Omar Vizquel Retires

[Zakath]

Shame he didn't get to 3000 (ended up 123 short) but he should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

[WhiteSox5187]

Originally Posted by winstonage

I remember early in his career, he was called, "A poor man's Ozzie Guillen". Funny how it worked out. Ozzie was a poor mans Vizquel.

I don't remember Ozzie before he blew out his knee (and even then I barely remember him as a player other than thinking he was funny) but I read in Sports Illustrated that the people over at FanGraphs thought he was one of the most underrated defensive shortstops of all time and one of the best of the 1980s.

[chicagowhitesox1]

Omar Visquel will make the hof but he's deff not a first ballot hofer. He gets compared to Aparicio alot but Aparicio was a much better baserunner and I would say both are about even in hitting and defense.

[Brian26]

Originally Posted by Zakath

Shame he didn't get to 3000 (ended up 123 short) but he should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Crazy. Vizquel ends up with 11 more hits than Harold Baines, 2877 to 2866.

[chicagowhitesox1]

It's to bad about Baines, he deff would have gotten 3000 hits if not for playing through 3 strike shortened seasons.

[Falstaff]

Originally Posted by SephClone89

Well, if it's your anecdote against mine, I recall him providing quite a spark and relief to the team after Teahen went down in Tampa, which coincided with a defensive surge from TCM and a 25-5 run going into the All-Star Break.

Not to mention he was pretty damn decent offensively for a light-hitting 43 year old middle infielder.

Yes and there were at least a couple games Omar was batting in the DH slot.
It really called attention to how hot he was hitting at the time and how weak the White Sox lineup was that year, leading many to demand we sign Adam Dunn to be a legit DH. Hindsight.

[TDog]

Originally Posted by Falstaff

Yes and there were at least a couple games Omar was batting in the DH slot.
It really called attention to how hot he was hitting at the time and how weak the White Sox lineup was that year, leading many to demand we sign Adam Dunn to be a legit DH. Hindsight.

I only recall Vizquel DHing once for the White Sox, early in the 2010 season, and he got a hit in the game. I believe it was his only career start as a DH, although in 2011 he pinch-hit late for Konerko who was DHing in a win against the Twins. He also pinch-hit once for DH Ben Francisco in Toronto in a win against the Orioles this season, so he shows up as being a former Blue Jays DH in the history books.

[WhiteSox5187]

Originally Posted by TDog

I only recall Vizquel DHing once for the White Sox, early in the 2010 season, and he got a hit in the game. I believe it was his only career start as a DH, although in 2011 he pinch-hit late for Konerko who was DHing in a win against the Twins. He also pinch-hit once for DH Ben Francisco in Toronto in a win against the Orioles this season, so he shows up as being a former Blue Jays DH in the history books.

He appeared in two games as a DH in 1993 for Seattle. I am not sure if he started those games or was used as a pinch runner or what.

[downstairs]

Originally Posted by WhiteSox5187

You're right, I forgot about that. Wow. It's hard to believe that New Comiskey is going to be 22 years old. It's also the 6th oldest stadium I think.

9th oldest, actually.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...eball_stadiums

...Then sort by year. Still pretty wild to realize that.