As 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.
| 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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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.
With 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.
The 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.
Name: Ken Griffey Jr.
Rank: 152
Position: CF
Year With White Sox: 2008
As the White Sox made their run towards the World Series title in 2005, general manager Kenny Williams attempted to acquire Ken Griffey Jr. from the Reds, but was rebuked when Reds ownership decided to veto the deal. 3 years later, with the White Sox again looking to make a run at a division title, he was able to get the aging superstar, acquiring Griffey at the trade deadline in exchange for pitcher Nick Masset and second baseman Danny Richar. At the time of the trade, the White Sox held a tenuous 1.5 game lead over the Twins.
Griffey, who had spent most of the previous few seasons in right field to lessen the strain on his body, moved back to center field for the White Sox, displacing the disappointing Nick Swisher. Griffey appeared in 41 games for the White Sox, hitting a decent .260 with only 3 home runs and 18 RBI. His most important contribution came defensively, during the tie-breaking game 163 between the White Sox and the Twins, when he gunned down Michael Cuddyer, who was trying to score on a fly out to center, preserving the shutout and helping the White Sox win the division and advance the playoffs.
In the ALDS, Griffey appeared in 3 games against the Rays, garnering only 2 hits as the White Sox fell 3 games to 1. Following the season, the White Sox declined Griffey’s $16 million option for 2009, making him a free agent.
Griffey’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
Former White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin, who finished 5th in MVP voting in 2008 despite missing the final six weeks of the season with a broken wrist, announced his retirement after 9 seasons. After being released in spring training after being acquired by the Braves in a trade, Quentin had been playing with the Mariners’ Triple A club, but was hitting only .176 in 17 at bats.
After spending parts of the 2006 and 2007 seasons with the Diamondbacks, Quentin was acquired by the White Sox in a December 2007 trade. He earned the nickname “The Carlos Quentin” after general manager Kenny Williams was quoted saying that the team’s goals for the winter meetings were to “acquire Carlos Quentin, and not a guy like him but actually Carlos Quentin.”
Quentin played immediate dividends, breaking through in a big way for the 2008 White Sox. He was leading the American League in home runs and was third in slugging percentage, OPS, and RBIs when he broke his wrist following a strikeout against Cliff Lee. The injury likely cost him the MVP award, and certainly impacted the White Sox as they battled the Twins for the AL Central title before eventually losing to the Rays in the ALDS.
Quentin continued to struggle with injuries for the remainder of his White Sox career, never appearing in more than 131 games. A shoulder injury ended his 2011 season, and his White Sox career, at the end of August. That December, just over 4 years since he was acquired, Quentin was shipped to the Padres.
In 3 years with the Padres, injuries continued to plague Quentin, as he failed to appear in 90 games in any season. His most famous (or infamous) moment with the Padres was the April 11, 2013 brawl against the Dodgers, where he broke Zach Greinke’s collarbone after being hit by a pitch.
This spring, Quentin was traded to the Braves, who promptly released him. He had signed on with the Mariners in the hopes of working his way back to the major leagues, but his history of injuries had finally caught up to him and caused him to call it a day.
Quentin’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
Name: Bob Howry
Rank: 158
Position: P
Years With White Sox: 1998-2002
Acquired in the infamous White Flag trade, Bob Howry joined the White Sox organization on July 31, 1997, along with Keith Foulke, Lorenzo Barcelo, Mike Caruso, Ken Vining, and Brian Manning, from the Giants in exchange for Wilson Alvarez, Danny Darwin, and Roberto Hernandez. Howry made his major league debut on June 21, 1998, pitching 2 innings of scoreless relief in the White Sox loss to the Twins.
Howry stuck with the big league club and eventually became the closer, saving 9 games down the stretch. He finished the year 0-3 with a 3.15 ERA in 44 appearances.
Howry remained as the closer for most of 1999, until he was replaced by Keith Foulke. He finished the year with a winning record, at 5-3, and saw his ERA rise slightly to 3.59. His 28 saves led the team and was 9th best in the AL.
His most infamous moment in a White Sox uniform came in early 2000, when the White Sox and Tigers were involved in 2 brawls during their April 23 game, which the Sox won 14-6. Howry was ejected in the 9th inning after hitting Shane Halter, igniting the second brawl of the day and earning himself a 3 game suspension. Many claim that the brawl united the young White Sox team, spurring them on to winning the AL Central title. Howry finished the year with a 2-4 record and a 3.17 ERA, picking up 7 saves. He appeared in 2 of the 3 games against the Mariners in the ALDS, giving up 1 run in 2 2/3 innings.
The White Sox faltered in their bid to repeat as division champs in 2001, and Howry was part of the problem. His ERA ballooned to 4.69 and he blew more saves than he converted. He finished the year with a 4-5 record and only 5 saves, giving up more hits than innings pitched for the first time in his career.
Howry bounced back somewhat in 2002, but was still above his career norms for runs and hits allowed. As the White Sox were floundering at the trade deadline, Howry, despite still being under contract for 2003, was shipped to the Red Sox for Frank Francisco and another minor league pitcher. “The opportunity presented itself and we told Bobby it was an offer we felt too good to pass up,” GM Kenny Williams said.
Howry’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
Another 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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Name: Orlando Cabrera
Rank: 174
Position: SS
Year With White Sox: 2008
On November 19, 2007, Orlando Cabrera was traded to the White Sox from the Angels in exchange for Jon Garland. The thinking was that Cabrera, fresh off a Gold Glove season, would help to stabilize the left side of the infield. Unfortunately, stabilize is not quite what he did.
In May, Cabrera made waves by calling the press box to complain about two errors that were charged against him. When questioned about the calls, Cabrera claimed that he had no choice as manager Ozzie Guillen was not supporting him.
In July, he got in to a dugout confrontation with Jermaine Dye over stealing third base while Dye was at bat. Cabrera had to be restrained by Jose Contreras before the argument spilled in to the clubhouse.
As September was coming to an end, and the White Sox were the Twins for the AL Central title, Cabrera again became a distraction, this time calling out his teammates for not having the right attitude going in to games. A little more than a week later, Cabrera tried to start something with Ray’s pitcher Grant Balfour in the 7th inning of game 1 of the ALDS. Down 6-3 with the bases loaded and 2 out, Cabrera, for reasons that I’m sure made sense to him, took exception to an outside pitch, causing a bit of a brouhaha. Once tempers calmed, Balfour struck out Cabrera and the Rays went on to win the game, and, eventually, the series, ending Cabrera’s tenure with the White Sox. He left as a free agent after the season.
Cabrera’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
Last spring, I took an initial look at the top 20 step days I’ve had since starting the GlobalFit program way back in July of 2011. At the time, I had only surpassed the 10,000 step plateau 31 times. In the 8 months since then, I have managed to raise that number to 45. With the GlobalFit program officially wrapping up earlier this week, I thought it would be appropriate to take a new, and final, look at my updated top 20 step days over the past 3 1/2 years.
1: 6/6/2013 – 24,988 steps
My best single day total came during my 2013 trip to Disney World. The day’s excursion to both Epcot Center and the Magic Kingdom ended up with a total of approximately 12.5 miles. And yes, it still bothers me that I didn’t get those 12 additional steps to reach 25,000.
2: 7/27/2013 – 20,592 steps
My second highest total came nearly 2 months after my highest, thanks to the BTN 5K and a, for lack of a better word, misunderstanding about where I should be picked up after the race. These 2 days are the sum total of my days over 20,000 steps.
3: 6/8/2013 – 17,852 steps
My third highest output brings us back to Disney World, this time for a day split between Animal Kingdom in the morning and Hollywood Studios in the afternoon.
4: 9/23/2014 – 15,728 steps
A new addition since my original list, this total was accomplished thanks to the Sprint & Stride 5K race that was held at work last fall.
5: 9/9/2012 – 14,957 steps
We round out the top 5 with my highest total outside of the United States. A Sunday in Belfast spent walking from our hotel, down to the Titanic museum, and then back again.
6: 6/7/2013 – 14,940 steps
Another day of 2013’s vacation to Disney World, this day started with a morning trip to the hotel pool, followed by an abbreviated day at the Magic Kingdom.
Name: Rusty Kuntz
Rank: 177
Position: OF
Years With White Sox: 1979-1983
Rusty Kuntz, possessing one of the finest names in recent baseball history, was drafted by the White Sox in the 11th round of the 1977 draft. He made his major league debut 2 years later, as a September call-up in 1979, starting in left field and going 0-3 in a 4-3 victory over the Tigers. He appeared in 4 other games over the course of the final month of the 1979 season, finishing up with an anemic .091 average.
Kuntz split time between Triple A Iowa and Chicago in 1980. He had slightly better results, finishing the year with a .226 average in 36 games. He spent the entire strike-shortened 1981 season with the White Sox, appearing in 67 games and batting .255 in 55 at bats.
1982 saw Kuntz back splitting time between Triple A and Chicago, appearing in only 21 games with the White Sox. His batting average fell to .192.
As the White Sox raced to their first division title in 1983, Kuntz again was shuttling between the major leagues and Triple A, appearing in 28 games through June 21, when he was traded to the Twins for a minor leaguer.
Kuntz’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:
Name: Bartolo Colon
Rank: 183
Position: P
Years With White Sox: 2003, 2009
After trying, and failing, to solidify the pitching staff each of the following 2 off-seasons, GM Kenny Williams went for broke again on January 15, 2003, agreeing to a 3 team deal that sent Rocky Biddle, Jeff Liefer, and Orlando Hernandez to the Expos, Antonio Osuna and minor-league pitcher Delvis Lantigua to the Yankees, and brought Bartolo Colon and minor-league infielder Jorge Nunez to the White Sox. Colon was expected to do what David Wells and Todd Ritchie could not: lead the White Sox back to the post-season.
Colon did his part, setting career highs in innings pitched and complete games, en route to a 15-13 record with a 3.87 ERA. Unfortunately, that was not enough, as the White Sox finished in second place, four games behind the Twins. Following the season, Colon filed for free agency and left the White Sox.
6 years later, nearly to the day he was first acquired, Colon rejoined the White Sox as a free agent, joining the rotation as a reclamation project after injuries had limited him to just 36 appearances over the previous 3 seasons. To say things did not go as expected would be an understatement. First, Colon went on the disabled list with a knee injury and, when he was scheduled to make a rehab start in Triple A Charlotte, he went AWOL. “Efforts to contact his agent have been successful,” Williams said at the time. “Their efforts to contact their client have not been so successful.
After he was found, Colon went down with another injury, this time swelling in his right elbow. Again, the right-hander disappeared and, eventually, the White Sox had enough. They requested waivers on September 16 for the purpose of giving Colon his unconditional release. His second tour of duty on the south side ended with a 3-6 record and a 4.19 ERA in only 12 starts.
Colon’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
