Remembering Dick Allen

 Dick Allen died earlier this month on December 7,2020 at the age of 78. Allen was the NL rookie of the year for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964, the year I was born. He played for the White Sox form 1972 to 1974 and was a big part of the reason why I switched allegiances from the Chicago Cubs to their south side counterpart  White Sox. 

It transpired something like this.  My sister was the grade ahead of me at school and achieved straight A's at school one year.  Our school had a promotion with the White Sox that if you had straight A's or perfect attendance you would receive 2 vouchers for tickets to a White Sox game.  My Dad took my sister to a game and I decided that the next year I would get perfect attendance and he could take me

Sure enough, the next year I had perfect attendance for the first and only time in my academic life. My Dad took me to a game in 1972 or out the roof shots and it was1973 against the Baltimore Orioles.  He taught me how to keep score and Dick Allen hit a home run.  

From that day on I was a White Sox fan. I watched games on T.V. and listened to the rest on the radio.  I even became a country music fan as the White Sox games were broadcast on the local country station.  The rest of the family remained Cubs fans (I still like the Cubs because no one told me other wise, ) but my exuberance was for the White Sox.  Each year our family took a pilgrimage to Wrigley to watch a game.   Each year my Dad found away usually near my birthday to take me to a White Sox game as well.

I liked all the players, Bucky Dent. Wilbur Wood, Jorge Orta, Bill Melton but Allen was by far my favorite. Over the years the players changed but my passion for the White Sox never ebbed. I have had many favorite White Sox players over the years Kessinger, Fisk, Thomas, Buehrle, and Konerko just to name a few,  but those fond memories of watching Allen at first base or at the plate never  did fully dissipate.

Click here to watch footage of Allen with commentary from teammate Bill Melton. I also have put some video and audio clips of Allen at my vlog, Dave Out Loud. 

Allen at the Bat

Allen in the Field

Iconic Sports Illustrated Cover

    

    

Hall of Fame 2020 If I had a vote and used it

 Since the inception of this blog I have always previewed the Baseball HOF voting with a number of posts. Last year was only the second year that I did not do this.  I was just too busy and I thought I had finally given up blogging. As I am back and blogging again I am in  the midst of previewing the 2021 Hall of Fame selection next month.  I thought I would spend a few minutes and say who I would have wanted to vote for on last years ballot if I were afforded one.

Each member of the Base Ball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) is given up to 10 votes each year. As I do most every year I will pretend I have as many as 10 votes down to as few as 1 vote and state who I think I would have voted for.  I will also mention how many people I think I would have voted for if I could vote for any number from 1 to 10. Again, I say I think because this is an exercise in pure revisionist history as I already know the results of the election.  After saying who I voted for in what position, I will reveal what % of the vote they actually received. Anyone receiving less than 5% will not be on the ballot this year. Anyone who received at least 5% of the vote and less than 75% of the vote who still is within their first 9 years on the ballot will return to the ballot in 2021. Anyone who received more than 75% will become a member of the HOF.

 If I were give 10 votes in  the 2020 election, I think my10th vote would have gone to Andy Pettitte in his 2nd year on the ballot.  I had not voted for Pettitte in his first season on the ballot.  Pettitte received 11.3% of the vote in 2020 which was up from 9.9 % in his inaugural year. 

If only able to vote for 9 people in 2020, I believe my 9th vote would have gone to Andruw Jones in his 3rd year on the ballot.  I had not voted for Jones previously. Jones ended up receiving 19.4 % of the writers votes in 2020 which was up quite a bit form the 7.5% he received in 2019. 

If there was a rule that said I could vote for 8 and  only 8 players on the 2020 ballot, I'm thinking my 8th vote would have been  for Curt Schilling in his 8th year on the ballot. I had not voted for Schilling in previous years. Schilling received 70.0 percent of the vote in 2020 which was up from 60.9% in 2018. 

If I could only vote for 7 people in 2020. I think my 7th vote would have gone to Gary Sheffield in his 6th year of eligibility. In 2019 I would have considered voting for Sheffield if I had been given as many as 12 votes.  Sheffield received 20.6% of the vote in 2020 which was a great increase from the 13.6% he got in 2019.

If I could only vote for 6 players in the 2020 election. I'm pretty certain my 6th vote would have gone to Jeff Kent in his 7th year on the ballot. This would have been 2 places better than I vote for him in 2019/ In 2020 Kent received 27.5 % of the writer's votes which was up from 18.1 % in 2019.

Todd Helton would have been my 5th vote in the 2020 election If I had to vote for exactly 5 people. 2020 was Helton's 2nd year on the ballot.  In his inaugural year on the ballot he was the 7th player I would have chosen. Helton garnered 29.2% of the vote in 2020 which was up from 16.5% in 2019.

If I could vote in the 2020 election for as many players as I thought were worthy to be enshrined in Cooperstown, I think I would have voted for 4 people/  Before I tell you who the 4th person was, I offer the following caveat. Since I did not research the vote last year, I did not allow for voting for any returning player on my official unofficial ballot who was not on the OUB previously. It is my possible that Helton or even Kent may have raised in my estimation if I took the ample time to review their case prior to the 2020 voting. I did not, so they are both on the outside looking in.  

With 4 votes in my pocket the 4th vote would have gone to Larry Walker in his 10th and final year on the ballot.  In 2019 Walker had been my fifth vote in my official unofficial ballot of 6 players. In 2020 the voters saw clearly to elect Walker to the Hall of Fame with 76.6% of the vote up from 54.6% in his penultimate year of eligibility.

If on the 2020 ballot I could only vote for 3 players I am positive that my 3rd vote would go to Omar Vizquel in his 3rd year of eligibility. In 2019 He was also the 3rd on my ballot. Vizquel received 52.6% of the votes up from 42.8% in 2019.

My last 2 votes would have both gone to players in their 1st year of eligibility in 2020.  mu 2nd vote would have gone to Derek Jeter who received 99.7% of the vote and made it to the HOF. My #1 vote would have definitely gone to my guy, Paul Konerko. Unfortunately the voters don't know him like I do and he recieved only 2.5% of the vote, only 1/2 the votes he need for consideration this year.

I will return in a few days for the next installment in the 2021 review.

Stats Sunday

This is the last Sunday of the year and as 2020 ends I've decide to start something new.  From time to time on this blog I will write a post that features statistics in some way.  I was thinking about publishing them on Saturdays and calling it Staturday but I decided instead to call it Stats Sunday. It won't be every Sunday. But when I have a stats based post I will try to publish it on a Sunday.  

The Bears beat Jacksonville today to stay alive in the Playoff picture. gula The game was Mitchell Trubisky's 49th start during the regular season. It was his 29th win in 49 starts for a winning percentage of .592.  This got me to thinking.  

This blog began over 11 years ago on December 12 2009. Since then the Bears have played 177 regular season games. They have won 82 of these games and lost 95 for a winning percentage of .462. During that time, the Bears have started 12 different quarterbacks and only one has a better winning percentage in games they started than Trubisky. This is the forgettable Todd Collins who won his only game as a starter for the Bears but was benched in the 3rd quarter in favor of Caleb Hanie. While Collins illustrates that one's winning percentage as a starter is not always indicative of performance,  when related to a larger body of work than a handful of games there is certainly relevance to be gleaned.

Player	Year(s) Started	Wins	Losses	Percentage
Todd Collins	2010	1	0	1.000
Mitchell Trubisky	2017-2020	29	20	.592
Josh McCown	2011.2013	3	3	.500
Jay Cutler	2009-2016	44	46	.489
Nick Foles	2020	2	5	.286
Mike Glennon	2017	1	3	.250
Brian Hoyer	2016	1	4	.200
Matt Barkley	2016	1	5	.167
Jason Campbell	2012	0	1	.000
Chase Daniel	2018,2019	0	2	.000
Jimmy Clausen	2014,2015	0	2	.000
Caleb Hanie	2011	0	4	.000

Most Starts:  Jay Cutler (90)

Most Wins: Jay Cutler (44)

Most Losses: Jay Cutler (46)

Jay Cutler doing his Jim from the Office impression.

Best Winning Percentage: Todd Collins 1.000

Best Winning Percentage (5 or more starts) : Mitchell Trubisky .592

Worst Winning Percentage. Caleb Hanie* .000 

Worst Winning Percentage (5 or more starts): Matt Baarkley  .167

* 4 QBs have a .000 winning percentage during this time.  Hanie gets the distinction of worst because he had more starts than any of the other 3.
Statistics are interesting in that they can tell you a lot and tell you nothing at all at the very same time. I'm not sure what kind of meaning can be extrapolated from the above chart, but  it was kind of fun and a more than a little depressing looking back at a decade of Bears starting quarterbacks.

This is quite Awesome

While I have an Instagram account, I am never on it. The only thongs I ever see from Instagram are what's posted to other platforms such as this really cool reimagining of NBA jerseys that I saw on NBCsports.com. 

 

View this post on Instagram

My favorite jersey is the Bulls one, of course. It ties in my favorite 2 sports teams (Sorry Bears!) in 2 ways. First they have the same owner (Jerry Reinsdorf) and by using the #23 we are reminded how Michael Jordan played minor league ball in the White Sox organization in the mid 90's. My 2nd favorite is the Bucks and my least favorites were the Heat and the Rockets.  

 

2021 Official Hall of Fame Ballot.

 On Monday November 16, 2020 The Baseball Hall of fame announced the 2021 BBWAA (Base Ball Writer;s Association of America) ballot.

There are 14 players returning to the ballot and 11 players on the ballot for the first time.  Mark Buehrle who pitched most of his career for the White Sox is among the 11.

There are no players on the ballot for their 10th year.  I have all the other players listed alphabetically under what appearance on the ballot this is for them.

9th appearance            8th appearance             7th appearance   

Barry Bonds                   Jeff Kent                        Gary Sheffield

Roger Clemens

Curt Schilling

Sammy Sosa.

6th appearance            5th appearance            4th appearance

Billy Wagner                 Manny Ramirez             Andruw Jones

                                                                             Scott Rolen

                                                                             Omar Vizquel

3rd appearance            2nd appearance            1st appearance

Todd Helton                   Bobby Abreu                  Mark Buehrle 

AndyPettitte                                                           A.J. Burnett

                                                                               Michael Cuddyer

                                                                                Dan Heren

                                                                                LaTroy Hawkins

                                                                                Tim Hudson

                                                                                Torii Hunter

                                                                                 Aramis Ramirez

                                                                                 Nick Swisher

                                                                                 Shane Victorino

                                                                                 Barry Zito

The results of the voting will be announces January 26, 2021.  This  year I did not get around to the analysis for the HOF that I have been providing for over 10 years.  I hope this post shows I plan to remedy my absence for the 2021 ballot.

    

All 27 Outs from Lucas Giolito's No-Hitter (August 25, 2020)

All 27 Outs of Alec Mills No-Hitter

15 From 2005 - # 1 Season Tickets

 15 from 2005

Snapshots from a Championship Season

1 - Season Tickets

Today, we look back at the wonder that was the 2005 White Sox.  Many people have already said so many things about the 2005 White Sox.  I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel here, I just want to take time and reflect and reminisce about that magical season from my point of view.

In 2005 I was working in the research department for a mortgage company.  I was just a regular hourly employee there.  However my position as the person who responded to correspondence directed to our company president and other high level correspondence made me fairly well known around  the company as I interacted with most every department in responding to these issues.  It was also fairly well known that I was a White Sox fan.  One morning one of the mailroom employees who would bring me some of the correspondence I would research came to my desk with a flyer. 

It was an extra White Sox 2005 Season ticket sales flyer that was sent to our company.  She thought I would get a kick out of seeing it.  She, of course, was absolutely right. I love all things White Sox and did enjoy looking at the different ticket plans available for the then upcoming season. 

I took the flyer home to show my wife. I really had no real thought of buying tickets.  We went  to 3 or 4 games a year, but many of those tickets we received through promotions or other modes of frugality.    I  had never had season tickets for anything, so it really wasn't on my radar and we had 2 children at home so it also wasn't in our budget

AI showed Amy the flyer and went on with my regularly scheduled life.  The next day AMy calls me  at work and say, I think we should buy season tickets. Color me flabbergasted!   Before I could un gast my flabber, she reminded me of a gift my parents gave us the previous Christmas.  

My parents (who are huge Cubs fans) had given each of their children a sizable amount of money. They had done so almost every year and almost every year we had it spent it, or at least earmarked it by New Year's Eve.  

This particular year we had held onto it, and had not really set it aside for any expenditure.  The money hadn't even crossed my mind when I  received the flyer. It evidently had crossed my wife's mind. She suggested that we could use some of that money and purchase 2 tickets to the 9 game plan (cleverly called the Minnie Plan after White Sox legend Minnie Minoso). 

I wasn't so sure.  It seemed like an extravagance to spend so much money on something that would mainly benefit me.  Even so, there was another problem lurking in the ether, an Elephant in the Stadium that needed to be addressed.  

The White Sox have been playing in the same stadium since 1991. From 1991 to 2002 IThe stadium was  called Comiskey Park, which was also the name of the stadium it replaced.  In 2003 the name  the name  changed to U.S. Cellular Field.  I attended 8 to 9 games there  in 2003 and 2004 and the White Sox lost every single one of them! This included a 7-0 loss to the New York Yankees on September 23rd.  I remember that game specifically because a) It was my 39th birthday, and b) it eliminated The White Sox from the playoffs by that loss and a Minnesota Twins victory over the Cleveland Indians. 

It wasn't like the Sox stunk at home since the name change. In fact, they went a combine 97-65 at home during those 2 years that's a winning percentage of .599! They won 6 of every 10 games but 0 of the 9 I went to! I'm pretty sure the White Sox Marquis had a sign that read Welcome to U.S. Cellular Field, except you Dave Roller! 

So why would I possibly think of  buying seasons tickets to a team I hadn't been to a home winner in since the name change? It was a valid question.  But the thing about me, is I'm an optimist.  I mean who isn't before a season starts?  It's a new beginning.  I took a leap of faith and bought the Minnie plan.  I took different people to different games.  We even went to a few more games not on the plan.  

And when we went to games, they won. They actually won.  I attended only one loss the entire season. Then they won the World Series for the first time since 1917.

Wait a minute, am I saying the White Sox won the World series because I stood up to my U.S. Cellular slump and had the courage to buy a ticket plan? Yes, yes, I am. It's not the only reason,  as we will see there is plenty of credit to go around.  The players had a lot to do with it.  Ozzie Guillen sure deserves some acclaim.  The general manager did a superb job picking up several players who did not play for the White Sox in 2004, who had major parts in the success of the 2005 season.  Even the guy who watched the waiver wire had his part to play.  What's a waiver wire? I'm both  getting ahead of myself and setting the scene for future installments of 15 from 2005. 

Join us next time, won't you?

15 from 2005 Intro

It's hard not to get excited about an upcoming baseball season.  As an eternal optimist, it's super easy to get excited at the beginning of any sports season.  But as much as I am looking forward to finally getting the 2020 MLB season underway tomorrow, I'm even more excited to looking backward at the magical 2005 White Sox World Series Championship season.  It has been 15 years since they won it all and I plan to share 15 stories from the season.  I'll be back in a few days with part I.  

White Sox defeat Cubs in exhibition game at Wrigley Field.

This past Sunday Evening in Chicago, a cross town rivalry resumed days before the covid 19 shortened baseball season got underway.  

Jason Kipnis homered for the Cubs in their half of the first inning giving them a one run lead.  Kipnis hit 12 homers against the White Sox as a member of the Cleveland Indians.  The Cubs added to their lead in the second as Wilson Contreras scored on a sacrifice fly in the second.  

The score remained 2-0 until the top of the 5th inning.  With one out, Adam Engel who is known more for robbing opposing batters of home runs, robbed Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks of a shut-out by homering himself.  

After the Engel homer, Tim Anderson singled and Eloy Jimenezflew out to right field and what happened next could only bedescribed as a good old fashioned 2 out rally.  Jose Abreusingle to right moving Anderson to 3rd and removing Hendricks from the game. Jharel Cotton came in to pitch for the Cubs and Andrew Vaughn came into run for Abreu. Yasmani Grandal then doubled in Anderson and  Vaughn giving the White Sox the lead. 

The south siders were not finished yet.  Grandals hit was just the first of three run scring doubles in succession. Edwin Encarnacion who made his major league debut for the Cincinatti Reds in the White Sox World Championship year of 2005 and is  right about to begin his 16th season in the major leagues and his first for the White Sox hit a double to left  plating Grandal.  Then Luis Robert, who has yet to make his major league debut and was 8 years old when the White Sox won it all in 2005 hit a ground rule double to score Encarnacion.  

 

 Luis Gonzalez came into run for Robert.  Leury Garcia  tripled to score Gonzalez.  This brought up Cheslor Cuthbert who just came over to the White Sox from the Royals who had the misfortune of making the first and final outs of the inning.  But when Cuthbert made out #1 his team was behind 2-0, when he made out #3 they were ahead 6-2. 

The White Sox added a run to that lead on a wild pitch in the seventh and the Cubs took that run away in the 8th as David Bote scored Josh Phegley in the 8th ending the scoring at 7-3 White Sox.  

White Sox set to open 2020 season on 7/24

 When the year began the Chicago White Sox were all set to have a record breaking season.  Maybe they wouldn't hit 242 home runs like they did in 2004 or strike out 1,359 opponents like in 2015, but when the umpire shouted "play ball" in their game on Thrusday, March 26th against the Kansas City Royals it would be their earliest opening day ever.  

This, of course did not happen.  The White Sox, none the less, will be breaking records this year if  their home opener scheduled against the  Minnesota Twins on July 24th doesn't get cancelled or delayed it will certainly set  the record for latest opening day ever. The planned 60 game schedule should contain many records even if many of them will come with asterisks.  Teams will certainly have the least errors and strikeouts and fewest hits and home runs allowed.  Attendance should be record breaking as well with most teams unsure if they will be able to sell any tickets.  .

With Covid numbers continuing to grow in the U.S.   I'm not sure how I feel about the season being played at all.  As a fan, I am eager for the sason to get under way,  but thher is part of me, like a true baseball purest,  that feels that  everyone should be safe at home.  

Ed Farmer 1949 to 1920

Ed Farmer was a hero of mine from childhood and for a few minutes in 2004 I was a hero of his. The former White Sox pitcher and raidio announce passed away on April 1st of this year. Hear his what his former radio partner Ed Rooney had to say about working with Ed. Here is a video from last year where farmer relected on his life in baseball.
 For Christmas 2003 my wife got me tickets to Sox Fest, an annual White Sox fan event held each January. The Sox had just hired Ozzie Guillen to manage their squad and I was very excited about meeting  the players and attending some of the panel discussions. During the panel discussions fans were able to go to the microphone and ask questions. During a White Sox media panel discussion I asked Ed Farmer, whon was a incredible advocate for organ donation and a recipient of a kidney from one of his brothers to talk a little about that. In asking my question I related that I had donated a kidney and appreciated his advocacy for organ donation. This is when Farmer turned the tables on me. I remember him saying something like let's hear it for this guy, he's a true hero. There in the middle of Sox Fest I got an ovation from a bunch of Sox Fan strangers.

 From all I've read and herad about Farmer,this was his way. Heexcelled at relating to people on a personal level. After the panel He talked with me for about 5 minutes even though other people were waiting to talk with Him. Farmer would often address his radio audience as his friends and he seemed to truly  treat and deem  each person he encountered as a friend.

 Farmer grew up on the south side of Chicago in Evergreen Park and was a life long Sox fan.He pitched in the big leagues from 1971 to 1983 in what some have called a nomic career,  splitting 11 seasons between 8 teams. Farmer was  a career long reliever with the occasional start.  He appeared in 370 games starting only 21 times ( 4 in his first season, 4 in his final season with 13 in between).

Prior to 1979 Farmer would fluctuate between the minors and the big clubs.  This changed when Farmer came back to the south side for arguably his best 3 seasons.  He filled the role of a closer for the Chisox with 54 of his 75 lifetime saves in a Sox uniform.  He had 30 of those saves in 1980 where he earned his first and only all star appearance. 

After Farmer  stopped playing he worked a short time as a scout and then in the White Sox front office and in 1991 started in the radio booth in a limited capacity.  In 1992 he became the full time color commentator aside play by play man John Rooney.  When Rooney left in 2005 after the world championship season, Farmer became the play by play announcer.  In total nearly 30 years behind the microphone.

In August of 1999 I brought our young adult group from church to a Sox game.  I had ordered the tickets in advance and had to go into the office to pick them up. While waiting for the tickets A tall lean tanned man strolled into the office talking with a few people on his way to the elevator. It took me a while to realize that this was Farmio.  In retrospect I should not have been surprised.  He displayed all the warmth , good humor and boyish exuberance that seemed to be his only gear.

I am confident that White Sox baseball will start again after the shelter in place lifts  and that games will again be broadcasted on e achieved on and off the field.  The few times I saw Farmer in person I was always taken aback about how tall he was.  At 6'5 He's nearly a half foot taller than myself and I'm no slouch.  Now I realized that he had to be that tall because his personality , zeal , and love for the game  would not fit in a smaller package.