Tag / Nationals

by jim

Our Long Nightmare Is Finally Over

dunnx-wide-communityWhat started with such promise back on December 2, 2010 finally came to an end today as Adam Dunn’s White Sox career came to an end when he was traded to the A’s.  Dunn was supposed to add some left handed power to a White Sox team that was predominately right handed, but wound up disappointing every one associated with the franchise for the last four years.

The White Sox first showed interest in Adam Dunn during the 2009 season, while he was playing for the Washington Nationals.  The speculation of a deal increased when Kenny Williams pulled the trigger on a deal that sent young pitcher Daniel Hudson to the Diamondbacks in exchange for Edwin Jackson, whom the Nationals were reportedly interested in as part of a package for Dunn.  However, Dunn balked at having to play designated hitter and, as the trade deadline passed, no deal was made.

Following the season, Dunn apparently came to terms with playing designated hitter, signing a four year deal worth $56 million with the White Sox.  As the 2011 season got under way, things looked to be off to a great start.  Dunn was hitting .286 with 1 home run, an opening day blast against the Indians, and 5 RBIs when he came down with appendicitis on April 6, a mere four games in to the season.  When he returned, things completely fell apart.

dunn095As the 2011 season went on, things started crumbling for the White Sox.  The relationship between Kenny Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen had worsened to the point of no return, and Dunn, their big free agent signing, had completely gone off the rails.  Despite missing time due to his appendicitis, Dunn managed to rack up 100 strikeouts before the end of June.  Continue reading →

by jim

2014 Predictions

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersThe 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.

American League

East: Rays

Central: Tigers

West: Angels

Wild Cards: Red Sox, Rangers

AL Champion: Tigers

Cy Young: David Price

MVP: Mike Trout

National League

East: Nationals

Central: Cardinals

West: Dodgers

Wild Cards: Braves, Giants

NL Champion: Dodgers

Cy Young: Stephen Strasburg

MVP: Jason Heyward

by admin

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.  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 →
by admin

A Party 100 Years In The Making

1922-Chicago-Cubs-UniformThe Cubs, headed up by Theo Epstein and Crane Kenney, put on a dog and pony show for their season ticket holders over the weekend, where Epstein gave updates on the on-field product and Kenney gave updates on the plans to rehab Wrigley Field.  I had planned on attending the session on Saturday at noon, but found myself unable to make it downtown.  However, it doesn’t seem as though I necessarily missed much that hasn’t been reported online elsewhere.

The big news coming out of the presentations was the plans for next season surrounding the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field.  A commemorative patch will be on the sleeve of the home jersey and the side of the cap.  There will also be a new road alternate jersey, based on those worn during the 1920s.  They gray jerseys will have “CUBS” across the front, in the same font as the 1922 jersey.  The lettering will be blue with a thin white outline, and the player’s number will be on the lower left in red with white outline.  Blue piping will run down both sides of the buttons and around the collar, while blue and white piping will be near the cuff of each sleeve.

There will be 10 straight weekend homestands dedicated to the 10 decades at the ballpark, beginning with the 1910s.  On Fridays of those homestands, the team will give a unique bobblehead honoring an individual or event from that decade.  On Sunday, the Cubs and the opposing team will wear uniforms from that celebrated decade.  Concession stands also will present decade-themed food.

While the 10 bobblehead giveaways could be awesome, the lack of night games on Fridays means that I will not have tickets to any of those games.  Depending on who (or what) it is, it may be worthwhile to make an extra trip for one or two of them.  The throwback games on Sundays could also be a good time.  The Washington Nationals are coming to town smack dab in the middle of the season, meaning they would have to be included as one of the 10 consecutive homestands.  Assuming the throwback uniforms they will wear are those of the Expos and not of the Senators, that game gets bumped up on the list of those I need to attend.

The season tickets for next year will move away from the Topps baseball card motif they’ve had the past two years and will have historic scorecards from the stadium’s history, not just for the Cubs, but for the Bears and Blackhawks as well.  If the last two years are any indication, they will be impressive.

by admin

2013 Predictions Revisited

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersBack in April, on the eve of the 2013 baseball season, I looked into my crystal ball and tried to predict the outcomes of the division races and the major awards.  Now that the season has come to an end the playoffs are in full swing, let’s take a look back at how things unfolded and how wrong my predictions were.

American League

East: Rays

Nobody really predicted the Red Sox bouncing back from their miserable 2012 campaign and winning the division this year.  The Rays, meanwhile, managed to beat the Rangers in the tie-breaker game and make it as the second wild card.

Central: Tigers

This one was practically a no-brainer, although the Indians did make a race of it.

West: Angels

The Angels once again made a huge splash in the free agency market and then underachieved miserably during the season.  The A’s, despite their precarious stadium and underfunded roster, took the division handily.

Wild Cards: Blue Jays, A’s

Despite totally remaking their roster, the Blue Jays failed to reach the playoffs once again.  The Indians and the Rays were the actual wild card teams.  Overall, for the AL, I managed to get one division winner correct and 3 of the 5 playoff teams correct.

National League

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 →
by jim

2012 Predictions Revisited

Exactly six months ago, I looked into my crystal ball and tried to predict the outcomes of the upcoming baseball season.  Now that the season has come to an end, and half of my predicted divison winners are headed home instead of the playoffs, let’s take a look back at how things unfolded.

American League

East: Yankees

The Yankees went down to the wire, not with the Red Sox as expected, but with the surprising Orioles.

Central: Tigers

After picking up free agent Prince Fielder, the Tigers were expected to run away with the Central division.  Instead, they underachieved much of the season and battled the overachieving White Sox for most of the season.  However, a late season collapse by the White Sox offense helped the Tigers take the division.

West: Angels

The Angels just may have been the biggest disappointment in the league this year. After dropping over $330 million in one day on Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, the Angels were expected to be at the top of the heap this year.  Unfortunately, things just did not work out and, even with the addition of rookie of the year shoo-in Mike Trout, the Angels were unable to make a serious run and finished in third place, behind the surging A’s, who swept the Rangers in the last series of the season to take the division title.

Wild Cards: Rays, Rangers

The Orioles and the Rangers will face off in the first wild card play-in game.

National League Continue reading →

by jim

2012 Final Standings

Another disappointing season comes to an end today.  The White Sox, who spent 126 days in first place, sputtered through September and dropped to second place.  The Cubs managed to lose 100 games for the first time since 1966.

TeamCity TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Washington Nationals 1 0 1.000
Colorado Rockies 1 0 1.000
Kansas City Royals 1 0 1.000
Boston Red Sox 2 1 0.667
Tampa Bay Rays 2 1 0.667
Chicago White Sox 18 13 0.581
Oakland A’s 1 1 0.500
Houston Astros 1 1 0.500
Toronto Blue Jays 1 1 0.500
Continue reading →
by admin

All Star Break Standings

As we head in to the All Star Break, the White Sox are in first place and I’ve been to 20 games.  Here’s the team’s records for those 20 games.

TeamCity TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Washington Nationals 1 0 1.000
Kansas City Royals 1 0 1.000
Boston Red Sox 2 1 0.667
Chicago White Sox 12 8 0.600
Seattle Mariners 1 1 0.500
Houston Astros 1 1 0.500
Toronto Blue Jays 1 1 0.500
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.