Experiencing 2005: Opening Day, 4/4/05

Love at first sight: It’s possible Bitmoji has changed her mind about Scotty Pods already.

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The day is beautiful, low 60s and sunny, as good as it gets in early April. I’m on the Red Line, rumbling toward the South Side to meet up with Wally. Wally is a Missouri native and a Cardinals fan first and foremost. But the White Sox are his 1(a) team, and he’s nearly as passionate as I am. I know this is for real, because his love for the Sox goes back to the days of Frank, Robin, and Jack McDowell. Wally and I have attended two Sox games together, and they lost both. Badly. This is our last chance, and we both know it. We’re superstitious enough to realize that there is no way we’ll ever attend another game together if we get our third strike today.

The train is screaming through the subway tunnel, and the couple behind me is debating the best way to Midway Airport. The woman says that she called CTA, and they told her to transfer to the Orange Line at Lake. I turn around. “That’s actually not the best way. There are lots of stairs involved, which is annoying with a suitcase, and it’s not that well marked. Transfer at Roosevelt Road. Lots of signs and an escalator. Much easier. In fact, I’m getting off there. You can follow me.”

The woman, Kathy, is grateful. She’s heading to Florida to visit her sister. Her husband, Roger, is wearing a Sox hat. He’s going to Opening Day, too. We trade fan stories for the rest of the trip: best games, favorite players, funniest ballpark memories.

At Roosevelt Road, I guide Kathy to her train. She is genuinely thankful and seemingly a little surprised to find such a friendly soul. It’s good karma, I tell myself. And you need all the good karma you can get on Opening Day.

I meet Wally at a bar on South Michigan Avenue for a drink and remote broadcast by a sports radio team that I like. At the park, I walk to Parking Lot A to step on old home plate. As I do this, a man nearby asks, “Why are you doing that?”

“For luck. I do it every game.” I reply.

“Doesn’t seem to be working,” he grumbles.

“Maybe I just haven’t been doing it enough yet. Maybe luck is cumulative.”

I buy a scorecard outside Gate 4 at a kiosk manned by an older African-American. I decline the pencil, because of course I brought my own.

* * *

“What do you think the keys are to the season?” Wally asks in between handfuls of peanuts.

“Two things,” I say, popping a nut into my mouth, the spent shells falling to my feet. “One: Can Jermaine Dye even come close to replacing Mags in right field? And two: Is A.J. Pierzynski just a troublemaker or is he That Guy that we’ve been needing for so long?”

While nervous about offensive capabilities — new guy Tadahito Iguchi looked terrible in each of his three strikeouts — I’m thrilled with the show of pitching prowess. And other new guy Scott Podsednik does looks to be speedy. Wally and I decide to put a stamp on our euphoria and buy some Sox merchandise. When we get to Grandstand — if they don’t have it in Sox colors, you don’t need it — I can’t believe my eyes: there’s a line to get in. To a store. Selling Sox merchandise. There’s a bouncer at the door and everything. What is this, Studio 54? Wally and I wait in line for 10 minutes, and the bouncer says this is typical early in the season, and when the Sox win. “When they lose,” he says, “people walk by like they got blinders on, like we’re not even here.”

New purchases in hand, Wally and I wander the neighborhood a bit. We come across guys playing bags in the street and drinking Modelo Especial out of the back of their minivan. They invite us to join them, and how can we say no?

We then hit a couple of neighborhood bars, also packed. One bartender shrugs, “On Opening Day, everybody thinks they’re going to win the World Series.”

On our way out of one bar, I run into Roger, my friend from the morning’s El ride, on his way in.

“Must be destiny,” he says. “It’s going to be a good season.”

To top off the day, I win $265 in my NCAA office pool when North Carolina beats Illinois that evening. The only sour note is a local sports columnist’s take on the upcoming season: He writes that White Sox fans have no reason to think this team will be more than .500, they let their best player go, their pitchers are B+ at best, they will be offensively inept. Perhaps he is right, but that doesn’t matter right now.

Tomorrow, I will worry. Today is Opening Day. And anything is possible.

Experiencing 2005: The Offseason

Looking Back: LL Bitmoji didn’t exist in 2005, but man, she would have loved it.

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As the 2005 season got underway, and the White Sox were regularly winning two of every three games they played, I started to keep things — ticket stubs, newspaper articles — and I began to jot thoughts down. (I also did this in 1983, at the age of 12, but that’s a retrospective series for another year.) I started an essay after the 2005 season that I never finished. All of those writings have never seen the light of day, but here we are, 15 years later, so maybe it’s a good time to drag them out. Some of these entries will be full-length, others only a paragraph or two. But they were my thoughts and feelings at the time, edited very little in present day. Expect a new post every seven-to-10 days.

I have, stored in a box under my bed, a scorecard from a baseball game. I have many such scorecards from many baseball games, but this one is special. This one told the future. White Sox vs. Twins, Sept. 22, 2004. The Sox won, 7-6, on a bottom-of-the-ninth double by Paul Konerko. Our beloved Mighty Whities, as my dad was fond of calling them, were long out of it by this point, having predictably swooned in September, once again outdone by the Twins. Still, a win is a win is a win, and they must be celebrated. Across the top of the scorecard, in my dad’s block-letter scrawl are the words, “Wait ‘till next year!”

* * *

The 2005 season begins during the Hot Stove league, December 2004. I wake one morning, turn on ESPN, and learn that the White Sox have traded left fielder Carlos Lee, he of lots and lots of home runs, to Milwaukee for some light-hitting guy I’ve never heard of. Scott Podswhositswhatsit?

My first action upon hearing this news is to call my father. I do not make pleasantries, I don’t even say hello. “What do you think?” are the first words out of my mouth.

Dad sighs large, and I imagine him at the kitchen table, maybe just finishing breakfast, rubbing his hand across his forehead in the weary frustration that long-suffering Sox fans know all too well.

“Well, Laura,” he says with an edge of bitterness, “I can tell you this: I’m not real keen on spending $3,000 of my hard-earned money to go see that team.” He and Mom have been considering celebrating their 35^th anniversary this summer with a large group gathering at the park; this is the $3,000 of which he speaks. I don’t blame him.

Then in February, Magglio Ordoñez, probably the Sox’s best all-around player, signs with the Tigers. I have been a White Sox fan as long as I can remember, from the moment I knew what a baseball was. I share my dad’s disappointment. I’m bitter, too.

* * *

Winter passes, and so does my bitterness, and even little of my skepticism. At least, I point out to Dad as spring training approaches, when they lose, we’ll see them lose in a different way. We’ve had many seasons of Sox teams that slugged eight, nine, 10 runs in a game and the next day are unable to scrape together a single measly run and lose 2-0. Maybe this year, they’ll lose 3-2. I am interested in seeing this new-look team play.

At a family gathering in mid-March, my parents and I engage in our annual prognosticating.

“I don’t know,” Dad says, sipping a beer in my parents’ basement, one corner of which has been dubbed The Shrine for its collection of Sox memorabilia. The collection is about quality, not quantity — a seat from Old Comiskey anchors the corner, and the only two autographs are from Bill Veeck and Harry Caray (when he was with the Sox, of course). “They’re going to have trouble scoring runs, and the pitching has lots of question marks. I think they’ll win 85 games.”

I shake my head. “I’m more confident. They’re going to be better than that. I say 88 games.” Dad laughs at what passes for confidence — a whopping three games difference.

“You’re both wrong,” my mother challenges. “They’re going to win 100 games.”

I look at her and ask her what the hell pipe she’s smoking.

My optimism eventually becomes strong enough that I decide to do something I’ve never done before: attend Opening Day. [Note from the future: Yes, my very first Opening Day happened to be in 2005. Was this unprecedented event solely responsible for the Sox’s success that year? Discuss in the comments.] I make plans with my friend Wally and consider myself slightly mad as I purchase the tickets. What am I so excited about?

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García, Podsednik lead White Sox to 2-1 win

Tough to solve: Freddy García took advantage of favorable pitching conditions and earned the victory with eight excellent innings. (@whitesox)

Both starting pitchers performed admirably, and the wind was blowing in sharply most of the afternoon. Combine the two, and you get a pitchers’ dual, and that is what we witnessed today. Fortunately, the White Sox managed to score once more than Cleveland in a 2-1 victory.

In the bottom of the first, the White Sox survived a scare, as power-hitting DH Travis Hafner crushed a pitch from Freddy García. On most days, that ball would have cleared the fence for a two-run homer. However, with the wind blowing in, it was merely a deep flyout to left fielder Scott Podsednik.

García also kept Cleveland off the board in the second, but in the third, Cleveland broke the scoreless tie. With a runner on second and two outs, Hafner stepped up to the plate again, and this time, the weather did not hurt him. Hafner hit a sharp ground ball into center field for a single that drove in Coco Crisp for the game’s first run.

Meanwhile, Cleveland starter Kevin Millwood got off to a terrific start. In fact, nobody in a White Sox uniform even reached scoring position until the top of the fifth, and that could hardly be blamed on Millwood. Pablo Ozuna, filling in for Juan Uribe at shortstop, reached on an error and stole second base. But, Millwood worked out of that jam by getting Joe Crede to ground out to preserve the 1-0 lead.

In the sixth, however, the White Sox finally got on the board. Podsednik showed off his wheels once again by leading off with a bunt single. The bunt itself was questionable, as he popped it up to the left of the mound. But, it got over Millwood’s glove, and with his speed, there was no chance of throwing him out. Then, Podsednik stole second rather easily, and he is already 4-for-5 on stolen base attempts this season. After Tadahito Iguchi struck out, DH Carl Everett drove Podsednik home with an RBI single to right.

The seventh inning also brought a good result for the White Sox, and once again, Scott Podsednik played a big role. With two outs and nobody on, Chris Widger and Joe Crede hit back-to-back singles. Then, in a big spot, Podsednik lined a single to center field to drive in Widger and give the White Sox a 2-1 lead.

From that point forward, García ended his day on a very high note, retiring the last 14 batters he faced. As a result, at the end of the eighth inning, the White Sox led by a score of 2-1. García’s final line was the following: eight innings, one run (it was earned), four hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. García’s ERA dropped to an excellent 1.93 through his first two starts of the season.

The White Sox failed to add an insurance run in the top of the ninth, as they went down 1-2-3. Luckily, the bullpen got the job done, so there was no need for insurance. In the bottom of the ninth, reliever Damaso Marte walked Hafner but retired the other two he faced. With the tying run on first and two outs, manager Ozzie Guillen called on Shingo Takatsu, and Takatsu struck out Aaron Boone to close things out.

The White Sox improved to 5-2 in the young season, while Cleveland fell to 3-4. On Wednesday (April 13, 2005) evening, the White Sox will play another game at Jacobs Field. This time, José Contreras will start for the White Sox, while Cliff Lee is Cleveland’s probable starter.

Let’s enjoy a couple of shortstop-related trivia questions:

1. There are three shortstops in White Sox history with more than 1,500 career hits with the team. Who are they?
2. José Valentin was the White Sox’s primary shortstop from 2000-04. Who started for the White Sox at shortstop on Opening Day in 1999?

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Answers

1. Luke Appling, Ozzie Guillen, and Luis Aparicio.
2. Mike Caruso.

Lucky seventh inning leads the White Sox past Minnesota

Putting it on the board: Timo Pérez hit his first homer of the season, and the blast gave the White Sox a lead that would not relinquish. (@CPHSox)

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The White Sox’s strong first week of the season continued, as they took down the Twins in Minnesota by a score of 8-5.

The offense raced out of the starting blocks, as they put up two against Twins starter Brad Radke in the top of the first. Granted, the offense needed some help from Twins third baseman Michael Cuddyer. Cuddyer allowed Tadahito Iguchi to reach base, as he committed an error, somehow his third in just five games. Carl Everett followed Iguchi with a home run over the tall right field wall to make the score 2-0. Everett’s blast was his first of the season, and it set the tone for what would be a high-scoring effort by the offense.

In the third, the White Sox added an insurance run. With the bases empty and one out, Scott Podsednik started a rally by knocking a single up the middle. Iguchi followed with a double to left that just got over Cuddyer’s outstretched glove to put runners on second and third. In stepped Everett, who was looking to crush a pitch from Radke for the second time of the evening. The first two pitches to Everett caught a sizable chunk of the plate, but Everett fouled them off. Fortunately, even though the third pitch was inside, Everett managed to get enough muscle behind his swing to drive in a run with a sacrifice fly to right.

Meanwhile, things started easy for White Sox starter Jon Garland. Garland’s first four innings were scoreless, but incredibly, he did not strike anyone out those innings. During that time, Garland found some excellent BABIP luck, but it did not last throughout his entire start. In the bottom of the fifth, with the score still 3-0, the Twins started the inning with back-to-back singles, the second of which was very softly hit. Two batters later, with runners at the corners and one out, left fielder Shannon Stewart smashed a homer to left to tie it at three.

The sixth inning was not so easy for Garland, either, though he was able to escape unharmed. Matt LeCroy and Torii Hunter led off with back-to-back hits, and Hunter’s drive barely stayed in the park. After an infield single by Lew Ford, the Twins had the bases juiced with one out. In perhaps the most important at-bat of the day, Garland made a great pitch to Cuddyer. As a result, Garland wiggled out of the jam, as Cuddyer grounded into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. The final line for Garland: six innings, three runs (all earned), 10 hits, no walks, and one strikeout.

In the seventh, the White Sox took control. Timo Pérez led off the inning with a homer, his first of the season. After singles by Aaron Rowand, Joe Crede, and Juan Uribe, the White Sox led by a score of 5-3. After Podsednik reached base on an RBI forceout that made it 6-3, the White Sox benefited from some sloppy fielding. With two outs, Twins pitcher J.C. Romero made an errant throw on a pickoff attempt that allowed Podsednik to advance to third (this guy has serious wheels, and I have a feeling they will come in handy). After a passed ball by catcher Joe Mauer, Podsednik scored to extend the lead to four.

Paul Konerko added another insurance run in the eighth, as he launched a solo home run (his third homer already!) to make it 8-3. The Twins did not lie down, as Hunter hit a solo homer of his own, and an RBI single by Mauer trimmed the deficit to three. However, it was too little, too late, as Shingo Takatsu came in to shut the door without any problems.

With the 8-5 victory, the White Sox improved to 4-1, while the Twins fell to 2-3. Tomorrow (April 10, 2005) will be the final game of this three-game set against Minnesota. Mark Buehrle is set to start for the White Sox, and 2004 AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana is the Twins’ probable starter.

Before I sign off, here are a couple of trivia questions about recent White Sox history:

1. The 2004 White Sox hit 242 home runs. How many teams in franchise history have hit more?
2. Let’s build off today’s Aflac Trivia Question: Which player led the 2004 White Sox in both stolen bases and games with four or more hits?

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Answers

1. Zero, as of April 9, 2005. (Same answer as of March 27, 2020.)
2. Willie Harris, who had 19 stolen bases and four games with four or more hits. (I wonder how many stolen bases Podsednik will get this season. Probably more than 19!)

Today in White Sox History: December 13

Not so bad: Ritchie was a monumental failure for the White Sox, but he was hurt — and the guys swapped out didn’t really sting too badly. (Upper Deck)

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1969
The White Sox dealt their star left hander Gary Peters to the Red Sox for Syd O’Brien and Billy Farmer. Farmer retired instead of reporting, so as compensation the Sox received Jerry “Wheat Germ Kid” Janeski. Peters would win 33 games in the next three seasons. Janeski won 10 in 1970 then was shipped to Washington for outfielder Rick Reichardt.

Peters had spent seven full and four partial seasons with the team, with a 20-win season, two All- Star teams and a Rookie of the Year award.

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1982
The White Sox outbid 16 other teams to sign free agent pitcher Floyd Bannister to a five year, $4.5 million deal. Bannister had led the American League in strikeouts in 1981. In his five seasons on the South Side, Bannister won in double figures every year, with a high of 16 wins in both 1983 and 1987.

His signing angered Yankee owner George Steinbrenner ,who wasn’t used to losing out on talent that he wanted. Steinbrenner was quoted as saying that he regretted voting against Edward DeBartolo in his bid to buy the Sox franchise from Bill Veeck back in 1980 and leveled verbal blasts at owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn.

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2001
In his quest to find reliable starting pitching, White Sox GM Ken Williams traded youngsters Kip Wells and Josh Fogg and veteran Sean Lowe to the Pirates for Todd Ritchie. Ritchie would suffer a shoulder injury and have a disastrous 2002 season, going 5-15 with an ERA of 6.06 (4.84 FIP)! Ritchie’s -1.7 bWAR is tied for the 15th-worst pitching season in White Sox history. What made the trade worse is that Wells put up bWARs of 2.8, 4.9 and 1.7 for Pittsburgh the first three seasons after the trade.

But in fairness to Williams, over 20 combined seasons in the majors Fogg, Lowe and Wells compiled just 6.9 bWAR, so none of the pitchers dealt led to chest-clutching regret.

A free agent, the Sox let him Ritchie go after his one terrible South Side season, and he was out of baseball two years later.

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2004
On the third anniversary of his ill-fated Ritchie deal, Williams continued his remake of the club. He sent power-hitting but defensively-challenged outfielder Carlos Lee to Milwaukee as part of a four-player deal.

The outfielder coming from the Brewers to replace him (Scott Podsednik) energized the lineup, stole more than 40 bases twice, made an All-Star team and hit a dramatic walk-off home run in Game 2 of the 2005 World Series.

 

 

Today in White Sox History: October 31

No fun allowed: The White Sox got this World Series cover, but nothing after they actually won it all.

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2005 — As the White Sox were winning their first championship in 88 years, Sports Illustrated put Scott Podsednik and his winning home run from the second game on the cover. The long caption read, “World Series. In A Match Up Of Two Title Hungry Teams, The White Sox Struck First, Dramatically Downing The Astros In Games 1 And 2.”

The magazine then basically ignored the White Sox winning the Series by only putting a small circle shot of the team celebrating in the corner of the following week’s cover, breaking a long standing tradition. The cover that week was Peyton Manning and Tom Brady as the magazine previewed a regular season NFL game.

so gross

Today in White Sox History: October 23

Magic moment: Even though Houston rallied to tie Game 2 after this, Konerko’s grand slam might have been the first moment White Sox fans felt their team was destined to win it all. (YouTube)

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2005 — Game 2 of the World Series ended in unexpected and dramatic fashion, as outfielder Scott Podsednik blasted a game-winning home run. The shot, off Houston’s Brad Lidge, ended the game in a 7-6 White Sox win at U.S. Cellular Field.

Earlier, with the Sox losing 4-2 with two outs in the seventh inning, Paul Konerko drilled the first pitch he saw for a grand slam. turning the game and perhaps the series around.

Very underrated moment, Damaso Marte jumping for joy while warming up in the bullpen as the homer sailed over him.

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2012 – After one of the worst seasons in a century of major league baseball, Adam Dunn was named the American League winner of the Comeback Player of the Year award by The Sporting News. Dunn bounced back to hit 41 home runs and drive in 96 RBIs for the Sox, who contended for the division crown until the final week of the season. The previous year Dunn only hit 11 home runs with 42 RBIs and a batting average of .159.