Good morning!
For the first Sporcle Saturday after a week's slate of regular-season games, I wasn't really planning to start things off on a down note. Alas, Byron Buxton's continued dominance against the Sox (3-9 with a dinger and a double) played a part in this week's theme. Also salient: I'm still working on compiling a list of short players to either bat or pitch for the White Sox over the decades, and much of that work lends itself to a bit of data cleanup. Worry not, Short Kings: that Sporcle is in the works.
Buxton's hot-hitting is remarkable when looking at his opponent splits, though. I think Josh might have mentioned on a recent podcast Buxton entered the series with some ridiculous slugging percentage. That has only gone up: across 90 games Buxton's triple-slash is .290/.353/.605 and his 22 homers against the Sox are 8 more than the next team: the Guardians, at 14.
The ironic thing about today's Sporcle, though, is that Buxton doesn't make the cut: I've used him as a pretext to introduce this week's theme, but his inability to stay on the field has limited the overall number of hits he might have otherwise accrued. (I'm sure that's the main thing Twins fans think about in this context)
For today’s quiz, you'll test your knowledge remembering who else has hit well against the White Sox over the course of their careers. To qualify, the hits must have come in the DH era (1973), and a player needed to have at least 150 hits against the White Sox (for those curious, Buxton has 88). That leaves 42 names: how many can you get? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I’ve allotted 20 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I’ve provided the entire length of the player’s career (so note that extends past 1973 in some cases, but won’t include hits from before then) and the teams they played for over the course of their career (in rough chronological order, but not including any return stints to former teams).
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- Ty Cobb has the most hits of any player against the White Sox, with 575.
- Factoring in only home runs: Babe Ruth, unsurprisingly, has the most of any player with 98 dingers.
All data from stathead.com
