Black Sox Blog

I call 1992 the calm before the storm.  It wasthe only full season Frank Thomas had until 1998 where his OPS is less then 1.000.  In a lot of ways, he took a step back but it was still a quality season and he did show some improvement in different areas.  He did score more runs (108) and drive in more runs (115) then he did the year before, but the most marked area of improvement was in his strikeout to walk ratio.  1992 was the first season where he walked more then a 100 times, yet struck out less then a 100, a streak that would carry through to the 1998 season.  He also set what would be a career high (to date) with 46 doubles, so while he was driving the ball, it seems like they were just falling short.  He actually had five more (70) extra base hits then he did in 1991.  Definitely a precursor for things to come.

And the writers gave him some recognition despite only hitting 24 homeruns.  He finished eighth in the MVP voting. He finished third in the batting race (.323) and for the second straight season, he led the league in OBP (.439).  And despite slipping below the 1.000 OPS mark, he still led the league with a .975 OPS.  He also led the league in walks (122) and doubles (46).

In the White Sox season opener in Anaheim against the Angels, Frank Thomas got off to a great start.  He went two for three with two walks, a homerun, a double three runs and one RBI.  He followed that up with two singles and an RBI in the second game of the season, but then went into a pretty rough slump.  By April 21, he was hitting only .195 and at the end of April he was up to only .210.  Then he opened May with a nine game hitting streak and never looked back.  By late July, he was hitting over .300 for good.  He had four hits in a game twice, but never drove in more then three runs in a single game.

He absolutely mashed left handed pitching.  His final line against lefties was .357/.456/.650.  24 of his 50 hits against left handed pitching were extra base hits.  His best month of the season was August, when he went .367/.475/.602.  And he absolutely destroyed the Detroit Tigers, hitting their pitchers for a .409/.536/.750 line in 12 games.

At the time, I’m sure most people didn’t view 1992 as an off year for Frank Thomas.  He just didn’t put up the numbers that he would in 1993 and 1994 when he’d walk away with MVPs.  Let’s take a look at the numbers….

Games 160
AB 573
Runs 108
Hits  185
Doubles 46
Triples 2
Homeruns 24
Walks 122
Strikeouts 88
Stolen Bases 6
Caught Stealing 3
BA .323
OBA .439
SLG% .536
OPS .975
RC 140
RCAA 76
RCAP 68
RC/G 8.98
ISO .213

Seth Speaks wrote up an excellent review of the American League Central this past Friday, and it’s well worth checking out.  Just some general comments on his White Sox reviews

A.J. Pierzynski – He’s pretty much dead on, if not a little generous.  Like Seth, I see Pierzynski taking a step back next season.

Paul Konerko – Again, I agree.  Although if the Jim Thome of old comes back and hits 50 homeruns, Konerko might get less RBI chances.  But another 40 homeruns should be in his future.

Tad Iguchi – Another good job.

Joe Crede – Ah, Mr. Crede.  Here might be where Seth and I part ways, but odds are he’ll be right and I’ll be wrong because I’m such a Crede fan.  I said last year that 2005 would be the year Joe Crede broke out and I was wrong.  I’m going to say it again for 2006.  Crede will hit 30 homeruns, and by seasons’ end, he’ll be hitting five in the lineup.

Juan Uribe – Uribe is a tough cookie to crack.  He had a great 2004 season, then took a step back in 2005.  He’s a great fielder so that always helps.  I could see about 5-10 of the homers Seth predicts being doubles instead. 

Scott Podsednik – Pretty much dead on, although Podsednik staying healthy the whole season might be a little optimistic.  I hope he’s wrong about all of the stolen bases though (and agree with Seth’s assessment about them hurting the team).  He should stay put and let the big bats drive him home.

Brian Anderson – Anderson was the reason I hated the Podsednik trade, because I knew it meant another season in the minors for him.  I think 148 games might be a little high because I don’t think he fits Ozzie Guillens mold of an ideal player, but I’m glad he’ll finally be getting the chance.

Jermaine Dye – Another good look and I pretty much agree.  Dye finally had a good season after a few bad ones so we’ll see if he’s for real or not.

Jim Thome – Here’s another one where I think Seth came in low.  Jim Thome should tear up U.S. Cellular Field.  Anything less then 35 homeruns will be somewhat of a disappointment based on what we gave up for him.

In all though, a solid assessment.  Be sure you check out the whole thing.

I’m not surprised that Frank Thomas ended up in Oakland.  Billy Beane appreciates the kind of player Thomas is, so that’s where he’ll a chance to make one last push towards the Hall of Fame.  The deal has a base salary of $500,000, but Thomas can make as much as $2.6 million more if he gets enough plate appearances and his injured foot is fine.

 I was really sad to see Thomas go.  He’s one of the greatest White Sox hitters of all time, which is why I’m going back and taking a look at his stellar career.  I wish the Big Hurt the best of luck, except when he’s facing off against us.

This is a pretty good read.  Scott Merkin, MLB.com’s beat writer for the White Sox, opens up his mailbag and answers questions posed by fans.  He even mixes in some talk about the 100th anniversary of the 1906 White Sox.

This is my first entry on the new site, and it’s rather fitting that I write about one of my favorite players.  The good news is, Joe Crede signed a one year deal.  He’ll be making $2.675 million next year.  The bad news is, and I kind of understand why because Crede hasn’t lived up to expectations, he didn’t get inked to a long term deal.

I’ve said this before, but this is a huge year for Crede.  He turns 28 in April, when a lot of players tend to breakout.  A .252 average and a .302 OBP won’t cut it though, so he has to prove his worth this year.

 The White Sox also signed Ben Grieve to a minor league deal.  The former second pick in the draft hasn’t done too well since leaving Oakland and he hasn’t logged more then 250 at bats since 2002.  It’s a low risk move though, so I’m all for seeing if Grieve has another season left in the tank.

Record – 93-58, Finished First Place in the American League
Pythagorean Record – 90-61

Starters

Hitters (BA/OBP/SLG)

C – Billy Sullivan (.214/.262/.297)
1b – Jiggs Donahue (.257/.320/.318)
2b – Frank Isbell (.279/.324/.352)
3b – Lee Tannehill (.183/.254/.220)
SS – George Davis (.277/.338/.355)
LF – Ed Hahn (.227/.335/.262)
CF – Fielder Jones (.230/.346/.302)
RF – Bill O’Neill (.248/.301/.276)

Team Leaders

Homeruns – Billy Sullivan and Fielder Jones (2)
Batting Average – Frank Isbell (.279)
OPS – George Davis (.693)
Best Fielder – Fielder Jones (26 Fielding Runs Above Average)

Pitchers (IP/W/ERA)

SP – Frank Owen (293/22/2.33)
SP – Ed Walsh (278.3/17/1.88)
SP – Nick Altrock (287.7/20/2.06)
SP – Doc White (219.3/18/1.52)
SP – Frank Smith (122/5/3.39)
SP – Roy Patterson (142/10/2.09)

Team Leaders

Wins – Frank Owen (22)
ERA – Doc White (1.52)
Strikeouts – Ed Walsh (171)

The Hitless Wonders. The Chicago White Sox were dead last in hitting (.230) and Slugging (.286) in 1906. The were also dead last in homeruns (7) and hits (1,133). What this team was good at was getting men on base (453 walks led the league by far, with the next closest being 385) and move those men over (they led the league in sacrafice hits with 226 and were third in stolen bases with 214). Ozzie Guillen would have been proud.

When you combine those hitting stats with one of the best pitching staffs in the league, you get a world championship. All seven regulars in the rotation were back from 1905 and they combined for a 2.13 ERA, which was second in the league (the Cleveland Naps had a 2.09 ERA). The White Sox led the league with 32 shutouts so in over a third of their wins, the White Sox offense only needed to come up with a single run. The White Sox staff was also stingy with giving up walks. The 255 they allowed led the league, and their 1.067 WHIP was second by a razor thing margin to the St. Louis Brown’s 1.065.

Things didn’t start out easily for the team. On June 1, the team was 15-20 and in sixth place in the American League. Even near the end of July things looked grim. After a four game losing streak, the team was 46-42 on July 25 and in fourth place, nine games back of the first place Philadelphia Athletics.

Then they caught fire. From August 2 to Auguest 23, the White Sox won nineteen straight games. Prior to an August 1 loss, they had won four straight so that’s 23 out of 24 games. By the end of that winnings streak, they had pushed themselves to a five and a half game lead in the American League. They faltered in the beeginning of September and actually gave up first place to the New York Giants. Later in the month, the White Sox dropped three of four to the Giants to drop a game back but they won nine of their next ten games and locked up the pennant.

On offense, Fielder Jones set the tone. His 82 walks were second in the league and he was also sixth in the league with 30 sac. hits. He was also the team’s best fielder and roamed centerfield in 144 of the White Sox 151 games. Shortstop George Davis led the team with 32 extra base hits (most of those doubles) and a .355 slugging percentage. Near the end of a Hall of Fame career, Davis drove in a team high 80 runs that was the third best in the American League.

On the mound, it was a team effort similar to 2005. Frank Owen was the workhorse and led the team with 22 wins and 293 innings, but it was Ed Walsh who led the team and the American League with ten shutouts It was the first great season for Ed Walsh, a future Hall of Famer who’s best known for having the all time best ERA (1.82). And while it was Doc White who led the team and the league in ERA (1.52) and WHIP (.903), it was Nick Altrock who ate up almost as many innings as Frank Owen and won 20 games.

I could go on but that’s why this team deserves further examination. For the rest of the off-season, I’m going to pick out and do season bio’s on some of the top 1906 White Sox leading up to the season. Then in April, I’m going to follow the team day by day in a format similar to Tigerblog’s 1984 Tigers and 1935 Tigers diary. It should be a fun and interesting ride.

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I was going to take a look at what I thought would be the White Sox anticipated 2006 lineup, but Winning Ugly beat me to the punch (and did a much nicer job then I would have). The only difference I have is that Tad Iguchi will probably bat second and Juan Uribe will probably hit seventh or lower. Of course time will tell. Here’s some additional thoughts.

Out lineup has a lot more punch then it did last year. At least it should. You’d hope Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko could replicate what they did last year with the wild card being Jim Thome. Personally, I think Thome is going to hit 40 homeruns this coming year. Maybe 50. He’s had plenty of time to rest his injuries and you’d hope we did our due diligence when the physical happened. Last year, I predicted a breakout season for Joe Crede and I was wrong. This year he’ll turn 28, which is magical in some ways (most players breakout right around 28) so I’m hoping Crede can put it together and finally hit 30 dingers.

The other thing that impresses me is the rotation which is essentially six deep. Brandon McCarthy will probably be the odd man out. Having Jose Contreras as essentially your fifth best starter isn’t too shabby. Out of the bullpen, we’ll have Bobby Jenks for an entire season with Dustin Hermanson and Cliff Politte as setup men. McCarthy will be a spot starter/long relief and hopefully Guillen will get him as many innings as he gave Luis Vizcaino (70) last year.

In conclusion, while the White Sox won’t be the best offensive team, they’ll at least be in the top half (as opposed to the bottom half last year). Their pitching will be the best in the American League. I see them repeating in the AL Central.

The White Sox signed Rob Mackowiak to a two year, $5.3 million deal. In the process, they’ll avoid salary arbitration with the utility infielder.

Mackowiak came over from the Pirates in a trade for Damasco Marte. Not a horrible move because Mackowiak can shore up the infield and he’s a solid left handed bat. In 2004, he hit 17 homeruns and in 2005, he played every position except shortstop, catcher and pitcher. So we have a guy who can fill in anywhere and our offense won’t suffer too terribly.

If there was any question that Frank Thomas was a star in the making, his first full season ibn 1991 put any of those to rest. Frank Thomas got off to a rough start (.200 batting average in his first ten games) but he then hit homeruns in back to back games and never looked back. By the end of the season, he’d rack up numbers that would garner him a third place finish for the Most Valuable Player behind the eventual winner, Cal Ripken, Jr. and slugging first basemen (and first player to hit 50 homeruns in fourteen years) Cecil Fielder.

Frank Thomas finished first in the league in walks (138), OBP (.453) and OPS (1.006). He finished ninth in hitting (.318) and fourth in slugging (.553). His 32 homeruns put him fifth in the league.

Thomas also had some monster games. He had his first multi-homerun game on July 15. On May 23, he went two for five with five RBIs and on June 14 he went four for five with two doubles, a homerun, two runs and five RBIs. His third “five RBI” game of the season came on June 24 in which he went two for four with a double a homerun and five RBIs.

Here’s a look at the numbers…

Games 158
AB 559
Runs 104
Hits 178
Doubles 31
Triples 2
Homeruns 32
Walks 138
Strikeouts 112
Stolen Bases 1
Caught Stealing 2
BA .318
OBA .453
SLG% .553
OPS 1.006
RC 142
RCAA 75
RCAP 64
RC/G 9.47
ISO .234