Tag / Cardinals

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#349 – Josh Kinney

Name: Josh Kinney

Rank: 349

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2011

After bouncing around the Cardinals organization, Josh Kinney made his triumphant return to the major leagues in August of 2011 after being recalled to the White Sox to take the place of Phil Humber, who had been struck in the head by a line drive.  Kinney’s American League debut, giving up one hit in a three inning relief stint against the eventual AL champion Rangers, unfortunately did not lead to long term success, as he faded down the stretch, much like the rest of the White Sox.  Following the season, he was allowed to pursue other opportunities, and he hooked up with the Mariners for 2012.

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

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by jim

2012 Predictions Revisited

Exactly six months ago, I looked into my crystal ball and tried to predict the outcomes of the upcoming baseball season.  Now that the season has come to an end, and half of my predicted divison winners are headed home instead of the playoffs, let’s take a look back at how things unfolded.

American League

East: Yankees

The Yankees went down to the wire, not with the Red Sox as expected, but with the surprising Orioles.

Central: Tigers

After picking up free agent Prince Fielder, the Tigers were expected to run away with the Central division.  Instead, they underachieved much of the season and battled the overachieving White Sox for most of the season.  However, a late season collapse by the White Sox offense helped the Tigers take the division.

West: Angels

The Angels just may have been the biggest disappointment in the league this year. After dropping over $330 million in one day on Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, the Angels were expected to be at the top of the heap this year.  Unfortunately, things just did not work out and, even with the addition of rookie of the year shoo-in Mike Trout, the Angels were unable to make a serious run and finished in third place, behind the surging A’s, who swept the Rangers in the last series of the season to take the division title.

Wild Cards: Rays, Rangers

The Orioles and the Rangers will face off in the first wild card play-in game.

National League Continue reading →

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#363 – Rick White

Name: Rick White

Rank: 363

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2003

Rick White spent parts of 12 seasons in the major leagues employed by 11 different organizations.  That, my friends, is the mark of someone who does not pitch well enough to keep a job but has good enough stuff to keep getting chances.  His chance with the White Sox came in 2003.

White was granted free agency after spending the last month and a half of the 2002 season with the Cardinals, and he signed with the White Sox in late January of 2003.  Things do not go well for White on the south side, as he finished his tenure with a 6.61 ERA.

White was released in August following statements he made that were critical of Jerry Manuel’s handling of the pitching staff.

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

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by jim

Which Way To Kane County?

The rumor around town is that the Cubs are about to move their Single A affiliate from the Peoria Chiefs to the Kane County Cougars, which I see was a smart business move.  The Cubs have benefited for years in attendance by having their minor league affiliates close to home, and moving from Peoria to 35 miles west of Chicago should help even more.  Not to mention the ability to send a player on a rehab assignment while still keeping him close enough to the big league facilities for treatment.

While I know it won’t happen, mostly because it would make too much sense, I would like to see the White Sox move to take over for the Cubs as the parent club for the Peoria Chiefs.  Downstate seems to be mostly split between the Cubs and the Cardinals and the White Sox don’t seem too concerned about it.  While the Cubs enjoy the busloads of fans coming in from Iowa or Peoria, the Sox seem content to keep their minor league affiliates at an arms length, with the closest one being in… Virgina?  Or maybe Montana.

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#368 – Steve Mura

Name: Steve Mura

Rank: 368

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1983

Steve Mura came to the White Sox from the Cardinals following the 1982 as a free agent compensation pick after losing outfielder Steve Kemp to the Yankees.  Mura opened the season in the bullpen, and nothing good to say about manager Tony LaRussa or pitching coach Dave Duncan.  “I’m not doing any good throwing 5 minutes of batting practice,” Mura said to The Sporting News. “I wish they would make up their mind and trade me or something instead of letting me rot.”

After 6 appearances, they did do something: demoting him to Triple A, where he went 3-11 with a 4.82 ERA in 19 starts.  The following season, he competed for the 5th starters role, and even LaRussa conceded that he was much improved.  Unfortunately for Mura, he was released towards the end of spring training.

Mura’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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by jim

Nostradamus Wept – NL 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

 Predicted

Losses

 Comments
NL East
Washington Nationals 47 32 84 78

The Nationals were expected to improve this year, but they appear to have taken a giant leap forward.
New York Mets 44 38 75 87 One of the surprises of the first half, the Mets were thought to be also-rans following their off-season ownership troubles.
Atlanta Braves 42 39 82 80 The Braves have kept a steady ship following last season’s late collapse.
Miami Marlins 39 42 89 73 The Fish surrounded a great May with struggles in April and June.
Philadelphia Phillies 37 46 94 68 Injuries to Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Roy Halladay have kept the Phillies out of their usual spot in the pennant chase.
NL Central
Pittsburgh Pirates 45 36 70 92 Last year the Pirates flirted with respectability for the first time since 1992 before faltering after one bad call cost them a game.  This year, they may be for real.
Cincinnati Reds 44 37 89 73 The Reds are right at their expected pace.
St. Louis Cardinals 43 39 87 75 The defending champions have dealt with the loss of Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter better than anyone expected them to.
Milwaukee Brewers 38 43 84 78 After finally winning the NL Central last year, the Brewers have struggled after losing Prince Fielder.
Houston Astros 32 50 57 105 The rebuilding Astros have been a little better than expected in their final season in the National League.
Chicago Cubs 31 50 66 96 The rebuilding Cubs have been a little worse than expected in Theo Epstein’s first year as the savior of the franchise.
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers 46 37 83 79 The Dodgers had a surprising first half, sparked on by their ownership change.
San Francisco Giants 45 37 90 72 The Giants have had an eventful first half, with a perfect game and 4 straight shutouts.
Arizona Diamondbacks 39 42 88 74 The DBacks struggled in the first half, and that was before losing Daniel Hudson for the season.
San Diego Padres 33 50 70 92 The Padres have been a little worse than expected in the first half.
Colorado Rockies 31 50 79 83 The Rockies have struggled in the first half and have turned to a 4 man rotation to try and turn things around.

 

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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
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All Time Records (through 2010)

Now that the 2010 season has come to an end, let’s take a look at team’s overall records in games I have personally attended over my entire life.  Every game I can remember or have tracked down is included, even the postseason.  Teams that move (Expos/Nationals), change “city” names (California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels) or change team names (Devil Rays/Rays) are split out per incarnation.

All-Time Team Records
TeamCity TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 1 0 1
Arizona Diamondbacks 12 2 0.857142857142857
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652173913043478
Philadelphia Phillies 10 6 0.625
Toronto Blue Jays 8 5 0.615384615384615
Tampa Bay Rays 3 2 0.6
Los Angeles Dodgers 9 7 0.5625
Chicago White Sox 166 140 0.542483660130719
Chicago Cubs 185 165 0.528571428571429
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by admin

2010 Hall of Fame Inductees

The BBWAA will announce the results of their Hall of Fame voting for 2010 tomorrow afternoon. Yesterday, we looked at the 26 candidates and dismissed over half of them. Today, we’ll take a look at the remaining 8 who have a better chance and the 4 who should be elected.

Try Again Next Year: A case can be made, but will need to be made again next year.

  • Fred McGriff – Probably has the numbers to make it, but will suffer due to never being thought of as a potential Hall of Famer while he was playing.  He and Alan Trammell were probably hurt the most by the late-90’s offensive (and steroid) explosion.
  • Bert Blyleven – In his first year of eligibility, he got 26 fewer votes than Tommy John, and nobody is looking to put Tommy John in the Hall of Fame.
  • Harold Baines – He barely got enough votes last year to stay on the ballot, which is a shame.  He’s hurt by being a DH for the majority of his career after knee injuries, and played the majority of his career in the shadows of Chicago’s south side and Baltimore.  If Jim Rice makes it in, so should Harold.  But he won’t.
  • Lee Smith – He was the all-time saves leader when he retired, but benefited from the transition of the closer role from fireman to guy who gets the last three outs and racks up saves.  He’s already been passed twice on the career saves list.
  • Jack Morris – One of the best, if not the best, Game 7 World Series performance of all time, but, overall, an very good pitcher who wasn’t quite good enough to make the Hall of Fame.
  • Don Mattingly – No offense to Donnie Baseball, but being the best Yankee in a decade of bad Yankee teams does not a Hall of Famer make.  If it weren’t for injuries, he may have had a legitimate shot.
  • Edgar Martinez – Will probably make it some day, but will need to overcome the DH stigma.  Many are excusing that he didn’t hit the big numbers due to not making the majors full-time until age 27, but I don’t see why he gets a pass for that.
  • Barry Larkin – Again, will probably make it but not on the first shot.  Might be slightly overlooked after spending his entire career in Cincinnati.

The 2010 Hall of Fame Class (according to me)

Andre Dawson

Seeing as Jim Rice made it last year, Andre Dawson should have no problems punching his ticket this year.  While Rice may have been the “most feared” hitter in the AL during the 1970s, an argument could be made that Dawson filled a similar role in the NL.  In addition to the power numbers, Dawson was also able to play defense and wasn’t a hindrance on the base paths.  He was the 1977 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1987 NL Most Valuable Player.

Some of the things that will hold back his election is the low career OBP and his spending his formative years in the spotlight graveyard known as Montreal, but after getting 67% of the vote last year, he’s due for a bump this year.

Tim Raines

Last year, Raines garnered only 22.6% of the vote, which is mind-blowing.  He is quite possibly the best leadoff hitter in the history of the game not named Rickey Henderson, with a similar, if not as potent, blend of speed and power.

The only downsides are, again, his best years were spent in Montreal and his involvement in the Pittsburgh Drug Trials.  There’s really no reason why Raines shouldn’t be in Cooperstown.

Mark McGwire

So, what to say about McGwire.  His numbers speak for themselves, but he’s been locked out of Cooperstown so far due to a backlash against the “steroid era” stemming from his testimony, or lack thereof, in front of Congress.

I think this is the year that things start to turn around for McGwire.  For one, he is returning to the game as the hitting coach for the Cardinals.  Secondly, while McGwire was the first of the suspected users to come up for election, he won’t be the last and they are coming soon.  I seriously don’t see how the BBWAA can justify keeping Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens out of the HOF, given the numbers they put up before they “allegedly” started using PEDs.  And once you let one in, you’ll have to let the rest in.

So, while it may not be this year, but McGwire will end up in Cooperstown someday.

Roberto Alomar

Like McGwire, Alomar, numbers wise, is a sure bet for the Hall of Fame, but there is that one incident that casts doubt upon his candidacy.  Unlike McGwire, Alomar apologized, took responsibility for what he had done, and has continued to make amends through charity work.

On the field, there was no doubt that Alomar belongs in the Hall of Fame.  Certainly one of the best second baseman of all time, he combined offense and defense at a position where few had done so before.

So there you have it.  The Class of 2010 (according to me) for the Baseball Hall of Fame.