You know the 25 men on the White Sox ‘s roster and their stats from 2007. Here, Tribune reporter Dave van Dyck digs in on the numbers behind the numbers.
2
Gold Gloves won by shortstop Orlando Cabrera, one more than manager Ozzie Guillen won when he played. Cabrera’s second came last season, when he led AL shortstops in fi elding for the second time in three years. He also led the offensive-minded Angels in hits last season with 192.
87.9
Percentage of save opportunities converted by Bobby Jenks since becoming Sox closer in 2005. Jenks tied a record by retiring 41 straight batters last season. And he posted a 1.95 ERA and 21 saves against Central opponents, including eight saves against Detroit.
.318
On-base percentage of the White Sox in 2007, last in the league, 48 points worse than the Yankees. That’s one of the reasons the Yankees won 22 more games.
.335
Alexei Ramirez’s batting average in the Cuban League. He also led the league with 20 home runs in 89 games. Those numbers won’t translate exactly into the big leagues, but Ramirez batted .334 for seven seasons in Cuba and is reportedly only 26.
3
Center fielders used on Opening Day in the last three years: Aaron Rowand, Brian Anderson and Darin Erstad.
17
Years since the White Sox had gone a season with no player knocking in 100 runs before last season.
18/1
Las Vegas odds of the White Sox winning the World Series, tying them with the Mariners for 13th.
0
Sox prospects rated by Baseball America in the top 100, the only team without at least one. No wonder they are in “win now” mode.
.381
On-base percentage of Nick Swisher in 2007, which would have placed him second on the Sox to Jim Thome. In the last two seasons, Swisher has the fourth-highest walk total in the AL behind David Ortiz, Thome and Travis Hafner.
39-33
Sox’s record against the AL Central last year. The bad news is they went 29-43 against the AL East and AL West. They also were a baseball-worst 4-14 against the National League after compiling the best record (28-10) the previous two years.
5
Members of the World Series championship lineup still on the roster: Joe Crede, Paul Konerko, Juan Uribe, Jermaine Dye and A.J. Pierzynski. And three of the pitchers remain: Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras and Bobby Jenks.
85
Run differential the Sox were outscored in the seventh and eighth innings in 2007 (219-134). That’s a major reason the Sox finished a putrid 16-26 in one-run games last season. Enter Octavio Dotel and Scott Linebrink for $30 million.
845
Major-league games, combined, played by Sox outfielders Brian Anderson, Jerry Owens, Carlos Quentin and Nick Swisher. Right fielder Jermaine Dye has played 1,468 games.
1,577 2/3
Innings thrown by Mark Buehrle since the start of the 2001 season, second in the majors to Livan Herndandez. Fifth on that list is teammate Javier Vazquez (1,517 2/3). While his innings are likely to be limited some this summer, Buehrle is the only pitcher in Sox history to make at least 30 starts for seven consecutive seasons.
