Good morning!
With the playoffs finally here, and no further roster surprises forthcoming, it’s time to bring forth an annual Sporcle: remembering who contributed to the 2021 regular season roster. This season, 47 players spent time in Chicago and that number is generally right in line with the last several years:
- 2020: 48
- 2019: 47
- 2018: 51
- 2017: 51
- 2016: 50
- 2015: 40
The squad was split darn near down the middle, as it featured 24 position players and 23 pitchers. Well, 26 pitchers if you count the three position players who pitched (we won’t). So this week’s Sporcle challenges you to name those 47 players. How many can you get? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I’ve allotted 10 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I’ve provided the number of games each player appeared in, and their primary position.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- At 796 runs scored, this team had the most since…the 2008 White Sox, who scored 811.
- With just 634 runs allowed, you have to go back to 1990 (not including the shortened 2020 or 1994 campaigns) to find a White Sox team that gave up fewer runs (633).
(Photo Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports)
All names from baseballreference.com
43/47. Didn’t miss anyone who finished the season with the team, though one was on the DL.
44 but lucked in an outfielder that now plays for the Giants because he shares a name with someone else. Missed one OF and 2 RP
Same luck got me a point I’d be sure to have forgotten otherwise. Also blocked out the starting day RFer and a handful of low usage relievers.
47/47 with 6:06 left. The last 90 seconds or so involved trying to remember bullpen guys.
For whatever holes remained in the roster, the number of Cody Asche types abundant over the past half-decade were much rarer this year (cough,
46/47. Sometimes two-hit wonders are harder to remember than the ones with one.
45/47. Missed two of the little used relievers (
I got 46/47 missing the relief pitcher with 2 games played. I confess I got the outfielder with 6 games played by luck due to getting him while thinking of someone else with the same last name.
I spent the day in Downer’s Grove. I attended a marching band competition at Downer’s Grove South High School. We were directed to park in a elementary school parking lot several blocks of east of the high school. As we walked through the town to and from our car, I was surprised that I did not see any statues of Jim Margalus nor streets named after him. I think this site has given me an outsized sense of Jim Margalus’s celebrity.