Statistical Analysis: White Sox Offense Most One-Dimensional in Baseball

Also, World is Round

Studes provides the hard data. (Read the article for an explanation of the numbers.)

The White Sox were the most extreme flyball hitting team in the majors last year. They were 73 runs above average on fly balls, tied for the highest in the majors with the Rangers. But, unlike the Rangers, they were below average in all other categories combined:

NIP: +10
LD: -11
GB: -26
Tot: -27

The White Sox truly did have a one-dimensional offense. No above-average offensive team relied more on one weapon than the Sox relied on their flies. Here are the lines for their Big Three:

Player        NIP   GB   LD   FB  Tot
Quentin C      14    0   -2   29   41
Dye J          -3    1   13   15   26
Thome J         8  -13   -3   27   20

Carlos Quentin had true plate discipline last year, and Jermaine Dye threw in some adept line drive hitting, but these three hitters were 71 runs above average with just their fly balls, 15 runs above average on all other batted ball types.