Tag / Marlins

by jim

Shattered Dreams?

2015nlcsFor the first time since 2003, the National League Championship Series returned to Wrigley Field last night.  With the Cubs down 2 games to none against the Mets, they were trying to end a 5 game NLCS skid dating back to Game 5 of the 2003 NLCS, where they dropped the last game in Florida against the Marlins before returning to Chicago for the disaster that followed.

Sadly, the Cubs were not able to turn things around, losing 5-2 as their offense continued to struggle and their defense completely abandoned them.  The Mets have been the clearly superior team so far, as their young pitchers have overmatched the Cubs young hitters, leaving them on the cusp of their first World Series appearance since 2000.

The Cubs will look to extend the series tonight, hoping to become the second team to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the series, sending Jason Hammel to the mound.  If their season does come to an end, it will leave a bad taste in the mouth of Cub fans, but the young Cubs arrived ahead of schedule this year and look poised for a long run of contention in both the NL Central and for the NL pennant.

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LCS Pitching Leaders

baseballs2With game 1 of 2015 NLCS in the books, with the Mets taking a quick lead against the Cubs, it’s time to take our first ever look at the pitching leaders from the 5 LCS games I’ve attended since 2003, featuring the White Sox, Cubs, Marlins, and Angels.

Wins

Name Total
Mark Buehrle 1
Brad Penny 1
Ugueth Urbina 1
Chad Fox 1
Paul Byrd 1

Losses

Name Total
Jose Contreras 1
Mark Guthrie 1
Kerry Wood 1
Mark Prior 1
Kelvim Escobar 1

ERA (> 4 IP)

Name Total
Jarrod Washburn 0.00
Mark Buehrle 1.00
Paul Byrd 3.00
Carl Pavano 3.18
Jose Contreras 3.24

Strikeouts

Name Total
Josh Beckett 8
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All Time Playoff Team Records

baseballs3As the Cubs prepare for tonight’s NL wild card game against the Pirates, the first post-season appearance by a Chicago team since the inception of this blog, it’s time to take our first look at the team records for the 17 playoff contests I have attended.  These contests come from the 2000 ALDS, the 2003 NLDS and NLCS, all 3 rounds of the 2005 post-season, the 2007 NLDS, and both the ALDS and NLDS in 2008.

TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Florida Marlins 3 0 1.000
Seattle Mariners 2 0 1.000
Los Angeles Dodgers 2 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 1 0 1.000
Chicago White Sox 5 4 0.556
Tampa Bay Rays 1 1 0.500
Los Angeles Angels 1 1 0.500
Atlanta Braves 1 1 0.500
Chicago Cubs 1 7 0.125
Houston Astros 0 1 0.000
Boston Red Sox 0 2 0.000
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2015 Predictions Revisited

baseballs2Six months ago, as the 2015 baseball season was scheduled to kick off at Wrigley Field, 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: Blue Jays

After a middling first half, the Blue Jays turned things around after the All Star break, especially after acquiring David Price and Troy Tulowitzki at the trade deadline, earning them their first division title since 1993.

Central: Indians

Well, I correctly predicted the end of the Tigers reign after four seasons, but I wrongly assumed that the Royals would regress after their World Series appearance last year.  Instead, they went and ran away with the AL Central crown while the Indians struggled to stay out of the cellar.

West: Angels

It came down to the final day, but the Rangers, who finished in last place in 2014, managed to hold off the Astros and the Angels to win the division.

Wild Cards: Tigers, Mariners

I completely missed the boat here, as both teams failed to live up to their pre-season expectations.  The Yankees return to the post-season and so do the surprise Astros.

AL Champion: Angels

Cy Young: Felix Hernandez

MVP: Mike Trout

Only one of these seems like a possible choice at this point, with Mike Trout the frontrunner for the MVP award.  The Cy Young award is up in the air at this point.

National League

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Moving On To Next Year

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersMajor League Baseball released their tentative 2016 schedule yesterday and, with little more to be concerned with for this season, let’s take a look at what’s on tap for next summer for the South Siders.

The White Sox open the season with a 4 game set on the road against the A’s on Monday, April 4.  The home season begins that Friday, when the Indians come to town for a 3 game tilt.

This year’s inter-league slate is against the NL East, with the Nationals, Braves, and Phillies making trips to US Cellular Field, while the Sox hit the road to visit the Mets, Marlins, and Phillies.  A 2 and 2 set with the Cubs occurs the last week of July.

The White Sox finish the 2016 season at home against the Rays and Twins, with 23 of their final 29 games coming against the Central Division.  Should make for a great pennant race if the team can be in contention.

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#149 – Charlie Hough

Hough_Charlie_93UD_WhiteSox

Name: Charlie Hough

Rank: 149

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1991-1992

A month shy of his 43rd birthday, Charlie Hough signed with the White Sox as a free agent in December of 1990.  The knuckleballer filled out the rotation for a White Sox team that had surprising success in 1990 and looked to go further in their new stadium the following year.

Hough ended up going 9-10, failing to win 10 games for the first time since becoming a full-time starter in 1982.  His 4.02 ERA was second to only Jack McDowell in the starting rotation.

Hough returned to the White Sox in 1992.  He improved his ERA slightly to 3.93, but saw his record fall 7-12 in 27 starts.  He moved to the bullpen in August to make room for young starter Wilson Alvarez, but returned to the rotation to replace the struggling Greg Hibbard.

With the Marlins and Rockies joining the league for the 1993 season, the White Sox let Hough become a free agent, with the intention of bringing him back should the team lose a pitcher in the expansion draft.  They didn’t, so Hough signed elsewhere, ironically with the Marlins, ending his White Sox career.

Hough’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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Franchise Four – NL East

Major League Baseball is asking its fans to vote for the four most impactful players who best represent the history of each franchise.  The winners will be announced in July at the All Star Game in Cincinnati.  Today, I will give my Franchise Four picks for the National League East.

F4BravesWell, this is a nice collection of players selected to represent the Braves.  6 of the 8 have been elected to the Hall of Fame with a 7th sure to make it once he is eligible.  Hank Aaron and Warren Spahn rise above their Hall brethren, so they take the first two slots.  The last two slots come down to Eddie Mathews, with his 512 career home runs, and the 3 aces of the 90s, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz.  I’m going to go with Mathews and Maddux.

F4Marlins

A much different scenario for the Marlins, who have only been in existence since 1993 and have a history of ownership who ships out any player that may be any good and, thus, command a decent salary.  The 8 players in the running have averaged less than 7 years in a Marlin uniform.  That said, I will pick Josh Beckett, Gary Sheffield, Mike Lowell, and current star Giancarlo Stanton.

F4Mets

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Crosstown Competitors

cws-chiLast Saturday, Geovany Soto and Jeff Samardzija became the 25th and 26th people I’ve seen play in person for both the Cubs and the White Sox.  Here’s a look at those players, in alphabetical order.

DavidAardsma2David Aardsma

After posting a decent season with the Cubs in 2006, Aardsma was traded to the White Sox for Neal Cotts.  Aardsma lasted one season with the Sox, where he was unable to duplicate his success from the year before.

Jason Bere

Drafted by the White Sox in the 36th round in 1990, Bere debuted with the big league club in 1993, finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting.  After an All Star selection in 1994, injuries marred the remainder of his tenure on the South Side, which ended in 1998.  He resurfaced with the Cubs in 2001 and had a decent season, but he went 1-10 in 2002 before being let go.

Neal Cotts

Acquired by the White Sox in the Billy Koch trade, he debuted with the team in 2003.  He was a key contributor in the bullpen during the 2005 championship season, and was the only relief pitcher to appear in all 3 rounds of the playoffs that season.  Following the 2006 season, he was traded to the Cubs for David Aardsma, and he spent the next 3 injury filled seasons on the North Side.

scott_eyre_autographScott Eyre

Joining the White Sox organization in a 1994 trade with the Rangers, he debuted with the big league team in 1997.  He split the next 4 seasons between the rotation and the bullpen, not to mention between Chicago and Charlotte, before being moved to the Blue Jays following the 2000 ALDS loss to the Mariners.  He joined the Cubs as a free agent for the 2006 season and enjoyed 2 seasons of relative success, before falling apart in 2008, when he was traded to the Phillies.

Kosuke Fukudome Continue reading →

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2015 Predictions

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersThe 2015 baseball season is scheduled to kick off tonight at Wrigley Field, as the Cubs battle the Cardinals.  For the fifth consecutive year, I’ve looked into the crystal ball to make my picks for the upcoming season.

American League

East: Blue Jays

Central: Indians

West: Angels

Wild Cards: Tigers, Mariners

AL Champion: Angels

Cy Young: Felix Hernandez

MVP: Mike Trout

National League

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All Time Team Records

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersAnother 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.  Another disappointing season dropped the winning percentage for the White Sox 7 points, giving them a 16 point drop over the past 2 years.

All-Time Team Records

TeamName 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 10 7 0.588
New York Yankees 11 8 0.579
Colorado Rockies 7 6 0.538
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 15 13 0.536
Chicago White Sox 234 204 0.534
San Francisco Giants 8 7 0.533
Chicago Cubs 194 172 0.530
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