Sox 42.033: Black Sox Name 70th Anniversary All-Franchise Team

[HoosierVic]

By Mike Talley
Black Sox Beat Writer
Chicago Sports Online

The Black Sox this weekend marked the 70th anniversary of the Brewster Baseball Association this week by naming a special All-Franchise Team made up of great players from the team’s years in Chicago and Huntsville.

“As it turns out, this is the 70th anniversary of our franchise, as well, so we thought it only appropriate that we honor our past, present, and future by reminding fans of the great players who have worn the colors of the Chicago Black Sox and Huntsville Phantoms through the years,” said Benny Vitale, Sox GM.

The coaching staff and front office personnel chose the 19 players on the team, naming one for each field position, plus five starting pitchers and five relievers.

“We had just one ground rule: members of the All-Franchise Team had to have played at least five seasons for either the Sox or the Phantoms,” Vitale said. “As a result, some names on the team’s All-Time leader board are missing because they didn’t meet the longevity requirement. We didn’t feel it appropriate to name someone to the team who had just one or two seasons with our franchise.”

One curiosity: current Sox left-fielder Fernando Reyes made the team because, at it turns out, his five-year incumbency is the longest stretch at the position in Sox or Phantoms history.

A second curiosity: the voters decided to fill the DH position with a player from any position who they deemed deserving but wouldn’t otherwise make the team because they were blocked by another all-time great.

And, finally, a third curiosity: Bart Lavigne was named to the team as a right fielder, even though he spent most of his career in center. "He spent enough time in right that we felt comfortable putting Mr. Lavigne there. There was no way he would displace Resurrection Santos from center, but no one wanted to exclude Mr. Lavigne from the team," Vitale said. "Our team, our rules. Simple as that."

First-year manager Julián Negrete said he was thrilled to participate in the selection process.

“This was a fascinating exercise – especially for someone, like me, who’s new to the Sox organization,” he said. “It was a great way to steep myself in the history of our team.”

With no further ado, here are the members of the All-Time Black Sox/Phantoms Franchise Team:

All-Franchise Team

Pos	Player	Yrs	G	PA	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	WAR
C	Washu Hakubi	90-02	1,690	6,780	993	1,782	236	886	139	.290	.349	.484	45.6
1B	Fernando Moreno	23-32	1,333	5,911	871	1,387	382	957	6	.279	.385	.547	58.2
2B	Chris Workman	21-26	834	3,830	567	900	89	357	205	.272	.363	.421	27.2
SS	Archie Ayrault	83-89	1,352	5,580	837	1,344	223	753	83	.283	.383	.497	36.2
3B	Gerardo Guzmán	27-37	1,520	6,724	904	1,766	68	585	670	.293	.353	.406	35.1
LF	Fernando Reyes	37-41	669	2,711	356	697	149	441	1	.280	.333	.527	11.8
CF	Resurrection Santos	93-00	1,087	4,663	684	1,363	187	670	132	.315	.355	.523	39.2
RF	Bart Lavigne	07-19	1,579	7,069	835	1,811	15	569	224	.293	.368	.365	26.3
DH	Hunter Eisenhower	25-30	690	3,126	439	806	134	426	4	.295	.377	.507	33.0

Pos	Pitcher	Yrs	W	L	SV	G	GS	IP	BB	K	ERA	FIP	WAR
SP	Braggo Franco	78-89	146	107	0	409	405	2,532.0	582	2,219	3.21	2.73	79.4
SP	Tom Madonald	05-16	160	96	1	414	318	2,418.2	712	2,159	3.59	3.45	61.7
SP/RP	Heath Rockefeller	85-94	129	59	90	506	231	1,776.1	229	1,568	2.40	2.40	60.5
SP	António Rodríguez	09-20	147	129	0	373	373	2,357.2	488	1,466	3.86	3.64	50.5
SP	Jeff Kiplinger	91-99	103	78	0	257	256	1,653.1	317	1,539	3.39	3.38	46.4
CL	Bob Sanderson	22-33	62	47	430	754	0	805.2	235	934	2.93	2.90	15.3
RP	Jonathan Sorensen	10-16	30	32	198	406	0	412.0	164	466	2.71	3.32	6.8
RP	Craig Murray	12-19	39	20	150	437	0	537.0	168	732	1.84	2.15	16.0
RP	Richard Wasson	92-98	42	32	112	555	0	592.1	140	462	3.37	3.32	8.1
RP	Daniel Marquette	91-97	25	27	101	479	0	482.0191	440	3.45	3.48	5.3

Sox officials said an enhanced and expanded All-Franchise Team exhibit will be installed in the Black Sox Hall of Honor and Museum within the next several weeks.

"We wanted to get the list out in time for Opening Day," said Vitale. "We'll announce the list during the pre-game festivities at our newly-expanded Black Sox Park - just one of many 70th anniversary events we have planned for this season. There's never been a better time to buy Sox season tickets - we held the line on prices again this year! - and clear your schedule for fun at the ballpark."

[Clayman]

An old time Black Sox player maybe getting a spotlight in the near future.

[HoosierVic]

An old time Black Sox player maybe getting a spotlight in the near future.

Cool! I look forward to that!

[7teen]

I would have gone Mike Clarke in LF. No way any of the current bums deserve to be on the list!

[HoosierVic]

I would have gone Mike Clarke in LF. No way any of the current bums deserve to be on the list!

I thought long and hard about Clarke, but he was only with Chicago for 4 years - by far the majority of his career was in Baltimore. Didn’t seem appropriate ...

[CTBrewCrew]

I like it! Great idea

[RonCo]

Resurrection Santos is once again my new favorite player.

[RonCo]

The guy needs to be the hero ins some wild pulp fiction thing set on a deserted island in the Pacific somewhere.

[HoosierVic]

Resurrection is certainly my favorite old-time Sox player. This little exercise introduced me two other guys who made major impressions, too: Washu Hakubi and Bob Sanderson. Great careers for both of them ... If nothing else, I now have a nice guide to follow for my next dozen or so Sox Hall of Honor inductees. I’ll revisit this for the 75th anniversary, too, and see if anything changes.