Tag / Red Sox

by admin

#265 – Ehren Wassermann

ehren_wassermann_2008_05_11Name: Ehren Wassermann

Rank: 265

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2007-2008

Ehren Wassermann joined the White Sox organization when he signed as an amateur free agent on July 16, 2003.  He finally made his way to the big leagues during the lost season of 2007, making his major league debut on July 20 in a loss to the Red Sox after being called up to replace the injured Nick Masset.  Wasermann pitched well out of the bullpen for the disappointing 2007 squad, putting up a 2.74 ERA in 33 games.

While the White Sox bounced back into contention in 2008, Wassermann’s game fell apart.  His ERA jumped over 5 runs to 7.78 in 24 games.  This earned him a return trip to Triple A Charlotte, where he also spent the entire 2009 season.  Following that season, Wassermann was granted free agency, but he never pitched in the major leagues again.

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

Continue reading →

by jim

Ending With A Whimper

2591590_large7 seasons after his last major league appearance, former Cub phenom Mark Prior called it a career on Monday.  The second overall pick in the 2001 draft, Prior quickly rose to the major leagues, making his debut on May 22, 2002, earning the victory against the Pirates.  He excelled the following year, as a surprising Cubs team won their division and came within 5 outs of making their first World Series since 1945.  Prior finished the year 18-6, was named to the All Star team, finished third in Cy Young award voting and was ninth in voting for the MVP award.

2003 was also the start of Prior’s injury issues.  He hit the disabled list after colliding with Marcus Giles in a game in early July.  Thanks to the All Star break, he only missed 3 starts, but he never pitched a full season after that point.  He missed the first 2 months of the 2004 season due to an achilles injury.  In 2005, he again started the season on the disabled list and went back on after suffering a broken elbow after getting hit by a line drive off the bat of Brad Hawpe.  2006 marked the third straight season that Prior would start the season on the DL, where he would stay until June 18.  Less than a month later, he would return to the DL with a strained oblique suffered during batting practice.  On August 10, Prior made his final start of the season, going 3 innings and picking up the loss to the Brewers.  Four days later, he was placed on the DL for the third and final time that season, due to tendinitis.  He would never pitch in the major leagues again.

Prior left the Cubs following the 2007 season, and, since then, he has attempted comebacks with the Padres, Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox, and, most recently, the Reds, where he had to be shut down as a result of continuing shoulder problems after just 7 relief appearances in Triple A.  You couldn’t help but feel for him, a once in a lifetime stud pitcher who should have led the Cubs rotation for years and, instead, flamed out after 5 seasons.  Entire books could be written on what might have been, and now Mark Prior will have his summers free to read them.

Prior’s numbers in a Cub uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

by jim

iTunes Top 100 Artists: #1-10

itunes_image

My latest desktop computer arrived in late 2007, at which point I transitioned all of my music off of my laptop. 2 iPods, 2 iPhones, and an iPad later, that computer is still my main repository of music, with iTunes updating its stats every time I listen to something.

Having already gone through cassette tapes and CDs, and digital music, it’s time to roll everything up with the Top 100 artists that I’ve listened to as of 8/21/2013, according to iTunes. Today we finally get to the top 10 and the end of this journey.

#1: The Beatles

iTunes stats: 665 plays

The boys from Liverpool used 95 different songs to make up this total.  The most impressive thing is that the total should be higher, as all of the counts got reset back to zero when the remastered albums came out in 2009 and I deleted all of the old versions and ripped the remastered versions.

#2: Garbage

iTunes stats: 614 plays

I have seen this band live 4 times over the past 11 years, and look forward to doing so again in the future.  There are 112 songs, many of which are live versions, that made up the total.

#3: Foo Fighters

iTunes stats: 425 plays

Only 39 songs put the Foo Fighters in third place with nobody on their tail.  I saw the Foo Fighters with Weezer back in 2005 and would love to do so again.

#4: The Cast Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer

iTunes stats: 307 plays

Back in 2001, during the sixth season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the show produced a musical episode as Buffy and the Scooby Gang battled the musical demon Sweet.  The following year, the soundtrack was released, and those 21 songs make up this total.  One of the standouts was Amber Benson, who autographed my copy of the CD at a Wizard World appearance back in 2004.

#5: Tegan and Sara

iTunes stats: 274 plays

An even 50 songs combined to make up this total for the Canadian sisters.  I saw them live back in 2005, less than a week after the Foo Fighters/Weezer show and the same day the White Sox won the ALDS against the Red Sox.  It was a busy week.

Continue reading →

by admin

Ballpark Tour: Comiskey Park II/US Cellular Field

20109565

Stadium Name: Comiskey Park II/US Cellular Field

Location: Chicago

Home Team: White Sox, Marlins

Years in Service: 1991 – Present

Visits: 361

On the evening of June 30, 1988, with time literally stopped, the Illinois legislature passed a bill that provided the financing for a new stadium for the White Sox, stopping them from moving to St. Petersburg, Florida.  2 and a half years later, on April 18, 1991, Comiskey Park II opened, the first new major facility built in Chicago since the erection of the Chicago Stadium in 1929.  Sadly, the White Sox were destroyed by the Tigers 16-0 in the opening of their new park.

Unfortunately for the White Sox, the new Comiskey Park was also the last stadium to be built prior to the wave of retro ballparks that started with the opening of Camden Yards the following year.  Because of this, there have been numerous renovations to the park, starting in 2001 with the addition of nearly 2000 seats and the relocation of the bullpens.  More extensive renovations began in 2003 in preparation for that season’s All Star Game and using the money generated from selling the naming rights to US Cellular, and conrinued through 2007, when the replacement of the blue seats with green seats was completed.

In 2004, the reigning World Series champion Florida Marlins called the stadium home for a series against the Montreal Expos thanks to Hurricane Ivan, the first time the defending World Series champions had played a home game in Chicago since 1918.  One year later, the stadium hosted its first World Series game, the first to be played in Chicago since 1959, as the White Sox went on to sweep the Houston Astros and win their first World Series since 1918.

I attended my first game at the new Comiskey Park on April 20, 1991, the second game in the stadium’s history.  Since then, I’ve been to 360 other games at the stadium, the majority coming from 2005 on, when I became a season ticket holder.  I went to both games of the 2000 ALDS, which the White Sox lost to the Mariners, both games of the 2005 ALDS, which the White Sox won against the Red Sox, both games of the 2005 ALCS, which the White Sox split against the Angels, and game 2 of the 2005 World Series.  I attended game 163 of the 2008 season to break the tie between the White Sox and the Twins. and then the two ALDS games against the Rays, the first time I saw the White Sox actually end a post-season series, either in victory or defeat.

Notable regular season games I’ve seen at US Cellular Field include the September 13, 2004 game between the Marlins and the Expos, the April 16, 2005 game where Mark Buehrle defeated the Mariners in 1 hour and 39 minutes, the April 2, 2006 season opener against the Indians when the World Series championship banner was raised, the April 4, 2006 game where the players received their World Series rings, and the September 16, 2007 game where Jim Thome hit his 500th career home run against the Angels.

by jim

BBWAA Award Predictions

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersThe Baseball Writers of America have announced the finalists for their awards for the just completed baseball season.  It is a good bet that none 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: Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Chris Davis

Mike Trout was my pre-season selection to win this award, but I also picked the Angels to win the American League.  They dropped out of contention early, and I think the same can be said for Trout’s candidacy.  My guess is Miguel Cabrera, who was having an even better year than his triple crown winning season a year ago before nagging injuries dragged him down towards the end of the year, takes home his second straight MVP.

Cy Young Award: Yu Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, Max Scherzer

My initial guess of David Price obviously did not make the cut.  While books have been written about how wins are not a reliable way to track pitching effectiveness, my guess is that if you add in a 20 win season with a trip to the post-season, Max Scherzer will take home the prize.

Manager of the Year: John Farrell, Terry Francona, Bob Melvin

I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  I imagine that Terry Francona, beloved former manager of the Red Sox, will take home the award for turning around a putrid Indians team and keeping them in contention for the majority of the year.

Rookie of the Year: Chris Archer, Jose Iglesias, Wil Myers

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  It is somewhat ironic, given the current value placed on young talent, that all 3 finalists for the award were traded to their current teams, one during this past season.  My guess is that Wil Myers will win the award.

National League

Continue reading →

by admin

Ballpark Tour: Comiskey Park

comiskeyout2

Stadium Name: Comiskey Park

Location: Chicago

Home Team: White Sox

Years in Service: 1910 – 1990

Visits: 12 (that I’m aware of)

Comiskey Park, the so-called Baseball Palace of the World, was the home of the White Sox from 1910 through the 1990 season.  Built on a former city dump at the corner of 35th Street and Shields Avenue, the stadium opened as White Sox Park on July 1, 1910, as the White Sox lost to the St. Louis Browns 2-0.  In 1913, owner Charles Comiskey renamed the stadium after himself, and Comiskey Park was born.  From 1962 until 1975, the White Sox Park name was officially re-establshed, as new ownership groups tried to separate themselves from the Comiskey name.  However, Bill Veeck, in his second tour of duty as owner of the White Sox, put the Comiskey Park name back on the stadium in 1976, where it remained until 1990.  The final game for the old ballyard occurred on September 30, 1990, a 2-1 victory over the Mariners.

Comiskey Park was the host for 4 World Series contests, including 3 in a row from 1917-1919.  The White Sox won the World Series in 1917 against the New York Giants.  The Cubs, looking for a larger seating capacity, moved their home games in the 1918 series against the Red Sox to Comiskey Park.  The 1919 World Series, of course, was the Black Sox scandal, where the White Sox threw the series against the Reds.  The White Sox returned to the World Series 40 years later in 1959, but fell to the Dodgers.  The final post-season games to be played in Comiskey Park were games 3 and 4 of the 1983 ALCS, which the White Sox lost to the Baltimore Orioles.

Comiskey Park was also the host to 3 All-Star games.  The first All-Star game ever, in 1933, was held in conjunction with Century of Progress Exposition being held on Chicago’s lakefront.  The event returned to Chicago’s south side in 1950.  The final All-Star game at Comiskey Park was in 1983, the 50th anniversary of the first game.  Comiskey Park was also the frequent home of the Negro League East-West All-Star Game from 1933 to 1960.

In addition to White Sox baseball, Comiskey Park was also the home to the Chicago American Giants of the Negro Leagues, the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL, and the Chicago Sting of the NASL.  Comiskey Park also hosted numerous boxing matches, including the 1937 heavyweight title match where Joe Louis defeated then champion James J. Braddock.  The Beatles played two concerts at Comiskey Park in August of 1965.  Other musical acts to perform there include Aerosmith, AC/DC, The Eagles, The Police, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Jacksons, who performed 3 shows during their Victory tour in October of 1984.

Looking back, I’ve been able to piece together evidence of 12 games that I attended at Comiskey Park.  I know there are more, but I have not been able to pinpoint exact games yet.  The most memorable game I can remember would be the final night game, on September 29, 1990, where, after the game, the lights were symbolically turned off for the final time.

by admin

2013 Predictions Revisited

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersBack in April, on the eve of the 2013 baseball season, I looked into my crystal ball and tried to predict the outcomes of the division races and the major awards.  Now that the season has come to an end the playoffs are in full swing, let’s take a look back at how things unfolded and how wrong my predictions were.

American League

East: Rays

Nobody really predicted the Red Sox bouncing back from their miserable 2012 campaign and winning the division this year.  The Rays, meanwhile, managed to beat the Rangers in the tie-breaker game and make it as the second wild card.

Central: Tigers

This one was practically a no-brainer, although the Indians did make a race of it.

West: Angels

The Angels once again made a huge splash in the free agency market and then underachieved miserably during the season.  The A’s, despite their precarious stadium and underfunded roster, took the division handily.

Wild Cards: Blue Jays, A’s

Despite totally remaking their roster, the Blue Jays failed to reach the playoffs once again.  The Indians and the Rays were the actual wild card teams.  Overall, for the AL, I managed to get one division winner correct and 3 of the 5 playoff teams correct.

National League

Continue reading →

by admin

Looking To Next Year Too

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersWith the 2013 season limping to the finish line, it became time to look forward to next year on Tuesday when the Cubs released their 2014 schedule. The north siders begin the 2014 campaign on the road against the Pirates on March 31.  Their home schedule kicks off against the Phillies that weekend.

Inter-league matchups against the AL East include home dates against the Yankees, Rays, and Orioles. The Cubs will travel to Boston, Toronto, and will also make their first ever trip to new Yankess Stadium to face the Yankees. The team will also split a 4 game series against the White Sox, similar to this season, with the first 2 games at Wrigley Field and the last 2 at US Cellular Field.

Should the team find themselves in contention, they finish the year with games mostly against their Central division foes, with only 7 September games coming outside the division.

by admin

#293 – Horacio Ramirez

Chicago+White+Sox+v+New+York+Yankees+C0Iftp-TclamName: Horacio Ramirez

Rank: 293

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 2008

On August 8, 2008, the White Sox beat the Red Sox to remain tied with the Twins for first place in the AL Central.  The following day, they made a move to bolster their bullpen, acquiring Horacio Ramirez from the Royals for minor leaguer Paulo Orlando.

Ramirez appeared in 17 games in the final two months of the season, only 2 of which came after September 8, putting up a horrible 7.62 as the White Sox furiously battled the Twins for the division title.  Unsurprisingly, he was left off the playoff roster and, after the White Sox dropped the division series to the eventual AL champion Rays, his White Sox career came to an end.

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

Continue reading →

by admin

Sweet Home Alab… er, Boston

CT sox-tigers05.JPG

Jake Peavy, the hard throwing 32-year old right hander, saw his tenure on the south side come to an end today when he was traded to the Red Sox in a three-way deal that would send Jose Iglesias to the Tigers and Avisail Garcia and three low level prospects to the White Sox.

The White Sox first traded for Jake Peavy on May 21, 2009, but Peavy invoked his no-trade clause to block the deal.  The next day, in a game against his soon-to-be cross town rival Cubs, Peavy injured his ankle running the bases and headed to the disabled list.  When the White Sox came around again at the trade deadline despite the lingering ankle injury, Peavy agreed to the deal and left the Padres to join the White Sox in exchange for Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Adam Russell and Dexter Carter.  Peavy eventually managed to make 3 starts for the White Sox, winning all 3 and giving fans hope for the 2010 season.

After getting off to a rough start in 2010, Peavy got on a roll and strung together five consecutive victories until July 6, when he suffered a detached latissimus dorsi muscle, a rare injury that ended his season.  Peavy worked his way back to the White Sox rotation in 2011, but he needed time to adjust to his reattached muscle and rebuild his strength.

In 2012, Peavy led the surprising White Sox to a summer in first place and was named to the All Star team.  Unfortunately, the team faded down the stretch and finished behind the Tigers for the AL Central crown.  After the season, he avoided free agency by reupping with the White Sox, signing a two year, $29 million dollar extension with a vesting option for 2015.  Unfortunately, the late season collapse that doomed the White Sox in September of 2012 continued into 2013, as the team fell into the cellar and saw an opportunity to improve themselves by moving Peavy.  Only time will tell if the move will work out.

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

Continue reading →