2005 White Sox: World Series Champions! Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The White Sox led the American League with 99 wins in the 2005 season. Which pitcher led the team with 18 of those wins?

Answer: Jon Garland

The other pitchers listed all came out from the bullpen. Freddy Garcia, Jose Contreras, and Mark Buehrle won 14, 15, and 16 games respectively. With four starting pitchers winning in double-figures, Garland led the Sox with a record of 18-10. Jon was in his sixth season with the White Sox and the Major Leagues. On a sour note, pitchers Freddy Garcia and Jose Contreras shared the AL lead by throwing 20 wild pitches each, a new franchise record.

2. In 2005, manager Ozzie Guillen was in his second managerial season with the White Sox. As a former player, which team did he spend most of his career with?

Answer: White Sox

Guillen played for all the teams listed from 1985-2000. 13 of those seasons were in a White Sox uniform. Ozzie was the 1985 American League Rookie of the Year, and won his only Gold Glove in 1990 at shortstop. In the National League, another Ozzie won a Gold Glove award at shortstop in 1990 also. That Ozzie was Smith, who won his 11th glove award.

3. In game three of the World Series, reserve Geoff Blum hit a 14th inning home run to win the game for Chicago. Which team did he come from in the 2005 mid-season?

Answer: San Diego Padres

In 31 games with the White Sox in 2005, Blum hit only one home run. He hit five for the Padres before coming to Chicago.

4. How many White Sox players hit 40 or more home runs in 2005?

Answer: 1

Paul Konerko, the first baseman in his seventh season in Chicago, smacked exactly 40. The only player close was Jermaine Dye who banged out 31. Paul almost equaled his career high of 41, set in 2004.

5. In 2005, manager Ozzie Guillen became the third White Sox manager in history to helm the team to a World Series title. The second was the infamous Pants Rowland in 1917. Who was the first?

Answer: Fielder Jones

In the first year of the new American League in 1901, the White Sox won the American League crown, but there was no World Series until 1903. In 1906, manager Fielder Jones, in only his third managerial season, made it a Chicago series when the White Sox met the Cubs. The White Sox won the series four games to two, but would watch the Cubs go on to win it all in 1907 and 1908.

6. Strutting their stuff throughout most of the 2005 season, the White Sox attendance rankings finished in which place amongst the 14 American League teams?

Answer: 7th

With an attendance of 2,342,833 in U.S. Cellular Field, it did not come close to the record set in 1991 when Comiskey Park II boasted 65,000 fans short of the three million mark. The AL attendance rankings belonged to the New Yankees on top, then the Angels, and the Red Sox in third.

The Yankees set a team record in 2005 for the first team to reach four million in attendance, with 4,090,696 fans splitting the turnstyles. From 1991-1993, the Blue Jays topped four million at the Skydome for three consecutive seasons.

7. The White Sox who saw 99 wins in 2005, won most games the franchise had ever won in a regular season?

Answer: False

The White Sox won 99 games under Tony LaRussa in 1983 to win the AL West, but also reached the century mark when Pants Rowland took the team to the World Series crown in 1917. Chicago's record was 100-54. Pitcher Eddie Cicotte led that team with 28 wins.

8. How many 2005 White Sox starting pitchers had seen a World Series game prior to 2005?

Answer: 2

The only two who ever went to the promised land were both former Yankees. Jose Contreras went head to head against the Marlins in 2003, and Orlando Hernandez went to four with the Yankees. White Sox star Jon Garland never saw even one postseason game prior to 2005.

9. Which White Sox speedster in 2005, finished at runner-up with 59 stolen bases in the American League?

Answer: Scott Podsednik

The other Chicago players did not steal more than five bases in the entire season. Podsednik came from the Milwaukee Brewers in 2004 along with Luis Vizcaino. He stole 70 for the Brewers and 59 for the White Sox. The Angels' Chone Figgins led the AL with 62 thefts.

10. Amazingly, in the era of young ballclubs, the White Sox had only three players under the age of 25 on their roster. When the 2005 regular season ended, how many of the White Sox players were 40 or older?

Answer: 0

Orlando Hernandez led the team in the gray hair department, but finished the regular season at the age of 39. Outfielder Frank Thomas, who played in only 34 games was 37.

Source: Author Nightmare

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It took the White Sox 88 years to hoist the World Series pennant with a 4-0 skunking of the Astros. Let's see what you learned about the 2005 White Sox in a slightly different quiz. :-)

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