What Could Have Been: Carlos Quentin’s Injury Altered White Sox History OTD in 2008

It was something that if you blinked, you missed it. But in that instant, the fate of Carlos Quentin and the 2008 Chicago White Sox would change. A foul ball on a pitch he thought he should've hit out of the ballpark caused Quentin to smack his bat with his wrist. A fairly innocuous event at first sight would send lasting reverberations for the left fielder and the team.

The Sox entered play on Sept. 1, 2008 tied with the Minnesota Twins for first place in the AL Central at 77-60. Quentin was leading the American League with 36 home runs and was fourth in the junior circuit with 100 RBIs. He had already amassed a 4.8 fWAR season and was one of the most unlikely MVP candidates in recent memory.

Quentin's act of frustration on that night was something so minor that few thought anything of it. In fact, it wasn't until the next day when we uncovered that there was a problem. A trivial act had fractured a bone in the wrist of the Sox left fielder and would ultimately leave them without their most potent bat heading down the stretch run of the 2008 season.

Coming From Out Of Nowhere

Quentin had been acquired by the White Sox on Dec. 3, 2007 in a deal that received next to no fanfare at all. The former first-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks was lost in a crowded young outfield and became expendable. The Sox, coming off a 72-90 season, were looking to retool and then-GM Ken Williams, always one to believe in first-round draft pedigree, decided to take a chance on the left fielder.

Quentin would break camp with the team in 2008 but wasn't looked upon to be a major factor for the club. That would quickly change after CQ slashed a robust .302/.434/.616 in April with seven home runs. He had firmly secured the starting left field position and quickly became inserted in the middle of Ozzie Guillen's lineup.

Quentin would continue bashing the ball for the remainder of the first half, earning his first All-Star Game appearance which would take place at Old Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Following the Midsummer Classic, Quentin just kept hitting and was quickly garnering praise as a possible MVP candidate for a Sox team that was in the thick of the division race with the hated Minnesota Twins.

When play begin on that dreary night in Cleveland, Quentin was looking to make a statement in the season's final month and perhaps become the team's first MVP winner since franchise icon, Frank Thomas, took home the award in consecutive seasons in 1993 and 1994.  But an act of frustration would change everything.

Butterfly Effect

No one will ever convince me otherwise, but a healthy Carlos Quentin in 2008 greatly alters the course of that team's season and perhaps into the future. With Quentin for the stretch run, I believe the Sox handle the Twins and win the American League Central convincingly, avoiding the need for the original Blackout Game on Sept. 30.

With Quentin firmly cemented in the middle of the order, the Sox don't struggle down the stretch and cough up a multi-game lead only to give every fan of the team a near coronary in the season's final weekend. There's no need for the theatrics that saw the team needing to win three consecutive games against three different opponents to hoist an AL Central banner.

Quentin likely finishes with 40+ home runs and 120+ RBIs, giving him one of the greatest offensive seasons in franchise history. He was at 4.8 fWAR at the time of his injury, so it's reasonable to think he would've been approaching a full 6-win season had he been available for the final month.  

2008 was a time where WAR was just beginning to be part of the discussion for individual awards, as counting stats were still factoring heavily into the voting. I believe had he led the AL in home runs and been in the top 3 in RBIs for a team that won its division, Quentin would've been American League MVP instead of Dustin Pedroia. Quentin finished fifth in the voting that season, all while not playing after that fateful night in Cleveland.

It wasn't just the individual accolades for Quentin that would've changed history. I will never waver from my belief that with a healthy 2008 Carlos Quentin, the White Sox win the American League pennant. The team struggled down the stretch of that season en route to an 89-74 record. With CQ, that was likely a 92-94 win team, and playoff positioning may have been significantly altered as a result.

Even had the team not changed its seeding heading into the playoffs, Quentin providing thump in the middle of the Sox order was, in my view, the missing piece against the Tampa Bay Rays. During Games 1 and 2 at the Trop, the team had multiple opportunities to break open their leads only to squander their chances. Quentin didn't miss those opportunities that season.

With CQ leading the offense, the Sox disptach the Rays and once again defeat the Red Sox in the postseason to clinch their second pennant in four seasons. A matchup with the powerful and well-rounded Philadelphia Phillies would've been a challenge, but the Sox would've put up a fight against the eventual World Series champions.

The Fallout

Quentin wasn't the same player when he returned to the team the following year, as the wrist injury seemingly zapped a significant portion of the power he displayed the prior year. He would still be a productive offensive player, hitting 20+ homers in the next three seasons, but he wasn’t the force he had been in 2008.

If the White Sox had managed to earn a second trip to the Fall Classic in a four-year stretch, would the team have operated differently with additional revenues from a deep playoff run? Following that season, the team endured up-and-down seasons until the bottom fell out in 2013, bringing us to the present state of disrepair for the organization. Would playing World Series games again at the corner of 35th/Shields in 2008 have led the team to continue pushing the chips in further in pursuit of another World Series title?

It's easy to say with the benefit of hindsight that they would've taken many half measures, as is the Jerry Reinsdorf model, but maybe, just maybe the aggression would've stayed there having fallen just short. It's crazy to think that it was 15 years ago one the most damaging moments in franchise history occurred.  

A season that was one of the most fun ones of my adult life changed in the blink of an eye. The stress of the season's final week was unlike anything I had previously experienced. To this day, I don't believe we would've endured it had it not been for that unfortunate night in Cleveland. Who knows, maybe Quentin is looked upon with more reverence by the fan base had he won the MVP and potentially continued on that trajectory for years to come.

The career of Carlos Quentin and the fate of the franchise changed that night, sadly. We'll never know what could've been if CQ didn't get hurt.  Fifteen years later, I still believe we would've gotten to see World Series games at the corner of 35th/Shields again, and the team would've had an MVP in their ranks. Nobody will ever convince me otherwise.