This day in baseball: First major league night game
Posted: March 21, 2022 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Buffs Stadium, Chicago White Sox, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, New York Giants, sports 2 CommentsThe first night game between Major League teams took place between the White Sox and the Giants on March 21, 1931. The exhibition game lasted ten innings as the teams combined for a total of 23 hits at Houston’s Buffs Stadium. Chicago scored five runs in the final frame to beat John McGraw’s New York club, 11-6.
Buffs Stadium (Houstonian)
“Lets Go, Go Go White Sox”
Posted: October 13, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century, Pop culture | Tags: ALCS, Baseball, Black Sox, Black Sox Scandal, Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers, Chicago White Sox, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, music, sports, World Series 2 CommentsI’m not a White Sox fan, but I admit I was lowkey hoping they’d at least advance to the ALCS, if only so that I could post this without it seeming awkward. But I also know that if I wait until after the end of the season, I run the risk of forgetting about this altogether, so here’s the White Sox fight song performed by Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers.
This song first appeared in 1959 during the White Sox’s run for the AL pennant, which was the team’s first league championship since the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. The song re-emerged and regained popularity in 2005, the year that the Sox swept the Astros in four games in the World Series.
This day in baseball: Addie Joss’s perfect game
Posted: October 2, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Addie Joss, American League, Baseball, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Naps, history, League Park, Major League Baseball, MLB, sports Leave a commentOn October 2, 1908, Addie Joss of the Cleveland Naps pitched a perfect game against the Chicago White Sox. Joss’s performance was the fourth perfect game in Major League Baseball history, and the second in American League history. Joss pitched in front of a crowd of 10,598 at League Park, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Addie Joss (Library of Congress)
This day in baseball: Black Sox admissions
Posted: September 28, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: 1919 World Series, Baseball, Black Sox, Black Sox Scandal, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Commissioner of Baseball, Eddie Cicotte, Happy Felsch, history, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Lefty Williams, Major League Baseball, MLB, Shoeless Joe Jackson, sports, World Series Leave a commentOn September 28, 1920, Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Joe Jackson, and Happy Felsch admitted to a grand jury that they had thrown the 1919 series in return for a bribe. The grand jury would indict eight White Sox players on charges of fixing previous season’s World Series against the Reds. The eight members involved in the Black Sox Scandal would go on to be cleared of the charges, but they would be banned for life from baseball by Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball’s first commissioner.
1919 Chicago White Sox (umkc.edu)
The 1976 White Sox wore shorts
Posted: July 17, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century | Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Baseball, Bill Veeck, Chicago White Sox, Comiskey Park, history, Kansas City Royals, Major League Baseball, MLB, sports, videos 3 CommentsIn August 1976, the Chicago White Sox wore shorts for three games. A friend shared this video with me, wondering if I had known this little tidbit, which I did not (learn something new every day!).
1976 marked the return of owner Bill Veeck, who had previously served as Sox owner from 1959-61. Keeping in line with his reputation as a promoter with wild ideas, on March 9, 1976, Veeck unveiled the new White Sox uniforms. They featured a long pullover top with a garish faux collar. But what really got people’s attentions were the shorts.
About the shorts, Veeck insisted, “They are not garish. Like my wife Mary Frances said, they have understated elegance. … Players should not worry about their vanity, but their comfort. If it’s 95 degrees out, an athlete should be glad to put on short pants and forget his bony knees. Hell, I’ve got a worse looking knee than any of my players. It’s solid wood.”
The shorts debuted on August 8th, in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Royals at Comiskey Park. The White Sox collected seven hits — all singles — and won the game 5-2. They switched back to regular pants for Game 2 of the doubleheader and lost 7-1. The shorts would not appear again until later that month, on August 21-22 against the Orioles. In total, the White Sox won 2 out of 3 games played in the shorts.
The video below shows footage from the game against the Royals, in which the shorts made their infamous debut.
This day in baseball: Reynolds goes long times three
Posted: July 2, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Carl Reynolds, Chicago White Sox, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, New York Yankees, sports Leave a commentOn July 2, 1930, Carl Reynolds became just the second player in major league history to homer in three consecutive innings. Reynolds went deep in the first three innings of a contest against the Yankees, leading the White Sox to a 15-4 victory. The Chicago outfielder’s performance included two inside-the-park homers, and he collected 8 RBIs in the game.
The box score for the game can be found here.
Wikipedia
Frank Thomas’s Hall of Fame induction speech
Posted: June 16, 2021 Filed under: 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, Chicago White Sox, Frank Thomas, Major League Baseball, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, sports Leave a commentFrank Thomas spent all but 3 years of his MLB career with the Chicago White Sox. He was a five-time All-Star, and he won the AL batting title in 1997 with a .347 average. He was a two-time American League MVP (1993 and 1994), won the Silver Slugger on four occasions (1991, 1993, 1994, and 2000), and his jersey number 35 was retired by the White Sox.
Frank Thomas was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.
This day in baseball: Dinneen’s no-hitters
Posted: May 12, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Bill Dinneen, Boston Pilgrims, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Chief Bender, Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Naps, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, Philadelphia Athletics, Shibe Park, sports 2 CommentsOn May 12, 1910, Athletics right-hander Chief Bender threw a 4-0 no-hitter at Shibe Park against the Cleveland Naps (Indians). Bender issued just one walk, spoiling his shot at a perfect game.
The home plate umpire for the game was Bill Dinneen, who tossed a no-hit game of his own against the White Sox while playing with the Pilgrims (Red Sox) on September 27, 1905. This performance by Chief Bender made Dinneen the only person in big league history to both throw a no-hitter and call one as an umpire. Dinneen served as home plate umpire for five total no-hitters in his career as an umpire.
Bill Dinneen (The Sporting News)
This day in baseball: Raschi balks four times
Posted: May 3, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Bob Shaw, Chicago White Sox, Major League Baseball, MLB, New York Yankees, Phil Rizzuto, sports, Vic Raschi Leave a commentOn May 3, 1950, Vic Raschi of the New York Yankees balked four times in a single game against the Chicago White Sox. Raschi was reportedly bothered by a new rule requiring “a one-second stop before delivery with men on base.” Despite the four balks, not to mention Raschi giving up ten hits and four walks, the Yankees won the game. Raschi somehow kept the White Sox to just three runs, despite all the baserunners. The Yankees scored four runs and won the game 4-3, thanks mostly to three RBIs from Phil Rizzuto.
Raschi’s four balks in one game is part of a seven-way tie for second place. In first place is Bob Shaw, who balked five times in a game in 1963. This one game against the White Sox accounts for four of the eight times Vic Raschi balked in his entire career.
Vic Raschi in 1953 (Wikipedia)
This day in baseball: First White Sox game
Posted: April 21, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Chicago White Sox, history, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, MLB, Schorling's Park, South Side Park, sports Leave a commentAt Schorling’s Park on Chicago’s south side, the minor league White Sox played their first game in franchise history on April 21, 1900. The Sox ended up losing the contest to Milwaukee, 5-4. The small wooden ballpark, located at 39th and Princeton, was also known as South Side Park, and would continue to be the home stadium for the team when they joined the American League the following season.
South Side Park, 1907 (Chicago Daily News)
