Good morning!
Over at The Athletic, James Fegan has a great story on former White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras and his mentorship of prospect Norge Vera. Contreras actually met Vera nearly two decades earlier, as James describes:
But Contreras’ first memory of Vera comes from his own last tournament with the Cuban national team before defecting to the United States in 2002. The team celebrated a tournament victory at a nearby hotel, and was enjoying an afternoon at the swimming pool with their families. There, Norge Luis Vera, whom Contreras considers one of the best Cuban pitchers of all time and is “like a brother to me,” introduced him to his young son with the same first name.
The whole article is worth your time, and indeed, Norge Luis Vera had a fine career in Cuba. One hopes that his son can follow in his footsteps; Contreras is really the last great Cuban to have thrown for the White Sox, as nearly all the Cuban White Sox players who have since appeared have been on the position player side of things.
Today's tidy little Sporcle will be testing your knowledge of all White Sox players with Cuban roots. Throughout franchise history, 23 Cuban-born players have suited up in a White Sox uniform: how many can you name? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I've allotted 10 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I've provided the player's tenure, and their position.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- The only positions truly underrepresented on this list are second base and right field.
- The Cuban player with the most games on this list appeared in 1,373 games for the White Sox (and 1,946 overall: good for sixth-place all-time); the Cuban player with the most appearances in MLB history is Rafael Palmeiro with 2,831 games.
All data from stathead.com
(Image credit: Keith Allison / Flickr)
