Chicago White Sox: Three most underrated players from 2005

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.