Tag / Marlins

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#311 – Julio Ramirez

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Name: Julio Ramirez

Rank: 311

Position: CF

Years With White Sox: 2001

Julio Ramirez joined the White Sox in December of 2000, coming over in from the Marlins in exchange for Jeff Abbott.  His former manager with the Marlins, John Boles, was sad to see him go, saying, “He’s a scary guy to trade because of his upside potential.  I always thought Julio Ramirez would be a starting center-fielder in the major leagues for 10 years.”  I guess there’s a reason Boles finished his managerial career with a .460 winning percentage.

The 23-year-old Ramirez won a spot on the opening day roster, despite major plate discipline issues, due to his speed and potential.  When the games started to count, Ramirez went 3-37 with two walks and 15 strikeouts, and he was sent back to the minors in May for more seasoning.

He returned to the White Sox for spring training in 2002, but there was no sign of improvement and, on March 13th, he was released.

Ramirez’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

by jim

All Time Team Records

As we head into the 2013 season, here all the all-time team records in games that I have attended.

All-Time Team Records

Team Won Lost 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 209 171 0.550
Colorado Rockies 7 6 0.538
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 14 12 0.538
New York Yankees 9 8 0.529
Continue reading →
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#326 – Billy Koch

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Name: Billy Koch

Rank: 326

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2003-2004

Billy Koch rode a blazing fastball to major league success, saving 144 games in his first 4 seasons in the major leagues.  After racking up 44 saves and finishing 18th in the MVP voting for the 2002 A’s, Koch was looking at a pretty decent payday at arbitration, so Billy Beane looked to move his star closer.  Enter Kenny Williams, who sent Keith Foulke, Mark Johnson, Joe Valentine, and cash out west in exchange for Koch, Neal Cotts, and Daylon Holt.

Unfortunately for all involved, when Koch arrived in Chicago, his 98 MPH fastball did not.  And while a closer can get by with only a fastball with no movement when it is 98 MPH, he most certainly cannot when the fastball tops out in the low 90s or upper 80s.  Koch struggled during the 2003 season, finishing with only 11 saves and a 5.77 ERA.  The following year, Koch was put back in the closer role and again struggled, putting up a 5.44 ERA in 24 appearances through early June, when his White Sox career came to an end.  He was traded to the Marlins on June 17 in exchange for Wilson Valdez and cash.  Koch finished the season strong for the Marlins, but never pitched again in the major leagues following the 2004 season.

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

Continue reading →

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#331 – Bryan Ward

WhiteSox-bryanwardName: Bryan Ward

Rank: 331

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1998-1999

Bryan Ward joined the White Sox organization following the 1997 season when he was selected off of waivers from the Marlins.  Ward pitched well in 1998 for the Double A Birmingham Barons before earning a call up to the big league club and making his major league debut on July 3 in mop-up duty against the Red Sox.  Ward did well for himself, finishing the year with a 3.33 ERA in 27 innings.

Unfortunately, Ward’s success was short lived.  He spent the entire 1999 season in Chicago, appearing in 40 games and finishing with a 7.55 ERA.  As soon as the season finished, he was granted free agency, ending his White Sox career.

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

Continue reading →

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#341 – Jason Grilli

Name: Jason Grilli

Rank: 341

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2004

Jason Grilli was acquired by the White Sox as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Marlins.  He made appearances in 8 games for the 2004 squad, but apparently did not do much to impress.  Following the season, he was designated for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster for Japanese import Tadahito Iguchi and, 10 days later, he was released.

Grilli’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

Continue reading →

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#373 – Wes Whisler

Name: Wes Whisler

Rank: 373

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2009

Wes Whisler managed to get in to 3 games during his brief tenure with the 2009 White Sox, and 2 of them were scoreless appearances.  The third, however, was far from it, and that happened to be his one game that I managed to see live and in person.  As you can imagine, he left quite an impression.

Midway through the 2010 season, he was basically given away to the Marlins, and eventually found himself back in the White Sox organization before being released earlier this spring.

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

Continue reading →

by jim

Nostradamus Wept – NL Edition

With 81 games in the books, we are officially at the halfway point of the 2012 season.  The so-called experts at Sports Illustrated made some pre-season predictions that are looking a little off a this point.

Team Won Lost

Predicted

Wins

 Predicted

Losses

 Comments
NL East
Washington Nationals 47 32 84 78

The Nationals were expected to improve this year, but they appear to have taken a giant leap forward.
New York Mets 44 38 75 87 One of the surprises of the first half, the Mets were thought to be also-rans following their off-season ownership troubles.
Atlanta Braves 42 39 82 80 The Braves have kept a steady ship following last season’s late collapse.
Miami Marlins 39 42 89 73 The Fish surrounded a great May with struggles in April and June.
Philadelphia Phillies 37 46 94 68 Injuries to Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Roy Halladay have kept the Phillies out of their usual spot in the pennant chase.
NL Central
Pittsburgh Pirates 45 36 70 92 Last year the Pirates flirted with respectability for the first time since 1992 before faltering after one bad call cost them a game.  This year, they may be for real.
Cincinnati Reds 44 37 89 73 The Reds are right at their expected pace.
St. Louis Cardinals 43 39 87 75 The defending champions have dealt with the loss of Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter better than anyone expected them to.
Milwaukee Brewers 38 43 84 78 After finally winning the NL Central last year, the Brewers have struggled after losing Prince Fielder.
Houston Astros 32 50 57 105 The rebuilding Astros have been a little better than expected in their final season in the National League.
Chicago Cubs 31 50 66 96 The rebuilding Cubs have been a little worse than expected in Theo Epstein’s first year as the savior of the franchise.
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers 46 37 83 79 The Dodgers had a surprising first half, sparked on by their ownership change.
San Francisco Giants 45 37 90 72 The Giants have had an eventful first half, with a perfect game and 4 straight shutouts.
Arizona Diamondbacks 39 42 88 74 The DBacks struggled in the first half, and that was before losing Daniel Hudson for the season.
San Diego Padres 33 50 70 92 The Padres have been a little worse than expected in the first half.
Colorado Rockies 31 50 79 83 The Rockies have struggled in the first half and have turned to a 4 man rotation to try and turn things around.

 

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Godspeed, Kerry Wood

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:

Continue reading →

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All Time Team Records

Heading into the 2012 season, here all the all-time team records in games that I have attended.

All-Time Team Records

Team Won Lost 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 8 5 0.615
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 13 10 0.565
Chicago White Sox 191 158 0.547
New York Yankees 9 8 0.529
Chicago Cubs 188 168 0.528
Continue reading →
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#464 – #473 – The Unknowns Part 2

Continuing our countdown of White Sox players I have never heard of.
Name: Brian Drahman

Rank: 473

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1991-1993

Drahman pitched in 28 games with the ’91 squad, and then had brief 5 game stints in each of the next two seasons.

 

Name: Randy Niemann

Rank: 472

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1984

Niemann threw 5 1/3 innings for the 1984 White Sox.

 

Name: Vic Darensbourg

Rank: 471

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2004

Darensbourg was a mainstay of the Marlins bullpen from 1998-2002, before bouncing around the league for a few years.  He appeared in 2 games for the ’04 Sox.

Continue reading →