Tag / Mariners

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Fitbit III: Week 24

A tremendous week, as I posted my best total since late March/early April.  The week got off to a great start on Sunday with a 10,000 step day, thanks to a morning walk to Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast.  Monday used an impromptu day-long meeting in North plaza to surpass 8000 steps.  Tuesday nearly made it to 7000 steps, in part due to a walk over to Willow for day 2 of the impromptu meeting.  Wednesday was my second 10,000 step day of the week, surpassing 11,000 steps thanks to an after work walk.  Thursday was back down to 7000 steps, in part due to a post-work trip to the City Winery to see Matthew Sweet.  My best day of the week (and year) came on Friday, as I flew down to Florida with Angelina for a day at Disney World.  The 20,208 steps I logged are currently the 4th highest total I’ve accumulated in the 7 years I’ve been tracking.  Saturday only managed just over 5000 steps as I recovered from the previous day lounging around the house before heading out to Guaranteed Rate Field to watch the White Sox lose to the Mariners.

Total steps: 68,650

Daily average: 9807.1

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56 Forever

On Saturday, the White Sox retired Mark Buehrle’s #56, making him the 12th player (including Jackie Robinson) to receive the honor.  Buehrle first came up during the 2000 season, working out of the bullpen for the eventual division champions.  He moved into the rotation the following season, and stayed there for the next 11 seasons.  During that time, there were numerous memorable appearances, many of which I was privileged to see in person.

The 2007 no-hitter against the Rangers.

The 2009 perfect game against the Rays.

Winning Game 2 of the 2005 ALCS against the Angels, thanks to AJ Pierzynski’s heads-up baserunning, and starting the streak of 4 straight complete games.

The 1 hour 36 minute game against the Mariners in 2005.

The no look, through his legs flip to Paul Konerko on Opening Day 2010 against the Indians.

And, of course, his performance in the 2005 World Series, starting Game 2, getting a no decision, and coming in to pitch the 14th inning and earning the save in Game 3.

In White Sox annals, Buehrle is currently fifth all-time in strikeouts, sixth in games started, and eighth in wins and innings pitched.  More importantly, he is number one in the hearts of an appreciative fan base.

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#23 – Carlos Lee

Name: Carlos Lee

Rank: 23

Position: LF

Years With White Sox: 1999-2004

Carlos Lee signed with the White Sox as an amateur free agent in 1994.  He worked his way through the minor league system, making his major league debut on May 7, 1999 against the A’s and hitting a home run in his first at bat.  Lee became the everyday left fielder and finished the year with a promising .293 average, 16 home runs, ans 84 RBIs.  He tied for seventh in Rookie of the Year voting with future teammate Billy Koch.

The 2000 season saw Lee improve, upping his average to .301 and his home runs to 24, as the White Sox took home the Central Division title.  Like most of his teammates, Lee struggled in the ALDS against the Mariners, garnering only 1 hit in the 3 game series.

While Lee struggled a bit in 2001, he became a south side folk hero on June 8, when he hit a walkoff grand slam in the 10th inning against the rival Cubs.  He ended the year with a .269 average, 24 home runs, and 84 RBIs.  2002 was more of the same, as his average dropped to .264 with 26 home runs and 80 RBIs.

2003 was a bounce back year for Lee.  His average rebounded to .291 and he set new career highs with 31 home runs and 113 RBIs.  The effort was good enough for an 18th place finish in MVP voting.

Lee put up another strong season in 2004.  He pushed his average up to .305 and again hit 31 home runs.  He set a career high with an OPS of .891.  Following the season, he was traded, along with Nelson Cruz, to the Brewers for Scott Podsednik, Luis Vizcaino, and a minor league throw-in.

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

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It’s Been A While

Prior to last night’s game, I hadn’t seen the Rockies live since August of 2012, nearly 5 years ago.  For someone with season tickets to two teams, one in each league, that is a long drought.  This got me thinking about the other 29 teams.

You would think that I would cycle through each team every few years or so.  And, for the most part, that does seem to be the case.  I’ve already seen 12 teams in 2017, and the season is just over 2 months old.  Going back to last year, that number jumps to 22 and, going back to 2015, 25.  That’s over 83% of the league in the past 2+ seasons.

What about those remaining 5 teams?  The Astros and Diamondbacks last appeared in 2014, with the Marlins and the Nationals in the two years prior.  That leaves the Phillies, who I have somehow not managed to see in person since 2009.  I’ve seen the Florida Marlins more recently.  Anyway, here’s a look at each team and the last time I saw them play.

Team Name Date
Colorado Rockies 6/8/2017
Chicago Cubs 6/8/2017
Chicago White Sox 5/30/2017
Boston Red Sox 5/30/2017
Detroit Tigers 5/28/2017
San Diego Padres 5/13/2017
New York Yankees 5/7/2017
Kansas City Royals 4/25/2017
Cleveland Indians 4/23/2017
Pittsburgh Pirates 4/15/2017
Los Angeles Dodgers 4/12/2017
Minnesota Twins 4/9/2017
San Francisco Giants 10/8/2016
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#26 – Ray Durham

Name: Ray Durham

Rank: 26

Position: 2B

Years With White Sox: 1995-2002

Selected in the fifth round of the 1990 draft, Ray Durham broke camp with the White Sox in 1995 and made his major league debut on Opening Day, leading off and going 1-4 in the 12-3 loss to the Brewers at County Stadium.  Durham stuck in the leadoff spot and finished the year with a .257 average, 7 home runs, and 51 RBI, good enough for a 6th place finish in Rookie of the Year voting.

Durham saw improvement in 1996, raising his average to .275 and his OBP to .350.  His home run and RBI totals also jumped, going to 10 and 65 respectively.  1997 was another good year for Durham, as he hit .271 with 11 home runs.

In 1998, Durham earned his first All Star nod and finished the year setting career highs with a .285 average, 19 home runs, 67 RBIs, and 36 stolen bases.  Durham improved his average again in 1999, raising it to .296, his career best.  It was also his second of seven straight years with an OPS over .800.

Durham nabbed his second All Star selection in 2000.  When the season came to an end, Durham had a .280 average with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs and the White Sox were atop the AL Central for the first time.  Like the rest of his teammates, Durham struggled during the ALDS, hitting .200 in the three game sweep against the Mariners.

2001 saw Durham’s average drop to .267, his lowest total since his rookie year.  He did manage to set a new career high with 20 home runs as the White Sox failed to repeat.  Durham was hitting .299 with 9 home runs at the trade deadline in 2002 when, facing free agency, he was shipped to the A’s for Jon Adkins.  At the time of the trade, Durham was the club’s all-time leader in leadoff home runs, while placing in the top 10 in franchise history in steals (5th), doubles (7th), extra base hits (7th), and runs (8th).

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

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#32 – Julio Cruz

Name: Julio Cruz

Rank: 32

Position: 2B

Years With White Sox: 1983-1986

Acquired by the White Sox on June 15, 1983 from the Mariners for counterpart Tony Bernazard, Julio Cruz gave the White Sox the spark they were looking for, helping the team go on a 72-31 run to finish the season and go from 6 1/2 games back to 20 games ahead.  Cruz scored the winning run on a Harold Baines sacrifice fly against, of all teams, the Mariners on September 17, clinching the first division title in White Sox history.  Cruz hit .333 during the ALCS against the Orioles, swiping 2 bases in the 4 game series.

In January of 1984, after nearly leaving to join the Angels, Cruz re-signed with the White Sox on a 6 year deal, thought to be worth between $3.6 to $4.8 million.  Unfortunately, time, and injuries, were starting to take their toll.  1984 was the best year of the deal, and Cruz saw his average drop to .222 and he stole only 14 bases, a career low to date.

1985 saw the bottom fall out for Cruz.  Dealing with a toe injury, he was limited to 91 games and he finished the year with a .197 average with only 8 stolen bases.  1986 was more of the same, as he managed to only get in to 81 games, swiping a mere 7 bases while hitting .215.

With Donnie Hill, Jerry Royster, and Fred Manrique in camp in 1987, things did not look good for Cruz.  General Manager Larry Himes hoped that a deal could be made to find Cruz a new home, but nothing materialized and, on March 23, Cruz was told he was being released.  He never played in the major leagues again.

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

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All Time Team Records

baseballs3Yet another exciting baseball season is upon us, and it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have attended dating back to 1984.  The Cubs begin the season as defending champions for the first time since 1909 while the White Sox finally start their long-overdue rebuilding effort, so both sides of town are pointing in different directions.  Either way, the 2017 season should be an exciting one.

All-Time Team Records
Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 1 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 13 2 0.867
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
Philadelphia Phillies 10 6 0.625
Toronto Blue Jays 13 9 0.591
New York Yankees 12 9 0.571
Los Angeles Angels 16 13 0.552
Boston Red Sox 14 12 0.538
Colorado Rockies 7 6 0.538
Chicago Cubs 203 179 0.531
Chicago White Sox 267 237 0.530
Cleveland Indians 23 21 0.523
Kansas City Royals Continue reading →
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2017 Predictions

The 2017 baseball season is scheduled to kick off tonight, with 3 games scheduled culminating with the Cubs starting their first title defense since 1909 against their arch rivals in St. Louis.  For the seventh consecutive year, I’ve looked into the crystal ball to make my picks for the upcoming season.

American League

East: Red Sox

Central: Indians

West: Mariners

Wild Cards: Blue Jays, Tigers

AL Champion: Red Sox

Cy Young: Chris Sale

MVP: Francisco Lindor

National League

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Team Stats: Home Run

With 1 week until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time rankings in both offensive and defensive categories for all iterations of the current 30 teams for the 833 games I’ve identified that I have attended. We finish up today on the offensive side of the ball with home runs.

As you might expect by this point, the White Sox and Cubs, based on the raw numbers, are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are the teams I’ve seen the most.  When you adjust the numbers per game, the California incarnation of the Angels and the Diamondbacks are the only teams at or above 2 home runs per game.  The Nationals and the Anaheim version of the Angels are the only teams with less than a home run every other game.

Home Runs
Team Name Home Runs
Chicago White Sox 605
Chicago Cubs 437
Cleveland Indians 53
Kansas City Royals 48
Detroit Tigers 45
Minnesota Twins 44
Houston Astros 40
Texas Rangers 40
Milwaukee Brewers 39
Seattle Mariners Continue reading →
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#35 – Jose Valentin

Name: Jose Valentin

Rank: 35

Position: SS/3B

Years With White Sox: 2000-2004

Jose Valentin was acquired by the White Sox, along with Cal Eldred, on January 12, 2000 from the Brewers in exchange for Jaime Navarro and John Snyder.  Valentin replaced Mike Caruso at shortstop, and provided an offensive punch that had been missing.  On April 27, against the Orioles, he hit for a natural cycle, becoming just the fifth, and the most recent, White Sox player to hit for the cycle.  While Valentin provided an offensive spark, hitting .273 with 25 home runs and 92 RBI, he was a butcher in the field.  He led the American League with 36 errors.  Despite this, Valentin helped lead the White Sox to their first division title since 1993.  He hit .300 in the ALDS against the Mariners, where the White Sox were swept out of the playoffs.

To help improve their defense, the White Sox acquired Royce Clayton to play shortstop for 2001, forcing Valentin to move around the field in order to keep his bat in the lineup.  He split most of his time between center field and third base, before moving back to shortstop when Clayton failed to hit at all.  Valentin’s average dropped down to .258, but he set a career high with 28 home runs.  He still managed to place second in the AL with 22 errors, despite only appearing in 124 games.

With Clayton getting another shot in 2002, Valentin shifted back over to third base, which is where he spent the majority of the year.  When Clayton struggled offensively again, Valentin again spent time back at shortstop, starting 47 games.  He ended the year with a .249 average and 25 home runs.

After Royce Clayton left as a free agent, Valentin again became the everyday shortstop in 2003.  While he continued to struggle defensively, finishing 3rd in the AL with 20 errors, he started to struggle offensively as well.  Despite tying his career high with 28 home runs, his average dropped to .237, his lowest total as a member of the White Sox.

In 2004, Valentin’s offense continued to slip.  His average dropped to .216, a career low, but he did manage to set a new career high with 30 home runs in only 450 at bats.  Following the season, he became a free agent and his White Sox career drew to a close.

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

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