Luis Robert, Gold Glover

Although he looks more like an NFL tight end or linebacker than a center fielder, Luis Robert proved throughout the White Sox' recent season that appearances can be deceiving. He has won a Rawlings Gold Glove award for his defensive accomplishments this year, and it would be no surprise if he collects a few more of these trophies going forward. Robert is the first Sox outfielder to win a Gold Glove since Ken Berry in 1970 and the first Sox rookie to do so since Tommie Agee in 1966.

LUIS ROBERT

Below is the complete list of White Sox Gold Glove winners by position.

 

Pitchers

1974 - Jim Kaat

1975 - Jim Kaat

2009 - Mark Buehrle

2010 - Mark Buehrle

2011 - Mark Buehrle

2012 - Jake Peavy

 

Catchers

1957 - Sherm Lollar

1958 - Sherm Lollar

1959 - Sherm Lollar

 

First Basemen

1977 - Jim Spencer

1981 - Mike Squires

 

Second Basemen

1957 - Nellie Fox

1959 - Nellie Fox

1960 - Nellie Fox

2019 - Yolmer Sanchez

 

Shortstops

1958 - Luis Aparicio

1959 - Luis Aparicio

1960 - Luis Aparicio

1961 - Luis Aparicio

1962 - Luis Aparicio

1968 - Luis Aparicio

1970 - Luis Aparicio

1990 - Ozzie Guillen

 

Third Basemen

1991 - Robin Ventura

1992 - Robin Ventura

1993 - Robin Ventura

1996 - Robin Ventura

1998 - Robin Ventura

 

Outfielders

1957 - Minnie Minoso

1960 - Minnie Minoso

1960 - Jim Landis

1961 - Jim Landis

1962 - Jim Landis

1963 - Jim Landis

1964 - Jim Landis

1966 - Tommie Agee

1970 - Ken Berry

2020 - Luis Robert

 

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Chicago Sports Memories is Back!

THEO EPSTEIN

A lot of water has flowed under the proverbial bridge since you last heard from us at the end of 2011. Here are some highlights of the Chicago sports landscape at that time.

• The Bulls' Derrick Rose was the NBA's reigning MVP (the youngest in league history at age 22), head coach Tom Thibodeau was the incumbent coach of the year, and the Bulls were coming off a season in which they had racked up the best record in the league (62-20) and made it to the Eastern Conference finals. To say the future looked bright for all concerned would be a gross understatement.
• The Blackhawks, a year and a half removed from their first Stanley Cup championship since 1961, were in the midst of a stretch under head coach Joel Quenneville during which they would qualify for the NHL playoffs for nine consecutive seasons and capture the Cup twice more. Their core group of young players (including Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp, Brent Seabrook, and Corey Crawford) would remain together for years to come.
  
• The Bears had just completed an 8-8 season which ranked as a profound disappointment after a trip to the NFC championship game the year before. Quarterback Jay Cutler remained an enigma; he had not yet attained the superstardom predicted for him, and it was beginning to look as if he never would. Head coach Lovie Smith and future Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher would both be gone a year later.
  
• The White Sox had just parted ways with blustery manager Ozzie Guillen and replaced him with the placid Robin Ventura, who had never publicly expressed interest in managing until the day he was hired. Guillen's tumultuous tenure, of course, had produced (in 2005) the franchise's first world championship since 1917, so his place in Pale Hose history was secure. Lanky lefthander Chris Sale, just twenty-two, was poised to emerge as a major star.
• The Cubs had just endured a 71-91 slog under overmatched manager Mike Quade. Shortstop Starlin Castro, twenty-one, made the All-Star team and led the National League in hits; he appeared to be a perennial star in the making. Most importantly, Theo Epstein had just been hired to lead the Cubs' baseball operations. Just thirty-seven years old, he had already been general manager of the Boston Red Sox for nine years and in 2004 had engineered their first world championship since 1918. He had joined the Cubs to try and end the world-famous drought that stretched all the way back to 1908.
  

Ventura Ventures Into Uncharted Territory

    

ROBIN VENTURA IN HIS PLAYING DAYS

     Having tired of biting the hand that fed him for eight years, Ozzie Guillen recently concluded that it was time to leave his post as manager of the White Sox. Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and general manager Kenny Williams were only too eager to agree--so eager, in fact, that they couldn't even wait until the end of the season. They granted Guillen his release with two games remaining on the schedule, so he could get a head start alienating his next employer, the Florida Marlins.
     All the self-appointed experts were sure that Williams would choose one of two former White Sox players, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Davey Martinez, to replace Guillen. As it turned out, however, neither Alomar nor Martinez even got an interview before the job was offered to and accepted by yet another former Sox player, Robin Ventura. Ventura has never coached or managed at any level of baseball from Little League on up, so his hiring came as a shock to everyone, including Ventura himself.
     Ventura the player had plenty of heart and character, qualities that should serve him well in his new role. He was one of the most popular White Sox of recent decades, so the fans will probably give Ventura the manager the benefit of the doubt, at least for a while. Only time will tell, of course, how he fares.
     Below is a brief listing of some noteworthy achievements--good, bad, and middling--of Ventura's predecessors as White Sox skipper.

World Series champions
1906 - Fielder Jones
1917 - Pants Rowland
2005 - Ozzie Guillen

American League champions
1901 - Clark Griffith
1906 - Fielder Jones
1917 - Pants Rowland
1919 - Kid Gleason
1959 - Al Lopez
2005 - Ozzie Guillen

Division champions
1983 - Tony LaRussa
1993 - Gene Lamont
1994 - Gene Lamont [season ended in August]
2000 - Jerry Manuel
2005 - Ozzie Guillen
2008 - Ozzie Guillen

Finished exactly .500
1922 - Kid Gleason
1941 - Jimmie Dykes
1974 - Chuck Tanner
2002 - Ozzie Guillen

Finished in last place
1924 - Johnny Evers, Ed Walsh, Eddie Collins
1931 - Donie Bush
1934 - Lew Fonseca, Jimmie Dykes
1948 - Ted Lyons
1970 - Don Gutteridge, Bill Adair, Chuck Tanner
1976 - Paul Richards
1989 - Jeff Torborg

White Sox Gold Glovers

LUIS APARICIO

     White Sox lefty Mark Buerhle received his second straight Gold Glove award last week as the American League's best fielding pitcher. He might have clinched this year's award on Opening Day with an incredible no-look, between-the-legs flip with his glove hand to retire a runner at first base. Teammates and opponents both agreed it was the best play they had ever seen. "He just has a knack for doing great things," said Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski.
     Buerhle is having a stellar career indeed for the White Sox, but he has a long way to go if he is to catch shortstop Luis Aparicio in the Gold Gloves race. Aparicio won seven Gold Gloves for the Sox and nine overall en route to the Hall of Fame. Outfielder Jim Landis and third baseman Robin Ventura each won five of the trophies for the South Siders.
     Shortstop Alexei Ramirez, who should have won a Gold Glove this year, will no doubt get his due before too much longer. His name will then be added to the list below, which includes all White Sox Gold Glovers since the awards were first given in 1957.

White Sox Gold Glove Award Winners

Pitcher
1974 - Jim Kaat
1975 - Jim Kaat
2009 - Mark Buerhle
2010 - Mark Buerhle

Catcher
1957 - Sherm Lollar
1958 - Sherm Lollar
1959 - Sherm Lollar

First Baseman
1977 - Jim Spencer
1981 - Mike Squires

Second Baseman
1957 - Nellie Fox
1959 - Nellie Fox
1960 - Nellie Fox

Shortstop
1958 - Luis Aparicio
1959 - Luis Aparicio
1960 - Luis Aparicio
1961 - Luis Aparicio
1962 - Luis Aparicio
1968 - Luis Aparicio
1970 - Luis Aparicio
1990 - Ozzie Guillen

Third Baseman
1991 - Robin Ventura
1992 - Robin Ventura
1993 - Robin Ventura
1996 - Robin Ventura
1998 - Robin Ventura

Outfielder
1957 - Minnie Minoso
1960 - Minnie Minoso
1960 - Jim Landis
1961 - Jim Landis
1962 - Jim Landis
1963 - Jim Landis
1964 - Jim Landis
1966 - Tommie Agee
1970 - Ken Berry