Comparing the 2005 White Sox and 2016 Cubs

When it comes to baseball in the city of Chicago there's not a lot of history of winning for either the Cubs of White Sox. These two teams though, have both been able to get the job done and win a World Series each in the last 15 years. 

The Sox stopped a 88 year drought when they won in 2005, and the Cubs snapped the longest drought in major sports history by ending a 108 year drought in 2016. These being the only two World Series champions any of us have probably seen in our lives I figured we should compare the two.


Pitching:

Starting with looking at the pitching, the Cubs had a rotation consisting of Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel. Arrieta was coming off winning a Cy Young in 2015, and Lester and Hendricks finished 2 and 3 respectively in 2016. As a team including the bullpen the Cubs pitched to a 3.15 team era which led the league by a wide margin.

On the other hand the Sox had a rotation of Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland, Jose Contreras and Orlando Hernández. Buehrle was the Ace of the staff finishing 5th in the Cy Young voting at year's end. Other than Hernandez, all four of the others had an era below 4.00. As a team they pitched to a 3.61 era which was good for 4th in the MLB.


Hitting:

Now looking at hitting, the Cubs were led offensively by 2016 NL MVP award winner Kris Bryant. As a team the Cubs hit for a slash line of .256/.343/.429 good for a .772 OPS. As a team the Cubs scored the 3rd most runs in the league while averaging 4.99 runs a game.

Looking at the Sox, their lineup was led by first baseman Paul Konerko. Konerko went on to finish 5th in the AL MVP voting. The 2005 Sox slashed .262/.322/.425 good for an OPS of .747. As a team the Sox finished 13th overall in runs scored and averaged 4.57 runs a game.


Conclusion:

When you look at the stats from the two teams it is hard to think the two teams are even at the same level, because stats wise the Cubs blow the Sox out of the water. But, this is a debate because the Sox were dominant in the postseason going 11-1, while the Cubs needed a game 7 in the World Series to win.

Taking all of this into consideration, I think I would give the Cubs the edge because the stats over a full season are so much better, but the Sox are right there with them because of how dominant they were in the playoffs on their way to the 2005 World Series trophy.


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