Black Sox Blog

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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Record – 92-60, Finished Second Place in the American League
Pythagorean Record – 97-55

Starters (Note – I couldn’t find a set lineup, so I’m listing the players who got the most time at their respective positions)

Hitters (BA/OBP/SLG)

C – Billy Sullivan (.201/.239/.269)
1b – Jiggs Donahue (.287/.346/.349)
2b – Gus Dundon (.192/.248/.228)
3b – Lee Tannehill (.200/.274/.244)
SS – George Davis (.278/.353/.340)
LF – Nixey Callahan (.272/.336/.368)
CF – Fielder Jones (.245/.335/.309)
RF – Danny Green (.243/.345/.309)

Team Leaders

Homeruns – Billy Sullivan, Fielder Jones and Frank Isbell (2)
Batting Average – Frank Isbell (.296)
OPS – Frank Isbell (.775)
Best Fielder – Fielder Jones (28 Fielding Runs Above Average)

Pitchers (IP/W/ERA)

SP – Frank Owen (334/21/2.10)
SP – Nick Altrock (315.7/23/1.88)
SP – Doc White (260.3/17/1.76)
SP – Frank Smith (291.7/19/2.13)
SP – Ed Walsh (136.7/8/2.17)
SP – Roy Patterson (88.7/4/1.83)

Team Leaders

Wins – Nick Altrock(23)
ERA – Doc White (2.61)
Strikeouts – Frank Smith (171)

You could tell the 1905 White Sox were close to greatness and in some ways, they resemble the 2005 White Sox. They relied on pitching while they had a mediocre offense, and they came really close to winning the American League pennant in 1905. They won as many games as the first place Philadelphia A’s but they lost four more. I’m not sure why there’s such a discrepency in the number of games, but back then, the post season usually started at a set date so not all rain outs were made up. In fact, there were seasons where this screwed over some teams (look at the 1935 Yankees) and it might have happened in 1905 to the Sox. What I don’t understand is, why the Sox played so many more games then everyone else in the American League. I’ll try to do my homework and I’ll let you what I find.

This team was all about pitching. They led the league in ERA with a stellar 1.99 mark. Four White Sox were amongst the top ten in the American League in ERA and three were in the top ten in WHIP. The team also gave up less homeruns (11) then any other team in the league. The White Sox staff had 131 complete games in 158 starts, which was third in the league.

Nick Altrock had such an impressive season that he probably would have finished second in the Cy Young voting if the award existed (the A’s Hall of Fame pitcher Rube Waddell led the league in most pitching categories in 1905 so he would have won the award). He was third in the league in wins (23), fifth in ERA (1.88) and seventh in WHIP (1.068). The worst ERA on the team was Ed Walsh with 2.17 and the worst WHIP was Frank Smith with 1.10 who was second in the league in walks with 107.

The 1905 White Sox were a season away from their “Hitless Wonders” tag, but it certainly applied in 1905 as well. The White Sox were dead last in homeruns (11) and in the second half of the league in hitting (.237) and slugging (.304). Utilityman Frank Isbell led the league in hitting but he logged only 341 at bats. Only two starters (Jiggs Donahue and George Davis) hit above .250.

This was a great team though. And like a lot of other great teams, the White Sox would have to wait one more year to bring home their first World Series championship.

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Record – 89-65, Finished Third Place in the American League
Pythagorean Record – 92-62

Starters (Note – I couldn’t find a set lineup, so I’m listing the players who got the most time at their respective positions)

Hitters (BA/OBP/SLG)

C – Billy Sullivan (.229/.255/.307)
1b – Jiggs Donahue (.248/.298/.319)
2b – Gus Dundon (.228/.292/.268)
3b – Lee Tannehill(.229/.260/.303)
SS – George Davis (.252/.311/.359)
LF – Nixey Callahan (.261/.318/.317)
CF – Fielder Jones (.243/.316/.303)
RF – Danny Green (.265/.352/.343)

Team Leaders

Homeruns – Fielder Jones (3)
Batting Average – Danny Green (.265)
OPS – Danny Green (.695)
Best Fielder – Lee Tannehill (25 Fielding Runs Above Average)

Pitchers (IP/W/ERA)

SP – Frank Owen (315/21/1.94)
SP – Nick Altrook (307/19/2.96)
SP – Doc White (228/16/1.78)
SP – Frank Smith (202.3/16/2.09)

Team Leaders

Wins – Frank Owen (21)
ERA – Doc White (1.78)
Strikeouts – Doc White (115)

In 1904, The White Sox had a team ERA of 2.30. It sounds extremely impressive until you consider that they were third in the American League that year. The league average was 2.60, and the pennant winning Boston Americans led the league with a 2.12 ERA.

As impressive as the White Sox pitching was, their hitting was fairly mediocre. Their .242/.300/.316 team lines were just at league average (.244/.295/.321). And while they were in the bottom half of the league in homeruns, they led the entire league in stolen bases (216) and sacrafice hits (197). The 600 runs that they scored was good for third in the league.

Danny Green was the hitting star. He was in the top ten in the American League in OBP (.352), Runs (83), Walks (63), stolen bases (28) and times on base (214). Doc White was the pitching star as he led the team in ERA and strikeouts. His 1.78 ERA was the third best in the AL and he was third in the league with seven shutouts.

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You can check out the graphs for the season at Baseball Graphs. While not as bad as the Senators, the White Sox don’t fare too favorably in any of these.

No new Bios this time around either. Guess the Sox from this era weren’t as popular as the ones around the Black Sox team.

The White Sox are back home against Seattle. Hopefully they can keep their streak of consecutive series wins alive by taking at least two of three. It’s Jon Garland vs. the return of Joel Pineiro tonight.

Record – 60-77, Finished Seventh Place in the American League
Pythagorean Record – 58-79

Starters (Note – I couldn’t find a set lineup, so I’m listing the players who got the most time at their respective positions)

Hitters (BA/OBP/SLG)

C – Ed McFarland (.209/.264/.279)
1b – Frank Isbell (.242/.266/.332)
2b – George Magoon (.228/.303/.288)
3b – Nixey Callahan (.292/.324/.387)
SS – Lee Tannehill (.225/.263/.276)
LF – Ducky Holmes (.279/.335/.328)
CF – Fielder Jones (.287/.348/.340)
RF – Danny Green (.309/.375/.425)

Team Leaders

Homeruns – Danny Green (6)
Batting Average – Danny Green (.309)
OPS – Danny Green (.800)
Best Fielder – Danny Green, but almost by default as most of the Sox in 1903 had negative FRAAs (5 Fielding Runs Above Average)

Pitchers (IP/W/ERA)

SP – Doc White (300/17/2.13)
SP – Patsy Flaherty (293.7/11/3.74)
SP – Roy Patterson (293/15/2.70)
SP – Frank Owen (167.3/8/3.50)

Team Leaders

Wins – Doc White (17)
ERA – Doc White (2.13)
Strikeouts – Doc White (114)

Synopsis

This was one of the worst White Sox teams in the first quarter of the century. Their 77 losses wouldn’t be topped until 1918, and the .438 winning percentage wouldn’t be matched until 1921. New coach Nixey Callahan had his hands full as the Sox had the second worst slugging percentage (.317) in the league. Their pitchers finished last in strikeouts and were one of only three teams to finish with an ERA above 3.00 (3.02).

The team did have it’s stars though. Danny Green led the offense in just about every offensive category, and he finished fifth in the league with a 144 OPS+. Doc White led the rotation and finished fourth in the league in ERA (2.13) and seventh in the league in WHIP (0.902). Unfortunately his 16 losses were good for sixth in the league, but it was nothing compared to the 25 losses put up by Patsy Flaherty (he also led the league in hits allowed with 338).

Fortunately, the Sox would bounce back in 1904 and would have a winning record for the next six years.

Here are the graphs of the 1902 season, courtesy of Baseball Graphs. You can see how bad their isolated power is in the second one.

Unfortunately, there are no new biographies.

Record – 74-60, Finished Fourth Place in the American League
Pythagorean Record – 74-60

Starters (Note – I couldn’t find a set lineup, so I’m listing the players who got the most time at their respective positions)

Hitters (BA/OBP/SLG)

C – Billy Sullivan (.243/.268/.323)
1b – Frank Isbell (.252/.276/.318)
2b – Tom Daly (.225/.303/.288)
3b – Sammy Strang (.295/.387/.364)
SS – George Davis (.299/.386/.402)
LF – Sam Mertes (.282/.334/.362)
CF – Fielder Jones (.321/.390/.370)
RF – Danny Green (.312/.388/.391)

Team Leaders

Homeruns – Frank Isbell (4)
Batting Average – Fielder Jones (.321)
OPS – Gerogie Davie (.788)
Best Fielder – Fielder Jones (15 Fielding Runs Above Average)

Pitchers (IP/W/ERA)

SP – Roy Patterson (268/19/3.06)
SP – Clark Griffith (213/15/4.18)
SP – Wiley Piatt (246/12/3.51)
SP – Nixey Callahan (282.3/16/3.60)
SP – Ned Garvin (175.3/10/2.21)

Team Leaders

Wins – Roy Patterson (19)
ERA – Ned Garvin (2.21)
Strikeouts – Wiley Piatt (96)

Synopsis

1902 was a step back for the White Sox. They won nine less games and finished in fourth place in the American League, eight games back of the Philadelphia Athletics. Only the Detroit Tigers (.320) had a worse slugging percentage then the White Sox (.335). They did finish second in walks (411), first in stolen bases (265) and first in sacrafice hits (154). Offensive leaders included Fielder Jones, who finished first in singles (150), tenth in hitting (.321) and sixth in On Base Percentage (.390). They also got a good season out of newcomer and future Hall of Famer George Davis. Davis was fifth in the league with 93 RBIs, and finished fifth in walks as well (60).

Pitching declined as well. The team added almost half a run to their ERA (3.41). 1901 staff ace and Hall of Famer Clark Griffith had the first of several erratic seasons. His ERA+ of 81 was the worst of any season where he threw more then fifty innings. Ned Garvin, who was traded late in the season, led the team in ERA and was eighth in the league in WHIP (1.209).

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I was surfing the net and ran across a very cool site called Baseball Graphs. The site is run by Studes (who recently wrote the Hardball Times Bullpen Book ) and it provides an insightful way of looking at the season through the use of charts.

If you enjoyed my 1901 White Sox Lookback, here are the graphs that have been compiled for that season. The three graphs pretty much show that the White Sox were a fairly dominant team in their debut season.

Also, Richard Lederer finished his awesome three part interview with the great Bill James. Excellent work.

SABR members might be aware of this, but a lot of other people might not. The Baseball Biography Project is a committee of SABR dedicated to compiling biographies on every major league player. They have a long way to go, but the work is exceptional. Two of the players I discussed in yesterdays Lookback have biographies completed, so if you’re interested in this genre, I highly recommend you check these out:

Dummy Hoy
Fielder Jones

Record – 83-53, Finished First Place in the American League
Pythagorean Record – 84-52

Starters (Note – I couldn’t find a set lineup, so I’m listing the players who got the most time at their respective positions)

Hitters (BA/OBP/SLG)

C – Billy Sullivan (.245/.271/.351)
1b – Frank Isbell (.257/.311/.329)
2b – Sam Mertes (.277/.347/.396)
3b – Fred Hartmen (.309/.355/.431)
SS – Frank Shugart (.251/.301/.345)
LF – Herm McFarland (.275/.384/.383)
CF – Dummy Hoy (.294/.407/.400)
RF – Fielder Jones (.311/.412/.365)

Team Leaders

Homeruns – Sam Mertes (5)
Batting Average – Fielder Jones (.311)
OPS – Dummy Hoy (.807)
Best Fielder – Frank Isbell (17 Fielding Runs Above Average)

Pitchers (IP/W/ERA)

SP – Roy Patterson (312.3/20/3.37)
SP – Clark Griffith (266.7/24/2.67)
SP – Jack Katoll (208/11/2.81)
SP – Nixey Callahan (215.3/15/2.42)
RP – Zaz Harvey (92/3/3.62)

Team Leaders

Wins – Clark Griffith (24)
ERA – Nixey Callahan (2.42)
Strikeouts – Roy Patterson (127)

Synopsis

The 1901 Chicago White Sox won the American League Pennant their first year of existance. Led by the bats of Fielder Jones and Dummy Hoy, the team led the league in runs scored (809) and stolen bases (280), and they were second in OBP (.350) Hoy and Jones were first and second in walks and were second and third in the league in Times on Base.