Thome and Crede Shine on Hall of Fame Night

Last night the Sox walked away with a 8-7 win against the Twins in the Metrodome on Twins Hall of Fame night. Just the fact that Brad Radke was on the field pre game I thought might jinx the Sox. He always seemed to have their number. This was most likely my last visit to the Dome, and for the Sox sake I am glad. It is an interesting park, but my team has always played terrible in it. Jim Thome was the star for the Sox going 1-4, but getting four RBI's in the process. His three run double was a broken bat ball that found just the right place in centerfield. That cleared the bases, and gave the Sox all the cushion they would need. Gordon Beckham also had a great night going 3-4 with three runs scored. He looked good doing it once again. Maybe he is like Brian Anderson, and only hits when I am at the games. I need to go to more apparently. Bobby Jenks made it interesting in the 9th, but got the four out save. Gavin Floyd pitched a solid game only really making two mistakes.

Joe Crede took those mistakes and drove them out of the park. Joe was 2-4 with two home runs, and four runs batted in. He also reached on a Beckham error in the ninth on a ball that was smoked towards the line. I have always loved to watch Joe play, but it is hard to see him in the other teams uniform. It is even harder when he is playing like he did last night. A healthy Crede can help the club in so many ways. The Sox let him go because of his health concerns, but so far it looks like the Twins gamble has paid off. It will be interesting to see how Joe goes down in White Sox history. The picture to the right is Joe's follow through on his three run dinger in the fifth. He always had a photogenic swing anyway, but I like this picture of Joe.

Explorers Exploit the Saints

Last night I made my second trip to Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota. Part two of this roadtrip brought us to the park where "Fun is Good." The final score was not very fun though as the Saints dropped the game 10-5. The Saints are one of the best Independent League teams at drawing fans. They have all kinds of entertainment before, during, and after the game. They do everything possible to make sure you have a good time at the stadium. Unfortunately the baseball team did not get the message. They had a bad night making three errors. They made numerous other bad plays that could have been scored an error. The center fielder for instance ran to his left to catch a fly ball, only to watch it pop out of his mitt. Another sad story of the game was the pitching of Reed Dickert. He was not helped by the defense, but he gave up five runs on five hits in 2/3 of an inning. Dickert was signed by the Brewers last year and sent to high A ball. He was demoted to low A after just one start when he gave up three runs in two innings. Every pitcher has a bad night, and his bad night was the difference in the game. His inning started with another blunder by a Saints outfielder that left him with a man on second instead of nobody on and one out. Towards the end of the game we also had a couple of instances where the rain really came down. Both times though it quit almost as quick as it started, and the game was never stopped. The rain will not be a factor the next two nights.

Today we will see the sites in the Twin Cities, and then head to the Metodome to see the White Sox take on the Twins. I kept telling everyone that Gavin Floyd was going to throw a no-no, but after getting home in time to watch Jonathan Sanchez throw one last night for the Giants I would say the already slim odds of that happening got even slimmer.

Silverhawks Roll Out the Barrel

Last night we were on our way to Minneapolis when we passed Road Ranger Stadium the home of the Rockford RiverHawks of the Frontier League. We were kidding around that we should stop at the stadium which was just off the road to get dinner. By the time we got to Beloit just down the road three of the four of us had decided that the best dinner plans would be inside Pohlman Field. So we let the GPS take us to the stadium, and the baseball portion of the trip started a day early. As we were walking up to the stadium they were singing “Take Me Out To the Ballgame.” I don’t know if it was lack of sleep or what, but I was singing along making sure to yell out White Sox at the appropriate time of course. After that the team made my day. They started up the “Beer Barrel Polka,” and I knew right then that this would be a great trip. We walked into the game without paying which is always nice. We had just missed the Silverhawks rally to put them ahead. The Snappers are the Twins single A affiliate so anytime I can root against a Twins team I will. South Bend scored five runs in the 6th to win the game 6-5. The twenty or so fans in the stands seemed upset about the result. The official tally for the game was 577, but most of them must have left early. The stands were really sparse. Pohlman Field was a decent stadium, but after seeing some great ones earlier this season it pales in comparison. When I get back I will write a little more on the stadium. This was the first of five baseball games in five days for me. I imagine by the end of Monday night I will not be too interested in watching baseball. Well the All Star game will be on so I might be a little interested.
Alfredo Marte who is heading the the Futures game this weekend had 3 hits and two RBI’s in the game to pace the Silverhawks. As I said last night through tired eyes I was able to see A.J. Pollack for the first time last night. In the only at bat I saw he struck out, and he went 0-5 on the day. He seems to be all or nothing to start his pro career. I seem to remember Justin Upton having a little trouble off the start as well. I imagine that Pollack may be playing with Upton in a couple of years.

Let the Madness Begin!

Tonight on the way to Minneapolis we decided to stop over in Beloit to watch the last couple innings of the Beloit Snappers game against the South Bend Silverhawks. We are still on the road, and I am way too tired to do a game recap. The Silverhawks won 6-5, and I got my first chance to see A.J. Pollack play. A.J. was the highest draft pick ever out of Notre Dame. Tomorrow we will be in Midway Stadium watching the Saints play a game. When I can open my eyes I will write more.

Another Set of Reasons for Why I Am the Sports Junkie

Over the next few days the Sports Junkie will be busy. We are leaving tonight to go on a baseball roadtrip. Stops will include Midway Stadium (home of the St. Paul Saints), the Metrodome (for a Sox/Twins game), and on the way home a game at Miller Park (Brewers/Dodgers). The following is just my little way of getting pumped up for the trip. I have been to all three stadiums, but with regrets each time of things that I did not see. This time I will take care of all of those.

In 2005 I knew that I was leaving Iowa soon, and that I needed to hit some of the stadiums in striking distance before they became farther away. One of those stadiums was Midway stadium. With all of the publicity surrounding the Saints, this was on my wishlist anyway. As you can see by the picture they had a seat with my name on it waiting for me (Remember they say the camera adds ten pounds). The Saints are known for their gimmicks during the game. Owner Mike Veeck is the son of former Sox owner Bill Veeck (as in Wreck). He has brought his fathers sense of showmanship to St. Paul. They have everything that you could ask for at the game. A pig even brings the balls out to the umpire between innings. They are now training a young pig "Slumhog Millionaire" to do just that task. "Boarack Ohama" the last ball pig must have met an untimely end. Besides Veeck another one of the owners of the team is actor Bill Murray. He has been an owner since the team resurfaced as part of the Northern League in 1993. On opening night in St. Paul he was selling programs out front of the stadium, throwing out the first pitch, and even coaching first and third base. The man is a phenomenon. We are going to the game on German night. I don't know what that will mean for our group. Hopefully they do not find out that I am Polish.

I made my first trip to the Metrodome in 2004. I saw two games in two days in a great environment. I wrote about the games in a previous article on here. Follow the link if you missed it the first time. In the first game Brad Radke was on the mound. On Saturday night he will be on the field again to be inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame. For some reason I have always admired Radke. He came to work every 5th day, and gave it everything that he had. I was able to see him pitch several times in his career. It always seemed like he came up in the rotation when I was going to be at the game. That night in the dome he was matched up against Neil Cotts. The result should be obvious.
This will more than likely be my last time in the Metrodome. They are going to tear it down at the end of the season. Part of me will miss it. It was so different than the other stadiums that I grew up with. The part of me that is a Sox fan though will be glad to see it go. No more running the air system to help your own team. The pitching matchup will be Gavin Floyd going against Nick Blackburn. The last time I saw Blackburn pitch was at the one game playoff last September. He was tough that night only allowing one run, and has been pitching decent of late. Floyd could either pitch a no-hitter, or get bombed. He has great stuff, and when he is on he is one of the best out there. Hopefully he has it on Saturday. My goal is to get a ball from the field with the commemorative logo on it. With my track record that could be hard to do.

In 2003 I was bored on a rain day so I drove up to Milwaukee to catch a Brewers/Red Sox game. It was pouring down rain so I did not get to really tour the outside of the stadium. I have always regretted that. I was able to see the game though thanks to a retractable roof. This is a great stadium, but it is missing the charm of old County Stadium. The game that I saw had the obligitory stadium packed with Red Sox fans. I had a group that came from Boston to Milwaukee for the game, and a bachelor party. Those fans went crazy when Manny Ramirez hit a solo shot to tie the game in the 6th inning. Those same fans took a beating when the Brewers answered with five in the bottom of the same inning. One of those runs was a shot off the top of the center field scoreboard by Richie Sexson. That may be the longest home run that I have ever seen in person. I have seen Sammy crank some out of Wrigley, but this was a bomb. The game also marked the first time that I would see Scott Podsednik play the game of baseball. He went 1-4 with a single and a run scored in the game. He was still a couple years away from fame in Chicago. I had a great time at the game, and can only hope this game against the Dodgers will match up to that. Another reason to get excited about the game is the fact that the fans entering the ball park get a Brewers key chain. Not really. The real reason that I am excited is that my terrible streak of not getting a ball at the park might be ending. I have a strategy. There is a fellow blogger out there who ball hawks at Brewers games among others. His name is the Happy Youngster, and he gained some noteriety at a Brewers/Marlins game earlier this year. I will let you read about that on his blog. Anyway he pulls many balls every game he goes to. Maybe if I can find him this streak will end. It would be about time. The pitching matchup here is scheduled to be Clayton Kershaw against Yovani Gallardo. This is a matchup of the Brewers ace of the first half against one of the Dodgers up and coming arms. It was not too long ago that Kershaw was pitching up in Michigan for the Great Lakes Loons in the Midwest League. This should be a great game to watch. Could it be the game of the weekend?

This Week's Promotions (7/13-7/19)

This week I am leaving for a mini roadtrip this weekend so here are the promotions for next week a little early. The one big one of the week is Mullet Night at 'The Cell' on Friday. This is just a fun game to go to. The All Star game in St. Louis also takes the Major League teams out of the picture for the first three days of the week. Can the minor league clubs take up the slack? As usual if it is not on here let me know so that I can put it on here.

Monday July 13th
St. Louis - All Star Home Run Derby
Birmingham - Southern League All Star Game
Quad Cities River Bandits - Harry Potter night.

Tuesday July 14th
St. Louis - 80th annual MLB All Star game
Rockford - Cubs/Sox alumni game. Part of the Frontier League All Star week. Frontier League Home Run derby as well. Bob Dernier is the Cubs manager, and Steve Trout is the Sox manager.

Wednesday July 15th
West Michigan Whitecaps - Long Haul Bombers Home Run Derby. Man vs. Food also taping an episode about the 4 pound burger during the game.
Rockford - Frontier League All Star game

Thursday July 16th
Is this the new Monday?

Friday July 17th
West Michigan Whitecaps - John Wockenfuss Bobbleheads (1st 1,000 fans). John will also be signing autographs.
Chicago White Sox - Mullet Night. It is all business up front and a party in the back tonight. Fireworks after the game as well.
Burlington Bees - Jimmy Buffett night
Cincinnati Reds - Long Haul Bombers home run derby pre game.

Saturday July 18th
Akron Aeros - Matt LaPorta bobbleheads (1,000 fans)
Cleveland Indians - Surfin' Sizemore bobblehead to all fans.
Cincinnati Reds - Edinson Volquez bobblehead (1st 30,000 fans)
Rockford Riverhawks - Andre Dawson bobblehead day (1st 1,000 fans)

Sunday July 19th
West Michigan Whitecaps - Team Photo giveaway (1,500 fans)
Columbus Clippers - Caillou appearance
South Bend Silverhawks - Canines Day at the Cove. Dogs get in for free.
Cleveland Indians - Lifeguard Slider bobble belly.
St. Louis Cardinals - Exercise Mat Day

Vote Mark Reynolds Onto the All Star Team

Former Silverhawk third baseman Mark Reynolds is one of the players up for the Final Vote. He is behind right now, but it is still early. Mark played in South Bend in 2004 and 2005 for the Silverhawks. He has 24 home runs and 61 RBI's so far this season, and deserves a place in the All Star game. The final vote can be accessed at MLB.com. You can vote as many times as you want until 3:00 PM (cst) on Thursday. Part of the charm of going to minor league games is seeing some of the players make it big. Mark is one of those guys. Another former Silverhawk Justin Upton is already going to the All Star game. The picture I have of Mark in a Silverhawk jersey is a bad one. He is the one at third base that can barely be seen. This was before the days of a good camera that would take decent pictures at night.

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: Cooperstown, New York

This goes without saying. If you are a baseball fan, then you need to get to Cooperstown. Much like the Reds Hall of Fame and museum I am not going to be able to hit everything. I don't think that I should anyway. This is a place that you must see for yourself. That being said here are a few of the highlights of the museum.

Right as you walk into the museum you are confronted with the statues of Ted Williams and Babe Ruth. Right away you know that you are in for a special time. You get to see lifesize statues of two of the best before you even pay. From what I have read these two statues are the most photographed items in the museum. I added to that number. I took some pictures on the way in, and then took some more on the way out. These two men are two of the bigger figures in the sport, and provide a great jumping off point to get you inside. From this point you will start your museum tour. The museum is open from 9 AM to 9 PM from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, and from 9 AM to 5 PM the rest of the year. The admission is not too bad either. It is $16.50 for a day which is pretty good considering how long you can spend inside the museum.

The first thing that I would like to highlight inside the museum is the Grandstand Theater. The theater is made up to look like a ball park with the screen located behind the scoreboard. What makes the theater so special to me is that it had the old Comiskey scoreboard. Then as I looked around I realized that the room was painted up to look like you were looking at old Comiskey from the press box. This wasn't the same color scheme to the stadium that I grew up with, but it was that stadium. They showed a short movie that I thought would get me pumped up to get into the museum, but all that I really thought that it did was waste 10 minutes that I could have been walking through the museum. It might be a great film, but I really wanted to get inside. I had no patience for movies at that point.

The game is one of the highlights of the museum. This is where the good stuff resides. This section takes you step by step through baseball history. You see artifacts from the invention of the sport up until the present time. I was like a little kid here. I was able to see pieces of the game that I could not even imagine. In the confines of this blog I could never describe everything in this portion of the museum. I enjoyed seeing artifacts from the Cincinnati Reds the first pro team. Reading a little on them made me understand what I was seeing a bit more. From here you take a walk through the timeline of baseball. Pictured above and to the left is a glove and uniform worn by Shoeless Joe Jackson. Here is someone that has only existed as a myth to me. I have just seen pictures of the man until that day in the Hall. The pieces that meant the most to me dealt with the heroes of my childhood. Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Stan Musial all had full size lockers similar to the locker in the Babe Ruth room. Being Polish Stan Musial has always been a man to look up to. He was number six which was my first number in baseball. He also played the game the way that it should be played. For my money he is one of the most underrated players in baseball history. He just never seems to get his just due. Of course the Jersey worn by Carlton Fisk when he hit his famous home run in the 1975 World Series was a photo opportunity. On the right I have shown Tom Seaver's jersey from his days with the Mets. I would get to know Tom better during his short stay with the White Sox. I would have loved to see Tom's jersey from his 300th win. That was a great day in Sox history for me. The jersey of Louis Aparicio shown to the right was another great part for me. This White Sox jersey was one that I had not seen very much. I am used to seeing Louis in his 50's era uniforms. When I went to the Civil Rights game in June this is what I expected to see the White Sox come out in. I have also read many books on Mickey Mantle. When I was a kid I loved the myth of the man. Since then I have come to find out all of the things that plagued him as well. For some reason that makes him even more special to me. He had problems just like everybody else. He had the world on a string, but still had doubts. Seeing some of 'the Mick's; items was a big thrill. One thing that is not shown, but has to be seen is the batting zone chart that Ted Williams made. He had colored baseballs to show himself where his hot and cold zones were. This was in a time that had no clue about half of the stats that we keep today. I have included five pictures of this exhibit. This is just a small sample of what awaits. The Hall rotates memorabilia as well so you may see some different things when you go. As I said before nothing I write can do this justice.

Just off to the side from the Game exhibit is the Babe Ruth room. What baseball player is bigger than the Babe? I don't think that there has ever been a bigger player in the history of the sport. His name still comes up on a regular basis to this day. In his room you see artifacts spanning his career. In the corner is his locker from old Yankee Stadium filled with his gear. This may be the point in the museum where you realize that you are in for something special. I mean all that separates you from the great Bambino's uniform is a piece of glass. I am sure that it is a very sturdy piece of glass, but it appears that you could almost touch it. The room has various contracts, balls, bats, and other items that take the Babe from his childhood days to the last days of his career. If ever a man deserved a room of his own in the Hall it is the Babe. Hank Aaron has his own room as well. They have a great room showing the history of the Negro Leagues too.

After the Game exhibit you come to the Today's game exhibit. This room is built like a clubhouse, and has a locker for all thirty baseball clubs. Of course the highlight for me was the White Sox locker. They had Joe Crede's glove, Jermaine Dye's jersey, Freddy Garcia's hat, Juan Uribe's bat, Scott Podsednik's bat, and other memorabilia from the White Sox World Series win. Mark Buehrle's cap from his no-hitter was also displayed alongside the 500th home run ball that Jim Thome hit as a member of the White Sox. They also had artifacts from the Red Sox 2004 World Series win including the bloody sock. I also noticed former Sox players had items in the other cases. Ken Griffey Jr. was the newest member of the Sox, and he had a few items in the Reds case. For some morbid reason this room was also made special by the asterisk ball. This is the ball that Barry Bonds hit for his 756 career home run. The ball was bought, and an online poll put up to determine the fate of the ball. Would the Hall of Fame get the ball unblemished? Would an asterisk be placed on the ball? Or would the ball be launched into space? The fans picked the asterisk, and the Hall accepted the ball anyway. I think that this is a fitting way for Barry to be honored here. That may be the only way he is honored in the Hall. This is a great room because your team is represented just as much as any other team. You can see some great items from today's stars all in one place.

Of course the part of the museum that everyone wants to see is the plaque gallery. This is the portion of the gallery that comes to mind right away when you think of the Hall. Every kid imagines what his plaque will look like. In 2001 the Hall decided that they are the ones who decide what team a player will go into the Hall as. Until then it was up to the player. In 1936 five men were inducted into the Hall as the first class. Those men were Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson. It was a no brainer then what team those five would go in as. From those five the inductees have grown. As we walked around the room we had good natured debates as to who should be in, and who should not be in. This is the beauty of baseball. If it were up to Joe Morgan though he would be the only plaque in the room. Those five plaques can be seen on the left. I went around the room in awe of the talented men that have been honored. Anyone who knows me though knows that I saved the class of 2000 for last. I took a few pictures of the Fisk plaque, and even posed for a few in front of it. The current class has its own section in the middle, as well as a special room with their memorabilia. It is impossible to be in this room and not get the chills.

If you have not visited the Hall yet and you are a baseball fan then you should. I waited 32 years to do it, and if it is up to me it will not be that long before my next visit.

Mark Buehrle is an All Star!

Mark Buehrle was just announced as one of the pitchers selected to the All Star game that will be played in St. Louis. It was just announced this week that he will pitch twice more before the All Star break including the Sunday before. What does this mean for his availability for the game? We will have to see. I knew it would be hard for the Joe Maddon to pick a player from the Sox, but with the news that Buehrle might not be available to pitch I did not think that it would be him. He is one of my favorite players, and I am happy for him. I am just surprised. I really thought that Jermaine Dye was going to be the guy on the team. He is not included in the fan vote either. The Sox are usually very good at getting those guys in the game. It was not meant to be for Jermaine this year. I guess there is only one way to fix the fact that more Sox players are not on the team. We will have to get to the World Series so that Ozzie can pick some of his guys next year.

Lack of Fireworks on the Fourth

Last night I went to the Gary Railcats game against the Winnipeg Goldeyes. The game was delayed for an hour and a half by rain. That would have been a boring time, but the Winnipeg bullpen put on an exciting touch football game. It was hard to tell who won, but they were having a blast doing it. They even seemed a little bummed when they had to go back to the clubhouse to dress for the game. This is what baseball should be about. The players were having a blast. They started off just throwing a football around, and it quickly escalated into a game. Not too many underneath routes were being thrown to. Most of the time they were going for the home run ball. I guess if you have the arm and the speed why not? Matt Davis was one of the quarterbacks, and he ended up being the losing pitcher. Did he waste his arm pre game? I am sure someone will have a look at that.

To the game. One word can describe it. Dull. In the first five innings the Railcats had one hit, and the Goldeyes managed to knock out two hits in that time, although they were both balls that should have been caught. It ended up not making a difference, but two pop ups to the outfield that were not caught by Christian Guerrero could have been huge. After nine innings neither team could get across a run. The fans were getting restless. The crowd of 2,823 were waiting for the post game fireworks that were promised after the game. With the delay before the game, and the long game they just wanted someone to win. The team did not matter when the kids were getting restless. In the top of the tenth the Goldeyes got a man on second, and he scored when Railcat second baseman Eric McNamee booted what would have been an inning ending ground ball. Instead of getting in front of the ball he tried to reach across his body to snag the ball. The ball caromed off of his mitt into the outfield. With two outs the runner easily scored from second. Eric was visibly not happy with himself after the play. He would get his revenge though. In the bottom of the inning he singled after Mike Massaro walked to set up the game winner. Both runners scored when Jay Pecci singled to right center field. The crowd was ecstatic. I don't know if they were happy the Railcats won, or that the game was over. Either way it was an exciting finish to an otherwise boring game.

A couple of players with Major League ties were in the game. The Goldeyes have Dee Brown in left field for them. Dee is shown to the left. I saw Dee play with the Royals when he was with the bigs. He is tearing up the Northern League right now, and is a Northern League All Star. He went 0-3 with a walk on the day, but he hit the ball hard. The other player is Christian Guerrero. Christian is shown on the right. He is the cousin of Angels right fielder Vladimir Guerrero. He has a long way to go to match up to Vlad. He swings at anything just like his cousin, but does not make contact. He was hitting .128 coming into the game. He does swing hard (although akwardly) so if he does make contact I assume it will fly. As I said earlier he also has made some bad plays in the field. A ball to him is an adventure.