Chicago White Sox: Three most underrated players from 2005
The Chicago White Sox were brilliant in 2005 en route to a World Series title and they couldn’t have done it without these three underrated players.
The Chicago White Sox had the best season in franchise history during the 2005 season. They dominated their way to a 99-63 record which won them the American League Central title. They would then go on to sweep the defending champion Boston Red Sox, beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in five games to win the American League pennant, and then win the World Series by sweeping the Houston Astros.
Their 11-1 run through the postseason that year was one of the best runs in the history of Major League Baseball. Not many teams win the World Series without some postseason adversity that they overcome. The White Sox really never faced any scary adversity. The closest thing they came to that was being down 0-1 in the American League Championship Series to the Angels but then they won four straight to advance to the World Series. It is very rare for things to go that smoothly for a baseball team trying to win it all.
They were led by some Chicago legends. Well, every team on that squad is a legend in this city for helping bring a World Series title back to Chicago for either team in almost a century. Studs like Paul Konerko, Mark Buehrle, A.J. Pierzynski, and Jermaine Dye stick out as the beasts that led the team but depth was a key to this team winning as well as their stars.
Every team needs different players to stand up at different times throughout the regular season and postseason in order to win. There are always going to be some underrated players that come out and these three might lead the way as the three most underrated players from the 2005 team:
The Chicago White Sox had lots of great pitching in 2005. Guys like Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland were given lots of credit for the way they pitched even beyond 2005. Well, Freddy Garcia flew under the radar for a while but people who followed this team know exactly how good he was for them. He was a brilliant second half of the rotation player that helped them win the World Series.
Garcia was the man on the mound who earned the win in the clinching game that won the White Sox their first title in almost a century. Anybody who is associated with that game and even that series is a legend on the south side forever. Well, Freddy Garcia is right there as one of the most underrated in White Sox history.
Garcia pitched seven innings of shutout baseball in the most memorable game the White Sox have ever played. He had seven strikeouts and three walks in those seven innings. In the regular season, he had a record of 14-8 for the Division winning Sox. That is a good number for the guy who was the number four in the rotation. He had a 3.87 ERA and a 1.250 WHIP over 228.0 innings. It was a great year for a man who should be remembered forever.
The White Sox had tremendous depth in 2005. One of the great examples of that is Tadahito Iguchi. He came over from Japan as a 30-year-old rookie in 2005. He came in fourth place in the American League Rookie of the Year race that season. Iguchi was the team’s second baseman all year long and played a role in them being as good of a team as they were in the regular season. They were, wire to wire, the first-place team that season in the American League Central.
Iguchi played in 135 games for them primarily at second base. He was also pretty good at the plate that season as he slashed .278/.342/.438. He had 15 home runs, 71 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases in 2005 which fit the perfect type of baseball that Ozzie Guillen was looking for that year. He was a fantastic player for them in the role that they needed him to play.
Iguchi might not be remembered as well as some of the stars but he was very important to that squad. Ozzie needed everyone on the lineup card to do their job right every single game in order for them to have a chance to win the World Series and that is what happened in both the regular season and the playoffs. Iguchi was no exception. He was a great player for the White Sox for a total of two and a half years but 2005 was his peak performance.
Joe Crede might not be as underrated by Chicago White Sox fans because we knew how amazing he was. He was a great player for the White Sox for nine years. It was brutal seeing him play for the Minnesota Twins in 2009 to end his career but at least he got to spend his prime years on the south side. He was a pivotal part of the White Sox getting over the hump and winning the World Series in 2005.
Crede was the third baseman of a team that brought a World Series title to Chicago. He was probably the leader of the depth players on that squad. Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, and Jermaine Dye were considered stars more than Crede but that doesn’t undermine his importance. In the regular season, he had 22 home runs and 62 RBIs at the plate while playing some solid defense at the hot corner.
Once the postseason came around, he was one of the team’s best hitters. His slash line rose to .289/.327/.622 from a regular-season line of .252/.303/.454. He hit four home runs and had 11 RBIs over the three playoff series that Chicago played. His 13 hits in 12 games made him one of the most important players on the roster. Joe Crede’s importance can be underrated in terms of the national media but he deserves his due as one of the most important players in White Sox history.