Tag / Reds

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Ballpark Tour: Comiskey Park

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Stadium Name: Comiskey Park

Location: Chicago

Home Team: White Sox

Years in Service: 1910 – 1990

Visits: 12 (that I’m aware of)

Comiskey Park, the so-called Baseball Palace of the World, was the home of the White Sox from 1910 through the 1990 season.  Built on a former city dump at the corner of 35th Street and Shields Avenue, the stadium opened as White Sox Park on July 1, 1910, as the White Sox lost to the St. Louis Browns 2-0.  In 1913, owner Charles Comiskey renamed the stadium after himself, and Comiskey Park was born.  From 1962 until 1975, the White Sox Park name was officially re-establshed, as new ownership groups tried to separate themselves from the Comiskey name.  However, Bill Veeck, in his second tour of duty as owner of the White Sox, put the Comiskey Park name back on the stadium in 1976, where it remained until 1990.  The final game for the old ballyard occurred on September 30, 1990, a 2-1 victory over the Mariners.

Comiskey Park was the host for 4 World Series contests, including 3 in a row from 1917-1919.  The White Sox won the World Series in 1917 against the New York Giants.  The Cubs, looking for a larger seating capacity, moved their home games in the 1918 series against the Red Sox to Comiskey Park.  The 1919 World Series, of course, was the Black Sox scandal, where the White Sox threw the series against the Reds.  The White Sox returned to the World Series 40 years later in 1959, but fell to the Dodgers.  The final post-season games to be played in Comiskey Park were games 3 and 4 of the 1983 ALCS, which the White Sox lost to the Baltimore Orioles.

Comiskey Park was also the host to 3 All-Star games.  The first All-Star game ever, in 1933, was held in conjunction with Century of Progress Exposition being held on Chicago’s lakefront.  The event returned to Chicago’s south side in 1950.  The final All-Star game at Comiskey Park was in 1983, the 50th anniversary of the first game.  Comiskey Park was also the frequent home of the Negro League East-West All-Star Game from 1933 to 1960.

In addition to White Sox baseball, Comiskey Park was also the home to the Chicago American Giants of the Negro Leagues, the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL, and the Chicago Sting of the NASL.  Comiskey Park also hosted numerous boxing matches, including the 1937 heavyweight title match where Joe Louis defeated then champion James J. Braddock.  The Beatles played two concerts at Comiskey Park in August of 1965.  Other musical acts to perform there include Aerosmith, AC/DC, The Eagles, The Police, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Jacksons, who performed 3 shows during their Victory tour in October of 1984.

Looking back, I’ve been able to piece together evidence of 12 games that I attended at Comiskey Park.  I know there are more, but I have not been able to pinpoint exact games yet.  The most memorable game I can remember would be the final night game, on September 29, 1990, where, after the game, the lights were symbolically turned off for the final time.

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#275 – Danny Richar

Richar

Name: Danny Richar

Rank: 275

Position: 2B

Year With White Sox: 2007

Danny Richar joined the White Sox organization via trade from the Diamondbacks for Aaron Cunningham.  After a brief stint in Triple A, he joined the White Sox after Tadahito Iguchi was traded to the Phillies and made his major league debut on July 28, going 2-3 in a White Sox victory against the Blue Jays.  Richar finished out the year for the disappointing White Sox squad, putting up a .230 batting average.

Richar returned to Triple A in 2008, and, with the White Sox in contention for the division title, Richar was packaged to the Reds, along with Nick Masset, for future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

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

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#277 – Carl Willis

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Name: Carl Willis

Rank: 277

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1988

Carl Willis was acquired by the White Sox from the Reds for minor leaguer Darrell Pruitt on January 19, 1988.  Willis spent the majority of the 1988 season at Triple A Vancouver.  He did make 6 appearances for the White Sox, but his 8.26 ERA was not very impressive.  Unless you were the California Angels, who selected him in the minor league draft on December 6, ending Willis’ association with the White Sox.

Willis’ numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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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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#284 – Nick Masset

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Name: Nick Masset

Rank: 284

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2007-2008

Nick Masset came to the White Sox, along with fellow pitcher John Danks, on December 23, 2006 in a trade with the Rangers for Brandon McCarthy.  He broke camp with the big league club in 2007, but like the rest of the bullpen, struggled mightily.  On July 16, he was sent back to Triple A Charlotte after allowing 78 base runners in his 39 1/3 innings.

Masset returned to the White Sox in 2008, making the team despite a 7.06 ERA during spring training.  He was improved over the previous year, but his ERA was still north of 4.50.  However, the White Sox themselves were much improved and found themselves fighting for a division title.  At the trade deadline, GM Kenny Williams looked to improve his post season chances and packaged Masset along with Danny Richar to the Reds in exchange for future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

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

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#287 – D’Angelo Jimenez

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Name: D’Angelo Jimenez

Rank: 287

Position: 2B

Years With White Sox: 2002-2003

D’Angelo Jimenez came to the White Sox via a July 12, 2002 trade with the Padres for two minor leaguers, one of which eventually became Humberto Quintero.  Jimenez was optioned to Triple A, but he rejoined the big league club in September, appearing in 27 games and hitting .287.

Jimenez became the everyday second baseman for the club in 2003, and, as of early June, he led the team in multi-hit games and joined Frank Thomas as the only two regulars hitting over .280.  However, a June slump combined with a July 1 trade that brought Roberto Alomar back to the south side made Jimenez expendable.  5 days later, on July 6, he was sent to the Reds for Scott Dunn.

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

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Ballpark Tour: Cinergy Field

Stadium Name: Cinergy Field

Location: Cincinnati

Home Team: Reds

Years in Service: 1970 – 2002

Visits: 1

Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati’s version of the cookie cutter stadium that popped up in the late 60s and early 70s, opened on June 30, 1970 as the Reds hosted the Atlanta Braves.  In 1996, the stadium was renamed Cinergy Field thanks to a sponsorship deal with the local energy company.  Prior to the 2001 season, after the Bengals moved to their new home down the street, the stadium was reconfigured for baseball-only use, and portions of the outfield stands were removed to make room for the construction of the Reds’ new home, the future Great American Ballpark.  The 2002 season was the final one for the stadium, with the final game played on September 22 and the stadium was imploded on December 29.

In 2000, Ken Griffey Jr. joined the Cincinnati Reds, which put two of the most feared sluggers in the game in the NL Central.  When Sammy Sosa and the Chicago Cubs were scheduled to make an opening week visit to Cincinnati in 2000 to face Griffey for the first time, the idea a roadtrip was hatched.  Friday, April 7, 2000 started with Krispy Kreme donuts at the house before heading towards Cincinnati.  Along the way, there was a brief stop at Purdue. because why not, and the trifecta of a KFC/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut for lunch.  We arrived in Cincinnati well before the stadium opened, so some time was spent walking around the bustling metropolis that was, and continues to be, Cincinnati.

Our tickets were in the upper deck and, to be honest, I have little to no recollection of the game itself.  My one and only memory of the game is losing my balance and tumbling down 5-10 rows, landing on a group of fans below.  Certainly not my proudest moment.  I do recall some of the drive home after the game, which included listening to the White Sox/A’s game where Jose Valentin committed a number of errors for the eventual AL Central champs.  I would return to Cincinnati numerous times for games at Great American Ballpark, but those are tales for another day.

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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.

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
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