Tag: White Sox

A STORY FROM MAY 9TH BASEBALL HISTORY – A GAME THAT WOULDN’T END

TODAYINBASEBALL.COM TAKES US TO CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MAY 9, 1984 – Every once in a while the baseball Gods decide not to let a game end. There was one of those kinds of games on this date in 1984. The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox played a game that wouldn’t end.

The Brewers and White Sox‘ 25-inning marathon began at 7:30 p.m. on the 8th of May. It was halted at 12:59 a.m. due to a league curfew, and resumed later on the 9th.

The game was tied at 1 apiece going 9th. The Brewers scored 2 in the top of the inning. The White Sox matched it with 2 in the bottom. The two teams went for the next 11 innings without scoring. In the 22nd inning the Brewers scored 3 runs. Believe it or not, the White Sox did the same. Not until Sox slugger Harold Baines’ solo home run in the 25th inning did the game end.

MIL 000 000 102 000 000 000 003 000 0 –6 20 3
CHI 000 001 002 000 000 000 003 000 1 –7 23 1

Usually 2 hits in a game is a pretty good day, but not when you bat 10 or 11 times. Cecil Cooper, for example, had eleven at bats for the Brewers and 2 hits for a .181 batting average.

The longest game (by innings) in the National League, and in the Majors, was 26 innings between the Brooklyn Dodgers (today’s Los Angeles Dodgers) the Boston Braves (Today’s Atlanta Braves)  in 1920. That game, however, never ended. It was declared a draw. That truly was a game that wouldn’t end.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
May 8, 1984 box-score & stats
10 Longest games in baseball history
Game Length Records

A STORY FROM APRIL 14 IN BASEBALL HISTORY-FISK IMPRESSES NEW FANS

TODAY IN BASEBALL GOES BACK TO APRIL 14, 1981 IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. Carlton Fisk had little trouble getting acclimated to his new “Sox”. He hit a grand slam home run in the home opener for his new team, the White Sox, after eleven years with the Red Sox. The blast helped the White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-3.

Fisk ended up signing with the White Sox for which he played the next thirteen years – a longer stint than he had in Boston.

Fisk’s move from Boston to Chicago was the result of a strange turn of events. He became a free agent after the 1980 season when the Red Sox failed to mail his contract to him by the deadline.

Fisk ended up signing with the White Sox for which he played the next thirteen years – a longer stint than he had in Boston. And neither Fisk nor his new Chicago fans will soon forget how much he impressed his new fans in that first game wearing a White Sox uniform.

Contributing Sources:
April 14, 1981 box score/play-by-play
Carlton Fisk Stats

MARCH 30: SOSA FOR BELL

MARCH 30, 1992 | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – The Chicago White Sox traded Sammy Sosa and reliever Ken Patterson to the cross-town Cubs for George Bell on this date in 1992. It was one proven star at the end of his career for an unproven star at the beginning of his. The Cubs got the better end of the deal in Bell for Sosa.

The big name was Bell, whom the Sox hoped would be the final piece of the puzzle to get to them to the World Series.

Bell had averaged 27 home runs and 102 runs batted for the six previous seasons. Sosa was a 23-year old outfielder who showed promise as the regular right fielder in 1991 hitting 15 home runs and driving 70 for the White Sox, but he also struck out 150 times in 153 games.

It took a couple years after Sosa joined the Cubs for him to blossom into the RBI and home run hitting machine he became. Sosa’s break out year was 1993 when he hit 33 home runs and drove in 93. Sosa would hit at least 25 home runs for the next 13 seasons, three times hitting more than 60.

George Bell had a good year for the Sox in ’92 with 25 home runs and 112 RBI, but tailed off considerably in 1993, which turned out to be his final year in the majors. The White Sox found a right-field star of their own a few years later in Magglio Ordonez. He was not the home run/RBI producer Sosa was, but he was probably a better all-around player. In this trade it’s quite obvious, the Cubs got the better end of the deal. The Cubs got the better the better end of the deal in Sosa for Bell.

Contributing sources:
Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, March 31, 1992.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bellge02.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/sosasa01.shtml

July 22: Most hits 9-innings

July 22, 1962 | BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – Floyd Robinson of the Chicago White Sox went 6 for 6, all singles, on this date in 1962. That tied him with about two dozen other American Leaguers for the most hits in a 9-inning game.

The National League record is 7 held by Rennie Stennett of the 1975 Pittsburgh Pirates.

Floyd Robinson had a great year in 1962. He hit .312, drove in 109 runs (on just 11 home runs). He led the league in doubles with 45. But he played for a team that was otherwise anemic offensively.

The White Sox team batting average was .257. Robinson was the only regular to hit over .300. The team leader in home runs was Al Smith with 16.

Three years removed from playing the Dodgers in the 1959 World Series, the Sox finished 5th, 11 games out in 1962. Despite their lousy hitting, the Sox contended for the next few years behind the pitching of Gary Peters, Joel Horlen, Juan Pizzaro and others:

1963
Peters            19-8
Pizzaro          16-8
Horlen           11-7

1964
Peters            20-8
Pizzaro          19-8
Horlen           13-9

1965
Fisher             15-7
John                10-7
Horlen           13-13

Despite 90+ wins the Sox finished second to the New York Yankees each year (this was before divisional play).

Year   Wins
1963  94
1964  98
1965  95

When a team’s key offensive statistic is 6-singles by the same player in a game, over-taking the Bronx Bombers becomes a tall order.

MAY 6 – Up on the roof

MAY 6, 1964 | CHICAGO , ILLINOIS – Chicago White Sox slugger Dave Nicholson hit a home run over the roof of old Comiskey Park in Chicago on this day in 1964. Some believe the ball cleared the roof, which would have meant it traveled over 570 feet, but that cannot be confirmed.

Nicholson, a relative unknown, joined a select group that day. Before May 6, 1964, only 10 other players reached Comiskey Park’s roof. They were:

Babe Ruth
Lou Gehrig
Jimmy Foxx
Hank Greenberg
Ted Williams
Mickey Mantle
Bill Skowron
Elston Howard
Eddie Robinson
Minnie Minoso

Dave Nicholson had potential written all over him when he broke in with the Baltimore Orioles in 1960 at the age of 20, but the potential never blossomed. His best year was 1963 with the White Sox. He played in 126 games, hit 22 home runs and had 70 RBI. The problem was, he hit only .229 (the highest batting average in his 7 years in major league baseball) and struck out a club record 175 times.

At 6 – 2, 215 pounds, Nicholson is probably more known for something he did off the field as anything he did on it. He became so frustrated after a particularly tough day that he shut off the showers so hard in the Sox locker room none of his teammates could turn them back on. The story is confirmed by former teammate Jim Landis.

Contributing sources:
Total White Sox: The Definitive Encyclopedia of the World Champion Franchise, by Richard L Lindberg, copyright, 2006
Chicago White Sox records