Your 2000 Chicago White Sox

[Chisoxfn]

Your 2000 Chicago White Sox

 

I don't know about you guys, but for me, that was my 2nd favorite team of the decade. A young, up and coming team that just burst on the scene and flat out won a ton of games. The playoffs were a disappointment but with the farm system BA was hyping I thought we were on the verge of a dynasty.

[Steve9347]

Your 2000 Chicago White Sox

 

I don't know about you guys, but for me, that was my 2nd favorite team of the decade. A young, up and coming team that just burst on the scene and flat out won a ton of games. The playoffs were a disappointment but with the farm system BA was hyping I thought we were on the verge of a dynasty.

No question 2000 was enjoyable... I'm unsure if 2008 bested them for me in terms of 2nd favorite.

[Chisoxfn]

No question 2000 was enjoyable... I'm unsure if 2008 bested them for me in terms of 2nd favorite.

2008 was fun too because of Quentin and Danks and Floyd and Ramirez. It was another year where the club had a lot of solid young players, but man, I remember thinking in 2000 that we were going to win multiple world series.

 

It really was the first time I realized just how hard it is for a club to win a world series. Those teams were dominate and never made it back to the playoffs until the team dynamic changed in 2005.

 

Hell, remember the year we had Loaiza put up Cy young numbers and Colon/Buehrle in the rotation. Geeze those early 2000 teams underperformed like no tomorrow under Jerry Manuel. So much freaking talent.

[klaus kinski]

That team was fun-and I really liked Jeff Abbott and maybe the best offensive IF we ever had

[Rowand44]

Hell, remember the year we had Loaiza put up Cy young numbers and Colon/Buehrle in the rotation. Geeze those early 2000 teams underperformed like no tomorrow under Jerry Manuel. So much freaking talent.

I would have never got over 2003 if it wasn't for 2005. That 03 team should have won the WS.

[bmags]

Yeah, I was so thrilled for '01, and it felt like everything went wrong. Franks arm rips open, Wells constantly crying about his back, Royce Clayton

 

Lots seemed to go wrong the first half of 01, then we went on a 22-7 tear but just had the typical ought-sox team MO of hanging around .500.

 

03 was the most disappointing though, by far. Man that one hurt, maybe worse than 06.

[chw42]

This was the team that got me interested in baseball. Good times, good times.

 

And 03 hurt even more since the Cubs got to the NLCS.

Edited December 21, 2009 by chw42

[WCSox]

but man, I remember thinking in 2000 that we were going to win multiple world series.

 

I didn't get that feeling at all, as there were too many career years and too much luck in the starting rotation. The one guy that I thought would be good over the long-term (Sirotka) never pitched again in the bigs.

 

It was a fun year, though. I was at the night home opener and the atmosphere was electric. After Ray Durham made a run-saving catch-and-throw in the top of the first and Frank got a standing ovation in the bottom half of the inning, I could tell that 2000 was going to be different.

Edited December 21, 2009 by WCSox

[earthshiner]

As much as I liked Iguchi, I wish Ray Ray was our 2b for most of the decade

[Chisoxfn]

I didn't get that feeling at all, as there were too many career years and too much luck in the starting rotation. The one guy that I thought would be good over the long-term (Sirotka) never pitched again in the bigs.

 

It was a fun year, though. I was at the night home opener and the atmosphere was electric. After Ray Durham made a run-saving catch-and-throw in the top of the first and Frank got a standing ovation in the bottom half of the inning, I could tell that 2000 was going to be different.

Kip Wells, Jon Garland, Jon Rauch were all some of the best pitching prospects in baseball. Add in Keith Foulke, Lorenzo Barcelo, Aaron Myette, Jason Stumm, Dan Wright, etc and you are talking about a team that was absolutely loaded. Than there were the solid vets like James Baldwin.

 

So I don't know how you are talking about a ton of career years. That was a young team that was rated to have one of the best farm systems of all time. Turns out BA was completely wrong and a lot of the guys fizzled out, but people in baseball absolutely raved about the Sox stable of prospects.

 

You had a young Ordonez/Lee/Konerko in your lineup too.

[WCSox]

Kip Wells, Jon Garland, Jon Rauch were all some of the best pitching prospects in baseball. Add in Keith Foulke, Lorenzo Barcelo, Aaron Myette, Jason Stumm, Dan Wright, etc and you are talking about a team that was absolutely loaded. Than there were the solid vets like James Baldwin.

 

So I don't know how you are talking about a ton of career years. That was a young team that was rated to have one of the best farm systems of all time. Turns out BA was completely wrong and a lot of the guys fizzled out, but people in baseball absolutely raved about the Sox stable of prospects.

 

The pitching PROSPECTS were very good (including one Mark Buehrle). The starting pitchers that were actually winning games for the 2000 Sox, however, were not. Baldwin had been considered a flop at that point, Parque was a marginal major league pitcher, and Cal Eldred had a long history of injuries and only lasted about 2/3 of the seasont. I agree that there were some really nice prospects in the organization at the time, but it was difficult for me to believe that the Sox were going to out-pitch the Yankees in the playoffs at that point. The only pitchers who had looked really good at the major league level at that point were Sirotka and Foulke.

 

You had a young Ordonez/Lee/Konerko in your lineup too.

 

Oh, that lineup was sick. Those three plus Frank and Valentin, and you knew that they were going to score a lot of runs for the foreseeable future.

 

I didn't feel comfortable about our chances of winning a pennant until Kenny traded for Freddy in 2004 (where Mark and Jon had already established themselves as really good and solid starters, respectively).

Edited December 21, 2009 by WCSox

[Chisoxfn]

The pitching PROSPECTS were very good (including one Mark Buehrle). The starting pitchers that were actually winning games for the 2000 Sox, however, were not. Baldwin had been considered a flop at that point, Parque was a marginal major league pitcher, and Cal Eldred had a long history of injuries at that point. I agree that there were some really nice prospects in the organization at the time, but it was difficult for me to believe that the Sox were going to out-pitch the Yankees in the playoffs at that point. The only pitchers who had looked good at the major league level at that point were Sirotka and Foulke.

 

 

 

Oh, that lineup was sick. Those three plus Frank and Valentin, and you knew that they were going to score a lot of runs for the foreseeable future.

 

I didn't feel comfortable about our chances of winning a pennant until Kenny traded for Freddy in 2004 (where Mark and Jon had already established themselves as really good and solid starters, respectively).

In 03, the Sox had a rotation of Colon/Loaiza/Buehrle. That was about as good of a 1 through 3 in all of baseball that year and they had a stellar offense to go with it. Sure they had no depth, but the Sox had some teams that if they had gotten into the playoffs, they were built to win it all.

 

[2nd_city_saint787]

First thing i thought was singleton batting 6th because we has 2 many righties on that team i see that being the case with Teahen or AJ this year only with a lot more success.

 

As far as the 2000 season goes this was my first year of really following white sox baseball a few weeks in and i remember bein hooked. If there was a day game i would fake sick so i could stay home from sick, my mom never caught on to that thank god and when there'd be a 3 o clock game i remember turnin down my buddies offer to come over and play smackdown. oh the good ol days.

[WCSox]

In 03, the Sox had a rotation of Colon/Loaiza/Buehrle. That was about as good of a 1 through 3 in all of baseball that year and they had a stellar offense to go with it. Sure they had no depth, but the Sox had some teams that if they had gotten into the playoffs, they were built to win it all.

 

Yes, they certainly did have a shot in '03. Those three were miles better than the rotation that the Sox had in 2000.

 

[bmags]

a the 02-04 (maybe not 04, if not for the injuries it's possible we win out) sox were so odd. We had a really great middle of the lineup. We had some good pitching upfront. Usually had some nice bullpen pieces (Marte/Flash), but the odd thing was the last pieces you usually pull together for a team, the fifth starter, catcher, second base were usually so horrendous that it seemed to pull the whole team down with it.

 

But man, if that 03 team could have made it. Ugh. But yeah, how many times did we see us score 12 runs and the next three games get only a few. Wildly inconsistent. And, I was young, I gather, but I remember being really excited for ozzie because in the beginning of 04 we had a couple of 'rally-back' games that were really non-existent under manuel. We won some late inning games, to be sure, but usually when we held on. The come back games didn't really happen. And the first half of 04 before all the injuries, and then the beginning of 05, it was just so fun watching a really energetic team again. Same with first half of 06. I haven't really felt the same of our team since, even with 08.

[Sox It To Em]

The 2000 team was the team that got me interested in baseball and made me a Sox fan for life. The first game I ever went to was against the Angels and the score was something crazy like 13-12. This was before we had Internet so I remember having to rely on the newspaper for Sox-related news and when the next game was. I remember when the Sox traded Brook Fordyce for Charles Johnson and Harold Baines. I can still recall waking up one morning and my dad telling me "Dyce is gone" (I had latched on to him as my favorite player), and I was saddened until Johnson got a huge late-inning hit soon after he was acquired that made me like him. I can remember Herbert Perry hitting a bases-clearing double one game and Hawk declaring "the Milkman delivers!" I was sad when the regular season ended because I was only ten and new to baseball so I didn't really understand the concept of playoffs (don't ask). I remember playing All-Star Baseball 2001 for the Nintendo 64 and playing season mode as the Sox. Whenever I was losing I would restart so I ended with something like a 145-17 record. Good times.

 

When the Sox were mediocre from 01-02 I didn't pay as much attention (being only 11/12 years old), but I can still recall moments like Frank getting injured, the Todd Ritchie trade, signing David Wells, etc. I still followed the team through the news and my dad but didn't watch many games. When the Sox were in the hunt again in 03 my interested was recaptured, and by 04 I became the hardcore fan I am today.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Sox It To Em

[Whitewashed in '05]

2000 was awesome as I was just a casual fan at that time. I don't know which hurt more 03 or 06. I would lean toward 06 because had there not been 2 other teams in the central with 90 wins we would've made it and we were trying to repeat. It really hurt not making it after winning the year before with such a awesome team. 03 hurt because that team was loaded and could have gone very far and, as a fan, hoped for some type of playoff success to try to build off of.

[YonderLaroche]

a the 02-04 (maybe not 04, if not for the injuries it's possible we win out) sox were so odd. We had a really great middle of the lineup. We had some good pitching upfront. Usually had some nice bullpen pieces (Marte/Flash), but the odd thing was the last pieces you usually pull together for a team, the fifth starter, catcher, second base were usually so horrendous that it seemed to pull the whole team down with it.

 

But man, if that 03 team could have made it. Ugh. But yeah, how many times did we see us score 12 runs and the next three games get only a few. Wildly inconsistent. And, I was young, I gather, but I remember being really excited for ozzie because in the beginning of 04 we had a couple of 'rally-back' games that were really non-existent under manuel. We won some late inning games, to be sure, but usually when we held on. The come back games didn't really happen. And the first half of 04 before all the injuries, and then the beginning of 05, it was just so fun watching a really energetic team again. Same with first half of 06. I haven't really felt the same of our team since, even with 08.

 

Same here... I really liked every Sox team but after 2005 and especially 2007 (the worst sox season ever, i quit watching in july) this teams been very frustrating and I've kind of had to force myself to watch since 2007 fiasco...

 

2005... best Sox team I've ever watched

2006... good team, core started becoming 'stale', underachievers.

2007... Injuries, fiasco, crap season

2008... Had no expectations, CQ was awesome, very frustrating team to watch (besides CQ, ramirez,dye,buehrle).. playoffs/blackout games were awesome but knew the sox didn't have enough to beat rays.

2009... very frustrating team to watch, could have easily one division but they never got on any kind of win streak, offense sucked, defense sucked, bullpen crapped out.

2010.... I'm going out on a limb and saying this team clicks and pitching/defense/offense will carry this team into playoffs.

[southsider2k5]

Kip Wells, Jon Garland, Jon Rauch were all some of the best pitching prospects in baseball. Add in Keith Foulke, Lorenzo Barcelo, Aaron Myette, Jason Stumm, Dan Wright, etc and you are talking about a team that was absolutely loaded. Than there were the solid vets like James Baldwin.

 

So I don't know how you are talking about a ton of career years. That was a young team that was rated to have one of the best farm systems of all time. Turns out BA was completely wrong and a lot of the guys fizzled out, but people in baseball absolutely raved about the Sox stable of prospects.

 

You had a young Ordonez/Lee/Konerko in your lineup too.

 

All suffered major injury problems. They just decimated the system, and turned the Sox mentality into an extremely conservative one, which set us back a decade in terms of minor league production.

[bmags]

All suffered major injury problems. They just decimated the system, and turned the Sox mentality into an extremely conservative one, which set us back a decade in terms of minor league production.

 

Do you remember in 2001 when people were calling for HERM'S head because of all the injuries? It's amazing the lack of injuries our pitching staff has endured with the pairing of Cooper and Schneider. They were a perfect match.

[Quin]

Man, 2000 was the first season I really remember, and what I remember most? Not Frank being a monster, Oh-wee-oh Magglio, or Ray Durham being extra awesome.

 

What I remember most is Jose's 'stache.

 

 

[Chisoxfn]

Do you remember in 2001 when people were calling for HERM'S head because of all the injuries? It's amazing the lack of injuries our pitching staff has endured with the pairing of Cooper and Schneider. They were a perfect match.

Nardi was the problem, imo.

[bmags]

Nardi was the problem, imo.

 

Yeah, I guess. But even so, I think it says something that I'm really not worried about injuries to our pitching staff. We haven't even (knock on wood) had the freak injuries like line drives to elbows (heh) a lot of other teams have had.

[Princess Dye]

Sirotka was my favorite all-time Sox pitcher (granted i only go back til the late 80s). Not sure why, other than the fact that he was pretty much the ace for awhile.

Edited December 22, 2009 by Princess Dye

[southsider2k5]

Do you remember in 2001 when people were calling for HERM'S head because of all the injuries? It's amazing the lack of injuries our pitching staff has endured with the pairing of Cooper and Schneider. They were a perfect match.

 

Yeah, something really changed. I don't know if it was the pitching coach, or the scouting, or what, but we have gone to the extreme opposite. Now it is incredibly rare for something like that to happen. Andy Sisco was the last one, and he wasn't even a product of our system.