A White Sox sweep against the Twins and the Tigers blowing a ninth inning lead against the Indians reduces the magic number down to 16. Thanks to last week’s rainout, the Tigers and the White Sox will meet for the final time this season today at 1:10.
Name: Mario Valdez
Rank: 357
Position: 1B
Year With White Sox: 1997
Mario Valdez was selected in the 48th round of the 1993 draft and got his chance to move to the big leagues in 1997 when Frank Thomas went down with an injury. Once Thomas returned, Valdez stuck with club, becoming a late inning defensive replacement and manning first base when Thomas would DH.
The following spring, Valdez was sent back to the minor leagues after new manager Jerry Manuel felt he had been rushed up by the prior administration. Unfortunately, he never returned to the major leagues with the White Sox, and at the end of September in 1999, he was selected off waivers by the Twins.
Valdez’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →
With 81 games in the books, we are officially at the halfway point of the 2012 season. The so-called experts at Sports Illustrated made some pre-season predictions that are looking a little off a this point.
| Team | Won | Lost |
Predicted Wins |
PredictedLosses | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL East | |||||
| New York Yankees | 49 | 32 | 95 | 67 |
After a slow-ish start, a long winning streak moved the Yankees back into first place despite an injury-ravaged pitching staff. |
| Baltimore Orioles | 44 | 37 | 63 | 99 | One of the surprises of the first half, theOrioles need only 19 second half wins to match their predicted output. |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 43 | 39 | 92 | 70 | Tampa has continued to keep things togetherwhile once again losing Evan Longoria for an extended period of time. |
| Boston Red Sox | 42 | 40 | 91 | 71 | After their collapse at the end of last season,the Red Sox have struggled to stay above .500 in the first half. |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 42 | 40 | 85 | 77 | The Blue Jays were having a strong half beforelosing nearly their entire starting rotation in one weeks time. |
| AL Central | |||||
| Chicago White Sox | 44 | 37 | 67 | 95 | While most people did not expect the White Soxto be as bad as SI did, nobody thought they would be in first place at the halfway point. |
| Cleveland Indians | 42 | 39 | 80 | 82 | The Indians have been right around where expected, a little over .500 instead of a little under. |
| Detroit Tigers | 40 | 42 | 93 | 69 | The Tigers were expected to run away and hide in this division, but they have been unable to outhit their poor pitching performance to date. |
| Kansas City Royals | 36 | 44 | 82 | 80 | Eric Hosmer’s sophomore slump has held back the developing Royals. |
| Minnesota Twins | 35 | 46 | 72 | 90 | Could this be the end of the Ron Gardenhire era? The Twins are woefully bad for the second straight year. |
| AL West | |||||
| Texas Rangers | 50 | 32 | 94 | 68 | After losing back-to-back World Series, the Rangers look to be stronger than ever. |
| Los Angeles Angels | 45 | 37 | 97 | 65 | The Angels, and new acquisition Albert Pujols, got off to a slow start before putting things together with the arrival of Mike Trout. |
| Oakland A’s | 41 | 42 | 68 | 94 | The A’s have been much better than expected in the first half. |
| Seattle Mariners | 35 | 49 | 64 | 98 | The Mariners have struggled offensively again in the first half. |
7 – 4 vs Seattle
4 – 3 vs Tampa Bay
7 – 2 vs Tampa Bay
2 – 1 vs Tampa Bay
12 – 6 vs Cleveland
14 – 7 vs Cleveland
9 – 3 vs Cleveland
11 – 8 vs Minnesota
6 – 0 vs Minnesota
Name: Jamie Burke
Rank: 382
Position: C
Years With White Sox: 2002-2005
Jamie Burke appeared in only 64 games with the White Sox spread over three seasons, including just one during the 2005 season, but an argument can be made that he played a large role in bringing a World Series title to the south side.
Burke was acquired as a free agent following the 2002 season, and he was brought up for a brief cup of coffee in 2003, hitting .375 in only 6 games.
In 2004, Burke spent more time with the big league club, appearing in 57 games and hitting a respectable .333 in 133 at bats. His defining moment, however, came behind the plate. In September, the White Sox and the Twins were locked in a tight race for the AL Central crown when the Twins came to town for a three game series. Late in the game, Burke was bowled over by Torii Hunter, enraging the crowd and giving the Twins a win in game one of the pivotal series. Later in the series, Carlos Lee had an opportunity to give the Twins some payback going in to second base on a double play attempt. Rather than go in hard, Lee pulled up, infuriating rookie manager Ozzie Guillen and, rumor has it, leading to the off-season trade that sent Scott Podsednik to the Sox and freed up the money to allow for the signing of AJ Pierzynski. And that is how Jamie Burke played a pivotal role in the 2005 World Championship.
Burke himself appeared in only 1 game for the eventual world champs and was granted free agency following the season.
Burke’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
Jose Paniagua spent parts of 8 seasons in the major leagues, and exactly one game, his final one as it turns out, with the 2003 Chicago White Sox. He lasted one third of an inning against the Twins, giving up 3 hits, 1 walk, and 4 earned runs, finishing with a 108.00 ERA. After then-manager Jerry Manuel mercifully removed him from the game, Paniagua went out with style by flipping off an umpire on his way off the field. He was released the next day.
The only time I saw him pitch in person was against the White Sox as a member of the Mariners in the 2000 ALDS. In that appearance, he managed to only give up 1 hit and 1 walk over 2 innings.
Today will be my 15th Opening Day for the White Sox, and my 12th in a row. The first was in 1985, a blowout win against the Red Sox in rookie shortstop Ozzie Guillen’s first game in Chicago. Other highlights include the 2005 1-0 victory against the Indians and the raising of the championship banner on Sunday Night Baseball in 2006.
Joining me for today’s game will be my niece and nephews. A certain mascot should be stopping by sometime during the game to wish Michael a happy birthday. Hopefully the weather holds out and the White Sox uphold their end of the bargain.
Here’s the results of the previous 14 openers (11-3 record) I’ve attended:
Heading into the 2012 season, here all the all-time team records in games that I have attended.
All-Time Team Records
| Team | Won | Lost | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|
| California Angels | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 12 | 2 | 0.857 |
| Florida Marlins | 15 | 8 | 0.652 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 10 | 6 | 0.625 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 8 | 5 | 0.615 |
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 13 | 10 | 0.565 |
| Chicago White Sox | 191 | 158 | 0.547 |
| New York Yankees | 9 | 8 | 0.529 |
| Chicago Cubs | 188 | 168 | 0.528 |
| Continue reading → |
The ballot for next year’s Hall of Fame induction was released earlier this week. Results will be announced on January 9th. Here’s my thoughts on each candidate.
Jeff Bagwell – I think that the longtime Astros firstbaseman will eventually get in, but he may have to wait for a few years.
Jeromy Burnitz – Ah, good old Fabe. He has no chance, but will go down in history as the man who replaced Sammy Sosa in the Cubs lineup.
Vinny Castilla – A decent player who benefited greatly from the thin Colorado air.
Juan Gonzalez – Seemed destined for Cooperstown before injuries and his own self-importance got in the way.
Brian Jordan – A two sport star that had a solid career, but nothing more.
Barry Larkin – The leading vote getter among non-inductees last year, he should make it this year.
I “only” went to 43 games this year, the ninth highest total of my life, and only hit the two local stadiums.
| TeamCity | TeamName | Won | Loss | Winning Pctg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Angels | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Detroit | Tigers | 3 | 0 | 1.000 |
| New York | Yankees | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Boston | Red Sox | 2 | 1 | 0.667 |
| Baltimore | Orioles | 2 | 1 | 0.667 |
| Chicago | White Sox | 24 | 18 | 0.571 |
| Continue reading → |