Married Lisa ... has two children: Anna and Lucy ... was honored in his hometown of Westphalia, Mo., with "Joe Crede Day" on November 6, 2005 ... was presented by the mayor of Westphalia with the keys to the city ... graduated in 1996 from Fatima High School in Westphalia, Mo., where he was a two-time All-State selection ... his high school jersey was retired in February 2006 ... hit .559 (108-193) with 36 home runs and 106 RBI over his career, including a .597 (40-67) mark with 18 home runs and 43 RBI as a senior ... also posted a 6-0 career record with a 1.84 ERA (9 ER/44.0 IP) and 75 strikeouts as a pitcher ... a cousin, Dennis Higgins, pitched in the major leagues with the White Sox (1966-67), Washington (1968-69), Cleveland (1970) and St. Louis (1971-72) ... Among his charitable involvement in 2006, helped deliver baby blankets to a local hospital with teammate Jon Garland and took part in the Children's Memorial Radio-A-Thon on 101.9 FM ... attended a Training Academy summer camp in 2005 and welcomed members of the local Boys and Girls Clubs to U.S. Cellular Field ... during the 2004 season, visited Wentworth Elementary School as a reward for their support of Leukemia and Lymphoma Society ... also was involved with the Teammates for Kids Foundation, which in October 2004 donated $13,000 to support the Inner City Little League Program ... signed autographs at the LaSalle Bank Book Drive kickoff ... in 2003, signed driver's licenses at the James R. Thompson Center to support Organ Donor awareness and visited Children's Memorial Hospital.

Appeared in just 47 games after undergoing season-ending back surgery on 6/12 ... the microdiscectomy was performed by Dr. Robert Watkins in Los Angeles ... the 47 games played marked his lowest season total since 2001 (17) ... his .216 (36-167) average was down from his career-high ledger in 2006 (.283) ... compiled a .971 fielding percentage (4 E/137 TC) ... all four home runs came off right-handers and were hit on the road ... hit .298 (14-47) with runners in scoring position ... went 7-34 (.206) vs. left-handers and 29- 133 (.218) vs. righties ... batted .063 (1-16) in the No. 5 position in the order, .250 (18-72) at No. 6, .211 (15-71) at No. 7, .500 (2-4) at No. 8 and .000 (0-4) at No. 9 ... made his fifth straight Opening Day start at third base, the longest streak by a Sox third baseman since Robin Ventura (seven, 1990-96) ... collected a season-high three hits on 4/13 at Cleveland ... was ejected on 4/15 at Cleveland for arguing balls and strikes ... recorded the final assist in Mark Buehrle's no-hitter on 4/18 vs. Texas ... did not play on 5/18 at the Cubs after being struck by a ground ball in the face during batting practice ... left game on 5/20 at the Cubs with lower back inflammation and missed the following three games ... hit a game-ending sacrifice fly on 5/25 vs. Tampa Bay ... had one hit in his final 18 at-bats (.056) and was held homerless in his last 34 ... appeared in his last game on 6/4 vs. the Yankees, going 0-4 with an RBI ... was placed on the disabled list on 6/6 with lower back inflammation.