It was not long into this season that Chicago White Sox first baseman and designated hitter Jose Abreu should have realized that the Sox were going to finish under .500 again. In his fifth season with the club, Abreu has yet to see the Sox finish .500 or better and it’s clearly not going to happen this year. Through Monday the Sox won-loss record was 42-76, 7½ games behind Detroit and six games ahead of Kansas City.
Abreu, a home run and runs batted in machine for his first four years with the Sox, could see his production fall below par this season. Still, another quality season is not out of the question if Abreu gets hot down the stretch.
Abreu, a .295 lifetime hitter, has reached 100 runs batted in each of his first four seasons and averaged 31 home runs. Through Monday, his batting average was .264 with 20 home runs and 68 runs batted in.
Luke Appling is the all-time Sox leader in hits with 2,749, and, just like Abreu, Appling broke in with a struggling White Sox franchise.
Appling played 20 seasons for the Sox, 1930-1950, plus he missed the 1944 season because of military service.
It was not until 1936 that Appling was on a winning team. Under manager Jimmy Dykes, the 1936 Sox concluded with an 81-70 record and in third place in the American League eight-team race.
Appling was the American League batting average leader with .388 in 1936. He did win another batting championship with .328 in 1943, but, never hit better than .348 in any other season. He was a great contact hitter.
In 1936, Appling’s RBI count was 128. Other than in 1936, Appling never surpassed 85 RBIs.
The 1936 season was the start of a good run, relatively speaking, by the White Sox. Six times between 1936 and 1943 the Sox finished the season above .500.
Nicknamed “Old Aches and Pains,” in Appling’s time with the Sox never finished higher than third place in the American League. Still, thanks in large part to Appling, the Sox usually were competitive. He finished with a .310 career batting average. Appling, who died in 1991, was a seven-time all-star selection and was elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1964.