Tag / Royals

by jim

Conor Won’t Be Back

The dismantling of the disappointing 2015 Chicago White Sox began this morning when Conor Gillaspie was designated for assignment in order to make room on the roster for another pitcher following yesterday’s 13 inning loss to the Royals.

Gillaspie was acquired by the White Sox prior to the 2013 season, when, out of options, it was clear he was not going to make the Giants roster.  He became the main third baseman for the White Sox in the 2 1/2 years since, but, aside from the first half of the 2014 season, struggled both offensively and defensively.  This year, he was relegated to a platoon with Gordon Beckham and only had 1 at bat since Tyler Saladino was recalled over a week ago.

Gillaspie is likely to be claimed on waivers, drawing his White Sox career to an end.  Honestly, I’m surprised he was moved while Emilio Bonifacio remains on the roster, but I can only imagine his days are numbered as well.

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2015 All Star Break Standings

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersAs the baseball world turns its sights to Cincinnati for tonight’s All Star Game, it’s time to take a look at the team records for the 21 games I attended, at 3 different stadiums, in the first half of the baseball season.

2015 Team Records

TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Detroit Tigers 2 0 1.000
St. Louis Cardinals 1 0 1.000
Minnesota Twins 3 2 0.600
Chicago White Sox 11 9 0.550
Toronto Blue Jays 1 1 0.500
Cincinnati Reds 1 1 0.500
Baltimore Orioles 1 1 0.500
Chicago Cubs 1 2 0.333
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Franchise Four – AL Central

Major League Baseball is asking its fans to vote for the four most impactful players who best represent the history of each franchise.  The winners will be announced in July at the All Star Game in Cincinnati.  Today, I will give my Franchise Four picks for the American League Central, save the White Sox.

F4IndiansWith 6 of their 8 nominees debuting in the major leagues prior to 1950, the Indians representation is focused on their early successes, with the remaining 2 covering their renaissance in the 1990s.  The obvious choices are Nap Lajoie, for whom they owe their nickname, Tris Speaker, and Bob Feller.  For the final slot, I will go with the criminally overlooked Larry Doby, who gets none of the credit that Jackie Robinson gets despite facing the same challenges.

F4TigersThe Tigers nominees are more spread out across their long history, although their four selections are all fairly obvious.  With little thought, my picks here are Miguel Cabrera, Hank Greenberg, Ty Cobb, and Al Kaline.

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Crosstown Competitors

cws-chiLast Saturday, Geovany Soto and Jeff Samardzija became the 25th and 26th people I’ve seen play in person for both the Cubs and the White Sox.  Here’s a look at those players, in alphabetical order.

DavidAardsma2David Aardsma

After posting a decent season with the Cubs in 2006, Aardsma was traded to the White Sox for Neal Cotts.  Aardsma lasted one season with the Sox, where he was unable to duplicate his success from the year before.

Jason Bere

Drafted by the White Sox in the 36th round in 1990, Bere debuted with the big league club in 1993, finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting.  After an All Star selection in 1994, injuries marred the remainder of his tenure on the South Side, which ended in 1998.  He resurfaced with the Cubs in 2001 and had a decent season, but he went 1-10 in 2002 before being let go.

Neal Cotts

Acquired by the White Sox in the Billy Koch trade, he debuted with the team in 2003.  He was a key contributor in the bullpen during the 2005 championship season, and was the only relief pitcher to appear in all 3 rounds of the playoffs that season.  Following the 2006 season, he was traded to the Cubs for David Aardsma, and he spent the next 3 injury filled seasons on the North Side.

scott_eyre_autographScott Eyre

Joining the White Sox organization in a 1994 trade with the Rangers, he debuted with the big league team in 1997.  He split the next 4 seasons between the rotation and the bullpen, not to mention between Chicago and Charlotte, before being moved to the Blue Jays following the 2000 ALDS loss to the Mariners.  He joined the Cubs as a free agent for the 2006 season and enjoyed 2 seasons of relative success, before falling apart in 2008, when he was traded to the Phillies.

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All Time Team Records

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersAnother exciting baseball season is upon us, and it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have attended.  Another disappointing season dropped the winning percentage for the White Sox 7 points, giving them a 16 point drop over the past 2 years.

All-Time Team Records

TeamName 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 10 7 0.588
New York Yankees 11 8 0.579
Colorado Rockies 7 6 0.538
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 15 13 0.536
Chicago White Sox 234 204 0.534
San Francisco Giants 8 7 0.533
Chicago Cubs 194 172 0.530
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#170 – Andruw Jones

andruw-jonesName: Andruw Jones

Rank: 170

Position: RF/DH

Year With White Sox: 2010

After the disappointing 2009 season, the White Sox looked to improve their bench by signing outfielder Andruw Jones to a 1 year contract.  Jones, just 3 years removed from his last All Star Game, had seen his production fall of a cliff after leaving the Braves and was hoping to turn his career around.

His White Sox career got off to a good start, as he showed up to training camp 30 pounds lighter than the previous few seasons.  As the White Sox worked towards a second place finish in the AL Central, Jones continued to show flashes of power but struggled to regain an ability to hit consistently.  His personal highlight came on July 11, when he hit his 400th career home run against Royals.

Following the season, Jones moved on as a free agent.

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

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#184 – Ross Gload

rossgloadName: Ross Gload

Rank: 184

Position: 1B/RF

Years With White Sox: 2004-2006

As spring training wound down in 2003, the White Sox acquired Ross Gload from the Rockies in exchange for minor league pitcher Wade Parrish.  Gload spent the entire 2003 season in Triple A Charlotte, but made the White Sox roster out of spring training in 2004, backing up Paul Konerko and, prior to his season ending injury, Magglio Ordonez.  Gload made it into 110 games and finished the year with a .321 batting average.  Despite the limited playing time, he finished 7th in voting for AL Rookie of the Year.

In 2005, Gload missed time due to shoulder inflammation, which kept him either on the disabled list on in Triple A Charlotte between April 25 and July 22.  When Frank Thomas went down with a foot injury, Gload was recalled to take his roster spot.  A little more than a week later, Gload was sent back down when Geoff Blum was acquired from the Padres.  He rejoined the team when rosters expanded on September 1.  Gload was left off the playoff roster for all three rounds.

With his shoulder fully healed, Gload returned to the White Sox full time in 2006.  While his playing time was again limited, he did manage to put up .327 average.  Following the season, Gload was traded to the Royals in exchange for relief pitcher Andy Sisco.

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

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#186 – Mark Teahen

Seattle Mariners v Chicago White SoxName: Mark Teahen

Rank: 186

Position: 3B

Years With White Sox: 2010-2011

Following the old adage that if you can’t beat them, join them, the White Sox sent Josh Fields and Chris Getz to the Royals in exchange for Mark Teahen, who had terrorized White Sox pitching.  Teahen got off to a slow start in 2010, but was starting to come around, putting up a .368 average in the 12 games prior to breaking his right middle finger on May 30.

He returned in mid August and finished the year with a .258 average in a career low 78 games.

Teahen returned in 2011, but again fell victim to the injury bug, suffering an oblique injury in early May.  He returned in early June, but struggled with reduced playing time.  As the trading deadline approached, he was packaged with Edwin Jackson in a deal with the Blue Jays, bringing back pitchers Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart.

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

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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 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: Michael Brantley, Mike Trout, Victor Martinez

Mike Trout was my pre-season selection to win this award, and I think, for once, I might have gotten one right.  With Miguel Cabrera out of the picture, thanks to an injury-plagued campaign, Trout should bring home the award that many thought he deserved the past 2 seasons.

Cy Young Award: Chris Sale, Felix Hernandez, Corey Kluber

My initial guess of David Price obviously did not make the cut.  While Chris Sale is the sentimental choice around these parts, smart money says that Felix Hernandez will take home the prize.

Manager of the Year: Buck Showalter, Mike Scioscia, Ned Yost

Once again, I didn’t make any predictions for this award prior to the season.  Normally, I would go with Ned Yost, who led the Royals to the post-season for the first time since 1985, but if there is one thing the national media agrees on, it is how bad Ned Yost is as a manager.  My guess is that the award will go to Buck Showalter, who lead the Orioles to their first division title since 1997.

abreuRookie of the Year: Jose Abreu, Dellin Betances, Matt Shoemaker

Another award I didn’t predict prior to the season.  This one should be a no-brainer.  I would expect Jose Abreu to bring the award back to the south side for the first time since Ozzie Guillen in 1985.

National League

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#201 – Matt Karchner

karchnerName: Matt Karchner

Rank: 201

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1995-1998

Matt Karchner was acquired by the White Sox from the Royals via the minor league draft in 1993.  He made his major league debut on July 18, 1995, pitching a scoreless inning of relief in the White Sox victory over the Yankees.  He finished the season with 31 appearances for the year, with a stellar 1.69 ERA.

1996 did not go as well for Karchner.  He spent nearly the entire year with the big league club before knee surgery cost him the last six weeks of the season, appearing in 50 games, but his ERA skyrocketed to 5.76.

Karchner bounced back in 1997, after splitting time between the White Sox and Triple A.  He took over the closer role after Roberto Hernandez was shipped to the Giants as part of the White Flag trade, putting together a string of 15 consecutive converted save opportunities, until bone spurs ended his season early.

By early May of 1998, Karchner had extended his saves streak to 20, but, once again, injuries curtailed his effectiveness.  He went on the DL on May 10 to have hernia surgery and again in early July with a strained groin.  As the trade deadline approached, and with the White Sox out of contention, Matt Karchner made his most valuable contribution to the White Sox when he was traded to the crosstown Cubs in exchange for a young minor league pitcher named Jon Garland.

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

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