Word came down yesterday afternoon that Cub season tickets had started to arrive, so imagine my surprise when I got home and found this sitting on my doorstep:
Inside the box were the two ticket books, a collection of parking passes, and some miscellaneous paperwork. The tickets themselves have returned to a portrait orientation, and feature photos of all-time White Sox greats.
Name: Mike Myers
Rank: 241
Position: P
Year With White Sox: 2007
After spending 15 years in Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, Mike Myers escaped and returned to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. Oh wait, that’s the wrong Mike Myers. After 6 seasons on Saturday Night Live, Mike Myers left to pursue a film career, where…what, still the wrong Mike Myers? How many where there?
Baseball’s Mike Myers, a native of Arlington Heights, joined the White Sox in August of their lost 2007 season after being released by the Yankees. He fit right in, which, sadly, means he did not pitch well, putting up an 11.20 ERA in 17 appearances. Myers had a $1.1 million option for 2008, which the White Sox chose to decline. Myers tried to latch on to a team the next spring, but never did pitch in the major leagues again.
Myers’ numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were: Continue reading →
Name: Rocky Biddle
Rank: 242
Position: P
Years With White Sox: 2000-2002
Rocky Biddle was drafted by the White Sox in the first round of the 1997 draft. In August of 2000, with the White Sox heading towards a Central division title despite a pitching staff falling by the day, Biddle was called up and made his major league debut on August 10. Pitching on only three days rest against the White Sox eventual ALDS foe Seattle, Biddle gave up 6 runs in 5 1/3 innings. He ended up starting 4 games that season as the White Sox limped to the playoffs and a three game sweep against the Mariners.
Biddle spent parts of the next two seasons as one piece of the black hole that was the fifth starter for the White Sox. Biddle started 28 of his 74 games over those two seasons, although his ERA did improve each season.
His time with the White Sox came to an end on January 15, 2003 when he was included in a 3 team trade that sent 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.
Biddle’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
Name: Donny Lucy
Rank: 243
Position: C
Years With White Sox: 2007, 2010-2011
Donny Lucy joined the White Sox organization after being selected in the second round of the 2004 draft. He made his major league debut for the White Sox on September 5, 2007 against the Tigers, getting his first major league hit against Kenny Rogers. Lucy made his way into 8 games as the White Sox played out the string in what was a lost and disappointing season.
Lucy returned to the minor leagues until 2010, when he broke camp with the White Sox due to backup catcher Ramón Castro heading to the DL with a bruised heel. Lucy hit his first big league home run and notched his first RBI against the Blue Jays on April 15. When Castro was ready to return on May 3, Lucy was returned to Triple A.
Lucy returned to the White Sox in August of 2011 when AJ Pierzynski went down with a broken wrist. He managed to appear in 6 games this time, with his final appearance coming in the Sox 3-2 loss to the Blue Jays on September 28.
On December 16, Lucy announced his retirement from baseball.
Lucy’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:
Name: Tony Peña
Rank: 244
Position: P
Years With White Sox: 2009-2011
Tony Peña, the pitcher, joined the White Sox via a July 7, 2009 trade that sent Brandon Allen to the Diamondbacks. Peña was expected to bolster the bullpen for the remainder of 2009 and then take over Octavio Dotel’s role, who would be a free agent following the season. Things started out well for Peña, who put up a 3.75 ERA down the stretch for the White Sox, a half run better than he had done for the Diamondbacks.
Things started to fall apart in 2010. With Dotel gone, Peña was slated to become the main workhorse out of the pen, but control issues limited him to 52 games, including 3 spot starts. His ERA jumped to 5.10 as he was relegated to long relief and mop up duty.
Unfortunately, 2011 was not any better for Peña. His ERA jumped up to 6.10 as he made 17 relief appearances over the season’s first two months. On May 29, he was placed on the disabled list with right elbow tendinitis, which is where he would spend the rest of the season.
He was released by the White Sox following the season, and he would never pitch in the major leagues again.
Pena’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
Name: Jason Frasor
Rank: 245
Position: P
Year With White Sox: 2011
Jason Frasor joined the White Sox, along with fellow pitcher Zach Stewart, as part of a salary dump that sent Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen to the Blue Jays on July 27, 2011. Frasor, an Oak Forest native, was supposed to lighten the workload on Jesse Crain, but was mostly ineffective, giving up 10 runs in only 17 2/3 innings.
After spending nearly 5 months as a member of the White Sox, Frasor was shipped back to Toronto on January 1, 2012 in exchange for Daniel Webb and minor league pitcher Myles Jaye.
Frasor’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:
Continue reading →
The one bright spot in a dismal 2013 season for the Chicago White Sox was the reintroduction of the uniforms introduced in 1982 and worn during the 1983 Winning Ugly season. The Sunday throwbacks were a big hit with fans and with the players themselves. Yesterday, the White Sox announced that they were adding the uniform as an official alternate for the 2014 season, which could be worn at any time. Despite not being tied to an anniversary for the 1983 team, the All Star Game patch will still adorn the sleeves of the throwback. The only difference will be the hat.
But oh, what a difference. Rather than sticking with the caps that were originally part of the uniform set, and which were worn last year as part of the Sunday throwback program, the team is joining forces with New Era to hawk a new alternate batting practice cap, which they will wear with these uniforms. The hat replaces the SOX wordmark on the front of the cap and replaces it with the top half of the old “Batterman” logo used by the team from the mid 70s until current uniforms were introduced at the end of the 1990 season. The decision seems to have more to do with promoting a New Era product line that may be a little slow moving than one where the team puts its best looking foot forward.
Fireworks Night
April 26 (Minnie Minoso Statue)
May 10 (Pink Scarf)
July 19
August 2 (Frank Thomas HOF Plaque)
August 16
August 30 (Tony LaRussa Bobblehead)
September 13
September 27
Family Day
April 13
April 27
May 11
May 25
June 1
June 15
July 6
July 20
August 3
August 17 (Spirit & Mascot Day)
August 31
September 14
September 28
Other Fun Stuff
March 31 – Opening Day
April 12 – 1983 Fleece Blanket
May 24 – Chris Sale Bobblehead
May 31 – Kids Baseball Glove
July 5 – Home Kids Jersey
Name: Lastings Milledge
Rank: 246
Position: LF
Year With White Sox: 2011
Lastings Milledge signed a minor league deal with the White Sox on February 3, 2011. He earned his way on to the major league squad in spring training and headed north with the team. He lasted less than a week. He went 1 for 4 in his 2 appearances, but was the odd man out when 2 straight 12-inning games left the White Sox with a need for an extra arm in the bullpen.
“Personally, it was very hard for me to do it,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “When you send someone down that has nothing to do with the situation [how they are playing], that’s [difficult]. I was on the plane thinking all flight how I was going to handle it. He handled it very well. I talked to Milledge about the problem we have. Unfortunately, that’s part of the game. It’s one of the hardest talks I had with any of the players.”
Milledge spent the rest of the season in Triple A, and left to play in Japan following the season.
Milledge’s numbers in a White Sox uniform were:
Earlier this week, we took our annual look at the all time leaders in pitching stats for the 720 games I’ve attended (and identified) between 1984 and 2013. With the full White Sox roster due in camp today, it’s time to take a look at the offensive stat leaders for those games, starting with our first category:
Home Runs
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Paul Konerko | 89 |
| Sammy Sosa | 42 |
| Aramis Ramirez | 41 |
| Derrek Lee | 40 |
| Jermaine Dye | 40 |
Hits
| Name | Total |
|---|---|
| Paul Konerko | 352 |
| Derrek Lee | 255 |
| Continue reading → |