The Pitching Rotation
- Mark Buehrle
- Chris Sale
- Ed Walsh
- Ted Lyons
- Eddie Cicote
On the pitching side of things, the White Sox have been historically more competent. The last White Sox player to win the Cy Young was Jack McDowell in 1993, but he won’t be included because he didn’t really deserve the Cy Young when he won it. (McDowell won for having the most pitcher “wins”, but advanced stats show he was far from being the best pitcher in the AL).
Mark Buehrle started 9 opening day games for the White Sox which is why he is listed as the No. 1 starter. Chris Sale set the White Sox single-season record for strikeouts(274) and made the all-star team five times in five years as a starter for them. I do believe he will pitch for the White Sox one day again.
Perhaps, most impressive is Ed Walsh. He had an MLB record 1.82 career ERA. He is also the last pitcher to win 40 games, doing so in 1908.
Bullpen:
Bobby Thigpen, Bobby Jenks, Hoyt Willhelm, Matt Thorton
Thigpen’s 57 saves were an MLB record for the 1990 White Sox team, which went 94-68 yet didn’t make the playoffs. The pitchers listed here would make for one dominant bullpen.
RECAP:
One takeaway from this lineup is that the White Sox are really bad at the outfield, with a few key exceptions. That said, the Sox certainly do have their all-time greats. If you compare this list with a team like the Yankees, it isn’t so bad. Frank Thomas is the Babe Ruth of the White Sox, and Paul Konerko is the Lou Gehrig.
Luke Appling is the Derek Jeter, Minnie Minoso is the Mickey Mantle, and Shoeless Joe is the Joe DiMaggio. Of course the White Sox are severely lacking in several positions as well, which is why the fans were upset when the team failed to land a superstar player in free agency.