Tag / MLB

by admin

Which Way To Sacramento

As the 2024 baseball season draws to a close, so too does the era of Major League Baseball in Oakland.  The A’s, who first moved to Oakland prior to the 1968 season, will be spending the next three (or four) years based out of Sacramento while waiting for a stadium to be built in Las Vegas.  I’ve seen the A’s at least 35 times over the years, first at some unknown date at old Comiskey Park and most recently at Guaranteed Rate Field in mid-September.  In between, I saw them at two other ballparks, including trips to their home ballpark in 1999 and 2008.

 

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Chicago Cubs 3 0 1.000
Detroit Tigers 1 0 1.000
Chicago White Sox 16 14 0.533
Oakland Athletics 15 20 0.429
Baltimore Orioles 0 1 0.000

The A’s, who are going location-less name-wise while they are based in Sacramento, will make their first visit to Chicago in April.  They will open their stay in Sacramento against the Cubs on March 31, while the White Sox make their first visit at the end of April.

by admin

The Wrong Kind Of History

After staving off their ignoble date with history for the final homestand of the season, the White Sox met their date with history on Friday night, losing 4-1 to the Tigers to notch their 121st loss of the season, a total unmatched in modern MLB history.  Owner Jerry Reinsdorf had his fingerprints all over this one, on both sides of the field.  The Tigers, managed by A.J. Hinch, who was then-GM Rick Hahn’s leading choice to manage the White Sox before Reinsdorf insisted on hiring Tony LaRussa for a second go-around, and announced by Jason Benetti, who Reinsdorf and henchman Brooks Boyer drove away from the White Sox booth this past off-season, clinched a playoff berth while handing the White Sox their record-breaking loss.

Last fall, when Reinsdorf promoted Chris Getz to General Manager after firing Hahn and Kenny Williams, he said, “One of the things that I owe the fans is to get better as fast as we can possibly get better.”  He later added, “I realized that if I brought someone in from the outside it’s going to take them a year. He’s going to have to evaluate everyone in the organization.”  Well, both Reinsdorf and Getz now own this year.  The most losses in the 124 years of modern baseball history and second of all-time to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders.  In the conversation for the worst team of all time.  And outside of a handful of promising pitching prospects, most of whom have already debuted and contributed to this season’s history-making finish, very little help on the way from the minor league system.  Speaking as a fan, I would have gladly traded that year for competence.  Something that is sorely lacking on the corner of 35th and Shields.

by admin

21 Is The Loneliest Number

Following last night’s 5-1 loss to the A’s, the White Sox have now tied the 1988 Orioles for the longest losing streak in American League history with 21 losses.  Only five teams in the history of Major League Baseball have lost more than 21 games in a row and only one of those streaks, by the 1961 Phillies, have come in the modern era.

197 pitchers have notched a win in the 26 days since a White Sox pitcher last won a game.  In the history of Major League Baseball, only seven franchises have had a stretch worse than the season record of the 2024 White Sox, who will try to get back on track tonight against the A’s.

by admin

Stretching To 19

The White Sox extended their franchise-record losing streak to 19 games last night, losing to the Twins 6-2.  They are now tied for the 12th-longest losing streak in MLB history and have tied the 2005 Royals and the 2021 Orioles for the longest losing streak in the Wild Card era.  They are two games away from tying the American League record, set by the 1988 Orioles, and four from the modern record, owned by the 1961 Phillies.

The White Sox will look to snap their losing streak this afternoon by sending Chris Flexen to the mound.  They have lost Flexen’s previous 15 appearances, last winning a game he pitched on May 8th.  It has been 24 days since the White Sox last won a game and Pedro Grifol is still employed.

by admin

Selling Your Soul

The Cubs made their deal with the devil, Motorola in this case, on Thursday, agreeing to add an advertising patch to their jerseys as part of a multiyear deal to make the company the team’s “official smartphone.”  The patches made their on-field debut Thursday night against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

For the home pinstripes and road grays, the Motorola logo will have a blue background with a white M.  The alternate blue jerseys will have a white background with a blue M, while the City Connect jerseys will have a white background with a navy-blue M.  Motorola is also the jersey sponsor for the Padres in MLB and, in Chicago, the Bulls.

The Cubs become the 23rd MLB team to strike a uniform patch deal, worth an average of $7-8 million with the largest deals, believed to be with the Yankees and Blue Jays, worth over $20 million.

by admin

Looking Ahead To 2025

Last week, on the extra off day in the All-Star break, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2025 schedule while I was away in Amsterdam.  For the third year in a row, MLB is keeping with a balanced schedule, playing 52 games against division opponents, 64 games against non-division opponents in the same league, and 46 interleague games, with series against every team in the opposite league.  With the White Sox about to cement the worst season in franchise history and the Cubs trying to figure out what went wrong on their way back to contention, the 2025 season looks like it could be a long one for the city of Chicago.  So, for one day, at least, let’s turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

The White Sox celebrate the 125th anniversary of the franchise, opening their season on March 27 at home against the Angels, kicking off a six-game homestand that also features the Twins.  They will make their first visit to Sacramento, the new home of the A’s, in the last weekend of April.

The interleague schedule sees the Phillies, Marlins, Cardinals, Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Padres coming to Guaranteed Rate Field, while the White Sox will go on the road to face the Pirates, Reds, Dodgers, Braves, Mets, Rockies, and Nationals.  The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a three-game weekend series at Wrigley Field in mid-May followed by another weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field the last weekend in July.

After wrapping up the home portion of the schedule in mid-September against the Orioles and Padres, the White Sox wrap up the 2025 season on the east coast, battling the Yankees and the Nationals to finish up the year.

On the north side, the Cubs head to Japan to open their season on March 18 with a two-game tilt against the Dodgers in Tokyo.  They return to the US to face the Diamondbacks on March 27 before heading to Sacramento for the first time to face the A’s.  They open up the home portion of the 2025 season on April 4 against the Padres.

Aside from the A’s, the Cubs will head out on the road to face the Twins, Angels, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Tigers, while the Mariners, Orioles, Guardians, Red Sox, and Royals will be coming to Wrigley Field.

Only ten of their 25 games in September are against their NL Central rivals, which could make a difference should the Cubs find themselves in contention.  They end the year with a six-game homestand, facing the Mets and the Cardinals.

by admin

A Half Of Futility

As the 2024 season reaches its midway point, the White Sox are a wretched 21-60.  Assuming they replicate this effort in the second half, they would finish 42-120, which would be the worst season in franchise history and one of the worst in MLB history.  But, with the trade deadline fast approaching on July 30, anyone playing well will likely be shipped off to a contender, making the White Sox even worse down the stretch.

The worst team in White Sox history is, depending on your definition, the 1970 squad, which lost 106 games, or the 1932 team, who lost “only” 102 games but, due to the shorter season, had a lower winning percentage at .325.  The current pace of the 2024 team would blow both of those records away.

Post-1900, the high-level mark for losses in a single season is 120, reached by the expansion Mets in 1962.  The 1916 Philadelphia A’s managed a .235 winning percentage, holding the futility mark in that regard.  The 2024 White Sox currently have a .259 winning percentage, so they do have some breathing room, but not a whole lot.

by admin

Heading To Vegas… Via Sacramento

Last November, MLB owners approved the relocation of the A’s from Oakland to Las Vegas, where the team hopes to have a stadium built by the 2028 season.  A fine plan all around, except that the team’s current lease in Oakland expires after this season, leaving them in a bit of a bind for the 2025-2027 seasons.  After failing to reach a deal with Oakland for an extension, the Sacramento Kings announced today that the A’s will play the next three seasons in Sacramento.

Sutter Health Park, the current home of the Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League, will house the A’s for through the 2027 season, with an option for 2028.  The River Cats are expected to continue to use the stadium as well, which I’m sure will cause no scheduling issues whatsoever.

The move will end the team’s stay in Oakland at 57 seasons, after previously calling Philadelphia and Kansas City home.  Assuming they ever make it to Vegas, and that seems less likely now than it did in November, the A’s will become the first franchise to have played in five different municipalities while using the same name.  On a personal note, removing Oakland Coliseum from my active stadium count means I would now have eleven parks to get to in order to finish off the set.  I’ve made two trips to the stadium once known as Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, first in 1999 and again in 2008, seeing the Tigers and Orioles respectively.

by admin

A Spring Training Surprise

When Chris Getz didn’t get the deal he was looking for during the offseason, it seemed pretty likely that Dylan Cease would start the 2024 season with the White Sox.  That plan changed last night, when the right hander was shipped off to the Padres.  In return, the White Sox are receiving right handed pitchers Drew Thorpe, Jairo Irairte, and Steven Wilson and outfielder Samuel Zavala.

Thorpe, a 23-year-old ranked as the 85th top prospect in MLB, has now been traded twice in the past four months after being acquired by the Padres in December as part of the return in the Juan Soto trade.  He posted a 2.52 ERA across 23 starts in High A and Double A for the Yankees in 2023.  Iriarte, the #8 prospect in the Padres system at 22, appeared in 27 games last season, starting 21, and finished with a 3.49 ERA between High A and Double A.

Ranked as the #7 prospect in the Padres system, Zavala, who is just 18, has three seasons of pro experience, splitting 2023 between Low and High A ball.  In 115 games, he hit 14 homers and 23 doubles, while knocking in 77 RBIs and drawing 94 walks, and slashing .243/.391/.406.  Wilson, 29, has made 102 appearances with the Padres over the past two seasons, posting a 3.48 ERA with 110 strikeouts over 106 innings.

Dylan Cease was first acquired by the White Sox, along with Eloy Jimenez, in the 2017 trade that sent Jose Quintana to the Cubs.  He made his major league debut on July 3, 2019, picking up the victory in the first game of a double header against the Tigers.  Since that day, Cease has been a consistent part of the starting rotation, eventually becoming the ace of the staff.  In 2022, he went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA, finishing second in Cy Young award voting.

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

by admin

A New Voice

On Thursday, the White Sox announced that John Schriffen, a 39-year-old from New York, had signed a multi-year deal to become the team’s new television play-by-play announcer.  He replaces Jason Benetti, who, due to growing frustrations with the White Sox front office, left in November to fill the same role with the Tigers after seven years in the White Sox booth.  Schriffen, who is biracial, becomes the second Black television play-by-play announcer in MLB, joining Dave Sims of the Mariners.

This will mark Schriffen’s first play-by-play assignment for a team, he has broadcast Korean baseball for ESPN during the pandemic and has done some MLB work for ESPN Radio.  His other work at ESPN includes college basketball, college football, college baseball, the XFL, NBA preseason, G-League and Summer League.  After multiple interviews, he met with team owner Jerry Reinsdorf and color analyst Steve Stone this past weekend in Arizona for a final audition.  “We hit it off immediately,” Schriffen said. “Everybody knows Steve Stone is the greatest. He has done everything in baseball broadcasting – the dude is a legend.”