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 → |
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 → |
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
Disappointing seasons up to this point means that both the White Sox (somewhat) and Cubs (completely) are sellers at the trade deadline. The White Sox struck first, shipping Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen to the Blue Jays for Jason Frasor and a minor league pitcher on Wednesday. The Cubs followed up yesterday, shipping the underachieving and overpaid Kosuke Fukudome to the Indians for two unheralded minor leaguers, while still paying most of his remaining salary.
Jackson came to the White Sox at the trade deadline last season in a controversial trade that sent top pitching prospect Dan Hudson to the Diamondbacks. Expectations at the time was that it was a move made in anticipation of a trade for Adam Dunn, as the Nationals were reportedly interested in Jackson. When he wasn’t flipped to Washington, Jackson settled in to the White Sox rotation and did what he always did: fought through bouts of wildness to go along with his flashes of brilliance. In the 7 starts I saw him make as a member of the White Sox, Jackson was 3-2 with a 3.59 ERA.
Teahen’s stay on the south side was slightly longer, and filled with a little less controversy. Acquired from the Royals for Chris Getz and Josh Fields before the 2010 season, he was immediately signed to a long term extension. A bad back made his defense at third base a travesty and, when he hit the DL last summer with a broken hand, the team immediately went on their hottest streak of the season. I saw him appear in 37 games in his White Sox career, hitting a pedestrial .244 with 0 home runs, 8 doubles, and 5 RBI.
When Fukudome signed out of the Japanese leagues, he was supposed to follow in the footsteps of Ichiro and Hideki Matsui. He specifically chose the Cubs over other suitors, including the White Sox, because he would be their first Japanese player. The fans ate him up, especially after he hit a walkoff home run in his first opening day as a member of the Cubs. Unfortunately, it was all down hill from there. After parlaying a good April into an All Star appearance, Fukudome struggled the rest of the rest of the season, eventually playing his way out of the starting lineup. The same formula continued for the rest of his time on the North Side. A strong start, then the long fade through the summer months. It’s not that he was bad, but he was worth nowhere near what he was making. In 80 career appearances as a Cub, he hit .257 in games I attended, with 1 HR, 17 doubles, 3 triples, and 20 RBI.
Since I will be attending my first Cubs game of the year today, let’s take a look at their roster and how they’ve performed in games I’ve attended up to now.
| Name | Games | Wins | Losses | ERA | Saves | Ks | Walks |
| Andrew Cashner | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3.86 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Ryan Dempster | 69 | 13 | 9 | 4.00 | 14 | 136 | 80 |
| Matt Garza | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.50 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Randy Wells | 10 | 2 | 4 | 3.10 | 0 | 49 | 17 |
| Carlos Zambrano | 60 | 20 | 15 | 4.09 | 0 | 283 | 146 |
Zambrano and Dempster are the deans of the staff. Garza comes over from the AL, where I’ve only seen him once (08 ALDS, I believe). Wells hopes to bounce back from a disappointing sophmore season. Cashner moves to the rotation after mostly coming out of the bullpen last year.
Relief Pitchers
| Name | Games | Wins | Losses | ERA | Saves | Ks | Walks |
| John Grabow | 13 | 1 | 0 | 4.66 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| Carlos Marmol | 69 | 5 | 3 | 2.75 | 3 | 101 | 45 |
| Sean Marshall | 39 | 7 | 11 | 4.40 | 0 | 71 | 33 |
| Marcos Mateo | 0 | 0 | 0 | —— | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| James Russell | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Jeff Samardzija | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3.37 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| Kerry Wood | 55 | 10 | 12 | 3.80 | 11 | 217 | 109 |
John Grabow is basically a LOOGY. Marmol set a record for highest K/9 last year, but still walks way too many people. Marshall could probably be a 3-5 starter somewhere, but just never got the chance here. Marcos Mateo, welcome to the show. Nothing to say about Russell. Samardzija might have made a poor career choice. Kerry Wood turned down bigger offers to come back to the Northside.
| Name | Games | Average | RBI | Walks | Ks | 2B | 3B | HR | SB |
| Koyie Hill | 26 | 0.222 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Geovany Soto | 80 | 0.305 | 40 | 38 | 63 | 18 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
Soto had a bit of a bounce back year last year, and has been strong when I’ve been there. Hill is a backup who really provides little offense.
| Name | Games | Average | RBI | Walks | Ks | 2B | 3B | HR | SB |
| Jeff Baker | 19 | 0.302 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Darwin Barney | 0 | —– | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Starlin Castro | 10 | 0.313 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blake DeWitt | 8 | 0.185 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carlos Pena | 9 | 0.379 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Aramis Ramirez | 226 | 0.274 | 155 | 76 | 132 | 51 | 4 | 40 | 1 |
Ramirez has become the elder statesman of the infield. Pena is hoping to bounce back from a disappointing season with Tampa Bay. DeWitt played himself out of a starting job in spring training and has shown nothing when I’ve been in attendance. Castro had a strong rookie season at the plate. Jeff Baker injured himself attempting to light his farts on fire last year. Barney came up long after I stopped going to games last year.
| Name | Games | Average | RBI | Walks | Ks | 2B | 3B | HR | SB |
| Marlon Byrd | 22 | 0.259 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Tyler Colvin | 16 | 0.172 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kosuke Fukudome | 74 | 0.258 | 20 | 34 | 49 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Reed Johnson | 39 | 0.280 | 23 | 3 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Alfonso Soriano | 116 | 0.279 | 48 | 30 | 107 | 27 | 1 | 17 | 11 |
Byrd started off strong, but faded down the stretch and has faced scutiny for his BALCO connections. Colvin was in the midst of a decent rookie season when he got stabbed in the heart by a bat shard. Fukudome has been a bust and finishes out his contract. Johnson is fine for what he is. Soriano has not come close to what the Cubs thought they were getting and still has 5? years left on his deal.