Does this front office even know how to "rebuild?" I contend they caught lightening in a bottle one time and have been riding that wave ever since.

Forgive my poor memory, but I seem to remember 2005 being a bit of a fluke for the White Sox.

They hadn't been in the postseason since 2000. They did finish 2nd in their division 2002-04, to be fair.

Prior to that, that hadn't been in the playoffs since 1993.

Of course the built up to that championship ... for 88 years.

I wish one of those 90s teams had won it instead.

I wish one of those 90s teams had won it instead.

I wish one of those 90s teams had won it instead.

I loved that 94 team.

94? was that the year before they tanked and got rid of McDowell, Franco, etc and handed the division to Cleveland?

94? was that the year before they tanked and got rid of McDowell, Franco, etc and handed the division to Cleveland?

Holy fuckballs. Frank Thomas had a WAR of 6.3 that year.

That was 97. McDowell was gone, so was Franco.

sorry I can't keep track of all the times the Sox refused to compete for a Championship.

94?

Yup. But now that I look further, that wasn't even that great.

Rank Player (age that year) WAR Position Players Year Bats
1. Babe Ruth+ (28) 14.1 1923 L
2. Babe Ruth+ (26) 12.9 1921 L
3. Babe Ruth+ (32) 12.4 1927 L

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_bat_season.shtml

In hindsight, they wouldn't have caught Cleveland anyway.

you guys are getting me all confused. what year did they let Alex Fernandez walk and replace him with Jaime Navarro?

After the 96 season, but Fernandez really only had 1 decent season in Miami, anyway.

Ranks right up there with trading Mike Sirotka for Fat Fuck Wells.

No biggie...

Meanwhile Frank Thomas was on his way to one of the greatest offensive seasons in not only White Sox history but maybe one of the best offensive seasons in the last 20+ years.

At the time of the strike Thomas was hitting .353 with 38 home runs and 101 RBI. He had also scored 106 times and drawn 109 walks. He did all this in just 113 games.

Factoring those numbers over a full season and Thomas was on pace for 49 doubles, 55 home runs and 145 RBI with over 150 runs and walks while collecting over 200 hits. Those are Gehrig and Ruth-like numbers and would have set franchise records for runs scored, doubles, home runs, RBI and walks.

Of course they built up to it. What do you think happened, they just woke up in February of 2005 and said "Oh wow, looks like we have good players!".

A happy accident, more likely.

oh yeah I remember that year. they went all in and got Royce clayton and Jose Canseco too.