Name: Adam Dunn

Rank: 231

Position: DH

Years With White Sox: 2011-Present

The White Sox first focused in on Adam Dunn at the trade deadline in 2010, but he wasn’t interested in moving to the American League and becoming a designated hitter.  Unfortunately, when he became a free agent that winter, the White Sox threw enough money at him to get him to change his mind.  It was a move that was wildly praised at the time, but may go down in history as one of the worst free agent deals of all time.

Dunn’s White Sox career got off to a strong start, as he went 4 for 14 with a home run and 5 RBIs in his first four games before coming down with appendicitis.  Sadly, after that, things went south.  Dunn finished the season with a .159 average, 11 home runs, 42 RBIs, and a team-record 177 strikeouts.  It was easily the worst season of his, or any one else’s, career.  Had he gotten an additional 6 at bats, qualifying him for the batting title, he would have put up the lowest batting average for a qualified player since Bill Bergen hit .139 for the 1909 Brooklyn Superbas, now known as the Dodgers.

In 2012, Dunn “bounced back”, regaining his power stroke but otherwise still struggling at the plate.  He managed to surpass his 2011 home run total by the end of May and finished with 41.  He also obliterated his team record for strikeouts and set the American League record with 222, one less than Mark Reynold’s major league record.  He also set a major league record for position players, striking out in 36 consecutive games.  When the season wrapped up, he finished with a .204 average and 96 RBIs, and the White Sox, who led the American League Central for most of the season, were out of the playoffs once again.

2013 saw minor improvements for Dunn as the White Sox fell to last place and were never in contention.  Dunn limited his strikeouts to 189 and raised his average up to .219.  As the 2014 season was about to get underway, Dunn’s career average for the White Sox was still under .200 and he’s struck out more than twice as often as he’s gotten a hit.  It’s hard to call his tenure on the south side as anything other than disastrous.

Dunn’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

Career Batting

BA	At Bats	Runs	Hits	RBI	Walks	Strike Outs	Doubles	Triples	HR	SB	GIDP	Errors	Games
0.142	316	27	45	40	47	151	7	0	14	0	5	3	89
0.201	1576	195	317	236	278	620	56	0	91	4	21	14	450