Marvin Miller & MLB: An Ameliorated Union

 

Major League Baseball lost one of the most important people in the history of the game today (11/27/2012). Marvin Miller, a name many of today's baseball fans have never heard, died at the age of 95. So who was he and why was he so important to the game?

 

Marvin Miller was a union man and economist. Prior to his baseball time, he was working in a machinst union, and then moved on to the United Auto Workers (UAW). He then got his big break in things, moving up to the United Steelworkers union where he became lead negotiator. Miller apparently had a taste for baseball, and wanted to see what he could do in that field.
 

In the 1960s, baseball was still not a very level playing field for the players as far as contracts went. The reserve clause was still in full usage, and the players were more or less bound to their teams. Players had attempted to unionize to protect themselves from owners' greedy tactics several times. The players even tried to up their own pay or force owners hands by leaving MLB to play in other leagues such as the Federal League and the Mexican League. All of these attempts to increase pay and gain more rights failed and each time the owners were able to put the players right back in line.

  

In 1953, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) was created. There was little or no activity within the MLBPA from 1953-1965. In 1966, Marvin Miller began hanging around the Dodgers' spring training facility. Spring training holdouts were common practice, but were usually ended without incident under threat by owner of crushing the holdout players' career in some way. This year, however, the holdouts would be different.

  

The Dodgers won the 1965 World Series behind the phenomenal pitching of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax. They had both had spectacular 1965 campaigns and expected to be paid for their efforts. Their demand was simple: They would share a $1 million contract split between them over three years. This would pay each pitcher $167,000 a season. Willie Mays was the current highest player in the league at $125,000 a season. At the time of this request, most players were not given multi-year contracts due to the power of the reserve clause. They eventually signed individual contracts for less than they had demanded ($125,000 and $110,000) and rejoined the Dodgers before the end of Spring Training.

  

While their holdout failed to garner them their requested salaries, it did make a major impact on baseball. It showed everyone that baseball was more profitable than people had known. The Dodgers were THE club of the National League, probably even more popular overall than the Yankees at the time, or at least tied in popularity nationwide. The fact that two Dodgers players had heldout for almost all of spring training and at least partially forced the hand of famous Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, was a big deal for players all over the league. The MLBPA would hire Marvin Miller that same year to head their union.

  

MLBPA was virtually working from scratch on player rights in 1966. Over the next several years, MLBPA, led by Miller, would go on to win major victories over the owners with the first collective bargaining agreement. These victories came in such areas as higher minimum salary ($6,000 to $10,000), and arbitration. Prior to the CBA, all contract disputes between players and owners went to the commissioner, who had been selected by the owners and was likely to side with the owners in most matters. Arbitration sent disputes to an unbiased third party, which gave the players more leverage in discussion of terms.

  

Arbitration didn't come easily. It was the direct result of MLB's first ever player strike in 1972. This strike also resulted in $500,000 more in pension fund payments. While the players were on strike for 13 days, there were 86 total games missed by all clubs. However, different teams missed different amounts of games. The owners refused to make up the games, because they refused to pay the players for games they missed while striking. This uneven scheduling for each team actually had a major impact on the results that season, most notably allowing the Tigers to win the AL East by 1/2 game. This was because the Tigers played 153 games while the Red Sox, who finished second, only played 152 games.

  

Let's back up for a moment. We can't discuss Miller's contribution to the evolution of modern baseball without mentioning the Curt Flood case. Most baseball fans know a little about this case, where Curt Flood was traded to the Phillies but refused the trade. He had decided that if he wasn't wanted by the Cardinals, and didn't want to play for the Phillies, that he should be allowed free agency. He was denied this by the commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Miller and the MLBPA backed Curt Flood in a lawsuit against MLB which went all the way to the Supreme Court. The court ruled 5-3 in favor of MLB, and cited precedent from the 1922 case Federal Baseball Team v. National League. In 1970, while Flood sat the season out, MLBPA and the Owners agreed to a 10/5 rule. This rule, known as the Curt Flood Rule, allowed for players with 10 years of MLB experience and 5 years with their current team to have trade veto power.

 

In 1974, Catfish Hunter of the A's had a major contract dispute. Hunter's contract for 1974 called for him to be paid $100,000. $50,000 was to be paid to Hunter, and $50,000 to an insurance annuity in payments. If you don't know what an annuity is, think a basic 401(k). It was money that would be invested and grown for Hunter to use after he retired. A's owner Charles Finley had failed to make a payment and Hunter was alerted to the fact. His case was sent to an arbitor, and the arbitor ruled that this violated Hunter's contract and also made the contract null and voided. Hunter became a free agent. He signed with the Yankees. 

 



This was a huge step in the rights of players. Hunter's dispute was put to arbitration thanks to the backing of the MLBPA and Miller. Hunter's contract with the Yankees upon free agency was much higher than the usual contracts paid by teams. The terms were $3.5 million for 5 years. Many players were finally opened up to the realizations of what true free agency meant for them. The last hurdle in the way of the players and their futures in free agency was the age old reserve clause.

  

In that same year, 1974, Miller became instrumental in the dismantling of the clause all together. He took particular liking to the idea of some good players playing without signing a new contract deal. Miller was able to convince Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally to play the season without signing a new contract. The players both filed a grievance arbitration at the end of the season. The owners stated that their contracts had been perpetually renewed, and that they had not had to physically sign a new contract in order to have been awarded one by the club. The arbitor, Peter Seitz, ruled in both cases that the players had fulfilled their contractual obligations, that players could not be held forever by teams without their consent, and declared them both to be free to negotiate with any and all teams. MLB filed an appeal which at each step, including the 8th circuit court, was found to have been decided accurately by the arbitor. In 1976, MLB agreed to allow players with six years of MLB experience to become free agents.
 

Miller agreed to this six-year rule, because he did not want to flood the market with free agents. This would saturate demand and cause players on the market to be devalued. Fewer players meant higher demand and higher salaries. It didn't take a genius to figure that out, but thankfully the MLBPA had an economic genius at the helm anyway just for safe measure. In 1981, he led the MLBPA through one last strike before he would retire.

 

The 1981 Players Strike occurred in response to owners whining that they needed some kind of protection for players they lost to free agency. The strike lasted over 50 days and cost millions of dollars in lost revenue and player salaries. The result of the strike was that the owners were given a pool of players who were not on the team's protected list to choose from as compensation for each player they lost to free agency. This also resulted in a "reupping" of the six year free agency rule. While it was not really a win for the players, the owners didn't get what they wanted out of it either. Play resumed in August and resulted in a crazy season which had a first half and a second half with wacky rules on the post season.

  

Miller left the MLBPA after 1982. During his tenure, average player salaries went from $19,000 to $241,000. MLBPA under Miller lead to free agency, collective bargaining, arbitration and other rights for the "workers" of MLB, the players. He was really the main, instrumental factor in MLB coming out of the dark ages.

 

In 2003 and 2007 he was on the ballot to be elected to the Hall Of Fame, but neither time was he selected. He has still not been elected to the Hall Of Fame, and that is an absolute travesty. We can debate over which players did enough or did not do enough to be included in the top 1% of players to ever play the game; but with Miller there is no debate. What he did for the players and the game transformed it into the game we know today.

Marvin Miller should have been in the Hall Of Fame on his first ballot, and if it weren't for the makeup of the voters, he may have been. At any rate, I would say that if we were to make a list of the Top 10 most important people in baseball history (players, owners, executives, league officials, umpires, player reps, etc), Marvin Miller's name would solidly land in bold letters on that list. Rest in peace, and thank you for all that you contributed to a greater amelioration of the game.



Forgotten Sox: Zeke Bonura

Henry John "Zeke" Bonura was born September 20th, 1908. On that day, Frank Smith no hit the Philadelphia A's in a 1-0 victory for the Chi-Sox. He obtained his nickname "Zeke" from legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne, who remarked upon seeing him "What A Physique!" Zeke would grow up to be a star in multiple sports.

Zeke Bonura attended St. Stanislaus High School in Mississippi at the age of 16, where he starred in many sports, including track and field. In 1925, he competed in the AAU National Track & Field Championships. He entered the javelin throw and recorded a mark of 65.18 meters, the longest ever recorded at the championship by 20 feet. This record fell just five years later, but he is still the youngest person to ever win an event at the AAU Championships. After high school, Zeke would go on to attend college at Loyola in New Orleans, Louisiana.

As a freshman in 1927, Bonura played on and coached, the freshman basketball team because Loyola did not field a varsity team that year. He also served as captain of the team and was its “super player,” scoring 226 points, an average of 25 points per game. His total was more than half of the team’s total.  As a sophomore, he continued his phenomenal scoring record in varsity competition, and was named the outstanding forward of the AAU League in which Loyola participated. He probably would have become one of Loyola’s all time great athletes, but he left the university at the end of his second year to sign a professional baseball contract. Bonura returned to the university for the 1930-31 season to coach the varsity basketball team. Bonura also played on the football team during his first two years.[1]

That contract he signed was with an independent team in the Southern Association known as the New Orleans Pelicans. He played for other teams such as the Indianapolis Indians and Dallas Steers between 1931 and 1933. Toward the end of the minor league season in 1933, the White Sox purchased his contract from the Dallas Steers. Just two seasons later Dallas would become an official White Sox affiliate.

Upon arriving for Spring Training, Bill Henry wrote: "Remember the farmer who stood in front of the hippo’s cage for twenty minutes and then said ‘There ain’t no such animal?’ He should see Zeke. Zeke has legs like Jim Londo’s (who was a wrestler during that time period) chest, weighs 220 pounds on the hoof and scampers around first base with astounding agility."

Bonura found instant success in his first season as White Sox starting first baseman. He hit .302/27/110 with a .925 OPS in his rookie season.  He could have won rookie of the year, but that award did not begin until 1947.  His 27 home runs remained the White Sox rookie record until Ron Kittle hit 35 in his 1983 rookie campaign. Upon finding out that he had broken Zeke Bonura's rookie Sox record, he remarked: "Oh yea, Zeke...he was my hero." This was also the team record for any season and stood until 1950 when Gus "Ozark Ike" Zernial would hit 29.

Zeke saw only a small sophomore slump in his second year, still having a very productive .295/21/92 season. One highlight from his 1935 season was noted in the August 27th, 1935 issue of the New York Times:

The Yankees fought their longest battle of the year today before 15,000 fans at Comiskey Park and lost to the White Sox. In the fifteenth inning of the first game in their second straight double-header here, the slow-footed Zeke Bonura summoned an amazing burst of speed when he caught Jimmy De Shong in the midst of a long wind-up and stole home with the run that won for the Sox, 9 to 8.[2]

A first baseman whose description of his "speed" sounds a lot like Paul Konerko, managed to steal home because the guy wasn't pitching out of the stretch, and in the fifteenth inning. Sounds like an awesome way to win a game to me. This is definitely one of those plays that I wish had existing footage.

In 1936, Zeke put up a line of .330/12/138 with a .908 OPS. In 1937, his line was .345/19/100 with a .984 OPS. You would think a player of his calibur of production would be adored by all as a hero of the Southside, but you would be wrong. He may have had love among the fans, but there was no such love among manager Jimmy Dykes or ownership. To say his relationship there was strained would be understating the situation.

He held out every Spring Training for more money according to sources. He also played first base with as little effort as possible. I think he missed his calling as a DH as he had absolutely no desire to play the field. He actually lead AL first basemen in overall fielding but only because he refused to field anything that wasn't hit directly to him, leading to no chance to make an error. Zeke's signature "play" at first base was to wave his glove mockingly at the ball as it skipped past just a few feet away from him, as a white flag signaling that he had only made a sarcastic attempt on the play.

Apparently the final straw that broke the camel's back was his repeated attempts to "court" the daughter of owner J. Lou Comiskey. He was traded to the Washington Senators for the 1938 season. In 1939, he was signed by the New York Giants. Apparently there were players who didn't like Bonura either. In a game in 1939 against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Leo Durocher deliberately spiked him on a double play. Zeke threw the ball at Durocher, then chased him into right field where he landed a few punches before umpires separated them and ejected both men.[3] 

Overall, his numbers were good but declined in 1939 and 1940 and he signed up for military service after that season. He would not play another game in the Majors. He finished his career with a .307/119/704 line. He finished his career with a 121 OPS+. This ranks him among some great players who finished with similar OPS+ including: Tony Perez (122), Gil Hodges (120), Mark Grace (119), Pete Rose (118), and Andres Galarraga (118) and Hall of Famers Jim Bottomley (125) and George Sisler (124).

Zeke, along with Hank Greenberg, finished their service time, and were released from the Army because they were over 28 on December 5th, 1941. Two days later, the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor and Bonura and Greenberg would immediately re-enlist. Bonura joined a long list of over 500 men who would trade their baseball uniforms for military ones. During his tenure in the military, Bonura recieved the Legion of Merit award while serving in the US Army during World War 2, for his work as athletic director for the Army in Oran, Algeria in 1943 and 1944.

The ceremony was very special for him when receiving the Merit award. He was given this award by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. As Zeke tells the story: “It was on Goat Hill,” Bonura recalled. ‘They had the troops drawn up and I was called out, and the general pinned the medal on me. I was so proud, I could have cried. I hadn't fired a shot in the war and here I was getting a medal on Goat Hill. A lot of our guys died taking that hill.”[4]

While searching for more information on Bonura, I stumbled across an old poster advertising "Zeke Bonura's New Orleans Pro Basket Ball Team vs Delmas All Stars." This game apparently took place on February 5th, 1940.  As stated earlier, he had been a star basketball player for Loyola College. He also organized wrestling and boxing events.

 

After war, he went back to baseball.  From 1946-1952 he played for various independent teams, racking up a .367/62 line (RBI were not recorded accurately). He was finished as a player in 1952 after just two games with the Midland, Texas Indians at the age of 43. In 1953, he managed the Fargo-Moorhead Twins, a Cleveland Indians affiliate. The team won the league title behind a young Roger Maris. Zeke never married and in his life after baseball, he raised and sold pedigree beagles. Zeke Bonura died March 9th, 1987, and was buried in a cemetery in New Orleans.[5]

 

During his baseball career, Zeke was often teased about his nose. He earned the nickname "Banana Nose".  In a radio interview before a 1935 White Sox/Yankees game, legendary dugout heckler, Babe Ruth, asked listeners, "Say, Is that Zeke's nose, or did his pants fall down?" He was definitely one of the most colorful characters of baseball history. He should not have been forgotten like he has been. Zeke was the ultimate sports athlete and could have succeeded at nearly any sport he attempted. He chose baseball over all others, America's Pastime. In 1929, it was the premier sport garnering the most recognition. No doubt, most kids who dreamed to become sport stars, dreamed of playing in the Major Leagues with Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig and Rogers Hornsby.

.

While his Major League baseball career was relatively short and incomplete, his overall life is certainly that of a sports hall of famer. He has been awarded such, inducted into the Loyola, Louisiana and Italian American Sports Halls Of Fame.[6] Zeke certainly earned those accolades and should be known as one of the greatest 'athletes' of all time; as well as a great Sock, despite his poor defense. I wonder if it could have been different for him had there been a DH? We'll never know.

[1]http://alumni.loyno.edu/s/1135/NoRtCol.aspx?sid=1135&gid=1&pgid=830
[2]http://goldenrankings.com/baseballlore3.htm
[3][4]http://www.lasportshall.com/inductees/baseball/henry-zeke-bonura/?back=inductee
[5]http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5861207
[6]http://www.niashf.org/Inductee_Search.php?f=1&iid=29

Strikeouts Are Overrated, Period

 

Strikeouts. For some reason when you talk about who are the greatest pitchers in the game, people want to use strikeouts as one of the top 3 metrics. The "Pitcher's Triple Crown" consists of Wins, ERA and strikeouts. I could go on about how much the other two statistics matter (or not), but strikeouts is the one that gets under my skin the most. It's one of several types of out, period. 

First, how do you strikeout a batter? Well there is the conventional way, of whiffing the guy. Then, there's the more rare version which includes a batter bunting a ball foul with two strikes in the count. There is an entry in the official rule book about strikeouts which states:

10.15 Strikeouts
A strikeout is a statistic credited to a pitcher and charged to a batter when the umpire calls three strikes on a batter, as set forth in this Rule 10.15.
(a) The official scorer shall score a strikeout whenever a batter:
(1) is put out by a third strike caught by the catcher;
(2) is put out by a third strike not caught when there is a runner on first before two are out; (3) becomes a runner because a third strike is not caught; or
(4) bunts foul on third strike, unless such bunt on third strike results in a foul fly caught by any fielder, in which case the official scorer shall not score a strikeout and shall credit the fielder who catches such foul fly with a putout.
(b) When a batter leaves the game with two strikes against him, and the substitute batter completes a strikeout, the official scorer shall charge the strikeout and the time at bat to the first batter. If the substitute batter completes the turn at bat in any other manner, including a base on balls, the official scorer shall score the action as having been that of the substitute batter.

So there's a lot to a strikeout that requires its own subsection. You can strikeout a guy with a third strike thrown, caught by the catcher. You get a strikeout if the catcher drops the ball and does (or does not) throw the ball successfully to first base to record the out. You get a strikeout if you are pitching to one guy, and he has to leave the game and another guy takes his place and strikeouts finishing the at bat. You get a strikeout if a guy bunts foul with two strikes. So I guess it does deserve to be a subsection.

Let's get to the part that makes me upset; that people overstate the value of this type of out. A pitcher's goal when he takes the mound is to limit the amount of guys who get on base. He can do that with strikeouts, sure. He can also do that with ground outs, popouts, flyouts, lineouts, etc. If a pitcher makes a good pitch, most guys will get themselves out one way or another. So do strikeout totals make you a more or less successful pitcher?

There is a debate going on as to whether Jered Weaver or Justin Verlander is the Cy Young frontrunner in the American League. I don't see the debate at all, but people keep discussing it on sports shows and pages. I think that Jered Weaver's total statistics speak for themselves: 15-1, 2.13 ERA, 0.916 WHIP, 6.4 H/9. All of those statistics lead the league. Justin Verlander is 12-7, 2.51 ERA, 0.984 WHIP, 6.7 H/9.  So you would see these two stat lines and say clearly Jered Weaver is having the better year to this point and should win over Verlander. Then why is there an ongoing argument? Because of Strikeouts!

For some people, they can't look past strikeouts in deciding who a better pitcher is. Jered Weaver has 101 strikeouts. Justin Verlander has 168 strikeouts. Has this lead to Verlander posting better statistics in key metrics such as H/9, or WHIP? No, it hasn't, but some people can't overlook strikeouts. To them, strikeouts clearly shows that Justin MUST be the more dominant pitcher, especially since he has 67 more strikeouts this year. Surely he is the best pitcher in the game.

It's this mindset that I cannot get over. I have no idea why people actually believe this to be true. To show how strikeouts do NOT make you a great pitcher, just look at other guys on the strikeout leader board this year. Max Scherzer is number two in MLB with 160 strikeouts. Surely he's having a great season? He's 10-6 with a 4.72 ERA and 1.41 WHIP. Yu Darvish, the big name Japanese prospect for the Texas Rangers is sixth in MLB with 154 strikeouts. Surely he's on pace for AL ROY and a Cy Young candidate...wait, he's 11-8 with a 4.57 ERA and 1.46 WHIP? Oh, hmm.  Well what about James Shields, he's eighth with 151 strikeouts. Surely, oh, well you know where this is going. (10-7, 4.08 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)

Tim Lincecum is the last guy I will mention to make this point. He's having the worst statistical season in his career bar none. He's 6-11, 5.43 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 9.1 H/9, the most wild pitches and the most earned runs allowed. So you can see he's having an atrocious season. However, he is still in the top 15 in strikeouts in MLB with 139. This to me is proof that strikeouts don't matter.

What do I think does matter the most? A great metric to me is just the stat the shows how you limit base runners (WHIP). Only three retired pitchers have a WHIP under 1.00. Low WHIP is, to me, a greater feat than high strikeout total. ERA really isn't that great of a metric because there are ways for ERA not to be affected by poor pitching: 1)Someone makes an error then you give up runs 2)You never record an out, and your ERA is infinity which can't be calculated. ERA is flawed to me. Almost all pitchers have ERAs that don't reflect the actual number of runs they allowed in their appearances. Wins I can see, it's a pitcher's job to put his team in position to win. If he does that enough times while also being the winning pitcher, that's fine. It's team dependent but it's their job.

So when we look at Jered and Justin, I just don't think strikeouts should put a guy over the top when he doesn't have better numbers at any other metric. You have to take the metrics as a whole. I get that people treat strikeouts like they treat batter home runs. It's the flashy, firework statistic that excites the crowd the most. For me, I don't care how you do it as long as you do it. If Chris Sale has two outs, bases loaded in a one run game and gets a popup, that's just as awesome as a strikeout would have been. To record strikeouts, you also have to throw more pitches. It's always better to throw less pitches in this era of glass-arms with innings limits being placed on guys around the league.

Guy A (17-9, 2.88 ERA, 127 strikeouts, 0.90 WHIP, 6.7 H/9, 177 IP) and Guy B (16-8, 3.00 ERA, 205 strikeouts, 1.01 WHIP, 7.2 H/9, 177 IP) I would definitely pick Guy A for Cy Young. I don't see where the debate is. If he keeps it up, give the Cy Young to Jered Weaver. Why is there even a debate?

A guy had more outs that were strikeouts than another guy's outs were? So what? Did the other guy have better over all production? Yeah and that's my whole point. Strikeouts don't necessarily give you better production or lead to a high rate of success on the mound. I know people will disagree with me. Conversation is healthy. What do you think?

White Sox Birthday Games Are Special

If you’re like me and have a birthday falling somewhere between April 1 and October 5th, the White Sox often play on your birthday.  My birthday is August 7th. I feel that these games, when they occur, are a little bit more special. I am 28 years old (as of 8/7/2012), and the Sox have now played on 23 of my birthdays.

I look forward to each birthday game, even if the Sox are not doing so well that particular season. For one day, I throw out the standings and feel like they are playing for me. Tonight, August 7th, 2012, they are playing the Kansas City Royals. Jake Peavy is starting the game on my birthday for the second year in a row.  He is definitely one of my favorite players on the team, in my Top 5 at least. Hope he wins and gets the Sox to their 61st win in the standings this evening.

Last August 7th, the Sox rolled over the Twins 7-0, earning their first sweep of the Twins @ Minnesota since 2004, and first ever at Target Field. This was a great game, seeing the Sox go yard four times, including my favorite player Konerko. Jake Peavy was brilliant, going 8 innings of 3 hit baseball, 6 Ks.

My White Sox birthday game list began in 1984, my birth year, with a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees @ Yankee Stadium. Their total record in all games occurring on August 7th since 1984 is 12-11. The team we have played most is the Angels, all three incarnations (California, Anaheim and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim). In those seven games, the Sox are 4-3.

There has only been one shutout win by the White Sox; last season versus the Twins. There has only been one decision by 10 or more runs, which was an 11-1 loss to Oakland in 1999. The longest win streak for the Sox has been 3 games(1988-1991) and the longest losing streak is also 3 games (twice). My Sox birthday games have only gone to extra innings one time, an 8-4 victory over the Yankees in 10 innings back in 1996. You can watch an interesting version of events HERE

The White Sox have averaged being in 2.54th place after the result of the games on August 7th each year since 1984. That doesn’t surprise me, since the White Sox have the second most second place league/division finishes in AL history (19). I am surprised that they have gone 3-0 against the Yankees over those games.

The most games the White Sox have trailed first place after my birthday game was 10 games back in 2006. Despite the large deficit, the Sox were in 2nd place at the time. The Sox have played 12 of those games on the road, and 11 of those games at home. On the road, they are 8-5; at home they are just 4-6. Their longest streak of home games in a row is 7 (2002-2009), while their longest road streak is 6 (1994-2001). In 1994, the White Sox won 10-5 over the California Angels. The Sox would only play 3 more games that year, then the season ended with the Strike.

If you are like me and are lucky enough to have a birthday that falls during the baseball season, what does your Sox Birthday history look like?  Do you celebrate by watching the games?  I have never been lucky enough to attend a Sox game on my birthday, hopefully I can do that someday.  The day will always be special to me no matter what the Sox are doing before or after that date in the season.  Go Sox! (Especially on August 7th)

***Updates***
8/7/2013: The White Sox finished in 2nd place last season, so that number is now 20 all time second place finishes. The White Sox lost in 2012 to Cy Chen 5-2, so my all time birthday record falls to 12-12. The White Sox will need to take care of the Yankees tonight to get me over .500 all time. No matter what happens, this will be the most the White Sox have trailed first place after my birthday. (either 23, 24 or 25 games back after tonight)

My Thoughts On The Sox Since The Break

At the All-Star break, I think a lot of people were satisfied with the first half for the White Sox.  The team was playing really well, the team was revamped due to the addition of Kevin Youkilis, and the rookie pitchers had gotten it done.  Well so far in the second half, some things have changed.

Players Making An Impact

Paul Konerko - .318/3/10

Alex Rios - .290/4/14

Gavin Floyd - 2.13 ERA in two starts

AJ Pierzynski - .317/2/6 

Hector Santiago* - 9 IP, 9 K, 2.00 ERA, .111 BAA

Adam Dunn - .232/6/12
Dayan Viciedo - .258/2/12
Leyson Septimo - 5 IP, 3 ER(but all were in one appearance), .125 BAA, 0.80 WHIP

Players Staying Afloat

Alexei Ramirez - .273/2/5

Alejandro De Aza - .279/1/9, 5 SB

Addison Reed - 4 saves, only one 1-2-3 inning since break

Jake Peavy - 2-2, 3.85 ERA with 26 K

Players Who Are Struggling

Kevin Youkilis - .164/3/8

Matt Thornton - 7.04 ERA, .344 BAA

Jose Quintana - 0-0, 4.44 ERA, .301 BAA

Gordon Beckham - .172/0/1**

Philip Humber - 5.40 ERA, 5 HR allowed in 15 IP

Nate Jones - 5 appearances, 3.1 IP, 8.10 ERA, .944 OPS-Allowed

Tyler Flowers - .266/0/1***

Chris Sale - 21.1 IP, 4.64 ERA, .328 BAbip, 5 ER in 2 of 3 starts

*Hector Santiago had the best stretch of his season and his reward was being optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

**Gordon Beckham has given this team zero production at the plate. It sucks to not have any other options at second. I miss Tad Iguchi.

***It's nice to have AJ back.

The Sox needed a starting pitcher and KW delivered by getting Francisco Liriano for next to nothing (Pedro Hernandez and Eduardo Escobar).  Liriano delivered a very solid first start for the team going 6 IP 2 ER 8 K in a no decision eventual Sox victory over his former Twins team.  I like the move now that I have dug deeper into the numbers.  From May 1st to now, he's pitched 14 starts and 5 relief appearances.  His numbers over that time are 89.2 IP, 4.12 ERA, .209 BAA, 105 K/46 BB and a WHIP of 1.27. These are much better numbers for him than his disastrous April.  I hope he can just stay steady and keep the White Sox in games and give them a chance to win.

KW also picked up Brett Myers from the Astros for RHP Matt Heidenreich(who?) and LHP Blair Walters(no really, who?) and a PTBNL.  It's a good move to add depth and experience to the bullpen.  He lost in an appearance to the Twins, but I think he'll add a lot more positive value to the team than negative.  I don't like him as a person but will have to accept that he's part of this team now for the playoff run and I'll just have to hope he pitches well for the better of the team's outcomes.

The team has beaten who they are "supposed" to beat (KC & Minnesota), although no games or series are ever gimmes in MLB. They struggled against the Tigers, being swept in a series that was definitely discouraging since they are our main competition. Mistakes and poor pitching lead to losing three of four to the Red Sox.  The team then rebounded to take two of three from the Rangers.  The White Sox are going to have to figure out how to beat the Tigers and contend against the best teams in the league if they're going to keep it up going forward.

I like where the Sox are going and they have stayed in first place, despite only being 10-9 since the break.  The guys who are struggling need to pick it up if the Sox are going to go strong for the next two months and make a realistic post season run.  They can't have multiple starters struggling and expect to win consistently.  They can't have position guys not even hitting .200 or plating base runners over a long stretch of games and expect to score enough runs to win.  

I want this team to succeed but it's going to take a lot of work to keep it up and hope that Detroit continues to flounder and not play to their potential.  I don't know what will happen but they survived 16 of 19 on the road and now look at an August filled with 15 home games and 12 road games.  There are multiple teams (Angels, A's, Orioles, Rays) right in the fight for the Wild Card and hopefully that will be Detroit's problem to worry about.  It's going to take everyone playing at least close to their full potential and staying healthy to pull this off but I think they can.  This team is gritty and they fight to win ball games.  This team cares, and it shows and Robin is doing a good job at the helm. Go Sox!

Pat Seerey & July 18th, 1948

 

It was July 18th, 1948, the White Sox were scheduled to play a double header against the Philadelphia Athletics.  The Sox were terrible at 25-50 coming into the day.  The game was played at Philly's Shibe Park.  The dimensions of the park at the time were 334-468-329 (LF-CF-RF). There was no reason to get excited about a game in the middle of a really bad season. That would all change afterward.

The first game of the double header began and this game would be very special by the end.  The White Sox won, 12-11 in extra innings.  Several players had decent games.  Luke Appling had 3 hits, Cass Michaels had 4 hits and Don Kolloway had 5 hits in the game.  5'10" Pat Seerey also put up a nice 4 hit afternoon.  

This box score would be relatively interesting but eventually forgettable, except for one minor detail: all of Pat Seerey's four hits were home runs. At the time, his four home run game was only the fifth such game in MLB history. Seerey came into the game hitting just .231 that season.  After the game, he got a lot of press and attention and was even featured in Sports Illustrated, in the photo above kissing the bat he used to hit his fourth home run of the game. In the game, he hit two home runs off of A's starter Carl Scheib, one off reliever Bob Savage and his last off reliever Lou Brissie in the 11th inning that gave the White Sox the win.

So who was Pat Seerey and what happened to him?  He was an Arkansas kid, who came from Little Rock.  Pat got into the game very early after some time in the minors, being called up at age 20 in 1943 to the big league Cleveland Indians.  He got to play during the war years, when MLB was pretty thin of great talent in their lineups. 

Despite the fact that many great pitchers were out of the league between most of 1944 to 1946, Seerey still managed to put up high strikeout totals, leading the league in strikeouts all three of those seasons, and four times overall in his career.  He did have one other pretty special game on July 13th, 1945.  He racked up 4 hits against the Yankees that day, with three home runs and eight RBI. He clearly had his moments.

He was never a great player, and through the end of May 1948 with the Indians, he was keeping himself in the lineup despite bland statistics. He was traded to the White Sox for Bob Kennedy at the beginning of June.  This trade was very unpopular in Chicago at the time. Bob Kennedy was never great, but remained in the league for several seasons after the trade and won a World Series title with the Indians that first year of the trade in 1948.  Seerey would put together a very typical season for the White Sox post-trade, at .229/18/64.

In 1949, Seerey was cut from the roster after only four games and never played again in MLB. He attempted to revamp his career in the minor leagues, bouncing around between seven teams in four leagues between 1951 and 1953.  He was out of baseball at the end of 1953, at the age of 28.

In his era, a player of his type was not wanted by most clubs. He was the lower average slugger who struck out a lot.  This type of hitter is more prevalent in today's game because GMs are more willing to deal with lower average/higher strikeout totals for good power production from the player. Seerey had decent power, being fourth in the league in home runs in 1946 with 26.

Pat Seerey was not a great player and had a forgettable career (.224/86/261), except for the four home run game.  He was part of a trade that didn't work out for the White Sox, but he forever became a part of White Sox lore, thanks to his legendary performance in the first game of a double header on July 18th, 1948.

Fun Fact: The second game of the double header on July 18th, 1948 ended after the 5th inning due to a 7 PM curfew on Sundays.  The A's won that game 6-1.  Pat Seerey went 0-2 with a walk and scored the only run for the White Sox.

Random Thought: Why would you schedule a double header on a Sunday knowing that there is a 7 PM curfew?

Observations From A First Place First Half

First place at the All Star Break; we all would have signed up for that if we were told that was a choice on April 1st.  I know I would have.  It has been up and down this year: a lack-luster April, an amazing stretch in May, and consistency in June/July.  The team has really come on strong in the last 13 games also, and by pure coincidence these are the 13 games Kevin Youkilis has been with the White Sox.  Go figure, right? (sarcasm)

This team has been fun to watch lately.  We have seen them play harder, hit better, field better, pitch better and win.  Most recently they split with the Yankees, swept the unswept-all-season Rangers, and win 2 of 3 vs the Blue Jays to close out the first half three games ahead and 47-38 overall.  There's a lot of factors involved, and that's what has been so good about it all.

It's not just one player.  It's been many players stepping up their games.  Early on, they depended on a few guys to carry the load; Konerko, Dunn and Sale.  Now it's been more people getting involved in the process.

The White Sox traded Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge for Kevin Youkilis, and he has given the Sox a real third baseman who can field and hit.  In 13 games with the White Sox, Youkilis' numbers are (.347/3/14 w/.990 OPS and 9 runs scored).  He's also playing stellar defense, making Baseball Tonight's Web Gems multiple times and has three game-winning hits.  Youk has as many RBI (14) in 55 plate appearances with the White Sox, as he did in 165 plate appearances with the Red Sox this season.  The White Sox are 9-4 over those games.

Chris Sale, Jake Peavy and Paul Konerko have been steady.  Alex Rios has come alive, finding his bat again.  Reed has gotten it done as the rookie closer.  Quintana has been an excellent surprise.  Beckham and Alexei have been hitting, finally.  I hope the break doesn't kill momentum this team has built up.

Something to look at for the success of this team is the much better rate that the team is plating base runners this year.  Last year, I created a statistic I called Potential Runs Scored % (PRS%) to accurately portray the percentage of baserunners a team has that actually score runs.  Last year, the White Sox plated just 27.6% of their base runners.  This was 25th in MLB.  In the first half this year, the White Sox have plated 32.3% of their base runners.  Compared to last year's final PRS% for all teams, the Sox current PRS% would have ranked 4th in MLB.  Scoring runners is kind of a big deal in winning games.

For most teams, staring at 16 of 19 on the road to start the second half would be an insurmountable gauntlet.  Not for the White Sox.  The team has gone 23-16 on the road this year, which is a higher winning percentage than at home.  This team is gritty and built for road trips.  I fully believe in them to go 10-6, 11-5 on this road trip, and the games certainly don't get any easier from there.  

The Tigers are coming on lately, and I don't think anybody ever expected them to stay out of it all year.  I don't want to count out the Indians at this point.  They are clearly playing consistent baseball.  They could have fallen 6 or 7 games back during the White Sox recent stretch, but stayed right with them.  I am more worried about the Tigers than the Indians but you never know how the ball will roll in the second half.  We'll just have to see.

It was good to see Robin Ventura get thrown out of a game for arguing the strike zone inconsistencies the last day of the first half.  He is a laid back manager and that's great, but when it gets that bad, he needs to let the umpiring staff know that it's garbage.  He officially graduated from "Rookie Manager School" today and I'm proud of him.  Don't sit back and let our team get ripped off by a ramrodding umpire.  Keep up the good work Robin, he's been one of the best and most important pieces of this club this year.  The new attitude because of him alone is worth some wins no doubt.

The staff the team put together has also been doing a great job. Chris Rongey said often until this year that changing the hitting coach would do absolutely nothing.  Well that's a lie, because Jeff Manto has been a miracle worker, getting a lot of people to hit better than they have in the past for this club.  Joe McEwing has done a solid job at third base, sending guys at just the right clip to have a high success rate of scoring runs.  Mark Parent hasn't done anything controversial as bench coach.  It's been a solid staff so far.

This team should be able to do is win more than 20 games in the second half.  If they do, they will prove Sports Illustrated wrong, who said they were a 67-95 team this year.  Here's their prediction page with a video explanation on why (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/baseball/mlb/03/28/si.mlb.2012.preview/index.html). I don't just want to prove them and everyone else wrong, I want the team to make the post season and win the World Series, obviously.  Wanting less would be wanting to fail, and I don't want this team to fail.

One final note is what will happen to Gavin Floyd?   His season has been a set of three different streaks: from April 8th to May 11th he was 3-3 with a 2.53 ERA; from May 16th to June 14th he was 1-4 with a 10.38 ERA. Now since June 20th he's 3-1 with a 1.36 ERA.  What is going to happen with Gavin Floyd in the second half?  Will he even be on the White Sox?  I think if KW doesn't trade him, he's going to be really important as that fourth piece of the rotation that needs to win.  He might be traded though and I would hope the Sox could get a good return.  Either way, Gavin Floyd is going to have a lot to do with success in the second half.

First Half Sox MVP: Chris Sale (10-2, 2.19 ERA, 0.95 WHIP)

Ratings Of Lineup Guys (Offense Only)

Regulars

AJ Pierzynski: B

Paul Konerko: A

Gordon Beckham: D+

Alexei Ramirez: C

Kevin Youkilis: A+

Dayan Viciedo: B-

Alejandro De Aza: B+

Alex Rios: A

Adam Dunn: B-

Bench

Jordan Danks: A

Eduardo Escobar: D
Orlando Hudson: D

Brent Morel: D-

Kosuke Fukudome: F

Tyler Flowers: F

Second Half Predictions

I think in the second half, the Sox will continue to contend.  I will stick by my original prediction before the season that this team will win 87-90 games.  Will it be enough?  Who knows.  It may not.  I hope this isn't a repeat of 2004 when the Sox competed to the end of July, then got hammered in August and September and lost the division by about 10 games.  

I think if they compete, it will be scoring runs behind solid pitching.  I think if they don't compete from here on out, it will be because the bats cool off and the young pitchers (Sale, Quintana, Nate Jones, Addison Reed) would not be able to keep it up for the whole year.  There will be ups and downs, and my only prediction is that they will get to those win totals, hopefully while competing.

My Favorite Moments

- Konerko hit #400

- Philip Humber threw a perfecto

- Kevin Youkilis trade/playing well

- Sweeping the Rangers/Winning 19-2 in the first game

- Hawk abusing Mark Wegner
- Viciedo 3-run HR in 9th beats Yankees
- Viciedo's 7th inning diving catch on April 13th
- Winning 9 games in a row(May 23-June 1)

- Eduardo Escobar's 10th inning game winning hit over the Brew Crew
- When Hawk said "Sacks packed with Seamen" LOL

- #TakeJake: Jake making the AS Team to replace injured Cock Jockey Wilson

- Trading Zach Stewart, DFA-ing Will Ohman

The Numbers Behind A First Place Run

 

Mercy!  The White Sox have been white-hot lately.  After a bland 11-11 April, the White Sox picked it up going 18-11 in May.  In their last 24 games, the Sox are 18-6.  They had a 9-game winning streak, which lead the team from multiple games down and into 1st place.  What was behind that?

Let's start by talking about Robin Ventura and the new coaching staff.  The new manager has seemed to breathe new life into the club.  After starting off slow, the team has picked it up.  I think Ventura has been a big part of that.  Last year the club was just not gelling under Ozzie Guillen, and he even admitted in the offseason that he didn't care at some points of last season.  The turnaround in attitude this year can point to a winning mentality.

A great way to see this shift is in the resurgence of certain players who had not been able to find their stroke over the last year.  Alex Rios has really picked up his bat this season.  He has kept his batting average up above .270 most of the season and this is a great thing to see.  He's been hitting in the clutch, plating runners, and even stealing some bases.  His outfield play has been superb.  Another player that has picked it up is Dayan Viciedo.  He was struggling up until around May 14th.  From May 14th-June 3rd, his stats have exploded: .387/9/24 1.184 OPS.  His defense has gotten better daily.  He's having a huge impact on the recent success of this club.

(Click To Enlarge)

Gordon Beckham has also turned himself around at the plate and is having a fine stretch.  From May 18th-June 3rd, his stats are .309/6/12 0.912 OPS.  It's a smaller sample size than is needed to really evaluate himself or Dayan Viciedo at this point, but it is great to see these two guys performing at the level of talent we know they possess.  To a lesser degree, Alexei Ramirez has started putting up a respectable average.  Since May 23rd, he is hitting .302, which has definitely helped in getting this team wins.  Alexei's defense is a lot better this year than in the past as well.  He's making more putouts, fewer errors and with a higher fielding percentage.

Another hugely important part of the puzzle has been Alejandro De Aza.  His defense is outstanding.  He has really proven himself to be a serviceable leadoff batter.  At .298/4/24 and a .380 OBP, he has been the consistent terror on the basepaths allowing us those extra runs that win games.  He has scored 39 runs, and has stolen an AL-leading 13 bases.  Of all the players on this team, I feel he has been the most important piece, and that he is the least replaceable should he ever get injured.

You couldn't discuss this team at the plate without discussing two players: Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn.  The power of the lineup has really produced to their fullest capabilities.  For Konerko, he has produced beyond what we thought he was capable of, and he has surprised us every day.  After having an average as high as .396, his average is still a league-leading .366 today.  His on-base percentage is also a league leading .445.  He has also played very well at first base.  He is clearly an early MVP candidate.

Adam Dunn has proven me right so far, that he would come back huge this year and have a great shot at comeback player of the year.  He is definitely having a very "Adam Dunn"-like year: .222/17/38 with a .921 OPS.  He leads the leagues at both walks (46) and strikeouts (88).  His average is a bit lower than even a typical Adam Dunn year, but his production is up drastically from last year (.159/11/42).  It's been great to see and has definitely contributed to winning ways.

The thing about this current winning, is that it has been in all different kinds of games.  The Sox have won close games, blowouts, extra innings games and games where the pitching let the team down.  Since May 8th, the White Sox have won three 1-run games, three shutouts, and nine games by 5 or more runs.  That's the deck baseball will deal you all year, a collection of games that are drastically different in nature.  You have to be able to win all kinds of games, and the White Sox have done that.

Pitching has been all over the place from sketchy to amazing.  On the sketchy end, we have Gavin Floyd and John Danks.  They both have not pitched well in May-June.  Danks eventually went to the DL.  Floyd has been serving up batting practice over his last three starts: 1-2, 11.90 ERA.  Danks is expected to return soon, after rehabbing.  Hopefully Danks' injury was his roadblock to success and he will come back and find his form.

On the amazing side of the coin, you have Chris Sale and Jake Peavy.  Chris Sale was recently named AL Pitcher Of The Month for May.  In May, Sale went 4-1 with a 1.71 ERA, 35 Ks and a 0.947 WHIP.  In his lone June start so far, he pitched a complete game for the win.  Sale leads the league in ERA at 2.29 and wins with 7.  Chris pitched his first complete game Sunday, which was big for many reasons.  It shows that Sale feels fine, but also it saved the bullpen which had used every reliever in Saturday's loss.  We all had to endure that whole strange situation where he was being placed in the bullpen, but after brushing off that debacle, it looks like we can move forward having Chris Sale leading the way as a starter.

Overall Jake Peavy has been very good this year.  He's had some bad starts, but mostly good ones.  His lone loss was a 0-1, complete game gem vs the Red Sox.  His record stands at 6-1, with a 3.05 ERA, 68 strikeouts and a 0.926 WHIP.  The punch of Sale-Peavy kept the team afloat during the first part of the season and has been a catalyst for standings-climbing victories in the last few weeks.

On April 21st, Phil Humber threw a perfect game.  Since then he has seen his ERA go from 0.63 to 5.37.  He struggled in a few starts but really if you take a look at the game logs, he has put up four "good" starts vs three "bad" starts.  I hope he can get the ship righted again, because when he's good, he can be great.  He is going to be key to keeping this up all summer long.  We will need him in the long run.

Finally the pen.  The bullpen has been alright.  I really like Nate Jones and Jesse Crain.  Matt Thornton has done better coming in relief than he did trying to close last year and being all messed up from that debacle.  Hector Santiago failed as closer, but he has rebounded significantly since May 1st.  His stats since then are 13.1 IP and a 1.35 ERA.  The bullpen has been good enough, but the real gem was finding out that Addison Reed can close.

Addison Reed got the closer role after Hector Santiago failed.  Addison Reed did not give up a run until May 13th, when he was destroyed for 6 ER in 0.1 IP.  His ERA ballooned from 0 to 5.23, which is really unfair to relievers because one bad outing like this can destroy your ERA for a long time.  On the year he has 7 saves and 4 holds.  He's proven that he can pitch in tough situations and he's made some mistakes in other situations.  He's young.  Reed can't be expected to be perfect.  He took the loss in his last appearance.  I will not make excuses for him, but he was pitching in extra innings, attempting his first multi-inning outing of the year.  Multi-inning outings are notoriously bad ideas for closers of any calibur.  Behind De Aza, I believe Reed is the second most important piece on this team.

 

One thing I didn't mention above is that the White Sox have done this without much production from third base.  Sure Hudson and Morel have given the Sox excellent third base defense, and that is important, but at the plate they have given the team almost nothing.  Third base is the biggest hole in the lineup by far.  Something will probably have to get done for this team to be not only complete but definitely competing all summer.  We can't have a guy making that many outs no matter where you stick him in the lineup.  I don't think it's too much to ask to wish we had a third baseman who could just hit .250/15/60 and please put up a OBP over .325.  We'll see where the team decides to go at third.

Overall this team has almost all the pieces to win, and they will need those pieces to keep playing at a high level if they want to contend and win the AL Central.  On paper the Tigers have the best team.  In overall talent and makeup of team, the White Sox have the best team.  If the White Sox and Tigers don't play to their level, the Indians have a team that will be right there waiting to take the crown.  We'll have to see how it goes this summer but I am glad that it will be a summer of meaningful baseball for the Sox.

Los Gigantes Pequeños Que Cambiaron El Béisbol

In 1957, baseball was a growing pasttime for children in the Monterrey, Mexico area.  Most were children of industrial workers, making just enough wages to feed their families while teedering on the poverty line.  This group of pequeños jugadores decided they wanted to play in a real game against a real opponent.  They had been playing with crude baseball equipment, mostly homemade for some time and were big fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Dodgers games had been broadcast in Spanish on their radios every Sunday afternoon.  The community got behind their effort and they found themselves, rather miraculously, with real handsewn uniforms, equipment, visas and a tournament in Texas to play in.

With little money to go on, they had to walk over ten miles from the Mexican border to the tournament site in McAllen, TX.  After arriving, they were only guaranteed one game.  Their visas were only issued for three days, and they expected to be home in short time.  Amazingly, they upset the first team they played and quickly realized they would need to stay longer than three days.  The only clothing they had brought for the trip was one change of underwear and their uniforms.  After pulling some strings with the Mexican consolate and the US embassy, they were awarded longer-stay visas to continue playing.

The Monterrey Industrial Little League Club (As they were calling themselves), quickly took Texas by storm.  They not only beat all odds by winning that first game, they pulled off the ultimate upset by winning the tournament.  They next had to play in Louisville KY.  After playing a few games here, they won and would represent the South Region in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. 

It was a dream, an absolutely unfathomable accomplishment that an undersized, underpriveledged team who had not grown up playing in real baseball leagues had beaten some of the country's best to reach the top tournament.  They had already overcome a lot, including racism which they had never encountered in their lives in Mexico.  Their team was fueled by respect for the game, hard work, and the blessing of God.  They would not take to the diamond until they had been read the 108 Psalms by a man of the clergy.

Once arriving in Williamsport, they had to play Bridgeport, CT.  Bridgeport gave them a great game, but Monterrey disposed of them 2-1 behind the masterful Enrique Suarez to reach the championship game.  They had to then play arguably the best team in the entire country, the winners of the West Regional, La Mesa, CA.  The team towered over Monterrey's players, outweighing them by an average of 35 lbs and standing over them by more than eight inches.  It was truly David vs. Goliath.  The team would turn to their best pitcher, ambidextrous flame thrower Angel Macias.

There were 16,000 fans at the final game.  Everyone expected a rout by La Mesa.  After a few innings, La Mesa had not yet reached first base.  Later in the game, with Angel Macias on cruise control, the Monterrey team found themselves facing a bases loaded situation with a chance to take the lead.  Monterrey would get the run(s) they needed to take the lead, courtesy of an improbable grand slam home run.  Leading 4-0, Monterrey found themselves just three outs from victory.

Macias got the first two outs and stared down one player with victory on his mind.  He threw a flurry of pitches, the final one reaching the catcher's glove as strike three.  Angel Macias, a small-by-stature/big-by-heart, kid from a Mexican factory town who had never played baseball against real competition until that year, had just pitched a perfect game.  His perfect game still stands as the only one thrown in a LLWS Final.

This garnered national attention.  Lots of news outlets picked up the story.  They had become known as Los Pequeños Gigantes, The Little Giants. One of their first visits around the country on a quick victory tour was to go to Brooklyn and see their idol Dodgers.  They had all pretended to take on the persona of the player from the Dodgers who played their particular decision.  Macias had wanted to emulate Sandy Koufax, and he did a great job.  After mingling with the Dodgers, the team was invited to the White House to meet Dwight D. Eisenhower.  After sharing a moment with Ike, they left and began their journey home.

Once they returned home, they were given a victory parade which saw over 500,000 citizens taking pride in the club who had given their city such a big name on the US stage.  Their victory had really changed baseball forever.  Their legacy would reshape the LLWS tournament.  After 1957, the LLWS adopted a new format which awarded Canada and Latin America their own regionals, and permanent representation in Williamsport each year.

In 1958, the team from Monterrey (with new players) won the Latin America Region, and represented them in the LLWS in Williamsport once again.  Amazingly, they won the tournament again.  No longer viewed as out-of-their-league underdogs, they squashed all foes had the misfortune of stepping onto the same diamond as them.  The scores went in their favor 11-0, 11-5, 10-1 in three tournament games.

The 1957 team had won six tournaments to claim the championship, and not lost a single game.  Angel Macias of the 1957 team went on to have a minor league career, but was never called up to any major league clubs.  Enrique Suarez did not pursue baseball later in his life.  A player from the 1958 Monterrey team, Héctor Torres, played in the Major Leagues for nine seasons.

Jose Maiz Garcia, who played left field during the 1957 run, has really become an important figure in Monterrey baseball.  He currently owns the Monterrey Sultans, and used his real estate and construction career to build a large ballpark for the club to play their home games in, known as Estadio De Beisbol.  He has given a lot of money to the little league program in Monterrey and Mexico more broadly, and was inducted into the Little League Hall Of Fame in Williamsport, PA, in 2005.

The 1957 team built a legacy on which the foundation still stands in Monterrey.  The #1 sport in Monterrey is baseball.  Monterrey is the home to the Mexican Baseball Hall Of Fame (Salon de la Fama del Beisbol).  Monterrey's Little League club has represented the Latin America Region in Williamsport eleven times.  Baseball is king in Monterrey, in a country where soccer is dominant, and that would probably not have been possible without what those kids from the streets of Monterrey built from scratch against all odds back in 1957.

Humber's Long Journey To Perfection

What can be said about Philip Humber that has not already be said?  He's apparently a great guy, a quiet assassin, who goes to work, does his job and goes home.  He is a family man and a man who loves God.  His wife is 9 months pregnant, so soon he will be a father.  Before yesterday, I am sure many casual fans had no idea who Philip Humber was.  Now, they all know.

So who is Philip Humber, beyond "Starting Pitcher for the White Sox who threw a perfect game."??  He was born in Nacogdoches, TX and spent his whole life in Texas.  He attended Rice University, a traditional college baseball powerhouse.  There, he became an instant star as a freshman.  Along with Jeff Niemann (Current Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher), they would win the 2003 College World Series.  Humber pitched a complete game in the final game of the series, a 14-2 victory.

After a completely dominant college career with almost no failures, he figured to be a top draft pick in MLB.  He was selected third overall in the 1st round of the 1st year players' draft by the New York Mets.  Only Matt Bush and Justin Verlander were selected ahead of him.  Humber was selected over names such as Huston Street, Jered Weaver, Dustin Pedroia and Yovanni Gallardo.  He had high expectations surrounding him, and no reason to feel that he wouldn't succeed.

Humber eventually signed with the team, and was quickly sent down to Single-A.  After not pitching very well in Single-A(2-6, 4.99 ERA) he was actually promoted to Double-A.  He left a game in the middle of the year with elbow soreness, and found out he would have to have Tommy John Surgery.  He came back 377 days later and pitched a few more games for Double-A.  Then, he was promoted to the Major Leagues and made an appearance on September 24th, 2006.  He gave up no runs in one inning of relief; the same result in his other appearance on the 27th.

After being sent down to the minors for 2007, he was promoted late in the year in September.  The Mets were in the midst of an epic collapse, blowing a 7-game division lead over the Phillies.  Philip Humber was set to make his first ML start on September 26th, after a few brief relief apperances earlier in September.  He was not very good, earning a no decision after 4IP, 5ER.  George Vecsey of the New York Times wrote of putting Humber in this situation: "How did it come to this? How did the entire Mets' season come to depend so much on a young pitcher, Philip Humber, who had never started in the major leagues until last night?"

His rocky road with the Mets finally ended on February 2nd, 2008, when he was traded to the Minnesota Twins along with Carlos Gomez for Johan Santana.  He mostly pitched for Triple-A in 2008, but made 5 relief appearances for the Twins, posting slightly below average numbers.  Humber struggled out of the gate in 2009, and the Twins designated him for assignment on April 17th.

Humber found himself out of baseball, an almost unimaginable thing for a man who had had nothing but success for most of his life.  He would have to wait until December, when Kansas City came calling.  Phil found himself on Triple-A for the club to start the year.  On June 10th, 2010, he was struck in the face by a ball hit back up the middle.  He would lay on the ground for a few minutes, before eventually being taken to the hospital.  He was good to go by August when he was called up to the Royals.

He made a start against the White Sox on August 21st, and pitched 5.2IP, allowing 5ER.  The White Sox blew a 5-1 lead and eventually lost in 11 innings, giving Humber the no decision.  Humber went back to the pen for the rest of the season, earning 2 wins and 1 loss and mostly pitching well.  In December, the Royals decided to waive him, and he was picked up by Oakland.  Oakland waived him less than a month later, and on January 18th, 2011, he was signed to a minor league contract by the Chicago White Sox.

Don Cooper, White Sox pitching coach, is notorious for being able to "fix" problems in pitchers with talent who may have developed or not been taught how to see their flaws.  He turned around Jose Contreras, Esteban Loaiza and Matt Thornton.  These were all talented pitchers who just needed to have their flaws mapped out and fixed.  In the case of Loaiza, he needed to be taught another pitch to become a successful pitcher.  Don taught him a cut fastball and he dominated the 2003 season.

Humber spent time with Cooper and Cooper immediately realized that Humber's cut fastball was not ML-material and told him to immediately scrap that and learn a slider.  They worked to develop his slider into ML-calibur stuff, and he felt confident coming into the 2011 season behind his new pitch and mentor. 

Humber made the 25-man roster and made two relief appearances, one on April 3rd that was not very good.  He made his first start on April 9th.  He came out firing, as he went 6IP allowing just 1 run and striking out 4.  He made one of his best starts of the season on April 25th, at New York.  He threw 7 shutout innings and only gave up 1 hit while striking out 5 in a 2-0 White Sox victory.  He had promise and his slider was definitely working for him.  He went on to have an up and down year, really struggling the last few months.  He finished 2011 with a 9-9 record and a 3.75 ERA in 163 innings (26 starts).

Coming into 2012, many Sox fans felt he had promise as a good starter this year.  In his first start, he had a nice performance: 5.1IP, 1 ER, 7 Ks.  He would not get the win however because the bullpen failed to hold down the win and would go on to give up 9 runs in a 10-4 loss.  Humber was supposed to start prior to this against Cleveland but his game would be rained out, pushing his first start back five games.

When Humber was 11 years old, a family friend named Robert Ellis took him to Florida to attend the White Sox Spring Training.  This was in 1994, when the White Sox would field one of their best lineups ever, including current White Sox manager Robin Ventura.  I am not sure what affect this had on him, or if he feels any special bond with the White Sox organization because of this.  Whatever is going on with Humber since he has joined the Sox, he has come alive.  He is finally pitching like a high draft pick.  He is having a level of success that would match his expecations from the past.  It has been really great to watch.

Then, Humber made what appeared to be an ordinary start on April 21st, 2012.  He probably went through all his pregame routines as he always had before, stretching, getting loose and throwing in the bullpen.  The Mariners were not a great hitting ball club, but they could get on base.  Their trouble was scoring runs.  Humber seemed to have a good shot at a win that day.

After getting through the lineup once, Humber looked to be in cruise control.  He was striking guys out, getting a lot of flyouts and sprinkling in some routine grounders.  Nothing had looked difficult in the least, except maybe a half-leaping catch by Rios in right.  Before you knew it, the White Sox were up 3-0 and it was the 7th inning.  At that point, you have to start thinking about it, even if you want to push it far out of your mind and focus on the win.

Humber got through the seventh rather easily, and it started to become even more exciting.  The eighth inning was not especially diffcult by result, although I am sure his heart was racing.  He made it look easy.  When the ninth inning rolled around, it must have finally gotten to him if only a little.  In the first at bat, he threw three straight balls.  At 3-0, he threw a good pitch for a strike.  He managed to come back and strike out Saunders.  Jaso sent a high, but easy flyball to right for the second out.

The last batter, Brendan Ryan, pinch hit for Kawasaki.  He gave Humber his most trouble of the game, working a 3-2 count.  He fouled off the sixth pitch.  On the seventh pitch, Humber threw a fastball a bit outside and it deflected off of the glove of AJ Pierzynski.  The umpire ruled that Ryan had swung, although Ryan contended that he held up his check swing for what he thought should have been a ball four.  Ryan's displeasure caused him not to run out of the box, giving AJ plenty of time to run after the ball and throw it to Konerko to finish off Humber's perfect game.  A perfect game; all zeros.

This was just the 21st perfect game in MLB history.  He threw just 96 pitches and recorded 9 strikeouts.  In my opinion, his perfect game looked better than Buehrle's, if you want to compare perfect games against each other.  Humber didn't need any huge plays from his defense, just big pitches from himself, especially the 9th inning.  This was his first ever complete game, his first shutout.  In a strange twist to the plot, Humber became the seventh former Mets pitcher to throw a no hitter/perfect game.  No pitcher has ever thrown a no hitter as a Met.  That seems fitting.



Philip Humber has finally gotten himself to the place that equals his draft position.  He has finally fulfilled his expecations.  Humber is a really good guy who has really had to work hard to get here.  Harder than anyone could have imagined for a guy who was so talented out of Rice.  Many top prospects end up as busts, and I am sure more than a few analysts had felt Humber a bust just before 2011. 

The culmination of determination, hard work, belief in himself and a good mentor in Cooper all came together to give him this moment.  It's a great story, to see him succeeding, and let's hope the story is still unfolding and nowhere near the end.  Even if he does go on to just be a guy who pitched a few good seasons for the White Sox, he will always have April 21st, 2012, and he deserves that.  The fans will never forget, and his name will be remembered in the record books forever.  He is not just a White Sox legend, but a legend in all of MLB history.

Before I end, I just want to give a shout out to the Mariners fans yesterday.  They did the classy thing yesterday, and that was cheering for Humber during the 9th inning.  I heard it from the broadcast and spoke with fans who were in attendance yesterday that said it was true.  Your class was on display yesterday, and I applaud you all.