As we head in to the All Star break, it’s time to take a look at the team records for the 17 games I attended in the first half of the baseball season.
| Team | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Kansas City Royals | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| San Francisco Giants | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Cleveland Indians | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| San Diego Padres | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Chicago Cubs | 1 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Chicago White Sox | 6 | 10 | 0.375 |
| Seattle Mariners Continue reading → |
Former Cub manager Don Zimmer passed away Wednesday evening. A baseball lifer, Zimmer started his career in professional baseball in 1949 and wore a uniform until earlier this year, when he underwent heart surgery and, sadly, never left the hospital. Zimmer first came to the Cubs as a player in 1960. He left for the Mets in the expansion draft after the 1961 season.
In 1984, he returned to the North side as third base coach when his high school pal Jim Frey was named manager. The Cubs surpised everyone by winning their first division title and heading to the post-season for the first time since 1945. When Frey became the team’s general manager following the 1987 season, he hired Don Zimmer to be his manager. One year later, the so-called Boys of Zimmer led the Cubs to their second divisional title in 6 seasons. In 1991, after demanding a contract extension from Tribune executive Donald Grenesko, Zimmer was fired.
After leaving the Cubs, Zimmer bounced around a bit as a coach before teaming up with Joe Torre in New York for their string of 4 World Series titles in 5 seasons starting in 1996. He left the team in 2003 after, what else, an argument with George Steinbrenner. He had spent the last decade as a senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Rays. Starting in 2008, he was the last member of the Brooklyn Dodgers to still hold a field position.
After 66 years in baseball, Don Zimmer leaves behind many friends and admirers. Nearly everyone involved in the game has a story about Zimmer, and they’ve all been retold over the past few days. Somewhere, I’m sure Zimmer would enjoy sitting around a clubhouse being part of those retellings.
Name: Adam Dunn
Rank: 231
Position: DH
Years With White Sox: 2011-Present
The White Sox first focused in on Adam Dunn at the trade deadline in 2010, but he wasn’t interested in moving to the American League and becoming a designated hitter. Unfortunately, when he became a free agent that winter, the White Sox threw enough money at him to get him to change his mind. It was a move that was wildly praised at the time, but may go down in history as one of the worst free agent deals of all time.
Dunn’s White Sox career got off to a strong start, as he went 4 for 14 with a home run and 5 RBIs in his first four games before coming down with appendicitis. Sadly, after that, things went south. Dunn finished the season with a .159 average, 11 home runs, 42 RBIs, and a team-record 177 strikeouts. It was easily the worst season of his, or any one else’s, career. Had he gotten an additional 6 at bats, qualifying him for the batting title, he would have put up the lowest batting average for a qualified player since Bill Bergen hit .139 for the 1909 Brooklyn Superbas, now known as the Dodgers.
In 2012, Dunn “bounced back”, regaining his power stroke but otherwise still struggling at the plate. He managed to surpass his 2011 home run total by the end of May and finished with 41. He also obliterated his team record for strikeouts and set the American League record with 222, one less than Mark Reynold’s major league record. He also set a major league record for position players, striking out in 36 consecutive games. When the season wrapped up, he finished with a .204 average and 96 RBIs, and the White Sox, who led the American League Central for most of the season, were out of the playoffs once again.
2013 saw minor improvements for Dunn as the White Sox fell to last place and were never in contention. Dunn limited his strikeouts to 189 and raised his average up to .219. As the 2014 season was about to get underway, Dunn’s career average for the White Sox was still under .200 and he’s struck out more than twice as often as he’s gotten a hit. It’s hard to call his tenure on the south side as anything other than disastrous.
Dunn’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
Stadium Name: Dodger Stadium
Location: Los Angeles
Home Team: Dodgers
Years in Service: 1962 – Present
Visits: 1
Following the 1957 season, the Dodgers fled Brooklyn and headed west to California, landing in Los Angeles. The team played in the LA Coliseum while they built a new stadium at Chavez Ravine. In 1962, 3 years after breaking ground, Dodger Stadium opened as the Reds topped the Dodgers in the season opener.
The following year, the Dodgers won their first World Series in their new home. Between 1962 and 1965, Sandy Koufax threw three no hitters at the stadium, including a perfect game against the Cubs. Four home runs have been hit out of Dodger Stadium, two of which were hit by Pirate great Willie Stargell.
Dodger Stadium is currently the third oldest park still in use, behind Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. Two weeks ago, I made my first visit to the stadium to see the second home game of the 2014 slate, with the Dodgers taking on their long time rival Giants. Thanks to traffic, I didn’t get to my seat until the 4th inning, by which point the Giants had secured a substantial lead. I sprung for decent seats, which put me down on the lower level. One odd thing about those lower sections were the aisles, which are so narrow that people could only go in one direction at a time. I did also manage to score a fabled Dodger Dog, or at least the all beef version of it. I hope to make it back some day for a repeat performance.
We left off yesterday with me in a rental car leaving San Diego behind and heading towards the city of Angels. The plan was to stop at Dodger Stadium on the way to my hotel and take in an afternoon matchup between the Dodgers and the Giants. I’d given myself 3 hours to make the 2 hour drive so I would have time to get to the stadium and acclimate myself before the game started. Trip Issue #3! Things were smooth sailing until I got closer to LA, when traffic started to swell. All told, the 2 hour drive ended up taking closer to 4, and I arrived in my seat during the 4th inning, by which time the Dodgers had fallen far behind. One Dodger Dog later and many Giant home runs later, the game was over and I found my way to Glendale and the local Hilton, which would be my home for the next 4 days.
Saturday night, in search of a nice dinner, I headed out for a drive and decided to just wing it. Somehow I ended up driving through Griffith Park and seeing some of the sights, but I didn’t find anything interesting as far as food went. Eventually I ended up back at the hotel, where I caught the end of the Wisconsin loss in the NCAA tournament along with a tasty hamburger at the hotel bar.
Sunday was the only day I didn’t have anything specific planned, so, after a morning walk to the local Starbucks for a nice breakfast, I headed down to Hollywood to check out the Walk of Fame and to get a good look at the famous Hollywood sign. To be honest, the Walk of Fame was mostly creepy, other than the block or so around Hollywood and Highland, where Jimmy Kimmel’s theater is located. I tracked down all of the Muppet-related stars and a few others of interest, including Ricardo Montalban, Mister Rogers, and George Takei. Continue reading →
As discussed back in December, I won a free trip to San Diego from work due to my outstanding awesomeness. Well, the time has come to cash in and today I will be heading out to southern California, with a quick stop in Denver first, leaving the cold of the so-called Chicago spring behind. I’ll be spending the next three days in beautiful San Diego, before heading up to Los Angeles for another four. And, of course, I’ve come down with something so I will likely be sick for most of the trip.
The San Diego portion of the trip should be mostly relaxing, with plenty of time spent by the pool with a book. I have more activities planned for Los Angeles, including a Dodgers game, a trip to Warner Brothers for a studio tour, and a double dose of Chris Hardwick with a stand up set at NerdMelt and a trip to a taping of @Midnight. Given the horrible winter and the cold spring (to date), this is a good time to get away.
The 2014 baseball season is scheduled to officially kick off tonight, last week’s trip to Australia not withstanding. For the fourth consecutive year, I’ve looked into the crystal ball to make my picks for the upcoming season.
East: Rays
Central: Tigers
West: Angels
Wild Cards: Red Sox, Rangers
AL Champion: Tigers
Cy Young: David Price
MVP: Mike Trout
East: Nationals
Central: Cardinals
West: Dodgers
Wild Cards: Braves, Giants
NL Champion: Dodgers
Cy Young: Stephen Strasburg
MVP: Jason Heyward
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. 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 |
| Continue reading → |
Name: Antonio Osuna
Rank: 240
Position: P
Years With White Sox: 2001-2002
When Bill Simas went down for the entire 2001 season during spring training, GM Kenny Williams struck a deal with the Dodgers on St. Patrick’s Day, acquiring Antonio Osuna for a collection of minor league talent. Unfortunately for Williams and the White Sox, a cyst in Osuna’s pitching shoulder limited him to 4 poor appearances in April before requiring season ending surgery.
Osuna bounced back in 2002, appearing in 59 games and posting a 3.86 ERA. He, along with Damaso Marte, replaced Keith Foulke as the team’s closer at the All Star break, converting 11 out of 14 save opportunities.
In January of 2003, Osuna was sent to the Yankees as part of the 3 team deal that brought Bartolo Colon to the White Sox and sent Orlando Hernandez, Rocky Biddle, and Jeff Liefer to the Expos.
Osuna’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →
Dr. Frank Jobe, the surgeon who performed the first reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow, died yesterday at the age of 88. Jobe revolutionized sports medicine in 1974, when he operated on pitcher Tommy John, who had a 13-3 record for the Dodgers before injuring his elbow. Jobe put the chances of John pitching again at 1 in 100. John spent 18 months rehabilitating his arm before returning for the 1976 season, when he started 31 games and posted a 3.09 ERA.
Jobe waited 2 years before attempting a second UCL reconstruction, as he was unsure of the long term benefits. As he performed more reconstructions, which became to be known as Tommy John surgery, Jobe became more confident that the repaired, or replaced, ligament would hold up. What once was a career ending injury has now become one which can be overcome in a year, changing baseball forever. While Dr. Jobe may no longer be with us, his work, and the pitchers’ careers he helped save, will be with us forever.