By Hawk Harrelson's method, I'm about to embark on my third decade of White Sox blogging. By more standard measures, I'm wrapping up my first full standard 10-year period writing about this franchise on a near-daily basis.
Josh already went through the 2010s and compiled an All-Decade Team, but before this era comes to a close, I figure I should weigh in with my considerable clout on determining a few other White Sox 2010s teams with criteria that nobody should really bother to use.
Starting off: The White Sox's All-Forgettable Team of the 2010s.
This exercise proved to be surprisingly difficult, whether it was because the Sox had stability at a position, the player had success before or after in another place, the names surface on Ol' Sporcle Ted's quizzes, or just because it's my job to Remember Some Guys for this particular franchise.
So I tried to approach it as though I were clicking back through Baseball-Reference.com in the year 2049 to research some teams from 30 years ago and figuring out the first to completely recede from memory. Ironically, their induction onto this particular team makes that all the more unlikely.
Catcher: Miguel Gonzalez
- Year: 2013
- Line: 5 G, 2-for-9, 3 K
He's the less memorable of two Miguel Gonzalezes to play for the White Sox this decade, and the less memorable of two catching Gonzalezes. Peaking in rookie ball doesn't help.
Honorable mentions: Dustin Garneau and Hector Sanchez, both of whom were called up briefly in emergencies, but both of whom played elsewhere.
First base: Jerry Sands
- Year: 2016
- Line: 24 G, 58 PA, .236/.276/.291, 3 BB, 24 K
I guess I'll always remember Hawk Harrelson falling in love with him on first sight when he was with the Dodgers, and I still recall his electrifying smile, but as far as the player goes, I wasn't positive he was a right-handed hitter.
Honorable mention: Dan Johnson, if only he didn't have that three-homer game. Andy Wilkins, who is hampered by the fact that the White Sox drafted him. First base has been in pretty good hands, limiting the amount of randos.
Second base: Angel Sanchez
- Year: 2013
- Line: 1 G, 2 PA, .000/.000/.000
Fun fact: I was at Nationals Park for the lone appearance he made. I remember the injury that caused him to enter the game (Gordon Beckham broke his hamate), but I don't recall the injury that limited Sanchez's White Sox career to a single game (it was a lower back strain). He was a Rule 5 pick, so there's that.
Honorable mention: None. The White Sox have employed a lot of memorable players at this position over the decade, for better or for worse.
Third base: Dallas McPherson
- Year: 2011
- Line: 11 games, 2-for-15, no walks, seven strikeouts.
McPherson is memorable in the sense that he was one of a few Angels prospects from that era who never came close to meeting the hype, but I try to picture his presence at the plate and come up with Mike Olt, who is right-handed, opposed to McPherson's leftiness.
Honorable mention: Olt, but he already lost.
Shortstop: Ryan Goins
- Year: 2019
- Line: .250/.333/.347, 52 G, 163 PA, .250/.333/.347
The main guy who manned short during the transfer of power between Alexei Ramirez and Tim Anderson was Jimmy Rollins, who will get some Hall of Fame votes and played a role in L'Affaire LaRoche, so he's out. So I'm setting aside recency bias and going with Goins, who didn't do anything well enough or poorly enough to create any indelible moments.
Honorable mention: Ray Olmedo, and maybe he'll recede from my memory once Robin Ventura's horribly managed September of 2012 is no longer the closest the White Sox have come to contention in recent history.
Left field: Lastings Milledge
- Year: 2011
- Line: 2 G, 1-for-4, 2B, K
Milledge is memorable for a lot of things that happened around his White Sox career -- Mark Buehrle trade rumors in 2007, getting outrighted during the second week of April to the distress of the South Side Sox community, remaining with Charlotte and getting ejected in spectacular fashion during a game I attended. The two games he played for the White Sox didn't make much of an impact, and they were the last two games he played for any MLB team.
Center field: Blake Tekotte
- Year: 2013
- Line: 20 G, 36 PA, .226/.306/.355
If Tekotte didn't go to high school the same place I went to college (Columbia, Mo.), he'd have a hard time getting a spot in my memory bank. He was an AAAA outfielder when the White Sox acquired him, and they couldn't get him over the hump.
Pop quiz:: Do you remember who the White Sox traded to San Diego to acquire Tekotte? I do, mostly because his mustache was debonair AF.
Right field: Michael Taylor
- Year: 2014
- Line: 11 G, 33 PA, .250/.364/.286
This outfield has two things in common: 1) It could start in a Quad-A All-Star Game, and 2) they didn't get another chance in the majors afterward. In Taylor's case, he probably had the best performance of this entire list, but he retired midway through the following spring training because he just didn't want to play anymore. I mostly remember Hawk Harrelson knowing nothing about him when he came to the plate.
Designated hitter: A.J. Reed
- Year: 2019
- Line: 14 G, 49 PA, .136/.204/.205, 4 BB, 21 K
I'm once again trying to set aside recency bias, because Reed made an impression as a waiver claim gone horribly awry, his one homer was a massive dinger, and he pitched in a blowout loss. That said, those details seem likely to fade.
Honorable mention: Cody Asche, who was worse than Reed, but he'll live longer on Ted's Saturday posts because he started an Opening Day. The midseason trials -- and subsequent tribulations -- don't linger as long.
Starting pitcher: Charlie Leesman
- Year: 2013-14
- Line: 9 G, 2 GS, 9.00 ERA, 18 IP, 25 H, 20 R, 18 ER, 3 BB, 17 BB, 13 K
Looking at the list of guys who started at least one game for the White Sox during the 2010s, and most of them stand out for one reason or another. Pedro Hernandez? Started only one game, but he was completely overmatched by the Red Sox for a not-so-severe Arnie Munoz story. Eric Stults? Made two good appearances during a roster crunch, couldn't sneak through waivers, and ended up making 30+ starts for San Diego the next two years as a second coming of Clayton Richard. Carlos Torres pitched from the stretch even when starting, went to Japan, then came back a credible National League reliever. Ervin Santana we know too well.
So I'll put Leesman forward. I remembered his general shape (third-day collegiate draft pick out of Cincinnati, Xavier to be specific) and size (6-foot-4-inch lefty), but I don't have a whole lot else to go on. I vaguely recall a fastball-slider combo, neither of which was a power offering. He's the Andy Wilkins of pitchers, in that his ascension took a long time, but he didn't distinguish himself with a cup of coffee, and hasn't had a long tail afterward. In Leesman's case, he only lasted one more year in affiliated ball before joining the independent ranks.
Honorable mentions: Pedro Hernandez, Eric Stults, Carlos Torres.
Relief pitcher: Taylor Thompson
- Year: 2014
- Line: 5 G, 5.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 4 K, 10.13 ERA
I keep thinking it's going to be Blake Smith, but oddly enough, I remember Blake Smith as the guy nobody is going to remember. He was also a converted position player and a surprising September call-up, which gives him a couple of hooks into my memory.
Thompson, who was old for every level he played after getting drafted in the 25th round, often wasn't the most prominent Thompson on his own team. If he wasn't overshadowed by a Trayce, a Tommy got him instead. It's a triumph against the odds that he even earned a five-game look in the middle of a season, but that's about all he had going for him.
Honorable mentions: Blake Smith, Kyle Drabek, Rob Scahill.
