Tag / Red Sox

by admin

All Time Team Records

The 2018 baseball season gets underway today, with an early start brought about due to the last collective bargaining agreement, which added additional off days for each team throughout the year.  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. The Cubs look to avenge last year’s NLCS loss and make it back to the World Series, while the rebuilding White Sox hope to finally start seeing their young talent blossom.  The 2018 season should be an exciting one on both sides of town.

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 14 10 0.583
Colorado Rockies 8 6 0.571
Los Angeles Angels 16 13 0.552
Boston Red Sox 16 13 0.552
Kansas City Royals 27 24 0.529
Chicago White Sox 284 256 0.526
Chicago Cubs 209 189 0.525
Continue reading →
by admin

2018 Predictions

The 2018 baseball season is scheduled to kick off tomorrow, the earliest date in history (not counting special series outside of North America) with a full slate of games featuring all 30 teams.  For the eighth consecutive year, I’ve looked into the crystal ball to make my picks for the upcoming season.

American League

East: Yankees

Central: Indians

West: Astros

Wild Cards: Red Sox, Angels

AL Champion: Yankees

Cy Young: Chris Sale

MVP: Giancarlo Stanton

National League

Continue reading →

by admin

2018 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Newcomers

baseballhof

The BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2018 on Monday.  The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 24th, with induction taking place next July.  After Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez were elected in last year’s voting, the new ballot contains 14 holdovers along with 19 newcomers, which may continue the logjam caused by the current BBWAA rules which limit the number of votes on one ballot to 10 and the ongoing refusal by some writers to vote for players tainted by PEDs, leaving too many qualified candidates fighting for limited spots.  Once again, the BBWAA and the Hall may find themselves with a mess on their hands.  And that doesn’t even take in to account Joe Morgan’s letter.

Yesterday, we looked at the returning candidates.  Today, it’s time to look at the newcomers and who may be thankful come January.

Chris Carpenter

He put together some monster seasons, but lost nearly 4 1/2 seasons due to injury, leaving his numbers well short of enshrinement.

Johnny Damon

Probably would not get anywhere near enough support, but he spent many years in a Red Sox or Yankees uniform, so who knows.

Livan Hernandez

The Cuban ex-pat may get a vote or two, but it should be one and done for him.

Orlando Hudson

I can’t imagine a world where Orlando Hudson, who finished out his career with the White Sox in 2012, earns a Hall of Fame vote.

Aubrey Huff

Not that he was going to garner any support anyway, but his recent social media posts, falling for the worst of the right wing conspiracies, certainly aren’t helping.

Jason Isringhausen

This has been a weak batch of newly eligible players. no?

Andruw Jones

Now here is an interesting conundrum.  If we stick to his first 11 seasons, it seemed like he was destined for the Hall.  His last 7 seasons, though, were so bad that it makes it hard to consider him.  This would be a tough choice.

Chipper Jones

Ah, there we go.  A sure-fire, first ballot selection for the long time Brave.

Carlos Lee

The former White Sox outfielder may get a little support, but not enough to keep him on the ballot for a second go-around.

Brad Lidge

Lidge was on the mound when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, but that won’t erase the memories of the huge home runs he gave up in the 2005 post-season, to Albert Pujols and Scott Podsednik.

Hideki Matsui
Continue reading →

by admin

2017 Final Standings

For the third consecutive year, the NL pennant was captured at Wrigley Field.  Unfortunately, this year it was the Dodgers that will be moving on, winning the NLCS 4 games to 1 against the Cubs and bringing the game-attending portion of the 2017 season came to an end.  I made it to 49 games this season, my largest total since 2010.  I did manage to add one new stadium this year, along with trips to 3 others that I had been to before.  Here are the final standings for those games and the 20 different teams I saw in person, through both the regular season and the playoffs.

2017 Team Records
Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Milwaukee Brewers 2 0 1.000
Seattle Mariners 2 0 1.000
Oakland Athletics 2 0 1.000
Colorado Rockies 1 0 1.000
Pittsburgh Pirates 1 0 1.000
Boston Red Sox 2 1 0.667
New York Yankees 2 1 0.667
Kansas City Royals 3 2 0.600
Los Angeles Dodgers 3 2 0.600
Continue reading →
by admin

All Time Playoff Team Records

As the Cubs prepare for their third consecutive post-season appearance and an NLDS tilt against the Nationals, it’s time to take an updated look at the team records for the now 26 playoff contests I have attended. These contests come from the ALDS in 2000, 2005, and 2008, the NLDS in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2015, and 2016, the NLCS in 2003, 2015, and 2016, the ALCS in 2005, and, of course, the 2005 and 2016 World Series.

Post-Season Team Records
Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Florida Marlins 3 0 1.000
Seattle Mariners 2 0 1.000
New York Mets 2 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 1 0 1.000
Chicago White Sox 5 4 0.556
Los Angeles Dodgers 2 2 0.500
Tampa Bay Rays 1 1 0.500
Los Angeles Angels 1 1 0.500
Cleveland Indians 1 1 0.500
Atlanta Braves 1 1 0.500
Chicago Cubs 7 10 0.412
St. Louis Cardinals 0 1 0.000
San Francisco Giants 0 2 0.000
Houston Astros 0 1 0.000
Boston Red Sox 0 2 0.000
by admin

2017 Predictions Revisited

Six months ago, as the 2017 baseball season was scheduled to kick off, I made my annual predictions as to who would win what.  Now that the regular season has come to an end, it is time revisit those predictions and see what, if anything, I got right.

American League

East: Red Sox

1 for 1 so far, as the Red Sox held off a late surge from the Yankees to clinch on the season’s second to last day.

Central: Indians

The Indians finished with the best record in the American League thanks to a 32-4 run to close out the season.

West: Mariners

Well, I was a little off on this one, as the Mariners finished in third place, a mere 23 games behind the Astros.

Wild Cards: Blue Jays, Tigers

Both teams finished in last place in their respective divisions, with the Tigers finishing with the worst record in baseball.

AL Champion: Red Sox

It’s a good sign that my pick made the playoffs.

Cy Young: Chris Sale

There is a very good possibility of this coming to fruition.

MVP: Francisco Lindor

There is very little possibility of this coming to fruition.

National League

Continue reading →

by admin

#14 – Joe Crede

Name: Joe Crede

Rank: 14

Position: 3B

Years With White Sox: 2000-2008

Joe Crede joined the White Sox organization as their 5th round selection in the 1996 draft.  He earned a September call-up from Double A in 2000, and made his major league debut on September 12, replacing Herbert Perry and going 0-1 in the Tigers 10-3 victory at Comiskey Park.  Crede appeared in 7 games, making the most of his 14 at bats, and finished with a .357 average.

Crede was sent to Charlotte for the 2001 season, again getting a cup of coffee with the big league club in September.  With the White Sox not heading to the post-season, Crede got a little more playing time, but was less successful than the year before.  He finished with a .220 average in 50 at bats over 17 games.

2002 saw Crede return to Triple A, before being recalled to the White Sox for good in July.  On August 12, he hit his first major league home run off of former teammate James Baldwin.  “He was someone who always got on me for being a rookie in the clubhouse and on the bus last year,” Crede said.  “Singing on the bus and stuff.  Nothing very harmful, but it was a good way to get him back.”  In 53 games, Crede finished with 12 home runs, 35 RBIs, and a .285 average.

Crede established himself as the starting third baseman in 2003.  He appeared in a career high 151 games and launched 19 home runs with 75 RBIs while posting a .261 average.  He struggled in 2004, seeing his average drop to .239 while hitting 21 home runs with 69 RBIs.

In 2005, Crede started to come in to his own.  While he improved his average to .252 and hit 22 home runs with 62 RBIs, he started to come in to his own in the second half, culminating with a game winning, and possible season saving, home run in the 10th inning against the Indians on September 20, which pushed the White Sox to a 3.5 game lead and propelled them into the playoffs.  Crede had a rough series in the ALDS against the Red Sox, getting only 1 hit in 9 at bats, but rebounded in the ALCS and World Series, hitting .368 and .294 respectively, with 2 home runs in each series.

2006 was Joe Crede’s breakout season.  He hit .283 with career highs in home runs, with 30, and RBIs, with 94.  Following the season, he was awarded his first, and only, Silver Slugger award.

Crede looked to continue his new found dominance at the hot corner in 2007, but a back injury limited him to 47 games and only 4 home runs.  He returned with a bang in 2008, hitting a grand slam on opening day against the Twins.  A good first half saw him earn his first All Star selection, but the back injury recurred and kept him out for most of the second half of the season, including the playoffs.   Crede became a free agent at the end of the year and his White Sox career came to an end.

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

Continue reading →

by admin

#15 – Chris Sale

Name: Chris Sale

Rank: 15

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2010-2016

Chris Sale was the 13th overall selection by the White Sox in the 2010 draft. After 11 total games in the minor leagues, Sale made his major league debut on August 6, less than 2 months after being drafted, giving up a hit and a walk before getting pulled. Sale worked out of the bullpen for the remainder of the year, earning 4 saves in 21 appearances. Sale returned to the bullpen in 2011, picking up another 8 saves while posting a 2.79 ERA.

In 2012, Sale moved in to the starting rotation full time, where he racked up 5 straight All Star nods and finished between 3rd and 6th in Cy Young award voting each season. In 2015, Sale set the White Sox franchise record with 274 strike outs. Last year, he tied his career high with 17 victories and threw a career high 226 2/3 innings pitched in between spats with the front office over Drake LaRoche and 1970s throwback jerseys.

In December, the rebuilding of the White Sox began when Sale was traded to the Red Sox for Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe, and Victor Diaz.

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

Continue reading →

by admin

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

This past weekend, I finally got to use my birthday gift from last year, a trip to Boston to see the White Sox take on the Red Sox with Danny and Michael.  The trip started early Saturday morning, with a trip to O’Hare to catch a 6 AM flight.  After arriving in Boston, we took a bus and a train to get to the Museum of Science, where we spent most of the morning.

With food on our mind, we wandered back over towards where we got off the train and found ourselves in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, where we ended up at The Paramount, rated as one of the 10 best breakfast spots in Boston.  A long wait through the oddly run restaurant, where you order and get your food prior to being seated, ended up in a decent meal.

After eating, we headed to our hotel, which was located in the medical district.  We checked in and relaxed for a bit, before deciding on going for ice cream prior to heading to Fenway Park.  Like nearly everywhere else we went, the ice cream shop was a little hole in the wall, but it certainly served its purpose.  From there, it was short walk up Brookline to the ballpark, which was… a little underwhelming.  From the outside, you could barely tell that it was a stadium.  Michael even asked where it was as we were standing outside it.

The game went about as you would expect.  With James Shields on the mound, the White Sox did not put up much of a fight.  We were sitting down the left field line, with a good view of the Green Monster.  The seats, which may or may not date back to the stadium’s opening in 1912, were not really designed for people well over 6 feet tall, so there was a lot of uncomfortable shifting as our knees were smooshed in to the seats in front of us.

After the game, we went back to the hotel and called it a night.   Continue reading →

by admin

#17 – Scott Podsednik

Name: Scott Podsednik

Rank: 17

Position: LF

Years With White Sox: 2005-2007, 2009

Scott Podsednik was traded to the White Sox, along with Luis Vizcaino, from the Brewers for Carlos Lee on December 13, 2004.  He moved in to the leadoff spot as part of manager Ozzie Guillen’s grinderball philosophy.  After putting up a .294 average with 44 steals in the first half, he earned his first All Star game nod, getting elected in the Final Vote.  Injuries slowed him in the second half, but he was back to full strength when the regular season came to an end and the White Sox embarked on their first post-season appearance in 5 years.

After going the entire regular season without a home run, Podsednik went deep against the Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS, helping the White Sox to a 14-2 victory on their way to a 3 game sweep of the defending champions.  Podsednik continued his steady play during the ALCS, hitting .294 with a triple and 3 stolen bases in the 5 game series.  The shining moment of his career came in Game 2 of the World Series, thanks to a walkoff home run against Brad Lidge in the 9th inning, giving the White Sox a 2-0 lead on their way to a sweep and their first world championship in 88 years.  For his efforts, Podsednik finished in 12th place for MVP voting.

As the White Sox looked to repeat in 2006, Podsednik found it difficult to duplicate his efforts from the year before.  His average was down 29 points, to .261, and his stolen base total was off by 19.

Injuries limited Podsednik to 62 games in 2007.  His offensive production continued to be lacking and, after the White Sox fell completely out of contention for the first time in years, the team decided to change their approach and gave Podsednik his release.

He returned to the White Sox organization in 2009, signing a minor league deal.  Injuries to Brian Anderson, Dewayne Wise, and Carlos Quentin gave him plenty of opportunity with the big league club, and he responded by hitting .304, his highest total since 2003.  Following the season, he became a free agent.

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

Continue reading →