NO!!MARY!!! Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 The Hitless Wonder factor lives! A couple of years ago, I got tired of all the blahblahblah about the infernally stupid "ex-Cub" factor, so I did a little research on my own and found an "ex-Sox" factor. That is, a team having three or more ex-Sox has pulled off a tremendous comeback to win the pennant, pulled off an upset to win the World Series, or both. I call it the "Hitless Wonder" factor, after the 1906 White Sox, who came back from 9 games down to win the AL pennant and beat the winningest single season team in baseball history (the Cubs, 116-36) in a World Series upset. Sometimes, the ex-Sox contribute mightily, as only they can. So the teams are: 1968 Detroit Tigers: Norm Cash, Don McMahon, Denny McLain. I'm fudging on McLain, because he never played a league game with the White Sox, but he did play with them in spring training and wore the uniform, so the magical Sockie pixie dust rubbed off on him. The Tigers won the AL pennant going away (thanks to McLain's 31 wins) then fell behind 3 to 1 to a superior Cardinal team. They came back to win the series, getting a must-win Game 6 win from McLain. Norm Cash's .385 average also contributed. I don't know if the Cardinals were favored or not, they were a faster team and had Bob Gibson. I'll say they were. Now that I am a serious baseball writer, I am allowed to make stuff up as I go along. 1969 New York Mets: Tommie Agee, Al Weis, J.C. Martin. Everyone knows their story. Down 10.5 games to the Cubs, they roared back to win the NL East, win the NL and beat the mighty Baltimore Orioles in a tremendous upset. Agee, Martin and Weis ALL made significant World Series contributions. Agee with his spectacular catches, Martin with his famous sacrifice bunt, and Weis with his game 5 home run. Where all these bunts, bops and breathtaking catches were in 1967 when the White Sox needed them is a mystery. 1978 New York Yankees: Bucky Dent, Goose Gossage, Jim Spencer, Bob Lemon. The mother of them all!!! Down by 14.5 games to the eternally woeful, suffering, suffering Boston Red Sox, the Yankees roared back to tie them for the AL East. The one game playoff went down in history of course, with Bucky Dent hitting a historic home run that would help beat the Red Sox and give the Boston media, Doris Kearns Goodwin, John Updike and Dan Shaugnessy reams and reams of useful material. Goose Gossage closed out the Red Sox in the 9th. Dent was also the World Series MVP. 1997 Florida Marlins: Bobby Bonilla, John Cangelosi, Alex Fernandez, Don Pall, Russ Morman, Jim Leyland. First wildcard team to win the World Series. Sur- prised the Atlanta Braves in the playoffs (who the hell hasn't?) and beat the Indians in the World Series, which I believe is considered an upset. They were also down to their last three outs in Game 7 before tying it and winning in extra innings. Donn Pall and Russ Morman didn't play in the postseason, but like McLain they spread the magical Sockie pixie dust around Joe Robbie Stadium. 2004 Boston Red Sox: Alan Embree, Keith Foulke, Ron Jackson (hitting coach) Ellis Burks. Now Burks only played for them briefly, and Jackson was only a hitting coach, but again, it's all about the dust. They pulled off the most astonishing historical comeback in baseball postseason history, being down 0-3 and down to their final three outs. They roared back, as only a team with the Hitless Wonder factor on their side could, beat the Yankees and pushed aside the 105 win Cardinals. Keith Foulke was a major contributor in both the ALCS and the World Series. Of course! I was a bit unsure about this one, because the Yankees have 4 ex-Sox on their roster; Kenny Lofton, Tanyon Sturtze, Esteban Loiaza and Tom Gordon. So it would reason that the "ex-Sox" factor is baseless, right? WRONG! I did a little research, and the 2004 Yankees have six ex-Cubs (Lofton, Sturtze, Gordon, Jon Lieber, Miguel Cairo, Donovan Osborne). So since they had more ex-Cubs than ex-Sox, the ex-Cub factor trumps the ex-Sox factor. Likewise, Boston had fewer ex-Cubs than the Yankees (four: Bellhorn, Mueller, Ricky Guiterrez and Terry Francona), hence their victory. They had the same number of ex-Cubs as the Cardinals (four: King, Tavarez, Womack, LaRussa) but the Cardinals have fewer ex-Sox (two, Eldred and LaRussa) so in this case the ex-Sox factor trumped the ex-Cub factor. Dumb? Stupid? A pile of dung? Maybe. But the ex-Cub factor is legendary, so why not an ex-Sox factor? EDIT: This, by the way, applies to teams since 1960, the year after the White Sox' last pennant. If anyone has any examples I missed, I'd love to hear of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 The only hitless wonder in the 2004 World Series was Scott r0len. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molto Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 Ruben Sierra is another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASNY Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 So, is this what KW had in mind when he got Everett and Alomar again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLAK Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 Also, Brian Daubach had 75 ABs with the Red Sox this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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