Tag / Rangers

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It Has Indeed Been A While

As we hit the halfway point of the 2025 season, I’ve seen fourteen teams already this year, just under half of the league.  Stretching back to the start of 2024, that number jumps to 25, which leaves a quarter of the teams I’ve not seen in quite some time.

Of the remaining five, the Nationals hold the top stop, as it has been over four years now since I have seen them live and in person.  The Twins are the biggest surprise, since going two plus seasons without seeing a division rival is pretty rare. I do have the opportunity to add each of these five teams to this season’s slate in the second half.  Anyway, here’s a look at each team and the last time I saw them play.

Most Recent Game By Team

Team Date
Washington Nationals 5/19/2021
New York Yankees 5/15/2022
Minnesota Twins 10/5/2022
Philadelphia Phillies 6/29/2023
San Francisco Giants 9/5/2023
Cincinnati Reds 4/13/2024
Tampa Bay Rays 4/28/2024
Cleveland Guardians 5/12/2024
Atlanta Braves 5/21/2024
Baltimore Orioles 5/25/2024
Toronto Blue Jays 5/28/2024
Los Angeles Dodgers 6/24/2024
Pittsburgh Pirates 7/14/2024
Detroit Tigers 8/25/2024
New York Mets 8/31/2024
Oakland Athletics 9/15/2024
Los Angeles Angels 3/27/2025
San Diego Padres 4/5/2025
Boston Red Sox 4/13/2025
Milwaukee Brewers 5/1/2025
Houston Astros 5/3/2025
Miami Marlins 5/10/2025
Seattle Mariners 5/20/2025
Texas Rangers 5/24/2025
Colorado Rockies 5/26/2025
Chicago Cubs 5/26/2025
Kansas City Royals 6/8/2025
St. Louis Cardinals 6/19/2025
Chicago White Sox 6/24/2025
Arizona Diamondbacks 6/24/2025
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All Time Team Records

After a long winter, the North American portion of the 2025 baseball season is set to get underway tomorrow.  To celebrate, it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have identified as having attended dating back to 1984.  Last year, I posted my lowest total since 2001, a decrease of 16 games from the year before, and managed to see 20 out of the 30 teams, so there should be some nice changes.

The White Sox are coming off the most losses in modern major league history and may be hard-pressed to avoid breaking that record again this year.  On the other side of town, the Cubs made some big moves to get back into playoff contention.  The 2025 season may look completely different on each side of town.

All-Time Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 2 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 16 4 0.800
Cleveland Guardians 4 2 0.667
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
New York Yankees 19 12 0.613
Toronto Blue Jays 18 12 0.600
Philadelphia Phillies 13 9 0.591
Colorado Rockies 11 8 0.579
Boston Red Sox 21 16 0.568
Los Angeles Angels 20 16 0.556
Washington Nationals 7 6 0.538
Detroit Tigers 35 30 0.538
Cleveland Indians 31 27 0.534
Chicago Cubs 238 215 0.525
Houston Astros 26 25 0.510
Chicago White Sox 372 360 0.508
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Ballpark Tour: Rangers

With a little more than a month until the start of the 2025 baseball season, we continue our tour of all of the different baseball stadiums I’ve been to over the years. This week, we look at the Texas Rangers, a team you would think I would have visited more often due to its proximity to my father. So, without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at my history with the building originally named as the Ballpark in Arlington, the now former home of the Rangers.

Stadium Name: The Ballpark In Arlington/Ameriquest Field/Rangers Ballpark in Arlington/Globe Life Park

Years in Service: 1994 – 2019

Visits: 7

After spending their entire history at nearby Arlington Stadium, the Texas Rangers broke ground on their new stadium on April 2, 1992, and held their first game there nearly two years later, on April 11, 1994, against the Brewers.  The stadium was known by the somewhat clunky moniker of The Ballpark in Arlington until May of 2004, when Ameriquest bought the naming rights.  That deal ended in March of 2007, and the stadium was renamed again, this time to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.  Corporate money came calling again in 2014, when Globe Life and Accident Insurance Company purchased the naming rights.  The stadium also features a Rangers Hall of Fame, which includes historical artifacts from the team along with visiting collections from Cooperstown.

I made my first trip to the Ballpark on May 22, 1998, to see the Rangers defeat the Royals during a visit to the Dallas area to see my dad.  I returned in 2001 for two games, against the Tigers and two days later against the White Sox.  In 2005, on my last trip to the area to date, I took in the entire four game series between the Rangers and the eventual World Series champion White Sox.

With Michael attending college in Texas, I should be able to add their new stadium, which opened in 2020, to my collection sooner rather than later.

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Another Name Change

Eight years into a thirteen-year deal, Guaranteed Rate Field will now be known as Rate Field.  While the new name rolls off the tongue a little easier than the previous moniker, it is still a bit of a clunker.  Guaranteed Rate rebranded as simply Rate this past July, so the new name aligns with the corporate master.

In the time the park was known as Guaranteed Rate, I saw 203 games, including post-season play in 2021 and the worst team in modern MLB history in 2024.

All-Time Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Milwaukee Brewers 3 1 0.750
Cleveland Guardians 4 2 0.667
San Diego Padres 2 1 0.667
Arizona Diamondbacks 2 1 0.667
Chicago Cubs 7 4 0.636
Seattle Mariners 7 4 0.636
Toronto Blue Jays 5 3 0.625
Boston Red Sox 6 4 0.600
Cleveland Indians 7 5 0.583
New York Yankees 4 3 0.571
Detroit Tigers 13 10 0.565
Houston Astros 6 5 0.545
Cincinnati Reds 1 1 0.500
Los Angeles Angels 3 3 0.500
St. Louis Cardinals 2 2 0.500
Texas Rangers 3 3 0.500
Oakland Athletics 6 7 0.462
Chicago White Sox 93 110 0.458
Minnesota Twins 7 9 0.438
Kansas City Royals 8 12 0.400
Baltimore Orioles 3 5 0.375
San Francisco Giants 1 2 0.333
Tampa Bay Rays 2 5 0.286
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And Then There Were None

The Cubs career of Kyle Hendricks officially came to an end Wednesday when the free agent pitcher signed a one-year deal with the Angels.  After an eleven-year Cubs career, he was the last remaining member of the 2016 World Series champions to remain on the roster for the North Siders.

Hendricks was first acquired by the Cubs at the trade deadline in 2012 as part of the return from the Rangers for Ryan Dempster.  He made his major league debut nearly two years later, throwing six innings against the Reds at Great American Ballpark and earning a no-decision.  2016 was his best season, winning 16 games and posting a 2.13 ERA in the regular season and making five post-season starts, giving up just two earned runs in 21 2/3 innings between the NLCS and the World Series.  He has struggled with injuries and worsening performance over the past three seasons, making his departure feel inevitable.

While Hendricks was the last continuous link to the 2016 squad, he may not be the last member of that team to suit up for the Cubs.  Rob Zastryzny, who made his major league debut for the 2016 team and made eight appearances down the stretch, was recently re-acquired off waivers from the Brewers and will be given a chance to claim a bullpen spot during spring training.

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

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The Will Venable Era Has Begun

The White Sox have hired Will Venable to be the 44th manager in franchise history, and the sixth since 2020.  Venable, who was the associate manager under Bruce Bochy for the Rangers these past two seasons, had previously been part of the coaching staffs for the Red Sox and Cubs and was a special assistant to Theo Epstein with the Cubs.  Prior to that, Venable spent nine years as an outfielder, mostly with the Padres.  When former manager Pedro Grifol was fired back in August, general manager Chris Getz said, “I think it’s important to bring in a new voice, a fresh voice, perhaps that’s been exposed to areas of this game that we don’t currently have in our organization.”  Venable does seem to check those boxes.

Venable takes over a team that set the modern major league record this season with 121 losses and is not expected to spend much money to improve the on-the-field product in 2025.  Given that the White Sox appear to be in a slow-moving, long term rebuild of the entire organization, Venable looks to be the manager for today and also for the future, when the team should be competitive once more.

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Looking Ahead To 2025

Last week, on the extra off day in the All-Star break, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2025 schedule while I was away in Amsterdam.  For the third year in a row, MLB is keeping with a balanced schedule, playing 52 games against division opponents, 64 games against non-division opponents in the same league, and 46 interleague games, with series against every team in the opposite league.  With the White Sox about to cement the worst season in franchise history and the Cubs trying to figure out what went wrong on their way back to contention, the 2025 season looks like it could be a long one for the city of Chicago.  So, for one day, at least, let’s turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

The White Sox celebrate the 125th anniversary of the franchise, opening their season on March 27 at home against the Angels, kicking off a six-game homestand that also features the Twins.  They will make their first visit to Sacramento, the new home of the A’s, in the last weekend of April.

The interleague schedule sees the Phillies, Marlins, Cardinals, Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Padres coming to Guaranteed Rate Field, while the White Sox will go on the road to face the Pirates, Reds, Dodgers, Braves, Mets, Rockies, and Nationals.  The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a three-game weekend series at Wrigley Field in mid-May followed by another weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field the last weekend in July.

After wrapping up the home portion of the schedule in mid-September against the Orioles and Padres, the White Sox wrap up the 2025 season on the east coast, battling the Yankees and the Nationals to finish up the year.

On the north side, the Cubs head to Japan to open their season on March 18 with a two-game tilt against the Dodgers in Tokyo.  They return to the US to face the Diamondbacks on March 27 before heading to Sacramento for the first time to face the A’s.  They open up the home portion of the 2025 season on April 4 against the Padres.

Aside from the A’s, the Cubs will head out on the road to face the Twins, Angels, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Tigers, while the Mariners, Orioles, Guardians, Red Sox, and Royals will be coming to Wrigley Field.

Only ten of their 25 games in September are against their NL Central rivals, which could make a difference should the Cubs find themselves in contention.  They end the year with a six-game homestand, facing the Mets and the Cardinals.

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All Time Team Records

After a long, disappointing winter, the 2024 baseball season is set to get underway tomorrow.  To celebrate, it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have identified as having attended dating back to 1984.  Last year, I tied 2011 for my eleventh highest game total of all time, an increase of ten games from the year before, and managed to see 21 out of the 30 teams, so there should be some nice changes.

The White Sox just may be worse this year following a disappointing 2023, with new general manager Chris Getz treading water by bringing in defensive upgrades who can’t hit their way out of a paper bag.  On the other side of town, the Cubs brought in Craig Counsell to push a team that overachieved back into playoff contention but didn’t do a whole lot to improve the roster to help him do so.  The 2024 season may just be a maddening year on both sides of town.

All-Time Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 2 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 16 4 0.800
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
New York Yankees 19 12 0.613
Colorado Rockies 11 7 0.611
Cleveland Guardians 3 2 0.600
Philadelphia Phillies 13 9 0.591
Toronto Blue Jays 17 12 0.586
Los Angeles Angels 20 15 0.571
Boston Red Sox 19 15 0.559
Washington Nationals 7 6 0.538
Cleveland Indians 31 27 0.534
Chicago Cubs 235 213 0.525
Chicago White Sox 366 342 0.517 Continue reading →
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Three Of A Kind

On a cold winter’s day, the attention of the baseball world turns to upstate New York and the hamlet of Cooperstown, where the votes were tallied, and the 2024 Hall of Fame class is now complete.  Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, and Joe Mauer join Jim Leyland, who was elected by the Veteran’s Committee last month, in obtaining baseball immortality.  Beltre, the former Dodger/Mariner/Ranger, and Mauer, the long-time Twin, make it on their first try.  Helton, the former Rockie first baseman, was on his sixth go-around.

Four others tallied greater than 50% of the vote, led by Billy Wagner, who came just short at 73.8% and seems likely to make it next year, his final year on the ballot.  Gary Sheffield saw a not-insignificant jump in his final election, rising to 63.9%.  Andruw Jones rose to 61.6% with three more years to go.  In his second go-around, Carlos Beltran jumped up to 57.1%.

On the local front, Manny Ramirez, who spent a little more than a month with the White Sox at the tail end of his career, saw a small decrease in support, finishing with 32.5% of the vote thanks to his multiple PED suspensions.  The disgraced Omar Vizquel, accused of both sexual abuse of an autistic teen and spousal abuse since being added to the ballot, dropped again, going down to 17.7%.  Jimmy Rollins, who spent the final 41 games of his career on the south side, picked up 14.8% in his third go-around.  Mark Buehrle fell back again, dropping to 8.3% in his fourth time on the ballot, living to fight another day.  Former White Sox pitchers Bartolo Colon and James Shields nabbed five votes between them.

Eight players will fall off the ballot after failing to score 5% of the vote.

As for the newest Hall of Famers, I’ve seen Mauer play 42 times, Beltre 17 times, and Helton eleven times.  They will get their day in the sun on Sunday, July 21.

Joe Mauer’s numbers in games I’ve attended were:

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2023 BBWAA Award Predictions

The Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season, which will be announced next week.  It is a good bet that few of my original predictions for the winners will be accurate.  Hopefully, these new predictions will be slightly better, especially since I’ll have a 33% chance of being right.

American League

Most Valuable Player: Shohei Ohtani, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien

Shohei Ohtani should run away and hide with this award.  But, an early end to his season and perhaps some burnout from voters picking the same name every year may open the door a bit.  That said, these awards were voted on prior to the post-season, so the Rangers World Series win won’t move the needle at all, so I’m going to guess Ohtani still gets it.

Cy Young Award: Gerrit Cole, Kevin Gausman, Sonny Gray

Gerrit Cole seems the obvious choice here.  He leads the three finalists in nearly every category and managed a WHIP below one in over 200 innings.

Manager of the Year: Bruce Bochy, Kevin Cash, Brandon Hyde

As usual, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  If voting took place after the World Series, then Bochy would be a shoo-in.  However, since the early playoff exits of the Orioles and the Rays don’t get taken into account, Brandon Hyde should win this award after leading the Orioles to an AL East title.

Rookie of the Year: Tanner Bibee, Triston Casas, Gunnar Henderson

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Gunnar Henderson will win, since he in the only one of these three that I have heard of previously.

National League

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