#57 - Shawn Hillegas

Until Boone Logan can get his high wire act together and pitch consistently, Shawn Hillegas will remain in this spot. I remember Shawn Hillegas with more fondness than his numbers would indicate. I'm not exactly sure why.

He came to the White Sox in August 1988 in a trade with the Dodgers, which shipped Ricky Horton out of town. Shawn left in December 1990 as part of the Cory Snyder deal. So, in essence, he helped get rid of a lousy pitcher and helped get a great hitter who didn't work out as planned. I've seen worse trades.

Shawn has a 10-13 record during his time with the Sox. His 3 saves came in 1989. His lowest ERA was 0.79 in 1990. Before you become impressed with that statistic, know that Shawn only pitched in 7 games that year. It brings the impressive number down to Earth a little more. Still, that's not too bad over 11 1/3 innings.

I can clearly remember being impressed with Shawn at some point while he was on the Sox. It's possible that it was in the 1990 season. Based on those seven appearances, I could imagine myself thinking that he's something special in middle relief. Appearances are often deceiving.

Shawn did manage to stick around for slightly over two years. Plus, he was on the 1990 team that came out of nowhere to contend with Oakland. Those are all admirable things to be associated with.