2005 Chicago White Sox

[otterj]

This is random, but after the Series I remember Peter Gammons basically saying that he thought that the 2005 Chicago White Sox ended up being one of the top overall teams of the past decade or so. He said that they were not quite as good as the best Yankee team of the 90's but that they were close. That guy has seen a lot of great teams over the years.

Was he right?

[Tralfaz]

If the only team better than the '05 Astros are considered one of the best of the last decade or more, I can accept that.

[mrpink]

That's a joke.  Certain aspects of their game were great.  But overall I wouldn't put them in the top five of the past decade.

[Limey]

Quote:
That's a joke.  Certain aspects of their game were great.  But overall I wouldn't put them in the top five of the past decade.

Why on Earth would Gammons want to put such a shine on this White Sox team?  I mean, it's not like he's making excuses for the Astros, or the team they beat in the ALC...oh.

[mrpink]

Ahhh...I have seen the light.

[Arky Vaughan]

Quote:
This is random, but after the Series I remember Peter Gammons basically saying that he thought that the 2005 Chicago White Sox ended up being one of the top overall teams of the past decade or so. He said that they were not quite as good as the best Yankee team of the 90's but that they were close. That guy has seen a lot of great teams over the years.

Was he right?

Without getting into a very detailed analysis:

1) If you win 99 games, you're by definition a very good team.

2) The 1998 Yankees won 114 games.  I wouldn't say that the 2005 White Sox were "quite" close to that team.

3) The 2001 Mariners won 116 games.  I wouldn't say that the 2005 White Sox are clearly -- or even arguably, really -- better than that team.

4) The White Sox had the best pitching in the American League -- but not by a huge margin.  Their offense was average.

5) The 1998 Yankees had the best pitching and offense in the American League -- by a considerable distance.

6) The 2001 Mariners had the best offense in the American League by a great deal, and had the best or second-best pitching, depending on where you rank them next to the A's.

7) This is just looking at two obvious examples.  There may be others.  Maybe the White Sox are in that upper crust -- but I doubt Gammons has looked at it all that carefully.  I just can't imagine a team with league-average offense being in the same group as teams that were at the top of the majors in offense and pitching.

[otterj]

Yeah, I agree. I can see them being considered in the top half of all World Series champions, but not elite.