2013 ChiSox How-To Guide To Last Place

 

What does last place look like? Obviously not very good. I think the picture above perfect illustrates, all in one shot, every single thing that has gone wrong this year for the Sox. On the play above, if you don't know, Reed got the last out of the game for a 4-3 Sox win over the Mets, except, players decided to go Benny Hill on it and run into each other to allow the tying run to score. The White Sox did win this game 5-4, but it was ridiculous that it came to this and that it completely robbed Chris Sale of a win in a 13-K performance.

So what do the numbers look like? Some look awful. Some don't look that bad. Here's just a short list of the numbers I think most look like a last place team:

Fielding. Errors: 69. Alexei Ramirez has made 17 errors and still has a chance for many more. What has happened to him? Last year he was a Gold Glove snub, this year he's messing up even the most routine of plays. I don't get it. Some of his errors have cost the Sox wins unequivocally. Nobody else on the team even has 10 errors. Gordon Beckham has quite at few (7) for a guy who hasn't even played half a season, so I'm looking in his direction as well. The 69 team error total is tied for 7th worst, but only 4 errors off the worst in MLB. Verdict: This team can't field.

Getting on base. OBP: .302. The team is 27th at OBP, 2nd to last in the AL. Breaking that number down into its' basic parts, you see that the Sox are 28th and last in the AL in walks (246) and only marginally higher at 22nd in MLB at hits (833). Here's a chart of how the top three players in hits for the team have gotten to their totals of 111, 105 and 103 over the course of the season.

 

There is some slight mark of consistency among these players, although the most consistent has been Alexei Ramirez. Rios has come on strong at times and fallen at others. De Aza has been another player with a mostly consistent season. After these three, however, nobody else on the team has more than 75 hits. Guess who that guy is? That's right, the future Hall Of Famer Jeff Keppinger.  

Another area the Sox have not been well at the plate is in the Home Run department, instant runs. The Sox haven't hit the HRs they usually hit; only 93 so far which is good for 19th in MLB. US Cellular Field is a launching pad, and the team should be built accordingly. On paper there's no reason the team shouldn't be hitting HRs, they have the right players. The problem here has been that various things have occurred this year that have hampered output. There have been a lot of younger players getting playing time, so they have to make adjustments. Paul Konerko is getting old at 37. I hate to see Paul decline, but it's been inevitable and it is occurring. Adam Dunn has 24 which is a solid total, but it takes the next two players combined to equal that total. Verdict: Can't get on base consistently enough to put team in position to score.

On the basepath.  Runs scored: 369. This is good for 2nd to last in MLB and last in the AL, yes, fewer than the Houston Disastros. Why can't the White Sox score runs? Well as mentioned previously, they can't get on base. You have to be on base to score a lot of runs. There's an old saying that solo home runs don't beat you, and I would agree with that. De Aza (58) leads the team as he should since he's the leadoff hitter. It's not a bad total, good for 23rd in all of MLB. The rest of the team is downhill from there. You don't score, you don't win games. It's pretty simple.

Why can't they plate runners? Well as also previously mentioned, if you aren't hitting, you're not knocking in the guys who do manage to get on base. The White Sox hits w/RISP (187) is 99 fewer than the team with the most in MLB, the STL Cardinals (286). However, in an odd statistical anomaly, the White Sox are 11th in MLB in RISP BA (.258), and FOURTH in RISP BA w/2 outs. It doesn't make sense. The only way this can make sense is the fact that the Sox just don't get on base to have enough chances to score. When they do reach 2nd or 3rd, they actually are getting the job done on a semi-consistent basis.

A good way to put yourself in scoring position is the stolen base. The White Sox are actually 10th in MLB in stolen bases (64). The best team record wise in MLB is dead last with only 25 stolen bases. Again, more statistical anomalies, for which baseball is known. So if the Sox could just reach base, which they can't with any kind of regularity, they could be getting the guys in. Apparently this team can only do well at the plate when a guy is on 2nd or 3rd. Suddenly everybody is Babe Ruth out there. The Sox are also only in the middle of MLB in strikeouts, so they are making contact. But again, remember that they are last in the AL in walks, so they aren't taking a lot of free bases.

Here's what it all boils down to, in one key statistic. The White Sox are 2nd to last in MLB in total plate appearances (3658). Without reaching base consistently, you don't get to be at the plate as often. Without being at the plate as often as other teams, you have less chances to score runs. Without scoring runs, you are definitely going to lose more games than you win. Verdict: The Sox are good at scoring runners, but don't get on base enough to give the team the chances to do so.

Pitching. The overall pitching this season hasn't been bad. The team is in the middle of Team ERA (3.99), and a whole bunch of runs have scored via the unearned variety (48) due to dismal fielding. Chris Sale has been stellar, compiling a 2.81 ERA and 1.023 WHIP with 142 Ks. Sadly, though, as a product of playing for a last place club, his record is only 6-9. He did win the All Star game however, with two perfect innings pitched. Without listing them all, just know that the White Sox are in the top half of MLB in almost all pitching statistics. 

Pitching has not main been the problem. Sale, Santiago, Quintana have been good enough that the Sox should have won a lot more games. They simply aren't given run support to work with, and have taken some hard losses. They are a combined 14-17, 3.19 ERA, 0.868 WHIP. That's the epitome of hard luck, and what comes with playing for a bad team. 

The bullpen has been hit or miss (no pun intended) as well. Crain has been excellent, while others have been not so excellent. The bullpen has definitely lost their fair share of games (21), and that number doesn't reflect any games that any one came in and "lost" for the starter. It also doesn't reflect the times when a guy like Omogrosso, Troncoso and Nate Jones have come in and given up 2-4 runs in games when the Sox were trailing by just one or two. People cheered for Thornton's departure, but the three I just named have been worse. For example, Omogrosso allowed more ER in 11.2 fewer IP than Matt Thornton; not to say I didn't think it was time to trade Thornton. Verdict: This team can pitch in their starts, but it all goes for naught as they don't score enough to win, make too many errors, and don't have a rock-solid bullpen to keep leads consistently or keep close games close.

So after analyzing all of these factors that go into a last place run, this is my final verdict: The team is actually decent, on some level, but they are extreme underachievers who make too many errors, don't get on base enough to score runs, and can't hold leads/keep games close. The starting pitching is good 1-4, but they only keep us in games as a way of making most of the losses even more agonizingly painful. The team just doesn't "jell" and should be sold off piece by piece for good returns. The hope will have to lie in building a team that can start contending by Opening Day 2015.

Seriously though, just watch this clip. It highlights the entire season in just one play.

The Meaning Of Life Is 42

 

I finally had a chance last weekend to see the film 42, which I had been anticipating for some time. Jackie Robinson has always been one of my favorite ball players, not only because he broke the color barrier, but because I believe he was one of the best players in history. I had read all the reviews, realizing that there really can't be spoilers for a story you already know.

In the 10th grade, I checked out two books from my local public library's main branch to use for a report on Jackie Robinson. Our assignment was to write a 1000 word report on a true American hero. I chose Jackie, because of my admiration for what he did for the game, and because baseball was my favorite sport. At this point in my life, I was not really inclined to read entire books, and these books were pretty long. One of the books was over 400 pages long, while the other was over 300 pages. Once I really got into the assignment, I began reading and found myself unable to put the books down. Jackie's story is one that draws you in, and captures a moment in time perfectly.

As I poured over the pages, I learned of when Jackie grew up in California, when his brother went to the Olympics, and when he himself lettered in high school sports and went on to play for two local colleges. Throughout the pages, you are taken through his time in World War II, before being court martialed over bus racism, and ending up back home in the Negro League. It didn't take long to realize I had already gone through a third of the book, something very uncommon for myself in the 10th grade on a night where I could have been doing a million other things. Jackie's story has that factor, it grabs on to your imagination.

Subsequently, I kept these books. I had meant to return them to the library, but never made it back with the books. I remember receiving a letter in the mail for a free return day with no fine, but I completely missed the date by accident. Less than a year later, they closed the main branch of our library, selling most of the books that weren't transferred to other branches. All fines for overdue books at this branch were absolved. Completely unintentionally, I became the now rightful owner of two great books on the legacy of Jackie Robinson, which I would recommend to any serious baseball fan. The better of the two is Jackie Robinson: A Biography by Arnold Rampersad. I highly recommend it.

In the film, we essentially begin with Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) already playing in the Negro League. At the time, he had no idea he was being scouted by Branch Rickey as a potential candidate to break the unwritten rule of the Gentlemen's Agreement.  Rickey selected Jackie because of his age, experience and temperament. Branch Rickey is portrayed by Harrison Ford in the film, who I feel did an excellent job of capturing the essence of the man. At points in the film, you forget entirely that you are watching Ford, and become lost in his spot-on identity theft of Branch.

Most know the story, so I won't spend too much time on the details. Jackie Robinson finds himself at Spring Training as the outsider. He isn't there to become one of the guys, but to fill one of the roster positions. He lands a contract with the Montreal Royals. To this day, you can buy a Jackie Robinson Montreal Royals jersey.

</center>Jackie endures racism at every stage of his ascent to the big leagues. Robinson's life is threatened multiple times, and he handles it with a cool temperament in situations that would break most men. Jackie marries his wife, Rachel and they have a child together. He is called up to the big leagues and takes heaps of abuse from fans on all sides, some from his own team's fan base. The players are no better. Certain players see Robinson as a threat, coming from an inferior breed of human being no less. Other players quickly take his side, most notably Pee Wee Reese.

Reese becomes Robinson's strongest ally on the team, and in the league. When Robinson steps out on the field in Cincinnati, Reese stands by Robinson at first base before taking his own position, telling Robinson that he was as welcome on the field as anybody. Reese also used this moment to make a statement to his family that he was accepting this change openly. 

Playing first base, Robinson took abuse from many players who reached, and some who did not. Robinson was spiked intentionally by Enos Slaughter, and this is portrayed in the film. Another moment portrayed in the film is when Fritz Ostermuller hits Jackie in the head with a pitch. This didn't happen. Although Jackie Robinson was hit by more pitches than any player in the league in 1947 and 1948, Ostermuller simply wasn't the villain the film turned him into. I think there are a few sketchy details in this film that really detract and paint unfair pictures.

When filming a historical event and using the real names and likenesses of people of that time, you must be careful in how you portray each event and person. People leaving the film will now have only one view of Fritz Ostermuller: villain. There were plenty of real villains to portray as such for the purposes of the effect of the film's stirring moments. There is no need to create villainy in moments where villainy didn't exist in actual history. We should remember that the film and reality are often and not parallel.

Ben Chapman becomes another villain in this film. Rightfully so, in this case. However, this may be another case of not portraying a person accurately. In the film, Ben Chapman is the very outspoken manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. Chapman showers Robinson with racial language until he is "shut up" in the later innings by a solid Robinson hit. He deserves to be portrayed as a villain, but his entire story is not on display.

Later in his life, Ben Chapman became a slightly different person. As reporter Allen Barra tells of his time with this older Ben Chapman, he never apologized for his attitudes but did seem to become a lot more comfortable with people of all races. Amazingly, during his interview with Chapman at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, Chapman essentially stated the same word-for-word lines used in the film. Here's an excerpt from his article: "In 1979, having graduated the University of Alabama with no ambition more worthwhile than becoming a sportswriter, I had occasion to meet Ben Chapman—the "Alabama Flash," as we knew him—during a college baseball game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham.

"You ought to come over and interview me sometime," he said. "I'll tell ya some stories."

"I'll bet you could," I thought to myself. I knew Chapman only by reputation. He had been a pretty good ballplayer on the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees and then later with several other teams, but he was remembered for his savage heckling of Jackie Robinson in Robinson's first year in the major leagues, 1947, when Chapman was manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. Chapman was 71 and gray-haired when I met him, but he looked younger, and very fit—unlike most former big leaguers I've encountered over my career.

I took him up on his offer to talk, and we got together the following week. He was very gracious, always smiling. But when the talk turned to something he was uncomfortable with, the smile seemed to freeze and he bared his teeth. This happened about two minutes into our interview.
"Is it true," I wanted to know, "that you said those things to Jackie Robinson? You know, the names, the words, that everyone said you used?"

"Heck, yeah," Chapman said with a loud guffaw. "Sure I did. Everyone used those kind of words back then. Heck, we said the same things to Joe DiMaggio and Hank Greenberg."

I was puzzled. "You mean you called DiMaggio a ....?"

"We tried to rattle him by saying, 'Hey, Dago' or 'Hey, Wop.'"

What about Greenberg? "Oh, we called him 'Kike.' It was all part of the game back then. You said anything you had to say to get an edge. Believe me, being a southerner, I took a lot of abuse myself when I first played in New York. If you couldn't take it, it was a case of if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

If you are familiar with the film, you will recognize this as the exact dialogue Ben Chapman's character speaks during most of his scenes, nearly word-for-word. Barra states that he quickly realizes after this interview, that Chapman must have told this exact same story many times, enough times that it was dialogue included in the film.

So there are grey areas when painting historical figures, and those grey areas should be addressed. I realize that 42 is a film about oppression, racism and hatred, and there must be heroes and villains. However, these shouldn't be created in such a way that there is no room for grey areas. Chapman earned his villain tag, but maybe somewhere within the man, he did evolve into a slightly less Batman-esque villain toward the end of his life.

Overall, I felt like the film was well acted. The characters bear mostly striking resemblances to the people which they portrayed. Not only do the people look the part, they play the parts very well. I was surprised by how well Dr. Cox from Scrubs hit on all the aspects of Red Barber. If you are unfamiliar with the real Red Barber, check out this clip. Boseman did an excellent job portraying Robinson.

There was one part of the film I did not like. I hated the ending. The film just, fades. We are left reading a bunch of "He went on to do this." and "They went on to do that." Then there's completely false information in this section. It is stated that Ben Chapman never coached in MLB again, but he did. He coached for the Cincinnati Reds in 1952.

On a side note, Jackie Robinson was elected to the Hall Of Fame on his first ballot in 1962. While he appeared on more than 75% of ballots to receive the honor, he only appeared on 77% of the ballots total. This was a sign of the still lingering racism against Robinson and what he had done for the game. (or to the game for some people) This was not portrayed or discussed in the film and could have been used to highlight how far or how little we may have come by that point in time. The fact that every other player who was elected first ballot around that time appeared on more than 90% of ballots attests to this fact. Robinson's 77% of ballots on his first year, is tied with Robin Yount for the lowest number of ballots received by any first-ballot inductee.

I felt that we missed out on the portrayal on screen of one of the greatest moments in Robinson's career. Instead of acting out or showing us the Dodgers winning the 1955 World Series, we are left reading about it instead. The film had a run time of just over 2 hours, and I feel like we should have been given a portrayal of Jackie's elation of winning it all. That could have been done without spending even five whole minutes more on the run time.

By giving a micro-focus on the year 1947, we miss a lot about Jackie. We never get to see him play second base at the big league level, where he spent almost all of his career. We never get to see Jackie go through the anguish of losing the World Series four times before reaching the ultimate pinnacle in 1955. By not portraying the 1955 World Series, we never get to see one of his best moments re-enacted: stealing home in the World Series.

While the acting is excellent, and the CGI creates a perfect representation of 1947, some created histories and a lack of a proper ending are what holds this film back. Also, the film seems to only portray his story at the surface level. We are not given any real in-depth look at what Robinson went through. While I realize that Robinson went through hell to get to the top, he wasn't the only person facing insurmountable odds, even in 1947. There is no mention of the THREE other players who entered MLB in 1947, one of whom was Hall Of Famer Larry Doby, who integrated the American League. (the others being Hank Thompson and Willard Brown, both for the St. Louis Browns)

Essentially, the film could have been better, and it could have been worse. It didn't quite miss the mark, but it didn't hit the bullseye either. This was not a documentary, and as such, did not have to stay completely true to all aspects of the story. That may hurt it for some, it may not be an issue at all for others who just want to see a good film about baseball.

For me, it just lands somewhere in the middle and scores a solid B.

Sources For Some Information In This Post:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/04/what-really-happened-to-ben-chapman-the-racist-baseball-player-in-i-42-i/274995/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/11/fritz-ostermueller-misrepresented-jackie-robinson-42_n_3259230.html

http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/42-movie-jackie-robinson.php

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453562/

http://www.thediamondangle.com/marasco/negleg/timeline.html

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/First_Ballot_Hall_of_Famer

Larry Doby: Integration In The Shadows

This weekend, the movie 42 is set to hit theaters. 42 is mostly the story of Jackie Robinson's first two years in MLB, and most of the reviews of this film are extremely positive. If the film gets a good reception from audiences, it could make a lot of money and catapult up the list of all-time great baseball movies. Most people know the story of Jackie, and what he went through integrating baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. He was a true man of courage and character, to be respected and admired for what he went through to play the game he loved when he was asked.

However, there's another story that often gets forgotten. This is the story of a man who integrated a league and faced most of the same challenges Jackie faced. He dealt with all of the same racism, and played in hostile environments daily. Jackie was first, but this man was not far behind in that summer of 1947, breaking into the American League on July 5th. His name was Larry Doby, and he broke with the Cleveland Indians.

Like Jackie, Larry had grown up a tremendous athlete, who excelled in several sports. He lettered in eleven different sports in high school. He spent time in the Pacific during the end of WWII loading and unloading ships for the Navy. Doby did the only thing he could do with baseball after the Navy, he went to play for a great Negro League club, the Newark Eagles. He lead the Eagles to the Negro League title with a .348 average in '46, and through the first part of '47 was hitting .458.

In 1946, Bill Veeck bought the Cleveland Indians. He had, supposedly, attempted to buy the Phillies back in 1943 with the intention of stocking them full of Negro League stars and once and for all ending the color barrier. Veeck's purchase was supposedly denied after his plans were discussed with Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis. However, this story has been the point of controversy as to the authenticity of it all. Some say Veeck was lying about these events, while others say it was true. Whatever the case, in 1947 he had his chance to make history and signed Larry Doby. Doby made his debut on July 5th, 1947, and struggled. He hit .156 in 29 games, while only seeing 33 plate appearances.

The Indians were definitely intent on sticking with him for at least another season. In 1948, Doby found his stroke and put up solid numbers. He hit .301/14/66 and played superb center field. Doby became the first black player to win a World Series that year. Doby went on to have many more solid seasons, leading the league in key statistics like home runs, runs scored and RBI at different times over his playing career.

During the time of baseball integration, the National League integrated more quickly than the American League. The senior circuit seemed to have owners who realized the potential of the larger player pool over their own possible feelings toward African-Americans, more so than the American League owners. The National League clubs basically got free choice over the cream of the Negro League crop. Stars like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays were scooped by the Braves and Giants, while some American League clubs whiffed at the opportunity.

The Red Sox gave Jackie Robinson an early tryout in 1946, but with no intentions whatsoever of signing him. Reportedly, during this tryout, Robinson was the target of racial language from players and coaches alike. The Red Sox also missed a golden opportunity to sign Willie Mays, when owner Tom Yawkey let his bitter racism get the better of his business sense. It wasn't until 1959 that the Red Sox finally signed a black player, Pumpsie Green, becoming the last club to integrate.

Playing in the more divisive league was not easy for the early entries like Doby. Over the early seasons for Doby, most American League teams rarely saw a black player. Doby had to endure the same kind of animosity from players as well as fans that Jackie received. But, Jackie seemingly had more fans on his own team, like Pee Wee Reese, who were willing to stick up for him against the attacks. One of the main reasons we don't know a lot of the stories of players' racism toward Doby, is because Doby doesn't tell those stories. He stated numerous times that he holds no ill will toward anyone from his baseball career for anything they may have said to him or their actions. He carried with him a faith in God and a strong belief in forgiveness.

Larry Doby remarked in an interview with Fay Vincent, that he felt alone when he was called up. He stated that on that first day, he went out to play catch during warm ups. Nobody would acknowledge him. Finally, he said, Joe Gordon called over to him to throw the ball around. Once the other Indians players saw what Joe did, being a Yankee legend and former MVP, Doby felt he was more accepted by the other players.

After inexplicably being passed over for several years, Larry Doby was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1998 by the veteran's committee. One of the key votes came from Yogi Berra, who said Doby had every skill that makes a great player. After his playing career with the Indians and White Sox, he became manager of the White Sox in 1978. At that time, this made him only the second African-American manager in MLB history.

During his career, Doby saw as much or more racism than Robinson. Jackie played for a premiere club that protected him, but Doby played in a league that definitely wasn't as receptive to his "appearance" on the diamond. Certainly, I plan to see the film 42. I hope it is well-done, and I hope that it captures the spirit of the times for what they truly were. I also hope that somewhere, buried in the two hours of drama, they make a mention of Mr. Doby. He may have integrated in the shadows of Robinson, but he deserves his mention. Doby should be remembered for his career, for his talent, for his courage and his character, just like Jackie. He deserves that much.


Information for this blog post was collected from baseball-reference.com, Yahoo! Sports, Wikipedia and thediamondangle.com

What The Hall Happened Today?

Today, I witnessed one of the worst mistakes in the history of sports. Lots of things in sports are voted on: NCAA rankings, MVPs, Rookies of the Year. Hall Of Fame voting occurs once a year as well. Today was the day they released the list. These votes are usually controversial, but people on both sides can usually understand where the other side is coming from in the discussion.

I was pulling for a few guys over other guys. I figured that Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro and Clemens would be held accountable for the steroid era. I really wanted to see Biggio and Bagwell (The Killer Bs), but figured the best we could get this year was Biggio. As much as I disagreed with it, I assumed it was all but a done deal for Jack Morris' mugshot to appear on a plaque this year. Also, I assumed Tim Raines would edge closer, although I wanted him in ASAP as he was a great HOF leadoff hitter.

What never entered my mind, what shouldn't have entered anyone's mind, was what happened. What happened, was that no player appeared on the 75% of ballots necessary for induction. That is absolutely shameful. Every voter should lose their right to vote. It is gutless what these men, who never played baseball past 4th grade, did to some of the well deserved players on the list.

Craig Biggio ended up on the most ballots at a 68% clip. Biggio is the one player from the 1990s that I don't think was punished under the steroid specter, but that only shows another bad side of the vote this year. There's only two things that they could have been thinking when they sent in their votes this year: 1)Nobody on this list is a Hall Of Famer or 2)Some people on this list used steroids, so I will punish every player on the list for that. The first one is outright false, and for that stupidity alone, you should lose your vote. The second one, is so unfair and gutless, that you should not only lose your vote but be banned from ever being allowed to cover baseball ever again.

I understand, a lot of people saw this as the Roid Ballot. Many people, from fairweather to hardcore fandom wanted this vote to exclude players like Bonds and Sosa, who are fairly or unfairly linked so closely with steroid use, that they appear next to steroid in the dictionary. However, because some people are highly suspected to have used illegal substances to enhance their performance over the span of their careers, it is completely unfair and ridiculous to punish every player on the list. And I believe that is what many of the voters were doing.

Here's how the votes broke down:

Craig Biggio 388 (68.2%)
Jack Morris 385 (67.7%)
Jeff Bagwell 339 (59.6%)
Mike Piazza 329 (57.8%)
Tim Raines 297 (52.2%)
Lee Smith 272 (47.8%)
Curt Schilling 221 (38.8%)
Roger Clemens 214 (37.6%)
Barry Bonds 206 (36.2%)
Edgar Martinez 204 (35.9%)
Alan Trammell 191 (33.6%)
Larry Walker 123 (21.6%)
Fred McGriff 118 (20.7%)
Dale Murphy 106 (18.6%)
Mark McGwire 96 (16.9%)
Don Mattingly 75 (13.2%)
Sammy Sosa 71 (12.5%)
Rafael Palmeiro 50 (8.8%)

Some guys who fell off the eligibility list for next year include Kenny Lofton and Bernie Williams. These vote totals are a joke. On this list, appears the second best leadoff hitter of all time (Raines), the best offensive catcher of all time (Piazza), arguably the best DH of all time (Martinez) and one of the best 2nd basemen ever (Biggio). To say that none of those four are HOF-calibur in any ballot year, is to say that really, no one is HOF-calibur.

Apparently, there cannot be a first-ballot HOF anymore. Rickey Henderson was a 1st ballot Hall Of Famer. He is the best leadoff hitter of all time. Lou Brock was a first ballot hall of famer, and he is not the best, second best or third best leadoff hitter of all time. Tim Raines is the second best leadoff hitter of all time, and for another year (his 6th freaking ballot) he will not get to the Hall. What did he do to deserve this? Play in the shadow of Rickey Henderson for his whole career. That's all he ever did "wrong" in his career.

The biggest problem I have with putting no one in, besides the obvious fact that many of the people on the list were clean and certainly hall of fame quality, is that this sets a dangerous and upsetting precedent moving forward. Will ever player who played in the 90's be punished for steroids, even if they were never linked to steroid use in any way? What about next year, when the ballot includes first timers Frank Thomas, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, be punished for what others did?

These big three were never linked to steroid use. They are all cream of the crop players. Frank Thomas was an amazing player, an upstanding symbol for the league and a 500 home run hitter with a .300 career average. Greg Maddux posted the lowest ERA in a season since Bob Gibson, and won 350 games in his career, won four Cy Young awards in a row (Finished Top 5 Nine Times) and won a World Series ring and several Gold Gloves. Tom Glavine is one of five left-handed pitchers ever to win 300 games, he won two Cy Young Awards and a World Series ring in which he was named World Series MVP. All three did plenty to be first ballot guys, but will they be punished?

The voters have a chance to fix this injustice. Next year, they can put in those three, along with Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell and Jack Morris. But for this year, they have really screwed up badly. They not only robbed some of the best clean players ever from the Hall, but they set a dangerous precedent that cannot continue to exist. We cannot punish everyone. Remember when your teacher used to take recess away from all students because a few students had done something wrong? Well, we're not in elementary school anymore and in real life, people get rewarded for doing the right things in life. Let's reward the players who were clean, and have no specter of steroids surrounding their great careers.

This also, unfairly, gives a black eye to MLB. I know it is the Baseball Hall Of Fame, and not the MLB Hall Of Fame, but most people think of it as such. When the Hall voters do something like this, it brings back up all the steroid discussions that had begun to fade in recent seasons. Sure, MLB is at fault at some level for allowing steroid players to play in their league without enough checks to prevent such illegal activity. However, it is unfair at this stage, to say that the players MLB was trying to send to the Hall were all guilty by association.

Guilty by association; we don't live in that society. I still believe in innocent until proven guilty. When voters are voting this way, you can be sure that most 90's stars will be called out, even when it is completely unwarranted. I will wait for next year, and when it comes, if Frank Thomas does not get in on the first ballot, you can have fun reading my meltdown post. They better get their sh*t together next time.

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.

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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