2017 Predictions Revisited

Six months ago, as the 2017 baseball season was scheduled to kick off, 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: Red Sox

1 for 1 so far, as the Red Sox held off a late surge from the Yankees to clinch on the season’s second to last day.

Central: Indians

The Indians finished with the best record in the American League thanks to a 32-4 run to close out the season.

West: Mariners

Well, I was a little off on this one, as the Mariners finished in third place, a mere 23 games behind the Astros.

Wild Cards: Blue Jays, Tigers

Both teams finished in last place in their respective divisions, with the Tigers finishing with the worst record in baseball.

AL Champion: Red Sox

It’s a good sign that my pick made the playoffs.

Cy Young: Chris Sale

There is a very good possibility of this coming to fruition.

MVP: Francisco Lindor

There is very little possibility of this coming to fruition.

National League

Continue reading →

2017 All Star Break Standings

As the baseball world turns its sights to Miami for Tuesday night’s All Star Game, it’s time to take a look at the team records for the 24 games I attended in the first half of the baseball season, a mish-mash of excitement, followed by disappointment, giving way to uncertainty about what the second half will hold.

2017 Team Records
Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Oakland Athletics 2 0 1.000
Pittsburgh Pirates 1 0 1.000
Milwaukee Brewers 1 0 1.000
Colorado Rockies 1 0 1.000
New York Yankees 2 1 0.667
Chicago White Sox 9 8 0.529
Detroit Tigers 2 2 0.500
Texas Rangers 1 1 0.500
Minnesota Twins 1 1 0.500
Los Angeles Dodgers 1 1 0.500
Cleveland Indians 1 1 0.500
Boston Red Sox 1 1 0.500
Chicago Cubs 1 6 0.143
San Diego Padres 0 1 0.000
Kansas City Royals 0 1 0.000

That Escalated Quickly

Yesterday was a rough day for Miguel Montero.  The Cub catcher was on the hot seat after the Nationals stole 7 bases during their 6-1 victory Tuesday night, leaving him at 0-31 at nabbing would-be base stealers for the season.  When questioned after the game, Montero placed the blame squarely on starting pitcher Jake Arrieta, saying, “It really sucks because the stolen bases go on me.  When you really look at it, the pitcher doesn’t give me any time.  It’s just like: ‘Yeah, OK, Miggy can’t throw nobody out.’ Yeah, but my pitchers don’t hold anybody on.  It’s tough, because it doesn’t matter how much work I put in.  If I don’t get a chance to throw, that’s the reason why they were running left and right today, because they know he was slow to the plate. Simple as that. It’s a shame that it’s my fault because I didn’t throw anybody out.”

Those comments did not go over well in Cub-land.  Anthony Rizzo, unofficial team captain, appeared on ESPN 1000 this morning and called out Montero as being selfish, noting that Willson Contreras has no issues throwing runners out.  A few hours later, Montero’s time with the Cubs had come to an end, having been designated for assignment.  Given the $7 million he is owed for the remainder of the season, a trade seems unlikely.

Montero had a few highlights in his 2 1/2 years on the North side, including his Game One grand slam in the NLCS last year against the Dodgers to give the Cubs the win.  Will he catch on somewhere else?  Or is this the end of the road for the former all star catcher?  We’ll likely find out over the next few weeks.

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

Continue reading →

It’s Been A While

Prior to last night’s game, I hadn’t seen the Rockies live since August of 2012, nearly 5 years ago.  For someone with season tickets to two teams, one in each league, that is a long drought.  This got me thinking about the other 29 teams.

You would think that I would cycle through each team every few years or so.  And, for the most part, that does seem to be the case.  I’ve already seen 12 teams in 2017, and the season is just over 2 months old.  Going back to last year, that number jumps to 22 and, going back to 2015, 25.  That’s over 83% of the league in the past 2+ seasons.

What about those remaining 5 teams?  The Astros and Diamondbacks last appeared in 2014, with the Marlins and the Nationals in the two years prior.  That leaves the Phillies, who I have somehow not managed to see in person since 2009.  I’ve seen the Florida Marlins more recently.  Anyway, here’s a look at each team and the last time I saw them play.

Team Name Date
Colorado Rockies 6/8/2017
Chicago Cubs 6/8/2017
Chicago White Sox 5/30/2017
Boston Red Sox 5/30/2017
Detroit Tigers 5/28/2017
San Diego Padres 5/13/2017
New York Yankees 5/7/2017
Kansas City Royals 4/25/2017
Cleveland Indians 4/23/2017
Pittsburgh Pirates 4/15/2017
Los Angeles Dodgers 4/12/2017
Minnesota Twins 4/9/2017
San Francisco Giants 10/8/2016
Continue reading →

#27 – Jim Thome

Name: Jim Thome

Rank: 27

Position: DH

Years With White Sox: 2006-2009

Fresh off their first World Series championship in 88 years, the White Sox looked to reload for their title defense by acquiring Jim Thome from the Phillies for Aaron Rowand, Gio Gonzalez, and Daniel Haigwood.  Thome made an immediate impact, setting a major league record by scoring in each of Chicago’s first 17 games and setting the team record with 10 home runs in April.  By season’s end, Thome had put up a .288 average with 42 home runs, 102 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.014.

The bottom fell out for the White Sox in 2007.  One of the few bright spots came in mid September, on Jim Thome bobblehead day, when Thome launched his 500th career home run, the first player to do so on a walk-off.  For the year, Thome hit .275, with 35 home runs and 96 RBIs.

2008 was a bit of a down year for Thome.  His average fell to .245 and his OPS to .865, but he still managed 34 home runs and 90 RBIs.  The most important of them came in the 163rd game of the year, as he hit a solo home run to give the White Sox a 1-0 victory over the Twins and the Central Division title.  Unfortunately, Thome struggled during the ALDS against the Rays, getting only 2 hits in 16 at bats.

2009 was another down year for the White Sox.  He was hitting .249 with 23 home runs and 74 RBIs when, on August 31, he was traded to the Dodgers for a warm body.

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

Continue reading →

All Time Team Records

baseballs3Yet another 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 dating back to 1984.  The Cubs begin the season as defending champions for the first time since 1909 while the White Sox finally start their long-overdue rebuilding effort, so both sides of town are pointing in different directions.  Either way, the 2017 season should be an exciting one.

All-Time Team Records
Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 1 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 13 2 0.867
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
Philadelphia Phillies 10 6 0.625
Toronto Blue Jays 13 9 0.591
New York Yankees 12 9 0.571
Los Angeles Angels 16 13 0.552
Boston Red Sox 14 12 0.538
Colorado Rockies 7 6 0.538
Chicago Cubs 203 179 0.531
Chicago White Sox 267 237 0.530
Cleveland Indians 23 21 0.523
Kansas City Royals Continue reading →

2017 Predictions

The 2017 baseball season is scheduled to kick off tonight, with 3 games scheduled culminating with the Cubs starting their first title defense since 1909 against their arch rivals in St. Louis.  For the seventh consecutive year, I’ve looked into the crystal ball to make my picks for the upcoming season.

American League

East: Red Sox

Central: Indians

West: Mariners

Wild Cards: Blue Jays, Tigers

AL Champion: Red Sox

Cy Young: Chris Sale

MVP: Francisco Lindor

National League

Continue reading →

Team Stats: Home Run

With 1 week until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 833 games I’ve identified that I have attended. We finish up today on the offensive side of the ball with home runs.

As you might expect by this point, the White Sox and Cubs, based on the raw numbers, are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen the most.  When you adjust the numbers per game, the California incarnation of the Angels and the Diamondbacks are the only teams at or above 2 home runs per game.  The Nationals and the Anaheim version of the Angels are the only teams with less than a home run every other game.

Home Runs
Team Name Home Runs
Chicago White Sox 605
Chicago Cubs 437
Cleveland Indians 53
Kansas City Royals 48
Detroit Tigers 45
Minnesota Twins 44
Houston Astros 40
Texas Rangers 40
Milwaukee Brewers 39
Seattle Mariners Continue reading →

Team Stats: Earned Run Average

With 2 weeks until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 833 games I’ve identified that I have attended. We continue today on the defensive side of the ball with earned run average.

Both the White Sox and Cubs are in the top half for team ERA, at 4.10 and 3.97 respectively.  The Anaheim iteration of the Angels lead the way at just under 2.60.  Their earlier counterparts from California are on the opposite end of the spectrum, clocking in at an even 6.00.

Earned Run Average
Team Name ERA
Anaheim Angels 2.59620377314948
Arizona Diamondbacks 2.77443609022556
San Francisco Giants 2.91412259138847
Montreal Expos 3.4000755572346
Los Angeles Angels 3.58378597800244
Philadelphia Phillies 3.69343107010444
Washington Nationals 3.74644733442425
Boston Red Sox 3.87378352436825
Miami Marlins 3.9375
Oakland Athletics Continue reading →

Team Stats: Runs Batted In

With 3 weeks until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 833 games I’ve identified that I have attended. We continue today on the offensive side of the ball with runs batted in.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen the most.  When you adjust the numbers per game, the California iteration of the Angels and the Devil Rays lead the way as the only teams over 6.  The Nationals and the Miami incarnation of the Marlins are the only teams that failed to average 3 runs batted in per game.

Runs Batted In
Team Name RBIs
Chicago White Sox 2209
Chicago Cubs 1677
Cleveland Indians 227
Minnesota Twins 184
Detroit Tigers 182
Kansas City Royals 178
Houston Astros 175
Milwaukee Brewers 170
Cincinnati Reds 168
Pittsburgh Pirates Continue reading →