Tag / Blue Jays

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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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#279 – David Wells

David Wells #33, Josh Paul #27

Name: David Wells

Rank: 279

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2001

After the White Sox surprised everyone to win the AL Central title in 2000, new general manager Kenny Williams thought the team was an ace pitcher away from winning the World Series.  To that end, he struck a deal with the Blue Jays to acquire David Wells, along with Matt DeWitt, for Mike Williams, Kevin Beirne, Brian Simmons, and Mike Sirotka.  Wells’ White Sox career began under a cloud of controversy when Sirotka was determined to be injured and ultimately never pitched for the Blue Jays, or anyone else, again.  The Blue Jays asked for the trade to be overturned, but Commissioner Bud Selig ruled for the White Sox.

Things did not work out so well for the White Sox either.  The team, and Wells, struggled and were unable to repeat their performance from the year before.  Wells went 5-7 with a 4.47 ERA in 16 starts before being shut down with back problems.

After the season, Wells became a free agent, ending his brief White Sox career.

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

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by admin

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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#290 – Jason Bourgeois

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Name: Jason Bourgeois

Rank: 290

Position: 2B

Year With White Sox: 2008

Jason Bourgeois joined the White Sox organization as a minor league free agent prior to the 2007 season.  He made his major league debut for the White Sox on September 9, 2008, pinch running for Paul Konerko in a 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays.  Bourgeois made it into 6 games during the final month of 2008 as the White Sox battled the Twins for the AL Central crown and his one claim to fame is that he became the last player to get his first major league hit at the original Yankee Stadium.

Following the season, Bourgeois became a free agent and his brief tenure on the South Side came to an end.

Bourgeois’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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Adios Rios

alex-rios

The Alex Rios era came to an end today as the enigmatic right fielder was shipped to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later who may or may not be Leury Garcia.  Rios first joined the White Sox in August of 2009 in a waiver claim from the Blue Jays, in a move widely assumed to block the first place Tigers from acquiring him.

Rios spent the final 41 games of the 2009 season with the White Sox, finishing up with a disappointing .199 batting average and only 9 RBI as the team failed to repeat as champions of the AL Central and missed the playoffs.  He rebounded in 2010, hitting .284 and putting together the fourth 20/20 season in White Sox history.

2011, however, was a train wreck, as his average dropped back down to .227 with only 13 home runs and 44 RBIs.  The only person standing between Rios and the title of worst player in baseball for the season was Adam Dunn, who just so happened to be in the same lineup every night.

To his credit, Rios bounced back once again in 2012, hitting over .300 and becoming the first White Sox player to have 2 20/20 seasons.  It looked like 2013 would continue to be good for Rios, but, like the rest of the White Sox offense, he mostly disappeared starting in mid-May, keeping his average above .270 but losing his power and getting pulled out of a game late last month for dogging it.

For the White Sox, this move opens up more salary flexibility for next season and, more immediately, provides a slot for Avisail Garcia, acquired in the Jake Peavy trade, to join the big league club.

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

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#294 – Tony Castillo

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Name: Tony Castillo

Rank: 294

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1996-1998

Tony Castillo joined the White Sox from the Blue Jays via a waiver trade in August of 1996, along with Domingo Cedeno, in exchange for Luis Andujar and Allen Halley.  Castillo shined for the White Sox, putting up a 1.59 ERA over 15 appearances and earned himself a 2 year contract extension.

That contract did not exactly work out for the South Siders, as Castillo, pitching in a career high 64 games in 1997, saw his ERA jump to nearly 5.00.  Things got worse in 1998, as Castillo’s ERA ballooned up to 8.00 and, on June 21, the White Sox threw in the towel and released the lefty reliever, ending his major league career.

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

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#303 – Dewon Day

Chicago+White+Sox+Photo+Day+DTGVwRS1MaylName: Dewon Day

Rank: 303

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2007

Very little went right for the White Sox in 2007.  The bullpen, which GM Kenny Williams had stacked with power arms, imploded, and when one of those arms was sent down to the minors for more seasoning, young Dewon Day was called up to take his place.

Day was acquired by the White Sox in December of 2005 as a Rule 5 draft pick out of the Blue Jays organization.  He made his major league debut on May 28, 2007 against the Twins, giving up 2 runs in 1 inning of work.  Unfortunately, this was pretty indicative of how his season would go, as he ended up with an 11.25 ERA over 13 games in 2 stints with the big league club.  He made his final appearance on July 23, throwing a scoreless inning in a loss to the Tigers.

Day spent the entire 2008 season in the minor leagues, and, following the season, he was placed on waivers and selected by the Red Sox.

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

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#308 – Mike Huff

e571Name: Mike Huff

Rank: 308

Position: OF

Years With White Sox: 1991-1993

Mike Huff joined the White Sox in July of 1991 when he was selected off waivers from the Indians.  He performed well for the Sox in the second half of the 1991 season, hitting .268 in 51 games.  Unfortunately, that would be his high water mark as a member of the South Siders.

In 1992, Huff appeared in 60 games, but saw his average drop to .209.  Things were even worse the next year, as the White Sox headed to their 2nd and final AL West championship.  Huff only appeared in 43 games for the big league club, and finished with an anemic .182 average.

Spring training of 1994 brought an unexpected addition to the White Sox clubhouse: Michael Jordan.  Being on the bubble, Huff was vocal about the uneasiness of having a roster spot potentially taken by an unworthy player for marketing purposes.  He shouldn’t have worried, since neither he nor Michael Jordan would be spending the summer in Chicago.  As spring training was winding down and it became obvious that Huff was not going to make the team, GM Ron Schueler traded him to the Blue Jays in exchange for Domingo Martinez, commenting that the move “gives him a chance to stay in the big leagues.”

Huff has rejoined the White Sox organization in recent years, acting as a vice president for the Bulls/Sox training academy and filling in on the television broadcasts when Steve Stone is away.

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

by jim

2013 Predictions

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersContinuing the tradition started two years ago and continued last year, here are my picks for the baseball season that is just getting underway.

American League

East: Rays

Central: Tigers

West: Angels

Wild Cards: Blue Jays, A’s

AL Champion: Angels

Cy Young: David Price

MVP: Mike Trout

National League

East: Braves

Central: Brewers

West: Dodgers

Wild Cards: Giants, Cardinals

NL Champion: Braves

Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw

MVP: Matt Kemp

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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