Team Stats: Triples

With 3 months 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 continue today on the offensive side of the ball with triples.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs 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 Brewers lead the way with a little more than 1 triple per every 4 games.  The Anaheim and California iterations of the Angels, the Miami version of the Marlins, and the Expos bring up the rear without a triple between them.

Triples
Team Name Triples
Chicago White Sox 69
Chicago Cubs 67
Cleveland Indians 11
Milwaukee Brewers 10
Detroit Tigers 9
Minnesota Twins 8
Baltimore Orioles 7
Houston Astros 7
Pittsburgh Pirates 6
Seattle Mariners Continue reading →

Team Stats: Strike Outs

With 2 months 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 continue today on the offensive side of the ball with strikeouts.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs 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 Diamondbacks have a commanding lead with 9.6 strikeouts per game, the only team over 9.  Both the Cubs and the White Sox are in the bottom (or top, depending on your point of view) third, surprising given the number of at bats given to strikeout machines like Sammy Sosa, Jim Thome, and Adam Dunn.  The California iteration of the Angels have the low water mark with 4 strikeouts per game.

Strike Outs
Team Name Strike Outs
Chicago White Sox 3321
Chicago Cubs 2612
Minnesota Twins 410
Cleveland Indians 369
Kansas City Royals 363
Pittsburgh Pirates 349
Cincinnati Reds 342
Detroit Tigers 327
Houston Astros 317
Milwaukee Brewers Continue reading →

Team Stats: Saves

With 2 months 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 continue today on the defensive side of the ball with saves.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs 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 iteration of the Angels lead the way with an even 1 save per game.  At the bottom end of the spectrum are the Anaheim incarnation of the Angels, the Miami version of the Marlins, and the Devil Rays, who did not manage to earn a single save.

Saves
Team Name Saves
Chicago White Sox 112
Chicago Cubs 92
Kansas City Royals 17
Minnesota Twins 14
Toronto Blue Jays 12
Cincinnati Reds 11
New York Yankees 10
Detroit Tigers 10
Houston Astros 10
Los Angeles Angels Continue reading →

Team Stats: Walks

With 3 months 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 continue today on the offensive side of the ball with walks.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs 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 iteration of the Angels lead the way with an exceedingly high 9 walks per game.  8 teams averaged less than 3 walks per game, with the Miami version of the Marlins bringing up the rear with just 2.5.

Walks
Team Name Walks
Chicago White Sox 1543
Chicago Cubs 1202
Minnesota Twins 153
Cincinnati Reds 151
Pittsburgh Pirates 147
Cleveland Indians 144
Milwaukee Brewers 141
Houston Astros 133
Kansas City Royals 128
Detroit Tigers Continue reading →

Team Stats: Hit By Pitch

With 3 months 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 continue today back on the defensive side of the ball with batters hit by a pitch.

Again, based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs 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 Devil Rays lead, followed, surprisingly, by the Tigers, who hit a little more than 1 batter every other game.  The Phillies and the Braves are at the bottom, hitting less than 1 batter every 15 games, while the Mets have yet to hit a batter in a game I’ve seen.

Hit By Pitch
Team Name Hit By Pitch
Chicago White Sox 149
Chicago Cubs 125
Minnesota Twins 21
Detroit Tigers 21
Kansas City Royals 17
Cincinnati Reds 16
Cleveland Indians 16
Texas Rangers 14
Houston Astros 14
Pittsburgh Pirates Continue reading →

Team Stats: Stolen Bases

With 3 months 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. After a brief hiatus for the holidays, we continue today back on the offensive side of the ball with stolen bases.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs are far and away the leaders in this category, as they are far and away the teams I’ve seen the most. When you adjust the numbers per game, the California and Anaheim versions of the Angels and the Devil Rays jump to the top of the heap.  The White Sox fall to the bottom of the middle third and the Cubs are squarely towards the low end, with less than 1 SB every other game.  The Braves are the worst team that I have seen somewhat often, at less than .3 SB per game, while the Miami incarnation of the Marlins have yet to steal a base in a game I have attended.

Stolen Bases
Team Name Stolen Bases
Chicago White Sox 303
Chicago Cubs 176
Kansas City Royals 36
Milwaukee Brewers 34
Cincinnati Reds 32
Houston Astros 30
Texas Rangers 28
Minnesota Twins 27
Cleveland Indians 26
Detroit Tigers Continue reading →

Team Stats: Home Runs Surrendered

With 4 months 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 continue today on the defensive side of the ball with home runs surrendered.

Based on the raw numbers, the White Sox and Cubs 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 Expos jump to the top (or bottom, depending on your point of view) of the heap, with an even 2 home runs given up per game.  The Braves, Giants, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins, Nationals, and Devil Rays are the only teams below 1 home run per game.  The remaining teams fall in between.

Home Runs Surrendered
Team Name Home Runs Surrendered
Chicago White Sox 565
Chicago Cubs 399
Minnesota Twins 73
Kansas City Royals 51
Pittsburgh Pirates 49
Milwaukee Brewers 48
Cincinnati Reds 47
Houston Astros 47
Cleveland Indians 46
Detroit Tigers Continue reading →

Team Stats: Batting Average

With 4 months 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 start today on the offensive side of the ball with team batting average.

The California Angels, who I only saw live and in person once, are the only team to post an average over .300.  The Washington Nationals, who, sadly, have had 8 games to make a mark, are the only team to post an average under .200.  In between, there is a slight correlation between the teams’ batting average and their record in these games, though with some surprising anomalies.

Batting Average
Team Name Batting Average
California Angels 0.306
Anaheim Angels 0.292
Arizona Diamondbacks 0.278
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 0.273
Cleveland Indians 0.271
Chicago Cubs 0.266
Colorado Rockies 0.265
Milwaukee Brewers 0.263
Kansas City Royals 0.261
Florida Marlins 0.260
Houston Astros 0.260
Chicago White Sox 0.259
Detroit Tigers Continue reading →

#55 – Kelly Wunsch

Name: Kelly Wunsch

Rank: 55

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2000-2004

Kelly Wunsch signed with the White Sox as a free agent in November of 1999.  He made his major league debut on April 3, 2000, pitching a scoreless inning of relief in the White Sox opening day loss to the Rangers in Arlington.  Wunsch ended up putting together the best season of his career, with a league high 83 appearances, a 6-3 record, and a 2.93 ERA.  He finished 5th in AL Rookie of the Year voting.  Wunsch appeared in all 3 games of the ALDS against the Mariners, giving up 2 hits and 1 unearned run in one inning pitched.

2001 was easily the worst season of Wunsch’s career, thanks in part to a June injury that led to rotator cuff surgery.  Appearing in only 33 games, he saw his ERA balloon to 7.66.

Wunsch started the 2002 season on the disabled list with continued shoulder soreness.  Once he returned to the big leagues, he showed some of the effectiveness he displayed in his rookie season, dropping his ERA to 3.41 in 50 appearances, covering just over 31 innings.

A back injury led to Wunsch missing time during the 2003 season.  Despite that, he put up a career-low ERA of 2.75 in 36 innings over 43 games.

Wunsch was back on the disabled list to start the 2004 season.  He ended up spending most of the season in Triple A, appearing in only 3 games for the White Sox.  Following the season, he became a free agent, ending his White Sox career.

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

Continue reading →

#56 – Daryl Boston

bostonName: Daryl Boston

Rank: 56

Position: CF

Years With White Sox: 1984-1990

Daryl Boston was selected by the White Sox as the 7th pick in the 1st round of the 1981 draft.  He made his major league debut on May 13, 1984 in the White Sox 8-1 victory against the Rangers, going 3-5 with 2 RBIs and a stolen base while leading off and playing center field.  He ended up appearing in 35 games for a White Sox team that failed to follow up on their success of the previous year, hitting an anemic .169.

Boston split the 1985 season between Triple A Buffalo and Chicago, appearing in 95 games for the White Sox.  He managed to improve his average to .228 with the increased playing time.

1986 again saw Boston splitting time between Triple A and the big leagues.  On October 4th, he hit the 50th and final home run given up by Bert Blyleven during the season, setting the major league record.  He finished the year with 56 appearances, hitting .266 with 5 home runs.

Boston spent the majority of the 1987 season in Chicago, hitting .258 with 10 home runs in 337 at bats.  1988 was his first full season in the major leagues, but he struggled, hitting only .217 but setting a career high with 15 home runs.

Boston rebounded in 1989, raising his average to .252, but hitting only 5 home runs in 101 appearances.  1990 saw his White Sox career come to an end, appearing in 5 games and getting only one at bat before being placed on waivers towards the end of April and being selected by the Mets.

Boston rejoined the White Sox organization in 2001 as a roving minor league instructor.  In 2013, he became the first base coach for new manager Robin Ventura, a role he remains in to this day.

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

Continue reading →