Farewell “Mr. White Sox”

--> When Minnie Minoso, “The Cuban Comet”, passed away this past weekend, Chicago lost another baseball legend.  Minnie was the first black Latin player in Major League Baseball and first black player in the American League when he signed with Cleveland in 1949.  Two years later he was traded to the White Sox, where he became a fan favorite for his relentless style of play and outgoing personality.

Minnie played 12 of his 17 years with the White Sox and is one of only two players to have played at least 1 game in 5 different decades.  Minnie was a 7-time All Star and 3-time Gold Glove winner in left field.  He led the AL in triples and stolen bases 3 times each.  His accomplishments both on the field and off led to his number 9 being retired and he is immortalized with a statue on the outfield concourse at U.S. Cellular Field.

Minnie’s popularity in Chicago only grew after his retirement.  As a community relations ambassador, he represented the White Sox with class and a never ending smile.  He took the time to talk with fans wherever he went, freely signing autographs for anyone who wanted one.  It is said that he signed enough autographs for every resident of Chicago to have at least one.

I was fortunate enough to have met Minnie at Sox Fest years ago.  My buddy Jamie and I were standing in the hallway between autograph sessions when Minnie walked up to us.  He introduced himself and asked us where we were from.  With hundreds of fans walking around, Minnie spent about 5 minutes with us talking baseball and of course signed an autograph for each of us.  Minnie was one of the nicest, most personable sports figures I have ever encountered.

Despite his wonderful career and historical significance paving the way for Latin players, Minnie has been denied entry to the Hall of Fame.  Was it coming to the Majors later in his career after spending so much time playing in Cuba and the Negro Leagues or the “stunt” game in 1980 to have played in 5 decades that have kept him out?  It’s a shame that only Chicago has recognized a great man.

Career Stats

Games	Hits	HR	SO	BB	RBI	Runs	SB	Avg.	Fld. %
1,835	1,963	186	584	814	1,023	1,136	205	.298	.971

Jake Peavy on the South Side

Over the past week, I have been wrestling with my feelings over the Jake Peavy deal that White Sox GM Kenny Williams made, 4 for 1. Four young, up and coming pitchers, two of whom are power lefties (Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Adam Russell and Dexter Carter) given up for one injured, former Cy Young Award winner. Too much was given up in my humble opinion and I’ll tell you why...

Jake Peavy is not going to be available to the Sox until late August at the soonest, meaning Chicago is facing four weeks without a starting pitcher. That leaves a consistent 3 man rotation of Buehrle, Floyd and Danks. Fourth in the rotation is Contreras who right now couldn’t find the strike zone if it was bright pink in the middle of an open field. As far as a fifth starter, it will be by committee. Clayton Richard should not have been part of this deal. The White Sox need a solid 4th man during this wait for Peavy and that was Richard. Kenny once again acted like it was a seller’s market, when in reality it was a buyer's market (e.g.: Cliff Lee and Jared Washburn).

If Peavy can stay healthy over the next couple of years and pitch up to his history, it will be a great move overall. I am thrilled to have a pitcher of his caliber, but I say this with some trepidation, as we have been burned in the past by the likes of David Wells and Bartolo Colon (twice now).

I think I would prefer to have taken my chances with Clayton Richard, the young left hander who throws mid-90’s and is learning his control and secondary pitches.

Trade Deadline Ramifications 2009

Okay, the ’09 MLB trade deadline has come and gone...who won and who lost?

Nah, that’s too simple - with the economics of baseball being in worse shape than the American stock market, we should filter what we’ve seen over the last few weeks into categories. Welcome to “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”, ‘Sports Frenzy’ style!!!

Moving Players Like Freakin’ Chess Pieces: Must be nice to be a Red Sox fan. Um, we need a first baseman...let’s trade for Adam LaRoche! A few days pass. Ummm, can’t we do better than LaRoche? Let’s trade LaRoche for Casey Kotchman PLUS get Victor Martinez to boot!!! There’s the ticket...

Fire Sale!!!: See ‘Pirates, Pittsburgh’ & ‘Indians, Cleveland’. Also see ‘Disgraceful’ and ‘Pathetic’...

Waiting In The Weeds Like A Viper: The Cardinals didn’t do much last year to improve themselves, and St. Louis fans wondered aloud if they were being hosed like the Pirates faithful...their team opens a new ballpark and then abruptly stops trying to excel on the field as the cash registers overflow. Not so in 2009. Mark DeRosa, Julio Lugo, and Matt Holliday have joined Ryan Ludwick as Albert Pujols’ posse, and the Phillies have started sweating a bit...

How Do You Spell Relief???: The Cubs and Dodgers decided to bolster their bullpens and stick with the lumber they already had. John Grabow comes to The Windy City from Pittsburgh, and George Sherrill goes from the East Coast (Baltimore) to the West Coast (L.A.). Now if Lou Piniella can just get Kevin Gregg straightened out again...

Aces High: The Phillies already had Hamels, the White Sox already had Buehrle. Both pitchers helped lead their teams to World Series championships within the last five years. Now, Cole has Cliff Lee to watch his back & ‘Mr. Perfect Game’ will have Jake Peavy (by late August) to ride shotgun for him...

What does it all mean? In the end, we’re still looking at the haves vs. the have-nots. We’ll probably see the Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers, and Cubs (wild card) in the NL & the Red Sox, White Sox, Angels, and Yankees (wild card) in the AL. Sure, the postseason will be entertaining, but people will still drift en masse to pro football come September. Why? Because hope springs eternal everywhere in Roger Goodell’s world...the NFL makes it much more realistic for a team to stage a turnaround or comeback than the flawed financial structure of Major League Baseball does...

Just ask fans of the Pirates, Indians, Nationals, A’s, Royals, Orioles, and Blue Jays...

Perfect!!!

Perfect history on a perfect afternoon. One of the rarest feats in all of sports was accomplished yesterday afternoon on the South Side of Chicago when White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle retired the Tampa Bay Rays in order, 27 up and 27 down. Only the 18th perfect game pitched in Major League Baseball history (the first since 2004), Buehrle backed up his no hitter last year against the Texas Rangers. In that game, Buehrle walked only 1 batter, Sammy Sosa, and promptly picked him off first base.

What Mark did yesterday was a thing of beauty. It was not only his pitching ability, but the overall defensive performance by the team. What also makes this a special game was that not all of the White Sox regulars were playing on what was called a getaway day as the club prepared to leave for Detroit after the game. Josh Fields (hit a grand slam) played first in place of Paul Konerko and Ramon Castro catching in place of A.J. Pierzynski.

Dewayne Wise made THE CATCH of the season and probably his career by leaping the fence and taking a home run away from Gabe Kapler leading off the 9th inning. This was the first inning that Wise played, coming in as a defensive replacement. As a huge Sox fan, I have been very critical of the organization's decision to keep Wise around this season. I was more impressed with Brian Anderson’s defense, and Anderson was hitting a moderately better .238 to Wise’s .196 before Anderson was sent to the minors. After yesterday, I will cut Dewayne some slack for a few days. The determination he showed in going after that ball and the concentration he displayed in holding on to it have earned him that...

Congratulations to Mark Buehrle and thank you Dewayne Wise! You have made all of us White Sox fans proud!!!

Plundering The Pirates – Why Pittsburgh Should Lose Their Baseball Team

Settle down, Western Pennsylvanians…this is not an indictment of Pittsburgh fans. You do a fantastic job of supporting the Steelers & Penguins, and those two wonderful franchises, in turn, give you superstars to root for and championships to cherish...

What then do we make of the miserable Pirates? The 2009 season has already turned into one of the ugliest on record for a modern-era major league baseball team…no, not necessarily in wins versus losses but in the disgusting cowardice the front office has shown in shipping talented players out of town well before the trading deadline in a pathetic display of blatant disregard for season-ticket holders in particular & Pitt fans in general...

Nate McLouth, Nyjer Morgan, Eric Hinske, and Adam LaRoche have already been traded away this year (for mediocre prospects), and now Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez are most likely headed out of town in the next week because they wouldn’t accept insulting contract extensions (“Hey, guys…please take less money next year and we’ll tack on another year or two in the 5th Ring of Hell for ya!!!”). I hate the Yankees and their free-spending ways as much as the next guy, but I also find it ridiculous that they have to subsidize a team like the Pirates that continues to thumb its nose at Bud Selig...

The solution…ship ‘em out. The NBA is not exactly financially sound right now, but at least David Stern acknowledges (quickly) when a franchise is failing & (quickly) facilitates a move (see Seattle to Oklahoma City, Charlotte to New Orleans, Vancouver to Memphis). We don’t need another Montreal Expos debacle, Mr. Selig (look how long that mess dragged out before the team moved to D.C.); invoke the ‘best interest of baseball’ clause and get the Pirates relocated to Portland or Vegas NOW!!!

As a Cubs fan, I understand your frustration, Pirates supporter...I really do. However, the Cubs actually TRY to field a winning team (it rarely works out well, but the effort is there). In fact, we were the beneficiaries of one of your infamous Pittsburgh fire sales a few years back (in a pair of 2003 deals, we essentially got Kenny Lofton, Randall Simon, and Aramis Ramirez for a pack of Big League Chew and Bobby Hill). That being said, the sports community is better as a whole when each & every franchise puts forth a decent effort to field a competitive team. Eventually, the Nationals will get their act together and the Royals will land a manager who can figure out what to do with the young players the front office tries to keep & nurture. What’s the Pirates’ excuse???

Las Vegas Scorpions. Portland Lumberjacks. Which one do you prefer, Pittsburgh? The minute Bud Selig grows a pair, your team is heading west. In the meantime, take solace in the immortal words of Meatloaf - two out of three ain’t bad...

Baseball Fans Rock, But They Shouldn’t Vote...

Once again, the annual debacle known as Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game is upon us. The latest incarnation of MLB’s grand exhibition game spurs two huge debates every year: 1) Should the game decide home-field advantage for the World Series? and 2) Should the fans vote for the starting position players? I think you’ll be surprised to find that The Maestro flies in the face of convention on both topics...

On the first debate, I side with (gulp) Bud Selig. Yes, it’s an ‘exhibition’ but you’re dealing with leagues that play by different rules all season long. To award home-field advantage in the World Series to the winning All-Star squad is only slightly more arbitrary than giving it to the team with the best overall win/loss percentage. Other than a few weeks of interleague play every year, the American League and the National League never cross paths. One has a DH, the other lets the pitcher hit. It’s like dealing with Japan and North Korea…geographically & ethnically similar, culturally disparate. Why not let them slug it out for one glorious night to decide who gets the edge? Ummm, the AL & the NL, I mean…let’s not start a nuclear showdown here, it’s just a blog...

As for the second argument, I have been steadfastly against the fan vote since I was old enough to realize that it was a popularity contest and not a true evaluation of the best players the sport had to offer for the current season. Sorry, but other than the pot-bellied former star QBs and saggy-boobed ex-prom queens of the world, nobody digs popularity contests. You know who wins popularity contests? Michael Vick. Who doesn’t? Bill Gates. Who would you argue is a better, more productive person? Thought so...

The same logic should apply to the All-Star vote. Fans pick the old standbys and the ‘cool’ names, not the emerging stars who actually deserve the roster spots. Would Raul Ibanez (with the same numbers) have been voted in as a starter this year if he were still in Seattle instead of in Philly? Not hardly. Would David Wright stand a chance in Hades if he (again, with the same numbers) played in Kansas City instead of the Big Apple? Nope.

In the end, the vote should be 33% players, 33% coaches, 34% media. The people who know, watch, and live the game every single day should decide the best of the best, not internet geeks and face-painters...

I, for one, have grown to despise All-Star games (or races, for that matter). If it’s billed as an exhibition, that means I can watch a movie or play a video game instead. I’m actually a bit disgusted by fans and sports reporters who act like joyful, giddy children as they watch and praise games where defense isn’t a factor, critical errors can be laughed off as harmless larks, and protecting players from injury becomes an unwieldy concern. The essence of sport is the competition for a championship, an ultimate goal; on the professional level, it’s not supposed to be a giddy free-for-all where there are no winners or losers. Let’s leave the PC crap for the ACLU and the attorneys...let’s make sure our games – all of them – continue to matter, shall we?

Lou Tries To Gets His Cajones Back From Soriano & Hendry...

Call it a copycat move (See Francona/Ortiz, Manuel/Rollins, Leyland/Mags) but Lou Piniella finally made an attempt to get his balls back. Cubs fans (The Maestro included) don’t really care at the end of the day about contracts. We don’t give a rat’s ass that Alfonso Soriano is making roughly $18 million a year. We want the best players possible in the lineup every stinkin’ day...

So when Piniella sat Soriano for two games in favor of Sam Fuld earlier this week, it marked a baby step forward for the Cubs manager. The Cubs won both games & had a vastly improved energy level. Then Lou caved on Friday (7/3/09) and put Soriano back at the top of the starting lineup. The result? A hitless game with a couple RISP stranded. So much for the time off clearing Soriano’s head...

Now, on Independence Day 2009, Piniella has pushed Soriano down to the sixth spot in the batting order. Regardless of the outcome (which looks to be an ugly Chicago loss, due more to an ineffective Rich Harden than anything else), Sweet Lou is trying to push buttons. And that’s a good thing, because Piniella was beginning to resemble a Build-A-Bear a few weeks ago...

With Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Milton Bradley, Lou is stuck with Jim Hendry’s playthings. However, young players like Fuld, Jake Fox, and Micah Hoffpauir should give Lou options...namely, to sit the overpriced Hendry mistakes and play the potential bargain-basement gems. A manager should not have to kiss the GM’s hindquarters. The GM gets the pieces and the manager should then be able to use them how he sees fit. In the case of the Cubs, if that means benching the ‘Little Three’ (as I so eloquently call them), so be it...

After all, what big-league manager wouldn’t want $40 million worth of pinch-hitting prowess available for those late-inning heroics???

The Summer of the Maestro’s Discontent

Image Courtesy Baseball Hall of Fame
Wow. It wasn’t enough that the Orlando Magic teased me like Megan Fox in all of her release party “Transformers” pics, but now the hammer has officially fallen on this humble blogger’s head. My second favorite Cub has been busted...Sammy Sosa used PEDs, according to the New York Times. Thank the heavens & Harry Carey that I never renounced my ultimate devotion to Ryno...hey, put the needle down, Sandberg!!!

Anywho, I’m not naïve (except when it comes to the universally-shared middle-age male fallacy that I could still be attractive to 98% of women...Megan Fox included...with just a sly turn of phase and a manly toss of my thinning hair) but I still wanted to hold out hope that the “I don’t speak English” crap from the Congressional hearings a few years back was the act of a stupid man, not a cheating man (hey, there’s a country song in there somewhere)...

So now Sosa joins McGwire, Palmeiro, Tejada, Giambi, A-Rod, and all the rest of the charlatans of baseball who duped us for over a decade. I could go into how New York Yankee rogues seem to get a lighter guilt trip from the media than those from the Midwest (“Pretty Boy” Alex vs. Big “I’m Not Here To Talk About The Past” Mac in a handicap match!), but what’s the point? They’re all basically liars and scum. Unfortunately, I’m convinced that a few will find a way into the Hall of Fame (here’s betting that Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez somehow get a bust after being busted). Not Slammin’ Sammy, though. His homer hop & impish grin will fade into obscurity like mood rings & Vanilla Ice.

This I swear - if Jay Cutler breaks his leg in training camp, I’m switching from sports to macramé...or macaroni...or Macarena...

Should’ve Left Well Enough Alone…

All true Cubs fans want to win. The drunk college kids in the bleachers who pretend to be Cubbie supporters will drink fourteen Old Styles whether the score is 12-0 or 2-1, but those of us who bleed blue & red just want this Goat/Bartman/Garvey thing to go away and want the Northsiders to WIN A FREAKIN’ WORLD SERIES ALREADY!!!

Ahem…anyway, it is just after 5:00 PM EST and I have witnessed yet another disappointing loss (in this case, to the Twins 2-0, where the mighty Cubs offense could muster only 5 hits and zero runs) in what is rapidly turning into Season of Discontent #101. Who’s to blame? I can’t call Lou out. He can only do so much with what he’s given. Therefore and ergo, I blame the giver…

AP Photo/M. Spencer Green
Mr. Jim Hendry. I supported you through the brilliant trade for Randall Simon, Aramis Ramirez, and Kenny Lofton years ago. I thought you were a genius for the Alfonso Soriano signing (oops…my bad). Harden, DeRosa, Reed Johnson…all strokes of genius. Now, I look back at the last year & a half and I wonder if you didn’t sustain a severe blow to the head right before you fell in love with Kosuke Fukudome…

Hell, I can even forgive the Fukudome deal. You took a shot, right? Hey, you wouldn’t be the first GM to get hosed by a ‘can’t miss’ prospect from the Far East. But some of the acts you have perpetrated recently (especially over the last eight months) make me wonder if a rubber room in the press box at Wrigley needs to be constructed just for you.

First, let’s chat about the man who played you like a board game, Milton Bradley. I screamed and yelled for you to take a hard look at Bobby Abreu…a cheaper option with more speed and a hitter still capable of a solid .300/20/80 year…but NOOOOOOOO. You ignored Bradley’s temperament and lack of consistent time in the field and threw money at him. The result as of June 13, 2009? A .226 batting average, an abysmal .380 slugging percentage, and a whopping 16 RBI. Wow – two more years of this and Cub fans will be playing Life and Chutes & Ladders instead of attending games at Wrigley Field…

Second, shipping Mark DeRosa out of town simply because he was going into the last year of his contract was Gump-like, without the unintended & naïve positive twist result. Every time his erstwhile replacement, Aaron Miles, takes the field, I cringe. If Tony LaRussa dumped the guy, why would you think he’d be a stud for us?!?! Wait…maybe that’s the ticket. It’s sabotage! Those stinkin’ Cardinals!!!

Third, and finally, Aaron Heilman, savior of the bullpen…enough said.

If things keep going like this in ’09, you may need to reserve a seat (fully equipped with buckled restraints, of course) for me in that ultra-cool safe room they’re gonna build you, buddy…