The baseball world saw a great player hang it up this week, as Adrian Beltre announced his retirement this past Tuesday morning. I’m sure like a lot of you, he was a favorite player of mine to watch, both for his play on the field and his fun personality. Ben Lindbergh of The Ringer also had this impressive stat…
Via @DanHirsch: Of the 107 players to play 21+ years, 11 never had a negative-WAR season (Hank Aaron, Cap Anson, Beltre, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Stat Musial, Jim O'Rourke, Frank Robinson, Frank Tanana).https://t.co/usZIv9n4F8
— Ben Lindbergh (@BenLindbergh) November 20, 2018
…all of which to say, after revisiting Beltre’s career on Baseball Reference, I was reminded just how much the Sox have struggled at times to fill the 5 position with someone competent, let alone a future first ballot Hall of Famer.
So, in part, today’s Sporcle honors Beltre’s career, but it also looks back at White Sox third basemen since the DH was instituted in 1973. To qualify, the player must have played at least 75% of their games at third and also have logged at least 1 WAR in the season. A low bar to clear which gives us 32 player seasons. How many can you name? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I’ve allotted ten minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I’ve provided the season and the WAR.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- Just four Sox third basemen have logged double-digit WAR in their careers with the team: that adds up to 97.1 WAR, just barely beating out Beltre’s 95.7.
- The most stolen bases in a season by a Sox third baseman is 51, by Don Buford in 1966. He was also caught stealing 22 times.
- Buck Weaver holds the record for most hits in a season by a Sox third baseman, with 208.
All data from baseballreference.com
Direct link here
29/32. Can’t believe I missed 2 in the 2010s.
32/32. I didn’t read the instructions and kept guessing sub-1 WAR players. The Sox have had a lot of sub-1 WAR third basemen. Is there any quiz that would justify having
Your spoiler guy was one of the first guys I thought of.
We should start a support group for people who remember him playing.
I was thinking that today would be the day that
29/32 as well. No way that I would remember 1986 (lived in Germany), 1988 (forgetful year), or 2000 (year I moved away from Chicago) guys. Got everybody else in about 45 seconds.
24/32. The 80s are a dead zone to me, and I missed 2015 because I spent forever trying to come up with [spoiler title=”Marcus Semien”] and whiffed on the correct answer completely. You’d think I’d remember him more fondly.
I missed that one too. I got 27/32, missed one guy from the 70’s who I always forget.
Got 25. Not great, but I don’t know anything about the 80s so I’m excusing myself.
I remember the 80’s well and still don’t really remember the 1986 answer. I was old enough to have the money and time to go to games on my own but didn’t yet have the wife and kids. I got 1983 easily and 1989 without much trouble but 1986 is not a name I remember.
Didn’t the Sox sign his son a few years ago?
Yup, on a minor-league deal.
31/32. Got everybody but the idiot in 2015.