Good morning!
Entering Friday evening’s game against the Colorado Rockies, Luis Robert, Jr. has a nine game hitting streak. Over that time, Robert is slashing .355/.429/.742 with five extra-base hits (a double, a triple,and three dingers) and 6 RBI. He’s even walked four times (one intentional).
Robert’s hitting streak is good for third-longest on the team this season with Andrew Benintendi (10) and Eloy Jimenez (13) the only players ahead of him.(For what it’s worth, Robert also has two separate 8 game hitting streaks, one coming in May and the other in June) If it feels like Robert has been the focus of a wide variety of Sporcle Saturdays this season, well, guilty as charged. His offensive prowess has simply made him the most valuable player on the team, and the one which has brought me the most joy. Baseball Reference already has him pegged at 5 WAR entering Friday’s game, and Fangraphs has him one-tenth of a point behind, at 4.9.
Today’s Sporcle will task you with remembering WAR leaders (in Baseball Reference WAR) of past years, specifically the past 7 decades. Some years you may see totals as low as 2.8, and others as high as 10.9. Given that there’s five weeks remaining in the season, a torrid finish for Robert provides an (admittedly, very) outside chance at 7 WAR; as you’ll see in the quiz below, a White Sox hasn’t logged that high a WAR since 2013.
As the years we’re looking at span 1953-2023, that’s 71 names: how many can you get? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I’ve allotted 12 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I’ve provided the season, WAR, and position of the player.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- 36 of the players on this list were pitchers.
- The longest streak of the same guy leading the team each season is 5, from 1991-1995.
- The longest streak of a position group leading the team is 10 years, from 1967-1976, all pitchers.
All data from stathead.com
