Sacrafice Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 The year was 1994 and it is a year that lives in Baseball History as the worst thing to ever happen to Major League Baseball! The 1994 Baseball season was cut short due to a players strike when the MLBPA refused to agree to a new bargaining agreement to impose a league wide salary cap much like the National Football League enacted just a couple years prior. We are not going to get into the details of all that because quite frankly after researching about it all things got nasty and that's not the point here. So, let's into the major players. With the strike many seen opportunities from several teams that were not major players in the playoff races for quite some time and even a big time franchise going through one it's worst droughts of it's rich history do battle to make into the elite 6 teams to reach the post season. Starting with the Montreal Expos! We all know what a terrible turn this team took later on, but in 1994 this team was loaded with talent and had the best record in baseball at the time of the strike. Many say that 1994 was their year after the other Canada team was current World Series Champions. There were other teams destined for post season play that had not been very good to say the least. The Seattle Mariners lead by their young slugging Center Fielder, Ken Griffey Jr. was making a bid to win the American League West. The Texas Rangers which was a door mat to many teams in the past was actually leading the rce up by 1 game over the Oakland A's when play stopped and the divisional races was shaping up to be a great one between the 3 teams teams even though they all were under .500 on the season. The New York Yankees! The team with all the Championships that everyone loves to hate! Well, they were on a twelve year non-post season drought and arguably one of the best first basemen to ever step on the field had not even had one post season at-bat. Don Mattingly was that man. The Yankees were finally making their bid to end that drought and Don was more than ready to see what October can bring! The Cincinnati Reds & the Houston Astros were doing battle in the National League Central separated by only a half a game and The Dodgers were pulling away with their division. Then there is the Chicago White Sox. They were leading the American League Central by 1 game over Cleveland, which was enjoying the inaugural season at Jacobs Field. 4 games back was the Kansas City Royals. The White Sox was loaded with talent anchored by the eventual 1994 AL MVP, Frank Thomas. I am using the All-Star skill setting with modified sliders to make the game as realistic as possible. I will be tweaking them as I go when needed. I am using a very good team, but even then a .750 winning percentage is unheard of. I am 25 games into the season already and I will not post any full box scores or links until I am caught up on here so people can't see into the future. This is posted in full at other sites so it wouldn't be hard to find I guess. As I am 25 games into it the updates will come quickly! I even play the minor league games and do a little recap for those games aswell. "The Chicago White Sox Organization Information" The White Sox made 2 moves just 1 day before the season started! "Trade" Chicago White Sox Get: Paul Molitor (1B/DH) (MLB) Chris Woodward (SS) (A) Chris Carpenter (SP) (A) Toronto Blue Jays Get: Julio Franco (1B/DH) (MLB) Erasmo Villafuerte (SP) (AAA) Kevin Witt (1B) (A) "Purched the Contract of (Texas Rangers)" Scott Podsednik (LF) (A) "Chicago White Sox 1994 Opening Day Rosters" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 "Opening Day 1994!" Monday April 4th, 1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro23 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 '94 Sox. Cool. Looks good man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeRudi26 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Looks great so far, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted May 29, 2009 Author Share Posted May 29, 2009 '94 Sox. Cool. Looks good man. Looks great so far, good luck! Thanks guys!!! Appreciate it!!! "Game 2 of this 3 game Set!" Tuesday April 5th, 1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE.DOCTER Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Saw this on CAWS, call up MJ! :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro23 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Saw this on CAWS, call up MJ! :rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted May 31, 2009 Author Share Posted May 31, 2009 "Chicago Salvages Series!" Wednesday April 6th, 1994 "Chicago White Sox press conference after Blue Jays series" *White Sox Manager, Gene Lamont steps up to the podium* Gene Lamont: Thank you all for coming today. I'm glad we won today or this wouldn't be a a very fun press conference. *The reporters in the room chuckle* Gene Lamont: Before I field questions I have a few notes to report. First of all as I just stated I am glad we were able to win this game today. The plane ride home would have been aggravating to say the least. As has been mentioned our offense wasn't able to get that hit when we needed it the first two games, but today we were able to get men on base and get them home. Darrin Jackson hit our first homerun today aswell. It was a big point in the game as we just went up 2-1 two batters earlier and to be able to go up by four runs is huge. I don't think I need to worry about our position players as all of these guys have been around for awhile now and I think that being so early in the season that they will get things rolling. Not taking anything away from the Toronto pitchers as they were pitching rather well as they should. Toronto is not the back-to-back champions because their batters put up 20 runs a game. Which leads me to our pitching staff. Wilson Alvarez pitched very well today as did Black Jack & Alex the two games prior. The difference between Alvarez getting the win and not Alex or Black Jack is that he didn't give up that mistake to take us out of the game. Wilson didn't have any control problems today and I hope to see that trend continue! Lastly, we didn't get swept! Toronto is a team we will be battling with through out the season record wise and to start out 0-3 out of the gate quite possibly would have been a big deficit to over come when it gets to the end of the season. Now for your questions... John Hickey: I want to touch on your bull pen a little bit here. Today you used 5 of the 6 guys listed on your roster and that 6th guy got the loss in yesterdays game. What is your thoughts on this and do you plan to use these guys a lot this season? Gene Lamont: Today I did use most of the guys, but for the most part they were in to sway the percentages in our favor. I didn't want to get these guys in the game also so they could get a little bit of action to start the season. I didn't want guys like Roberto Hernandez to start the season on the bench and when we needed him to come in and not have played at all. We needed this win today so I did what it took to keep the score in our favor. I don't plan on having the game play out like it did often, but I won't hesitate to do so if I need to. Todd Kalas: What kind of role is Bo Jackson going to have on the team with the acquisition of Paul Molitor? Gene Lamont: Paul Molitor will get as much playing time at DH as he wants. He has earned that in his career. As for Bo Jackson it has been a couple years now since his hip surgery and he feels that he will be able to contribute more on defense than he has the past two season. With that said we will use Bo more in the field and to spell Molitor when he requests a break or a game here and there. Bo will also come in during those pressure situations when anyone in the lineup is having a bad day. Bo's bat still has some pop and we are confident that he will be able to contribute in many ways. We all know he is not the Bo of the past, but we are fortunate to have him here. Scott Meakin: Your superstar Frank Thomas was out there playing his heart out these 3 games. Are you worried at all that your best player may wear himself out before the end of the season? Gene Lamont: Frank Thomas is the heart and soul of our team. He is our leader and Frank chooses to lead by example. he plays every play like it's his last and this series is no different. We might not have won the game today if it weren't for him. He had 2 runs and 1 RBI today. To answer your question, no I don't think Frank will wear himself out before the end of the season. We will make sure he gets his days off. He hasn't taken many games off in the past I don't see that changing at all this year. That's all for today. I will see you all after the series with the Red Sox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted May 31, 2009 Author Share Posted May 31, 2009 "Minor League Report" "Nashville Sounds (AAA)" Thursday April 7th, 1994 "Birmingham Barons (AA)" Thursday April 7th, 1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 "Chicago White Sox Home Opener!" Friday April 8th, 1994 "Minor League Report" "Nashville Sounds (AAA)" Friday April 8th, 1994 "Birmingham Barons (AA)" Friday April 8th, 1994 "Prince William Cannons (A)" Friday April 8th, 1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 "Boston comes up short!" Saturday April 9th, 1994 "Minor League Report" "Nashville Sounds (AAA)" Saturday April 9th, 1994 "Birmingham Barons (AA)" Saturday April 9th, 1994 "Prince William Cannons (A)" Saturday April 9th, 1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleChange11 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 THis is AWESOME! THe names in the majors (Stew, Karko, Bo, Otis Nixon) are almost as interesting as the ones in the minors (Carpenter, Cameron, MJ, etc). That's gotta be cool playing against current stars as minor leaguers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro23 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 THis is AWESOME! THe names in the majors (Stew, Karko, Bo, Otis Nixon) are almost as interesting as the ones in the minors (Carpenter, Cameron, MJ, etc). That's gotta be cool playing against current stars as minor leaguers. What he said. This is good stuff man. :yahoo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 THis is AWESOME! THe names in the majors (Stew, Karko, Bo, Otis Nixon) are almost as interesting as the ones in the minors (Carpenter, Cameron, MJ, etc). That's gotta be cool playing against current stars as minor leaguers. That's exactly why I am playing the minor league games and reporting them aswell! I enjoy playing those games just as much as I enjoy playing the White Sox games!!! When I get caught up I will have the Save Reader site to post so you can check out guys that are on other teams too. Just gotta get there What he said. This is good stuff man. Thank you!!! Both of you for the props!!! "Chicago Takes Series 2-1!" Sunday April 10th, 1994 "Minor League Report" "Nashville Sounds (AAA)" Sunday April 10th, 1994 "Birmingham Barons (AA)" Sunday April 10th, 1994 "Prince William Cannons (A)" Sunday April 10th, 1994 "Chicago White Sox press conference after Boston Red Sox series" *White Sox Manager, Gene Lamont steps up to the podium* Gene Lamont: Thank you all for coming today as always it's nice to see you all. I will make a few announcements and then your questions. First of all it was nice to see us pick up the series victory today. It is nice to know that your team can bounce back after such a heartbreaking loss in game #1 of the series. For us to be able to go out there and win a game in which the likes of Roger Clemens takes the mound is always going to be a great feeling. Now, Roger did more than enough to win the game and our guys didn't hit well against him at all, but they took advantage of what was given to them to pull out the victory and I can't be more happy to see that. We made it back to 3-3 on the season and it is much better than sitting at 2-4 or even 1-5 if we wouldn't have held on to game #2. The bottom of the rotation pitched well in this series allowing 6 runs in 12.1 innings. That may not be where we want to be, but it's a good start. Our ace, Jack McDowell matched Roger pitch for pitch today and if it wasn't for our starters we would be in pretty bad shape. Our bull pen gave up 5 runs in 7.2 innings. All 5 of those runs came in that came back in game #1. I am confident that those numbers will go down over time. We didn't have to use the bull pen as much in this series and I hope to continue that trend. On the offensive side of things we still struggled, but we were able to feed off the last game against the Blue Jays and get the timely hits when we needed them to win the game. Frank Thomas is still our key hitter as it should be, but I would like to see the guys ahead of him get on base more. Especially Paul Molitor which has been off of his game so far this season. We touched on him a little bit last time and as I said then we are confident that he will break out of it. He is well over a career .300 hitter and that's what we, and Paul himself expects to see this year. We may shuffle a couple guys around to get the guys that are getting on base more in front of our power hitters, but right now I am content to let this play out for a little longer. Now for your questions... John Hickey: My question is about your closer, Roberto Hernandez. In game #1 you came back to score 6 runs and take a 3 run advantage into the 9th inning. Roberto came in and gave up a bunch of hits, then allowed a grand slam homerun to lose the game. What are your thoughts on this situation and are you going to look at different options for a different closer? Gene Lamont: Roberto had a rough inning there. It's going to happen the best of them. We threw him right back into the fire in game #2 with only a 1 run lead and he did just fine getting the save. There is no one on the roster that can do the job better right now in my opinion. He has done this before and he have full confidence in his abilities. If there is anyone that can go in each and every time and not allow any runs for a whole season, then we want that guy, but there is not a single pitcher out there that can claim that. Todd Kalas: Roger Clemens struck out 15 batter today. Why was he so effective against your hitters today and is there anything that your staff is going to do to try and limit the strike outs in the future? Gene Lamont: In the first 5 games of the season we struck out a total of 20 times or so. We struck out 17 times today. Roger Clemens is an elite pitcher. He will go out there each and every time and strike out at least 10 batters no matter who he faces. Our team is pretty disciplined at the plate. I am not going to let these inflated numbers scare me into making changes that are not needed. There is a lot of other areas that need to be addressed more than striking out. Scott Meakin: Last week you touched a little bit on how Bo Jackson was going to be used off the bench. So far this season him & Ron Karkovice has been the only bench players to see any extended amount of time in the game. What are your plans for the bench this season? Gene Lamont: Well, we had an off day in between each series and we will have another off day tomorrow. With the struggles hitting that we have had I want to get these guys as many at bats as it takes to turn things around. I plan on using the guys we have sitting on the bench a lot in many different situations. They will get their time to shine when the meat of the schedule comes around. Until then they will get plenty or rest and come in when the situation warrants a change. That's all for today. Thanks for coming and I will see you all after the series with the New York Yankees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 "Minor League Report" "Nashville Sounds (AAA)" Monday April 11th, 1994 "Birmingham Barons (AA)" Monday April 11th, 1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted June 4, 2009 Author Share Posted June 4, 2009 "Yankees Win Series Opener 2-0!" Tuesday April 12th, 1994 "Minor League Report" "Nashville Sounds (AAA)" Tuesday April 12th, 1994 "Birmingham Barons (AA)" Tuesday April 12th, 1994 "Prince William Cannons (A)" Tuesday April 12th, 1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 "The Yankees Send The White Sox Packing!" Wednesday April 13th, 1994 "Minor League Report" "Nashville Sounds (AAA)" Wednesday April 13th, 1994 "Birmingham Barons (AA)" Wednesday April 13th, 1994 "Prince William Cannons (A)" Wednesday April 13th, 1994 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacrafice Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 "Chicago White Sox News & Notes" Wednesday April 13th, 1994 "Major Leagues" There has been a couple line up changes that will be made before the final game of the series against the New York Yankees. Darrin Jackson and Robin Ventura has flip floped with Jackson now batting 5th behind Frank Thomas. Joey Cora has been moved to the #2 spot in place of Ozzie Guillen. The White Sox also extended the contract of ace starting pitcher, Jack McDowell to a 3 year 15.9 million dollar contract. The White Sox are also in talks with Frank Thomas to give him more pay as he has been openly upset with his current pay rate. We want to make Frank happy. He is the core of our franchise and should be compensated as such. We are confident we will be able to work out a deal to keep him in Chicago for a long time. Frank is currently under a 4 year 8.1 million dollar contract and is looking for anywhere near a 3-4 million dollar increase. The White Sox are in search for another power hitting bat to follow Frank Thomas in the line up. So far this season Frank has hit 4 long balls and Darrin Jackson has hit 3. Only Ron Karkovice has hit a homerun out of the rest of the players on the team. We need to be able to stick someone in there that opposing pitchers can be afraid of. Our opponents have walked Frank 6 times, 3 of those coming in the last 2 games. We need to find a way for our slugger to see better pitches so he can score us some more runs. Adding another long ball threat would do the trick. "Minor Leagues" Today the White Sox moved some personnel around in the farm system. out fielder Mike Cameron has been moved up to Double A, Birmingham to start at left field while out fielder Ricardo Perez has been sent down to Single A, Prince William. outfielder Carlos Lee will assume the starting left field position for Prince William while Ricardo Perez will ride the pine in the dug out waiting to see if any trades can take place where he can find his way back onto the field. Starter/long relief pitcher Tony Mahoney has been sent down to Double A, Birmingham to make his way into the rotation and try his hand at starting games. Starting pitcher Larry Thomas has been moved up to Triple A, Nashville and will take the long relief role for the team. Tony is a young kid with a ton of talent and we want to see if he can make some waves as a starter. Nashville is loaded with starting pitching so moving him down to Birmingham will give him a better opportunity to get into the rotation and will also allow him to get used to the new role against younger less experienced talent. Triple A, Nashville 2nd basemen, Ray Durham has made his way onto the trading block. The White Sox are high on this prospect and believe he is almost ready to be in the big leagues. With the White Sox surplus of talent at 2nd base already having 3 of them on the big league club and two guys under him in Double A and Single A we feel that we may be able to get something in return that will help out the big league club now to continue to make the run for post-season play. The White Sox made a few contract moves in the minor leagues this week aswell. They extended the contracts of SP Jason Guerrero (A), 2B Brian Tavarez (A), 2B Doug Brady (AA), RP Brian Givens (AA) & RP Isidro Marques (AAA). "The White Sox Win Game #3 In A Thriller!" Thursday April 14th, 1994 "Minor League Report" "Nashville Sounds (AAA)" Thursday April 14th, 1994 "Prince William Cannons (A)" Thursday April 14th, 1994 "Chicago White Sox press conference after New York Yankees series" *White Sox Manager, Gene Lamont steps up to the podium* Gene Lamont: Thank you all for coming today as always it's nice to see you all. I will make a few announcements and then your questions. This series particularly this game today just may be a turning point early in the season. We got beat this series plain and simple. We been talking about the offense and we finally made some slight moves before today's game and it seemed to work out well as we were able to hit three homeruns in the game. One of them being a three run homerun in the 1st inning. That's what I want to see. I want the guys up front to get on base any way possible, then the power hitters drive them home. That's what every team wants. We were able to do that today and I hope that's a sign of good things to come. The Yankees proved to us that they are back. It don't matter if they have not been to the post season in over ten years. They always field a great team and they really took it to us. Especially in the first two games of the series. There is not much to note about our offense. They are still struggling, but if those changes that were made continue to help the situation then we will have more to talk about a few days from now. It was nice to see Tim Raines & Robin Ventura hit their first homeruns of the season today. It was hard for our pitchers to get any kind of rhythm as each and every batter in the lineup is able to make you look like a fool and they all did that in the series. I thought our pitching staff did well through out for the most part. Alex Fernandez did great the first game only allowing two long balls to Paul O'Neill. Anytime he pitches a game like that you expect to win, but it just didn't happen in that game. Wilson Alvarez didn't fair so well in game #2, but our bull pen especially Jose DeLeon did well not allowing any more runs to score. Then Jason Bere today gave up 4 solo homeruns, but they were just that. Solo homeruns. He allowed a lot of base runners and didn't give up the killing blow that allowed us to continue to plug away and get the victory. Our bull pen went another game without giving up any runs. I am pleased with our progress. Now for your questions... John Hickey: Your pitching staff gave up 35 hits in the series and 10 homeruns. Every run scored was via the homerun. You say you are happy with the way your pitching staff played what do you exactly mean? The numbers didn't exactly look good. Gene Lamont: We gave up all those hits and homeruns, but they only scored 12 times. Looking at those numbers you would expect to see somewhere around 20 runs scored or more. That's what I am talking about when I say I am overall happy with how things went. Our bull pen pitched 13 innings, but only gave up 1 run. I would say that's pretty damn good! Todd Kalas: It's been talked about during every press conference and I think it needs to be talked again and that's about Paul Molitor. he was held to only 1 hit on 13 at bats in this series. When are you going to say enough is enough and sit him for a game or two and allow someone else to see if they can produce in the #3 slot? Gene Lamont: To be honest we will probably give Paul a day off in the next series, but it's not going to be about his performance. We are going to be playing every day for three weeks strait. That will be a main reason why we will sit him a game. As said a hundred times before he is a true professional and is doing what is needed to break out of his slump. Scott Meakin: I have the burning question everyone in the media has been talking about. What was up with the decision to hit Paul O'Neill in game #1 and why did you wait to use Dane Johnson instead of Alex Fernandez? Gene Lamont: Dane Johnson didn't hit Paul O'Neill on purpose. Simple as that! I think if someone would have hit him out of spite then it would have been Alex Fernandez. Since it wasn't him I just think Dane lost control to the wrong batter as now everyone thinks it was retaliation. So that will be the end of that subject. There is nothing to make of it! That's all for today. I will see you all after the series with the Red Sox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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