Tag: White Sox

Sox Waive Bye Bye to Jerry Owens

White Sox Royals Baseball The White Sox put a new spin on Abbott & Costello’s age old bit, by asking the question, “Who’s in Center?” The answer isn’t nearly as funny. Jerry Owens will be placed on waivers, “giving” the starting job to Dewayne Wise & Brian Anderson.

Brian Anderson took over the starting centerfield duties from Aaron Rowand in 2006, after Chicago won it all in 2005. While Anderson’s bat was nothing to write home about, his defense in CF certainly was fantastic. I still say, had Ozzie Guillen not played Rob Mackowik in CF in 2006, we would’ve made the playoffs with BA out there. We just missed the playoffs with a 90-72 mark. Still Brian, a righthanded hitter, batted only .225, with 23 doubles, one triple, & eight home runs in 365 at bats, while striking out 90 times. Last year Anderson showed more pop, with 13 doubles & 8 homers in only 181 at bats. His major league lifetime OBP is an anemic .277. He’s shown a decent bat in the minors, .293, 65 2Bs, 13 3Bs, 38 HRs, in 1,136 ABs, and he batted .366 as a Senior with the University of Arizona, but that was a long time ago.

Jerry Owens got his shot in 2007, which was a miserable year (72-90) on the Southside. Owens is a slap lefthanded hitter, who batted .267 with 32 stolen bases in only 93 big league games, but only nine doubles, two triples, & one homer (I think I was at that game). While his OBP was only .324, he could cover the ground in centerfield, but possessed a very poor throwing arm. For some reason, the Sox never seemed to like him, maybe it was because he returned from winter ball in the middle of a playoff fight, with Joey Cora as his manager. I guess, I was really pulling for Jerry, we really needed his speed in the leadoff slot. Jerry has a .291 minor league batting average, with 162 steals in 500 games, and a .359 OBP.

Then there’s Dewayne Wise. Wise is a 31 year old, lefthanded hitting, journeyman outfielder, that came through a few times last year in the clutch. Still he batted just .248, with six homers in 129 at bats, stealing nine bases, without being caught. Wise has 468 big league at bats spread out over six seasons, 19 2Bs, 8 3Bs, 15 HRs, 21/22 SBs, but only a .214 average, with a horrible OBP of only .254. His minor league OBP of .309 in 3,555 at bats, isn’t much better. And his defense is a step down from either Owens or Anderson. It worries me that he’ll get the lion’s share of playing time in the lefty/righty CF platoon.

Last year Owens was slated for the White Sox centerfield job, before he got injured, moving Nick Swisher from LF to CF, and Carlos Quentin from bench to LF. Yet I’m sure the Pale Hose would’ve realized the gem they had in Quentin, even if Jerry hadn’t gotten hurt. So I have all the confidence in the world this team will figure it out. Still it’s hard to imagine going into the season with Dewayne Wise as our starting centerfielder.

LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!

2009 Cactus League

camelbackranch08 After a week in the Sunshine State watching the Grapefruit League, a weekend in Chicago to play some APBA, it was time to travel to the desert to enjoy some Cactus League action. Met up with DonS & Tom at the airport and it was off to the ballpark.

First stop was Scottsdale for a game between the Angels & the Giants. Sitting behind us was a tattooed couple & their son Dylan, they live on 100 acres, 2 hours north of SF, what nice people, really enjoyed meeting them. The Angels won the game thanks in part to SF reliever Luis Perdomo, who walked three, gave up one hit, committed two errors, in 1/3 innings of work. Brandon Wood looked overmatched, Macier Izturis had trouble hitting the ball past the pitcher, and Nick Adenhart had trouble pitching out of the stretch for the Halos. For SF, Emmanuel Burriss had to leave the game after getting plunked by a pitch, right after I said, he was injury prone, Justin Miller threw the ball well in his two scoreless innings, and Waldis Joaquin was lights out striking out three in 1 1/3 innings.

St. Patty’s Day it was time to go to Phoenix to see the A’s host the split squad Diamondbacks. Highly touted Max Scherzer barely broke a sweat, as he was pulled after only 2/3 of an inning, three hits, one walk, one error, five runs, only one earned, it’s tough to get by with only a fastball. Sean Gallagher looked sharp for Oakland against minor leaguers. I enjoyed seeing Aaron Cunningham go yard for Oakland, he’s a real hustler, reminds me of Lenny Dykstra. 11-3 A’s. Celebrated St. Patty’s Day at the Library a bar near ASU, lotsa green shots.

Wednesday it was time to check out the Ballpark at Camelback Ranch as the White Sox hosted the Angels. DonS wanted me to bet him a shaved head on the outcome, not much point in that, as his melon was already polished. The Ballpark was unbelievable! Thirteen practice fields for the LA Dodgers & the ChiSox, Connie’s Pizza, place holds 13,000 fans, and they even have a stirfry noodle dish. For LAA Dustin Moseley worked five shutout innings and Chone Figgins & Gary Matthews, Jr. hit homers. Chris Getz hit the ball sharply, Octavio Dotel struckout three in his perfect inning, and Mike MacDougal showed why he’s so overpaid, three hits & one run in his one scary inning. The Halos won this one, 4-1. Went to my favorite pizza place Pizzeria Bianco with Joe after the game, waited three hours, better than I remembered, it’s all good.

The last game of our trip was back where it all started in Scottsdale. DonS’ brother Kevin, his wife Dawn, Rob T, and his wife Vicki joined us for tailgating before the game. John Danks worked five scoreless innings for the Pale Hose, Carlos Quentin & Paul Konerko went deep, and Aaron Poreda punched his minor league ticket, spitting it out, five runs over 1 1/3 innings. Jeremy Affeldt worked out of a self induced bases loaded jam for the save, he started the game on Monday for SF, so it all came around in a great big circle. Sox lost 6-4. After the game we took a trip over to the Salty Senorita for some Mexican food, Mexican food, and some Margaritas. Can’t think of a better way to bid Arizona adios.

Good News for Desert Sox

viciedo It’s early, but it might be time. The 19 year old Cuban thirdbaseman Dayan Viciedo singled in his first at bat of the spring. The 5’11” 245 pound Viciedo signed a four year $10 million dollar deal over the winter with the White Sox. Although his contract is more than double that of fellow countryman SS Alexei Ramirez, he might be this year’s bargain basement baby. Dayan said, he felt relaxed, no pressure at all. With Joe Crede signing with the Minnesota Twins, thirdbase is wide open for Wilson Betemit, Josh Fields, & Dayan Viciedo, and Brent Morel & Jon Gilmore, waiting in the wings.

In fact the wide open positions have plenty of competition. For example secondbase will feature Chris Getz, Jayson Nix, Brent Lillibridge, or last year’s first round draft choice out of Georgia, Gordon Beckham.

And finally the rotation. Former AL Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon and Playoff & World Series hero Jose Contreras are ahead of schedule and look ready to start the season in the rotation when the team breaks camp, joining Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, and John Danks. If anyone falters, Jeff Marquez, who came over from the Yankees in the Nick Swisher trade, and Aaron Poreda the big lefthander out of the University of San Francisco are looking to prove what they can do.

Saw in yesterday’s White Sox/Rockies box score where Eric Young, Jr. played secondbase for Colorado. The kid, just like his old man, can fly, and will steal alot of bases in the big leagues, no matter what position he ends up playing.

Crede falls to the dark side

I’m curious what Sox think of this.

Not so much that Crede won’t be with Chicago any more.  I think that song was written a few months ago.  But now he’ll be playing for their arch-rivals Minnesota Twins. 

Comments from the South side?

Oh, from the article (emphasis mine):

Crede, who provided stellar defense and was a clutch hitter during his tenure with the Sox…

I’ve heard from more than one Sox fan that Crede’s defense had been lacking in 2008 at least in comparison to his past years.  Perhaps that’s true?  Or maybe that was due to his injury??

For what it’s worth, Crede does say he’s almost back to 100%.

White Sox Trivia

white_sox_77_1080 One June 19, 1977 this White Sox firstbaseman sang the pre-game National Anthem then went out and went 4-7 with a pair of home runs, playing error-less ball in the field, in a doubleheader sweep versus Oakland. Who was this multi-talented Alabamian?

I remember this day 30+ years ago like it was yesterday, but don’t ask me what I had for breakfast.

Sox Can’t Get Enough Cubans!

marti-gomez A fan at SoxFest asked GM Kenny Williams about the possibility of the White Sox signing two Cuban defectors, Yasser Gomez & Yadel Marti. Jaime Torres represents both players, he also represents current White Sox Cubans, Jose Contreras, Alexei Ramirez, & Dayan Viciedo. Reportedly Alexei took less money to sign on the Southside of Chicago, because Manager Ozzie Guillen speaks Spanish. Also both defectors would feel right at home, with three other Cubans already on the team.

Both Gomez & Marti played for Industriales, Cuba’s top team, they want to play for a winner, they mentioned the Yankees, but they also mentioned the White Sox. Gomez, 28, is a lefthanded hitting centerfielder, and has a career .331 batting average. Marti, 29, has a career 3.23 ERA, with 67 victories. The righty Yadel was the best of Cuba’s pitchers in the 2006 WBC, 1-0, 2 saves, and led the tournament with a 0.00 ERA over 12 2/3 innings pitched.

A scout who has seen both pitch internationally, believes they are both major league ready. In true Kenny Williams fashion, he did not tip his hand, when asked about picking up these talented Cuban stars, but you have to know, he’s salivating at the thought.

Link & Loman – 2 Longshots to Make the White Sox

jon-link1 Reliever Jon Link & firstbaseman/outfielder Seth Loman are a couple of longshots to make the White Sox, but baseball is a funny game, so you never know.

The White Sox acquired Jon Link from the San Diego Padres in exchange for Rob Mackowiak, a half eaten bag of potato chips would’ve been a fair exchange, in my opinion, so Link’s got anything, it’s a great deal. In 2003 Link was drafted by the Montreal Expos with the 45th pick, after a year of college ball where he walked 14 in 81 innings with a 2.13 ERA, the Pads signed him after taking him in the 26th round of the 2005 draft. The 6’1″ 175 pounder (slimmed down from 200) out of Columbus, OH, did pretty well at Class A in 2008. Jon had a 2.91 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 58″ innings pitched, 48 hits, 16 saves. He was particularly effective after coming to Winston-Salem, where his strikeout to walk ratio was an impressive 19/4, allowing only one homer over 17″ innings of work. It’s always tough finding quality middle relief, never know what’s inside a guy’s heart.

Seth Logan was drafted by the Los Angels of Anaheim in the 47th round of the 2005 draft out of Lamar Community College in Texas. The 6’4″ 225 pound switch hitter spent his two years with the Angels in Rookie Ball, where he batted .206 with 4 HRs in 2006 & .323 with 9 HRs in 2007, then LAA released him. The 22 year old turned to the independent Golden Baseball League where he put up some pretty good numbers. In 2008 Loman batted .350 with 19 HRs & 60 RBIs in just 60 games, slugging .709. Seth was selected by Baseball America as a Top Independent league prospect. Here’s hoping Seth Loman finds as much success with the White Sox as another Angels castoff, Bobby Jenks.

MLB web sites: A look back

I got to playing around with the Internet Wayback Machine tonight and wondered what some of the MLB web sites I go to on a regular basis looked liked in the olden days.  And by “olden days”, I mean at the beginning of this decade. 

MLB teams at that point, were still responsible for maintaining their own websites; they weren’t under the MLB.com umbrella like they are now. 

Let’s get started.  All thumbnails of the web sites from 2000 click to a larger image:

 

cubs.com on May 20, 2000

 

Welcome to the Official Website of the Chicago Cubs!_1232687226721I don’t know why I chose this particular date for the Cubs.  They were dead last in the NL Central and they had just gotten beat by the Cardinals 4-2.  But it’s a good sample nonetheless. 

Vivid blues and reds.  And hey, they have a Multimedia section complete with a “Cubs Cam”.  Back then, folks could bid on a Ernie Banks flag or a VIP tour of Wrigley. 

I noticed a link to the Trib’s sister organization (or were they back then?) ChicagoSports.com.  Also in the sidebar a link for Yahoo Broadcast (??).

 

whitesox.com June 20, 2000

 

cws

The Sox’ slogan was ‘The Kids can Play’. On this date, the Sox were holding on to first place in the AL Central.  James Baldwin was off to a 5-0 start. 

They had a pretty decent web site too, in my opinion.  Of course, it’s easy when your colors are black and white. 

To follow the Sox games live, you could listen to the Live Audio or choose DiamondCast whatever that was. 

Hey! Wllie Wonka Kids’ Day is (was) May 14th.

 

But the kicker for me was…

 

majorleaguebaseball.com on June 20, 2000

 

Yes, I went to mlb.com.  At the turn of millennium, that domain name belonged to the law firm of Morgan, Lewis and Bockius L.L.P.  Sometime in the month of October 2000, the domain changed hands and mlb.com began redirecting to Major League Baseball’s web site. 

redirect

Most likely tired of fielding requests of “where’s the baseball?”, Morgan Lewis did offer the above image link at the bottom of their site.

mlb

For the time being though, majorleaguebaseball.com was where folks would go to get their baseball info. 

Suggested bandwidth speeds for video downloads were in the modem range i.e. 56.6, 28.8, oh yeah ISDN too). 

I noticed that Jonathan Mayo (who I think heads up mlb.com’s minor league coverage now) was doing the Fantasy Baseball bit back then. 

One that should make Teddy Ballgame happy:  their poll at the time was “How far will the White Sox go this year?” 

The year 2000 was Summer Olympic time and the idea of ridding baseball and softball was probably just being discussed in the boardrooms.  Meanwhile, majorleaguebaseball.com was covering that year’s manager Tommy Lasorda and his preparations. 

Despite team’s having autonomy over their own web content, majorleaguebaseball.com did provide a drop down link to all team’s websites.

mlbStats
A quick snippet of the 2000 stats page… 		Standingsmlb … and the standings page.

 

Nine years doesn’t seem like a long time but in Internet time it’s forever.  With the advent of the MLB Advanced Media, the web presence of professional baseball has come a long way… mostly in the right direction. 

Sox Bring on Big Man to Fill Big Hole in Rotation

colon With Javier Vazquez traded off to Atlanta, good riddance, Chicago had an open slot in their rotation, in Back to the Future fashion, Kenny Williams flipped back to 2003, and Bartolo Colon. Colon was signed to a $1 million dollar contract, with an innings pitched clause that could be worth an additional $2 million dollars. Workhorse Bartolo is a big man, who pitches big innings, when healthy, 242 in 2003 with the White Sox. He was limited to only 39 innings with the Red Sox in 2008, due to injury.

It seems as though the White Sox may be out of the Freddy Garcia sweepstakes, looks like Freddy will be heading to the Big Apple, either with the Yankees or the Mets. So the Sox rotation is Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, John Danks, two righthanders coming off injuries (Jose Conreras & Bartolo Colon), and possibly young lefty Aaron Poreda.

Last year Esteban Loaiza was brought in as a rotation possibility, but without his fastball, he was ineffective, and quickly gone. Hopefully Colon will make out better this year.