Tag / White Sox

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MVPito

On Thursday night, White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu took home MVP honors. becoming the fourth White Sox player to receive the award.  He received 21 first-place votes after leading the American League in hits, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, and extra base hits.  The 2014 Rookie of the Year, he became just the 28th player to nab both awards.

Abreu follows Nellie Fox, Dick Allen, and Frank Thomas in winning the award for the White Sox and Zolio Versalles and Jose Canseco as Cuban-born winners.

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Everything Old Is New Again Again

As expected, the White Sox announced this morning that they will be moving their radio home back to ESPN 1000, which previously broadcast their games from 1999 – 2005.  The new agreement includes all regular season and postseason games, as well as select spring training contests, starting (hopefully) with the Cactus League opener against the Brewers optimistically planned for February 27, 2021.

The agreement also includes White Sox Weekly, a weekly wrap up show, plus pregame and postgame shows.  Strangely missing from the announcement was any word on the status of Andy Masur or Darrin Jackson, leaving open whether the duo would be retained.

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By The Numbers – 91

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 #91.  Once again, a single player has donned #91 while playing in Chicago, for the 2020 White Sox.

Rookie Luis Gonzalez (no, not that one) wore two uniform numbers, including #91, for the White Sox during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, making his major league debut on August 18.  He managed to get in to 3 games and nab 2 plate appearances before being returned to the secondary site in Schaumburg.

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Everything Old Is New Again

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, Rick Hahn described the ideal candidate to become the next manager of the White Sox: recent post-season experience with a championship organization.  Depending on your definition of recent, the White Sox found their man today, announcing that Tony LaRussa, who retired from the dugout after leading the Cardinals to a championship in 2011, would once again take the reins on the south side of Chicago.

LaRussa, who is third all-time with 2,728 wins, first became manager of the White Sox in 1979, under owner Bill Veeck.  After leading the team to the AL Western Division title in 1983, LaRussa was fired in June of 1986 by Ken Harrelson.  This has long been cited as the biggest sports-related regret for owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

 

LaRussa caught on with the A’s less than a month after leaving the White Sox, staying there for 10 years, winning 3 AL pennants and one World Series championship.  He then spent 16 years on the bench for the Cardinals, winning 3 NL pennants and 2 World Series championships, retiring after the final one in 2011.  Since then, he has spent time working for MLB and in the front office for the Diamondbacks, Red Sox, and Angels.

LaRussa, who will be 76 on opening day 2021, becomes the oldest manager in the major leagues and the oldest to take over a team since Jack McKeon in 2011.

The two biggest concerns, to my mind, are 1) has the move toward analytics changed the game enough in the last 9 years that he’s been left behind and 2) will the exuberant players on the White Sox roster, namely Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, and Eloy Jimenez, chafe under an older school manager who may not appreciate the bat flips and political outspokenness.  This will either end very well, with post-season success, or will bomb spectacularly.  There really will not be a middle ground.

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By The Numbers – 94

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.

We continue today with our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams, continuing with #94.  A single player has donned #94 while playing in Chicago, for the 2001 Cubs.

When David Weathers was acquired by the Cubs at the trade deadline in 2001, Felix Heredia agreed to give up the number and flipped it around to become the first and, to date, only #94 in Cubs, and Chicago baseball, history.  Heredia became a free agent at the end of the season, ending his 2 month use of the number.

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By The Numbers – 96

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 #96.  A single players has donned #96 while playing in Chicago, for the 1950 Cubs.

Bill Voiselle, by default, is the best #96 in Chicago baseball history.  Acquired prior to the 1950 season for future big league manager Gene Mauch, Voiselle went winless with an ERA over 5 before making his final big league appearance on July 8th.

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The Rick Renteria Era Has Come To An End

In a somewhat shocking development, the White Sox announced this morning that they have parted ways with manager Rick Renteria.  The status of the rest of the coaching staff will be determined in conjunction with the new manager, though pitching coach Don Cooper is also expected to move on.  Renteria originally joined the White Sox following the 2015 season as bench coach and was named the team’s 40th manager, replacing Robin Ventura, following the 2016 season.

General Manager Rick Hahn said that the ideal candidate to replace Renteria will have recent post-season experience with a championship organization.  Interestingly enough, two such managers, A.J. Hinch and Alex Cora, will be coming off their year-long suspensions following the completion of the World Series.  Both are thought to be on the shortlist for the opening in Detroit, though I’d be surprised if Cora doesn’t end up back with the Red Sox.  One name not in the mix is former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who was told by owner Jerry Reinsdorf that he would not be considered.

In some ways, this move reminds me of one made by another Reinsdorf team back in the summer of 1989.  After reaching the Eastern Conference finals and losing to the Pistons, the Bulls fired coach Doug Collins, saying that while he had gotten the team from point A to point B, he wasn’t the right man to get them to point C.  If this move turns out half as well for the White Sox, everyone involved will be ecstatic.

 

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By The Numbers – 99

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 begin our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams, starting with #99.  A grand total of 3 players have donned #99 while playing in Chicago, 1 for the White Sox and 2 for the Cubs.

Manny Ramirez spent a little more than a month with the White Sox, acquired off waivers from the Dodgers at the end of August in 2010.  The White Sox were hoping there was still some life in the 38-year old slugger as they hoped to make up a 4 game deficit and overtake the Twins for the AL Central title, but he managed just a single home run and only 2 RBI.  Following the season, he became a free agent.

On the north side of town, of the two instances of a player wearing #99, the nod has to go to So Taguchi.  Appearing in 6 games in 2009, Taguchi hit .273 as he wound down his career.

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You Ought To Be In (19) Pictures

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Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, and thanks to a corona virus inspired uptick to my movie watching this year, it is time to look at the 100 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

Today, we continue with the 6 actors that has starred in 19 movies that I have seen, two additional from what was seen 3 years ago.

Jennifer Aniston

The former Friends star first burst through onto my movie screen in 1997, with a double feature of She’s The One and Leprechaun.  In years since, she has been a pretty steady contributor until 2014, with multiple films in 1997, 1998, 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2013, with a high water mark in 1998, when I saw her in 3 starring roles.  Her most recent entry came in 2014, when I saw 2013’s We’re The Millers.

John Cusack

Local boy done good John Cusack entered my movie-watching consciousness in 1988 when he portrayed disgraced White Sox third baseman Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out.  After a 9 year dry spell, Cusack came back with a vengeance with 3 films in 1997 which started a run of 8 films in 4 years.  After 97, he notched multiple films in 2000, 2004, and 2010.  His most recent film that I’ve seen was 2012’s The Factory, which I watched in 2015.

Matt Damon

In 1994, Matt Damon made his first appearance on my personal movie screen with his role in 1992’s School Ties.  He disappeared for a while until reappearing in 1999 with 3 different films.  From that point on, he has been a pretty regular entrant in my watched films, including a four year run from 2005-2008.  The last film of his I’ve seen was in 2019, when I saw 2017’s Downsizing.

Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton burst on to my movie going radar with 1983’s Mr. Mom.  He had 2 different years, 1995 and 2000, where I saw 3 of his films.  After a 9 year absence from my screen, he returned in 2015 to increase his total once again.  The last time I saw him in a starring role was last year in Spotlight, from 2015.

Sylvester Stallone

My first exposure to Sylvester Stallone was through the Rocky franchise, whose 8 films make up over 42% of this total.  Add in the Rambo franchise and that number jumps over 50%.  My biggest Stallone years were 1991 and 2007, when I took in a grand total of 2 films each.  I am on an active 3 year streak, with my most recent experience with his films coming earlier this year in 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood.

Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington first appeared in my life in a starring role as Tom Hanks’ homophobic attorney in Philadelphia.  There have been four years, starting in 2000, where I have seen 2 of his films.  2002 started a 5 year run where I saw 7 of his films.  After a 6 year absence, he returned to my screen earlier this year in Ricochet, released in 1991.

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2020 Final Standings

In the summer of 1984, I was 9 years old and that is the earliest summer that I’ve been able to identify a specific baseball game that I attended.  For the next 36 years, I’ve been to a least one game and, in more recent times, it has become one of the defining activities of my summer.  Until this year, when the corona virus shut down the season for nearly 4 months and the remaining 2 went off without fans.  Of course, it also was the first season both Chicago teams made the post-season since 2008.

Now that both teams have been eliminated, it is fair to say that they are moving in opposite directions.  After 7 straight losing seasons, the White Sox rebuild finally started to show the promise that had been promised, finishing in second place and posting their highest winning percentage since 2005.  There is still some room for improvement, especially in the starting rotation, and the way the last week of the season went down is a valid cause for concern, but the future does look a whole lot brighter on the south side than it has in quite some time.

On the north side of town, you get the feeling that the contention window is closing rapidly.  After missing the playoffs last year, Theo Epstein said that major changes would be in play heading in to 2020.  For various reasons, the only big change was in the manager’s office and the team that ultimately took the field in 2020 was nearly identical to the 2019 version.  As this shortened season went on, the results didn’t look all that different either.  Thanks to early season success and a COVID outbreak for the Cardinals, they were able to coast to the division title, which again masked some of the team’s hitting problems.  Those problems came to the forefront in the quick 2 game series against the Marlins.  With big pieces of the core heading towards free agency in the next 1-2 years, and coming off a season with crashed revenues and even lower offensive production, it may be difficult to make any substantial moves while getting reasonable value back in return.