Tag / Pirates

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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.  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
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#251 – Barry Jones

EPSON MFP imageName: Barry Jones

Rank: 251

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1988-1990, 1993

Barry Jones was acquired by the White Sox in August of 1988 from the Pirates in exchange Dave LaPoint.  Jones pitched well for a White Sox team playing out the string in 1988, putting up a 2.42 ERA in 17 games.

Jones pitched well again in 1989, lowering his ERA to 2.37, but was limited to 22 games after suffering an elbow injury in May.  He bounced back tremendously in 1990 for the surprisingly competitive White Sox, lowering his ERA again to 2.31 while appearing in 65 games and winning 11 out of the bullpen.

Following the 1990 season, Jones was packaged with Ivan Calderon and sent to the Expos in exchange for Tim Raines, Jeff Carter, and a player to be named later.  2 years later, he re-signed with the White Sox as a free agent prior to the 1993 season.

Things did not go well for Jones that year.  He appeared in only 6 games for the big league club, putting up an attrocious 8.59 ERA.  He was released on June 4, and he never pitched in the major leagues again.

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

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by jim

Ending With A Whimper

2591590_large7 seasons after his last major league appearance, former Cub phenom Mark Prior called it a career on Monday.  The second overall pick in the 2001 draft, Prior quickly rose to the major leagues, making his debut on May 22, 2002, earning the victory against the Pirates.  He excelled the following year, as a surprising Cubs team won their division and came within 5 outs of making their first World Series since 1945.  Prior finished the year 18-6, was named to the All Star team, finished third in Cy Young award voting and was ninth in voting for the MVP award.

2003 was also the start of Prior’s injury issues.  He hit the disabled list after colliding with Marcus Giles in a game in early July.  Thanks to the All Star break, he only missed 3 starts, but he never pitched a full season after that point.  He missed the first 2 months of the 2004 season due to an achilles injury.  In 2005, he again started the season on the disabled list and went back on after suffering a broken elbow after getting hit by a line drive off the bat of Brad Hawpe.  2006 marked the third straight season that Prior would start the season on the DL, where he would stay until June 18.  Less than a month later, he would return to the DL with a strained oblique suffered during batting practice.  On August 10, Prior made his final start of the season, going 3 innings and picking up the loss to the Brewers.  Four days later, he was placed on the DL for the third and final time that season, due to tendinitis.  He would never pitch in the major leagues again.

Prior left the Cubs following the 2007 season, and, since then, he has attempted comebacks with the Padres, Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox, and, most recently, the Reds, where he had to be shut down as a result of continuing shoulder problems after just 7 relief appearances in Triple A.  You couldn’t help but feel for him, a once in a lifetime stud pitcher who should have led the Cubs rotation for years and, instead, flamed out after 5 seasons.  Entire books could be written on what might have been, and now Mark Prior will have his summers free to read them.

Prior’s numbers in a Cub uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

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#266 – Sean Lowe

Sean_LoweName: Sean Lowe

Rank: 266

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1999-2001

Sean Lowe joined the White Sox organization in February of 1999 when he was acquired from the Cardinals in exchange for a minor league pitcher.

Lowe spent the entire 1999 season with the White Sox, putting up a 4-1 record and posting a 3.67 ERA.  In 2000, while the White Sox were winning their first AL Central title, Lowe struggled, with his ERA ballooning nearly 2 runs to 5.48.  He bounced back in 2001, starting 11 games, saving 3, and lowering his ERA back to 3.61.

Lowe’s time on the South Side came to an end on December 13, 2001 when he, along with Kip Wells and Josh Fogg, was shipped to the Pirates in exchange for Todd Ritchie.

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

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by jim

BBWAA Award Predictions

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersThe Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season.  It is a good bet that none of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Chris Davis

Mike Trout was my pre-season selection to win this award, but I also picked the Angels to win the American League.  They dropped out of contention early, and I think the same can be said for Trout’s candidacy.  My guess is Miguel Cabrera, who was having an even better year than his triple crown winning season a year ago before nagging injuries dragged him down towards the end of the year, takes home his second straight MVP.

Cy Young Award: Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, Max Scherzer

My initial guess of David Price obviously did not make the cut.  While books have been written about how wins are not a reliable way to track pitching effectiveness, my guess is that if you add in a 20 win season with a trip to the post-season, Max Scherzer will take home the prize.

Manager of the Year: John Farrell, Terry Francona, Bob Melvin

I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  I imagine that Terry Francona, beloved former manager of the Red Sox, will take home the award for turning around a putrid Indians team and keeping them in contention for the majority of the year.

Rookie of the Year: Chris Archer, Jose Iglesias, Wil Myers

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  It is somewhat ironic, given the current value placed on young talent, that all 3 finalists for the award were traded to their current teams, one during this past season.  My guess is that Wil Myers will win the award.

National League

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Ballpark Tour: Great American Ball Park

GABP

Stadium Name: Great American Ball Park

Location: Cincinnati

Home Team: Reds

Years in Service: 2003 – Present

Visits: 7

After 32 1/2 seasons at Riverfront Stadium, the Reds moved next door to the newly built Great American Ball Park for the 2003 season, opening against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Bronze statues of former stars Joe Nuxhall, Ernie Lombardi, Ted Kluszewski, and Frank Robinson are located in front of the main entrance.

Less than a month into the stadium’s existence, I made my first trip to the GABP with my friend Scott, who had moved to the Cincinnati area, to see the Reds take on the Padres.  The next season, the Cubs opened their season in Cincinnati against the Reds, so another trip was in order, where Vice President Dick Cheney threw out the first pitch..  In August of 2005, I attended the Reds game against the Diamondbacks, kicking off a string of 3 stadiums in 3 states in 9 days.  In 2006, the Cubs once again opened their season on the road against the Reds and again it constituted a road trip down to see, where this time President George W Bush threw out the first pitch.  I made a return trip that summer for interleague play to see the White Sox battle the Reds.  In 2007, when the Cubs were looking the clinch the division, I made the trip down, but missed it by one day.  The next year, I made my final, to date, trip down to Cincinnati and saw the Rockies defeat the Reds.

Of all the newer stadiums that have opened over the past 20 years, Great American Ball Park does not often illicit the praise that the others get.  However, I like it.  It’s a fine place to see a game and has plenty of the modern amenities that are required here in the 21st century.  I wouldn’t hesitate to return, despite the fact that it has been 5 years since I’ve been there.

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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

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Looking To Next Year Too

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersWith the 2013 season limping to the finish line, it became time to look forward to next year on Tuesday when the Cubs released their 2014 schedule. The north siders begin the 2014 campaign on the road against the Pirates on March 31.  Their home schedule kicks off against the Phillies that weekend.

Inter-league matchups against the AL East include home dates against the Yankees, Rays, and Orioles. The Cubs will travel to Boston, Toronto, and will also make their first ever trip to new Yankess Stadium to face the Yankees. The team will also split a 4 game series against the White Sox, similar to this season, with the first 2 games at Wrigley Field and the last 2 at US Cellular Field.

Should the team find themselves in contention, they finish the year with games mostly against their Central division foes, with only 7 September games coming outside the division.

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Ballpark Tour: PNC Park

Stadium Name: PNC Park

Location: Pittsburgh

Home Team: Pirates

Years in Service: 2001 – Present

Visits: 1

After 30 1/2 seasons at Three Rivers Stadium, the Pittsburgh Pirates moved into their new home for the 2001 season, starting with an 8-2 loss against the Reds on April 9th.  Since then, the stadium has ranked at or near the top of most rankings, with the only drawback being the woeful state of its main occupant.

I made my one trip to PNC Park on May 15, 2005 to see the Cubs defeat the Pirates 3-2.  Southwest Airlines was introducing service from Chicago to Pittsburgh and was offering fares for $30 each way, so plans were made for a daytrip out to Pittsburgh.  We arrived in town and took a bus from the airport to the stadium, where we ate a pregame meal of ribs at the in-stadium Outback Steakhouse.  Yeah, you read that right.  There was an Outback Steakhouse in the stadium.  After the game, there was another bus trip back to the airport for the flight back to Chicago, which seemed to be made up strictly of people who were at the game, as a rousing rendition of Take Me Out To The Ballgame broke out mid-flight.

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Ballpark Tour: Shea Stadium

SheaBoard

Stadium Name: Shea Stadium

Location: New York

Home Team: Mets, Yankees

Years in Service: 1964 – 2008

Visits: 1

After a delay caused by labor woes and an exceptionally harsh winter, Shea Stadium, home of the expansion New York Mets, opened on April 17, 1964, with the Pittsburgh Pirates beating the Mets 4–3 before a crowd of 50,312. It continued to be the home of the Mets until September 28, 2008, when the Mets lost to the Florida Marlins. Along the way, the stadium was also the home of the Yankees for 2 seasons while Yankee Stadium was being renovated and, for the 1975 season, it served as the home of both New York MLB teams and both New York NFL teams, the first time a stadium has had that many main major tenants at one time.

My one trip to Shea Stadium was for opening day in 2003 to see the Chicago Cub take on the NYMet.  The last day of March was Tom Glavine’s first appearance with the Mets after coming over from the Braves via free agency.  His grace period with the Mets faithful did not last long, as he was booed after throwing a ball on the second pitch.  The baseball gods were not on the Mets side that day, as the Cubs, behind 2 Corey Patterson home runs, routed the Mets 15-2.  I remember the stadium itself being pretty decent, though we did have some of the best seats in the house, which may have tainted my impression somewhat.