Tag / Blue Jays

by admin

#353 – Kevin Beirne

Name: Kevin Beirne

Rank: 353

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2000

Kevin Beirne was drafted by the White Sox in the 11th round of the the 1995 draft as an outfielder, but was quickly converted to a pitcher and finally made it to the big leagues on May 17, 2000.  Beirne appeared in 29 games for the division winners, but did not make an appearance during the 3 game division series loss to the Mariners.

Following the season, Beirne was packaged along with Mike Sirotka, Brian Simmons and others in the trade that brought David Wells over from the Blue Jays.

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

Continue reading →

by jim

2012 Final Standings

Another disappointing season comes to an end today.  The White Sox, who spent 126 days in first place, sputtered through September and dropped to second place.  The Cubs managed to lose 100 games for the first time since 1966.

TeamCity TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Washington Nationals 1 0 1.000
Colorado Rockies 1 0 1.000
Kansas City Royals 1 0 1.000
Boston Red Sox 2 1 0.667
Tampa Bay Rays 2 1 0.667
Chicago White Sox 18 13 0.581
Oakland A’s 1 1 0.500
Houston Astros 1 1 0.500
Toronto Blue Jays 1 1 0.500
Continue reading →
by admin

#358 – Matt Stark

Name: Matt Stark

Rank: 358

Position: DH

Year With White Sox: 1990

After suffering a torn rotator cuff while with the Blue Jays organization, Matt Stark signed with the White Sox prior to the 1990 season.  He was a September callup, playing the final 8 games of his major league career with the White Sox.

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

by admin

All Star Break Standings

As we head in to the All Star Break, the White Sox are in first place and I’ve been to 20 games.  Here’s the team’s records for those 20 games.

TeamCity TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Washington Nationals 1 0 1.000
Kansas City Royals 1 0 1.000
Boston Red Sox 2 1 0.667
Chicago White Sox 12 8 0.600
Seattle Mariners 1 1 0.500
Houston Astros 1 1 0.500
Toronto Blue Jays 1 1 0.500
Continue reading →
by jim

Nostradamus Wept – AL Edition

With 81 games in the books, we are officially at the halfway point of the 2012 season.  The so-called experts at Sports Illustrated made some pre-season predictions that are looking a little off a this point.

Team Won Lost

Predicted

Wins

 PredictedLosses Comments
AL East
New York Yankees 49 32 95 67

After a slow-ish start, a long winning streak moved the Yankees back into first place despite an injury-ravaged pitching staff.
Baltimore Orioles 44 37 63 99 One of the surprises of the first half, theOrioles need only 19 second half wins to match their predicted output.
Tampa Bay Rays 43 39 92 70 Tampa has continued to keep things togetherwhile once again losing Evan Longoria for an extended period of time.
Boston Red Sox 42 40 91 71 After their collapse at the end of last season,the Red Sox have struggled to stay above .500 in the first half.
Toronto Blue Jays 42 40 85 77 The Blue Jays were having a strong half beforelosing nearly their entire starting rotation in one weeks time.
AL Central
Chicago White Sox 44 37 67 95 While most people did not expect the White Soxto be as bad as SI did, nobody thought they would be in first place at the halfway point.
Cleveland  Indians 42 39 80 82 The Indians have been right around where expected, a little over .500 instead of a little under.
Detroit Tigers 40 42 93 69 The Tigers were expected to run away and hide in this division, but they have been unable to outhit their poor pitching performance to date.
Kansas City Royals 36 44 82 80 Eric Hosmer’s sophomore slump has held back the developing Royals.
Minnesota Twins 35 46 72 90 Could this be the end of the Ron Gardenhire era?  The Twins are woefully bad for the second straight year.
AL West
Texas Rangers 50 32 94 68 After losing back-to-back World Series, the Rangers look to be stronger than ever.
Los Angeles Angels 45 37 97 65 The Angels, and new acquisition Albert Pujols, got off to a slow start before putting things together with the arrival of Mike Trout.
Oakland A’s 41 42 68 94 The A’s have been much better than expected in the first half.
Seattle Mariners 35 49 64 98 The Mariners have struggled offensively again in the first half.

 

by admin

#385 – Alex Rios

Name: Alex Rios

Rank: 385

Position: RF/CF

Years With White Sox: 2009-Present

Alex Rios has been one of the more perplexing souls to take up residence on the South Side.  He came to the Sox after the trade deadline in 2009, in what was widely assumed to be a blocking move to keep the Blue Jays from trading him to the Tigers.  Toronto, however, was happy to undo their mistake in giving him a 7 year, $70 million contract and let him go on the waiver claim with no compensation.

Rios spent the final 41 games 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.

Last season, however, was a train wreck, as his average dropped back down to .227 with only 13 home runs and 44 RBIs.  Along with Adam Dunn, he was the poster child for the failed All In approach that sunk the 2011 team.

23 games into the 2012 season, Rios appears to have rebounded once again, with a .299 average.  It is extremely early, but hopefully he can keep it together for the rest of the year.  Sadly, he is signed for 2 more years, with a team option for 2015 that I would expect to be declined.

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

by admin

All Time Team Records

Heading into the 2012 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 8 5 0.615
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 13 10 0.565
Chicago White Sox 191 158 0.547
New York Yankees 9 8 0.529
Chicago Cubs 188 168 0.528
Continue reading →
by jim

The Dale Sveum Era Begins

The Cubs look to kick off a new era, featuring new manager Dale Sveum, new GM Jed Hoyer, and new team president Theo Epstein, with today’s season opening game against the Nationals.

Starting Pitchers

Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza, Jeff Samardzija, Chris Volstad, Paul Maholm

Ryan Dempster, who gets the Opening Day nod again this year, and Matt Garza are the only holdovers from last year’s staff.  Samardzija had a strong spring and looks to maybe have finally put everything together.  Volstad and Maholm beat out Randy Wells and Travis Wood, among others, for the final two spots in the rotation.

Relief Pitchers

Carlos Marmol, Kerry Wood, James Russell, Rafael Dolis, Lendy Castillo, Shawn Camp

Continue reading →

by jim

2012 Games Of Interest

Fireworks Night

4/28 vs Red Sox

5/12 vs Royals

6/23 vs Brewers

7/4 vs Rangers

8/25 vs Mariners

9/29 vs Rays

 

Kids Day

4/15 vs Tigers

5/27 vs Indians

6/10 vs Astros

7/8 vs Blue Jays

8/26 vs Mariners

 

Other Fun Stuff

4/13 vs Tigers – Opening Day

5/26 vs Indians – Robin Ventura bobblehead

6/3 vs Mariners – Southpaw’s Birthday Party and Southpaw Mini Plush Pal

6/24 vs Brewers – Kids 1972 Replica Jersey

8/3 vs Angels – Elvis Night

8/5 vs Angels – Kids Chest Protector Backpack

8/12 vs A’s – Spirit & Mascot Day

 

by admin

#486 – Jaime Navarro

Name: Jaime Navarro

Rank: 486

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1997-1999

Following the 1996 season, there were 2 big free agent pitchers available on the open market.  One had decided that Chicago was the place for him.  Intrigued by a lineup that included both Frank Thomas and Albert Belle, Roger Clemens had his agents reach out to Jerry Reinsdorf.  GM Ron Schueler had other ideas, which included Navarro, who was coming off of a 29-18 record in 2 years with the Cubs.  Clemens ultimately ended up in Toronto, where he won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 1997 and 1998.  Navarro went completely off the rails, going 25-43 with a 6.06 earned-run average in his three seasons with the White Sox.  “For me Navarro was just a better value than Roger,” Schueler said.  “There wasn’t as much risk. . . . We talked to our scouts about [Clemens]. They did not recommend him for even a three-year deal. They felt like there is a danger he’s going to have arm problems.”

At the end of the day, Navarro’s most valuable contribution to the White Sox was the trade that sent him out of town.  The Brewers, for reasons that I can not comprehend, sent Cal Eldred and Jose Valentin to the Sox for Navarro in January of 2000.  Of course, those two helped lead the White Sox to the AL Central title later that same year.  Navarro, meanwhile, pitched in 12 more major league games before being sent to the scrap heap.

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