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 →

2016 Final Standings

2016wsballThe World Series has come to an end and, with it, the magical 2016 baseball season that put the Cubs on top of the baseball world for the first time in 108 years.  I made it to 39 games this season, the same total as last season, but did not manage to visit any stadiums outside the city of Chicago.  Here are the final standings for those games and the 18 different teams I saw in person, through both the regular season and the playoffs.

2016 Team Records
Team Won Loss Winning Pctg
Los Angeles Angels 1 0 1.000
Boston Red Sox 1 0 1.000
Kansas City Royals 5 1 0.833
Chicago Cubs 6 2 0.750
Cleveland Indians 3 2 0.600
Chicago White Sox 17 15 0.531
Minnesota Twins 2 2 0.500
Toronto Blue Jays 1 1 0.500
Atlanta Braves 1 1 0.500
Baltimore Orioles 1 1 0.500
Detroit Tigers 1 2 0.333
Seattle Mariners 0 2 0.000
San Francisco Giants 0 2 0.000
Oakland Athletics 0 2 0.000
Los Angeles Dodgers 0 2 0.000
Tampa Bay Rays 0 1 0.000
Cincinnati Reds 0 1 0.000
Texas Rangers 0 2 0.000

RIP US Cellular Field

uscellular-fieldYesterday, US Cellular Field officially was rechristened as Guaranteed Rate Field, ending a 14 year run for the wireless telecom company as the naming rights holder for the home of the Chicago White Sox.  In that time, I saw 414 games at the park, including a Marlins home game in 2004 due to Hurricane Ivan and post-season play in 2000, 2005 and 2008.

All-Time Team Records
TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Arizona Diamondbacks 1 0 1.000
Colorado Rockies 2 0 1.000
St. Louis Cardinals 1 0 1.000
Florida Marlins 3 1 0.750
New York Yankees 10 7 0.588
Boston Red Sox 13 10 0.565
Los Angeles Angels 16 13 0.552
Baltimore Orioles 11 9 0.550
Chicago White Sox 223 190 0.540
Kansas City Royals 23 20 0.535
Toronto Blue Jays 9 8 0.529
Cleveland Indians 20 18 0.526
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1 1 0.500
Tampa Bay Rays 8 8 0.500
Washington Nationals 1 1 0.500
Anaheim Angels 1 1 0.500
Cincinnati Reds 1 1 0.500
San Diego Padres 1 1 0.500
Houston Astros 4 5 0.444
Oakland Athletics 6 8 0.429
Chicago Cubs 11 15 0.423
Detroit Tigers 13 19 0.406
Minnesota Twins 19 28 0.404
Texas Rangers 7 13 0.350
Atlanta Braves 2 5 0.286
Seattle Mariners 5 18 0.217
Pittsburgh Pirates 1 4 0.200
Los Angeles Dodgers 1 5 0.167
Milwaukee Brewers 0 2 0.000
Montreal Expos 0 1 0.000
Miami Marlins 0 2 0.000

Turning The Page To Next Year

baseballs3Major League Baseball released their tentative 2017 schedule yesterday.  While the local squads have differing goals in mind as 2016 winds down, with the Cubs currently sitting pretty with a magic number of 1 and the White Sox playing out the string while trying to avoid their 4th straight losing season, it’s time to turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

The White Sox open their season at what will then be known as Guaranteed Rate Field on April 3 against the Tigers, with 28 of their first 34 games coming against AL Central foes.  Given their lack of success in this arena over the past few years, it will be a tough test to start the new campaign.

The interleague schedule pits the White Sox against the NL West, with trips to Arizona, Colorado, and Los Angeles and home series against the Padres, Giants, and the Dodgers.  The rivalry with their north side foes continues the last week of July, with Monday and Tuesday games at Wrigley Field before moving back to the south side for Wednesday and Thursday.

The season ends with a 7 game homestand against the Royals and Angels before heading to Cleveland for the final weekend.  Assuming the team finds itself in contention, it could be an interesting last week.

Meanwhile, on the north side, the Cubs open the season down in St. Louis, for the first time since 1986, on April 3.  They kick off the home portion of their schedule the following week against the Dodgers.

The interleague schedule pits the Cubs against the AL East, with trips to Boston, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay and home series against the Yankees, Blue Jays, and the Rays.

The Cubs end the year with a 4 game stint against the Cardinals in St. Louis before returning home for the final weekend against the Reds.  One can only assume they will be celebrating their second straight NL Central crown.

#73 – Mike Cameron

cameron2

Name: Mike Cameron

Rank: 73

Position: CF

Years With White Sox: 1995-1998

Mike Cameron joined the White Sox organization as their 18th round draft choice in the 1991 draft.  He made his major league debut on August 27, 1995, going 0-3 in the White Sox 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays at Skydome.  He mostly appeared as a defensive replacement during the last month of the season, appearing in 28 games but getting only 38 at bats, hitting an anemic .184.

1996 saw Cameron spend most of the season in Double A Birmingham, getting a small cup of coffee with the White Sox, appearing in 11 games and getting 11 at bats with a grand total of 1 hit.

Cameron got his first extended major league experience in 1997, appearing in 116 games.  He hit .259 with 14 home runs, with 23 stolen bases thrown in for good measure.  He finished 6th in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

In 1998, Cameron regressed, as his average dropped nearly 50 points to .210, his home runs were cut nearly in half to 8, and his OPS dropped by nearly 170 points.  Following the season, he made his largest contribution to the future success of the White Sox by being traded to the Reds for Paul Konerko.

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

Continue reading →

2016 All Star Break Standings

baseballs2As the baseball world turns its sights to San Diego for tomorrow night’s All Star Game, it’s time to take a look at the team records for the 18 games I attended in the first half of the baseball season, a mish-mash of excitement, followed by disappointment, giving way to uncertainty about what the second half will hold.

2016 Team Records
TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Los Angeles Angels 1 0 1.000
Chicago Cubs 1 0 1.000
Boston Red Sox 1 0 1.000
Kansas City Royals 3 1 0.750
Cleveland Indians 2 1 0.667
Toronto Blue Jays 1 1 0.500
Atlanta Braves 1 1 0.500
Chicago White Sox 8 9 0.471
Texas Rangers 0 2 0.000
Minnesota Twins 0 2 0.000
Cincinnati Reds 0 1 0.000