2008 Chicago White Sox season

2008 Chicago White Sox
AL Central Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record 89–74 (.546)
Divisional place 1st
Other information
Owner(s) Jerry Reinsdorf
General manager(s) Kenny Williams
Manager(s) Ozzie Guillén
Local television CSN Chicago
CSN+
WGN-TV and WGN America
WCIU-TV
(Ken Harrelson, Darrin Jackson)
Local radio WSCR
(Ed Farmer, Steve Stone)
WRTO (Spanish)
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The 2008 Chicago White Sox season was the organization's 109th season in Chicago and 108th in the American League. The White Sox won the American League Central division title for the first time since 2005. They finished the regular season tied with the Minnesota Twins (88–74) and won a one-game playoff for the division title. They subsequently lost the 2008 American League Division Series to Tampa Bay Rays.

Individual highlights for the White Sox included the breakout season of offseason acquisition Carlos Quentin and the strong rookie season of infielder Alexei Ramírez. Gavin Floyd nearly threw a no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins on May 6, broken up by Joe Mauer's double in the ninth inning. The White Sox set a new home record at U.S. Cellular Field of 54–28 (.658 pct.) breaking the 2003 home record of 51–30 (.629 pct.). As of 2018, this was the last time the Chicago White Sox made the postseason.

Offseason

Finishing fourth in the American League Central division coupled with having both MLB's lowest batting average and on-base percentage in 2007 prompted the White Sox to make numerous transactions, particularly with West Coast teams, to improve their lineup.

Other players no longer with the team from the 2007 season are Alex Cintrón, Darin Erstad (signed with Houston), Andy González, Mike Myers, Heath Phillips, Scott Podsednik, and Luis Terrero.

Two coaching staff changes were made, with the hiring of Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach Jeff Cox and bullpen coach Juan Nieves. Cox replaces Razor Shines, while Nieves replaces Art Kusnyer.

Regular season and post season

March/April

14–13

  • On April 13 against the Detroit Tigers, the Sox hit two grand slams in a game, ones by Paul Konerko and Joe Crede. It is the third time in White Sox history to hit two grand slams in a game, first time since May 19, 1996, when Darin Lewis and Robin Ventura homered at Detroit. The first time was September 4, 1995, when Ventura hit two grand slams in one game at Texas.

May

16–13

  • On May 6 against the Minnesota Twins, Gavin Floyd nearly threw a no-hitter, when Joe Mauer hit a double in the ninth inning with 1 out. The only run the Sox allowed was unearned, on a sacrifice fly by Jason Kubel in the fourth inning. The Sox held on for a 6–1 victory. If Gavin Floyd had thrown a no-hitter then it would have been the second of three consecutive seasons that the White Sox threw one, succeeding Mark Buehrle in 2007 and preceding Mark Buehrle's perfect game in 2009.

Had AJ Pierzynski got no hitter he would have 5 no hitters 3 with white sox one with Texas Rangers one with Braves

June

17–10

July

13–12

August

17–11

  • On August 5 against the Detroit Tigers, in the top 14, Tigers scored two runs via two-run home run by Plácido Polanco, which made it 8–6. Then in the bottom 14, Sox came back with four via reaching on error by Jermaine Dye and then a walk-off three-run homer by Nick Swisher, which made it 10–8.
  • On August 14 against the Kansas City Royals, the Sox hit four consecutive home runs in the sixth inning. The player in batting order who hit home runs are Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramírez, and then Juan Uribe. It is the first time that the White Sox hit four consecutive home runs in an inning and sixth time in MLB history, first since April 22, 2007, when Boston Red Sox belted four consecutive home runs in an inning. The Sox swept the Royals with the final score of 9–2.

September

12–15

  • The Sox faced three different teams in three consecutive games for the third time in MLB history (the White Sox and Cleveland Indians each having done so in September 2000). The Sox won all three games, the regularly scheduled season finale against the Cleveland Indians, a game against the Detroit Tigers that had been rescheduled from earlier in the month due to rain, and the tiebreaker game against the Minnesota Twins. Having won, they then faced a fourth team in the next game to begin the playoffs.
  • The team's first month with a losing record in the entire 2008 season. The month was highlighted with the AL Central Tiebreaker which took place at U.S. Cellular Field on the 30th versus The Minnesota Twins. The White Sox organization called on its fans who went to the game to wear all black, there was almost 100% participation, they called the game "the blackout" game.

October

1–3

  • The 2008 playoffs saw the White Sox square off with the Tampa Bay Rays in a matchup of the 2nd and 3rd seeds. The White Sox started Javier Vázquez in game 1. Rays rookie Evan Longoria hit 2 home runs in a 6–4 win for Tampa. Mark Buehrle started game 2 which saw the White Sox unable to hold an early lead, eventually losing 6–4. For games 3 and 4, the series moved to Chicago. The Sox took game 3 by the score of 5–3, with John Danks getting the victory. The Chicago crowd continued the new "blackout" tradition. But the Rays proved to be too much for the Sox in game 4, winning 6–2 and taking the series 3 games to 1.

Season standings

AL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago White Sox 8974 0.546 54–28 35–46
Minnesota Twins 8875 0.540 1 53–28 35–47
Cleveland Indians 8181 0.500 45–36 36–45
Kansas City Royals 7587 0.463 13½ 38–43 37–44
Detroit Tigers 7488 0.457 14½ 40–41 34–47

The Chicago White Sox claim their second A.L Central Championship in the last four years.

Record vs. opponents

TeamBALBOSCWSCLEDETKCLAAMINNYYOAKSEATBTEXTORNL
Baltimore6–124–54–44–35–33–63–37–110–58–23–154–56–1211–7
Boston12–64–35–15–26–11–84–39–96–46–38–109–19–911–7
Chicago5–43–411–712–612–65–59–102–55–45–14–63–31–712–6
Cleveland4–41–57–1111–710–84–58–104–35–44–55–26–46–16–12
Detroit3–42–56–127–117–113–67–114–23–67–33–46–33–513–5
Kansas City3–51–66–128–1011–72–36–125–56–37–23–52–72–513–5
Los Angeles6–38–15–55–46–33–25–37–310–914–53–612–76–310–8
Minnesota3–33–410–910–811–712–63–54–65–55–43–35–50–614–4
New York11–79–95–23–42–45–53–76–45–17–211–73–49–910–8
Oakland5–04–64–54–56–33–69–105–51–5-10–93–67–124–610–8
Seattle2–83–61–55–43–72–75–144–52–79–103–48–115–49–9
Tampa Bay15–310–86–42–54–35–36–33–37–116–34–36–311–712–6
Texas5–41–93–34–63–67–27–125–54–312–711–83–64–410–8
Toronto12–69–97–11–65–35–23–66–09–96–44–57–114–48–10

Game log

2008 White Sox game log
2008 White Sox postseason game log

Roster

2008 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB
Brian Anderson
109
181
24
42
13
0
8
26
.232
5
Mark Buehrle
2
6
0
1
0
0
0
0
.167
0
Orlando Cabrera
161
661
93
186
33
1
8
57
.281
19
José Contreras
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Joe Crede
97
335
41
83
18
1
17
55
.248
0
John Danks
3
6
0
1
0
0
0
0
.167
0
Octavio Dotel
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Jermaine Dye
154
590
96
172
41
2
34
96
.292
3
Josh Fields
14
32
3
5
1
0
0
2
.156
0
Gavin Floyd
2
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Ken Griffey, Jr.
41
131
16
34
10
0
3
18
.260
0
Toby Hall
41
127
7
33
3
0
2
7
.260
0
Bobby Jenks
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Paul Konerko
122
438
59
105
19
1
22
62
.240
2
Scott Linebrink
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Boone Logan
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Nick Masset
3
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Pablo Ozuna
32
64
5
18
3
0
0
6
.281
0
A. J. Pierzynski
134
534
66
150
31
1
13
60
.281
1
Carlos Quentin
130
480
96
138
26
1
36
100
.288
7
Alexei Ramírez
136
480
65
139
22
2
21
77
.290
13
Adam Russell
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Nick Swisher
153
497
86
109
21
1
24
69
.219
3
Jim Thome
149
503
93
123
28
0
34
90
.245
1
Matt Thornton
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Juan Uribe
110
324
38
80
22
1
7
40
.247
1
Javier Vázquez
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
Ehren Wassermann
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
0
DeWayne Wise
57
129
20
32
4
2
6
18
.248
9
Totals
163
5553
811
1458
296
13
235
785
.263
67

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP R ER BB K
Mark Buehrle
15
12
3.79
34
34
0
218.2
106
92
52
140
D. J. Carrasco
1
0
3.96
31
0
0
38.2
17
17
14
30
José Contreras
7
6
4.54
20
20
0
121
64
61
35
70
John Danks
12
9
3.32
33
33
0
195
74
72
57
159
Octavio Dotel
4
4
3.76
72
0
1
67
34
28
29
92
Gavin Floyd
17
8
3.84
33
33
0
206.1
107
88
70
145
Bobby Jenks
3
1
2.63
57
0
30
61.2
18
18
17
38
Scott Linebrink
2
2
3.69
50
0
1
46.1
20
19
9
40
Esteban Loaiza
0
0
3.00
3
0
0
3.0
2
1
0
1
Boone Logan
2
3
5.95
55
0
0
42.1
31
28
14
42
Mike MacDougal
0
0
2.12
16
0
0
17
4
4
14
14
Nick Masset
1
0
4.63
32
1
1
44.2
26
23
21
32
Clayton Richard
2
5
6.04
8
13
0
47.2
37
32
13
29
Adam Russell
4
0
5.19
16
0
0
26
15
15
10
22
Matt Thornton
5
3
2.67
74
0
1
67.1
20
20
19
77
Javier Vázquez
12
16
4.67
33
33
0
208.1
113
108
61
200
Ehren Wassermann
1
2
7.78
24
0
0
19.2
19
17
14
9
Totals
89
74
4.11
163
163
34
1457.2
665
729
460
1147

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Charlotte Knights International League Marc Bombard
AA Birmingham Barons Southern League Carlos Subero
A Winston-Salem Warthogs Carolina League Tim Blackwell
A Kannapolis Intimidators South Atlantic League Chris Jones and Nick Capra
Rookie Bristol White Sox Appalachian League Bobby Thigpen
Rookie Great Falls Voyagers Pioneer League Chris Cron

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Great Falls

Trivia

  • The 2008 White Sox became the first team to ever win their last three regular season games, against three different opponents.

References

  • Game logs:
1st half: Chicago White Sox game log on ESPN.com
2nd half: Chicago White Sox game log on ESPN.com
  1. "Uribe signs one-year deal with ChiSox".
  2. "Angels Trade Orlando Cabrera for Jon Garland".
  3. "Reliever, White Sox finalize four-year, $19 million deal". ESPN.go.com.
  4. "White Sox acquire D-backs OF Quentin for minor league first baseman". ESPN.go.com.
  5. "Cuban slugger Alexei Ramirez signs with Chicago White Sox".
  6. Nightengale, Bob (January 4, 2008). "A's trade Swisher to White Sox for trio of prospects". usatoday.com.
  7. "White Sox sign Dotel to bolster bullpen". nbcsports.com.
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