to a disappointing end with both Chicago teams bringing up the bottom of their division. Let’s take a look back at the offensive leaders for the games I attended this year.
Home Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Adam Dunn | 7 |
| Alex Rios | 4 |
| Oswaldo Arcia | 2 |
| Jeff Baker | 2 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 2 |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | 2 |
| Jordan Danks | 2 |
Hits
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Alexei Ramirez | 32 |
| Alejandro de Aza | 31 |
| Continue reading → |
As we close the books on the disappointing first half of the 2013 season, here are the offensive (and believe you me, it has been pretty offensive) leaders for the games I attended:
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Adam Dunn | 4 |
| Alex Rios | 2 |
| 19 tied with | 1 |
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Alexei Ramirez | 18 |
| Alejandro de Aza | 16 |
| Conor Gillaspie | 12 |
| Dayan Viciedo | 11 |
| Alex Rios | 10 |
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Alejandro de Aza | 11 |
| Adam Dunn | 5 |
| Continue reading → |
Last month, we looked at the overall leaders on both sides of the ball from all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2012. With Opening Day right around the corner, I thought it would be interesting to take another look at those numbers, limiting it to players that are still active today.
Home Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Paul Konerko | 88 |
| Aramis Ramierz | 41 |
| Jim Thome | 35 |
| Carlos Quentin | 28 |
| Corey Patterson | 26 |
Hits
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Paul Konerko | 340 |
| Aramis Ramirez | 234 |
| Continue reading → |
As we close the books on the 2012 season without a post-season appearance by a Chicago team, here are the offensive leaders for the games I attended this year.
Home Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| AJ Pierzynski | 7 |
| Dayan Viciedo | 7 |
| Alex Rios | 7 |
| Kevin Youkilis | 7 |
| Adam Dunn | 4 |
| Tyler Flowers | 4 |
Hits
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Alex Rios | 44 |
| Alexei Ramirez | 38 |
| Continue reading → |
As we close the books on the first half of the 2012 season, here are the offensive leaders for the games I attended.
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Dayan Viciedo | 6 |
| Adam Dunn | 4 |
| Alex Rios | 4 |
| Kevin Youkilis | 3 |
| Paul Konerko | 2 |
| Jason Kipnis | 2 |
| Jarrod Saltalamacchia | 2 |
| Ichiro Suzuki | 2 |
| AJ Pierzynski | 2 |
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Alexei Ramirez | 28 |
| Alex Rios | 26 |
| Continue reading → |
On April 12, 1998, Kerry Wood pitched in his first major league game, a 4-1 loss to the Expos. Yesterday, he pitched in his last, a 3-2 loss to the White Sox. Along the way, he, and Cub fans, experienced plenty of highs (the 20 strikeout game, 3 division championships, 1 wild card birth, the 2003 NLDS victory over the Braves) and lows (injuries, the 2003 NLCS collapse against the Marlins, injuries, 9 straight playoff losses, injuries).
Word started to leak out early Friday morning that Wood was planning on calling it quits, following an errant tweet from his wife. Things had not been going well for him this season, and his aching arm did not seem to be up to the challenge of bouncing back day after day in the bullpen. Because of the meltdown in his last appearance, where he was booed off the field and tossed his glove into the crowd in anger, Wood wanted to pitch one last time. He got his chance in the 8th, with the Cubs down by one and Dayan Viciedo at the plate.
Like the Wood of old, he struck out Viciedo and, like that, it was over. Acting manager Jamie Quirk came to the mound and Wood left the field to a standing ovation, right into the arms of his son. After the game, he officially announced what everyone already knew, that he was walking away from the game, and team, that he loved.
I first saw Wood pitch in person on May 2, 2000 against the Astros, his first game back after elbow reconstruction surgery wiped out his 1999 season. Besides winning the game, Wood also thrilled the crowd with a home run off of Jose Lima. I saw him pitch 57 more times over the years, first as the ace of the Cubs staff, then as their closer, as an Indian and Yankee, and, finally, back home as a set up man, expected more to sell tickets and put butts in the seats than to get batters out.
Highlights include the showdown he won against the Yankees and fellow Texan Roger Clemens as the Rocket tried for win number 300, a few epic meltdowns in crosstown games against the White Sox, the home run and ultimate failure in game 7 of the NLCS against the Marlins, and, sadly, the injuries that robbed him of much of the promise he showed as a fresh faced 20 year old back in 1998.
Wood’s numbers in games I attended were:
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.
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.
Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain, Will Ohman, Addison Reed, Hector Santiago, Zach Stewart, Nate Jones