Guillen picks winner between '05 and '22 White Sox

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The battle of the South side.

2005 or 2022?

The '05 White Sox were stacked. They were one win short of recording 100 regular season wins that year. They averaged 4.57 runs, 8.95 hits, 1.23 home runs and 4.51 RBIs per game. Their team batting average was .262, slugging .322 and on-base .425. On the pitching side, they had a team 3.61 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. 

They only lost once in the postseason to the Los Angeles Angels. Outside of that loss, they swept the first round of the AL playoffs and the World Series against the Houston Astros. 

For the '22 Sox, they average 4.41 runs per game, 8.96 hits, .87 home runs and 4.18 RBIs per game. They have a team batting average of .257, slugging .311 and .385 on-base. For pitching, they have a team 3.98 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. Yet, they already have nearly eclipsed the '05 Sox in strikeouts through just 92 games, with 850 to their 1,044. 

The current White Sox are just 92 games into their season, yet they've only won half of them. Last year might have been a better team to compare, since they recorded 93 wins and made the playoffs. But, it's still a tough argument. 

There's hardly a difference between the numbers, yet the current White Sox, as aforementioned, are a .500 team. Obviously, the league's trajectory of hitting, pitching, etc. is much different than 17 years ago. But, it's fun to compare. 

As for subjective argument from highly-touted sources, take the manager of the '05 Sox, Ozzie Guillen, to figure out which would win. 

“I know he’s not lying because I know what kind of ballclub I have," Guillen said on the White Sox talk podcast. "And 2022 they can hold. Not because they have better talent. But, 2005, they are a bunch of gorillas. They were hard on the field and off the field.”

The matchup would be impeccable. Mark Buehrle vs. Dylan Cease. Paul Konerko vs. Jose Abreu. Luis Robert vs. Jermaine Dye. Truly, the battle is neck-and-neck. 

The conversation is all in good fun, but tempting to debate as a true White Sox fanatic. 

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