Tadahito Iguchi and the White Sox DVD Box Set

The Gooch. Remember him? He was the second baseman when the Sox won the World Series back in 2005. If you’re like me you didn’t forget about him as much as you forgot about what he did in 2005. I have the Sox ’05 Championship DVD Box Set from the library because I like to watch it at least once a year and I had forgotten about how much Iguchi did for the team that season.

Tadahito was already 30-years-old when he came over from Japan but he played with the energy level of a 21-year-old kid. Gooch hit .278 with 15 home runs and 71 RBI in his rookie season, a good bit better than Gordon Beckham in his rookie year.

It was sad when Iguchi left but I think we just needed him for that one year. Everything worked exactly right for the Sox in 2005 – even people who aren’t Sox fans can’t deny that it was a dream season. Carl Everett and Willie Harris were huge pieces of that team for crying out loud, there’s no way that team wasn’t destiny. There’s also no way I’m a complete homer when it comes to the 2005 team.

I’ll go game-by-game when I get to the World Series because I really enjoy reminiscing about those games.