Tag / White Sox

by admin

Hall Of Fame Batting Leaders

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Today, former White Sox outfielder Tim Raines joins long time Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell and well travelled catcher Ivan Rodriguez in taking their place in Cooperstown.  With 3 new hitters joining the list of Hall of Famers I’ve seen play live, let’s check back in with the new leaders on the offensive side of the ball amongst Hall of Famers for all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2017.

Home Runs

Name Total
Frank Thomas 15
Ivan Rodriguez 4
Carlton Fisk 2
Craig Biggio 2
Mike Piazza 2
Ken Griffey Jr 2
Eddie Murray 2

Hits

Name Total
Frank Thomas 54
Ken Griffey Jr 32
Ivan Rodriguez 16
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#18 – Carlos Quentin

Name: Carlos Quentin

Rank: 18

Position: LF/RF

Years With White Sox: 2008-2011

Carlos Quentin was acquired by the White Sox in a December 2007 trade with the Diamondbacks for Chris Carter.  He earned 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 they battled the Twins for the AL Central title before 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.

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

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by jim

Will The Last One Out Turn Out The Lights

The White Sox continued their sell-off this week, sending relief pitchers Anthony Swarzak to the Brewers and Dan Jennings to the Rays.  Swarzak was traded on Wednesday, just two days after earning his first career save against the Cubs.  Prospect Ryan Cordell, an outfielder, comes back to Chicago, or Charlotte rather, where he will end up once he comes off the disabled list.

The Jennings trade was announced earlier today.  The Rays will send first baseman Casey Gillaspie, brother of former White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie, back to the south side.  Gillaspie is also currently injured, and will join Cordell on the disabled list in Charlotte.

With these moves, plus the earlier trade with the Yankees, Jake Petricka remains as the only member of the opening day bullpen still on the active roster.  What was a strength has suddenly become awfully shaky, although, with the race on for the top pick in next year’s draft, that may be for the best.

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#19 – Greg Luzinski

Name: Greg Luzinski

Rank: 19

Position: DH

Years With White Sox: 1981-1984

With a new ownership group in place and looking to make a splash, the White Sox purchased Greg Luzinski from the Phillies on March 30, 1981.  Coming off a disappointing season, the Chicago-area native responded well to the change, hitting .265 with 21 home runs in the strike-shortened season.  He earned Comeback Player of the Year honors, beating out teammate Bill Almon by 5 votes, and finished 23rd in MVP voting.

Luzinski had another strong year in 1982.  He raised his average to .292, his highest total since 1977, while hitting 18 home runs and driving in 102 runs.

In 1983, Luzinski was a powerful cog in leading the White Sox to their first division title.  He launched the 8th, 9th, and 10th rooftop home runs in Comiskey Park history between June 26 and August 28.  While his average dropped to .255, he hit 32 home runs and drove in 95, good enough to finish 17th in MVP voting.  Like the rest of his teammates, he struggled during the ALCS against the Orioles, hitting only .133 in the 4 game series.

Those struggles carried over in to 1984.  His average dropped again, to .238, and his power output fell as well.  He finished the year with only 13 home runs, his lowest total since 1974, and 58 RBIs, though he did manage to hit his fourth rooftop blast on July 3 against the Tigers.  He became a free agent following the year and decided to retire.

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

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by admin

The Sell Off Continues

Rumors started flying during Tuesday night’s White Sox game about Todd Frazier and David Robertson being on the move, first to the Red Sox and, eventually, to the Yankees.  As the game went on, details started dripping out and, once the game was complete, the trade was officially announced.  The White Sox were sending Frazier, Robertson, and Tommy Kahnle to the Yankees for outfielder Blake Rutherford, starter Ian Clarkin, outfielder Tito Polo, and reliever Tyler Clippard.

Frazier, who seems like the nicest person in the world, has had trouble putting together sustained success since being acquired by the White Sox in 2016 and is a free agent at the end of the season.  Robertson has another year left on his deal and has done a tremendous job at the back end of the bullpen, but a highly paid closer is a luxury for a rebuilding team.  Kahnle looks to have finally put things together out of the pen this year, but the history of middle relievers flaming out after one good year is legend.

Rutherford becomes the 10th White Sox prospect in MLB’s top 100.  Clarkin is a former 1st round draft pick who has been bitten by the injury bug over the course of his career.  Clippard will slide in to the bullpen, taking one of the spots vacated by the outgoing pitchers.  Polo, aside from having the coolest name in the trade, looks to potentially be a fourth outfielder at some point.

There may be a few trades left between now and the deadline, but this looks to be the last of the big hauls coming back.  GM Rick Hahn has completely restocked the farm system and, now, the hard work begins.  Developing these prospects in to major league talent who can compete for a World Series title is the next step.

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Fitbit III: Week 24

A tremendous week, as I posted my best total since late March/early April.  The week got off to a great start on Sunday with a 10,000 step day, thanks to a morning walk to Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast.  Monday used an impromptu day-long meeting in North plaza to surpass 8000 steps.  Tuesday nearly made it to 7000 steps, in part due to a walk over to Willow for day 2 of the impromptu meeting.  Wednesday was my second 10,000 step day of the week, surpassing 11,000 steps thanks to an after work walk.  Thursday was back down to 7000 steps, in part due to a post-work trip to the City Winery to see Matthew Sweet.  My best day of the week (and year) came on Friday, as I flew down to Florida with Angelina for a day at Disney World.  The 20,208 steps I logged are currently the 4th highest total I’ve accumulated in the 7 years I’ve been tracking.  Saturday only managed just over 5000 steps as I recovered from the previous day lounging around the house before heading out to Guaranteed Rate Field to watch the White Sox lose to the Mariners.

Total steps: 68,650

Daily average: 9807.1

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Switching Sides

On Thursday, the White Sox pulled off the trade that many said couldn’t be done, sending Jose Quintana to the Cubs in exchange for Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, Matt Rose, and Bryant Flete.  Jimenez, an outfielder, is the 8th ranked prospect in baseball and Cease, a pitcher, is the 63rd, giving the White Sox 9 out of the top 100 prospects.  Quintana, meanwhile, gives the Cubs starting rotation a boost as last year’s strength turned in to a question mark during the first half of the season.

Quintana originally signed with the White Sox as a minor league free agent on November 9, 2011.  He made his major league debut on May 7, 2012, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless innings of relief against the Indians at Progressive Field.  He quickly moved in to the rotation and became a steady, if unlucky, presence on the mound.  At the time of the trade, he had a career mark of 50-54 with an unbelievable 65 no decisions.  Last year, he made his first All Star team and finished 10th in Cy Young Award voting.

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

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#20 – Bobby Jenks

Name: Bobby Jenks

Rank: 20

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2005-2010

Bobby Jenks joined the White Sox organization on December 17, 2004, when he was selected off waivers from the Angels.  After starting the year in Double A Birmingham, he was called up to the big league club on July 5 and made his major league debut the following day, throwing a scoreless inning against the Devil Rays at US Cellular Field.  When Shingo Takatsu proved ineffective and Dustin Hermanson went down with a back injury, Jenks became the closer in September.  He finished the regular season with 6 saves, to go along with a 1-1 record and a 2.75 ERA.  In the ALDS against the Red Sox, he threw 3 scoreless innings and picked up 2 saves in the 3 game sweep.  Thanks to the 4 complete games in the ALCS against the Angels, Jenks was well rested for the World Series.  He appeared in all 4 games against the Astros, throwing 5 innings and earning the save in Games 1 and 4.

With a World Championship under his belt, Jenks became the full time closer in 2006.  He earned his first All Star nod, and became the first White Sox pitcher to notch a save in the Mid-Summer Classic.  Despite a 4.00 ERA, he finished the year with 41 saves in 45 chances while compiling a 3-4 record.

2007 was a down year for the White Sox, but a good one for Jenks.  He made his second straight All Star team and lowered his ERA to 2.77.  He tied a major league record on August 12, when he retired 41st consecutive batter, becoming the first reliever to achieve the feat.  He finished the year with 40 saves and a 3-5 record in 66 appearances.

Jenks continued his dominant ways in 2008, as the White Sox bounced back in to contention.  He finished with a winning record for the only time in his career and set a career low with a 2.63 ERA.  He notched 30 saves and helped the White Sox return to the post season for the first time since his rookie year.  He threw a scoreless inning in picking up the save in the only White Sox victory in the ALDS against the Rays.

In 2009, Jenks started to struggle, as his ERA and WHIP were up while his strikeouts were down.  Finishing the year with a 3-4 record, his ERA was 3.71 and his save total dropped to 29, his lowest full-season total to date.

2010 was Jenks’ worst year with the White Sox.  His ERA rose again, to 4.44, and his WHIP was up again as well.  Despite his highest strike out total since 2006, he ended the year with a 1-3 record and only 27 saves.  Following the season, the White Sox declined to tender him a contract for the 2011 season, making him a free agent.

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

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2017 All Star Break Batting Leaders

With the All Star Game on tap for tonight in Miami, with only one representative from both the Cubs and White Sox, let’s take a look at the first half offensive leaders for the 24 games I attended:

Home Runs

Name Total
Melky Cabrera 4
Kris Bryant 3
Todd Frazier 2
Mike Napoli 2
Deven Marrero 2
Matt Olson 2
Avisail Garcia 2

Hits

Name Total
Jose Abreu 18
Melky Cabrera 17
Avisail Garcia 14
Todd Frazier 12
Yolmer Sanchez 12

Runs

Name Total
Todd Frazier 9
Jose Abreu 9
Continue reading →
by admin

2017 All Star Break Standings

As the baseball world turns its sights to Miami for Tuesday night’s All Star Game, it’s time to take a look at the team records for the 24 games I attended in the first half of the baseball season, a mish-mash of excitement, followed by disappointment, giving way to uncertainty about what the second half will hold.

2017 Team Records
Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Oakland Athletics 2 0 1.000
Pittsburgh Pirates 1 0 1.000
Milwaukee Brewers 1 0 1.000
Colorado Rockies 1 0 1.000
New York Yankees 2 1 0.667
Chicago White Sox 9 8 0.529
Detroit Tigers 2 2 0.500
Texas Rangers 1 1 0.500
Minnesota Twins 1 1 0.500
Los Angeles Dodgers 1 1 0.500
Cleveland Indians 1 1 0.500
Boston Red Sox 1 1 0.500
Chicago Cubs 1 6 0.143
San Diego Padres 0 1 0.000
Kansas City Royals 0 1 0.000