Chicago White Sox: The franchise all-time bracket

The Chicago White Sox have produced three World Series winners. But it’s a disgraced World Series loser that still dominates the team’s history.

Any consideration of an-time Chicago White Sox bracket must first come to grips with the question of how to handle the 1919 American League champions.

That of course was the ballclub – known since then in American culture as the Black Sox – who conspired with gamblers to throw the World Series, eventually losing to the Cincinnati Reds in eight games.

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The question is a simple one: Do you allow the most notorious team in baseball history a chance to establish itself as its franchise’s greatest team? Or does it simply disqualify itself from consideration?

Given a desire to actually take the measure of one of the game’s most discussed ballclubs, the solution here is to allow the 1919 Sox in the field…but cut them no slack on tiebreakers or questions of judgment.

The 1919 White Sox are one of nine division or pennant winners in the history of a franchise that has often done just well enough to compete without winning. The White Sox’ career winning percentage is above .500, yet they’ve only played in five World Series…just one in the past half-century.

The franchise has 20 second-place finishes, five of them in the decade between 1956 and 1965. They spent that period perennially chasing the Yankees, catching them only in 1959.

Beyond 1919, an all-time White Sox bracket begins with the World Series winners – there are only three — of 1906, 1917 and 2005. With half the bracket filled out, we look next at World Series also-rans. There are two others, the 1959 and 1983 teams.

For the final two spots, three obvious candidates emerge, the playoff teams of 1993, 2000 and 2008. Of those, the 1993 and 2000 teams had the better regular-season records, so they become the choices.

The format is identical to previous bracket challenges. Each matchup in the tournament is decided based on seven criteria. You can think of each as a ‘game,’ the winner of four games advancing. The seven criteria are:

• Game 1: Regular season winning percentage.
• Game 2: Post-season winning percentage
• Game 3: Team OPS+
• Game 4: Team ERA+
• Game 5 (if necessary): Team WAR
• Game 6 (if necessary: Fielding percentage above the league average for the season in question.
• Game 7 (if necessary): Hall of Famers or likely future Hall of Famers

Chicago White Sox: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

No. 4 vs. 5 seed

The 1983 Chicago White Sox won the AL West on the strength of LaMarr’s Hoyt’s exceptional mound season. He won 24 games against just  10 losses and covered 260 innings.   Richard Dotson added a 22-7 record in 240 innings.

Offensively, the 1983 Sox had Ron Kittle’s 35-home run, 100 RBI season. Harold Baines drove in 99 runs and Ron Luzinski added 95 including 32 home runs. At .307, Tom Paciorek produced the team-leading batting average.

They’re pitted against the Black Sox, largely a copy of the 1917 club. In 1919, Cicotte went 29-7 and Williams 23-11 in a combined 75 starts embracing 604 innings of work.

When the Sox needed offense, Jackson was there to produce it. He batted .351 with 96 RBIs. Second baseman Eddie Collins hit .319, and the team’s .287 batting average was American League-best.

Game 1: The 1919 club is heralded in culture as virtually unbeatable, but the reality is that its 88-52 record only added up to a .600 winning percentage. The 1983 team actually out-played it during the regular season, winning 99 of 162 games, a .611 percentage

Game 2: The Black Sox lost, of course, lost their best-of-nine World Series in eight games, a .375 winning percentage. The 1983 team lost its ALCS to Baltimore 3-1. That’s a .250 winning percentage. The tainted victory goes to 1919.

Game 3: The 1983 Sox were an average offensive team and they produced an average 100 team OPS+. The 1919 team’s 104 OPS+ takes the win.

Game 4: With Cicotte at its helm, the 1919 team’s pitching staff is viewed as unassailable when on the up and up. Indeed, its 106 staff ERA+ is solid. But the1983 team, led by Hoyt, was better, producing a 114 staff ERA+. Through four games, this series is even.

Game 5: Catcher Carlton Fisk was the 1983 team’s most productive every-day player, with a 4.3 WAR.  But Dotson, Hoyt, and Floyd Bannister produced 12.8  WAR on the mound, running the 1983 team’s total to 44.2. The 1919 Sox had Jackson, Collins, Cicotte, and Williams all above 5.0 WAR. But they lacked the team depth to go above 41.7. The win goes to 1983.

Game 6: The 1919 Sox’ .969 fielding average was four points better than the league’s .965. The 1983 team only beat the AL average by two points. This series goes to a seventh game.

Game 7: The 1919 Sox roster three Hall of Famers, catcher Ray Schalk, pitcher Red Faber, and Collins. Had Jackson, Cicotte and Buck Weaver not been implicated in the fixing scandal, they’d have between one and three more. But they were.

The 1983 team rosters only two Hall of Famers, Harold Baines, and Fisk. This win – and the series – goes to the 1919  club despite itself.

Result: 1919 in seven games

Chicago White Sox: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

No. 2 vs. 7 seed

The 1906 Chicago White Sox, known in baseball lore as the ‘Hitless Wonders,’ pulled off the greatest upset in World Series history when they beat the 116-36 Cubs in six games.  In one word, they did it with pitching.

With a  .230 team batting average, that White Sox team ranked dead last in the American League in hitting. But they had a 2.13 team ERA. Their foursome of Ed Walsh, Doc White, Frank Owen, and Nick Altrock won 77games in 121 starts encompassing nearly 1,080 innings.

During August, the Sox ran off a 19-game winning streak in which pitchers allowed a total of 24 runs…six of those coming in one game.

The 2000 White Sox took the AL Central title behind a strong offense still led by Frank Thomas. He hit .328 with 43 homers and 143 RBIs. Magglio Ordonez added a.315 average, 32 homers, and 126 RBIs while Paul Konerko batted .297 with 97 RBIs.

The pitching staff was balanced but unspectacular. Mike Sirotka led in wins (15), ERA (3.79) and innings (197).

Game 1: The 2000 Sox produced a 95-67 record and .586 percentage. In 1906, the Sox went 93-58-3, a .616 percentage.

Game 2: The 1906 team’s World Series win came with a .667 percentage. The 2000 Sox were swept in their division series appearance.

Game 3: They weren’t called “The Hitless Wonders” for nothing The 1906 team’s 87 OPS+ is well below par in any age. The 2000 team produced a solid 106 OPS+ that is easily good enough for the win.

Game 4: The 2000 team’s 108 ERA+ is entirely acceptable. But mound work was the 1906 team’s wheelhouse. It produced a 119 ERA+ to take a 3-1 lead in this series.

Game 5: In 2000, the White Sox produced a 47.2 team WAR, one of the best marks in franchise history. The 1906 club could do no better than 39.4.

Game 6: For their era, the 1906 White Sox could field. Their .963 team average may not sound like much today, but it was five points better than the league average. The 2000 team was sub-par with the glove. Its .978 fielding average was four points below the league average.

Result: 1906 in six games

Chicago White Sox: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

No.  3 vs. 6 seed

The 2005 World champions had balance. They won the division by six games over Cleveland thanks to contributions from hitting star Paul Konerko (40 homers, 100 RBIs), and mound ace Mark Buehrle (16-8, 3.12 ERA).

In post-season play, the Chicago White Sox made it look easy, losing just once in a dozen games.

The 1959 ‘Go-Go’ Sox were an opportunistic pitching-oriented bunch. Early Wynn went 22-10 on his way to the Cy Young Award. Nellie Fix batted .306 and won the MVP while shortstop Luis Aparicio stole 56 bases in an era when entire teams didn’t bag that many.

Game 1: It couldn’t get any closer. The 2005 club had a 99-63 regular-season record, for a .611 percentage. The 1959 team went 94-60. Work it out, that’s .610. The 2005 team wins by one percentage point.

Game 2: This one’s a rout for 2005, with its gaudy .917 post-season percentage.

Game 3: Both teams produced below-par offenses. But the 2005 team’s 95 OPS+ was better than the 1959 club’s 91.

Game 4: Pitching was the heart of the 1959 team’s story. Wynn, Billy Pierce, Dick Donovan and company produced a 115 ERA+. But the 2005 team’s staff ERA+ was 125, good for the win.

Result:  2005 in four games.

Chicago White Sox: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

Semi-finals

Our final four Chicago White Sox teams present an interesting contrast in matchups. Two of the opponents are separated by a full century. The other two are essentially carbons of one another.

1917 vs. 1919

Game 1: The 1917 team’s 100-54 .649 record is superior to the 1919 club’s 88-52 .600.

Game 2: Another win for 1917, which won the World Series in six games. The 1919 club, of course, lost in eight.

Game 3: Jackson is the difference here. In 1917 his numbers produced a 143 OPS+. That’s excellent…but in 1919 he was even better, delivering a 159 OPS+. Schalk plus infielders Swede Risberg and Chick Gandil were also better in 1919. The result: A 104 reading for the Black Sox that is six points better than the 1917 club’s score of 98.

Game 4:  Of the 1917 team’s top six pitchers, four produced ERA+ above 130, led by Cicotte’s 174. The team average was 124. The 1919 team couldn’t manage better than 106.

Game 5: With a franchise-best 50.7  WAR, the 1917  team wraps up this series in five games. The 1919 Sox produced a 41.7 WAR.

Result: 1917 in five games

1906 vs. 2005

Here’s a contrast in styles: A 1906 champion that couldn’t hit but pitched like banshees vs. a balanced 2005 champion.

Game 1: The 1906 Sox went 93-58-3, a .616 record. In 2005, the Sox’ 99-63 record was good for a .611 percentage. That’s a win for 1906.

Game 2: Few teams in any franchise can improve on the 2005 team’s .917  post-season percentage. This series is even at a game each.

Game 3: The 2005 White Sox produced a mere 95 OPS+. That’s five points below average, and it won’t win many matchups. But it is good enough to beat the 1906 team’s 87 OPS+.

Game 4: The pitching-dominant 1906 champions compiled a 119 staff ERA+.  But the 2005 team could pitch too; behind Buehrle, their 125 staff ERA+ is superior.

Game 5: The 2005 team goes after a series win by dint of WAR, and gets it. Their 46.1 team total surpasses the 1906 team’s 39.4.

Result: 2005 in five games

Chicago White Sox: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

The Championship Round

The all-time White bracket comes down to a matchup of two of the franchise’s three World Series winners.

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Game 1: At .649, the 1917 club had the superior regular-season record. The 2005 club managed .611.

Game 2: The 2005 team’s .917 post-season record evens the series at a game each, easily bettering the 1917 team’s .667.

Game 3: The Sox have rarely been known for their offense. The 2005 club had some sticks (Konerko and Ordonez) but was not a deep offense, its OPS+ stopping at 95. The 1917 team stretches its 98 OPS+ to another victory.

Game 4: Cicotte (174) leads the 1917 team to a 124 ERA+. Only one team in Sox history can beat that, and it’s the 2005 team, at 125. Credit Buerhle (144) plus a stunningly competent bullpen led by Dustin Hermanson (221), Cliff Politte (225), Neal Cotts (248) and Damaso Marte (213).

Game 5: The pivotal fifth game goes to the 1917 team thanks to its 50.7 WAR. The 2005 Sox produce a 46.1 WAR.

Game 6: In glovework, the 2005 team’s .985  average was two points better than the league average. But the 1917 White Sox fielded .967, three points better than the 1917 league average.

Result: 1917 in six games

For the record, had this series gone to a seventh game, 1917 probably still would have won. That team produced three Hall of Famers: Faber, Schalk, and Collins. The 2005 team has to date produced one, Thomas. Although Buehrle and Konerko have outside shots at eventually making it, neither appears to be on a certain HOF course.