Around these parts on Sporcle Saturday, I typically try to tie the quiz into something that is in some way connected to White Sox news/events/the time of year, but there isn’t always something noteworthy, particularly of late (unless you guys want a Sporcle related to Adam Engel, which…nah). Inspiration, however, comes in many forms and our very own Patrick Nolan provided that for me on Thursday night:
film: i’m stoked for the future, effects and production keep getting better
tv: i’m stoked for the future, writing and storytelling keep getting better
sports: i’m stoked for the future, players keep getting better
music: please lock me in the 80’s and throw away the damn key
— Patrick Nolan (@SoxMach_pnoles) October 25, 2018
While ol’ pnoles is quite up front about his knowledge regarding the Sox from the ’90s and on, I suspect lesser known is his love affair with ’80s music. If you use St. Elmo’s Fire as your walk-up music in softball, it’s a good bet you dig other songs from the ’80s, too.
Anywho, the tie-in here is that I decided to go back and take a look at who the top Sox hitters were from that decade. To qualify, a hitter had to record at least 200 hits over that ten-year period. In total, that gave me 22 names. How many can you get? Good luck (and thanks for the inspiration, pnoles)!
Quiz Parameters
- I’ve allotted ten minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I’ve provided the number of hits and the defensive position of the player in question.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- The top Sox hitter on this list actually qualified for sixth-most in the Majors over this time period. The other five? Robin Yount (1731), Eddie Murray (1642), Willie Wilson (1639), Wade Boggs (1597), and Dale Murphy (1553).
- During the ’80s, that same player also led the Sox in home runs, RBI, walks, doubles, triples, runs…just about every offensive category out there.
- The average triple-slash from the players on this list is average-ish: .261/.324/.394.
Direct link here
All data from baseballreference.com
21. Missed 323. Not to make excuses but I thought he was more of a utility guy than third. Still should’ve gotten him. Boomer had 19.
19. should have had the OF/323.
22/22. Among guesses who did not make the list were
That’s impressive!
I’m old. The trickiest part of remembering the 80s roster is the weird turnover of 1986, but the really obscure players from that year won’t show up on this Sporcle.
I’m old too, but I drew a blank on three of them. I tried a whole bunch of obscure players from the 80s. I was actually at LaRussa’s last loss managing the Sox in 86. It was at the Metrodome and they blew a big lead in the 9th and lost in the 10th. Both of us predicted Hawk would fire him after the game. He was actually fired at the end of that series. What a mistake.
Ha, I watched that game at home and was so despondent. Harrelson had already fired Dave Dombrowski a couple weeks earlier. We weren’t at the point yet where Harrelson started signing toasty NL legends, but the great unraveling was well underway.
That was a pretty bleak time in White Sox history. Come to think of it, most of White Sox history has been pretty bleak!
I also guessed
18/22. Blew it on
Man, the 80s sucked for this team.
I mean, compare that to the aughts, in which any one of Ordonez, Lee, Dye, Thomas, Crede, Podsednik, Uribe, Pierzynski, and Valentin would have made this top-5, followed by a pretty strong cast who provided 300+ hits in that decade.
And the 80s may have had one of the best Sox teams of all time. That 83 team was so good in the 2nd half. If they could have pushed just one run across at any time in Game 4 against the Orioles. Burns pitched a gem, and they had Hoyt going for Game 5. That team should have won the World Series. They Hawk came along and screwed it all up.
First half of the decade was pretty good…the 1980 team was shaky but had s good rotation, then they went on a run. Second half of the decade was pretty sad until the second half of the 1989 season.
I really liked the 82 team also. And 84 they should have cruised to the division title. That team was so disppointing. I was at Purdue in 84 and we drove to KC in August and saw Tom Seaver’s last career shutout there. I don’t know how that 84 team was so average.
Yeah, but there seems to have been little in the way of continuity or quality among our hitters. It seems rather silly that 200 hits for the team that decade pretty much got you on this list. Royce effing Clayton had 200 hits for the White Sox.
This definitely resonates with me. When I ran the index I was a little surprised there were any with less than 300.
I only got 10. I know nothing of this era!
Did you get the first ten? (And I am not asking that sarcastically; genuinely curious)