Tag: White Sox

Soxfest ’08 this weekend

08soxfest_logo_200 One weekend after the Cubs Convention (did I mention I went to the Cubs Convention this year??) is Soxfest 2008.  The annual get together for Pale Hose fans will take place at the Palmer House Hilton on January 25-27.  Yes, the tickets are sold out. 

Is GM Kenny Williams looking forward to the traditional Q&A by the fans?  Apparently not.

The mlb.com website has some helpful hints for those attending.  Here is a list of those White Sox current and former players and personnel who will be attending this years Soxfest:

Ozzie Guillen, Ken Williams, Harold Baines, Jeff Cox, Kevin Hickey, Juan Nieves, Mark Salas, Greg Walker, Mark Buehrle, John Danks, Jermaine Dye, Josh Fields, Gavin Floyd, Bobby Jenks, Paul Konerko, Scott Linebrink, Jerry Owens, A.J. Pierzynski, Carlos Quentin, Nick Swisher, Jim Thome, Javier Vazquez, Roland Hemond, Joel Horlen, Bart Johnson, Ron Kittle, Bill Melton, Minnie Minoso, Moose Skowron, Mike Squires, Hawk Harrelson, Darrin Jackson, Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton.

I of course, will NOT be attending.  I would, however, like to hear from anyone attending.  Photos would be great! 

And if you go, have fun!!

Kittle to keynote Illini Hot Stove Banquet

kittleui The annual Hot Stove Banquet which benefits the University of Illinois baseball program is less than a month away.  On February 9, the event will take place at the Round Barn Banquet Center in Champaign. 

The keynote speaker is former White Sox slugger Ron Kittle.  The 1983 Rookie of the Year, Kittle has stayed active in baseball since retiring in 1991.  He’s managed a few minor league teams including the Schaumburg Flyers and Merrillville Mud Dogs. In addition, he’s served as hitting instructor for Valparaiso.

Kittle has also founded and acts as chairman of Indiana Sports Charities which raises dollars to fight cancer. 

Individual tickets are $50 and group pricing is available.  You can purchase tickets for the event by calling the University of Illinois baseball office at 217-333-8605. 

Latest Sox trade nets Swish

The Cubs had solved their outfield situation with the acquisition of Kosuke Fukudome but it was up in the air what the Sox were going to do about their outfileld problem… until today. 

The White Sox sent three prospects to the Oakland A’s for the services of outfielder Nick Swisher.  The three prospects are pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Fautino De Los Santos and outfielder Ryan Sweeney. 

I have always liked Swisher.  To me, his style is a throwback to generation ago.  On a good day, he reminds me of Jeff Burroughs (before he sorta petered out) and on his bad days he’s like a Rob Deer.  He has potential for power though last year he only mustered 22 dingers.  One plus for Nick… he’s not afraid to take a walk. 

By the way, switch-hitting Swisher is a Big Ten alum.  He hails from Ohio State.  Don’t hold it against him, Illini fans.

If I were a Sox fan, I might be a little concerned about letting Gio Gonzalez go.  The White Sox acquired Gio in the Freddie Garcia trade with the Phils.  Back then, I heard that Gonzalez was the real deal just that needed some time.  Since then, he’s been tearing up AA and only getting better.  Maybe some Sox fans might want to chime in with their opinion on that. 

Does this put the Sox back on the right track for 08?  Well, it’s a good start.  Just don’t give up the farm.

Alexei Ramírez comes to the Southside

The White Sox signed Cuban infielder/outfielder Alexei Ramirez to a four year $4.75 million dollar deal. Alexei’s natural position is SS, but that’s Orlando Cabrera’s spot. Ramirez can also play 2B & CF, both positions are wide open. He had 20 homers to lead Cuba in that category before going to the Dominican Republic. This guy is not a base stealer and cannot be considered as a leadoff candidate. He’s no Fukadome, but still a good signing.

White Sox prospects dealt for Haren

Aaron Cunningham & Chris Carter two former White Sox farmhands were traded to the Oakland A’s for Dan Haren, but they were traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks, not the Palehose. Cunningham & Carter were packaged with bluechip outfield prospect Carlos Gonzalez to acquire Haren. Also going from Arizona to Oakland was 19 year old lefty prospect Brett Anderson.

The White Sox had traded Cunningham for Danny Richar and more recently sent the young power hitting firstbaseman Carter for the oft injured Carlos Quentin. Somehow I’d rather have Haren than Richar & Quentin, but to be fair Gonzalez & Anderson are also top notch talent. Actually I’d rather have Cunningham & Carter than Richar & Quentin. Oh well…

Web Wars: MLB buys out FireKennyWilliams.com

Home Run Derby reports that MLB has gone out and bought the web domain name FireKennyWilliams.com.  A quick look at a domain whois verifies this.  The domain was reserved in April of 2007. 

I don’t have time to look but I wonder how many other similar domains were snatched up by MLB Advanced Media, L.P. 

FireLouPiniella.com wasn’t…

…it was already taken

(hat tip: Baseball Musings)

Mariotti on Fukodome

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Jay Mariotti pulls no punches against the White Sox front office in his analysis of the Cubs’ acquisition of Kosuke Fukudome.

"On the South Side, Fukudome is Japanese for brush-off. And when you add him to an earlier rejection by Torii Hunter, a failure to acquire Miguel Cabrera and a final knife in the back Wednesday from one of their old reliables — Aaron Rowand, who signed with San Francisco after telling Williams to shove his fewer-years offer — maybe the Sox should realize players in the industry aren’t real fond of their franchise, their plan or their way of doing business. In the spirit of the season, the Sox are Fred Claus, bitter and second-rate as the Cubs prepare to dominate another local summer and contend for a playoff berth again."

Bet that plays well on the South Side.

Rowand to Giants: What now, Sox?

It’s been reported that Aaron Rowand has been signed by the San Francisco Giants.  It is believed to be a five year contract worth $90 million.  White Sox fans can cross him off their Christmas list to Santa Claus cuz he’s headed West. 

The South Side Sox has a (pre-Rowand deal) article suggesting a few ideas for what the Sox could do about their predicament in centerfield. 

"Hello Mike Cameron? Ryan Sweeney? Alexei Ramirez? Corey Patterson? Kenny Lofton? Jerry Owens? Brian Anderson?"

We talked about this during our last show and resident Sox fan CLuke seemed to think that of all the possibilities,  Rowand was the favorite among White Sox fans. 

What happens now that he is no longer available? From the comments at South Side Sox, it looks like fans are looking toward Jerry Owens.

2007 Baseball Search Trends

I don’t know why but I enjoy looking at Google’s search trends.  I guess it’s the geek in me.  But it does give us a sense of what we find interesting or important as a online society.  Sometimes, the Hot Trends page kinda scares me. 

Anyways, I did a simple search on the term "baseball" for the year 2007.  This was what I got:

baseball trend 2007

 

The result was pretty predictable.  There was a slight bump in April at the beginning of the year when fans are gearing up for the season.  The spike in early July can certainly be attributed to the All-Star game.  Folks, are trying to find the All-Star ballot is my guess. 

There is a small hill around post-season time but not as much as I would have thought. 

Then I did a comparison between "White Sox" (in blue) and "Cubs" (in red) again for the year 2007. 

cubs-sox trends 07

 

With the year the Cubs had (and quite frankly, the year the Sox had, too), it’s no surprise that online folks were searching for the Cubs.  It doesn’t hurt that the Cubs can be seen nationwide on WGN either, I suppose. 

You can see the big spike at the close of the season when the Cubs clinched the playoff spot (and right before they blew it against the Dbacks).  Yet, except for that, the Sox pretty much go toe to toe with them in the Google News searches for the year. 

I don’t consider this a scientific study by any means but it is a scratch on surface.  If you’re interested in playing around with Google Trends, have at it.  It gives you a lot more information like regional data as well as attempting to match spikes with news events.