Tag Archives: Chicago White Sox

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THOSE MARINERS?

Last night the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox by a score of 14-2. Nice score, but that’s not the headline here. The Mariners to date have won 71% of their last 45 games, or specifically 32 of 13.

Here’s some pretty amazing statistics according to online sources; “During their last 7 games the Mariners have 93 hits, 39 extra base hits, 17 home runs and13 stolen bases. No other team in MLB history has this record over a 7 game period.

Tonight they’re playing the White Sox again, hoping for an 8th straight win. Tune in at 8:10 pm, that is if you’re lucky enough to get the game. Unfortunately, MLB has a lock on a lot of the out of area games as I found out scrambling to catch the Giants/Rangers game last week. Don’t get me started ~ we’ll save that for another day.

It’s okay to shine. The baseball world knows Seattle’s paid their dues. Stay tuned. We’ll keep an eye on them. They’ve already beaten the Giants 2 out of 3 this year!

Baltimore Follies Forgiven ….. For Now

An Empty Oriole Stadium

An Empty Oriole Stadium

It took a  Seamheads.Com post by Terry Keshner this morning to get me back in the saddle.  I really miss posting, but have a lot on my plate for at least another week and my favorite thing to do has had to take a backseat.

Seamheads is a great baseball site, one of my favorites, so I sat up and took notice when the Baltimore Orioles/Chicago White Sox games took center stage when the games were closed to the fans these past few days.  “It had to be that way” the article said.

“It had to be that way”?  When the Europeans closed their stadiums it was directly related to the players and the fans. They were getting killed on game day at those stadiums.

This didn’t have to be that way. What did the attempt of some high school kids and community organizers trying to usurp the authority of legally empowered law enforcement officers have to do with closing the stadium?  Does the system need to be overhauled? Probably.  But by closing the stadium they denied workers, vendors, and fans their legal rights so now you don’t just have the kids and their enablers affected you’re also affecting 40,000 individuals who had nothing to do with the mess.

Maybe the regular security measures that accompany most stadiums on game day, along with National Guardsmen strategically placed around the stadium, inside and out, might have been a better alternative. Just one suggestion. And I’m sure there are many others that are better than the decision to close the stadium on game day.

But this is something we’ve not had to deal with in our country before and hopefully it will be the last, but don’t count on it.  The times-they-are-a-changing folks  and now’s the time to get our smarts in order so that decisions  for better strategies can be made in the future.

In my humble opinion, of course.

Ballpark Food Everywhere …. This time from Calcaterra!

bacon flight baconApril 2nd and it’s still all about the food folks.  These morsels can be found at U. S. Cellular field, Home of the Chicago White Sox.   Hang in there.  Only a few more days. But in the meantime just looking at these little mouthwatering tasties can’t hurt and they give us something else to look forward to!

Personally?  I’m still trying to get that “Diamondback Churro Dog”  out of my head.

Name Origins of all 30 Major League Baseball Teams

Cincinnati Red Stockings.  1st Professional Baseball Team

Cincinnati Red Stockings. 1st Professional Baseball Team

Cincinnati Red Stockings Photo Courtesy “www.todayifoundout.com” Daven Hiskey.

I “Stumbled” on this great post that lists the origins of all 30 Major League Baseball Teams.  It appears the Boston Red Sox hold the oldest named team dating back to the 1860’s, popularized by the Cincinnati Red Stockings from 1867-1870 and used by Boston’s National League franchise from 1871-1876.

But the actual team name origin that’s  with the same team is the San Francisco Giants, formerly the New York Giants, that dates back to 1885.    

Read the original Post  Stumbleupon.com, written by Scott Allen. 

 

Baseball in Heaven?

Baseball in Heaven

Baseball in Heaven

Okay, you say, what’s this got to do with baseball? Well, this little ditty was sent to me by my Chicago White Sox friend, Dan Quintell, and perfect for a quiet Sunday afternoon, on a rare day when the Giants miraculously shut out the Pirates. Here goes ~

Two 90-year-old women, Rose and Barb, had been friends all of their lives. When it became clear that Rose was dying, Barb visited her every day.

One day Barb said, “Rose, we both loved playing women’s softball all our lives, and we played all through High School. Please do me one favor: when you get to Heaven, somehow you must let me know if there’s women’s softball there.” Rose looked up at Barb from her deathbed and said, “Barb, you’ve been my best friend for many years. If it’s at all possible, I’ll do this favor for you.” Shortly after that, Rose passed on.

A few nights later, Barb was awakened from a sound sleep by a blinding flash of white light and a voice calling out to her, “Barb, Barb.”

“Who is it?”, asked Barb, sitting up suddenly. “Who is it?”

“Barb — it’s me, Rose.” ‘You’re not Rose. Rose just died.” “Well,I’m telling you, it’s me, Rose,” insisted the voice.

“Rose! Where are you?” “In Heaven,” replied Rose. “I have some really good news and a little bad news.”

“Tell me the good news first,” said Barb. “The good news,’ Rose said, “is that there’s softball in Heaven. Better yet all of our old buddies who died before us are here, too. Better than that, we’re all young again. Better still, it’s always springtime, and it never rains or snows. And best of all, we can play softball all we want, and we never get tired.”

‘”That’s fantastic,” said Barb. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams! So what’s the bad news?”

“You’re pitching Tuesday.”

Life is uncertain – eat dessert first.

2012 MLB Team and Player Salaries

2012 All Star Game Photo

Here’s the 2012 update to our 2011 listing published August 27, 2011.  This comes to us compliments of USA Today.  If you’ll click the individual teams, you can access the individual players salaries.  It will be interesting to note the annual salaries of the teams that make the playoffs;  in other words, did they get what they paid for?  For example; the Washington Nationals have the best record in the Majors this year, but have the 11th Lowest Salary out of 30 Teams.   Salary Chart Linked Here

2012 MLB Salaries  
 

TEAM

TOTAL PAYROLL
New York Yankees $ 197,962,289
Philadelphia Phillies $ 174,538,938
Boston Red Sox $ 173,186,617
Los Angeles Angels $ 154,485,166
Detroit Tigers $ 132,300,000
Texas Rangers $ 120,510,974
Miami Marlins $ 118,078,000
San Francisco Giants $ 117,620,683
St. Louis Cardinals $ 110,300,862
Milwaukee Brewers $ 97,653,944
Chicago White Sox $ 96,919,500
Los Angeles Dodgers $ 95,143,575
Minnesota Twins $ 94,085,000
New York Mets $ 93,353,983
Chicago Cubs $ 88,197,033
Atlanta Braves $ 83,309,942
Cincinnati Reds $ 82,203,616
Seattle Mariners $ 81,978,100
Baltimore Orioles $ 81,428,999
Washington Nationals $ 81,336,143
Cleveland Indians $ 78,430,300
Colorado Rockies $ 78,069,571
Toronto Blue Jays $ 75,489,200
Arizona Diamondbacks $ 74,284,833
Tampa Bay Rays $ 64,173,500
Pittsburgh Pirates $ 63,431,999
Kansas City Royals $ 60,916,225
Houston Astros $ 60,651,000
Oakland Athletics $ 55,372,500
San Diego Padres $ 55,244,700

               

An Opening Day Treasure … From that Other Chicago Team.

U. S. Cellular Field

It’s been 11 years and I still want to refer to the White Sox ballpark as Comiskey rather than U. S. Cellular Field.  It’s ingrained in the soul as much as Fenway and Wrigley.  But, nonetheless, couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share a great read with you from this morning’s offerings.  Here’s an excerpt:

Irish Nachos

” I am of Irish descent and I have been to Ireland and let me just say that the old joke that one of the shortest books in the world is Great Irish Cooks is actually no joke at all.  But Irish Nachos defy those ugly slanders and ignominious legacy and leave you feeling happy, Gaelic, bloated and ready to burp all over the rest of the American League.  God Bless Baseball.”

Here’s the entire article written by Terry Keshner at Seamheads.com.

Chicago White Sox Opening Day:  Irish Nachos and Baroque Batter’s Box

Ron Santo ….. Newest Selection to Baseball Hall of Fame!

“Voice of Ron Santo Broadcasting”

I’ve spent most of the day researching Ron Santo and all I can say is I wish I could have known him.  What a character!  At least that seems to be the consensus of all who knew him.  A wonderful wacky yet sentimental man whose playing career ended in 1974, but is known more by the younger crowd of Chicago Cub fans for his career in the WGN broadcast booth as a color commentator.   Wikipedia has done an excellent job with a four page article that spans his birth in 1940 in Seattle,  Washington to his death on December 3, 2010 in Scottsdale, Arizona and includes his legacy and election into the Hall of Fame today.

Here’s a worthwhile commentary on Ron Santo’s Hall of Fame selection today by D. J. Short, Hardball Talk, 12/5/11

“The Veterans’ Committee just announced that the late Ron Santo has been elected to the Hall of Fame. Continue reading