Tag / Nationals

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All Time Playoff Team Records

We’ve made it through 162 games and, for the first time since 2020, the Cubs are in the post-season as the top-seeded Wild Card in the National League.  In a rematch of the 1984 NLCS, they start a best of three series against the Padres at Wrigley Field today.  The winner of that series will advance to the NLDS and face the Brewers starting Saturday.

It’s time to take an updated look at the team records for the now 33 playoff contests I have attended. These contests come from the 2018 Wild Card game, the ALDS in 2000, 2005, 2008, and 2021, the NLDS in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016, and 2017, the NLCS in 2003, 2015, 2016, and 2017, the ALCS in 2005, and, of course, the 2005 and 2016 World Series.

Post-Season Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Florida Marlins 3 0 1.000
Seattle Mariners 2 0 1.000
New York Mets 2 0 1.000
Colorado Rockies 1 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 1 0 1.000
Chicago White Sox 6 5 0.545
Los Angeles Dodgers 3 3 0.500
Atlanta Braves 1 1 0.500
Cleveland Indians 1 1 0.500
Los Angeles Angels 1 1 0.500
Washington Nationals 1 1 0.500
Tampa Bay Rays 1 1 0.500
Chicago Cubs 9 13 0.409
Houston Astros 1 2 0.333
San Francisco Giants 0 2 0.000
St. Louis Cardinals 0 1 0.000
Boston Red Sox 0 2 0.000
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Looking Ahead To 2026

Eschewing their traditional day after the All-Star Game release, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2026 schedule on a random Tuesday at the end of August.  For the fourth 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 a young and improving White Sox team already looking ahead to next year and the Cubs trying to lock down a Wild Card spot, the 2026 season looks like it could be an interesting 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 open their season on March 26, the earliest North American start in league history, under the dome in Milwaukee against the Brewers, followed by a trip to South Beach to face the Marlins.  They open up their home schedule against the Blue Jays on April 2.

Aside from the Brewers and Marlins, the interleague schedule sees the White Sox going on the road to face the Phillies, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Padres, while the Pirates, Reds, Dodgers, Braves, Mets, Rockies, and Nationals make their way to Rate Field.  The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a three-game weekend series at home Wrigley Field in mid-May followed by a weekday series at Wrigley Field in mid-August.

The White Sox wrap up the 2026 season in September with series against the Twins, Guardians, and Tigers, should it matter.  The season ends at home with a three-game series against the Rockies.

On the north side, the Cubs kick off their season at home against the Nationals and the Angels before heading out on the road in early April.  Aside from the Angels, the Cubs will host the Twins, A’s, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Tigers, while travelling to visit the Mariners, Orioles, Guardians, Red Sox, and Royals.

Twelve of their 24 games in September are against their NL Central rivals, with six coming against the Brewers, which could make a difference should the Cubs find themselves in contention once again.  They end the year with a three-game road trip to Boston to face the Red Sox.

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Reinforcing The Pen

The Cubs made two moves to bolster their pitching corps last night, acquiring Michael Soroka from the Nationals and Andrew Kittredge from the Orioles.  Soroka, who spent the 2024 season with the White Sox, can start or relieve while Kittredge is strictly a bullpen arm.

For Soroka, who is due $3 million for the remainder of the season, the Cubs will send Triple-A outfielder Christian Franklin and rookie ball shortstop Ronny Cruz back to the Nationals.  Franklin, 25, is eligible for the Rule V draft if he is not added to the 40-man roster following this season.  Cruz, 18, was the Cubs’ third round draft pick last year.

Kittredge is due $9 million this year with a $9 million team option for next year.  Wilfri De La Cruz, a 17-year-old shortstop signed during this year’s International Signing Period, is going back to the Orioles.

 

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Crossing Sides Of Town

So far in 2025, Brad Keller, Mike Tauchman, Nicky Lopez, and Reese McGuire pushed the total of players I’ve seen take the field in person for both the Cubs and the White Sox to 47.  With the final round of crosstown kicking off tonight at Rate Field, here’s a look at those players, in alphabetical order.

David 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.

Emilio Bonifacio

Bonifacio spent back-to-back partial seasons in Chicago, first for the Cubs in 2014 after signing as a free agent, where he played decently enough to be flipped at the trade deadline, along with James Russell, to the Braves for a young catching prospect by the name of Victor Caratini.  He returned to Chicago in 2015, signing with the White Sox, where he he did not do well at all, hitting .167 in 47 games before being released in August.

Welington Castillo

Debuting with the Cubs in 2010, Castillo spent time behind the plate for the Cubs until May of 2015, when, having been replaced in the starting lineup by Miguel Montero, he was flipped to the Mariners.  He returned to Chicago in 2018 after signing with the White Sox as a free agent.  On May 24th of that season, he was suspended 80 games for a violation of the PED policy.  The White Sox then cut bait following the 2019 season, shipping him off to the Rangers.

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

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.

Clint Frazier

After missing the second half of 2021 with an injury, Frazier was DFA’d by the Yankees.  He signed a deal with the Cubs that offseason, though he notched just 45 plate appearances before being DFA’s once again.  He chose to finish the year in the Cubs system before becoming a free agent following the season.  After failing to catch on with the Rangers, he signed a minor league deal with the White Sox, eventually hitting .197 in 33 games with the big-league club.

Kosuke Fukudome Continue reading →

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It Has Indeed Been A While

As we hit the halfway point of the 2025 season, I’ve seen fourteen teams already this year, just under half of the league.  Stretching back to the start of 2024, that number jumps to 25, which leaves a quarter of the teams I’ve not seen in quite some time.

Of the remaining five, the Nationals hold the top stop, as it has been over four years now since I have seen them live and in person.  The Twins are the biggest surprise, since going two plus seasons without seeing a division rival is pretty rare. I do have the opportunity to add each of these five teams to this season’s slate in the second half.  Anyway, here’s a look at each team and the last time I saw them play.

Most Recent Game By Team

Team Date
Washington Nationals 5/19/2021
New York Yankees 5/15/2022
Minnesota Twins 10/5/2022
Philadelphia Phillies 6/29/2023
San Francisco Giants 9/5/2023
Cincinnati Reds 4/13/2024
Tampa Bay Rays 4/28/2024
Cleveland Guardians 5/12/2024
Atlanta Braves 5/21/2024
Baltimore Orioles 5/25/2024
Toronto Blue Jays 5/28/2024
Los Angeles Dodgers 6/24/2024
Pittsburgh Pirates 7/14/2024
Detroit Tigers 8/25/2024
New York Mets 8/31/2024
Oakland Athletics 9/15/2024
Los Angeles Angels 3/27/2025
San Diego Padres 4/5/2025
Boston Red Sox 4/13/2025
Milwaukee Brewers 5/1/2025
Houston Astros 5/3/2025
Miami Marlins 5/10/2025
Seattle Mariners 5/20/2025
Texas Rangers 5/24/2025
Colorado Rockies 5/26/2025
Chicago Cubs 5/26/2025
Kansas City Royals 6/8/2025
St. Louis Cardinals 6/19/2025
Chicago White Sox 6/24/2025
Arizona Diamondbacks 6/24/2025
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All Time Team Records

After a long winter, the North American portion of the 2025 baseball season is set to get underway tomorrow.  To celebrate, it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have identified as having attended dating back to 1984.  Last year, I posted my lowest total since 2001, a decrease of 16 games from the year before, and managed to see 20 out of the 30 teams, so there should be some nice changes.

The White Sox are coming off the most losses in modern major league history and may be hard-pressed to avoid breaking that record again this year.  On the other side of town, the Cubs made some big moves to get back into playoff contention.  The 2025 season may look completely different on each side of town.

All-Time Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 2 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 16 4 0.800
Cleveland Guardians 4 2 0.667
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
New York Yankees 19 12 0.613
Toronto Blue Jays 18 12 0.600
Philadelphia Phillies 13 9 0.591
Colorado Rockies 11 8 0.579
Boston Red Sox 21 16 0.568
Los Angeles Angels 20 16 0.556
Washington Nationals 7 6 0.538
Detroit Tigers 35 30 0.538
Cleveland Indians 31 27 0.534
Chicago Cubs 238 215 0.525
Houston Astros 26 25 0.510
Chicago White Sox 372 360 0.508
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Ballpark Tour: Nationals

With the offseason in full swing, we continue our tour of all of the different baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. This week, we head to our nation’s capital for a look at latest home of the Washington Nationals. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history, such as it is, with Nationals Park.

Stadium Name: Nationals Park

Years in Service: 2008 – Present

Visits: 1

After playing their first three seasons at RFK Stadium following their move from Montreal, the Washington Nationals moved into their new home for the 2008 season, starting with an 3-2 walk-off victory against the Braves on March 30th.  On January 1, 2015, the park hosted its first hockey game, as the Capitals defeated the Blackhawks in the Winter Classic.  The All-Star Game returned to Washington in 2018 for the first time since 1969, and, this past season, the park hosted the first World Series games in Washington since 1933.

I made my one trip to Nationals Park in June of 2019, part of an overall trip to DC celebrating Michael’s grammar school graduation.  The Nationals defeated the visiting White Sox 6-4 on a beautiful afternoon, despite the result caused by some bad bullpen outcomes.

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Ballpark Tour: Marlins

As we prepare to enter the long offseason after a hugely disappointing 2024, it is time to take another tour of all of the baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years.  We start with an odd occurrence: the Miami Marlins.  While I have never been to Miami, I have managed to see one of their home games, thanks to Hurricane Ivan.  So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with the Marlins at, of all places, US Cellular Field in Chicago.

Stadium Name: US Cellular Field

Years in Service: 2004

Visits: 1 (with the Marlins as the home team)

In September of 2004, Hurricane Ivan bore down on the east coast of Florida, just weeks after Hurricane Frances had made landfall.  The Marlins, having already cancelled a full series against the Cubs, decided to move 2 games of their series against the Montreal Expos to Chicago.  So, on September 14, 2014, I went to US Cellular Field, home of the White Sox, to see the Marlins battle the Expos.

With general admission ticket prices set at $15, $5 of which went to a fund for victims of the hurricane, I headed down to the second of the two games the teams played in town.  The Marlins, playing the part of the home team, brought their own public address announcer, their own mascot, and their own graphics to be used on the center field scoreboard.  Southpaw, the mascot of the White Sox, palled around with Billy Marlin.

The games marked the first time that a National League game was played in an American League stadium since 1946, when the Braves had to play the Phillies at Fenway Park due to painted seats that hadn’t yet dried.  It was also the first time that the defending World Series champions played a home game in Chicago since 1918.

For the Expos, it was just another strange trip in a season full of them.  This was their last season in existence, when they played a portion of their home schedule in Puerto Rico.  The travel for this series should have been nothing, since the team was already in town to play the Cubs the weekend before.  However, a previously booked convention kicked them out of their hotel downtown, forcing them to move out to Arlington Heights, which is not exactly a convenient locale when trekking to the south side of Chicago.

The Marlins managed to win both games of the series before they were able to head back to Florida and continue the season as planned.  The Expos played out the last 20 or so games of their existence before moving to Washington and becoming the Nationals in 2005.

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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.

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All Time Team Records

After a long, disappointing winter, the 2024 baseball season is set to get underway tomorrow.  To celebrate, it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have identified as having attended dating back to 1984.  Last year, I tied 2011 for my eleventh highest game total of all time, an increase of ten games from the year before, and managed to see 21 out of the 30 teams, so there should be some nice changes.

The White Sox just may be worse this year following a disappointing 2023, with new general manager Chris Getz treading water by bringing in defensive upgrades who can’t hit their way out of a paper bag.  On the other side of town, the Cubs brought in Craig Counsell to push a team that overachieved back into playoff contention but didn’t do a whole lot to improve the roster to help him do so.  The 2024 season may just be a maddening year on both sides of town.

All-Time Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 2 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 16 4 0.800
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
New York Yankees 19 12 0.613
Colorado Rockies 11 7 0.611
Cleveland Guardians 3 2 0.600
Philadelphia Phillies 13 9 0.591
Toronto Blue Jays 17 12 0.586
Los Angeles Angels 20 15 0.571
Boston Red Sox 19 15 0.559
Washington Nationals 7 6 0.538
Cleveland Indians 31 27 0.534
Chicago Cubs 235 213 0.525
Chicago White Sox 366 342 0.517 Continue reading →