Imrem: Chicago White Sox' 2005 chemistry conjured up a title
The memories flowed at the weekend's reunion for the White Sox' 2005 World Series champions.
Seems like only yesterday and not more than forever ago.
There were those epic home runs by Paul Konerko and Scott Podsednik, that great relief performance by El Duque Hernandez, superior seasons by nearly all of them …
But what still stands out a decade later is how quickly such a diverse group of athletes meshed into a championship unit.
General manager Kenny Williams collected them. Field manager Ozzie Guillen assembled them. The players familiarized themselves with each other.
Leave it to the current Sox to punctuate how hard that is to do.
The '05 Sox weren't remarkable because they ended Chicago baseball's 88-year championship drought while these Sox won't come close to ending a mere 10-year drought.
The '05 team was more talented than the '15 team is. But those guys succeeded a decade ago because a bunch of characters new to each other played like they knew each other their whole careers.
That's as good a reason as any for the '05 team winning more games than maybe it should have and the '15 team losing more than maybe it should have.
The same formula built both teams: Each was fortified from the outside with a variety of recent acquisitions.
This year's White Sox filled holes from the bullpen to the bench and the batting order to the pitching staff.
You see it often in baseball, however. This season the Sox and Padres were considered to have made the best moves last winter and both have disappointed.
"Sometimes it takes awhile," current Sox manager Robin Ventura said recently. "Every guy is different and it can take awhile to come together."
Yet the 2005 White Sox wasted no time coming together.
Podsednik and Jermaine Dye were new in the outfield. Tadahito Iguchi was new at second base. A.J. Pierzynski was the new catcher. The pitching staff had several newcomers such as Bobby Jenks.
The job Williams did over a matter of months is flat out the best quick-fix performance by any general manager in any sport in this town.
Most baseball teams don't become, well, don't become teams right away after adding so many new players. It takes time for players to introduce themselves to each other.
The '05 White Sox were the exception despite being as diverse a group as imaginable.
There were players from Japan, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Others came from all over the United States and from all sorts of social, economic and political backgrounds. Most of all, so many came from other teams.
The suspicion was that Pierzynski arrived from some faraway galaxy to join fellow space alien/designated hitter Carl Everett on this planet.
Maybe this diversity was predictable since Williams is black, Guillen is Venezuelan and club chairman Jerry Reinsdorf is a champion of opportunities for minorities.
Not predictable was how the '05 Sox started winning while they still were wearing "Hi, I'm … " name tags.
Ten years ago it would have been just as easy to stumble into the season like this year's Sox did.
Instead, the 2005 White Sox burst into a season to remember with a single heartbeat and single purpose of winning a World Series.
That championship chemistry remains as memorable today as any pitch, hit or catch any of them made.
mimrem@dailyherald.com