Meet the Sox

Joe Crede

Joe Crede was supposed to be the next Robin Ventura for the White Sox, and his failure to fill in those large shoes caused plenty of frustration for White Sox fans.  After several big hits and big plays with the glove, it's safe to say the Missourian has earned a break.

Overview:  Crede's regular season can be broken up into two parts:  Before Injury and After Injury.  Before breaking his middle finger on a bunt attempt on August 25, Crede had been the hacktastic third baseman that had baffled White Sox hitting coaches.  His power was there, but his plate patience was not, and pitchers had a field day with his long swing.  Part of his struggles were due to two herniated discs in his back, for which he declined surgery. 

After the injury, however, was a different story.  He kicked off his return with a six-game hitting streak, with multi-hit performances in four of those.  He slugged six homers in 18 September games and brought his batting average up from .236 to .252.  He seemed to be seeing the ball better, and his performance carried over into the postseason.  Crede hit four homers in October, all of them important.  He came away with zero postseason awards, but he should've won the ALCS MVP, and perhaps even the World Series MVP thanks to both his bat and his glove.

Hitting:  If Crede didn't rebound in a major way in September, it would've marked the fourth straight year in which he saw decreases in his batting average, on-base percentage and perhaps his slugging percentage as well.   He was one of the streakiest hitters in a White Sox uniform, alternating satisfactory months with abysmal ones.  When he was off his game, he was off, posting a .496 OPS in May and a .302 OPS in August.  With a maddening lack of plate control (25 walks in 432 at-bats), Crede was rumored to be moved in several trades at the July 31 deadline. 

He didn't go anywhere, not for a lack of Kenny Williams trying, but he rewarded the front office for standing pat with several big-time performances.  He ripped the double off Anaheim's Kelvim Escobar that followed Doug Eddings' controversial ruling on A.J. Pierzynski's strikeout-turned-dropped-third-strike to tie the series at 1-1.  Two games later, he beat Escobar again by hitting a homer that tied the game at three, then drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single an inning later.  Against Houston in the World Series, he homered to give the Sox a lead in Game 1, and started the fifth inning rally in Game 3 with a homer off Roy Oswalt. 

It's hard to pinpoint how Crede benefited from his DL stay.  Whether he was watching extra film, working on his swing or merely growing out his mullet and letting the power of Samson compel him, he looked like a different hitter after returning from the injury.  He was able to foul off pitches on the outside of the plate instead of popping them up or fanning, and he was no longer a dead duck with two strikes.  His game-winning double in Game 2 of the ALCS came on an 0-2 slider that probably would've thrown him off-balance earlier in the year.

Defense:  Once a Gold Glove winner takes home his first award, it's usually hard to pry it away from him.  Oakland 3B Eric Chavez will most likely win the award for as long as he's healthy, but Crede should provide him healthy competition year in and year out.  Crede committed a career-low 10 errors, improved his fielding metrics and started 28 double plays, and aesthetically he looked like a very solid third baseman.  He didn't look like a bad shortstop either -- he played one game there against Oakland when Juan Uribe, Pablo Ozuna and Willie Harris were unavailable and fielded all four chances perfectly.  You may remember that as the game Crede was hit by a pitch but wasn't awarded the bag when umpire Hunter Wendelstedt said he didn't make an attempt to move.  He was ejected after that same at-bat when he popped out and tossed his bat in a manner Wendelstedt didn't appreciate, and Jermaine Dye finished the game at short.

He did have his rough points, including dropping a foul ball hit by Manny Ramirez in the ninth inning on July 21 -- Ramirez homered on the next pitch to win the game.  Also, after returning from the DL, his feet looked a tick slow and he short-armed balls for a solid week.  Yet once he got his sea legs back, he was as good as ever.   He saved runs with diving stabs in back-to-back innings in Game 1 of the World Series, a game the Sox won 5-3.  Shorthops, sharp grounders, line drives, Crede handled them all.  Had Gold Glove voting commenced after the playoffs, Crede might've had some hardware to take home.

2006 Outlook:  Despite Crede's heroics, he's arguably the most enigmatic player the Sox have on their roster.  If he hits like he did after the injury, he could put up .280/30/90 with ease, but it's also easy to imagine him slipping back into his old habits, where he overswings at everything and there isn't a ball he can't pop up.  Aaron Rowand was expendable in large part because his plate patience didn't improve, but seemed to get worse as the season went on, and Crede could be prone to the same exact thing.

His back is also an issue, and the Sox are looking at somebody to back him up at the hot corner.  With Geoff Blum heading back to San Diego, the team needs somebody who can provide some relief.  Pablo Ozuna gave it a shot but looked shaky at best.  At least this time around, it's merely for health insurance and not for a lack of talent.  There's no reason why Crede shouldn't improve, but that's been said before.  Yet if he manages to underachieve once again, expect Sox fans to be a bit more forgiving this time around.