Of couse I believe it. I consider the 2006 team the best WHite Sox team in my lifetime. The pitching simply ran out of gas after being ridden hard the previous season.

Anderson didn't need to hit on that team. They scored plenty of runs. He played elite centerfield defense.

The pitching was the whole issue. The team ERA was a full run higher than it was the year before.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

As soon as the Sox went back to trying to mash the opposing teams, rather than focus on pitching and defense, they missed the playoffs.

Thanks for noticing I was correct all along. Not sure why it took so long for you to agree with me.

Mark Buerhle had a bad second half in 2006. He was 9-5 with a 3.21 ERA thru June 30th.

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What are you talking about, "focus on pitching and defense?' Do you think the 2006 team decided to pitch worse and play worse defense?

I know Buehrle had a bad second half. Like I've said multiple times, the pitching ran out of gas. Thanks for admitting I was right.

The 2006 team was a better offensive team than the one that won the World Series. It's not even close.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

So 90 wins is better than 99 wins?

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868 runs is more than 741 runs.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Irrelevant to the question. I will state that 868 is indeed a higher value than 741.

Now, is 90 wins is better than 99 wins? YES OR NO

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I think JORR is making a "shit happens" argument and since it's baseball, it isn't entirely off base. Detroit should have won the championship easily, for instance.

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Wattabout Kodak Black?

I really thought that teh White Sox were headed toward a dynasty after they won in 2005. They had a better team in 2006 as you stated but their pitching ran into a wall. We should have known better to trust Reinsdorf to understand how he had a chance for the White Sox to take over as the most fan favorite team in Chicago back then. Instead he went back into his miserly owner shell. I really hate this man.

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An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

I'm out.

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You can say 'shit happens in the baseball playoffs' and be correct.

You can also say that the 'best team in your lifetime' missed the playoffs while the previous year's team won it all, and be incorrect.

The 1986 Bears were not better than the 1985 Bears.

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A friend of mine agrees with you, JORR and we were just talking about this the other day.
No argument the pitching ran out of gas in the 2nd half.
DH with Thome in 2006 was an upgrade.
Podsednik and Uribe regressed a little in 2006.
Anderson was offensive less productive than Rowand, but I agree he was an outstanding defender.

2 holes in the lineup with Uribe and Anderson and a less productive Podsednik....I don't think that compensates for the Thome upgrade. If anything we could stretch and call the offense a draw.

The pitching staff running out of gas is likely (as you said) the biggest issue with 2006. Still a very good team.

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Frank....I don't believe for one second Kenny Williams was TRYING to improve the defense. Yes on the pitching, but I believe the defensive upgrade was by total accident. I'm glad it happened, as they don't win the World Series without that defense.

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It's just an odd argument coming from him. He's usually more of a results based guy (see his argument on why the win is the most important stat in pitching) than a stats based guy.

Also, I'd put the 93 team ahead of the 06 team. It had probably the most even balance between pitching and hitting of any good White Sox team in my lifetime.

2006, they had 2 horrible stretches that sunk them. You can have one horrible stretch, but you can't have two. Not with Detroit that year. And you definitely can't go to Oakland and get swept, which is kind of a thing with this franchise over the years.

_________________
Wattabout Kodak Black?

I completely agree with you about the 1993 team.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

83 always has hurt but for some reason 93 REALLY hurt. They were probably the team that was set up best to have a sustained run too. They were extremely talented and still young for the most part.

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Yep

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Billy Hamilton is back

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Minor league deal for him. Perfectly fine with that as long as he's at best the fifth OF.

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

Maybe he just liked Charlotte.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

In the end, you're correct. The goal is winning the World Series. The 2005 team did that. The 2006 team didn't even make the playoffs. In that sense, it's silly to claim the 2006 team was better.

But the 2006 offense was so far superior to the 2005 team that it can't even be reasonably argued about. And the 2006 starting pitching was exactly the same until about halfway through the season. It seems pretty obvious that all those extra innings in the 2005 postseason caught up with them.

Sure, the complete games in the ALCS are legendary and I'm not sure I would trade that feat for another World Series. And if it hadn't happened, maybe they don't win the first one. It made the 2005 team really special and it's something we'll likely never see again. But it wasn't just that these starters who had all already piled up 200 innings each now had to pitch 12 more high stakes games, but that Ozzie made the decision to ride them hard all the way through.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Legit point. I haven't looked it up but it seems to me the offense wasn't what it was the first 3 months either.

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Wattabout Kodak Black?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Wonder if that means a Hendricks trade.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Why would that mean a Hendricks trade? I think Reynaldo Lopez/ Garrett Crotchet means a Hendricks trade.

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Wattabout Kodak Black?

I was having this discussion with RPB offline. There is no need to move on from Hendriks if you are trying to win. Kopech is the only guy with a closer's mentality, and I'm not putting the guy I consider to be the ace in the bullpen. I like that Lopez finally figured out how to control his stuff.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Agree 100%. I don't think your Uncle and his kid thinks so.

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Wattabout Kodak Black?