Andy White Fan Club

Andy is on the DL

2009-08-07T14:06:00.001-07:00

This is old news, but Andres Blanco headed to the DL with a fake injury earlier this week on Tuesday, allowing Ojo the Unlucky to come off the DL. The Cubs immediately regretted this decision as they were shutout by the Commies in the final game of the series. Coincidence? Hardly.

The internets have been a buzz about Andy lately, and it seems people are coming around. Over at the View from the Bleachers, lizzie posed the stupidest question ever: Blanco or Miles? Amazingly, the responses were intellengent with an overwhelming answer of Blanco, sans Brian.

You see, Brian is an aspiring journalist, who just like most college kids these days, doesn't actually do any work in college. In my day we had to do this thing called research. We even had to go to a place called a library. It had these things called books and journals (or magazines). Nowadays all the kids do is wikipedia something, copy, paste and turn in. But that's neither here nor there. Brian is a douchebag and I will rip him to shreds over at TMS and then promptly be fired.

Don't worry though, Andy will be back in 15 days when Aaron Miles mysteriously heads back to the DL with his sandy vagina, or hopefully is released back to the Lollipop Kingdom. Until then, the Andy White Fan Club will be standing by patiently.

Go Andy!

Andy Hits His First Dinger

2009-07-29T17:54:00.001-07:00

Last year when I texted my friend that Koyie Hill had gone 4-5 on the day, he responded with, "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while." It was that type of day, as nothing could go wrong for the Cubs. No, not even Aaron Miles is coming back anytime soon. And even with White Slice going down with a broken foot, the day was perfect for Andy White to add his first trophy to the trophy case, to which Ronny responded, "I really like this kid."

Congrats Andy White!

I Figured Out How the Cubs Can Win

2009-07-03T13:40:00.001-07:00

Just put in Andy White!

The Cubs are 16-9 when Blanco plays. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Lot's of moves recently, although nothing as fancy as Mr. Fancy pants DeRosa going to the Cardinals. Let's see how Baker works out. Ojo is still on the DL. Farney is gone. How is it we have no problem getting rid of our suck-asses except for Rule 5? With Ramirez, Guzman and White Slice coming back on Monday, it means more moves. I see Fuld and Fox going down, along with Notre Dame. I could be wrong though, I always am.

Andy White June totals:
66 AB/17 Hits/3 Doubles/7 RBIs/.310OBP/.303SLG/.258AVG

Not too bad. But as we all know Andy is known for his fielding, which included a Top 10 play on Sportscenter just this past week.

Go Andy!

Andy White Strikes Out

2009-06-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, this picture was hardly from the game last night.

Andy went 2-4 last night, raising his average to .245 and .273 for the month of June. Unfortunately, one of those outs came in a critical situation with the bases loaded in the sixth. Hey, Andy can't do it all. He did try to make up for it by leading off the ninth with a single, giving the Cubs the tying run at the plate with no outs. But the Cubs couldn't capitalize, something they managed to fail to do the entire game as they were unable to score any runs on 10 hits and 12 baserunners.

On the bright side of Cubdom, Ramirez will start live batting practice. Don't worry AndyHeads, Blanco won't be sent down with the return of E-Ramis. Uncle Lou from the Tribune:

"Once we get Ramirez back, it will be much easier to rest the infield," Piniella said. "We have a little more depth in the outfield than we do in the infield.

"Once we get Ramirez back, it's easy for me to put [Andres] Blanco at shortstop and move Fontenot to second."

It's hard to believe The Riot will be benched in place of Andy, but at least it looks like he will be the backup infielder over Ojo the Unlucky.

Go Andy!

Andy White Knight of Wrigleyville

2009-06-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

Andy "raises the roof" at Wrigley

Four more hits and three more ribbies for Andy this weekend, plus some more spectacular defense. It looks like the Cublogoverse is warming up to Andres as well. Jen over at CUBblogging named Andy White the Cub White Knight of Wrigleyville on Saturday and why not? Blanco came through in the clutch, hitting the game tying single in 13th against Woody. Ojo the Unlucky was then very un-AaronMiles-like and moved Andy over to third on a single. With a wild pitch to Jake Fox, Andy came home to complete the walk off.

I had to "watch" the end of the game on my phone because I was at a Beer Festival in Flagstaff. Let me say, I haven't seen anything as beautiful on my cell phone since I found out I can look at porn on my web browser. Thank you 3G network!

Will everyone that thinks cubbiejulie should eat crow, please raise their hands?

But I digress. From Cubs.com:

Blanco, a utility infielder who started the season in the Minors, did not have a hit until the 13th. He knows his role.
"I try to do anything I can do," Blanco said. "I'm not a home run hitter, I'm not going to drive in too many runs. I'm just trying to put the ball in play and run hard to first base. That's my job, and I have to keep it going."
Third-base coach Mike Quade had Blanco ready for anything.
"Quade told me, 'You have to score no matter what -- high chopper, wild pitch, anything. Let's finish the game,'" Blanco said. "I was ready, 100 percent. Right after we talked, [Wood] threw a wild pitch."

And that's what Andy does, to quote Angry Mike from College of Idiots: Get's It Fucking Done.

Look for more of Andy this week. Go Andy!

Andy White: The Unsung Hero

2009-06-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

What a game! While I had to listen to the game at work, I was able to catch the video of the back-to-back jacks and Soriano's walk-off hit on Mike and ~~Mike~~ Eric The Silliest this morning. The best part about it, they played the radio call from WGN instead of the tv feed. You know, the one where Ronny goes crazy, like always. The Silliest claimed he would only get that excited if he was rolling around naked in a pile of money. Welcome to my world! I mean the rolling around naked, not the money.

I haven't been able to post much about Andy White this week. With the return of Ojo the Unlucky from the DL, Uncle Lou has been questionably putting him in the lineup. I'm sure it's just a case of the lefty-righty matchup. Hey Lou, Andres IS a switch hitter. Unfortunately, Andy hasn't taken advantage of his few chances, as he has gone 0-8 since I called out cubbiejulie last week. Personally, I think she put a curse on him, as she hates anyone that isn't McDreamy or Harden's Ass. Now she can finally brag about Blanco being below the Mendoza Line and take another 15 minutes of her podcast ripping on players on the team she roots for. Thursday continued the struggles for Andy White, as he went 0-3 at the plate.

But it was his ability to play fundamental baseball which silently helped the Cubs win the game against the hated Meth Heads. In the bottom of the ninth, Reed Johnson, batting for Kosuke led off the inning with a single. Andy White was up next and was asked to lay down the sac bunt to move Reed over to second, which he did perfectly. Fundamentals haven't been the Cubs strong suit this year, and I don't think I have enough digits to count the number of failed sacrifices this year.

After Ojo wasted an at-bat, Soriano came through and hit the game winning bloop single. Cubs win! Go Cubs Go! Spilled beer everywhere! JDot breaks his streak of 13 losing games in person!

Congrats Andy White, without you, the Cubs couldn't have done it.

Go Andy!

Soriano to Take Andy White's Place at Second?

2009-06-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

Lou Pinella is looking for answers, although maybe a little too late. In the ninth inning, Lou moved Soriano to 2nd base. This is very stressful, as I have shown what the Aaron Miles Effect can have on a player. Plus, Sori is the player of the month on my cursed Cubs calendar. I don't think we can afford to lose him, although at this point, punching babies or puppies is probably a better option than what Lou has done this season. There is only so much "non-coaching" he can do. Obviously fundamentals is not something the Cubs are into. It's gonna take a lot more than Andy White's awesomeness to right this ship. Moving Sori to 2nd in order to free up the outfield for another power bat? We have power bats? Let's just get it fucking done.

Go Andy!

Not Even Andy White Can Save This Parade

2009-06-11T18:02:00.001-07:00

In a day that saw everyone hit the ball, Andres went 2-3 with a walk, a double and 2 RBI's. That of course was Tuesday, when it looked like the Cubs were turning it around. Blanco was over the Mendoza line, I could smirk in the face of cubbiejulie, and life was good. Then what happened is what I like to call, "the Aaron Miles Effect".

You see Aaron Miles is like Ojo the Munchkin. Despite his happy-go-lucky, hugging everyone (including the enemy) ways, everyone knew him as "Ojo the Unlucky". When he is told this, Ojo discovers rationalizations for this, including the fact that he was born on Friday the 13th, is left-handed, and has a wart under his arm, and he begins to believe that bad luck follows him wherever he goes.

And so Aaron Miles is back, and has infected 2nd base, which is evident in the fact that Blanco went 0-4 today with 2 strikeouts and an error, which almost cost the Cubs the game. So GFY Miles, you midget fuck. Trust me, this has nothing to do with Andy White being mediocre.

Go Andy!

Andy White Can Kick McDreamy's Ass

2009-06-08T17:12:00.000-07:00

STFU cubbiejulie! If anyone listens to the LOHO podcast, you have noticed that julie has started a new segment in which she rips on the Andres Blanco. Way to pick out the one guy that can play his position in the infield on the team to beat up on.

Yes, we get it, you are in love with Mark DeRosa. If McDreamy was still on the team, the Cubs would be 53-1 (no one's perfect, not even Andy White). Obviously it was his clubhouse presence which led the team to the NL's best record last season and he is the ONLY reason why the Cubs aren't that good this year. OMG, he can play like every position, and his ass is so fucking spectacular!

GFY cubbiejulie! And sorry John and Steve (the writers for WAIW and guests on the LOHO podcast this week), but you can kiss my arse for agreeing with her (although one of you did point out that he has been the only reliable glove on the team, the sound quality on that shit sucks so I couldn't tell which one). But really? Blanco is just a slightly different version of Miles? Come-on! I haven't seen Blanco hugging opposing players, or striking out in big situations.

I will be the first to admit that Blanco isn't the Cubs answer for offense. And with a team that is in such a need for runs, from anyone, you need to play players that are hitting. It only makes sense. But this team is also losing almost every game in which they commit an error. Blanco has yet to commit an error and has a 97% FPCT throughout his career, and is spectacular defensively, going deep into the hole on more than one occasion to rob hitters of a base hit.

Plus, Miles is a veteran player who is on the last leg of his career, if he even had one. Sure last year he put up some decent numbers, but this year he is horrible. On the flip side, Blanco has never seen more the 90 AB in the bigs, and that was all the way back in '06. He has needed sometime to adjust to big league pitching, and his numbers have only improved since being called up.

Unfortunately, cubbiejulie will probably get her way and Blanco will be sent back down once Miles is able to return to the Cubs after his DL stint. But don't go crying in your underwire when Miles returns to his suckitude and your'e looking again for a decent 2nd baseman.

Notes: I still read and enjoy both LOHO and WAIW and I do realize that Miles is an above average 2nd baseman throughout his career. Even though cubbiejulie, John and Steve have valid points, Andy White still never played for the hated Red Birds, so I'm right, and they're wrong. Oh, and the Chicago Now Network SUCKS!

The Hits Keep Coming Like it Was Mike Brown House Party!

2009-06-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

Andy White got his 3rd hit last night late in the game, although was stranded because the bullpen BLOWS! That's right, because of the game on Tuesday, and TRL was pitching like his usual awesome self, Lou decided to put him up to bat in the 7th inning following Andy's 2nd double for the year.

The Cubs could have used the insurance run too, as the game went into extra's for the second night in a row. Luckily the bullpen was a little more stable this time around and was able to hold onto the tie until HoffPOWER hit in the go ahead run in the 11th.

Andy was pitch-hit for in the ninth by Soto, who took a walk and later flied out after Micah's go ahead hit.

Santo really loves the kid, and I got a couple "quotes" from listening to the game. Ronny thinks Blanco "can really play" and has the right "attitude" and "fits in well" with the club. While we all know that Andy isn't tearing it up on the basepaths, he at least is making up for it in the field. A definite improvement over Miles (who is back hitting in AZ), Freel, Fontenot, Scales, or even Soriano in defense, Lou is keeping him in the lineup regularly.

Plus the kid hits from both sides, and actually hits lefty's hitting lefty better than righty.

Let's see if we can get this game in today, and maybe Andy can pick up his first Cubs Dinger!

Go Andy!

Hit #2!

2009-06-03T13:50:00.001-07:00

After getting his first hit, a double for an RBI last Monday, Andy White had gone to the plate 12 times without another hit. But yesterday Andy singled in the 7th, raising his average to .143.

Although Andy's hitting has been showcased in the Majors, his fielding has been a little better, with a couple of good stops.

Go Andy!

Only a single, triple and homer away from the cycle.

2009-05-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Andy went 1-4 today, starting at 2nd base. He hit a double for an RBI and scored a run. For some reason, even though Blanco is a switch hitter, he kept hitting lefty against the lefties. Seemed to work out though, to the amazement of Ronny.

Go Andy!

Eat Your Heart Out Hank White!

2009-05-27T11:54:00.001-07:00

CHICAGO - The Chicago Cubs today recalled infielder Jake Fox and selected the contracts of infielder Andres Blanco and left-handed pitcher Jason Waddell from Triple-A Iowa. The Cubs optioned left-handed pitcher Neal Cotts and infielder Bobby Scales to Triple-A Iowa. Additionally, the club placed infielder Aaron Miles on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 26, with a right shoulder strain.

Blanco will wear uniform number 13, Fox will wear number 5 and Waddell will wear number 43. All three are available for this afternoon’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field. Chicago’s 40-man roster now stands at 38 players.

Fox, 26, is leading all minor league players this year in the “Triple Crown” categories with a .423 batting average (63-for-149), 17 home runs and 50 RBI in 40 games for Iowa. The right-handed batter also has 40 runs, 14 doubles, two triples, a .503 on-base percentage, a .886 slugging percentage and a 1.389 OPS this season. He has seen action at first base, third base, left field, right field, catcher and designated hitter this season. Fox has twice earned Pacific Coast League Player of the Week honors for the periods ending April 19 and May 17.

Originally selected by the Cubs in the third round of the 2003 Draft, Fox joins the Cubs riding a 17-game hitting streak during which he batted .453 (29-for-64) with five home runs and 19 RBI.

Fox last appeared in the big leagues in 2007 when he made his major league debut and batted .143 (2-for-14) with two doubles, three runs scored and one RBI in seven games for the Cubs.

Blanco, 25, is batting .314 (48-for-153) with nine doubles, four home runs and 25 RBI in 43 games for Iowa this season. The switch-hitter is batting .342 (39-for-114) against right-handed pitching and has a .364 mark (16-for-44) with runners in scoring position. Blanco has played exclusively at shortstop in the field this season.

Signed by the Cubs as a minor league free agent following the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Blanco has played in 78 career major league games with the Kansas City Royals covering parts of three campaigns (2004-06), batting .252 (57-for-226) with six doubles, four triples and 19 RBI. Blanco has played shortstop (51 games) and second base (31 games) at the major league level.

Waddell, 27, joins the first major league roster in his nine-year professional career. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA (10 ER/16.2 IP) in 18 relief appearances, limiting right-handed batters to a .205 average (8-for-39) while lefties have batted .346 (9-for-26) off the southpaw. The 2009 campaign marks his first pitching above the Double-A level. He had 270 minor league appearances, all but 13 in relief, prior to his call-up today. He was originally selected by San Francisco in the eighth round of the 2001 Draft and spent his first eight professional seasons in the Giants minor league system.

Signed by the Cubs as a minor league free agent last November 21, Waddell attended camp as a non-roster invitee and spent nearly the entire spring training season with the major league club. He posted a 0.90 ERA (1 ER/10.0 IP) in 11 Cactus League relief appearances.

Cotts was a member of Chicago’s Opening Day roster and is 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA (9 ER/11.0 IP) in 19 relief appearances this season.

Miles is batting .204 (20-for-98) with six doubles and four RBI in 37 games for the Cubs this year.

Scales is hitting .257 (9-for-35) with two doubles, one triple, one home run and five RBI in 14 games for the Cubs this season. The 31-year-old had his contract selected from Iowa on May 4 and made his major league debut the next day, collecting his first big league hit off Tim Lincecum. Scales is batting .303 (23-for-76) with five doubles, a triple, three homers and 10 RBI in 21 games for Iowa this season