{"id":18958,"date":"2022-04-15T03:54:24","date_gmt":"2022-04-15T09:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/?p=18958"},"modified":"2022-04-14T14:59:12","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T20:59:12","slug":"the-heroes-of-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/2022\/04\/the-heroes-of-opening-day\/","title":{"rendered":"The Heroes Of Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This week I attended my 21st consecutive (except for the pandemic year of 2020 that had no fans) Opening Day at Comiskey Park II\/US Cellular Field\/Guaranteed Rate Field, and my 38th overall.\u00a0 From my first, at old Comiskey Park in 1985, to my first as a Cubs season ticket holder at Wrigley Field in 2002, to road trips to Shea Stadium, in 2003, and Great American Ballpark, in 2004 and 2006, Opening Day remains a spring holiday proclaiming the theoretical beginning of summer.\u00a0 This seemed like a good time to see who the best performers were on both sides of the ball from those 38 contests.<\/p>\n

Home Runs<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Hits<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Corey Patterson<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Paul Konerko<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alejandro de Aza<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ray Durham<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jose Valentin<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Joe Crede<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jim Thome<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Runs<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Paul Konerko<\/span><\/td>\n15<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jermaine Dye<\/span><\/td>\n9<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Aramis Ramirez<\/span><\/td>\n8<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Victor Martinez<\/span><\/td>\n8<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mark Grudzielanek<\/span><\/td>\n8<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

RBI<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Paul Konerko<\/span><\/td>\n7<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Derrek Lee<\/span><\/td>\n7<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alex Gonzalez<\/span><\/td>\n6<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Joe Crede<\/span><\/td>\n6<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Doubles<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Paul Konerko<\/span><\/td>\n10<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Corey Patterson<\/span><\/td>\n8<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Moises Alou<\/span><\/td>\n8<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Triples<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Michael Barrett<\/span><\/td>\n4<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Paul Konerko<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Moises Alou<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jose Valentin<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Victor Marinez<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alex Rios<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jose Abreu<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Miguel Olivo<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jeromy Burnitz<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Carlos Lee<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Batting Average (> 8 AB)<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Ray Durham<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yolmer Sanchez<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14 tied with\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n1<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Stolen Bases<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Jermaine Dye<\/span><\/td>\n0.500<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mark Grudzielanek<\/span><\/td>\n0.500<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Miguel Olivo<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n0.455<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Games<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Mark McLemore<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sam Fuld<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chris Singleton<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

And, on the defensive side of the ball:<\/p>\n

Wins<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Paul Konerko<\/span><\/td>\n13<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A.J. Pierzynski<\/span><\/td>\n8<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jose Abreu<\/span><\/td>\n8<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Losses<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Mark Buehrle<\/span><\/td>\n3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kerry Wood<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chris Sale<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Esteban Loaiza<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

ERA (> 6 IP)<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Jake Westbrook<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
36 tied with\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n1<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Strikeouts<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Lance Lynn<\/span><\/td>\n0.00<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tommy Milone<\/span><\/td>\n0.00<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Britt Burns<\/span><\/td>\n1.00<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Appearances<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Jon Lester<\/span><\/td>\n22<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kerry Wood<\/span><\/td>\n18<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chris Sale<\/span><\/td>\n15<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n

Saves<\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Joe Borowski<\/span><\/td>\n6<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mark Buehrle<\/span><\/td>\n5<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jon Lester<\/span><\/td>\n4<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Matt Thornton<\/span><\/td>\n4<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michael Wuertz<\/span><\/td>\n4<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/tfoot>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week I attended my 21st consecutive (except for the pandemic year of 2020 that had no fans) Opening Day at Comiskey Park II\/US Cellular Field\/Guaranteed Rate Field, and my 38th overall.\u00a0 From my first, at old Comiskey Park in 1985, to my first as a Cubs season ticket holder at Wrigley Field in 2002, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[300,868,906,128,131,162,2314,574,2441,597,631,903,8844,120,141,2474,598,6917,6258,873,905,730,892,645,2398,4187,1674,625,9100,86,881,2442,164,874,1507,3461,902,127,876,2440,612,596,2606,595,7491],"class_list":["post-18958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baseball","tag-a-j-pierzynski","tag-alejandro-de-aza","tag-alex-gonzalez","tag-alex-rios","tag-aramis-ramirez","tag-bobby-jenks","tag-carlos-lee","tag-chris-sale","tag-chris-singleton","tag-comiskey-park","tag-comiskey-park-ii","tag-corey-patterson","tag-corona-virus","tag-cubs","tag-derrek-lee","tag-esteban-loaiza","tag-great-american-ballpark","tag-guaranteed-rate-field","tag-jake-westbrook","tag-jermaine-dye","tag-jeromy-burnitz","tag-jim-thome","tag-joe-borowski","tag-joe-crede","tag-jon-lester","tag-jose-abreu","tag-jose-valentin","tag-kerry-wood","tag-lance-lynn","tag-mark-buehrle","tag-mark-grudzielanek","tag-mark-mclemore","tag-matt-thornton","tag-michael-barrett","tag-michael-wuertz","tag-miguel-olivo","tag-moises-alou","tag-paul-konerko","tag-ray-durham","tag-sam-fuld","tag-shea-stadium","tag-us-cellular-field","tag-victor-martinez","tag-wrigley-field","tag-yolmer-sanchez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18958"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18961,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18958\/revisions\/18961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learningturkey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Name<\/span><\/th>\nTotal<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Bobby Jenks<\/span><\/td>\n2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21 tied with<\/span><\/td>\n1<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n