Tag / James Russell

by admin

Two Sides Of The Same Town

cws-chiFollowing last week’s trade deadline deals, Ryan Tepera and Craig Kimbrel became the 36th and 37th people I’ve seen play in person for both the Cubs and the White Sox.  With the first round of crosstown kicking off this afternoon at Wrigley, here’s a look at those players, in alphabetical order.

David Aardsma

After posting a decent season with the Cubs in 2006, Aardsma was traded to the White Sox for Neal Cotts.  Aardsma lasted one season with the Sox, where he was unable to duplicate his success from the year before.

Jason Bere

Drafted by the White Sox in the 36th round in 1990, Bere debuted with the big league club in 1993, finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting.  After an All Star selection in 1994, injuries marred the remainder of his tenure on the South Side, which ended in 1998.  He resurfaced with the Cubs in 2001 and had a decent season, but he went 1-10 in 2002 before being let go.

Emilio Bonifacio

Bonifacio spent back-to-back partial seasons in Chicago, first for the Cubs in 2014 after signing as a free agent, where he played decently enough to be flipped at the trade deadline, along with James Russell, to the Braves for a young catching prospect by the name of Victor Caratini.  He returned to Chicago in 2015, signing with the White Sox, where he he did not do well at all, hitting .167 in 47 games before being released in August.

Welington Castillo

Debuting with the Cubs in 2010, Castillo spent time behind the plate for the Cubs until May of 2015, when, having been replaced in the starting lineup by Miguel Montero, he was flipped to the Mariners.  He returned to Chicago in 2018 after signing with the White Sox as a free agent.  On May 24th of that season, he was suspended 80 games for a violation of the PED policy.  The White Sox then cut bait following the 2019 season, shipping him off to the Rangers.

Neal Cotts

Acquired by the White Sox in the Billy Koch trade, he debuted with the team in 2003.  He was a key contributor in the bullpen during the 2005 championship season, and was the only relief pitcher to appear in all 3 rounds of the playoffs that season.  Following the 2006 season, he was traded to the Cubs for David Aardsma, and he spent the next 3 injury filled seasons on the North Side.

Scott Eyre

Joining the White Sox organization in a 1994 trade with the Rangers, he debuted with the big league team in 1997.  He split the next 4 seasons between the rotation and the bullpen, not to mention between Chicago and Charlotte, before being moved to the Blue Jays following the 2000 ALDS loss to the Mariners.  He joined the Cubs as a free agent for the 2006 season and enjoyed 2 seasons of relative success, before falling apart in 2008, when he was traded to the Phillies.

Kosuke Fukudome Continue reading →

by admin

By The Numbers – 64

In 1929, uniform numbers appeared on the back of baseball jerseys for the first time, thanks to the Indians and the Yankees.  By 1937, numbers finally appeared across all uniforms, both home and away, across both major leagues.  Since that time, 81 distinct numbers have been worn by members of the White Sox, while the Cubs boast 76.

Today, we continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #64.  9 players have donned #64 while playing in Chicago, 6 for the White Sox and 3 for the Cubs.

For the first time, we come across a single player who wore the same number for both the Cubs and the White Sox.  Emilio Bonifacio donned #64 for the Cubs in 2014 after signing as a free agent.  He played decently enough, hitting .279 in 69 games.   At the trade deadline, he and James Russell were dealt to the Braves for a young catching prospect by the name of Victor Caratini.  After finishing the 2014 season in Atlanta, Bonifacio returned to Chicago in 2015, signing with the White Sox, where he once again wore #64.  His second go-around did not go as well, as he hit .167 in 47 games before being released in August.

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 admin

Cubs Opening Day Roster – Career Stats

Since I will be attending my first Cubs game of the year today, let’s take a look at their roster and how they’ve performed in games I’ve attended up to now.

Starting Pitchers

Name Games Wins Losses ERA Saves Ks Walks
Andrew Cashner 3 0 2 3.86 0 2 2
Ryan Dempster 69 13 9 4.00 14 136 80
Matt Garza 1 0 1 7.50 0 4 4
Randy Wells 10 2 4 3.10 0 49 17
Carlos Zambrano 60 20 15 4.09 0 283 146

Zambrano and Dempster are the deans of the staff.  Garza comes over from the AL, where I’ve only seen him once (08 ALDS, I believe).  Wells hopes to bounce back from a disappointing sophmore season.  Cashner moves to the rotation after mostly coming out of the bullpen last year.

Relief Pitchers

Name Games Wins Losses ERA Saves Ks Walks
John Grabow 13 1 0 4.66 0 11 3
Carlos Marmol 69 5 3 2.75 3 101 45
Sean Marshall 39 7 11 4.40 0 71 33
Marcos Mateo 0 0 0 —— 0 0 0
James Russell 3 0 0 2.45 0 3 0
Jeff Samardzija 7 0 0 3.37 0 6 3
Kerry Wood 55 10 12 3.80 11 217 109

John Grabow is basically a LOOGY.  Marmol set a record for highest K/9 last year, but still walks way too many people.  Marshall could probably be a 3-5 starter somewhere, but just never got the chance here.  Marcos Mateo, welcome to the show.  Nothing to say about Russell.  Samardzija might have made a poor career choice.  Kerry Wood turned down bigger offers to come back to the Northside.

Catchers

Name Games Average RBI Walks Ks 2B 3B HR SB
Koyie Hill 26 0.222 8 5 10 3 0 1 0
Geovany Soto 80 0.305 40 38 63 18 2 7 0

Soto had a bit of a bounce back year last year, and has been strong when I’ve been there.  Hill is a backup who really provides little offense.

Infielders

Name Games Average RBI Walks Ks 2B 3B HR SB
Jeff Baker 19 0.302 7 3 16 1 2 3 0
Darwin Barney 0 —– 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Starlin Castro 10 0.313 1 4 4 5 0 0 0
Blake DeWitt 8 0.185 3 3 4 1 0 0 0
Carlos Pena 9 0.379 8 4 11 2 0 1 2
Aramis Ramirez 226 0.274 155 76 132 51 4 40 1

Ramirez has become the elder statesman of the infield.  Pena is hoping to bounce back from a disappointing season with Tampa Bay.  DeWitt played himself out of a starting job in spring training and has shown nothing when I’ve been in attendance.  Castro had a strong rookie season at the plate.  Jeff Baker injured himself attempting to light his farts on fire last year.  Barney came up long after I stopped going to games last year.

Outfielders

Name Games Average RBI Walks Ks 2B 3B HR SB
Marlon Byrd 22 0.259 4 4 17 4 0 0 3
Tyler Colvin 16 0.172 4 3 14 1 1 1 0
Kosuke Fukudome 74 0.258 20 34 49 15 3 1 7
Reed Johnson 39 0.280 23 3 26 5 1 2 1
Alfonso Soriano 116 0.279 48 30 107 27 1 17 11

Byrd started off strong, but faded down the stretch and has faced scutiny for his BALCO connections.  Colvin was in the midst of a decent rookie season when he got stabbed in the heart by a bat shard.  Fukudome has been a bust and finishes out his contract.  Johnson is fine for what he is.  Soriano has not come close to what the Cubs thought they were getting and still has 5? years left on his deal.