White Sox position players 1965-2017, position players

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All White Sox Team 1965-2016

A few months ago I put my 1965-2015 all Cubs team together.  I’ was going to put together my all White Sox team for the same time frame.  To qualify, a player needs to have played for the Sox for at least three years.  That’s why Albert Bell isn’t on the team.  He put together one good year for the Sox, followed by one great year, and went on his way to Baltimore.  Bell hit .311 with 49 homers and 148 RBIs in 1998.  I had forgotten just what a beast at the plate he was. Anyway, here goes.  Discussion and is encouraged.

Catcher:  Carlton Fisk.  Really, nobody else is a close second.  Carlton played for the White Sox for 13 seasons.  Fisk was an offensive for the Sox.  His best year came in 1985 when he hit 37 homers with 107 RBI’s.  This was one of the easiest choices on this team.

First base:  Frank Thomas  For a team that didn’t have much offense for years, the Sox have had an abundance of great hitting first basemen in the last 50 years.  In addition to Thomas, the Sox have also had Dick Allen, Paul Konerko and Jose Abreu man the position.  While Thomas gets the nod, Dick Allen was the most exciting offensive player I’ve ever watched play for the Sox.  Paul Konerko was a model of production and consistency while providing leadership.  It’s amazing that I would put someone as good as Abreu 4^th at this position , but that speaks to the Sox depth at this position.  The Sox came a long way form the days of Tommy McCraw.  No offense Tommy.

Second base: Ray Durham   Ray played second for the Sox for 8 years, from 1995-2002.  He was a solid offensive contributor, with an OPS of .780.  He also provided form speed, stealing 219 bases during that time frame.  Ray’s hands were a bit stiff, but he had good range on pop flies.  

Shortstop:  Luis Aparicio Looie’s heyday with the Sox was during the mid 50’s and early 60’s, but he came back to the team from 1968-70 and played some great ball.  He actually had the best offensive season of his career in1970.  Aparicio hit .313 with an OPS of .776.  He struck out only 34 times while walking 53 times.  He was also solid in the field.  Looie had a WAR of 5.8.  Beyond Aparicio,  shortstop hasn’t really been a position of strength for the Sox.  Ozzie Guillen played good defense but didn’t add anything offensively.  His best OPS was .666 in 1993.  

Third base:  Robin Ventura   I’m not a fam of Robin Ventura the manager, but I loved Robin Ventura the player.  Robin palyed an excellent third base while swinging a potent bat. For the 10 years Robin was in Chicago. He had an OPS of .805.  He had a couple of years of 30+ homers and 100+ RBIs.  In addition to that he was great in the clutch.  His 18 grand slams tied him with Willie McCovey for 5^th on the all time list.  While Ventura is the choice at third, the Sox have had some other excellent options at the position.  Bill Melton, while not particularly strong in the field, did bring a power bat to the position for the Sox during the early 70’s.  Bill hit 33 homers on both 1970 and 71.  In 1971 that was good enough for the homerun leadership in the AL, making Melton the first member of the White Sox to ever lead the league in that department.  Joe Crede was a cornerstone of the 2005 World Series winner.   During his heyday in the mid 2000’s Joe was good for about 20 homeruns and 70 RBI’s while playing a great third base.  In a few years Todd Frazier could also be in the discussion of the best White Sox third basemen.

Left field: Tim Raines  I had a hard time deciding on this position because it was hard to find a guy that had three really good years in left field for the Sox.  The Sox had had a number of guys that produced for a year or two.  I mentioned Albert Bell, who if he had played another year for the Sox would have been the choice.  Greg Luzinski and Ron Kittle briefly provided power at the position, as did Ivan Calderon, but ultimately Raines was the choice. Tim played five years for the Sox and had an OPS of .781.  That’s a notch below his peak with the Montreal Expos but still pretty good, especially when you factor in his stolen base and base running ability. 

Center field:  Chet Lemon  I remembered Chet as being pretty good, but in looking back at his stats, he was even better than I remembered.  Chet played a solid center field while having an OPS of .814.  At his peak, Chet’s war was around 4-5.  Beyond Lemon, the Sox haven’t had much at the position.  Names like Pat Kelley and Rudy Law come to mind.   They were okay, but not real standouts.

Right field:  Magglio Ordonez The Sox have had two t right fielders in the last 50 years, Ordonez and Harold Baines.  In looking at the numbers, Magglio is an easy choice.  During the early 2000’s Magglio was a tremendous hitter.  He was good for about 30 homeruns and 110 RBI’s in his peak.  Defensive metrics weren’t particularly kind to Magglio, but his offense was too good to be ignored.   I was genuinely surprised when I looked at Baines stats.  They’re good, but don’t jump put at you.  At his peak, he was good for 20 or so homeruns and around 90 RBI’s.  In addition, defensive metrics weren’t  kind to him either.

DH: Dick Allen  Allen is still the most exciting offensive player I’ve seen on the White Sox.  His 1972 MVP season was one of the best one man shows I've ever seen.  Dick led the AL in homers with 37, RBIs with 113, OBP at .420 and slugging percentage at .603.  His WAR for that season was 8.6.  His other two seasons with the Sox were also excellent, though not as spectacular.  Dick also led the AL in homers in 1974 with 32, before packing it in early that season.  We're not going there now.

So there's my Sox position players form 1965 on.  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Let me know.