Best duos in Chicago White Sox history
In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.
While it's not quite the same as the NBA, where one standout duo can take a team from the cellar to playoff contention, it's not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference's wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered "replacement level"—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.
The following is a list of the top pitcher/position player duos in Chicago White Sox history. Using wins above replacement, Stacker compiled a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game's "modern era", only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.
#10. 1975 Chicago White Sox
- Brian Downing: 3.5 WAR (#46 position player in 1975)
- Rich Gossage: 8.2 WAR (#2 pitcher in 1975)
- Total: 11.7 WAR
#9. 2008 Chicago White Sox
- Carlos Quentin: 5.3 WAR (#22 position player in 2008)
- John Danks: 6.4 WAR (#5 pitcher in 2008)
- Total: 11.7 WAR
#8. 1974 Chicago White Sox
- Ken Henderson: 4.7 WAR (#29 position player in 1974)
- Jim Kaat: 7.1 WAR (#7 pitcher in 1974)
- Total: 11.8 WAR
#7. 2014 Chicago White Sox
- José Abreu: 5.8 WAR (#15 position player in 2014)
- Chris Sale: 6.1 WAR (#6 pitcher in 2014)
- Total: 11.9 WAR
#6. 2016 Chicago White Sox
- Adam Eaton: 6.6 WAR (#11 position player in 2016)
- Jose Quintana: 5.3 WAR (#11 pitcher in 2016)
- Total: 11.9 WAR
#5. 1996 Chicago White Sox
- Frank Thomas: 5.6 WAR (#21 position player in 1996)
- Alex Fernandez: 6.4 WAR (#9 pitcher in 1996)
- Total: 12 WAR
#4. 1992 Chicago White Sox
- Frank Thomas: 7 WAR (#4 position player in 1992)
- Jack McDowell: 5.3 WAR (#16 pitcher in 1992)
- Total: 12.3 WAR
#3. 2003 Chicago White Sox
- Magglio Ordonez: 5.6 WAR (#19 position player in 2003)
- Esteban Loaiza: 7.2 WAR (#5 pitcher in 2003)
- Total: 12.8 WAR
#2. 1971 Chicago White Sox
- Bill Melton: 5.7 WAR (#15 position player in 1971)
- Wilbur Wood: 11.8 WAR (#1 pitcher in 1971)
- Total: 17.5 WAR
#1. 1972 Chicago White Sox
- Dick Allen: 8.6 WAR (#3 position player in 1972)
- Wilbur Wood: 10.7 WAR (#3 pitcher in 1972)
- Total: 19.3 WAR
