Tag / Alexei Ramirez

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#38 – Juan Uribe

Name: Juan Uribe

Rank: 38

Position: 2B/SS

Years With White Sox: 2004-2008

Juan Uribe was acquired by the White Sox on December 2, 2003 from the Rockies for Aaron Miles.  He split time with Willie Harris at second base, hitting .283 while setting career highs in home runs, with 23, and RBIs, with 74.  He fell 1 RBI short of the White Sox single game team record on June 19, when he knocked in 7 runs against the Expos.

With the loss of Jose Valentin and the arrival of Tadahito Iguchi in 2005, Uribe moved to shortstop.  His defensive prowess, especially compared to Valentin, helped solidify a team that would go on to win its first division title since 2000.  Offensively, Uribe finished the year with a .252 average and 16 home runs.  In the ALDS, Uribe hit a robust .400 with 4 RBIs in the 3 game sweep of the Red Sox.  He hit .250 in both the ALCS against the Angels and the World Series against the Astros.  Defensively, he dove in to the stands to make the penultimate out in Game 4 of the World Series, before fielding the soft grounder hit by Orlando Palmeiro and throwing over to Paul Konerko to give the White Sox their first title in 88 years.

As the White Sox tried to defend their title, Uribe saw his average fall further in 2006.  He ended the year with a .235 average, though he did put up 21 home runs and 71 RBIs despite being limited to 132 games due to injuries.

2007 was a continuation of the poor offensive contributions from Uribe.  However, as the rest of the White Sox cratered, his holes became more noticeable.  He ended up with a .234 average, 20 home runs, and 68 RBIs.  The White Sox declined his option for 2008, but signed him to a new one year deal for the 2008 season.

After acquiring Orlando Cabrera, Uribe shifted back to second base to start 2008.  Unfortunately, an injury in May led to Alexei Ramirez cementing his place in the starting lineup.  Uribe saw action at third base after a back injury took down Joe Crede in late July.  Appearing in only 110 games, his lowest total since 2003, he finished the year with .247 average, 7 home runs, and 40 RBIs as the White Sox won their second AL Central title in his tenure.  Uribe fell in to a funk during the ALDS, hitting only .167 in the 4 game loss to the Rays.  After the season, Uribe became a free agent.

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

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All Time Batting Leaders – Through 2016

baseballs2Last week, we took our annual look at the all time leaders in pitching stats for the 833 games I’ve attended (and identified) between 1984 and 2016. With the full White Sox roster reporting to camp on Saturday, it’s time to move over to the other side of the ball and take a look at the offensive stat leaders for those games, starting with our first category:

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 93
Sammy Sosa 42
Aramis Ramirez 41
Derrek Lee 40
Jermaine Dye 40

Hits

Name Total
Paul Konerko 366
Alexei Ramirez 300
Derrek Lee 255
AJ Pierzynski 239
Aramis Ramirez 234

Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 200
Derrek Lee 140
Alexei Ramirez 134
Aramis Ramirez 120
A.J. Pierzynski 106

RBI

Name Total
Paul Konerko 235
Aramis Ramirez 158
Alexei Ramirez 140
Derrek Lee 134
Jermaine Dye 108

Doubles Continue reading →

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A Quarter Century Of Memories

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of US Cellular Field, the White Sox are asking fans to vote for the top moment in US Cellular Field history, broken down into 4 brackets: Postseason Perks, Memorable Moments, Records and Milestones, and Honors and More.  Today, we shall take a look at the first 2 groupings of these moments and decide which is the best.

postseason_peaksThe Postseason Peaks region boasts 6 entries from or related to the 2005 World Series champions plus another 2 from the team’s last division winner in 2008.  The disappointing post-season appearances from 1993 and 2000 are left out altogether.  As an added plus, I attended all of the games in this region.

The first match-up is a no-brainer, with Scott Podsednik’s walk-off home run to win Game 2 of the World Series pitted against Alexei Ramirez’s grand slam against the Tigers to force game 163 against the Twins for the division crown.  With all due respect to Alexei, Podsednik takes this with ease.

The next battle is between the aforementioned game 163, the Blackout Game that sent the White Sox to the playoffs, against Joe Crede’s walk-off single against the Angels in Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS.  While the Blackout was great fun, it was just a regular season game.  Crede’s hit, following the A.J. Pierzynski drama, would have blown the roof off the place, if it had one.

Next, we have the unfair fight of Paul Konerko’s grand slam in Game 2 of the 2005 World Series versus Tadahito Iguchi’s go-ahead home run against the Red Sox in Game 2 of the ALDS.  No real contest here.

The final match-up is again from Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS, when Pierzynski struck out and somehow managed to get the umpires to let him take first base, going up against the second game of the 2006 season, when the White Sox received their World Series championship rings.  While the ring ceremony was indeed cool, it can’t beat the game action of one of the smartest players in baseball using his wits to outduel the opponent.

memorable_momentsWe now turn our attention to the Memorable Moments region, a more varied group of games, only 5 of which I managed to attend.

We begin with the second to last day of the 2014 season, when the White Sox honored their retiring captain with a special ceremony, doing battle against the July 7, 1999 contest against the Royals where Chris Singleton hit for the cycle.  Once again, I’ll have to give the nod to Konerko.

The next match-up pits Frank Thomas, hitting the first White Sox home run at the then-New Comiskey Park on April 22, 1991 against Bo Jackson’s home run in the division-clinching game on September 27, 1993.  You can’t really go wrong with either of these, to be honest.

The next battle is between Mark Buerhle’s kick save followed by a flip between the legs which Paul Konerko barehanded for the putout on Opening Day 2010 and the 10 year reunion of the 2005 champions last summer.  I’ll give the nod to Buehrle.

The last match-up features the White Sox game against the Yankees on September 18, 2001, the first game after the tragedy of 9/11 versus Carlos Lee’s 10th inning walk-off grand slam off Courtney Duncan in the June 8, 2001 victory over the Cubs.  While Lee’s hit is obviously the better baseball moment, the meaning of the return to the field after the attack on New York and the Pentagon have a greater meaning overall.

Coming out of these brackets, you have either Konerko or Podsednik’s home run from Game 2 of the World Series going up against Buehrle’s play against the Indians on Opening Day 2010.  We’ll check out the remaining 2 regions next week.

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White Sox All Time Leaders – Through 2015

cws_logoWith the return of Chicago baseball right around the corner, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We finish things off today with the hometown Chicago White Sox.

I’ve seen the White Sox play 472 times at 10 different stadiums in 6 different cities, including every home playoff appearance in 2000, 2005, and 2008 except for Game 1 of the 2005 World Series.

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 93
Jermaine Dye 39
Alexei Ramirez 34

Hits

Name Total
Paul Konerko 366
Alexei Ramirez 299
A.J. Pierzynski 231

Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 200
Alexei Ramirez 133
A.J. Pierzynski 104

RBI

Name Total
Paul Konerko 235
Alexei Ramirez 138
Jermaine Dye 107

Doubles

Name Total
Paul Konerko 57
Alexei Ramirez 49
A.J. Pierzynski 41

Triples Continue reading →

by jim

Active Batting Leaders – Through 2015

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersLast month, we looked at the overall leaders on both sides of the ball from all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2015.  Now that Opening Day is right around the corner, let’s take another look at those numbers, limiting it to players that are still active heading in to the 2016 season.  With Aramis Ramirez hanging up his spikes after last season, we should see a few new names on this list.

Home Runs

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 34
Carlos Quentin 28
Alex Rios 24
A.J. Pierzynski 20
Juan Uribe 16

Hits

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 299
A.J. Pierzynski 237
Alex Rios 153
Gordon Beckham 143
Carlos Quentin 120

Runs

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 133
A.J. Pierzynski 106
Alex Rios 86
Gordon Beckham 81
Carlos Quentin 75

RBI

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 138
A.J. Pierzynski 98
Alex Rios Continue reading →
by admin

All Time Batting Leaders – Through 2015

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersLast week, we took our annual look at the all time leaders in pitching stats for the 794 games I’ve attended (and identified) between 1984 and 2015. With the full White Sox roster due in camp today, it’s time to move over to the other side of the ball and take a look at the offensive stat leaders for those games, starting with our first category:

Home Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 93
Sammy Sosa 42
Aramis Ramirez 41
Derrek Lee 40
Jermaine Dye 40

Hits

Name Total
Paul Konerko 366
Alexei Ramirez 299
Derrek Lee 255
AJ Pierzynski 237
Aramis Ramirez 234

Runs

Name Total
Paul Konerko 200
Derrek Lee 140
Alexei Ramirez 133
Aramis Ramirez 120
AJ Pierzynski 106

RBI

Name Total
Paul Konerko 235
Aramis Ramirez 158
Alexei Ramirez 138
Derrek Lee 134
Jermaine Dye 108

Doubles Continue reading →

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#121 – Chris Getz

getz

Name: Chris Getz

Rank: 121

Position: 2B

Years With White Sox: 2008-2009

Chris Getz was selected by the White Sox in the 6th round of the 2002 draft, but instead elected to attend Wake Forest.  3 years later, following a transfer to Michigan, Getz was again drafted by the White Sox, this time in the 4th round.  By 2008, Getz appeared in the Futures Game before making his major league debut on August 12 against the Royals.  He appeared in 10 games, but managed only 7 at bats for the year as the White Sox won the AL Central.

With Alexei Ramirez moving to shortstop in 2009, second base was left open for Getz and manager Ozzie Guillen awarded him the every day job coming out of spring training.  Getz led the league with a 92.6 stolen base percentage and tied for first among AL rookies with 28 multi-hit games.

Following the season, Getz, along with Josh Fields, was traded to the Royals for Mark Teahen.

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

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Adios Alexei?

alexei

After 8 seasons, the Alexei Ramirez era seems to have come to an end on the south side, as the White Sox announced yesterday that they had declined his option for 2016, making the 34 year old shortstop a free agent.  After having arguably the best season of his career in 2014, earning his first All Star selection and his second Silver Slugger, Ramirez struggled for much of the first half in 2015.  He rebounded in the second half, but still finished the year with the lowest batting average and OPS of his career.

That said, Ramirez might get a chance to stick around.  Tim Anderson, the top White Sox prospect, is at least a year away from the big leagues, so the team may try to work out a restructured deal with Ramirez for less than the $10 million he was owed under the option.  If this is the end of the road for Ramirez, it leaves John Danks as the last member of the 2008 division champions on the White Sox roster.

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

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2015 Final Batting Leaders

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersAnother season has come to an end, with yet more disappointment on the south side while things finally started to look up on the north side.  Let’s take a look back at the offensive leaders for the 39 games, including the post-season, that I attended this season:

Home Runs

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 6
Brian Dozier 3
Melky Cabrera 3
Geovany Soto 3
Gordon Beckham 3
Jose Abreu 3
Jorge Soler 3

Hits

Name Total
Melky Cabrera 39
Alexei Ramirez 38
Adam Eaton 34
Jose Abreu 27
Avisail Garcia 26

Runs

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 15
Adam Eaton 15
Continue reading →
by admin

2015 All Star Break Batting Leaders

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersNow that the All Star Game is behind us and we await the start of the second half of the season, let’s take a look at the first half offensive leaders, if you can call them that, for the 21 games I attended:

Home Runs

Name Total
Gordon Beckham 3
Brian Dozier 3
Jose Abreu 2
Josh Donaldson 2
Avisail Garcia 2
Alexei Ramirez 2
Adam LaRoche 2

Hits

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 23
Melky Cabrera 19
Jose Abreu 18
Avisail Garcia 17
Adam Eaton 17

Runs

Name Total
Jose Abreu 11
Avisail Garcia 9
Continue reading →