Tag / White Sox

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Hall Of Fame Batting Leaders

52174766Today, former White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas takes his place in Cooperstown alongside pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine and former managers Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Tony LaRussa.  I thought it would be interesting to look at the overall leaders amongst Hall of Famers on both sides of the ball from all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2013, starting with the offense.

Home Runs

Name Total
Frank Thomas 15
Carlton Fisk 2
Eddie Murray 2
Barry Larkin 1
Ryne Sandberg 1
Roberto Alomar 1

Hits

Name Total
Frank Thomas 54
Carlton Fisk 13
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#220 – Brandon McCarthy

McCarthy_action_bw_sports_t440

Name: Brandon McCarthy

Rank: 220

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2005-2006

Brandon McCarthy joined the White Sox organization as their 17th round pick of the 2002 draft, 3 rounds ahead of Boone Logan.  In 2004, between 3 different minor league stops, McCarthy led all minor league pitchers with 202 strike outs.  He made his major league debut the following May, getting a spot start at Wrigley Field against the crosstown rival Cubs.  He ended up appearing in 12 games for the big league club, making 10 starts.  While the White Sox went on the win the World Series, McCarthy was left off the playoff roster.

McCarthy spent the entire 2006 season with the White Sox, working mostly out of the bullpen.  He appeared in 53 games, starting 2, and finished the year with a 4.68 ERA.  He looked poised to join the White Sox rotation for 2007 heading in to the offseason, but it was not to be.  That December, he was shipped to the Rangers in exchange for John Danks, Nick Masset, and a minor league throw in.

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

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#221 – Boone Logan

Boone Logan

Name: Boone Logan

Rank: 221

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2006-2008

Boone Logan joined the White Sox organization as their 20th round pick in the 2002 draft.  He made his major league debut against the Indians on April 4, 2006, on the day the majority of his teammates received their World Series rings.  Logan ended up splitting time between the White Sox and Charlotte, finishing with a very disappointing 8.31 ERA for the big league club.

2007 saw Logan spending the majority of the year in the major leagues, appearing in 68 games for the disappointing White Sox squad that lost 90 games.  He managed to lower his ERA to a still enlarged 4.97.

While the White Sox rebounded to win the AL Central in 2008, Logan continued to struggle, with an ERA that jumped back up to 5.95.  Logan did not appear in the Division Series, which the Sox dropped to the Rays in 4 games.  Following the season, Logan was packaged with Javier Vazquez to the Braves in the deal that brought Tyler Flowers, Brent Lillibridge, and two others back to the White Sox.

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

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2014 All Star Break Standings

As we head in to the All Star break, it’s time to take a look at the team records for the 17 games I attended in the first half of the baseball season.

2014 Team Records

Team Won Loss Winning Pctg
New York Yankees 2 0 1.000
Kansas City Royals 2 0 1.000
San Francisco Giants 1 0 1.000
Cleveland Indians 1 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 1 0 1.000
Tampa Bay Rays 1 1 0.500
San Diego Padres 1 1 0.500
Chicago Cubs 1 1 0.500
Chicago White Sox 6 10 0.375
Seattle Mariners Continue reading →
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#222 – Joe Magrane

magrane_staats

Name: Joe Magrane

Rank: 222

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1996

After spending all of 1995 in the minor leagues while attempting to rehab from elbow injuries, Joe Magrane was sitting at home in February of 1996 when the White Sox offered him a non-roster invite to spring training.  “I’ll give it one last shot,” Magrane said. “I don’t know how it’ll work out.”  After being the most consistent left-hander in the bullpen, Magrane found himself breaking camp with the White Sox.

By early May, manager Terry Bevington had moved Magrane into the 5th starter role.  “Joe’s getting a lot of groundballs lately,” Bevington said, “and I like what he’s done. Of course, nothing is forever, but as of today he’s the No. 5.”  Forever lasted until mid June, when Mike Sirotka was called up and pushed Magrane back to the bullpen.  Five days later, the White Sox designated Magrane for assignment.  “We gave Joe a lot of chances,” general manager Ron Schueler said.  “Unfortuately for Joe, it just didn’t work out.”

Magrane spent the remainder of the season toiling away in Triple A before retiring at the end of the season.

Magrane’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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#223 – Rob Dibble

dibble

Name: Rob Dibble

Rank: 223

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1995

After rotator cuff surgery forced him to miss the entire 1994 season, Rob Dibble signed with the White Sox as a free agent in late February of 1995.  Dibble got off to a tremendous start with his new team, claiming that replacement players were “going to be labeled like child molesters for the rest of their lives,” which earned him a suspension during spring training.

Once the season got underway, Dibble found other, performance-related reasons to let down his new club.  Unfortunately, the arm injuries robbed him of both his command and his velocity, which left him as a pretty ineffective option out of Gene Lamont’s and Terry Bevington’s bullpen.  His WHIP was well over 2, and the last straw came in mid-July when he was suspended 3 games for throwing at Brewers second baseman Pat Listach’s head.  Before he could serve the suspension, the White Sox waived the troubled reliever, bringing his brief South Side career to an end.

Dibble’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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#224 – Danny Darwin

DARWIN

Name: Danny Darwin

Rank: 224

Position: P

Year With White Sox: 1997

41-year old Danny Darwin signed with the White Sox for his 20th big league season on February 7, 1997.  Darwin was 4-8 with a 4.13 ERA in 17 starts for a White Sox squad that found itself only 3 1/2 games out of first place in the AL Central on July 31.  Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf did not see a bright future for the team, however, and allowed general manager Ron Schueler to pull the trigger on what would become known as the “White Flag” trade, sending Darwin, along with Wilson Alvarez and Roberto Hernandez, to the Giants in exchange for Keith Foulke, Bob Howry, Lorenzo Barcelo, Ken Vining, Mike Caruso, and Brian Manning.

Darwin called it “one of the most bizarre trades I’ve ever seen” and predicted that future free agents may think twice about joining the South Siders.  “If they need one or two players to get over the hump, it may hurt them in the future,” Darwin said. “I think (the trade) will be in the back of some guys’ minds–`Do I want to go over there?’ You hear (Reinsdorf) say: `You’ve got to be crazy to think we’re going to catch Cleveland.’ Do you want to play for someone like that?”

Darwin’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:

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Good Riddance, Scott Downs

Scott DownsAfter a week that saw the White Sox drop 6 out of 7 games, all of which they had an opportunity to win if their bullpen wasn’t made out of swiss cheese, the team started to purge itself of the dead weight by designating Scott Downs for assignment.  Downs, who signed a one year deal for $4 million during the offseason with an option for 2015, displayed no actual pitching talent this season beyond coming in to walk the one left handed batter he was brought in to face.

His last appearance on a mound for the White Sox came Wednesday night, when he sported a giant smirk on his face after being brought in to face Chris Davis and walking him to load the bases before a grand slam tied the game.  He finishes his White Sox career with a 6.08 ERA and 15 walks in 23 2/3 innings, but, because he is left handed, he will likely be given additional chances to blow games for someone else this year.

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#225 – Gene Nelson

genenelson

Name: Gene Nelson

Rank: 225

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 1984-1986

With the White Sox struggling to repeat as AL West Champions in 1984, they swung a deal with the Mariners on June 27 to swap relief pitchers, sending Salome Barojas out west in exchange for Jerry Don Gleaton and Gene Nelson.  Nelson, who had been in Triple A for the Mariners, came to the big leagues with the White Sox and split his time between the rotation and bullpen, starting 9 of his 20 appearances.

In 1985, Nelson was penciled in to work strictly out of the pen.  “It was tough to adjust after starting for so long,” he said.  “It was a matter of learning the mental parts of the game in the bullpen.”  However, an injury to Richard Dotson and the ineffectiveness of Bruce Tanner forced manager Tony LaRussa to move Nelson back in to the rotation in early July.  By year’s end, Nelson had completed his first full big league season with 46 appearances, 18 of them as a starter.

1986 saw Nelson back in the bullpen full time, save one emergency start due to the death of Tom Seaver’s mother.  He appeared in a career-high 54 games and posted his best ERA to date.  In December, the White Sox packaged Nelson with Bruce Tanner and sent him to the A’s in exchange for second baseman Donnie Hill.

Nelson’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →

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GlobalFit III: Week 49

Y3Week49A tremendous work week, with every day above 6000 steps and 2 days checking in over 10,000, followed by another in a long line of lackluster weekends.  The week started off with a bang on Monday, with a 10,000 step day thanks to a conference call that I took while walking around the campus.  The rest of the week was pretty ordinary until Friday, which was Family Day down at Wrigley Field.  My nephews, my sister, and I headed downtown to take a trip to the Bean before heading north for the festivities at the Friendly Confines, including a spirited game of catch in the outfield grass.  Saturday and Sunday both featured trips to US Cellular Field for exciting White Sox baseball, but very little in ways of steps.

Total steps: 46,445

Weekly average: 6635