B List: Favorite White Sox players (List 1)

I figured I should hit the refresh button and come up with a new theme in the blogs. The dating blogs seemed to be the last theme-based writings I did, and I'm glad I didn't have to write them for very long on account of meeting a wonderful girl in the first month of doing it.

Every Friday (give or take 7 days), I'll aim to come up with a unique list, covering random crap (but for your sake, hopefully not literally random craps). I'll try keeping them relevant to something current going on, although with the tangents I go on, I could connect my baseball hat collection to the fall of the Roman Empire in about 3-4 steps.

Without further ado, here's the inaugural list: Favorite White Sox players of my lifetime. The White Sox/Cubs series kicks off (for many) the official start of baseball season, and with many Cubs fans favorite pitcher Kerry Wood having just pitched his last game with the team, I figured - hey, a great topic.

I'll be making my Lists in 7s, mainly to be different, and 7 because of its Vegas tie-in.

Feel free to offer your own favorite Sox or own list ideas.

Missed the Cut (in no particular order): Lyle Mouton (based on name only), Bo Jackson (wasn't with team long enough), Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome (same reason as Bo, although at least he was with the Sox for a few years), Melido Perez, Ray Durham, Carlos Lee

One of two pictures showing White Sox players being punched

7. Robin Ventura - Ventura was a staple of the middle part of the White Sox lineup in the 90s, amassing 171 of his 294 career home runs with the South Siders. His 10-year career with the Sox also included 741 RBIs & a .274 average. For some reason, his average season (17 HRs, 74 RBI, .274 average seems rather meh, but missed time in 1994 (player's strike) & 1997 (54 games played) skews the averages. According to baseball-reference, he also had 4 seasons with the White Sox where he finished in the top 5 of fielding percentage for AL 3rd basemen. I enjoyed watching him as a kid—you knew what you were going to get with him, year in and year out. However, he can’t be any higher than 7 for the simple reason that he picked a fight with a grandpa on a baseball field and got his ass kicked. I never said this was going to be a logical list.

Black Jack - As good of a 3-year run as Sox fans seen from a starter

6. Jack McDowell - BlackJack McDowell was the first great ace that I was able to enjoy as a kid. His three year stretch from 1991-1993 (averaged 257 IPs, ERA in the 3.30 range, combined record of 59-30) is as good of a run as we’ve seen for a South Side pitcher, culminating in a Cy Young in 1993. As a kid though, it was great to have a guy who brought a presence to the mound, where you and I and everyone else knew he was the ace just by the look of him. His trademark thinly styled sideburns with goatee was classic Black Jack. He was only with the White Sox for 7 years and never really sniffed his early career success at his other stops. His run in Chicago was memorable enough for me to crack the Top 6.

What many people wish they could do to AJ

5. AJ Pierzynski -  AJ is the poster boy for polarizing athletes. I don’t have poll results in front of me, but I’d venture a guess and say that about 90-95% outside of the White Sox fan base would not mind if Pierzynski was pushed out of a moving vehicle in the direction of Lake Michigan, where some of those Asian Trout can feast upon him. You get the idea. When he was with the Twins, AJ endeared himself to absolutely no one in Chicago. He was the face of our hatred for the Twins. Now, I bet you would find that most White Sox fans (myself included) appreciate his grit and win-at-all-cost attitude, usually at the expense of irritating his opponent.

 Since his arrival to the White Sox in 2005, AJ has had a hand (sometimes literally) in many memorable moments (for good and bad). Take your pick: getting punched by Michael Barrett after Barrett didn’t take kindly to AJ’s method of slapping the plate (followed up by some colorful language I presume); The Drop Third Strike in the 9th inning of game 2 of the ALCS (only AJ could be involved with a controversial play of this magnitude); catching two no-hitters (including Philip Humber’s perfect game this year). While the mere mention of him annoys many non-Sox fans, one thing he has to be given credit for is his great work ethic. Dude always brings it when he’s on the field. In his 8 year career with the Sox, he has never appeared in less than 128 games (outstanding stretch of health for a catcher), netting average seasons of .280 average, 12 HR, 50 RBI. More importantly though, he’s always seemed to have a good handle on the pitching staff.

Giving hope to many ugly people who want to get laid

4. Ron Karkovice - Ron Karkovice’s pock face reminds many of what Neil Armstrong probably saw when he landed on the moon almost 50 years ago. I don’t have a great reason for including him this high in my favorite Sox of my lifetime outside of his paper bag-inspired face. He batted .221 for his 12-year career (all with the White Sox). He had a 5-season run in the mid 90s where he got double digit home runs every year—but then again, what player in that era DIDN’T have a run like that? He did have a great nickname (The Officer), and I remember him being serviceable enough of a catcher. Actually, I’m pretty sure he’s higher than he should be on this list solely due to his crater look.

 3. Paul Konerko -  If some people want to put him higher on the list, I couldn’t blame them. Like AJ, Konerko will always have his own page in White Sox history, especially with his grand slam in Game 2 of the 2005 Series. He continues to put up great numbers despite advanced age. He reached the 400 HR plateau this season for his career, 3 away from 400 in his White Sox career (would be second to hit 400 as a White Sox player – Frank Thomas). Outside of one bad year in 2003, Konerko has been a guy to count on for the better part of the past 13 years, averaging over 30 HRs/90 RBIs w/ a respectable .285 batting average (.507 career slugging percentage). The memories that don’t show up in box scores (ok, one does) that I remember are (1) his brief stint as one of Chicago’s 50 most-eligible bachelors, during which Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’” would blast through the stadium speakers as he slowly approached the plate and (2) attending a game during his crappy 2003 season where he came up to pinch-hit in extra innings down by a run, and a near-by “fan” just stormed away in disgust, figuring the game was over, as PK was well below .200 hitting at that point in the year (3 HRs in 69 games played through that point in July). Paulie connects on a dinger that extends the game another inning, with Frank Thomas ending the game on a 2-run walk off. If you want to put him 1 or 2, I don’t blame you. I put him at 3.

Big Pimpin'



Mr. Perfect

2.Mark Buehrle - Buehrle wasn’t just a model of consistency—he was a goddamn supermodel of consistency. His 12 year with the Sox ended when he signed with the Miami Marlins and reconnecting with Ozzie Guillen, but his decision has no bearing on where he ranks in my favorite White Sox players. From his first full season (2001) thru 2011 (11 total seasons), he reached 13 or more wins in all but 2 seasons, never straying far from an ERA in the 3.80 range with the exception of one year. He was as healthy as they came too, pitching 200+ innings in that 11 year span, never starting less than 31 games in a season. His resume is as decorated as any in White Sox lore: 2 no-hitters (including a perfect game), 3 Gold Gloves, 4 All-Star appearances. He even notched a save in the World Series. His personality always came through when he played. I remember him doing the slip-and-slide on the tarp during rain delays, before Sox management put the axe on that. There really isn’t one thing that I can complain about when it comes to him. The only group of people that could reasonably complain about him were beer vendors, who many times had less than their standard 2 hours of getting the crowd hammered thanks to Buehrle's quick efficiency on the mound. Great player, great guy. We definitely miss him on the South Side, but can’t say I blame him for taking a better deal with the Marlins. While I don’t mind that we didn’t give him a longer/more expensive deal than Miami, simply because pitchers at his age are usually not worth the time and expense, you could argue that his consistency mentioned above deserved at least a matching offer. I’ll continue to root for him until he retires.

If there was one White Sox player larger than life, it was Thomas

1. Frank Thomas - Before he became famous for making his own beer*, Frank Thomas was famous for hitting baseballs often and hitting them far. He has pretty much every significant power hitting record in White Sox history while maintaining a .307 career average with the team. From 1991-1997, he batted over .300 w/ 20+ HR & 100 RBI EVERY SINGLE YEAR in that span. Consider by many a power hitter, he never led the league in home runs but does have a batting title on his resume. He had a great eye for the ball, walking over 100 times 10 times in his White Sox career. He was one of the best hitters in MLB history and definitely one of the most feared in our generation. There's times where I think we didn't appreciate what Thomas did as a player because so many people were turned off by his personality. When I judge my favorite players, I don't hold his uneasy relationship with the media against him. Rather, I remember him for what his bronze statue on the left field concourse shows - a big linebacker of a baseball player with one of the best swings we'll ever see. I don't see another like him coming around anytime soon. I really wish he could have played in the 2005 run to the title, but I am really glad he got a ring one way or another. There's no one who did more as a White Sox player as Frank Thomas did in his time with the White Sox. To the Big Hurt, this one spot is for you. Thanks for being such a dominant hitter and giving White Sox fans thrills for over 15 years.


*I'm assuming (wrongly) that someone will read this blog in 20 years after his Big Hurt Brew has entered its sixth year as the top selling beer in the world.

Bye to the Hiatus: Sports Talk about Santo, Marlin$, Te-Pro Bowl

I've had writer's block, haven't really sat down by my computer after work, etc., so I apologize to the 10 of you who read my blog regularly.

And by apologize, I mean I'm not really sorry and you should write for me on my writing hiatuses.

Anywho, lots of sports stuff - might write a few blogs tonight. For now, a bulleted one.

As they always say, you're always more famous when you're dead...Ron Santo in the Hall of Fame, finally.

Welcome to the Hall, Ron. Too bad you weren't around to answer the call.

For years, Santo and his loyal fanbase lobbied for his induction into the Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee, which passed him over with each vote. It took the Golden Era Committee (which reviews players from 1947-1972 that have been left out of the Hall) to vote him in. A couple of points from this and the Hall of Fame in general:

1. Good for him, but why did he get voted in a year after he died? Did it take his death to get voted in?
2. The Hall of Fame shouldn't be easy to get into. It should be a selective process and reward only the game's best.
3. Santo didn't get voted into the Hall by the regular voters mainly because of the influx of guys voted into the hall during his 15 year eligibility span (over half of the time he was eligible, 4+ guys got voted in by regular committee).
4. The Hall voters are dumb. Only thing you need to know, no one, not even Babe Ruth or Ted Williams, has ever been voted in unanimously. Voters who leave certain guys off their ballots should have their vote taken away. Next example of this - Greg Maddux.
5. How can voters not vote for someone one year, then next year change their ballot to include said player(s)? Player's stats (aside from Hack Wilson's) haven't changed after they retired, so it makes no sense to leave a guy off of a ballot if you think he is a HOF. Either you think he is HOF-worthy or he is not. It shouldn't be a year-to-year thing where as a voter, you change your mind and say, you know what, he is worthy now.

The Miami Marlins have been bought by the ghost of George Steinbrenner.  First Reyes, now Buehrle. Next, Pujols? Marlins are spending like the Yankees right now. Last year, they were lucky to draw a thousand people to some games. They have a new stadium that they are looking to fill now. My guess is that it will be like the previous stadiums that opened - fun at first, but at the end of the day, people won't show up day in, day out for a losing product. The Reyes contract is going to look awful in  a few years, and if they sign Pujols, that'll make two contracts that look ugly come 2015. Reyes' game is based on speed, and with how often he gets hurt, I don't expect him to be getting within a whiff of his steal totals from the first half of his career. I consider him a bum for taking himself out of the last regular season game when he ensured himself of winning the batting title. This doesn't sound like a guy I'd want around my team.

Pujols has had 3-4 years in declining stats and is going to be an average to slightly above-average player in about 4-5 years, which means 5-6 years of dead money. Also, we assume he is 31 right now. With how often Dominicans who come to the major leagues have fudged their age, what if he is 33 right now? That would mean he would be 42-43 when this deal ends. Like I said a few weeks ago, the Cards should let the Marlins sign him. The Cardinals do not need him to contend in a weak NL Central now. And with the solid foundation of ownership that they've always had, they won't need him in the near future.

Tebow a Pro-Bowler? Not as crazy of a thought as you might think.

Never thought I'd be saying this, but I'd be surprised if Tebow WASN'T a Pro-Bowler this year. Before you think I've swallowed a couple of crazy pills and smoked a pipe, look at the AFC and look at the talent of the QBs this year by division. And by no means am I a believer in his long-term success, merely looking at this year's QB situations in the AFC. (Note: I've named the starter to be the guy who has started the most game for his team at this point):

AFC North: Big Ben, Flacco, McCoy, Dalton: Only one who will make Pro Bowl (at least initially) will be Big Ben.
AFC South: Schaub, Painter, Hasselbeck, Gabbert: No Pro-Bowlers here. Schaub, who would have made it, is out for year.
AFC East: Brady, Sanchez, Fitzpatrick, Moore: Brady will go. Sanchez is under-rated and gets too much criticism, don't see him getting in. Fitzpatrick is a sleeper for nomination. If Moore could have started the year, he may be more considered (and Miami may be a playoff team).
AFC West: Tebow, Palmer, Rivers, Cassel: Again, no one here deserves nomination. Rivers is having a down year, Palmer is still getting his feet wet.

Will get in: Brady, Big Ben
Could get in: Flacco, Dalton, Fitzpatrick, Tebow
Probably won't: Rivers, Hasselbeck, Sanchez
Won't get in: Everyone else

As you can see by a breakdown, it's not too crazy to think that the Tebow hype gets him in the Pro Bowl, even though his stats don't show it. The fans get a third of the vote, remember. Also remember that Big Ben and Brady will likely bail on the Pro Bowl (playoff status or not) and there will be replacement(s) for them.

Also remember that the Pro Bowl is a useless game that no one really cares about or watches anyways, and the arguments over who doesn't get in are as pointless as the arguments about the fringe teams who don't make the NCAA tourney.

The BCS got the final game right, but there should at least be a +1 scenario in place. Just about everyone who watches college football has something bad to say about the BCS, and most believe there should be some kind of playoff. I know some people who believe a team should win their conference (whether it have a title game or not) in order to be considered. Others don't like the idea of a rematch in the title game - I have no problem with one.

However, I do think that there should be some mini-playoff, like a +1 scenario, which I understand to be a four-team playoff, with winners of semi-final games to play in championship game. In years where there are less than two major conference teams that finish undefeated, the BCS process gets critiqued. Last year, Oregon and Auburn finished undefeated, so no problems there. This year? LSU and then a bunch of 1-loss teams.

I think Bama and OK St should play each other in a couple weeks to play for the right to play LSU in champ game. Either way, I think it'd end up being Bama/LSU for the title.