Baby-faced Brent Lillibridge came out of nowhere to hit 13 home runs – including a big milestone blast - and slug over .500 in 2011.
Remember that guy?
He was born Sept. 18, 1983 – the day after the White Sox clinched the AL West against the Mariners at Comiskey Park. And ironically, he was born in Everett, Wash., about a half hour from Seattle. Lillibridge attended Henry M. Jackson High School in nearby Mill Creek and went on to attend the University of Washington, where he was teammates with Tim Lincecum and was a Pac-10 All-Conference shortstop from 2003-05. The Pirates came calling in the 4th round of the 2005 MLB draft, four picks ahead of future White Sox teammate Chris Getz.
By 2006, Lillibridge put up an impressive .305/.419/.480 slash line with 13 home runs and 53 steals in 128 games between class-A Hickory (the Crawdads!) and high-A Lynchburg. He was the only player in the minors in 2006 with 10+ homers, 50+ stolen bases and a .400 OBP. But before he could pay dividends for Pittsburgh in the Majors, he was dealt with pitcher Mike González to the Braves for Adam LaRoche and OF/1B Jamie Romak on Jan. 19, 2007.
Lillibridge made his MLB debut on April 26, 2008, going 0-for-4 against the Mets. After a stint back in the minors, his first major league hit came on June 25 off Milwaukee’s Mitch Stetter and the first long ball came on July 12 off the Padres’ Joe Thatcher in San Diego. His first taste of the majors in 2008 resulted in a .200 average with one home run in 29 games. And his next crack at the bigs would come for his third MLB team.
On Dec. 5, 2008, the Braves packaged Lillibridge with Jon Gilmore, Santos Rodriguez and Tyler Flowers in a deal to the White Sox in exchange for Javier Vázquez and Boone Logan. He struggled in limited duty in his first two seasons with the White Sox, hitting a combined .192/.261/.280 with two home runs and 11 steals.
All of Chicago rejoiced the day he hit his first home run in a White Sox uniform. But that was largely because that day was June 9, 2010 - the day Patrick Kane scored the championship-clinching goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in Philadelphia.
MLB
Lillibridge’s value was his versatility. He played all over the diamond with the White Sox – except catcher and pitcher. Entering 2011, you thought you knew what you were getting: a light hitting utility man. You’d be wrong.
Lillibridge hit 13 home runs in 186 at-bats, good for a .505 slugging percentage. And nobody would have guessed that he’d outhomer big free agent signing Adam Dunn (13 to 11). And the first of those 13 home runs was a franchise milestone – number 10,000 in White Sox history – even though it was the lone run of a 2-1 loss.
Besides the power surge, Lillibridge had some big moments with the glove. None bigger than April 26, 2011 in the Bronx. After entering the game as a pinch runner and scoring on a Paul Konerko two-run bomb to give the White Sox a 3-2 lead, he made consecutive outstanding catches on balls off the bat of Alex Rodriguez & Robinson Canó to preserve the win.
Unfortunately, after 2011, the magic was gone. Lillibridge struggled in limited duty before the Sox shipped him up to Boston along with hurler Zach Stewart in exchange for Kevin Youkilis and cash considerations. Exactly a month later he was on the move again to Cleveland for José De La Torre. In all, he hit .195/.250/.274 with three home runs. It didn’t get any better after he signed with the Cubs for 2013, where he went 1-for-24 before the Yankees purchased his contract to finish the season. He signed with the Rangers for 2014 but never made it back to the majors.
Lillbridge hung up his spikes as the answer to a few cool trivia questions. Not only did he hit the 10,000th home run in White Sox history, but he’s the only player in MLB history to collect a hit for the White Sox, Cubs, Red Sox and Yankees. In fact, he’s the only position player to play for all four of those teams; the others are pitchers David Aardsma, Tom Gordon and Lynn McGlothen.
Today, Lillibridge runs the BASE By Pros baseball academy in Lynnwood, Wash
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