Name Top Sox Player By WAR Per Season Since 1956

[PaleHoser]

https://www.sporcle.com/games/tedsox...players-by-war

You have 10 minutes.

I scored 59 of 62. I missed:

• 1998 (I can't believe I missed this one)
• 1962
• 1961

[Andrew C White]

46/62... drew a real blank on the late 70's - early 80's players. A little embarrassed by that. Didn't do well with the early 60's either but that is not quite as embarrassing.

[Brian26]

52.

Had everyone since 1977 except for 2010, which I completely drew a blank on.

I went the first nine minutes without realizing their position was listed on the right. I think I could have picked up three more by looking at the positions, but I always struggle with the 1960's guys.

Missed:
2010 (should have had)
1976
1974 (may have remembered with another couple of minutes)
1966
1965
1964
1962
1961
1958 (should have had)
1956 (should have had)

[whitesoxfan1986]

From 1987-present I got everyone. I'm ok with that because I wasn't alive for any previous seasons. I ended up with 39, and am embarrassed to have missed Seaver and Lamarr Hoyt.

[34rancher]

See, WAR is something I put so little faith in as a stat. I'll give my example...2008, this says that a pitcher who went 12-9 has a 6.4 WAR. How does that happen with a player on the team with a .965 OPS?

[WhiteSox5187]

I got 49 and struggled mostly with guys from the '60s and '70s. In my lifetime I got everyone except for '87 (which I should have had) and '96.

[HomeFish]

MLB salary arbitrators still aren't allowed to consider WAR when making a decision, right? I think that's the last realm of baseball that WAR has not conquered.

[blurry]

Originally Posted by 34rancher

See, WAR is something I put so little faith in as a stat. I'll give my example...2008, this says that a pitcher who went 12-9 has a 6.4 WAR. How does that happen with a player on the team with a .965 OPS?

It compares against league average for that year, for that position. Without looking further into it, I assume that was Danks with the 6.4 WAR. Could have been an overall down year for pitching, which indicates he was that much better than the average for that specific season.

I like WAR for its simplicity but also understand you have to take other things into context.

[HomeFish]

One thing I noticed: old White Sox fans have done a much better job of teaching me about old position players than they have about old pitchers.

I was born in the mid 80's and I got all the players from my lifetime except for 1996, which was a pitcher. I was able to guess many of the position players from the 1960's, 1950's, and 1970's but most years the White Sox were led in WAR by a pitcher and I struck out on all of those except 1958.

[Andrew C White]

Originally Posted by HomeFish

MLB salary arbitrators still aren't allowed to consider WAR when making a decision, right? I think that's the last realm of baseball that WAR has not conquered.

That and all us fans that think it is little more than a slightly useful guideline for comparisons.

[thomas35forever]

I got 53. Missed half of the 60s, the mid 70s and early 80s. Struggled with 2003 for a bit, but it just goes to show how fleeting that player's success was.

[JB98]

55/62

I got everyone from 1977 to present, which makes sense since I was born in 1976.

The guys I got pre-1976 were mostly lucky guesses, in all honesty. A couple pitchers in there that I never would have thought of had I pondered the question all day.

[johnny bench]

Joel Horlen, not Joe Horlen

[Nellie_Fox]

Originally Posted by johnny bench

Joel Horlen, not Joe Horlen

Both names were commonly used.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/p...orlejo01.shtml

[Mohoney]

Originally Posted by 34rancher

See, WAR is something I put so little faith in as a stat. I'll give my example...2008, this says that a pitcher who went 12-9 has a 6.4 WAR. How does that happen with a player on the team with a .965 OPS?

How does a 13-12 Felix Hernandez win a Cy Young Award?

W-L record is not a good metric. Like Carlos Quentin, John Danks was all over the AL leaderboard in 2008. 5th in ERA, 5th in ERA+, 6th in FIP, 6th in HR/9, and 10th in H/9.

Plus, Quentin only played 130 games. Give him 20-25 more games, and that very well may be the difference.