Sawks knock out the Sox in the Dream Bracket Quarterfinals
After dropping just two games in the first two rounds, combined, the Chicago White Sox were dispatched in just five games by the Boston Red Sox in the Quarterfinals of the MLB Dream Bracket.
[If you want a recap of those first two rounds, check it out here.]
Unfortunately for White Sox fans, this meant that the only game that they got to see streamed on the MLB stream was a meaningless Game 5 loss to the Sawks. Things looked pretty even after the first two games of the series, with the White Sox dropping a one-run loss in Game 1 before stealing home-field advantage by bouncing back to win Game 2 by a score of 7-4 behind Wilbur Wood and Minnie Minoso.
Boston took over from there, however, winning the final three games by a combined 16 runs, with the closest game being a Game 5 in which the Pale Hose trailed by four going into the ninth and lost 6-3.
However, that’s not to say it was all doom and gloom this tournament for the Chisox. They still finished with an overall winning record (9-6), and they went a full round further than they would have been expected to based on their seed. With that in mind, let’s hand out some awards.
Chisox Dream Bracket Awards
MVP - Robin Ventura
The Batman led the Sox with 22 hits over the 15 games in the tournament, picking up 14 runs and 11 RBI to go with his .386 average. His four long balls ranked led the team, and given what we all know he could do with the glove, there’s almost no doubt he would’ve been the team leader in value over this 15-game stretch if such a thing as simulation WAR existed.
Workhorse - Billy Pierce
The man pegged as the White Sox ace (I would’ve gone with Ed Walsh, personally, but he was used as a swingman in this tournament instead) showed himself well, collecting a team-high three wins, while also taking a team-high three losses. Of course, it helps when you start six of the team’s 15 games, and no other pitcher starts more than three. All told, Pierce had an ERA of 3.38 over 34 ⅔ innings, with 30 strikeouts to boot. After the first two series, he was the undoubted Cy Young for the team, but a couple of poor performances in the quarterfinals opened the door for this guy to swoop in ...
Cy Young - Chris Sale
He may have started only half the games Pierce did, but he was pretty spicy in those three starts, with a WHIP barely more than one, an ERA of 2.50 and 20 strikeouts in 18 innings.
Dark Horse - Minnie Miñoso
Back on the batting side of things, if it wasn’t for Ventura’s dominance from the hot corner, the Cuban Comet would have had a good shout for White Sox Dream Bracket MVP. He hit .328 with plenty of pop (second on the team with three dingers), and his 14 RBI led the team. And as someone who was following the play-by-play, that RBI total checks out: Every time there was a big moment for the Sox, it was Miñoso stepping up.
Disappointment - Hoyt Wilhelm
Wilhelm is one of my favorite players of all time, a forgotten trailblazer, whose game (and role) would translate better to 2020 than most of his peers. That’s why it was a bummer to see him fall victim to the reliever small sample size problem, allowing five runs in his five innings, and seeing his closer role abdicated to Ed Walsh and Ted Lyons at times during the tournament. He still managed three saves and had five punchouts in his five innings, but still, I would’ve pegged him as potentially the key piece in the pen for the Pale Hose.
Dumbest Decision - Nellie Fox over Eddie Collins
The worst part about this decision is that it was so obvious from the start. Fox was a fine player in his own right, a spark plug type who played 14 seasons on the South Side and was worth nearly 50.0 rWAR for the club. But Eddie Collins is an absolute all-time legend. Even though Fox may have played 400+ more games in a White Sox uniform than Collins, this simulation was based off a player’s three best years with the ball club. Collins’ best three years in Chicago combined: 24.3 rWAR; Fox: 19.2.
The decision looks even sillier in hindsight, as Fox hit just .189 in 53 AB in the tournament, while Collins went 3-for-4 with multiple extra-base hits as a pinch-hitter. Oh, what could’ve been.
Jim Turvey is a baseball diehard, who was born and raised in Vermont, attended the University of Vermont and is currently attaining an MBA at New Jersey City University in Jersey City, N.J. He is a baseball nomad, having been raised by one Yankee fan and one Red Sox fan (I know), and he is first and foremost a lover of the history and statistics of the sport.