Tag / Rays

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#163 – Ramon Castro

castroName: Ramon Castro

Rank: 163

Position: C

Years With White Sox: 2009-2011

Ramon Castro came to the White Sox from the Mets via a May 30, 2009 trade for Lance Broadway, replacing Corky Miller as the backup to AJ Pierzynski.  A little less than 2 months later, on July 23, Castro was behind the plate for Mark Buehrle’s perfect game against the Rays.  After the game, Buehrle credited Castro, saying he did not shake him off during the entire game.

Castro resigned with the White Sox for the 2010 season, remaining as the backup catcher.  He appeared in 37 games and finished the year with .278 average and 8 home runs.

The 2011 season saw Castro’s production regress, as his average dropped back down to .235.  A broken hand suffered in July limited him to only 23 games and 68 at bats.  Following the season, he became a free agent and never played in the major leagues again.

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

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#174 – Orlando Cabrera

072008-Cabrera-03Name: Orlando Cabrera

Rank: 174

Position: SS

Year With White Sox: 2008

On November 19, 2007, Orlando Cabrera was traded to the White Sox from the Angels in exchange for Jon Garland.  The thinking was that Cabrera, fresh off a Gold Glove season, would help to stabilize the left side of the infield.  Unfortunately, stabilize is not quite what he did.

In May, Cabrera made waves by calling the press box to complain about two errors that were charged against him.  When questioned about the calls, Cabrera claimed that he had no choice as manager Ozzie Guillen was not supporting him.

In July, he got in to a dugout confrontation with Jermaine Dye over stealing third base while Dye was at bat.  Cabrera had to be restrained by Jose Contreras before the argument spilled in to the clubhouse.

As September was coming to an end, and the White Sox were the Twins for the AL Central title, Cabrera again became a distraction, this time calling out his teammates for not having the right attitude going in to games.  A little more than a week later, Cabrera tried to start something with Ray’s pitcher Grant Balfour in the 7th inning of game 1 of the ALDS.  Down 6-3 with the bases loaded and 2 out, Cabrera, for reasons that I’m sure made sense to him, took exception to an outside pitch, causing a bit of a brouhaha.  Once tempers calmed, Balfour struck out Cabrera and the Rays went on to win the game, and, eventually, the series, ending Cabrera’s tenure with the White Sox.  He left as a free agent after the season.

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

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#175 – Adam Russell

Name: Adam Russell

Rank: 175

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2008

Adam Russell joined the White Sox as their 6th round draft pick in 2004.  He was called up to the major leagues in early May, 2008, but did not make it into a game before being returned to the minor leagues.  He returned and finally made his major league debut on June 17, pitching a perfect inning in the White Sox 16-5 drubbing of the Pirates.

As the year continued, Russell bounced back and forth between the White Sox bullpen and Triple A.  He finished the year with a 4-0 record and a 5.19 ERA in 22 appearances.  He was left off the playoff roster as the White Sox lost the ALDS to the Rays.

Russell spent all of 2009 in Triple A until July 31, when he was traded, along with Dexter Carter, Aaron Poreda, and Clayton Richard, to the Padres in exchange for Jake Peavy.

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

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#192 – Jesse Crain

Name: Jesse Crain

Rank: 192

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2011-2013

Looking to bolster their bullpen, the White Sox signed Jesse Crain to a 3 year deal on December 20, 2010.  Crain paid immediate dividends, appearing in 67 games in 2011 and going 8-3 with a 2.62 ERA.

2012 was more of the same from Crain, despite appearing in his fewest number of games and innings pitched since 2007 thanks to an oblique injury.  His ERA dropped to 2.44 as the White Sox battled for the division title before faltering in September.

While the White Sox fell apart in 2013, Crain picked up his game, appearing in 38 games and putting up a 0.74 ERA en route to his first All Star selection.  A week before the game, and with the trade deadline approaching, Crain was placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain.  With July coming to a close, and the White Sox well out of contention, Crain was traded to the Rays, for a conditional return based on his performance post-injury.  Unfortunately for all involved, Crain has, to date, not pitched in a major league game since the injury.

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

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by jim

Transaction Tree

WhiteSox-rosterA few weeks back, when Corey Kluber won the Cy Young award, a New York time reporter tweeted how the Indians had, through multiple trades, turned Eddie Taubensee’s 1991 roster spot in to Kluber.  The fine folks at Grantland took it a step farther, and looked at the longest such chain for all 30 teams.

The White Sox fall smack dab in the middle of the league, having the 15th longest chain, dating back to the February 8, 1994 signing of amateur free agent Carlos Lee.  Lee made his major league debut on May 7, 1999, and quickly became a mainstay of the White Sox lineup, holding down left field through the 2004 season.  New manager Ozzie Guillen had tired of the station to station team he inherited, and was looking to implement some small ball, so Lee was shipped to the Brewers for a package that included Scott Podsednik and Luis Vizcaino.

Vizcaino spent just the one season with the White Sox, earning a World Series championship ring for his troubles.  With general manager Kenny Williams looking to repeat, he packaged Vizcaino with Orlando Hernandez and outfielder Chris Young in a trade to the Diamondbacks for starting pitcher Javier Vazquez.

Vazquez lasted 3 seasons with the White Sox, up to and including their 2008 AL Central title-winning year.  As the White Sox battled the Twins for the title, Vazquez turned out to be the one weak link in the rotation.  With the season stretching to a 163rd game, Guillen was forced to turn to Vazquez to start the first game of the division series against the Rays.  Vazquez responded to the challenge by giving up 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings, putting his team in an early hole in the best of 5 series.

Feeling that he couldn’t open the 2009 season with Vazquez still on the roster, Kenny Williams moved him, along with Boone Logan, to the Braves for, among others, Brent Lillibridge and Tyler Flowers.  Flowers made his debut in 2009 and became the full time starting catcher in 2013.  His production has been lacking over the course of his major league career, and, should an opportunity to upgrade arise, this chain may come to an end.

by jim

The Joe Maddon Era Has Begun

joe-maddonLast Friday, Joe Maddon opted out of his contract with the Tampa Bay Rays and speculation began immediately that he would become the next manager of the Cubs, despite the fact that Rick Renteria still held that position.  While the Twitterverse ran wild with rumors, other teams with ties to Maddon, like the Dodgers and Red Sox, came out in support of their current managers.  Meanwhile, not a peep came out of 1060 West Addison.

On Monday, with the deafening silence from Wrigley Field, Rick Renteria released a statement reminding everyone that he was still the manager of the Cubs and that he was as committed as ever to leading them to that ever elusive World Series title.

Yesterday, hours before the start of game 7 of this year’s World Series, word broke that the Cubs and Maddon had come to an agreement.  No official word was forthcoming from either party, at least until the dust settles on this year’s champion.

Renteria, meanwhile, finds himself out of a job less than a year after being hired and less than a week after being left to twist in the wind.  After leading the Cubs to their best record since 2010, odds are that Renteria will land on his feet.  Joe Maddon is certainly one of the better managers in the game today, and may prove to be an upgrade over Renteria.  That doesn’t change the fact that Renteria got a raw deal from the Cubs over the past week.

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2014 Predictions Revisited

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersBack in March, just as the baseball season was about to get underway, I made my annual predictions on who was going to win what.  Now that the regular season has come to an end, it is time to take a look back and see what, if anything, I got right.

American League

East: Rays

Well, not a great selection here, as the Rays finished 4th in the East.  Instead, the Orioles won the division for the first time since 1997.

Central: Tigers

It came down to the last day of the season, but the Tigers were able to hold off the upstart Royals and win the division for the fourth consecutive season.

West: Angels

Well, what do you know?  Year after year, I pick the Angels to win the division and year after year, they disappoint.  This year looked to be no different, but they caught fire just as the A’s started to fade, leading to their first divisional title since 2009.

Wild Cards: Red Sox, Rangers

Oof.  The Rangers, thank to injury after injury, finished the year with the worst record in the American League.  The Red Sox, fresh off a World Series title, were not too far behind.  Instead, the small market A’s and Royals took the wild card spots.

AL Champion: Tigers

Cy Young: David Price

MVP: Mike Trout

Only 1 of these still seem like viable choices.  The Tigers managed to get swept in the ALDS by the Orioles and David Price has little to no chance of bringing home another Cy Young Award. Mike Trout, meanwhile, is certainly still in the MVP conversation.

National League

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O Captain! My Captain!

PaulKonerkoAfter an 18 seasons, including the past 16 with the White Sox, Paul Konerko’s major league career came to an end last week as the 2014 campaign wrapped up against the Royals.  Konerko, the last remaining White Sox player from their 2005 championship team, was a 6-time All Star and had served as team captain since 2006.  He also is the only White Sox player to appear in the post season 3 different times.

After brief appearances with the Dodgers and the Reds in 1997 and 1998, Paul Konerko was traded to the White Sox on November 11, 1998 for center fielder Mike Cameron.  He started at DH on opening day in 1999, an 8-2 victory over the Mariners, going 1-4 with a home run and 2 RBI.

2000 saw Konerko get off to a quick start with an inside the park home run on April 11 against the Devil Rays, the first by a White Sox player since 1990.  In his second full season, he helped lead the surprising White Sox to their first Central Division title.  He, along with the rest of the White Sox offense, struggled during the Division Series against the Mariners, going 0-9 in the three game sweep.

After steadily improving in 2001 and 2002, Konerko ran into trouble in 2003, with his average under .200 for the first half of the season.  He found himself coming off the bench as manager Jerry Manuel seemingly lost confidence in him.  He bounced back in the second half and re-established himself as the starting first baseman.

Konerko bounced back in a big way in 2004, hitting 41 home runs and knocking in over 100 RBIs en route to the Comeback Player of the Year award.  2005 saw him put up a second consecutive 40 HR, 100 RBI season as the White Sox found themselves back in the playoffs for the second time in his career.  This time, things would go much differently for both Konerko and the White Sox.

PaulKonerkoRed

Konerko homered twice and drove in 4 runs during the three game sweep against the Red Sox, catching the final out that sent the White Sox to the ALCS for the first time since 1993.  Konerko hit another 2 home runs and drove in 7 against the Angels during the 5 game series.  Once again, Konerko caught the final putout that sent the White Sox to their first World Series since 1959.  Following the victory in game 5, Konerko was named ALCS MVP.

Konerko cooled down during the World Series, hitting only one home run against the Astros, but what a home run it was.  With the White Sox trailing in the 7th inning, Konerko came up to face new pitcher Chad Qualls with the bases loaded.  Konerko made contact on the first pitch, sending it into the left field seats for a grand slam and the lead.  Like the previous 2 series, Konerko caught the final putout at first base in Game 4, giving the White Sox their first World Series title since 1917.

With the afterglow of winning the World Series starting to subside, Konerko became a free agent.  Despite rumors of him getting more lucrative offers from both the Dodgers and the Orioles, Konerko finally resigned with the White Sox, inking a 5-year, $60 million contract that would keep him on the south side through 2010.

Konerko battled through injuries in 2008, leading to his worst season since 2003, but he did manage to help the White Sox reach the post-season for the third time during his career.  He hit 2 solo home runs in the 4 game series against the Rays, in what would be his final playoff appearance.

Konerko had two more chances at free agency, signing a 3 year deal with the White Sox prior to 2011 and, finally, re-upping for one last season last fall.  He finishes his career as the White Sox all time leader in total bases and second all time in home runs, RBIs, and games played.

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

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by admin

2014 Final Standings

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles Dodgers

The 2014 baseball season came to an end this past Sunday.  I made it to 35 games this year, in 4 stadiums across 3 states.  Here are the final standings for those games, and the 17 different teams that I saw in person.

Team Won Loss Winning Pctg
New York Yankees 2 0 1.000
San Francisco Giants 1 0 1.000
Pittsburgh Pirates 1 0 1.000
Cleveland Indians 1 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 1 0 1.000
Kansas City Royals 3 1 0.750
Chicago Cubs 3 2 0.600
San Diego Padres 1 1 0.500
Toronto Blue Jays 1 1 0.500
Houston Astros 1 1 0.500
Detroit Tigers 1 1 0.500
Chicago White Sox 14 17 0.452
Minnesota Twins Continue reading →
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Back To The 80s

fauxbackThe Cubs celebrated the 1980s this weekend in their season long salute to Wrigley Field’s 100th birthday.  There was just one small problem: their opponent, the Tampa Bay Rays, didn’t come in to existence until 1997.

A few years ago, the Rays held a flashback night of their own, looking back to the 1970s.  To mark the occassion, the team created a fake throwback, or fauxback, of what the might have worn had they been around in the 70s.

When the Rays took the field today, they were decked out in uniforms that would appear to be the road set for the fauxback uniforms they wore for their own throwback night.  While not necessarily something any team would have worn in the late 80s, it was much more of a departure from their current set than what the Cubs wore, which was basically their current uniform minus the buttons and leather belt.

These uniforms were ridiculous, but its ok to remember that this a kids game every once in a while and be ridiculous.  While I have cut back on Cubs games dramatically the last few years, I’m glad I attended this one, if only so, years from now when someone brings up these uniforms, I can say that I was there.