On Monday, White Sox designated hitter/first baseman/leftfielder Adam Dunn spent time talking to Sox season ticket holders on a special conference call.  Here are a few of his select comments from the conversation:

Q: Later on this week, you are scheduled to play the field. Are you excited about that?

A: I’m hearing that I’ll be back in the outfield a little bit. That will be exciting. It will be fun, a little change up for me.

Q: You’ve played the field before. You’ve played first base for us, sharing time with Paul Konerko. The newspaper today says you’ll be playing in the outfield. Is this true?

A: Yes. It’s something I’ve done my whole career, so it’s not too foreign for me. Anytime I can get on the field, especially during interleague when there is no DH, I would much rather play in the outfield or anywhere I can play instead of sitting on the bench.

Q: It’s great to have you back to your old self. What made the difference?

A: It’s really nothing mechanical. I think this time last year I really wasn’t as healthy as I would have liked. That resulted in some bad habits I wasn’t able to get out of. This year I have been 100 percent healthy and feel like my normal self.

Q: Do you think that you playing in the field, rather than DH, has helped you this year?

A: This year I’ve gotten a bit more acclimated. That was a much bigger adjustment than I had anticipated. If you know my personality, you know I’m not the type to just sit there and twiddle my thumbs. I’ve got to be doing something all the time. Robin’s done a really good job with letting me get out there usually about once a series. I don’t know if it’s helped, but I certainly like being out there and having fun.

Q: How has the coaching staff been? Have they been helpful to you this season?

A: Yes. I feel like I got to hand pick the coaching staff. I’m serious. It’s everyone. It’s as good of a coaching staff as you could put together. They relate to the players so well. Everyone has the utmost respect for all the coaches. That’s hard to find.

Q: How does the support from the fans impact your performance at the plate?

A: It’s huge, especially at home. You’re used to getting booed. You’re used to getting talked about on the road. It adds to the pressure. Hitting is so hard, and when you add just a little pressure to an already high-anxiety at-bat, you start pressing. And once you start pressing, bad things happen. It definitely makes it easier to go up there more relaxed, more focused on getting on base and driving in runs than “I’ve got to get a hit, I’ve got to get a hit, I’ve got to get a hit.” It’s definitely been a lot better.

Q: Are there times in games where you take a different approach in hitting?

A: Absolutely. Let’s say there’s a guy on third base with two outs and all you have to do is hit a ground ball or a fly ball to get him in. That’s probably the one time that you’ll see me change my approach the most. Again, when there are two outs and nobody on, I’m trying to get us a run on the board. I’m always looking for that pitch. Is that the right way to go about it? I don’t know, but it sure is nice when you can get there and get an early lead on a two-strike homer.

Q: Are you able to help some of the younger teammates when they’re at the plate?

A: I’ll do anything to help these guys, but they for the most part are so talented. They’ve done this their whole lives. I think guys put so much pressure and so much emphasis on the wrong things about hitting that they just forget the basics. I know I did last year and I’ll never do that again. It’s basically “see ball, hit ball” and people put so much emphasis on mechanics and this and that. Next thing you know, they’re forgetting the main thing and that’s getting a good pitch and hitting it.

Q: How did you keep up your morale last year?

A: Baseball does not define me as a person. It’s a job. I enjoy doing it. As far as the morale, every day I thought, “This is the day. This is the day everything is going to change and get back to normal. This is the day I’m going to help the team win. I can’t take back what happened previously, but maybe I can do some things that will help us win today.” There’s no use in sitting around pouting about it because nobody cares. That’s something I was fortunate to learn at a very young age.

Q: Do you prepare yourself a little differently when you know you’re either on the field or DH?

A: I’ve taken the same routine each and every day regardless of whether I’m DH or playing the field. The only difference would be that obviously I’m in the cage hitting a little bit more during the game because I’m not out on the field playing. Other than that, I take the same pre-game approach. My day is pretty much consistent.

Q: How tough was the transition from being an everyday player to DH?

A: Again, it was a lot tougher than I had anticipated. It sounds really cool just to go out there and hit four or five times a game. What people don’t realize is how hard it is to stay in the flow of the game and stay loose for four or five at-bats. That’s why routine is really, really big for me, especially being DH.

Q: How are you enjoying the city of Chicago this year compared to last year?

A: Last year, I would come home, lock my door and shut my blinds and not enjoy my favorite city. I’ve said it from day one, this is my favorite city. This year I feel like I can take the family out to some restaurants that we like to go to and go out and see the city. We’ve been able to do that a lot more this year than last year. It’s such a great city. Last year, I feel like I deprived my family by not taking them out and enjoying it.

Q: Do you really get a chance to enjoy the city while you’re here in Chicago, or are you pretty much here just to play?

A: It’s a lot easier to see the things you like to see because we don’t have to be at the field until (later in the day). Like this morning, we have a little breakfast spot we like to get up and go eat at. It’s great. This is your home city. I’m here more than I am at my home city in Texas. I can’t think of a better place to call home for six to eight months.

Q: How does it feel to silence all your critics from last year with all your home runs this year?

A: That’s something I don’t even think about. Last year was last year. I can’t take it back. I know it wasn’t me. I know what I’m capable of doing if I’m healthy and I play every day. The number one goal is to go out and play in as many games as I can and just be me. At the end of the year, the numbers will be what they are and it will make everyone happy. We’ll go on to next year.

Q: What is your thought process as you approach an at-bat?

A: I’ll have a plan each and every at-bat, whether it looks like it or not. Depending on how I think they’re going to pitch me at that at-bat or the situation or this and that, I sell out. If that pitch isn’t there early in the count, I’ll take it. A lot of people ask, “How do you take that pitch?” I’m not able to swing at balls early in the count that I’m not sitting on or really thinking about, which leads to high walks because I get myself in good hitter’s counts and I don’t swing at bad pitches. It also gets me into bad counts, 0-1, 0-2, really quick. I don’t know. If you can help me out with that one, it would probably solve a big problem.

Q: Is there one thing you want to say to all our season ticket holders?

A: Absolutely. I want to thank all of you for the support. I promise you we will definitely turn it around. Personally, I would like to thank you for sticking with me. We’re going to have a few more good years here and hopefully bring another championship back here to Chicago. Thank you.

Here are a few of manager Robin Ventura’s comments from his pregame session with the media:

On if beating Detroit is more significant than other teams:

“No, it just means they are a very good (team) and that they are in your division so they’re important. It’s weird because it’s a two-game series, but then again they’re a good team and you want to play well because they’re in your division. They’re good, we’ve got John (Danks) going today.”

On if he pays attention to the standings:

“Not really, not this early. You kind of want to know where you’re at, but you realize it’s still a long way to go and even for them, you know they’re going to play well at some point. It’s nice to play well early.  Again, you play well early, you go on that All-Star Break and it changes so every series is important, not the end of the world, but you want to play well especially against a team that’s as good as this and is in your division”

On Jesse Crain’s progress:

“He threw yesterday and he was okay so I think in a few more days he could come back.”

On what he’s looking for out of John Danks tonight:

“ With him it’s just the consistency. He has been able to spot a lot of his fastballs and he’s one of those that throws a lot of pitches that hitters swing or miss at so if they’re not swinging at him then it doesn’t always look pretty. He’s a battler and he’s tough to hit against if he’s got it going. His last outing he was fine and he grinded through it and was fine so it’s one of those that if he hits his spots and has his location, he’s though to hit.”

On where to draw the line with the amount of discussions a coach has with a player about hitting:

“I think patience is key. There are some times when you give them a kick, but again I realize how tough it is because it’s not always that easy, especially getting critiqued everyday over and over about it. For them, they have to realize that they can’t get it all back in one day because it’s a consistent thing day in and day out of coming here and having the proper attitude of coming in and working at it and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

On if it’s hard to decide when to stop discussing hitting issues with a player:

“There’s a fine line there of when you’re talking to them, how much you’re talking to them about it and you can’t talk to them about it every day because it becomes an overwhelming thing. They don’t necessarily want to hear it every day either so its back and forth of just conversation about it, but most of us have played so we get what they’re going through and I get that but they can’t lose confidence.”

On if he ever left for a two-day, West-Coast roadtrip during his career:

“I don’t (remember doing so), but I don’t make (the schedule) so we just play these, leave here tomorrow and come back pretty quick. It is odd that you fly out to the West Coast and then come right back and have a day game, but I think everybody will be fine.”

On Adam Dunn’s impact on the offense:

“It’s big. I don’t see a lot of people that expected him to be hitting third so what he brings to the lineup as far as power and getting on base has been fine. It’s a big thing that you kind of get a good hold of what people were seeing last year compared to what they’re seeing now and the credit goes to him, coming in the way he did at spring training.”

On how much Sale solidifies the starting rotation:

 “It’s fine for him to be in there and a plus for us, for me, you look at it the same way you did coming out of spring training — you have a pretty good set of five guys that you’re rolling out with on a consistent basis.”

For the seventh year, Louisville Slugger has created special pink bats for Major League Baseball players to use during Mother’s Day games on Sunday, May 13 to raise awareness for breast cancer.  Only this year’s bats are not just pink…they are hot pink.

White Sox players who will use the new pink bats tomorrow include Alejandro De Aza, Adam Dunn, Eduardo Escobar, Brent Morel, AJ Pierzynski, Alexei Ramirez and Alex Rios.

In addition to playing with pink bats stamped with the MLB breast cancer awareness logo, players and on-field personnel will wear pink wrist bands and a symbolic pink ribbon on their uniforms.  Commemorative dugout lineup cards also will be pink to show support for the cause.

After tomorrow’s game, the hundreds of players who used the pink bats will sign them before they are put up for auction.  The bats also will be sold at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory and online, all in support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Aurora (Ill.) resident Cori Cammarano was selected as the White Sox 2012 Honorary Bat Girl winner for her admirable commitment to “Going to Bat” in the fight against breast cancer.  She will take part in pre-game activities and be honored on-field at Sunday’s game.

On Saturday, May 12, hundreds of White Sox Volunteer Corp members, including current White Sox players and front office staff, will come together to participate in the “White Sox Day of Service,” in partnership with City Year.

This year’s major Volunteer Corps service event will take place at Kozminski Community Academy, a K through 8 public school in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, which is in need of significant improvement and refurbishment.  Members of the White Sox Volunteer Corps participating in the event will be painting walls, halls and murals, building benches and bookcases, cleaning playground areas, among other service activities.

Anyone who has participated in White Sox Volunteer Corps events in the past understands the significance and value a day of service can provide the community.  The completed work will help provide a better, more conducive learning atmosphere for children facing difficult socio-economic situations, as well as help the school improve its facilities without impacting the budget.

Volunteer Corps members will be shuttled to the school from Lot C of U.S. Cellular Field.  The Opening Ceremony at Kozminski begins at 9:00 a.m. and work is scheduled to finish at 2:00 p.m. Lunch and water will be provided.

To be a part of the White Sox Day of Service or for more details, please visit:  http://mlb.com/cws/community/vc_cityyear.jsp

Congratulations to tonight’s starter Philip Humber and his wife, Kristan, on the birth of their first child, son John Gregory last night during our game.  That’s a heckuva way to start a season … Perfect Game and first baby.

Congratulations as well to Jake Peavy on being named the American League’s Pitcher of the Month for April by going 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA.  The award is the fifth monthly honor of his career.  With Peavy, Humber (Player of the Week for his Perfecto) and PK (Player of the Week this past week), the White Sox have enjoyed a nice run of national recognition.

Home Run In a Phone Booth

Alejandro De Aza hit the most amazing, wind-blown, smoke-hidden double you’ve ever seen last night.  If you didn’t catch it (because the Indians couldn’t), click here: http://www.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=21080365&c_id=cws&partnerId=aw-6248658214734654885-1024

RV

Here are some of manager Robin Ventura’s comments to the media before today’s game:

On Jake Peavy’s start to the season and his Pitcher of the Month award:

“He’s definitely earned it. He’s been great. I don’t think you can ask for anything more out of him. ERA and just the way he’s pitching, plus the innings and the complete games, looking at him in spring training and what he went through in that process of getting healthy, it’s great for us but it’s real good for him too.”

On Gordon Beckham’s game last night:

“That’s something that can get him started. It has to start somewhere and that’s something that builds confidence. The home run is nice, but the two other hits for me were bigger than the home run. It’s the way he did it, the way the at-bats progressed, that kind of stuff is more promising and looks better than just one home run.”

On if he feels more comfortable now than he did last month:

“Yeah, it’s a month into it, so you get more into a routine and understand your guys, who you’re playing and all that kind of stuff. The baseball part, I still feel the same as far as what’s going on and being aware of things. Who you’re facing, how your guys are feeling and stuff like that are good.”

On the hardest part of being a new manager:

“The hardest thing? It’s different. It’s not like I’ve done it before, but again you’re learning different people and you want to put them in successful situations and that’s the thing you’re looking for. It’s not always that easy, but you have to find a way for them to be positive and get them in the right spot so they can actually be good.”

On if he’s found that he needs to manage each player differently:

“You treat people differently. Paul (Konerko) gets treated different than everybody else. I treat everybody fairly, but he’s just treated differently because he has a track record and watching him go about his business, I don’t feel like I need to watch him on a daily basis. Conversations I have with him are pretty simple, but everybody else, younger guys you kind of watch and you get a different feeling one way or another about them.”

On how involved he is in instruction with his other coaches:

“Things I understand (I get involved in). Like, I understand third base and first base better than they do, so I’m probably more instructional in that than I am with other things. I don’t talk about the catching or the outfield, but things that I understand better than them I’ll probably get more into instruction, just looking at things and mentioning things to either Brent (Morel) or Adam (Dunn), Paul he knows first base better than I do, so I don’t talk to him about it.”

On if he talks to and shares his ideas on hitting with Hitting Coach Jeff Manto:

“Yeah, we have a lot of the same ideas and philosophies that are just constants and that’s part of being a staff and what we want to do as a team, a lot of it is the same and I don’t see a difference there. But sometimes it’s better to hear it from someone else than it is to hear from the same person over and over again.”

On if Konerko could be a player manager or a manager down the road:

“He couldn’t do it. I know he couldn’t do it. He could be a manager down the road, but he couldn’t play and do that.”

Why?

“There’s just too much work to do.”

Could you have done it?

 “Absolutely not.”

On if he’s surprised other people did it and did it successfully:

“Yeah, I am. I think it’s a little different now. It’d be hard for someone to do it now.”

On what would be the hardest part:

“Doing this right here, everyday. Having to do this, answer questions about it and then go out and perform.”

On how he rates the media:

“It’s alright. I can handle this.”

Big Series

The White Sox enter May at or above .500 for the first time since 2009 when the Sox were 11-10.

The Sox are looking to improve to 3-0 against the first-place Indians for the first time since 2002.

According to STATS LLC, Sox starter Chris Sale is the first White Sox starter to strike out five or more batters in each of his first four career starts.

Chicago is 4-1 vs. the American League Central this season after going 32-40 in 2011.

Paul Konerko needs one hit to move past HOF Eddie Collins (2,007) into sole possession of fourth place in franchise history.

Crain Update

Pitcher Jesse Crain, currently on the DL with a left oblique, played catch today but did not throw a bullpen mound session.  He is scheduled to throw again Thursday and then Saturday, if all goes well, and is eligible to come off the disabled list Sunday.

Fast Lane

Pitching coach Don Cooper and bullpen coach Juan Nieves used their off day to catch up on some shopping at a local super store with red and white colors.  And who do they see?  One of their pitchers.

“We sure are an exciting group,” Cooper joked.  “Spending our off day shopping!”

Goodbye to Moose

Earlier today, family and friends gathered to honor the memory of Bill “Moose” Skowron during a funeral mass at beautiful and grand All Saints Basillica in Chicago.  Serving as honorary pallbearers were teammates Tony Kubek, Bobby Richardson, Bob Turley, Don Larsen, Minnie Minoso and Bill Melton.  Acting pallbearers were Bob Grim, Jerry Reinsdorf, Mike Spidale, Mike Mazza, Bob Bertucci and Tom Sheridan.  Robin Ventura, Herm Schneider and former Sox infielder Al Weis also attended, along with many members of Chicago’s baseball family.

Kubek and Richardson both spoke about their teammate and friend.

“When Casey first put me and Moose together as roommates, I just thought he stuck the two Pollacks together,” Kubek said, noting that since he was Polish, he could use the term.  “After awhile, I realized what he was trying to do.  He wanted Moose to mentor me.  Moose was a winner and that was something Casey wanted me to learn from Moose.”

Kubek also drew a chuckle when he welcomed all the “Yankee Haters” to the mass.

Several friends joked afterward that they could imagine Moose watching the service and saying, “Get this shit over with …”

That was just Moose … or as Kubek noted, “We called him Moosey.”

Soggy Golf

Absolutely no truth to the rumor that a Sox front office executive, a groundskeeper and two coaches slogged their way through 18 holes at Cog Hill’s Dub’s Dread yesterday.  That’s because the groundskeeper called the Weather Service after nine holes and was smart enough to head for home!  But at least two of the three who gutted it out walked off the tough 18^th hole with pars.  Enough to bring you back the next time.  Just saying.

Remembering Moose

We received quite a few emails, stories and texts from friends and fans about Moose Skowron and thought everyone might enjoy reading the stories from fans who connected with Moose, even if for a moment.

Hi,

I just heard about Moose’s passing.  We had the opportunity to meet him at our outings and learned very quickly what a great person he was.  The news made me sad, it just brought everything back, just more memories tied to Tommy I think.  It also makes me think about my Dad and I remember him sitting with Moose at one of the outings for an hour just talking about the neighborhood and “the good old days”, like they were old friends.

All of this makes me realize once again, what a great organization the Chicago White Sox is and what truly wonderful people are part of it.  There are hundreds of thousands of White Sox fans out there and the WS take time to reach out to so many of us.  I always think about our connection and how you reached out to us in a very difficult time and worked with us to remember our Son, someone you didnt even know.  You dont know how that makes us feel!  I apologize if Im getting to “soft” but I think about how each and every person that we have come in contact with has a heart.  Moose, Ron Kittle, You, Courtney, even the Scout that took the time to send us a letter when Tommy died.  You are part of an amazing group, and we are lucky to be part of it. 

The White Sox lost a very good part of it today and we were lucky to have met him.

Thank you.

Diane Fagan

Moose was a very special friend to me and I will miss seeing him at not only the White Sox camp but also the Yankee ones as well. Perhaps a little history is in order.

When he got upset at the way the Nightcrawlers were acting at the White Sox camp, he left as a coach. I ran into him at the Park later and he asked me if I wanted to go to a real camp where they played baseball the way it should be played. I said sure and asked what camp he was talking about.

He said that he and Hank Bauer had taken over the Mickey Mantle camp and it was being held in November in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I said send me an application and gave him my address and forgot about it. Three weeks later the application arrived and I didn’t know what to do. My wife Sharon was alive at the time and suggested that we should go. We had a home in Ft. Lauderdale then. She said I could play baseball and she would shop and we could stay at our home. So I signed up for the 1999 camp.

I couldn’t tell anyone in my family or any of my friends or coworkers that I was going to a Yankee camp because they were only second to the Cubs as a hated enemy. I told everyone that we were going down to the Florida house for a week vacation. It turned out that the Yankees had a procedure where they informed your local paper about your participation in their camp. I really begged that they not do that for me and they didn’t- thank God.

We went and when we arrived at the hotel, Moose greeted us at the door and told us to follow him, he wanted to introduce us to his friends. His friends turned out to be Yogi Berra, Don Larsen, Tony Kubeck, Hank Bauer, Mickey Rivers, Bobby Richardson, Jake Gibbs, Tom Tresh, Enos Slaughter, Bucky Dent, Ron Guidry and a few others I used to have no use for. We got autographed baseballs from nearly everyone and what we remembered the most is Yogi personalizing a baseball for my wife Sharon- normally Yogi doesn’t personalize autographed baseballs. Also I couldn’t believe how nice all of these star players were to me and Sharon.  Of course, not many of the knew I was a White Sox fan; I was a friend of Moose’s and that what I feel made the difference.

I wore Moose’s number 14 on my Yankee uniform and played on his team. The Yankee camp imported catchers and the campers didn’t catch at that time. One of them failed to show up and Moose asked me if I brought my equipment. I said yes but it was back at the Florida house. He said call up Sharon and tell her to bring it and I could catch. She did and I did. The Yankee coaches did the pitching so it was an unexpected treat to catch Guidry and the others. That was the start of what later became catching every inning of 9 inning games at each camp.

I was amazed at the difference between the White Sox camp and the Yankee camp. The Yankee campers, mostly from the New York area, were very competitive which fit in quite nicely with my style. I got bowled over regularly and returned the favor when the opportunity presented itself. It was a “baseball” camp with All Stars and World Series heroes.

Moose was very good to Sharon and me and we enjoyed a lot of people’s company at dinners that we only read about or saw on  the field. All of them have become super friends I look forward to meeting every year.

After that camp, I happily signed up and participated in 11 more Yankee  camps wearing his number at each one including the one last November against the Dodgers in Vero Beach, Florida. Moose asked me to sit with him at the closing banquet and it was obvious then that he wasn’t going to make it to another camp. He signed some special photos for me that I believe have more sentimental value than any other autographed stuff I have. The conversation we had when I drove him back to hotel is one I’ll never forget.

During the time from that first camp and the last one, I visited with Moose art his restaurant, enjoyed his visits to the Gatorade box at U S Cellular field and shared a lot of other great times. I remember that he apologized to me that he wasn’t able to attend my wife’s wake and funeral. I thought to myself at the time, why would he ever consider coming to them and why would he apologize? But as I thought more about  it, I suddenly realized that was the way Moose was.

It’s very probable that I will never attend another Yankee camp because although I enjoyed interacting with all the other ex Yankees, I would miss Moose too much.

Dave G

Hey Mike,
I played softball against your team Seals, for years in Oak Brook Terrace. I was on a handful of different team names. Most recently UJays. I will never forget the 630pm Monday night game we had to square off against you guys about six or seven years ago on a July night. I was the first of my team to show up to the field. There were four guys at the field. You, me, another one of your teammates and Moose Skowron! As I was walking toward your bench from the parking lot, where he was sitting, I said to myself, ” oh shit that’s Moose Skowron”. I was in awe! I didn’t even think of walking over to our bench on the other side. I walked right to your bench and dropped my bag as he was in the middle of a story. I just stood there to listen to the story. He finished it and you asked me if I knew who who he was, and I replied ” hell yeah, I know who this is”. He shook my hand and introduced himself. I stood there and listened to the multiple stories he had to tell about Roger, Yogi and the Mick. Being a die hard White Sox fan and baseball junkie, I knew this would be a story I now had to tell forever! Since then I have told this story to anyone I thought would listen. To see he passed away today struck me. If you were close enough with him to have him show up to a Monday night rec softball game in Oak Brook Terrace, I’m sure he was a good friend. So I just wanted to say I’m sorry for your personal loss and also the loss to the White Sox family. Baseball lost a great man!  But on the flip side I wanted to thank you for the experience I had, and appreciation I had in soaking in the stories he had to tell.

I hope all is well and look forward to the Robin era! Thanks again!
-Bubba

And this from veteran sportswriter and White Sox fan, Bob Vanderberg:

 
Bill “Moose” Skowron, who wore uniform No. 14 across 14 major-league seasons, whose car’s license plates read “BMS 14” and who almost became the first player in baseball history to play in three straight World Series with three different clubs, died early Friday. He was 81.

He leaves behind a book’s worth of stories, tales he enjoyed telling as much as his audiences enjoyed hearing them. One day several years ago, over lunch at a west suburban eatery, I had the privilege to be an audience of one.  He told me how, as a high school athlete at the old Weber High School on Chicago’s Northwest Side, he had played football and basketball but not baseball—because the city’s Catholic schools did not offer  the sport in those days. So he played Windy City softball midweek and sandlot baseball on Sundays. He won a scholarship to Purdue—for football, not baseball—but “the summer after my sophomore year, I went to play semipro baseball in 1950 in Austin, Minn. And a scout from the Cubs named Bill Prince saw me hit four homers off four different pitchers in a single game. And he didn’t offer me a contract.”  Nor had Doug Minor, a White Sox scout, who had quarreled with Bill’s father and also failed to offer a deal. “Thank God there were two scouts there that night from the Yankees, Joe McDermott and Burleigh Grimes. They offered me a contract and made me a bonus baby—gave me a bonus of $25,000. And I quit school and signed professionally.”

Playing in the outfield, he led the Class B Piedmont League in hitting his first year in the minors; then, promoted to Triple-A Kansas City in ’52, he batted .341 with 31 homers and 134 RBIs. “I was named Minor League Player of the Year,” he said, “and you know what? I wasn’t even invited to spring training the next year with the Yankees.”  Instead, Yankee instructors in the minor-league camp began teaching him the finer points of playing first base. That’s where he played that summer in Kansas City, where he hit .318 and finally got his invite to big-league camp in the spring of 1954. He won a roster spot and hit .340 in 87 games. Moose was on his way, embarking on a career during which, as a Yankee, he took personal delight in destroying White Sox pitching. In his nine years as a Yankee, he played 151 games against the Sox, was 161-for-527 for a .306 batting average and added 24 homers and 88 runs batted in.

Most memorable of his damaging blows against Chicago came on Sunday, July 14, 1957, before a Comiskey Park crowd of 48,244. Billy Pierce had beaten the Yanks 3-1 in Game 1 of the day’s doubleheader, moving the Sox within two games of the AL-leading New Yorkers. Now, Dick Donovan took a 4-0 lead into the ninth inning of Game 2. Then came three straight hits, making it 4-1, chasing Donovan and bringing a new pitcher, Jim Wilson, into the contest. Hank Bauer ripped a hard grounder off third baseman Sammy Esposito’s glove to fill the bases before Wilson fanned Elston Howard. Stepping up now as a pinch-hitter was Skowron, 0-for-4 in the opener. Moose sent the first pitch he saw rocketing into the left-field upper deck for a grand slam. The Yankees went on to win 6-4 and the Sox never got to within two games of the New Yorkers the rest of that season.

“I hit good against the White Sox in my career because I wanted to prove to them that their scouts had made a mistake not offering me a contract,” he said. “As it turned out, though, I could never complain, because I got into seven World Series with the Yankees. I get traded to the Dodgers, we win the pennant, we win the World Series. So I was in eight World Series out of my 14 years in the big leagues.”

Skowron came this close to being in three straight World Series with three diffeent teams. The year was 1964. “Moose” had been traded by the Dodgers to lowly Washington in December 1963. White Sox general manager Ed Short, a huge Skowron fan who had tried unsuccessfully to get him from the Dodgers that winter (and, even before that, from the Yankees), went all out to acquire the Chicago native once the ’64 season moved into early June. The Senators turned down every bid, and the June 15 trading deadline came and went with the Sox still Skowron-less. Meanwhile, the Sox were struggling in a three-team pennant race with New York and Baltimore. They were especially hapless against the Yankees, who won the teams’ first 10 face-to-face matchups in ’64.   The Yankees swept a five-game weekend series from Chicago June 12-14 in New York, then took four straight the next weekend in Chicago—by scores of 1-0 in 11 innings, 2-0, 2-1 in 17 innings and 6-5.  Certainly, Short felt, Skowron’s presence in the lineup, not to mention the clubhouse, would have meant the difference in at least one of those defeats.  Short kept the phone lines open to Washington and finally, in a waiver deal during the All-Star break, landed “Moose” in exchange for another first baseman, Joe Cunningham, and young lefty Frank Kreutzer. Skowron was hitting .271 with 13 homers and 41 RBIs when he joined the Sox. His average in a Sox uniform was .293—-with 38 RBIs. And though he hit just four homers, he provided protection for lefty-swinging Pete Ward and shortstop Ron Hansen, the team’s only other longball threats.

The difference Skowron made was especially evident in the Sox’s competition with the Yankees in the second half. Chicago swept a day-night doubleheader in New York Aug. 11, by scores of 6-4 and 8-2, as Moose went 5-for-7 with two doubles and two RBIs. The Sox lost the next two days in Yankee Stadium but came home the following week and swept four straight from the Yankees to move into first place.  In the eight games vs. his old club, Skowron had gone 11 for 29 (a .379 average).

With Skowron, the White Sox appeared poised to win the pennant as the race moved into September. Indeed, after a pulsating, un-Sox-like victory over Cleveland Sept. 4 at Comiskey Park, even the doubters and naysayers had to rethink their position. With the Sox trailing 5-4 in the 10^th and Tribe relief ace Don McMahon (1.52 ERA) on the mound,

Ward led off with a long drive over the center-field fence and into the old bullpen to tie the game. Moments later, Skowron lined a ball to the opposite field, a shot that landed in the right-field lower deck and won the game 6-5.

But shortly thereafter, the White Sox dropped a Labor Day twin bill in Washington, and the Yankees began a surge of 26 wins in 33 games that put them back on top. The Sox won their last nine in a row but finished 98-64, one game behind; third-place Baltimore finished 97-65. The failure of 1964 was among Moose’s biggest disappointments. So was 1965, when he hit .274 with 18 homers and 78 RBIs and made the All-Star team but saw his White Sox finish second to Minnesota. And so was 1966, when he batted just .249 in much limited play under new manager Eddie Stanky.

“But being home in Chicago, coming back here to play—it was a big thrill for me. And I’ll never forget that year we lost the pennant by one game.”

And those thousands of fans who watched him play ball or got to know him in later years  through his community-relations work with the White Sox surely will never forget Bill “Moose” Skowron.

Moose

I lost a friend today.  But that is a selfish way to think about it, really, because a lot of people here with the White Sox – and a lot of fans in New York and Chicago – lost a friend today.  And baseball, well, baseball certainly lost a character.  There was only one Bill “Moose” Skowron.

For the past year or so, Moose had waged a tough, tough battle with cancer.  But Moose was a tough, tough guy, and recently, medical tests seemed to indicate that he was winning.  But the battle had been really hard on Moose and his body, and last night, he succumbed to congestive heart failure at the age of 81.  There will be one less Yankee great standing on the first base line at next summer’s Old Timer’s Game (Moose used to joke about how he had moved closer to first base over the years.  I think he was second or third last year).

Visitation for Moose will be Monday, April 30 from 2 to 9 p.m. at Colonial-Wojciechowski Funeral Home at 8025 W. Golf Road, Niles.  His funeral will be Tuesday, May 1, at Queen of All Saints Basillica, 6280 N. Sauganash Ave., Chicago at 10 a.m.  In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in Moose’s name to the American Heart Association.

If you want to read our press release, you can click here.

For those readers who have attended past Blog Nights here at the ballpark, you know that I frequently asked Moose to attend.  I just loved his stories, and his delivery, well, you couldn’t beat his frankness!

Moose wasn’t exactly “PC.”  I guess that happens sometimes.  That means I can’t really tell you all of the best stories about Moose.  But I can come close.

He loved Mickey Mantle, and was loyal to him to the very end.  Any time Moose told a Mickey story, his eyes would twinkle.  And though I never met Mantle, I got a sense of their relationship through his friend.  And I know this about Mantle, he took care of his friends.

One of the running jokes between Moose and Ed Farmer was about Farmer’s constant and unending pursuit of a signed Mickey Mantle ball.  Farmer would ask, and Moose would at first deny he had any, and then only under pressure would he agree to sell one to Farmer at an exorbitant price.

Farmer would counter that Moose must have a printing press in his basement churning out Mickey Mantle “signed” baseballs.  But what really happened, we surmised, was that years ago Mantle knew how valuable his signature was on a baseball and left his Yankee friends with enough signed balls to take care of them in old age.  That is a friend and that is a teammate.

Moose was the most fun on the golf course, although he grew to hate the game in recent years when his physical strength diminished.

We had a set foursome at the annual White Sox outing – me, Moose, Don Brown and Bob Grim.  I’d laugh for five hours.

It was so much fun to get Moose going.  It didn’t matter the game, he was a competitor and wanted to win.  He trash talked.  He tried to put pressure on your putts.  He kept you laughing.

But then he gave up the game.  When pressed as to why he didn’t play any more, his response was a common one your heard with with Moose about many subjects … “You can take that game, and stick it up your #$%&!”

Man, will we miss that guy …

Tributes

Moose is receiving a moment of silence before three baseball games today … Purdue University’s doubleheader, the Yankees game in the Bronx against the Tigers and our game against the Red Sox.  It seems only appropriate.

A black diamond with the word “Moose” is on the padding next to the White Sox on-deck circle and our team will begin wearing black diamond patches with B-M-S on their sleeves as soon as they arrive.

I’m sure many fans have their favorite Moose stories from the years – I haven’t even mentioned his having to take dancing lessons to improve his footwork at first base – I’d love to read them as comments posted here.

Paulie, Paulie

Congratulations to Paul Konerko on reaching the 400-home run milestone yesterday in dramatic fashion.

For those of you who didn’t see it, here’s a fun look at Konerko’s Road to 400, from No. 1 through yesterday:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20918967&topic_id=9105476&c_id=cws

Other PK Notes

• Paulie became the fourth player to collect his 400^th home run in a White Sox uniform (joining Frank Thomas, 7/25/03; Jim Thome, 9/16/07; Andruw Jones, 7/11/10).

•  With the home run, Konerko moved ahead of Andres Galarraga and Al Kaline into 48^th place all-time.

•  393 of PK’s 400 home runs have come with the White Sox.

Amazingly, all of Paulie’s “milestone” home runs have come on the road!

Monday, April 23, 2012

So the once in a lifetime feat just happened a second time for a White Sox pitcher as Philip Humber threw the 21^st Perfect Game in MLB history on Saturday.

Humber heard from Mayor Emanuel immediately following the game, and today, he received a congratulatory call from President Obama.  Commissioner Selig also sent along a congratulatory letter.  He was named American League Player of the Week today as well.  Tonight, Humber appears is part of the Top 10 list on The David Letterman Show.

If you didn’t catch all of the postgame reaction Saturday, here are Philip and manager Robin Ventura’s comments after the Perfecto.  Even two days later you can sense the joy, excitement and wonderment in Philip’s comments:

On the game:

“I wish I could tell you (what happened out there). It was something that was out of my control. I know God had a hand in it, and I’m thankful. The team played awesome. The first thing you want to do is get a win, and it was nice to have that last run there and have a four-run lead going into the ninth. A.J. (Pierzynski) did a great job. There were a couple great plays in the outfield. It was just awesome. I don’t know what Philip Humber is doing in this list, what my name is doing there, but I’m thankful it’s there.”

On what was going through his mind on the last pitch:

 “’Go get it. Throw him out.’ – That was it. I saw it get away from A.J. and I saw the umpire ring him up and that point, just a ton of emotions, a lot of joy, excitement and most of all gratitude. I’m just thankful for where I’m at. I’m thankful. That was awesome…what just took place was just awesome.”

On his nerves going into the ninth inning:

“Probably more than any of the other innings (my nerves were going). Once you get past the fifth you know what’s going on, but at that point there’s a slim chance that’s going to happen. But going into the ninth, you stand there on the mound and realize ‘I’m standing here on the mound in the ninth inning with the chance to throw a perfect game.’ – I can’t lie; I know I was thinking that. I overthrew a couple of pitches to start the leadoff hitter but I’m just thankful I was able to get back in the count there.  A ton of credit goes to A.J. because he knew just what to call today; he kept them off balance all day. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I had great stuff up until maybe the sixth or seventh inning when I felt like the ball was starting to come out of my hand a little better. A.J. and I have worked well together since I’ve been here and a lot of credit goes to him.”

On rating his “stuff”:

 “I don’t really rate it on swings and misses and stuff like that. I more rate it on how I feel like I’m getting out there, the ball coming out of my hand with some life on it. Like I said, I felt like I was maybe rushing a little bit at the beginning, but I was able to slow myself down a little bit and had a lot  more life on the ball at the end of the game.”

On the journey over this past year and a half to where he is now:

“It’s not me, it’s really not. I’ve said it a lot, but it’s God, it’s just timing. I’ve worked as hard as I’m working now my whole career, but before it used to be about me and now it’s not. I’m just thankful for where I’m at – put it that way.”

On what he was thinking on the last pitch:

“Well, that it’s way outside for one thing. Hopefully that it doesn’t go to the backstop. Really, it’s hard to say, I was just trying to make a good pitch. I felt like I jerked it a little bit, but in a situation like that guys are anxious. I’ve been in the dugout when a team’s getting no-hit and the batters tend to get a little more anxious when they get deeper the game like that and so you get some swings at some pitches you might not normally get swings at. “

On if he threw a slider:

“Yes, that was a slider.”

On if he’s ever thrown a perfect game before in his life:

“I have no idea, but maybe back in youth baseball or something like that, but nothing even close to something like this.”

On the effects of short rest between some innings:

“It was nice because it doesn’t give you a whole lot of time to think. After my last start, and Robin (Ventura) can tell you, that was a rollercoaster start to watch. I was in and out of the strike zone and walking guys. Today what I wanted to concentrate on was throwing first-pitch strikes, getting the first guy out every inning and just keeping it simple. Those innings there, they seemed to be a little more aggressive in the count, mis-hit some balls and it made for some easy outs.”

On his thoughts during the 3-0 count to the last batter:

 “Throw a strike. Get it over the plate somehow. That would be the last way that I would want to lose it. You want to go out with your best stuff over the plate and challenge guys. I definitely wanted to get back in the zone there. A.J. stayed with me the whole game and he makes you feel very comfortable as a pitcher, and I’m thankful to have a catcher like that.”

On his demeanor in the dugout:

“Yeah, I don’t believe in superstitions or anything like that so when guys were getting hits or scoring runs I was shaking their hands. When they’d make plays in the field I was telling them ‘Great job’. I don’t like to be isolated like that. I like to stay in the game, be relaxed and be a teammate regardless of if I’m pitching or not, it makes it more fun that way.”

Robin Ventura:

On when the subject of a perfect game came up between the coaches:

“I don’t think it was really that way, I think it was just the way he was pitching. You look at the game and instead of it being about a perfect game you’re talking about him winning it or if he’s going to finish it, whether he’s going to give up a hit or a walk or whatever. You’re kind of going through the scenarios of looking at their lineup. Once we got the fourth run it was pretty much his and he was pitching well enough unless the moment happens that he gets into trouble, but he was kind of cruising. He was going through, making pitches all day long and he had a couple innings there where he had quick pop-ups, one-pitch pop-ups. You look up and he’s thrown 68 pitches so there goes that, using a pitch count. So no, there wasn’t really any (conversation about the perfect game). I still haven’t talked to him – I just have that superstition – so I was staying away from him.”

Philip on if he felt they couldn’t get solid contact on the ball:

 “I thought Seager hit a ball, an 0-2 pitch where I threw a good curveball down and away, and he put a good swing on it but Lilli(bridge) ran it down. They got a lot of left-handed hitters and I think that’s my reputation around the league is to stack your lineup with lefties. I was just trying to concentrate more on when I threw a slider down and in, to throw it down and in. But like that one (with Seager) I left up a little bit and he put a good swing on it. There were a couple different ones – the ball that was hit to Rios, I can’t remember who hit that ball, but they squared it up to right field and he made a nice catch on that. For the most part, I was not thinking about any of that. I was just happy that they were making plays and keeping us in the lead more than thinking about a great play that saved my no-hitter or perfect game or something like that.”

On the amount of foul balls hit and if that was an indication of anything specific:

 “We threw a lot of breaking balls, a lot of sliders, so when you throw those and they’re not down out of the zone you’ll get swings and misses. If they’re in the zone, normally a breaking ball is going to be a fly ball, some type of pop-up or something like that, whereas a changeup or a fastball has more of a chance of being on the ground. They just happen to be hitting those balls in play.”

On what it was like to have the visiting fans cheering for him:

“Honestly, I didn’t hear them. I didn’t hear them until after the game when all of them got up and gave me an ovation. I didn’t really hear them. You could hear the noise but I wasn’t sure if they were cheering for me or for the guy, whomever I was assuming they were cheering for on their team.”

On his shift and change in mindset as a player:

“I worked hard at my craft and I wanted that work to pay off so that I would be validated. My identity was a baseball player. My whole evaluation of myself was my stat line so if my stat line was great I felt good about myself and if it wasn’t then I didn’t feel so good. It took me a long time to figure it out that it’s not about me or us. Whatever we’re doing we should be doing it to glorify God and that’s a whole lot better way to live because you know that when he’s in control then you can just be thankful for what’s happening. I’m not saying that I’m always going to be successful because of the attitude I have on the field and I’m not always going to have good games, but I will be a joyful person because of where my heart is.”

On if there was a temptation to throw Brendan Ryan another fastball on 2-2:

“The way that at-bat went we did throw him a fastball there and he fouled it off, but my slider was good today and I felt like I could command it. Obviously, I didn’t throw a great one right there, but just knowing the situation and knowing that they’re going to be a little bit more anxious in that situation I think a breaking ball is probably a better pitch right there.”

Robin: On if he wants another rainout when Humber’s scheduled to start next time:

“That was (Pitching Coach Don) Cooper’s fault. He showed us. He’s about right where he should be pitch-count wise.”

Humber on if there was any doubt that Pierzynski saw the ball after it got by him:

 “I knew he saw it and I saw that the batter obviously didn’t think he swung so he was standing there talking to the umpire, so I knew that as long as A.J. didn’t trip over himself or something bad like that, that he just had to play catch with Paulie (Konerko). The rest of it was kind of a blur. I felt (Jake) Peavy on my back and I was like, ‘Let me up’ because I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I skinned my forehead on the ground there when everyone knocked me down. It was just so happy hearing all your teammates excited. That was probably the best part of it just seeing all my teammates so excited.”

On whom his first call was to after the game:

“I’ve already called my wife and my mom’s there with her. I just wanted to make sure she didn’t give birth while I was pitching. I called my dad. I’ve got last I looked 50 texts messages and there’s no telling how many missed calls so I’ll spend the next couple of days getting back to people. There are a lot of friends and a lot of family and a lot of people that I need to thank and share this moment with because there’s been a lot of people that have helped me along the way.”

On if he tweeted about the game yet:

 “I have not tweeted yet. I don’t tweet very often. I think my followers are about pretty disappointed with that. Maybe I’ll tweet something later.”

On where this moment ranks in his life:

 “I don’t know. It’s about sixth, seventh somewhere in there? I’d say as far as baseball goes it’s at the top. Hopefully there’s more to come. I think something that would be even better would be World Series Championship. The individual thing is nice and the team is a part of it, but at the same time when you can do something like that as a team it’ll be even better.”

On his wife’s due date and where she is at:

 “May 8 but he’s ready to go though. She’s in Chicago right now.”

On if he can wrap his head around this:

 “I saw it. I glanced at the TV in the clubhouse and like I said earlier I don’t know what my name is doing on that list, it’s just so humbling. I’m just so thankful and it’s an awesome feeling. People are telling you, ‘I got to get this for the Hall of Fame’ and send stuff to the Hall of Fame – I’ve been there and seen the stuff that’s there. To think that something of mine is going to be there is pretty awesome and I don’t know what to say about it.”

On if he knows the ratio of fastballs to sliders:

 “No idea. Usually I throw more off-speed than fastballs. Our go-to pitch today was definitely a slider and we got a lot of outs on that. Yeah, I don’t know the ratio I’ll have to look at that.”

On if he has a message for the troops:

 “Thankful for what they do. This is small compared to anything that goes on in their lives. I’m just thankful that there are people out there protecting our freedom and giving us an opportunity to go out there and entertain people and not have to worry about our safety. I’m just thankful for that.”