May 12, 2022May 1, 2022 by admin

Throwback Thursday – Team Records Of The 2000s

Baseball
2005 World Series, ALDS, Angels, A's, Astros, Blue Jays, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Daniel Hudson, Devil Rays, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Expos, Giants, Indians, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, Nationals, NLCS, Orioles, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Royals, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees
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It’s time for another trip in the wayback machine, as this week we move our focus to the start of the 21st century and see what my view of the baseball world looked like in the 2000s. This was my first decade as a season ticket holder, starting in 2002 for the Cubs and 2005 for the White Sox.

I attended 518 contests during the 2000s, starting with my first trip to Cincinnati in April of 2000 and finishing with Daniel Hudson’s first major league victory in September of 2009. I attended games at 13 stadiums from coast to coast and saw my first post-season action, with an ALDS in 2000, an NLCS in 2003, and a World Series game in 2005.

**2021 Team Records**
Team Name	Won	Loss	Winning Pctg
Arizona Diamondbacks	11	1	0.917
Philadelphia Phillies	10	4	0.714
Toronto Blue Jays	6	3	0.667
Florida Marlins	12	7	0.632
Tampa Bay Rays	3	2	0.600
Texas Rangers	8	6	0.571
Los Angeles Dodgers	8	6	0.571
Chicago White Sox	130	107	0.549
Chicago Cubs	172	147	0.539
Baltimore Orioles	9	8	0.529
Cleveland Indians	10	9	0.526
Los Angeles Angels	10	9	0.526
Boston Red Sox	9	9	0.500
Colorado Rockies	6	6	0.500
Seattle Mariners	5	5	0.500
Anaheim Angels	1	1	0.500
Houston Astros Continue reading →

April 24, 2022March 22, 2022 by admin

By The Numbers – 12

In 1929, uniform numbers appeared on the back of baseball jerseys for the first time, thanks to the Indians and the Yankees. By 1937, numbers finally appeared across all uniforms, both home and away, across both major leagues. Since that time, 81 distinct numbers have been worn by members of the White Sox, while the Cubs boast 76.

Today, we continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #12. 91 different players have donned #12 while playing in Chicago, 44 for the White Sox and 47 for the Cubs.

A.J. Pierzynski signed with the White Sox on January 6, 2005 and rewarded the organization with eight seasons of stability behind the plate that included one All-Star selection, two playoff appearances, and, of course, the 2005 World Series championship. Over those 8 seasons, Pierzynski was involved in many key moments while wearing #12 that endeared him to the White Sox faithful, including:

The walk-off home run, and resulting bat flip (pictured above), against the Dodgers in 2005 while wearing 1959 throwbacks
The two home runs in a thrashing of the Red Sox in game one of the 2005 ALDS, the first White Sox home postseason victory since 1959
The controversial dropped third strike that led to a White Sox victory in game two of the 2005 ALCS against the Angels
The 2006 brawl against the Cubs where Michael Barrett sucker-punched him after Pierzynski enthusiastically scored a run against the crosstown rivals
Hanging on to the throw from Ken Griffey Jr. to preserve the shutout in the 2008 tie-breaker game that pushed the White Sox into the playoffs over the Twins
Being behind the plate for Mark Buehrle’s no-hitter in 2007 and Philip Humber’s perfect game in 2012

On the north side of town, a dynamic shortstop, the first player chosen in the 1982 draft, wore #12 when he made his major league debut in 1985. Shawon Dunston quickly became a fan favorite. In 1989, he entered the national consciousness thanks to the Shawon-O-Meter, a fan made sign that tracked Dunston’s batting average during each game. The sign was seen in the Wrigley Field bleachers for a number of years and even made its way to San Francisco’s Candlestick Park for the 1989 NLCS. Following the 1995 season, he left as a free agent before resigning with the team for the 1997 campaign. He was traded to the Pirates at the end of August, ending his Cubs career for good.

April 7, 2022March 25, 2022 by admin

All Time Team Records

Baseball
Angels, A's, Astros, Blue Jays, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Devil Rays, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Expos, Giants, Indians, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, Nationals, Orioles, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Royals, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees
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After a long lockout and an abbreviated spring training, the 2022 baseball season finally gets underway today, so, to celebrate, it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have identified as having attended dating back to 1984. Last year, I tied 2004 for my 5th highest game total of all time and managed to see 25 out of the 30 teams, so there should be some nice changes. Thanks to a name change, the all-time record of the Cleveland Indians become static moving forward, forever stuck at 4 games over .500.

The White Sox look to once again lead an improving AL Central and move past the ALDS in the post-season, while the Cubs are neither contending nor rebuilding. The 2022 season should be an interesting one on both sides of town, even more interesting if we are able to see it in person.

**All-Time Team Records**
Team Name	Won	Loss	Winning Pctg
California Angels	2	0	1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks	14	2	0.875
Florida Marlins	15	8	0.652
Colorado Rockies	10	6	0.625
New York Yankees	17	11	0.607
Boston Red Sox	19	13	0.594
Los Angeles Angels	20	14	0.588
Toronto Blue Jays	15	11	0.577
Philadelphia Phillies	11	9	0.550
Washington Nationals	7	6	0.538
Cleveland Indians	31	27	0.534
Chicago White Sox	335	307	0.522
Chicago Cubs	224	206	0.521
Houston Astros Continue reading →

March 20, 2022March 10, 2022 by admin

By The Numbers – 17

Today, we continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #17. 79 different players have donned #17 while playing in Chicago, 42 for the White Sox and 37 for the Cubs.

Mark Grace moved to his iconic #17 during his rookie campaign in 1988. He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting while hitting .296 with 7 home runs and 57 RBIs. In 1989, he garnered some MVP consideration as the Cubs took home a surprising NL East title. Grace hit .314 with 13 home runs and 79 RBIs during the regular season, before hitting .647 with a 1.799 OPS during the 5 game NLCS against the Giants.

In 1990, Grace began a decade of excellence, collecting the most hits, 1,754, and doubles, 364, of any player during the decade. He won 4 Gold Glove awards, was named to 3 All Star teams, earned down-ballot MVP support in 3 different seasons. Following the 2000 season, he left the Cubs, finishing that portion of his career with 2201 hits, 456 doubles, 148 home runs, 1004 RBIs, and a .308 average.

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 finally able to acquire the aging superstar 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. Wearing #17, 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.

Special bonus shout out to outfielder Carlos May, who played with the White Sox from 1968-1976. May, who wore #17 for his entire White Sox career, is the only player in baseball history to wear his birthday, May 17th, on his jersey.

March 2, 2022 by admin

A Disastrous Outcome

Baseball
1994 Strike, 2022 Lockout, Cardinals, Great American Ballpark, Guaranteed Rate Field, MLB, MLBPA, Reds, Rob Manfred, Royals, Twins, White Sox, Wrigley Field
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For the first time since 1995, a work stoppage will wipe the scheduled Opening Day off the schedule for Major League Baseball. Weeks after saying that missed regular season games would be “a disastrous outcome.” Commissioner Rob Manfred, with a telling smile on his face, announced he was cancelling the first two series of the regular season after the MLBPA (rightfully) turned down the so-called final offer from the owners yesterday afternoon. With talks breaking down, the earliest the two sides will get back together is tomorrow.

Locally, both teams would lose two series against Central division foes. The White Sox would miss out on the opening series against the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field and a trip to Kansas City to face the Royals. The Cubs would avoid opening the season at Great American Ballpark against the Reds and their home opening series versus the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Of course, there has been no mention yet of refunds for fans who bought tickets to those cancelled games.

Who knows what will happen at this point. The owners won’t see any real financial pressure to start the season until late April, when they will have to start returning money to their television partners for missed games. As we saw in 2020, when the pandemic shut down the sport for months on end, there are plenty of owners who would prefer to play the fewest number of games they can get away with and still make all of their money. Of course, they could just lift the lockout and continue negotiating while the season played out, but that is only something mature adults might do.

March 2, 2022January 19, 2022 by admin

Against The Twins All Time Leaders – Through 2021

In the past, we’ve looked at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. This offseason, we will take our first ever look at those leaders against all 30 clubs. We continue things today with the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins originated in 1901 as the Washington Senators, one of the charter members of the American League. When Minneapolis was given an expansion team to begin play in 1961, owner Calvin Griffith requested to move the Senators to Minnesota, becoming the Twins, and to have the expansion franchise take over the Senators name in Washington. I’ve seen them play 64 times at 3 different stadiums, including the division-title deciding game 163 in 2008 at US Cellular Field.

Home Runs

Name	Total
Joe Crede	8
Alexei Ramirez	7
Paul Konerko	7

Hits

Name	Total
Alexei Ramirez	40
Paul Konerko	39
Jose Abreu	29

Runs

Name	Total
Alexei Ramirez	19
Paul Konerko	19
Jose Abreu	18

RBI

Name	Total
Alexei Ramirez	21
Joe Crede	21
Paul Konerko	20

Doubles

Name	Total
Alexei Ramirez	6
A.J. Pierzynski	6
Paul Konerko	5
Adam Eaton	5

Triples Continue reading →

February 20, 2022January 19, 2022 by admin

By The Numbers – 20

Today, we continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #20. 85 different players have donned #20 while playing in Chicago, 30 for the White Sox and 55 for the Cubs.

Carlos Quentin was acquired by the White Sox in a December 2007 trade with the Diamondbacks for Chris Carter, earning 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 slamming his bat following a strikeout against Cliff Lee, causing him to miss the last 6 weeks of the season. The injury likely cost him the MVP award, and certainly impacted the White Sox, as their battle with the Twins for the AL Central title came down to 163rd game and left the starting rotation is disarray before playing, and 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, for Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez.

On the north side of town, Corey Patterson switched to #20 when he was recalled to the Cubs in 2001, appearing in 51 games and hitting only .221. He became a full time player in 2002, hitting .253 in 153 games and slugging 14 home runs while driving in 54. He was breaking out in 2003, becoming the threat the Cubs had hoped he would be, with a .839 OPS, a .298 average, and 13 and 55 for the power numbers when a torn ACL ended his season on July 6. He returned in 2004, playing 157 games and hitting .266, but was never quite the same player as before the injury. 2005 was not a good season for Patterson, as he saw himself demoted in July following an 8-game losing streak. Following the season, he was traded to the Orioles.

January 2, 2022December 3, 2021 by admin

By The Numbers – 25

Today, we continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #25. 87 different players have donned #25 while playing in Chicago, 51 for the White Sox and 36 for the Cubs.

Acquired by the Cubs following the 2003 season for Hee Seop Choi, Derrek Lee, wearing #25, quickly became a mainstay of the Cubs lineup. He hit .278 with 32 home runs and 98 RBIs in his first year on the north side. 2005 was a career year for Lee, and that was just in the first half. He led the majors with a .376 average and 72 RBIs while tying for the lead with 27 home runs. For the full season, he hit 46 home runs and a .335 average, the highest for a Cub since Bill Madlock in 1976 and he notched the first batting title for a Cub since Bill Buckner in 1980. When it was all said and done, he had won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards and finished third in MVP voting.

A broken wrist limited Lee to 50 games in 2006, but he rebounded in 2007 to hit .317 with 22 home runs as the Cubs won their first NL Central title since 2003. Lee went 4 for 12 as the Cubs were swept in 3 games by the Diamondbacks. Another strong season in 2008, with a .291 average, 20 home runs, and 90 RBIs helped push the Cubs back to the post-season. Lee did all he could, hitting .545 in the NLDS against the Dodgers, but the Cubs were once again swept. Lee overcame a slow start in 2009 thanks to a 21 game hitting streak and finished with a .306 batting average, 35 home runs and 111 RBIs, which earned him enough votes to finish ninth in MVP voting.

2010 was a strange year for Lee and the Cubs. On June 9th, he hit his 300th career home run. Later that month, however, he would get in to a fight in the dugout with Carlos Zambrano, which led to a suspension for Zambrano. In the last year of his contract and with the team going nowhere fast, Lee was traded to the Braves on August 18th, ending his Cub tenure.

Looking to reload after winning their first World Series championship in 88 years, the White Sox acquired Jim Thome from the Phillies for Aaron Rowand, Gio Gonzalez, and Daniel Haigwood. Thome, wearing his familiar #25, made an immediate impact, setting a major league record by scoring in each of Chicago’s first 17 games and setting the team record with 10 home runs in April. By season’s end, Thome had put up a .288 average with 42 home runs, 102 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.014. One of the few bright spots for the 2007 White Sox came in mid-September, when Thome, on his bobblehead day, launched his 500th career home run, the first player to do so on a walk-off. For the year, Thome hit .275, with 35 home runs and 96 RBIs. 2008 was a bit of a down year for Thome, as his average and OPS both fell, but he still managed 34 home runs and 90 RBIs. The most important of each came in the 163rd game of the year, as he hit a solo home run to give the White Sox a 1-0 victory over the Twins and the Central Division title. With the White Sox going nowhere in 2009, Thome was traded to the Dodgers on August 31 for a warm body.

November 26, 2021November 24, 2021 by admin

2022 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Holdovers

Earlier this week, the BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2022. The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 25th, with induction taking place July 24th. After nobody was elected in last year’s voting, the new ballot contains 17 holdovers along with 13 newcomers. With this being the last go-around for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa, all of whom are tainted by PEDs, and Curt Schilling, who is an ass, we may see the logjam caused by the current BBWAA rules, which limit the number of votes on one ballot to 10, and the ongoing refusal by some writers to vote for players tainted by PEDs, leaving too many qualified candidates fighting for limited spots, come to an end.

Let’s take a look at the returning candidates today before moving on to the newcomers.

Bobby Abreu
Years on ballot: 2
2021 Percentage: 8.7

A small 3.2% increase for Abreu, but I wouldn’t be making any travel plans to Cooperstown if I were him.

Barry Bonds
Years on ballot: 9
2021 Percentage: 61.8

I just can’t see the all time home run champion getting the increase he will need in his final shot with the baseball writers.

Mark Buehrle
Years on ballot: 1
2021 Percentage: 11.0

The former White Sox hurler picked up a surprisingly healthy amount of support in his first go-around. I don’t expect he’ll make it, but I feel better about his chances to stay on the ballot than I did last year.

Roger Clemens
Years on ballot: 9
2021 Percentage: 61.6

Roger Clemens, he of the 354 career victories and 7 Cy Young awards, is likely to join Bonds on the outside looking in after his last run through this particular gauntlet. Especially since, after many years of getting marginally more support than Bonds, they flipped spots last year.

Todd Helton
Years on ballot: 3
2021 Percentage: 44.9

A big 15.7% increase has Helton moving on the right track, as voters remember that it isn’t his fault he played in Colorado.

Tim Hudson
Years on ballot: 1
2021 Percentage: 5.2

The lowest vote getter to return for another shot, I imagine he’ll get a little more support, but not much.

Torii Hunter
Years on ballot: 1
2021 Percentage: 9.5

Things do not look good for the long time Twin and Angel.

Andruw Jones
Years on ballot: 4
2021 Percentage: 33.9

If voters were to stick to his first 11 seasons, Jones looks like a shoe-in for the Hall. His last 7 seasons, though, were so bad that it makes it hard to consider him. Despite a 14.5% increase in votes, those final seasons seem to be holding sway.

Jeff Kent
Years on ballot: 8
2021 Percentage: 32.4

Continue reading →

November 20, 2021September 10, 2021 by admin

Against The Rangers All Time Leaders – Through 2021

The Rangers began life in 1961, joining the American League as the second incarnation of the Washington Senators after the original franchise moved to Minnesota to become the Twins. Following the 1971 season, the team moved to Arlington, Texas and became the Rangers. I’ve seen them play 38 times against 5 different foes, across 2 states and 4 different stadiums.